Morning Round Up

Good morning Fackers. So the Red Sox won last night, keeping the Yankees magic number at five, meaning that the Yanks will need to sweep in order to clinch this weekend.

But the Yankees did get some good news late yesterday. Jerry Hairston Jr saw a hand specialist at New York-Presbyterian Hospital yesterday, and his MRI revealed nothing more serious than tendinits. He was given a second cortisone shot and is listed as day-to-day. Hairston certainly isn't out of the woods yet, but all things considered it's about the best news he could have received. With any luck he'll be good to go come the post-season, because as we explored yesterday and RAB echoed, his versatility would be difficult to replace.

Freddy Guzman would be a potential candidate to replace Hairston if his injury prevents him from being part of the post-season roster. Guzman was added to the 40 man and Major League rosters a week ago at the expense of Anthony Claggett. Claggett became the third young Yankee pitcher to be designated for assignment this season, and yesterday he became third to be claimed by the Pirates, joining Steven Jackson and Eric Hacker. I hope Claggett can get his career ERA under 30, but he may have a difficult time getting to PNC Park thanks to G20 Summit.

At the end of the 2006 season, the Yankees announced they were ending their 28 season affiliation with the Columbus Clippers to move their AAA affiliate to Pennsylvania so that it would be closer to New York. The affiliate is supposed to located in Dunder Mifflin country, but it's looking more and more like it's further west in PA.

As many have pointed out since yesterday's claim, seven men on the Pirates 40 man roster are former Yankee properties: the three aforementioned pitchers, as well as Jeff Karstens, Ross Ohlendorf, Daniel McCutchen, and Jose Tabata - the entirety of the Pirates haul from last year's Xavier Nady/Damaso Marte deal. Also in the Pirates system are Eric Fryer and Casey Erickson, who were acquired from the Yankees system in June in exchange for Eric Hinske. That's enough former Yankee farmhands to field an entire team. As bad as the Bucs have been for the past 17 years they might as well be a minor league team anyway.

Beggars Can't Be Choosers

The Yankees would have taken a win anyway they could have got it last night and the Baseball Gods responded with a protracted, sloppy, lopsided affair that spanned nearly four hours, included 26 hits, 18 walks and 23 runners left on base.

It didn't appear to bode well for the Yanks when Jorge Posada trotted into home standing straight up in the 2nd inning and walked right into a chest high relay throw from Dustin Pedroia to Victor Martinez. At that point it seemed possible that Posada's baserunning gaffe would come back to haunt them later in the game. That notion vanished fairly quickly when Yanks sent 13 runners to the plate in the bottom of the fourth and scored 8 of them.

Joba Chamberlain, although he got the win, was not sharp at all, throwing 108 pitches in five innings, walking 7 and giving up two home runs. He continually failed to put away hitters but still managed to earn his 8th win of the season and 4th in a row.

Despite the fact that the Yanks were leading by eight runs when they made their first call to the bullpen, Joe Girardi still managed to use four more pitchers. (The Red Sox used only 3 to absorb 45 plate appearances). Girardi also pinch hit and pinch ran comfortably ahead and made defensive switches with a 9 run lead in the 9th inning. Anthony Claggett came on for the final three outs, but apparently couldn't have been trusted with a 7 run lead in the 8th inning or a 6 run cushion in the 7th.

I'm not sure if Mark Melancon purposely threw at Dustin Pedoia with a 13-4 advantage in the eighth, but this is just a fantastic photograph, you know, on an artistic level. (via AP/Yahoo)

It must have been a horrible baseball game to watch if you weren't a fan of the Yankees. Sorry about that. We take what we can get.

Progrostercating

With Sergio Mitre starting and a big four game set against the Red Sox looming, Anthony Claggett's recall yesterday was a prudent move. The downside is it returned the roster construction to the absurd 13 man pitching staff (not to mention indirectly caused some baffling substitutions).

That said, Brett Gardner's broken thumb and Alex Rodriguez' semi-regular rest necessitates the presence of a second back-up infielder on the roster beyond Jerry Hairston Jr, so another move will likely be made today.

Cody Ransom was a replacement level player at best, but I can't quite comprehend the level of vitriol directed at him in recent weeks nor the amount of revelry in the wake of his DFA-ing yesterday. Then again, I made bashing Angel Berroa and Brett Tomko a routine part of my schtick, so who am I to judge? I wouldn't be at all surprised if Ransom winds up at Scranton when this all shakes out.

Either way, a replacement is needed for the replacement level player, and indications are that a move may be made today (see the 5:41 update)- which would be wise in my estimation.

Ramiro Pena will almost assuredly be the player to come up and Claggett will almost assuredly be the one to go. Too bad Claggett didn't get a chance to lower his 43.20 career ERA. As for Pena, he was sent down on July 1st following the acquisition of Eric Hinske. Going to AAA for the first time in his career, Pena hit .241/.341/.366 in 134 PA. His AVG at Scranton was actually lower than his career minor league mark, but he showed improvement in both OBP and SLG. The IsoD of .100 is particularly encouraging. The sample size is small, but in one month at AAA Pena received 38 more PA than he did in three months in the Majors. I'm hopeful that his needed time in AAA will prove valuable to his overall development.

Defensively at Scranton, Pena made 19 appearances at SS, 8 at 2B, and 5 in CF. Learning centerfield was one of Pena's main objectives upon his optioning out, but as Cliff Corcoran pointed out at Bronx Banter yesterday, the arrival of Jerry Hairston Jr makes it far less important for Pena to be capable in CF for right now. For what it's worth, he handled 10 chances in CF flawlessly at Scranton, and can still increase his stock over the long term if he's able to play both IF and OF.

As it looks right now, the Yankee bench moving forward will be Hinske, Hairston, Pena, and Jose Molina, with Pena likely being optioned again if Gardner returns this month. That bench doesn't offer much in the way of offense. Hinske, and to a lesser extent Molina, will run into one every now and again, but none of the four have particularly good OBP skills.

However, to a man, the Yankee starters are good to excellent offensively, with Melky Cabrera's OPS+ of 111 ranking last amongst the usual nine. As such, the offensive skills of the bench are of secondary importance to what else the bench can offer.

In Molina there is an excellent defensive catcher who is reputed as one of the best game callers in the league.

In Hairston there is a utility man capable of playing anywhere but catcher. He offers some speed off the bench and has a good baseball pedigree coming from one of the three baseball families to span three generations.

In Pena there is an excellent defensive infielder who also can pinch run and who I hope has made some progress at the plate during his time at AAA - perhaps that's already manifested in his IsoD.

In Hinske you have a good pinch hitting option who has good pop and average OBP skills. He's a risk with the glove, but he won't kill you in RF or at 1B, and could play 3B and LF in a pinch.

As Joel Sherman pointed out yesterday, that's a nice, versatile bench - and that's about the best you can ask for when rolling out a regular line up such as the one the Yankees have. Gardner's return and the September roster expansion will allow the Yankees to augment the bench further and maybe add a little more offensive skill just in case.

Questionable Decisions

Good morning Fackers. Well, all in all that wasn't a bad road trip: 5-4, which after losing three straight against the ChiSox didn't seem like a realistic possibility. Sure, that was an ugly three game stretch last Thursday through Saturday, and the loss in Tampa was brutal all around. But after starting 2-4, the Yanks closed out with a nice three game winning streak, including a two game sweep of the Jays despite having Roy Halladay pitching against them in one game and Sergio Mitre pitching for them in the other. I'll sign up for that every time, thanks. With the Sox loss, the Yanks enter the big four game set with a 2.5 game lead.

Last night's game sure had some head scratching decisions though. Both Jay and I have been critical of Joe Girardi in the past. I've even been accused of having a bias against him. I'll fully admit that I was only able to watch and listen to parts of last night's game. That said, I think there were some poor decisions made.

My second guessing began as first guessing. As soon as the line up was posted, I sent Jay a message expressing my displeasure with it. Despite having DH'd Sunday and then enjoying the Monday off day, Alex Rodriguez was back in the DH spot. Now I'd prefer he be getting regular rest for his hip rather than being ridden into the ground as he was earlier this year. And I can understand the reasoning behind trying to save him from the Rogers Centre turf for a night. However, by any definition, A-Rod was already well rested having played just two games in the last three days, and one of them being at DH.

Meanwhile, the fact that Sergio Mitre was taking the mound prompted the Yankees go back to the ludicrous 13 man bullpen. If ever there is a reason to carry that 13th pitcher, having Sergio Mitre on the mound the night before a huge four game set against the Sox would be it. At the very least, Anthony Claggett's presence last night was a security measure against burning the pen on the eve of the big showdown.

As a result of Claggett's recall, Cody Ransom was designated for assignment. For last night at least, I don't have an issue with this move (more on this later). However, this move left Jerry Hairston Jr. as the primary back-up at 3B, SS, 2B, LF, and CF for last night. But rather than keep his supersub on the bench, Girardi chose to start him at third and give A-Rod yet another half night off as the DH.

The LaRussa-philes of the world would say that this move was good in that it got Hideki Matsui out of the line up against a lefty starter, except Godzilla is destroying left handed pitching this year to the tune of a .576 SLG, and .913 OPS, both marks better than his numbers against righties. He has 8 HRs against both types of pitchers, but only 85 ABs against lefties as opposed to 200 ABs against righties. In short, there's is absolutely no reason to sit Matsui against soutpaws.

Complicating matters, Jorge Posada was given the night off as well, leaving the bottom of the order as Cabrera-Hairston-Molina, far less dangerous than the usual Cano-Swisher-Cabrera or even a Cano-Cabrera-Molina.

This fact came to the fore in the seventh inning. With the score tied at three, and Robinson Cano on second base, Hairston's spot came around. With one out, two weak hitters due, and the go-ahead run in scoring position, Girardi called on Hideki Matsui to pinch hit. The moved paid an immediate dividend, as Matsui drove Cano home and kept the line moving for two more runs to score. However, had Girardi began the evening with a more conventional line up, the move likely wouldn't have been necessary.

As a result of the move, in the bottom of the inning the Yankees needed a new third baseman. Despite having a three run lead, Girardi wasn't comfortable placing defensively-challenged one-time third baseman Eric Hinske at the hot corner. Instead, he opted to sacrifice his DH spot and move A-Rod to third, thereby turning his half day off into a third of a day off which in turn kind of defeats the purpose of trying to give him time off at all.

The eighth spot in the order was now occupied by the pitcher, and it came around again in the top of the eighth. The Yankees led 6-4, with one out and a runner on third. Of course, Phil Coke wasn't going to hit here. So Girardi called on - who else - Eric Hinske. Boggles the mind. If he was going to use Hinske in that spot anyway (rather than say Posada), why not role the dice with him for one defensive inning?!?! Even if he didn't want Hinske in the field long term, he could have saved his DH spot for an additional inning, giving A-Rod additional rest. He still would have had the option to place A-Rod at third for the eighth and/or ninth, when it was no longer a certainty that the #8 spot would come around again.

The Yanks didn't get burned by the move and wound up winning 8-4. But it could have been a disastrous few decisions. The 13 man pitching staff left the Yanks with a 3 man bench for the night. Starting Hairston immediately limited the bench's flexibility. Pinch hitting for him crippled it. Dropping the DH killed it. At game's end Jorge Posada was the only man on the bench, and as the back-up catcher it was no sure thing that he would have been used. What if Toronto had tied the game at some point from the seventh on? What if the game had gone to extras? The Yanks presumably would have been sending pitchers up to hit at some point.

In the end it didn't matter. For a guy who is supposed to be well educated, baseball savvy, and forward thinking, Joe Girardi makes a ton of moves that seem to be done just for the hell of it.

Game 107: On The Way Home

Last night's win combined with the Red Sox 12th inning loss assured that the Yankees would be in first place by at least a half of a game when their 4 game set begins tomorrow. It would certainly be nice to win tonight as well, guaranteeing a lead of either 1.5 or 2.5 games, but that doesn't seem like a very likely proposition given who they are sending to the hill.

Tonight marks Stage Four of the Sergio Mitre experiment. His earned run totals have progressively increased (3, 4, 5) while his innings have decreased (5.2, 5, 3). Both of those trends are headed in the wrong direction, and he's got a 7.90 ERA.

His peripheral stats tell a different story, though. He hasn't walked too many batters (3 in 13 2/3 IP), given up only one home run and his .418 BABIP would suggest that he's been unlucky with the distribution of his hits. No one had high expectations for Mitre, but giving up 5 runs in three innings like he did in his last outing against the White Sox is a surefire way to earn a ticket back to the farm. If the Yanks defense has another night like the one they did behind Andy Pettitte, perhaps the Serg can cobble together 5 or 6 innings and keep the Yanks in the ballgame.

The Blue Jays counter with Marc Rzepczynski, a rookie with 6 Major League starts under his belt, none against the Yankees. The man of few vowels has a 3.25 ERA, but only one win partially because he hasn't thrown more than six innings in any of his starts (and partially because he plays for Toronto). He's averaging almost 19 pitches per inning, so the Yanks could be seeing the Jays bullpen fairly early on tonight if they play their cards right.

In roster news, Cody Ransom was mercifully DFA'd , pointing to the beginning of the end for the "#codyransom" party on Twitter. Ransom did muster 10 RBIs in 86 plate appearances this year but was only hitting .190/.256/.329. To take his place, the legendary Anthony Claggett has been summoned from Scranton. As you may or may not recall, Claggett was the young gentleman who came in for Chien Ming Wang in the 22-4 debacle against the Indians and allowed 8 ER in 1 2/3 innings. He is there presumably as an escape hatch if Mitre continues his descent into Chien Ming Wangdom.

With the toughest match up out of the way last night, the Yanks have a chance to head home from this road trip with a winning record despite dropping three straight to the White Sox. Winning their last three would be a hell of a turnaround. Let's go Yanks.

In a strange game,
I saw myself as you knew me,
When the change came,
And you had a chance to see through me,
Though the other side is just the same,
You can tell my dream is real.

Humpday Linkification

It's 3:00 and I haven't come across much of anything worth turning into a post, and unlike Matt I haven't come up with any interesting, original ideas on my own, either. So here we are again with a batch of links to tide you over until tonight's game preview goes up at 5.

From the Yanks:

Tyler Kepner notes that Mariano Rivera converted his 100th save in 104 chances last night. His ERA is under 2 despite being close to 4 in the beginning of May. He's got 10 appearances where he has recorded more than 3 outs this year including three out of his last four. It's great that he can still do it, but you'd think Girardi might want to ease up on the guy a bit...

In related news, FanGraphs says his cutter is only the 4th best in baseball (go to #7)? A.J. Burnett's fastball pales in comparison to his curveball (#11).

Why is Anthony Claggett going to Toronto? (h/t RAB on Twitter) Hopefully Cody Ransom is getting DFA'd and no one is hurt (Aceves?)...

Joel Sherman praises the additions of Eric Hinkse and Jerry Hairston, Jr. for adding much needed depth to the Yankee bench. He also wonders if Mark Melancon's role will increase as the pennant race heats up.

Michael Safino of SNY says the Yanks shouldn't shut Joba down. He says the Verducci Effect is "anti-science", but the Yankee Universe is quick to point out that Major League teams aren't asking Verducci for his opinion.

Chad Jenninngs extols the value of patience while PeteAbe tells us to enjoy the moment.

Slade Heathcott is looking for almost $900,000 over slot. Mike at RAB doesn't blame him for asking.

Joba's Mom is in trouble again.

Around the MLB:

The Jose Veras experiment didn't go so well for the Indians...

Wow, the bad news for the Mets just keeps rolling in...

This article claims that AT&T Park has the most expensive beers in the MLB. Newsflash, you have to pay more than $8.75 for a 20oz beer at the New Yankee Stadium. Want proof? (h/t HowFresh) $10 for a souvenir cup. They should have consulted me, I know these things.

Has John Henry finally taken my advice and stopped Twittering?

"Blew Jays", heh.

I'm afraid Prince Fielder might be a little nuts.

New York Football Giants:

Eli Manning is about to be the highest paid player in the NFL. Really? Did he tell them he was going to pack up his lunchbox and leave if he wasn't? Who else is going to pay him $106.7M over seven years? It didn't make sense to me back in January and it still doesn't.

P.S. If you want to keep tabs on every dropped pass and made field goal that happens at training camp, read Ralph Vacchiano's ridiculously comprehensive Blue Screen blog.

April Progress Report: Bullpen

[21 games into the season represents roughly 1/8th of the schedule, and the end of the first month seems like a good time to analyze what has thus far occurred. Following a tradition started by Boston Bren, mid-term evaluations are called Progress Reports (not Report Cards). These ratings are somewhat subjective, as they attempt to balance expectations and salary with value contributed to the team.

We already tackled the starting rotation, the infield, and the outfield]

(Click to enlarge)

By dissecting results after 21 games, we are already trafficking in small sample sizes. The fact that relievers have seen the least action of any group of players only exacerbates this problem. As I mentioned going into yesterday's game, the Yanks had the 2nd worst bullpen in the majors. Let's just take an overview to see what has gone wrong so far, and how bad it really is.

First of all, the bullpen has pitched 71 innings this year and surrendered 51 earned runs, good for a 6.46 ERA. However, if you want to be a super-apologist you could take into account that 21 of those runs came in 14 innings after Chien Ming Wang had been pulled from his two worst starts, in games that were all but over. Removing those from the equation, their ERA is 4.74, good for 19th in the MLB. Again, not good, but certainly better.

Mariano's numbers don't tell the entire story because he allowed two of Jonathan Albaledjo's inherited runners to score on Wednesday night, deflating his ERA and inflating Albie's. (He does have a 13K/0BB ratio, however). Jose Veras has a solid WHIP and good strikeout numbers but a bloated ERA because of one performance against Cleveland (the 22-4 game) where he gave up 3 runs without getting an out.

The bullpen has been poor, but there is reason to be optimistic, I think. Hopefully Brain Bruney comes back from the DL and picks up where he left off. I like what I've seen from Mark Melancon so far and David Roberston's minor league numbers are fantastic. It hasn't been a bring been a bright spot so far, but I'm willing to bet that the 'pen will be significantly better in May than it was in April.