On the Yankees beat

Jim,
Wow.
That Lonn is a great guy.

What do you make of this ? (from a site called allballs.org )

"Okay guys, here's what I've heard through the grapevine on this...The Red Sox will hold out trying to lowball Dice-K [Matsuzaka]. And when I say hold out, I mean to the point where it becomes it was obvious just a blocking manuever to keep him from the Yankees. He wants $15Mx3Y, sox are offering 8Mperx4Y, "oceans apart". I've been told that if the Sox knew the Mets had the second highest bid ($38M), higher than the Yankees ($32M), they never would have bid $51.11 to win him. That comes from a very good source. Moreover, what I heard from the same source who is close to negotiations that what will happen is that Selig, Boras, and Seibu have a deal in place, where Boras pays Seibu $25 mil (1/2 the Red Sox bid) and he owns the rights to Matsuzaka, and puts him on the market BY X-MAS for the highest bidder, and Selig has signed off on it..."

Again, found this at a website called allballs.org- any merit to this shocking rumor ???

Speculative, But, Could It Be True?, ...we'll see

http://www.nj.com/weblogs/yankees/

Thursday, November 30, 2006

The Matsu-saga continues
Very interesting e-mail from a rather informed and reasonable source came in:

Okay guys, here's what I've heard through the grapevine on this...The Red Sox will hold out trying to lowball Dice-K [Matsuzaka]. And when I say hold out, I mean to the point where it becomes it was obvious just a blocking manuever to keep him from the Yankees. He wants $15Mx3Y, sox are offering 8Mperx4Y, "oceans apart". I've been told that if the Sox knew the Mets had the second highest bid ($38M), higher than the Yankees ($32M), they never would have bid $51.11 to win him. That comes from a very good source. Moreover, what I heard from the same source who is close to negotiations that what will happen is that Selig, Boras, and Seibu have a deal in place, where Boras pays Seibu $25 mil (1/2 the Red Sox bid) and he owns the rights to Matsuzaka, and puts him on the market BY X-MAS for the highest bidder, and Selig has signed off on it...

So, take that for what it's worth. Probably some truth to it, and probably some game-of-telephone style exaggerations. If Matsuzaka goes on the market, though, expect the Yanks to be huge players. But man, what an intriguing, juicy story. MLB.com's Fred Claire says the competition for the far east market is just adding a new element to the Yankee-Sox rivalry.

allballs.rg was copy infringement from this website.

For those who want Him......

http://www.rotoworld.com/content/playerpages/player_main.aspx?sport=MLB&id=1417

Astros declined to offer arbitration to RHP Roger Clemens, LHP Andy Pettitte, INF Aubrey Huff, 1B Jeff Bagwell and RHP Russ Springer.

It seems the Astros would prefer to spend what money they have now rather than set any aside for extra draft picks next summer. Declining to offer arbitration to a free agent is no longer the big issue it was in the past. Unlike last year, when there was a drop-dead date after which the Astros could no longer negotiate with Clemens, they can now re-sign him whenever they wish.
.It won't cost anybody Draft picks.

I'd love it if the article about Boston lowballing Matsuzaka were true but I don't think it is for a couple of reasons: 1. If they do in fact lowball him and don't make a deal, they become the laughing stocks of the league. They look like a pack of idiots who can't get anything done.
2. They lose face with the Japanese league and you can tell how lucrative it is from the Yankees dealings. Boston wants in on that market in the workst way. That's the main reason I think they will make a deal.

If this is true, and they did it just to keep him from being a Yankee, you give them a tiny bit of credit for being shrewd but to avoid that situation again next time maybe you adjust the posting rules so that the team that wins has the normal 30 days to negotiate with the player. If they don't reach a deal, the player goes back to Japan and the team gets HALF it's posting fee back. It's brutal but it would weed out the low class dirtbags who try to play games.
Thoughts?

Hey Erik O,

At least steal from the proper guys and give respect.

WOW, glad I don't live in NY. I'd never get to go to a gmae. I have season tix to the Indians at Jacobs Field. We have 4 field boxe seats about 12 rows back of the 1B on deck circle. They are $38 per seat. What a different economy here in the heartland.

Jim A - I like your posting fee idea.

The remainder of the Yankees' free agents -- Bernie Williams, Tanyon Sturtze, Octavio Dotel, Craig Wilson, Miguel Cairo, Nick Green and Sal Fasano -- were not offered arbitration before Friday night's deadline, as none of them would have garnered an extra draft pick for New York.

Under the old Collective Bargaining Agreement, any free agent who was not offered arbitration would have been ineligible to re-sign with his former team until May 1. Under the new CBA, free agents not offered arbitration may still sign with their old club at any time.
'

GoodBye Bernie. We will missed you.

source - yankees.com

Hello, Do you know anything about Kawakami, Kenshin ? Do you think He will be will be posted next year same as Matsuzaka and Igawa?

http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Kenshin_Kawakami

Kenshin Kawakami

Bats Right, Throws Right
Height 5' 10", Weight 198 lb.
Born June 22, 1975 in Tokushima Japan
Kenshin Kawakami was the first-round draft pick of the Chunichi Dragons in 1998. He immediately proved the choice to be a good one, as he won Rookie of the Year honors that season by going 14-6 with a 2.57 ERA. He was fourth in the Central League in wins and second in ERA, trailing only teammate Shigeki Noguchi.

The next three years proved to be a struggle for Kawakami, who went 16-22 over that span. He bounced back in 2002 with a 12-6, 2.35 season. For the second time in his career he was runner-up for the ERA lead, trailing Masumi Kuwata. He threw a no-hitter that year against the mighty Yomiuri Giants. In '03, Kawakami was limited to 8 games, but he had a strong season in 2004, going 17-7 with a 3.32 ERA. He won a Gold Glove, made the Best Nine team, won the Sawamura Award, was MVP of the Central League, helped Chunichi to the pennant, led the league in wins and his 176 Ks were second to Kei Igawa. The next year he was not as great, going 11-8 with a 3.74 ERA.

In May 2006, Kawakami was named pitcher of the month for the seventh time in his career. That tied Masahiro Yamamoto and Hideki Matsui for the most times being named the top player or pitcher in their league for a month

Here's some Youtube Video I found on KAWAKAMI,Kenshin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-a1lADub4M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dH5ZEgSFE4U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9-LNDdyYso --- Kawakami vs Seung Yeop Lee

This year stats He went 17-7 and with era of 2.51

http://japanball.com/stats.phtml

http://japanesebaseball.com/players/player.jsp?PlayerID=1026

Cashman does everything he can to lower the Yankee payroll, and at the same time the Yankees increase their revenue by drastically increasing ticket prices to "fat cats". The Yanks are leaving the "George Steinbrenner" era behind, and becoming a "botton line" first corporation. Those of us old enough, saw this happen in the 60's when CBS bought the Yankees, and we sank into last place. As I see it, we are rapidly "falling into shadow".

I agree with Roy. As the "Boss" slowly rides into the sunset, it seems the Steve Swindell big corporation era (ala CBS) is taking hold on our team. Higher prices, lower payroll, and big profits for Steve. I for one am going to miss George, just like I do Billy Martin and Munson, etc.

Hey Steve - instead of trying to become as rich as George by gouging the fans, did it ever occur to you that you will be inheriting his fortune soon enough?

I tried to start a "post-George era" discussion a while back and while a lot of people think he's a menace, I've always said we were lucky to have him. Nobody wanted to win as much as he did, even though he took some crazy steps I always knew he was spoiling us.
THANKS GEORGE! We hope this isn't the end.

Yanks sign Raul Chavez, will compete for backup spot

The Yankees recently signed Raul Chavez, a 33-year old journeyman who is expected to compete with Triple-A catcher Wil Nieves for the spot behind Jorge Posada.

Chavez has played in 170 games in the majors over nine seasons. He has a career .212 average, with four home runs and 40 RBI, and last year hit .179 (5-for-28) in 16 games with the Orioles."

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/story/476458p-400864c.html

It was a mistake signing this guy and He's probably fill in . I would rather go after Mike Lieberthal or Bengie Molina. Other Options will be Barajas or Nieves.

this chavez will compete for the job

more catchers in the system the better

this doesnt preclude a signing of barjas or molina

Who the heck is Raul Chavez? Another bargain basement\cheap Cashman signing. There is no way we can win a championship, or even compete with Toronto or Boston, with additions like this. We are beginning to operate like the Kansas City Royals. This is embarassing for proud fans like myself.

Why waste the dollars on someone who is going to compete for the job?! Either get a FA to fill in like Molina or Barajas or give it to nieves. I dunno, what the hell is going on??!!

Nice logic, Roy.

So, because you've never heard of a guy who may compete for the backup catcher's job in Spring Training is now PROOF in your eyes that the Yanks won't win a championship or be able to compete with TOR or BOS this season?

Never mind it's the Yanks that have won 9 straight division titles and had 11 straight playoff appearances, not BOS or TOR.

Signing a journeyman to compete for a job isn't exactly a sign that the Armageddon is upon us.

Get a clue.

I watched the reply of the Yankees May 16th game against the Rangers today. Two good hitting teams with suspicious pitching. The Yankees came from behind tying a team record and went on to win 14-13. They played with a lot of spare parts that night. Giambi had hurt his neck the previous night and Matsui and Sheff were already out of the line up. When I saw this game live I started to question wether or not we’d be in the playoff mix. For those who may not remember, the line up looked like this:

CF Damon
SS Jeter
3B Rodriguez
C Posada
2B Cano
RF Williams
DH Philips
1B Cairo
LF Cabrera

5 stars and 4 role players.

There were a lot of missed plays by the Yankees that night. Chacon, remember him, looked terrible (pitching with a huge bruise on his shin that effected his delivery). He walked a lot of guys and gave up some extra base hits before he was yanked. By the 2nd inning the Yankees were down 6-0. In the top of the 2nd with 1 out and 2 men on Aaron Small comes out and serves up a HR to Blalock. The Rangers go up 9-0. The Rangers tacked on a few more runs against Small but he settled down and got some outs.

The Yankees were batting against a young left hander, John Koronka. They didn’t get much in the 1st, Blalock made a good play on what looked like a sure double for ARod (story of his season) and Jorge struck out. In the second inning Bernie gets on with a force play at 2nd and Philips steps into the batters box and hits a double to left center and Cairo scores Bernie on a single to left. That was a great inning, no one was looking for the long ball, just making contact moving the runner and they got a run. Jeter hit a double in the bottom of the 3rd and sent Damon home all the way from first. Jeter goes on to steal 3rd and Posada brought him in on a single up the middle. 10-3, still a long way to go but their approach was the same for the rest of the game. Jorge scores Jeter again in the 5th on a sac fly and Alex moved to 3rd on that play too. Alex scores on a ground ball to 1st, 10-5, Cano pulled the ball to make sure Alex had a chance to score. Playing like a team! There were big hits too Jeter hit a 3 run HR in the 6th, he was having his usual MVP kind of night. 10-8, he gave the team some life. Bernie puts the team within 1 with an RBI double, a milestone hit and RBI at that. Cairo puts the Yankees up briefly with a 2 run single, 11-10. 6 in the 6th.

The Rangers didn’t go away, they kept scoring. Proctor working on absolutely no rest gave up a 2 run HR after the Yankees took the lead. He bares down and gets the outs though.

Jorge came up big that night, he hit the walk off HR and made a great play at the plate with Texiera plowing into him. Jorge is a proud fiery guy and I hope he’s able to pass that on to some of the young players. We need to keep that kind of character in the club house for the future.

I know this does not classify as a turning point, but they found a way to win and they kept hanging in until the Yankee front office was able to bring in Abreu and the rest is history. We lost in the first round of the playoffs but came a long way to even have the chance to be there because of guys like Philips, Melky, Williams and Cairo filling in the holes and the big guys like Jeter, Damon and Giambi doing their thing. Of course Cano having a great sophmore year and Jorge improving his defense and staying healthy added to that. No matter what team is on the field come April 2nd the Yankees will find a way to win. I know this was an unimportant game in the scheme of things but I have no life during the off season.

I can’t see the Yankees becoming a bottom line operation. Fans have been spoiled over the years and will probably stop going to games if they do. There is a another NY team and they’d put their profits at risk if they operate that way.

Brilliant account, OYF, stirring up great memories of that game. I remember watching that game and when Posada brought the score to 10-3 I was convinced the Yanks would win that game.

The essence of a team is that the sum of the parts is better than the pieces.

Such was the case with the Yankees this year during the injuries.

It all fell apart when Mr. Attitude/Sheffield returned. He and a couple of other veterans came up small in the playoffs. Again.

Front runner fans want stars at every position and are so quick to make plans to ship off Melky, Cairo, Phillips, or any other non-star.

Funny thing is, the last team to win a World Series with that year's eventual MVP winner was in 1988. Winning is not about stars, it is about performance.

Sadly, few will ever understand that.

Nice to see your back Anaconda. Now explain how the great Raul Chavez is going to help us win the AL East. This move is all about money, not winning.

Chavez is simply "spring training filler". He's a body to have at spring training to catch after the second or third inning when they yank Posada and whomever they sign to back him up. It's for those split squad days and things like that. There is nothing to get excited about, they do this type of thing every year, all teams do. Usually this is a favor to some old scout or relative.

yanks mulling willis offer

according to xm radio and now nyynews.com there is talk the yanks are mulling an offer fron marlins that would send melky, sanchez another prospect or cash for dontrelle willis.

not saying its true just reporting what i have heard and read, we allegedly will hear more at winter meetings.

If true i like the deal, for these reasons:

melky is a nice player but hes not a deal breaker like cano would be and sanchez projects as ahardtrowing middle reliever with history of weight and control issues and the third prospect will be an expendable prospect or the deal wont get done
.

Brett Gardner is one of the names I have read as the "other prospect".

Jay, in your post you say "weighing an offer FROM the Marlins", are you saying you've heard the Markins offered Dontrelle for those players or the Yanks are deciding whether to offer those players?
If I'm Cash, I make that deal. We've all said it here before (well, most of us) that OF's are easier to find than young, talented pitchers, especially LH ones.
This isn't bad for the Marlins either. They get another young, hard throwing pitcher and the CF they realy need.
One hangup I could see is the Mets jumping in and offering Milledge and Heilman or something like that but I'd have to believe Melky's stock is bit higher than Milledge's right now.

A few of us have been predicting the Yanks would do something "big" and I even speculated this exact trade might be it but I'll try not to get excited about it.

Thanks Paul. I had as much fun watching it the second time.

This is a team sport and with our captain at the helm the Yankees will find ways to win. There have been lots of posts about role players vs. big stars and the truth is the team needs a balance between the 2. They need guys to work the count, bunt, and make that diving play and they also need the long ball on occasion. We don’t need an all star at every position to win and we don’t need big sluggers to score a lot of runs. We just need them to work together and play for each other. That game and that line up in May for me was a great example of this season. Too bad things changed for the playoffs. Changing the balance changed the team approach, maybe not consciously, but they played differently. There is a lot of talent on this team even if we don't acquire any more big names.

Jim A., wouldn’t it be better for the Yankees to use Nieves more in spring training so that he can familiarize himself with the pitchers and log some innings and work on his swing? He’d be ready to back up Jorge come April.

OYF, I'm sure Nieves will be there and doing plenty of catching, but they need someone to catch pitchers in the bullpens; mop up late in games and be the opposing catcher in split squad games. They'll have four catchers in camp, just to be able to field two teams, each with a backup. The only way this guy makes the team is if he goes crazy in spring training and beats out the vet they sign or Nieves.

By the way, I watched the same game you posted about today. You're not the only one who needs to get a life :)
My wife kept saying "isn't baseball season over?" She thinks its ridiculous to sit there and watch old games and it just might be but it's better than raking leaves!

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2683464

Free agent infielder Rich Aurilia has reached preliminary agreement on a two-year deal for about $8 million with the San Francisco Giants, according to a baseball source. The contract is conditional upon Aurilia passing a physical exam this weekend.

Aurilia joins outfielder Dave Roberts, who signed a three-year, $18 million contract Saturday, as a new acquisition in San Francisco. The San Diego Union-Tribune first reported Roberts' deal earlier Saturday.

Options's left for First base- Zuleta, Hillenbrand, Perez or Resigning Craig Wilson..

I don't love the idea of giving up one of the young arms that was supposed to set us up for the future and giving up an OF with the potential that Melky has for a NL pitcher that had an ERA of 3.4 and a .500 record. I don't necessarily think Willis would be an Ace in the ALE. Maybe it's just me. I haven’t seen any NL pitcher come to the Yankees and be a savior.

In the past, the Yanks would have given all that up in a trade like this except the pitcher they would be getting would be 38 yrs old or more. Willis is 24, LH and has a very bright future. He hasn't had any arm troubles that I know of either. Throw out the record since he played for the Marlins and while I don't think he'll be a Johan Santana in the AL East, I think he'd be better than anyone in our rotation right now, except maybe Wang. The guy loves the game and would be thrilled to play in NY. This is the one NL pitcher I'd trade for.

Humber Sanchez was former number #1 prospect of Tigers until he got traded and got hurt.

Melky's value is so high right now that Yankees would move him. Second, He can play defense and can hit

Wow, ONLY US$ 400 for the best box seat!

That's why I'd do the trade now. Sanchez could get injured again and Melky could slip a little.
Again, I hate to give up young players but I'd do it to get a young starting pitcher who is ML ready now. This team is built to win now, not in 2008 or 2009. Willis lets Mussina move back to the number 3 spot where most of us feel he should be, although I'd actually prefer to see him at number 4.
It also gives you a nice balance w/ LH and RH pitchers, assuming Igawa cracks the rotation. It opens up all kinds of options. If Pavano can stay healthy for a week or two in March you can ship him out for another prospect.

Jim A

I'm with you on this trade if it is true. It's all about pitching. I think we both have been suggesting this very deal for quite awhile now.

Willis is 24 LH and a great talent. On a team like the Yankees, he could be a 18-20 game winner. I despise NL pitchers, but I would make an exception for Willis. I believe he is different than the others we have tried.

Bernie can be the 4th OF for this year and then we can sign one of the big FA CF next year (Wells, Suzuki, or Hunter). OF are much easier to come by. It's all about PITCHING, PITCHING, and more PITCHING. Even with Willis, I would still sign Lilly like I talked about earlier today.

Imagine a rotation of Wang, Willis, Mussina, Lilly, and Johnson.

Rick- Throw in Hughes to replace Johnson in 2008
and this team might not skip a beat. We would have a rotation much like the one Boston is trying to build, young guys who will be around for a while in at least 3 spots of the rotation.
If Lilly were to go elsewhere, it wouldn't be devastating if we had Willis but I just don't like the idea of standing pat with the guys we have right now plus Igawa, as we have discussed numerous times. If we went into the playoffs w/ a rotation of Wang, Moose, Johnson, Pavano and Igawa we'd be out in the first round again.
People are knocking Willis' 3.8 ERA but guys like that are getting 4 yrs/$40+ Million right now. I think any ERA under 5 these days is considered serviceable if not good. I think if it was Florida that made the offer, Cash would pull the trigger.

Jim A
In my post up above from earlier today, that 2008 rotation is exactly what I had. I still want Lilly AND Willis. Let Igawa be the 6th SP or long man until we see what he has. Heck, if Johnson doesn't make it back or breaks down, we will still need Igawa along with Willis AND Lilly. I say pull the trigger on Willis, but still sign Lilly. You never have enough SP.

Rick- Agreed.
Call Cash and tell him to get it done so I we can start working on his next move(s).

I wish it worked like that! I don't think we could solve the C situation so easy. Maybe we could trade for somebody's hot AAA C prospect?

And, 1B is getting to look pretty bleak as well. I like Erstad even though he's LH. He's one of those gamer types that we need more of.

Chase Wright

http://firetorre.blogspot.com/

Stuff: Wright used to throw a lot harder, but right now he throws an 89-91 mph two seam fastball. He throws it from a very deceptive three-quarter angle. The fastball has a lot of movement to it and he uses it to get a significant amount of ground ball outs. He also throws a decent changeup, at about 78-80 mph. The changeup has a surprising amount of sink to it which is his go-to pitch. Wright has been trying everything he possibly can to find some sort of successful breaking pitch. He has tried throwing both a conventional 12-6 77-78 mph curveball and a much slower 70 mph loopy curve. Neither has worked with any success.

Watch out for Chase wright. I think He will either goes starting rotation or replace villone in the bullpen .

He's reminds me of Andy Petite and throws that 2 seamer

Chase Wright doesn't have an astronomically high BB rate. He walks about 3.5 per 9 innings, which is not out of line with plenty of successful setup men out there including Salmon Torres and Scott Proctor.

He kills lefties, which will likely be his calling card if he makes it to the bigs. I think that he could be a good lefty set up or middle relief pitcher. We're talking about a G/F ratio of 3.00 and a K/9 of 9.20ish against lefties. He could very well put up some excellent seasons, if in a limited role.

"Front runner fans want stars at every position and are so quick to make plans to ship off Melky, Cairo, Phillips, or any other non-star." - Paul™

I agree.

A few of those front runners are here on this blog, busy coming up a new player everyday to trade for.

The sad thing with those type of fans is that they never seem to learn.

"Like moths to a flame"

Many wise remarks in this blog. the reason why so many fans are looking for an all-star at every position is because in recent years the yanks had to put up 6-8 runs per games in order to win and offset the spotty pitching. if you solidify the pitching you can recreate the 90's formula. that's why melky must be used as trade bait when his value is probably the highest, either for wilis or another young stud. the only question with melky is whether he'll develop power (like marcus thames and wily mo pena, both should not have been traded + ditto for juan rivera). however, unlike those trades, if melky can produce for us a YOUNG strong pitcher, it's worth it.
for those worried about the yanks lack of action in the FA market, even if the season started today, looking at position players, they still have an all-star at every single position except perhaps 1st base. that's not too bad.
i think the greatest shame in the reluctance to act so far is actually in the number of quality bullpen arms that have been signed for reasonable contracts and missed by the yanks. going with 13 pitcher is ridicolous and a testament to the fraility of the rotation + set-up people.
if we don't go for proven veteran RP's, the directive should be young and fireballing, nuch like the tigers or twins formula.
anyway, the way the pressure is mounting (including the lead fox article), i'm positive that a big move during winter meeting is immenent.

Gil L.- I tried to make that very same point earlier when I said in the past the Yanks would trade young talent for OLD players. Now, if they can fill a need with an expendable player like Melky, then it makes sense. Let's face it, we all like Melky and the job he did last year but the fact remains is we have 3 outfielders under very large contracts that are a. impossible to move and b. we don't necessarily want to move.
Anyone who thinks we should trade Matsui and replace him w/ Melky is clearly not thinking. Matsui is clutch and is an all round run producer.
Eric keeps throwing these barbs about fans wanting all stars at every position which isn't true, but I will take an all-star LH Pitcher who is not even 24 yrs old yet.
The only input I've seen from Eric so far is to give Andy Phillips the 1B job, and we need more than that. We need pitching!

Orginization Comings and Goings

http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/ny-spken035001178dec03,0,1908581.column?page=2&coll=ny-baseball-headlines

"The Yankees allowed major league scout Jim Benedict to break his contract and join the Indians in the same role. E-mailed Indians GM Mark Shapiro: "He will have a strong voice in our decision-making, both internally and externally . . . We are appreciative that Brian [Cashman] and the Yankees gave us the opportunity to interview him to be one of our chief evaluators." Former Yankees Pacific Rim scout John Cox

The Yankees have hired Kendall Carter away from Arizona as their national cross-checker. Carter did nice work in helping to build the Diamondbacks' impressive farm system." that's a Big move for our farm. I'm Excited about Next years Draft even more.

I'm surprised that the yankees didn't Hire Mcalister's (Zach) Dad from the DBascks too

AJ- While I agree with you on one level, I want to see a young rotation, I just don't think this team is able to wait to develop youngsters. We have old players at virtually every position except 2B and as of now, 4th OF.
While Willis didn't pitch his best last year, I watched a few of his games where he was virtually unhittable. I saw him strike out 12 Phillies one night and it was a great performance. He throws in a clunker now and then just like most pitchers do, but for the most part, I'll take a 3.8 ERA on this staff (especially from a LH). We have Tabata in the system so we do have at least one very good young OF prospect.

redsox and Roger Clemens are extremely close to a one year 16 million dollar deal. This comming from Tim Kurchin at www.espn.go/insider

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