The Yankees have apparently decided that they will not carry a long reliever and Albie has made the team as a reliever.
I am not in love with this idea, but I like Albie's potential. I suppose seven relievers should be enough to cover most contingencies, but it will be interesting to watch.
If you don't remember the skit, watch it here, but I immediately thought of it when I read the story this morning about selling beer again in the bleachers at Yankee Stadium. I actually never sat in the bleachers after the beer ban went into effect, but I spent many a night in them before it did. Let's just say, it wasn't an experience that gives you a lot of faith in your fellow man.
Now I enjoy a cold one, especially at a ball game, but people can take it a little too far. Hopefully, the Yankees will be very carefully monitoring behavior in not only the bleachers, but everywhere else throughout the new place. Going to a ballgame shouldn't mean having to sit through nine innings of drunken, loutish behavior.
Brett Gardner has won the centerfield job. I don't know if Gardner is going to hit enough, but he has more potential than Cabrera and his speed is an element the Yankees haven't had in recent years. It should be a lot of fun to watch him play. If Gardner hits enough the Yankees could have an outfield of Austin Jackson-Gardner and Swisher in 2010, but that is a discussion for another day.
For now, the announcement means we really only have two questions left to be answered. First, who is the seventh arm in the bullpen and second, who is the backup infielder? I talked about the former issue earlier today. As for the infielder question, as much as I love Ramiro Pena's glove, I wonder if he would be better served by playing fulltime in the minors. One thing's for sure, Pena has really opened some eyes this spring and his performance may finally give the Yankees a chance to talk seriously about moving Jeter off of short.
The games count a week from tomorrow, I can't wait.
Word out of Tampa is that Joe Girardi is thinking of not bringing a long reliever north when the Yankees start the season. The thinking is that Phil Coke and Albaladejo can fill that role if needed.
Now, I totally agree with this line of thinking if the long guy they select is Brett Tomko. He may have great numbers in camp, but Tomko is 36 and has been mediocre at best in his career. There is no way he can be expected to flourish over the 2009 season. But, I think that Aceves has a lot of potential and I was hoping he would be the long guy out of the pen this year.
Furthermore, they are going to have a need for a long guy most of the time Joba starts if they want to keep his innings down. They haven't said what Joba's innings limit is, but logically 150 seems a good guess. If he starts 30 times, a reasonable estimate, he would pitch an average of five innings a start. That is going to force the bullpen to pitch four innings on most days he starts. Also, what happens when a starter gets shelled and has to be pulled in the second or third inning? You can pitch Coke and Albe two innings each and then use some other relievers, but that will burn out the pen quickly.
Far better to have a guy built to go four or five innings available in the pen in my mind. We will find out soon if the Yankees agree with me.
Interesting minor move today, the Yankees got Chris Stewart back. If the name sounds familiar, that's because Stewart played one game for them last year.
I still don't think this solves the catching depth issue, but it is a step in the right direction. Stewart has shown some life in his bat at times and is young enough to still surprise. Defensively, he is considered a good catcher.
Apparently Plan B in the event of an injury to Rivera is Joba. I just don't get it.
Ok, I agree with the argument that Joba is probably right for the job, both makeup-wise and stuff-wise, but what about all the other arms the Yankees have? If Joba is really going to be a starter, he needs to be left there on a permanent basis. Marte has 36 saves in his career, Bruney has been impressive in pressure situations, everyone says Melancon is the next Yankees closer. What about Phil Coke?
The Yankees keep touting Joba as a frontline starter and they are going to kill that potential if they keep jerking him around. Joba keeps talking about how happy he is to enter 2009 with a defined role. The Yankees need to avoid changing that role. If Mo gets hurt they need to find someone else to replace him, that's the bottom line.
Seriously, has there even been someone more in need of firing than A-Rod's PR person? I know everyone is as tired of this topic as I am, but I would feel remiss if I didn't mention this interview he gave, most of which happened the day after Selena Robers confronted him on steroid use. It includes a number of really amazingly dumb items, but best of all is this quote from his manager, "He really hasn't had the chance to show people who he really is."
Ok, so the guy who is the richest athlete in baseball and has been in the league for 14 seasons hasn't had the chance to show us who he really is? What exactly is stopping him? It's obivously not money. Media access doesn't seem to be a problem. Maybe he is just painfully shy- maybe not.
And if the article wasn't bad enough, look at the photo shoot. It's like a bad porno set and A-Rod looks like a bad porno actor in half the pictures. What is he doing and what are the people advising him on publicity matters doing? Ok, I am going back to baseball now.
Andy detailed his complaints with the WBC the other day because the Red Sox got Dustin Pedroia back hurt from the tournament. The Yankees also had two injured players, Robinson Cano and Damaso Marte. The good news is the injuries don't sound serious. The thing that bothers me is quotes like this one from Cano:
"The good thing is that it's only a few days. This is about your country. It's not about just going to play and have fun. I don't want to be one of those guys that they say, 'We needed you and you didn't want to play.' The good thing is that this didn't get worse. It's still the same and I'll be ready for Friday."
Now, I don't blame Cano for feeling that way. Wanting to represent your country and taking pride in doing so are admirable emotions, but the problem is that this tournament conflicts with Cano's regular job- playing second for the Yankees.
So, how do you reconcile the players' emotions and the needs of the clubs? First thing I would do is stop the WBC from happening in March. March is when players are getting ready for the season and it is not the time to play big pressure games. Pitchers are especially vulnerable as they are asked to ramp up and pitch big inninngs before they have really worked their arms into shape.
Ideally, the tournament would take place in October or November, but you can't ramp up after the season ended and you wouldn't want to compete with the World Series. If the owners really want this thing to work I think they need to do it midseason, maybe shortening the regular season to 154 games in WBC years. Instead of the All-Star Game hold the WBC and close MLB for a week. Cut down on the number of teams (Is Italy a real hotbed for baseball? Australia?) and play it out. It will never happen, but that is probably the way to do it.
What is not the way to do it is the way they are now. I want to get into this tournament but it is hard when you know that the best players are not all there. The box says the attendance at last night's U.S. game was 11,000, but I would be amazed if there were more than 3,000 people in the stands. Fans aren't stupid and they are not going to spend their money on a half-assed idea. MLB needs to either go all in on this or get out of this tournament entirely. It's a good idea that is poorly executed and we can only hope that a team doesn't lose a player to injury because of it.
April 6th is going to be a great sports day for Yankees' fans. You can tune into the Yanks-Orioles game at 4:05 and then watch the National Championship basketball game at 9pm. For sports fans these are some of the best weeks of the year, we have survived the dead period between the end of the football season and the start of the baseball season. March Madness is upon us and when it ends baseball begins.
For the Yankees there are a few issues that need to be sorted out in the remaining weeks of camp. Let's go through them.
Who will be the centerfielder on Opening Day? It's very hard to see how Brett Gardner doesn't get the job. Not only is he hitting at a torrid clip, .379/.438/.759, he adds a tremedous amount of speed to the lineup. Melky Cabrera has a nice OBP, but he isn't hitting for power (not that you should really expect him to) and after nearly 1500 AB's in the bigs, it is hard to see him becoming anything more than he is right now. Cabrera is out of options, so I would expect him to make the team eventhough Shelly Duncan is more deserving of a spot right now.
Can Posada catch? His first test came today and by all accounts he did very well. The next three weeks will tell us what we need to know about this.
What will the bullpen look like? From all accounts, it sounds like the Yankees will carry 12 pitchers. That means seven relievers and the only locks for the pen are Rivera, Bruney and Marte. I think Phil Coke is probably well on his way to earning a job. He has put up nice numbers and is a lefty. Veras is probably back as well, leaving two spots open. One of those would go to a long reliever and right now I think Brett Tomko is the leader. It really is a four-player race with Tomko, Aceves, Giese and Jason Johnson. Johnson first got into a game the other day since he is recovering from retinal cancer. Giese and Aceves haven't been good so far this March, but there is time of that to change. Personally, I hope they use Giese or Aceves in this role since I don't believe in Tomko's abilities at this point in his career. One option the Yankees could try is using Coke as the long guy as well.
That leaves one spot and I think it is a two-player race between Edwar Ramirez and Jonathan Albaladejo. Now Edwar has been hurt so he hasn't had much of a chance to compete yet, while Albie has been good, but in only four innings. Ramirez was solid last year, but I just don't think he will ever amount to more than a hit-or-miss bet throughout his career. Albie looked good last April before he got hurt and I hope the Yankees go with him. Either way, whoever loses this competition should have some trade value, something the Yankees should consider using before the season starts.
Is Angel Berroa the utility infielder? For now I think he has won the job because of the injury to A-Rod. Berroa has torn the cover off the ball, but his defense has been suspect at best. If you assume the Yankees leave camp with 13 hitters, six of them are going to be outfielders (Damon, Gardner, Nady, Swisher, Cabrera and Matsui) Add in two catchers and that leaves five infielders and Berroa makes it because A-Rod is on the DL.
Here's an interesting story about Ivan Rodriguez and his willingness to play positions other than catcher, notably third. I know he was terrible with the Yankees last year, but his numbers were actually the same as Molina's OPS+ wise and I still think he offers more offensive upside.
I doubt the Yankees would bring him back, but it's worth a look. Girardi hasn't changed from his stance that Posada is only catching 110 games or so and we don't even know if he is up to that. Pudge would be a nice insurance policy, probably the best available one at this point, and with his willingness to play other position he could possible fill in for A-Rod.