11/30: Godzilla and Igawa
Posted by: Patrick
From the New York Post:
lol.
Via Pro Sports Daily.
"I am going to support him as I possibly can," Matsui told Sankei Sports. "I do not mind introducing him to an American girlfriend if he likes - just kidding. If he has his best performance next season, I believe the Yankees will be the world champions. The Yankees are the team whose players are proud of their great tradition. He does not have to worry about New York life because there is no big difference from Japan. Maybe he has to drive in Manhattan much more careful."
lol.
Via Pro Sports Daily.
Posted by: Jason
If you accept the proposition that the (yet to be sealed) Igawa deal will end NYY's foray into the starting pitching market, then the rotation could be something like:
1) Wang
2) Mussina
3) Johnson
4) Igawa
5) Sanchez, Karstens or Rasner
Johnson immediately emerges as the key to the rotation next year. Given his oscillating performances (the early season Toronto bashing vs. the dominant June outing vs. DET) we are left to wonder:
Did Cashman know about the back issue before the end of '06? If so, is he confident that RJ can recapture his '04 form now that the back has been repaired?
Don't get super comfortable in Scranton, Phil.
1) Wang
2) Mussina
3) Johnson
4) Igawa
5) Sanchez, Karstens or Rasner
Johnson immediately emerges as the key to the rotation next year. Given his oscillating performances (the early season Toronto bashing vs. the dominant June outing vs. DET) we are left to wonder:
Did Cashman know about the back issue before the end of '06? If so, is he confident that RJ can recapture his '04 form now that the back has been repaired?
Don't get super comfortable in Scranton, Phil.
11/28: Yanks Win Igawa Bidding
Posted by: Seamus
ESPN is reporting that the Yankees have sent in the top bid for Japanese pitcher Kei Igawa for around $25 million. The Yankees have until December 28 to reach a deal with the pitcher.
That's about as high as I would've made the bid for Matsuzaka. Now we're going to pay $25 million just for the right to a guy who will probably put up similar numbers to a pitcher we could get under contract for that much for about three years. But hey, when the Red Sox are about to pay $75 million for J.D. Drew for five years, maybe this isn't TOO bad.
That's about as high as I would've made the bid for Matsuzaka. Now we're going to pay $25 million just for the right to a guy who will probably put up similar numbers to a pitcher we could get under contract for that much for about three years. But hey, when the Red Sox are about to pay $75 million for J.D. Drew for five years, maybe this isn't TOO bad.
Posted by: Patrick
From SI.com:
The announcement on who got him is expected tonight. Would we really pay that much for Igawa with what we put forward for Matsuzaka in mind? Then again, I don't know much about Igawa.
Via Jim Baumbach.
The Hanshin Tigers have accepted the top bid -- believed to be about $25 million -- for left-handed pitcher Kei Igawa, SI.com has learned.
The announcement on who got him is expected tonight. Would we really pay that much for Igawa with what we put forward for Matsuzaka in mind? Then again, I don't know much about Igawa.
Via Jim Baumbach.
11/27: Finally: Mussina Back
Posted by: Patrick
It's finally official. Mussina is back for 2 years.
The ink on Mike Mussina's new contract with the Yankees has been dry for about a week, but with the recent Thanksgiving holiday, the Bombers delayed making the announcement official until Monday.
11/27: Cano's Defense
Posted by: James
David Pinto over at Baseball Musings broke out his Probabilistic Model of Range (link eventually leads to a video on the stat) for Second Basemen yesterday. Of the 37 second basemen profiled, Yankees second baseman Robbie Cano came in 12th, which isn't too shabby for a player that was initially profiled as an below-average to average fielder. Pinto's system predicted that with the same amount of chances, Cano should be able to convert 373 outs; Cano was able to get 385.
Now before you point it out, yes, I realize that defensive metrics are still more or less in their first/second iterations. Still, it still makes me feel good to know that Cano is getting better and that Pinto's PMR isn't the only one that shows Cano being an above average defender. Baseball Prospectus' Rate2 statistic pegged Cano at 113 (100 being average) for 2006 after a 2005 season at a Rate2 of 100. Let's hope Robbie can keep this up.
Update: First Basemen are also profiled (Giambi is DEAD LAST - big surprise there), as are Left Fielders (way to go Melky...and wow on Manny Ramirez), Center Fielders (Damon doesn't do too badly), Right Fielders (Abreu is right smack at average) and Shortstops (Jeter is 5th to last).
Now before you point it out, yes, I realize that defensive metrics are still more or less in their first/second iterations. Still, it still makes me feel good to know that Cano is getting better and that Pinto's PMR isn't the only one that shows Cano being an above average defender. Baseball Prospectus' Rate2 statistic pegged Cano at 113 (100 being average) for 2006 after a 2005 season at a Rate2 of 100. Let's hope Robbie can keep this up.
Update: First Basemen are also profiled (Giambi is DEAD LAST - big surprise there), as are Left Fielders (way to go Melky...and wow on Manny Ramirez), Center Fielders (Damon doesn't do too badly), Right Fielders (Abreu is right smack at average) and Shortstops (Jeter is 5th to last).
Posted by: YB Bloggers
With the hitters done, here are our 2006 regular season grades for the pitchers.
SP - Chien-Ming Wang: A
Patrick: In a rotation full of veterans, it was the second year Wang who stood out the most. His 19 wins led the team and the AL (tied with Cy Young winner, Johan Santana). He pitched in 34 games (he pitched one in relief, giving him a save), had 2 complete games, 1 shutout, threw 218 innings (5th best in the AL) and allowed just 12 home runs with an ERA of 3.63 (T7th AL), a WHIP of 1.31 and a BAA of .277. Statistically, Wang was the ace of this staff.
SP - Randy Johnson: B-
Seamus: The Big Unit struggled a bit as his age seemed to be catching up with him. His fastball isn't what it used to be and he was a bit more wild than in the past (most likely a result of him throwing too hard to compensate for what he's lost in his arm). He did start to show some signs, though, towards the second half of the season and he did seem to be adapting better to becoming a pitcher rather than a thrower as the season went on. However, although he's still (in my opinion, anyway) better than the average pitcher, this season was the first season that Johnson has had an ERA of 5 or higher since his 6.67 mark in 1989 when he pitched only 29 and 2/3 innings.
SP - Chien-Ming Wang: A
Patrick: In a rotation full of veterans, it was the second year Wang who stood out the most. His 19 wins led the team and the AL (tied with Cy Young winner, Johan Santana). He pitched in 34 games (he pitched one in relief, giving him a save), had 2 complete games, 1 shutout, threw 218 innings (5th best in the AL) and allowed just 12 home runs with an ERA of 3.63 (T7th AL), a WHIP of 1.31 and a BAA of .277. Statistically, Wang was the ace of this staff.
SP - Randy Johnson: B-
Seamus: The Big Unit struggled a bit as his age seemed to be catching up with him. His fastball isn't what it used to be and he was a bit more wild than in the past (most likely a result of him throwing too hard to compensate for what he's lost in his arm). He did start to show some signs, though, towards the second half of the season and he did seem to be adapting better to becoming a pitcher rather than a thrower as the season went on. However, although he's still (in my opinion, anyway) better than the average pitcher, this season was the first season that Johnson has had an ERA of 5 or higher since his 6.67 mark in 1989 when he pitched only 29 and 2/3 innings.
Posted by: Patrick
As a follow up to the hitters, here are the pitcher results from our community projections.
Randy Johnson
Individuals Dead On: James for games. Seamus and James for games started.
Mike Mussina
Individuals Dead On: Mike and Richard A. Holland for wins. Me for losses.
Randy Johnson
G GS IP W L BB K ERAOur projection for Randy was pretty aggressive. We were hopeful that he'd return to form. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. Even so, we nailed games and games started and were only off on wins by 2.
Projected: 33 33 223.2 19 7 45 228 3.36
Actual: 33 33 205.0 17 11 60 172 5.00
Individuals Dead On: James for games. Seamus and James for games started.
Mike Mussina
G GS IP W L BB K ERAWhile we hoped The Unit would return to form, we didn't give Moose much of a chance. We got close in some areas, but on the whole, he proved us wrong, big time. He performed better than every single one of our projections.
Projected: 29 29 185.0 14 9 47 145 4.40
Actual: 32 32 197.1 15 7 35 172 3.51
Individuals Dead On: Mike and Richard A. Holland for wins. Me for losses.
11/26: Kevin Whelan Interview
Posted by: Patrick
Scout.com has an interview with new Yankee Kevin Whelan:
"I actually found out the day before the wedding," Kevin Whelan told PinstripesPlus.com after just getting back from his honeymoon, "an hour or so before they announced the trade. I was actually really shocked. I wasn't expecting it, of course I had so much going on with the wedding. I wasn't expecting it by any means." ...
"I see myself as a closer. I love being in that situation and in that role. As soon as I got traded I was sitting there thinking, 'wow, the Yankees have Mariano Rivera'. I would just love to sit down with that guy to talk to him and just learn from him. There's nobody else in the big leagues I'd rather learn from than him. He's so successful. He's one of the best closers in the game. It'll be a lot of fun. Hopefully I'll get a chance to talk to him and learn from him." ...
One of Whelan's friends growing up and former college rival is J. Brent Cox. While Whelan was closing out games for Texas A&M, Cox was closing out games for the University of Texas.
"I talked to J. Brent Cox right after the trade and he said 'the Yankees treat you good'. He played for [The University of] Texas so we were big rivals in college. I played with him in high school."
"I see myself as a closer. I love being in that situation and in that role. As soon as I got traded I was sitting there thinking, 'wow, the Yankees have Mariano Rivera'. I would just love to sit down with that guy to talk to him and just learn from him. There's nobody else in the big leagues I'd rather learn from than him. He's so successful. He's one of the best closers in the game. It'll be a lot of fun. Hopefully I'll get a chance to talk to him and learn from him." ...
One of Whelan's friends growing up and former college rival is J. Brent Cox. While Whelan was closing out games for Texas A&M, Cox was closing out games for the University of Texas.
"I talked to J. Brent Cox right after the trade and he said 'the Yankees treat you good'. He played for [The University of] Texas so we were big rivals in college. I played with him in high school."
11/26: Did A-Rod Blow Off Yogi?
Posted by: Patrick
From the San Francisco Chronicle:
Not going to make an assumptions or pass down a guilty verdict because I don't think that's fair, but it is a little odd.
Via Steve.
On Nov. 15, after attending his own charity poker tournament in Manhattan, he canceled on a major fundraiser the next night at the Yogi Berra Museum in Little Falls, N.J. According to a person in the Rodriguez camp who spoke on condition of anonymity, A-Rod's mother, Lourdes, had suddenly been hospitalized -- certainly a legitimate excuse and far better than the reason David Wright's people gave for him not showing. (Wright had been inadvertently double-booked that night.)
But Wright is a Met, A-Rod a Yankee, and because he has a history around town of blowing off events (including one of Torre's last year), because the call to the museum to cancel was made not by Rodriguez but by one of his employees, because there was an A-Rod sighting Nov. 17 at courtside of the Knicks-Heat game in Miami, the museum people and the Berra family and even the Yankees' president, Randy Levine, were said to be in a snit, with the impression that A-Rod too often gives: He just doesn't get it.
But Wright is a Met, A-Rod a Yankee, and because he has a history around town of blowing off events (including one of Torre's last year), because the call to the museum to cancel was made not by Rodriguez but by one of his employees, because there was an A-Rod sighting Nov. 17 at courtside of the Knicks-Heat game in Miami, the museum people and the Berra family and even the Yankees' president, Randy Levine, were said to be in a snit, with the impression that A-Rod too often gives: He just doesn't get it.
Not going to make an assumptions or pass down a guilty verdict because I don't think that's fair, but it is a little odd.
Via Steve.
