Baserunning 101

(Video used courtesy of Barstool Boston)

Darnell McDonald putting the "DUH" in fundamentals there.  Talk about a horrible way to lose a game.  Screw "never make the first or last out of the inning at 3rd base," how about "never make the final out of a one-run game as the tying baserunner by rounding 2nd base too far on a chopper to 3rd."

What an assclown.

P.S.- Will I regret this bit of mini-knife turning when the Yankees hit a rough patch in the near future?  Maybe.  But it's too fun to not jump on the Sawx and kick them when they're down after all the time the MSM spent fellating them this offseason.

The Sawx Look Good

- Last in the AL in team ERA
- Last in the AL in team WHIP
- Last in the AL in OBP Against
- 3rd to last in the AL in Runs Scored
- 2nd to last in the AL in Hits
- 2nd to last in the AL in team BA
- 3rd to last in the AL in team OPS

Oh yeah, and they're 0-5 and can't even remember what constitutes a force play and what doesn't.  Even on rain outs the Yankee magic number is shrinking faster than people's interest in Charlie Sheen thanks to the Fraud Sawx.

Guess it's time to kick the "hahht and scrappiness" factor into overdrive, huh?  BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

** UPDATE- 1:55PM- The Sawx continued their losing ways today, falling 1-0 to the Indians and losing the game on an 8th-inning combination of walk, stolen base, sacrifice, squeeze bunt.  On behalf of Yankee fans everywhere, I just want to say thanks to the Sawx for that.  That jokes just writes itself.  **

Plug Pluggy Plug Plug

Please know that I have no joy in saying this, but if you frequent the site then do me a favor and CHECK OUT THE DAMN FACEBOOK PAGE!!  There's a link to it here, and another one here, and a third one right here.   And I've even got the whole Facebook box thing on the homepage to take you right to it.  That took my almost an hour to set up.  Pathetic, I know, but that's not the point.  The point is, check this stuff out and when you're done checking it out, click the "Like" button and get my numbers up.

I mean, 18 fans?  18???  That's just turribull (copyright: Charles Barkley).  Those 18 fans includeme, and about half of the rest of the people aren't even Yankee fans.  Some of them aren't even baseball fans!  They're just friends of mine or family members who were nice enough to like it through their association with me.  And don't get me wrong, that's all well and good to get the train pulling out of the station, but now I need to start stocking the Facebook fan shelves with some legit Yankee fans.  I've got d-bag fans of other garbage teams using up valuable comment space to swear at me for speaking the truth and nobody coming to my (or the Yankees') defense.  And that just cannot be allowed to happen.

If you're a Yankee fan and you haven't already, "Like" AB4AR on Facebook.  And if you have family members and friends who are Yankee fans, get them to do the same.  I'll even extend the invite to some Met fans, since they clearly have nothing better to do than like the site.  There's plenty of room on the Yankee bandwagon, people.  It's time to start building up the AB4AR army.  Make it happen.

 (Dr. Long recommends AB4AR to all his patients.)

The Formula Giveth And The Formula Taketh Away

(Yes, Rafi.  You're allowed to be sad after last night.)

So far this year, the few times Joe has been able to use his desired formula with his pitching staff he has gotten positive results.  It worked on Opening Day and it worked on Monday night in Nova's start.  Last night, however, was a different story and Joe went back to the well in a situation that didn't call for it and it ended up costing the Yankees a victory that should have been in the bag.  Here's how:

- CC being lifted after 7 shutout innings.  Why was CC even taken out after 7?  He had been solid all night, had the bottom of the order due up, and would have had the desired lefty-lefty match-up if Gardenhire decided to pinch hit Morneau and Thome the way he did with Soriano in the game?  When your ace has already given you 7 shutout innings and doesn't have a superhigh pitch count, he at least deserves the chance to go out there and get another out or 2 in the 8th.

- Soriano being brought in to start the 8th in a 4-run game.  This is where Joe made a bad decision (lifting CC) worse by going to Soriano and trying to stick to the formula in a situation that didn't call for it.  Soriano had just pitched yesterday, there are reports of diminished velocity on his part going around, the bottom of the order was coming up, and it wasn't that close of a game.  That's D-Rob time all the way.

- Joe waiting too long to take out Soriano.  It was clear almost from the word "go" that Soriano didn't have it last night.  Not his fault, sometimes it happens.  Especially when it's early in the year, your arm strength isn't all the way up, and you just pitched the day before.  As soon as Soriano walked Thome, Joe should have taken him out and gone to Boone Logan or the already warm and aforementioned D-Rob.

- D-Rob never getting into the game until the fire was out of control.  I can understand Joba getting the 7th-inning role over D-Rob.  He's earned it.  But what the hell is D-Rob's role on this time?  Designated Bullpen Warm-up Guy?  Joe has had him up in almost every game they've played and yet he's only pitched in 1 game so far.  Newsflash!  The guy averages 10+ K/9!!  And you're not going to bring him in to face Danny Valencia to start the 8th inning of a 4-run game???

- Nick Swisher in right field on the bloop double.  Dude, what the hell were you doing out there?  And what was with that goofy slide??  Stay on your goddamn feet and keep the ball in front of you!  That's basic baseball!  Fundamentals!!  TOM EMANSKI!!!!

- Joe's overall approach to the game.  As friend of the blog Brien Jackson of IIATMS pointed out, Joe managed to get Mo a save instead of managing to win the game.  And that ties in to my point about Joe sticking to the formula and the numbers instead of making like Charlie Sheen and sticking to winning.  Soriano never should have been in the game, D-Rob never should have been called in to clean up the mess.  In a high-leverage 8th-inning situation, it's Mo time.  Shut the team down, keep the lead intact, and if you have to use somebody else to finish the 9th to preserve Mo, then so be it.

Lunch Time Linkapalooza

To quote Aaron Lewis, it's been awhile since we've done one of these.  So let's get out there and take a gander around the Yankosphere.

- Rob at BBD weighs in on the latest in the Joba Saga and decides the Yankees are making the best of the crummy situation they created with him.  As someone who always supported the "Joba as a reliever" idea, I think it's good to see him coming out of the gates strong this year and better to see him being used a lot.  Might as well maximize what little value he has left, right?

- Chad at LoHud has the latest details on the Yankee Minor League rosters, and they are shaping up nicely.  Those Double- and Triple-A rotations are scary good.

- And because I love this stuff, here's Chad's post from last Friday on the layout of the Yankee locker room.

- Mike Axisa at RAB breaks down Super Nova's performance last night and shows that he's starting to get better at changing things up as he goes through a lineup multiple times.  He isn't all the way there yet, but he's getting there.

- Brien from IIATMS has a piece about the epidemic of former player analysts and how the epidemic needs to be stopped.  Consider me at the front of this picket line against broadcast tyranny.

- Lenny Neslin has a new sidekick at LenNY's Yankees and the first round of "Nate's Takes" was chock full of solid points about the early-season games.  I think you and I are going to get along just fine, Nate.

- Matt Imbrogno of TYA (and fellow UConn Husky) has a good post about learning to live with Soriano and his contract this season.  He's like your crazy family dog.  You hate that he ate your prized Vlad Guerrero rookie card (the contract), but you still love when he comes bounding up to you all googly-eyed with a tennis ball in his mouth (the shutdown 8th-inning performances).

Was that Bill Simmons-ish enough for everybody?

- el duque of It Is High... becomes the first to congratulate Kei Igawa on his promotion to Double-A Trenton.  If only he had more time to make it down to Single-A and complete baseball's first ever complete reverse promotion through an organization.

- Steve Goldman of Pinstriped Bible has a dose of reality for anybody overreacting (good or bad) to the first 4 games of the year.  I'd like to think that most readers of this blog wouldn't have to have this linked to them, but you never know.

- I know this one is a little late, but do yourself a favor and check Dan Hanzus' Opening Day live blog recap.  It is, as much as it pains me to say so, better than mine.

/sheds tear

- Brian Costello of The Post has some news that Phil Hughes found some mechanical flaws that may or may not be contributing to his diminished velocity.  That's good news, I guess.

- Costello also has a bit about the ongoing Feliciano-Mets saga, with the latest news being that Feliciano plans on challenging Dan Warthen to a cage match at Wrestlemania 28.  While I appreciate Pedro's enthusiasm, he should probably worry about getting healthy and out on the mound before he starts cutting backstage promos with Mean Gene.

- And to cap it all off, here's a quick video of Alex Oriakhi absolutely dominating the Harlem Shake before UConn's game against Kentucky over the weekend.



I did the exact same thing last night after the Huskies beat Butler.  Enjoy the rest of your workdays, people, and get ready for another woodshed beating at The Stadium tonight.  Hopefully Carsten got the issue with his parachute pants resolved.

The Formula Wins Again

A couple of early 2-run homers, some solid starting pitching, and a lockdown 7th-9th inning performance by the 2011 Nasty Boys gets the Yanks another win against the Twins last night.

Particularly impressive was the season debut of Ivan Nova.  In 6 innings, he allowed 3 earned runs on 6 hits and 1 walk, and struck out 3.  He was efficient, throwing 83 pitches through his 6 innings of work, and showed the confidence and maturity on the mound his second and third time through a lineup, something that escaped him last season, after running into trouble in the 4th and 5th innings.  With the Twins closing in, he got Joe Mauer to ground out on a curveball in the 5th and then struck out Jim Thome in the 6th to keep the lead intact.  He wasn't dominating, but he didn't have to be and didn't try to be.  Nova's 5 swing strikes weren't as important as the 20 strikes that were put in play by the Twins.  He trusted his defense, kept the ball down in the zone, and pitched to contact, particularly ground ball contact (11 ground ball outs to 4 fly ball outs).  I'll take that 25 hours a day, 8 days a week.

6 quality innings from Ivan Nova, giving the team what they needed after a loss and picking up the lackluster performance from Phil Hughes the previous day.  Yes sir, just how the Yankees drew it up.  Wait, what?

(Nova The Terrible returns.  Even though he was pretty good last night.)

The Horse In Human Form!

 (Photo used courtesy of EJ Camp)

I don't know how I missed this over the weekend, but check it the F out!

It's The Horse!  In his human form!!  Off the baseball field!!!  Such a sight is truly something to behold.  It's like seeing the Hale-Bopp comet while picking up a 4-leaf clover and then having the winning PowerBall numbers in your pocket!  And not only that, but he's holding kale, the MVP of the green vegetables.  I took it in the first round of my vegetable fantasy draft last week.

And now it makes perfect sense why he's off to such a great start this year.  He's upped his veggie intake.  Anybody who knows horses knows they have very finicky digestive systems (I can't prove this).  Now that he's getting his daily value of greens like kale and broccoli and what have you, his system is more regular and he can have a more balanced swing without worrying about any gastrointestinal distress he may cause himself by swinging.  Ahh, the beauties of science.  And the benefits of a well-balanced diet.  All taught to us by the greatest centaur athlete in American sports history.

Is there anything this guy/horse can't do?

Should We Be Concerned About Phil Hughes?

(It's never a good sign when Cabrera is jogging around the bases behind you.  Courtesy of The AP)

I know the title of this post seems ridiculous after just one outing, but when the major concern with Hughes right now is his decreased velocity, something I somehow managed to miss over the entirety of Spring Training, then I think it warrants discussion.

It would be one thing if we were talking about an older pitcher like Garcia or Colon, but this is Phil Hughes.  Phil Hughes is not an old guy, he is not coming off any arm injuries, and by all accounts he came into this season healthy and ready to go.  And yet he has been sitting high 80s-90 on the gun with this fastball all spring, with no immediate signs of improvement.  And yesterday the problem that plagued Hughes last season, his inability to put guys away with 2 strikes, reared its ugly head again, possibly due to his lack of heat on the heater.

And therein lies the key to this whole issue.  Phil Hughes is a pitcher who lives off his fastball.  Sure, you can say that about a lot of pitchers, but as a young guy who is still refining his secondary stuff, Hughes needs his fastball to be on for him to be effective.  When his fastball is popping and hitting corners, Hughes' offspeed stuff becomes more dangerous because he can use the heater to set that stuff up.  Having a good fastball allows him a little more margin for error with his offspeed stuff.  When his fastball is garbage, like it was yesterday, hitters don't have to respect his secondary offerings and can sit on the heater, which they did.

Again, I recognize that this was just one start and it's no cause for the Red Alert flag to go up in Yankeeland.  But it is something that the Yankees and Hughes have to monitor and work to fix.  Hughes is being counted on to be one of the sure things in the rotation this year, a guy they could count on to give them 6-7 quality innings every time out so the bullpen can be saved for Nova and Garcia's outings.  Yesterday, that didn't happen and now the burden falls on Nova to give a good outing today since Colon will not be available in long relief.

I expect Hughes to figure it out, get his velocity back, and be just fine.  But it would be nice if the velocity were already there.

A Quick Word On Stealing Signs

There has been a bit of controversy behind the scenes over the last few days after Keith Olbermann posted a Twitter picture of Yankee officials holding up fingers to their batters during their Opening Day win against the Tigers, presumably telling them what pitches were coming.  Cash acknowledged that MLB called the Yankees about the incident, but called the issue "silly," saying the officials were merely telling hitters in the on-deck circle what pitch had just been thrown because the scoreboard radar gun was malfunctioning.

Whatever the real situation may be, here's the only statement that should have been uttered by everybody: "Who cares?"  Who cares if the Yankee officials were relaying info about what pitch was just thrown or what pitch was just coming?  If they really were trying to steal signs, then good for them.  Stealing signs is an unspoken part of the game that can be traced back to the early history of baseball.  As long as you aren't being incredibly blatant about it or you're receiving sign information from somebody on the opposing team, who really gives a crap?  Every player tries to do it, every team tries to do it, and every player and every team know that the other team is trying to do it.  It's generally accepted as part of the game and there's no reason that this should have even been an issue.

This is just another case of something becoming a story because it involved the big bad Yankees.  It's a way for the MSM to throw the Yankee name out there again in connection with something negative and allow all the Yankee haters out there to cry foul.  "WAHHHHHH!!!!  They already spend the most money to get all the best players.  Now they have to CHEAT too?!?!  WAHHHHHHH!!!"  If it were any other team involved in the game against Detroit on Thursday, no one would have made a peep.  Just more anti-Yankee rhetoric thrown out there for every dumb baseball fan to eat up.

Do I think the Yanks were trying to steal signs on Thursday?  Yeah, I do.  But guess what?  I also think that every baserunner the Yankees had on Thursday was trying to steal Detroit's signs, and I think every baserunner the Tigers had on Thursday was trying to steal the Yankees' signs.  I think Joe and his coaching staff were trying to steal Detroit's signs, and I think Jim Leyland and his staff were trying to steal the Yankees' signs.  And I guaran-damn-tee that some other Detroit Tiger personnel were stationed somewhere in the Stadium trying to pick up on anything they could to steal from the Yankees, just like the Yankee officials were.  It's part of the game, everybody does it, and it's not a big deal.  It only became one because the team with the interlocking "NY" on their hats was involved and because Keith Olbermann thought he was uncovering some major baseball conspiracy.

So to anyone who actually thinks this is a big deal, anyone who wants to call the Yankees cheaters, and especially to Keith Olbermann for being stupid enough to Tweet the picture like it's an unseen angle of the Kennedy assassination, I've got one sign here that you're more than welcome to steal any time you want.

And no, that doesn't mean I'm putting the hit-and-run on.

U-C-O-N-N

Readers who have followed AB4AR from the beginning may remember when I used to litter the blog with NFL-related posts and UConn basketball posts.  Those days are long gone, but as a UConn grad I'd be remissed if I didn't mention the fact that the Huskies are going back to the National Championship Game on Monday night and congratulate them on the accomplishment.  Don't worry, there won't be any analysis of the game on Monday or anything like that, but my Yankee boners for A-Rod and Mariano will take a quick backseat to my UConn boners for Kemba Walker and Jeremy Lamb.

A Winning Formula

He wasn't Good A.J. or Bad A.J. today, more just Mediocre A.J.  And Joe didn't risk sending him back out for the 6th inning after he showed signs of crumbling in the 5th.  But when the heart of order plays like they did today, Mediocre A.J. should be good enough to win.

The Horse and his Thoroughbreds combined to go 5-12 at the plate today, with 4 XBH (2 2B and 2 HR), 5 runs scored, 6 RBI, and 2 BB.  Teix cranked his 2nd 3-run job of the season, and he and Cano each saw 20+ pitches again.  When these 3 are all on their game, that's a near impossible trap to navigate for an opposing pitching staff.  And they all appear to be on their game to start the season, something we haven't seen since the 3 became teammates.  And I love it.

As Good As It Could Get On An Off Day

No Yankee baseball last night, but that didn't change that fact that it was still a good night to be a Yankee fan.

Daniel Bahhhhhhhhhd completely shat the bed in the 8th inning for the Fraud Sawx, who lost to the Rangers.  And Terry Collins' Mets and the lineup that he said he "stack up against anybody's" got no-hit by Josh Johnson into the 7th inning before putting a few garbage runs on the board and losing 6-2.

Good times.  That's all I can say, good times.

Hopefully A.J. has been taking his Theraflu and Nyquil to get ready for today.

Opening Day Thoughts & Afterthoughts

(Ain't that pretty?  Courtesy of Getty Images)

More stuff on yesterday's game that I didn't get to touch on in the live blog:

- It was tough to make a judgement on Jeter's new swing after yesterday's game.  Obviously you can't make any kind of solid judgement after just one game, but he didn't look all that spectacular.  A couple decent swings but not a lot of solid contact.

- Yesterday's game was a textbook example of the classic Yankee patience that everybody talks about.  They forced Detroit pitching to throw 149 pitches in 8 innings, they drew 5 walks, and nobody in the lineup saw fewer than 13 pitches.  Considering the man with 13 was Brett Gardner and there were 2 times that he was up there to lay down sac bunts, that's pretty damn good.  Teix, A-Rod, and Cano combined to see 62 pitches in their 12 plate appearances and drew 4 of the team's 5 walks.

- Both CC and Verlander seemed to suffer the same afflictions yesterday.  Neither could consistently locate the fastball where they needed to, despite having good velocity, and neither could ever completely find the command on their offspeed stuff, most likely a byproduct of the bad weather and the fact that it was their first outing of the regular season.  The difference was CC's ability to throw strikes.  70 of his 106 pitches were strikes compared to just 65 of Verlander's 115.  Verlander's first and last innings of work were his undoing as far as pitch count.

- Hell of a day for C-Grand, who should no signs of lingering oblique issues.  He looked good at the plate even before the homer (which was awesome), and was all over the place in the OF.  His shot in the 7th marked the 3rd straight year he has hit an Opening Day home run, which is pretty cool.

- I didn't know what to expect when they signed him, having been crossing my fingers that he was going to be healthy since he started catching, and still don't know what the future holds, but I was thoroughly impressed with Russell Martin yesterday.  He looked fluid, smooth, and quick behind the plate, he looked comfortable and confident at the plate, and showed some wheels on the steal of 3rd in the 3rd inning.

- Before his insurance RBI single in the 8th, it was a rough day for Swish at the plate.  The Tigers were working him away hard, especially Verlander, and he couldn't do anything to adjust.

- The last 3 innings were exactly what Yankee fans and management envisioned when they signed Soriano.  Just a complete lockdown performance by all 3 guys.  When everyone's arms really warm up and they find their stuff completely, this bullpen is going to be SCARY good.

- Interesting to see Joba get the call in the 7th over D-Rob.  I just assumed with his injury and the way last season finished that Joba had been kicked down the ladder, but he's clearly shown Joe enough in ST for Joe to have confidence in him and he rewarded that confidence with a solid 7th inning.  But is this really a sign that Joba is moving back up the ladder within the bullpen pecking order or are the Yankees trying to drive up his trade value?

- The Horse already has people scared that he's going to kick them in the teeth.  Nobody on the Tiger staff wanted anything to do with him at the plate yesterday.  Clearly people were taking notice of how he was mashing the ball in ST, so maybe it does mean something after all.

- I still haven't figured out what Robbie was doing/thinking when he dropped that toss from Teix on the bunt attempt.  Catches don't get much easier than that.  Guess he'll have to start a new error-less games streak on Saturday.

- Does it make me a bad person if I always root for Daniel Schlereth to get bombed or take a comebacker off the knee every time I see him in a game just because he's related to Mark Schlereth, arguably the worst analyst in ESPN history?  If it does, then so be it.  I hate Mark Schlereth.

-Yesterday's win was so textbook for the Yankees that it's hard to really pick nits.  The only thing that sucked about it was that they aren't following it up today and I have to wait until Saturday.

Yanks-Tigers Opening Day Live Blog

And we're live from my apartment!  Damn this feels better than being in the office, even if the weather conditions aren't great and even if I can't drink because I have somewhere I have to be at 4:30.  It does look like we're going to get this thing in today, though, and that's a good thing.  If I would have taken PTO just to come home and watch the BBTN crew jabber on about how good the Fraud Sawx are and how many "questions" the Yankees have about their bullpen for 4 hours, I would be pissed.

Joe is going with his "Vs. righty" version of the everyday lineup today:

1) Brett Gardner- LF
2) Derek Jeter- SS
3) Mark Teixeira- 1B
4) Alex Rodriguez- 3B
5) Robinson Cano- 2B
6) Nick Swisher- RF
7) Jorge Posada- DH
8) Curtis Granderson- CF
9) Russell Martin-  C

And he's got Carsten Charles Sabathia on the mound, who should be good for 110-115 pitches today, if needed.  I don't see any way Joe lets his pitch count get that high on his first outing of the year, especially with the bullpen depth he has.  Personally, I'd be shocked if CC reached 100 today.  But now it's time to sit back, enjoy the game, and pray that it doesn't rain or go into extra innings so I'm forced to miss the finish.

Really?

Did somebody not tell Mother Nature that today was Opening Day?  How does this happen?  Somebody get on the horn with that old hag and tell her to let some sun shine in so the Bombers can do their thing.

Goddamn ridiculous...

It's Finally Here!

No more snow.  No more offseason turmoil.  No more retirements.  No more new coach signings.  No more free agents signed or free agents lost.  No more pitchers and catchers.  No more cage work.  No more split squads.  No more roster cuts.  Today, Yankee baseball returns to our lives and I couldn't be more excited about it.

There's still a few hours before the game (and the AB4AR live blog) starts, but the countdown is on.  Get ready, people!



** Live blog starts right here at 1 EST, 12 noon my time. **

AB4AR's 10 Fearless Predictions For The 2011 Season

The previews are done so it's time to get nuts.  Well not nuts, but a little bit bold as I make some predictions for the Yanks in 2011.  Granted, some of these won't be as out there as others.  Quite frankly some of them will be stuff that any idiot SportsCenter anchor could have told you, but I honestly believe each and every one of them will come to fruition this season.  So if you're thinking about some prop bets on the Bombers for 2011, you can take all of these predictions (Or some. Or none) to the bank, baby!

1) Derek Jeter will rebound enough at the plate this year for Joe to keep him as the leadoff hitter against lefties.  But not enough that Joe won't scrap his plan to use Gardner against righties as Gardner will flourish in the role.

2) Phil Hughes will essentially bypass A.J. as the #2 starter with a better approach and more improved secondary stuff this year, earning himself a 2nd straight ASG nod in the process.

3) Russell Martin will stay healthy and productive enough to hold down the starting catcher spot for the entire season.

4) Jesus Montero will start heating up with the bat in late May-early June and be called up to replace Francisco Cervelli.  In one week in August he will play for 4 consecutive games, both behind the plate and as the DH, and will have 6 XBH (3 of them homers) and drive in 7 over that 4-game span, serving notice to everybody that he IS the real deal.

5) Joba won't quite get back to being 2007 Joba in the 'pen, but he will be better than the 2009 and 2010 versions.  He and D-Rob both will earn some more high-leverage innings when Soriano starts to hiccup midseason.

6) 3 Yankees will win Gold Gloves this year: Cano, Teixeira, and Brett Gardner (thanks to an injury to Carl Crawford).

7) At some point in June or July, the Yankees will hit a rough patch and we will see at least one ridiculous story saying they should trade Betances, Romine, and Mason Williams for somebody like Fausto Carmona, and another one saying they should call up Banuelos.  They will do neither.  And Andy Pettitte will not be coming back.  Ever.  He's done.

8) We will see Andrew Brackman in a Yankee uniform this season.  And also Hector Noesi and David Phelps at some point.  We won't see Banuelos or Betances in one, though.

9) Both Robinson Cano and Mark Teixeira will finish in the top 5 of the MVP voting, Cano coming in 2nd and Teix 5th.  A-Rod, despite having a good year, will only finish 9th after making a mid-summer DL stint.

10) The Yankees, behind their monster bullpen and CC and Phil at the top of the rotation, will win the 2011 World Series in 6 games over the Colorado Rockies, sending Jorge Posada (but not Mo) off into retirement on top.

AB4AR 2011 Season Preview Recap

If you missed any of the great AB4AR Season Previews, here's some good news.  You still have the rest of today and tomorrow to catch up and be ready for Opening Day.  And I, being the gracious blogger that I am, have taken the time to put all the previews together here in one neat little post.  Hey!  It's double good news!

The Lineup

The Rotation (Part I)

The Rotation (Part II)

The Bullpen

The Bench

And as if that wasn't enough, I've still got my 10 Fearless Predictions for 2011 coming later today.  So take some time out of your work day and study up.  And if you want to really want to bone up, check out the "Known/Unknown" series from earlier in the month.

** And be ready for the Opening Day live blog tomorrow, starting at 1PM EST, high noon for me.  **

AB4AR 2011 Season Preview: The Bench

(Hey look!  It's a bench!  From Yankee Stadium!  It's the Yankee bench!)

Well, we're down to the last official season preview post.  It's been fun, hasn't it?  At least I hope it has, since I know almost nothing about it was informative.  That being what it is, it's time to tackle the last piece of the Yankee roster puzzle, the bench.  Thankfully, Joe was gracious enough to announce all his final roster decisions yesterday so that I don't have to guess at any of this.

In the outfield, the Yankees have traded in their Ford Explorer (Marcus Thames) for a Range Rover (Andruw Jones) to fill the 4th OF spot.  Is that an accurate comparison for Jones' current skill set?  Probably not, but you get the idea.  Jones will be expected to provide exactly what Thames did at the plate last year in mashing lefty pitching, but he also brings the added bonus of being a capable outfielder.  He certainly won't be winning any Gold Gloves in limited playing time, but Jones can be plugged into either corner spot and probably even play center in a pinch.  Jones' value is already being exhibited as the Yankees know they will be covered in terms of OF defense if C-Grand has to miss some time early.

The infield is going to be covered by 2 guys at drastically different spots in their career.  Eduardo Nunez is looking to prove that he can be a productive everyday player and even be capable of handling the full-time SS job when the time comes for Jeter to relinquish the role.  He wrestled the utility infielder role away from Ramiro Pena after a solid ST and can start to carve a niche for himself moving forward if he produces at a similar level.  Eric Chavez, on the other hand, is a former All Star who has already established himself as a premiere hitter, but injuries have taken their toll over the last couple years and Chavez is looking to prove he still has some gas in the tank and maybe earn one last big paycheck from another team.  He will likely spell Teix and A-Rod at the corners and could also DH when needed.  His bat has looked very good in ST and if he can stay healthy he could be another cheap steal for the Yankees and an upgrade over what was in his place last year.

Behind Russell Martin, the Yankees made a late audible at the line of scrimmage and are planning to start the season with Gustavo Molina as the backup catcher.  I don't know anything about him other than the fact that I don't know anything about him, but with Frankie Cervelli getting out of his boot this week, it's likely that Molina is just a placeholder for Cervelli who is just a placeholder for Jesus.  He didn't impress enough to win the job in ST, which is disappointing for Yankee fans, but if he continues to improve behind the plate and gets his bat to heat up again, we should be talking about Montero on the bench come summer time.

So there you have it, folks.  The complete season preview.  The lineup is stacked (again), the bullpen is deep, and bench should be much improved from the last couple versions in previous years.  The rotation has question marks, but also the possibility for positive answers to those questions as the season progresses.  Let's not forget that the Yankee rotation heading into 2009 wasn't exactly a bunch of world beaters, and that turned out just fine. 

** SPECIAL AB4AR ALERT!!!  

IT'S OFFICIAL.  I REQUESTED THE AFTERNOON OFF FROM WORK ON THURSDAY TO BE ABLE TO WATCH AND LIVE BLOG OPENING DAY.  IF YOU HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO, OR EVEN IF YOU DO, PARK YOURSELF AT A COMPUTER AND JOIN THE PARTY. **

Quick Take On Yesterday's Roster Decisions

Thumbs Up: 7

- Sending Ramiro Pena to Triple-A (kid can't hit)
- Adding Eric Chavez to the 40-man (guy has done nothing but hit)
- Releasing Ronnie Belliard (hard to add him when he barely played)
- Selling Romulo Sanchez to Japan (hopefully they paid for him by the pound)
- Sending Austin Romine to Double-A (he still needs work)
- Making Eduardo Nunez the utility infielder (not official but do the math)
- Keeping Mark Prior around in Tampa (nice to see his arm still attached and working)

Thumbs Down: 3

- Making Gustavo Molina the backup catcher (seriously, who is this guy???)
- Sending Jesus Montero to Triple-A (good hitting or bad, good defense or bad in ST, the kid is one of the 25 best players on the team and he should be on the 25-man)
- Not announcing Feliciano's replacement (might want to get on that)

More good calls than bad made yesterday by the Yankees, and nothing really surprising.  You can't be upset about any of that (except maybe Molina-for-Montero).

AB4AR 2011 Season Preview: The Bullpen

(No.  That's not the guy who's replacing Feliciano.)

Next up in our Season Preview series is the bullpen.  And while there are a few issues and changing bodies in there right now, this should still be the first season in quite some time that the Yankees are entering the season without the bullpen being any kind of a question.  We'll make our way through this collection of arms from the bottom to the top.

Bartolo Colon is penciled in as the long man right now, as it was determined by Joe that he is a better fit for that "flex" role that used to be handled by Aceves than Sergio Mitre was.  Given the way his stuff has looked in ST, I can agree with that assessment, but I still think it's risky move handing this position to Colon given his recent history of health issues.  If the Yankees monitor his workload and conditioning, Colon could excel in this role and give them the confidence in the long man role that Aceves used to give them. If he falls apart, they will have to go back to the drawing board.

The lefty spot is next, this year providing 2 of them instead of just one.  Pedro Feliciano will join Boone Logan to give the Yanks a solid 1-2 punch from the lefty spot.  Logan, after being awful in the first half of 2010, came back to be very good in the second half, but it still remains to be seen if he can replicate that success.  When he's on, he has the makeup and the stuff to be a lockdown-type stopper as a lefty specialist and just enough to get by and pitch effectively to righties if needed.  Feliciano is less effective against righties, but can also completely shut down lefties with his stuff.  His reputation as a rubber arm, though, is already coming into question as he has dealt with arm issues all spring and looks to be starting the season on the DL.  Steve Garrison would be the most likely candidate to take Felciano's spot.

Now we get into the meat and potatoes of the 'pen, the 4-headed righty monster that is the Yankee setup crew.  Starting it off is the always-talked about Joba Chamberlain.  After coming into camp looking a bit heavy, Joba impressed early with improved velocity.  But an oblique strain has slowed his spring progress and he will likely start as the 3rd in the pecking order.  If he can get healthy and maintain that velocity, he could take a step back towards being 2007 Joba and show that he's worth considering for high-leverage innings.  But, the Yankees could use that to boost his trade value since they now have a surplus of good righties in the 'pen.

Just above Joba in the hierarchy is strikeout machine Dave Robertson.  He also had a rough start to his 2010 campaign, but rebounded nicely to be just as effective as he was in '09, if not more so, down the stretch.  D-Rob still has great swing-and-miss stuff with his fastball-curveball combo, but it's his inconsistent command that gives him problems and he still walks more guys than you'd like to see.  If he can tighten up the command this year, he could put up closer-type numbers.  As it is right now, he could probably be closing for a few teams in the Majors, so to have him as the 7th-inning guy in the Yankee 'pen is a luxury that should not go unnoticed.

After D-Rob comes the new (grumpy) kid on campus, former Tampa closer Rafael Soriano, who took a boatload of money and a bunch of opt-clauses to come be Mo's setup man and possibly replacement as future closer.  As much as I've poked fun at Soriano and his mopey-ness since joining the Yankees, there's no denying his talent level.  His fastball-slider combo is absolutely devastating and perfect for a shutdown bullpen role, and Soriano has shown to be that type of shutdown pitcher when he's on.  The Yankees would be wise to use him as much as possible this season, as long as he's pitching well, both to give Mo enough rest to stay healthy and to drive up his value on the open market.  If he decides to leave after this year (presumably after helping the team win their 28th title), the Yankees are freed of his contract and get a few compensation draft picks to boot.

Closing out this potentially dynamic group is the G.O.A.T., the greatest individual athlete at any one thing in the history of professional sports, Mariano Rivera.  Yes, he's 41 this year, but he hasn't shown any signs of slowing down so I'm not even going to bother saying anything about him other than he's Mariano Freaking Rivera.

The depth and overall skill of the Yankee bullpen makes it one of the team's greatest assets this year.  The beauty of having so many above-average guys is that not all of them have to be on the top of their game for the Yankees to be successful.  Even if just 3 or 4 of them are, that still gives the Yankees tons of late-game options to mix and match, shorten the game up, and help cover the presumed weak back end of their rotation.  If the Yanks are up after 6 innings this year, there's no reason they should ever lose a game.  Knowing that, other teams are going to have to change their approach against the Yankee starters, and that's a benefit to the Yankees.  If things fall into place, this could be the best bullpen since the Nasty Boys, and that's not a stretch to say.

Projected Bullpen

- Mariano Rivera- RHP
- Rafael Soriano- RHP
- Dave Robertson- RHP
- Joba Chamberlain- RHP
- Pedro Feliciano- LHP
- Boone Logan- LHP
- Bartolo Colon- RHP

The Yankee Spring Training Trip That Almost Wasn't

Last weekend my family was in the Orlando area, enjoying a nice 4-day weekend vacation.  I wasn't with them at the time and for that I resent each and every one of them for all the fun they had down there.  But part of their vacation included traveling to Tampa to see the Yanks-Blue Jays ST game that took place last Saturday and hopefully capturing some pictures that I could then post on the blog.  What ended up happening was a travel tale so ghastly, so horrific, so incredibly barbaric, that I can barely keep my composure as I write this recap.  What follows is a firsthand account of the terror that occurred last Saturday on the highways of Tampa, Florida from my parents and younger brother.  I remind you that missing a Yankee game was hanging in the balance here.

We start at 10AM EST, as my family finishes breakfast and packs up the belongings they'll bring to the game that day: tickets, water bottles, sunscreen, etc.  They're packed up, in the rental car, and ready to embark on their roughly 1-hour journey down I-4 East to Steinbrenner Field at 10:30AM, and it was all downhill from there.  Early in on their journey they encountered a 4-mile, bumper-to-bumper traffic backup on I-4 for what they later found out to be a very serious car accident.  This traffic caused quite a significant delay and increased annoyance on the part of my father, who was behind the wheel, but at this point they were still on schedule to get there before the game started and maybe get some good pictures and autographs.

Fast forward to 10 miles down the road, where traffic hit another standstill thanks to a car fire.  By now, the lost time is adding up, annoyance has turned to frustration, and making the 1PM start time of the game is beginning to become a question.  By now I have been made aware of my family's peril, thanks to minute-by-minute text updates from my mother.  Despite being on the front lines of this nightmare, she had enough wits about her to let me know what was going on and how it was affecting all of them.  My father was beginning to get a bit hot under the collar, but he soldiered on valiantly through the car fire and towards his destination, trying to make up some lost time and ensure that they would not miss the first pitch.

But it simply wasn't to be.  Next up was construction delays, compounded by the fact that all the old blue hairs and stupid tourists in the area could not navigate the construction on the highway without coming to a complete stop almost every time.  By now frustration has turned to anger, and in the case of my father, skipping anger and going right for pissed.  Sighs are releasing, curses are flying, and the 1PM start time is now only a pipe dream.  What was supposed to be a 1-hour car ride to the field has now become a 2-hour journey into the very depths of Hell itself.

Trying To Make Sense Of It All

There have been some interesting decisions to say the least made by the Yankees over the last couple of days.  Some of them seem to be pretty logical, others not so much.  So what better way for me to weigh in on them than to drag out the scale and rate each decision from 1-5 on the sense-o-meter, with 1 meaning the decision made about as much sense as having Charlie Sheen babysit your kids and 5 meaning the decision was practically a scientific fact.

Yanks trade Sergio Mitre- 3 out of 5

I can respect the fact that they thought Garcia and Nova were better starting options and that Colon could be used in Mitre's role.  But the fact that Mitre has done it before and has done it well over the last couple years while Colon has been in and out of waffle houses around the country makes the call a little risky.  If Colon goes down or is totally ineffective, who replaces him?  As much as I joke about him, I would feel more comfortable with the Meat Tray as my long man than Bartolo.

Yanks Give Garcia the 5th Starter Spot Over Colon- 2 out of 5

This just didn't make sense to me at all.  Decisions should be made based on results, and Colon beat Garcia there on paper and in the eye test.  He's been the better pitcher and he deserved the role.  If this was a way to try to keep both of them around on the Major League roster then it becomes an even dumber move.  You take the best man and if the other one wants to walk, you let him.  That's why you signed these guys to Minor League deals anyway.  And if there was concern about Garcia not fitting into the long relief bullpen role, then guess what?  That's what you still had Mitre for!

Yanks Sign Kevin Millwood- 2 out of 5

Does he give them insurance for the back of the rotation should Garcia bomb? Yes.  Did they end up getting him for much less than he was asking for?  Yes.  Does that mean that he completely sucks and would probably provide less than league average production if used?  I think so.  No other team was looking at Millwood at all.  NOBODY.  And he knew that and that's why he decided to cave and sign the Yankees' MiL offer.  Why would you want to sign somebody who brings nothing to the table?  Especially when every other team already seems to know that?  If you're looking for replacement options, you look to your young guys with something to prove, not a washed up old sack of crap with nothing left.  The Yankees took the 2nd option and that was just stupid to me.

Gustavo Molina Now Likely to Win the Backup Catcher Role- 2 out of 5

First question, who the hell is Gustavo Molina?  Was he anywhere on anybody's Top 100 prospect lists?  Does he have a cannon for an arm behind the plate?  Can he swing a Miguel Cabrera-like bat at the plate?  No?  Than why is he being considered for the backup catcher role over Jesus Montero?!?!  I don't care if opinions on Montero have changed, the time for him to come up is now.  He can learn just as much from Major League coaching not playing every day than he can from Minor League coaching if he is playing every day.  He's the best hitting prospect in baseball, he's got nothing more to do in the Minors to prove that, and he could be the future cornerstone of your lineup for the next 12 years.  He should be in the Majors now.

So there you have it.  Obviously a lot of these recent moves are a bit baffling to me, but then again I'm just a 25-year-old blogger out in Wisconsin.  Maybe all this stuff works out for the best and I'll be bowing down to Joe and Cash to honor their genius again.  But if something doesn't work out, you can bet your ass I'm going to be the first one to criticize.

AB4AR 2011 Season Preview: The Rotation (Part II)

(Guess which 2 made the rotation.  Used courtesy of BBD)

Obviously word of my decision to split the rotation preview post into 2 got back to Joe quickly, since he made it official yesterday that Ivan Nova will be the 4th starter and Freddy Garcia will be the 5th.  So that we know who the last 2 are, let's take a look at them.

Ivan Nova made some appearances late last season, both as a starter and as a reliever.  And while opinions are mixed on just what his ceiling is and where he best fits into this team's makeup, there's no denying that Nova has talent and pitching moxie beyond his 24 years of age.  He lives off his fastball, which sits mid-90s but can be ratcheted up to 96-97 when needed, and Nova is very good at locating the pitch down in the zone to get ahead in the count and induce a lot of ground balls.  The thing he needs to work on, like other Yankee pitchers, is developing reliable secondary stuff that he can mix up as he gets through a batting order a 2nd and 3rd time.  That was his big problem last year, but the development of a slider that he has shown in ST could be just what Nova needs to get over that hurdle.  Struggles aside, he still put up a respectable 4.50 ERA in his limited Major League innings last season.  As a 4th starter, something in line with that would be acceptable for the Yankees, and anything better would be gravy.

Last, and in this case least, is Freddy Garcia, who won the 5th starter job over Bartolo Colon merely on the fact that he is more of a known commodity than Colon these days.  Apparently, Joe thinks a crummy known commodity is better than a risky unknown, and I can appreciate that logic, but there won't be big expectations for Garcia this year.  After getting off to a good start in ST, Garcia has come back to Earth with his stuff, as I suggested, and he will get by this year on his experience and offspeed pitch location, not his heater.  Garcia's role will be that of an innings eater, just somebody who Joe knows can stay healthy and go out there and give him 5 league average innings and hand it over to the bullpen.  But that role will be determined by the pitchers in front of him.  If the top 4 can do their jobs and provide length, Joe can stagger his 'pen to be ready to cover extra innings in Garcia's starts.  If they can't, Garcia's role becomes more important and he will have to step up and provide quality innings, not just innings.

Projected Rotation

1) CC Sabathia- LHP
2) A.J. Burnett- RHP
3) Phil Hughes- RHP
4) Ivan Nova- RHP
5) Freddy Garcia- RHP

AB4AR 2011 Season Preview: The Rotation (Part I)

(I know I already used this picture.  Deal with it.)

We're going to change things up a bit for the rotation preview and split it into 2 parts.  The reason for this, you ask?  The Yankees haven't officially announced who their 4th and 5th starters are going to be.  So today, we'll focus on the top of the rotation, where jobs are locked in and the order is set, and tomorrow or whenever Joe gets around to finishing out the rotation, we'll touch on that too.

As for that top of the rotation, it looks very similar to last year's, minus one big retired piece.  As he has the last 2 seasons, CC Sabathia will be the ace at the top of the rotation.  The big fella had another great year in 2010, and did it all despite having a bad knee that required surgery after the season.  That surgery inspired CC to shed some weight in the offseason as he heads into what could be an opt-out year needing to prove that he's worth whatever additional money he will be looking for.  Behind the Jeter situation, CC opting out will be the most talked about subplot in Yankeeland, but Carsten is enough of a professional to not let that distract him from getting the job done on the hill. And with the growth he has made becoming a complete pitcher and his improved physical condition, it would be crazy to expect anything less than another 18-20-win, 200+-inning, 2.75-3.25-ERA, 1.10-1.20-WHIP season from him in 2011.

Behind CC will be the tandem of Dr. Burnett and Mr. A.J., the schizophrenic man who can be amongst the best or worst pitchers in the game at any given moment of any given game he's in.  After a disastrous 2010 campaign that was more Mr. A.J. than Dr. Burnett, A.J. spent time this offseason working with new pitching coach Larry Rothschild on fixing his mechanical issues, and maybe some of his mental ones.  A.J. has looked good in Spring Training, showing an ability to repeat his delivery better and shake off bad pitches, but the true litmus test will be when he's on the hill in a high-pressure situation and has to make a pitch.  While they aren't what they used to be, A.J.'s fastball-curveball combo can still generate swings and misses when he locates the pitches, and he is developing his changeup into a pitch that can be very useful in setting up the other two.  It would be hard not to, considering how awful his 2010 was, but I expect A.J. to rebound from that mess and be more of a #2 starter this season than the #5 he was last year.

The last of definite 3 is Phil Hughes, who is essentially stepping into the "stopper" role that Andy Pettitte had locked down the last couple seasons.  Like A.J., Phil has spent significant time this Spring Training working on his changeup, as he realized that not using it early in 2010 came back to haunt him later in the year.  Hughes is also experimenting with his cutter, incorporating a little slider-like action into it to add to his arsenal.  His primary stuff is good, no question about that.  But Hughes needs to develop 2 more reliable secondary pitches to take the next step towards being a legit top-line starter.  The good news this year is that the kid gloves officially come off Hughes and he'll be allowed to do his thing on the mound without worrying about inning/pitch counts.  And with a guy with a track record like Larry Rothschild's handling him, Hughes should get the help he needs in his development.  He made the All Star team in 2010 with just 2 pitches.  Imagine what he could do this year with 3 or 4.