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PSA Comments of the Day 2/23/15: The Waiting Game

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Position players report in a few days. Also, Yoan Moncada is expected to make a decision this week. All we have to do now is wait. EDIT: Or, you know, watch him go to our arch rivals over a matter of money. Whatever.

Pitchers and catchers continue their workouts, preparing for the 2015 season. The Yankees position players will join them very soon. Soon after that, Spring Training games will commence and we'll get to see some good ol' fashioned team building. Meanwhile, Yoan Moncada is expected to make a decision this week as to where he will wind up. Perhaps his three private workouts with the Yankees convinced both him and them that they are the perfect fit. One can hope.

Edit: WELP.

Comments of the Day

Having some Temple Guards in Monument Park Dungeon would be a huge hit. Just like with the Legends of the Hidden Temple, what better way to connect to our young than by frightening the ever-living shit out of them at random? Just make sure they wear gold Steinbrenner face masks though! Gotta keep with the overall theme.

GIF of the Day

Since there was not a GIF to be seen yesterday, we'll just give it to the Temple Guard GIF above.

Honorable Mod Mention

The HMM goes to Greg Kirkland. Greg got the only Blue'd post yesterday. Good work, Greg!

Fun Questions
  • If you could build something by hand, be it practical or impractical, what would you like to build? Or, name something you've already built that you're super proud of.
  • What is your plan for a Zombie Apocalypse?
Song of the Day

Three Little Birds by Bob Marley and the Wailers

We continue Animal Week on Pinstripe Alley with one of the best songs ever made. This song is simple, poetic, and everlasting. As always, please link us your Song of the Day.

Feel free to use this as your open thread for the day. Spring Training games are just around the corner. I cannot wait. Also, I really find the photo up above to be funny. The look on Joe Girardi's face just screams "Who the hell is this guy?"

"Cause every little thing is gonna be alright!"

EDIT: Really glad about the song I chose for today's COTD thread after the Moncada news.


Yankees Prospect Profile: Jose Pirela

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Opportunity knocks for this young infielder as 2015 kicks off. What are the odds he can be the Yankees' answer to their second base question?

Background

Nearly a decade ago, back in 2006, the Yankees signed a 17-year old out of Venezuela named Jose Pirela. Entering the system as a shortstop primarily, Pirela made his organizational debut with the Domincan Summer League Yankees in 2007, but not on the best note, as he committed 29 errors in just 55 games. Pirela had various levels of success offensively between the lower levels of New York's system before seeming to find his groove while playing in Double-A in 2012. A second baseman by this time, Pirela continued to shoot up the organizational rankings in 2013, and made his Triple-A debut by the end of that season.

2014 Results

Simply put, Jose Pirela was one of the International League's best players in 2014. He led the league in hits, including a league-high 11 triples. In his age-24 season, Pirela displayed an impressive ability to combine his speed and sneaky power, as he was the league's sole player to record at least 20 doubles, 10 triples and 10 home runs. Versatility was also a strong suite of Pirela's campaign, one that firmly put him on the map going forward for an organization changing on the fly. On his way to a postseason All-Star nod, Pirela played six different positions, with most of his time being spent at second base (60 games played) and left field (31 games played). Defense had not quite become a plus tool for Pirela, but he could perform adequately on a majority of spots on the field, which has tremendous value for so many reasons.

After the RailRiders' season had come to an end, Pirela was called up to the Bronx and made his major league debut on September 22nd that night. In his first at-bat, Pirela laced a triple and added another hit later on. All told, Pirela appeared in seven games, going 8-for-24 and driving in three runs. For Pirela, who just three years prior seemed unlikely to ever even consider a call-up, there was no better way for the 2014 season to end.

2015 Outlook

Truth be told, there are few players in Yankees' camp this February and March that have more to play for than does Jose Pirela. Now a member of the 40-man roster, Pirela has been looked at as a potential answer at second base and/or a valuable super-utility guy off the bench for Joe Girardi. He could also very well begin the season in Scranton. Pirela's best option this spring is obviously to hit his way into a job, but it is possible that might not even be enough. Should the team need to carry an extra pitcher at the onset of the year, Pirela could be a roster space casualty. At the very best, Pirela could be the team's Opening Day second baseman. Worst case shows Pirela back down at Triple-A after a disappointing Grapefruit League showing. Most likely, the result lies somewhere in between. No matter how April starts, the 25-year old figures to contribute in the bigs this year. Stephen Drew and Rob Refsnyder will provide the competition for Pirela, a late-bloomer looking to prove himself at the major league level.

Yankees Injury Updates: Sabathia, Tanaka, Bailey, Baker & Pinder

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Injury update on the pitchers who have reported to spring training.

CC Sabathia

Back in 2013, Sabathia showed up to spring training down forty pounds. He looked even thinner when he reported last year. For whatever reason, 2013 and 2014 turned out to be the worst seasons of his career and there have been discussions as to whether his weight loss led to a decrease in his velocity. Interestingly, Sabathia reported to camp heavier than he has been over the past two years. The weight gain was intentional, and he has said that he feels stronger now. It sounds slightly counter-intuitive to gain weight when you have a degenerative knee condition, but he said that the previous weight-loss made him feel off-balance, so it'll be interesting to see if gaining weight helps.

As for his knee, Sabathia reported that he's been getting regular PRP (platelet-rich plasma) injections over the offseason, and that he'll probably get more during the All-Star break. He also indicated that he has changed his workout routine to protect his knee. He threw a 25-pitch bullpen session on Saturday, mixing in fastballs and curveballs, and he didn't appear to have any problems.

Andrew Bailey

After missing the entire 2014 season due to setbacks from the shoulder surgery that he had back in 2013, Bailey is finally back on track and could be ready by Opening Day. He said that he feels "night and day difference" when comparing how his shoulder feels now to how it felt a year ago. Bailey has thrown four bullpen sessions so far, and is already throwing all of his pitches. He's on a slightly different program than the other pitchers though, and will long toss and throw off flat ground between bullpen sessions in order to get more rest. He sounds healthy and confident, and if he's truly ready by the end of spring training, he could land a spot in the Yankees' bullpen.

Masahiro Tanaka

It's shaping up that the major focus of spring training, and probably the entire 2015 season, will be on Tanaka's elbow. So far, so good. Tanaka has said that he is not feeling any pain in his elbow, and that he thinks he will be able to get through the season fine. He also said that his overall health feels better than last year. Tanaka apparently had an MRI in October to check on his elbow, and the doctor told him there was "no problem at all." He has successfully thrown two bullpen sessions since reporting last week.

Others

The Yankees signed Scott Baker to a minor-league contract over the offseason. Baker had Tommy John surgery roughly three years ago, and has said that his arm feels significantly better now than it did last spring. Another pitcher, prospect Branden Pinder, was originally assigned to play in the Arizona Fall League over the offseason, but he ended up not participating due to some elbow soreness that he was experiencing at the time. His arm feels good now.

Analyzing new Boston Red Sox infielder Yoan Moncada

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A lot of people are talking about Yoan Moncada, so I thought I'd share some of my thoughts.

Yoan Moncada has reportedly signed with the Boston Red Soxfor $31.5 million dollars. If you haven't followed the progress of the young Cuban, here is a timeline presented by one guy who has been on the situation from the start, Kiley McDaniel at Fangraphs.

I've been fascinated by the story since I heard he was missing and no one knew where he was. I was hoping it wouldn't turn into an ugly story, and thankfully it has not. Instead it has turned into a tour of one of the best young amateurs in the world showcasing his abilities. Unlike many players similar in skill to him, he will not be draftable and slotted a bonus, instead he is a free agent. His bonus only capped by a tax that is meaningless to the teams that have deep pockets and are looking for a place to spend money. The team that signs him will have to opt out of signing any other international players for the next two years. Several teams have already spent enough to do that. Others are unsure whether Moncada is worth losing that line of player acquisition.

To this point, there are only a handful of short clips and GIFs of the switch hitter but a few more videos have showed up on YouTube here and I have embedded the one in which he faces pitchers that I actually know something about.

In the 1st at bat, he faced Justus Sheffield, Cleveland's first round pick last June, and showed a good eye. He showed off his speed by beating a chopper up the middle off of him. Sheffield has the ability to make good hitters look bad. Moncada did well.

In the next AB, Jacob Nix, who was a 5th round pick last summer and looks like he could be a 1st round pick this June. He was intentinally walked to create a force situation at any base with one out. I'm not sure if there was any respect aspect to this or just a strategic move. Odds are the latter. In the third AB, he took an aggresive hack at an 89 MPH fastball from Nix. The next pitch, the runner took off and Moncada took the fading 80 MPH change the other way, exactly as he should have, whether a hit and run was on or not. An excellent piece of hitting. In his next AB, Nix showed excellent movement on his fastball and solid pitchability raising Moncada's eye level and blowing an 89 MPH fastball past him using a greater effective velocity by raising it in the zone.

In his final AB, he pushes a drag bunt down the 3B line against Luis Ortiz and burns down the line in about 3.7 seconds. He can fly. He tweaked his knee, or so it looked in the video doing it but it showed another aspect of the exciting young hitter. He looks like a 60 runner, if not a 70. I timed him at 4.1 down the line right handed twice. That's a 70. Watching the other two videos against Colombia and Taiwan, he showed very similar skills, though the competition was lesser. What the video below shows is a top talent faceing top talent of a similar age.

He is the same age as current college sophomores and 2013 MLB draftees. Keeping comparisons to infielders, Carlos Correa is the head of this class. He is a better prospect than Moncada. J.P. Crawford is the next best prospect of similar age and skill. Crawford is more likely to stick at SS. The skills seem fairly similar. Moncada may have more power. His swing looks like he will hit the ball with more authority but I have yet to see it in action. Travis Demeritte is a 2B with impressive power. Maybe more raw power than Moncada, maybe similar, I'm not sure. I think Moncada is a much better pure hitter than Demeritte but won't have the same game power as Demeritte.

The others similar in age in this infield group include Orlando Arcia, Franchy Cordero, Ryan McMahon, Raul Adalberto Mondesi, Miguel Andujar, Dustin Peterson and Drew Ward. On the college side, it would be C.J. Hinojosa, Richie Martin, Sheldon Neuse, John Sternagel and Ben Deluzio.

Orlando Arcia is a catalyst player similar to Moncada but Arcia is more of a shortstop and doesn't have the same physical presence. Franchy Cordero is the cautionary tale here, as he hit well in short season ball but struggled in A ball. While even at his best, he doesn't have the skills of Moncada but he is an exciting player in his own right. Mondesi is a skinny short stop that has a developing bat. Not very similar. The rest of the MiLB hitters are 3B types that aren't quick twitch athletes but more corner type players.

On the college side, Richie Martin has similar speed and bat to ball skills. He's a smaller guy but has the quick twitch ability like Moncada. He doesn't have the power upside as Martin is a average power guy at best and likely to be below average with a good amound of doubles as a gap to gap guy who can run into a few. He is more likely to stick at SS but isn't a lock. He is likely a mid to late first round guy this June. Sheldon Neuse has the best bat out of this group and has average power with potential to have plus power in the majors. I think that is Moncada's ultimate potential as well, at least from the left side. Neuse lines up as a mid to late 1st round guy in 2016. Ben Deluzio has that attention grabbing speed but not the caliber of skills beyond that, although he is an excellent hitter. The difference with Deluzio is that he was a 2B/SS in high school but is a center fielder at Florida State. That could be a direction for Moncada to go as well. His skills would allow him to play there if a team so chose.

In summary, looking at the players similar to him, J.P. Crawford doesn't have the bat Moncada does but can play short. I see them as similar prospects, value wise. He could be able to start in High A ball but could also struggle in ways in A ball, as Demeritte did with contact and Cordero did with everything.He is better than them but acclimating to the Midwest or South Atlantic league coming from Cuba is not simple. I could see a team starting him in High A just to see where he is at and challenge him. If a less aggresive team signs him, he may start in Low A ball and that isn't bad either. Guys like Martin and Neuse won't be there until '16 and '17 respectively. Moncada could be in the majors by the time they get to AA if all goes well.

Alex Rodriguez reports to Yankees camp, hopes to make the team

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Rodriguez said all the right things during his first day of camp Monday, but still managed to ruffle a few feathers.

Alex Rodriguez participated in spring workouts for the New York Yankees on Monday, making his first return to the team since his year-long suspension for PED use.

Rodriguez took grounders at third base as well as batting practice before talking to a group of roughly 20 reporters at the Yankees' minor league complex in Tampa Bay. The 39-year-old acknowledged he made "plenty of mistakes" in the past, expressing a willingness to move forward and focus on the 2015 campaign, according to Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News.

"I cringe sometimes when I look at some of the things I did, but I paid my penalty, and I'm grateful that I have another opportunity," Rodriguez told Feinsand. "No mistake that I've made has any good answer or justification. It's unexplainable, and that's on me. I've dug a big hole for myself and paid a price. I'm fortunate for a lot of people—especially the Commissioner's office, the players union and the Yankees—to give me the opportunity to play the game that I love."

While A-Rod said all the right things and appeared contrite in apologizing, his arrival Monday caught the Yankees by surprise. Per Feinsand, many Yankees officials were angry Rodriguez did not let the club know that he was arriving Monday, with one executive saying, "He's learned nothing. He's the same old guy."

Still, Rodriguez showed a desire to move past any distractions and put the focus firmly on the team's 2015 chances.

"It feels great to be back," Rodriguez said. "Obviously it was a rough year, but I'm very excited that's behind me, and I have a chance to hopefully make this team."

The 20-year veteran said he doesn't plan to address his Yankees' teammates as a whole and stated that he felt "very welcome" to be back in camp with the squad. He also indicated that he would be willing to take grounders at first base and do anything Yankees manager Joe Girardi asks of him this spring.

Rodriguez has three years and $64 million remaining on his contract, plus another $30 million in bonuses tied up in career home run milestones.

While his first day back went relatively smoothly, the media circus surrounding Rodriguez and the Yankees should only grow in the coming days. Given his history and all the attention directed toward him during his career, the spotlight will remain firmly fixed on Rodriguez throughout the season.

Daily Red Sox Links: Yoan Moncada, Eduardo Rodriguez, Daniel Nava

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Today's links cover all things Yoan Moncada, the likely departure of the Paw Sox, and Mike Napoli's tumultuous offseason.

There was some big news yesterday that you may have heard about. Because of it, I'm splitting today's links into Moncada and non-Moncada sections.

Yoan Moncada Links

Sox Prospects has the skinny on the signing. (Will Woodward; Sox Prospects)

Ben Carsley tackles it from many different angles. (Ben Carsley; Baseball Prospectus)

Obviously the $63 million Boston paid for Moncada is a huge sum of money. Will it be worth it? (Alex Speier; Boston Globe)

Dave Cameron says yes. (Dave Cameron; Fangraphs)

Still, it's hard to deny it's a big gamble by the Red Sox. (Gordon Edes; ESPN Boston)

The last Cuban player signed by the Red Sox, Rusney Castillo, doesn't have a ton of knowledge about Moncada, but knows he's a great athlete. (Scott Lauber; Boston Herald)

Sean McAdam has five thoughts in the aftermath of the signing. (Sean McAdam; CSN New England)

His agent describes how the 19-year-old came to land in Boston. (John Tomase; WEEI.com)

Does the move make it any more likely Boston will up their offer for Cole Hamels? (Mike Axisa; CBS Sports)

It's really surprising the Yankees didn't make a stronger push. (Jason Mastrodonato; Masslive.com)

Drew Smyly has a valid criticism of this process versus the one gone through by amateurs who go through the draft. (D.J. Short; Hardball Talk)

Finally, some videos of the newest member of the Red Sox organization. (Nick O'Malley; Masslive.com)

Non-Moncada Links

In a story that got somewhat buried in the Moncada news, the Pawtucket Red Sox may not be in existence for much longer. (Jen McCaffrey; Masslive.com)

Eduardo Rodriguez is something of a divisive prospect, but the team likes what they are seeing from him thus far. (Alex Speier; Boston Globe)

Daniel Nava is looking at a smaller role than he's had in years past, but his preparation for the season doesn't change. (Tim Britton; Providence Journal)

Mike Napoli had one hell of an offseason that he is glad is over. (Boston Herald)

In the madness that has been this offseason, Christian Vazquez has fallen out of the attention of many fans. What can we expect from him this year? (Mike Petraglia; WEEI.com)

John Farrell has been a fan of all the work Ben Cherington has done this winter. (Rick Weber; ESPN Boston)

Around the Empire: Yankees News - 2/24/15

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A-Rod comes to camp early, Beltran proclaims his health, Red Sox sign Moncada, and all eyes are on Tanaka.

New York Times | David Waldstein and Billy Witz: Alex Rodriguez showed up early to camp and, of course, the media pounced all over him.

Newsday | Erik Boland: The Red Sox signed Yoan Moncada to a $31.5 million signing bonus after the Yankees only bid about $25 million. Brian Cashman stated that bidding any higher would have been "uncomfortable" considering the financial constraints of ownership.

New York Post | George A. King III: Masahiro Tanaka threw a 35-pitch bullpen session and felt physically fine after throwing his entire repertoire. Nathan Eovaldi is also starting his bullpen sessions and he's working on developing a splitter, which will hopefully increase the number of whiffs this season.

NJ.com | Ryan Hatch: Going into spring training, Carlos Beltran feels confident in his health. He also offered his comments on A-Rod's return, and feels that he could be an offensive contributor this season.


AAI Part Two: Measuring Jose Bautista's best 2014 home runs

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The people have spoken, and they want an excuse to watch videos of home runs.

Generally speaking, sequels tend to be worse than originals, but they do have one advantage: the ability to keep exposition to a minimum.

If you pick up a copy of Taken 2, you already know that someone is going to go missing and you have an idea of the very particular set of skills you can expect Liam Neeson to demonstrate. As a result, that film doesn't take very long to set up. For the record, Taken 2 did not leverage this advantage into an excellent final product and wound up with a score of 21% on Rotten Tomatoes, but that's neither here nor here.

If you read my piece last Friday on Edwin Encarnacion you have idea what's about to happen here. However, for those who missed it and can't take hyperlink hints, the idea is that one of the great joys of baseball is watching impressive home runs and I thought I would take a stab at quantifying which round trippers are most worthy of your attention.

The statistic I came up with, AAI, equally weights four factors: speed off the bat, distance, opposing pitcher quality, and the number of parks the home run would leave. A score of 100 in any of these categories indicates the home run was the best one a player hit, and any score below that is relative to the high-water mark. For now the metric is only designed to judge a player against himself in order to see which of his home runs are the most impressive.

Today's subject is Jose Bautista. The reasons for this are fairly obvious as he is a prolific provider of the long ball and he's not known for wall-scrapers. So, without further ado, here are Bautista's most astounding shots of 2014:

Bronze Medal

Date: July 2nd

Opposing Pitcher: Wily Peralta

Count: 3-1

Men on Base: None

Game Result: Blue Jays 7, Brewers 4

Speed ScoreDistance ScoreOpposing Pitcher ScorePark ScoreTotal AAI
94969399382

There are a couple of things about this particular home run that stand out. Firstly, the ESPN Home Run Tracker seems to believe there is one ballpark that it would not leave, which seems like it has to be an error with this shot measuring at 434 feet. If you feel like bumping up that AAI to 383 in your head I'm ok with it.

Also it's worth noting that this was hit off a 98 mph fastball. In a 3-1 count Bautista was likely sitting on a fastball and he clobbered one that had elite velocity. Peralta fastball gives him a larger margin for error than other pitchers, but you can't sneak one past Joey Bats.

Lastly, Bautista really took some time to admire this one, as he is wont to do.

There are plenty of differing opinions on Bautista's attitude, but I'm of the opinion that he has every right to appreciate his own artistry.

Silver Medal

Date: September 22nd

Opposing Pitcher: Tom Wilhelmsen

Count: 0-0

Men on Base: None

Game Result: Blue Jays 14, Mariners 4

Speed ScoreDistance ScoreOpposing Pitcher ScorePark ScoreTotal AAI
949793100384

This home run likely looks slightly more underwhelming than the AAI suggests, but that's largely due to shoddy camera work. The camera focuses on the 100 level seats throughout the shot giving us the impression it's a normal home run, only adjusting up when the ball is about to hit the facing. As a result, we miss out on the arc of the bomb and don't get as good an idea of the distance on a ball that traveled 437 feet.

That being said, working a camera is not as easy as it looks and we're here to celebrate Bautista, not evaluate the broadcast. This was a heck of a home run off a pitcher who excels at quieting right-handed bats in Wilhelmsen.

Gold Medal

Date: August 30th

Opposing Pitcher: Michael Pineda

Count: 0-2

Men on Base: One

Game Result: Blue Jays 2, Yankees 0

Speed ScoreDistance ScoreOpposing Pitcher ScorePark ScoreTotal AAI
1009497100391

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that's not where Pineda wanted to leave an 0-2 slider.

What makes this home run special is how fast it got out of the park. The ball was travelling at 115.5 mph off the bat, almost two mph faster than Bautista's second-fastest shot. He also gets bonus points for driving in the only two runs of the ballgame with that swing.

If you prefer a towering fly ball this wasn't the home run for you, but it was an absolute laser beam off a very good pitcher and that's what earns it gold medal status.

Now, one issue with doing this exercise with Jose Bautista is that his home runs don't have a lot of diversity, as shown by the Baseball Savant Heatmap below.

So, in order to show you something other than Bautista pulling the ball a mile, here is his least impressive home run of 2014 by AAI:

35th-Place Medal

Date: September 20th

Opposing Pitcher: Chase Whitley

Count: 3-1

Men on Base: None

Game Result: Blue Jays 6, Yankees 3

Speed ScoreDistance ScoreOpposing Pitcher ScorePark ScoreTotal AAI
84818110256

Classic cheap Yankee Stadium home run. It's nice to see the Blue Jays get one of those for once, but an underwhelming display by Bautista.

That concludes your tour of Jose Bautista's home runs in 2014, next up is major offseason acquisition Josh Donaldson.


Yankees Prospect Profile: Rob Refsnyder

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Will 2015 be Refsnyder's time to shine?

Background

The Yankees selected Rob Refsnyder in the 5th round of the 2012 draft out of the University of Arizona where he was named Most Outstanding Player during the Wildcats' championship run. Refsnyder was primarily an outfielder for Arizona before the Yankees decided his skill set was better suited for second base. He began his professional career with the Low-A Charleston RiverDogs, batting .241/.319/.364 in his first half-season as a Yankee. Refsnyder really turned it up in his first full professional season, putting up an .826 OPS between Charleston and Tampa in 2013.

2014 Results

Refsnyder continued to improve his stock as a prospect by following up his strong 2013 season with another impressive season in the upper levels of the minors in 2014. He kicked off the year at Double-A Trenton, where he batted .342/.385/.548 in 60 games. The Yankees saw fit to promote him on to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after his incredible run through the Eastern League. Refsnyder rewarded their faith and kept right on hitting, batting .300/.389/.456 in 77 games to finish out the year. It seemed like Refsnyder had done plenty to show he was deserving of a shot at the big league level while the Yankees were getting lackluster performances from Brian Roberts and Stephen Drew at second base. The criticism of Refsnyder, if anything, was that his defense was just not ready for the majors. That likely influenced the team's decision to have him remain in the minors for the entire 2014 season.

2015 Outlook

It seemed like, momentarily, that the Yankees might be ready to hand the second base job to Refsnyder right out of the gate until the team went and inked Drew to a one-year deal. The silver lining to that is that Drew's salary is not prohibitive if he proves to be no better than the player he was last season. Refsnyder will get a chance to go to the minors, hopefully with improved defense, and can force the team's hand with his results. With two highly impressive seasons under his belt back-to-back, there's no reason to believe that he won't be able to string together another one in 2015. Now that the Yankees have lost out on Yoan Moncada, Refsnyder's development into their second baseman of the near future becomes all the more important. It's been a while since we've had a prospect hit as well as Refsnyder with a spot basically just waiting for his arrival. The good news is that arrival will almost certainly happen at some point this year. Refsnyder may not have the ceiling of a superstar, but every little bit of excitement helps. If he hits like he has the past two years of that, there won't be any shortage of excitement where he's concerned.

Rays are the No. 4 Among Statsmasters

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The Rays ranked among the top stats teams in all of American sports.

Are the Rays one of the top statistical organizations in baseball? Probably, but can you prove it?

Well over at ESPN, they tried to quantify just how well teams in all four major American sports used analytics, and how that translated to wins. The Rays ranked fourth overall and second among MLB teams, behind the Philadelphia 76ers, Houston Astros and Houston Rockets (Keeping with the tradition: "Stats departments are bigger in Texas.")

The Rays ranked so high because of their low cost of winning. ESPN put their average roster cost per win at $700,000 — the lowest for baseball teams with a record better than .500 since 2008. For comparison, the Yankees were the highest at $2.4 million per win.

ESPN attributes this success to the Rays's R&D team, who they say have helped the organization keep salaries low (citing the fact that Tampa has had only four players make more than $10 million in a season in the last six years).

A big part of this, as ESPN correctly states, was the Stuart Sternberg-Matt Silverman-Andrew Friedman group, who took a team ESPN ranked as second-to-last in "sabermetric intensity" from 2003-07 to having the highest intensity for the next five years.

The Rays have been a testament to how well sabermetrics do work, going from a perennial cellar-dweller to a team that competes for division titles year in and year out. Despite Friedman going to Hollywood (ESPN ranks the Dodgers as analytics "believers" — one level below the Rays, who are "all in."), the backbone of the Rays' analytics program remains, and they should — and will likely — remain on the same course.

Topkin notes:

- Tampa Bay Times beat writer Marc Topkin has a couple quality articles today. In one, Chris Archer says he thinks the Rays have the best rotation in baseball. I may not necessarily agree, but it's a testament to the Rays' organization that that type of statement could exist and not be laughed at less than a year after dealing a pitcher like David Price.

In another article, newly acquired Asdrubal Cabrerais looking for a home, figuratively. In the article, Cabrera says he's fine with playing either middle infield position, but he would like to stick with one.

"I would like to stay in one position," Cabrera said. "I think it's hard for anyone to play short or second; it's not the same. You have to be ready for one of those two positions."

- In the same article, Topkin touches on a few other notes. Video coordinator Chris "Chico" Fernandez was forced to wear Joe Maddon's old No. 70 jersey on the field Monday, being teased for being so close to the former Rays skipper. Nonroster invitee Ronald Belisario and Alex Colome have not reported to camp yet. They are still in Venezuela and the Dominican Republic, respectively.

Also, Kevin Cash apparently is still figuring out what to do with this whole managing thing.

"I didn't know what field I was supposed to be on, so I just kind of lingered around the catchers."

Links:

- MLB.com's Bill Chastain effectively previews the Rays' camp in his article. Fun fact that I learned from it: The Rays have three Grapefruit League "titles." Can we get some banners for those in the Trop, or no?

- Pitcher Drew Smyly clarified his tweet about Yoan Mocada's contract this morning. Smyly said originally that it was "not right" that there's effectively an open market for international free agents, whereas players subject to the draft basically have to sacrifice their value. He's not wrong.

- The Hardball Times' Matthew Murphy riffs on whether groundball pitchers are really more valuable than flyball pitchers. As a devoted fan of Chien-Ming Wang, I'll stick with my sinkerballers, but Murphy makes a compelling argument. Also, remember Chien-Ming Wang? He was fun to watch. It's a shame his career turned out the way it did.

- Rockies reporter Thomas Harding has a feature on shortstop Troy Tulowitzki that's a good read. It's crazy looking at Tulo's numbers from last season, which was effectively a half-year for him. If he's healthy, he's going to be an MVP candidate this season.

- Speaking of injured players in spring training, D-backs reporter Steve Gilbert has a story on Daniel Hudson up online about how Hudson is welcoming having his first "normal" camp after a pair of of Tommy John surgeries. I got a chance to cover Hudson last summer and he always seemed like a really good guy, so I'm glad he's getting a shot to revamp his career.

PSA Comments of the Day 2/24/15: The Molten Hot Takes

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Yoan Moncada is not coming to the Yankees. He is going to the Red Sox. The fanbase was a bit miffed by this news. A bit.

Yoan Moncada is heading to the Red Sox. The Yankees were outbid for him by our hated rivals. No time for the usual pleasantries, Pinstripe Alley. We have about thirty hot takes to get through. Let's dive on in.

Comments of the Day

Thank you, LTL. It's good to start off the day with laughter.

These were the first comments of the Moncada thread. There were still almost four hundred more to read through.

/pours some bourbon

I don't blame Andrew for not being able to count the amount of Rec's. It was that kind of thread.

The Steinbrenners have huge tracts of land.

I hear it's called the S.S. [expletive deleted] The Fanbase!

We're really just getting started folks.

/pours second glass of bourbon

Colorful, to say the least.

This was the news I woke up to as well. I went back to bed.

Oh yeah. This was before we found out who was really to blame. Either way, FIRE CASHMAN, AMIRITE?

The new PSA tagline: Abandon All Hope All Ye Who Enter Here

Nope. They're probably going to stop coming because Jeter & the rest of the Dynasty are no longer there.

This is only number twelve, ladies and gentlemen.

/pours third glass of bourbon, first glass of scotch

Welp

What a wise cracker!

This doesn't get any better.

Nope.

Of course, a Ferrari in the Bronx makes no sense.

Back to the thread...

Uh huh

This was very much needed in this thread. Thank you.

Also amusing. Thank you, Wang Fire!

What a woo

Hey, we're starting to get somewhere now.

Yeah, I'm a fan of actual negotiation. That's just me though.

What a wishful thinker.

Good lord.

And hey, we're out of that thread. Huzzah.

But it's spreading.

/pours fourth glass of bourbon, second glass of scotch, and just opens bottle of whiskey

Photoshop is nice

It's not a pretty thought.

And we end on survival tips. Hooray!

GIF of the Day

Lots and lots of GIFs from yesterday.

Some classics to get us ready for the season. It's Spring Training for us as well, after all.

Remember when waw said he didn't think the thread could get any worse? These GIFs were the direct result of it getting worse.

Honorable Mod Mention

Oh, the HMM goes to every member of the PSA Staff who had to read all these nuclear hot takes yesterday. Shots? Shots! Cause I'm pretty sure this GIF represents what we all thought.

Fun Questions
  • If you learned that you were immortal one day, what would be the first thing you'd do with the rest of your eternity?
  • Not counting baseball caps, what kind of fancy hat do you think you'd look the best in? (You may use pics to answer)
Song of the Day

Rock Lobster by The B52s'

It's still Animal Week, and I think we could all use a little Rock Lobster in our lives right now. Science has proven, it makes everything better. As always, please link us your Song of the Day.

Feel free to use this as your open thread for the day. Be honest, did you actually read all of my comments for each COTD post? Oh yeah, I didn't even get into the Alex Rodriguez media blitz yesterday. Meh, we'll save that for tomorrow.

Down......down.....

Yankees Prospect Profile: Nick Rumbelow

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Is Nick Rumbelow ready to emerge as a setup man for the Yankees in 2015?

Background

After an up-and-down run as a setup guy at LSU, the Yankees selected Nick Rumbelow in the 7th round in 2013 with the hope that he'd be able to work through his command issues and capitalize on his plus stuff. Rumbelow joined the Staten Island Yankees once he finished up at LSU, and something seemed to click for the 21-year-old -- he sliced his BB/9 from 4.1 at LSU to 2.0 in the New York Penn League.

2014 Results

Rumbelow's new-found command carried over into the 2014 season. He posted an uncharacteristically respectable 8% walk rate, which enabled him to rocket through the Yankees minor league system. The 22-year-old mowed down hitters at four different levels. He started the year with Low-A Charleston and worked his way up to Triple-A Scranton, posting gaudy strikeout numbers at every stop along the way.

KATOH, my prospect projection system, really likes what Rumbelow did last season. It forecasts a respectable 2.9 WAR through age 28, which is good for the 174th highest projection among players with at least 200 plate appearances or batters faced last year. Rumbelow's solid projection is mostly driven by his sky-high 34% strikeout rate from last year, but is also helped by the fact that he yielded just two homers in 58 innings of work. Here's a look at Rumbelow's odds of reaching certain WAR thresholds through age 28:

Rumbelow

2015 Outlook

There's no denying that Rumbelow has the upside of a dominant late-inning reliever, especially now that he's more or less exorcised the control problems that plagued him in his college days. His fastball sits in the mid 90's, and he pairs it with decent-enough breaking pitches, but his command is still holding him back. Although it's come a long way since his LSU, it still isn't great. Rumbelow should open the year in Scranton's bullpen, but will almost certainly make his big league debut at some point in 2015. As a reliever, his upside is somewhat limited, but he has more than enough stuff to be able to get both lefties and righties out.

Tigers sign Joba Chamberlain

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The 29-year old was spotted in Detroit's camp and will receive a major league deal.

Detroit has been looking to add bullpen depth all winter, and did so on Tuesday. According to FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal, the Tigers have re-signed Joba Chamberlain to a one-year, major league contract that will pay him a base salary of $1 million and includes another $500K in potential incentives.Chamberlain, who also was linked to the Dodgers this offseason, was spotted in Tigers camp on Tuesday morning.

Chamberlain, 29, posted a 3.57 ERA and 3.16 FIP in 63.0 innings pitched with the Tigers in 2014. Before he signed a deal with Detroit last offseason, he spent his seven previous seven major league seasons with the Yankees. Chamberlain's best season came in 2008, when he posted a 2.60 ERA and 2.65 FIP in 100.1 innings pitched with New York.

Tigers manager Brad Ausmus told The Detroit Free Press' Anthony Fenech that he feels much better about the club's bullpen situation heading into 2015, and Chamberlain reportedly has expressed interest in returning to the Tigers since the end of the season.

Although the club was hoping to resign Chamberlain, the Tigers may have less competition for bullpen spots after signing him. Joe Nathan, Joakim Soria, Bruce Rondon, Al Alburquerque, and Chamberlain are all expected to serve as Detroit's right-handed relief options in 2015. Alex Wilson and Josh Zeid could have been the team's fifth right-hander, however unless the Tigers opt to start the season with one lefty, there is a chance neither Wilson nor Zeid make the team.

Rondon is returning from Tommy John surgery and the Tigers are confident he will be healthy and serve as a setup man. Tom Gorzelanny may be the team's long reliever, which would mean Ian Krol will be the Tigers' primary left-handed relief option.

M Live's Chris Iott notes signing Chamberlain gives the Tigers notable bullpen depth at a low cost. In order to make room for Chamberlain on the 40-man roster, Detroit designated reliever Chad Smith for assignment.

In failing to sign Yoan Moncada, the Yankees lose a key auction

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There's a way to "win" an auction, and the Yankees seemed to avoid that strategy.

After months of speculation and rumors, the auction for Yoan Moncada's services has ended and the Red Sox have inked the Cuban phenom for about $63 million in total bonuses and penalties. People had initially blamed Brian Cashman for balking at signing him, until this tweet emerged:

This isn't the only story, and it looks like there are conflicting reports as to whether Hal Steinbrenner truly blocked a higher bid:

Well then. According to my initial estimations, Cashman not wanting to sign Moncada would be quite different from Hal Steinbrenner not opening up the checkbook, and that is an important distinction to make. What are the implications, though, of Hal blocking a higher bid? Mathematically speaking, it's pretty ludicrous.

The auction for Yoan Moncada is what is called sealed-bid, first-price auction. What that basically means is that other teams' bids are (allegedly) unknown to all other teams, and each team in the auction submits a bid. The highest bid wins, and then the winner pays that amount. If we treat this type of auction as a game theoretic model, then there is a way to game your strategy for maximum payoff, but that may have been done correctly.

In sealed-bid, first-price auctions, it is a strictly dominant strategy to slightly underbid below your "true value", which we would define as the dollar value the Yankees assign to Moncada. The reason for the underbid is that if we subtract the bid from that estimated dollar valuation, you should get a positive dollar amount. That would generate a surplus value, thus resulting in "winning" the auction. If you overbid for Moncada and overshoot your estimated value, then it results in a negative payoff, or what is also called the "winner's curse".

So, if you bid to that strategic value, the worse outcome is having a surplus value of 0, which would be better than acquiring Moncada for more than you estimated him to be worth. But that's probably not what happened. If Hal did in fact block a higher bid, then we know that Brian Cashman had a higher dollar total than the one he submitted, meaning that his bid should have been somewhere higher, possibly near $65 million in total. If generalized into a graphic, it would look something like this:

ideal_bidding_moncada

As you can see, one can initially see the wisdom in not going over your bid, or even submitting a completely truthful bid, because that is where b_i = v_i, but something above b_i" (the bottom alternate bid) is likely the ideal. Unfortunately, the Yankees bid somewhere near that b_i", a bid that is obviously not a dominant strategy because it guarantees a payoff of 0, while bidding higher (which likely would have been above Boston's offer) would result in winning the auction and gaining maximum surplus value from the acquisition.

This is a pretty simplistic model game theoretically speaking, just because we know that bids are not completely sealed, and there's also a large scarcity of information. This model really depends upon actors creating a "true value" for Moncada, but considering they saw him play in a workout just a few times, that level of information is much more incomplete than seeing him play professionally.

But, the larger point prevails. If Cashman had been totally free to place the bid that he wanted to place (if we make this assumption), then it likely would have been considered an optimal bid for a first-price auction. Being forced to undercut your bid, though, is clearly sub-optimal because the Red Sox now have Moncada. One can find even more useful information regarding auctions here (one can also find the unadulterated graphic), and it can be applied to any type of auction where bids are placed in baseball.

The Yankees clearly have the money and financial might to acquire a player in that dollar range, so seeing the Steinbrenners place a hard cap on bidding is obviously, given this model, a bit illogical. This all under the assumption that Hal did in fact place a cap, which is not obvious, so we may never know the truth. If the front office's dollar value estimation was at all higher than the Red Sox's bid, then this strategy is not only illogical, but largely damaging to the long-term health of the club.

Around the Empire: Yankees News - 2/25/14

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NJ.com | Brendan Kuty:Alex Rodriguez admitted on Tuesday that only time will tell whether or not he will be okay without the assistance of performance-enhancing drugs. He said it may take three or four weeks before he knows whether or not he can still play in the majors.

New York Daily News | Mark Feinsand: Former Red Sox closer Andrew Bailey is about a week behind the other pitchers after recovering from shoulder surgery two years ago, but he hopes that he will prove to be healthy enough to make the team. He's really the only reliever on the Yankees with any kind of closing experience, if that sort of thing matters.

LoHud | Chad Jennings:Chase Headley and Alex Rodriguez worked out together for the first time yesterday. Headley isn't worried about his job security, though. He says if he thought he was signing on to play first base or outfield he wouldn't have returned to the Yankees.

New York Post | Kevin Kernan: Apparently Ichiro Suzuki wasn't pleased with the way that Joe Girardi used him. Okay then.


The Over The Monster Podcast, Episode 121: Yoan Moncada

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The Red Sox signed Cuban free agent Yoan Moncada so we talk about that.

Maybe you saw it coming, but I didn't. Based on all the reports, there didn't seem to be much chance the Red Sox would be the winners when the Yoan Moncada race ended. The Yankees had the money and the need. The Dodgers had money, money, and money. The Brewers had as much or more need as any organization in the game so, sure, why the heck not? The Padres just buy stuff now. Whatever, buy it.

The Red Sox on the other hand are different. They have a good farm system, they have young players locked up long term, ergo they don't need Yoan Moncada. Sure they were over the international spending limit already, so the penalty was going to be incurred either way, but the Yankees are in the same position and they're the Yankee$. Point is, Moncada ain't coming to Boston.

Except yes he is!

So this is a very exciting podcast about a very exciting prospect the Red Sox signed. As when the Red Sox do anything, there are questions. What exactly is Moncada good at? Where will he start in the system? When can we expect to see him in Boston? Where does he fit in their minor league rankings? Does this mean they're trading the rest of the farm for Cole Hamels? (NO!) All these questions are covered in this, the 121st OTM Podcast.

After that, because why the heck not, we talk a bit about the outfield situation, starting right fielder Shane Victorino, what happens to Mookie Betts if Victorino is healthy, and where Allen Craig fits in to all of this.

As always, I welcome your thoughts either here in the comments section or over email (matthew dot kory at gmail). Hope you enjoy the podcast and thanks for listening.

Check Out Baseball Podcasts at Blog Talk Radio with The Over The Monster Podcast on BlogTalkRadio

Yankees Prospect Profile: Gary Sanchez

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Background

Our collective evaluation of Gary Sanchez is weird. He puts up solid batting lines every year while being consistently younger than the league average and yet he's almost considered to be a flop by many who follow the Yankees system. Don't get me wrong, to a certain extent he has been a disappointment; for all the promise and hype surrounding him a few years back he has done nothing to turn that imaginary prospect into reality. When his defensive abilities behind the plate and his attitude in the clubhouse are constantly in question, he's going to have to absolutely rake to compensate, but so far the offensive barrage we've all been waiting for just isn't happening. However, considering he's only 21, is it really fair to demand more?

2014 Results

In 2014, Sanchez had a solid, if unspectacular, offensive year for a catcher, hitting .270/.338/.406 with 13 home runs at the Double-A level. His peripherals left a little to be desired when he compiled a 19.1% K-rate and 9.0% walk-rate, though neither were disastrous, given his tool set. The biggest issue was that on top of the middling offensive numbers, he also managed to get benched for an entire week for some form of clubhouse issue that has remained undisclosed. His attitude and maturity has been an ongoing discussion over the last few seasons and the Yankees seemed to confirm what everyone already expected anyway. The benching didn't look good for his prospect status, and in the end MLB.com, Baseball America, and Baseball Prospectus all dropped him from their top 100 prospect lists heading into the 2015 season.

2015 Outlook

The book is obviously far from closed for Gary Sanchez, but things aren't exactly going in the right direction for him. I wouldn't be surprised if he stays in Double-A Trenton to begin the 2015 season, just because there's no real reason to rush him at this point. A league-average bat behind the plate isn't a bad thing, but when you pair it with poor defense and a bad attitude, it's going to be hard to see things get any better for him. Seeing as how he could be in Triple-A as a 22-year-old at some point this season, he still has upside and some prospect status left that could make him an intriguing trade piece at some point over the season. He isn't Mason Williams bad, but it might be a good idea for the Yankees to unload Sanchez before he is. Time will tell, but it might also change nothing. Just as Sanchez was going to be the catcher of the future when Jesus Montero was traded, Luis Torrens might ultimately usurp him at some point if things don't change soon.

PSA Comments of the Day 2/25/15: The position players report

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Position players report for duty today. Well, some reported early and apparently that was a big deal. You know who.

It's beginning to feel a lot like baseball. Position players report for duty today. I'm sure the media will give equal reporting time to everyone in Tampa. No one player will be singled out. Especially not one Alex Rodriguez. Nope. Not gonna happen. "Callin' it" as we like to say around here. Seriously though, these are exciting times. Get busy with your workouts, Yankees.

Comments of the Day

Hear that, A-Rod. You've still got fans out there, despite what the media would have you believe.

Out of everything to come out of Spring Training, I really want to hear the words "Rob Refsnyder will start at second base this year." Make it happen, Girinder!

Yes. Kudos to me for doing that. Also glad to see other PSAers attending Bernie Day as well.

/pours one out for Parks and Recreation

Here is the song. You should listen to it. Bye Bye Li'l Sebastian. You're 5000 candles in the wind. /sniff

GIF of the Day

After the explosion of GIFs from yesterday, it's not surprising to see a lack of them today. You've earned a rest, PSA.

Honorable Mod Mention

The HMM definitely goes to Andrew for this one. Cause, you know, "If the Boss were here..."

Fun Questions
  • Name your favorite mythical/fantasy/sci-fi animal.
  • What do you really want to see come out of spring training this year more than anything else?
Song of the Day

With the constant media coverage of Alex Rodriguez just beginning, and it being Animal Week on PSA, I thought this song would be appropriate for today. Putting out the fire with gasoline indeed. To be fair though, David Bowie is pretty much appropriate for any day. As always, please link us your Song of the Day.

Feel free to use this as your open thread for the day. Seeing all the new photos pop up in the search is like heaven for us writers. Baseball is awesome.

"Been so long"

Yankees Prospect Profile: Luis Severino

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Can Yankees prospect Luis Severino continue his meteoric rise up the prospect rankings and contribute in the Bronx in 2015?

Background

The Yankees signed Luis Severino, a relative unknown from the Dominican Republic, for $225,000 back in 2011. The kid could throw in the low 90s, but his small frame – he's currently listed at 6'0", 195 lbs, which is bigger than he was when he signed – kept him from being very highly touted. In 2012, during his first pro season, Severino put himself on the map in the Dominican Summer League, and his stock has shot up like one of those giant test-your-strength carnival hammers ever since. Last year, the Yankees pushed him aggressively through the system, and, if they continue to do so this year, we might even see him in the big leagues this season, at just 21 years of age.

Severino does everything you'd want from a top of the line pitching prospect. His fastball sits easily in the low to mid-90s, and he can ratchet it up to 97 or 98 when he really gets going. His delivery is easily repeatable, which helps him command his pitches very well. He doesn't walk too many batters (just 54 in 221 career minor league innings), and he uses his fastball to set up his nasty mid-80s slider for a lot of strikeouts (9.1 K/9 so far in the minors). He recently  developed a low-to-mid 80s fading changeup that he uses more and more as an out pitch these days as well. All of that adds up to Severino being ranked either first or second on pretty much every Yankees prospect list currently out there right now, and anywhere from 23-51 in major Top 100 lists for all of baseball.

2014 Results

Charleston/Tampa/Trenton (Low-A/High-A/AA) 6-5, 2.47 ERA (2.37 FIP), 113 IP, 127 K, 27 BB, 1.062 WHIP

Severino took the Yankees' system by storm last season, rocketing himself up the prospect rankings and wooing the hearts of fans and Yankees media in the process. He started the year at Low-A Charleston, where he made 14 dominant starts, pitching to a 2.79 ERA (2.70 FIP), with 70 strikeouts and just 15 walks across 67 2/3 innings. That earned him a promotion to High-A Tampa, where he continued his domination tour. He made just four starts there, but they were pretty impressive: 1.31 ERA (1.55 FIP), 28 strikeouts and only 6 walks in 20 1/3 innings. The Yankees decided to really test him out and called him up to Double-A Trenton to finish out the season. With the Thunder, Severino barely missed a beat, notching a 2.52 ERA (2.27 FIP), 29 strikeouts and 6 walks in 25 innings across six starts. You can see his full numbers at the top of this section, but you probably don't need me to tell you that they're pretty impressive, especially for a 20-year old kid in just his third professional season, and second in the United States.

2015 Outlook

Severino is expected to start the season back in Trenton. That being said, most experts believe that there's at least a chance we'll see Severino in the Bronx this season. I think the Yankees will give him every chance to prove himself at however many levels he can get through in 2015. When you take into account the injury bug that could potentially hit the major league rotation – Sabathia's knee, Tanaka's elbow, Pineda's everything – the Yankees might need a few minor leaguers to contribute this coming season. If Severino goes out and dominates in Trenton, he'll go to Triple-A Scranton. After that, he'll be one Sabathia misstep while covering first base (if he's going to actually do that this year) from stepping on the Yankee Stadium mound.

There is some long term concern that if Severino's secondary pitches don't continue to develop, he might not be able to stay in a major league rotation for his entire career. However, I like to keep things on the positive side. I predict Severino will make at least one emergency spot start in the second half this season – or a handful in September if the Yankees are out of the race – and be ready to compete for a full time rotation spot in 2016. I, for one, can't wait to see it.

Poll
I'm setting an over/under of September 1 for a Severino call up. What are you betting on?

  59 votes |Results

Are there any other Yankees who should have their numbers retired?

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Can't wait for Brett Marshall's #70 to go up in Monument Park.

The Yankees have had a very successful history. Because of that, the Yankees have had a lot of incredible players who are deserving of recognition. In American sports, retiring numbers is the most popular way for a team to do that. The Yankees are no exception, and, for better or for worse, they have retired a lot of numbers. Some may scoff at that, but I say go further. Why not? And for this week's Pinstripe Q&A, I asked the PSA staff if there was anyone else they would like to see honored?

Q: Now that the numbers of Bernie Williams, Jorge Posada and Andy Pettitte have been retired, who is the next person who should get that honor? Or: who was so bad that they should have their number retired so no one else has to deal with the bad luck of that number?

Arun

Alex Rodriguez has been one of the best players in franchise history. He's also well and truly turned his number into 'unlikely 13'. So yeah. Same answer to both questions.

Jason

Have they even retired Jeter's yet?

Martin

I don't think they should retire any more numbers until someone else has earned it, but if I had to pick one, I'd go Dave Winfield. He should be in Monument Park at least. Also, I think Wayne Tolleson and Don Slaught's mustaches should have their numbers retired.

Jim

Willie Randolph deserves more than just a plaque and Graig Nettles should have had a 9 next to Maris' about 25 years ago. Stephen Drew changed his number to 14 this season. That also happens to be the number that second baseman Enrique Wilson, the worst position player in franchise history, wore for the Yankees. If he wants to get his career back on track he probably shouldn't follow in Wilson's footsteps.

John

I wouldn't retire any more numbers, unless they're going to retire all the numbers as Harlan suggested.

#45 has a few bad memories. #62 has a lot of unfulfilled dreams attached. #11 has a lot of room for multiple retirees, but I think ultimately I think the current occupant won't steal enough bases to earn retirement. Go ahead, PSA, tell me I'm wrong.

Nikhil

Get #28 out of there. All I can think of for that number is how we knew fully well that Esteban Loaiza's one ridiculous year with the White Sox was a massive fluke but traded Jose Contreras when his value was as low as possible. People are mad about Yoan Moncada, but I'll take that over the old days of trading for pitchers who literally had one good season. Also looking at you, Carl Pavano and Jaret Wright.

Andrew

Mike Zagurski's neck girth. Miss you, brotha.

Harlan

After three in one year, I think the last thing I'll want to see is any more numbers retired. In terms of a plaque though, I think someone highly deserving of the honor is Gene Michael. As the architect of the best baseball team of the past quarter century, Stick was Moneyballin' it before it was cool. He built his lineup around the simple concept of "runners on base equal runs" while most of the rest of baseball was still following the Dusty Baker philosophy of "walks clog the base paths."

Greg

Well, I would imagine that Derek Jeter is the next one who will have his number retired. Just a hunch. As for the next person after that, it's a tough call. I mean, I say we should retire Brett Gardner's #11 once he retires. I don't want anyone else wearing his coveted number. Also, I'd say retire #00 for George Costanza. After all, it was under his tutelage that Derek Jeter & Bernie Williams went on to win three World Series titles in a row.

Matt F.

Aside from #2 obviously, I really can't think of anyone else I would retire that's currently in contention. And in the meantime, they should totally give #2 to like a random September call-up just to see the reaction. I'm only like half-joking about that. As for the other part of the question, the #91 is probably a good option. #64 has a humorous list of "Oh yeah, that guy"s and could probably go. But really I came away from this question thinking that the #69 should not be retired and should be given out more because I am 12 years old.

Now that you've seen our answers, it's your turn. Is there anyone else that you would like to see have their number retired?

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