Game 87: King Of All Of The World

Yesterday afternoon Javier Vazquez looked like surefire trade bait, as the heavily rumored Cliff Lee deal would have left the Yankees with six starters. Instead, Lee went to Texas, Javy takes the hill tonight, and it looks like his spot with the Yankees is secure for the rest of the season.

As you might surmise given our support of him from the time he was reacquired in December, I'm happy Javy is sticking around. Unloading him slightly more than halfway through the first season of his second go round in New York would only have been more fuel for those that say Vazquez is incapable of pitching in the Big Apple.

To the contrary, Javy has pitched quite well over the last month and a half. In his last seven starts he's 4-2 with a 2.93 ERA, has allowed just 45 baserunners in 46 innings, and has held opponents to a .179/.251/.327 batting line. One of those seven starts came ten days ago the Mariners, as Vazquez allowed three runs over six frames and the Yankee bats couldn't respond.

Felix Hernandez pitched for the Mariners that night, tossing a complete game, two hit, three walk, eleven K shutout. He'll oppose Javy again tonight. With Cliff Lee off to Texas, King Felix is the undisputed king of Seattle's rotation once again. With any luck for the Yanks though, Vazquez will prove to be king of the hill tonight.

I was in a real bad way
When you turned the power on
And you made me feel for all the world
Like I was the king of all the world

[Song Notes: I came across this one while looking for songs about "kings" this morning. It occurred to me that we used the Old 97s for the preview on the Saturday before the All-Star break last year as well. That one didn't turn out so well. Hoping for better luck today.]

-Lineups-

Not likely. Chad Jennings will have what you need.

Game 77 Recap

Game 77: The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald

Before the season started, some (including myself) thought that the Mariners were the favorites to win the AL West. They added Cliff Lee, Chone Figgins and Milton Bradley to a team that finished a solid 85-77 last year. After parting ways with Figgins, John Lackey and Vlad Guerrero, it appeared the Angels' reign atop the division was in jeopardy.

Instead of being somewhat of a surprise team in 2010, the Mariners are surprisingly bad. To start, they were outscored on the year and had an expected record of 75-87, so the foundation they were building upon was somewhat shaky. Many traditional baseball thinkers doubted that their mostly-pitching-and-defense mode of roster construction could work, and so far this season - although you couldn't tell by last night's game - it certainly hasn't. They are a dismal 14 behind the Rangers just 76 games into the season, in last place in the West by four in the loss column. Three weeks ago Dave Cameron at U.S.S. Mariner summed up their season to date thusly.

The biggest culprit is their offense. The M's are in last place in runs scored, home runs, doubles and slugging percentage and second to last in batting average and on base percentage. Only two of the players in their starting lineup (Ichiro and Franklin Gutierrez) have an OPS+ better than league average. First base and designated hitter, the two positions that should be the easiest to find offensive production at, have been especially dismal, the production while occupying those roles checking in at a 42 & 43 OPS+, respectively. The reacquisition of Russell Branyan should be a boost to the former and parting ways with Ken Griffey has already helped with the latter, but it's probably too little, too late.

There's about 60% of the season left and their pitching staff has performed admirably, but it's hard to imagine that Seattle can leapfrog Oakland, Texas and Anaheim and win the division, and that's what they'll need to do because the Wild Card is almost certainly coming from the East. The Mariner's season may be sunk, but they still provide an extremely tough matchup for the Yankees once again tonight as King Felix takes on Javier Vazquez.

They might have split up or they might have capsized
They may have broke deep and took water
And all that remains is the faces and the names
Of the wives and the sons and the daughters.

-Lineups-

Yankees:
Brett Gardner's wrist keeps him on the bench for the second straight night. In his stead, Colin Curtis gets his first Major League start. Jorge Posada is the DH for the second consecutive night.

Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher RF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Jorge Posada DH
Curtis Granderson CF
Colin Curtis LF
Francisco Cervelli C

Javier Vazquez RHP

Mariners:

Ichiro RF
Chone Figgins 2B
Russell Braynan 1B
Milton Bradley DH
Jose Lopez 3B
Franklin Gutierrez CF
Jack Wilson SS
Michael Saunders LF

Felix Hernandez RHP

Joba Sits In With The Roots & Some Other Links

Did you know Joba Chamberlain can play the keyboard? Well, he can't really, but Jimmy Fallon bet the band on his show - who just happens to the The Roots - that if the Yankees won the World Series, they would have to let someone from the Bombers sit in with them: (via Jambands.com)



Apparently, the song they played was Empire State of Mind which I'm sure most of us have heard enough times by now that we are thankful that the clip didn't include it.

Onto some Yankees Hot Stove talk...

Hey y'all, Andy Pettitte told the guys he wants to come back for one more year! (maybe)

Brian Cashman has arrived at the GM's Meetings in Chicago.

Joel Sherman relays through his Twitter account that Cashman, like your high school girlfriend, will be more cautious than anxious this offseason.

Ken Davidoff thinks that this kind of restraint has made Cashman the 6th best GM in baseball.

As such, here are a couple of tidbits from elsewhere in the MLB:

The Elias Free Agent Rankings have been released. As River Ave. Blues points out, World Series MVP Hideki Matsui isn't on there at all but Xavier Nady, who played 7 games this year, is.

Unsurprisingly, the Red Sox have picked up Victor Martinez's $7.1M 2010 option but not the $5M one they had for Jason Varitek. However, the Captain might not be giving up his Capital C just yet, since he has until the end of the week to decide if he'll exercise his $3M player option.

The Sawx also renegotiated the guaranteed money in Tim Wakefield's formerly infinite contract.

The Rays have exercised Carl Crawford's $10M option, so you can forget about only giving up money to get him for a while. I believe desire to keep Crawford might have played into the decision to trade Scott Kazmir, who is due $8M this coming year. Well, that's the only way I can defend this post from last December, anyway.

The Mariners seem pretty intent on keeping Felix Hernadez. Which you probably already knew if you looked at the rumored package they turned down from the Red Sox back at trade deadline.

Enough With The Mauer Speculation, Already

That's what Mike Vaccarro is saying, except, since he works for the Post, he's speculating anyway.

Hell, the Yankees have never been shy about raiding their foes. They took Tommy John away from the Dodgers, took Luis Tiant and Johnny Damon and Wade Boggs away from the Red Sox, took Jason Giambi away from the A's after he nearly wrecked them by himself a couple of times in the playoffs. Until they announce they're out with Mauer, they always will be in, and that's an awfully enticing thought.

Are people really "yearning" for Joe Mauer as Vaccarro also says in the article? Giving out another $200M contract or whatever it's going to take to sign Joe Mauer isn't enticing to me at all. The guy is an incredibly great player - a catcher with 3 batting titles, who's just starting to hit for power - but can we keep it in our pants for once?

The Yanks are in the middle of a postseason run and people are speculating about who they are going to sign two fucking years from now? There will be plenty of cold winter months to dream about Joe Mauer or Felix Hernandez or a bunch of other ridiculously expensive marquee players that the Yanks have been developing their farm system specifically to avoid signing.

That's why the Yanks have spent top 10 picks on catchers like John Murphy, Kyle Higashioka, Austin Romine and Chase Weems (although they traded Weems for Jerry Hairston, Jr.) and signed Jesus Montero and Gary Sanchez and high upside arms Andrew Brackman, Gerrit Cole, Phil Hughes, Joba, Dellin Betances and Brett Marshall. The Yanks can spend big money on free agents, but would much rather not have to.

Sorry Mike, smart Yanks fans know we got our presents this year. They were the contracts given to Sabathia, Teixeira, Burnett and less recently, A-Rod. Derek Jeter's gonna need a new one after next year. Cano is due to make $14 and $15M in 2012 and 2013, respectively and the organization is going to want to cut payroll if at all possible. We can think about the future during the offseason, right now, we're just enjoying the moment.

Ichiro Gives Yanks A Taste Of Their Own Medicine

Well, as that windbag Sterling says about fifteen times per game, you just can't predict baseball. The Yanks go into Seattle, a formerly struggling A.J. Burnett outduels the best pitcher in the league whose last name doesn't rhyme with "Yankee", Mo gets two outs in the ninth, and then - game over. But not the game over you would expect. In two thirds of an inning Mo gave up as many runs as he had since June 12th. June 12th, when Luis Castillo dropped a walk-off can of corn.

King Felix was his usual dominant self, going the distance on just 104 pitches, scattering eight hits and a walk and whiffing three. The only Yankee to give him real trouble was Johnny Damon, who with his three for four night, which included a pair of doubles, ran his career line against the King to 8 for 13 (.615).

The Yankees were able to scratch two runs out, both on sacrifice flies. Derek Jeter led off the game with a single, moved to third on the first of Damon's doubles, then came in on an A-Rod flyball. In the sixth, Damon led off with a double, moved to third on a passed ball, and came in on sacrifice fly from Mark Teixeira.

They would threaten again in the seventh, putting runners on first and third with one out. Joe Girardi allowed Jose Molina to hit for himself, and he bounced into an inning ending double play. It was the last Yankee threat on the night.

A.J. Burnett matched King Felix, throwing the same 104 pitches but getting only seven innings out of them. He made his innings count though, turning in an impressive performance that should temporarily allay any fears about Burnett heading into October. In seven innings, he allowed seven hits, three walks, and struck out six. He allowed just one run, coming in the third inning when the M's strung together a double and a single. Interestingly, had Ichiro not been picked off first base prior to the double, the M's might have had a two run inning for themselves.

After Phil Hughes pitched a perfect eighth, Mariano Rivera took the ball for the ninth with a 2-1 lead. He struck out the first two batters he faced, running his career total to 1,001 and the Yankees' win expectancy to 95.4%. Everything was going according to plan; then it all changed. Pinch hitter Mike Sweeney doubled to right center on the first pitch he saw, bringing Ichiro to the plate. Three for four on the night, Ichiro twice had been picked off first, thwarting potential Seattle rallies. With one pitch from Mo, Ichiro redeemed himself, launching one to right and giving the M's a 3-2 walk-off win.

Losses like this are never fun, but they invariably happen from time to time. I'd much rather get it out of the way in a relatively meaningless September game than have it happen a little further down the line. One thing's for sure though, you can't predict baseball.

Game 148: It's Good To Be King

It was the modern day version of the story where some scout was driving through the backroads in his pickup truck and found a kid somewhere out in the sticks who could throw rocks through the side of a barn. It used to be that parts of the United States were rural and isolated enough that there might be a diamond in the rough just sitting out there waiting to be discovered. Today, those searches have turned towards third world nations such as the Dominican Republic and Venezuela where the passion for baseball has spread throughout the countryside.

The kids play for the love of the game of course, but there is also the potential that if they reach the highest levels of the game, they can rescue their families from real, extreme poverty, a reality that most kids growing up in the States just don't face.

Felix Hernandez was only 14 years old and already throwing in the low to mid 90's when he caught the eye of scout of a scout named Luis Fuenmayor outside of Maracaibo, Venezuela. He couldn't sign with any team until he was 16 years old, but important steps had to be taken in order for teams to put themselves in position to sign him; relationships to be formed, trust to be gained.

The Yankees were in hot pursuit of the young flamethrower and so were the Braves, Astros, Dodgers, Rockies and Hernandez's eventual choice, the Mariners. The Yankees extended the first offer to Hernandez and the Braves the largest. But he chose the $710,000 option from the Mariners and the rest, as they say, is history.

The USS Mariner anointed him "King Felix" in 2003 when he was just 17 years old, pitching in short season A-ball. He continued to eat up the minors, striking out 172 in 149 1/3 innings as an 18 year old between high A and AA and 100 in 88 innings the following year at AAA. He was called up in August that year, and in his second start ever in the Big Leagues, he threw 8 shutout innings using only 94 pitches against the Twins as the Mariners took the game 1-0. He was still only 19.

The reign of King Felix has continued to grow over the years. In his first full season as a starter, he had a a roughly league average ERA but it has declined every year since. Along the way, he offered up a resplendent performance at Fenway Park in early April, with a complete game, one hit shutout of the Red Sox on Wednesday Night Baseball replete with 17 ground ball outs. Last year, he hit an eyes-closed grand slam off fellow Venezuelan Johan Santana. This season, behind only Zack Greinke, he has the second best argument for the AL Cy Young award when you remove the performance of his team behind him.

Some have speculated that he might get a $200 million dollar contract when he reaches free agency after the 2011 season, at which point he'll be 25 years old; extremely young for a starting pitcher to hit the open market.

Hernandez has faced the Yankees once each year since 2005 and his performances have been anything but royal. He's given up 16 runs and 15 walks in 24 1/3 innings in the four outings. He hasn't faced them since May of last year, when he gave up 12 hits and six runs over 5 2/3 IP.

Much has changed since then, namely the Yankees line up but King Felix has also stepped up his game considerably. His ERA has dropped a full run, he's is striking out more batters while walking fewer, and giving up fewer hits per nine innings.

One thing hasn't changed though. It's still good to be King Felix.

[Ed Note: Since we've got a ways to go before the game at 10:10PM EST, we've included an extra long live version of the song which Petty & Co. apparently have chosen as the one tune they work an extended jam into. The first couple of links about third world scouting and King Felix are worth the read if you're looking to kill time as well. The USS Mariner (also linked above) is a great place to go for info on the boys from Seattle. Enjoy.]

It's good to be king, if just for a while,
To be there in velvet, yeah, to give em a smile,
It's good to get high, and never come down,
It's good to be king of your own little town.

Off Night Links: Monday, Monday

Here we are on another off night, the first in 17 days. There will be another 16 games before another break for the Yanks and at least as far as the starting rotation is concerned, this one is a welcome relief.

While Joba Chamberlain was originally supposed to start tomorrow night against Roy Halladay, he will now be pushed back to Thursday for the first game against the Red Sox and oppose John Smoltz. This means Andy Pettitte and Sergio Mitre will pitch against the Blue Jays and Mitre will be the only starter the Sox don't get to see, which is obviously the best case scenario. The extra two days will also help to keep Chamberlain's innings total down, a factor that will make for some tough decisions as the season wears on.

Meanwhile, here are a batch of links to keep you busy on this relatively quiet night in the MLB. See you tomorrow morning. Enjoy.

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Oh, you thought the price for Roy Halladay was high? Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times says that the Red Sox offered the Mariners 5 of the following seven players for Felix Hernandez and they turned the offer down: RHPs Clay Buchholz, Daniel Bard, Justin Masterson & Michael Bowden, LHPs Nick Hagadone & Felix Doubront, OF Josh Reddick or SS Yamaico Navarro. As Matt said earlier over GChat, "That means the Yankees would have had to exhume Ruth and Mantle for King Felix". Click through to see the alternate 3 team deal that almost happened including the Padres and Adrian Gonzalez.

This guy? Steroids? GTFO! The man to the left, son of Sox broadcaster Jerry Remy, was one of two former security guards fired by the Red Sox for connections with steroids. Remy and Alex Cyr (a part time assistant of Manny Ramirez) had connections with a paid employee of David Ortiz and openly discussed steroid use with him. Once again, how about a round of applause for George Mitchell, ladies and gentlemen? Boston had it's own Kirk Radomski and Brain McNamee right under their noses and mysteriously had no idea. But then again, who would have ever thought the man pictured in a fucking Gold's Gym man-tank, looking like a body builder might have been taking steroids?

Well, bully for Youk. It appears that the our anti-namesake had himself quite the weekend down in Baltimore and has emerged from a two month long slump that saw his OPS drop as low as .952, but is now back over 1.000.

Here is a raffle for a good cause. The prize is 10 seats atop the Green Monstah for the August 20th game between the Yanks and Sawx. It benefits the Mark Bavis Leadership Foundation, started in honor of a former BC Hockey player and NHL Assistant who was killed aboard Flight 175 on 9/11. Tickets are $2 and there is a minimum purchase of 5. If you win, don't forget who told you about it.

This is a pretty sad sight. (h/t NSI, who alternatively called today "Moldy Monday")

Will Leitch makes the case for Billy Beane as the next GM of the Mets over at New York Magazine. My favorite quote:

If every general manager in baseball thought like Minaya, Beane would still be in top form; as it is, he had to forage for newer, more elusive inefficiencies.

John Heyman also weighs in with his thoughts on GM candidates from around the league.

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In New York Football Giants news, it appears that Antionio Pierce will not be indicted by the Grand Jury for his involvement in the Plaxico Burress fiasco. Perhaps this fucking mess will finally start to go away?

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If you've got anything else, leave it in the comments.