— Twenty-four, Twenty-five, Twenty-six.... ?
The Dog Ate My Blog
No seriously… Okay, not seriously, but it makes for a better title than “Blogger’s block” or “Job” as far as excuses for not having a post up since the wreckage that was the American League Division Series.
In that time, the Yanks have done quite a bit that I like, and with the exception of some minor tweaks and fidgets, the 2007 Yankees are fairly well set.
Coming into the offseason, New York’s roster was heavy at least two outfielders – a problem the team half-rectified with the trade of Gary Sheffield to Detroit.
Now, there’s a lot of risk in dealing Sheff. He was a solid producer in the middle of the order and the prospect of Angry Gary making an appearance in the postseason with another team is not a happy one for me. Also, while I like Humberto Sanchez’s upside, his injury history makes me nervous and I’m always a bit suspect of minor league relievers, although people who pay more attention to prospects than I think Kevin Whelan and Anthony Claggett are pretty good, so who knows.
All I know is getting something of value to someone for a malcontented Sheffield was a neat trick.
However, it was not as neat a trick as getting the Orioles to fork over Chris Britton for Jaret Wright. Wright is what he is – a five inning, three to four run pitcher – and no amount of wishcasting based on his 1997 with Cleveland or his time Leo Mazzone in Atlanta in 2004 will change that.
As for Britton, I highly endorse Cashman’s strategy of acquiring as many guys who look less like a pro athlete than I do as possible. Between Britton, Bruney and at times Giambi, I look like a damned decathlete.
To fill the rotation hole left by Wright, the Yanks turned to old friend Andy Pettitte, who as long as he stays away from the groupies (WARNING: Unsubstantiated rumor) should provide at least league average, and likely better than average, starting pitching at what passes for a reasonable price this year.
The boys also brought back elder rotation statesman, and aluminum bat apologist Mike Mussina for another two years. I can’t endorse this signing enough. It was Mussina who diagnosed Chien-Ming Wang’s issues with having runners on base, and a two-year deal as pitcher and part-time pitching coach is a good one, especially at the amount.
The Bombers also won the rights to Kei Igawa for a cool $26 million. Notsuzaka has yet to sign, but reportedly he wants just a few million per season and is not represented by Scott Boras.
So with a bullpen in order, a rotation more or less set the Yankees have just three real noticeable holes and one formal roster problem to deal with.
First the holes. The Yanks still need a full-time first baseman, preferably one who hits right-handed. They still have Andy Phillips astutely grabbed Josh Phelps in the Rule 5 Draft. In addition, the team apparently has yet to make a decision on Craig Wilson and signed some Cuban defector who may or may not be a first baseman and may or may not be 23 years old.
One of these guys might be the guy – Phelps and Wilson are who Phillips might grow up to be, and hitting ninth and playing an adequate first base in non-Senior Circuit parks is something you should pay minimum wage for – at least until something much better comes along.
The most glaring hole is at backup catcher. Behind Posada there is literally no one – well Wil Nieves and the newly signed Raul Chavez – so like I said, no one.
There are no real promising options on the market right now, at least long-term, although for a one-year flier there are couple of neat options. Robert Fick almost can catch, and can play some first and the outfield, so that puts him at the top of the list. Rod Barajas wants big money and isn’t very good, but he’s an option too.
All of this is by way of saying the Yanks are screwed and they should re-sign Posada beyond 2007 and pray for his good health.
For the utility infielder, someone like Andy Cannizaro or Russ Johnson could do it and have the added benefit of rewarding an organizational solider. However, maybe bringing in Chris Woodward or Ronnie Belliard could be excellent fill-ins in case of a disaster or to spell the all-star three-quarters of the infield.
The final roster decision is what to do with Bernie Williams. My heart says I’d hate to see him on another team and he should be allowed to be a Yankee as long as he wants. My head says he’s not better than Melky Cabrera and probably not Kevin Thompson at this point and he should be given a nice gold watch and sent on his way.
Since Scott Boras is screwing with the collective psyches of Red Sox Nation right now (which I am enjoying immensely by the way) and then the Barry Zito sweepstakes, a decision on Bernie’s future probably won’t be made until January or February, but I truly hope he chooses to retire. He leaves a little in the tank, us fans don’t have to deal with a “Joe Montana, Kansas City Chief” portion of his career and Joe Torre isn’t tempted to play him. It’s a win-win-win.
All in all, it’s been a nice few months since the season ends, and 2007 looks like another good year in the making. So with that, everyone enjoy the holidays, stay safe and see you on the flip side.
Sean McNally
Posted: December 12, 2006 at 10:00 PM |
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Whatever Bernie wants.
I don't disagree here.. however, without someone who is at least not embarassingly bad back there - break out your rosaries that Jorge stays healthy.
As for Bernie, he's one of my favorites, but his presence on the roster hurts the team. I wish him well, but I also wish he'd hang'em up.
Regarding back-up catcher, what the hell is J.R. House up to lately? Did he sign with somebody already?
I think that's about it.
I'm pretty sure he can't, but there's your backup catcher if his knees allow him to get behind the plate once a week. Craig Wilson, too, if they decide to bring him back.
Item the Second. If your main contention is that, as you said, he's probably not better than Kevin Thompson, replacing him with Kevin Thompson isn't going to be all that wonderful anyway.
Item the Third. Even if I'm completely wrong on those points and you're completely right, frankly, too bad. Bernie should be given every opportunity to be a Yankee for Life, and at this point, the alternative shouldn't even be discussed. The Yankees have been fantastic with the likes of Luis Sojo, Enrique Wilson, Joe Girardi, Clay Bellinger, and Chad Curtis. They can be fantastic with the likes of Bernie Williams. If he is to stop being a Yankee, it should be for one and only one reason: He wants to stop being a Yankee.
Maybe he's just stout.
I agree with what you're saying, however - why does a dog lick its balls? Because it can. Would Torre shoehorn Bernie into the lineup? Yes, because he can.
Also, the roster is already jammed, which makes Bernie a luxury the Yankees cannot afford.
Pitchers
Moose
Wang
Johnson
Pavano
Igawa (?)
Pettitte
Rivera
Farnsworth
Myers
Britton
Bruney
Proctor
'Pen Lefty No. 2
Position players
Abreu
Cabrera
Cano
Damon
Giambi
Jeter
Matsui
Phelps
Phillips
Posada
Catcher No. 2
Backup Infielder
Even if the final roster changes some, the Yanks already have four outfielders (five if you count Phelps as a part-time OF). Bernie, while a fan favorite and a formerly great player, just doesn't have a spot on this team to justify the expense.
I hadn't thought of that... SIGN BELLIARD!!
Gammons said that Jorge Posada is a free agent next year. Cot's Contracts confirms. What do the Yanks try to do? Right now, Posada is the third best catcher in the game. The two guys ahead of him are franchise players (McCann and Mauer) and everyone else is a catcher who can kinda hit (Ramon Hernandez, Pudge) or a hitter that can kinda catch and can't hit enough to play first (Victor Martinez). In other words, none of them are likely to be with half a win of Posada next year. I think it's unlikely that Tek will bounce back or any young catcher will take the kind of leap foward required to catch Posada. So Posada is essentially irreplaceable, so the Yanks have sign him. He's been good two of the last three years, how much longer can he keep it going? Obviously this upcoming year will play a big role in that. Right now, he's not breaking down at all (consistent games played and caught over the last five years or so) and his above average year this year more then makes up for his below average year the year before. Carlton Fisk is his most similiar batter and he's a perennial top 30-40 (rough guess here) most valuable player in a league where he's one of three catchers in that group. And he's recently gotten good at throwing out runners. Assuming of course, that he doesn't collapse this year, I say (after the beginning of this offseason), that 3/42-48 million could get it down since he's so old. That signs him through age 38, would you take that risk?
Also, Brandon Claussen was DFA'ed by the Reds. All told, that was a great trade.
I think a two-year deal is probably most appropriate, somewhere in the $12 to $15 million annual range.
Posada by all accounts likes New York, does a lot of charity work there, has access to top-flight hospitals for his kid, so he might agree to a sort of hometown discount.
But I'll say provided he doesn't turn into a pumpkin overnight a la Javy Lopez, then yes, you re-sign him at nearly any cost.
So, dump two extra bullpen arms, and there's Bernie's spot right there. Or, if you want to keep seven in the pen, I see little to no reason for keeping both Phillips and Phelps on the 25-man (especially if you have Bernie); drop one of them.
Keeping Bernie a Yankee for Life, if he wants, seems significantly more important than not eating the Rule 5 money for Phelps.
I think you are drastically overstating the need to get rid of Bernie.
Darren - Posada's gotten better, particularly in closing down the running game. He'll never be a great defensive receiver, but his offensive prowess outweighs that, especially considering the alternatives.
And that's especially true if you have Bernie; I'm not clear on why you (apparently) think that it's clear that either or both of them are going to perform better than he will as the backup/platoon/occassional first baseman.
There's no need -- none -- to dedicate eight slots of the 25-man to the bullpen. Keep them all? Sure. On the 40.
Phelps is a disaster with the glove, and his Ks make his MLEs unimpressive (315/425 or so), and Phillips, jeez, that seems like a pretty big risk. I think there's a shot that one of the two of them will make a passable 1B next year, but there's also a shot that one of them steals a lot of PA while posting a sub-300 OBP. I would think the Yankees would be looking for ways to avoid that risk. I can see going with Phillips for the glove and trusting in the rest of the lineup, I guess, but it doesn't seem like the sort of thing the Yankees usually do.
Maybe that joke was made earlier and I missed it, but that's pretty funny.
Should be a good race again next year, thank goodness. That five-game series last year was the pit of awfulness.
But if he could find his way near average with the glove, it would guarantee him about 400 PAs next year with the Yanks, and flexibility if he decides to move on.
Hey! "Joe Montana, Kansas City Chief" + "Marcus Allen, Kansas City Chief" = A pretty decent Chiefs offense to complement the sterling defense already in place (Neil Smith, Derrick Thomas, etc., etc.) So there.
That's one of the problems right now... Phelps and Phillips are eh options, but you go to war with the army you have, or something.
They could bring Craig Wilson back, but Torre didn't seem all that impressed with him last season, so that seems unlikely.
However, I could see them going with Phillips and carrying his bat with the rest of the lineup - as you said, it's not the sort of thing that the Yankees normally do, but this offseason has been pretty atypical by recent Yankee standards.
You didn't miss anything, I coined that in talking to some folks and I liked it. Also, just to remind you, you did misspell "Awesomeness."
Okay, okay... how about OJ Simpson, 49er, Emmitt Smith, Cardinal, Johnny Unitas, Charger.. better?
Much.
:)
If not the baseball questions, Sad Eye Lady of the Lowlands or 4th Time around?
If you compare every contract to the five to ten ridiculous contracts signed this offseason, almost every player on every team is a bargain.
You are such a buzzkill. Shouldn't you stop complaining about how Zips hates Mets' hitters before you show up in other peoples threads and call out their fanboyness?
You act like the ridiculous contracts signed this offseason are not a sign of the money teams have to spend. If someone is willing to pay 16 million for Carlos Lee, that means someone is probably willing to pay 14 million for Matsui. Or 12 million for Damon, who's way better then both Sarge Jr. and Pierre who both signed bigger contracts then Damon's. If they're willing to spend that money in free agency, they'll spend some of it for trades, which will make it much easier to move someone if they want to.
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