Sampo Gida said:
Koji is not a starter (obviously), so it may be more of a repetition thing than a pct of time thing.
Yankee spring training news
- Thread starter jon abbey
- Start date
Koji is not a starter (obviously), so it may be more of a repetition thing than a pct of time thing.
tbrown_01923 said:
That's true but Koji used to be a starter and threw it about 33% of the time in his first and least year starting in MLB (2009). Maybe the split was not as effective as a starter, in any event he got moved to the pen in 2010
I only saw three innings of his outing the other day, but I was impressed with Pineda. It's been two years since I last saw him pitch, but I don't remember seeing him have that much downward movement on his fastball. Does he throw a sinker or were those all four seamers? Either way, I don't think he needs to get back to throwing in the mid-90's to be effective.
Hoplite said:
Here is what John Farrell said about Pineda after Tuesday's game:
"That was quality stuff,” Farrell said. “There was late action on the split and sinker. Recognizing he’s come through a lot physically. I’m sure if he regains close to his previous status it’ll certainly be a boost for that rotation.”
terrynever said:
I didn't realize Pineda was throwing a split, could he have been talking about the slider?.
I think it's just an old-fashioned sinker accentuated by the steep angle of a 6-foot-7 hurler. Pineda really throws downhill. McCann keeps talking about how uncomfortable he makes hitters feel in the box.Sampo Gida said:
terrynever said:
A. Clearly Farrell is an expert on Pineda, considering that he referenced the sinker and splitter of a pitcher who features a 4-seamer/slider combo. AFAICT most of the "sinkers" were 4 seamers that Pineda didn't get on top of because of a lowered arm angle.
B. That's one hell of an if: "If he regains close to his previous status" is a long way off for a guy who is operating 4-5 MPH below what he had as a rookie in 2011.
Pineda has some great stats in his limited ST innings, but he hasn't faced any true major league lineups with starters and I haven't seen anything to convince me his 2 main issues are going away. He's still only sitting 90-92 with his fastball with an occasional 93 or maybe 94, which leaves him ~4 MPH off of 2011. And he's still only using a fastball/slider combo with no third pitch to speak of. He's throwing like 40% sliders to put up these numbers, let's see him sustain that and let's see that work 3+ times through a lineup.
Still wondering who the backup 1B is, I guess it's Kelly Johnson and they'd have someone else play third? From today:
"Alfonso Soriano is not longer taking ground balls at first base. They tried it and will now they’ll focus on more important stuff."
http://riveraveblues.com/2014/03/open-thread-319-camp-notes-2-100690/
"Alfonso Soriano is not longer taking ground balls at first base. They tried it and will now they’ll focus on more important stuff."
http://riveraveblues.com/2014/03/open-thread-319-camp-notes-2-100690/
jon abbey said:
For just a game or two here and there Johnson is fine given he is their starting 3Bman. If Tex were to miss significant time I guess they would have to free up a roster spot for Russ Canzler or make a deal.
edit- I now see Canzler has a back problem after recovering from his hip problem, joining Ryan, Sizemore and Anna in the list of IF players with nagging injuries. Amazing Jeter, Tex and Roberts are as yet unscathed
terrynever said:
Red Sox hit his FB pretty well though, although maybe that was the 4 seamer and not the sinker. He threw an awful lot of sliders. I look forward to the regular season and pitch f/x data, Not sure what we did before pitch f/x, probably just lived in a continuous state of confusion from contradictory observations like Farrell just gave us.
jon abbey said:
I'm surprised they gave up on this, I really thought it made a lot of sense to get Soriano some reps at 1B. I suppose he either looked terrible or they decided they're happy with Johnson's performance at 1B? You'd think that a guy who once played a corpulent second base would be capable of learning to play a good enough 1B to fill in occasionally though. I guess that means Nuñez or possibly Ryan at 3B when Teix is on the bench or DHing.
Speaking of Ryan, is there any reason he's only appeared in 4 games so far this spring? I'd expect to see him getting at least a few innings in many more games than that unless he's nursing some kind of injury.
Ryan's dealing with an oblique but he's ready to go and is making the road trip on Thursday.derekson said:
Are you saying the young and lithe Soriano was a fat second baseman?
I would have just said competent and moved on. Autocorrect won't mess with competent. It only corrects words it doesn't understand.derekson said:
ThePrideofShiner said:
MRI came back clean:
http://yankees.lhblogs.com/2014/03/20/ellsbury-mri-comes-back-clean
Good! I actually don't want him to play through anything in spring training. Would rather he gets better and ready for the regular season.
I have to say, I think the predictions of doom for the Yankees from a lot of quarters are premature at this point. I laughed when some of the MLB Network hosts said they were favorites for the AL East after signing Ellsbury and Tanaka, but they seem to be also getting pleasantly surprised on the upside by the health of some of their veterans (Pineda, Jeter, Roberts, and Teixeira) and the possible emergence of Betances. It would not shock me to see them get off to a fast start, and then they'll be at the mercy of the health of all those veterans that have been noted. The depth behind the oft-injured starters is as thin or even thinner than last year, so it may be a case of "reverse-78" this season, as the long grind causes the Yankees to wear down and just miss at the end. But, it is the Yankees, so maybe they'll catch a swan song year from enough of these guys to make some noise in October.
Plympton91 said:
The problem with last year was their SP depth and IF depth all got injured as well. If Pineda is healthy, their SP depth is not bad with Phelps, Warren and Nuno, assuming they stay healthy this year. Its also possible Banuelos will be ready to given them some innings after the ASB too.
The Yankees are a bit like the Red Sox last year. Too many uncertainties to project accurately, and any projection will have a lot of variance (I predicted the Red Sox would go 88+/-7) for example. I can see the Yankees finishing a with a WP as low as 500 or as high as 600. The latter would require an improbable amount of health, while the former would mean a lot of injuries which would not be as surprising based on age and players injury histories.
It should be an interesting year to start anyways and I look forward to the Yankees-Red Sox facing off in April for 7 games (I think). Alas, if Tanka starts game 4 of the season as has been rumored he probably misses the Red Sox in April
Sampo Gida said:
I feel like I've read this at least 20 times from different people, and it's really not true. NY has zero bullpen depth, so if their equivalents of Bailey and Hanrahan get hurt, they certainly don't have Uehara waiting in the wings. They also don't have guys like Jackie Bradley and Bogaerts waiting to fill in when necessary, or an Iglesias to move at the trade deadline. I think when people say this, maybe what they mean is "NY needs pretty much everything to go right for them this year to have a chance" and that certainly is true.
Yeah so if Cervelli keeps hitting like this/doesn't test positive, why not get him some grounders at 1B and have him be the backup? Dude is raking.
Plympton91 said:
I'm not saying he's gonna OPS .800+ or anything but there's a real chance that Cervelli is a better hitter than he used to be, or than we think. He was hitting really well to start off last season, then injuries and the suspension ended it. It could absolutely be a spring mirage but he deserves a chance to play and show if his bat has developed.
jon abbey said:
Yeah, I've heard it a million times too. It's appropriate statement as far as the accuracy of win projections goes, but the comparison more or less stops there. When Ortiz was hurt, the Red Sox had Jackie Bradley Jr. step in. When Drew was hurt, the Red Sox had Jose Iglesias step in. When Middlebrooks played poorly, the Red Sox had Xander Bogaerts step in. When Hanrahan and Bailey got hurt, the Red Sox had Uehara and later Workman step in to late inning roles. Many of those situations worked out much better than expected, but I'm not seeing many good candidates on the Yankees to fill those roles.
I'm actually not that concerned about the bullpen. I could just be overly optimistic but the guys brought into camp have all done well and there are some young arms who could step up. It just seems like bullpens always take shape in ways that you don't expect, so I'm not gonna worry about the bullpen until it's proven itself to be a problem. Think of Shawn Kelley last year - chances are that someone will come out of nowhere and have a good season. That said, I don't really know what it means to have a bullpen without Mo. Spoiled isn't even a strong enough word for it. So....yeah. That could be a problem.
cromulence said:
Kelley didn't come out of nowhere, he pitched well for SEA the season before and has been in the league since 2009. If Betances is as dominant as he's looked since being moved to relief last year, that will certainly help a lot, but they've still got a lot of question marks there. And if they choose to fill some of those with Phelps/Warren (as it seems that they will do/have to do), that weakens the rotation depth considerably.
Not out of nowhere in terms of his career but he definitely came out of nowhere to be part of the Yankees pen. At the time it was just a seemingly inconsequential spring training trade and he ended up being a big part of the bullpen; that's all I was trying to say. I think Phelps and Warren will absolutely be in the pen, and I don't think that it means their SP depth is gone. At least one of them would presumably be a long reliever and stretching him out if necessary wouldn't be that big a deal. Yeah there'd probably be one or two starts at first where he couldn't go very deep but that's typical for a 5th starter anyway.
Sorry, but just because you weren't aware of him doesn't mean he came out of nowhere. He was a proven quality MLB reliever, and the Yankees have very few of those right now. Also Thornton is going to be awful IMO, no idea why they signed him. This is I believe the seven man pen as of now:
David Phelps
Dellin Betances
Adam Warren
Matt Thornton
Preston Claiborne
Shawn Kelley
David Robertson
I keep saying it but they really need Betances to be great, a 7th or 8th inning guy, even the 7th and 8th at times. Past these seven, their depth is again pretty dubious, Cabral and maybe Montgomery if he bounces back, but not a pen I personally am comfortable with at all right now.
David Phelps
Dellin Betances
Adam Warren
Matt Thornton
Preston Claiborne
Shawn Kelley
David Robertson
I keep saying it but they really need Betances to be great, a 7th or 8th inning guy, even the 7th and 8th at times. Past these seven, their depth is again pretty dubious, Cabral and maybe Montgomery if he bounces back, but not a pen I personally am comfortable with at all right now.
I am pretty sure that whoever the Yankees use when someone gets hurt this year that person will hit better than Bradley did last year.Hoplite said:
I admire your ability to forget about Vernon Wells and Lyle Overbay that quickly. 
Baseball is increasingly a young man's game in the post-greenie/steroids era and NY has very few players on the right side of 30. Their infield is also almost certainly going to be historically awful, defensively even more than offensively.
Baseball is increasingly a young man's game in the post-greenie/steroids era and NY has very few players on the right side of 30. Their infield is also almost certainly going to be historically awful, defensively even more than offensively.
I agree. They have to get younger soon. Just by subtracting Jeter and A-Rod, they will be younger next year. Might be time to give Nunez a job. Is there a 2B in the farm system yet?jon abbey said:I admire your ability to forget about Vernon Wells and Lyle Overbay that quickly.
Baseball is increasingly a young man's game in the post-greenie/steroids era and NY has very few players on the right side of 30. Their infield is also almost certainly going to be historically awful, defensively even more than offensively.
IMHO the right side will be fine. Roberts actually looks healthy. The left side? Not so good. I'm hoping that Jeter will hang them up early after hitting .170 or so through the end of May.jon abbey said:I admire your ability to forget about Vernon Wells and Lyle Overbay that quickly.
Baseball is increasingly a young man's game in the post-greenie/steroids era and NY has very few players on the right side of 30. Their infield is also almost certainly going to be historically awful, defensively even more than offensively.
But the Yankees have to be very happy with their pitching so far. The only guy who didn't pitch well was Banuelos.
Hoplite said:
jon abbey said:
JBJ-392 OPS in April. No help there.
XB had a 684 OPS in the regular season, and it was Iggy who stepped in for WMB as he worked out his problems in Pawtucket. XB got most of his playing time in September when the race was all but over.
Iggy was productive filling in for Drew then WMB and then as trade bait for Peavy. They were lucky they moved him before his legs broke.
Workman had a 6.94 ERA as a reliever in the regular season
XB and Workman did contribute in the playoffs, but they were not as big a factor in the regular season at 3B or RP'er.
I don't think anyone saw Uehara doing what he did at this time last year. Maybe the Yankees have someone lurking under the radar there (Betances, Banuelos, Bailey?). Uehara was signed largely because it was anticipated Bailey would not stay healthy given his injury history. Ben knew he needed depth there and it was a great pickup.
Cash picked up Bailey, maybe he contributes in 2014 (would not bet on it, but who knows)
I think its largely a myth that the farm contributed all that much to the 2013 regular season last year. The Red Sox won largely because they got good health and performance from their core players (Papi, Ellsbury, Pedroia, Lackey, Lester) , many of whom were coming off injuries or sub-par years, and their 7 free agents, many of whom were also coming off injuries or sub-par years, and all performed as well or better than expected. That's pretty rare.
As for trade bait from the farm, the Yankees have some pretty good catching prospects that should yield something of value at the trading deadline
Like the Red Sox, the Yankees have a bunch of guys coming off injuries (Jeter, Tex) and offyears (CC), and signed a bunch of free agents (Tanaka, McCann, Ellsbury, Beltran) . If those players comeback to close to their career norms, and the teams stays healthy, they could outperform their projections like the Red Sox did. Its a big If, no doubt, so you would not want to bet on it.
Last year I projected the Red Sox to win 88 +/- 7. A high variance due to all the uncertainties. I have Yankees at 86 +/-7 now with just as many uncertainties as the Red Sox had last year.
To be at the high end of the variance the Yankees will need pretty much everything to go right like the Red Sox did last year.
Agree with your bullpen assessment. Some answers may come from the young arms we've seen this spring. Lefty Fred Lewis will start the season in Scranton. Lewis moved up three levels in the minors last year. He's insurance for Thornton, as is Nuno. I like Danny Burawa, the kid from St. John's who throws 97. Both Lewis and Burawa need to cut down on walks.jon abbey said:
Also, the bullpen is already better than last year because Joba is now pitching for Detroit. And with Bruce Rondon injured, he's their eighth-inning guy!
Stating the obvious:
Why they wouldn't pick up Drew after the drunken spending spree they just completed is beyond me. According to Cots they're at about $194m right now.
Why they wouldn't pick up Drew after the drunken spending spree they just completed is beyond me. According to Cots they're at about $194m right now.
Just curious: how come some scouts request anonymity when giving their views? If he really believes Tex has no lateral range, put his name on the statement.
There can be no doubt Scout X's overall conclusion about the infield is correct. You don't have to be a genius to figure this out. Yes, there will be games lost because Jeter couldn't get to a three-hopper up the middle. More frequently, we will see innings prolonged because of the lack of range up the middle. And then the pitchers just have to get an extra out. They've been doing that for years in NYY with Jeter at shortstop. The only difference between this year and last is Cano's gone and Jeter is back. Yankee fans like to say Cano had great range. The metrics listed him as just above average. We're beyond talking about Jeter's statue-like range. Just have to hope the ball is hit right at him, or no more than two steps in either direction.
A-Rod's range really fell off last year due to the hip thing. Kelly Johnson, with hardly any experience at third base, is an improvement on Alex. Tex and Lyle Overbay are a push. Brian Roberts has looked solid at second though he lacks Cano's arm and style.
ST results are meaningless, of course, but the Yankee starters (except for Kuroda) all have good ERAs this spring.
Tampa leads all teams this spring with a 2.99 ERA and the Yankees are second at 3.11. Yanks have given up 88 total runs in 25 games.
There can be no doubt Scout X's overall conclusion about the infield is correct. You don't have to be a genius to figure this out. Yes, there will be games lost because Jeter couldn't get to a three-hopper up the middle. More frequently, we will see innings prolonged because of the lack of range up the middle. And then the pitchers just have to get an extra out. They've been doing that for years in NYY with Jeter at shortstop. The only difference between this year and last is Cano's gone and Jeter is back. Yankee fans like to say Cano had great range. The metrics listed him as just above average. We're beyond talking about Jeter's statue-like range. Just have to hope the ball is hit right at him, or no more than two steps in either direction.
A-Rod's range really fell off last year due to the hip thing. Kelly Johnson, with hardly any experience at third base, is an improvement on Alex. Tex and Lyle Overbay are a push. Brian Roberts has looked solid at second though he lacks Cano's arm and style.
ST results are meaningless, of course, but the Yankee starters (except for Kuroda) all have good ERAs this spring.
Tampa leads all teams this spring with a 2.99 ERA and the Yankees are second at 3.11. Yanks have given up 88 total runs in 25 games.
terrynever said:
Their job is player evaluation, so their team probably owns the rights to anything they do in that realm, and thus they shouldn't be giving propietary info out in a public column, even if it's something as obvious as the Yankee infield being a collection of pillars.
As for Drew, I disagree with a lot of NY's recent moves and have said more than a few times that the overarching strategy is somewhere between non-existent, idiotic and incoherent, but they're not the only team who doesn't like Drew at his price tag (including the draft pick). The Tigers also have a gaping hole that Drew could help fill, but they didn't pull the trigger on him either. The NYC tabloids have been begging the Mets to sign Drew all winter, etc, etc.
Re: Drew, NY has already signed FAs who received qualifying offers so it's not like they're losing a first rounder. They're claiming that they're out of money. Does anyone really believe that?
glennhoffmania said:
Not for a second. There is something screwy going on here. I wonder if Bud may be putting the squeeze on the Yankees to restrain salaries somehow, probably something to do with revenue sharing calculations (stadium PILOTS) and YES. Pure speculation on my part.
I am also wondering at the possibility of collusion at the non-elite free agent level. Obviously, the the elite level spending is still robust (although only 3 teams accounted for most of it) so this sounds crazy, but MLB is like a 3 time loser on collusion, so maybe they are just being a bit more cautious and clever as to how they go about it this time. Everybody seems to buy the draft pick and slot money excuse, but if teams are all instructed to assign a high value to the pick and slot money as opposed to arriving at the number independently, that could be a form of collusion.
Why bother? Say you have 6 non elite free agents who get a QO each year, and whose salary will be greatly suppressed by this action. That saves the teams collectively as much as say 100 million (wild estimate, say a reduction in average salary from 4/50 to 3/30) in commitments, or about 2% (assuming present - 3.6 billion and future obligations are 5 billion). That's a significant number and it could impact arb salaries, and get more player to entertain team friendly extensions down the road and save even more.
Might be none of that and just teams putting more importance on the bottom line than competing. MLB's increasing national TV money, regional TV money, revenue sharing, and climbing valuations independent of winning may simply make winning irrelevant to many teams, or at least not as important. This is probably the most logical explanation.
So the Yankees have spent a pile of money spread out over the years, yet reduced payroll to levels seen in 2006 (at least till Arods salary comes back on the books) and will save about 20 million in LT from last year. They may feel they have done enough to keep fans coming to the park after last year and don't see the point of spending 20 million (salary + tax) for Drew just to have a better chance of making the playoffs. Not really showing the competitive spirit the old man had at the end, but then Hal tells us he is more of a financial geek than anything.
.
Maybe teams just don't think Drew is a lock to be all that good. Or enough of a lock to risk multiple years. If he was more of a sure thing, or if he'd take a 1-year deal, I think he'd have a job right now. Probably in Boston. It's not like the Sox aren't assuming a bit of risk at 3B and SS.