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New York Yankees: Hiroki Kuroda Wants To Win

Posted by on 16 January 2012, 11:02 pm

Along with the four-player trade that sent top prospect Jesus Montero packing for Seattle and pitcher Michael Pinedain pinstripes,

Photograph of Hiroki Kiroda at Dodger Stadium ...

Image via Wikipedia

ESPN’s Buster Onley also verified that the New York Yankees made a deal with ex-Dodger Hiroki Kuroda over this past weekend.

According to an Onley tweet, the 36-year-old agreed to a one-year, at $10 million deal pending a physical; but according to Japan’s Nikkan Sports News, Kuroda’s deal was reported to be around $16 million.

A $6 million difference seems awfully steep considering Kuroda’s caliber and age, but maybe that was the raised one-season rental price. Also remember that last July, Kuroda made no secret of his want to stay on the West Coast, so maybe the Yankees wanted to make sure and cover all moving expenses.

Is Kuroda An Expensive Gamble Or A Sure-Thing?

Kuroda is without a doubt an innings eater, pitching 196 and 202 innings over his last two seasons respectively with the Dodgers.

Over his 4-year MLB career, Kuroda has posted eerily high hit numbers with a 198-season average, but as a groundball pitcher, that number is pretty typical. Kuroda’s 3.45 ERA and low 48 walks per season average proves that he has been effective.

To understand Kuroda better, I compared his numbers from the last two seasons, to groundballer and ex-Yankee Chien-Ming Wang’s two best years in New York.

stats are courtesy of www.baseball-reference.com.

Other than the significant number of wins Wang posted, there are enough similarities here to see why the Yankees paid $10 million+ for Kuroda.

Wang’s 2006-2007 seasons were only his second and third in the Majors, and he was also 10 years younger than Kuroda then. This lowered my concern of Kuroda’s overall stability and his win totals should rise, as the Yankee bats will offer more run support than the Dodgers could. Continue reading ‘New York Yankees: Hiroki Kuroda Wants To Win’ »

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New York Yankees: Not Today It is Tebow Time

Posted by on 9 January 2012, 4:08 pm

ESPN’s First Take host Skip Bayless, whom I adore, has been in Denver Broncos QB Tim Tebow‘s corner since day one.

Admittedly, I have not been on the Tebow bandwagon yet and still am not aboard, but you cannot deny that this guy is inspiring to watch. Just read this recent Tebow article on FOX SPORTS that just confirms this might be some divine intervention from above.

Here is a brilliant rap video made by ESPN’s First Take talented crew, about this young man who has been become a national icon already:

New York Yankees take note….

“All He Does Is Win.”

 

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New York Yankees: A Note To Brewers Fans

Posted by on 12 December 2011, 5:20 am
Ryan Braun

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Dear Milwaukee Brewers Fans,

It is saddening when troubling news breaks about a player that you admire, like it did with your perennial Milwaukee favorite Brewer Ryan Braun.

I can safely speak for most New York Yankee fans in stating that things changed the day Alex Rodriguez admitted to using PEDs (performance-enhancing-drugs). Even though he was not playing for the Yankees at the time of the cheating, A-rod was wearing the uniform when he spoke about it.

What I am trying to say is that I understand the feelings of betrayal that you might be trying to mask now towards Braun.

My guess is that most Brewers fans are giving Braun the benefit of the doubt, as he claims his innocence and until all the facts are heard you will not judge him. Just be careful because even if Braun gets his pending 50-game suspension overturned, he still is not the same guy before this all came out.

Here are two reasons why Brewers fans cannot negate Braun after this:

1) Back when A-rod’s steroid scandal was front-page news during the 2008-2009 off-season, Braun had some wise-words for A-rod: “… The best thing he can do is come out, admit to everything and be completely honest, the situation will die a lot faster if he tells the whole truth.”

Okay, so why didn’t Braun follow his own advice?

Braun had known about the test results for weeks before accepting the 2011 NL MVP Award, so why did he not come forward and proclaim his innocence immediately?

That kind-of behavior is typical when someone is hiding something, or in total denial, as according to the Brewers, Braun had not informed the team either.

Look, Braun cannot change the fact that ESPN confirmed with the World Anti-Doping Agency that indeed he had failed a drug test for elevated levels of synthetic testosterone. Continue reading ‘New York Yankees: A Note To Brewers Fans’ »

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MLB: Steroids Are Still Baseball’s Dirty Mistress

Posted by on 10 December 2011, 11:37 pm

When ESPN reported the news that 2011 NL MVP Ryan Braun had tested positive for PEDs (performance enhancing drugs) it reminded me that baseball still had a dirty mistress.

Ryan Braun

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I knew back on January 11, 2010 that MLB commissioner Bud Selig might have spoken too soon about the end of the steroid era, when he told NY Time’s Mike Schmidt:

“The use of steroids and amphetamines amongst today’s players has greatly subsided and is virtually nonexistent, as our testing results have shown.”

That statement was right after slugger Mark McGuire omission, which sparked me to write an article naming PEDs Baseball’s Dirty Mistress. As Selig seem to be living in denial, when in essence he should have done more years ago.

For now, Braun is maintaining his innocence and plans on appealing the standard 50-game suspension through an arbitration hearing.

So, commenting too much further on the matter is somewhat unfair, as we haven’t heard the entire story yet.

The only fact that ESPN confirmed is that Braun took a urine test during the October playoffs, and was informed before the end of the month of his failed results. The test found elevated levels of testosterone that was later confirmed to not be of the natural kind, meaning that Braun did not produce the testosterone, and that it came from outside his body.

This means that MLB darn well knew they were handing the 2011 NL MVP Award to a player who had just failed a drug test; and in turn that player, Braun, felt no guilt accepting the season’s biggest honor.

Braun had this to say after he was announced the MVP winner:

“I’m not going to pretend like I wasn’t anxious or nervous because I was. I was obviously thrilled, excited. It’s honestly difficult to put into words how much this means to me.”

My question is how big an ego does this guy have? Continue reading ‘MLB: Steroids Are Still Baseball’s Dirty Mistress’ »

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Red Sox Hire Bobby Valentine

Posted by on 30 November 2011, 9:52 am
Red Sox Nation

Image by acme401 via Flickr

If you had not heard yet, ex-New York Mets skipper, turned ESPN analyst Booby Valentine has been named the new GM of the Boston Red Sox.

Valentine will have his hands full in Beantown, as he will have to crackdown on the Red Sox players who preferred hosting keg parties and eating fired chicken to cheering on their teammates.

Valentine knows that Boston fans are still stewing, and rightly so considering the level of betrayal they felt by their beloved Red Sox.

Luckily for Valentine, ringleader and pitcher John Lackey is already out for the entire 2012 season. Lackey was deemed injured about a week after the September collapse. The Red Sox declared that Lackey needed Tommy John surgery, which approximately has a 12-15 month recovery. Continue reading ‘Red Sox Hire Bobby Valentine’ »

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New York Yankees Trade Rumors: Opinions Wanted On Matt Garza

Posted by on 30 November 2011, 1:37 am

Chicago Cubs pitcher Matt Garza is the latest name floating around the Yankees Universe, as the Chicago Cubs are supposedly willing to hear trade offers for the right-hander according to Tom Loxas over at Cub Insider and confirmed via tweet from ESPN’s Buster Onley.

Here are Garza’s numbers from 2010-2011 (all stats compliments of baseball-refernce.com):

IS A GARZA TRADE WORTH THE YANKEES TIME?

The Yankees, along with the other 29 MLB teams are shopping in a pitcher’s market, which means no Black-Friday or Cyber-Monday sales this off-season.

In terms of Garza, his age is right on as he just turned 28-year old, but can he handle the heavy-hitting AL East now?

Garza spent his first two seasons in Minnesota, until the Twins traded him to the Tampa Bay Rays where he was from 2008-2010.

Any baseball fan knows that 2008 was the year the Rays went from bottom feeders to AL East champs. Garza went 11-9 with a 3.70 ERA and throwing 185 innings during the regular season; and in the 11 wins his ERA was 0.64.

The Rays made it to the World Series in 2008, and Garza took home the ALDS MVP honors after he beat-up the Boston Red Sox. Also, last season the Rays avoided getting swept by the Rangers the night Garza took the hill, so he definitely has exhibited postseason success.

So, how has Garza fared vs. the AL East teams from 2008 till now?

Take a look (all stats compliments of baseball-refernce.com):

Garza’s numbers are just so-so against the AL East, but scouts say that he should be better but just hasn’t been. He features a two and four-seam mid-90’s fastball, a curveball that is wicked far less than hittable, a decent change-up and a slider.

Garza improved from being a pop-up to a ground-ball pitcher before coming into hitter friendly Wrigley Field, but in even more batter friendly Yankee stadium without more improvement….it could spell disaster.

He does have youth on his side, as remember that Cliff Lee did not come into his own till age 28-29. Continue reading ‘New York Yankees Trade Rumors: Opinions Wanted On Matt Garza’ »

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New York Yankees: Preview Of The 2012 Team Preview

Posted by on 28 November 2011, 11:07 pm

Most baseball writers and bloggers wait until ESPN’s John Kruk and Tim Kurkjian fire-up the “Baseball Tonight Bus Tour” to start featuring team previews, so why the rush?

The reason is the 2012 New York Yankees are on route to being last season’s identical twin, which wasn’t enough then and odds are it won’t be now.

With a little luck, mixed in with smarts GM Brian Cashman did find the pot of gold in 2011 but remember the Yankees did not make it past the ALDS. And it is hard to believe that almost the same team, a year later will be World Series bound.

The media will spread rumors that the Yankees are bigger ‘players’ in the market because it sells, but when has the Yankee brass been shy about expressing their interests. The simple fact it is that actions speak louder than words.

So, when Cashman told Dan Patrick that the team’s offseason priority was pitching back on November 4th it gave the notion that the Yankees would be perusing one of the top free agent arms, like Rangers CJ Wilson.

That is till I realize that this time last year Cashman had already made multiple trips to Arkansas and everyone knew it was to convince Cliff Lee to come to New York.

All that Cashman has said about Wilson is:

“I don’t think it’s a stretch to tell anyone he’s the most attractive candidate.”

So, there will be no Lee type bidding wars to lose, as the Yankee brass clearly stated that the team’s biggest move was to lock-up CC Sabathia, and that is exactly what Cashman did.

That means no surprise Christmas gifts named Reyes, Pujols or Fielder. So, Yankee fans should try not to get their hopes up because unless ‘the Boss’ gets reincarnated, Pujols will not be in pinstripes because the team does already have one of the best first baseman in Mark Teixeira. Continue reading ‘New York Yankees: Preview Of The 2012 Team Preview’ »

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