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Ready Freddy? New York Yankees Sign Garcia For 2012

Posted by on 26 November 2011, 12:33 am

The New York Yankees and pitcher Freddy Garcia had something to be thankful for, as the two sides agreed on a one-year, $4 million +incentives deal according to the New York Post; and confirmed via tweet by SI’s Jon Heyman.

Last season, Garcia won 12-games in his first year as a Yankee; and he did it on the cheap too.

Garcia made $1.5 million in 2011, and compared to other 12-game winners, the Yankees certainly got their money’s worth and then some.

Garcia made a total of 25 starts in 2011, where the team won 15 games; and in 13 of those Yankee wins Garcia pitched 6 or more innings. He posted a 3.62 ERA, giving up 16 home-runs, 45 walks, 59 earned runs, with 96 strikeouts and pitched just shy of 147 innings in total.

The 35-year old Garcia doesn’t try to live in the past when he pitches and he has adjusted himself so. He relies on throwing an arsenal of off-speed pitches to make up for his loss of speed, and it has prolonged his career.

Bringing back Garcia for 2012 almost had to happen for two reasons:

  1. The bleak availability in the free-agent market.
  2. Banuelos and Betances.

The Yankees don’t want to overpay for a starter in desperation, only to be stuck with another huge contract for god knows how many years. Garcia gives them a solid, backend starter for one season. Continue reading ‘Ready Freddy? New York Yankees Sign Garcia For 2012’ »

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New York Yankees: MVP To Granderson, Honorable Mention To Verlander

Posted by on 21 November 2011, 4:57 am
Granderson Batting In 2011 ALDS Game 5 Vs. Tigers

2011 ALDS Game 5.

With the announcement of the 2011 AL MVP Award just hours away, the endless debate still continues about who is the rightful winner.

The  reason for all the hoopla is that Detroit Tiger, and recent crowned CY Young winner Justin Verlander has a good chance of taking the coveted annual award home later today.

So, everyone from baseball experts, MLB Players, and fans are weighing in with their own answer/opinion about pitchers winning the MVP Award over positon players…is it fair or not to give it to Verlander?

At this point, I have read a million answers from both sides of this argument, which at times have made me indecisive about my opinion in the matter.

Than after milling over pages and pages of stats and articles, here is why Justin Verlander is not the 2011 AL MVP and how New York Yankees Curtis Granderson is:

1999 Pedro Martinez vs. 2011 Justin Verlander

In 1999, Boston Red Sox’s ace Pedro Martinez was named the CY Young Award winner, just like Verlander was for this past season.

Both finished the regular season with impressive records, with Martinez going 23-4 in 29 starts; and Verlander going 24-5 in 34 starts.

The fact is the aces did not have comparable wins-losses; Martinez had an edge over Verlander due to making five less starts in 1999.

That is just one example of how Martinez edged out Verlander.

Now look at the two tables below to see that Martinez had a better 1999 season almost across the board in comparison to Verlander’s 2011:

All stats are courtesy of baseballreference.com

Martinez did not win the AL MVP in 1999; he came in second place behind Texas Rangers catcher Ivan Rodriguez. Continue reading ‘New York Yankees: MVP To Granderson, Honorable Mention To Verlander’ »

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New York Yankees Hot Stove: Why Yu Do Not Belong In The Bronx

Posted by on 20 November 2011, 3:16 pm
Yu Darvish begins his pitch.

Japan pitcher Yu Darvish. Image via Wikipedia

The rumor mill is buzzing about the New York Yankees growing interest in signing Japan’s latest pitching phenom named Yu Darvish.

My guess, or hope is that the truth behind these rumors is more media driven than Yankee; and here are four reasons why:

1) When an MLB team wants to acquire a Nippon Pro Baseball player before even negotiating the individual’s salary, the MLB team has to pay a posting fee just for the exclusive right to talk a deal in the first place. The posting fees are not made public so if there are multiple MLB team’s involved, nobody knows. As expected the player’s rights always go to the highest bidder. If that team fails to work out a contract with that NPB player, the posting fee is returned and so forth; the process starts again.

When the Boston Red Sox were interested in Dice-K, MLB Trade Rumors said the posting fee was $51.1 million dollars just to talk to him. The Red Sox paid Dice-K $52 million for six years, bring the total to $103 million bucks, and look how that has turned out.

Since Darvish is better than Dice-K, he will cost a small fortune, which is not worth the risk even for a rich team like the Yankees.

2) Hal Steinbrenner told the NY Daily News about whether the past would play a part in the Yankees pursuit of Yu Darvish:

“Every person is different; every player is different. We’re going to look at every single one. We’re going to look at every single option, and we’re going to analyze it. It will be a go or no-go, but we look at each person as an individual.”

Well, I would find it almost impossible to discount the past, especially when two of the Yankees worst signings were Japanese pitching imports Kei Igawa and Hideki Irabu. Igawa is making $20 million and plays in Triple A Scranton-Wilkes Barre, but then add a $26 million posting fee and that makes a Igawa a $46 million dollar bust.

Igawa went 2-3 with a 6.66 ERA in his 13 starts in the Bronx. The Igawa acquisition is highly regarded as one of GM Brian Cashman’s worst deals ever.

3) Looking at the bigger picture, Japanese pitchers can’t handle the overall workload in MLB. In Japan’s NPB (Nippon Professional Baseball) pitchers throw way less innings due to playing 18 fewer games in their regular season, and using a six-man pitching rotation. Continue reading ‘New York Yankees Hot Stove: Why Yu Do Not Belong In The Bronx’ »

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New York Yankees Hot Stove: Why Not Ryan Madson

Posted by on 17 November 2011, 10:16 pm
Ryan Madson signing autographs before the Marc...

Ryan Madson got hung out to dry. Image via Wikipedia

In case you missed reading the NY Post earlier this week, ex-Boston Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon inked a 4-year, $50 million dollar deal with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Papelbon didn’t waste any time getting the heck out of Beantown, but who can blame him?

A good bet would be the newly ex-Phillies free agent closer Ryan Madson, as it certainly sent his agent Scott Boras into a tailspin.

Boras had declared to be a day away from finalizing the 31-year old Madson, a four-year, $44 million dollar deal to stay in Philadelphia. The Phillies claim that Boras was told that the team’s president vetoed the deal due to length and money; but in typical Boras-form he went to far and got his client screwed in the process.

Madson has been a Philly for his entire 9-year career, and was arguably the team’s best set-up man before converting successfully to a closer last season. In his new role, Madson posted 32 saves in 34 attempts and pitched 60+ innings in total. He gave-up just 16 earned runs, two homers and struck out 62.

So where would Madson fit with the Yankees?

It is no secret that the Yankees are looking to add another starter this off-season, but the realities of a bleak market might not allow for that to happen. So, why not bolster up the bullpen.

I am well aware that Madson is a righty, but in 2011 lefties bats averaged .198 against him, and 28 of his 62 strikeouts came against them too. This makes Madson lethal no matter if a batter hits from between his legs.

Yes, the Yankees do have Robertson and Soriano to set-up for Mo. Then there is Joba, who at the earliest, will return in June; Soriano spent a third of last season on the DL; and Rivera will be 42-years old and morality could set-in at any moment and the possibility that he retires at the end of the season.

Look, if you learned one thing from this past postseason is the importance of a dominant bullpen. This is no new news but after starting pitching hogged the October spotlight for years, the 2011 postseason just reaffirmed that there are other ways to meet success.

As for Madson, too bad he is a Boras client because he put him in this place as he makes players believe they are worth more and in turn teams back out. ESPN New York‘s David Schoenfield said it best, that Madson a bad risk at $40-plus million. Continue reading ‘New York Yankees Hot Stove: Why Not Ryan Madson’ »

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Mark Buehrle Shouldn’t Be Yankees Top Target

Posted by on 9 November 2011, 12:50 am
CHICAGO - SEPTEMBER 7: Mark Buehrle #56 of th...

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

The New York Yankees are reportedly interested in starting pitcher Mark Buehrle, who just wrapped up a four-year, $56 million contract with the Chicago White Sox.

George King of the NY Post reiterated this notion, but went even further by claiming that Buehrle could become the Yankees top target.

The 33-year-old lefty is receiving a lot of buzz and I expect he will get more considering this is one of the weakest pitching market to date.

Regardless, like all prospective free agents the same question remains, will Buehrle be a good fit in New York or not?

When discussing Buehrle the answers given have been mixed, which is understandable but expected at the same time.

See, even though Buehrle is ceaselessly dependable, he also comes with an uneasy amount of risk.

Here are Buehrle’s basic pitching stats from 2007-2011:

Buehrle has been with the White Sox for his entire career; below is Buehrle’s 162 game average from his pro-12 seasons.

It is not a secret that Buehrle is what is called a finesse pitcher; translation is throwing for accuracy without much speed. So, this explains Buehrle’s low walk numbers and why runners don’t get away with much on the bases when he is on the hill.

This explains Buehrle’s low amount of strikeouts and walks as it falls right in line with this type of pitcher. He is an a-typical finesse pitcher.

THE GOOD STUFF:

Without question Buehrle is durable, having never been on the DL, which is clear, as he has never pitched below 201 innings in his career. He holds the record, among active MLB starters, with 11 consecutive seasons posting 200+ innings pitched.

Buehrle’s career winning average is 15 games a season, but has won 13 games total in the last three seasons. His career ERA stands at 3.83, and it has stayed under 4.00 for four of the last five years.

MY THREE CONCERNS:

First, you have to presume that Buehrle will be looking for at least a four-year deal and he will be 33-years old by Opening Day 2012. That means the Yankees will have another player signed into his upper 30’s and you have to worry about regression. Continue reading ‘Mark Buehrle Shouldn’t Be Yankees Top Target’ »

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Red Sox John Lackey Needs Tommy John

Posted by on 25 October 2011, 4:38 pm
The Prudential Tower lit up for the 2007 World...

Image via Wikipedia

Well, the good times are no longer rolling up in Boston as the Red Sox clubhouse turned frat-house will be without one founding member for the 2012 season, pitcher John Lackey.

Ben Cherington confirmed the news during his first official press conference as Boston’s new GM.

Cherington said that Dr. Lewis Yocum out in Los Angeles recently examined Lackey’s elbow and he determined that Tommy John surgery was the way to go.

Lackey has been a mess since arriving in Boston, and he made a ritual of beer drinking taking precedence over supporting fellow teammates during games. Lackey was dealing with off-the-field issues this season, but that is no excuse to be disrespectful.

Many people in the world deal with severe personal issues, and they still show up to work and do their job. The whole Lackey-issue seems to be a lack of immaturity, but even more worrisome is the negative effect it had in the clubhouse.

If Lackey actually rested his throwing arms in between starts, instead holding brewskies all the time, maybe he could have avoided this predicament in the first place. Whether the Red Sox would have made the playoffs if Lackey weren’t around, my answer is yes they would have. Continue reading ‘Red Sox John Lackey Needs Tommy John’ »

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New York Yankees: Sorry Big Papi No Room In Big Apple

Posted by on 13 October 2011, 2:23 pm
David Ortiz

Image by Keith Allison via Flickr

“There’s too much drama, man,” … “There’s too much drama. I have been thinking about a lot of things. I don’t know if I want to be part of this drama for next year.” – David Ortiz

That was the answer given by Boston Red Sox David Ortiz, when asked during an interview by ESPN’s Colleen Dominguez about returning to the team that made him a superstar.

The slugger is about to enter free agency and admitted that he would have no issues with coming to play for the New York Yankees in the Bronx for 2012 season. CLICK HERE to watch the full interview.

Well, Big Papi in the Big Apple probably isn’t going to happen, as the Yankees are already have plenty of players to fill that DH spot and I doubt Ortiz would be willing to only hit on a part-time basis. He is also not exactly useful defensively at all at is 35 years of age.

Otherwise, Ortiz had a nice 2011 with 162 hits, 96 RBIs, 29 home-runs and a .309 batting average. He is a patient hitter drawing 78 walks, with a OBP of .398 and his a tough out for any pitcher with just 83 strikeouts on the season.

Even though the New York fans I have spoken with embraced the idea the Yankees of signing Ortiz to a one-year deal out of spite, don’t hold your breath.

The Yankees, like all MLB teams play with a 25-man roster except for the month of September, which leaves no room for decisions to be base on spite.

Sorry, Big Papi but next time you want less drama maybe not getting on national TV in the thick of things and stating that you would play for the New York Yankees would be a better idea. Continue reading ‘New York Yankees: Sorry Big Papi No Room In Big Apple’ »

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