New York Yankee notes: Baseball will get here, eventually

by Ed Valentine on Jan 19, 2010 8:09 AM EST in New York Yankees News

It is snowing as I look outside my window this morning. So, what to do? Look around the Inter-Google for some stories about my New York Yankees, that's what.

Here is a quick note from LoHud's Chad Jennings that should warm your baseball-loving heart just a bit. Yankee reliever David Robertson told Jennings "it's time to start throwing." Which means, of course, Spring Training is not that far off.
Pinstriped Bible did a little historical research and found out that way back in 1924 the Yankees almost lost Lou Gehrig to a waiver claim. History, of course, would be a lot different if that had happened.
NoMaas notes that the CHONE Projections see a very good season ahead for ex-Yankee Melky Cabrera. Some of you guys will kill me for this, but I am not a guy who puts any stock in these projections at all. There are just too many variables.
Xavier Nady, still a possibility for the Yankees left field platoon, is apparently drawing some interest from the Chicago Cubs. Does anyone else get the feeling that Yankee GM Brian Cashman is just sitting back, letting everyone else pick up whoever they want among the right-hand hitting outfielders, and that he will pretty much just haul in the last man standing?
Buster Olney says the 2010 Yankees have the best chance or repeating as champions of any team since the dynasty Yankees of the late 1990s. Olney, probably correctly, says that the biggest thing that could derail the Yankees is advancing age.
Jon Heyman of SI.com ranks the top 10 off-season performances. He puts the Mariners and Red Sox at the top of the list, and the Yankees at No. 6. I have one quibble, The Mariners did a lot of good things, but they also stupidly brought in Milton Bradley. The guess here is that, in the end, that undoes a lot of the good things they have accomplished. With Bradley, it always ends badly.
Dayn Perry of FOX Sports lists the top 10 free agents for next off-season. There is one player I would to have in pinstripes in 2011, and it is not Joe Mauer. Although that would be nice. The guy I want? Carl Crawford. How nice would he look patrolling left field and hitting in the No. 2 slot in the lineup?
The Detroit Tigers believe ex-Yankee prospect Austin Jackson has a bright future. Not everyone agrees, however. Jackson's development will, indeed, be interesting to watch.
ESPN's Tim Kurkjian has an excellent look at some of baseball's trickiest rules. By the way, did you know that there are 2.6 million possible outcomes in baseball once a pitcher releases the ball? I had no idea.

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I don't know about Jon Heyman's list

Clearly, the Mariners and Red Sox are far and away the top two teams. But from there? I’m a Phillies fan too, and personally, I rate their offseason as a disappointment. Yes, adding Roy Halladay is huge, but when he’s replacing your ace (Cliff Lee) instead of whomever you’ve got mopping up innings in the 5th rotation spot, it’s actually not that large of an upgrade. Factor in the above-market signings of Placido Polanco (was anybody else offering him 3 years?) and Danys Baez, and you’ve got a team that might – might – be 5% better than it was last year.

The next time the Orioles make the playoffs, Kevin Millwood, Mike Gonzalez, and Garret Atkins will be playing for another team, or possibly even retired, so even though they’ve improved, they don’t belong that high on the list. And the Diamondbacks…by some accounts they managed to get older, less talented, and more expensive in the 3-team trade. If Edwin Jackson is a sure thing, as Heyman puts it, it’s for a 4.50 ERA.

The Yankees didn’t have a lot of needs, but they met them all – adding a dependable 4th starter, a young outfielder, and a solid DH, without giving up much in the way of prospects or any unreasonable financial commitments.

My list is 1.) Mariners 2.) Red Sox 3.) Yankees, with the rest just being filler because I suppose you have to make it a top 10 list.

Nady has hit lefties well over his career (.854 OPS), but somebody will probably offer him a starting job somewhere, assuming he’s healthy. And I’m fine with that.

by 3460kuri on Jan 19, 2010 9:06 AM EST reply actions

I can't wait to see how the AL West shakes up next year

Everybody except for Oakland has a shot at a play-off spot, so I wouldn’t be too surprised if the wild card came from there next year. Kudos to the Mariners for pushing the other teams forward there.

I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious.

Vince Lombardi

by moose35 on Jan 19, 2010 10:01 AM EST reply actions

I wouldn't count out Oakland

just yet.

They may have the best rotation 1-5 in the division.

by FloridaownsFSU on Jan 20, 2010 12:45 PM EST up reply actions

Crawford

I have to agree here. This guy would be a pleasure to watch everyday.

by Gas-House Gorilla on Jan 19, 2010 11:31 AM EST reply actions

eh...

I think he’s a little overrated. Offensively, he’s not as good as Bay, Holliday, or even Werth. He does play great defense, but Werth and Holliday are both above average defensively, and are quite a bit better offensively.

by Wraithpk on Jan 19, 2010 11:38 AM EST up reply actions

Crawford

The question is are the Rays going to watch him walk? I think they will try to get something in return for him at the break if they are not in contention.

by dustproduction on Jan 20, 2010 8:03 PM EST up reply actions

Projections...

are like middle relievers, a total crapshoot. They assume that the player will not get injured and will follow the standard progression/regression trend for players of their age. On the average, the projections are correct, but you always have guys who either greatly overperform or underperform, so I would say your standard deviation from the mean on these projections is probably rather high.

by Wraithpk on Jan 19, 2010 11:40 AM EST reply actions

Nady & Crawford

Yanks should have spent Gaudin’s money($3MM) + $2MM salary reserve on Nady if medicals good.

Prefer Crawford over Werth in 2011 as speed and defense trumps offense in the yankees lineup

by YANKEES FOREVER on Jan 19, 2010 12:11 PM EST reply actions

Nady

Was it worth spending $5mill for Nick(dup) Johnson?

by dustproduction on Jan 20, 2010 8:05 PM EST up reply actions

I don't like either

I’d like to see someone brought up from within the system. Those guys require too much money and I just don’t believe they would be worth it. We’ve got plenty of high dollar contracts, don’t need another. Too risky.

by david d on Jan 19, 2010 1:02 PM EST reply actions

That's the point of Free Agency

To pay a good player a lot of money so he plays for your team. Nothing is certain, and you only need to look at the Yankees’ big-money contracts of the past decade to see that free agency is a crap-shoot. Hopefully Cashman gets this one right too, though. .

If the Yankees consider moving Montero somewhere else and he doesn’t resign with the Twins, then Mauer would be worth 25MM per year. But that’s two big if’s.

Vince Lombardi

by moose35 on Jan 19, 2010 1:17 PM EST up reply actions

Save that $ 2 million

If the Yankees are so desperate on maximizing their $ 2 million why don’t they just save it.

Free agents are not free…. they deserve to get paid. That’s the nature of it. If guys like Xavier Nady and Johnny Damon are expensive then they should let them pass.

Keep the $ 2 million and let the minor league players have a shot at their roster.

The Yankees must be prepared for the consequences though. You want to be cheap then be prepared to have a cheap outfield roster.

by icebert_04 on Jan 19, 2010 7:12 PM EST reply actions