Yankees – Page 179 – Keefe To The City

Jun 22, 2015

Yankees-Phillies Puts Focus on Cole Hamels’ Future

The last time the Yankees and Phillies met in the regular season it meant something, but now it just means watching Cole Hamels audition.

The last time the Yankees played the Phillies was June 2010. Back then, it was a rematch of the 2009 World Series, the Phillies had added Roy Halladay to their starting rotation and CC Sabathia faced him in the first game of a three-game series at the Stadium. A lot has changed for both teams since they were on top of their respective leagues and the rivalry that was created in October 2009 has faded.

With the Yankees and Phillies meeting for the first time in five years, John Stolnis of The Good Phight joined me to talk about what’s happened to the Phillies in the last four years, how Ruben Amaro, Jr. still has a job and what the Phillies will do with Cole Hamels.

Keefe: In December 2010, the Phillies signed Cliff Lee, the Yankees didn’t and I was sure my 2011 baseball season was ruined. The Yankees and Phillies both went on to reach the playoffs and both had early exits in a year the Phillies were expected to win the World Series with their vaunted pitching staff. Since then, the Phillies have missed the playoffs the last three years and are on their way to being the worst team in the majors this season.

When you look back to October 2011, did you think not even four years later the Phillies would be in such a bad place?

Stolnis: Well, this email has started off well, reminding me of when my team died it’s slow, agonizing death and then asking me to painstakingly relive it so that I might reintroduce the trauma and night terrors it created. Sure, let’s chat about it!

No, I didn’t think things were going to be THIS bad, but I think after the 2012 season we all knew it was time for a change, that veteran players needed to be traded and that it was time to start a rebuilding process. But because they waited so long to do it, two years too long in my opinion, the rebuilding is beginning with very few Major League ready chips in place. And the veterans, Chase Utley especially, have degraded faster than I thought they would.

There are three good players on this team: Cole Hamels, Jonathan Papelbon and Maikel Franco. Maybe Ken Giles, too. So no, I didn’t see us becoming the laughingstock of baseball after the 2011 season, but it certainly did seem like the window was closing.

Keefe: That bad place has been a product of Ruben Amaro, Jr.’s general managerial skills, which have included bad contracts and an unwillingness to unload his tradable veterans. And on top of that Amaro called out the fans earlier this season, which I’m sure went over well in Philadelphia.

Does Amaro have any supporters left? How does he still have his job?

Stolnis: In terms of the general public, Ruben Amaro is about as popular as gang green. He made a lot of mistakes over the last few years, but to be honest, I think most of those mistakes were at the direction of former team president David Montgomery, who forced the team to hold off onto the rebuilding effort. I truly believe it was Monty who drove the Ryan Howard extension and the Chase Utley extension, although I do believe it was Amaro who made the Papelbon deal (which hasn’t been awful as it turns out, seeing as how he’s been so good), and other smaller, stupid deals (Michael Young, Delmon Young, Ty Wigginton, etc.).

I actually think Amaro and new team president Pat Gillick have done OK over the last year, but it may be too little too late. There’s not much confidence in Amaro, and when the team hires a new president to succeed Gillick (likely at the end of the season), I’m pretty sure he’s going to want to hire his own guy. So, I do believe the clock is ticking.

Keefe: Amaro had his chance to trade Cliff Lee several times and I’m sure the Yankees would have willingly traded for him after missing out on him in July 2010 and December 2010. Now Lee’s career could be over and all the Phillies got for him was the chance to continue to pay him an exorbitant amount of money to not pitch. The Phillies are faced with a similar situation this season with Cole Hamels and the never-ending trade rumors that surround him.

What will happen with Hamels? Are we looking at another missed opportunity for the Phillies to fix things?

Stolnis: Hamels is a completely different situation than Lee. First, he’s younger. Second, Hamels has no injury history whatsoever, and is extraordinarily cautious about his body when he feels something wrong. He informed team medical personnel right away last week when he felt the slightest twinge in his hamstring, which is incredibly smart. So while I do think the Phils should be actively looking to trade Hamels, it has to be for the right deal.

The national media seem to want Amaro to trade Hamels simply for the sake of trading him. But Amaro and the Phillies need to get the Cole trade right. They need at least on blue chip piece in return, and they shouldn’t move him until they get it. Even if Hamels hurts himself this year, he’s still under team control for three years, in order to try and get the trade done. Hamels is elite, and he shouldn’t be sold as something other than elite, just to meet some time frame the national media thinks is there.

Keefe: When it comes to homegrown players and players that helped you win and enjoy baseball for so many seasons, I never have a problem with overpaying for them and letting them wear out their welcome. The Yankees did it with Derek Jeter and Bernie Williams and Jorge Posada and I didn’t have an issue with it any time. There needs to be some form of loyalty and if it means letting guys, who won you multiple championships, hang around a little too long then so be it. The Phillies have done a similar thing with Howard and Utley.

Were you against the extensions for both or part of the group that remains loyal to the old guard for the good years when the Phillies were winning?

Stolnis: I wasn’t against Howard when it happened, but I quickly realized how wrong I was. I didn’t think the Utley extension was a good idea, I thought they should have traded him. That being said, I would have been more OK with it if the team had drafted better over the last decade, then the veteran deals wouldn’t have hurt so much.

But the Phils have gotten a negative WAR out of their-first round picks over the last 10 years, the only team in MLB to do that. You can keep those old guys around as long as there are young guys to supplement it. The Phils don’t have them (other than Franco right now), which makes the veteran deals look even worse.

Keefe: This year will be the fourth straight year with postseason baseball for the Phillies and really without a competitive team. They are seven years removed from their World Series win and six years removed from their World Series loss.

When can we expect the Phillies to return to being the team to beat in the NL East?

Stolnis: You’re already counting out the Phils from postseason baseball? That’s bulletin board material! YOU HEAR THAT BOYS, THEY THINK YOU SUCK! KILL ‘EM!

It’s going to be at least three to four years before the Phils are contenders for the division. The Mets have assembled a ridiculously talented pitching staff. The Nationals are going to be good for a while. The Marlins have Jose Fernandez and Giancarlo Stanton, and I think will be good next year. The Braves, well, they’ve got a rebuild going too.

The Phils have some good talent in the low minors, but it’s going to be a while. The good news is, once they get a couple young guys with promise up to the majors, they have the financial ability to spend, spend, spend, just like the Yankees. So, they just need a little infrastructure in place, but it’s probably going to be a couple more years before that happens.

Blogs • Yankees

Jun 22, 2015

Alex Rodriguez and the 3,000th Hit Ball

If I had caught A-Rod’s 3,000th hit, I would have returned it. Why? Because what am I going to do with A-Rod’s 3,000th hit? Put it on my mantle as if it’s my 3,000th hit?

I was fortunate to be at Yankee Stadium on Aug. 4, 2007 for Alex Rodriguez’s 500th home run, at Yankees Stadium on Aug. 4, 2010 for his 600th home run, at Fenway Park on May 1, 2015 for his 660th home run and at Yankee Stadium on May 7, 2015 for his 661st home run. So when I decided to not go to the Stadium on Friday night with A-Rod’s next chance at reaching 3,000 career hits, I watched from home for history to be made.

A-Rod’s first-inning solo home run off Justin Verlander made him the 28th player in baseball history with 3,000 hits, doing it in the best way possible, the way Derek Jeter did nearly four years ago. But looking back on the moment, A-Rod would have been better off with a seeing-eye single between short and third or a broken-bat bloop over the the first baseman’s head or a swinging bunt down the the third-base line because hitting a home run where A-Rod hit it was the worst imaginable result.

If I had caught A-Rod’s 3,000th hit, I would have returned it. Why? Because what am I going to do with A-Rod’s 3,000th hit? Put it on my mantle as if it’s my 3,000th hit? Show off A-Rod’s ball like I achieved something by being lucky enough to have it land in my hands? I would return it to A-Rod, after shaking the legend’s hand and asking him to join my Central Park Softball League team upon retirement. But before that I would hand over a list of demands to the Yankees front office:

1. I want to take batting practice with the team at the next home game, shag fly balls and throw a bullpen session. I would take jersey number 86 (Sidney Crosby/Patrick Kane style) since all of the single-digit numbers are retired and Masahiro Tanaka wears 19.

2. I want Legends season tickets. Yes, I love and enjoy sitting in 203, but sitting between the bases for free every game would be more enjoyable.

3. I want a night of beer and baseball storytelling with Ken Singleton, David Cone and Paul O’Neill.

4. I want Stephen Drew designated for assignment. The Yankees have proved they aren’t going to go with my plan of moving Drew back to shortstop, playing either Jose Pirela or Rob Refsnyder at second and benching Didi Gregorius, so the only move is to DFA Drew.

5. I want to trade Nathan Eovaldi and Garrett Jones back to the Marlins for David Phelps and Martin Prado.

Those would be my demands, and once they are met, then I would gladly give A-Rod his ball. If he wants to throw some cash my way, or let me join his entourage (which would likely be just me), I wouldn’t say no. But unfortunately, for me, and more unfortunately for A-Rod and the Yankees, I didn’t catch A-Rod’s 3,000th hit.

Of all the people in the world, Zack Hample (known as “Foul Ball Guy”) would be everyone’s last pick to catch a meaningful home run. A 37-year-old baseball collector, who still brings his glove to games, has made a life out of catching and collecting everything from batting practice balls to foul balls to balls ticketed for a kid’s hands that he has stepped in front of and taken. So of course A-Rod’s 3,000th hit would be a home run and of course out of all the hands it could have landed in at Yankee Stadium, it landed in Hample’s, who was supposedly in the wrong seats, waiting there with his glove like a Little Leaguer taking in big league action, all while wearing a hat with the MLB logo on it.

Hample has said he has no plans to give the ball to A-Rod, because in his words, “It’s kind of like, well, I don’t like you and I have something you want and you can’t have it. I wanted you to not take steroids and be the greatest of all time and you disappointed me.”

Those are real-life words from Hample, who apparently has the mentality of so many nerd beat writers and reporters that feel lied to and disrespected because a baseball player and entertainer that they don’t know outside of asking him questions with a microphone in his face used performance-enhancing drugs. Hample, like those with Hall of Fame vote, feel as though A-Rod owed it to them (as if he owes them anything) to not make the choices in his baseball career he has made, which is an opinion so insane I can’t even wrap my head around it. How dare a baseball player who once signed a 10-year, $252 million contract and opted out of it to sign a 10-year, $275 million contract let everyone down. We should all expect more out of someone who made $197,530.86 per game for two years (2009 and 2010) to play baseball.

Now Hample is doing every TV and radio interview he can, thinking he is the celebrity in the situation and believing he is the one who achieved 3,000 hits with an opposite-field home run rather than a grown man wearing a glove at an MLB game, who happened to be in the right place (which was actually the wrong place for his ticket stub) at the right time. So the “baseball collector” who is holding A-Rod’s 3,000th hit hostage for either very strange (he’s 37 and collects baseballs), very odd (he thinks A-Rod should have not disappointed him personally) or very scummy (he wants a payday from the Yankees since collecting baseballs probably isn’t keeping the power on) reasons.

Maybe Hample will continue to use someone else’s personal achievement as his own crowning moment or maybe he will ultimately decide to return it to A-Rod and the Yankees once their price tag grows high enough for him. Either way, now on it’s third day, this charade has gone on for too long and Hample is the one everyone should be disappointed in.

Blogs • Yankees

Jun 17, 2015

Nathan Eovaldi Is Far from ‘Nasty’

I’m not a fan of Nathan Eovaldi and I’m certainly not a fan of the “Nasty Nate” nickname the Yankees have given him on their Twitter account.

I expected David Phelps to shut down the Yankees on Tuesday night because that’s what usually happens when the Yankees let someone go through trade or free agency: they come back to beat them.

Alfonso Soriano went on to hit .343/.402/.588 with seven home runs and 15 RBIs in 25 games against the Yankees after they traded him to Texas for A-Rod.

Melky Cabrera has hit .309/.348/.593 with eight home runs and 21 RBIs in 30 games since the Yankees traded him to Atlanta in exchange for Javier Vazquez and Boone Logan.

Hideki Matsui hit four home runs in 18 games against the Yankees after they let him walk to bring in Nick Johnson.

Austin Jackson has hit .303/.366/.484 with three home runs and 11 RBIs in 31 games against the Yankees and hit .353/.421/.706 with a home run in 19 plate appearances against them in the 2012 ALCS sweep.

Robinson Cano struggled to do much in the three-game series against the Yankees at the beginning of the month, but he went 7-for-22 (.318) with one home run, 5 RBIs, four runs and two doubles in six games against them last year, which included a Mariners’ season sweep of the Yankees at the Stadium.

I’m used to former Yankees becoming Yankee killers, so when Phelps beat the Yankees on Tuesday night, allowing two earned runs and six hits with two walks over seven innings, I wasn’t surprised because I expected it. But what I didn’t expect was how easily he was able to beat the Yankees because of how horrible Nathan Eovaldi.

I’m not a fan of Nathan Eovaldi and I’m certainly not a fan of the “Nasty Nate” nickname the Yankees have given him on their Twitter account. The name is more ironic than James Shields’ “Big Game James” moniker, which follows him around despite his 3-6 postseason record in 11 starts and 5.46 postseason ERA. If the Yankees are going to call Eovaldi “Nasty Nate” then why stop there? Let’s call Stephen Drew the “Splendid Splitter” and Jacoby Ellsbury the “Iron Horse” and Didi Gregorius the “Wizard of Oz” and Carlos Beltran “Charlie Hustle”. You used to have to do something to earn a nickname for performance, but that’s no longer the case, which is good news for Eovaldi because I have some choice words I would include in my nickname suggestions for him.

After Phelps pitched a 1-2-3, 12-pitch first inning, Eovaldi got Dee Gordon to ground out to being his night and then after that first out, here’s what followed:

Single
Single
Single
Single
Single
Single
Triple
Groundout
Single
Double

Seven hits in a row followed Gordon’s lead-off ground out and as for that one groundout after the triple, well, that belong to David Phelps, who is a pitcher. So Eovaldi faced 11 batters and retired one position player. His line for the night: 0.2 IP, 9 H, 8 R, 8 ER, 0 BB, 0 K. His ERA climbed to 5.12 and his WHIP now sits at 1.649.

Phil Hughes, another Brian Cashman product, leads the American League in hits allowed with 102, but Eovaldi has narrowed the gap with 97 hits allowed through 13 starts. Evoaldi led the National League in hits allowed last season, but through 13 starts in 2014, he had only allowed 79 hits. So not only is he on pace to blow past his 223 hits allowed total of 2014, but he’s looking at leading both leagues in hits allowed in back-to-back seasons.

After Masahiro Tanaka (when he’s healthy) and Michael Pineda (when the Yankees aren’t skipping his starts), the Yankees’ rotation is Adam Warren, who despite performing well is rumored to be headed back to the bullpen, CC Sabathia, who has seven losses and a 5.38 ERA and Eovaldi, who given his velocity is the biggest waste of talent in Major League Baseball. Combine that with Andrew Miller being on the disabled list, Jacoby Ellsbury possibly being softer than Mark Teixeira has ever been and Joe Girardi sitting his best hitter for both games in Miami and it’s not wonder that the Yankees have lost five of six games since winning seven straight.

(Note: That seven-game winning streak might have been an eight-game winning streak if Girardi had used his then-newly-named-closer Dellin Betances in a TIE game AT HOME last Wednesday. Instead we watched Chris Capuano lose the game, end the winning streak and send the Yankees into their most recent free fall.)

Unfortunately, Ivan Nova’s return to the Yankees means Adam Warren will likely be the odd man out in the rotation because of his prior “success” in the bullpen and because CC Sabathia makes $700,000 per start and because the Yankees traded away Phelps and their most useful position player in Martin Prado for Eovaldi. Even though Eovaldi is just 25 and already with his third Major League team after the Dodgers and Marlins were willing to give up on him, the Yankees still think they can be the ones to harness his high-90s fastball and turn him into an elite starter. I don’t understand why the Yankees would think that after two decades of not being able to develop their own pitchers that they can now turn other team’s garbage into their own treasure, but then again, this is the team that traded for Didi Gregorius, who at 25, is also with his third Major League team.

These past six games have become the Yankees’ third slide of the season, a season that has become frustrating and aggravating at times and depressing and embarrassing at other times. I don’t know how good this Yankees team is or if they are even good at all. I don’t know if they will be able to stay near the top of the AL East and give us the first postseason appearance in three years or if we’re headed for the same finish as 2013 and 2014 and the front office will decide to retire Scott Brosius’ number and give David Justice a plaque in Monument Park next season to sell tickets in 2016. There’s a lot I don’t know about the 2015 Yankees, but one thing I do know is that Nathan Eovaldi isn’t good and trading for him was a mistake.

Podcasts • Yankees

Jun 12, 2015

Podcast: JJ Barstool Sports New York

The Yankees are the best team in the AL East and possibly the entire AL despite missing three of their best players for most of the first two-plus months of the season.

There isn’t a team Yankees fans should be worried about in the American League. Maybe the Royals? But after them, who? The Yankees have the best 1-2 punch in the rotation (when healthy) and in the bullpen (when healthy) and an offense that has become consistent. To think this team is in first place in the AL East despite not having their best starting pitcher (Masahiro Tanaka), best all-around player (Jacoby Ellsbury) and arguably their best reliever (Andrew Miller) on the team at the same time since April 23 (a span of 46 games) is incredible.

JJ of Barstool Sports New York joined me to talk about the Yankees becoming the best team in the AL, what to do with the bullpen without Andrew Miller, who should be playing second base and shortshop and how to get Robinson Cano out of Seattle and back to the Bronx.

Blogs • Yankees

Jun 11, 2015

I Already Miss Andrew Miller

When I heard Andrew Miller was headed for the disabled list, I thought about going to CVS and buying all the “Get Well Soon” cards in the store, but instead I wrote this.

Before the start of the season, I wrote the annual Order of Importance for the Yankees. Masahiro Tanaka was ranked No. 1. Jacoby Ellsbury was No. 3. Tanaka landed on the disabled list and was out of the rotation for six weeks. Ellsbury landed on the disabled list and is still there, having already missed three weeks. Despite the team’s best starter and best all-around player missing significant time in the first two-plus months of the season, and their absences overlapping for a couple weeks, the Yankees have survived. At 33-26, they are in first place in the AL East.

Now the Yankees will be without Andrew Miller for an unknown amount of time. I ranked both Miller and Dellin Betances as the fourth most important Yankees for 2015, and if I redid the order now I would put them both at No. 1, as the two have combined to be the MVP of the Yankees.

Here’s Dellin Betances’ pitching line: 32.1 IP, 11 H, 4 R, 1 ER, 14 BB, 54 K, 0 HR.

Here’s Andrew Miller’s pitching line: 26.1 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 10 BB, 43 K, 1 HR.

Betances and Miller have turned Yankees games into seven-inning games and they have turned games in which the Yankees lead after seven innings into wins. They have become the most dominant back end of a bullpen in the majors and they have allowed the Yankees to withstand losing their ace for the end of April, all of May and the beginning of June and their best all-around player until whenever he returns.

I was nervous when Tanaka landed on the disabled list because of his right elbow issue that destroyed his 2014 season and I was worried when Jacoby Ellsbury landed on the disabled list because of his history of long and mysterious DL stints and his fragile and soft demeanor and how Joe Girardi handled the 31-year-old making $21.1 million with kid gloves even before this knee injury. Even though I was nervous and worried for those two, I thought I would have been petrified, but I wasn’t. However, I’m petrified about the loss of Miller.

Outside of Betances and Miller, the Yankees’ bullpen is a group of unproven and underachieving arms, which could pitch to their abilities and keep the Yankees’ June going the way it has, or ruin games bringing us back to May 12-24. The loss of Miller moves Betances into the closer role, which is where he was expected to be before the season began, but after him, it’s unclear how Girardi will navigate the middle innings and where he will now get three extra outs from in the vacant eighth-inning role.

When the news was announced that Miller was headed for the disabled list and wouldn’t pick up a baseball for 10-14 days, I thought about going to CVS and buying all the “Get Well Soon” cards in the store, but instead I wrote this. Here is how the Order of Trust for the non-Betances and non-Miller Yankees’ bullpen from least trustworthy to must trustworthy.

Number 53, Esmil Rogers, Number 53
I wouldn’t trust Rogers to tell me what time it is or even what day of the week it is. Rogers has no place on this team, or any team, but I hope he lands on another team, and one the Yankees play regularly. He shouldn’t see any game action unless the Yankees are trailing by double digits. That’s the only instance he can be trusted to pitch in as he continues to be a New York Yankee and a Major League Baseball pitcher despite lacking the necessary ability to be either.

Number 26, Chris Capuano, Number 26
When Capuano entered Wednesday’s game in extra innings, it was only a matter of time until the Nationals scored. After pitching a scoreless 10th inning, the Yankees had to score in the bottom of the 10th if they wanted to win because there was no chance Capuano was pitching a scoreless 11th. The Yankees didn’t score, the Nationals scored against Capuano in the 11th and the seven-game winning streak ended.

Capuano shouldn’t have been re-signed in the offseason for one year and $5 million, like another Yankees … cough, cough, STEPHEN DREW, cough, cough … but he was. He lost all three of his starts as part of the rotation, allowing nine earned runs in 12 2/3 innings, and with Wednesday’s loss, he’s now responsible for four Yankees losses in six appearances. He’s the long man for now and apparently the extra-inning man too. Let’s hope the Yankees don’t play any extra-inning games until Miller is back.

Number 41, Justin Wilson, Number 41
The Yankees traded Francisco Cervelli for Wilson and he was supposed to be the hard-throwing left-handed option out of the bullpen, but right now, I have him third on the left-handed bullpen depth chart. Unfortunately, Girardi loves Wilson and I have a feeling he will be given the eighth inning.

Wilson walks way too many hitters (11 in 21 IP) to be given the eighth inning or any set inning really, and his strikeout numbers aren’t exactly impressive (15 in 21 IP) to trust him to protect a close game.

Number 57, Chris Martin, Number 57
Martin hasn’t pitched for the Yankees since May 8 after getting hurt. He has struck out 13 in 12 2/3 innings with just three walks and only allowed earned runs in three of 15 appearances. He hasn’t pitched in over a month, and his time away from the team has actually built his trust stock for me because while he has been getting healthy, the other relievers have been showcasing their abilities (or inabilities) and that hasn’t helped me believe in them in this time of need. Martin getting hurt and not pitching has actually played into his favor when it comes to trust.

Number 64, Jacob Lindgren, Number 64
If Lindgren doesn’t give up that game-tying home run on Wednesday, he might be higher, but he did. One bad pitch shouldn’t change his ranking (especially when Nathan Eovaldi never should have been in to give up that leadoff single and Stephen Drew should have turned two to end the inning), but when he only has 6 1/3 career innings under his belt, one appearance holds a lot of stock.

Lindgren admitted after the game he’s still “getting his feet wet” in the majors, and considering he was pitching for Mississippi State last year, was drafted by the Yankees a year ago and pitched just 46 2/3 innings in the minors, that’s a reasonable quote from him. His minor league numbers were insane with a 1.74 ERA and 77 strikeouts in those 46 2/3 innings and he never gave up a home run in the minors against 196 batters, but has now given up two to 27 in the majors.

At some point, Lindgren will be the best Yankees reliever not named Betances or Miller, but that’s going to take some more time and it’s likely to take Girardi even longer to trust him because that’s how Girardi is.

Number 45, Chasen Shreve, Number 45
I bet the Yankees thought David Carpenter would be the prized return on the Manny Banuelos trade, but now Carpenter is with the Nationals after being designated for assignment by the Yankees, and Shreve has become the third-best Yankees reliever when Miller is healthy, and the second-best reliever now that Miller is on the disabled list.

In 25 innings, Shreve has the best strikeout numbers (25 in 25 IP) in the bullpen after the Big Two, has allowed only 16 hits and has a 0.960 WHIP. As a left-hander, he has actually been better against right-handed hitters (.153 BAA) than he has against left-handed hitters (.250 BAA).

When Shreve made the Yankees out of spring training, I was surprised they went with him over Lindgren or other more appealing options. When he then allowed a home run on Opening Day, I wasn’t surprised and laughed that of course Chasen Shreve made the Yankees out of spring training and allowed a home run on Opening Day. But now a little over two months later, he is the most trusted option out of the bullpen after Dellin Betances.

Get well soon, Andrew Miller.