2014 New York Yankees season thread Vol. (84-78) .. Essential's Offseason thread coming soon

that split is definitely the goods.

can't wait till he gets warmed up in the season with it ... he better be good in The Show ...
 
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Dat Tanaka splitter :pimp: . He looked good out there. He's pitching against on Thursday.
 
As long as he cuts down on the pitch types, I'm all for this version of Tanaka.

Sanchez being in shape is great to see. Hoping they don't use him as trade bait but I would not be opposed if it landed them the right infielder.
 
Proshares said:
As long as he cuts down on the pitch types, I'm all for this version of Tanaka.

Sanchez being in shape is great to see. Hoping they don't use him as trade bait but I would not be opposed if it landed them the right infielder.
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I think he may be the only untouchable in the farm system
 
Great to see Phil Hughes pitching for the Twins. I can't wait until we get to crush him.

Anyone have any experience with Busch Stadium or Safeco Field? I've narrowed down those two locations for my Yankees trip this summer, just trying to pick one. Appreciate any insight.
 
Can't lose either way. I love Safeco just because I like being in Seattle. I think briannnnn briannnnn could say some on Safeco, he goes there every year I think.
 
SCuse7 said:
 
Great to see Phil Hughes pitching for the Twins. I can't wait until we get to crush him.

Anyone have any experience with Busch Stadium or Safeco Field? I've narrowed down those two locations for my Yankees trip this summer, just trying to pick one. Appreciate any insight.
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Safeco is awesome.  Seattle is awesome.  I don't know much about Busch, but I'd certainly rather go to Seattle than St. Louis.

(I'm from NYC)
 
Proshares said:
Can't lose either way. I love Safeco just because I like being in Seattle. I think briannnnn briannnnn could say some on Safeco, he goes there every year I think.
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Well, I have gone every year since 2012, lol.

Safeco is a nice park, great views and concessions. If you go as a visiting Yankee fan, I don't think you'll have too much trouble; most Mariners fans I've encountered are totally jaded and just assume the team won't win.
 
briannnnn said:
Well, I have gone every year since 2012, lol.

Safeco is a nice park, great views and concessions. If you go as a visiting Yankee fan, I don't think you'll have too much trouble; most Mariners fans I've encountered are totally jaded and just assume the team won't win.
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Yeah, it sounds like the place I'm heading....the whole experience looks good. Decent amount of bars and hotels right by the stadium....it's as much of a drinking trip as anything.

Thanks for the help.
 
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Im so excited for this up coming yankee season. Maybe the only one of my teams to bring me any joy this year :pimp:
 
Some pretty good articles today:

New metrics: Brian McCann’s defense alone is worth over two wins
Pinstripe Pundits
By: Chris Mitchell
Yesterday, Baseball Prospectus unveiled a new model for quantifying the value of catcher defense. Unlike previous framing stats, this new methodology incorporates pitch-types, count, and umpire tendencies. They also released a stat that quantifies a catcher’s ability to block pitches.

According to the data, the Yankees have had more than their share of good framers in recent years. It’s hard to say how much of it has to do with advanced analytics and how much is simply listening to Tony Pena, who’s been drilling framing skills into the team’s catchers since 2006. In any case, it’s pretty clear the Yankees have been ahead of the curve in recognizing pitch framing as an undervalued skill. They’ve been targeting plus-plus framers for seven or eight years now, going back to the days of Sal Fasano – who’s now a pitch-framing guru with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Here’s the breakdown of the Yankees’ catchers graded out in 2013 by these new metrics. “Total Receiving Runs” takes into account all facets of a catcher’s defensive game, including framing, blocking, and “traditional” stats like throwing out baserunners. One win is worth approximately 9.5 runs, so Brian McCann‘s defense alone was worth about two wins last year — roughly one due to framing and another due to blocking.

View media item 840947

And prorated per 7,000 opportunities (roughly a full season):

View media item 840951

McCann was been worth worth 127 runs above average since 2008, making him tops in the majors. Players with that kind of defensive skill who can also hit are super valuable. If these numbers are totally accurate, McCann’s something like a five win player, which makes his contract look like something of a bargain. The new data also give glowing reviews of the Yankees’ other catchers. Francisco Cervelli and Austin Romine, who combined for 5 runs above average last season. The artist formerly known as J.R. Murphy also graded out extremely well in his September cup if coffee. He had the 5th most runs saved in the high minors last year, so that rating may not be a total fluke.

Last year’s primary catcher Chris Stewart also rated very well in the pitch framing department. If his 19 runs above average number is to believed, he was actually worth about 2.5 WAR last year — more than Curtis Granderson. A little hard to believe, but the numbers don’t lie, I guess.

Stewart’s predecessor Russell Martin is also one of the best in the business, which makes it even harder to comprehend why they chose to let him walk following the 2012 season.

Unsurprisingly, Jorge Posada was terrible at both framing and blocking. Posada never looked all that smooth behind the plate and had a tendency to stab at the ball with his glove. Erstwhile Yankees prospect Jesus Montero was also atrocious in limited playing time. Compared to an average catcher, his pitch framing cost the Mariners roughly two wins in just 80 starts over the last couple of years. It’s not hard to see why he’s no longer a catcher.

Jose Molina has acquired a cult following in recent years thanks to his outrageous framing skills. On a per game basis, he’s the best framer out there. He played a role on the 2009 World Series team as A.J. Burnett‘s personal catcher. You can’t really blame A.J. for wanting to throw for Molina. The swing between Molina and Posada was something like 50 runs over a full season, which works out to roughly a third of a run in ERA.




Musing on D-Rob and Nova Extension Chances
It's All About the Money & The Yankee Analysts
By: Brad Vietrogoski
It’s been a little over a week since the Yankees came out of left field (figuratively) with their 4-year contract extension for Brett Gardner. While the extension drew universally positive reviews for its value relative to Gardner and questions relative to the much steeper price paid to Jacoby Ellsbury, the most important thing to come out of the deal was the new precedent it set for pre-free agency contract extensions for homegrown players. The Yankees have been notoriously bad at locking up their quality young players, a problem created mainly by the lack of impact young players developed over the last 5 years and partially by their adherence to the outdated team policy of not doing extensions.

Cash’s declaration that that policy is now dead is welcome news to any Yankee fan hoping to see the team get back to the top of the MLB heap. Gardner has been incredibly valuable since becoming an everyday player in 2010 and he’s now locked up through the remainder of his prime. There are 2 other players currently in a similar situation to the one Gardner was in, and it only seems right to see how this new organizational openness to extensions will extend to them as they draw closer to free agency.

The first of those 2 players is David Robertson, 28-year-old right-handed relief ace and heir to Mo’s closer throne this season. Long-time AB4AR readers know how highly I think of D-Rob and know that I’ve been advocating for the Yankees to lock him up long-term for years now. With him entering his final arb-eligible year and first year as a closer, the timing seems right for the Yanks to get to work on a long-term deal before his market value increases into the typical closer price range. There’s little reason to expect D-Rob to not continue down the path of dominance he’s been on since 2011 and it would be to their advantage to get a deal done now before he puts together another dynamite season and hits the open market.

The problem with that plan is that the Yankees have already waited to long to start executing it. Knowing that he’s going to be the closer this year, there’s little incentive for D-Rob or his agent to agree to a below-market value deal now when he’s so close to cashing in. The potential crop of closers and righty relievers in next year’s FA class is incredibly light and there’s a very good chance that D-Rob rises to the top of that list with another excellent season. Why would he give up the chance at $10-12+ mil per year to sign for less than that now? The smart play for the Yankees would have been to extend him sometime during or after the 2012 or 2013 seasons. They didn’t, mainly because they still had Mo locking down the 9th, and now that opportunity has passed them by. I’m sure they’ll reach out to D-Rob and try to engage him in contract talks at some point this year, but I don’t think his agent will be receptive to those talks now.

The other extension candidate, and one much more likely to agree to an extension, is Ivan Nova. Nova is younger than D-Rob at 27, in his first year of arbitration-eligibility, and even more team-friendly than D-Rob with a 2014 salary of $3.3 million. The Yankees could conceivably work on a new deal of anywhere from 3-5 years with Nova and recoup even more team-friendly value on the AAV of the deal. What makes the situation less of a sure thing strategy-wise is Nova’s inconsistent career performance to date. He was OK in 2010, pretty good overall in 2011, pretty bad overall in 2012, and pretty good again in 2013, mainly on the strength of his strong 2nd half. He hasn’t proven himself to be worthy of an extension the same way Robertson has and as a result the Yankees are in no rush to start talks with him.

What could force them to accelerate the process is a continuation of where he left off at the end of 2013 this season. The signs are all there for this to be the year that Nova puts it all together and start to establish himself as a legit top-of-the-rotation arm, and I’ve all but called him the scale tipper for how good the Yankee rotation can be in 2014. If he stays healthy and puts together a 3-4 WAR season, he’s going to be in line for a major salary boost in his 2nd year of arb-eligibility and that could be enough for him to decide to wait the 1 more year and try to cash in on the FA market after 2016. The smart play here for the Yankees might be to see how he starts through the first month or 2 of the season and then get talks going. If there’s still trepidation about his consistency going forward, see if he’ll take a 3-year deal. That buys out his 2 remaining arb years and gets him to age 30, perfect for him to seek a big contract on the open market and less risk for the Yankees if they still aren’t completely sold on him.

I don’t expect the Yanks to agree to extensions with both Robertson and Nova before the end of the season. That ship has all but sailed with D-Rob unless he’s similar to Gardner in that he really likes it in New York, wants to stay, and gets an offer that’s close to what he would have gotten on the open market. The front office can make up for that mistake by locking up Nova, but I think they’d be wise to wait a while and make sure the end of his 2013 season wasn’t another SSS mirage. Whatever happens, it’s good to know that the shot callers are now open to and supportive of the idea of keeping their top homegrown pieces in pinstripes for as long as they can.

You guys are right, a Robertson extension seems out of the question. A Nova one wouldn't be so bad though. A lot of analytic guys are predicting he'll have a big year, so it may make it tougher for us to keep him after this season. Maybe if we get it done now and put a couple extra mil more than his current worth, we get it done, and lock a middle of the rotation guy at the back end for years to come.



Andy says C.C. will adjust to velocity (remember Andy was C.C.'s best friend on the team, so I'm sure they've talked extensively about it, and how to change approach)
ESPN New York
By: Andy Marchand
TAMPA, Fla. -- Over their years together, Andy Pettitte and CC Sabathia grew to be close friends. With Sabathia's velocity again a question, Pettitte has advised Sabathia about a possible transformation.

"The biggest thing for me is I'm trying to tell him don't worry about it," Pettitte said. "Whatever the velocity is, it is. You can't worry about that, you just need to get guys out with what you've got. So the biggest hurdle is mentally and not to worry about that."

Sabathia basically echoed Pettitte's statements the other day when his fastball hit just 88 mph.

"My fastball is what it is," said Sabathia on Saturday. "If it gets better, it will. If not, it won't. I can pitch. I'm fine. As long as I am healthy, I'll be good."

Pettitte, who matured as a pitcher as his fastball lost some oomph, agreed.

"CC's got everything it takes to be successful," Pettitte said. "I mean mentally, stuffwise. Look, when your velocity's not quite there, you have to rely a little bit more on movement and command and to be able to change speeds and do different things pitching, and he can do all those things. I think he is doing good, mentally, talking to him. He knows exactly what he needs to do.

"He is a strike thrower. Sometimes you have to have a little bit more quality when you don't have quite the velocity. If the velocity is not there, you just have to have some movement on it."

Sabathia can still be successful at 88 or 91 mph, he just has to be finer and he must accept that 94-plus mph might not be coming back.

"The less we can talk about that, that would be great," Pettitte said with a laugh.



Random news:
Teix is playing tomorrow,

El Duque is going to work pitcher development in the minors... THE EEPHUS LIVES!


Interesting article about Jose Reyes and the possibility of being a Yankee next year. I think it is certainly possible if we don't trade for a young Shortstop first. Jays are looking at last place again, so they'll be trying to get out of as much of Reyes' contract as possible after this season. I prefer a younger shortstop, but if we can't trade for one, I'd be fine with this. http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/yankees/post/_/id/69521/could-jose-reyes-succeed-idol-in-bronx Also Asdrubal Cabrera and Hanley Ramirez would cost us a pick next year, I think they'll try to be frugal with that pick and rather than go Shortstop in Free Agency, I think they'll cut ties with A-Rod and go after Pablo Sandoval. A Reyes trade where we eat salary and trade very little back, and Pablo would be better than having than having to fill both spots through free agency and losing two picks. Especially when we'll be players on Scherzer, Gallardo or Shields if they hit free agency.
 
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