Results tagged ‘ New York Yankees ’
2012 American League East Preview.
2011 Finish: 97-65
Additions: Hiroki Kuroda, Michael Pineda, Russell Branyan, Raul Ibanez
Losses: Jesus Montero, Hector Noesi, Jorge Posada, A.J. Burnett
The Yankees took a unique approach to free agents this hot stove season by allowing the market to come to them. Their need was clear; they needed pitchers to fill up the rotation and be half as dependable as CC Sabathia has been since he came on board in 2009. Once they inked their ace to a five-year/$122 million extension, they went out to sure up the rest of their rotation. They parted with a lot of offensive potential in Jesus Montero, but were able to gain a 23-year-old starter with electric stuff in Michael Pineda. GM Brian Cashman also nabbed Hiroki Kuroda off the market for a one-year/$10 million contract. The search for a designated hitter is over with the agreement with Raul Ibanez after they were able to unload A.J. Burnett. The biggest wild card is Alex Rodriguez. After playing under 100 games last season, everyone in the Bronx is looking for him to return to form, especially since they owe him a boatload of money for the better part of this decade. However, The Yanks are going to be part of a three team race for the division with 90-95 wins this year.
This Day In MLB History…
January 27, 1944: Lou Perini, Guido Rugo, and Joe Maney gain control of the Braves and relieve manager Casey Stengel of his duties.
Man, talk about a monumental mistake. However, at the time that Casey Stengel was fired by the Braves, he was nothing more than a so-so manager. In his first nine seasons as a skipper, he won 581 games with the Dodgers and Braves organization, but never placed higher than fifth, obviously not leading to any post-season baseball. Once he was let go by the Braves, he didn’t lead a team for another six years- until the Yankees gave him a chance in 1949.
The Bronx Bombers did have some successful seasons after Joe McCarthy made his exit in 1946, but in that three year span, they had three different men manage the team. They needed someone to be a stabilizing factor, someone who could bring sustained success to an already prestigious organization.
Hot Stove Notes: Yanks Make Moves, Prince Stays Put.
With pitchers and catchers set to report in about a month, a majority of Major League Baseball teams are making a flurry of small moves to round out their respective 40-man rosters. However, the Yankees and GM Brian Cashman decided that their unusually quiet off-season came to an end on Friday; the Bronx Bombers solidified their pitching rotation with signing free agent start Hiroki Kuroda to a one-year/$10 million contract, as well as acquiring young Michael Pineda in exchange for Jesus Montero and Hector Noesi.
The 22-year-old starter is the obvious headline of this flurry of moves, giving the Yankees another young pitcher with a world of talent to be inserted into the starting rotation behind their ace, CC Sabathia. In Seattle in 2011, Pineda went 9-10 with a 3.74 ERA in 171 innings pitched, while compiling a 1.1 WHIP…all this being his rookie season. Could pitching at Safeco Field helped him out a little bit? Yes, but this kid has electric stuff…so electric that Cashman was willing to part with their prized offensive prospect in Jesus Montero.
This was a good move for the Mariners as well because it has been harder for them to lure and/or develop offensive talent at Safeco more than pitching talent. After their talks with Prince Fielder broke down, they felt like they needed to inject some sort of offense into their line-up for 2012.
The Yankees weren’t done with acquiring Pineda last week. The winter-long rumors of their interest in Hiroki Kuroda finally culminated with the two sides agreeing on a one year deal last week. Giving the 37 year old starter $10 million in 2012 seems a little steep to me, but New York showed last week that they didn’t have much faith in their rotation. Now, they have a surplus of arms that will lead to plenty of competition in the Spring. With CC leading the staff, Pineda, Ivan Nova, and Kuroda all seem to be looks for the rotation. This gives AJ Burnett, Phil Hughes and Freddy Garcia the opportunity to become the fifth starter. These were solid moves for the Yankees. They found short term (Kuroda), and inexpensive (Pineda) ways to secure their largest weak spot from 2011.
I would like to see what New York does with Burnett if he doesn’t win the fifth spot in the rotation; he has two years and $33 million left on his current contract. I have a feeling that the organization would gladly pay a majority of his salary so he could be traded elsewhere. I’m sure all Yankee fans would be ecstatic.
On to the next order of business; what the hell is Prince Fielder still doing on the free agent market? Once Albert Pujols agreed upon his $254 million mega-deal with the Angels, most analysts figured that Prince would find a home pretty soon. However, with all of the big market teams not looking to lock up a first baseman long term, no team wants to spend that kind of money on him. It’s not that he’s not worth the investment, but it seems like it’s just not the right year for Prince.
Scott Boras has been in talks with both the Washington Nationals and now the Texas Rangers about his highly touted client. To even imagine what Prince could do in the middle of the Texas line-up is pretty scary. It was rumored that the Brewers approached Boras about a one-year deal for Fielder, which would allow him to re-enter the free agent market next year to try again for a big deal, and that proposal was immediately rejected. I said a few weeks ago that Fielder might benefit from that type of deal because he will be able re-enter a different type of market next year and he would have a great chance of contending for a title in Milwaukee. However, if the Texas negotiations go anywhere, that could get interesting.
We’re nearing the end of Hot Stove…which means seeing baseball again is that much closer. If only time could move faster.
Jorge Posada Intends To Retire.
News came this week that longtime Yankees catcher, Jorge Posada, intends to retire from Major League Baseball after his prosperous 17-year career with New York. Being a Mets fan for my entire life and living in New York, I had the displeasure of seeing a lot of Posada, whether it was burning the Mets in the annual Subway Series, and then in the playoffs every year during the Yankee dynasty.
So, it was safe to say that I hated Posada when he was a player, mostly because he was a fantastic player and could do a little bit of everything; he could hit for power, hit in the clutch, call a solid ballgame, and manage a pitching staff. The Yankee catcher is now the second player of the core four New York players that brought greatness and championships back to the Bronx Bombers. First it was Andy Pettitte, and now the departure of Posada leaves only Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera left from the late-90s dynasty.
In addition to his four World Series rings, he was also selected to five All-Star games and won five Silver Slugger awards. He was a career .273 hitter, accumulating 275 home runs, 1,065 RBI, and his .992 fielding percentage ranks 45th among active catchers. Also, I feel that most Yankee fans can attest to the fact that he was one of the more passionate players to don pinstripes, which is why it was so hard for him to transition from an everyday player to a bench player.
There were some rumors at the beginning of the winter that linked Posada to the Marlins or Rays because he lives in south Florida, but those rumors have obviously subsided now that he is close to retirement. I’m glad that didn’t try to latch on with another team because he is now able to leave the game on his own terms.
Plus, whatever time he spent with another team would be forgotten anyways because he had so many good years with the Yankees. Does anyone remember Michael Jordan’s years with the Washington Wizards? Not really, because he wasn’t a Wizard, he was a Chicago Bull, duh. Now, that’s a drastic comparison because Posada wasn’t the best player in the game, but if I had the opportunity to have him on my team, I would in a heartbeat because the man is a winner. I wish Jorge and his family all the best as he embarks on a new chapter of his life.
A Look At “Unbreakable” Records: Joe Sewell’s Career Strikeout Rate.
There are two types of arguments in today’s game about striking out. Some feel that it’s a total waste of an at-bat, others feel that an out is an out, whether it’s a groundout to the 3rd baseman or a swinging strikeout. With that in mind, organizations are willing to deal with a power hitter striking out 130 times per year if they can hit over 30 home runs and drive in over 100 runs in that particular season.
Joe Sewell was a shortstop and 3rd baseman for 14 years in the Major Leagues; he played most of his career with the Cleveland Indians, but then spent his final three seasons with the New York Yankees. He was fortunate to win a World Series with both organizations. Being a career .312 hitter with over 2,000 career base knocks in his lifetime, Sewell was known as a very productive and dependable hitter. What stood out about him the most was his ability to put the ball in play.
He actually still holds the all-time record for the lowest strikeout rate in history, being called out on strikes once every 62.6 at-bats. Out of 8,329 career plate appearances, Sewell struck out only 114 times, never striking out more than 20 times in one single season. So, .01% of the time he went up to hit, he struck out. Pretty insane.
Also, since 1991, there have been 19 instances where a player that qualified for the batting title struck out in less than 4.75% of their at-bats. These 19 spots are held by nine hitters, which include:
- Tony Gwynn (7 times)
- Placido Polanco (2 times)
- Juan Pierre (3 times)
- Mark Grace (2 times)
- Ozzie Guillen (1 time)
- Ozzie Smith (1 time)
- Felix Fermin (1 time)
- Gregg Jefferies (1 time)
- Brian Harper (1 time)
Like I always say, the game has evolved in the sense that it is OK to strike out a lot, as long as you’re a middle of the line-up kind of hitter. Do I think this record will ever be broken? Absolutely, totally, 100% no. There is no way that someone will be able to keep their career strikeout total that low. To put Joe Sewell’s career strikeout total into perspective: it took him 14 years to fan 114 times, whereas it took 50 players strike out 114 times or more in the 2011 season alone.
