Searching For Some Free Agent Backup Plans

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

Free agency is just over a day old, and while the Yankees haven't signed or re-signed anybody yet they've definitely been among the most active teams so far.  They've reached out to a few teams to inquire about possible trades, they've built a long list of free agent targets to address the many holes on their roster, and they've set themselves up to possibly recoup some compensatory draft picks by making qualifying offers to 3 of their own free agents.  The activity is only going to increase from here and I expect the Yankees to start getting aggressive soon.

But what about players who haven't been connected to the Yankees yet?  There are a lot of guys out there who could be good fits for what New York is trying to do this offseason, at the very least solid backup options in case the Yanks don't hit on their primary targets.  Keep in mind that my mentioning of these names is not my way of saying I think the Yankees should or will go after these players.  Just pointing out that they're players who fit the Yankees' roster needs, their desire to keep payroll below the luxury tax threshold, and their preference for recognizable names.

Yankees Shut Out Of The Year-End Awards Finalists

(Can't imagine this image helped Joe's cause)

The BBWAA announced the finalists for the major end-of-season awards last night, and in what hardly comes as a shock the Yankees were not represented on any of the final ballots.  They didn't have a legitimate Cy Young contender and the combined uselessness of their parade of rookies this year made them laughably out of contention for Rookie of the Year.

Robinson Cano and Joe Girardi had chances to sneak into the final 3 spots for MVP and Manager of the Year, but in the end the more deserving candidates were selected.  As good as he was with as little help as he had, it's hard to argue that Cano was more valuable or statistically impressive than Cabrera, Davis, and Trout.  And despite keeping things together and staying in the playoff hunt almost until the end, it would have been a stretch to say Joe was more deserving of MOY than guys like Farrell, Francona, and Melvin whose teams actually got to the postseason.

Oh well.  Better luck next year (maybe).

MLBTR Predicting A Big Free Agent Haul For The Yanks

MLB Trade Rumors released their annual top 50 prospects list with predictions on where each player will sign on Monday, and if you were looking for the Yankees to be aggressive and spend big this offseason you'll be pleased with the predictions.

According to Tim Dierkes, when the offseason dust settles the Yankees will have signed Robinson Cano, Hiroki Kuroda, Ervin Santana, Carlos Beltran, Grant Balfour, and A.J. Pierzynski.  That haul wouldn't be quite as flashy as the rumored $300 mil spending spree to bring in Tanaka and McCann, but it would help the team in a lot of key areas.

Cano I'd obviously be happy about, same with Hirok, Beltran for the right price, and Balfour.  Santana and Pierzynski are the wild cards here, as neither has generated any buzz relative to the Yankees' reported offseason plans.  Santana had a nice bounce back year in KC in 2013, but he's been so hot and cold his whole career and his high HR rate wouldn't translate well to pitching in The Stadium.  Pierzynski, while an upgrade at catcher, is well on the downside of his career at age 37 and might not be worth the trouble that his reputation brings.  Still, it would be hard to be disappointed if the Yankees ended up bringing in all these guys.

Free Agent Target: Brian McCann

(Sharing a moment with Carlos Gomez.  Courtesy of USA Today Sports)

Of all the poor personnel decisions the Yankees made last offseason, the worst one is still probably the decision to let Russell Martin walk.  In Martin, the Yankees had a guy who was a solid all-around defensive catcher, had familiarity with the pitching staff, and could handle the bat pretty well.  The downgrade from Martin to the Francisco Cervelli-Chris Stewart tandem that was the team's backup plan was bigger than the front office probably realized, and that downgrade became even greater when injuries forced untested rookies Austin Romine and J.R. Murphy into regular duty.

Overall, the Yankees got a pathetic .213/.287/.298 batting line from the catcher position this season, good for a .266 wOBA that ranked 26th in MLB and 0.9 total fWAR that was good for 23rd.  They've apparently realized the err of their ways and have made upgrading that position one of their primary objectives this offseason.  The name at the top of their list to do so is former Atlanta Brave and recent qualifying offer recipient Brian McCann.

And So Ends A Sad Chapter In Yankee Pitching History

(Courtesy of Noah K. Murray/The Star-Ledger)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

17.8.  After 14 combined seasons filled with injuries, bad luck, bad developmental decisions, and just plain bad pitching, that's what the Yankees have to show for their years of team control over Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain.  17.8 fWAR.  Or if you prefer the BR version, 13.4.  That's over the course of 442 appearances and 1,225.1 innings pitched, and you don't have to be a sabermetric genius to figure out that's not exactly prime bang for your buck in terms of value.  Hughes and Chamberlain never lived up to the hype as pitching prospects and as of 12 o'clock this morning, with no qualifying offers in their hands, they were free to leave the Yankees and pursue a fresh start with a new ballclub.  Chances are microscopically slim that either will return to the Yankees next season.

Tuesday Mid-Morning Food For Thought

Boone Logan was not part of the group that received qualifying offers yesterday, nor should he have been.  On the strength of his time in New York, he's free to go get himself a fat new contract and in all likelihood that contract offer won't be coming from the Yankees.  His departure leaves a big void in the bullpen for the lefty specialist role next year, but some small September sample size success could be a clue as to who Logan's replacement will be.

(Courtesy of Texas Leaguers)

That's Cesar Cabral's pitch plot against lefties from his 8 September appearances this season.  In those 8 appearances, he faced 9 left-handed batters.  1 of them got a hit, 1 of them flew out, 1 of them was hit by a pitch (David Ortiz!!!), and 6 of them struck out.  Based on that pitch plot - fastballs on the corners of the strike zone and sliders that were thrown in the strike zone for called strikes and down and out of the zone for swinging strikes - it's reasonable to pencil Cabral in as the early favorite for the LOOGY job next year.  Small sample size or not, that's dominance.

We all know Joe loves to play the matchups when the situation calls for it and we know how much the Yankees like Cabral.  They kept him on their roster all last year when he was injured and all this year while he was rehabbing before giving him his September audition.  If he stays healthy, he could prove to be a cheap and valuable replacement bullpen piece in 2014.

Mo Wins AL Comeback Player Of The Year

In one of the least surprising awards decisions in the history of professional sports, Mariano Rivera was announced as the American League Comeback Player of the Year yesterday.  In his final season, coming off a major knee injury at age 43, Mo pitched to a 2.11 ERA with 44 saves in 64.0 innings pitched.  The cutter was still cutting, the command was still insanely good (3.5% BB rate), and if you didn't already know that Mo had suffered the knee injury in 2012 you would have never guessed.  His comeback was so seamless and his performance was so stereotypically Mo-like that it was almost as if he never left.

With Mo now retired, this was a fitting award for his final season.  He came back from a major injury, played incredibly well, and got to go out on his terms.  Nobody else in the AL stood a chance.  Congratulations, Mo.  And if this award stirs up anything inside you that makes you want to play next seasons, well that'd be just dandy.

Yankees Make Qualifying Offers To Cano, Kuroda, Granderson

The Yankees have made qualifying offers to 2B Robinson Cano, OF Curtis Granderson and RHP Hiroki Kuroda
— Yankees PR Dept. (@YankeesPR) November 4, 2013

There you have it.  The Yankees didn't wait until the deadline to announce their QO decisions, confirming earlier this afternoon that they have extended qualifying offers to Robinson Cano, Hiroki Kuroda, and Curtis Granderson.  The value of the 1-year QO is $14.1 million this year, and although there is still uncertainty surrounding C-Grand's plans, the expectation is that all 3 will reject the offer and line the Yankees up to recoup 3 1st-round sandwich picks in next year's draft if they sign with another team.

Not a lot of drama attached to these qualifiers, unless both Kuroda and Granderson surprise us and accept them.  That would put a strain on the club's offseason plans, both from a payroll and roster upgrade standpoint.  It's worth noting that Carlos Beltran, one of the first free agents to be connected to the Yanks this offseason, received a qualifying offer from the St. Louis Cardinals.  If New York ends up signing him, they'll give up their 1st round pick (18th) to the Cards.

Free Agent Target: Masahiro Tanaka

(Courtesy of the AP)

While I did declare earlier that this post was to be the first AB4AR free agent profile piece of the offseason, the truth is I cheated that a bit.  The real first FA post was last week's profile on Korea pitcher Suk-Min Yoon, the premiere free agent pitcher coming out of Korea this offseason.  There's a similar premiere pitcher coming out of the Japanese NPB league this offseason, a pitcher universally regarded as a much better MLB pro prospect than Yoon.  His name is Masahiro Tanaka and if you haven't heard of him you haven't been paying attention to baseball that closely at all this year.

Like Yu Darvish before him, Tanaka is expected to be the most sought after free agent pitcher whenever he is made available through the modified NPB posting system this offseason.  The latest reports on the anticipated posting fee amount make it sound like $75-100 million could be the highest bid, which would smash the previous record of $51.7 million, the amount the Rangers paid to win the bidding for Darvish.  For that kind of money, teams should be expecting to get a pitcher at least as good, if not better, than Darvish.  Based on some scouting reports, Tanaka has the ability to be that kind of pitcher, the type of young, high-ceiling arm the Yankees desperately need in their rotation.

Tanaka Watch 2013 Begins

(Courtesy of the AP)

Today's the final day for teams to make their qualifying offers to their pending free agents.  The Yankees appear pretty set on what they're going to do, and by this time tomorrow all free agents will officially be free to negotiate and sign with any team they want.  All, that is, except for the player who could be the Yankees' and multiple other teams' top target this offseason, Japaense pitcher Masahiro Tanaka.

There's still no timetable for when Tanaka will even posted, as the new posting rules between MLB and NPB have not been finalized and put in place.  The hope was that those changes would be put into effect by last Friday in time for the start of MLB free agency, and because they are not, technically Tanaka is still off-limits to MLB teams.  There is no new target date announced for the implementation of the rule changes, but that didn't stop Tanaka from giving his suitors something to think about over the weekend.

AZFL Update

It's been a few weeks since we've checked in on the Yankees' AZFL crew.  Tyler Austin is out, Addison Maruszak is in.  Let's see how everybody's doing.

- Mason Williams: 12-41 w/ 4 R, 5 BB, 7 K, 2 SB in his last 10 games.  Hitting .271/.328/.339 overall.

- Peter O'Brien: 8-32 w/ 3 HR, 4 R, 6 RBI, 8 K in his last 8 games.  .205/.239/.500 overall.

- Maruszak: 2-11, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI in his first 3 games.

- Vidal Nuno: Has thrown 9 scoreless innings w/ 4 H, 2 BB, and 7 K in his last 2 starts.  Now has a 3.45 ERA overall in 4 starts.

- Fred Lewis: Still hasn't allowed a run through 7 appearances, but has allowed 11 total baserunners.

- Gerritse & Pazos: Each have allowed ER in their last 2 appearances and 10 ER and 17 H total in 13 combined appearances.

The Problems With Jeter's New Deal

(Courtesy of the AP)

I don't think there are many out there who thought Derek Jeter wouldn't be playing for the Yankees in 2014.  I also don't think there are many out there, myself totally and completely included, who thought Jeter would be playing for the Yankees on a new, higher-dollar contract in 2014.  The announcement of Jeter's new 1-year/$12 million yesterday afternoon was confusing to the say the least, as there seemed to be little real reason for it to happen.  The subsequent discussion and differing information on the luxury tax implications of the new deal made the situation even more confusing, and the latest reports on those figures make the deal look like a poor decision on the part of the Yankees.

Regardless of average annual values or luxury tax implications, the move to re-sign Jeter to this new deal wasn't a good one yesterday and still isn't today.  It has nothing to do with money and nothing to do with Jeter's production potential next season.  Once again, what makes this move a bad one is what it says about the direction the Yankee franchise is taking.

Report: Yanks Have Almost Made Up Their Minds On QO Decisions

Qualifying offers have to be made by Monday, and according to Jon Heyman's latest report, the Yankees are on the right path with their decisions.

Heyman reported yesterday afternoon that the Yankees will make qualifying offers to Robinson Cano and Hiroki Kuroda, and they're "leaning" towards making one to Curtis Granderson although they're still undecided there.  Granderson, as I've mentioned before, makes a ton of baseball sense for the Yankees next year, but that extra $14.1 mil tacked onto next year's payroll could be a problem in trying to get below the luxury tax threshold.  After seeing the fancy accounting moves the team made yesterday to re-sign a 40-year-old shortstop, that goal still seems to be the primary one.

The best news to come out of Heyman's report?  Confirmation that the Yanks won't be extending a qualifying offer to Phil Hughes.  Not that that comes as a surprise at this point, just a relief.

Friday Afternoon Linkapalooza: 11/1/13

Holy piss, is it really November already??  And of course everybody is already skipping over the awesomeness to come that is Thanksgiving and getting into full Christmas mode.  It's lunacy.  Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas as much as the next person, but if you think Christmas is better than Thanksgiving you're wrong.  Thanksgiving is the tits and it deserves its month in the sun, if for no other reason than wall-to-wall football for a day trumps wall-to-wall basketball.  Worry about Christmas when Black Friday rolls around.  Now onto the links!

- On Monday, SJK of NoMaas pointed to the Yankees' good Pythagoran and 1-run luck in 2013 as a reminder that they're worse than an 85-win team that needs an upgrade.

- Stacey Gotsulias of IIATMS/TYA commented on the Yankee Stadium culture change in the new stadium and how that change influenced her decision to not renew her season tickets.  Have to think there's a lot of other fans out there who share her sentiments.

- On Tuesday, Mike Axisa of RAB proposed the idea of locking up David Robertson long-term and why it would be better to do it now before he becomes the team's new closer.

- On Wednesday, Matt Bove of The Greedy Pinstripes compared Shin-Soo Choo and Carlos Beltran as possible OF free agent targets.

- Chad Jennings of LoHud reviewed the current organizational depth in right field.  At this point in time it's not looking good for next season out there.  Definitely in need of an upgrade.

- On Thursday, Greg Corcoran of Bronx Baseball Daily profiled 2013 draft pick Caleb Smith as a possible breakout prospect candidate in 2014.

- Alex Pugliese of Yanks Go Yard pointed out that Joe Girardi has his work cut out for him now that he's re-signed, and suggested his toughest challenges as Yankee manager are still to come.

- El duque of It Is High... lamented the polar opposite directions in which the Yankees and Red Sox are heading as organizations in the wake of Boston's latest World Series title.

- On Friday, Derek Albin of Pinstripe Alley mused on the possibility of dangling Brett Gardner as trade bait this offseason.  I mentioned him in reference to the Cards earlier in the week, but if there are other teams that would be interested, the Yankees should be open to the idea.

Going back to some old school hip-hop for this Friday's jam with "Can I Kick It" by A Tribe Called Quest.  If this doesn't make your head nod even a little bit then I feel bad for you.



Enjoy your weekends, everybody.

BREAKING: Yanks Re-Sign Jeter To A New Contract (Wait, What?) (UPDATED)

Yankees today announce that they have re-signed Derek Jeter to a one-year, $12 million contract for the 2014 season.
— Yankees PR Dept. (@YankeesPR) November 1, 2013

Well I guess that answers that question about whether Jeter was going to exercise his player option or not.  Turns out he didn't have to because the team just announced that they've re-signed him to that new 1-year deal referenced above.

I don't really know what to say about this.  On the surface it doesn't make sense to add money to next year's payroll when the team didn't have to.  Jeter's 2014 option was for $9.5 mil and I was under the impression that as an option year that value would stand alone in terms of AAV.  I'm sure the Yankees know what they're doing and an explanation will come out, but for now this comes as a surprise.

** UPDATE 12:28 PM- Via Mark Feinsand, this new deal actually saves the Yankees a few bucks in terms of AAV.  Triggering the option year would have made his AAV $14 mil for next year based on the whole contract.  By wiping that out and going with the new 1-year, $12 mil deal, the Yankees save $2 million towards the luxury tax.  Pretty shrewd move on their part. **

** UPDATE 1:02 PM- Via Andrew Marchand, this new deal came as a result of Jeter and Hal having direct conversations.  Once again, Cash left out of the decision-making mix. **

A-Rod's Offseason Battles Starting To Hinder The Yankees' Offseason Plans

(Courtesy of Anthony Delmundo/NY Daily News)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

There are a lot of words you could use to describe the back-and-forth mud slinging in the media between Alex Rodriguez's legal camp and Major League Baseball right now.  Hilarious, ridiculous, and pathetic are a few that come mind.  But how about problematic?  While the verbal haymakers being thrown don't appear to have much impact on the Yankees as a team, the dragging out of the process is going to become a big problem now that the offseason and free agency have started.

Who knows what's going to happen with Alex's "witch hunt" lawsuit against MLB.  I'm sure he and his lawyers thought filing it would help strengthen their suspension appeal case, but with the way things are going between both sides in the media you have to think the arbitrator won't be swayed too much by it.  The real concern from the Yankees' perspective is the appeal hearing and the still lengthy amount of time until it starts again.

The Latest From The A-Rod-MLB Battle Front

A-Rod's statement:

“I am deeply troubled by my team’s investigative findings with respect to MLB’s conduct.  How can the gross, ongoing misconduct of the MLB investigations division not be relevant to my suspension, when my suspension supposedly results directly from that division’s work?”

MLB COO Rob Manfred's response:

“This latest, sad chapter in Mr. Rodriguez’s tarnished career is yet another example of this player trying to avoid taking responsibility for his poor choices. Given the disappointing acts that Mr. Rodriguez has repeatedly made throughout his career, his expressed concern for young people rings very hollow.”

Between these jabs and the previous day's verbal sparring session between Manfred and Joe Tacopina, I'm pretty sure this entire circus will end up being settled like this:

Another Key Monday Deadline To Consider

(Courtesy of the AP)

Next Monday is the deadline for teams to make qualifying offers to their free agents, and the Yankees are expected to be active in that department over the next 5 days.  It's also the deadline for players or teams with 2014 contract options to make a yay or nay decision on those options.  For the Yankees, that means Derek Jeter and his $9.5 million player option for 2014.

Somebody Fire Up The Burner...

(Hope you've got that phone fully charged, guy. Courtesy of Corey Sipkin/NY Daily News)

... Because it's hot stove time!

In addition to setting off another painful to watch Fraud Sawx celebration last night, Koji Uehara's strike 3 pitch to Matt Carpenter also signaled the official start of the 2013 MLB offseason.  I've been beating around the offseason bush in the last week or so, not wanting to fully dive into it until the season was actually over, and now that time has come so full speed ahead.

Things don't start getting really real until The Winter Meetings in December, but there's a lot of important stuff coming up just in the next week.  Starting today, teams have 5 days to extend qualifying offers to any of their pending free agents they deem worthy.  By next Monday the Yankees have to make QO decisions on Cano, Hirok, C-Grand, and Hughes (my personal decisions here), decisions that will get the wheels turning on a lot of their other offseason plans.

They'll also have to reset their 40-man roster.  There's more than a few guys on the 60-day DL right now, Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira chief among them, who need to be added.  For once the Yankees shouldn't have a problem clearing spots as there are at least a dozen guys coming off the active roster per free agency.

Like I said, the meat and potatoes of the hot stove season are still to come, but there's plenty that will happen in the next calendar week that will start to shape the path of this offseason.  The Yankees have a helluva lot to do, and with a tick over 5 months until the start of the 2014 season it's time to start doing it.

Any Chance Of The Cardinals Being An Offseason Trade Partner?

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

Whatever combination of draft and/or development problems you think are responsible for the Yankees' present farm system situation, we can all agree that it's very far from where it needs to be.  In analyzing and discussing those problems over the last 2 days, the St. Louis Cardinals have come up often as an example of the type of farm system the Yankees should be striving to match and with good reason.  Picking lower in the 1st round than most teams and finding undervalued assets that they turn into productive Major League players, the Cardinals' blueprint for success is based in their strong draft and development strategies.

The Yankees obviously aren't going to turn their farm system around to that level of success overnight, but could there be an opportunity for them to poach some of the fruits of St. Louis' labor this offseason?  The Cardinals will at least test the trade market waters to address their biggest roster needs and they have plenty of young pitching to dangle, the type of young pitching the Yankee system has failed to generate.  Seriously, it's almost stupid how much pitching depth St. Louis will have next year when Jason Motte and Jaime Garcia come back from injury.  If they get serious about moving some of it, the Yankees should be all over that.

Wednesday Afternoon Food For Thought

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

Adam Warren had himself a pretty good rookie season in 2013.  Just like his clone David Phelps in 2012, he gave the Yankees more than they were anticipating having to get from him, filled a variety of different roles when situations called for them, and had moments of success in each of those roles.  He'll be a more important piece of the pitching staff equation next year, but in what capacity?  Is he a viable starting candidate?  Is he best staying in the flexible long relief role?  Or could he become an effective 1-inning reliever?  Here's a quick statistical breakdown of how Warren fared in different situations this year:

- 1 IP < : 10 G, 8 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 HR, 4 BB, 2 K

- 1+ IP-3 IP: 17 G, 37 IP, 50 H, 22 ER, 7 HR, 17 BB, 39 K

- 3+ IP: 7 G, 32 IP, 24 H, 5 ER, 1 HR, 9 BB, 23 K

Hard to draw anything conclusive from those sample sizes, but Warren did have most of his success pitching in longer appearances or shorter appearances.  That middle ground is where he really took a beating, although it's also where he racked up most of his strikeouts.  With Phelps and Pineda back in the mix next year, and presumably a free agent starter or 2 added as well, it will be interesting to see how the Yankees decide they can best utilize Warren.

Yankees Ranked 16th In Baseball America's Near-Term Prospect Value List

Baseball America is moving forward with their offseason farm system rankings, and on Monday they released their organizational rankings based on high-level depth and the ability to provide Major League help in the next year or 2.  The Yankees came in 16th in this weighted ranking system, almost right smack dab in the middle of MLB.

This doesn't come as any kind of a shock based on where the Yankees came in on BA's level-by-level rankings and what we already know about the structure of their farm system.  They're light up top and heavy on low-level guys with high ceilings, so the chances of them churning out a lot of young talent in the next year or so are slim.  Personally, I'm a little surprised the Yankees even ranked as high as they did.  The only upper level player who could break in and make an impact next year is J.R. Murphy, and the futures of top guys like Sanchez, Williams, Austin, and Heathcott are up in the air based on their collective 2013 performance.

If nothing else, them falling in the middle of these rankings shows that there is value in the Yankees' depth.  Business as usual.

Get Over Here, Newman. You Don't Get To Skate That Easily

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

Yesterday when I raked Damon Oppenheimer over the coals and mocked the Yankees for allowing him to keep his job, the general consensus in the comment section was that the problem in the Yankee farm system was more development-based than draft-based.  There's a lot of truth to that statement, more than I might have realized at the time I was writing the Oppenheimer post, and Senior VP of Baseball Operations Mark Newman shoulders the bulk of that responsibility.  He's the one in charge of the team's developmental plan in the Minors and his recent track record is actually worse than Oppenheimer's.  Case in point, Baseball America's 2013 top 10 Yankee prospects and their career paths to date:

• 1) Mason Williams- .404 wOBA in SS Staten Island in 2011, .381 in Low-A/.331 in High-A in 2012, .317 in High-A in 2013.
• 2) Slade Heathcott- .335 wOBA in Low-A in 2010, .346 in Low-A in 2011, .389 in High-A in 2012, .334 in Double-A in 2013
• 3) Gary Sanchez- .461 wOBA in the GCL in 2010, .364 in Low-A in 2011, .390 in Low-A in 2012, .336 in High-A/.348 in Double-A in 2013
• 4) Tyler Austin- .434 in SS Staten Island in 2011, .442 in Low-A/.391 in High-A in 2012, .333 in Double-A in 2013
• 5) Jose Campos- 2.38 FIP in SSL in 2011, 3.24 in Low-A in 2012, 2.83 in Low-A in 2013
• 6) Brett Marshall- 2.96 FIP in Low-A in 2010, 3.24 in High-A in 2011, 4.09 in Double-A in 2012, 4.62 in Triple-A in 2013
• 7) Angelo Gumbs- .347 wOBA in SS Staten Island in 2011, .339 in Low-A in 2012, .282 in Low-A/.266 in High-A in 2013
• 8) Manny Banuelos- 2.76 FIP in Low-A in 2009, 1.71 in High-A in 2010, 4.01 in Double-A in 2011, 3.83 in Triple-A in 2012
• 9) Ty Hensley- 4.20 FIP in 12.0 GCL IP in 2012, injured in 2013
• 10) Rafael DePaula- 1.84 FIP in the DSL in 2012, 2.03 in Low-A/4.63 in High-A in 2013

Changes To The NPB Posting System Should Benefit The Yankees

Over the weekend, Joel Sherman posted a story on the latest developments in the effort to change the current posting system for players wishing to jump from the Nippon Professional Baseball league to Major League Baseball.  For years the posting rules have given no power to the player, only the MLB team who wins the right to negotiate with the player by submitting the highest posting bid to his NPB team.  Per the new proposed changes to that system, 1 team will still maintain exclusive negotiating rights if they win the bidding process, but the player will also have the option of choosing to negotiate with one of the other top 2 or 3 bidding teams.

Obviously this change would benefit the Yankees greatly in their pursuit of Masahiro Tanaka this offseason.  All reports indicate that they will be making a serious push for him and it seems reasonable to expect that they'll turn in one of, if not the highest posting bid.  Under these modified rules, which are expected to be in place by this Friday in time for the start of MLB free agency, the Yankees would still stand a solid chance of being able to work out a deal for Tanaka even if they don't win the post fee bidding.

How Do I Get Damon Oppenheimer's Job Security?

(Do you even know how to read that thing, dude?  Courtesy of The NY Daily News)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

Because if I sucked at my job as much as he's sucked at his and had been sucking at it for as long as he has been, my employer would have axed me years ago.  They especially would have done it if I were in his situation where my bosses were strongly hinting at making changes in my department, but somehow Oppenheimer survived last week's organizational meetings and will continue on as amateur scouting director next year. Real quickly, here's a list of the Yankees' 1st round draft picks since Oppenheimer took that position:

• 2006- Ian Kennedy, Joba Chamberlain
• 2007- Andrew Brackman
• 2008- Gerrit Cole, Jeremy Bleich
• 2009- Slade Heathcott
• 2010- Cito Culver
• 2011- Dante Bichette Jr.
• 2012- Ty Hensley
• 2013- Eric Jagielo, Ian Clarkin, Aaron Judge

From that group, only 2 3 players (forgot about Brackman) took the field as Yankees and neither of them will be with the organization next year, 2 of them either never signed or flamed out before they could even do anything for the organization, and the rest have never played a game above the Double-A level.