Who Goes When Granderson Returns?

As we mentioned yesterday and again this morning, Curtis Granderson is currently rehabbing with Scranton and is slated to rejoin the Yankees in time for Friday's series opener against Cleveland.

Granderson's return of course means that someone has to go from the Big League roster. As much we'd like that someone to be Boone Logan, Joe Girardi has made it pretty clear that he likes having Logan as a second lefty in the bullpen and it's highly unlikely the Yankees will abandon the seven man bullpen ever again.

Thus, barring an injury between now and then, a position player will have to be removed from the roster. As the back-up catcher, Chad Moeller is safe. That leaves five candidates: Ramiro Pena, Kevin Russo, Juan Miranda, Marcus Thames, and Randy Winn.

Thames is safe. Despite his defensive deficiencies, he's of value to the team as presently constructed, particularly with Nick Johnson out of action for the foreseeable future. Thames has hit a scorching hot .357/.472/.536 thus far, mashes lefties, and figures to be part of DH platoon with Juan Miranda. Miranda too figures to be safe, not only as part of a DH platoon, but in serving as Mark Teixeira's back up, thereby allowing Nick Swisher to stay in right field on a daily basis.

Ramiro Pena also figures to stick around His .211/.244/.237 batting line is anemic and he might benefit from two weeks of steady playing time at Scranton. But as of now Pena is the utility infielder. Kevin Russo could supplant him in that role, but given Russo's inexperience at shortstop, I think the club wants to keep Pena around. Derek Jeter may not take much time off, but when he does the team wants a reliable glove in his place.

Kevin Russo is the most likely to be demoted. His spot is the least secure on the roster, and though he's started three of the last four games in left field, he still has just 16 career appearances in the outfield. That said, his stock appears to be rising, his bat is one the few that's been awake over the past several days, and if the Yankees believe he is capable as an outfielder, his versatility as a super utility player would be extremely valuable on the bench.

All of which means that Randy Winn's job may be in jeopardy. Winn was an unpopular signing from the start. He was a decent player for much of his career, but his numbers took a nose dive last year (.262/.318/.353) and are even worse (.213/.300/.295) through the early part of this season. Though a switch hitter, last year he posted the worst batting line of a right handed hitter against left handed pitching in 55 years, and he's yet to reach base in 11 plate appearances against left handed pitching this year. He still rates well as a defensive corner outfielder, but is no longer capable of playing a passable center field, and made a costly misplay in left field against the Mets Saturday. He's also become a favorite whipping boy/scapegoat amongst the fanbase.

Winn has had only 71 plate appearances this year, so it might be a bit premature to consider him done. But he had a poor 2009 and at thirty six years old it's unlikely he'll bounce back all that much. The crux of the matter comes down to whether or not the organization views Russo as a capable outfielder. If they do, then he becomes a viable fourth outfielder, and a more attractive option than Winn. If they don't, he goes back to Scranton to continue his apprenticeship in the outfield and Winn lives another day.

Either way, Winn hasn't performed well. In addition to Russo, the stocks of Scranton outfielders Chad Huffman, David Winfree, and Colin Curtis all appear to be on the upswing. Most likely, the Yankees will want to option Russo, giving him a little more experience in the outfield and to give Winn a few more weeks to turn things around before cutting him loose. But with the trademarket figuring to loosen up soon, and with several cheaper and likely equally effective options waiting in Scranton, Randy Winn's days with the Yankees are likely numbered.

Game 37 WPA Chart

That one stung. Kubel's salami resulted in a 59% swing in WPA, which is easily the largest of any single play in a Yankees game so far this year. The Yankees getting the tying run to the plate with no one out and following through with three straight strike outs - the last one looking on Teixeira - was pretty demoralizing as well. However, the Yanks took two out of three from a very good team, and at the end of the day, the series was still a success.

Tuesday Linkstavaganza

Can you tell what that pile of rubble used to be?

In the news department, as expected, Juan Miranda has been called up from AAA. We should have something a little later when the Yanks announce who is getting sent down.

Mike from the Yankeeist was at the game in Detroit last night. Not only did he make it to Comerica but experienced the city, from the partially-abandoned neighborhoods to the plush suburb of Grosse Pointe. Mike does a great job of describing the state of Motown and even though it's sort of depressing, it's well worth the read.

Joe DeLessio from New York Magazine went up to Boston for a game and compared to Mike when he was in Detroit, was treated quite kindly by the Fenway faithful. Having been to a decent number of games on Landsdowne during my college years, I can tell you that the people there aren't that bad. Like anywhere else, there are the occasional horror stories, but if you're not being obnoxious, you most likely won't have any problems.

If you are planning on heading to a game when the Yankees return to town or during the next homestand after that, check out the special "e-saver" deals listed by NYYSI.

If the Yankees keep signing catching prospects, they are going to have to start adding some more minor league affiliates so they all have a place to play.

Speaking of catchers in the system, Chad Jennings talked to Mark Newman who confirmed that, as was widely speculated, Jesus Montero was benched for not running out a ground ball. Some have made a big deal out of this, but the kid is 20 years old and it probably won't take more than one benching for him to get the message. And it's not like he was dogging it in the Majors. As Matt mentioned last night, Scranton has been without an actual starting pitcher for two out of their last four games. The emphasis just isn't on winning as much as it is in the Bronx and it might be easy to lose focus during a loss like the one the team suffered on Friday.

As Rebecca pointed out over at TYU last night, Randy Winn left seven men on base (I should have noted this in the recap, so I'm atoning for that omission here). Winn came up with runners on the corners in the 2nd and hit a foul pop out to first. The bases were loaded for him in the 6th but he flew out to end the inning. And in the 8th, he had runners on the corners and made the second out of the frame without getting the run home. Of course, the one time he came up when there was no one on, leading off the 5th, he notched a single. Good timing, dude.

On Friday, Larry from The Yankeeist did an excellent, in-depth interview with Moshe from TYU, touching on all sorts of personal and blogging stuff.

And one more from the TYU crew: Stephen R. shares a Kevin Youkilis story from 2008.

Via BBTF, if you've got $25K, you can buy the generator from the Old Yankee Stadium.

Chris Carter, the player the Yankees claimed off waivers to throw a wrench into the Red Sox/Mets Billy Wagner trade, has finally made his way to Flushing. The original move was little more than an inconvenience to the Sox but it screwed over Carter, who would have had a chance to get some playing time for the Mets last year. Hopefully he can make good on his opportunity this time around.

The Detroit Free Press is running Ernie Harwell's final interview in three parts: One, Two, Three.

CitiField has a garbage problem and it's not even Omar Minaya's fault!

Here's an interesting AP story on how teams are scouting umpires.

Congrats to Sky Andrecheck of Sports Illustrated and Baseball Analysts who just accepted a job in the Indians' front office.

The Honorable Morgan Ensberg presides over the case of Evan Longoria and his attempt to break up Dallas Branden's perfect game with a drag bunt. His verdict is basically that doing it when you are trying to help you team win (which he thinks Longoria was) is okay, but doing it when your team is down by a lot and it's late in the game, just to break up the no-no/perfecto is not.

Larry from Wezen-Ball lines up the career of Ken Griffey Jr. side by side with the 20 year run of The Simpsons and finds a lot of parallels. I've never been a huge fan of The Simpsons, but I'm sure some of you will appreciate the level of detail Lar went to in his analysis.

Dave Cameron thinks the fact that two players told reporters about Griffey's mid-game snooze indicates that the he doesn't have the respect of the clubhouse (otherwise they might have woken him up). He argues that you have to actually be a good player to be a leader.

Yesterday was the first day along the road to the U.S. Open for John Smoltz. Unfortunately, it was also the last. Smoltz shot a 76 and missed out on being one of the nine people to qualify for the next level by six shots. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, he had a gallery of about 30 people at all times and took time to sign a bunch of autographs after he was done playing.

How could anyone fwah-get when Jason Varitek split the uprights and sent the Patriots to the Supah Bowl? Nawt the fackin' May-uh of Bahston! Manny Ortiz is rolling over in his imaginary grave right now.

This might be more egregious that the "Natinals" disaster. Less visible to be sure, but still completely inexcusable.

Is Adonis Cardona the best name for a baseball player ever? Probably not, but it's awesome as shit and has an awfully nice ring to it.

That's it for now, we should be back with something on the Miranda move in a bit, but if not we'll still have the preview at 5.

Tuesday Afternoon Linkstavaganza

Happy 139th Birthday, Major League Baseball. You don't look at day over 125.

Via the WSJ, it seems that Derek Jeter has a pretty small strike zone in relation to his height when compared to a few other Yankees and Mets. The zones are based on just one year of data and without looking at a wide cross section of the league we can't tell where they fit in, exactly, but it's interesting anecdotally.

Today, Mark Teixeira donated $100,000 to Harlem RBI. Much of the money will be used to provide tuition assistance, SAT prep and counseling for kids who want to go to college. He said:

I started talking to them during spring training and I was blown away. One thing I'm passionate about is education and this is allowing kids to get an opportunity to go to college and use every tool at their disposal.

Carlos Beltran has also donated $255,000 to the program since 2005.

Joe from River Ave. Blues examines Nick Johnson's quest to start hitting.

Guess what, Jason Gay... I'm not going to start rooting for Boston because "a Yankee championship means more when Boston is competitive". The Rays aren't going anywhere so the sooner the Sox are dead and buried, the better. And while you claim to have come up with "Schillingfreude", but we've been celebrating Papenfreude and Soxenfreude for a long time around these parts. You've been placed on notice, sir.

However, I will acknowledge that Dave Roberts is suffering from lymphoma and wish him a full and speedy recovery. In his honor, Joe Posnanski put together the 10 most famous steals of all time.

In addition to catching up with their top 30 preseason prospects, Pending Pinstripes highlights some of the better offensive performances throughout the system in April.

John Sterling's home run call for Randy Winn is a loser.

If you scroll down to #5 here, you'll see that the Yankees were not the first team to use Kate Smith for inspiration. But at least she was still alive when the Fliers did it.

Speaking of Philly, while the baseball blogosphere was briefly titillated and entertained by the dude who got tased at Citizen's Bank Park last night, Tim Marchman puts the use of that kind of force into proper perspective. Craig Calcaterra agrees.

Larry from Wezen-ball's Tater Trot Tracker was featured in USA Today, just a mere step along his path to world domination.

In case you've had your head in the sand for the past 24 hours, the Yankees are skipping Javier Vazquez's turn in the rotation in Boston. It seems like a good move to give the guy some time to collect himself and save him from the hostile environment of fackin' Fenway Paaahhk. If that doesn't cure what ails him, I don't know what will.

Tom Verducci pines for "the crack of the bat". That was almost an awesome pun but I don't know of any bats made of evergreen wood.

Think the NBA Playoffs are less random than the MLB's? Tango says think again.

Also over at The Book Blog, Tango tries to clear up some misconceptions about Win Probability Added and Win Expectancy. David Pinto points out a flaw in the kind of WPA charts we use in that they all start at with 50/50 odds despite the fact that one team usually has a better chance of winning. Sure, but that opens up a Pandora's Box of other variables that could be taken into account on a batter-by-batter basis.

Rob Neyer answers some questions from his mailbag and while debunking the idea that a certain rule that was was said created for Jackie Robinson, talks about how much intuitive sense the regulations of the game make. If only the original statistics were as logical.

Here's a nice piece about the 12 year old girl who threw back-to-back no-hitters in Little League and was taught how to throw a knuckleball by Joe Neikro. We linked to the story about the no-no's when they happened but this is a more complete profile of Chelsea Baker.

Blue Jays fan Navin Vaswami - he of the "baseball road trip of a lifetime" - stops in Philly and admits that Roy Halladay is probably in a better place now.

Theo Epstein had some strong words for the play of the Red Sox thus far, calling it"unintelligent, undisciplined, uninspired" and threatening changes if it doesn't turn around. That's pretty much like the principal coming into the class room and telling the kids that the all have detention if they don't shape up. It probably won't happen, but it might get them to sit up straight.

Dustin Pedroia: Motivational speaker (via BBTF).

Oh you thought you know how much of a slimeball Redskins owner Daniel Snyder was based on how he runs the Redskins? Look at what he did to Six Flags.

"First Basemens"? Yeah that's Nada Word.

Back with the preview at the usual time (5:00).

Game 25 Recap

1. Leading off the second inning, CC Sabathia got ahead of Matt Wieters 1-2. Wieters then took a slider down and in, fouled off a changeup and was rewarded with a belt high fastball on the outer half of the plate. It was a smoked, opposite field line drive that never got very high but cleared the right field fence and put the O's up 1-0.

2. Alex Rodriguez singled to lead off the fourth inning. Cano flied out, then Posada moved A-Rod to second with a grounder. The Yanks mounted a two out rally beginning with a smashed line drive off the wall by Nick Swisher that went for a double and scored A-Rod. Brett Gardner extended the inning with a soft single to center and Randy Winn put the Yankees on top 4-1 with a three run shot into the Yankees' bullpen. Those were the only three scoring plays of the night.

IFs, ANDs & BUTs

• CC wasn't exactly dominant tonight, getting only two strike outs in his 8 innings of work. Maybe overpowering is a better word? He only gave up just one run, six hits and two walks and was helped about by double plays in the 6th and 7th innings. He also got a whopping 16 groundball outs, and when you are getting hitters to pound it into the turf like that, you don't really need to get too many K's.
  
  
• Aside from the fourth inning, Jeremy Guthrie had a pretty solid outing. Even in that one frame, all of the damage came with two outs. Like Sabathia, he gave up six hits (on HR), two walks and only struck out two.
  
  
• Early on in the YES broadcast they showed a clip of Cano hitting a ball over the top of the batter's eye in center field during this afternoon's batting practice. That, my friends, is a BOMB.
  
  
• With the doubles in the fourth and sixth, Nick Swisher is now 13 for 24 off Jeremy Guthrie with nine extra base hits.
  
  
• Randy Winn's three run homer was his first one in 491 ABs, dating back to last April.
  
  
• Francisco Cervelli took over for Jorge Posada behind the plate in the sixth inning. Apparently Posada was experiencing some tightness in his right calf and has probably already undergone an MRI.
  
  
• With two outs in the 7th inning, Sabathia's displeasure with homeplate umpire Bill Hohn came to a head. Sabathia put three fastballs that looked to be on the black but Hohn called them all balls. There was some jawing and Joe Girardi made a mound visit to calm down the situation. Sabathia recovered and got Caesar Izturis to ground out to end the inning and sat down the O's in order in the 8th.
  
  
• Perhaps the lack of strikeouts was a product of the tight zone?
  
  
• Mariano Rivera didn't pitch the 9th inning despite a 3 run lead for the Yanks - and during the Joe Girardi said that Mo felt some tightness in his left side starting on Saturday and should be ready to go tomorrow. No tests are scheduled.
  
  
• Joba Chamberlain filled in for Mo and aside from a walk to Matt Wieters, took care of business and picked up the save. It was the second of his career.
  
  
• The game wrapped up in a tidy 2:29. It feels like I always use that adjective for short games, but it's better than Michael Kay's "manageable", yes?
  
  
• The Yankees set a record for the lowest attendance at the New Stadium, a mark previously set on April 21st, 2009 - a game that Schiff and I were at.

Same time, same place tomorrow as A.J. Burnett and Brian Matusz lock horns.

Game 9: Four Sticks

As the Yankees attempt to take their third straight rubber match to begin the season, both teams send young starting pitchers to the mound to make their season debuts, albeit a little bit late.

After beginning the season on the 15 day DL with a left shoulder issue, Scott Kazmir takes the ball for the Angels tonight. The 26 year old lefty had a rough go in his time with Tampa Bay last year, amassing a 5.92 ERA in 20 starts and spending almost a month on the DL with a quadriceps injury before being traded to Anaheim at the wavier trade deadline. Kazmir saw his strikeout rate dip below one per inning for the first time since his rookie season in '09 as his hit rate jumped over that 9/9IP mark for the first time in his career.

In six regular season starts with the Angels, Kazmir pitched 36 innings and gave up just 7 ER, good for a 1.73 ERA. It would appear that he found his groove out in California but judging by xFIP, the two parts of the season were virtually indistinguishable. Kazmir made three appearances in the postseason (including a start and a relief appearance against the Yankees) and didn't fare well, allowing 9 ER in 10 2/3 innings.

Given that Kazmir is due $20M over the next two years, the Angels took on significant risk when they acquired him and the early season trip to the DL isn't a good sign considering he's battled shoulder issues before. If he can stay healthy, though, Kazmir has proven he is a valuable commodity in the past. He has also had quite a few of the Yankees' numbers, Derek Jeter in particular, so it will be interesting to see if that trend continues.

For the Yankees, Phil Hughes makes his much-anticipated 2010 debut. Although he's still only 23 years old, this will be the fourth season in a row that Phil has been given a chance to start a game in April.

Back in 2007, he went on 4/28 against Toronto before the infamous hamstring injury in Texas on May 1st. In 2008, he had a 9.00 ERA after 6 April outings and was placed on the DL, supposedly with a broken rib and some other ailments although many suspected that it was just a case of "bad pitcheritis". Last year he was called up from the minors after Chien-Ming Wang came down with that same ailment to make another April 28th start and stayed in the rotation for a total of 7 games before being relocated to the bullpen in early June.

It was his performance as a reliever last year that has been the most encouraging sign of his young Major League career. In 41 appearances spanning 51.1 innings, Hughes tallied a 1.40 ERA and held opponents to an anemic .456 OPS against, allowing just 5 extra base hits. Starting is going to be a different sort of challenge for him, but Hughes says he feels much more ready than he has in the past.

After being awarded the 5th starter's job in Tampa in March, Hughes made two starts in extended Spring Training attempting to refine his pitching arsenal while the team played the Red Sox and Rays. Now he's back with the club and about to be given his fourth shot to become a full time member of the starting rotation. Let's hope he sticks there this time around.

Oh, Baby, the river's red, Oh, Baby, in my head.
There's a funny feelin' goin' on, I don't think I can hold out long.

-Lineups-

Yankees:

There's a lot going on here. Nick Johnson is on the bench (just a regular day off), and Nick Swisher moves up to take his place in the two hole. Marcus Thames will DH as Randy Winn plays left field (his first start of the season), which is clearly the better choice defensively. In between those two in the bottom third of the lineup, Curtis Granderson occupies the 8th spot, one position higher than he's batted against the other lefties the Yankees have faced.

Jeter SS
Swisher RF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Cano 2B
Posada C
Thames DH
Granderson CF
Winn LF

Angels:

Erick Aybar SS
Bobby Abreu RF
Torii Hunter CF
Hideki Matsui DH
Kendry Morales 1B
Howie Kendrick 2B
Mike Napoli 2B
Brandon Wood 3B
Reggie Willits LF

Garko A Good Fit For Bench Spot

Good morning Fackers. The Yankees made a few more cuts yesterday. Outfielders David Winfree, whom we touched upon briefly last week, and Jon Weber (pictured to the left) were sent to minor league camp. If you are to believe the story being bandied about in various media outlets, Weber, despite leading the organization in the all important category of Spring Training batting average, was farmed out for the sin of being a left handed batter. And I'm sure that has everything to do with it; the fact that Weber is 32 years old with 11 years of professional experience and zero days of Major League service time assuredly has no bearing upon the decision.

The demotions of Weber and Winfree leave Marcus Thames as the only non-roster outfielder left in camp. Thames, unlike Weber, is right handed batter and that's something specific the Yankees are looking for in their fifth outfielder. With Curtis Granderson's well-documented struggles against left handed pitching, lingering concerns about lefty swinging Brett Gardner's ability to hold down an everyday job, and Randy Winn coming off the absolute worst season of a right handed batter vs. lefty pitching in the past 55 years, the team wants a lefty masher for the fifth outfielder spot.

It's been assumed that Thames has all but won the job since Jamie Hoffmann was returned to the Dodgers last week. But, Joe Girardi said last night that Thames is not yet assured a spot, and Brian Cashman has said repeatedly over the past week that the Yankees would continue to monitor the trade market and waiver wire for other options.

Interestingly enough, another option came available just yesterday. The Seattle Mariners have decided to waive Ryan Garko, whom they signed just last month after he was foolishly non-tendered by the Giants. The Mariners, perhaps the most run prevention focused club in baseball, decided that Casey Kotchman's defense, Mike Sweeney's clubhouse presence, and an open roster spot were more valuable to the team, despite Garko's economical $550k contract, two remaining options, and rather potent bat relative to the rest of their roster.

Garko, like Thames, mashes left handed pitching. His career line of .313/.392/.495 in 485 PA against southpaws is actually better than Thames' .256/.329/.516 line in 691 PA. Garko's also four years younger and has two years of arbitration eligibility left.

The potential fly in the ointment is that Garko isn't really an outfielder, with just twelve games of professional experience there. However, Thames is a poor outfielder as well. And with plus defensive players in Gardner and Winn, the team could afford to sacrifice some defensive proficiency in the fifth outfielder spot in exchange for offensive prowess.

Garko is of some value defensively, as he's a passable first baseman and was a catcher for the first three years of his pro career. While he shouldn't ever again don the tools of ignorance unless it's an absolute emergency, his ability to play first would be of use to the Yankees. Nicks Johnson and Swisher figure to be Mark Teixeira's back ups should he need a day off or miss some time due to something like a hit by pitch square on his elbow. The pitfall with that arrangement is that if Teixeira were to miss more a few games at a time, the Yankees would be shifting one of their regulars to first base and replacing him with an offensively inferior player such as Winn. Garko's presence on the roster would safeguard against that.

Garko projects as a close to a 1.0 WAR player this year and his $550k salary is easily absorbable. With two open spots on their 40 man roster and more than $2M of payroll flexibility following the release of Chad Gaudin, the Yankees would be wise to place a claim on Garko if he falls that far down the waiver wire.

Yanks Done Hassling With The Hoff

Earlier today, Rule 5 pick Jamie Hoffmann cleared waivers and was returned to the Dodgers. The Dodgers will pay $25,000 for Hoffmann's return, half the initial price the Yankees paid for the pick. Hoffmann hit .130/.259/.174 in 26 plate appearances this spring. He drew three walks against one strike out and was one for two in stolen base attempts.

Barring an Elijah Dukes signing, it appears that Marcus Thames has won the fifth outfielder competition, despite his equally anemic .107/.167/.107 line in 29 plate appearances this spring and poor play in the field. Setting aside the useless, small sample size stats of the spring, it appears that the club values Thames' right handed power more than Hoffmann's versatility, defense, and speed. Thames may only do one thing well, but apparently that's the one thing the club is seeking from this spot. The team is lacking in right handed power from left field and the bench, but have players with skill sets similar to Hoffmann's in Brett Gardner and Randy Winn.

Speculation abounds that the Yankees may make a trade with Los Angeles, potentially sending an extraneous fifth starter candidate/longman such as Chad Gaudin or Sergio Mitre, to secure Hoffmann's rights. This would slightly reduce payroll and would free the Yankees from carrying Hoffmann under Rule 5 obligations, giving them the flexibility to stash him at AAA rather than carry him on the Major League roster all year. If that were to happen, it would create quite a log jam in the Scranton outfield with Hoffmann, Colin Curtis, Greg Golson, Reid Gorecki, Jon Weber, and David Winfree, though Hoffmann figures to be of more value than the rest of them.

On the flip side, such a deal would also mean that the Yankees had to trade two Major League pitchers - Brian Bruney and whoever goes west - in order to obtain a AAA outfielder. None of those pitchers should be considered a major loss, but I'd like to think that for the price of two Major League caliber pitchers the team could at least secure a fifth outfielder in whom they are confident.

In the end, it doesn't appear the pick has worked out well for the Yankees. The Rule 5 Draft isn't designed for teams like the Yankees and it was unlikely from the start that they'd obtain anyone of value from the pick. For every Johan Santata, Joakim Soria, or Shane Victorino that gets selected in the Rule 5, there are hundreds of Jamie Hoffmanns and the like who don't pan out. Still, Brian Cashman executed a shrewd trade with the Nationals to secure the top pick in the draft. It's unfortunate they weren't able to find a usable part with the pick of the litter.

A Bronx Tale For Dukes?

Good morning Fackers. Just two weeks and two days until Opening Night. Spring Training is starting to wind down. The guys with the defensive end numbers are getting shipped off to minor league camp; the regulars are sticking around a little longer in the games; Joe Girardi has said that results are starting to matter, and The Most Important Fifth Starter Competition In The History Of Mankind could be decided as early as Sunday.

As we've mentioned a few other times this Spring, aside from that fifth starter spot there are really just two competitions in camp: the utility infielder spot and the fifth outfielder spot. The former is being fought out amongst four young infielders on the Yankees' forty man roster while the latter is being contested between Rule 5 pick Jamie Hoffmann and non-roster invitee Marcus Thames.

On Wednesday, an interesting wrinkle emerged in the fifth outfielder spot storyline, as the Washington Nationals released Elijah Dukes. Before I could dig myself out from under a mountain of work or tear myself away from a plate of corned beef, our friends at RAB, TYU*, BBD, and the Yankeeist all asked the obvious question for us Yankee fans: should the Yankees consider Dukes?

*Bonus points to TYU for the outstanding Dukes of Hazzard reference.

Rather than cover the same ground that our esteemed colleagues have already touched upon, allow me to give a brief overview like the one Rob Neyer did:

Assets:
Dukes will turn just 26 this year; is cost controlled; has an option left; is immensely talented; is capable of playing all three outfield positions; is the type of right handed bat the Yankees are seeking for a reserve outfield role, and turned in an outstanding half season for Washington in 2008.

Liabilities:
His off the field problems have been well-documented; is quite possibly bat-shit crazy; has been dumped by two talent-poor teams over the past 27 months; had a poor 2009, and outside of his 2008 season has been rather unremarkable over the course of his three year Big League career.

Do the assets outweigh the liabilities? I don't know. My gut feeling is that the potential upside for Dukes is not worth the risk involved. Between the lines, he appears to be a more compelling option than both Hoffmann and Thames, not to mention Randy Winn and potentially even Brett Gardner. But should the Yankees be willing to take on Dukes and his baggage to fill what amounts to the 24th or 25th spot on the roster?

And why should we assume that Dukes, who has seemingly reached the make or break point of his career before his twenty sixth birthday, would be willing to accept a bench role with the Yankees at a time when his career appears to be on the line? For that matter, why should we assume, in spite of what the Nats are saying, that if Dukes' act had worn too thin for the Major Leagues' worst club that he would pass muster with any other club?

Whether the next chapter of Dukes' tale unfolds in the Bronx or not, situations like this always cause me to think of A Bronx Tale: the saddest thing in life is wasted talent. Dukes has a load of talent, but he's running out of chances to develop and showcase it. If he ends up being remembered for what he could have been rather than what he was, it would be a very poor story indeed.



(Yes, this post was in large part a vehicle to embed a sweet black and white video of Delaney and Bonnie with Eric Clapton. You can see a more complete version, featuring Traffic's Dave Mason and Derek and the Dominoes' Bobby Whitlock, here. And of course I'd be remiss if I also didn't include a link to the Black Crowes' version as well.)

Marcus Thames Returns, Nostalgic Offseason Continues

I don't think Brian Cashman would actually make decisions based on something as irrational as nostalgia, but he has spent much of this offseason reacquiring players that were dealt away when the Tampa "brain trust" was purportedly controlling the Yankee organization. First it was Javy Vazquez, next Nick Johnson and this afternoon the Yanks signed Marcus Thames - who was dealt to the Rangers in exchange for Ruben Sierra back in 2003 - to a minor league deal.

Thames had spent six seasons in the Yanks' minor league system before he was dealt. After being drafted in the 30th round of the 1997 draft, he was placed in Rookie ball, slowly moved up through the levels of the farm and was promoted to AA in the middle of 1999. After a marginal 2000 campaign, Thames broke out with a massive 2001 in which he jacked 31 homers for the Norwich Navigators and hit .321/.410/.598. His excellent season earned him a promotion to AAA the following year but he regressed badly, mustering a line of only .207/.297/.378. Despite those dismal results, he still earned a call up to the Major League club in June and famously debuted by hitting a home run of Randy Johnson.

Thames was traded at the behest of George Steinbrenner who was dead set on acquiring a left handed bat for the team. The 37 year old Ruben Sierra apparently fit that bill, but had only a 90 OPS+ over his last 6 seasons in the majors. The salaries were pretty much comparable and the Rangers decided to take a shot on Thames. Neither end of the transaction worked out especially well but the Yankees did slightly better. Sierra hit .276/.323/.432 (100 OPS+) in 189 plate appearances while Thames was fairly dreadful (47 OPS+) in 84 PAs for the Rangers. Thames was DFA'd by Texas at the end of the season to make room on their 40 man roster.

The Tigers signed Thames the following offseason. He provided solid value for Detroit over the first two years of the deal but was below replacement level in both 2008 and 2009. Last year, he missed two months with a severely pulled muscle in his rib cage. The Tigers elected to non-tender him instead of going through arbitration on his salary of $2.275M.

The deal with the Yankees could be worth up to $900K if Thames makes the Major League team. Not coincidentally, Randy Winn's base salary was $1.1M (with $900K in incentives, based on PAs) so regardless how the competition for the 4th outfielder in Spring Training goes, the Yanks will be paying out a maximum of $2M for that spot, all told.

Thames has a career .360 wOBA against lefties as opposed to .324 against righties, so he could be useful as a platoon option in right field. But as we are slowly learning, platoon splits are not always as pronounced as they seem. His value is derived from his power; he's hit an average of 33 home runs per 500 ABs over the course of his career. Thames provides an interesting depth option for the Yanks and with the structure of the deal, it's essentially a no-risk move. I don't think the team has any use at all for Juan Rivera, but at this point I wouldn't be totally shocked if they traded for him anyway.

Reed Johnson Chooses Goatee Over The Yankees

Despite possessing some of the offensive and defensive skills that the Yankees were seeking to acquire with the last $2M they had to spend this offseason, the team was unable to come to terms with former Cub and Blue Jay Reed Johnson. The versatile outfielder instead chose to take less money from the Dodgers so that he could retain his trademark facial hair.

Johnson has been especially effective against left handed pitching over the course of his career, something that two of the three outfielders projected to start for the Yankees in 2010 are not. He also has the ability to defend all three outfield positions - and is particularly effective in the corners - a skill that the Yankees have placed increasing priority on in recent years. However, despite the fit from the Yankees' perspective, Johnson was unwilling to conform to the Yankees grooming policy which allows only well-trimmed mustaches and short sideburns and was introduced by George Steinbrenner shortly after his purchase of the team.

"Scrap these beautiful chin whiskers, brah?", Johnson rhetorically asked a female reporter for the AP. "I've been cultivating this righteous 'tee off and on since I came up with the Jays and I'm not about to shave it off to go play for the [expletive] Yankees".

This came as a surprise to Brain Cashman, who seemed flustered by Johnson's continued rebuffing of his advances. According to a source within the Yankee organization with knowledge of the negotiations, Cashman told Johnson that New York would be willing to offer him $1M with another $500K in incentives - significantly more than the other offers he had on the table. However, Johnson gave the Yankees an ultimatum that specified the team would need to double their offer or allow him to retain his goatee in order for him to sign. Cashman, along with Hal Steinbrenner, were neither willing to change the grooming policy nor offer Johnson twice as much in order to get him to shave.

Instead of signing Johnson, the Yankees were forced to make a $2M deal with Randy Winn, a switch hitter who struggled mightily against lefties last season and has a negligible platoon split over the course of his career. Winn sported a far neater goatee in San Francisco but was willing to part with it in order to become a member of the defending World Champions. Said Winn, "Chad Gaudin gave up that Amish-looking arrangement on his chin last year and look what it got him. A World Series ring, baby".

Brain Cashman refused to comment on Johnson's negotiating tactcs, saying only "We are happy with our deal with Randy [Winn] and we look forward to seeing him in Spring Training".

Yankees Sign Randy Winn, Lose

According to Joel Sherman on Twitter, the Yankees have come to terms with Randy Winn for one year for just about the elusive $2M Brian Cashman was dangling in front perspective free agents.

Last year for the Giants, Winn was nothing short of dreadful at the plate, racking up a smooth .262/.318/.353. He's going to turn 36 this season so he's less likely than a younger player to rebound from such a poor effort.

Here is the first positive thing: he's a good defender. Winn put up some gaudy UZR totals in the corner outfield positions over the last few years so even if those are overstated, he's still likely to be quite a bit better than average.

Last year he was atrocious against left handed pitching. Like real atrocious. Which is fine because he's going to be platooning with Brett Gardner and facing primarily... wait. Fuck.

He could probably still play centerfield in a pinch, but so can Gardner and Jamie Hoffmann. What the Yankees needed was a bat and what they got a glove that's not any sort of an improvement over the two they already have.

Whatever, it's only $2M dollars - 1% of the payroll. But as Matt mentioned to me on GChat, with the power of hindsight, the Yankees could have had Jim Thome DH for $2.2M and then had enough to bring Johnny Damon back instead. Without having to go back in time, the Yanks could have just inked Reed Johnson who mashes lefties and is no defensive slouch himself. I don't really get it.

The best part about this? It will be at least a year until we have to read another article talking about Johnny Damon coming to the Yankees. That and the endless amount of puns we will be able to make using Winn's last name when he inevitably sucks.

Anyway, that just about rounds out the 2010 Yankees aside from the few bench spots that will be up for grabs in Spring Training. We'll probably have more on this tomorrow, but what do you Fackers think?