On the Yankees beat

Thoughts on potential Matsui trade to SF...

I can't imagine them trading him to SF for Noah Lowry...that would give us 7 starting pitchers and I'm not sure how Lowry would fare in the AL East, though he is lefty. Maybe put Lowry in the pen.

I can't imagine SF trading Lincecum or Cain for Matsui plus non-big 3.

Does SF have any good pen help or possibly a first baseman?

This doesn't make sense. Matsui, when healthy, is a solid 100 rbi guy.

According to ESPN.com, reliever Ron Mahay has narrowed his choices to the Royals and Yankees.

Hmm. Tough choice.

Guy must be agonizing.

No way they give up Cain or Tim for Matusi. The Giants turned down Rios for Tim straight up. I really liked Lowry when he 1st came up, but he really fell off. I dont think he would even crack the starting rotation. I wouldnt do it.

NSH...LMAO!!

I made a couple of comments last night about a bad situation with Giambi and Matsui sharing DH with both LH hitters. I had hoped for Jason to be moved but I guess his value is really down low. He's the one to move but I guess AL teams are not interested even if we gave him away.

Mike from Jersey: Here's the info on Robertson from October:

http://mvn.com/milb-yankees/page/18/
I was the only Yankee blogger to recognize Robertson’s potential a year ago. I wish that I could take credit for it, but to be honest I was just taking the recommendation of a good friend who told me that this 17th round guy named David Robertson would be, “the next big thing, better than Cox” after seeing him pitch in the Cape Cod League. I figured that I trusted my friend enough and was impressed by Robertson’s MVP performance that I tossed him on the back of my list.

Well, he was right. Robertson started all the way down in Charleston, pitching 47 innings in 24 appearances, allowing just a 0.77 ERA, 25 hits, and 15 walks with 67 strikeouts. He found his way to Tampa, where he pitched 33 1/3 innings with an ERA of 1.08, 18 hits, 15 walks, and 37 strikeouts. He finished the season by helping pitch Trenton to it’s championship, pitching 4 innings at the end of the regular season with one earned run allowed, 2 hits, 2 walks, and 9 strikeouts. All told, he had one of the more dominating relief seasons in my minor league memory, pitching 84 1/3 innings with a 0.96 ERA and a 113/32 (12.09 K per 9, 3.42 BB per 9). For every out in the air, Robertson made batters pound two balls into the ground.

What have we learned from Robertson? First off, he’s lost some velocity. In college, Robertson was a wild flamethrower, punching balls in the mid 90s. This season, he’s worked a lot slower at 92-94, but with better control. Still, once promoted to Tampa, he didn’t have fantastic control, putting up BB/9s over 4.00.

Was he getting wild? I’m tempted to give him the same benefit of the doubt that I gave Ian Kennedy. When a prospect is so damn dominant that no one can get a solid hit off him, then he has a huge incentive to pitch outside of the strike zone. The data confirms my theory - Robertson walked 3.15 per 9 with no one on , but 5.84 with a man on first and 7.50 with runners in scoring position in Tampa, and showed similar splits (2.70 with no one on, 4+ with men on base/RISP) in Charleston. Why give them a pitch to hit when you can strike the next guy out? He struck out almost 14 per 9 with RISP between the two levels. Most of his walks also came with 2 outs, decreasing their utility.

My first reaction when Robertson was walking so many in the higher leagues was, “Slow him down, let him adjust to the level in 2008.” After looking at the splits, I say screw that. Get the man to Triple-A, because the Yankees are going to need to replace Joba Chamberlain next year as Mariano’s bridge. Joba and Kennedy proved TINSAAPP (There Is No Such Thing As A Pitching Prospect) correct this year, and Robertson should be able to do the same. On any other team, he’d probably be in the majors already.

In other news, Vermont is holding a secession conference. Just though that I’d let you know.

Hughes...I love that EJ!!!

Get this man to SWB!

Yeah, he's a good guy and he has previously nominated me for the best handle he's ever seen only adding to me not wanting to have to give it up...it's great!

Robertson will definitely have an impact...I could even see him getting an invite to spring training, but I think he'd be best served at SWB this year, at least to start. I wouldn't mind if he started out at Trenton though. That's just me being selfish, because I live near Princeton which is a short drive to the Trenton ballpark.

Anyone else going to Penn Station early tomorrow to see Joba?

Kat: By drafting Bo Hall, does that mean we have to keep him on the 25 man roster for the entire year? I thought that was one of the Rule V draft rules. If so, I'm not sure I understand the selection...I don't know that he's ready to contribute at the MLB level.

Reports on Matsui possibly being traded to the SF Giants, who would the Yankees get back? Unless its for some high level prospects I really dont see anyone on the Giants roster that would be worth getting.

Hughes....what time is he going to be there? I live 20 minutes from Manhattan in North Jersey and I have off tomorrow!

Quick story, my anniversary was last month. My wife got me a GIANT signed/framed/picture of Joba's 1st MLB pitch! Its up in my game room in the Yankee shrine corner. Would love to get something else from him too!

There was a posting yesterday indicating that he would be in Penn on the Amtrak level in front of the Christmas tree at 8am for the Mike & Mike show.

He'll also be in NYC tonight from 6 - 10 and signing autographs from 6:30 - 7:30. It's a Circuit City (not sure which). Autograph baseballs will be $25.

43rd street...not sure what avenue.

5th & 43rd

Tonight's no good, 8AM? Dam. Looks like I might be seeing him on ESPN.

; )

I'm down near Philly today...anyone want to do me a favor and go pick up a signed ball?

Hughes - I still might change my mind. My best friend works at Penn Plaza, so I might just get my @ss up, hop on the train and get a couple. If I go Ill pick you up one. Im 50/50 right now so you might want a better option.

Thanks HYD. This is even more good news. I am feeling confident that with the surplus of quality arms we have for the starting rotation and bullpen, there should be little reason to worry about "burning out" our young arms, or having pitching problems for years to come. Because of this, I think there may be something beneficial to going to a 6 man rotation, since all teams are keeping their arms on strict pitch counts. This has been mentioned by some people throughout baseball. Yanks could be the trendsetters, and if it worked, here come all of the copycats.
One thing I can say, by being a Yankees fan since the '70s (Horace Clarke, Ron Bloomberg days) I do not remember our team ever having this many QUALITY arms in our system. This is something to be happy about if your a Yankee fan and nervous about if you are a Redsux fan. They have some arms, but not as many as we have. I can't wait for our horses to get going!

Great job.Cash. I was beginning to worry about ya!

Mike: Yanks have already announced that they will not be going to a 6 man rotation.

On the 6 man rotation idea, I'd like to say that I suggested it long before any of the other teams had mentioned it as a possibility. Then, after some brief discussion on this blog, it became much more talked about. I don't think any team will do it though, but I could be wrong.

Everybody trying to run Matsui out of town better remember, he has a No Trade clause in his contract and will not be going anywhere, period. Plus, he IS a clutch hitter with RISP - (such short memories) and wasn't 100% because of knee problems (still drove in 100+RBI's). Give him a chance, Godzilla will come through.
I think Linecrum and Cain were misused by Giants last season, and the effects will show up this upcoming season. Both were rushed up out of necessity. I may be wrong, but.....we will see.

Matsui - DH/LF
Damon - LF/DH

Its difficult to start out the season with a 6 man rotation since there are so many off days in April. Some teams go with a 4 man rotation to keep their pitchers on schedule. I cant see any team going 6 from the get go since some pitchers will be off for 10 days. Maybe as the innings start to pile up they push guys back, but 6 for an extended period of time is hard to manage.

HYD,

I think if Bo Hall isn't about MLB ready he may never be. He's around 27.

Great baseball name, though --

Mike's right, the Giants killed Cain. The guy threw way too many pitches early on. I bet he breaks down in a couple years like AJ Burnett. Forget the innings, there were times when Cain would have 4 - 5 games in a row with 120+ pitches. He's doomed.

Bochy was more carefull with Tiny Tim ( had him on my fantasy team ). But that jerky motion he has might hurt him. It didnt affect Orel Hershiser, but he was bigger than Tim.

Both are risky, but who cares? No way we get either, especially not for Godzilla. Case closed.

Bo Hall was taken in the Triple-A portion of the draft, which means he has to remain on the Triple-A (or major league) roster.

Is this "THE" Kat O'Brien?

Yes, HYD, I remember Yanks saying they won't do a "6 man" rotation, but as you stated a long time ago, it might be a good idea. Only thing is if some starters (like Moose) have routines to get ready every 5th day, their arms/routines would need to be adjusted for the extra day. In his case, the extra rest might help. I like the concept, though.
Hope we can get Marte. I saw his stats against lefty hitters and WOW! Something like 6 for 67, .067 ERA. He would be great as the left side of a 8th inning set-up team.

Pirates can have 2 ML ready starters to pick from, plus a 2nd Tier starter.
Karstens,Rasner, or DeSalvo and Marquez for Marte and an A ball position player(infield). How's that trade sound?

I like Marquez the best out of the bunch, but sign me up if we can get Marte.

Bo's numbers weren't all that dominant at AA, so how does that translate to MLB? 56K in 54.2 IP with 36 BB and 41 hits. I'm not a big fan of guys with WHIPs that high at 27 years old in AA. His righty/lefty splits were pretty comprable, though he did pitch slightly better against lefties despite being a right handed pitcher.

Thanks Kat. I feel much better about the pick-up now.

Hmm. Tough choice.
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MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Trade Matsui to SF? I would be very interested to see someone crunch the numbers on how much revenue such a brilliant move would cost the Yankees in terms of merchandise sales and TV broadcast rights in Japan? Never. Gonna. Happen.