First of all I hope that everyone is enjoying a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and I send dmy love out there to all my friends and family.
The news today is that the "voice of God" the "voice of the Yankees", Bob Shepard, is retiring at the age of 99 after almost 56 years announcing games. He has seen the likes of Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Reggie Jackson, Don Mattingly, and Derek Jeter pass through Yankee Stadium and he stuck with the team through good seasons and bad. His distinct voice will forever carry on with Derek Jeter, for as long as Jeter remains a Yankee. In 2007, Shepard could not attend the postseason games due to an illness so Jeter asked that a recording of his introduction be played before every home at bat. Ever since then, the voice of Bob Shepard has played at both the old and new Yankees Stadiums, announcing "Now up to bat, number two, Derek Jeter, number two." This man has seen some amazing games and it is a shame to see him go. He did mention that he feels honored that Jeter wants his voice to be his introduction and that he has had an amazing run but simply cannot physically keep up with the job. Bob Shepard will surely join Yankee legends in Monument Park and I consider myself lucky to know that I heard Bob Shepard's voice when I visited old Yankee Stadium in it's last season in 2008. Bob Shepard. The man. The Myth. The Legend. The Voice of God. The Voice of the Yankees. Goodbye.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Offseason Update
Free agents can officially sign with clubs starting at 12:01am EST this Friday but I'm hoping the Yankees remain out of any major discussions. The Yankees really have question marks in left field and a few rotation spots and that's it. Most clubs go into the offseason and have question marks all over the field due to a lack of performance or losing players to free agency. The Yankees have a solid infield and minor league players that can step up as backups if the need arose. The outfield could be without Damon, which would be fine with me, but I doubt the front office folk will be willing to replace Damon's number with younger and more unproven talent (Austin Jackson or Brett Gardner). The word on the subway is that the Yankees would be bringing back either Damon or Matsui strickly as DH options and then looking for someone else altogether in left field. The rumors have included interest in Matt Holliday and Jason Bay, the two biggest free agents bats available. The problem that no one is discussing is the fact that both those guys are not really a defensive upgrade over Damon in left field. Granted they will have better arms (heck so does my wife) but they don't track down fly balls well and that leads to unnecessary runs scored. I would hope they consider that when thinking of signing any one of those three guys (Damon, Holliday, and Bay).
Here is what I think will happen by the new year: I think Pettitte will resign. I don't know why but I have a feeling he will. The guy pitched great all season and clinched each round of the playoffs for the Yanks to win their 27th World Series Title. The guy has nothing left to prove but if he comes back he would be doing so with a larger guaranteed contract, not one with a base salary and built in incentives. The Yankees simply owe him that and would not be able to bring him back otherwise. I think Pettitte will want to come back to repeat and to earn that one last big payday before he retires for good. Then again, he could retire now and be just as happy, and frankly I wouldn't blame him or be surprised at all.
So, with the resigning of Pettitte, I think the Yankees will turn to Phil Hughes and Chad Gaudin as the 4th and 5th starters which would put Joba in the bullpen for next year. Joba is a relief pitcher. Can he start games? Yes. Should he? No. He has the stuff but not the mindset. He had electric stuff as a reliever but average stuff as a starter. We don't need average. We need Joba to replace what Phil Hughes did this last season because I think Hughes has a better chance of being successful as a starter compared to Chamberlain. Gaudin is still under contract, and he pitched well since coming to the Yankees, so I think he will get a shot to shore up the back end of the rotation in spring training. However, if Pettitte retires expect the Yankees to pursue John Lackey. No one in baseball would really want to mess with the combination of Sabathia, Burnett, and Lackey if they have everything working. The problem will be his price tag. Since the free agent market on starters is fairly thin, look for Lackey to make some big money no matter who he signs with. If Lackey is gone the Yanks could look at Randy Wolf, Joel Pineiro, Jared Washburn, or Ben Sheets. Here's my vote: Randy Wolf. Washburn and Sheets have injury issues and Pineiro is more of a NL pitcher. Wolf kept the Dodgers in the hunt this year and they likely wouldn't have made it as far as they did without him. He's gritty, he is a work-horse, and he's a lefty. You can never really have too many lefties.
My prediction is that the Yankees will resign Pettitte and Damon and one other free agent bat but not Holliday or Bay. Those two guys are 3-4-5 hole hitters and we simply do not need one of those at this point. Here's my lineup for next year:
1. Jeter SS
2. Damon DH
3. Texeira 1B
4. Rodriguez 3B
5. Posada C
6. Cano 2B
7. Swisher RF
8. Cabrera LF
9. Gardner/Jackson CF (This really depends on how well Jackson plays in spring training.)
Rotation:
1. Sabathia
2. Burnett
3. Pettitte/Lackey
4. Hughes
5. Gaudin
What do you think?
Here is what I think will happen by the new year: I think Pettitte will resign. I don't know why but I have a feeling he will. The guy pitched great all season and clinched each round of the playoffs for the Yanks to win their 27th World Series Title. The guy has nothing left to prove but if he comes back he would be doing so with a larger guaranteed contract, not one with a base salary and built in incentives. The Yankees simply owe him that and would not be able to bring him back otherwise. I think Pettitte will want to come back to repeat and to earn that one last big payday before he retires for good. Then again, he could retire now and be just as happy, and frankly I wouldn't blame him or be surprised at all.
So, with the resigning of Pettitte, I think the Yankees will turn to Phil Hughes and Chad Gaudin as the 4th and 5th starters which would put Joba in the bullpen for next year. Joba is a relief pitcher. Can he start games? Yes. Should he? No. He has the stuff but not the mindset. He had electric stuff as a reliever but average stuff as a starter. We don't need average. We need Joba to replace what Phil Hughes did this last season because I think Hughes has a better chance of being successful as a starter compared to Chamberlain. Gaudin is still under contract, and he pitched well since coming to the Yankees, so I think he will get a shot to shore up the back end of the rotation in spring training. However, if Pettitte retires expect the Yankees to pursue John Lackey. No one in baseball would really want to mess with the combination of Sabathia, Burnett, and Lackey if they have everything working. The problem will be his price tag. Since the free agent market on starters is fairly thin, look for Lackey to make some big money no matter who he signs with. If Lackey is gone the Yanks could look at Randy Wolf, Joel Pineiro, Jared Washburn, or Ben Sheets. Here's my vote: Randy Wolf. Washburn and Sheets have injury issues and Pineiro is more of a NL pitcher. Wolf kept the Dodgers in the hunt this year and they likely wouldn't have made it as far as they did without him. He's gritty, he is a work-horse, and he's a lefty. You can never really have too many lefties.
My prediction is that the Yankees will resign Pettitte and Damon and one other free agent bat but not Holliday or Bay. Those two guys are 3-4-5 hole hitters and we simply do not need one of those at this point. Here's my lineup for next year:
1. Jeter SS
2. Damon DH
3. Texeira 1B
4. Rodriguez 3B
5. Posada C
6. Cano 2B
7. Swisher RF
8. Cabrera LF
9. Gardner/Jackson CF (This really depends on how well Jackson plays in spring training.)
Rotation:
1. Sabathia
2. Burnett
3. Pettitte/Lackey
4. Hughes
5. Gaudin
What do you think?
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Gold Gloves
Congratulations to both Derek Jeter and Mark Texeira for winning Gold Gloves for the 2009 season! Jeter wins his fourth award and Tex wins his third, both their first since 2006. Jeter had been criticized for being slower and weaker on defense last year so he applied himself to lateral movement and conditioning drills in the offseason and was able to produce on defense. He committed only eight errors all season and finished with a .986 fielding percentage, both of which led the AL for shortstops. Texeira has been lauded for his defense and helped the Yankees tremendously by scooping up throws and showing much needed range at first base and was credited with only four errors all year, good for a .997 fielding percentage. Let's hope these guys keep it up and continue to produce on both offense and defense in the 2010 season.
Oh No!
Yankee front office personnel are trying to figure out a way to keep Pettitte, Damon, and Matsui for next year. Why?! We don't need an even older team here guys. Matsui played great but needs to go so we have a more flexible lineup. Damon wouldn't be bad coming back if the contract was right but to bring back Damon and Matsui would be a step in the wrong direction. Cashman knows the Yankees must get younger simply because of a health and energy standpoint. These guys cannot compete at this level forever. Please oh please don't do something we will all regret.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Update
Rumor is out that Pettitte wants to come back next year. This has yet to be validated and no signings are likely to take place until the end of November. The reasoning behind that is simply to give everyone some time to think it over and wait for the GM meetings to finish on Wednesday. Pettitte seems to have no interest in signing elsewhere so it would be either the Yankees or retirement at this point. Pettitte would give the Yankees three solid starters to begin the year and leave only two spots left to fill, which is decidely easier to accomplish than finding three quality starters. We could easily go into next season without picking up any free agent pitchers but I believe we will at least make a run at Lackey or possibly a few others. Stay tuned for more updates.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
My Ideas for the 2010 Season
Here's what I think the Yankees should do this offseason to prepare for the 2010 season:
Don't resign Matsui, Damon, Hinske, Molina, or Hairston Jr. Why? They're simply too old. Yes I know they produced and yes I know that we won the World Series, and likely wouldn't have without those first two, but I have a solution to the problem. We should start using some homegrown Yankee talent to replace the free agent veterans. I know it sounds crazy, especially for the Yankee organization, but look what happened when we did it in the late 90's! We need to bring up some of our young talent so they can help form a similar dynasty starting next year. We are already on our way with Hughes, Chamberlain, Cabrera, Cano, Cervelli, and Gardner but that is only the beginning. Bring up A-Jax (the often used nickname of the young Austin Jackson) and play a combination outfield of Swisher, Cabrera, Gardner, and Jackson. We would lose some power numbers but gain speed which can help the Yankees manufacture runs rather than rely heavily on the homerun. We can use another left handed bat in the form of one Juan Miranda to replace Matsui's production as well. Here's a guy that can spell Texeira at first base when he needs rest or plays DH or Miranda can play DH on a regular basis just like Matsui. This guy is young, powerful, and ready to play and I think it's time to give him a shot (for those who might be skeptical, go to the Yankee website and check out Miranda's stats in Triple A).
Sign Chien-Ming Wang and Xavier Nady to short term, low price contracts. Both of these players are injured and will likely not be ready until June or July of next year. For this reason, the Yankees should try to hold on to them if they can get them for bargain prices and on a one or two year deal with team options. Both can produce when healthy and for the right price it would be a win-win situation. You wouldn't be spending much on them so the return wouldn't have to be much to compensate, but if they came back full force the team gets a boost in production without taking a major shot in the wallet.
Try (likely in vain) to resign Pettitte. Pettitte is 37 and has nothing left to play for in his career. If he continues to play for another few years he could reach the 250 win category which might be enough to put him in the Hall of Fame in combination with his all-time stats in the postseason. However, Pettitte has never been a guy who goes after personal achievements. He is a team guy and team player so the motivation for individual success might not be strong enough to keep him playing in New York, so far away from his Texas home and family. The only other reason to come back would be to help the Yanks defend their title. What is the motivation for him to do that though? The guy already has enough World Series rings to fill one hand! The older guard (Jeter, Rivera, and Posada) could possibly get him back by appealing to his loyalty, however I would be surprised, but happy, to see Pettitte back in uniform next season.
Sign John Lackey. This goes against my plan of decreasing spending but the Yankees, especially without Pettitte, are weak in the rotation after CC and AJ. Lackey would help give us a solid top three in the rotation and give us another work horse type pitcher who eats up innings and saves the bullpen, much like Sabathia did this year. The ideal situation would be that the Yankees keep Pettitte and sign Lackey giving us a rotation of CC, Lackey, AJ, Pettitte, and Gaudin. I'm going with Gaudin in the fifth spot because he pitched well since the Yankees picked him up (3.43 ERA) and would allow for some more growth in our young pitchers. Speaking of young pitchers...
Keep Hughes and Chamberlain in the bullpen and possibly insert Kennedy there as well. Until they can prove they can be successful as starters, I would like the young guns to pitch in the bullpen to get some more experience and build confidence. I think Hughes and Kennedy can be in the rotation someday but Chamberlain is best suited for the bullpen. He is a two pitch pitcher and gets better movement and speed on his pitches coming out of the pen than as a starter. Some rumors are that Joba will be the heir to Rivera when he retires but I think that he gets too easily shaken as of now to fill that void. Besides, there's a switch pitcher on the way (that isn't a typo, I said SWITCH pitcher) by the name of Pat Venditte who might be in line for that job in a few years. I think you keep Rivera, Aceves, Robertson, Coke, Marte, the three young guns mentioned above, and possibly Bruney in the bullpen as well depending on how many pitchers they want to carry. This way, the young pitchers get their experience and they also save their arms (anyone hear of the Joba Rules?) so that they could be better suited for the rotation later in the year or for the 2011-2012 seasons.
That's all folks! Thanks for reading.
Don't resign Matsui, Damon, Hinske, Molina, or Hairston Jr. Why? They're simply too old. Yes I know they produced and yes I know that we won the World Series, and likely wouldn't have without those first two, but I have a solution to the problem. We should start using some homegrown Yankee talent to replace the free agent veterans. I know it sounds crazy, especially for the Yankee organization, but look what happened when we did it in the late 90's! We need to bring up some of our young talent so they can help form a similar dynasty starting next year. We are already on our way with Hughes, Chamberlain, Cabrera, Cano, Cervelli, and Gardner but that is only the beginning. Bring up A-Jax (the often used nickname of the young Austin Jackson) and play a combination outfield of Swisher, Cabrera, Gardner, and Jackson. We would lose some power numbers but gain speed which can help the Yankees manufacture runs rather than rely heavily on the homerun. We can use another left handed bat in the form of one Juan Miranda to replace Matsui's production as well. Here's a guy that can spell Texeira at first base when he needs rest or plays DH or Miranda can play DH on a regular basis just like Matsui. This guy is young, powerful, and ready to play and I think it's time to give him a shot (for those who might be skeptical, go to the Yankee website and check out Miranda's stats in Triple A).
Sign Chien-Ming Wang and Xavier Nady to short term, low price contracts. Both of these players are injured and will likely not be ready until June or July of next year. For this reason, the Yankees should try to hold on to them if they can get them for bargain prices and on a one or two year deal with team options. Both can produce when healthy and for the right price it would be a win-win situation. You wouldn't be spending much on them so the return wouldn't have to be much to compensate, but if they came back full force the team gets a boost in production without taking a major shot in the wallet.
Try (likely in vain) to resign Pettitte. Pettitte is 37 and has nothing left to play for in his career. If he continues to play for another few years he could reach the 250 win category which might be enough to put him in the Hall of Fame in combination with his all-time stats in the postseason. However, Pettitte has never been a guy who goes after personal achievements. He is a team guy and team player so the motivation for individual success might not be strong enough to keep him playing in New York, so far away from his Texas home and family. The only other reason to come back would be to help the Yanks defend their title. What is the motivation for him to do that though? The guy already has enough World Series rings to fill one hand! The older guard (Jeter, Rivera, and Posada) could possibly get him back by appealing to his loyalty, however I would be surprised, but happy, to see Pettitte back in uniform next season.
Sign John Lackey. This goes against my plan of decreasing spending but the Yankees, especially without Pettitte, are weak in the rotation after CC and AJ. Lackey would help give us a solid top three in the rotation and give us another work horse type pitcher who eats up innings and saves the bullpen, much like Sabathia did this year. The ideal situation would be that the Yankees keep Pettitte and sign Lackey giving us a rotation of CC, Lackey, AJ, Pettitte, and Gaudin. I'm going with Gaudin in the fifth spot because he pitched well since the Yankees picked him up (3.43 ERA) and would allow for some more growth in our young pitchers. Speaking of young pitchers...
Keep Hughes and Chamberlain in the bullpen and possibly insert Kennedy there as well. Until they can prove they can be successful as starters, I would like the young guns to pitch in the bullpen to get some more experience and build confidence. I think Hughes and Kennedy can be in the rotation someday but Chamberlain is best suited for the bullpen. He is a two pitch pitcher and gets better movement and speed on his pitches coming out of the pen than as a starter. Some rumors are that Joba will be the heir to Rivera when he retires but I think that he gets too easily shaken as of now to fill that void. Besides, there's a switch pitcher on the way (that isn't a typo, I said SWITCH pitcher) by the name of Pat Venditte who might be in line for that job in a few years. I think you keep Rivera, Aceves, Robertson, Coke, Marte, the three young guns mentioned above, and possibly Bruney in the bullpen as well depending on how many pitchers they want to carry. This way, the young pitchers get their experience and they also save their arms (anyone hear of the Joba Rules?) so that they could be better suited for the rotation later in the year or for the 2011-2012 seasons.
That's all folks! Thanks for reading.
The Yankee Payroll
Here is an interesting article released by Peter Gammons, who is a baseball Hall of Fame writer, that discusses the Yankees inflated payroll and why it might be time to point our fingers of blame elsewhere. http://http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=4631950&name=gammons_peter
Saturday, November 7, 2009
New blog
Greetings all! I am new to the blogging scene but I hope to have this thing up and running in no time. My hope is that this can be a site that people come to for information regarding the Yankees and the most up to date goings on within the organization. If you have no desire to participate then feel free to ignore this site. All opinions are welcome although Yankee haters will be debated with until they give up due to boredom, work, or the need to sleep.
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