Yankees Update 04/07/09

Staggering Through The Inter-League Schedule


The Yankees finished up the inter-league part of the schedule with another subway series, this time in Citifield by sweeping the injury-depleted Mets. It wasn't much of an achievement when you note that they're missing Jose Reyes, Carlos Delgado and Carlos Beltran, but you take all the wins you can, for what they are. After the Mets series, the Yankees took 2 of 3 from the Mariners and as oft his writing have won the first game against another game against the Blue Jays.

All in all, the Yankees have won 8 games in the last 9- but such reasoning is always a practice in 'selective endpoint'. Counting up the Interleague schedule, the Yankees lost to the Phillies Marlins and Nationals but beat the Mets 5-1 and the Braves, going 11-8. Not quite .600, but good enough, which goes to show how big that sweep of the Mets was. It's a sweep that begins to redress the losses the Yankees have been dealt by the Red Sox.

Mariano Rivera Reaches Milestone

During the Mets series, Mariano Rivera reached 500 saves. He's been pitching since that mark and now sits at 503. I guess if he pitched at a 45 save clip per season, he'd reach this goal in 12 years. There have been injuries along the way so it's taken him until this season, but it's a milestone that shows how much faith the Yankees have had in his one pitch, the cutter.

Only Trevor Hoffman is ahead on the career saves list with 570-odd. Unless Rivera pitches to his level for 2 season longer than when Hoffman retires, he probbaly won't catch Hoffman.

Here's a comparison of their career ERAs.

Here's his Baseball Reference page.The most similar player with a similarity score of 930 through Age 38 is in fact Trevor Hoffman.

I can't find a comparison of Win Shares, but I imagine they wouldn't be too different given how similar their use would have been for the last 10 years. Rivera had a stretch where he frequently appeared in longer than just 1 inning, but it's balanced a little by his awful stint as a starter in 1995.

I think Mariano Rivera is the player my old man is most fascinated by. You should see the gleeful grin on his face when Mo comes out to save a game. To me, Mo is Mr. Automatic. Will there be anybody else like him? Probably not. Whoever becomes the closer for the Yankees after Rivera is going to have a hell of a time filling his shoes.

The Trade For Eric Hinske

Having acquired the 2003 ROY in the form of Angel Berroa, the Yankees traded for the 2002 ROY, Eric Hinske as a bat off the bench. Hinske came up as a 3B and can play the 4 corners. He'll fill in for Ramiro Pena who is headed for AAA for more at-bats. The plan for Pena is apparently to nurture him as s super-utility guy, though he wasn't looking too shabby at short.

The word on Hinske is that he can't really play 3B any more. He's posted a -1.2 UZR and 2.5 RF/G at 13 games with the Pirates, which probably isn't enough to say much. As late as last year his ZR was 1.0 at 3B in 3 times the innings; so he'd be adequate to spell A-Rod for a start. ZiPS is projecting a .247/.355/.396 line the rest of the way. The power seems a little low, and he might even be helped by the new stadium's immensely short RF porch.

The interesting aspect of this trade is that the Pirates actually had to send cash with Hinske. That's got to be a new development, when the Yankees ask for cash considerations in a trade.