GREATEST CLOSER/GREATEST PITCHER

Today, the Yankees dedicated a plaque to Mariano Rivera, which will be officially placed into Yankee Stadium’s Monument Park tomorrow.  As he has been my favorite Yankee in the last 35-plus years (the person that inspired me to write my first blog), I wanted to share some of my loving thoughts about not just a great Yankees, but (from everything seen and heard) one of the greatest people that has been put on this earth:

There aren’t many players in Major League Baseball who can be unquestionably deemed as the best overall player at that position.  For instance, Derek Jeter was one of the greatest shortstops of all time, but not unequivocally the greatest.  I would certainly argue that he’s the shortstop you want in any playoff game, though!  Some may say that Willie Mays was the greatest centerfielder, but others would have legitimate arguments supporting Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio, Duke Snider, Rickey Henderson, or (in recent times) Ken Griffey, Jr.  In my opinion, there are only 5 positions/roles that have very little room for disputing who the greatest overall performer was:

1st Baseman - Lou Gehrig
3rd Baseman - Mike Schmidt
Left Fielder - Ted Williams
Right Fielder - Babe Ruth
Closer - Mariano Rivera

I’ve felt, for many years, that Mariano was the best closer (even after loving the “Goose” back in the late 70s and early 80s).  While most Yankees’ fans loved Mariano, I kept underscoring his greatness beyond what he had been doing for the Yankees singularly.  I emphasized Mariano’s extreme greatness to many fans and non-fans over 10 years ago because it’s rare (very rare) that we get to witness the best of any role in baseball.  So, while it was happening in each of our lives, I wanted all baseball fans who I personally knew to realize Mariano’s extraordinariness, not just taking him for granted as he continued gaining save after save to his collective stats.

Based on the short list above, most of us were fortunate enough to see Mariano and some of us were additionally lucky to have also seen Mike Schmidt and possibly even Ted Williams.  I’ve spoken to many baseball fans about Mariano and the vast majority agree that he was the best closer of all time.  That opinion is even shared by the typically biased non-Yankees’ fans of the Red Sox and Mets!  

As time has passed, since Mariano’s retirement from baseball back in 2013, I’ve begun to think even further about Mariano’s dominance on the mound.  With that, I began analyzing who the most dominating pitchers of all time might be.  Fans would definitely have a dispute over that choice!  Some would select Cy Young, Walter Johnson, Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson, Bob Feller, Lefty Gomez, Whitey Ford, Tom Seaver, Greg Maddux, and even more in that argument.  I don’t even know which pitcher I would choose!  In my thought process (something that’s extreme) I began realizing that the greatest “pitcher” (not necessarily “starting pitcher) on the mound (again, in my opinion) was Mariano!

Of course, I realize that starting pitchers and closers are like comparing apples and oranges; but, segregating it to simply envisioning a pitcher on the mound facing the greatest hitters, Mariano’s numbers would certainly support him as the choice.  To bring this analysis to an outmost and ridiculous scenario (I told you my thought process was extreme), supposing one’s life was on the line and they had to choose one pitcher that could throw the ball past an enemy who happened to be the greatest hitter of all time (perhaps an evil Babe Ruth).  Would you choose one of the greatest starting pitchers or would you choose the undisputed greatest closer to get that hitter out?  I know who my choice would definitively be!

TRANSITION

Life waits for no one or nothing.  As hours, minutes, and seconds pass by, life transitions.  We can all relate to transition.  As a Yankees’ fan, I am overly excited for the huge transition we have been going through these past few years and especially these past few weeks.   I’ve written about the youth for a few years when the Yankees first began their aggressive International League acquisitions (players who are still progressing); about their resourceful draft picks (even though they always draft late due to their successes);  and, most recently about the youth we had acquired.

This past Friday, A-Rod played his last official game as a Yankee.  As soon as A-Rod’s vacancy became available, two Yankees were brought up from the farm system (Tyler Austin and Aaron Judge).  The latter is one name that most fans began to learn approximately 2 years ago.  Neither one of the newest Yankees wasted any time yesterday showing that they had MLB skills as they both hit homeruns in their very first MLB at-bats.  With that collective feat, they have already accomplished something never historically done!  Yes, they both already contributed a positive MLB record to the Yankees’ record books!  (Oh, and by the way, Judge’s homer traveled over 448 feet!!  The only reason it stopped at 448’ was because its travel was obstructed.)

Prior to Austin and Judge being added as new blood onto this season’s team, the Yankees had acquired Didi Gregorius (a year-and-a-half ago); acquired Ramon Castro and Aaron Hicks this past off-season; promoted Dellin Betances a few years ago; and promoted other youth-movement players most recently Rob Refsnyder, Luis Severino, Austin Romine, and Gary Sanchez.  Again, as I continue to personally be excited about our potential stars, keep in mind that there are still more getting close to joining the team soon.  In fact, by the middle of next year, the NYY will have youth represented all over the field!

We all typically resist transition; but, again, it’s inevitable.  For the most part, it offers much more that we initially see.  During 2009, the Yankees transitioned into a new, modern stadium with reservation about creating a jinx, leaving the spirits next door, and dispelling tradition.  Yet, that very year, the Yankees tossed every doubt aside by immediately winning their 27th World Series Championship!

The transitions  the Yankees have been making over the past few years, and aggressively transacted and demonstrated these past few weeks, will become a new chapter, but not a new book.  For the Yankees’ fans that are so tied to the Core-Four, don’t worry - it’s just a transition that's happening now.  We will win more championships with new names just like other past Yankees’ teams did.  Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig,  Tony Lazzeri, Red Ruffing, and Lefty Gomez transitioned throughout the last 80-plus years into players such as Joe DiMaggio, Bill Dickey, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford , Mickey Mantle, Thurman Munson, Goose Gossage, Ron Guidry, Jorge Posada, Bernie Williams, Andy Pettitte, Derek Jeter, and Mariano Rivera.   I strongly believe some of these new names will achieve their first championship sooner rather than later.  One thing’s inevitable for sure…transition. 

A-ROD WALKS AWAY (with Hal’s persuasion)

Today, the NY Yankees and Alex Rodriguez (A-Rod) held a press conference to announce that A-Rod will play his last game in less than a week - on August 12.  They agreed on that date (as opposed to today) so A-Rod could have his family, friends, and members from his main charity group in attendance to see his last at-bats.

A-Rod mentioned that it was Hal Steinbrenner who approached him a few days ago suggesting such an arrangement.  Amongst his Advisor role in the United States, he will also “Advise” in the Dominican Republic.  All Yankees’ fans should be relieved that it was not Hank Steinbrenner who met with A-Rod because the last major conversation they had resulted in A-Rod’s current and ridiculous contract!  All fans should also be appreciative that Hal was the aggressor, reaching out to A-Rod because Hal showed that he’s listening to the fans’ rightful opinions which are backed up factually by A-Rod’s latest failing offensive numbers and his inability to play defense. 

With all of A-Rod’s steroid usage, along with his denial and lying about it, I have accepted that he certainly wasn’t (isn’t) the only one, not that such a thought makes it right; but, it does lessen the year-after-year sole focus on him by the media and the A-Rod-haters.  At least on the surface, A-Rod has really tried to play and act like he should have previously.

There is no denying that the man totally loves baseball and knows the intricacies and history of it better than most.  Many fans, media, and baseball professionals witnessed it in last year’s postseason when A-Rod performed commentary and provided more foresight than any of the veteran commentators.  Additionally, a lot of the rookies (currently and in the past) have praised A-Rod’s advice and inspiration.  Even Joe Girardi harped on that, and shared some of those stories during today’s press conference.

I am certainly appreciative of the positive things A-Rod’s done and for his contributions towards helping the Yankees win the 2009 World Series; but, I am and always will be disappointed in his wrongful acts and remarks of the past.  With that, for the future, I have seen and heard enough to know that A-Rod will definitely contribute towards the development of many, many young players in the Yankees’ organization.  He will already demonstrate his assistance towards the prospects when #13 vacates a roster spot appropriately on August 13th.

MARK TEIXEIRA RETIRES

As Mark Teixeira’s 8th season as a NY Yankee is about to end so, too, will his career.  That’s because today Mark announced that he will retire as a Yankee at the end of this season, which coincides with his contract term.  This year was certainly his worst offensively as he fought through various injuries - something that has become the norm over the past few years for him.

Earlier in the year, Mark had expressed his desire to play for at least 2 more years.  He also stated that he would love to end his career in Yankees’ pinstripes.  Well, half of his desire will now happen.   Mark mentioned his frustrations with the constant injuries as a major factor towards his retiring decision.  I also believe that, once he saw the Yankees’ commitment to bringing up the “kids” including the recent trades, he knew his chance of a contract renewal with the Yankees was not on their agenda.

I am one of those fans who constantly advocates the importance of defense and Mark certainly gave us that over his 8 seasons.  In fact, he was one of the best defensive first basemen in baseball for quite some time.  The scoops, the dives, and the 3-4-3 (or 3-6-3) double plays he began were one of the most dependable things I’ve watched with this team over Mark’s years as a Yankee.  I remember all the struggles the Yankees’ organization (mostly Brian Cashman) had over the years trying to attain or call up players to fill Mark’s cleats when he was injured or offered a day off.  Those awful moments sure made everyone realize how great Mark was defensively!

Mark will go down in history as one of the best switch-hitters in the game.  His 8 straight years with 30-plus homeruns and 100-plus RBIs per season is something he mentioned as his proudest personal achievement.  He also mentioned how, when he became a Yankee in 2009, he thought winning a World Series would be fairly easy to achieve with a team that wins so many championships.  He later learned how hard, even for the Yankees, it was to accomplish.  My favorite part of his press conference, from this afternoon, was the passion he demonstrated when talking about the fans.

In today’s blog, I publicly thank Mark for the years he produced many homers, RBIs, and defense for us.  I would particularly like to add my gratitude for his passion.  I know we’ll be seeing him at the stadium even after this season and I know I will personally applaud him every time.

TRADEWINDS!!!!

Well, the Yankees finally did it!  They aggressively traded with full focus on youth.  Over the past few years they have been adding so many pieces (mostly via the International Draft) for their farm system and now, with 5 trades this past week (yes, “5” trades), they have accomplished the finishing touches with additional top-tier prospects.  Even the so-called experts have conceded that the Yankees’ farm system has now positioned itself within the Top 3 (out of 30)!  That’s quite a turnaround for the Yankees, a team that has been constantly bashed as “old” with a farm system that was ranked in the middle range.  In fact, the Yankees now have a total of 7 Top Prospects from the Top 100 according to most key publications who rank MLB’s prospects.

Here are the Yankees’ 5 trades that were made over the past week:

Aroldis Chapman - traded to the Chicago Cubs for Gleyber Torres (SS); Billy McKinney (OF);  and Adam Warren (RHP/Reliever), who returns to the team after pitching in relief for the Cubs for only a half season.  Both Torres and McKinney have very high ceilings.

Andrew Miller - traded to the Cleveland Indians for Clint Frazier (OF); Justus Sheffield (LHP/Starter); Ben Heller (RHP/Reliever); and JP Feyereisen (RHP/Reliever).  Both Frazier (who owns one of the best bat speeds of all minor players) and Heller are AAA players who are expected to be on the MLB club by next year (Heller will probably be on the NYY club first).  I agree with the high praises from the press regarding Frazier and somewhat Sheffield, but I am apparently the only one excited about Heller!

Carlos Beltran - traded to the Texas Rangers for minor leaguers Dillon Tate (RHP/Starter/Reliever) who was the fourth overall pick in the 2015 MLB Draft mainly because his fastball & slider are well above average; Erik Swanson (RHP/Reliever); and Nick Green (RHP/Starter), a pitcher the NYY originally drafted during 2013 but didn’t sign.  Tate is exceedingly regarded by most, but his ERA this season was high.  That was supposedly attributed to a lingering hamstring injury that has reportedly healed now.

Ivan Nova - traded from the Yankees to the Pittsburgh Pirates for 2 players to be named later.  I’m sure one of them will be fairly decent and the other will probably be very young with slight hope - we’ll soon find out the projected worth of this deal; but, as a whole, Nova was way too inconsistent for all Yankees’ fans.

Tyler Clippard (RHP/Reliever) returns to the NYY - he was originally drafted by them in 2003 and played for their Major League club back in 2007 - as he was acquired from the Arizona Diamondbacks for Vicente Campos.

By the way, Chapman, Beltran, and Nova are set to become Free Agents after this season.  That condition made each acquisition more challenging for Brian Cashman to acquire worthy talent.  Of course, all baseball fans know that most prospects don’t reach their projected potential; but, statistically (just like any other type of gamble) the more opportunities you align yourself with, the better chance you have to gain dividends.

Now that this season’s non-waiver trades are complete, the Yankees are still left with two players who are well below their prime years - CC Sabathia and A-Rod.  CC will probably remain on the team; but, as for A-Rod, he’s been rumored as a consideration to be released by the Yankees.  If that happens, the Yankees would still be obligated to fully pay his remaining contract (which has one-and-a-half years left @~$30 million, assuming he is unable to achieve 18 more homers which triggers his contract's clause for yet another extra $6 million for attaining 714 homers).

They also still have a handful of players underachieving for more than one consecutive season, now - Mark Teixeira (a free agent after this season), Brian McCann, Jacoby Ellsbury, Bret Gardner, and Michael Pineda.  Additionally, Chase Headley’s hitting has been worsening rapidly.  Aside from Teixeira and Gardner, the high-priced multi-year contracts of McCann, Ellsbury and Headley would typically qualify each as potential candidates for “waiver” trades (allowable trades that continue through the end of the season only after the team places such players onto the waiver wire for the other 29 teams to claim, if they choose).  The penalty for such claiming teams would be risky because they could be obligated to take on the full remaining balance of such high-priced contracts if they cannot work out a dually agreed-upon deal with the Yankees.   If any one of these Yankees passes through waivers, then the Yankees’ team would have the right to offer the unclaimed player in a trade.

All of the above offers the Yankees’ fans a lot of hope for this year and for years to come as more and more open roster spots open for the Yankees’ rookies!   In reality, we weren’t going to win the World Series this year, anyway - even if we won nearly 90 games.  So, next year, we will have a full season that will allow many promising youngsters a chance to prove or disprove themselves.  That list should include some we’ve already seen at a decent sample size (such as Rob Refsnyder, Aaron Hicks, and Luis Severino) and some that we’ve barely seen or have not seen yet: 

Hitters:

Tyler Austin (OF/1B/3B), Aaron Judge (OF), Gary Sanchez (C), Ben Gamel (OF), Jake Cave (OF), Kyle Higashioka (C), Jose Rosario (2B), Donavan Solano (3B), Cesar Puello (1B), Mason Williams (OF), and now outfielders Clint Frazier and Billy Mckinney.

Pitchers:

Conor Mullee, Mark Montgomery, Giovanny Gallegos, Tyler Webb, and now Ben Heller.

TRADE NOW!

All MLB teams have now played a handful of games beyond the 50% mark for this season.  With that, at this point of the season, I can only feel total disappointment towards the Yankees and their see-saw record in which they now sit at 2 games below the .500 mark (42-44).  So much for my prediction a few months ago - at least at this point!

Of course, any optimistic Yankees’ fan can relate to our great Yogi Berra’s “It ain’t over till it’s over.” quote; but, a pessimist (or, perhaps in this case, a realist) would say that they’ve seen enough of this team to put that belief to the side in this case because these Yankees have not offered enough hope to even attempt to prove Yogi right.  I’ve watched so many games in my life - even during the seasons where the Yankees were worse than this, but most of those teams had more excitement to them.  For instance, even though they never won a World Series with Rickey Henderson in pinstripes during the mid-to-late 80s, he certainly electrified the game with his exciting base-stealing success.  Likewise, Don Mattingly and Dave Winfield offered a batting title competition in 1984 through the last game of the season.  Our speedsters, Gardner and Ellsbury, lure fans to sleep with their cautionary base-stealing and we certainly don’t have any player that could come close to a batting title challenge.

This Yankees’ team overall offense has been insubstantial and their starting pitching has offered opposing teams batting practice launches.   Certainly, their 1-2-3 punches of Dellin Betances, Andrew Miller, and Aroldis Chapman have pretty much shown us what we all expected, but they rarely get to perform with the Yankees ahead in a game by the 7^th inning.  Other positive contributors this season have included Carlos Beltran, Didi Gregorius, and Starlin Castro.  The accomplishments of the aforementioned six players equate to about one-fourth of the team, or 25% of positivity!  No wonder I find myself changing the channel way too often.

We’ve been waiting for the older players (A-Rod, CC, Beltran, and Mark Teixeira) to reach the end of their contracts and we’re getting closer and closer - thankfully.  While Beltran has certainly over-performed this year, he is still a detriment in right field.  The Yankees need to trade him now, while his value is high - and I mean trade him right now, before he ends up injured and untradeable!

The Yankees have enough assets to really make a splash and make their team solid enough for years to come.  As I’ve alluded to in the past, they do indeed have a group of young players very near to reaching the majors (Gary Sanchez, Aaron Judge, and Ben Gamel) - perhaps this August or September.  Certainly, two reserve players, Austin Romine and Rob Refsnyder, have contributed to the team this year. Sanchez, Judge, and/or Gamel would offer so much promise towards excitement and hope - even this season!

Basically, we need to attain 2 solid starters and 2 solid hitters.  I don’t want to trade Andrew Miller - a player who many teams have expressed interest to acquire.  Let’s instead trade Chapman even though the return would be less (because of his abuse charges and his upcoming free agency).  His 100-plus miles-per-hour fastball and his closing record offer enough to bring back a very good return.

I'm not one of those fans who's ignorantly looking to gain great returns for devalued assets such as the Yankees' high-paid players who are under-producing (Jacoby Ellsbury, A-Rod, Chase Headley, or Teixeira) or even the lower-salaried players who have been under-producing (Nathan Eovaldi or Michael Pineda).  The Yankees do have tradable assets with high enough values.  That's why I believe that Beltran, Chapman, Gardner, and/or McCann could individually or collectively bring back worthy returns - some who can make the team immediately better.  With the non-waiver trading deadline approaching (August 1), let's trade now before our trading assets get hurt!

2016 PREDICTIONS - YANKEES & METS

Last year, I predicted the Yankees would win 87 games and they won exactly that!  I also predicted the Mets would win 83, but that prediction was off, as they won 90!  Of course, I’m satisfied with my Yankees prediction, but I’m mostly proud because it was totally against almost every baseball critic, who felt they’d be much worse.  Baseball, like any sport, is all about playing the game, not just relying on past stats.  Predictions should also include analyses of team chemistry, health, players’ contract statuses/incentives, evaluations of each team’s competitors (especially those who they play most), trade power (money & talented assets), etc.  Of course a lot of that can’t be evaluated without failure and a lot of it is pure luck!!!

Still, we all love to predict and love to opinionate.  I’m no different on that front!  So, here are my insightful predictions of both NY teams again…

The New York Yankees (89 wins)

This year, I’m also including the roster to help as a visual aid and to offer an interesting reflection later during the season because we know that the rosters never stay the same.  Here is the roster as of today:

Starting Pitchers

Masahiro Tanaka

Michael Pineda

Nathan Eovaldi

Luis Severino

CC Sabathia

Relievers

Andrew Miller

Dellin Betances

Chasen Shreve

Ivan Nova

Johnny Barbato

Luis Cessa

Kirby Yates

Aroldis Chapman (domestic abuse - suspended through May 8)

Bryan Mitchell (fractured toe/disabled list)

Hitters

Brett Gardner

Jacoby Ellsbury

Carlos Beltran

Mark Teixeira

Alex Rodriguez

Brian McCann

Starlin Castro

Chase Headley

Didi Gregorius

Aaron Hicks

Austin Romine

Dustin Ackley

Ronald Torreyes

Greg Bird (shoulder labrum tear surgery/disabled list)

Well, another year of the critics loving the Red Sox and hating the Yankees.  In my opinion, the American League East is a crapshoot.  The Blue Jays have great hitting (again), but no pitching; the Rays have great pitching again, but no hitting; the Orioles have awful starting pitching, but great homerun power; the Red Sox improved by acquiring an ace and a closer, but still did not do enough to bring them from last to first; and the Yankees got slightly younger and improved their bullpen flame-throwing intimidation, but still carry the most injury-prone team within the AL East.

I believe that since the whole division is vulnerable, that most will play with a .500 record against each other.  That is a key reason why I feel the Yankees will slightly improve compared to last year’s record.  While the Yankees were the only team in the Majors that did not “buy” a free agent this past offseason, they may be on the cusp of going on a spending binge by year’s end - especially with the upcoming termination of both Teixeira’s and Beltran’s contracts.  That may help them show very little resistance towards acquiring an expensive contract by August’s trade deadline.  Except for Toronto, the other AL East teams seem to have exhausted their opened wallets for this year.

Last year, the Yankees had an awesome bullpen and this year may have improved it even more.  Certainly, they will be feared by all teams when it comes to their late-innings trio of Betances, Miller, and Chapman (when he is activated in May).  For games that offer all three flamethrowers, expect great breezes coming from the mound.  Even with their great bullpen, it is the acquisition of Castro as their new second baseman that excites me the most.  If Castro stays healthy, he will prove to be a vast improvement over the second basemen we had last year - especially Stephen Drew.  I don’t think there was even one Yankees’ fan that liked him!  The defensive tandem of Gregorius and Castro at shortstop and second respectively will certainly be fun to watch on the baseball diamond.  I can’t wait to see them and the bullpen!  Hopefully, watching the team as a whole will be fun, too.  I believe it will because their comradery is strong - something that I weigh heavily when I analyzed “teams”.

The New York Mets (89 wins)

That’s right, for the very first time I am predicting that the Mets will win the same amount of games as the Yankees!  Here’s a view of the Mets’ roster:

Starting Pitchers

Matt Harvey

Noah Syndergaard

Jacob deGrom

Bartolo Colon

Steven Matz

Zack Wheeler (Tommy John surgery/disabled list)

Relievers

Jeurys Familia

Addison Reed

Antonio Bastardo

Jerry Blevins

Hansel Robles

Jim Henderson

Logan Verrett

Josh Edgin (Tommy John surgery/disabled list)

Hitters

Curtis Granderson

David Wright

Yoenis Cespedes

Lucas Duda

Neil Walker

Michael Conforto

Asdrubal Cabrera

Travis d'Arnaud

Kevin Plawecki

Wilmer Flores

Eric Campbell

Juan Lagares

Alejandro De Aza

Unlike the American League’s Eastern Division, the National League’s Western Division is not evenly distributed at all.  The Mets have their great starting pitching, with suspect hitting and the Washington Nationals offer very good hitting and good pitching.  The rest of the teams in that division are very weak.  That means that every time the Mets (and the Nationals) play the Atlanta Braves, Florida Marlins, and Philadelphia Phillies they have a chance to add more wins than losses to their standings.  That is similar to last year.  The biggest difference with the Mets’ inter-division play is the Nationals.  They lost a few key players, but they added the best acquisition within the division - they hired Dusty Baker as their manager.  He is such a better manager than Matt Williams!

The Mets also improved this year with the acquisitions of Neil Walker (2B) and Asdrubal Cabrera (SS), but they needed to do much more offensively and with their bullpen.  Their starters are the same group, but other teams will now have stronger scouting reports on them.  The Mets should have spent some damn money!!

They also lost heart this past offseason - twice.  First, they removed Wilmer Flores from their starting lineup and alternately made him their utility player.  Second, they released Ruben Tejada to save $1 million.  Both players had unintentionally formed comradery and heart for the team.  Flores, when he cried last year thinking he had been traded and Tejada when he was hit hard by Chase Utley’s aggressive slide during the World Series. In order for them to be a good team they have to become more bonded and not so individualized.  Their starting pitchers are somewhat bonded, with the exception of Matt Harvey.  He seems to be an outcast, mostly by his own doing.  Even their captain, David Wright, is at a loss for words when it comes to Harvey.  Speaking of David Wright, his everyday back condition will certainly be a cause of alarm for this team.

So, there you have it - my 2016 predictions.  It's a long way to game number 162.  Ironically, the Mets will face the defending World Series' Champions (the team that beat them) tonight and, tomorrow, the Yankees will have to face the same dominating pitcher (Dallas Keuchel) from the Astros - the team that beat them in the wildcard playoff game.  From a baseball perspective, this will certainly be an interesting year in New York.

♫♪ HERE COME THE YANKEES ♪♫

Later this week, MLB begins its workouts for pitchers and catchers and the following week the rest of the squads will join them.  Once March begins, this year’s spring training games will also begin.  Before you know it, in approximately 1½ months (on April 4^th) the NYY are scheduled to open/play their first official 2016 MLB game against the Astros at Yankee Stadium.  From my own personal perspective, this year’s offseason passed by rather quickly; yet, I can’t wait for baseball’s return.

It’s hard to fathom that the Yankees were the only team in MLB that didn’t sign a free agent!  All of their new acquisitions came via trades.  That certainly doesn’t fit the mold of the late George Steinbrenner!  It’s clear that the NYY are waiting for this season’s expiration of both Mark Teixeira’s and Carlos Beltran’s contracts before they commit large sums of money into any free-agent.  Next season, they will also have the contracts of both A-Rod and CC Sabathia coming off the books.  There is no doubt to me that by the time all 4 contracts expire, the Yankees’ farm system and the youth they’ve acquired will be fully lined up with a comparable ammunition that they had back in 1996 when their last great generation began for years to come.

In the interim, I look forward to seeing some of our new acquisitions play - particularly, Aroldis Chapman, Starlin Castro, and Aaron Hicks.  Chapman offers a very intimidating 1-2-3 punch at the end of games (along with Betances and Miller); Castro offers a great up-the-middle duo with Didi Gregorius (one of last year’s youthful acquisitions); and Hicks offers a great deal of speed to join Gardner and Ellsbury in the outfield, while also offering an alternative to either of them without compromising defense.

Of course, health is always a concern for all teams; but, the Yankees have already experienced a big blow before this year’s first official pitch was thrown!  Greg Bird (Teixeira’s potential 2017 replacement) was diagnosed with a torn labrum to his right shoulder and had surgery that will typically require Bird to miss this season (with a small possibility of returning by August or September this year).  Bird wasn’t expected to be more than a backup player for Teixeira this year, with the possibility of playing mostly for their AAA (Scranton/Wilkes-Barre) team.  In either instance, Bird’s injury will offer the Yankees less time to definitively conclude whether or not he will irrefutably become their starting first baseman for their 2017 team.

Besides the ramifications of Bird’s injury, I also (unfortunately) reserve my jubilance for this season because, as most feel, the Yankees' health concerns are well beyond first base.  Their health concerns mostly evolve around their starting pitchers.  They have 5 of their potential 6 starting pitchers with recent historic health issues (Masahiro Tanaka, CC Sabathia, Ivan Nova, Nathan Eovaldi, and Michael Pineda).  Their farm system holds many players that are 1-2 years away, but just a few that could potentially step right into the majors during the first half of this season - especially a starter.  They really need to acquire either a decent major-league-ready starter or one that is a AAA player on the cusp of making the majors this season!  Brian Cashman has, thus far, failed to make such an acquisition.  He also failed to pick up a decent first-base backup to Teixeira.  He’s relying on too many middle infielders to have that ability - a past reliance that has customarily failed too many times.

The Yankees are not the only team in the American League East that have health or even composition issues…they all do!  I can only hope that the Yankees can acquire a decent starting pitcher and backup first baseman.  In the interim, they should still be competitive and, who knows who they might add to the team from now until August 1?  With that, and also my love for baseball, I’m certainly excited that baseball is about to begin.  Play ball!!

THE NYY 2015 OFFSEASON TRANSACTIONS

A lot of MLB transactions have taken place thus far.  The New York Yankees have been one of the most active teams in the trade market, but not the free-agent market.  As they wait for the expiration of this upcoming season's contracts of Mark Teixeira and Carlos Beltran, they have stated that they won't spend crazily for this year's roster.  Yet, they've already made enough low-costing transactions that it's starting to get to the point where it's hard to keep up; so, I decided to assess their transactions before the year ends:

Aroldis Chapman LHP

Yesterday, the NYY acquired Aroldis Chapman in a trade with the Cincinnati Reds for four minor league players - 1B/3B Eric Jagielo, 2B Tony Renda, RHP Caleb Cotham, and RHP Rookie Davis.  While Jagielo and Davis are considered decent prospects, neither are in the Yankees’ top tier and the other two prospects presumably have lower ceilings than either of them.  Chapman is considered the best closer in the game today.  He throws the most dominant fastball in the majors, averaging 99.3 miles per hour.  Chapman threw 100 mph or above with 300 of his fastballs.  In fact, many times his pitches were clocked/recorded at 103 mph and he even attained one pitch in his past against the Pirates that was officially clocked at 106 mph!  Brian McCann might have to add a lot of cushion into his catcher’s mitt to prevent a hand injury!  Chapman produced a 1.63 ERA last year and, on a losing team, was still able to save 33 games.  His strikeout ratio of 15.7 per 9 innings (41.7% of outs produced) was easily the best in baseball.  While Chapman had the best strikeout ratio, the Yankees’ Andrew Miller produced 14.6 strikeouts per 9 innings (40.7%) and Dellin Betances produced 14 strikeouts per 9 innings (39.5%) had the second and third best strikeout ratios respectively.  On paper, that would collectively give the current Yankees' bullpen the top three relief flamethrowers of all time!  I state, “current” because many believe that the Yankees’ general manager, Brian Cashman, may trade Andrew Miller.  Cashman has recently suggested that he is not looking to do that; however, he insinuated that if another team made a very attractive offer, he may consider a trade.

Away from baseball, Chapman has apparently not epitomized anything close to being phenomenal.  His character was recently degraded when the Dodgers discovered (during their own Chapman trade attempt a few weeks ago) that Chapman was initially accused by his girlfriend this past October for an alleged domestic violence incident.  At that time, she claimed that he choked and pushed her after she reacted to something he had on his cell phone.  She supposedly then hid in the bushes.  He admittedly proceeded into the garage (not after her) and shot his gun within the garage, but not towards her in any way (which the police verified).  Since, the police investigation did not show any conclusive evidence supporting violence towards the girlfriend, and (legally) since the girlfriend also chose not to press charges, no arrest was enacted and no further investigation was required.  Still MLB is gathering all of the facts they can find to help them determine if it is viable for them to suspend Chapman, or not.

The Yankees, and every other team for that matter, are fully aware of the allegations.  Again, they are “allegations” and not considered factual (at least at this time).  While the Dodgers feared the allegations and backed out of their trade for Chapman, the Yankees (and supposedly other teams including the Marlins) continued their pursuit.  The whole incident certainly devalued Chapman’s worth and the Yankees pounced on the diminished demand from the Reds.  Certainly, from a baseball standpoint, the Yankees landed themselves a steal of a deal.  Here’s why:

- If Chapman gets suspended for more than 46 games from MLB for his domestic violence incident, it will mean that, instead of him becoming a free agent after the 2016 season, he would have to wait another year for a qualified filing.  Then, the Yankees would have gotten themselves a player for more than 1 season.

- If Chapman does not get suspended for more than 46 games (perhaps even to the extent of no suspension), then Chapman would become a free agent at the end of 2016 (unless the Yankees & him uncommonly agree to extend his contract).  As a free agent, the Yankees would presumably make Chapman a qualifying offer, enabling them a 2017 draft pick.

- As mentioned above, the Yankees only traded players that were not considered (by them) as top-tier.  Yet, at least for 1 year, the Yankees would have just constructed the best 1-2-3 late-innings punch in baseball.  That would shorten their starters’ innings and intimidate all of their opponents.

Starlin Castro (2B)

Besides yesterday’s Aroldis Chapman acquisition, the Yankees also made some other transactional moves this offseason, thus far.  Similar to last year’s acquisition of Didi Gregorius as their future shortstop, they recently attained their future second baseman when they traded reliever/starter Adam Warren and utility infielder Brendan Ryan to the Chicago Cubs for SS/2B Starlin Castro.  I am even more excited about this deal than I was last year in the transaction for Didi, especially since Castro has already achieved himself as a past multi-year All-Star player (and he's only 25 years old).

Aaron Hicks (OF)

In another transaction this offseason, they attained speedy outfielder Aaron Hicks (a student of Torii Hunter) from the Minnesota Twins for their backup catcher, John Ryan Murphy.  Hicks will either serve as their fourth outfielder (replacing departed free agent Chris Young) or Hicks can replace any of the current starting outfielders (Gardner, Ellsbury, or Beltran) if any of them are traded before next season begins.

Ronald Herrera, Luis Cessa, & Chad Green (RHPs)

This offseason, the Yankees traded second baseman, Jose Pirela to the San Diego Padres for a right-handed starting pitching prospect, Ronald Herrera who is already throwing a 94 mph fastball in AA and has recently developed a nice curveball.  Considering they later acquired second baseman Castro and they still have their other second-base prospect, Rob Refsnyder, the Yankees merely traded away a player-type that was very expendable for a much-needed, potentially decent starting pitcher, who is projected to start in the majors by the 2016 or 2017 season.

The only trade that didn’t excite me was the trade the Yankees made with the Detroit Tigers.  They traded Justin Wilson to the Tigers for minor-league right-handers Luis Cessa and Chad Green.  Both Cessa and Green are expected to pitch for the Yankees’ Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders AAA team.  While I was not an extreme Justin Wilson fan, and he was also expendable based on several lefty relievers they have in their AAA, I believe his left-handed value for other clubs with impressive 2015 stats could have brought back more in return.  Hopefully, either Cessa or Green improve their numbers immensely in their final developing years, making the trade more worthwhile than it looks.  Time will tell.

Year-end Conclusion

Collectively, I am very proud that each player the Yankees attained were young players (in their 20s) and that the Yankees were simultaneously able to retain their entire pool of top prospects throughout each transaction!  There’s still approximately 3 months before the 2016 season begins and I expect the Yankees to make 2 or 3 more transactions.  Hopefully, they’ll at least attain an additional starting pitcher that has a healthy background, in comparison to their typically unhealthy 5 out of 6 starting pitchers (CC Sabathia, Masahiro Tanaka, Nathan Eovaldi, Michael Pineda, and Ivan Nova).  If they are able to land another superstar, I anticipate that they will have to finally trade one of their supposed untouchable top-tier farmhands, Andrew Miller, or Brett Gardner.  Let’s see what happens next; stay tuned!

THE PRESTIGEOUS WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP

The 2015 World Series consisted of the Kansas City Royals and the New York Mets.  I had hoped we’d see the Rangers versus the Cubs, but that was my wishful thinking, as opposed to my baseball instinct.  (I really want the Cubs to win one of these years!)

 

The Royals made it into the World Series for the second consecutive time, as they barely lost to the San Francisco Giants in 7 games last year.  Since then, the Royals’ team hasn’t changed too many players; so, it’s not a surprise that they were able to make it back to the World Series.  Their manager, Ned Yost, has publicly stated that each of the retained players have targeted winning this year from the minute they lost last year.  Additionally, the Royals learned a lesson that the Yankees and their fans have known for a very long time:  Don’t over-celebrate on the path to the World Series, hold in your main outbursts until you (hopefully) win the World Series because that’s the ultimate prize.  It’s similar to a boxer being told to avoid sex until after the fight so that he gains even more drive to accomplish the championship.  Sorry, but the rest of this article is “not” about sex.

The Mets, unlike the Royals, were a surprise team to have made it to this year’s World Series.  There are many reasons for that, but the main reason that most (including me) would rationalize from is based on the Nationals who were, without question, this year’s most disappointing team.  As for the Mets, there’s no disputing their starting pitchers are amongst the best, especially when it comes down to velocity and age; but, as anyone who knows baseball very well can tell you, great pitching is reliant upon great (or at least good) defense!  The Mets not only lacked that, but they have also lacked quality in their collective bullpen and in their collective offense; yet, they were somehow able to defeat the Dodgers and then sweep the Cubs in the playoffs.

I do feel that this year’s AL (American League) was overly stronger than the NL (National League).  Of course, I’m not just basing that on the fact that the AL defeated the NL in this year’s All-Star game 6-3.  That would be silly because as recent as last year, the AL also defeated the NL; yet, it was the NL’s San Francisco Giants who won the World Series.  Still, statistical results do support the AL’s dominance this year over the NL.  In 2015, the AL defeated the NL in head-to-head outings with its third highest winning percentage (.557) during the 13 years since the interleague games were incorporated.  As for the Mets, they lost 11 games and only won 9 in interleague play, while the Royals won 13 and only lost 7.  Also, I watch a lot of baseball (not just the Yankees) and I witnessed the AL’s dominance in most of the games I had watched.  It just seemed inevitable that this year’s World Series championship team was going to come from the AL.

Even with the aforementioned stats, I believe that the Mets could have defeated the Blue Jays.  That’s because, overall, the Blue Jays were a lot like the Cubs - they depended on the homerun and didn’t have a strong bullpen.  The Royals, on the other hand, had the best bullpen in the Majors and typically don’t swing for the fences - they swing for singles and doubles.

In the end, most of the stats did indeed support the game results.  The Royals hit, especially in the latter innings, as they always had this year.  The Mets’ starters did fairly well, but none of them were dominant enough to avoid at least a few runs for each of their outings (although Matt Harvey’s effort in Game 5 was great through his first 8 innings) in the World Series.  Besides Yoenis Cespedes lacking base-running skills, the Mets’ defensive flaws were magnified during the Series.  These highlights each led to a Mets loss:

- David Wright bobbled a ball in the 14^th inning in Game 1 (now I know why the Mets made a bobble head of him).

- Daniel Murphy, in Game 4, reminded the Mets’ fans of Bill Buckner as Murphy similarly failed to get in front of a ground ball.

- David Wright cut off Wilmer Flores in the 9^th inning of Game 5 with Eric Hosmer threatening to charge for home plate and Wright then made a sidearm throw to first which led to…

- Lucas Duda threw wildly to home plate to allow the Royals to tie the game in the 9^th inning of the same (last) Game 5 play!

- Daniel Murphy failed again in Game 5’s final inning (12^th) when Paulo Orlando grounded a simple 1-hopper to him!  I guess they tried really hard in Game 5 to avoid traveling back to Kansas City!

- Travis d’Arnaud in Games 1 through 5 not only failed to throw “any” runner out in 7 attempts, his throws were downright awful.  Furthermore, his throw-out record during all of the playoff games totaled to ZERO on 11 attempts!  That's enough to make the Mets’ fans “throw up”.

The Royals didn’t exactly look great defensively either, but they didn’t as many untimely mistakes.  The Mets’ bullpen, as anticipated failed them.  In fact, their best bullpen pitcher during the World Series was not their closer Jeurys Familia (who had 3 blown saves and gave up 2 runs) but, ended up being Bartolo Colon who was a “starter” for them during the season!  On the other hand, the Royals’ bullpen lived up to their high expectations.  In all, the Royals’ starters and bullpen collectively kept the Mets to a .193 batting average.

As a Yankees’ fan, I am overly disappointed that the Yankees failed to go deeper into the playoffs, but I also know that a failed World Series to most of us Yankees’ fans equates to a failed season.  Perhaps, this year, the current Mets learned that bottom-line point.  Their team and their fans were way overconfident, especially after sweeping the Cubs.  It’s understandable that celebrations were in order for the Mets, after not being in the playoffs for 9 years and not winning a World Series for 29 years; but, they celebrated way too much and became overly cocky.  For instance, after their wins in each step towards the World Series, they publicly enjoyed spraying and drinking champagne, which is not uncommon, but they seemed to do it to no end - I’m not sure if it helped the TV ratings or hurt them.  Then, after sweeping the Cubs, they extended their celebratory ways by appearing on Jimmy Kimmel’s talk show - led by the captain, David Wright.  We all know (because we witnessed it) that Derek Jeter would have done everything he could to avoid such premature celebrations.  Even Sports Illustrated jumped on the Mets’ band wagon before the World Series began, as they promoted Daniel Murphy’s photo on their cover.

Hopefully, the Mets learned that a hero, such as Murphy, during one round of playoffs is not necessarily a hero in the next round.  Likewise, a hero in the regular season, Cespedes, will not necessarily be hero in a World Series.  Perhaps the Mets and Noah Syndergaard learned that purposely throwing a 98 MPH “weapon” towards an opponent’s head (Alcides Escobar) was not the smartest thing to do, especially just for the ridiculous, senseless reason that Escobar swung at first pitches during the Series - wow, that’s a sin!  That act may have been the final stamp of team unification the Royals needed to win the final two games.  Lastly, perhaps the Mets’ fans learned that evaluating their team’s starters is not enough of an evaluation; that they should analyze the whole team and they should also analyze and give kudos to their opponents.

Winning a World Series, especially with all of the layers of playoffs in front, is something that should be recognized as the hardest and highest sport achievement.  It should be honored with so much prestige that the “championships” that lead up to it should be treated with noticeably less hurrah.  This was the Mets’ 5^th time to the World Series, but they’ve still only won twice.  By the way, does anyone remember who they lost to during the 2000 World Series?  Sorry, I just couldn’t resist…again!!!

2015 PLAYOFFS

Well, the Yankees followed exactly what I had predicted in the beginning of the season, as per my following quotes which I had posted in two of my spring articles, “I predict the Yankees to win 87 games” and “this year’s team will at least make the playoffs”.  With that, I am still disappointed that they only made it to the Wildcard playoff and lost to the Houston Astros in an all-or-nothing game!  I recently hoped they would have at least gone a little further, but I still knew this team was not strong enough to make it to this year’s World Series.

We all know that the so-called experts predicted the Yankees to only win 81 or even less games without making the playoffs.  Most of them also picked the Red Sox to win the division!  Could anybody be more wrong?  The Red Sox only won 78 as they finished dead last!!  It looks like the Yankees aren’t the only American League team that needs to enhance themselves next season!

Speaking of my predictions, the one that I failed to correctly make was relating to the other New York team - the Mets.  I had predicted that they would only win 83, but they won 90!  Most of that surprising success came from their late July acquisitions and the failure of trading away their shortstop, Wilmer Flores - as I detailed two articles ago.

Now that the final 8 teams have all been set for the non-wildcard playoffs, it’s time for another set of predictions as I pick 1 team from each league:

American League:

Houston Astros in Kansas City versus the Royals

Texas Rangers in Toronto versus the Blue Jays

None of these teams have been on fire lately, but the Blue Jays were collectively on fire the most; the Royals look a lot like they did last year, which is a positive thing for them; the Astros beat the Yanks, but offer a lot of inexperience; and the Rangers offer a good overall team with a good 1-2 punch in their starting pitching.  Personally, I least want the Blue Jays or Royals to win.  I think the Blue Jays’ lack of a number 2 pitcher offers a disadvantage to them, but their hitting easily makes up for that.  My bold American League prediction:  Rangers

National League:

Chicago Cubs in St. Louis versus the Cardinals

New York Mets in Los Angeles versus the Dodgers

Just as I stated that the Yankees weren’t going to go too far, I don’t expect much more from the Mets.  Their starting pitchers have been very good most of the year, but they don’t typically pitch 9 full innings and that, together with their weak 7^th & 8^th inning bullpen pitchers, along with their shaky defense makes them vulnerable.  The Dodgers have not been great this year and have lost to the Mets more than they won; the Cardinals have the best record in the Major Leagues with 100 wins and offer the best overall team; and the Cubs won their Wildcard game against the tough Pirates giving them a slight momentum with the second best record amongst the 8 teams.  Personally, there’s no way I can truly root for the Mets and, I’ve stated for the longest time, I have rooted for the Cubs ever since I visited their great city years ago.  It was 1908 since the Cubs won a World Series.   My love for their truest fans and that over 100 years’ sentiment forces me to root for and select my National League prediction:  Cubs

I know the experts are picking the Cardinals and the Blue Jays, but why should I ever agree with them?