Early ST Thoughts And Afterthoughts

(Game on!  Courtesy of The AP)

Camp has been in full swing for over a week now, which means there has been just enough activity to start talking about what's been happening.  In no particular order, here are my takes on the early Spring Training storylines in Yankee camp after the jump.

Gitty Up

(Nailed it.  Courtesy of MLB.com)

So The Horse has his most injury-plagued season ever, gets another new offseason workout program, tries some of the Kobe Bryant plasma treatment special on his knee, comes to camp, Tim Brown from Yahoo! writes a story about the impassioned speech he gave to the team prior to their ST opener, I write a piece based off that story yesterday telling people not to forget about A-Rod just yet, and he comes out and goes 3-3 with a monster opposite-field HR off of Roy Halladay on the first pitch he sees.

Is that how it works?  That sound about right?

New Postseason Format: What I Don't Like

Yesterday I touched on the things I liked about MLB expanding the postseason by adding a 5th team to each league starting this season.  But it's not all peaches and cream with this new postseason layout.  There are also some things I'm not a huge fan of with the new format, and here they are.

- Wild Card Round Only Being One Game

As great as the concept of adding a team to the playoffs to reward them for 162 well played games is, setting that 5th team up in a 1-game playoff with the other Wild Card team to determine who advances to face the #1 team in the league takes away some of the rewarding factor by going against the standard structure of postseason series and baseball in general.  The beauty of adding the Wild Card in '95 was that it made the playoffs more exciting, and we've seen that play out plenty of times with Wild Card teams coming into the postseason peaking at the right time and advancing all the way.  Because of the unpredictable nature of baseball, however, that drama is removed in a 1-game format where anything can happen.  One game is not enough for the better team, or a team riding a hot streak, to prove its superiority over its competitor.  Anything can happen in one game, including one team just getting plain lucky and beating another, and to have advancement into the next round riding on one game rather than a series, where teams have a chance to overcome one unlucky play, is counter-productive.  There aren't any 1-game series during the regular season; why should that format go away when the games matter most?

- Scheduling

The schedule changes that will come with the addition of another team and round to the playoffs is also a problem for me, both in the immediate, near, and farther off futures.  In 2012, the format of the divisional round will actually will be affected by the scheduling changes made to accommodate this 1-game round.  Because there will be an extra game, and likely an extra travel day, added once the postseason starts, MLB had to cut a travel day out of the LDS so as not to risk extending the playoffs into November.  To successfully eliminate that travel day, MLB switched the format of the LDS to a 2-3 home-and-home, with the lower-seeded team getting the first two games at home and the higher seed getting the last three.  The fact that the extra days in the Wild Card series serve to potentially give the division winners too much rest before playing again is bad enough, but having the higher seeds then start out the next series after sitting for a few days on the road for two games is just downright unfair.  This will only affect the 2012 postseason, but this setup really rewards the Wild Card teams and potentially hurts the higher-seeded division winners, which should not be the case.

Looking into the future is where I see things really becoming problematic.  It's obvious that the playoffs were expanded because everybody wants to make more money.  Money drives sports, it's no big surprise, and this new wrinkle will almost certainly increase TV ratings and ad revenues.  If and when that happens, though, it's likely that owners are going to want to continue to expand the postseason and increase their bottom line.  This 1-game round could become a 3-game round, which could lead to the LDS going from 5-game to 7-game if ratings and dollar figures continue to increase.  If more games are being played, more days have to be added to the schedule, and I'm not particularly keen on the idea of watching teams play the latest parts of the postseason or the earliest parts of the regular season in wintry weather conditions.

World Series games don't need to be cancelled because of snow in November, something that can happen in New York, Philadelphia, Detroit, Minnesota, Milwaukee, and Bahhston, and guys don't need to be tearing muscles and ligaments playing competitive games in late March when it's still freezing in those areas.  If further such expansion did take place, these are the types of scenarios MLB could be faced with, which would not be good for the quality of the game.

In short, as a Yankee fan I am very excited at the expansion of the postseason as it gives my team another opportunity to make the playoffs and win a world championship.  As a baseball fan, I am concerned about the logistics of this initial expansion and how they affect the other playoff teams, and more concerned about what kind of path this expansion continues down if people decide they want their greed to override their common sense.

The Horse Setting The Spring Training Pace

Among the bevy of labels that have been given to A-Rod since he joined the Yankees, "clubhouse leader" probably isn't one that's been attached to him very often.  Yet this story by Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports paints The Horse as just that; a veteran who has been through the battles before standing up in front of his teammates and rallying the troops, getting them ready for the season at hand.  It's a very interesting image to ponder and one that makes me excited about what this season has in store for A-Rod as it signifies both a change in role for him and a change in mindset.

For years A-Rod was the stereotypical detached superstar, seemingly out of touch with his teammates and the clubhouse environment and always looking out for number 1.  But over the past few seasons there has been a change in A-Rod; he's been more subdued in his superstardom, he's talked more about team-related things, and hasn't drawn as much negative attention to himself with his actions on or off the field.  Perhaps not so coincidentally, this change has occurred over a period of time where he has tumbled from the top of the MLB mountain, spending his last few seasons fighting injuries and watching his OPS and wOBA numbers shrink.  The Horse is now well set in the downside of his career, and he seems to recognize this with what he has been saying this spring, this pregame speech being the latest example.

That's not to say that A-Rod is completely done as a player.  He has shown that when healthy he can still put up well above-average numbers.  But his days of being the cream of the crop and the elitest of elite-level producers at the plate are likely over, and he has to find new ways to contribute to the team.  Filling the void of clubhouse leader could be one of those ways.  Even though he was minimally effective on the field last season, it's almost a sure thing that behind the scenes in the Yankee clubhouse Jorge Posada was still the main vocal leader.  With Posada now retired, somebody has to assume the role and it's a safe bet that it won't be Mr. Cool Derek Jeter.

As a guy with a reputation of being among the hardest working and smartest players in the game, who better than The Horse to become that voice of the clubhouse?  Older or injured or otherwise, his name and reputation probably still carries a lot of weight with his peers and teammates, especially the growing crop of young Yankees poised to take over as the next generation after guys like A-Rod, Jeter, and Mo move on.  He's a guy who has been there and done everything there is to do in the game, and because of that he should be someone that everybody looks up to.  A-Rod might be starting to realize that now, and knowing that he can't carry the team by himself with his bat and glove anymore he's willing to step up and be a guy who can help carry and guide the team with his words.

It's always risky trying to delve into the intangible side of baseball and talk intelligently about it, but I like the idea of A-Rod as the vocal leader of this team.  He still has a lot to offer on the field and if he now recognizes that he can offer just as much off of it, behind the scenes, that should be a good thing for clubhouse culture.  If a guy like A-Rod can stand up and talk about being "all in" during the first week of Spring Training when things have barely gotten rolling, and speak only of his desire to help his team win a championship rather than the individual things that he has to do in order for that to happen when talking to the media, that's a great foot to start this season off on mentally and emotionally.  Even though I can't prove it analytically or statistically, I've got a hunch that this new approach is going to pay off for The Horse on the field this year.  He may be settling into "grizzled veteran" status, but Alex isn't completely washed up yet and I expect him to remind everybody of that this season.

New Postseason Format: What I Like

Major League Baseball made their new postseason rule changes official yesterday, which means the 2012 playoffs will be the first since '95 to have changes made to its format.  As part of the new CBA that came into play last November, MLB had to implement an addition of one Wild Card team to the postseason from each league and they have decided to start that new format this year.  I've thought about this long and hard, and I've got mixed feelings on this new wrinkle.  Rather than try to weave them all into one coherent post, I'll just break it down to the things I like about the new playoff format and the things I dislike.  Today, what I like.

- More Teams Competing in the Playoffs

Of the four major American sports leagues, MLB has the fewest competitors in its postseason with eight total, broken down to four per league, despite having 30 total teams.  And when those teams are playing a regular season schedule comprised of at least twice as many games as the other major sports, that just doesn't add up.  Even without the obvious lack of physicality and body contact, the baseball regular season is a long, grinding affair that takes an incredible amount of skill, strategy, and luck in the right combination in order to be successful.  Whether a team is big market or small, there are tons of things from bad errors to lucky bounces to clutch hits to major injuries to key roster moves to bad umpiring calls and beyond that can affect its ability to navigate the 162-game season and come out of it with a postseason berth.  To reward more teams for making it through that six-month ordeal and still having a chance to win a championship is a good thing.

- The Yankees' Chances of Making the Postseason Increase

People can say what they want about the Angels adding Albert Pujols and the Rangers adding Yu Darvish, but you're out of your mind if you think an additional Wild Card slot hurts the Yankees' chances of making the playoffs every year rather than helping them.  They have made great strides as an organization to better stock themselves for the present and the future, and upcoming budget constraints or not they are still going to be amongst the biggest, if not the biggest, spenders on the block when it comes to payroll.  Combine that with their continued commitment to keep the farm system well stocked with pieces that can help the ultimate goal of winning world championships in one fashion or another, and the Yankee position near the top of the American League only becomes strengthened by adding another opportunity for them to make the playoffs.

The Angels' offense is still spotty at best and their rotation is one injury away from being very shallow.  The Rangers rotation can't be called any better than it was last season and could be worse if Darvish doesn't like up to the hype, plus they always have injury problems.  The Fraud Sawx have just as many rotation/injury question marks as the Yankees do, and potential new clubhouse problems and media firestorms to deal with thanks to Bobby V.  The Rays are going to continue to develop talent, but will also continue to lose it eventually because of their tight payroll limits.  The Tigers are going to own the AL Central and everybody else in that division is a nonfactor.  Anybody who doesn't think the Yankees will be one of the five best teams in the AL this year and over the next couple against this competition is clueless.  In 2008, they broke the long postseason streak they had previously built.  Under the new system, the Yankees will be in a great position to continue the new streak they started in 2009.

** Coming tomorrow- What I don't like. **

Yanks-Phils Grapefruit League Opener Lineup

A bit of a step up in competition today as the Yankees will be facing fellow Major and Minor Leaguers from the Phillies' organization.  Lineup courtesy of LoHud:

1) Brett Gardner- LF
2) Curtis Granderson- CF
3) Nick Swisher- RF
4) Raul Ibanez- DH
5) Eric Chavez- 1B
6) Russell Martin- C
7) Eduardo Nunez- SS
8) Bill Hall- 2B
9) Jayson Nix- 3B

SP) Ivan Nova

Also scheduled to pitch: David Phelps, Manny Banuelos, Dellin Betances, Cesar Cabral and Mike O’Connor.

Friday Afternoon "First Game of the Year" Linkapalooza: 3/2

We got live baseball today, people, and that makes it a good day.  I don't know about everybody else, but I know I've mentally checked out for the week and I'm ready to drink some beer.  Onto the links!

- On Monday, William Juliano of The Captain's Blog (who also happens to be a TYA colleague of mine) argued the case for the Yankees extending the contracts of Robbie Cano and C-Grand now rather than waiting until they hit free agency.  William's argument makes perfect sense for the Yankees from both a baseball and business perspective.

- Brien Jackson of IIATMS joined the party and took his first stab at ranking the Yankee prospects, unveiling his top 30 on Monday.  I have to say, it's a very good list.  Better than my first go at the top 30.

- As you may know by now, Andy Pettitte was at the team workout on Monday, and Chad Jennings of LoHud captured some of Andy's better answers during his session with the media.  The guy certainly sounds like he's enjoying retired life, but it's always a welcome sight to see him with the blue NY hat on.

- On Tuesday, Rob Steingall of Pinstripe Alley posted his list of the top 20 combined Yankees and Mets prospects.  Finally tally: Yankees 11, Mets 9.

- I know it's from last Saturday, but I can't get enough of Sensei John Kreese's "Stealth Bombers" interview series over at NoMaas, and somehow in the course of laying around in my sweatpants doing nothing all last weekend I missed this latest one with Staten Island 2B Angelo Gumbs.

- On Wednesday, el duque of It Is High... recounted his emotional mental confrontation with Buck Showalter at Orioles camp.  Except for the parts where I was reminded of how much I hate Showalter, I laughed my balls off at this.

- Greg Cohen of Sliding Into Home chimed in with his two cents on Bobby V's idiocy, and it's well worth your time to check it out if for no other reason than to laugh at the Photoshop.  Kudos on that one, Greg.

-  Mike Axisa of RAB pondered the idea of swapping Jeter and C-Grand at the top of the lineup.  He points out all the pros and cons of the move, and although I don't think it would be beneficial, it would be worth seeing in ST.

- On Thursday, Lisa Swan of Subway Squawkers gave Jason Varitek a fitting send off into retirement with some real talk about his fighting skills.

- Fishjam25 of Yankees Fans Unite got in on the contract extension talk on Thursday, making his case for why Robbie Cano deserves a contract extension now.  Preach on, brother.  Preach on.

- If you ever wondered what it would be like to hear Rafael Soriano sing "Sweet Caroline," you can find out at Andrew Marchand's latest "Hangin" piece that features Soriano over at the ESPN NY Yankees blog.

- As part of TYA's Prospect Week, Michael Eder presented his breakdown of the top 10 relief prospects in the Yankee system right now.  Part I can be found right here and Part II from yesterday here.

For the jam of the day, I'm going with Foo Fighters.  I saw them once in Worcester, Mass with my college ex-girlfriend and it was one of the best shows I've ever seen.  I would have missed their rumored June 2nd concert out here in Wisconsin because I will be at a friend's wedding that day, but luckily for me the concert wasn't finalized.  Question, talking strictly 90s bands,the Foos have to have the most songs that make you go, "oh yeah, this is the Foo Fighters too.  I love this song," when you hear them, right?  If you don't think you're a Foo fan, you probably are and just don't know it.

Enjoy your weekends, kids.  And go Yankees!

The First Starting Lineup Of The Season

The Bombers take the field for the first time today to face some competition in the form of South Florida University.  Here's the lineup they're rolling with, courtesy of LoHud:

1) Derek Jeter- SS
2) Curtis Granderson- CF
3) Mark Teixeira- 1B
4) Alex Rodriguez- 3B
5) Raul Ibanez- DH
6) Nick Swisher- RF
7) Brett Gardner- LF
8) Eduardo Nunez- 2B
9) Gustavo Molina- C

SP) Adam Warren

Also scheduled to pitch today out of the 'pen: Brett Marshall, Dan Burawa, Juan Cedeno, Graham Stoneburner, Ryan Pope and Kevin Whelan.

Let's play ball, boys.  I'm might be getting 4-8 inches of snow out here in Wisco over the next 36 hours, so at least I have this little slice of spring to keep me sane.  Only thing left to do is hit the music...

Question Of The Day: Teix At The Improv

The Yankees' annual ST team outing was yesterday, and it involved the team going to the local Tampa improv comedy club to participate in some improv skits.  Mark Teixeira walked away with the unofficial MVP honors, which begs the question, did he win because he managed to not take any good joke opportunities and pop them up on the infield?

I keed, I keed.

Pat Venditte: Novelty Act Or Viable Bullpen Prospect?

(Courtesy of Noah Addis/The Star-Ledger)

(The following is being syndicated from The Yankee Analysts)

** This is my other contribution to Prospect Week over at TYA from earlier today.  Enjoy. **

One of the more intriguing members of the Yankee farm system is a player who hasn’t showed up on any of the top prospect lists I’ve seen over the past few months and likely never will. That player is Pat Venditte, the ambidextrous relief pitcher from Double-A Trenton. Venditte is conversation-worthy because his ability to pitch with both hands essentially makes him three pitchers in one. He can be the switch-pitcher who keeps hitters guessing, lessens the need for managers to play the matchup game with their bullpens, and inspires the creation of a new set of rules specific to ambidextrous pitchers; he can be a strictly right-handed reliever with a fastball-curveball pairing; he can be a lefty specialist with a sidearm fastball-slider combination. Yet Venditte was left unprotected by the Yankees in last year’s Rule 5 Draft, he was not invited to Spring Training, and he’s likely ticketed for a return trip to Trenton to start the 2012 season despite being 26 and coming of a solid year of 132.1 combined innings pitched for Trenton and in a Mexican winter league. This begs the question, is Venditte actually a prospect? Or is he destined for a career as organizational depth?

Romine's Back Injury Killing Any Chance Of Catcher Competition

Austin Romine has been out with a back injury since almost the minute he arrived at camp this year and the words coming from Joe so far indicate that the Yankees are going to take it easy with him this spring, thus killing any chances of him competing with Francisco Cervelli for the backup catcher spot. 

“We’re just making sure that area is very stable. We want that to come back very stable and strong before we put him back. Because he had an episode last year, last August. Once he leaves here I don’t want him to have a setback."

I'm higher on Romine than most everybody else out there, so I'm obligated to talk about this, but the reality is that Romine probably wasn't going to beat out Cervelli for the spot anyway unless he had a big time ST or Cervelli got hurt.  The bigger concern here is that this back issue is the same one that shut Romine down for some time last year.  Catcher isn't a position that's easy to play and stay healthy as it is, so Romine doesn't need lingering back issues to start the season.  Hopefully he can get back to 100% and be ready to start the season healthy in Triple-A.

Does It Really Matter If The 5th Starter Competition Is Rigged?

(If I had a vote, I'd pick this guy.  Courtesy of The AP)

Earlier in the week, Joel Sherman caused a bit of a stir with this story in The Post that included this comment on the "Hughes vs. Garcia" rotation competition:

"The competition is rigged. If it is close, Hughes wins. If it is advantage Garcia, but only slightly, Hughes wins. Hughes can only lose this by doing what he did last spring, having his fastball go on a mysterious hiatus."

Before I even had the chance to read the full story, the blogosphere was alive with people commenting on this development, to which I can only ask, why?  Why does anybody care if the competition is rigged?  Why is anybody even surprised that this is the case?  It's not like the Yankees haven't done this before.  The competition was rigged for Hughes over Joba in 2010 because the organization had already decided that they wanted Joba to be a reliever, and it was rigged last year to give the older guys (Garcia and Colon) the advantage over the younger guys (Noesi, Phelps, Warren).  It's what the Yankees do.  They throw the word "competition" out there any time there's more pitchers than available rotation spots to give the media something to talk about, but they've usually already made the decision.

And not for nothing, but if the competition is rigged again this year, shouldn't it be rigged for Hughes?  The Yankees have already invested more in him than they have in Garcia, and Hughes is more likely to factor into the Yankees' future plans as a younger pitcher with a higher ceiling.  The Yankees need to know what they are going to get from Hughes this season and what they can expect from him moving forward.  They don't need anything from Garcia.  So yeah, if Hughes pitches better than Garcia, or at least relatively close, he should get the spot.  If he pitches like absolute crap, then Garcia should get the spot.  And if they both end up shitting the bed, then it's onto David Phelps and Adam Warren to keep ManBan's seat warm for 2013.

I've learned to accept that this is how the Yankees handle their business when it comes to the rotation.  Now it's time for everybody else to do the same.  Don't waste time and energy writing about a non-story.  Whether the competition is rigged or it isn't, it doesn't matter.

The Captain For The Win!

Of course everybody and their mother was going to want to get Derek Jeter's take on Bobby V's idiotic comments yesterday.  Jeter addressed the issue today, and in typical Jeterian fashion he handled the situation with class and a bit of humor.  He really couldn't have said it any better if he tried.

“I mean, think about it. We don’t practice it? We do. You guys have seen it, so what else can I say? I was out of position? No, I was where I was supposed to be. Talking about Varitek, point out the good things he’s done. Unbelievable career. I’m happy for him. I enjoyed competing against him all these years. That’s what we should be talking about. ...

They must be bored over there, huh?”

Love it.  Absolutely love it.  Whether he meant to or not, Jeter subliminally points out that by making the comments he did about "The Flip," Valentine basically buried Varitek's retirement, which should have been the real story.  And I don't know about you, but I found the "bored" comment very amusing considering all the drama surrounding the new regime and clubhouse beer ban in Fraud Sawx camp.  The only thing that could have made this better would have been Jeter cracking a beer and smiling for the cameras when he gave the answer.

Searching Off The Radar For Prospect Value

(The following is being syndicated from The Yankee Analysts)

** If you're somehow ass backwards enough in your Yankosphere blog cycle that you would check AB4AR and not TYA on a daily basis, well then firstly I'd like to thank you for the support.  Secondly, I'd like to give you the opportunity to check out this post I did over there yesterday for Prospect Week, as I'm sure you missed it since it didn't originate from here.  And if you haven't been following the goings on this week over at TYA, I highly suggest you do so. **

There’s plenty to get excited about at the top of the Yankees prospect food chain right now. They have a small group of players who could step in and contribute at the Major League level right now, some in bigger fashions than others, and an even bigger group of players in the lower levels of the system with high ceilings who could fill the gap left at the top after the higher-level players move on in the next year or so. Check any top 10 or top 20 list out there and you’re bound to see a lot of the same names time and time again- Banuelos, Betances, Williams, Bichette, Campos, Romine, Sanchez. Beneath that top tier or two of Yankee prospects, there is another group of prospects who could develop into top 5 talent in the next few years, your Brett Marshalls, Slade Heathcotts, Tyler Austins of the world. The players I want to look at today are the guys beneath THAT group; the players who aren’t on many people’s prospect radars, if any at all. Part of the strength of the Yankee system is the overall depth at all levels, and there is value in this group of “off the radar” prospects that is deserving of attention. Here’s a quick look at five off-the-radar prospects worth keeping an eye on this year.

There Must Be A New Show Out Called "Valentines In Paris"...

(#Assclown.  Courtesy of The AP)

'Cause Bobby V is trolling me so hard right now.  And truth be told, I'd fine him if I had the ability to do so.  Today he decided to spout off about how "The Flip" wasn't that great of a play.

"We'll never practice that.  I think [Jeter] was out of position and the ball gets [Giambi] out if he doesn't touch it, personally."

"That was amazing that (Jeter) was there. I bet it's more amazing that he said he practiced it. I don't believe it.''

Fuck.  You.  I've made a conscious effort to not curse as much on here recently and to be more analysis/stats-driven instead of just spewing my thoughts into a post, but I won't stand by and let some self-absorbed, no-ring-having jerkoff speak ill of one of the greatest heads-up plays in sports history.  Not when that play was made by one of the greatest Yankees in history who also happens to be my favorite baseball player of all time.  Not happening, slapnuts.  Not on my watch.  Mind your manners, check your French, and shut your fucking mouth.

And on Cap'n Varitek retiring:

"He was able to beat up Alex... "

Get bent, bro.  Varitek left his mask on like a bitch because he was afraid The Horse was going to rear up and kick his teeth in.  That's truth right there.  Everybody knows that.

If this is how you want things to be this year, Bob, this is how they can be.  I need a new whipping boy with The Pitcher Who Shall Not Be Named in Pittsburgh.  I can roll up the sleeves and get dirty on you.  You wanna get nuts?  Let's get nuts!!!

The Art Of Hedging Your Offseason Bets

(The one man who could make it all happen)

All in all it was a pretty active offseason for the Yankees.  They completely remade their rotation, brought in lots of new options to fill the DH spot and bench, and added some potential depth to both this and next year's bullpens.  And they managed to do it all in a cost-conscious way, an approach not traditionally taken by the front office when Hot Stove season rolls around.  The formula for doing that successfully has been Cash's ability to hedge his bets on all the moves he's made.

The Michael Pineda trade was a risky move, no doubt.  The Yankees were giving up two young, cheap pieces of their 25-man roster including their starting DH, who also happened to be their number 1 hitting prospect, for a very young starting pitcher with a still yet to be determined ceiling.  You would only give up what the Yankees gave up if you knew you were getting a top tier starting pitcher back, and while the Yankees are hoping and planning on Pineda becoming just that, it's still too early to say whether or not that happening is a lock.  That bet on Pineda was hedged to a certain degree by him being a young, cheap player who will be under team control for years to come.  It was further hedged when Cash went out and signed Hiroki Kuroda, a veteran pitcher with consistent above-average career performance who should give the Yankees added depth and skill in their rotation.  This depth and skill will help ease the sting of any growing pains Pineda might go through as he attempts to evolve into a #1-#2 starter, and it also gave the Yankees the ability to pursue trading The Pitcher Who Shall Not Be Named.

That trade essentially became the way for the Yankees to hedge their bets on filling out the roster under their self-imposed budget constraints.  The argument can certainly be made that the penny pinching efforts in filling the roster this offseason were unnecessary, especially given the level of talent the Yankees were going after and the money involved in doing so, but that was the plan and credit has to be given for how they stuck to it.  The Yankees were covered no matter what the outcome of the trade efforts turned out to be.  They signed guys like Bill Hall, Russell Branyan, and Clay Rapada to MiL deals to give themselves Major League-proven options should the trade not go through and give them the money they felt they needed to sign the guys they really wanted.  Once the trade did go through, they went out and added the guys they wanted in Raul Ibanez, Eric Chavez, and David Aardsma, better options who got a little more money and guaranteed deals.

It was a masterful job of working within the confines the front office set for itself, and as a result the Yankees are sitting pretty this Spring Training.  They have the guys they always wanted (Ibanez and Chavez), and if they get hurt they've got cheap backups on standby (Hall, Branyan).  If those guys also happen to get hurt, or are just completely ineffective, the Yankees are still covered by their cache of in-house MiL depth (Brandon Laird, Ramiro Pena, Jorge Vazquez, Chris Dickerson, Justin Maxwell).  It was unfamiliar territory for us to watch the Yankees work under a strict budget this offseason, but they passed the test with flying colors.  Some of the moves they made were just as risky as the big-dollar free agent signings they're known for, but Cash and the front office did a great job of minimizing that risk by hedging their bets with other moves and making sure they weren't going to be lacking options when it came time to finalize the roster for this season.

Eric Chavez Is A Lucky SOB

("75 plate appearances?  Yeah, I think I got that in me." Courtesy of The AP)

I touched on this last night on the AB4AR Facebook Page, but Eric Chavez has himself a pretty sweet incentive deal in his new contract.  Sure, he's only making 900 thou in base salary, which is barely enough to get by in today's world, but thanks to his incentive package he could earn upwards of $3.05 million just for putting his batting gloves on, picking up a bat, and standing in the batter's box.

"Chavez would make $50,000 for 75 plate appearances, $100,000 each for 100 and 150, $200,000 apiece for 200 and 250, $300,000 each for 300 and 350, $400,000 apiece for 400 and 450 and $500,000 each for 500 and 550." (Courtesy of The AP)

50 grand for 75 plate appearances???  You've got to be kidding me!  That's like free money, even for a guy as injury-plagued as Chavez.  He spent the bulk of last season on the DL and still managed 175 PA, which would have netted him a cool quarter of a mil under these new terms.  It's highly unlikely that Chavez will reach the 200 or 250 mark, and next to impossible that he gets 300 or more, but to get that kind of money for doing the bare minimum of your job is a little ridiculous.  That's like me getting a 25% bonus on my paycheck every two weeks because I sat in on three extra meetings.  Didn't contribute anything, didn't take notes, just sat there.

This also sheds a little light on how confident or not confident the Yankees are in Chavez' ability to stay healthy this year.  I don't think they would willingly hand out $3 million if they thought there was a chance Chavez could reach these marks.  But still, a .294 wOBA in a season spent mostly on the DL last season and Chavez turns it into a new contract with bonuses not even tied to any kind of production.  I should have been a baseball player.

TYA Plug- Prospect Week

It's Prospect Week over at TYA, and that means a whole shit ton of prospecty goodness.  It kicked off today with the release of the combined TYA Top 20, which I am already getting beaten up over for my selections in the comments section, and will continue over the course of this week with daily staff roundtables, prospect-related posts, and whatever else we decide to cook up.

Do yourself a favor and make sure to check it out.

How Does Nobody Claim Chris Dickerson?

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

That's a serious question.  The Yankees had to put Chris Dickerson on waivers yesterday to make room on the 40-man roster, and by some stroke of dumb luck he managed to clear waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A.  Apparently every other GM in baseball was in the bathroom or out to lunch with their families or stuck in the movie theater with their wives watching "The Artist" while this move was happening.  Now instead of being in camp in a different uniform participating in what would likely be a more fair competition for the 4th OF bench role, Dickerson will be safely stashed away in Triple-A for the Yankees should they run into problems with their current group.

I just can't, for the live of me, figure out why every other team out there would willingly pass on a guy like C-Dick.  Is every team in Major League Baseball that set in the outfield?  I know for a fact that teams like the Mets and Astros are absolute shit in the outfield and could use Dickerson, if for nothing more than another warm body to compete and push other players to earn their spot.  Even though he's 29, turning 30 in April, and has only 582 Major League plate appearances to his name, Dickerson brings a lot to the table.

For starters, the guy is a physical monster.  He's listed at 6'3", 230 on the Yankees' website but he looks about 6'5", 245 on TV.  He's got great speed and athleticism, allowing him to play all three outfield positions if needed, and also making him a very good baserunner and base stealing threat.  At the plate, C-Dick is far from an automatic out.  He owns a career .266/.351/.399 slash line in his 582 PA (.338 wOBA) along with a respectable 11.0% BB rate, and as a lefty swinger he has produced a solid line against right-handed pitching (.270/.355/.415, .341 wOBA).  Sure he strikes out a bit more than you'd like to see, and he doesn't generate a whole lot of power for a guy his size (.133 ISO), but the positives far outweigh the negatives with Dickerson and he's an almost picture perfect candidate for a 4th OF role.  Now the Yankees have him as their 6th.

Between the defense, baserunning skills, and ability to hit righties well, Dickerson has accumulated 3.5 fWAR in what equates to almost one full season's worth of plate appearances in his career.  That's not too shabby if you ask me.  I've praised Dickerson before for his contributions to the Yankees and I'm glad they managed to keep him around as insurance this year.  I'm still flabbergasted that not one other team thought they could use him, though.  It's mind-bottling.

Mo Already Out On The Mound This Spring

He was in camp early, at least by his standards, when he showed up only a day after pitchers and catchers were scheduled to report.  A story early this past week said that he would be bucking his usual Spring Training trend and traveling to possibly pitch in some road games this year.  And to top of his spring surprise sundae, Mariano Rivera took the mound this morning to throw a 25-pitch bullpen session.  This is well ahead of his usual schedule in Spring Training, and a sign that if this is his last year, Mo is planning on going out on a high note.

So how did that first bullpen session go, you might wonder.  Here's what Gus Molina had to say:

"He's a machine.... Everything was down in the zone, in and out."

The dude just isn't human.  Steps on the mound for the first time and hits his spots.  It's almost a good thing that Mo is hanging them up after this season, because I'm running out of things to say about the guy.  My buddy Gary read another report this morning that said Mike Harkey stepped into the batter's box a few times without a bat to give Mo some perspective.  I think Gary summed it up best with the message he posted on my Facebook wall this morning, "You might as well just leave the bat in the dugout when you step up to face the G.O.A.T."

(I still don't remember where I first saw this, but courtesy of whoever was smart enough to put it together.)

Quotes via Chad at LoHud.

Bahhston Beer Ban Becomes Official

There's something gratifying about being an adult and a professional and knowing that you can pretty much make all your own decisions about what you're going to do and not do and when and where you're going to do those things.  For example, when I'm not working I can go and drink as many beers as I want to.  The Fraud Sawx won't be so luck this year, as Bobby V finally announced the clubhouse beer ban yesterday afternoon to the team.  This was pretty much an inevitability after last September, but that doesn't make it any less funny.  Especially when Valentine had this to say about making the decision:

"It's just what I've always done, except in Texas, I guess.  I'm comfortable with it that way."

Yeah, it's just what he's always done, except for that one time that he didn't do it with one of the other teams he managed, he guesses.  Those guys were mature, responsible adults who recognized that knocking a few back in the clubhouse wasn't the most professional thing to be doing when you're an athlete making millions of dollars to play a game.  They didn't have to be treated like children.  But for the other two out of the three total Major League teams that he's managed, this is what Bobby V has always done.  Always.

Big Sloppi was the biggest and most vocal supporter of the new rule, saying this to reporters:

"We're not here to drink.  We're here to play baseball.  It ain't a bar."

Damn right, Sloppi.  It definitely ain't a bar.  And you're definitely not there to drink; just to play baseball.  And maybe also to take steroids so that you can play baseball better, you're there to do that.  And to cause fights with the other team when you don't like getting pitched inside.  And to interrupt your manager's post-game press conference to whine about your stats being changed.  All of that, and baseball.  That's all you guys are there to do.

Absolutely hilarious.  That's what this is.  Over half of the other teams in MLB already have beer banned in their clubhouses and it's never been a story.  The Fraud Sawx are basically forced to after last year's collapse and it's front page news.  You gotta love men being treated like men.  What's next?  Impromptu D.A.R.E. meetings in the clubhouse after a tough loss?

Don't worry, boys.  You might be stuck in the dry county that is your clubhouse now, but I'll make sure to always keep a few on hand in my fridge to keep the memory of the fall of 2011 alive.  Cheers, dickheads!  Enjoy the Gatorade.

Martin Contract Talks On Hold

Via George King of The Post, Cash had this to say about tabling the Russell Martin contract extension talks:

"We will talk at the end of the season."

Both sides were willing to talk extension, which is the most important sign, but with both sides being far apart on the money it's better to not let this bleed into Spring Training and just address it at season's end.  Martin is already under contract for this year for $7.5 mil, which isn't exactly chump change, and the Yankees just showed this past offseason with CC Sabathia that they are good at working through deals and getting them done quickly.  So there really shouldn't be any concern at all about this; it's smart for each side.

Smart for the Yankees because they don't risk biting too early after a good sign season from Martin and getting stuck with him for more than they want to spend if he gets hurt again; now they can make him show them his comeback is real and earn the higher dollars.  Smart for Martin because he gets the chance to build on the positive momentum from 2011 and prove to the Yankees, and every other team, that he is back and capable of playing high-caliber baseball behind the plate.  At 29, he's still very much in his prime and will stand to get the type of money he's looking for and maybe then some from the Yankees or somebody else if he has a better 2012 than he did in 2011.

Friday Afternoon Linkapalooza: 2/24

Last night I had the good fortune of being able to tag along with the bigwigs of my company to an awards dinner.  I was only invited because I helped do some of the writing and video work for our submission package as part of the nomination process, but any chance to throw a suit and tie on, eat free food, and suck down free gin and tonics is a chance I'm not turning down.  It's rare that I get to feel important and I definitely lived it up last night.  Of course I'm following it up with a booze-hazed hangover today, because I'm a pussy and can't drink liquor, but it was definitely worth it since we came home with some hardware.  And now that I'm done talking about my 9-5 life, onto the links!

- On Tuesday, Matthew B of Yankees Fan Unite got an early start on 2012 offseason storylines by pondering who would be the ideal candidate to replace Swish in right field.

- It's been a consistent topic of conversation for the past couple of weeks, and Brien Jackson of IIATMS weighed in with his take on locking up Russell Martin long term.

- Anthony McCarron of the Daily News had a short profile piece on David Adams, who is still recovering from his 2010 ankle injury that put the kibosh on the Cliff Lee trade.  Adams has some real skill, so hopefully he can make it all the way back to form this year and keep himself on the prospect radar.

- On Wednesday, the always entertaining, and usually on point, el duque of It Is High... commented on the lack of potential Linsanity for the Yankees this season thanks to them stocking up on veterans to fill out the roster.  I especially liked the Brandon Laird name drop.

- Rebecca Glass of Pinstriped Bible had a nice piece on the true greatness of Mo.  With the quotes going around this week, it sounds like we all have to prepare to write something similar after this season.

- Mike Axisa of RAB discussed how the Yankees can adjust their strategy in the draft to be successful under the new CBA rules.

- On Thursday, Frank Campagnola of Pinstripe Alley practically gift wrapped this link for me by saying he wanted Phil Hughes to be the fifth starter and backing it up with some numbers.

- Fishjam25 of Yankees Fans Unite had an interview with left-handed pitching prospect Matt Tracy.  If you aren't familiar with Tracy, here's your chance to get up to speed on one of the better under-the-radar prospects in the Yankee farm.

- I shouldn't have to tell anybody this, but Chad at LoHud has the best day-to-day coverage of Spring Training activities and you should be following it and checking for updates at least twice a day.  Here's an example. 

And from my TYA brethren, Matt Imbrogno reminds us all that the Yankee bullpen will not be a rudderless ship if Mo really does decide to hang 'em up after this season.  There's plenty of depth and plenty of talent left to get the job done.

For the Friday jam I'm going back into my wheelhouse with some Mastodon.  Musically that's an equivalent to a 2-0 fastball down the middle for me.  Enjoy.

Joe Paying Some Serious Lip Service

(How could you not believe a face like that?  Courtesy of The AP)

The 25-man roster is all but complete right now, at least as far as the position players are concerned with this week's signings of Raul Ibanez and Eric Chavez.  But that isn't stopping Joe from being PC and saying that guys like Chris Dickerson, Justin Maxwell, Russell Branyan and Bill Hall are going to get their fair shot to make the team during Spring Training.

“They’re going to get a fair shake to try and make this club.  That’s the bottom line. We’ll have to make some decisions, but I don’t see why someone couldn’t play their way on. I don’t. Do you have to make some moves if that’s to happen? Yeah, but I don’t see why they couldn’t.”

Listen, Joe.  I know you've got to do your job, and I respect that.  But don't spit on us and tell us it's raining, and don't feed Dickerson and Branyan chicken shit and tell them it's chicken salad.  You and I both know that there's no way Ibanez and Chavez aren't making the team as long as they're healthy.  That's never a certainty with Chavez, but if he is able to play he's going to be the 13th man on the bench.  Guys like Dickerson and Branyan probably should get a real chance to win a spot on the team, but I've seen how these "open competitions" work with the Yankees in Spring Training and I know that the only thing that's going to give them that chance is a bite from the injury bug.

Quote via Chad at LoHud

Standardizing The Top Yankee Prospects

One of the best things about the end of offseason/beginning of Spring Training period in baseball is the annual release of everyone's top prospects lists.  Whether you're Keith Law and your list is highly anticipated or you're just Joe Schmo who follows the goings on of the farm system closely, it's always nice to forget the perils of prospect hugging for a few minutes and take stock of the best the farm system has to offer.  Everybody evaluates players differently, everybody values certain prospect traits more than others, and everybody has a couple of guys that they inexplicably like or dislike more than others, so it's always fun to see how all those differences add up.

To extend the fun a little longer, I wanted to come up with a way to take all the various lists that are out there right now and create one standardized top 10 for the current crop of Yankees prospects. The pool of lists being used for this standardization is made up of Keith Law's from ESPN, John Sickels' from Minor League Ball, Jonathan Mayo's from MLB.com, John Manuel's from Baseball America**, Mike Axisa's from RAB, TYA's own EJ Fagan, and my own personal list from AB4AR.  If you're not already familiar with these lists, a simple internet search of any of the names above and "top Yankee prospects 2012" should bring you to them.  In the interest of full disclosure, I will admit that I am the only one who ranked Austin Romine third and didn't include Dante Bichette, Jr. in my top 10 at all.  I will now pause to allow you a quick moment to make a sarcastic comment or joke at my expense. 

(**- John Manuel released Baseball America's list on January 4th, prior to the Montero-Pineda trade, and has not updated it to include Jose Campos. For the purposes of this exercise I penciled Campos into the 5th spot on what would be the updated BA list behind Banuelos, Betances, Sanchez, and Williams.)

In the interest of simplicity, I used a ten-point system for the rankings, assigning a point value to each spot in the top 10 in reverse order: 10 points for being #1, 9 points for #2, 8 for 3, and so on.  Then I simply added up the total points for each player who appeared on at least one of the seven  prospect lists and ranked them highest point total to lowest.  This is not an attempt to say that all prospect lists are created equal, or that mine is just as good as Keith Law's, but with prospects being such tricky things to evaluate and predict, it's difficult to say that one person's list is "better" than the others.  It's also just for fun.  Using that ten-point scale to rate all the players included on each individual list, here's how everything adds up to form the standardized top 10:

1) Manny Banuelos- 69 out of possible 70 points
2) Dellin Betances- 58 points
3) Gary Sanchez- 57 Points
4) Mason Williams- 51 Points
5) Jose Campos- 38 Points
6) Dante Bichette, Jr.- 28 Points
7) Austin Romine- 27 Points
8) J.R. Murphy- 12 Points
9) Adam Warren- 10 Points
10) Slade Heathcott- 9 Points

In the "also receiving votes" category we have Ravel Santana and Tyler Austin each with 8 points, David Phelps with 7, and Cito Culver with 2.  Not as much variance in player selection towards the bottom half as I would have expected, but this version of the top 10 still gives a pretty good general description of the Yankee system.  Manny Banuelos is the clear cut best prospect in the organization, but behind him it's not so easy to define who is #2, with both Betances and Sanchez making a strong case.  The core of high-ceiling A-ball talent makes up the next group of big-time prospects, with a handful of Major League-ready Triple-A guys who could probably make many other teams' 25-man rosters sprinkled in.  And Slade Heathcott, shoulder and personal problems aside, is still just too damn talented to ignore.