THE PROMISE OF SPRING

Spring is less than 2 weeks away, but on the east coast it will certainly be more welcome than almost any other prior year, with the ridiculous amounts and relentless occurrences of snow!  The arrival of spring training baseball is a key sign to such promising, improved weather.  In fact, just a few days after the games began, the weather jointly “began” improving immensely.

So, as we move forward with promising weather, our baseball teams also move forward with their own promise.   No matter what team you root for, each new season offers promise.  The Yankees are no different, although most of the NYY fans I’ve spoken to are not as excited as I am.  That’s because the Yankees only signed one well-known free agent, reliever Andrew Miller.

This past offseason, the Yankees’ main and continuing goal was to focus on getting younger, including avoiding the loss of their top draft-pick selection, which they achieved.  They began their youth movement last year when they dove into the international free agent pool and signed most of the top-tier players that were each approximately 18 years old.  Recently, they signed 8 of the 11 key MLB roster players (as of today) that are 22-30 years old.  Here are their 11 key signings thus far:

SP Nathan Eovaldi (25 years old)

RP Justin Wilson (27 years old)

RP David Carpenter (29 years old)

RP Chris Martin (28 years old)

RP Andrew Miller (29 years old)

RP Domingo German (22 years old)

SS Didi Gregorius (25 years old)

1B Garrett Jones (33 years old)

2B Stephen Drew (31 years old)

3B Chase Headley (30 years old)

OF Chris Young (31 years old)

These 5 additional players from the same expected 25-man roster are in their 20s:

Adam Warren (27 years old)

John Ryan Murphy (23 years old)

Michael Pineda (26 years old)

Masahiro Tanaka (26 years old)

Dellin Betances (26 years old)

Their potential starting pitchers consist of 5 out of 7 starters that are in their 20s - Adam Warren, Ivan Nova (28 years old/expected back in June from surgery), Eovaldi, Pineda, and Tanaka.  Only CC Sabathia and Chris Capuano are over 30.

At this point, the Yankees’ 25-man roster has approximately half of its players 30 years old or younger.  Moreover, in baseball terms, they only have 4 contracted players who are considered “old” in baseball standards.  Out of those 4 players (CC Sabathia (3 years remaining), A-Rod (3 years remaining), Beltran (2 years remaining), and Capuano (1 year remaining)), both CC and A-Rod have health issues that may lead to insurance payouts in place of the Yankees having to wait for their contract terms to end.  That’s not too shabby!  Furthermore, I am very hopeful and excited as they have even more potential young stars that may soon join their team this year or next year including Aaron Judge (OF), Luis Severino (SP), Greg Bird (1B), Rob Refsnyder (2B), Jose Pirela (2B), Jacob Lindgren (RP) - along with the pool of international players that will offer at least a few more youthful options within the next 5 years.

Clearly, their current team is now younger and they have so many promising, young players that are expected to make their roster by the end of this year or next.  To further my final point, even Baseball America (BA) and some other renowned professional baseball experts are now acknowledging the Yankees as having a much better farm system then they’ve had in years.  Here are such future potential stars, as ranked by BA, with the first 2 players qualifying within BA’s Top 100:

SP Luis Severino

OF Aaron Judge

SS Jorge Mateos

1B Greg Bird

C Gary Sanchez

RP Ian Clarkin

2B Rob Refsnyder

RP Jacob Lindgren

C Luis Torrens
3B Miguel Andujar

A-ROD’S BACK

Well, as the Yankees are about to (finally) begin their first spring training game, I feel obligated to at least wrap up the latest saga regarding A-Rod.  Almost all Yankees’ fans (and almost all baseball fans, for that matter) are sick and tired of hearing or reading about A-Rod.  For that reason, I’ve been limiting my articles about him and even hesitated to write this one!

We all know by now that on February 17, 2015, A-Rod presented his own handwritten apology which was just another apology on top of another apology.  Whether he handwrote it, skywrote it, or personally hung from the rungs of a helicopter’s ladder shouting it out with a megaphone, there would be no dignity nor any honesty believed by most.  His reputation is so damaged after he magnified his supposed false accusations, which all later proved to be true by his own admission!!

As a Yankees’ fan, I wish we didn’t have to deal with all of this.  I still blame Hank Steinbrenner for overreacting and re-signing A-Rod back in December, 2007.  Yes, we won a championship 2 years later, but A-Rod (who had a very good series) was still unwanted by the NYY fans prior to the re-signing and after the re-signing.  He just acts so cocky with his expressed perked lips during negative results (such as when he strikes out) that his character is very unacceptable to any experienced baseball fan!  Of course the press loves him because his magnitude is even larger than Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, Madonna, or Justin Bieber.

Now, in the 2015 season, we may have to watch him on the field or in the dugout game-after-game.  It’s mean and selfish, but I think we all (except mainly the media) hope he just goes away!  That can happen if:

- His physical condition is deemed too poor to physically play (perhaps because of his failing recovering hips from the surgeries he had) - the Yankees would then get to claim insurance and only pay 15% of the remaining $61 million/3 years

- He is found, once again, to be cheating with some form of enhancements

- The Yankees just outright release him because his hitting is too ineffective or they find him to be a virus on the team

- The Yankees negotiate a buyout and then remove him from their roster

(In the last 2 scenarios, another team, such as one that is hungry for publicity, could always sign A-Rod, while the Yankees continue to pay his enormous remaining contract or A-Rod can just hang out and enjoy a very well-paid vacation.)

If any of the aforementioned conditions happen to terminate A-Rod’s presence in a Yankees’ uniform in the very near future, many Yankees’ fans (including me) would rejoice.  If he, instead, contributes decently then we’ll have to tolerate him, as we each wonder what he’s on that is undetectable to the tests MLB has implemented.

MORE MONUMENTAL DECISIONS

Last May, in my “MONUMENTAL DECISIONS” blog, I wrote about the Yankees’ organization choosing to celebrate the retirement of Joe Torre’s #6 and Goose Gossage’s #54, along with plaques for both Tino Martinez & and Paul O’Neill - all now in Yankee Stadium’s Monument Park.  I also referred to the Yankees announcing their plan to retire Bernie Williams’ #51 in 2015, while speculating my own “hunch” that that they postponed retiring Bernie’s number an extra year because they wanted to include Jorge Posada and Andy Pettitte in - all originating from their unbelievable past farm system.  Lo and behold, the Yankees just announced exactly what I had predicted.  (I have to be correct once in a while!)  Furthermore, they announced that they would add a plaque to honor Willie Randolph on Old Timers’ Day.

In my opinion, for a former Yankees’ player to prestigiously qualify into having his number retired in Yankee Stadium, that player would have to be either a no-brainer, qualified Hall of Famer or a strongly-argued borderline Hall of Famer.  Additionally, they would need to have played for the Yankees at least 10 years and/or have won more than 3 championships in Yankees’ pinstripes.

Again, as I mentioned last year, I strongly recommend that the Yankees’ organization commemorate retired numbers for Lefty Gomez, Tony Lazzeri, Earle Combs, Hank Bauer, Bob Meusel, and manager Joe McCarthy in the stadium’s Monument Park one day in the near future!  They each meet my aforementioned criteria and are overdue for their deserving recognition.

Below is my breakdown of the 2015 selection for Yankee Stadium’s Monument Park:

Bernie Williams - My self-imposed criteria would not qualify Bernie Williams because his numbers (while great in the playoffs) do not offer enough argument towards his qualification as a Hall of Famer or as a strongly-argued borderline Hall of Famer, especially pitted against so many other centerfielders that had better regular season numbers where Bernie’s very good offense included a .297 batting average with 449 doubles, and 287 homers.  Bernie’s greatest contributions that stand out above other centerfielders and almost every hitter of any position are clearly from his offseason stats where he not only hit 22 homers and drove in 80 runs, but he stands in second place behind one of the greatest playoff hitters ever, Derek Jeter in several offensive categories.  Bernie scored 83 runs, lined 29 doubles, and collected over 128 hits!  Of course, he was in a lot of playoff games (121), but the fact still stands that he exceeded so many others collectively, and rarely failed as he proved to be clutch.  His offseason numbers were greatly appreciated by all Yankees’ fans, but (again) his regular season numbers just don’t exceed others during the regular season, including the Yankees’ own great centerfielders Joe DiMaggio or Mickey Mantle.  Additionally, Bernie’s glove never came anywhere close to either Joe or Mickey, to the say the least!

Jorge Posada - He is on the cusp of such Hall of Fame arguments mostly because he was one of the most successful offensive catchers.  Hence, the position of “catcher” enhances his “strongly-argued borderline Hall of Fame” qualifications, in my criteria.  I believe his offensive numbers as a 5-time All-Star with 275 homers and a .273 batting average (mostly as a catcher) are enough to offer a great debate.  Additionally, he had proven catching skills (although not great at throwing runners out) as he caught & called David Wells’ perfect game and led various pitching staffs to 4 of his 5 World Series rings - Girardi was the main catcher during the 1996 championship.

Andy Pettitte - He clearly qualifies within my criteria.  He had the third most wins in Yankees’ history - not too shabby!  He also won 256 games & carried a respectable 3.85 ERA with most of his starts against the toughest division in baseball (the American League East) during his years.   Furthermore, he owns the record for the most wins in MLB playoff history - 19 wins!  For those folks that argue about Pettitte’s HGH usage, please get your facts straight!!!  Andy admitted to his whopping 2 days in a row of taking “doctor-administered” HGH during his injury recovery - when he was not an “able” player on the field at the time!!  Medically (within MLB rules), HGH was not forbidden when his doctor administered it and was thus not “illegal” for any player to use.  If you don’t believe me, or Andy Pettitte, or even Andy’s accuser (Brian McNamee) whose condemning story matched Andy’s to a tee, please feel free to read Bleacher Report’s factually published article: 

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1108809-andy-pettitte-never-used-a-substance-banned-by-major-league-baseball

Here are 2 of the most significant portions quoted by Andy:

"In 2002 I was injured. I had heard that human growth hormone could promote faster healing for my elbow,"

"I felt an obligation to get back to my team as soon as possible. For this reason, and only this reason, for two days I tried human growth hormone. Though it was not against baseball rules, I was not comfortable with what I was doing, so I stopped."

Willie Randolph - He won 2 championships as a player for the Yankees in 1977 & 1978 and was also their third base coach on four of their championship teams (1996, 1998, 1999, & 2000).  As one of the best defensive 2^nd basemen of all time, he often led the league in putouts, double plays, and assists while managing no errors during his 46 playoff games.  Willie was also an offensive force batting .276, hitting 316 doubles, and stealing 271 bases during his fleet-footed career. He was named the Yankees’ co-captain during 1986, along with Ron Guidry.  Willie played second base for the Yankees during 1,688 games - more than any other Yankee 2^nd basemen in history.  He certainly qualifies for a plaque as a player and as a coach collectively.

Since yesterday’s announcement, there have been a lot of disgruntled fans calling the radio stations with their anger towards the Yankees retiring way too many undeserving numbers.  For them, and some of the misleading sportswriters let me emphasize that the Yankees did NOT retire Paul O’Neill’s nor Tino Martinez’ number (21 and 24 respectively) last year, nor are they retiring Willie Randolph’s number (30)! 

In reference to this year’s retired numbers (Bernie’s 51, Posada’s 20, and Pettitte’s 46), as I summarized above, I fully support two of the choices - Posada & Pettitte.  Additionally, both Posada and Pettitte are part of the Core Four - something no team in baseball or any other sport has ever had the distinction of having.  If anyone disputes Bernie, then fine, I’m not going to argue the point.  For those that are so dead against commemorating Posada and/or Pettitte, it’s time to either look at the factual stats or stop the ignorance/jealousy! 

Remember, the Yankees’ organization is recognizing the players’ contributions as a “Yankee” and they can choose whoever they want.  Even so, they are choosing very legitimate selections in Posada and Pettitte who also happen to be half of the infamous Core Four.  Even Yankees’ haters recognize Posada & Pettitte (along with Jeter & Mariano) as the Core Four.  They are the greatest foursome in any sport during the last 40 years, after producing 5 championships together!  Any truly objective person should recognize the unique accomplishments all four players have achieved individually and as a unit.

Now, we’re just waiting for the official announcement of the final Core Four member’s retiring number (2).  For that announcement, there will be no one that disputes the retirement of…Captain, Derek Jeter!

The NYY Writer's Broadcast of "Broadcasting Reviews"

BROADCASTING REVIEWS

Now that the football season is behind us, it’s time to get excited for the “upcoming” baseball season! I can’t wait for its official start in approximately 2 months! A lot of teams have revamped themselves, but many are not done yet. We’ll all soon have a better picture of our teams over the next couple of months. It’s too early at this stage to predict how well/poorly our teams will perform.

As we wait for further team formations, I thought it would be a good time to evaluate last year’s Mets’ & Yankees’ broadcast teams; especially after last week’s debacle when the Mets announced their decision not to renew the contract of their best analyst, Bob Ojeda! Yes, the Mets’ ownership made another asinine mistake – one that has many of their fans rightfully upset. After all, Ojeda had the audacity after 6 years to ask for a raise! To the Mets’ ownership, that’s like their fans continually demanding for free oxygen in Citi Field!!

Below, I have put together my own grading reviews of both teams’ 2014 broadcasters, including Bob Ojeda:

The Mets' Broadcast Analysts:

Gary Cohen is the lead play-by-play broadcaster for the SNY & WB Networks. As my readers already know, he is not a favorite of mine mainly for 3 reasons: he’s extremely biased, he emphatically delivers a lot of "facts" that are inaccurate (as I’ve mentioned in past blogs), and he screams each and every play that potentially offers the Mets a positive outcome, even during slightly above-average plays!
            Gary's rating = F

Ron Darling, another one of the Mets’ play-by-play SNY & WB Networks’ announcers, is not as problematic, but his objectivity is also lacking. The fact that he played his whole career as a Met might be the root cause, but I think he’s been progressively worsening his objectivity. Additionally, his voice carries a whining tone too often. He could offer a smile once in a while, but I can understand why that’s challenging while broadcasting of a team that loses more games than they win.
            Ron's rating = C-

Keith Hernandez is an analyst for SNY & WB Networks, but not a play-by-play announcer. Hence, he has a lot less airtime. Maybe that's why I find him the least irritable of the 3 main SNY/WB Network guys. I also think his background of having been a Cardinal helps him offer some needed objectivity.
            Keith's rating = C+

Kevin Burkhardt was SNY's field reporter, but I often wondered why he was even on the "field" after its original inception. In the beginning of his duties, it made sense because he used to actually utilize that “field” angle by sitting with the fans and asking them questions. Later on, the whole “field” advantage became bogus because his physical “field” position rarely factored into the subject matter making it fully irrelevant and senseless. Just like Bob Ojeda, Kevin will not be with SNY this coming season – he wisely left on his own accord and I’m sure he’ll benefit more in his new MLB role.
            Kevin’s rating = C+

Bob Ojeda was, by far, my absolute favorite pre- and post-game analyst from SNY, or any other network! He has never shown to be biased in any way. That objectivity (aside from his desire for a raise) may have bothered the Mets so much that I’m sure it was part of their “reasoning” when they refused to renew his contract – remember Tim McCarver? Bob is detail-oriented and displays a great deal of knowledge and passion for the game. I hope he doesn’t stay unemployed for too long. In addition to his broadcasting skills, I feel he could also become a great pitching coach, if he ever chooses to pursue it.
            Bob's rating = A+

Chris Carlin is one of SNY’s pre- and post-game analysts. He appears to lack detailed knowledge or display anything above average. So, for my rating I appropriately obliged.
            Chris' rating = C

Howie Rose is WOR Radio’s play-by-play radio announcer. He is another one of those biased announcers. His canned and shouted deliveries of, "And it's outta here!" along with his, "Put that in the books!" are redundantly annoying – as most canned messages tend to be.
            Howie's rating = D

Josh Lewin acts as the color commentator for WOR Radio. He doesn't really stand out positively or negatively to me. He is simply average, just like my rating of him.
            Josh's rating = C


The Yankees' Broadcasters:

Michael Kay is the YES & My9 Network's lead play-by-play announcer. He, just like Gary Cohen, has never been a favorite of mine – even when he was broadcasting radio. His other former background as a newspaper writer/columnist is still embedded in him, whereas he tends to persistently dig for sensationalism of many stories and non-stories. I feel that he's gotten slightly better and a little more knowledgeable by finally listening to MLB players throughout the years, but his lack of true baseball experience and sometimes cocky mannerisms are still irritating to me over the airwaves. On a positive note, his knowledge of baseball history/facts helps expedite some needed references during telecasts. I also think he does a good job on the YES Network’s CenterStage, but my ratings are solely based on the broadcasting of the games.
            Michael's rating = C

Ken Singleton is my favorite YES & My9 Network’s play-by-play analyst. While you can definitely tell he roots for the Yankees, it is clear that he offers enough objectivity. Similar to Bob Ojeda, Ken shares a lot of his experienced knowledge with the network's listeners. Additionally, he displays himself as a true gentleman on the air with respect to all of the players, no matter what controversy surrounds them. As an Oriole player during most of his playing career, Ken tends to commentate in overdrive mode whenever the Orioles and Yankees compete against each other, but he still accentuates his knowledge without any form of partiality.
            Ken's rating = A-

John Flaherty is a YES and My9 Network analyst who demonstrates himself to be the most boring member of the network's group. As years have progressed, he seems to (thankfully) speak more often! Still, I'd like to hear more of his opinions because the man knows baseball as well as most former catchers do, especially those who were good defensive catchers, like John.
            John's rating = B-

David Cone is a YES and My9 network analyst who is so into sabermetrics! He used to talk somewhat normal on the broadcasts, but over the last few years he’s offered way too many intricate and overkill stats that can alternately be delivered by a voice-activated computer during the telecasts. Sometimes he actually speaks pitching without a sabermetric stat – but it's increasingly becoming such a rare occasion. I've also noticed that he conceitedly seems to love watching himself on the TV monitors during visual commentaries.
            David's rating = C-

Jack Curry is a YES Network and My9 analyst/reporter. Like Michael Kay, he was a former newspaper writer/columnist. Unlike Michael, though, he doesn't sensationalize. I like Jack's analyzing commentary. I’m glad he also provides insight during the YES Network’s Hot Stove, but I'd still like for him to have more airtime on the YES Network.
            Jack's rating = B+

Al Leiter is a YES Network and My9 analyst/color commentator who recently joined the MLB Network, in addition to his YES Network job. Al comes off as a know-it-all to me. While he was a successful pitcher during his career, he was certainly not Whitey Ford! I would like for him to back off once in a while and listen to his colleagues' opinions openly to help lessen his seeming cockiness.
            Al's rating = C-

Paul O'Neill is a YES Network and My9 analyst/color commentator who offers some funny moments on the air. Paul offers a lot of internal knowledge from a player's perspective. He (like Flaherty, Cone, and Leiter) has an advantage of having personally played with Jeter and Girardi, but with Jeter no longer on the team this coming season, Paul’s advantage will diminish. Michael Kay drags out some of the fun side of Paul, which is entertaining for a short span, but can sometimes distract Paul enough to lose his live-game focus.
            Paul's rating = C

Meredith Marakovits is the YES and My9 Networks’ clubhouse reporter. She has demonstrated to be more knowledgeable than her role calls for her to be. She's a go-getter, as far as obtaining the details needed for her stories – especially her numerous medical updates over the past 2 years with our ailing Yankees! Meredith is very good at reporting repeated updates, as required during different segments throughout the telecasts. Even with those conditions, she is able to professionally act as if each repeating report is her first time reporting such “updates”, without expressing frustration.
            Meredith's rating = B-

Bob Lorenz is the primary studio anchor for the YES Network. He's very good at divvying up commentaries during post-game shows that sometimes don’t offer enough time for significant preparation. Irrelevant to each of his Yankees’ game responsibilities, Bob does a good job during his roundtable discussions on the YES Network’s Hot Stove shows.
            Bob's rating = B-

John Sterling is WFAN Radio's play-by-play announcer for the Yankees during the radio broadcasts. He's another one that I've expressed my displeasure in the past. Some Yankees' fans like him and look forward to his canned homerun calls; but, as I stated about Howie Rose, I despise canned calls, especially when they take priority over the actual action that's taking place on the field! For example, if a ball is barely hit over the wall or hit with extreme force or flight, that should become the focal point, not John's script. He also makes a lot of mistakes. One common one occurs often during his canned homerun calls when he builds from, "It is high, it is far, it is…" only to realize or being told afterwards that the ball did not make it over the wall!! Other mistakes include his strike-zone, his fair/foul calls, etc. I've sporadically watched the TV telecasts, while listening to the radio and caught John on many occasions miscalling situations that are as clear as can be for anyone watching! Lastly, he often fails to mention the score. If I'm driving and I turn on the radio during the game I kind of want to know what the score is before 15 minutes pass! Alright, let me offer John 3 compliments: he has a great radio voice he's knowledgeable about the Yankees' history, and he does a decent job on the YES Network’s Yankeeography shows.
            John's rating = F

Suzyn Waldman is WFAN Radio's color commentator for the Yankees. She owes a lot of her career’s success to George Steinbrenner. He helped her get through tough chauvinistic times, as many athletes and some of her peers resisted a woman acting as a direct reporter for a MLB team, especially with press-pass access to locker room areas. I give her a lot of credit for fighting through all of it. During those earlier days, I found her research and reporting to be top-notch. Unfortunately, since she became a radio broadcaster, I feel that her potential has diminished immensely. She has become way too pro-Yankees and seems to overly respect her radio partner, John Sterling to the point that she has lost her formerly-driven independence. I would love to see her aggression return, but I doubt it will unless she gets another role – one that is similar to her "reporter" skills.
            Suzyn's rating = D

For each of you who accomplished reading this whole blogged article, I give you...
            True Reader's rating = A+

YANKEES HIRE 3 UNKNOWN COACHES WHO’VE ALREADY TAUGHT THEIR FIRST CLASS

It only took the Yankees 2 months to hire coaches for their vacated spots.  After firing last season’s hitting coach, Kevin Long and First-Base/Infield Coach, Mick Kelleher, the NYY have replaced the 2 of them with 3 coaches.  The extra coach was added because, for the first time in the Yankees’ history, they chose to staff an Assistant Hitting Coach.  Now, they and 21 other teams have one.  Perhaps the Royals, Mariners, Rays, Rockies, Marlins, Brewers, Pirates, and Nationals will eventually join the growing trend of doubling up on hitting coaches.

When the Yankees announced the coaches’ names (Jeff Pentland, Alan Cockrell, and Joe Espada) yesterday, my very first reaction was, “Who?”!  Then, I vaguely remembered reading and hearing each of their names as potential candidates, but I never thought the Yankees would hire all new unpopular guys and inexperienced former players.  In fact, the only coach who even made it to the Major Leagues was Alan Cockrell who played in only 9 games (for the Rockies), while the other 2 were only Minor League players!  I thought they’d at least hire one of the popular candidates/former successful MLB players who were supposedly considered - Luis Sojo, Hideki Matsui, Tino Martinez, Willie Randolph, Chili Davis, Dave Magidan, or Raul Ibanez as a coach - but, obviously that wasn’t the case.

As I thought about it further, I began to remember that many All-Star players failed to become successful coaches and/or managers after they retired.  In fact, one of the greatest hitters of all time (some would say “the” greatest), Ted Williams, managed his teams to a losing percentage .429 during his 4 years as a manager - including a 100-loss season for the Texas Rangers in their initial 1972 season.   As another example, Wade Boggs, when acting as Tampa Bay’s Hitting Coach in 2001, assisted that team towards scoring just 672 runs (the worst in the American League that year) and towards a meager .258 batting average (the second-worst average in the American League that year).

On the other side of the spectrum, so-so offensive player Casey Stengel excelled as a Manager (leading the Yankees to 7 World Series Championships in 10 years), becoming one of the winningest managers of all time.  Likewise, Tony La Russa was an awful player, but he found his ticket to the Hall of Fame as a 3-time World Series Manager.   Similarly, Charlie Lau was only a .255 career hitter, yet he not only helped many hitters achieve significantly improved batting averages, but was also accredited by All-Stars Hal McRae and George Brett as their greatest Hitting Coach.

Below is an outline/breakdown of the past experiences each of these new coaches have:

Jeff Pentland (Hitting Coach) – He played first base, catcher, and even pitched a little in his career, but as mentioned above, never made it to the Major Leagues.  Pentland was the Hitting Coach for the Marlins (in late 1996), Cubs (1997-2002), Royals (2003-2005), Mariners (2005-2008), and Dodgers (2008-2011).  During his time with the Cubs, he coached Joe Girardi in hitting and later worked for him when Girardi became the Cubs’ Manager.  On that team, Pentland also worked alongside the Yankees’ current Pitching Coach, Larry Rothschild.  During Pentland’s time with the Royals he worked for Tony Pena and also helped coach Carlos Beltran (.307 average/26 homers/100 RBIs) with the Royals during 2003.  Another All-Star hitter who Pentland coached was Gary Sheffield, who has publicly stated that Pentland was the best Hitting Coach he’d ever experienced adding that Pentland’s key teachings are geared towards focusing on each hitter’s strengths instead of concentrating on opposing pitchers’ arsenal.

Alan Cockrell (Assistant Hitting Coach) – After his 9 games as a MLB player, he eventually became the Hitting Coach for the Rockies (2007-2008) and the Mariners (2009 through early 2010).  He also served as a Hitting Coordinator for the Diamondbacks (2011-2013).  His proven success as a coach was during 2007 when he helped lead the offense of the Rockies into the World Series.

Joe Espada (Infield Coach and Third-Base Coach - Rob Thomson was restructured as the Bench Coach) - Just like Pentland, Espada never played a game in the majors.  He served as the Marlins’ Third-Base Coach during 2010-2013 and even coached for the Puerto Rican National Baseball Team during the World Baseball Classic in 2013.  He was previously hired by Brian Cashman as a Special Assistant to the General Manager.

In addition to Rob Thomson shifting from Third-Base Coach to become the new Bench Coach, the Yankees also maneuvered Tony Peña from Bench Coach to First-Base Coach.   Their other 2 coaches, Larry Rothschild and Gary Tuck remain as their Pitching Coach and Bullpen Coach respectively.  Have you been able to follow all of this?  If so, then you know the coach answer to, “Who’s on First?” is not “Who” in this case, but Tony Peña.

2015 HALL OF FAME, NO SHAME

There have been many years in which I’ve been personally disappointed in the voting selection produced by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA); but, this year’s choices were perfect in my opinion.  My congratulations go to all 4 of them:  Randy Johnson, John Smoltz, Craig Biggio, and even Pedro Martinez.

Randy Johnson – Was there ever a more intimidating starting pitcher in baseball?  Some would say Nolan Ryan, but even Nolan didn’t have a 6’10” presence on the mound!  Additionally, Randy had more control issues than Nolan – which often added to his intimidation to the hitters as they tiptoed into the batter’s box.  While Randy contributed enormously towards preventing the Yankees from winning a championship in 2001 when he jointly won the World Series MVP with Curt Schilling, I still appreciated his exceptional ability to strikeout any hitter - 2^nd most in baseball history (4,875) behind the abovementioned Nolan Ryan (5,714).  Randy was hurt during his two years as a Yankee, so we didn’t gain too much from him, nor did those stats add substantially towards his personal Hall of Fame career, including his collection of 5 Cy Young Awards.

John Smoltz – No one in the history of the Major Leagues has ever accomplished a feat that John Smoltz did.  First, he was an awesome starter; then he became one of the league’s best closers, and then, once again, performed as a great starter.  In between all of that, he had the infamous Tommy John Surgery.  Collectively, as a starter he won over 200 games (including a Cy Young Award in 1996).  During his years as a closer, he saved over 150 games while winning a reliever’s top prize (the Rolaids Relief Man of the Year Award) in 2002!  His seamless and unprecedented transitional success clearly and solely qualifies Smoltz as a deserving Hall of Famer.  We may never see that type of achievement again!

Craig Biggio – There are very few players that I’ve ever seen during personal years of watching the game who clearly epitomize themselves as one of the purest hitters and classiest characters.  Without question, Biggio exhibited that to me during each of the 20 years he played - all for the Astros.  Biggio demonstrated efficient versatility as he began his MLB years as a very good catcher and then (per Yogi Berra’s suggestion), in order to help his team, he learned to play 2^nd base exceptionally enough to have won 4 Gold Gloves there.  During his late years, he even proved to be a decent outfielder.  Biggio, like me, idolized the Yankees’ Thurman Munson – also, one of the “purest hitters and classiest characters” in the history of the game.  That, along with his proven diverse skills, durability (even after being hit by a pitch 285 times), and persistent offensive numbers (5^th in all-time doubles) would have certainly earned him my vote (if I was ever lucky enough to matter for such great things) during his very first year of eligibility in 2013.

Pedro Martinez – As a Yankees’ fan, what could I possibly state about Pedro without using many profane adjectives?  Not much, except when I focus on his pure baseball skills as Pedro won 119 more games than he lost, led the American League in Earned Run Average 5 times (not easy when the league’s offense included “my” championship Yankees of the 90s), and won the Cy Young Award 3 times.  Any objective Yankees’ fan would tell you that Pedro was one of the best pitchers from 1990-2004.  As one of the shortest starting pitchers (5’11”) to ever get voted into the Hall of Fame, Pedro’s achievements are more impressive than much taller pitchers with more advantageous pitching slopes. Yes, he had a great fastball, but most of his dominance came from his demonstrated sophistication of the art of pitching.  It’s a good thing that the neither the late Don Zimmer nor Jorge Posada were involved in Pedro’s Hall of Fame selection!

Of the remaining candidates that did not get enough votes, here are the ones that had decent vote results and have potential for being voted into the Hall of Fame in the future:

Tim Raines – Tim was one of baseball’s best leadoff hitters with the 4^th most stolen bases (808), a .294 career batting average, and a whopping 1,571 runs scored.  Many of his statistics are somewhat similar to the immortal Ricky Henderson and any player that can be compared to Ricky Henderson certainly qualifies as a Hall of Famer.  One key thing that Raines achieved, beyond Ricky or anyone in baseball, was accomplishing the highest successful stolen base percentage (84.7%)!  Hence, he undoubtedly deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.  Hopefully, by next year, the BBWAA will recognize that before it’s too late.

Mike Piazza – Of course, as “TheNYY” writer, I have to slight the Mets whenever I get a chance!  Okay, so I don’t “have to” slight them; but, I also don’t have to overly support them!  Starting with the negative, Mike Piazza had defensive issues (having never won a Gold Glove) with his main defensive flaw coming from his pitiful ability to throw out runners - he only threw out 23% of the base-stealers compared to his own peers’ success of 64.5% with the same pitching staffs (according to billjamesonline.com).  Now, back to my ability to being objective with Piazza’s positives:  There’s no question that Piazza was a superb hitter!  Besides his power, he was not an easy out for any pitcher, as he had many clutch hits against them.  Piazza produced some of the best offensive numbers as a catcher with an impressive .308 batting average and owns the record of the most homers of any MLB catcher (427).  That being said, his greatest achievement (offense) is disputed; that’s because many sports analysts, fans, and, most importantly the BBWAA feel that there’s strong enough suspicion that Piazza cheated with steroid usage - although, there are currently no factual documentations to back up such claims.  Even without hard evidence, many of the writers are skeptical because, if it is later found that Piazza did indeed cheat, they don’t want their personal writing careers tarnished, especially when their gut feeling was telling not to vote initially.  Most of the BBWAA don’t want any player in the Hall of Fame who is definitively or speculatively tied to steroid usage.  I think another year of waiting to possibly vote Piazza into the Hall of Fame gives some extra time for any potential, further evidence to be divulged, and it gives the skeptical writers another year to weigh their decisions.  In his 3 past years of Hall of Fame eligibility, Piazza’s votes have incremented mathematically enough to potentially achieve the necessary 75% by next year - if no concrete evidence is found on him in the interim.

Mike Mussina - Only 24.6% of the baseball writers voted for Mussina (from 20.3% the prior year).  I loved Mussina on the Yankees and even as one of Baltimore’s pitchers.  He, like Pedro, had a decent pitching repertoire, but used a lot of ingenuity with it.  I feel that he is better than a lot of pitchers already in the Hall of Fame, so I lean towards his eventual election.  Some feel that Mussina has a chance in the future mainly because there aren’t many comparable starting pitchers to compete against him, at least over the next few years.  He has collectively won 220 games, won 7 Gold Glove Awards, and earned many Cy Young votes for 6 different seasons (even though he had never won any).  Nowadays, winning 220 games is impressive enough because pitchers don’t get the chance to attain wins in the later innings anymore, due to pitch counts.  In the past, the BBWAA would automatically qualify starters who achieved 300 wins to qualify for the Hall of Fame.  Hopefully, they’ll factor in such key changes to today’s games.

As "TheNYY Writer", how can I not mention Don Mattingly when it comes to the Hall of Fame voting during his (now) last year of eligibility?  Yes, it’s true that Donnie Baseball will now not officially make it into the Hall of Fame by the standard procedure of being voted by the BBWAA; but, there’s still hope because he can achieve votes in the next process which goes to MLB’s Veteran’s Committee (the Expansion Era Committee division) from their 2017 voting process (they only vote every 3 years).  Additionally, if Mattingly continues to manage successfully for many more years, he may also have a chance to get voted as a manager, like Joe Torre did.  Only the future will tell. 

DEALS, DEALS, AND MORE DEALS

Well, December is a huge time of year for holiday deals.  Most Major League Baseball teams fully agree and have accommodated the season in their own offseason by wheeling and dealing every day!  I never remember seeing so much activity during the offseason.  Even the infamous trading deadline of July 31 during the season doesn’t typically offer as much activity, although this year it had more action than usual.

The 3 teams with the highest volumes of trades and/or free agent signings thus far have included both teams in Chicago (the Cubs and the White Sox) and the Padres.  Other very active teams who have overly improved themselves in the last few weeks include the Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers, Marlins, Giants, Blue Jays, Mariners, and Reds.    I believe that teams like the Orioles, Rays, Royals, Braves, Phillies, and A’s have lost a lot with their activities, while the notoriously low-spending big market Mets have only added 1 mediocre player (Michael Cuddyer) and basically a pinch hitter (John Mayberry, Jr.) to help improve their below .500 team.

Without getting into all the players that have changed uniforms recently, I am mostly proud of the Cubs.  I’ve been to Chicago and experienced their great fanbase firsthand.  Any team who has had the misfortune of not winning a World Series in over 105 years whilst still persistently filling an old stadium with loving fans deserves happiness.  If they ever make it to the World Series and are not playing the Yankees, I would definitely root for them!

The Cubs’ first move happened a few years ago when they hired Theo Epstein as their General Manager.  That was a great choice because Theo must be a genius, since he figured out a way to build a Red Sox team who won it all after 86 years of failure.  Now, he can perform his magic again with a team that’s had an even longer drought.  He has certainly helped his own cause as the Cubs’ GM by building one of the best farm systems over the past few years and then, last month, hiring Joe Maddon as the Cubs’ new manager.  Theo didn’t stop there as, over the last few weeks, he’s added many quality players including his top signing, free agent Jon Lester (LHP).  With the Cubs’ new leadership, recently acquired players, and an excellent farm system for their future Major League players or trade bait, they look like they will contend very soon!

Of course, as the NYY writer, I have to break down the Yankees’ acquisitions and lost players…

MLB Free Agents - New Additions or Re-signed:

Andrew Miller (LHP/Reliever):  His numbers are extremely impressive and, thus, he is rightfully considered one of the best relievers in baseball.  All Yankees’ fans should be excited to have signed him!  His numbers against lefties and righties are equally effective so opposing teams will not be able to counteract with their bench players too often.  Clearly this is a great signing!

 

Chris Young (LF):  Chris improved his skills the minute he changed his uniform to the better team in New York!  He’s below average, for sure, but the risks versus the rewards are doable for his role as a fourth outfielder.  If he fails, they can release him without having lost too much.

Chase Headley (3B) re-signed:  When the Yankees acquired him in July, we all got to see some “Nettles-like” plays at 3^rd base.  He also demonstrated some grit after getting hit in the mouth with a 96 mph fastball thrown by Tampa’s Jake McGee and then anxiously returning to play the next day.  His hitting was better than most of the team’s players.  I’m very glad he was re-signed.  Plus, his addition creates the subtraction of A-Rod’s questionable health as a third baseman.

Chris Capuano (LHP) re-signed:  Hopefully, we won’t need him to start too often.  I believe the Yankees signed him for insurance for their unstable starting pitching in terms of health issues.  He has demonstrated to be a very sly pitcher who utilizes pitching smarts with some of his diminishing skills to still be productive enough as a “6^th” starter, a backup starter, or an added lefty arm in the bullpen.

Free Agent Losses:

David Robertson (RHP/Closer):  I am not happy at all to have lost him to free agency!  He was one of my favorite players of this decade.  This guy did everything asked of him, without complaining and with overly positive results.  His saves record last year (39 out of 44) was very good, especially while trying to fill the shoes of the greatest closer of all time, Mariano Rivera.  Robertson is one of the Yankees’ own farmhands that clearly deserved to stay.  He could have easily enhanced our bullpen, as he’s always done.  The Yankees acquired Miller as a contingency, anticipating they were going to lose Robertson to free agency, but most fans were teased when Miller was signed - imagining the most awesome 1-2-3 punch of Miller, Betances, & Robertson in the late innings!  The White Sox signed a great reliever and great guy in Robertson.  I wish him well.

Brandon McCarthy (RHP):  I know they were clearly outbid for McCarthy in terms of the contract length offered by the Dodgers - for 4 years.  So, based on that and his historic stats and health issues, I cannot blame the Yankees for letting him go.

David Huff (LHP/Reliever):  He was too inconsistent for me.  We have better lefties than him - on the team and in the minors.  Good riddance, Huff (and don’t puff as smoking is no good for you).

Trades:

Justin Wilson (LHP) from the Pirates for Francisco Cervelli (C):

- This, to me, was a good trade for the Yankees.  Cervelli was a decent hitter and could even run, for a catcher.  The problems with him were his health and his tie to steroids - having already been suspended for 50 games.  A-Rod represents enough steroids for this team!  With Brian McCann and an overloaded farm system of catchers, Cervelli’s role as a backup catcher was easily expendable.

Gonzalez Germen (RHP/Reliever) from the Mets for cash: 

- Gonzalez is one of those young arms with so-so stats.  The Yankees have enough cash to hand out to the Wilpons who are still crying poverty.

Didi Gregorius (SS) from the Diamondbacks for Shane Greene (P) to the Tigers:

- This trade is definitely one that is premature to truly evaluate at this stage because of Didi’s youth and lack of enough historic playing time.  It seems like the Yankees have a chance to have a steal on their hands - if Didi’s defense is unaffected in New York and his hitting improves, especially in the shadows of Derek Jeter.  As for the loss of Shane Greene, the Yankees took a huge gamble.  They obviously have health questions surrounding starters Tanaka, Nova, and Pineda.  Thus, trading the healthiest starter from last year’s rotation only enhances their Major League pitching depth’s vulnerability.  I know they acquired a potentially young and promising shortstop in the deal, but I am not convinced that the Yankees couldn’t have alternatively offered an equivalent or even a slightly better player to offset trading a much needed arm in their own depleted system.  Had they done that instead, perhaps we could have still gotten Gregorius directly from the Diamondbacks or via the same 3-team combination with the Tigers.  I believe you have to give something good to get something good, but you should not subtract from an area in which you have so little to give.

Nathan Eovaldi (RHP), Garrett Jones (1B), and Domingo German (RHP) from the Marlins for Martín Prado (2B/3B) and David Phelps (RHP) and cash:

- Martín Prado filled several positions during his few months as a Yankee and he did it with quality defensively and offensively.  With physically-challenged players such as Teixeira, A-Rod, and Beltran it made complete sense that his abilities were overly valuable.  Additionally, the Yankees are possibly considering a competition for their second baseman between rookies Rob Refsnyder and José Pirela in a possible youth movement.  Prado could have acted as insurance at second base and could have helped bring one of the rookies along during the season.  With that said, Eovaldi’s arm is considered by many as extremely promising.  The average of his fastball velocity (95.5) in 2014 was the Major League’s fourth highest!  He currently has control issues, but he’s developed several different types of pitches while recently enhancing his control issues.  Like the Gregorius deal, this one may take some time to fully evaluate, but it could be a steal of a deal. As for acquiring Garrett Jones, he will finally offer a decent first baseman to fill in for or replace Teixeira during his health issues.  Domingo German offers a ton of potential for the Yankees in years to come as he’s considered one of MLB’s top pitching prospects.  Lastly, David Phelps was a good pitcher for the Yankees, but they have a surplus of his mediocre type making his inclusion a non-factor. 

BTW, I at least wanted to acknowledge some of their notable Minor League Free Agent signings/re-signings thus far:  Jonathan Galvez (2B/3B/OF); Juan Graterol (C); Jose De Paula (LHP); Andrew Bailey (RHP/Reliever); Cole Figueroa (2B); and Jose Campos (RHP) re-signed.

In summary, the Yankees have built a younger team and have strengthened themselves overall, but they have also lost some key players.  Their main gains include Didi Gregorius, Justin Wilson, Nathan Eovaldi, and some promising young arms, while their main losses include David Robertson, Martín Prado, Shane Greene, and Brandon McCarthy.  Of course, the offseason is still alive, so we’ll see what else they do!  My wish list for trades includes the Nationals’ ace starter, Jordan Zimmermann (RHP); the Reds’ closer, Aroldis Chapman (LHP), and the Reds’ ace starter, Johnny Cueto (RHP).  We’re all allowed to dream.

TIME TO CHANGE

Everyone knows that MLB games are too long.  Even Joe Torre found its length tiresome when he managed.  Thankfully, he’s involved with MLB in trying to fix or, at least, alleviate the issue.  MLB has implemented a plan which is being tested during the games that are currently played in the Arizona Fall League.

As much as I love baseball, even I feel the length of games has gotten ridiculous.  How many times do we have to watch players adjust each of their overabundant equipment?  The hitters re-strap their batting gloves, fiddle with their helmets, kick the batting box dirt, take practice swing after practice swing, etc.  The pitchers walk to the rosin bags way too often, walk off the pitching rubber while dazing around, throw to first when a runner is barely off the bag, stare at the catcher’s signals way too long, etc.

With all of these time-consumptions, it should not be surprising to most fans to learn that, 30 years ago, the average game time was 2 hours and 35 minutes, while this season the average time was approximately 3 hours and 3 minutes!  Furthermore, in 1964, a ball was averagely put into play at 2 minutes and 29 seconds.  Today, that occurs every 3 minutes and 30 seconds!

Here are the 6 Time-Saving Rules MLB is currently thinking about implementing:

1)  Batter’s Box - Batters will keep at least one foot in the batter’s box throughout the at-bat.  Exceptions may include a foul ball/tip, an inside pitch that causes the batter to move outside the box, granted timeouts, wild pitches, passed balls, etc.

2)  No-Pitch Intentional Walks - A manager will simply signal to the home plate umpire with 4 fingers for intentional walks instead of the pitcher trying to throw 4 ridiculous out-of-the-strike-zone pitches.

3)  20-Second Clock - A 20-second clock will be in each dugout, behind home plate, and in the outfield where an independent operator will begin once the pitcher is in his standard ready mode.

4)  2 Minutes and 35 Seconds Inning Breaks - This rule’s timeframe is estimated because they have to work this one out with their all-important paying sponsors; but, whatever time is finalized, here's the estimated implementations:  they will enforce the hitters to enter the batter’s box at the proposed 2:15 mark or a strike will be called within the pitch count, while by the proposed 2:35 mark, the pitcher must make a pitch or a ball will be called within the pitch count.

5)  Pitching Changes Within 2 Minutes and 30 Seconds - The clock for this will begin once the pitcher enters the playing field (thought to be when he crosses the warning track and, again, if the pitcher fails to pitch by the limit, a ball will be called.

6)  3 Timeouts - No more than 3 timeouts (other than pitching changes or injuries) will be permitted collectively within a game, even if the game includes extra-innings.

Just like the instant replay, the enforcement of time limits in Major League Baseball is way overdue.  Professional sports such as football, soccer, basketball, and hockey all have clocks implementing specified time limits.  Even our own lives have time limits!  I like a lot of the ideas they’re trying in the Arizona League.  They could implement even more as “time” goes on such as expediting instant replay reviews.

Maybe if MLB ends up with games averaging around 2½ hours, they can gain more ratings for their games, playoffs, and World Series.  More importantly, maybe folks (especially the younger folks) will appreciate the shortened time enough to watch more innings and, perhaps even a full game!  Of course, I could keep writing about this, but my time has run out!! 

NO “GIANT” “ROYAL”TIES IN THE 2014 WORLD SERIES

Unfortunately, the 2014 World Series (or any since 2009) did not include the Yankees; but, my love for baseball still encouraged me to watch a lot of it.  While the end of this past World Series schedule (thankfully) didn’t reach November, I thought November 1st would be an apropos date to write this first post-2014-season blog - since November 1^st was when this season’s other big story, Derek Jeter, earned his “Mr. November” title.  Of course, two blog/articles ago, I wrote about Derek so this one is about the other big and now concluded story, the 2014 World Series.

Congratulations to the San Francisco Giants for defeating the Kansas City Royals in 7 games.  I was certainly grateful that I didn’t have to see George Brett join in a celebration of a Royals championship!  That’s especially true because, after all of these years, even though the Royals defeated the Yankees in the playoffs in 1980, he’s still griping to the media about losing to the Yankees in 1977 & 1978!  He’s also been recently involved with the Royals front office.  Those 2 conditions persuaded me to root for the Giants.  (Hey, I can be just as bitter as George Brett and I undeniably get defensive whenever my Yankees are verbally abused, especially when someone like George Brett is acting as the same baby I saw during his 1983 pine-tar days!)

I thought that the 2014 World Series was very entertaining - minus KC’s Game 6 landslide 10-0 victory.  The series offered many great defensive plays and great pitching, especially from the Giants’ starter, Madison Bumgarner and both teams’ bullpens.  It’s a shame that many baseball fans failed to watch!  Of course, most Mets’ fans never watch much of the playoffs or World Series - they’re actually accustomed to watching other things by mid-September, anyway.  Like the Mets’ fans, I’ve disappointedly heard many Yankees’ fans take out their sore-loser frustrations by choosing to avoid watching any or most of the championship games.

Apparently, based on the TV ratings, almost all of the baseball fans (except KC & SF fans) chose not to watch the games.  In fact, almost no one watched these games, according to the ratings, in comparison to the ratings of alternate sports and primetime television shows.  The only exception was the World Series’ Game 7, which drew decent ratings and gave FOX its highest ratings on a Wednesday night in the last 3 years; however, the ratings for a “Game 7” were still unimpressive compared to past Game 7s.  Collectively, the 2014 World Series scored the lowest ratings of all time for any 7-game World Series!

I guess the baseball world needs the Yankees - whether they love them or hate them! 

LONG OVERDUE…LONG GONE

The Yankees made some news today, the same day that the American League Division Series begins without them playing in it.  Today, they extended Brian Cashman’s contract for another 3 years as their General Manager/Senior Vice President; fired Kevin Long, their hitting coach; and decided not to renew the contract of their first base/infield coach.

In my opinion, the re-signing of Brian Cashman is an overall good deal.  Yes, he has made mistakes; but, what GM hasn’t?  His quick deals before the trading deadline proved to be very successful including the acquisitions of 3^rd baseman, Chase Headley; infielder, Martín Prado; and starting pitcher, Brandon McCarthy.  He works very well with the Steinbrenners and the press - both of which add value towards the Yankees’ management.  I strongly believe that Brian is underrated by many because he always has an open wallet available, unlike other team’s GMs; but, as I’ve mentioned in the past, he has enough history to show he’s smart, shrewd, and owns an overall successful track record that can’t be denied - with or without a great deal of spending money.

Firing Kevin Long, their now-former hitting coach, is a move the NYY had to make.  Some will argue that a hitting coach is more of a mental coach for hitters who have already proven their offensive talent doesn’t need someone to teach them, especially a former failed hitter; but, I believe that a really good coach is needed now, more than ever, because of the increasingly-used defensive infield shift.  It was clear that Kevin got overly carried away with his techniques as more and more hitters, under his tutelage, were increasingly getting worse (especially their batting averages) as they worked with Kevin.  I’ve spoken to many Yankees’ fans who were rooting for his firing, so I know they’re rejoicing.  Key results from this year’s team totally support the need for a new hitting coach.  During the 2014 season the Yankees:

- had the lowest win total in over 30 years

- scored the fewest runs since 1990

- had their second consecutive year with less than 150 homeruns

- only hit .253 with runners in scoring position (their lowest since 1990)

- had the least amount of RBIs from the middle of their batting order (the lowest in the American League)

As for the first base/infield coach, Mick Kelleher, I don’t think he offered too much, from the little that we get to see from someone in his position.  He was great at receiving Derek Jeter’s protective leg guard, as Derek handed it off to him each time he reached first base!  Well, the infield made many blunders, so I guess that was the key to his downfall.  I also heard Brian insinuate that there’s some availability to replacing their first base coach and extending and/or possibly changing some of the responsibilities.

I’ve heard some rumored potential replacement names such as Luis Sojo, Hideki Matsui, and Tino Martinez.  I would definitely choose Matsui for a role.  He was a great hitter and a huge fan/player favorite.  He could also help lure some of that great talent from Japan, as he is still considered their “Godzilla”.

I can’t wait to see who they hire for both open positions, but I am particularly anxious to see who the next hitting coach will be.  At the same time, I will be scrutinizingly watching Brian’s performance even more this year than ever before because no Yankees’ fan wants to get to a third consecutive non-playoff year!!!