Yankees Update 31/05/09

Leaping To The Top

The 2 week drive that saw the Yankees go 8-2 placed them to be back in the race last weekend. This week the Yankees lost the third game to the World Champion Phillies, but won a series in Texas and the first game in Cleveland, going 3-2. It was enough to place the Yankees at the top of the AL East by half a game.

Jorge Posada has come back, and while Melky Cabrera fell and hurt his shoulder, Brett Gardner has been there to hit really well. The Yankees have finally got most of the lineup they thought they would have with the exception of Xavier Nady. That being said, the big turnaround was probably chracterised more by better pitching than hitting.

With a third of the season gone, we're starting to see what this team is capable of doing. If they ca build on the lead and go to Boston with a few games in the standings, it would be a good thing, Winning there might just determine the season.

Joba To The Pen?

For some reason, this crowd just won't shut up. It's insane, but this week saw the Bleacher Report take the line that Joba was better as the intimidator in the 8th inning. As Joe Girardi noted, the good thing about Presidential debates is that they end. This one just keeps going.

Chien-Ming Wang In The Bullpen

With Phil Hughes pitching well as a starter in the last 2 outings, Wang is still consigned to the bullpen. It really comes down to the fact that between 6 pitchers going in to 5 spots. With three taken by Sabathia Pettitte & Burnett, it's Joba, Hughes and Wang trying to fit into 2 spots.

After 2 relief outing, Wang looks like he has some of his sink back. It maybe the case that Wang pitches 'Teh Eighth' until such time that a starter is needed. I's not a bad thing having pitching depth. This year, the Yankees have not had to dig deep down to option no. 7, 8 and 9, unlike 2005-2008. Ian Kennedy and Kei Igawa are not within shouting distance of the Bronx this year, while Alfredo Aceves is yet to make a start.

I know it's early days but signing AJ Burnett in the off-season was a good deal.

Swisher's Blues

After hitting like Ruth in April, Swisher has been struggling at the plate in May. He took a HBP to the elbow in early May and has been hititng like crud since. It's reminiscent of Jeter last year when he got hit in the hand by Daniel Cabrera in May and he didn't really hit the way he can until September.

I just wonder when Swisher is going to stop hurting and turn it around.

Derek Jeter Nudges .300

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that Jeter's BABIP was way below his career norm. In the last few weeks he has seen it rise to above league average, and with it, he has rasied his Average to close to.300. It doesn't seem like Jeter is actually slowing down at all.

In the field, Jeter's defense has been average for Shortstop, with a UZR/150 of 0.7. Even at 35, reports of his demise were probably premature.The Yankees actually need to figure out a way of not letting him get so banged up.

F*ck You Pavano

Carl Pavano went 5-1 for the Indians this May. It's more wins than he ever got for the Yankees.

Yankees Update 09/05/09

Well That Sucked

5 straight losses. 2 to the Bosox, 3 to the Rays. Phil Hughes lost. Joba lost. AJ Burnett lost. Andy lost. It was a really forgettable week. Joba struck out 12 in 5.1 innings, but that was about the highlight of the string of losses. They then won one behind CC but are in the process of losing today as I write.

Today's probable loss will put them at 14-16, 2 games below .500. What's becoming evident about this team as with the team last year is that they just don't like they're capable of going on a hot streak where they win 6 or 7 in a row, and do it a couple times before July which is what they need to get back above .500 and stay there. In a nutshell, they need 2 weeks of all-wins to make up for a week of all-losses and get back on a 95-win pace, which is what they'll need just to sniff the post-season.

Guess Who's Back?

In amongst all the losses, You-know-who came back and sent the first pitch over the wall. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Alex Rodriguez!  As he was meant to be. He said he didn't take steroids as a teen. Beyond which he said he wasn't going to address Selena Roberts' book. At this point in time, it's probably a good call. The return of A-Rod's bat is probably the best news this week.

Injury Plagues More

Both Jorge Posada and Jose Molina have ended up on the DL. So, just as the Yankees make up the fall from A-Rod to a coterie of Ransom, Berroa and Pena, they get to los it in the drop from Posada-Molina to Cash-Cervelli. If the former was a 7 win drop, this is still like a 5 win drop. It sucks, believe you me.

Nady, Wang and Bruney are still out. It's like a MASH unit again with Posada and Molina out.

Meanwhile Ian Kennedy at AAA got diagnosed with an aneurism in the arm and went under the knife. It's notable on this list because the pitching has been atrocious and anything that depletes the depth is bad. It means that if Wang is out and Phil Hughes keeps stringing bad starts, they might have to look past Kennedy to look at Kei Igawa. Most fans don't want another Igawa start in pinstripes ever again.

Phil Franchise

Not only did Phil Hughes lose against the Sawx, he took a shellacking today. I don't know about you, but it seems the guy dominates AAA only to get hit hard at the major level. He does throw in a couple of good starts, so clearly he can pitch at the major level. Maybe he's tipping his pitches? Maybe he's being tentative? Maybe the jump from AAA to AL East is much bigger than we think? Whatever the case I hope he puts it together by the next start, if not now.

Derek Jeter And His declining BABIP

Derek Jeter is hitting .260 or so with a .770 OPS. His BABIP is sitting at .290 as of this writing. That's about 80 points short of his career level, but when you go look at the fangraphs of BABIP over the years, you see a steady decline in the last 4 seasons. It's either the case that the short stop position is catching up to his legs, or that there's something different in his swing - he's hit 4 HRs to date with an ISO of .150 which is uncharacteristic at this point.

Or it could just bee that he's been a little unlucky again and this will all correct itself as the season progresses. I don't know, but I just thought I'd mention it here.

Yankees Update 19/03/09

Injured Vets On The Comeback Are Doing Fine

Jorge Posada was mostly missing from the Yankee lineup last year, and Hideki Matsui was hampered by a knee problem for the better part of 2/3rds of the season. They've both had surgery - as has Mariano Rivera - but so far they're doing well in spring training.

If Posada can healthily catch 120 or so games, then he's certainly going to contribute to the offense. I'm bullish on Posada, in as much as his problem ilast year was his shoulder and not his knees, ankles and hips. His lower body still seems to have juice, an that's important for a catcher.

Mastui is designated to DH duty and is unlikely to take the field this year until the Inter-league games begin, but his bat is going to help greatly. While it is often discussed as if he is now a spare part, his OBP and OPS still projects to be better than Xavier Nady, Johnny Damon, and Nick Swisher. Declarations that Matsui is passed his use-by-date for the Yankees  are just a little premature. If he doesn't have to field, he can surely offer more than enough value over replacement level than the OF who will.

Mo? He's Still Mo from all indications. Mariano Rivera is coming from surgery to remove some calcified tissue in his shoulder. Apparently he played the whole season with the pain last year. Goodness know how good he's going to be this season without the pain. :)

So yeah, I'm bullish on all three.

The Predicted Demise Of Derek Jeter, Shortstop


Derek Jeter is 35. He's at the point where most players who play shortstop  get moved off. Watching him in the USA-Puerto Rico game where he let 2 critical grounders go by sort of made me cringe. He never could get those, but now it's pretty obvious he can't get those.

"Past a diving Jeter!" - *Cringe!*

Still, his projection sits at about an .800 OPS, and that's pretty darn good for a shortstop. He probably will stumble to the end of his contract as a shortstop and with the addition of Sabathia and Burnett, the Yankees are going to have to worry a lot less about balls in play than at any time in the last 6 seasons, so it just might not matter this season. When you do the maths, even in the recent past, his deficiency in Zone Rating has been worth 2 singles up the middle in a fortnight of games.

The future beyond this season is a lot more cloudy. It may come to pass that the Yankees do sign a real shortstop, but at that point they're going to have to figure out where to play Derek Jeter, and live with the fact that new Shortstop is not likely to post an .800 OPS.

Aaron Boone Headed For Heart Surgery

Aaron Boone - that's Aaron Fucking Boone in Boston - is going under the knife to correct an aortic valve.

Boone, 36, has known about his heart condition since the early 1990s, when he played for the University of Southern California. A recent physical and follow-up exam revealed that he needs an operation soon, and Boone will schedule it in the coming days.

“I’ve monitored it all these years,” Boone said in an interview after the news conference. “I knew this day was out there. I just didn’t know it was now.”

For Boone, the news was another unexpected turn in an eventful career. In January 2004, three months after propelling the Yankees to the World Series with a homer in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series against the Boston Red Sox, Boone tore a knee ligament playing pickup basketball. He forfeited most of a $5.75 million salary and cleared a path for Alex Rodriguez to join the Yankees.

He's not even in my Top 100 Yankees of all time, I'd imagine. He was only around for 3months, displacing Robin Ventura. Now Robin Ventura, I liked - he just never had a big moment for the Yankees, but he was a 3B who could hit for an .780-.820. OPS, and therefore a better bat than Scott Brosius who had retired at the end of 2001. I know Ventura was struggling at the time but Boone hardly seemed like an improvement at the time. He had about the same ISO as a declining Ventura, but Boone gave up 40 points in OBP for not even a marginally better glove.

But all that is mere detail. His resume has that one blast, and together with Bucky Dent - That's Bucky Fucking Dent in Boston - I'll never forget Aaron Boone. That, and the fact that he got himself foolishly injured in a game of basketball which paved the way for A-Rod to land in the Bronx. My goodness, the Yankees have been  soap opera this decade, and Aaron Boone was more than a bit player in that production.

So, here's wishing the operation is a success and to many happy years for Aaron Boone.

That Brings Us Up To The Weirdness of A-Rod

I really don't know what to make of A-Rod when he goes and gets pieces done on him like this.

The night before his life changes forever, Alex Rodriguez calls from Miami with an urgent request. A-Rod is worried about something he said during our interview last night. I've been hearing mysterious warnings all afternoon: Alex needs to talk. Alex wants to clarify something. Can't say what. Alex will call you from his car.

"Listen," Rodriguez says. "I was thinking about one thing that I spoke about—it's something that's kind of trivial but will give me a hard time for no reason." He pauses. "The song."

Aha. Last night, he let slip his favorite Madonna song. The curious relationship between A-Rod and the pop icon makes for delicious gossip, of course. Is Rodriguez terrified that Madonna will resent the tongue-wagging? Or, better still, has he picked the wrong song as his favorite, and fears that an offended Madge might march her stilettos over his back? No: Rodriguez believes that revealing the song would lead to its being played every time he stepped to the plate during an away game. "The last thing I want to do is go to every stadium and have them play that song," he says. Fine—to be honest, it's not even a great Madonna song (if it had been something juicy like "Justify My Love," forget it).

Looking back, his preoccupation seems surreal. Just the day before, Selena Roberts, a reporter from Sports Illustrated, had confronted Rodriguez at a Miami gym, asking for his reaction to evidence that he'd tested positive for illegal steroids in 2003. And now here he was, sweating a Madonna song. It's like worrying about the in-flight movie as your plane is belly flopping on the Hudson River.

At least he seems to be recovering nicely from surgery.