New York Yankees News: Rounding Out the Roster and Reforming the Divisions
by jscape2000 on Feb 5, 2011 8:01 AM EST
in New York Yankees News
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Following yesterday's farewell from Andy Pettitte, the Yankees announced that they had signed Ronnie Belliard and Eric Chavez, both on minor league deals. Both are former All-Stars, and both or either could give the bench more depth.
Since neither can play shortstop, I don't think either can make the team without an injury somewhere. The first spot on the bench is still a battle between Yankee farmhands Ramiro Pena, Eduardo Nunez, et al.
But maybe this tells us something about Joe Girardi's roster plans. Five men for the rotation plus a bullpen of Mo, Sori, Feliciano, Logan, D-Rob and Joba makes 11. Nine starters with Martin behind the plate. Cervelli as backup catcher to start the season, Pena for middle infield, Jones to backup outfield (brings the roster to 23). Choose two out of three: long-man, corner infield backup, fifth outfielder.
I had assumed the Yankees were going with a 12-man bullpen, especially with question marks in the rotation, but I believe that Logan, Robertson and Chamberlain all have at least one option left. An option is good for an entire season, which means Joe G could take the burn-and-discard approach that was so effective in 2008: when the starter doesn't go long enough, throw a kid with options out there for three or four innings. After the game swap him with an arm in Scranton.
The Orioles lineup moved from solid to deep with the addition of Vladimir Guerrero. Having already added Derek Lee, the Fightin' Showalters are poised to play spoilers in the AL East. I think it's a shame, because if any AL East team played in any other division in baseball, they'd be the best or second best team in the division.
On that note, I'd like to reintroduce my idea for floating divisions: six five-team divisions (Ruth, Cobb, Mathewson, Wagner, Johnson, Robinson).
- Any team can swap places with any other team in an adjacent division.
- An unbalanced schedule: Each division plays against 3 other divisions - 3 games home and 3 games away (6 games x 15 teams = 90 games), and each team plays the teams in its division 18 times (18 x 4 = 72; 162 game season). This restores an element of mystery to the postseason because teams may face off who have not played each other that season.
- The home team decides whether or not to use the DH each off-season. This means that the Yankees might want the DH to stash an aging slugger like Posada or A-Rod, but when they roll into Toronto, they have to be prepared to play National League style baseball.
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I feel bad for the O’s and Blue Jays. Who knows when it’ll be their next chance to contend?
mmmmm.... delicious
Everyone has been saying this since 2005.
And yet they never have enough. Their pitching is young, but unless their hitters step it up I don’t see it.
Follow me on twitter
I don’t see their hitters improving at all on last year.
"Have faith in the Yankees, my son. Think of the great DiMaggio."
hey i was there
i remember
SNIVELING HU-MAHNS!!
by Brian5517209 on Feb 6, 2011 12:31 AM EST up reply actions
The Rays have won the AL East twice in the last 3 years
They have no advantage over Toronto and Baltimore other than having a better farm system. Their payroll is considerably lower. If the Jays and Orioles want to contend, they need to draft better.
by Let's Talk About Tex Baby on Feb 5, 2011 12:46 PM EST up reply actions
and have better draft picks
The Rays have drafted Josh Hamilton (doesn’t play for them, but the point holds), B.J. Upton, Jeff Niemann, Evan Longoria and David Price with the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 3rd and 1st picks respectively in an eight-year span. You don’t get picks that high unless you are literally one of the worst teams in the league year after year. But Toronto and Baltimore can’t do that (have eight seasons of being worst or thereabouts in the league) because they don’t have the Rays’ excuse of being an expansion team. So in a way, the Jays and Orioles are stuck in their mediocrity because of their mediocrity. If they could tank for several seasons in a row, maybe they’d have fantastic draft position (and some sure shot prospects) too. These guys aren’t the sum of what the Rays have achieved, of course, and you need to draft intelligently even after having the picks (like the Rays did).
But how viable is a strategy of tanking? It won’t even be legal. What is the problem (and I feel like I’m going all Batman, Gotham and League of Shadows here) is that the Jays and Orioles can’t do what’s necessary. I don’t know if it’s because of attendance or philosophy or just an unwillingness to do something this radical, but they could have a well stocked farm and use it to build a competitive team with a lower payroll by tanking a few seasons.
I don’t mean this as a knock on the Rays. I love what Friedman’s done with the Rays and I think that they are one of the best run franchises around. Kudos to them. Their attendance also gives them a logical reason to try the let-your-stars-walk-and-replace-them-with-young-studs approach.
It’s hard being the middle team in a tough division. But they’ll have to get creative, or hope the Yankees or the Red Sox slip up.
The idiot formerly known as pkyankeefan! Now in Technicolour!
by Hasan Paliwala on Feb 5, 2011 5:28 PM EST up reply actions
Keep the Leagues intact.
Too much history there to discard. The divisions are another story.
Every five years, rebalance. The teams with the best w/l over the last five years get put in one division. The worst get put into another. The mediocre get put into another. The divisions play an unbalanced schedule. This would create parity within divisions, and reward teams almost immediately who are rebuiliding. By the middle of the five year period, many teams in the junior division would likely emerge as among the best teams in the league, and teams that dominated for one five year period would likely find themselves outclassed midway through the next.
Also, keep the DH/Non DH split. Or make it all DH. Pitchers batting ruins the game, and takes all the strategy out of it.
or we could just split divisions by location...
If the Blue Jays and Orioles want to contend they’ll just have to be that much better. Look at the Rays, it’s possible and if they actually committed money to their team they’d be unstoppable. Swapping teams around based on performance is just silly, however you do it. You can’t complain about unfair match ups because the schedules are made without bias or any form of favoritism, they’re just made and if you happen to face 3 tough teams in a row? tough luck, those teams could have just as easily been bad. The mlb just makes the schedule, the team decides whether they want to contend or not.
What really annoys me is that the leagues are uneven, there are 4 teams in the AL west and 6 in the NL central. I know it’s based on location, but move a damn team! I mean somehow the Texas Rangers are west but the Houston Astros are central…
That lack of symmetry has always gotten on my nerves
I’m not sure why the Brewers couldn’t move back to the AL. Oh, wait…
Usqueadbaugham! Anam muck an dhoul ! Did ye drink me doornail?
Your reform idea is too cool
The idea is really appealing, it would be great. It is however too radical. Won’t happen.
On the otherhand, how about a top level, lower level system like British soccer. While the elite battle for playoff spots the other team battle to avoid relegation. The Pirate organization gets sent to the minors ubtil they get their act together. I know it won’t happen but it also would add interest.
"I’m never really surprised, but I am thrilled sometimes." Joe G. 2010
I’ve seen the idea of implementing relegation/promotion in baseball before, and you’re right. Suddenly all sort of meaningless games in September would become meaningful. And just think how exciting the AAA playoffs would become.
On the other hand, this is orders of magnitude more radical than what jscape is proposing. The current AAA leagues would not be suitable for a lower division, not only because they’re all farm teams of the major league teams but because they (like the Rays and Marlins) are almost entirely in markets that couldn’t support a major league team.
To get this off the ground, you’d have to split the Major Leagues into upper and lower divisions. With a couple expansion teams in each, this would get you back to classic league sizes, which would be appealing. But if you think people would resist simply reshuffling divisions, how do you think they’d react when told their team is now in the not quite Major League?
Usqueadbaugham! Anam muck an dhoul ! Did ye drink me doornail?
I expect Garcia & Nova will win the last two SP spots; Unfortunately Joe G. goes with his buddy Mitre for long man; & Chavez if healthy for his bat & glove
I expect Colon and Belliard will be DFA out of ST and Nunez will be sent to AAA for more playing time.
I would rather DFA Mitre out of ST and go with a AAA youngster as long man but Joe G will probably keep Mitre
by YANKEES FOREVER on Feb 5, 2011 11:57 AM EST reply actions
Bill Giles
To those NL fans who prefer the pitcher hit: You’re welcome. Sincerely, Pennsylvania.
To those NL fans who don’t: Too bad. Suck it.
To AL fans: Hey. How ’bout this weather?
by Chutley's Impressed by Mac's Speed on Feb 6, 2011 8:13 AM EST up reply actions
I quit reading as soon as I got to "31-5"
Everyone should know that McLain was 31-6 ending one of the best pitching seasons ever. It really irks me when “writers” do this type of thing…
There's always next year
Oh, I wasn't holding this guy up as some shining example of sports writing...
Just that his last paragraph expressed my point more succinctly than any of the other links on the first page of the google search I’d devoted a solid 30-40 seconds on.
Hell, I can just as easily cut & paste:
“[Regarding the vote to adopt the DH in the NL] … Bill Giles of the Phillies was unable to reach owner Ruly Carpenter, who was on a fishing trip and incommunicado in those days before cell phones, and therefore felt he lacked guidance to vote yea or nay. The Pirates’ emissaries had been instructed by owner John Galbraith to vote with the Phillies. The abstention was in effect a negative.”
by Chutley's Impressed by Mac's Speed on Feb 6, 2011 8:48 AM EST up reply actions
I'd take the long man and corner infielder for the remaining two spots.
A long man is crucial with this rotation. With Posada as a full-time DH, I think you’re better served emphasizing defense, and an infielder has more impact on that than an outfielder.
Usqueadbaugham! Anam muck an dhoul ! Did ye drink me doornail?
I think I’d go with the long man too, but it really depends on who is throwing well. I’d rather carry 7 in the pen all ‘short’ guys and be ready to shuffle than to have static roles and a long man.
"Have faith in the Yankees, my son. Think of the great DiMaggio."
reforming the divisions
This is a good idea to reform the divisiions except that I think that the NL and AL should be kept and teams in each league stay in that league. Also the choice of DH or no DH seems really confusing and unnecessary to me.
Never under estimate the grittiness and guttiness of Bret Gardner.
by yankees97 on Feb 5, 2011 12:26 PM EST via mobile reply actions
You're my favorite poster here
I admire your intellect, honesty, and enthusiasm. I find I agree with you more than the other posters. But I really really REALLY dislike your floating divisions concept. I wish it could go back to a balanced schedule with less interleague and shorter playoffs.
Thanks
You don’t have to flatter me before you disagree with me!
I’d like to see an end to interleague as well, but I don’t think that’ll happen. I figured this plan gives a best of both worlds- not every matchup runs every year, but the big clubs run through ever market at least every other season.
"Have faith in the Yankees, my son. Think of the great DiMaggio."
An NFL style playoff program would work for me
Eliminate the divisions and the top six win/lost teams make the playoffs in each league.
First two best record teams in AL & NL get byes in the first round. First round is best of 3.
Second round is best of five. Third round is best of seven.
World Series is best of seven
That’s one of the reasons I don’t like the second wildcard team that everyone says is coming. Making the first round best of three helps a little, but that still makes the leading teams sit for five or six days.
Usqueadbaugham! Anam muck an dhoul ! Did ye drink me doornail?
Baseball doesn't need rests.
It’s a sport where once you’re in a good flow you want to play every day.
Follow me on twitter
Colon Garcia Prior Jones Chavez Belliard
All we need to do now is sign Jermaine Dye and Gary Sheffield and we’re all set
by The Last Shall Become First on Feb 5, 2011 2:21 PM EST reply actions
I love your reform idea
although I doubt it ever happens. Too complicated- Selig probably would look at it and go like “what the hell does this mean?”
I think there’s a problem with the DH idea though. If a team decides whether or not they want the DH in the offseason, then wouldn’t most every team pick to have the DH?
So we got Chavez and Belliard? We are on our way to winning the 2002 2011 World Series!
"I'll do whatever it takes to win games, whether it's sitting on a bench waving a towel, handing a cup of water to a teammate, or hitting the game-winning shot."- Kobe Bryant
Thanks for the memories Andy
I might not if I have a young, up and coming roster, and I know the rest of my division is depending on the DH to put their best team on the field. Choosing not to have a DH affects roster construction- my team could be better constructed to pinch hit and double switch.
"Have faith in the Yankees, my son. Think of the great DiMaggio."
Oh
and DHs are (usually) expensive. Eliminating the position will be a no-brainer for the rebuilding teams.
"Have faith in the Yankees, my son. Think of the great DiMaggio."
AL East is slowly becoming a retirement home for ex-all stars
Lee, Vlad, Manny, Damon, Prior, Colon, Garcia (to name a few).
March 31st can't come soon enough.
Other than Vlad, they're all relatively cheap
Stars at the tail end of their careers willing to take little money with a chance to win? Check. It’s not like everybody else was throwing money at them. Might as well choose to go to a team that’s likely to win.
The idiot formerly known as pkyankeefan! Now in Technicolour!
by Hasan Paliwala on Feb 5, 2011 5:32 PM EST up reply actions
I'm telling ya
The O’s are my team to keep an eye on this year. I just really want to see how & if Buck can really turn that team around.
"WHO WOULD LEAD?! THE CLOWN?!"
by I'mGivingYouARaise on Feb 5, 2011 7:15 PM EST reply actions
That and Amber, of course!
"WHO WOULD LEAD?! THE CLOWN?!"
by I'mGivingYouARaise on Feb 5, 2011 7:16 PM EST up reply actions
Your DH idea
You’re on the right track with the DH modification.
Too many fans have yet to progress beyond the “pro-DH” or “anti-DH” positions.
We do, in fact, already have this compromise rule working in Spring Training, as the home manager is free to make that choice on a game-to-game basis.
All that is lacking is, as someone here acknowledged, a way to balance out the number of DH games played versus no-DH games.
To that end, it would be simple… and not only “simple” but would add to the strategy of the game in a substantial way… which is that home managers make the decision simultaneously as they submit the lineup card (btw, the visiting manager takes two cards to that exchange), and the key: every manager is limited to electing 41 games at home with and 41 games without. And therefore, each must weigh carefully their choice.
For some additional thoughts, I began this site about a year ago:
Bad editing
“…and the key: every manager is limited to electing 41 games at home with… OR (not “and”)… 41 games without."
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