Our league drafted last night. The draft results are at the site. The draft order was Damons Monkeys, In George We Trust, Hip Hop Jorge!, Mill, Patrick, Osprey, Curry Monsters, Dog Pound, The Sporting Brews, Evil Empire, Big Catz and Green Day. The first round went A-Rod, Pujols, Vladdy, Manny, Johan Santana, Teixeira, Carl Crawford, Derrek Lee, David Ortiz, Sheff, Miguel Cabrera and Tejada. It was a good turnout in the live draft as I believe we had 8 of the 12 managers (was Mill there? If so, 8).

Let's take a look at where all of the Yankees ended up:

Damons Monkeys: A-Rod, Mo and Pavano.
In George We Trust: N/A.
Hip Hip Jorge!: N/A.
Mill: N/A.
Patrick: Giambi, Jeter, Wang and Chacon.
Osprey: N/A.
Curry Monsters: N/A.
Dog Pound: N/A.
The Sporting Brews: N/A.
Evil Empire: Cano, Sheffield, Damon and Mussina.
Big Catz: N/A.
Green Day: Jorge, Matsui and Randy.

Should be fun. Good luck everyone.

Edit: Unfortunately, people not in the league can no longer access the league page, I guess. If I'm wrong and you can, please let me know Thanks.

Chien-Ming Wang - Starting Pitcher
Age: 25 Years Old (Turns 26 in a couple of weeks).

Three-Year History and splits:

SEASON	Level	G	GS	CG	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	W	L	ERA
2003	AA	21	21	2	122.0	143	71	63	7	32	84	7	6	4.65
2004	AA	18	18	0	109.0	112	53	49	6	26	90	6	5	4.05
2004	AAA	6	5	2	40.1	31	9	9	3	8	35	5	1	2.01
2005	AAA	6	6	0	34.0	40	16	16	4	6	21	2	1	4.24
2005	MLB	18	17	0	116.1	113	58	52	9	32	47	8	5	4.02

Outlook: All right dude. You're 26 and a front-line starter for the greatest team in baseball: move out from your parents' house already! (though he does make a great point-no one cooks like Mom!) Seriously though, I think fans in general have a tendency to overvalue their own home-grown products and for a team that hasn't produced a solid pitcher from their farm system in a long time, Yankees fans are very susceptible to this with Wang (especially since he has so many cool nicknames: Obi-Wang, Wanger, Tiger Wang, I could go on). Let's keep in mind that he is young, has a history of injuries and his career high in innings pitched is 150, which he pulled off last year.

Still, while I might be buying into the hype, I really believe that Wang is the goods, with that one big injury caveat (though you could probably say the same with any young pitcher). I don't believe that he is a No. 1 pitcher but I think he can project to be a good #2 and very soon. The lack of Ks that people seem to worry about aren't really that much of an issue. First, and this may sound too simplistic but he doesn't necessarily need to "miss bats" as often since he's a predominantly a groundball pitcher (2.90 G/F ratio in 2005), he just needs to miss the fat part of the bat. Second, I fully expect his K rate to rise substantially this coming year, from 3.64 K/9 in 2005 to around 5 in 2006. If you factor in Wang's added experience and his track record in the minors (career 3.28 ERA and a 7.16 K/9 in 439.2 innings), I don't think that's much of a stretch. The only caution flag is his health - if he can just stay healthy, I think that Chien-Ming will give Yankees fans a lot to cheer about.

Please post your predictions for the following stat line in the comments section:

G	GS	Innings	W	L	BB	K	ERA

It's unfortunate that Doc Gooden can't seem to escape his addictions.


A man in a cage, even if it is a cage of his own making, is still a very sad thing. I wish him well and hope that he can recover his life.

Mike Mussina - Starting Pitcher
Age: 37 Years Old.

Three-year history and splits:

SEASON	G	GS	CG	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	W	L	ERA
2003	31	31	2	215.2	192	86	81	21	40	195	17	8	3.40
2004	27	27	1	165.2	178	91	84	22	40	132	12	9	4.59
2005	30	30	2	180.2	199	93	88	23	47	142	13	8	4.41

Outlook: For the second year in a row, Mike Mussina wasn't the pitcher Yankees fans have come to expect. He was just another old (37) league average (ERA+ of 101) pitcher who battled injuries to pitch 180 innings. He definitely wasn't the hall-of-fame caliber pitcher (yes, I said it - don't believe me? Read this) he had been in the past. He started off slow but he had a long good stretch during the season, essentially pitching well from May through July (110 2/3 innings) when he posted a 9-4 record with a 3.50 ERA. Then the injuries kicked in (elbow problems) and he just wasn't the same throughout the rest of the year. The real question now is; which pitcher is going to show up in 2005 (see a trend here?). I know that he was coming off an injury but unlike Randy Johnson who finished strong, Moose disturbingly went 4-3 with a 5.16 ERA in 12 starts after the All-Star break.

I like Mike and it's known around the league that Moose is a smart guy but if your fastball is topping out at 90 mph (he barely even touched that high early on in the season) when you used to consistently hit the low 90s, you will have problems adjusting. That's what looks to be happening here. Mussina is still a good pitcher and barring further injuries, I think that he will show flashes of his old dominance during the season. I just don't think that the stuff is there for Yankees fans to expect a return to the Mussina of old. Still, if anyone can figure out a way to work and thrive with a new set of tools, the Moose from Stanford can.

Please post your predictions for the following stat line in the comments section:

G	GS	Innings	W	L	BB	K	ERA

Randy Johnson - Starting Pitcher
Age: 41 (Turns 42 in September).

Three-Year History and splits:

SEASON	G	GS	CG	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	W	L	ERA
2003	18	18	1	114.0	125	61	54	16	27	125	6	8	4.26
2004	35	35	4	246.2	177	88	71	18	44	290	16	14	2.60
2005	34	34	4	226.2	207	102	95	32	47	211	17	8	3.79

Outlook: There are probably a lot of people out there who would categorize Randy’s first season in pinstripes as a failure but at the end of the season, he did lead the Yankees starters in wins (4th in the AL), innings pitched (5th), Ks (2nd), WHIP (2nd) and batting average against (5th). Also, of the original five man starting rotation, he had the best ERA by far. He allowed less than a hit an inning, walked very few batters and struck out quite a number of batters, all of which are recipes for success. However, home runs were an issue as he gave up 14 more homeruns than last year in 20 less innings (4 of those came in one spectacular meltdown of an inning against the White Sox) and while he did strike out a lot, his Ks per 9 innings were under 9 for the first time since 1990 (and under 10 for only the second time since 1990).

Still, there remains hope that Randy can be dominant in the AL as he pitched a lot better after the all-star break (ERA was almost a run better and his BAA went from .268 to .208). To be more specific, he pitched that well after sitting down with Joe Kerrigan and apparently fixing some flaws in his mechanics. From that point on, Randy was pretty much the Big Unit that the Yankees thought they were getting at the beginning of the year. Hopefully, Randy has figured out what those underlying issues were and permanently fixed them because there are several other concerns including his turning 42, his bad knees, bad back and of course, the attitude. Since the Yanks are on the hook for both 2006 and 2007, we can only hope that the second half Randy is the real one.

Please post your predictions for the following stat line in the comments section:

G	GS	Innings	W	L	BB	K	ERA

The YanksBlog.com Fantasy Baseball League is full. We'll be posting about the league from time to time, so, I thought we'd take a look at who's playing.

Curry Monsters (James)
Evil Empire (Michael)
Patrick (Me)
Dog Pound (Seamus)
In George We Trust (Mike A. of In George We Trust)
The Sporting Brews (Joseph P. of The Sporting Brews)
Osprey (Brandon Levan, phpBBHacks.com Support Team Member)
Green Day (Sean, My Brother)
Big Catz
Hip Hip Jorge!
Damons Monkeys
Mill

The draft is Tuesday night. One thing is for sure: Yankees are going to come at a premium in this league! :) Should be fun.

This column by Mike Bianchi with the Orlando Sentinel was reprinted today in my local paper. I thought he was so right about alot of things that I would make mention of it here.


There it is said by Roger Maris' own son, leave it up to baseball to make the decision on what to do with these records. But I speak for myself, and probably other fans of the game, when I say that these records are sacred and must be protected somehow.


You'll have those that say let it go, or cry racism, or countless other allegations that are unfounded or detract away from the issue. Call it for what it is, and that is steroids has put a stain on a pure game. The only way to wash the stain is to have a notation added to each stat in question. Who is added to this list, and which stat is affected, is clearly evident in the player that is upon the list. You probably already have a mental list made up. I know I do.

You'll never clear the game completely of this, but the league is taking the right steps with drug testing and suspensions. Let's hope it will be enough.

We need one more for our fantasy baseball league. James, Michael, Seamus and myself are all playing along with a number of regular readers (including my brother Sean) and people that blog about the Yankees. We have 11 now and I want any league that I am responsible for to have an even number of teams (who likes bye weeks?!). So, there must be one more person out there. :) Check it out!

Well, with the posting of projections for Andy Phillips and Bernie Williams, we're now done with the offensive side of the Yankees. We'll be shifting our focus to the pitching now, beginning with the starters and a look at the Big Unit and working our way through the relievers all the way to the great Mariano Rivera himself.

The position players' projection pages (try that three times fast) will remain open until we're done with the rest of the team so if you haven't put in your two cents yet for those guys yet, you still have time.

Andy Phillips - Infielder
Age: 28 (Turns 29 in April).

Three-Year History & splits:

SEASON	Level	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
2003	AAA	17	67	7	14	4	0	2	5	5	17	0	.209	.264	.358	622
2004	AA	10	42	8	15	2	1	4	16	3	1	3	.357	.383	.738	1121
2004	AAA	115	434	83	138	19	6	26	85	51	60	2	.318	.388	.569	957
2004	MLB	5	8	1	2	0	0	1	2	0	1	0	.250	.250	.625	875
2005	AAA	75	300	60	90	14	1	22	54	36	61	2	.300	.379	.573	952
2005	MLB	27	40	7	6	4	0	1	4	1	13	0	.150	.171	.325	496

Outlook: Andy Phillips probably should have been in the majors in 2004. Who knows, he could have been a difference-maker in the ALCS and couldn't possibly have been worse than John Olerud and Tony Clark (.167/.231/.417 (14 ABs) and .143/.143/.190 (21 ABs) respectively in the series). That being said, after the "shot" the Yankees gave him last year, it looks like Andy will get some decent playing time this year. Well, it's about time. He's no longer a prospect, has nothing more to prove at AAA and can play three infield positions and outfield in a pinch so this should have been a no-brainer a while ago. Now, all he has to do is hit and looking at minor league numbers, that shouldn't be a huge problem. Of course, all the minor league success in the world cannot guarantee major league success so this will be interesting to watch. The only real question is if he can make enough contact because when he does, he seems to always hit the ball hard (which seems to be a theme - 39% of his minor league hits and of his 6 out of his 8 MLB hits were of the extra base variety). Hopefully, Andy can come through and hit enough to not only be used as a backup for Giambi and A-Rod but also to take as many ABs from Bernie as possible.

Bernie Williams - Outfielder
Age: 36 (Turns 37 in September).

Three-Year History and splits:

SEASON	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
2003	119	445	77	117	19	1	15	64	71	61	5	.263	.367	.411	.778
2004	148	561	105	147	29	1	22	70	85	96	1	.262	.360	.435	.795
2005	141	485	53	121	19	1	12	64	53	75	1	.249	.321	.367	.688

Outlook: What can be said about Bernie? He's one of the all-time Yankee greats. However, time and injury have robbed him of his baseball gifts and while signing him to be a backup was a good karma move, it's a bad baseball one. He barely qualifies for the role of backup outfielder on a contender, let alone a full-time DH. Looking at his splits for 2005, there are very few good things to be found. Before the break, he was bad; after the break, he was even worse. Home, away, early in the game or late in the game, there's just not much to get excited about. He did put up decent stats as a DH (.286/.360/.427/.787 in 85 ABs) but that's probably just small sample size. Still, because you can't help but root for the guy, I pray that Bernie shows enough spark this season so that he can end his career on a high note.

Please post your predictions for the following stat line in the comments section:

AB	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG