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Yankees 4, Red Sox 9: Shane Greene's implosion leads to an ominous September start

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Remember when the Yankees used to beat up on last place teams? That was fun.

Once upon a time, there were thoughts that this series at Yankee Stadium to kick off September between the Yankees and Red Sox could be a heated matchup to help decide the AL East title. Once it became clear that Boston was crashing straight through mediocrity to the putrid caverns of the division basement still haunted by Dewon Brazelton, it seemed like the Yankees should be able to take care of business against Boston.

We should know better than to put that much trust into the 2014 Yankees.

The tone for the game was set early on as it immediately became clear the rookie righty Shane Greene had nothing on the mound tonight. He entered tonight's action with 3.09 ERA and 3.54 FIP in 55 1/3 innings. The same guy left with a 3.88 ERA and 4.08 FIP. Yeah, it was that kind of night.

With one out in the first, Mookie Betts singled to left and Greene walked David Ortiz. Trade deadline acquisition Yoenis Cespedes was next up, and he laced a double to bring Betts home with the game's first run. Ortiz then scored as well when Mike Napoli lifted a sacrifice fly to center field. Greene then drilled Daniel Nava to load the bases, but he wiggled out of trouble by getting a called strike three on Will Middlebrooks. A rocky beginning to be sure, but ultimately a two-run deficit that could be overcome, especially after a quiet second inning.

Then, the third inning happened. Again, the rally started with one out and a single to left followed by a walk, this time by Cespedes and Napoli, respectively. This time, Nava got a pitch to hit, and he belted three-run homer over the wall in right field, giving Boston a commanding 5-0 lead. Greene was able to strike out Middlebrooks again, but Xander Bogaerts torched Greene again for a long solo homer of his own to right-center field. A walk to number nine hitter David Ross ended the awful night for Greene with his team trailing 6-0. He went 2 2/3 innings and gave up six hits, three walks, and six runs. A start like was going to come eventually for Greene; it's just unfortunate that it had to come now with the offense scuffling the way it has been.

The Yankees and Red Sox traded off runs over the next couple innings as Martin Prado and Betts both hit solo homers. Believe it or not, the Yanks actually had a chance to get back into the game in the fifth when Red Sox starter Joe Kelly began to really struggle. Carlos Beltran led off with a single to center and Brian McCann at last took advantage of the pull-focused defensive shift by dragging a bunt down the other way down the third base line for a hit. Prado followed with a high, arcing drive deep to left that hit off the left field wall, but Beltran misjudged it. He thought Cespedes might catch it, so he did not advance far off second, almost going back to tag just in case, then only advancing to third. Not paying any attention to Beltran, Prado never looked his way, and he got involved in a rundown between first and second trying to advance for a double that wasn't possible. Another day, another Yankees TOOTBLAN.

With some assistance from Kelly though, the Yankees still managed to score in the inning, as he issued back-to-back walks to Chase Headley and Francisco Cervelli to bring home a run. Jacoby Ellsbury lined out, but Derek Jeter beat out a slow roller to shortstop for a hit that scored the Yankees' third run (he was originally ruled out, but Girardi's replay challenge called him safe.) The bases were loaded with Brett Gardner coming to the plate as the tying run. With a hearty tip of the cap to home plate umpire Tim Timmons, Kelly got Gardner on a called strike three despite never actually throwing a single called strike in the at-bat! How neat!

Understandably, Gardner was peeved that Timmons utterly and completely blew the call, and while screaming at him, he threw his helmet down in frustration. That earned him an ejection, and with that went arguably the Yankees' best shot at threatening Boston's lead. Sigh.

The last four inning also happened, though nothing much of note occurred. The two teams traded garbage time runs, the Chaz Roe and Chris Young eras got off to unimpressive starts which won't featured on their respective Yankeeographies, and multiple bottles of beer mysteriously went missing from my fridge. Oh, and apparently the red-hot Prado got hurt because 2014 Yankees:

Huh. Would you look at that--more bottles are now missing from my fridge! I will have to look into it by asking the spinning resident down the hall what this is about.

If the Yankees continue playing like this in September, expect many more of those bottles to disappear, not to mention their quickly fading playoff hopes as well.

Hiroki Kuroda will try to bring some sanity back to Yankee Stadium tomorrow night while Red Sox rookie Anthony Ranaudo will pitch for Boston. Maybe the offense will show up for Kuro-hahahaha.

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Around the Empire: New York Yankees News - 9/3/14

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ESPN New York | Andrew Marchand: Joe Girardi believes that people need to stop picking on Derek Jeter because he isn't the only one struggling.

The New York Times | David Waldstein:Chase Headley now has a hit in every ballpark.

It's About the Money | Brad Vietrogoski: Mark Teixeira's injuries might be catching up to him and causing his latest offensive slide.

SB Nation | Marc Normandin: The Yankees are involved in one big mess of a playoff race this season.

New York Post | Ken Davidoff: If the Yankees want to have the best chance to win they have to limit Derek Jeter's playing time.

It's About the Money | Katie Sharp: Despite their mediocrity, the Yankees are on pace to make history with the 2013 and 2014 squads.

Baseball Prospectus | Tucker Blair: Dante Bichette ended the season on the right foot by showcasing his power potential.

Orioles announce Derek Jeter vomit bag giveaway for ESPN Sunday Night Baseball viewers

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Team partners with ESPN to appease fans about to be subjected to Jeter Farewell Tour

On the heels of the recent announcement that their September 14th game -- Derek Jeter's final game at Camden Yards -- would be broadcast nationally on ESPN, the Orioles announced a promotion believed to be the first of its kind.  The giveaway will be available only to fans not attending the contest -- a Derek Jeter vomit bag.

The barf bag will be available exclusively for pickup at the Camden Yards box office between now and the 14th, solely to fans who demonstrate that they do not have tickets to attend the game in person, and sign a statement pledging, against their better judgement, to watch the ESPN broadcast of the Derek Jeter Farewell Tour That May Or May Not Include A Baseball Game.

Although pictures were not available at press time, the vomit bag will be all-orange, with Jeter's face emblazoned on one side, and the ESPN logo and #RE2PECT hashtag on the other.

"We're excited to partner with ESPN to feature a strong first-place Orioles club on Sunday Night Baseball so close to the end of the season," stated club spokesman Max Power.  "And when ESPN uses the opportunity to completely ignore the actual sporting event taking place, and to feature highlights of a 40-year-old shortstop falling down over routine grounders and reaching base on dribblers down the line -- we appreciate their support in offering Orioles fans a way to continue enjoying the broadcast without running for the nearest toilet."

ESPN PR chief Santos L. Halper added, "As we cling to our desperate but fading hopes of the Yankees making the playoffs, we wanted a chance to appease the fans of the dominant first-place club that we plan to completely ignore and/or disparage for the four hours that this Sunday night contest will inevitably last."

"And if a major event involving Jeter occurs, like a routine single during a game with a wide run margin," Halper went on, "We definitely plan to focus on that minor event above anything actually pivotal to the outcome of the contest in question.  We hope these ESPN/#RE2PECT vomit bags make that easier to ignore for all of the fans of whichever team this is that Jeter is playing."

Information was not available at press time on the dimensions or material of the vomit bags, but Power pledged that they would hold at least the standard amount of vomit typically generated by a human subjected to an aging player's tacky farewell tour, and the broadcasters who swallow it hook, line and sinker for the sake of ratings.  Halper additionally pledged ESPN's support of a similar giveaway during the ALDS, at which time the network plans to play Jeter montages and rebroadcast the Maier-assisted home run at least once per game even if the Orioles square off against the Royals.

Jeter declined comment for this article.


Stephen Drew isn't as bad as he looks

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Stephen Drew hasn't hit a lick since joining the Yankees, but is a good bet to turn things around in September.

Stephen Drew is having a terrible season with the bat. When the Yankees acquired the 31-year-old from the Red Sox at the trade deadline, he was hitting a meager .176/.255/.328 through 39 games. That's about as bad as it gets for a major league hitter, but Drew's still managed to outdo himself by slashing a pitcher-esque .153/.225/.306 since donning the pinstripes. Drew's always been more of a glove-first player, but up until recently, was a non-zero with the stick as well. Heading into the year, Drew had a career 97 wRC+ to his name, and was coming off of an impressive 109 wRC+ in 2013. He was essentially a league-average bat, but ever since the 2013 playoffs rolled around, Drew has just stopped hitting. By itself, his .111/.140/.204 playoff performance wasn't anything to think twice about -- it was a sample of just 16 games, after all -- but held next to Drew's proceeding 62 games, it starts looking like something more than just random variation.

So what's changed between this year and last? Peaking under the hood of Drew's offensive performance, we see some encouraging signs. Most of Drew's struggles have been fueled by a poor BABIP -- which can be wildly fluky in small samples, while his other peripheral numbers haven't changed much. Sure, they're all trending in the wrong direction, but these same trends are afflicting nearly every hitter in baseball. More than anything, Drew's change in performance boils down to what's been happening on balls put in play. Last year, 32% of balls in play went for hits, compared to 20% this season -- including just 17% with the Yankees.

Drew
Now, BABIP can be random, but isn't entirely out of a hitter's control, as harder-hit balls have an undeniably better chance of falling for hits. Anecdotally speaking, it seems like Drew's hit an awful lot of weak fly balls since joining the Yankees, so it could very well be that he's just not barreling the ball. Even so, it's hard to buy a sub-.200 BABIP from a guy who's cleared the .300 mark more often than not over the course of his career, especially following his .320 mark from last season. Bad luck is a big part of what's going on here, as Drew's hits just aren't finding holes.

It's pretty obvious that Drew's not the same hitter who put up a 109 wRC+ in 2013, but he's also much better than his 2014 stat line indicates. He's not in the lineup for his bat, so even if he hits something like .220/.300/.370 the rest of the way, his plus defense still makes him a useful player; and his numbers from the not-so-distant past allude that he could even be significantly better than that.

Statistics courtesy of Fangraphs.

PSA Comments of the Day 9/3/14: Close to the edge

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The Yankees are a few more losses away from having to officially tap out for the season. If they have any hopes of making the playoffs, they cannot lose to teams as bad as the Red Sox. Kuroda pitches tonight.

Comment of the Game

Sometimes the first comment of the game winds up being the actual COTG winner. Rorschach's usual hilarity is proof of that yesterday.

Best GIF of the Recap

Blanky's appropriate use of Victor in yesterday's recap wins the BGOTR award, not only for it's timely humor but for starting a chain of sad Victor GIFs. Bravo.

Honorable Mod Mention

Michael Brown definitely was honorable with his defense of Giancarlo Stanton. Or it was a light jab for a previous discussion during the day. Either way, he wins the HMM.

Best Comments of the Day

With yesterday's discussion of the farm and the September call ups, we had a few COTD winners.

The first winner was LTL, congratulating and mourning the passing of the Baby Bombers Recap for 2014. Happily, Tanya & Andrew are going to do a level to level recap of the minors in the future. Stay tuned.

Strangelove123 is our next COTD winner, also mentioning the farm and how well they did this year.

Finally, BG90027 is our final COTD winner of the day, breaking down some of the potential logic and reasoning behind some of the moves the Yankees made and didn't make.

Fun Questions

  • Have you officially given up on the Yankees season yet, or does hope still reside inside of you?
  • Is it too hot outside right now?
Song of the Day

Close to the Edge by Yes

It's a long listen, if you're interested. As always, link us your Song of the Day!

No other way to say it. It's now September and the Yankees cannot afford to lose games to teams as bad as the Red Sox. Hiroki Kuroda takes the mound in game two of this three game series. Win.

go yankees go baseball

Best teams at taking the platoon advantage

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We know the importance of getting the platoon advantage. Which teams are getting it most often?

Over and over we hear about the importance of the platoon advantage. On offense a team wants to get as many plate appearances as possible to be a confrontation between opposite-handed opponents (e.g., left-handed batters against right-handed pitchers). On defense you want to avoid this situation as often as possible, instead aiming for plate appearances to be a confrontation between same-handed opponents (e.g., left-handed batters against left-handed pitchers). It is a consistent struggle, and is likely the primary factor influencing differences in day-to-day lineups, late game pitching changes, and corresponding calls for a pinch hitters. So, on the offensive side of things, how often are teams managing to gain this advantage?

Here I am going to look at the percentage of plate appearances that each team was with or without the platoon advantage. These data do not exclude any plate appearances and are not park or league adjusted. Switch-hitters are included. Hitters with large, small, or reverse-splits are lumped together, and no distinction is made between plate appearances against starters or plate appearances against relievers. Data are through Monday's games. Here they are:

NumTeamTotal PA% With% WithoutDifference
1CLE524574.9925.0149.98
2NYY511072.2927.7144.58
3OAK530771.5328.4743.06
4TOR519768.4031.6036.80
5SDP496067.6232.3835.24
6SEA503865.4434.5630.88
7PHI529664.9935.0129.98
8HOU515961.5238.4823.04
9SFG518660.5739.4321.14
10MIN528358.8141.1917.62
11CHC521057.0442.9614.08
12CIN510353.0146.996.02
13TBR531652.9547.055.90
14LAA529352.7747.235.54
15NYM523652.3147.694.62
16BOS528351.7948.213.58
17WSN521751.7748.233.54
18CHW515750.7749.231.54
19STL515350.7549.251.50
20ARI518349.2450.76-1.52
21KCR513048.6751.33-2.66
22TEX512148.4351.57-3.14
23PIT526647.8052.20-4.40
24DET526546.6353.37-6.74
25LAD525646.2553.75-7.50
26COL522946.1353.87-7.74
27BAL515745.9654.04-8.08
28MIA524145.6454.36-8.72
29ATL521443.2156.79-13.58
30MIL513238.8261.18-22.36

Avg.54.8745.139.74

It might be surprising to find the Indians and the Yankees at the top of the list. They have the platoon advantage in ~75% of their plate appearances. A closer look at the typical lineups of these teams reveals that this advantage comes as a function of their using lineups that feature many left-handed hitters in a league comprised of mostly right-handed starters. Cleveland has given 68.6% of all their plate appearances to left handed batters, and the Yankees have had a lefty hitting in 65.6%; league average is 44.3%. The other end of this spectrum is the Brewers who use a righty-heavy lineup (just 18.5% of plate appearances have gone to left-handed batters). As a result they are rarely gaining the platoon advantage. The Athletics, a team heralded for their use of platoons, find themselves near the top of the list. This is likely more by design and a result of roster flexibility than a function of playing a lefty-heavy lineup.

So the next question we can ask is whether the percentage of plate appearances a team has with the platoon advantage relates to run scoring. Correlating this measure with runs scored per game reveals that there is not much of a relation (r2 = 0.006). I did not expect the relation to be overwhelming but it being basically non-existent was not something that I considered. Perhaps it is just a matter a small sample size. To check I collected the percentage platoon PA, and runs scored per game data for each team's 2009 - 2013 seasons and re-ran the correlation (including the 2014 data). The relation is even smaller (r2 = 0.001). This could be a result of many things. For example, lumping many different player types together and dividing them into two broad categories (against same- or opposite-handed pitching) will make it harder to detect any signal amongst the noise.

Another important aspect to consider is that while the platoon advantage is an advantage it is not everything. Poor players/teams can (and likely will) perform poorly, even with the advantage. Looking back to the 2014 data we can see this by incorporating wRC+ and wOBA into the picture. Of the top 10 teams in %with from the table above we find that 5 have an above average wRC+ (i.e., >100) and 5 are below average. Oh and how about their ranks in runs scored per game?

NumTeam% WithwRC+R/G Rank
1CLE74.9910410
2NYY72.299322
3OAK71.531052
4TOR68.401056
5SDP67.628130
6SEA65.449120
7PHI64.998819
8HOU61.529717
9SFG60.5710113
10MIN58.811005

The ranks are all over the place. The Padres might be enjoying the platoon advantage in the majority of their plate appearances, but they are just bad. To further this point, below I have given the team's overall wOBA this season, wOBA with and without the platoon advantage and the observed wOBA performance split for reference. Each of the wOBA values was calculated using the weights given on the FanGraphs guts page.

NumTeam% WithwOBAwOBA withwOBA without% Split
1CLE74.990.3170.3250.28612.30
2NYY72.290.3080.3100.3022.60
3OAK71.530.3180.3270.3008.49
4TOR68.400.3270.3310.3164.59
5SDP67.620.2830.2920.26011.31
6SEA65.440.3000.3120.27612.00
7PHI64.990.2990.3090.2829.03
8HOU61.520.3090.3120.3071.62
9SFG60.570.3090.3090.3090.00
10MIN58.810.3150.3130.317-1.27
11CHC57.040.3030.3140.2869.24
12CIN53.010.2960.2980.2893.04
13TBR52.950.3080.3370.27420.45
14LAA52.770.3210.3230.3210.62
15NYM52.310.2940.3120.27412.93
16BOS51.790.3030.3150.2946.93
17WSN51.770.3160.3240.3056.01
18CHW50.770.3160.3330.30110.13
19STL50.750.3110.3180.3005.79
20ARI49.240.3030.3220.28213.20
21KCR48.670.3060.3120.3013.59
22TEX48.430.3050.3250.28612.79
23PIT47.80.3220.3270.3163.42
24DET46.630.3310.3430.3255.44
25LAD46.250.3190.3220.3152.19
26COL46.130.3330.3650.30518.02
27BAL45.960.3220.3230.3220.31
28MIA45.640.3090.3220.2987.77
29ATL43.210.3020.3330.27818.21
30MIL38.820.3170.3240.3104.42

Sorry to pick on the Padres again, but even their .292 wOBA with the advantage, which they have often, is simply not going to get it done. They are fortunate to have taken the majority of their PAs with the platoon advantage or their run scoring numbers would be even more dismal. You still need productive players. Surprise! This is something that the Athletics have done things well. Not only have they ensured they will have the advantage in most of their plate appearances but they also had players in those plate appearances that performed. The combination of these things has lead to their solid offensive season.

So at the end of all this what can we take away? Going into this analysis I will admit I expected more of a relation to be evident between a team's percentage of PAs with the platoon advantage and their runs scored. Perhaps that was naïve. But it was part of my exploration of this concept. Regardless, we now have an idea of which teams have been taking the platoon advantage most often, for 2014 anyway. Yet, as shown, we also know that gaining the advantage frequently is not a magic elixir that will make a team a scoring machine.

. . .

All statistics courtesy of FanGraphs and Baseball-Reference.

Chris Teeter is a Featured Writer at Beyond the Box Score. You can follow him on Twitter at @c_mcgeets.

Who are the Yankees' September call-ups?

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A quick rundown of each minor leaguer the Yankees called up for the stretch run.

Yesterday afternoon before the ugly Yankees/Red Sox game, the Yankees announced which minor leaguers would be coming up to the big league squad to join them in September. The list featured some familiar names, some recently acquired veterans, and few who are likely to be factors beyond 2014. Such is the nature of September call-ups; the excitement brought by a hot prospect like Jesus Montero in 2011 does not come around very often.

There's no Jacob Lindgren, who was running up against an innings limit, nor is there Rob Refsnyder, who the Yankees would rather see already beginning his off-season workouts to possibly compete for the Opening Day second base job next year. Thus, none of these names are very enthralling. Nonetheless, there's always an off-chance that someone could be recalled and stun everyone the way Shane Spencer did in 1998, however unlikely that might be. Here are the Yankees' eight September call-ups for 2014:

John Ryan Murphy

The defensively savvy catcher made his MLB debut as a September call-up last year after a sensational minor league season in which he kept hitting between Double-A Trenton and Triple-Scranton, posting a .269/.347/.426 triple slash in 110 games. He reclaimed his prospect status really made a great impression, and that's why he was called up earlier in the season instead of fellow Scranton catcher Austin Romine when Francisco Cervelli went down with a hamstring injury in April. Murphy got off to a hot start upon his call-up and even hit his first big-league homer. However, he slumped before long and when he was sent down after Cervelli returned to health, his MLB triple slash was .286/.308/.365 in 24 games, a shaky 86 wRC+.

Murphy never really got into a groove with Scranton during his time in the minors and actually matched that 86 wRC+ with a disappointing .246/.292/.397 triple slash in 51 games in Scranton. He also missed about a week and a half due to a likely concussion in August. Murphy's thrilling 2013 still makes people excited about his future, even with Brian McCann in front of him on the big league roster. Again, they recalled him over Romine, so the Yankees still like him. Since he's only 23 and already an acclaimed backstop, it's hard to say people are wrong for their optimism.

Bryan Mitchell

The 23-year-old with a dynamic repertoire had a very weird season. He started off in Trenton, where in 14 games he continued his frustrating pattern of high walk rates (4.3 BB/9) and ERA (4.84) despite intriguing strikeout totals (8.8 K/9). Upon a midseason promotion to Scranton though, something clicked, and the righty starter pitched better for the rest of the season, cutting his walk rate to 3.5 BB/9 and ERA to 3.67 in nine games. After a couple brief cameos on the big league roster without actually appearing in a game, Mitchell at last made his MLB debut on August 10th, pitching two scoreless innings without allowing a hit and striking out two in the process. That was his only big league appearance this year, but it would not be surprising to see the Yankees try him out in more situations in September, albeit in relief.

Chris Young

Well that got less exciting in a hurry. An All-Star in 2010 with the Diamondbacks, the position player version of Chris Young has struggled since leaving Arizona in 2012. He only hit .200/.280/.379 with 12 homers and an 83 wRC+ with the Athletics in 2013, and after being signed by the Mets to a one-year, $7.2 million deal for 2014, he slumped some more with a .205/.283/.346 and an 80 wRC+. He was ultimately cut in mid-August, and the Yankees took a flyer on him in hopes that he could bounce back as a reserve outfielder for them. He's off to an inauspicious debut after striking out on three pitches last night. Huzzah.

Chase Whitley

Whitley's no stranger to the 2014 Yankees. The 25-year-old righty got off to a rousing start with the Yanks, pitching to a surprising 2.56 ERA in his first seven starts with the Yankees after being recalled from Scranton to provide rotation help. However, a middling repertoire combined with likely fatigue after playing a full season in the rotation for the first time in his professional career led to his demise. Since the middle of June, his ERA is an unsightly 9.20 with a .385/.433/.646 against in 12 games (seven out of the 'pen). He was better in 10 minor leagues games with Scranton, pitching to a 2.01 ERA and 1.76 FIP, but hoping for much more than mop-up work for Whitley would probably not be the best idea.

Preston Claiborne

Well, the first half of 2013 was fun for Claiborne anyway. Like Whitley this year, he got off to an impressive start, though out of the bullpen, and he hit a wall once the league figured him out. He hasn't been much better in 15 big league games this year, and in 20 1/3 Scranton innings, he has a 3.54 ERA and 3.01 FIP. That's not bad, and on the surface, his 3.57 ERA and 3.81 FIP in the majors don't appear to be ugly. However, watching him pitch has been like walking on eggshells this year. It does not seem like he's a major league reliever, and that's why he didn't even make the Opening Day roster. Use with caution.

Antoan Richardson

A 30-year-old minor leaguer with just nine career MLB games is not exactly exciting, even though he did hit .271/.380/.364 with a 114 wRC+ in Triple-A that is basically identical to the 117 wRC+ of Jose Pirela that some fans were clamoring for. Like Pirela though, Richardson doesn't really impress scouts. He does have good speed on the bases with 26 steals on the year for Scranton and just one caught stealing. Expect to see him as a pinch-runner. Is he better than Zoilo Almonte, who was one of the players cut to bring this slew of minor leaguers up? Probably not, but oh well. Zoilo's not worth losing sleep over since neither his MLB statistics (39 career wRC+ in 149 PA) or scouting reports indicate that he'll be very relevant as a major leaguer despite nice minor league numbers.

Rich Hill

Hill barely counts as a September call-up since he was just with the MLB team about a week ago before getting sent down in favor of Josh Outman, another LOOGY. Hill is a 34-year-old lefty reliever who has hung around for parts of 10 big league seasons, though never really impressing thanks to a career 4.72 ERA (106 ERA-) and 4.44 FIP (FIP-). He was a starter until the 2010 season, when he was moved to the bullpen, and he's stayed there since. Unfortunately for him, he's been so unimpressive that he's only had a chance to spend a full season at the big league level once since then, and in that year (last season with the Indians), he was rocked for a 6.28 ERA and 3.82 FIP in 63 games (38 2/3 innings). Lefties have only hit .212/.338/.337 in their career against him though, so that's why he's here. With some luck, he won't pitch much.

Chaz Roe

The Yankees just traded for Roe from the Marlins. Here's what Caitlin had to say:

Since being drafted in 2005, Roe has only broken into the majors once, last season with the Diamondbacks. During that brief stint, he he posted a 4.03 ERA, 3.68 xFIP and 9.67 K/9 through 22.1 IP. He spent all of this season with the Marlin's Triple-A team, where he's had a good season. Through 64 IP, Roe has a 1.16 WHIP, 3.66 ERA, 10.13 K/9, 2.95 BB/9 and 0.70 HR/9.

Since he's a 27-year-old career minor leaguer though, it's not surprising that he was hit around by the Red Sox last night in his Yankees debut, even though Yoenis Cespedes's triple was not exactly a line drive. Still, it's best not to expect much from him.

***

There's a good chance that none of these guys will end up making a huge difference in the Yankees' future. Regardless, the few exciting young players like Murphy and Mitchell could at least be people to watch both right now (sparingly) and perhaps in the next couple years as well. Baseball is a crazy game. You never know when an exciting career is beginning before your very eyes.

The Antoan Richardson Era has begun. Welcome to the next generation and good luck on the end-of-year team Sporcle quiz.

Who would the Yankees start in a hypothetical one-game playoff?

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Win or go home: who gets the ball?

Somehow, someway, as I am writing this, the New York Yankees are still in playoff contention, and currently sit within striking distance of the second wildcard slot. The winner of the second wildcard will start on the road against the team that does not win the AL West. So, the Yankees will either have to go up against the Oakland Athletics, and what I assume would be Jon Lester, or the California/Los Angeles/Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim/the team with Mike Trout, and what would most likely be Jered Weaver. It would have been Garrett Richards if the injury bug didn't get him.

The question is, if the Yankees pull this off and sneak into that dreaded one-game playoff, who gets the ball. A few weeks into the season, Masahiro Tanaka would have been the hands down favorite to take the ball, but he is still rehabbing and trying his best to avoid the very popular Tommy John surgery. If Tanaka indeed returns and shows the Yankees that he is still as dominant as he was in the first half, do the Yankees give him the ball? Tanaka did beat Oakland earlier in the year, going six innings of one-run ball. We know Tanaka is going to give it all he has, which might be a risk given the fact that he once threw 160 pitches in a start during the Japan Series, only to come back the next day and throw 15 more for a save–if given the ball, he's not coming out. If Tanaka is 100% healthy, though, he might be the best bet.

How about Michael Pineda? His stuff might be just as filthy as Tanaka, and since returning from the disabled list, he's been just as good as he was in the first half. However, Pineda has never pitched in any big game, so would the pressure be too much? When on, Pineda can be unhittable, so perhaps he would be able to get the job done against a Mike Trout or that pesky Oakland lineup.

One pitcher that Joe would think long and hard about, and maybe even be the one he chooses because of that "veteran presence" that he loves so much, is Hiroki Kuroda. Kuroda fared better against the Angels earlier in the year, than he did against Oakland where he didn't make it through five innings. Kuroda would keep you in the game, which is the least you can ask for, but in a one game playoff, where anything can happen, you need a dominating performance, and I don't know if Kuroda can do that this late in the year.

Brandon McCarthy is an interesting choice, but would probably not be the first choice for a win-or-go-home game. Aside from that minor hiccup in Detroit, McCarthy has pitched very well since coming from Arizona, and it would be interesting to see what he would do under that pressure. Shane Greene, anyone? Could be a fan favorite because of his youth and the incredibly nasty stuff he has, but let's be honest, Girardi wouldn't put Greene under that pressure. I mean, this kid forgot how to throw to first base in his first start ever in the Bronx, so I don't know if I would want to see him forget how to pitch in a playoff game.

If you were Joe Girardi, and the Binder was set on fire, who would you start with the season on the line?


Yankees lineup vs. Red Sox - Martin Prado day-to-day with mild hamstring strain

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Cause why not?

You don't need me to tell you that the Yankees are currently in a bad way. They trail Baltimore by 9.5 games for the division, and sit five games back of the second wild card. To make the playoffs, they'd have to outplay the Indians, Mariners, and Tigers the rest of the way. That's with the majority of their games coming against fellow AL East teams, which have given them fits all season. Losing to the last place Red Sox last night in embarrassing fashion was not the way to kick off September if the Yankees hope to make any kind of noise down the stretch. Losing any series at this point would be pretty much nailing their postseason coffin shut. To avoid that, they'll have to find a way to win tonight.

Martin Prado is missing from the lineup after exiting last night's game with an injury. He has been diagnosed with a mild hamstring strain and is considered day-to-day. Joe Girardi hopes that Prado will be able to return in a couple days. With the offense sputtering and Prado's bat being one of the few hot ones as of late, the team will certainly have to hope it doesn't turn into a longer absence. Ichiro Suzuki takes over in right field without Prado while the rest of the lineup remains pretty untouched.

Editor's Note: SB Nation's partner FanDuel is hosting a one-day $18,000 Fantasy Baseball league for tonight's MLB games. It's $2 to join and first prize is $2,000. Jump in now. Here's the FanDuel link.

Tampa Bay Rays MiLB Post-Season Awards

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Welcome to post-season awards time.

The fact that I went with Rays MiLB awards was due to a decision to focus more on the Rays organization as 2014 began. Maybe you noticed, maybe you didn’t, but the season began with me doing International League coverage, with a special weekly column included that was called ‘Hitting The Bull’. Due to some personal issues, I returned back east from Durham, where I’d relocated. So that hasn’t panned out as planned. However, my plan is to go back, continue a Rays-Bulls focus, and hopefully you’ll see that in 2015. However, I’ve continued, and will continue, to contribute Rays prospect coverage and analysis, as I have for the past few months.

With that out of the way, here’s how this worked. In each category, they’re ranked accordingly, in order, with four players and pitchers, plus those that made a mark, but missed making the final four. There are three top relievers.

This is also going to be done in two parts. The second part will be just for short-season and rookie league, which I decided to compile separately. Due to limited playing time, it didn’t make sense comparatively when narrowing the best players, while excluding them seemed unfair. So they’re represented apart from full-season players; putting them against each other statistically made sense. That’ll run in the next day or two.

It’s important to clarify that this is mostly statistically-based. I’ve seen many of the players on this list perform, but only a few of them in 2014, and many of them in 2012-2013. That’s not how I normally decide any post-season awards. Last season I ran post-season awards on my blog for the New York Penn League, after covering almost all of the Brooklyn Cyclones and Staten Island Yankees home games, and covered every team’s players multiple times.When covering the Eastern League, those awards were compiled the same. Seeing players in person is preferable in deciding awards. But it’s always a combination of seeing and stats. This just relies on the latter.

These are the best of the best in the Rays organization for 2014, as decided solely by yours truly.

Player of the Year

#1 Mikie Mahtook– The centerfielder led the Durham Bulls in a number of offensive categories, in the team’s quest to ‘Keep The Cup’. Mahtook impressively advanced to Triple-A in his third year of professional baseball, with one full season in Double-A in 2013, and consistently contributed all season. Playing the most games of any player on the team (131), he led in hits (143) and RBI (68). Of any player that was with the Bulls for the entire season he led in AVG (.294) and OPS (.825) (Note: Brandon Guyer and Kevin Kiermaier led in those categories to end the season, but played in just five games before being called up by the Rays, Kiermaier played just 35, after also being called up) Mahtook’s 224 total bases also led the club and was 5th overall in hits in the International League, and 4th in the league in total bases (224). Mahtook kept his average up throughout the season, a plus, but he actually struck out more than last year (135 compared to 102 in 2013). That’s the one area that made the final decision difficult. But the Rays 2011 1st round pick showed solid improvement in 2014, and for a team that struggled at the plate, he was the star of the lineup.

#2 Johnny Field– Splitting time between Bowling Green and Charlotte, the centerfielder hit .300/.367/.461 and his .943 OPS led the Stone Crabs. He committed just 2 errors all season, playing in 82 games for the Hot Rods and 40 for the Stone Crabs. He led the Hot Rods in OBP (.367) and was 2nd in SLG (.461). He finished the season still leading the Florida State League in batting average (.320). He had 14 hits through ten games starting mid-April, hitting safely in five straight games, with 8 hits, and 7 walks in that span. In 25 games in August, Field had 32 hits, 9 for extra base hits, 13 RBI, and 9 walks. He showed off the wheels, using his impressive speed to lead the Hot Rods in stolen bases (18). Drafted by the Rays in 5th round out of the University of Arizona in 2013, Field has as-mentioned speed and power, and this season, the 22-year-old made his name in the Rays organization.Similar to Mahtook, 2015 could prove to be an important year in his development.

#3 Justin Christian– Christian has been in the game for a long time, continuing to be a contributor at the age of 34. Marking his 10th year of professional baseball, he was a consistent part of the Durham Bulls lineup. He led the team in extra base hits (36), runs scored (66), was second in hits ( 123), games played (126), and total bases (194). He struck out just 71 times. Christian has always been a solid defender, and this year he committed just 1 error in left field. When you watch him, you see a player that knows himself as a hitter. Christian has seen major league time throughout his career, and while he may not play for much longer, if he went out now, it’d be on a very high note.

#4 Kean Wong- Wong has been a model of consistency for the Bowling Green Hot Rods. He finished the season 2nd in the league in batting average (.306), and led the team in hits with 129 in 422 at-bats, 106 games played. He was 2nd to Field in runs scored (56) and 3rd in total bases (156). He put together a nine-game hitting streak in April, with 16 hits, 5 of them multi-hit games , including 3 in back-to-back games. He got another hit streak going in May, hitting safely in 8 games. The second baseman was named a Midwest League Post-Season All-Star.

Must-Mention… Ryan Brett, Julian Ridings, Taylor Motter. Curt Casali, Ryan Brett, Cameron Seitzer, Jake Hager, Willie Argo, Thomas Coyle, Patrick Leonard, Willy Adames

Pitcher of the Year:

#1Chris Kirsch–Kirsch struggled some in April, but after that, he locked in, rarely missing a step in 2014. Each start for the Bowling Green Hot Rods showcased a pitcher ended 2013 more polished and confident.He put it all together in a big way this year. He allowed just 5 earned runs in 10 GSbetween June 13th and August 12th, and he was no victim of the long ball. Through 13 starts in July and August he didn’t allow a home run. After a rough pair of starts in April, in which he allowed 12 earned runs in two starts, he lowered his ERA each month, except August: May, 2.23; June,1.93; July, 1.15. He finished August with a 3.43 ERA, with two difficult outings and got tagged for the loss in both. The 2012 14TH rounder suffered at times due to struggling offense.In June, though 4 games started, he didn’t earn a win despite allowing just 5 earned runs. He finished the season leading Hot Rods pitchers in IP (133.2) and games started (24), and had the 5th lowest ERA in the Midwest League (2.83). Kirsch, a big lefty out of Lackawanna College, scrapped his curveball a couple of seasons ago, in favor of the slider. While he struggled to get comfortable with those changes in 2013, he exhibited improved command later on, carrying that into 2014. If you didn’t pay attention to him before 2014 Rays fans, turn your radar on.

#2Jacob Faria - Faria led Bowling Green with outstanding pitching all through April, keeping his ERA to 1.98 during a two-week losing streak that plagued the Hot Rods. Through 5 starts that month, he allowed just 6 earned runs, and walked only 3 batters in 27 innings of work. In his first five starts, he lowered his WHIP to 0.77. He struggled more in May, but lowered his ERA & WHIP in June (3.57/1.08). On June 12th, he struck out a season-high 9 batters, and ended the season leading the team in strikeouts, with 107. Faria was a huge part of the reason the Hot Rods were able to stay competitive, showing he was capable of pitching deep and, like Kirsch, giving them a chance to win every time he was on the hill.

#3Matt Andriese - All Andriese did was eat innings this season. Leading the team in innings pitched (162), he gave the team a reliable arm on their road to the playoffs. Andriese 1.24 WHIP was the lowest of all starters, and through 27 starts he struck out 129 batters (2nd to Nate Karns 153). He surrendered only 2 home runs in May and August, however, he led the team in home runs allowed (18). In his final outing of May, he didn’t allow a run through 7 IP, and in his next four starts allowed just 4 earned runs in 26.2 innings. He finished July with 29 strikeouts, with hitters averaging .269 off of him.Andriese allowed a lot of opportunity for teams to take advantage, but he tended to work in and out of trouble, and with a fastball clocked in the low-to-mid 90’s, he’s able to use deception and power to get guys out. At this point, he gives the Rays depth that they can surely use.

#4Austin Pruitt -Pruitt led the Charlotte Stone Crabs in innings (147) and strikeouts (106), making 25 starts (tied for 1st with Reinaldo Lopez). His 1.19 WHIP was the lowest of all Charlotte starters, and his 61 earned runs was also lowest among team starters. He was 10th overall in the Florida State League in strikeouts and 5th in innings pitched. The Stone Crabs were 4th in the league in walks allowed (449), but that wasn’t a problem for the righty; he walked just 35 batters, giving up only five in August through six starts. He struck out a season high nine batters in June, and nearly matched that three starts later with 8 strikeouts. Pruitt tended to have a lot of base runners per game, but in August, when he gave up a season high 33 hits, he only allowed 12 earned runs, and the least amount of walks (5) of any month of the season. For a guy who made his professional debut in 2013, splitting time between Short-A Hudson Valley and Class-A Bowling Green, this was an impressive jump, with solid results.

Must-Mentions:Jaime Schultz, Mike Montgomery, German Marquez, Mike Colla, Dylan Floro, Nate Karns, Enny Romero, Merrill Kelly

Team of the Year:

Hudson Valley Renegades- The Renegades are in the playoffs again after winning the McNamara Division of the New York Penn League with a 46-30 record. The excellent balance on the roster from top to bottom was evident throughout the season. Renegades pitchers carried the lowest WHIP in the league (1.16), allowing the least amount of walks (175), and tied for 2nd in saves with State College (22). Offensively they were 2nd in the league in triples (30), 3rd in OBP (.323), and led in stolen bases (106). The team struggled in August after the All-Star break, and went 3-7 in their last ten games of the season. But they’d played so strong early on, that it didn’t matter. They finished with the 3rd best record in the league and the best home record (25-12). In games where they scored first, the team was 33-7. The last time the Renegades made the playoffs, in 2012, they were led by a similarly evenly balanced club. And like that team, if the pitching is anywhere near what it's been all season, the Renegades have a strong chance of taking the title.

Must-Mentions: The Durham Bulls were a close second, achieving a playoffs berth for the 7th time in eight years. Charlie Montoya, in his 8th year at the helm of the club, became the winningest manager in Bulls history (614). The Bulls led the International League in saves (49) and strikeouts (1220). They went 18-9 to start April, and finished the season 75-69.

Reliever of the Year

#1 Adam Liberatore– Liberatore led all Bulls relievers in innings pitched (65), wins (6), and strikeouts (86), finishing the season with a 0.86 WHIP. He gave up the most hits of the team’s relievers (43), but allowed just 12 earned runs. He gave up just 15 walks all season, and didn’t allow one free pass in his final 8 appearances of the season. Through 10 games between April 23rd and May 16th, he didn’t allow an earned run. He was absolutely on fire in August, picking up 4 saves in 4 opportunities, earned 2 wins, allowing just 1 earned run, 1 walk, and finishing with a 0.52 ERA in 13 games, and 17 innings pitched. He deserves more notice than he gets after that outstanding run.

#2 Colton Reavis – Through 45 innings of relief work for the Bowling Green Hot Rods, the Northwood, Texas product struck out 55 batters, and led the team in saves (7) through 27 appearances. After being promoted to the Charlotte Stone Crabs, he also notched 7 saves in 15 games. He allowed just 1 walk and 1 earned run, picking up win and 2 saves in July, finishing August with a 0.84 WHIP and 6 saves in 10 appearances. He didn’t walk a batter in June through 8 appearances. He’s among the players that have been selected by the Rays to participate in the Arizona Fall League.

#3 Josh Kimborowicz – The righty spent most of the 2014 season with the Hudson Valley Renegades, making 34 appearances, walking just 7 batters in 24 innings pitched. He notched 29 strikeouts and posted a 0.91 WHIP. In August, with the Hot Rods, he earned 2 saves in 2 opportunities, dropping his WHIP to 0.76, striking out 16 in 18 innings pitched.

Must-Mentions… CJ Riefenhauser, Brad Schreiber, Stone Speer, Jeff Beliveau, Josh Lueke, Kirby Yates

Yankees 5, Red Sox 1: Kuroda and McCann team up to bring victory and start the winning streak

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An excellent seven frames from HIROK and a 4-4 day for Brian McCann put the Yankees back in the win column against the cellar dwellers from Massachusetts.

Hiroki Kuroda looked to pick up the Yankees after a night to forget on Tuesday. He was opposed by Red Sox youngster and local boy Anthony Ranaudo. It was a win from pillar to post for the Yankees who overcame some more silly baserunning errors to notch a pretty easy victory.

After the Red Sox went quietly in the first, the Yankees set themselves up for a nice inning. A Derek Jeter single was followed by a perfect Brett Gardner bunt hit. But because the Yankees still had an empty space on "Stupid Things Done to Not Score Bingo", they executed the world's worst double steal that got Jeter thrown out at third and Gardner at second as they both managed to get caught in their own rundowns. It was quite impressive in its awfulness. Things would turn out much better in the second as Brian McCann hit a seed into the second deck with Mark Teixeira aboard to grant the Yankees a 2-0 lead.

It was easy going for both pitchers until the bottom of the fifth. The Yankees loaded the bases with one out against Ranaudo for Jacoby Ellsbury who managed not to RISP-fail by hitting a flyball far enough that Chase Headley was able to score from third to make it three to zilch for the Yankees. Kuroda was rolling along with virtually no resistance until the sixth when he hit Jemile Weeks and allowed a long double to Brock Holt that Gardner badly misplayed. The lead had been cut to two.

The Yankees got that precious run back in the bottom of the seventh. A triple to deep center by Ellsbury was followed by a Jeter walk. Gardner brought in Ellsbury with a single through the drawn-in Red Sox infield. Carlos Beltran grounded into a fielder's choice and then Mark Teixeira walked. This brought up McCann again as he notched his fourth hit of the night, scoring Jeter. It was not all fun however, as possible blind person Rob Thomson inexplicably sent the speed-impaired Beltran home even though he hadn't even touched third by the time Daniel Nava was up and throwing home. Needless to say Beltran was out by a country mile and Thomson had once again endeared himself to us with an awful send. 5-1 Yankees.

"Don't give me that card, Carlos."

That would be all that was required, with Kuroda having finished seven lovely innings and being relieved by Dellin Betances in the eighth and David Robertson in the ninth. No muss, no fuss and a win to keep the Yankees one more game away from extinction. It looks like Kuroda is doing the opposite of his late season collapse from 2013, which is certainly fortunate for a team barely clinging to its playoff lives.

The Yankees and Red Sox conclude their three game set tomorrow at 7:05. Brandon Workman and Chris Capuano are your probables.

Box Score

Yankees deny reported plans to retire Derek Jeter's number

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After reports broke that the Yankees are planning to retire Derek Jeter's No. 2 on Sunday, the Yankees themselves refuted the claims.

Although the Yankees were reportedly planning on retiring Derek Jeter's No. 2 in a ceremony honoring the shortstop, the club itself denied the reports Wednesday night, according to ESPNNewYork's Andrew Marchand.

Yankees PR director Jason Zillo called the reports "inaccurate and fabricated," telling reporters the team had no such plans.

Jeter would be the 19th player whose number the Yankees have retired, a list that includes a bevy of Hall of Famers.

But per Marchand, the Yankees have no plans to retire Jeter's number yet, even after the club retired Mariano Rivera's No. 42 in a ceremony honoring their former closer last September. Jeter, of course, has gone through a similar season-long farewell tour to the one that Rivera enjoyed last season prior to retiring.

The Yankees do plan to wear a patch on their uniform beginning Sunday through the end of the season commemorating Jeter's final campaign. Other planned highlights include a retrospective on Jeter's career, a Q&A with Hall of Fame shortstop Ernie Banks, recollections from Jeter's parents and a four-panel centerpiece with a visual retelling of the shortstop's career highlights.

It appears, however, that the Yankees won't be retiring Jeter's No. 2 just yet.

Around the Empire: New York Yankees News - 9/4/14

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Newsday | Steven Marcus: According to a source, the Yankees will be retiring Derek Jeter's number on Sunday.

NJ.com | Brendan Kuty: We're at a point in the season where dropping Derek Jeter in the lineup won't really do much for the Yankees.

New York Daily News | Mark Feinsand: Bringing in Chase Headley and Brandon McCarthy has allowed both sides to get used to the idea of long-term contracts.

ESPN New York | Danny Knobler: Do the Yankees really have a chance at turning their season around?

Baseball America | Matt Eddy: Aaron Judge and Luis Severino are Minor League Second-Team All-Stars for the 2014 season.

It's About the Money | Brad Vietrogoski: A look at Shane Greene's absolutely terrible night against the Red Sox.

Rolling Thunder | Matt Kardos: Trenton Thunder manager Tony Franklin pegs Gary Sanchez, Jaron Long, Ben Gamel, and Ali Castillo as his most improved players.


Yankees outfielder Carlos Beltran to have surgery following season

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New York is limping to the edge of the season, having lost five of their last eight games, and across a greater stretch they are 16-18 in their last thirty-four games. Baltimore has all but secured the American League East, with a 9.5-game lead, and the Yankees currently sit at four back of the second Wild Card. Their run differential (-28) is the worst of any team currently contending for a playoff spot, and depending on how things go against the Kansas City Royals this weekend, "contending" might be a purely subjective term.

Onto this litany of woe comes the news that Carlos Beltran will likely undergo surgery in the off-season. According to Brendan Kuty of the Newark Star Ledger, Beltran doesn't expect the surgery to affect his status going forward:

Approximately two months of rest will follow before Beltran will be able to throw again, he said. But that will give him plenty of time before position players report to spring training in early February, he said.

Considering the type of season that Beltran has had, for the Yankees sake they better hope he is right.

Beltran has missed significant time this season, and had been relegated mainly to being a designated hitter. He's in the middle of the second-worst season of his career, hitting just .239/.305/.416. He has played in just 106 games, and has started only 29 of them in the outfield.

These are things that are to expected of a thirty-seven year-old outfielder, but it is not something the Yankees were looking forward to when they signed him to a three-year, $45 million deal last off-season. New York is on the hook for two more years of an old, injured outfielder for a team that is trying its best to stay relevant while still needing to contend.

Future Hall of Famer Derek Jeter is retiring and Alfonso Soriano will be a free agent, so the Yankees will be able to shed just over $30 million in salary of old, unproductive players. With those two gone, though, they will still be carrying Mark Teixiera, who isn't necessarily unproductive, but isn't worth the $23 million he'll make for the next two seasons; CC Sabathia, who has started the physiological breakdown that most assumed would happen five years ago; and Brian McCann, whose five-year, $85 million deal looks like a bargain compared to the rest, despite the fact that he is hitting just .244/.295/.405.

There was a song once that expressed the belief that the amount of issues and concerns in your life was directly proportional to the size of your cash flow. And though the Yankees have sizable cash considerations being dealt to sub-par players, they are still the Yankees. And as long as they have money, it will be hard for them to have a losing season.

Making the playoffs, though. That's a different thing altogether.

A hole in September at second base

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Second base looks, again, like a weakness.

When the Royals signed Omar Infante prior to this season, most of us thought, "You know, he's old-ish, but he'll probably still be decent enough. Anyone is an improvement over what we had!" Unfortunately, despite Infante's presence, it appears that second base is, once again, a weakness.

You're probably familiar with Infante's troubles. He's got a .256/.293/.352 line, good for a 79 wRC+. FanGraphs thinks he has played adequate defense. All that adds up to 0.7 fWAR at the beginning of September. While that is technically better than the likes of Chris Getz, Infante has not been what we thought he was going to be. He's had some injury issues, and I have to wonder if that elbow issue and other injuries are keeping him down this season. There are other reasons for his poor performance, though. I'll give a pertinent one right here.

2013 BA/SLG on grounders: .288/.321

2014 BA/SLG on grounders: .250/.276

His 2014 numbers are much closer both to league average and to his career values. Infante's inflated 2013 performance was regression waiting to happen, and it's certainly happened. Infante has also been pretty terrible when he's hit fly balls, too; his average fly ball distance has fallen more than 10 feet from last year.

This does not bode well for September baseball. Yost has continued to hit Infante 2nd in the lineup despite the fact that he has been one of the worst hitters in baseball since the All Star Break (49 wRC+). I would have suggested increased playing time for Christian Colon, who has provided a nice bat since arriving, but he broke a finger. It's hard to have plus hands and plus hands with a broken finger, so Colon won't be playing.

Enter Johnny Giavotella? The Royals have been down this road before, and his career 63 wRC+ doesn't sound palatable to a team trying to hang on to its lead in September. He's got only 461 PA in his career across 4 years despite his great AAA performance; clearly, the organization sees flaws. Unless he caught fire in September, it doesn't seem like he's the answer.

Enter Jayson Nix? That guy is on his 8th team since 2008. Small sample or not, Nix has never had a wRC+ above 100 at any of his stops. Now, Nix doesn't necessarly need to be average; he just needs to be better than Infante and his 2nd half wRC+. This, however simple it may sound, is unlikely. Nix's best wRC+ of 87 was fueled by a .325 BABIP in 2012 with the Yankees. Nix has a -1 wRC+ in 84 PA this year. Infante will play.

The Royals believed they were improving second base by signing Infante to a $30M contract. Due to injuries and depth problems, things haven't worked out for the team at the "keystone"; the Royals have gotten only about a win of value at the position, ranking 21st. At a time when each run is incredibly high leverage, the Royals appear to be exactly where they were last year at second base. An offensive black hole. Let's hope that Alex Gordon continues to will this team into the playoffs.


Yankees plan to offer Brian Cashman a new contract

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There has been much talk about Brian Cashman's future with his contract expiring at the end of the year and the team's position in the playoff picture over the last two seasons. When asked about the subject a few weeks ago, Hal Steinbrenner had nothing to really say on the matter, leaving many to wonder if a lack of words actually spoke volumes about the longtime general manager. Now comes word that the team is happy with Cashman and would like to offer him a contract beyond this season.

We don't know any details about the potential deal just yet, but Jon Heyman is reporting that the higher-ups are not blaming him for the Yankees' disappointing season. According to a source, Steinbrenner and company were happy with Cashman's pickups of Brandon McCarthy, Martin Prado, and Chase Headley and were on board with the signings of Carlos Beltran and Brian McCann, despite their disappointing seasons.

It's nice to know that despite a very frustrating year, the Yankees are still thinking with their heads and not resorting to reactionary firings–at least not yet. Regardless of how you feel about Brian Cashman, it would be a mistake to simply look for someone else without a clear improvement available. There are no top GM on the market this offseason and there's no real internal options, unless the Yankees are that impressed with Billy Eppler.

We'll surely hear more about an actual deal in the coming weeks as the season winds down. Like the signing of any player, let's avoid judgement before all the facts and numbers come out about the deal. Will it be another short-term deal to give him a chance to turn things around or are they going to give him an open-ended run to take some of the pressure off? Will Cashman even take the job (he probably will). What do you think, is this a good idea or is it a mistake?

Poll
Should the Yankees bring back Brian Cashman?

  223 votes |Results

Pinstripe Alley Podcast Episode 63: Baby Bomber season recap podcast

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The minor league season is over, so Jason and Tanya returned to the podcast to talk about the stories of the 2014 season in the Yankees' system.

Well it was mostly a fun Yankees minor league season to track, but it has now come to close. Since the minor leaguers are generally more intriguing than the major league squad, Tanya and Jason returned to the podcast to discuss about our favorite prospects and other stories from the minors this year. Since there's so much to talk about, it's our longest show yet. Also Rookie. We probably should have made this a Rookie-only podcast. Oh well. Enjoy.

[0:40] 2014: Better than 2013 for Yankees minor leaguers. Huzzah?
[1:23] The Cult of Mason Williams
[3:24] In praise of Rookie the amazing puppy (not Rookie Davis)
[5:33] Greg Birrrrrrrrd
[7:05] Gary Sanchez is a confusing dude
[10:28] We are Luis Severino fans #HotTakes
[12:30] Jacob Lindgren and his wonderful strikeouts
[16:40] Slade Heathcott: broken now and forever
[18:24] Cito Culver makes us sad
[20:25] Abiatal Avelino and Miguel Andujar have some work to do

[21:47] Staten Island Yankees review: Luis Torrens, Connor Spencer, Ty McFarland, and Ty Hensley, alive!
[24:50] On the difficulties of impressing in short-season and Rookie Ball (like Jorge Mateo) given the limited seasons
[27:54] Charleston RiverDogs review: Michael O'Neill, Dustin Fowler, Mike Ford, Eduardo "the baby" de Oleo, Gosuke Katoh, the surprising Mark Payton, Ian Clarkin, and more
[40:00] Aaron Judge: Top position player in the system
[45:36] Tampa Yankees review: Jake Cave, Not-Nunez (Miguel Sulbaran), and Eric Jagielo's odd season
[50:41] The mysterious awesomeness of Jaron Long
[53:18] Happy trails, Peter O'Brien & Rafael de Paula
[55:35] Trenton Thunder review: Zach Nuding (a good glass of water!), Mark Montgomery's topsy-turvy season/Rule 5 eligibility, and Tyler Austin's kinda-comeback year?
[1:00:58] Manny Banuelos's return from Tommy John
[1:03:16] Rob Refsnyder's dazzling season and our grumbling about Brian Roberts
[1:10:07] Scranton RailRiders review: Taylor Dugas, Ben Gamel, Ramon Flores, John Ryan Murphy's kinda disappointing season, the Quad-A guys: Zoilo Almonte, Kyle Roller, and Jose Pirela
[1:15:43] Tyler Webb should have been called up :-(
[1:18:20] Jose Ramirez: Also might not be alive. At least Bryan Mitchell bounced back.
[1:19:30] We are not that intrigued by Pat Venditte. Sorry, guys.
[1:20:44] Tweetbag: Possible minor leaguers on the Opening Day 2015 roster, possible Rule 5 Draft losses, 6 penguins vs. seal, biggest surprises, Severino's MLB debut (ambitious), and the minor leaguer with the biggest jump next year
[1:31:16] Yankee/Mitre of the System!

Podcast link (Length: 1:34:10)

iTunes link

RSS feed

The Yankees should re-sign Hiroki Kuroda

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Who cares if he's old?

I feel like we keep asking ourselves each year whether Hiroki Kuroda can stand the test of time, and each year he answers that question with an emphatic "Yes". Kuroda has had one of the stranger careers I can think of just because he was good-but-not-great in Japan for his prime years, and emerged in the United States as one of the better (if not one of the most underrated) pitchers in MLB. From 2008 to 2014, Kuroda ranks 20th in fWAR. His closest fWAR companion is... Mark Buehrle.

That whole preface is of course leading up to my claim that the Yankees should re-sign Kuroda. If one were to assess whether this is a good idea, one would have to ask themselves three questions: Is he too old? Will he be good? How much will he cost?

Hiroki Kuroda, I would argue, is not too old. The Yankees will have finished this season with a slew of young pitchers on their roster at one point--Michael Pineda, Masahiro Tanaka, Shane Greene, David Phelps, and Ivan Nova. Often times the best-laid plans do not work out as planned. Kuroda, even though he was the oldest pitcher in the rotation, was the last man standing from the Opening Day rotation. Youth is certainly great on the aggregate because younger players tend to be healthier than older players, but I also think that track record is an important piece. In his time in MLB, Kuroda has missed a total of 103 games, 93 of which were before 2010. And if you look at pitchers in the past 20 years who have pitched in their age 40 season, only 9 of 25 threw fewer than 150 innings. Pitchers don't make it this far due to luck.

Kuroda will probably be decent. He won't be like the 2013 version of himself, but I think 100-110 FIP- is reasonable. Oliver projects him for a 2.3 fWAR season, which isn't half-bad. With so many questions in the rotation for 2015, I think Kuroda is a safe pick to do pretty well. With the free agent market as it stands, replacing his two wins would be pretty expensive. That leads me into cost.

I think that a good model for Kuroda's cost is Bartolo Colon's contract. Colon was handed a two year, $20 million contract after an excellent age 40 season, even though he has a long history of injuries and a four-year span where he was pretty terrible. Kuroda does not have that history whatsoever but is not as good as Colon, I think. There is of course the question of whether Kuroda will even want to play next year, but I think a decent deal could sway him. Anything less than $15 million is a bargain given the value of a win in today's market.

There's an obsession among Yankee fans to move towards youth, geared toward some sentimentality regarding the "sustainability" of the dynasty years. But what they often forget is that a certain aged player does not win games, good players do. Hiroki Kuroda, regardless of his age, is a good player with a great performance and injury track record. That is what wins games.

Yankees 5, Red Sox 4: Chase Headley and Mark Teixeira help Yanks walk off!

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After trailing for much of the game, two home runs in the bottom of the ninth helped the Yankees steal this game and the series from the Red Sox.

Chris Capuano took on Brandon Workman tonight in the Bronx, and while the Yankees bats were (predictably) quiet early on, some fireworks in the ninth inning gave the Yankees and wild and wonderful walk-off win.

It certainly didn't start off well, though.  In the first, Capuano, who has been serviceable if not stellar for the Yankees since being picked up, left one in the heart of the plate to David Ortiz, who got just enough of it to give the Red Sox an early one-run lead.  Ortiz picked up right where he left off in the third inning, this time blasting another one into the seats to score Mookie Betts and himself and increase the Boston lead to 3-0.

The Yankee bats got going in the bottom of the third, as Ichiro Suzuki managed a one-out single and Jacoby Ellsbury worked a walk.  With two on, the Captain came to the plate looking to do some damage and narrow the gap.  After hitting the ball hard in his first at bat, Derek Jeter made good contact yet again, and this ball would not be caught.  Instead, it sailed over Betts' head in center to land near the warning track, giving Jeter a double and scoring Ichiro and Ellsbury.  But the Yankees weren't done yet - Carlos Beltran kept the party rocking by ripping a single into right to score Jeter.  Just like that, the game was tied.

However, that didn't last long.  In the top of the fifth, Brock Holt (having a decent run with the Red Sox this season) ripped his fourth homer of the year out to take back the lead.  It also pretty much signaled the end of Capuano, who, after getting Betts out, was pulled so as not to press his luck with Ortiz for the third time.  To face Ortiz, Girardi brought in...Rich Hill?  Oh well, it worked - Hill got the out, Esmil Rogers relieved him, and the Yankees escaped the inning without any more damage being done.

That's how things stayed until the bottom of the ninth.  With Koji Uehara looking for his 27th save of the season, Mark Teixeira blasted a homer into the seats above right field to tie the game!  Tex, hitting just .196/.298/.329 with a 77 wRC+ and just five homers since July 1st, has obviously been in a deep slump recently, but he sure found a great time tonight to find his power stroke, at least for one at bat.   After Brian McCann lined out, Chase Headley pulled a ball deep to right center and over the fence.  Just like that, the Yankees had won - what an ending.

This season's been kind of meh, but that was fun.  That's why we watch baseball.  Go Yankees.

Box score.

Around the Empire: New York Yankees News - 9/5/14

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ESPN New York | Danny Knobler: The Yankees believe that Masahiro Tanaka will either throw again this year or have offseason Tommy John surgery.

NJ.com | Brendan Kuty:Carlos Beltran will have offseason elbow surgery and it won't affect his 2015 season.

SB Nation | David Roth: The discovery of Ichiro Suzuki's penchants for trash-talking in Spanish is another example of the weird stories surrounding him.

New York Times | Tyler Kepner: Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long feels he has done everything he can to help improve the lineup and it still hasn't been enough.

Pinstriped Prospects | Jed Weisberger: While many consider the Yankees farm system to be "depleted," they actually have a very good crop of prospects.

ESPN New York | Wallace Matthews: Brian Cashman is not going to be blamed for this disappointing season even if they don't make the playoffs again.

NJ.com | Brendan Kuty:Ivan Nova has started throwing again since having Tommy John surgery a few months ago.

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