The suspension is over. A-Rod is back, y'all!

Alex Rodriguez missed the entirety of the 2014 Major League Baseball season serving a suspension for his ties to Biogenesis. He appealed the initial punishment, which was set to cost him the end of 2013 as well as all of the 2014 season, and ended up getting it reduced to just the latter. There was no escaping Bud Selig and his desire to see A-Rod punished more than anyone else, however, and realizing that, Rodriguez just did his time and kept quiet, knowing Bud would be gone in 2015 anyway.

That's all over now, though. Alex Rodriguez was officially reactivated on Thursday, the day after the season officially ended. He's once again part of the Yankees roster and on their payroll. It's unclear if he's going to be the third baseman in the Bronx in 2015, or if he's going to spend most of his time at designated hitter, or if he spent his year working out so hard he can suddenly play shortstop again now that Derek Jeter has gone. That last one won't happen, but that won't stop us from wanting him to troll that hard.

If you didn't miss the A-Rod circus at all, this is the official end of your season-long vacation. If you're glad to have someone back who will say or do things everyone will feel the need to talk, judge, defend, and rant about after, though, then today is like an early Christmas for you. Regardless of your side in this, he's back.

Happy A-Rodmas, everyone!

Tyler Webb could be the Yankees' next left-handed specialist, even with Jacob Lindgren just around the corner.

Grade: B+

2014 Statistics: 3.80 ERA, 2.55 FIP, 12.3 K/9, 2.9 BB/9, 68.2 IP

2014 Level/Roster Status: Triple-A/Non 40-man

Rob Refsnyder might get most of the attention when it comes to the 2014 Yankees farm system, but the real standout position of the year was the bullpen. Jacob Lindgren, Nick Rumbelow, and Tyler Webb all had incredibly successful seasons as relievers in the minors and, if the big league team was more successful, perhaps some of them could have seen time in the majors. Unfortunately, despite their success, it wasn't meant to be.

Out of those three, the one who likely had the best shot, considering the Yankees could have used him the most, was probably Tyler Webb. Back in August when the Yankees allowed the Nationals to take Matt Thornton off their hands, it was believed the move was to clear space for Jacob Lindgren to move to the majors. With their primary lefty gone, the team seemed poised to call up someone from the minors to replace him. At that point, though, Lindgren had just been moved up to Double-A and, having already pitched a full college season, it didn't seem like he had too much left in the tank.

Webb then became the legitimate candidate for a call up. He was the 2013 version of Lindgren, having been drafted out of college as a closer and as a fastball-curveball pitcher who doesn't rely entirely on velocity to collect a high amount of strikeouts, he sounds a lot like a left-handed David Robertson. This year he continued to strikeout batters, collecting nearly 100 in only 68.2 innings while also managing his control with a respectable 2.9 BB/9. While he had an ERA over 4.00 in both Double-A and Triple-A, where he really seemed to struggle was when he made it up to Scranton and pitched to a 3.76 FIP. The strikeout numbers didn't change, so it's possible that could all come down to a small sample size of only 20 innings that included a three-hit, four-run, 0.2-innings outing that made him look worse than he was.

Going into 2015, the Yankees don't have a left-handed specialist on board. Rich Hill will be gone and David Huff will likely get non-tendered, so that would leave people like James Pazos, Lindgren, and Webb to compete for the role in spring training. Pazos has struggled with control (4.1 BB/9) in Double-A and the Yankees might want to take it slow with Lindgren by allowing him to start the season in Triple-A. That could leave Tyler Webb as the favorite to break camp with the team, and while it's a very small role, the 24-year-old could play his way into more situations if he proves to be equally effective against right-handed batters.

Comparing the Yankees against the best bullpens in the AL reveals that, with some luck, the pen should stay one of the team’s major advantages.

While the Yankees hopefully will not lose now "proven" closer David Robertson in the offseason, even if they do, the bullpen will remain one of the best in the AL.  With Dellin Betances , Adam Warren, and Shawn Kelley, the team will still have quality arms that can shut down offenses late in the game.  While keeping Robertson would put this group over the top and make it elite, even without him, the pen will no doubt be one of the strengths of the 2015 Yankees.

Betances' development is certainly a big part of this.  Betances was without a doubt one of the best stories of a somewhat disappointing season.  If Robertson were to leave, Betances would more than likely end up in the closer role, and his 2014 stats suggest he'd be more than capable.  He posted a 13.50 K/9, 1.40 ERA, 1.64 FIP, and a 3.2 fWAR (almost double Robertson's) in 2014.  What a beast.

However, moving Betances to the ninth inning presents the same problem as moving Robertson there last year did: how best to bridge the gap between starter and stud closer?  While Betances stepped up in the eighth inning last year, Adam Warren and Shawn Kelley should do the same in 2015.  Warren has improved greatly over his first two major league seasons, posting a FIP of 2.89 and a K/BB ratio of 3.17 last season after posting a 4.32 FIP and a 2.13 K/BB ratio in 2013 (in an almost identical number of innings).  There's no reason to think he won't continue to improve next season and become a dominant arm out of the bullpen.  Shawn Kelley should also be quite a weapon out of the bullpen next year.  While his ERA in 2014 ended up at an unsightly 4.53, his peripherals show he should expect some better luck and greater success next year.  With a K/BB of 3.35, a HR/9 of 0.87 (better than Robertson's), and a FIP of 3.02, Kelley should continue to grow into a dependable and effective relief pitcher.  Joe Girardi should regularly be able to depend on him in the seventh inning of close games in 2015.

With some potentially major reinforcements coming up from the minors, the Yankees pen should remain one of the team's biggest weapons in 2015.  When comparing it to the best bullpens in the AL, it also becomes clear that the Yankees should have a major advantage next season.

Seattle's bullpen led the league last year in FIP, and they should remain strong again next year.  Led by Fernando Rodney (who, while a bit volatile, remains a solid closer) and stocked with young arms, their pen will again be a force to be reckoned with.  Still, so many of their contributors out of the pen this year were rookies or very young, so there's a chance some will face some regression as the league acclimates to their stuff.

Kansas City should return the same dominant three-man unit that has worked so well this offseason in Wade Davis, Greg Holland, and Kelvin Herrera (Davis has a team option - the other two are arbitration eligible). However, after that, they have very little depth, and Davis had a career year this year.  He should fall back to Earth a bit next year, and while Holland has shown the past couple years he is one of the better closers in the league, there is little chance this unit will be as dominant as in 2014.

The rest of the league's bullpens will be a step behind - Los Angeles looks to be good again, with Joe Smith and perhaps Huston Street back (depending on if the team picks up his option).  Still, they will probably take at least one step back, as Fernando Salas and Kevin Jensen both over performed last season and will more than likely regress a bit.  Boston will have a solid pen, although if Koji Uehara retires, perhaps not as good as the past two seasons.  Baltimore will also be good at the back end again with Zach Britton and Darren O'Day, but if Andrew Miller leaves, there's quite a drop off after those two.

All in all, the Yankees should, with Kansas City and Seattle (along with perhaps the A's and Angels), have one of the best bullpens in the American League last year.  If they bring Robertson back into the fold, D-Rob, Betances, Warren, and Kelly - with David Phelps and Chase Whitley (who, while he fell off last year, has quietly been quite solid across all levels of the minors since being drafted in 2010) for mop-up duty - will form an elite set of relief arms.  Even if Robertson leaves, this pen will be a major strength of next season's team (especially with Lindgren on the way).

Now if they could just sign a bat so this bullpen could have leads to protect...yeah, that'd be great.

Alex Rodriguez's suspension is over; how the 40-man roster looks now that contracts have expired.

CBS Sports | Mike Axisa: Alex Rodriguez's suspension is finally over.

LoHud Yankees Blog | Chad Jennings: What the 40-man roster looks like now that contracts have expired.

New York Post | Joel Sherman: Ten questions revolving around A-Rod's return.

ESPN New York | Andrew Marchand: Sources confirm that the Yankees are planning to talk to Raul Ibanez about one of the open coaching positions.

It's About The Money | Brad Vietrogoski: The Yankees have until Saturday to decide whether they will pick up or decline Andrew Bailey's $2 million option.

Whitley's Major League debut was an unexpected bright spot early before fizzling out. Is there reason for optimism in 2015?

Grade: C-

2014 Statistics: (MLB) 24 G, 12 GS, 75.2 IP, 5.23 ERA, 4.14 FIP, 7.14 K/9, 2.14 BB/9

(AAA) 10 G, 6 GS, 31.1 IP, 2.01 ERA, 1.76 FIP, 10.63 K/9, 2.30 BB/9

2015 Contract Status: Pre-arbitration

Remember how Chase Whitley carried a 2.56 ERA on a 2.75 FIP after seven starts, looking like the best starting pitcher on the staff not named Masahiro Tanaka? Remember how you thought it wouldn't, couldn't, almost shouldn't last? It didn't.

Chase Whitley was brought up to the majors as an emergency patch in mid-May and turned into one of the best Yankee stories of the first half. He fell off hard before reaching the All-Star break, but it was fun while it lasted. With a 15th round pick who wasn't regarded as much of a prospect, any major league production is a plus. He was promoted out of necessity, the rare reliever-turned-starter needed to plug a spot in a rotation wrecked by injuries. This he did, and did well, for a time.

Eventually, of course, the wheels fell off, to the point where Whitley wasn't even of value coming out of the bullpen. It might well be related to his usage; his combined 107 innings between the minor and major leagues represented a career high and is roughly 40 innings more than he pitched in 2013. If this is the case, it didn't manifest itself in pitch selection or velocity, as you can see his velocity tracked by month in the Brooks Baseball chart below.

The little mouse icon under July shows the point where Whitley turned into a pumpkin. As you can see, there hadn't been a clear change in average velocity to that point, nor was there one the rest of the year. Similarly, there is little by way of a discernible trend in pitch movement over the year, certainly nothing in the downward direction as might be expected. Of course, velocity and movement are not the only manifestations of pitcher fatigue, so this hardly rules out what might very well be the cause for Whitley's performance slide.

Source: Brooks Baseball

Another common theory for Whitley's significant and relatively sudden loss in form is that hitters around the league had caught up to his stuff.

This might explain the general uptick in isolated power numbers against Whitley. As can be seen below, batters generally exhibited a higher isolated power average on his pitches - except for his best pitch, the changeup - from the end of June straight through August, which coincides well with his stretch of horror in the major leagues. This increase in isolated power comes largely from an increase in line drive rate, particularly with the slider.

This increase in power against Whitley could be caused by any combination of factors, potentially including fatigue and better recognition of his pitches, but in any case the effect here is likely his sudden inability to get major league hitters out.

Source: Brooks Baseball

What then, of 2015? It appears likely, barring catastrophic injuries in spring training, that Chase Whitley will open the year with in Triple-A as a starter since he proved to be effective in the role for some time. Given the unfortunate regularity of pitching injuries, it is likely that Whitley will be needed in the Bronx at some point during the year. If he manages to keep the ball in the yard a little more often, his overall numbers will look better than they did in 2014, even if the gaudy sub-3 ERA and FIP from the first two months never returns.

Chase Whitley may never turn out to be a mainstay in the rotation, but at the very least he showed enough early this season that he might turn into a solid spare part for short stretches. That certainly has value, and of course it would be a great story if he ends up being more. It is always nice when a Yankee farmhand exceeds expectations placed on him as a prospect; so often we find it going the other way. If not, well, we will always have those nights in June.

Luis Severino nabs the top spot and Greg Bird gets some well-deserved love.

Baseball America released their Top 10Yankees prospect list today with right-handed pitcher Luis Severino taking the top spot in the system. That ranking was not surprising after Severino's stock rose meteorically during the 2014 season. The righty pitched to a 2.46 ERA between Low-A Charleston and Double-A Trenton, and is every bit deserving of being called the Yankees' best prospect. Following Severino, outfielder Aaron Judge appears second on the list from Baseball America. It's another non-surprising ranking after Judge batted .308/.419/.486 between Charleston and High-A Tampa in 2014. The 2013 first-rounder also took his talents out to Arizona for the Scottsdale Scorpions in the Arizona Fall League where he continued to excel.

Shortstop Jorge Mateo, first baseman Greg Bird, and catcher Gary Sanchez round out Baseball America's Top 5. Mateo's ranking comes from the immense praise he gets from scouts about the kind of player he could be despite only playing stateside for one season. The right-handed shortstop batted .276/.354/.397 in his first taste of the Gulf Coast League in 2014. Bird has long been a favorite of Pinstripe Alley, and it's nice to see him finally being ranked around the place that we have thought he deserved. His breakout season in 2013 really put him on the map with over 100 walks for Low-A Charleston, and Bird continued his hitting ways between Tampa and Trenton in 2014 with an .848 OPS between the two levels. Like Judge, Bird was sent to Arizona where he put together a 16-game hitting streak and has been leading the league in nearly all offensive categories, including home runs. The Yankees will be in need of a first baseman sooner than later, and Bird could be a great fit with his left-handed swing that would fit perfectly in Yankee Stadium. Sanchez has experienced a bit of a fall after being considered the team's top prospect for so long. He's still shy of his 22nd birthday, so it's not as though he has fallen too far behind developmentally. Questions about his attitude have come up, leading to a lengthy benching by his coach in Trenton this season. Sanchez still managed to bat .270/.338/.406 in his first full season at Double-A Trenton. The fact of the matter is just that he's fallen behind others in the pecking order.

Left-hander Ian Clarkin comes in at #6 on the Baseball America list after a fine season at Charleston and briefly Tampa. Clarkin was the lone high school pick of the trio of first-rounders the Yankees selected in 2013. It makes sense that they would move him along a little slower than the others. That leaves Eric Jagielo as the only one of the three to not appear on the list. Second baseman Rob Refsnyder appears at #7 after two straight strong seasons on the farm. Refsnyder is knocking on the door of the majors, and could make it there out of spring training if everything breaks right for him. He managed to put up an .884 OPS between Trenton and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in 2014. Refsnyder's stock hasn't been as high as some of the other players' on the list, but he's very deserving of being high in the second half of a Top 10 list at this point.

The Yankees' 2014 first round pick, left-handed reliever Jacob Lindgren, makes the list at #8. He was pushed through the system quickly after being drafted in June of this year before reaching a career high innings between college and pros. There is a very good chance that Lindgren could impress the team enough in spring training to make the bullpen for Opening Day. If he doesn't, it certainly won't be long before we see him in New York. His dominating stuff gave him a season ERA of 2.16 between Rookie Ball and Double-A. The numbers are even a bit inflated by some minor struggles in Trenton that led to a 3.86 ERA in 11.2 innings. Lindgren is amazing and he will be able to showcase that at the highest level before too long. Catcher Luis Torrens comes in at #9 on the list at just 18 years old. He began the season at Charleston, where he struggled a bit, before coming back from injury with the Staten Island Yankees. There he batted .270/.327/.405 in 48 games. He's pretty far away from making an impact at the big league level, but it's easy to see why he made the list.

Rounding out the final spot on the list is a bit of a surprise in third baseman Miguel Andujar. Andujar really struggled for the first half of the season with Charleston before turning it on in the second half. He was very shaky defensively, but ended the season with a .267/.318/.397 batting line as a 19-year-old. Obviously Josh Norris, who has worked as a beat writer for the Trenton Thunder before moving on to Baseball America, sees more of these guys than we do. I'll trust his judgment of Andujar, and it's hard to argue that there was clearly someone more deserving of the final spot on the list. Every prospect I could have put there instead has their own set of question marks. Personally, I might have gone with Jagielo here, but I understand the trepidation after scouts suggested he might not be able to stick at third base long-term.

What do you think of this Top 10 list by Baseball America? What changes would you make?

Once one of the Yankees' most highly thought of prospects, Mason Williams could be playing his way out of baseball entirely.

Grade: F

2014 Statistics: .223/.290/.304, 5 HR, 21 SB

2014 Level/Roster Status: AA/Non 40-Man

Woe is the tale of Mason Williams. An outstanding start to his minor league league career had him positioned as one of the top prospects in the entire Yankees system. His blend of speed and fielding prowess indicated him as one of those "toolsy" talents that scouts gravitate towards. Unfortunately it's been a precipitous decline for the young prospect since he left A-ball, and this season was his worst yet. Turns out hitting is one of the tools he hasn't quite figured out yet.

Williams managed only a putrid 66 wRC+ with the Double-A Trenton Thunder over the 2014 season. A depressed BABIP is partly to blame as it was 50 points lower than the year before. Maybe there was a little bad luck involved, but the general consensus among scouts seems to be that Williams just isn't capable of making solid contact on a consistent basis at this point. With a so-so walk rate and little power to speak of, Mason's going to have to hit for a much better average if he wants to have any sort of a future. He was somewhat better in the second half of the season, so perhaps he's figuring something out.

Also on the plus side, Williams still looked the part of an exceptional outfielder. When I saw him this past year I noticed his good timing and very natural approach in the outfield. His speed is also an asset, so not all is negative for the former Yankees top prospect. When he was at the plate, I thought he looked pretty lost. More like he was chopping wood than trying to hit a baseball. Obviously take this with a grain of salt since I'm still not technically a scout.

As for Williams' outlook, assuming the Yankees don't opt to part ways with him in the offseason, the time is now for him. The outfield at Double-A is already pretty crowded and top prospect Aaron Judge is waiting in the wings. If Williams doesn't show that he at least has the potential to hit well enough to be a fourth or fifth outfielder at the highest level, the Yankees aren't going to keep him around for much longer.

Williams is still only 23 years old and obviously possesses a lot of natural talent. He certainly wouldn't be the first esteemed prospect to drop out of the Top 100 rankings and still turn into a capable major leaguer. So good luck to the young man in 2015. Hopefully it won't be his last in the organization.

The World Series is over. Alex Rodriguez's Yankees career has resumed. Oy.

The Pinstripe Alley Podcast is back after about a month hiatus! Not much has changed in Yankeeland aside from coaches and the activation of some third base dude, but we recorded anyway.

[0:22] Off-season mode has begun thanks to Madison Bumgarner and TRAVIS ISHIKAWA
[4:35] Personnel changes: Kevin Long, Mick Kelleher, and Mark Newman are gone, so what's the impact? Who might be the new hitting coach? (Raul Ibanez?!)
[17:53] Arizona Fall League: Aaron Judge, Greg Bird, and Tyler Austin killin' it. Beautiful.
[24:13] Mandatory Alex Rodriguez discussion: What can he possibly bring to the 2015 team?
[36:16] Some thoughts on the upcoming silly BBWAA awards
[49:22] Tweetbag: 2015 Yankees competitive if healthy & would Brett Gardner have scored that World Series-tying run instead of Alex Gordon?
[54:29] Kinda Yankee/Mitre of the Week?

Podcast link (Length: 58:52)

iTunes link

RSS feed

Eric Chavez hired as special assignment scout, Mutual interest between Ibanez and the Yankees, Baseball America Top 10 Prospects list.

CBS Sports | Jon Heyman: The Yankees have hired former player Eric Chavez to be a special assignment scout.

NY Post | George A. King III: Yesterday we heard that the Yankees were looking at Raul Ibanez for their hitting coach vacancy. Today it appears that the interest is mutual between Ibanez and the team.

Baseball America | Josh Norris: The always anticipated Baseball America Yankees Top 10 Prospects list has been released. A must read for every Yankee fan.

Yes Network | Doug Williams: Williams takes a look at eight Yankees free agents and which will return in 2015.

MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: The Yankees are prepping for a busy Hot Stove season.

This year's World Series teams did a lot of things better than the Yankees, but the main lesson to be learned is that they're not as far off as some might think.

The Giants and Royals were an unlikely duo to form the best of baseball in 2014, but when the dust settled this October, it was those two clubs who faced off in an epic seven-game series to decide it all. MLB, like other pro sports, is a copycat league. That means that 28 other clubs, the Yankees included, will spend this off-season looking to mimic some of the traits that separated San Francisco and Kansas City from their competition.

Ask anyone what the most obvious contrast between the Giants and Royals and the Yankees is and they'll probably point out that both World Series competitors were largely homegrown. Six of the nine Giants in their Game 7 lineup came from the team's farm system, and six of Kansas City's were products of theirs. Two more key Royals - Lorenzo Cain and Alcides Escobar - were acquired early in their careers for another homegrown product in Zack Greinke. We're not breaking any new ground here by stating that the Yankees aren't getting enough from their minor league affiliates, but it's worth noting that both the Giants and Royals have been proactive when it's come to getting their young stars under contract early.

While Pablo Sandoval's a free agent now, San Francisco's enjoyed his services for the last three years at a bargain basement $17.15 million because they bought out his arbitration years. Madison Bumgarner's inked through 2019 for a maximum of just $52 million and Buster Posey will be a Giant until 2021 at a sub-market $143.5 million. Kansas City struck early with Alex Gordon by signing him to a four-year, $37.5 million deal with a fifth year option before the 2012 season and then did the same for Salvador Perez, locking him up through 2019 for just $18 million if his club options are exercised.

It's impossible to find team-friendly contracts like these on the Yankee ledger because of the organization's rarely-strayed-from policy of letting its players go to free agency before negotiating long-term deals. Even when they pony up before it's too late, they do so only in a player's later arbitration years, which is why even their better deals, like the four-year, $52 million pact Brett Gardner will begin in 2015, are very close to market rate. With teams like KC and San Fran pinning down players for their prime seasons earlier and earlier, it's only going to get more difficult for big spenders to build through free agent classes that look paltrier with each passing year.

One consequence this year's World Series might have on the rest of baseball is that it may heighten the value of dominant relief pitchers - at just the wrong time for the Yankees. Though it was Bumgarner's five-inning save in Game 7 that people will remember most, the Royals' bullpen's lights-out back end got plenty of attention throughout the postseason. Greg Holland, Wade Davis and Kelvin Herrera, who would be called Her-Dav-Ho if John Sterling worked in Kansas City, combined this year for an ERA of 1.28, a WHIP of 1.00 and a K-rate of 11.36 in over 200 innings of work. The Royals' troika, to use another Sterling term, contributed to the second best save-conversion rate in baseball at 82 percent. San Francisco's 'pen, while not as flashy, was also highly efficient, holding opposing hitters to a .217/.280/.334 line as a group. All of that seems to suggest that the Yankees should go all out to re-sign David Robertson, but it also could get rival GMs thinking that the top free agent closer just might be worth $14 or $15 million per year after all. The Yankees have done a good job cultivating relief pitching cheaply from within. They'll try to do the same next year with prospects like Jacob Lindgren, Tyler Webb and Nick Rumbelow, but losing Mariano Rivera and Robertson in back-to-back years won't be an easy pill to swallow.

The Giants and Royals have made some wise moves over the past few years, but the most important takeaway from this World Series for the Yankees should be that they're not as far from baseball's Promised Land as one might think. Neither league champion was exactly a powerhouse this season. The Royals won 89 games and the Giants 88. Both teams had issues scoring runs - they finished sandwiched around MLB's runs-per-game average of 4.07, with the Giants clocking in slightly above at 4.10 and the Royals just below at 4.02. The Giants were 14th this season in OPS at .699 and the Royals were 17th at .690, both beneath the MLB average of .700. The two clubs finished 17th and 30th - yes, 30th - in home runs, respectively as Kansas City was the only team in baseball to not crack triple digits. Neither team featured a player in baseball's top ten in wRC+ or wOBA. Posey was 12th in the former at 144 and 16th in the latter at .371 and you had to go all the way outside the top 40 to find a Royal. Gordon placed 44th in wRC+ at 122 and 41st in wOBA at .346.

These teams must have made up for their so-so hitting with elite pitching, right? Not so much, actually. The Giants were 10th in baseball in FIP at 3.58 and the Royals were 16th at 3.69, just above the MLB average of 3.74 and just below the Yankees, who came in 15th at 3.67. That's even more interesting when you consider that Kansas City only needed eight starting pitchers this year, with five of them making 25 or more starts, while the Yankees started games with thirteen different guys and lost four-fifths of their starting rotation to injury. Not only do you not need a world-beating offense to go to the World Series these days - you don't need elite pitching either.

There's a strange belief held by many Yankee fans that if their team can't be a lock to win 95 games or more and an odds-on championship favorite, as they were for much of the '90s and 2000s, then it's not worth competing - that it's break it down and rebuild time, check back in a few years. If the 2014 World Series proves anything, it's the absurdity of that argument. Playoff-expansion and revenue sharing have made baseball more of a crap-shoot sport than ever before. If you get in - and getting in is something that a third of MLB now does - then you've got a chance, and not a bad one, either. It's not that Yankees shouldn't try and get better. We'll spend the next four months talking about where they need to improve and how they can do it. But while their roster flexibility is currently limited, that doesn't mean that their future necessarily is. With a few incremental improvements to the lineup, a couple of bounce-back campaigns and some better luck when it comes to health, we might be talking a year from now about the Yankees as the 88-win team who somehow went all the way.

Yesterday was Halloween. Today is Dia de los Muertos or "The Day of the Dead" for our non Spanish reading members. Pitchers and Catchers report in 110 days.

Comments of the Day

As yesterday was Halloween and most PSAers were out doing Halloween like things, there were not many comments on the board. This is fine, as long as none of you were out TPing and egging houses last night. Shame on you if you were.

GIF of the Day

Again, due to Halloween, we had no really spectacular GIFs yesterday. Try to make up for that today.

Honorable Mod Mention

Waffles responds to concerns about Eric "Move like" Jagielo. Others approve of her honorable statement.

• Do you double space after your sentences? Do you not use the Oxford comma? Tanya is judging you! (This is a Twitter conversation from a couple days ago that I thought I'd bring to the forum)
• Describe a typical Halloween day for you?

As always, link us your song of the day!

Yesterday was a pretty light day on the site due to it being Halloween, not to mention the lack of Yankee news. The Yankees did sign Eric Chavez to be a special assignment scout and they're potentially eyeing Raul Ibanez for the vacant hitting coach position. That's about it though. On the Cubs front, they fired Rick Renteria to make room for Joe Maddon's signing, which should be announced on Monday. How do you feel about this? A smart move by the Cubs or a dickish move? Or both? What do you think will become of Renteria? Also, how was your Halloween? What did you do? You know you can talk to us, right?

We're so lonely without baseball.

Everyone has a different story as to why they are fans but almost always do we owe a loved one for opening that door.

Everyone has a story about how they became a Yankee fan.  Several times this season, we have held an open discussion about our respective histories as Yankee fans.  Some were born fans, who have only known the Bombers as their favorite team.  Others became interested in baseball and the Yankees later on.  Each story is unique but for the vast majority of us, we owe our fandom to a loved one.  It may have been a parent, grandparent, an uncle, an aunt, or maybe even an older cousin, who took time to nurture and cultivate our fandom.  As we grow older, we in turn pass on that love and inspire a future generation.  Without question some of our members have already been through this with their kids or in the case of some, grandkids.

Like many, my father is a diehard Yankee fan.  His love of the Bombers extends almost fifty years when he would go see his favorite player, Mickey Mantle play back in the original Yankee Stadium as a child.  My father in turn made certain to expose me early to the Yankees.  My most common outfit as a babe was a pinstripe Yankee onesie, of which there are numerous photos.  As I grew a little older, my interest in baseball was almost non-existent, more casual as cartoons, tag and running around the neighborhood with my best friend took precedence.  In spite of that, one of my earliest and fondest memories is when my father first taught me how to swing a bat and his own surprise that I was a natural switch hitter.

Yesterday marked my niece Cyann’s fifth birthday; it also marks the first time that my family has not been present to celebrate her birthday, due to my sister and her husband moving to St. Louis this August. Every week, we always held Sunday dinner where the family would get together.  Without fail, as soon as Cyann would walk into the house, she would run over, pluck my Yankee cap off the rack and plop it on her head with the widest little grin on her face.  For the longest time, I was never sure if Cyann liked my Yankee cap because it happened to be her uncle’s favorite hat.  One week though, David Robertson had just secured a save, Cyann, still wearing my Yankee cap started jumping up and down cheering right in front of the television.  I can never be completely certain but, I take that as a sign that my father and I made another little Yankee fan.

As counterintuitive as it sounds, an uptick in strikeouts could be a good thing for the Yankees.

These days, it certainly does not seem possible for the Yankees to strike out more. It's true that over the past three seasons, they have posted the three highest strikeout rates in franchise history. It's also true that the Yankee offense has been pretty horrid for most of that time period, so on the surface suggesting that they strike out more is a crazy idea. However, as this old Baseball Prospectus article points out, it's an idea crazy enough that it might just do the Yankees some good.

The main takeaway from that article is that while strikeouts have little to no bearing on overall run production, they can offer some hidden benefits when compared to outs created by putting the ball in play. When a batted ball results in an out, the possible reward of advancing a baserunner can be outweighed by the risk of a possible double play. The strikeout is not subject to such risks, or at least not nearly as much as batted balls are. Better yet, strikeout rate correlates positively with the two most important components of offense, getting on base and hitting for power. So an increase in strikeouts for the Yankees could simply be the residual effect of a change in approach that also results in more baserunners and long balls. What, specifically, should change about their approach though?

As pointed out a few weeks ago, the Yankees have been especially bad at choosing when to swing over the past couple of years. Therefore, whoever is to become the next hitting coach would be wise to instruct Yankee hitters to focus on making contact only with pitches that are in or near a location that they can drive the ball with some authority. If they start laying off the pitches they've normally been swinging at, the result should be an increase in walks and yes, the collateral damage will also be a corresponding bump in strikeouts due to watching borderline pitches go by. The benefit here would be trading in some weak groundouts or popouts for a few more walks. Even if they come with their fair share of strikeouts, it's a net gain for the Yankees. (The 2009 Yankees, for example, finished second in the league in strikeouts, but they also had the highest on-base percentage and slugging percentage in baseball.)

Furthermore, if they start to swing smarter, it should mean that they swing harder and add some more mileage to their fly balls and line drives. New Yankee Stadium, more than any other ballpark, has proven that even a small increase in batted ball distance can go a long way towards increased run production due to it being a homer-happy environment. It's fair to say that Yankee fans will gladly welcome a few more whiffs if it means that they can see a team at least somewhat worthy of the Bronx Bombers nickname. So if Brian McCann, Carlos Beltran, and the gang come out of the gate next year either looking at or taking a big cut through strike three, don't panic. It could mean that better things are on the horizon.

Qualifying offers, top prospect lists, dynasties, Yogi Berra and Aaron Judge

NYTimes | Benjamin Hoffman: A run down of players due to receive qualifying offers. Will Nelson Cruz accept this time around? What about Michael Cuddyer? Neither really fits well for the Yankees, but the success of the qualifying offer in suppressing player salaries could have huge ramifications down the road.

LoHud | Chad Jennings: It's easy to get excited by Baseball America's Top 10 Yankee prospects, but it's important to remember how much projection and hope goes into those lists. I'm naturally conservative with my hopes, and I'd rank a solid performance in Double-A and Triple-A over a spectacular performance in A-ball. For instance, I'd put John Ryan Murphy or Rob Refsnyder ahead of a Luis Torrens.

NBC Sports | Joe Posnanski: JoePoz suggests that the modern playoff system means we need to rethink what a baseball dynasty means in the 21st century. And he writes a pretty interesting article about the Giants in the process. I find his argument compelling, but I don't think the playoffs are that different from the Yankees' dynasty, and that was an actual dynasty.

NYPost | Don Burke: A feature article on how the Yogi Berra museum is rebounding from the robbery.

MLB.com | Wiliam Boor: Top prospect Aaron Judge continues to demolish Arizona League pitching.

Greg Bird. Greg Bird. Greg Bird. Greg Bird.

Yankees first base prospect Greg Bird was named MVP of the Arizona Fall League's Fall Stars game after becoming a late addition to the roster. Originally outfield prospect Aaron Judge was the only Yankee to make the All-Star game, despite Bird leading the AFL in nearly every offensive category. Bird put the East All-Stars on the board with a huge home run that had no trouble clearing the 410 fence in center field. You'll want to see this.

The sound that ball makes off the bat is kind of amazing. It's hard to deny that Bird looks good in those pinstripes, and that that impressive display of power wouldn't look good in the Bronx. His left-handed swing seems almost made for the short porch in right field. No one is confused by the fact that Mark Teixeira is on a downward trend as he nears the end of his contract with the Yankees. If Bird can continue his ascent through the levels of the minors, he'd be in a good position to take over first base duties in New York after Teixeira is gone.

Bird's strong season in 2014 after his big breakout season in 2013 has gotten him high praise and moved him up prospect lists like Baseball America's, where he was ranked 4th in the Yankees' system. We might be able to get a good look at Bird in spring training if the Yankees bring him in as a non-roster invitee. He'll probably start the season with the Double-A Trenton Thunder in 2015, hopefully not staying there too long before getting a bump up to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre at some point during the season.

.@Yankees prospect Greg Bird is @MLBazFallLeague Star of the Game on the strength of this bomb http://t.co/r38T470ymhpic.twitter.com/4DzARxU4Hz

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) November 2, 2014

It's Football Sunday today. Today is also the annual NYC Marathon, all 26.2 miles of it. Pitchers and catchers report in 109 days.

Comments of the Day

Shaun promptly opposes the idea of the Yankees signing Billy Butler.

El Cruz posts a video of the Greg Bird dinger. Man, just listen to the sound off the bat. Soon. Hopefully soon.

GIF of the Day

Shaun, who was not quite as prompt this time, provides a perfect GIF in response to this awful, awful post from Tanya.

Honorable Mod Mention

I'm just gonna give myself the Honorable Mod Mention for no real reason. Good job, Greg! /pats self on the back

• Have you ever considered running in the NYC Marathon or have you ever known someone who has run in the NYC Marathon?
• Describe your perfect morning breakfast.

As always, link us your song of the day!

Are you moderately prepared for some football today? If not, the annual NYC Marathon should be winding down by the time this Open Thread is posted. Pinstripe Alley is giving out something known as "mad props" to both the runners of the marathon as well as the spectators, because it is not warm out in NYC. At all. It is cold and very windy. That's not terrible football weather though. Feel free to use this as your Open Thread for the day. Talk about football, the NYC Marathon, or whatever you like.

Greg Bird Greg Bird Greg Bird.

John Sickels answers questions about the Yankee's farm system including where the system is headed, which players improved and disappointed and more.

A couple of weeks ago I reached out to John Sickels for a Q&A session concerning the Yankee's farm system. If you like to follow baseball prospects and enjoy in-depth reports, John is a must follow over at Minor League Ball.  I would like to thank John again, for taking time out of his busy schedule to complete this interview.  You the reader are in for a treat and I hope that you enjoy this as much as I have.

PSA:  Where do you see the Yankee’s farm system heading into 2015?

I think this is a farm system in a transitional phase. There are a lot of critics and with Mark Newman’s retirement, there will no doubt be some changes with the approach. But on the other hand, the system has shown some strengths. Dellin Betances was outstanding as a rookie, Luis Severino broke out, Ian Clarkin performed well, they have a knack for finding decent pitching prospects in later rounds of the draft, and the heavy investment in Latin America this past summer adds a jolt of impact talent to the lower levels. That will take time to bear fruit, of course, but while the system is not among the elite in baseball, it is far from a disaster in my view.

PSA:  What players improved and disappointed the most this season?

Severino made the leap from promising rookie ball pitcher to one of the top right-handed pitching prospects in baseball. Aaron Judge showed more polish than anticipated. Robert Refsnyder had an outstanding season and looks like more than just a sleeper type now. On the negative side, Mason Williams’ stock continues to slide, Gosuke Katoh was disappointing, and Slade Heathcott lost most of the season to injuries.

PSA:  Over the past few years, which was the bigger problem with the farm system scouting or development?  Why?

I don’t know. Untangling the exact causality of disappointment is pretty much impossible from an outsider’s perspective and the insiders who have such information aren’t going to say much other than a general vagueness about needing to improve in all phases. As noted, I don’t think the system is in THAT bad of condition. They were very budget-oriented with many of their draft picks in some recent years, but they’ve still found some useful players nonetheless and are clearly willing to spend money internationally. Some prospects have prospered, others haven’t. That’s true for most farm systems. There are a few organizations which clearly have elite farm systems and a few that are clearly poor, but most teams are in the middle and that’s where the Yankees are.

PSA:  Which prospect is currently under-the-radar, that you feel will breakout in 2015?

I think Miguel Andujar can break out. He had a very strong second half. They did spend $750,000 to sign him and people who follow the system closely know who he is, but the average fan isn’t likely to have heard much about him yet and on a national level he hasn’t received much attention. I think that will change in 2015.

PSA:  Was there a Yankee prospect in the past who you felt was a "sure thing" that ended up fizzling out?

If you want to go back to the 90s, I was a huge fan of Ruben Rivera. The tools were obvious and I thought he could be something like Bobby Bonds. The reasons for his failure had little to do with his natural talent though. I also really liked D’Angelo Jimenez. He wasn’t a total bust and had some success as a role player, but I thought he could be much more than that.  Ricky Ledee was another one like that. Jose Tabata hasn’t lived up to expectations either.

PSA:  Out of the trio of Sanchez, Murphy and Torrens, which would you, rather have? Why?

That’s tough. Murphy is already in the majors, which has value, and Sanchez is close. Torrens may have the highest ceiling, but he’s also the furthest away and least-defined as a player. If I’m a baseball team, who would rather have would depend on what I need: on pure upside I would go Torrens/Sanchez/Murphy, but if I’m a real team and need someone ready to help more quickly, I’d go Sanchez/Torrens/Murphy.

PSA:  Do you think that Robert Refsnyder, Aaron Judge, Greg Bird and Tyler Austin will become Yankee line-up mainstays?

This is the Yankees, so "will become" is always hard to predict with young players given that there are veterans that have to get out of the way first and always possible free agent signings. I will just say that I still see it possible for all four players to become regulars, with the Yankees or someone else. Austin has had a rough couple of years but I haven’t given up on him yet. I don’t think Refsnyder is a future star, but he should be a strong role player at least.

Bird and Judge are decent bets to be mainstays somewhere eventually, Bird could be something like Nick Swisher and Judge’s ceiling is the highest of the group. Eric Jagielo still has a shot, Jake Cave looks promising, and one or more of the big budget Latin American guys from this past summer could be better than any of the guys ahead of them, although who that is exactly is still unknown.

Once again a huge thank you to John for his time!!  You can check him out over at SBN sister site Minor League Ball.

It's great to keep an eye on the young guys, but who in the system could realistically help the Yankees in 2015?

It's great to keep an eye on the low level of the minor leagues, but a decade of prospect watching has taught me to be skeptical of top prospects. Every year, the MLB draft offers a few future All-Stars to the thirty teams. Every year, these prospects run through the minor league grist mill, and the cream rises to the top. It's easy to be excited by an 18-year-old who could some day hit 40 homers in the Show, but there are a lot of those.

But if you're a Yankee fan dedicated to the big league team and uninterested in hardcore prospect watching, you need a different kind of top prospect list, one that is exclusively focused at near-big league ready talent. This is especially true given just how overly cautious the Yankees have always been with their minor leaguers.

1. Rob Refsnyder - Has made the difficult transition from college outfielder to professional infielder, but even the most generous scouting reports call his defense a work in progress.
2. Jose Pirela - Rob Refsnyder's offensive potential has garnered more attention, but Pirela's .305/.351/.441 in Triple-A while playing nearly every position on the diamond is just as exciting to me, though there are questions about his defense as well.
3. John Ryan Murphy - Didn't show nearly the power I was hoping for this year. I had hoped that escaping the pitcher's paradise in Scranton would allow him to take a big step forward, but I was impressed by what I saw of his defense, and that means that one of Murphy or Francisco Cervelli is likely trade bait this offseason.
4. Manny Banuelos - This might be a make-or-break season for the slight southpaw. Coming back from Tommy John surgery, this is likely his last chance to prove he can make it as a starter. If the 2015 Yankees have anything close to the trouble keeping their starters healthy that they've had the last two seasons, Banuelos will certainly have the chance to prove himself.
5. Greg Bird - Played only 27 games in Trenton during 2014, but his performance so far in the Arizona Fall League has to bring extra expectations. If Mark Teixeira gets hurt again, or if the Yankees find themselves again struggling to get adequate production from the DH spot, could Bird be a fix?

There are certainly other players who will have the chance to help the Yankees this coming season: Zoilo Almonte and Ramon Flores, Bryan Mitchell and Tyler Webb. Maybe that entire lot doesn't have a single future All-Star appearance between them, but a championship team needs 25-30 players contributing. And I hope those guys have a ring in their future.

CBS Sports | Jon Heyman:The Yankees are expected to extend David Robertson the qualifying offer, Hiroki Kuroda poses a more difficult decision.

Yankees Go Yard | Alan Levy: According to Vegas, the Yankees will have a hard time winning it all in 2015.

It's About the Money | Matt Bove:After last offseason's spending binge, the Yankees do not have much flexibility to fill in all the holes, which is why the Yankees need Brian McCann and Carlos Beltran to rebound.

New York Post | George A. King III:Pablo Sandoval is expected to shape this years free agent class with his contract. Combined with Alex Rodriquez coming off suspension, Chase Headley's future in pinstripes is incredibly murky.

Bleeding Yankee Blue | Suzie Pinstripe:The Posadas really know how to pimp out a Halloween party.

The Yankees need to keep David Robertson around to in order to strengthen the bullpen as a whole

2014 Statistics: 3.08 ERA, 2.68 FIP, 13.43 K/9, 3.22 BB/9, 39 SV, 64.1 IP

2015 Age: 30

Position: Closer

Conventional baseball wisdom says that relievers are mostly fungible and you shouldn't devote money and years to them when you don't have to. However, if you've been paying attention to the playoffs at all, it's clear that the best teams have the best bullpens. We've seen the Royals thrive with one and the Tigers suffer without one, and while the Yankees bullpen has been really good in recent years, it's going to take a hit in the offseason when David Robertson, one of the best relievers in baseball, becomes a free agent.

We all know what Robertson can do. The argument to re-sign Robertson really revolves around Dellin Betances. Many have said he should be crowned the new closer and Robertson should be allowed to leave so the Yankees can use the money elsewhere. That's certainly a legitimate way to build a bullpen, but if the Yankees want a truly elite backend, they should be looking to keep their closer around for the foreseeable future. While Dellin would likely make for a great closer, the Yankees are better off with both of them. Just like Mariano Rivera and David Robertson were an effective one-two punch, Robertson and Betances would offer a real combo at the backend of the bullpen, one they would not have if Robertson was allowed to leave.

The Yankees could easily fill Robertson's role with Dellin, but the real problem would be replacing Betances. Moving him into the closer role would cement him into the ninth inning and severely damage his value as a multi-inning reliever. The rest of the Yankees bullpen is filled with interchangeable parts that shouldn't be trusted in high-leverage situations on a regular basis, so by keeping Betances/Robertson intact, we don't have to see Shawn Kelley as the primary setup man.

Sure, the farm system has plenty of top talent coming through the pipeline, but even if Jacob Lindgren, Nick Rumbelow, and Tyler Webb all end up as important major league relievers in 2015, you can't go into the season expecting it. They'll start off with easy innings until they prove they can handle the challenge. If they pass, it would make the games so much shorter and mean the Yankees would still be better off with Robertson as the closer.

While longterm contracts are tricky with relievers, at least you know what you're getting by signing Robertson. They might not receive a hometown discount, but they'll be more comfortable giving out a bigger deal to someone who is already familiar over someone completely new like, say, Andrew Miller. Giving out big contracts to relievers still isn't the wisest of baseball moves, but in today's run environment it might be a necessary evil. With the rise in reliever value, David Robertson will be looking to cash in this offseason and the Yankees need to work something out quickly before they get into a bidding war that makes a deal impossible. There might come a day when Robertson can no longer do the job, but right now he's only 30 and he still should be effective for at least several more years. He's someone that the Yankees shouldn't be afraid to pay (a little) extra to keep around.