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Bullpen hopefuls: Jonathan Albaladejo

by Ed Valentine on Feb 9, 2010 11:00 AM EST in Analysis Comment 16 comments

New York Yankees pitcher Jonathan Albaladejo reacts as Tampa Bay Rays' B.J. Upton, left, rounds the bases after hitting a fourth inning home run during a baseball game Friday, Oct. 2, 2009 in St. Petersburg, Fla.

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Jonathan Albaladejo is hardly a sexy choice for the final spot in the New York Yankee bullpen. Albaladejo, though, has impressed Manager Joe Girardi and pitching coach Dave Eiland enough that he has made the team out of Spring Training in each of the past two seasons.

So, want to or not, we have to consider the sinker-balling right-hander a legitimate candidate to make the Opening Day roster again in 2010.

Albaladejo is one of those pitchers who is an innings-eater. A guy who does a decent job pitching an inning or two in the middle of a game, or just swallowing up innings in games when a team is behind. Yet, given chances by Girardi last season to move up in the bullpen pecking order, Albaladejo was never able to show that he had what it takes to consistently get key outs late in games.

He seems like a guy who is good enough to be on a big-league roster. He just isn't quite good enough to be truly important to a bullpen.

Albaladejo, 27, posted a 5.24 ERA and a 1.66 WHIP in 32 2009 appearances while shuttling between Scranton and New York. Fairly ugly numbers, and while he might be capable of somewhat better than that he is probably a guy destined to be a journeyman, shuttling from team to team for a few seasons.

As for this season, I could live with him making the team. After all, he is not completely terrible. As long as he isn't asked to get important 7th or 8th-inning outs. Whether he makes the team or not, we will probably see some of Albaladejo in New York at some point this summer.

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New York Yankee notes: How the Bombers could fall apart

by Ed Valentine on Feb 9, 2010 7:41 AM EST in News Comment 17 comments

Here are a few New York Yankee-related stories to entertain you while we wait impatiently for Spring Training, which is just a few days away.

As we know, the Yankees are one of those franchises in sports that you either love or hate. And we know Yankee-haters are just dying to see the Bronx Bombers fall flat on their collective $200 million faces after winning the World Series in 2009. The Orange County Register has a photographic, and sometimes light-hearted, look at how that could happen in 2010.
Bench? What bench? NoMaas is not impressed with the collection of spare parts General Manager Brian Cashman has assembled for the Yankee outfield.
Speaking of Cashman, he says Joe Girardi, Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter will have to wait until after the season to negotiate new contracts.
FanGraphs says Joba Chamberlain lost an average 2.5 miles-per-hour off his fastball in 2009, the biggest drop of any pitcher with at least 50 innings in the big leagues last season. We saw last post-season that Joba can still dial it up, but he just doesn't bring the same heat when he starts games.
Just like Derek Jeter used to work his way through the Maxim Hot 100 before Minka Kelly got ahold of him, Alex Rodriguez seems to be into Hollywood starlets. Seems he has moved on from Kate Hudson to Cameron Diaz.
River Avenue Blues tries to put together a former Yankee farmhand All-Star team.

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Winn finalizes $1.1 million deal

It's not $2 million like initially reported.

$1.1 million plus $900K (that Thames signed for) equals $2 million, the amount Cashman said he was under budget. So the roster looks to be set.

1 day ago Travis G 24 comments 0 recs

Thames signs minor-league deal

Marcus Thames has signed a minor-league contract with the Yankees. Another right-handed bat to add to the outfield competition.

1 day ago Ed Valentine 30 comments 0 recs

Young Pirate (and ex-Yankee) might not be so young

I think everybody admits this is speculation, but usually rumors like this aren't completely fabricated out of thin air (see steroids).

1 day ago 3460kuri 7 comments 0 recs

The most to prove in 2010: Hitter's Edition

by Travis G on Feb 8, 2010 2:00 PM EST in Analysis Comment 30 comments

More photos » Bill Kostroun - AP

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Robbie Cano is entering his age-27 season, the heart of his (historically speaking) prime. We've seen a Cano that makes us want to scream and another that surprises us he doesn't hit .400. Cano can be good enough to hit third for the $200 million New York Yankees but hasn't shown enough run-producing ability to warrant that. Now I know batting average w/ RISP is laden with problems (like small sample sizes and year to year vicissitudes), but Cano has never once, in his five-year career, hit better w/ RISP than without. And he's often hit significantly worse (an average of .50 worse, .306 career vs. .256 w/ RISP).

There's no way he'll be the #3 hitter with Tex in the mix now, but he could still step up and be an excellent #5 hitter. To do that, he'll have to hit better than .206 (his 2009 BA w/ RISP) and .256 (career BA w/ RISP).

Is it something psychological with him, or is it really just bad luck in RBI opportunities? His BABIP is .267 w/ RISP (vs. .346 with nobody on), so there certainly seems to be an element of luck, but my eyes tell me he presses and either gets too aggressive or too passive (the real test, line drive rate w/ RISP, does not seem to exist on the interweb). Fortunately for Robbie, he's not counted on to fill the run-producing five-hole. That will likely fall to Posada, Swisher or Granderson (at least against RHP). But if Cano is ever going to turn into the perennial All-Star we think he can be (rather than the guy who never lived up to his potential), this would be a fine year to start.

Poll

Who has the most to prove this year?

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Here's a time-waster quiz to tide you over until spring training

by designatedquitter on Feb 8, 2010 11:34 AM EST Comment 14 comments

Since the Jeopardy baseball quiz was such a disappointment (Cubs, Pirates, Cubs, Pirates, the Babe), here's a Yankee- oriented quiz. Just identify the source and/or object of the quote. Please note: Nothing quotable has been said recently. Scoring 0 wrong- pat yourself on the back. 1-3 wrong, pat someone else on the back. More than that- what are you doing on this site? I'll post the answers in a few days if necessary, but it shouldn't be too hard for most of you.

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Bullpen hopefuls: Boone Logan

by Ed Valentine on Feb 8, 2010 11:00 AM EST in News Comment 9 comments

As we continue to look at pitchers who are probably in competition for the final spot or two in the season-opening New York Yankees bullpen, let's turn our attention to a pitcher the Yankees acquired via trade this off-season.

That would be 25-year-old left-hander Boone Logan, who came to the Yankees as part of the Javier Vazquez deal.

Logan has a less-than-impressive resume in parts of four big-league seasons with the Chicago White Sox and Atlanta Braves. In 127.2 innings, he has surrendered 158 hits and walked 58, a career WHIP of 1.69 -- way too high to be considered a trustworthy relief pitcher.

Logan has a career ERA of 5.78. Looking further, he is a left-handed specialist type whom lefties hit .266 off throughout Logan's career. He was better against left-handed hitters in 2009, however, as they hit .231 against him.

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