A few links to check out as the Giants try to join the Rangers in the World Series…
- Over at RotoAuthority, Tim Dierkes lists some Pittsburgh Pirates that could help your fantasy team next season.
- Jon Paul Morosi and Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com report that Joey Cora and Bob Melvin are among the final candidates for the Brewers managerial opening. Pat Listach was informed that he is no longer considered a candidate for the job according Tom Haudricourt of The Journal Sentinel.
- Elsewhere in Milwaukee coaching news, the team has confirmed that Dale Sveum will return as hitting coach on a two-year deal according to MLB.com's Adam McCalvy (via Twitter). Sveum was a candidate for Pirates' manager job.
- The Marlins have no immediate plans to interview Yankees bench coach Tony Pena for their managerial opening now that New York has been eliminated from the postseason, reports Juan C. Rodriguez of The Sun-Sentinel.
- Meanwhile, Wallace Matthews of ESPNNewYork.com lists ten issues the Yanks must deal with this offseason, starting with Derek Jeter's contract situation.
- MLB.com's Brian McTaggart tweets that Jeff Bagwell has informed the Astros that he will not be returning as hitting coach. Astros senior director of social media Alyson Footer says (via Twitter) that there are no hard feelings on either side.
- MetsBlog.com's Matthew Cerrone muses about the Mets acquiring a starting pitcher.
- In today's blog post at ESPN (Insider req'd), Buster Olney explains how the Rangers were able to take on payroll over the last year despite being bankrupt.
- Joel Sherman of The New York Post reports that when the Mets interview GM candidates Sandy Alderson and Josh Byrnes for a second time this week, they will focus on what each would do in the immediate future, meaning the upcoming offseason.
- Meanwhile, Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com tweets that because Josh Byrnes is still under contract with the Diamondbacks for the next five years, the Mets would only have to pay him a "reasonable amount" if they hire him as their new GM. That amount would then be deducted from what Arizona is paying him.
- In the wake of their ALCS loss to the Rangers, John Harper of The New York Daily News says that the failed Cliff Lee trade ultimately cost the Yankees.
- Richard Justice of The Houston Chronicle thinks there's a case to be made for the Astros signing Lance Berkman this offseason.
- Troy Renck of The Denver Post thinks the Rockies should make a run at Javier Vazquez if the price is right (Twitter link).
Gee I wonder how long before some jokester comes in snidely remarking about that Rubin quote and involving something about “cheap” Wilpons and/or Mets.
I think Berkman is a MUST to re-sign for the Yankees, he’s a great guy in the clubhouse, excellent DH and if Tex gets hurt what a great option to have at 1B. Berkman quickly became a fan favorite with his clutch hits, I really hope he stays here in The Bronx.
Berkman has always been a great bat and from what I understand he’s a great teammate, well spoken.
It would be a smart move by the Yanks but Berkman wants an everyday starting role. mlbtraderumors.com/2010/10/berkman-will-seek-every…
Though if the Yanks are willing to surpass another team offer for a bench player then who knows.
Problem w/ that is a) he wants to play full time b) he would be a DH majority of the time c) he would block Montero who could be ready for an early call up if he starts of hot in AAA. Also, Yanks really need a RH bat and Berkman is much better batting LH rather than RH. I like the guy but think he will add to the congestion and age of this team. I do see your point but can see more negative than positive reasons to bring him back.
im like 100% positive that guy was trolling when he said the astros should re-sign lance berkman
I hope he stays also but it is very unlikely. Berkman has said that he wants to play everyday and not just be a DH.
It is believed that neither of the finalists would favor hiring Wally Backman as manager.
We keep hearing about the Wilpons’s affinity for Wally Backman. I hope this doesn’t turn out to be a “first guy to say yes to Wally wins” kinda situation. There’s so much more at stake.
If that happens, I mean if Backman is the manager, then you just know the GM is just an errand boy for the Wilpons.
Got that right! [[shiver]]
Javy Vazquez in Coors? Hoo boy. Even with the humidor, investing in a fly ball pitcher there sounds pretty risky to me.
After seeing him in YS this year, I tend to agree. I think he’d be a real good buy low option for the Padres this winter as an innings eater if he can recover from his dead arm that he suffered the past few months.
Yes, he’d be a nice fit in San Diego or San Fran (if the Giants have an opening in the rotation). Put him in a big park that limits homers and he can be very effective. Just ask the Braves in 2009.
Seattle possibly?
Sure.
Under no circumstances should the Astros block Brett Wallace from getting ab’s next year. If they can pay someone to take Carlos Lee away from them, and Berkman can play left field, then I wouldn’t mind so much. But they need to find out if Wallace can play…and next season is as good a time as ever
I can see him being a good fit in Texas where he can still be near his family home in Houston while playing for a contending team that needs a 1B. Same with Roy Oswalt if they can’t resign Cliff Lee.
would you consider moving nelson cruz to 1B? i don’t know if he could do it, or if it’d help with his hamstring issues, but i do know he’s never played anything other than the OF in his career, so it’s risky. do you give chris davis another shot or write him off as a 4A player? if you don’t think you could find a decent 1B for less than $18.5M through ’12, trading for carlos lee could work.
Oswalt is still under contract for 2 more years in Philly. He ain’t going anywhere.
I’m sorry, I thought he was a free agent. After looking at Cot’s Contracts, he has the option to opt-out before the 2012 season, but he is definitely in Philly for 1 more year.
agreed with lee trade (provided he approves it, give whoever takes him 75% of what’s owed for a fringe prospect)/lance to LF. if wallace fails next season, you can move chris johnson to 1B (horrible defender at 3B). if wallace and johnson both fail, lance goes back to 1B, and you bring up another OF (maybe jd martinez?).
Yea, if Drayton’s willing to pay up to ship Lee out of town, then he definitely needs to go. And I wouldn’t mind them shuffling guys around after next season, like you said. But I would definitely like to see all of the kids get a fair shake at their current positions first. Who knows though, it’s not hard to fathom Johnson improving his defense at third, and Wallace producing at first. But you never know until you try
Berkman’s knees are shot. He can’t play the OF, and can barely play 1B for that matter. His mouth may be saying that he doesn’t want to DH but his body is saying the opposite to the trained eye when he plays 1B. Berkman makes much more sense as a DH/1B type in the AL.
Wallace was overmatched from a contact perspective in 2011, and likely needs to make some major swing adjustments at AAA. Lee cannot be moved without taking on a bad contract in return, as he’s guaranteed $37M total for 2011 and 2012 and even in such a scenario it may be difficult to pull the deal off as he has some semblance of trade-veto power in each season.
If Berkman wants to stay in NY there’s the 5.5 million we wasted on Nick Johnson awaiting. But he’ll probably have to platoon with Marcus Thames who showed he can still help a team with his bat.
Vazquez will play wherever someone is willing to have him. He has nothing on his recent history that makes him marketable.
What about 2009? With some run support, he would have contended for the Cy Young. (Just shows you how much better the AL is than the NL.)
I’ll be willing to bet that losing more than 2mph off of his fastball and leaving just about every breaking ball he threw hanging in the strikezone had more relevance to his struggles than moving to the AL.
Well, there is that …
Ummm … the guy who won the award had the exact same number of wins as Vazquez, so I don’t think you can say Vazquez wasn’t a contender because his teammates didn’t help him win more games.
Just a guess, but I think Javy’s mediocre winning percentage hurt him. Lincecum was dominant, no doubt. But Javy had an underappreciated season.
uhhh…noo it goes to show u what happens when u put a fly ball pitcher with a diminishing FB in a lil league stadium.
Screw you John Harper I’d rather have not traded Montero b/c Lee would have probably signed with someone else in the offseason, and we would never see how he would turn out in NY.
Why would Lee sign with someone else if he was on the Yankees before free agency? They would still probably put out the best offer of any team so I don’t understand your reasoning.
Look at it this way, the Yanks could have lost a highly touted prospect, who may very well be a cornerstone in the future along with Cano, for an aging-good-but still aging pitcher who may(I’m not taking any chances)have singed somewhere else during the offseason.
heres the good news Henry. Montero, Betances, Adams, and Chamberlain will all be Royals in ’11.
The chances that Greinke becomes a Yankee are slim to none. He has most big-market teams blocked as per his contract.
Right. I’d rather see him on the Dodgers anyway due the prospects/players that the Dodgers can offer.
I still say he ends up a Yankee.
Why would he put NYY on his no-trade list unless he didn’t want to go there?
Greinke has made it known he’s not a fan of the spotlight.
And really, is there no greater spotlight in baseball than on an ace in Yankee Stadium?
Yeah i dont see him going to any of the typical big market teams that are always out there. Boston, NYY, or NYM.
That by itself limits the teams that are in the running for a deal, and also it diminishes the return that KC would get from another team just by the fact that they wouldnt have to outbid a package from a deep Boston farm system or a NYY system which isnt as deep but still has very attractive pieces.
Teams that make sense payroll and prospect wise are BAL, MIN, LAA and maybe TEX if they arent able to retain Lee. and NL teams ATL, WSH and CIN.
Of those the ones that would have a hard time are MIN (same divison), LAA (could be too big of a market, ATL (not sure they have the right prospects) and BAL (might not be worth the prospects sense the timeline doesnt match)
That leaves WSH, TEX, and CIN.
CIN could start with a package around Leake and Alonso provided that KC could flip Alonso for prospects that fit into their needs, C, CF, middle IF.
TEX is very interesting especially if they are unable to retain Lee. They have a couple of intriguing pitching prospects in Scheppers and Kiker. Those 2 along with Julio Borbon could be a good place to start.
and WSH. Who has said that they would pay for a FA like Lee. In the NL east other than the Phillies its wide open. If they were able to get him it would probably take Storen, one of their catching prospects Ramos or Norris, and 2 more pieces. But just imagine Greinke with Strasburg at the top of the rotation.
Leverage. It’s just as possible he sincerely does not want to go to the big market teams, but a lot of players put the big market teams on a limited NTC as those are the most likely teams to trade for them (The Padres weren’t exactly going to gut their farm for a single piece at the deadline, for example). Having that limited NTC means the player in question can escalate their contract demands since they can block the trade.
Great point
He put Boston on his no trade list as well but if allard Baird recruits him he will waive it.
Here’s good news for you. The Phillies just lost. So as your a Phillies fan, your sad. But you’re a Giants fan and you’re happy they won. Very confusing being a fan of every team. Anyway that’s a false assumption and Cashman better not do that proposal and if anyone is gonna be traded from the Royals to the Yankees, the Yanks will certainly go after Soria rather
So I’m happy and sad is what you’re saying? I’m just happy SF won and the Phils lost. But I can’t wait to get these actual Greinke talks started so you and I can continue to annoy eachother about Greinke to the Yanks (for Montero, Betances, Adams, Joba)
I seriously doubt that Grienke accepts any trade tithe Yankees, he said he is not a fan of the spotlight, and the Yankees should know that he has his anxiety disorder and should steer clear.
Didn’t they already tried that? By offering Montero for Soria which Royals didn’t accept.
I thought that was an unconfirmed rumor?
Why would the ‘Stros resign Berkman, when they have Brett Wallace?
Brett Wallace is really overrated.
Nah, he can only play 1b/DH, which is why he got traded constantly, but his bat is there imo.
But he is really bad defensively and really doesn’t get on base at all. He is a DH at best.
A .360 OBP in the minors isn’t horrible (Around the average of his AAA club stats), and his power more than makes up for his shortcomings on the basepaths.
As for his defense, he can’t play 3rd, sure, but his 1b defense isn’t in the Adam Dunn territory or anything. His bat will make up for most of his shortcomings on defense. It’s a shame he couldn’t play 3rd, or he would probably still be on the Cardinals.
He doesn’t have great power, perhaps average to slightly above average for a 1st baseman.
He also strikes out a lot and even at 1st base, his defense isn’t good but it’s something you can live with. I think he is better suited for AL though so he can play both 1B/DH.
I hate to say it, but to answer your question because it’s the Astros.
Kind of surprised Bagwell took the job in the first place, not surprised at all that he’s not coming back. He’s got a bank full of money and he’s young enough to enjoy it. If anyone still doesn’t know why Greg Maddux won’t be GM or manager of the Cubs anytime soon just see: Bagwell, Jeff.
“In the wake of their ALCS loss to the Rangers, John Harper of The New York Daily News says that the failed Cliff Lee trade ultimately cost the Yankees.”
Wow! The Daily News – always with the insightful analysis and unique perspectives.
Hilarious, as how Colby Lewis shut down the Yankees in the ALCS more than anyone.
Seriously though, where is the love for this guy? Before the season started, I thought he’d flop, but he’s shut me up real quick. Hopefully the media will give credit where it’s due.
I really want to see Joey Cora get the job.
In Cashman’s defense, he thought he had a deal done. When two teams discuss a trade and it ends w/ “Ok, I agree to send you a, b, c and d” and the other teams says “Ok” and then you find out 30 minutes later that they decided to accept someone else’s offer w/o the benefit of a 2nd phone call to allow you to sweeten the deal or at least inquire about what went wrong then it’s hard to say it was Cashman’s fault.
I mean if you’re buying a car and you agree to the sellers price and you’re waiting for the title or for them to give you a pick up location and they call you back and tell you they sold it to someone else for $50 more what can you do?
How about in Cashman’s defense when your offense in a series is basically 2 guys adding another ace isn’t always the answer.
I agree with you that the offense sucked in the ALCS series but the pitching was pretty bad as well. Games 1 and 2 we were looking at a 5 run defecit by the 4th inning. AJ held us close for a while before he got lit up too. People see this move as reactionary but we’ve been trying to get Lee since 2009 and would’ve tried to sign him even if we won this years WS anyway. If you look at the front 3 of CC, AJ and Pettite, it’s good but can be better. Everyone feels better with AJ and Hughes as 4 and 5’s and you never know when the wheels are going to fall off of a 38 yo Pettitte. As for the offense it’s always been my feelings that the team tends to either crush the ball or they seem very lathargic. Hitting they say is contagious and sometimes slumps are too. It’s an odd thing to say but sometimes I wonder how coachable Jeter is because Kevin Long seems to do a good job of getting the other guys right (Grandy, Swish, Arod, Cano). I think a little tweeking w/ the offense and a midseason callup of Montero will help in 2011.
Usually with any formula, even a baseball series, you can say let’s change one variable and apply the principle of ceteris paribus and say you can make a prediction based on the new data. However with the Lee transaction you cannot. If the yanks acquire Lee then the Rangers don’t which means you can’t simply assume all other variables are the same. I still tried to run it through my head, basically plugging in assumptions… I still think the yanks aren’t that much better off. It comes back to the Rangers offense was working and the yanks offense had just died.
IDK that having Lee would have insured a WS appearance for NY this year either. However what i do think is that if the Rangers dont have Lee they are at home watching the ALCS.
In the ALDS against the Rays if the Rangers dont have Lee they dont win that series. Take Lee out of the rotation and you have to start Lewis twice and we saw what happened to him against TB.
So while Lee might not have gotten the Yankees to the WS he is the main reason why the Rangers are there now.
In the words of some ESPN analysis, the Yankees offense simply looked old.
Plus Teix was already playing through like 2 injuries that diminished his ability to hit, so we basically had half a lineup. You can’t beat the Texas Rangers (calling it now, World Series Champions) with half a lineup.
Better pitching equals closer games and dictates a change in offensive strategy. Let’s pretend that the Yanks are down 4-2 in the 7th inning rather than 8-2. The strategy changes because now it’s about playing for 2 runs instead of 6. If a runner gets on w/ no outs then the Yanks can play small ball to try and scratch across one run. In defense of that, the defense might play the IF in, if the runner is on 2nd they may walk someone intentionaly to set up a double play. You can win games even if you’re not scoring a lot. Look at the difference between the Yanks vs Tex series and the Giants vs Phils.
Yanks 17 runs, Texas 36 runs
Giants 18 runs, Phils 18 runs.
Good pitching keeps the scores close. It could make the opp. defense tense up and a lot of things can happen. When you’re down by 5 in the 7 inning you’re pretty much playing for the big inning which means you need to avoid outs which means no sac flys, no bunting and few base stealing attempts. It means for the most part, your going base to base trying not to run yourself out of a rally. Totally different mind set.
Sorry for the double post reply… I kept thinking about a potential yanks rotation in the ALCS if they had Sabthia, Lee, Hughes, and Pettitte. I kept asking myself who do you have throw game 3, Hughes or Pettitte. Ultimately I said Pettitte, mostly because just in case they reached game 7 I’d rather an experienced man on the mound. But anyway I looked up Hughes splits before making up my mind and I noticed when he has a 6+ run lead staked out for him he throws like an ace. Closer games, he’s a #5 pitcher if lucky. Splits are true for both this year and his career. And I got to ask the question, do you think he can actually take the pressure of pitching in the big games when he’s most needed.
Only history will show how well he pitches in big games. When you break down his record you get a better idea of how real his 18-8 record was.
My definition of a non-ace’s quality start is 6 IP w/ 3 runs or less and 5 IP w/ 2 runs or less. For a guy like CC I would hold him to a higher standard of 7 IP and 3 runs or less.
For Hughes, he pitched….
8 “ace” like starts of 7 IP and 3 or less runs.
7 quality starts of 6 IP and 3 runs or less.
4 quality starts of 5 IP and 2 runs or less.
That’s 19 games where he pitched decent or well enough to win. In those 18 games his actual record is 15-2-2. In his losses
He had 3 games that were cheap wins…
vs Houston- 5.2 IP and 5 er
vs KC Royals- 5.1 IP and 3 er
vs Boston- 1 IP in relief and 0 er
In his 17 starts that led to a W his era breaks down to:
1st-3rd IP= 0.76 runs allowed
Yanks scored avg of 2.35 runs in those innings
4th-7th IP= 1 run allowed
Yanks scored avg of 4.23 runs in those innings
***Not ERA but avg runs allowed in those group of innings.
So it shows that in his victories Hughes usually gets off to a great start and games are generally close in those initial innings, as opposed to being staked to a 4 or 5 run lead by the 1st, 2nd or 3rd inning. The majority of the run support for Hughes (in his wins) comes in the latter innings (72) than in the early innings (40). So from that I would draw that while he benefits from great run support his pitching allows his team to stay in the game long enough until the offense kicks in and scores some runs.
Yanks have avg 5.32 runs per game during the season. In games where Hughes has pitched and they’ve failed to score 4 runs or more Hughes record is 2-8 and his ERA is 5.54. Is it just a coincidence that he got hammered in those games and his team failed to score any runs? Who knows. In most of those games he wasn’t facing the other teams ace (Sheets, Milwood, Pelfry, O’Sullivan, C. Lee, W.Davis, Lester, Cecil x 2, Shields and Dice-K).
I have a problem w/ the logic Wallace Mathews used in his “10 things the Yanks need to do this winter” list. W/ regards to Joba Chamberlain and Kerry Woods. He suggests that Joba’s days in NY should be over and that he be used in a trade. He points to the fact that he is no longer a starter and that Woods was the primary 8th inning guy and that even David Robertson may have passed him on the depth chart. That was true to an extent. He then proceeds to say that the Yanks should try hard to bring Wood back for the same role in 2011, but of course at a sensable price. I agree with that as well. He could be a great 8th inning guy and a good in-house emergency closer if Mo gets hurt.
However, Woods return is spurred by a small sample size in which he was exceptional. 2009 was a disaster for him. He missed all of April. He had a horrible May, but again, a small sample size. He missed most of July. The two months he pitched for the Yanks, August and September, were spectacular @ he posted a line of 0.69 era, and a 1.23 whip. His ko’s were great w/ 31 in 26 IP. However, his walk rate is still too high w/ 18 in 26 IP. So he was good at being stingy with the hits allowed (14 in 26 IP) but he was lucky that not too many runners scored off of the walks he allowed.
Now Joba, to me, is still being judged to harshly. He isn’t the wonderkid that he was built up to be in 2007 (I still say he was rushed as he debuted in the minors in April and blew threw A/AA/AAA and made his mlb debut in Sept of the same year). He still has posted solid numbers during his overall mlb career @ 3.77 era, 1.35 whip, w/ 362 ko and 143 walks in 353 IP. Obviously, 2007-2008 were better than 2009-2010. He did however finish very strong in the 2nd half of 2010, in whatever role he was given.
Here lies my beef with the writer. He suggests the Yanks should try to keep Woods based on a small sample size of success (the 26 IP w/ the Yanks) but completely ignores the 2nd half of success Joba had (2.88 era, 1.02 whip, w/ 34 ko and 8 walks in 34 IP) and suggests they trade him while he still has “some” trade value. “Some” trade value indicates that you will NOT get full value. It suggests that he was at this high level before and now it’s declined but not completely absent. From the Yanks perspective, what’s the sense in trading him now? He’s not owed anything at all relative to what most relief pitchers will earn. He IS entering his 1st year of arb but I don’t think he will earn more than $1 mil or so. He’s still a relatively inexpensive player even at $1 mil. He’s still very young at 25 yo and he still has tons of talent. His velocity isn’t in the 98-100 mph range like it was on the regular in 2007 and 2008 but he sits comfortably out of the pen at 95-96 and touched 98 on occasion. He’s not blocking anyone right now and from the right side only Mo and Wood were clearly ahead of him. I would even say he was better than Robertson in comparison. He allowed fewer walks and fewer HRS in more IP and he pitched in more pressure situations. If anything Robertson was put in front of Joba because Robertson had the hot hand mid-season and perception became reality in the minds of many. But back to Woods and Joba. I think Woods AND Joba should be part of the 2011 plans (unless someone is willing to overvalue Joba right now). How does this guy advocate bringing back Woods, based on a small sample size, who is 8 years old, has a recent injury history that kept on the DL twice last year and will cost millions more rather than simply keeping Joba around, and at worst, you can allow him to regain some of his value and use him for your own purpose or trade him and hopefully get more? In what world do you have players of a similar skill set and you keep the older, more fragile and more expensive one over the younger one who is still under team control? Why not bring them both back considering how hot and cole relief pitchers can be?
That is what we call a very good post.
agreed and if JJ Puts becomes available wouldn’t be a better to take a risk on him…he has been injured a little less and has a lower career era as a reliver…
I’m a bit surprised about Sveum, I thought that he was a serious candidate for the bucs. It will be interesting to see the candidates that they interview from here. Of the seven candidates interviewed, only three remain. Something must be scaring the candidates off haha
I’m a little surprised as to what Cashman said about the Lee trade falling thru. From what I read before I thought that he thought that there was a deal in place already and the M’s decided to go with Texas w/o ever coming back to him. Then he says in the article that they wanted Nova and /or Nunez in place of Adams whom they didn’t know was on the DL (even though I thought I read they saw the med reports and thought the injury was more than just a sprain, which it turned out to be). But then he says this
“We see Nunez as a starting shortstop in the big leagues,” he said, “and Nova as a starting pitcher with great potential. I couldn’t do that for a three-month rental. There was no guarantee what would happen going forward. It was too much to give up for three months.”
So which is it? Did they back out of a deal that you thought was done or did you back out of it because you didn’t want to give up Montero, Ivan Nova and/or Eduardo Ramirez?
And if you expect to sign Jeter and you value Eduardo Nunez as a future mlb SS then what does that mean? Is it absurd to read between the lines that maybe Eduardo Nunez would become the starting SS sometime during the course of Jeter’s next contract? If so where? Would you move him to LF and make Gardner a 4th OF? That seems like a bad move as you sacrafice Gardner’s skill set just to have Jeter in the lineup. Do you move Arod to DH and Jeter to 3B after 2011? Maybe so because Posada can retire and Montero can become the C. But then you’re sort of locked in to a possibly inferior defensive C. One more challenged than Posada. I SO CONFUSED!!!!
I need to ask this Question…do u like Hanley Ramirez or Stephen Drew over Jeter…and what do you think it would take to get one of these ss if you like them…because i believe if the yanks stick with Jeter with Arod then it may keep them from making the WS in each year they are together from 2012 on…that’s why i don’t want the yanks to bring Jeter back or reduce his role to super utility/DH…
How can you not like Drew or Ramirez? But the truth is that the Yanks will be attached at the hip with Jeter until Jeter is ready to retire. Hopefully, he can have a resurgent year and we can figure out how to keep them (Jeter and Arod) from being a liability.
It is going to take some creativity to manage the Arod/Jeter in the field issue along with Posada to Montero transition. Posada SHOULD be a DH in 2011 but Montero’s defense could be worse than Posada’s. Won’t know until we actually see him in the field.
I seriously doubt Montero is an inferior defensive catcher than Posada. From what I hear, Montero has a better arm than Posada ever had, and his only problem is footwork. If he can get past that he’ll be passable defensive catcher. The thing is, since Montero isn’t gonna stay a catcher, people say Romine will be an average MLB catcher, I wonder if they mean his hitting skills or defensive skills.
Montero is also pretty big for a catcher. It makes him stiff which leads to other problems behind the plate.
Mr Matthews.
I can pretty much find fault w/ almost everything you say. Regarding Francisco Cervelli in your “take” or “trash” poll, my question is…..why? Why would we trash Cervelli. Do you just look at numbers and say “He good” or “He bad” (use oger like voice). Cervelli, as a BACK UP CATCHER, who is not expected to carry the offensive work load, hit .271/.359/.335. Certainly he will never be mistaken for Johnny Bench. However he ranked 8th in bat avg and 7th in OBP among C’s w/ over 250 AB. His 38 RBI worked out to about 1:14 AB and to get that from a back up C who plays great defense, although very poor CS %, at league minimum at age 24 is pretty good to have. I say KEEP and figure out how to use Posada and Montero together in 2011.
Re-read the full entry. His entire problem with Cervelli is those very CS numbers you mention. Typically, you carry a backup as a defensive replacement. Not having a guy that can throw out baserunners can really hurt a team.
Those CS numbers are our problems at most. We terribly need someone who can shut down the running game and I hear Montero has a good arm.
if they don’t use up all their type A and B aquistions on other priorities…then getting John Buck to catch might be an option…it could allow the Yanks to keep Montero in the minors for at least a half season to work on his defense and could allow them to make a trade at a later date with John Buck…this would also allow Posada to DH and if they do that maybe he stays healthy and hits better…
Yeah but if you sign Buck then you’re not allowed to trade him the same year I think. I was thinking they should get a “throw away” C who was good against the run like Gerald Laird. He won’t hit much but he probably won’t be the primary C anyway. We simply can’t afford to allow teams to have an 85% success rate against us in the run.
You can trade him, but there’s a minimum amount of time you have to carry him. I want to say June 6 or something.
Yanks will hope to sign Lee, and bring back Pettite. That would make Nova a good 6th pitcher and long man. I think Woods would be a great 8th inning guy, but I think he is going to cost too much. They need another lefty in the pen like Downs. I would bring up Nunez in a utility role, and bring up Montero as a DH with Posoda. Use Cervelli as a backup. Keep Thames on the bench, and sign another righty reliever. That should be enough to get in the playoffs next year. I see the Rays droping off a bit losing Crawford, Pena, and three top relievers. The Sox could go either way depending on the pitching and the loss of Beltre, and Martinez. The Orioles and Jays will be improved.