Site News: Gone For A Week

So as you may or may not have noticed, I made a few references to traveling to Germany earlier this week.  I'm actually flying out this afternoon and I'll be out there all next week participating in a work training program.  Because of this, I won't be able to cover any of what happens next week so for all intents and purposes AB4AR will be on a short break while I'm away.

There is a chance that I'll have some time in the mornings in Germany to write some stuff, but not much of one.  If anything really important happens, I'll throw up a quick blurb on it when I have time.  If nothing does, it'll almost certainly be all quiet on the AB4AR front.  I fly back a week from today, so next Saturday evening into Sunday you should see posts going up again and things will be back to normal on Monday the 14th.

Keep the faith while I'm gone, Yankee fans.  See ya in a week.

2014 AB4AR Season Preview Series Starts Tomorrow

("Best season preview in the woooooooorld!!!")

Tomorrow will mark the start of the final 3 weeks of Spring Training.  It will also be the official kickoff of the 2014 AB4AR Season Preview series.  If you remember back to last season, I split the season preview up into 3 1-week series of posts, starting with the major high-level themes that will define the upcoming season, expanding to the major questions and answers about the season, and building up to the final, detailed preview of the Opening Day 25-man roster.  I think that format worked pretty well and I'm sticking with it this season.

Tomorrow we'll start the season preview off with "2014 Season Storylines" week, a daily look at the defining major storylines that the writers, bloggers, and fanbase will be talking about all year.  I'm sure people can already guess at what a few of them are going to be, but there are a few you might not have thought about yet so check back Monday afternoon for the first of 5.

Opening Day is a little over 22 days away.  The next 3 weeks will tell you everything you need to know to be ready for it.

AB4AR Free Agent Profiles

We kicked AB4AR's offseason focus into high gear this week.  If you missed any of the early free agent profile posts, you can find the whole 5-pack right here.

- Masahiro Tanaka

- Brian McCann

- Carlos Beltran

- Stephen Drew

- Shin-Soo Choo

If you've been following the offseason news at all, you know that these aren't the only 5 guys the Yankees are targeting and I can assure you they won't be the only 5 profiled this offseason.  They're just the high profile tip of the FA iceberg.  Be on the lookout for more FA profiles to come as the stove heats up.

2013 AB4AR Season Review Wrap-Up

(Courtesy of USATSI)

I didn't get to this over the weekend, but if you missed any of the 3-week 2013 season review, here's your chance to catch up.  The "2013 Storylines" reviews can be found here.  The "What We Thought We Knew & What We Learned" reviews broken down by roster group can be found here.  And last week's group-by-group and season prediction reviews can be found below:

- The Lineup

- The Rotation

- The Bullpen

- The Bench

- The Predictions

I'm especially proud of this year's predictions.  A step in the right direction for sure, even if it was the prediction equivalent of a wobbly, tiny baby step.  The 2013 season is officially over in my eyes and the associated eyes of AB4AR.  Time to bury it and move on to 2014.

2013 Season Review: What We Thought We Knew & What We Learned (The Recap)

2 down, 1 to go.  The storylines have been revisited, the lessons have been learned, and next week we'll start the final week of the 2013 AB4AR Season Review series.  Most, if not all of the lessons learned in 2013 were learned in a negative light and many of them paint a potentially harrowing picture for what might be in store in 2014.  If you missed any of this week's positional lessons, here's the recap to prep you for tomorrow.

- The Infield

- The Outfield

- The Rotation

- The Bullpen

- The Bench

2013 Season Review: "What We Thought We Knew & What We Learned" Primer

Week 1 of the 2013 AB4AR Season Review series is in the books and week 2 starts tomorrow afternoon.  Transitioning from the major season storylines, next week will be a look back at the things we thought we knew about the 2013 Yankees before the season started and what we ended up learning after the 162 games were up.  In preparation for that week-long series, here's a recap of March's "What We Know & What We Don't Know" preview posts.

- The Infield

- The Outfield

- The Rotation

- The Bullpen

- The Bench

2013 Storylines Review Review

Week 1 of the 2013 AB4AR season review is officially in the books.  Week 2 doesn't start for a few days, so if you missed any of the "2013 Storylines" recaps this week, here's your chance to catch up before we move on.

Monday- Contending On A Budget

Tuesday- Shoring Up the 2014 Rotation

Wednesday- The Walking Wounded

Thursday- All About Robinson Cano

Friday- End of an Era

AB4AR End Of Season Update

You may have noticed the site wasn't very active this past weekend.  That's partially due to the fact that I spent Saturday picking winners and making money hand over fist at Arlington Park in Chicago and mostly due to the fact that the season was already over and I didn't see the point in analyzing or reporting on stuff that didn't matter anymore. But now that one season is over, another can begin.  It's time for another Yankee offseason and here's the rough plan for what you can expect from AB4AR in the next 4+ months.

We'll start off this week with some random recap stuff and the AB4AR year end awards posts later in the week, then transition right into the 3-week 2013 season recap next week.  The format of the 3 weeks will be the same as it was for the season preview: 1st week will be the "2013 Storylines" follow-ups, 2nd will be the "What We Thought We Knew & What We Learned" to bridge the gap between 2013 and 2014, and the last week will be the "2013 Season Review" posts by roster group (lineup, rotation, bullpen, bench).

After everything is put to bed on 2013, we'll start diving into the hot stove stuff.  I'd like to do more trade and free agent target profile pieces, since the Yankees are going to have to get creative with both to have any hope of being competitive next year on a budget, and there will be plenty of posts devoted to that budget and payroll breakdown as well.  There will also be plenty of prospect talk, including AB4AR Prospect Week and the release of the 2014 AB4AR Top 30 sometime in January, and maybe another post or 2 devoted to at-bat/closer entrance music.

Baseball season never really ends at AB4AR, so get ready to re-live all the not fun and non-excitement of the 2013 season over the next few weeks.  If you want to refresh on the season preview topics before next week, you can get a head start by revisiting the "2013 Storylines" series here.

So Here's The Deal...

As I may have mentioned once or twice in the last few weeks, I'll finally be going to the new Stadium this weekend to watch the remainder of this series.  Between going to the games, drinking before, during, and after the games, and then finding a way home after, my opportunities to write about the experience and what happens on the field will be severely limited.  I'd like to say I'll at least be able to squeeze game recaps in, but that will depend heavily on where I end up sleeping each night and what the computer situation is wherever I wake up.

So expect a slow weekend of content here on the blog.  If news is breaking, chances are I won't be covering it until Monday morning.  If I can get something written for any of the next 3 games I will, but I'm not making any promises.  If you've gotten to the point where you can't go that long without your AB4AR fix, just keep coming back and watch this gif of A-Rod's slide into second last night over and over.  That should tie you over.

Trade Deadline Prep Week Recap

The trade deadline is just 10 days.  The Yankees are starting to carve out their position in the market and for once it's not a strictly buyer position.  The immediate and short-term futures of this organization can be changed in the next week plus and there are a lot of things that could play out, some outcomes more realistic than others.  If you missed any of the prep posts from this past week at AB4AR, here they are again:

Monday- The Needs

Tuesday- The Targets

Wednesday- The Rumors

Thursday- The Pipe Dreams

Friday- The Predictions

Happy Opening Day, Everyone

It's here.  It's finally here.



Live blog starts in approximately 5 hours.

2013 "Knowns/Unknowns" Recap

There are more questions than answers in Yankeeland heading into the start of the regular season in a week, and that's nowhere near ending with the current situations of Derek Jeter, Phil Hughes, Clay Rapada, the bench competitions, and the seemingly imminent Vernon Wells trade.  If you aren't up to date on what is still up in the air and what isn't, here's your chance to catch up.

- The Infield

- The Outfield

- The Rotation

- The Bullpen

- The Bench

Just a reminder, phase 3 of the 2013 AB4AR season preview starts tomorrow with the first of the "2013 Season Preview" series.  Over the course of the next week, I'll be previewing the 2013 season for each roster group (lineup, rotation, bullpen, bench) and making my final predictions for the 2013 season.  It's gonna be a hoot.

2013 Storylines Recap, Knowns/Unknowns Preview

Week 1 of the 2013 AB4AR Season Preview is in the books, and I thought it was a pretty good one.  I mean, at least nobody else got hurt, right?  If you missed any of the "2013 Storylines" series and are too lazy to just scroll down the page, and seeing as it's the weekend I wouldn't blame you if you were, I was kind enough to put the entire series right here in one convenient post.  Catch up at your leisure.

- Contending On A Budget

- Shoring Up The 2014 Rotation

- Walking Wounded Alert

- All About Robbie Cano

- End Of An Era

Tomorrow, we move into phase 2 of the season preview with the third year of the "Knowns/Unknowns" series.  Every day I'll take a look at a specific part of the roster (infield, outfield, rotation, bullpen, bench) and look at what we know about that group of players heading into the season and what we don't.  It's a good way to gauge where the team is right now and what could change once the season begins.  Knowns/Unknowns starts tomorrow afternoon with the 2013 infield.

The 2013 Season Preview Starts Today

I said yesterday that the transition from preseason to regular season was starting to take place, and that transition becomes official today at AB4AR with the announcement that the three-week season preview for the 2013 season starts this week.  I call it, "Season Preview Season."

As it was last year, the AB4AR season preview will be split up into three individual series of posts, starting with the high-level storylines that will define the 2013 season and drilling down to the previews of individual positions and players.  The "2013 Storylines" series kicks off this afternoon and runs through the week.

Opening Day is in three weeks, people.  It's time to start looking ahead.

Transitioning From Trends To Storylines

We've been at this Spring Training thing for long enough now that it's time to start looking ahead towards the 2013 season.  Opening Day is three weeks from tomorrow, so as a way to begin the transition into the 2013 AB4AR Season Preview series (and also because I'm hanging like a bastard today) I wanted to bring back the 2012 Statistical Trends to give everyone an idea of what some of the key talking points will be during the next three weeks of season previews.

- Robinson Cano's 2012 Struggles Against LHP- Was it just a one-year fluke or the start of something more serious?

- Ivan Nova's XBH Allowed- I've linked to this one before.  It's all about fastball command for Nova.

- Joba's Return to the Mound- Once he got his slider going, things started to come together.

- Curtis Granderson's Strikeouts- Just imagine how many HR he could hit if he learned how to lay off sliders out of the zone.

- Derek Jeter's Bounce Back Season- Was it just BABIP luck or did Jeter really defy time and regression?

- Phil Hughes' HR Allowed- Just because it's a fastball count doesn't mean you have to throw one.

Study up, kids.  I'll give you a minute.

Another Slight AB4AR Expansion

Despite some of the rumors that have been suggested in the past few weeks, this is not to announce that I'm discontinuing the blog, adding writers to the blog, or even that I'm pregnant.  It's none of that.  As far as AB4AR goes, nothing is changing.  The blog is staying right here, I'll continue to write for it every day, and hopefully continue to pretend to be a half-decent Yankee blogger.  This announcement comes instead as another slight extension to the AB4AR market share in the Yankosphere.

Starting today, the IIATMS and TYA blogs will merge and become one.  And as a part of the TYA family, I will be joining in that merger.  If you're a regular reader of those blogs, you've probably noticed that both sites have had some personnel changes recently and that Stacey Gotsulias has taken over as the leader of IIATMS.  The decision was made to merge both sites to make up for the personnel changes and create a megablog that combines, in my 100% honest opinion, the greatest collection of Yankee bloggers on the planet.  And somehow they decided that giving me the 9:30 AM slot there was a wise decision, so that's my new gig as part of the super merger.  Fools!  If only they knew...

Between the regular staffs of both sites and the collection of familiar veteran bloggers that will pop in from time to time, there isn't another Yankee blog out there that boasts the depth and the talent of the new IIATMS/TYA, and in all honesty I'm just glad to be a part of it.  And I wanted to let everybody here know to check me out over there and check out the site because it's going to kick ass.  I'll be writing the same type of stuff you've come to know and hate love here on the new site.  Some of it you'll have read here already, but some of it you won't have, so you owe it to yourself to become a regular reader of the new IIATMS/TYA to keep up with my nonsense.

Welcome To 2013 AB4AR Prospect Week

At long last, the day has come.  It's been a long while since I've done this, over a calendar year in fact since the inaugural AB4AR Top 30 actually started in late December of 2011.  But the stars have aligned, the prospects have all been ranked, and the time has finally come for them to be unveiled to the world.  And like last year, I'm not just going to plop 30 names out in a single post and call it a day, oh no.  This celebration is going to stretch across this entire week, building what I'm sure will be a tidal wave of emotion and anticipation towards the release of the top 10.

Here's the plan for this week.  Not only am I going to release the 2nd edition of the AB4AR Top 30, I'm also going to take a look back at some of last year's Top 30 member who were removed from this year's list, I'm going to cover the players who just missed the cut for this year's list, and I'm going to dig even deeper to find some guys who may not qualify as true "prospects," but are still worth knowing about.  Yes sir, it's going to be a week chock full of prospecty goodness, because let's be honest, when we're sitting here talking about the idea of signing Jim Thome or Javy Vazquez, that's a clear sign that it's the dead time of the offseason.  And what better way to brighten that up then by looking to the future?

So strap yourselves in, clear your schedules, tell your boss to pound sand, and tell the wife/husband and kids you'll see them next week.  This party kicks off this afternoon at 1 PM Eastern/12 Central.

Happy Holidays From AB4AR

As you've probably figured out by now, there's not going to be a whole lot of blog activity over the Christmas holiday from AB4AR.  There isn't a whole lot going on in Yankeeland right now that necessitates posts going up, and I could really use the short break to recharge the batteries, finish my Christmas shopping, and spend some time with family and friends, as I'm sure everyone else could too.

So allow me to use this post to wish everyone a merry Christmas, happy Kwanzaa, happy Boxing Day, and a joyous Festivus if that's what you celebrate.  It's my sincerest wish that each and every AB4AR reader out there has a great holiday, gets everything that was on his or her wish list, and enjoys as much good food and drink as your bodies will allow.  There won't be anymore posts today or tomorrow, unless something absolutely earth-shattering happens, but AB4AR will pick back up first thing on Wednesday, December 26th to start picking through the rest of the offseason task list and starting preparing for AB4AR Prospect Week and the unveiling of the AB4AR Top 30 after the new year.

So happy holidays, everybody.  Hope you all have a great one and I'll see ya Wednesday.

2012 AB4AR Season Review: Part I Down

Well the lessons have been learned from 2012, some good and some bad.  With what this season taught us and the Yankees, we're already settling in for another busy offseason that could lead to some big changes for 2013 or could result in us seeing a team that looks very, very similar to the one that took the field for most of this past season.  But it's not quite time to start focusing all the AB4AR energy to next season just yet.  Part I of our "Season Review" series is complete, but Part II still needs to be done and it will begin next week with the review of the 2012 lineup and culminate in the final review of my 2012 predictions.  If you missed any of the "Knew/Learned" series from this past week, here's your opportunity to get caught up and head into next week on the same page as me (assuming you think being on the same page as me is a good thing).

- The Infield

- The Outfield

- The Rotation

- The Bullpen

- The Bench

Looking Ahead To The AB4AR Offseason

(Best believe we're going to keep the Horse talk to a minimum this offseason)

The players may be well on their way to cleaning out their lockers, making their golf plans, and setting the rest of their offseason schedules.  But at AB4AR, we aren't doing any of that, because...

/obvious sports cliche coming

THERE IS NO OFFSEASON AT AB4AR, MOTHERFUCKERS!!!!  WE'RE COVERING YANKEE BASEBALL 25 HOURS A DAY, 8 DAYS A WEEK UP IN THIS PIECE!!!!

Now that we got that out of the way, let me expound upon that idea a bit.  Yes, it's true, there won't be any big offseason breaks for me during the MLB offseason, at least none that I'm planning.  The baseball may be done but there's plenty left to talk and write about over the next 5 months, and I don't plan on missing any of it (unless I end up going to another wedding and miss something really exciting).

We'll start out taking a week or 2 to look back on the 2012 season and all its participants, the good, the bad, and the ugly, before handing out some Major League and Minor League end-of-year awards and putting 2012 to bed.  Then we'll really move the focus towards the offseason; free agent profiles, potential trade targets, payroll talk, building a lineup for 2013, etc..  There will be a few non-serious Offseason Space Filler posts sprinkled in for days when there really isn't anything of value to talk about, and there will be AB4AR Prospect Week and the unveiling of the 2012-2013 edition of the AB4AR Top 30 Prospects list sometime in late December-early January.

And believe me when I say that I'm going to cover the Alex Rodriguez saga only as much as I absolutely need to.  There are some things that will be worth discussing, and if some serious trade possibilities come up those definitely fit the bill, but if you're looking for a place to drag A-Rod through the mud for the next 5 months I suggest you look elsewhere.  There's plenty more to talk about than just how much A-Rod sucks and how the Yankees need to get rid of him, and I intend to make all of that stuff my primary focus this offseason.