Yankees – Page 197 – Keefe To The City

Oct 2, 2013

State of the Yankees

Brian Cashman gave the State of the Yankees a month earlier than usual because for the second time since 1993 the Yankees didn’t reach the postseason.

It’s the third day without baseball. Only 180 to go. And the worst part about the 180 days between today and Opening Day 2014 isn’t that there isn’t a real baseball game that counts that I care about, it’s the endless cycle of nonsense that begins because there aren’t any real games to talk about. What nonsense? This type of nonsense:

Will the Yankees go over the $189 million threshold? Do they need to in order to sign Robinson Cano? How much will they sign him for? What if Cano signs elsewhere? Who will become the face of the franchise when Derek Jeter retires? Will Derek Jeter ever be Derek Jeter again? Will he play the full season in 2014? How many more years will he play for? What happens with him after 2014? If Cano is gone, where will they get their power from? Will they re-sign Curtis Granderson? Will they re-sign Mark Reynolds? Is CC Sabathia going to be CC Sabathia in 2014? Who will fill out the rotation after CC and Ivan Nova? Will they re-sign Hiroki Kuroda? Is Phil Hughes really , truly, finally gone? And Joba too? Will Michael Pineda be given a rotation spot or will he have to earn one?

And let’s not forget about the highest-paid player in baseball history, who wakes up each morning to attend an appeal hearing for his 211-game suspension for performance-enhancing drug use. But that nonsense will never end because whether A-Rod’s suspension is upheld or vetoed or shortened, there will be a story to follow the story and every day will continue to be a circus led by the New York Daily News until the last game A-Rod ever plays.

Do you know how to avoid having the nonsense start on Oct. 1? Make the playoffs, that’s how. But the Yankees didn’t make the playoffs for the second time since 1993 and so the nonsense schedule got pushed up to the beginning of October instead of the beginning of November as did Brian Cashman’s annual State of the Yankees. Cashman gave his end-of-the-year press conference on Tuesday and addressed just about everything there is to address when the Yankees win just 85 games.

On the season as a whole.

“It was a tough one. We didn’t get to where we wanted to be. Obviously it was a struggle all year; a lot of disappointment whether it’s injuries, reoccurring injuries, underperformance, unexpected poor performance. We didn’t get where we needed to be and there were a lot of reasons for it. We obviously fought to the end. I appreciated the effort that our guys provided on a daily basis. Everybody that was healthy or even the guys that weren’t healthy that tried to get healthy and even those who failed in their efforts to return or their returns were brief. There was always effort. For that, I never saw that being an issue. We weren’t good enough, period. We are where we belong, which is on the outside looking in.”

After saying, “It was a tough one. We didn’t get to where we wanted to be,” I wish Cashman would have just read his part about “injuries, reoccurring injuries, underperformance and unexpected poor performances” in list form like this:

Injuries: Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Curtis Granderson, Mark Teixeira, Travis Hafner, Kevin Youkilis, Francisco Cervelli, Eduardo Nunez, Brett Gardner, Jayson Nix Michael Pineda, CC Sabathia, Andy Pettitte, Ivan Nova, David Phelps, Vidal Nuno, Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain (and also Corban Joseph, Luis Cruz and Zoilo Almonte)

Reoccuring injuries: Derek Jeter, Curtis Granderson, Mark Teixeira

Underperformance: Travis Hafner, Kevin Youkilis

Unexpected poor performance: CC Sabathia, Ichiro Suzuki, Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain, Hiroki Kuroda’s last eight starts and everything about the catchers

Why sugarcoat the 2013 season and give a paragraph answer when a simple list of names would do?

On A-Rod and his appeal.

“I operate on the assumption that I have him until they tell me otherwise. I’m not really in a position to talk about the Alex stuff. We’re not a party to it. I know from the media reports it was supposed to start yesterday and for a while there, until I looked on Twitter and saw certain things about people coming and going I wasn’t even sure if it had started or not. Because that’s how out of the loop I am on it. There’s not much to say on it. At this stage I’m not a participant in any way.”

If you don’t think Brian Cashman has been searching the backyard of his Darien home for four-leaf clovers or sleeping with a necklace of rabbit’s feet around his neck and pulling out every possible stop to hope for his wish of A-Rod suspensions coming true, so the team doesn’t have to pay him, then you’re lost.

I like Cashman’s whole “I know from media reports it was supposed to start yesterday” and his “I wasn’t even sure if it had started or not” thing like he hasn’t been following it the way I would follow weather reports hoping for a snow day from elementary school through high school. And even if he was telling the truth here about not knowing the details of the appeal, then he’s saying he doesn’t care to know about the situation of his highest-paid player facing a 211-game suspension. No one’s saying you are participating, Cash, but you might want to be in the loop on it a little bit. It only greatly impacts every decision you make this offseason. No big deal.

On staying under the $189 million threshold.

“It’s certainly a goal. It’s not a mandate. It’s a goal that we have and if it’s possible, there’s a lot of benefits to staying under that, but it’s not a mandate if it’s at the expense of a championship. It just depends on what the opportunities are before us, and the costs associated with it and if the feelings are if we don’t do something it will prevent us from taking a run, then I think his commentary that he’s already made at the owners’ meetings as well as spring training is that it’s a goal, not a mandate, Every option, every opportunity that comes my way whether by trade or free agency, I will always present to my owner and team president for evaluation. We will provide recommendations, they will provide their thoughts on what we should do and the final call on whatever is going to be done. So it’s a goal, not a mandate.”

“It’s certainly a goal. It’s not a mandate,” to me sounds like, “Do you remember what happened the last time we missed the postseason?” And the answer to that is Mark Teixeira got $180 million, CC Sabathia got $161 million and A.J. Burnett got $82.5 million. The only problem with that is that this free-agent class isn’t as good as the one from five years ago. The best free-agent class since the post-2008 class isn’t until next year, but by then it might not be as strong with teams extending players over the next year.

On re-signing Robinson Cano.

“We’d love to have Robbie back. There’s not much more for me to say about that, but our intention is to have him back, if we can. He’ll receive without question, or has received, a significant offer to stay, so he’ll have something legitimately to ponder. We’ll have to again, play that one out as well, see where it takes us. He’s been a great Yankee. I think if he stays he’ll have a legitimate chance to experience what you just saw, for instance, for Mariano. Maybe he has the chance to be the first Dominican-born player in Monument Park. A home-grown Yankee. But at the same time. It’s a business.”

So far Cano has reportedly receivers offers of eight years, $138 million and six years, $144 million, neither of which the Yankees could have possibly thought he would sign. And then a report comes out that Cano is looking for $305 million, which was reported by Buster Olney and not The Onion.

Cano isn’t going to get $305 million, but he’s probably going to get $200 million and even that’s ridiculous when you consider that Dustin Pedroia signed an eight-year, $110 million extension and is 10 months younger than Cano.

I like Cashman using his answer to include a sales pitch to Cano about being the first Dominican-born player in Monument Park and being a home-grown Yankee as if a player reportedly looking for $305 million cares about his Number 24 going beyond the center-field wall. It seems like Cano is going wherever the biggest offer comes from and if it’s not the Yankees, the seats between the bases (the moat seats) are going to look a lot emptier than they have in any of the first five seasons of the new Stadium.

On the lack of home runs and power this season.

“It was definitely significantly affected by injuries. We knew were going to lose Alex, we signed Youkilis to replace Alex to give us coverage while Alex came back, then Youkilis went down, Teixeira unexpectedly went down, Granderson unexpectedly went down twice; that’s a lot of home runs to be losing from your lineup. And no matter how many waiver claims or trades we could come up with, it was all just trying to cushion the blow. It’s not easy to find power out there, especially at that time of year. Then Hafner obviously went down. Injuries took a significant portion of our power out.”

You mean the Makeshift Yankees couldn’t provide the missing power from the New York Yankees? I wonder if all the genius fans from the 2012 season who complained about the Yankees hitting too many home runs and relying too much on home runs rather than stringing together singles and playing small ball enjoy not watching the Yankees play in October?

On if the Yankees will sign power hitters for 2014.

“Players I like to gravitate to, clearly, are on base percentage. I was taught by Gene Michael, as the guys who take – they’re are selective at the plate and can beat you with their bat.The long ball. I love the big long ball. Stick always believed in the old Earl Weaver way. That’s what I was taught and raised in. so the players I typically gravitate to are those type of guys. And it was certainly hard to find those type of guys on the run, as the roster choices, as we went from March on, trying to cushion blows, it’s not easy to find power guys, as much as maybe as in years past, certainly it wasn’t easy for us to plug the holes. I wasn’t able to do that. I failed in my efforts to get that done. Power is a big piece of this franchise, and something I believe in.”

I’m glad Cashman isn’t part of the Too Many Home Runs Club. But it’s telling when he says “It’s not easy to find power guys, as much as maybe in years past,” which clearly shows how the landscape of valuing players has changed and there are less and less potential big-name free agents hitting the market or available late in spring. It’s hard to fault him for Mark Teixeira injuring his wrist during the World Baseball Classic (and generally being Mark Teixeira) or for Curtis Granderson getting hit by two pitches that ruined his season. But was Travis Hafner as a power option really going to be relied on for a full season after only playing more than 94 games once since 2007? And was Kevin Youkilis, who missed 40 games in 2012, 42 games in 2011 and 60 games in 2010 (and missing 134 games this year) suddenly going to stop getting hurt like an aging player as he aged?

On CC Sabathia.

“Based on the year he just had velocity-wise, if that didn’t come back this year, I don’t know why it would start to come back next year. So I’m going to assume he’s going to be pitching at the current velocity that he kind of settled into this year in the second half. Obviously the home run ball was a big problem for him this year; that historically I know can be fluky. That’s something that can be and we certainly hope is an aberration. His strikeouts per 9, his walks per 9 are right where he was in ‘09 and 2010. Despite the lack of velocity, that shows his pitchability whether it’s the high-octane 97 versus what he’s sitting at now, the pitchability is still there. He had the ability to swing and miss and command the strike zone and pound it. So avoiding the home run ball or eliminating that should take care of all his issues.”

Home runs are fluky like batting average is about being lucky, right? Derek Jeter has just been the luckiest guy in the league since 1996 and CC Sabathia was the unluckiest pitcher in the league this year. Or Sabathia was a guy, who to his own admission, said this about his problems: “It’s me being stubborn, too, and not wanting to change and thinking that I’ve got stuff figured out.”

I’m not sure why Sabathia’s velocity is talked about as much as it is. No, he isn’t throwing 96-97 anymore, but he hasn’t thrown that hard consistently in a while, not just in 2013. He was still in the mid-90s with his fastball and with his repertoire of pitches, 14-13 with a 4.78 ERA is unacceptable. There are plenty of lefties around the league who do a lot more (and did a lot more this season) with a lot less than Sabathia and would probably trade a year of their careers to be able to obtain the velocity that Sabathia does still have.

And whether home runs are fluky or not, giving up 28 of them (and leading the league in earned runs) as he did as the supposed “ace” of the staff making $23 million per year isn’t something worthy of excuses.

On whether or not the bench needs to be more experienced for 2014.

“I don’t know if it’s more experienced; I just want quality ones. You would love to have as much young as you could possibly have, if it’s good. If it’s not, that’s what you’ve seen us do in the past, the (Eric) Chavezes and things of that nature. If you have a right-handed hitting power third baseman, you’d love to have an alternative left-handed hitting option so you pick and choose when you want to rest a player like an Alex. You can run the alternative out there more for matchup purposes and stuff like that. Typically the bench is a veteran situation because younger players aren’t used to sitting around and knowing what they need to do to be prepared. That’s always an adjustment and a growth period that takes place over time, with playing. Bottom line is the bench typically is experienced. You’d want to have a good quality strong bench without a doubt. That’s always been an effort.”

Eric Chavez signed with the Diamondbacks for $3 million.

Raul Ibanez signed with the Mariners for $2.75 million.

Cashman gave $12 million to Youkilis, $2 million to Hafner and $11.5 million this season and $2.4 million next season in the trade for Vernon Wells once Granderson went down. Give me a minute while I collect myself and get some tissues to wipe away these tears.

On Michael Pineda.

“We shut him down as a healthy player in the end. He’ll compete for a job in spring training. He’s got options and I don’t think it’s healthy for anybody to guarantee anything so I’m not going to sit here just because he’s Michael Pineda and we have high hopes to say hey we can pencil him into our rotation. He’s got to obviously show that he can stay healthy and that he’s effective while he’s pitching. We certainly hope that’s going to be the case, but I’m not going to sit here and guarantee anything on that either. But it certainly would go a long way towards solving some problems, if that was the case.”

With Pineda having thrown zero pitches for the Yankees over the last two seasons and with Jesus Montero hitting .252/.293/.327 for the Mariners over the last two seasons and then being suspended 50 games for performance-enhancing drugs, I would say that trade has been a wash so far.

But when I think back to Pineda’s 2011 season and his 8-6, 3.03 first half that got him on the All-Star team as a rookie and his 9.1 K/9 and his 2.9 BB/9, it’s hard to think of him as a front-end starter for the Yankees in 2014.

On the Yankees’ struggles with the farm system and draft.

“In terms of changes, we’re always looking at that kind of stuff, and if there are any changes to be made, well make them. We have struggled out of the draft here the last number of years; some of it signability, whether it was a Gerrit Cole, some of it was injuries, like last year’s No. 1 pick Ty Hensley having double hip surgery. Some of our picks haven’t panned out. I think this last year we did really well, but in fairness, you always feel that when you make the selections, so were evaluating that as well. … We haven’t had as fruitful results from the draft here recently as we had hoped and anticipated.”

Hey, remember the time the Yankees draft Gerrit Cole with the 28th pick in the 2010 draft and then his family told the Yankees they didn’t have a chance? Cole’s dad said he told the Yankees, “We said, ‘We appreciate the opportunity, but if we were to entertain a discussion of finances, it would give you the impression you had a shot.’”And remember when Cole was then drafted by the Pirates with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 draft and made his MLB debut in 2013 going 10-7 with a 3.22 ERA while the Yankees’ highly-touted first-round pick from 2004 named Phil Hughes was losing 13 games for an 85-win team? I’m going to need a minute to collect myself again.

On Derek Jeter.

“I certainly hope to get Derek back to the Derek that we’re all used to. He’s one of those guys that did everything in his power to fight through something that turned out to be pretty significant. And so now he’ll have some time to back off, get some rest, some more flexibility back, and get every aspect of that ankle in line, as far as the kinetic chain. So it’ll put him in position to have the typical training regimen he’s used to, as he prepares for the season. He’ll be able to do that. The expectation is that when that happens, and does occur, he can put significant distance between what we saw and all lived through with him, the last year, where obviously it was something that was really limiting him to being the player he’s capable of being again.”

I’m not going to comment on Derek Jeter or Cashman’s answer because Derek Jeter is going to return to being Derek Jeter again in 2014 and I won’t believe otherwise. Instead I will just refer to Eli from The Girl Next Door and his answer to being a little young to skip film school: “Shut the eff up! Next question.”

On the upcoming offseason.

“We’ve got a lot of problems that we need to attack. Starting rotation is an area that is one we need to look at. There are questions on the left side of the infield; three of the four spots of the infield, actually, because of the free agency of Cano. We’ll see. Those obviously stand out. … There are a lot of areas to focus on this winter more than previous winters.” about 17 hours ago

180 days to go. Let the nonsense begin.

Blogs • KTTC Classics • Yankees

Sep 25, 2013

I Believe CC Sabathia Because I Have To

CC Sabathia’s 13 losses are a big reason the Yankees won’t be playing in October, but he promises to be back in 2014.

The Yankees had to give CC Sabathia an extension. Coming off a 19-8 season with a 3.00 ERA in 2011 and 59-23 record with a 3.18 ERA in his first three seasons with the Yankees, he had been the first free-agent pitcher to truly live up to his hype and billing during the Brian Cashman era (unless you consider Mike Mussina the first to, which I don’t). Even if he was the biggest reason (aside from the runners in scoring position debacle) the Yankees lost to the Tigers in five games in the ALDS, the team had to re-sign him.

If Sabathia had opted out and signed somewhere else, the Yankees rotation entering 2012 would have been A.J. Burnett (thankfully he was eventually traded), Ivan Nova and Phil Hughes and who knows who else since Hiroki Kuroda had yet to sign and Andy Pettitte was still retired. Just a year after we were believed to be looking at a rotation of Sabathia, Cliff Lee, Pettitte, Burnett and Hughes before Lee ruined the Christmas season, if the Yankees didn’t extend Sabathia, they would have most likely had the worst rotation in the American League and I would have had to dust off the Cliff Lee Sad Songs Playlist.

The season after getting that extra year worth $25 million in 2016 and the $25 million vesting option for 2017, Sabathia started 28 games, his lowest total since 2006 (when he also started 28), posted his highest ERA since 2005 with 3.38, won his fewest amount of games since 2006 with 15 and allowed the most home runs in a season in his career despite the missed starts. He bounced back in the postseason by beating the Orioles in Games 1 and 5 of the ALDS (17.2 IP, 12 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 16 K), but then looked 2007 ALDS Chien-Ming Wang against the Tigers in Game 4 of the ALCS (3.2 IP, 11 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 2 HR). Still there wasn’t any reason to be worried about the Yankees’ ace since.

And there wasn’t any reason to be worried even when the Red Sox beat him on Opening Day since he had been beaten up by the Orioles on Opening Day in 2009, the Red Sox in 2010 and the Rays in 2012. Three starts later, Sabathia was 3-1 with a 2.57 ERA, the Yankees had a 1.5-game lead in the AL East and everything seemed to be going according to the plan the way it had the previous four seasons with Sabathia at the front of the rotation. Even when he entered his final start of the “first half” with a 9-7 record and 3.99 ERA, Sabathia was going to go on his “second half” run after the break because that’s what he does.

But then the Twins torched him in that final start (4 IP, 8 H, 8 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 1 HR), in the most embarrassing loss of the season, the Red Sox lit him up in his first start after the break (5 IP, 9 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 2 HR), the Rays knocked him around five days later (5 IP, 9 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 3 BB, 6 K), and the Padres (the Padres!!!) roughed him up six days after that (5.2 IP, 11 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, 1 HR). After losing to the Padres on Aug. 2, Sabathia was 9-10 with a 4.78 ERA and the Yankees were just 12-11 in games started by him. Five days later he later the White Sox creep back from a 4-1 deficit to make it 4-3 in the eventual double blown save game. The day after that I wrote that the Yankees’ season was over.

Sabathia won’t pitch again in 2013 and rightfully so. There’s no point in running $76 million of guaranteed money out there to face the Astros in an exhibition game when it’s likely that he’s only one of two returning current starting pitchers in 2014. And because only Sabathia and Ivan Nova are likely to return to the rotation next season, it’s important, no it’s imperative that CC Sabathia return to the 2009-2012 CC Sabathia or something pretty freaking close to it to avoid a chase for the second wild-card spot a year from now.

Sabathia finished the 2013 season at 14-13 with a 4.78 ERA and somehow won five of his final eight starts despite pitching to a 4.94 ERA over that span. He won’t pitch again in a real, meaningful game until April 2 in Houston on Opening Day 2014, when he will earn the same nearly $700,000 he earned per start in this lost season. But even though a little over six months separate Sabathia and the bottom of the first inning in Houston that doesn’t mean he isn’t already thinking about finding himself on the mound or finding a new way to be successful on the mound and he talked about it on Tuesday. Let’s analyze what Sabathia had to say about his 2013 season and what he expects in 2014.

On it being hard to make adjustments.

“Yeah, it is (difficult). It’s me being stubborn, too, and not wanting to change and thinking that I’ve got stuff figured out. It was a lot of different things. Of course, you want to have more time to work on things, especially when you’re trying to change things in your delivery. I’ll have the whole offseason to work on my throwing and my mechanics and be back right.”

I’m not sure “stubborn” is powerful enough for a starting pitcher who rejects change and midseason adjustments while losing 13 games. Sabathia was asked to carry the team (along with Robinson Cano) through injuries and earn his $23 million, but he failed to do so. At least he has an extra month to work on his mechanics! So I guess it’s a good thing the Yankees won’t be playing in October!

On if he can return to being a dominant pitcher.

“I don’t think I’m ever going to be that same guy again. I’m 33 this year, but pitching against San Francisco the other night, I felt like back to myself more so than any other start. It wasn’t velocity — I was 90 to 93 — but just pitching inside, being aggressive, throwing fastballs in hitters’ counts. Just going out there and being a bully. That’s something I feel like I was before and kind of lost that this year.”

The Giants suck. You know this, right? They haven’t seen .500 since June 24 and are 24th in runs score in MLB, 29th in home runs and 27th in slugging percentage. Being a “bully” against the Giants shouldn’t make you feel like yourself. It’s the Giants! The Giants!

“I feel like at certain times, I kind of fell in the same pattern, pitching the same way. Hitters watch video and they know what to expect out of me, so it’s only right for me to do the same thing. … I’ve always been a guy that never watched video and that’s something that I need to change.

You mean guys like Mike Napoli? Yeah, I would say watching video might be something you want to change if it’s going to result in career .258 hitters like Mike Napoli turning into Manny Ramirez vs. Andy Pettitte (36-for-92, five home runs, 23 RBIs) against you.

On changing the way he prepares for games.

“My preparation for games probably needs to get a little better in that way. That’s something me and Larry talked about, and going forward will be better.”

At what point did you and Larry talk about changing your preparation? Was it before or after (or possibly during) your winless six-game stretch from July 9 to Aug. 9 (36 IP, 49 H, 33 R, 28 ER, 12 BB, 27 K, 7 HR)? I’m going to hope it was sometime after this since losing to the Royals, Twins, Rays and Padres and picking up no-decisions against the Red Sox and White Sox over the course of 31 days isn’t a good look for the “ace” of the staff. Even Phil Hughes can shake his head at that disappointing stretch, which helped ruin the Yankees’ season.

On what went wrong this season.

“I’m just talking about going out and pitching like I did the other day (against the Giants). Grinding games out. That’s something I feel like I didn’t do a good job of this year. Getting runners on base and being able to get a double play. Giving up a run or two, and being able to shut the inning off. I feel like I gave up too many big innings and big situations. We come out and score a couple of runs off a tough pitcher, and I come back and give the lead right back. That’s stuff that I didn’t do, or I don’t do, and it happened this year. I think that’s what I say when I talk about coming back and being right.”

I would have to say I trust Sabathia the least when it comes to pitching a shutdown inning right after the Yankees get on the board. It got so frustrating this season watching him give up leads or increase deficits that actually became funny. It became funny because it got to the point that all you could do was laugh as CC built picket fences on the scoreboard for the opposition, put the Yankees in early holes and blew late leads. I’m just glad he realizes what he was doing and didn’t just go to into A.J. Burnett “Eff It” mode when things unraveled even if it looked like he went into that mode.

On what will change in 2014.

“I think I’ll be back to myself. I know a lot of people have written me off and said I’ve thrown too many innings and whatever, whatever, but I’ll still be here and still be accountable and still be the guy that signed up in 2009.”

That quote made me go back and watch CC Sabathia’s press conference from December 2008 when he was introduced with A.J. Burnett 10-plus months before they would help end the eight-year World Series drought. And in that press conference CC said, “I want the ball every day if they’ll give it to me.” There was a time when I wanted him to have the ball every day. If he holds true to his promise, I will want him to have the ball every day next season.

Blogs • Yankees

Sep 24, 2013

At Least the 2013 Yankees Went the Distance

The Yankees aren’t going to the playoffs, but surprisingly I’m not as devastated about it as everyone thinks I would be.

It’s only fitting that J.R. Murphy struck out to end the season on Sunday. And it’s only fitting that Mark Reynolds provided the Yankees’ only run with a solo home run. And it’s only fitting that it was Zoilo Almonte’s baserunning error that cost the Yankees in the seventh inning. It’s only fitting that a 22-year-old catching prospect, the Cleveland Indians’ Opening Day designated hitter and the Yankees’ replacement outfielder’s replacement helped decide a must-win game for the 2013 Yankees.

I eliminated the Yankees back on Aug. 8 when I wrote “The Yankees’ Nightmare Season Is Over.” I wrote that column out of frustration following the three-game sweep at the hands of the White Sox, but I still believed they would find a way to reach the postseason even if it were as the lousy second wild card. They had Alex Rodriguez and Curtis Granderson back in the lineup, Alfonso Soriano back in the Bronx and Derek Jeter on his way back and 49 games left to make up the ground they lost on the 2-6 road trip to Los Angeles, San Diego and Chicago.

Since blowing leads in the ninth and 12th to the White Sox on Aug. 8, the Yankees have gone 25-18, which is actually quite impressive given their health status, but not enough to play in Bud Selig’s One-Game Playoff. They were forced into a must-win nine-game stretch to finish the season against the Giants, Rays and Astros to have somewhat of a chance at Bud Selig’s One-Game Playoff, but they failed to meet that goal in just Game 3 of 9 on Sunday, scoring one run against the Giants, who last saw .500 on June 24 (three months ago today). And the season was finally lost when last season’s World Series champion closer Sergio Romo got the 22-year-old Murphy to chase the same slider he got the Reds, Cardinals and Tigers to chase last October, but really the season was lost long before Murphy’s 13th career plate appearance.

I still don’t understand the people that refer to early-season baseball as “meaningless April and May games” or say things like, “It isn’t even the All-Star break yet.” These are probably the same people that think Bud Selig’s replay system, which will put more value on innings seven through nine than innings one through six, is a good idea. But it’s these people that are calling for Joe Girardi and Brian Cashman’s jobs on sports radio these days (their jobs aren’t on the line, but if they were, they should be called into question for reasons other than not making the playoffs this season) and flooding Twitter with rage about the Yankees not beating the Giants on Sunday or being swept by the Red Sox last weekend. But because baseball doesn’t “count” until Game 50, or Memorial Day or the All-Star break or any other made-up checkpoint or arbitrary date, I guess neither did any of the Yankees’ losses before then either.

The Yankees lost a lot of winnable games throughout the season and games that their full roster and previous Yankees teams would have won, but two series stick out the most: the four-game sweep by the Mets and the three-game sweep by the White Sox. I don’t think I need to tell you where they would be if they had won just three of those seven games or where they would be if they could have won four of the seven. Or where they would be if they had done just a little better than 1-6 in their last seven games against the Red Sox. Even with their incredible record in one-run games, the Yankees had plenty of chances to play in Bud Selig’s One-Game Playoff (thanks in large part to Toronto) and every other team vying to play in Bud Selig’s One-Game Playoff — Tampa Bay, Cleveland, Texas, Kansas City and Baltimore — all did their part in trying to help the Yankees reach the postseason for the 18th time in the last 19 seasons. The Yankees didn’t meet them half way over the last two months and now they have run out of schedule.

I don’t think the Yankees are looking at an upcoming season or seasons of embarrassment like the Red Sox endured in 2010 and 2012 (and would have continued to endure if the Dodgers didn’t bail them out) or the Mets have been enduring since their September collapses. Bud Selig’s One-Game Playoff has made sure that barely-above-average teams like the 2013 Yankees will be in contention for a postseason berth as long as they can tread water slightly above .500.

The Yankees are four games out of a playoff spot and still alive in Game 157 when they barely had a recognizable roster for the first 113 games and saw every would-be Opening Day position player miss significant time except for Robinson Cano and Ichiro Suzuki. Derek Jeter played 17 games, Mark Teixeira played 15, Alex Rodriguez 42 (so far), Kevin Youkilis 28, Curtis Granderson 55 (so far), Francisco Cervelli 17 and Travis Hafner (81). (Brett Gardner played in 145 games, but injured his oblique and would have been available in a limited role, if at all, in the playoffs.) Here are the Yankees’ current leaders by games played for each position:

C – Chris Stewart
1B – Lyle Overbay
2B – Robinson Cano
3B – Eduardo Nunez
SS – Jayson Nix
LF – Vernon Wells
CF – Brett Gardner
RF – Ichiro Suzuki
DH – Travis Hafner

Aside from the previously mentioned Murphy and Almonte, the Yankees called on David Adams, Luis Cruz, Brennan Boesch, Reid Brignac, Brendan Ryan, Chris Nelson, Brent Lillibridge, Alberto Gonzalez, Melky Mesa, Thomas Neal, Corban Joseph and the legendary Travis Ishikawa to replace first-ballot Hall of Famers, All-Stars and everyday major leaguers.

As for the rotation, CC Sabathia was shut down with a hamstring injury over the weekend, Andy Pettitte was placed on the DL in late May, David Phelps has thrown 23 pitches in September, but before then hadn’t pitched since July 4 and Michael Pineda still hasn’t thrown a pitch for the Yankees since becoming a Yankee. And even worse than any injury or terrible replacement was Phil Hughes, who might as well have been injured, with his 13 losses and 5.07 ERA on the season with still a start to go. I’m sure A.J. Burnett is wondering why I let Hughes off easy and spent hundreds of thousands of words each season on Burnett. But don’t worry, A.J.! The offseason is extra long this year and there are plenty of words to be written.

And because of the extra long offseason with no baseball in October, there will be plenty of time to look back on the 2013 season as a whole and not just how Phil Hughes did his part to ruin it. But with the Yankees four games out with six games to play and Number 42 and Number 46 making their final appearances, I thought it was necessary to look at the 2013 Yankees for taking the possibility of the postseason farther than I thought they would when they opened the season 1-4 and farther than I thought they would with the double blown save against the White Sox on Aug. 8.

Now it’s time to ask my friends who are Red Sox fans and Met fans what I’m supposed to do in October.

Blogs • Email Exchanges • Yankees

Sep 5, 2013

The Yankees’ Last Chance to Make a Run at the Red Sox

The Red Sox are in New York for the last time this season unless the Yankees can continue their winning ways to set up a postseason series against their rival. It’s time for an email exchange with Mike Hurley.

The Yankees are 18-8 since they played the Tigers at home starting on Aug. 9. But even with a .692 winning percentage for nearly a month, the Yankees are still 2 1/2 games out for the second wild card and eight games out in the division. Their last chance to make a run at the division starts on Thursday night in the Bronx against the Red Sox. You know what that means. An email exchange with Mike Hurley.

Keefe: It seems like we don’t do one of these for months and then all of a sudden we are doing one a week since here I am talking to you just 19 days since our last one. I guess that’s a good job by Bud Selig and the MLB schedulers for stacking Yankees-Red Sox games and not spreading them out over the six-month season. Between the scheduling, the wild-card format and the replay system, which will put more value on innings 7-9 over 1-6 because that’s logical, well I would say that Bud’s legacy will be about being an innovator and genius and not the man who watched the PED era grow and blossom under his watch. I don’t think we have to worry about him reading this though since it’s an “email exchange” and contains the word “email” and Bud has never sent an email in his life. If there’s one thing I have learned in life it’s that you can’t trust a man who’s never sent an email. And since he’s never sent an email, he’s probably never been on YouTube either since he doesn’t allow MLB videos on YouTube and if we can’t trust someone who’s never sent an email, I don’t even want to know that a grown man that has never been on YouTube exists.

Somewhere in that last paragraph I mentioned the wild-card format. The decision to have two wild cards and a one-game playoff to advance to the division series was a decision made by MLB that I was strongly against and spent thousands of words destroying in a way that I have only ever destroyed A.J. Burnett, John Tortorella, Joe Girardi, Boone Logan, Nick Johnson and Brian Cashman. But here are the Yankees just 2 1/2 games out of playing in the wild-card game in a season that had it been pre-2012 they would be five games out of the only wild-card spot. So guess what, Michael Hurley … I love the wild-card format! I love it so much that I wish there was a third wild-card team. Can we get a third wild-card team? That way the Yankees make the playoffs and the top wild-card team could play the second and third wild-card teams in a one-game playoff before the one-game playoff. More one-game playoffs! Are you with me? Who doesn’t love one-game playoffs? I know Bud does. It’s too bad he can’t remember his AOL password to sign on and read this exchange.

Hurley: The funny part about Bud (just kidding, there’s nothing funny about Bud except for his Google image results page) is that prior to last year, I’m sure adding the wild card back in ’95 would have been near the top of the list of his proudest achievements. But now he’s completely thrown that system in the garbage, even though he used to think it was great, only to force some team that otherwise would have been in the ALDS to participate in a one-game playoff against a team that otherwise would be golfing.

For comparison with other sports, a one-game playoff in MLB accounts for a 0.6 percent representation of the regular season determining a playoff series. You may say, “Well, football has one-game playoffs, and that league is pretty good,” but one NFL game accounts for a 6.25 percent representation of the regular season. That would be a 10-game series in baseball. And in hockey and basketball, a playoff series lasts between four and seven games, which is between 4.9 percent and 8.5 percent of the regular season.

And the “just win your division!” argument is for dopes. The Braves could literally play the rest of the season with each player tying one hand behind his own back and still cruise to an NL East title, while the Cubs, Cardinals and Pirates will battle like crazy to avoid the stupid one-game playoff. All three of those teams could end up winning around 93 games, which could end up being enough to win the NL East and maybe even the AL West, but JUST WIN YOUR DIVISION! Even if the schedules are imbalanced and you play 90-win teams 36 times while another division leader gets to play four of the worst teams in baseball 72 times, I don’t care, just win your division!

So, sorry about that. Did you ask me a question?

Keefe: The last time we did this was on Aug. 16 and you said this regarding the Yankees’ playoff chances:

Do I think the Yankees can outplay the Royals, Indians and Orioles from now until Sept. 29? Absolutely. The Yankees have some soft opponents on the schedule, and they’re destined by a higher power to always split their season series with the Red Sox, so it won’t take an otherworldly effort for them to gain 5 1/2 games in a month and a half.

Since then the Yankees jumped the Royals, Indians and Orioles in the standings and the only thing that is between them and a playoff game is the Rays, who have lost seven of their last 10 games and still have five games left on the West Coast before returning home to host the Red Sox. Everything is falling in to place just like you had predicted and I want to thank you for that.

But before I buy a respirator, a defibrillator, steal someone inhaler, pick up two handles of Jack Daniels and a case of Bud Heavy for a potential one-game playoff involving the Yankees, the Yankees have to do some work against the Red Sox during this four-game series at the Stadium this week. And by work I mean they need to do what they did in August 2009 in the Bronx when they swept the Red Sox and put away the AL East and changed the way that season had been going. OK, so they don’t need to sweep, but they do need to win at least three games here at home in order to keep up with the wild-card race and even slowly drag the division back in the picture.

With the Red Sox holding a 5 1/2-game lead in the division over the Rays are you at all nervous about their postseason chances or can we put the clinched “x” next to them in the standings?

Hurley: To answer your question, yes I am very smart and yes I did nail that and yes I rule.

If 2011 taught me anything, it’s that nothing’s ever clinched. Those Red Sox had a much more daunting lineup than this year’s edition, and the ’11 Sox were 1.5 games up on the Yankees and nine games up on the Rays when September began. On Sept. 6, even after the Red Sox started the month 2-4, they still had an eight-game lead over the Rays for the wild card. Obviously you know that things didn’t turn out too well for the 2011 Red Sox, so no I don’t think anything’s clinched.

Where I do think the 2013 Red Sox are worlds apart from the ’11 version is just in guts. I’m sure the real stat-driven baseball analysts would laugh if they heard that, but I didn’t see any of them calling for this team to be a World Series contender when they assembled in Fort Myers in March. It’s a team that just has guts. They never feel like they’re out of a game, they fight and claw for wins, they pull for each other and they care about winning. Obviously they still need to hit and field the ball, but that type of effort is why I don’t anticipate they find themselves in another 2011 nightmare collapse.

I do see that the Red Sox are 7-5 against the Yankees though, so Boston is due to go either 3-4 or 2-5 against the Yankees the rest of the way. That’s just fact.

Keefe: That is just fact. The season series will end 10-9 one way whether one of the two teams only plays three fielders for the rest of the games against each other.

The last time we talked we also talked about how the rivalry had grown quiet because of the turnover on the rosters and because the Red Sox had been bad for the last few seasons. Then Ryan Dempster goes and throws at A-Rod three times before finally hitting him on the fourth try. The benches cleared, but unfortunately no punches were thrown because either A-Rod knew he might be 1-on-25 or because he realized that he’s appealing a 211-game suspension and he doesn’t need to give MLB any other reason to try and keep him off the field.

A lot was made about the incident since Dempster isn’t exactly Mr. Baseball with a career of mediocrity and A-Rod’s PED use and suspension appeal didn’t have any impact on Dempster’s career or life. On top of that, Dempster plays with David Ortiz, Boston’s own PED user, and I don’t think he threw at Ortiz in any simulated games or live BP in Fort Myers. But even though Dempster didn’t display his hatred for PED users against Ortiz, that didn’t stop Ortiz from taking A-Rod’s side in the incident and saying that Dempster was out of line.

Did Dempster drilling A-Rod lead the Yankees’ comeback in the game (they were down 2-0 when he got hit)? Probably not. Dempster not being a very good pitcher was really the reason for the Yankees’ comeback, but don’t you think Dempster ended up being a joke following the whole thing when you know that going into the game he thought he was going to be a hero?

And how about Ortiz? Why say anything about what happened? And if you’re going to, why go against your teammate? Is it because Ortiz is friends with A-Rod (because he is)? Or is it because Ortiz doesn’t give an eff about what he says since he did call Boston a “sh-thole” last season, which Boston has forgotten about along with his PED use.

Hurley: Good to know the tears still haven’t dried from your face since A-Rod got hit. Wah. Ever think Dempster wasn’t taking some stand against PED users and instead just thinks, like the rest of the world, that Alex Rodriguez is a dink? I honestly don’t know how or why more pitchers don’t throw at A-Rod more often. The man essentially is involved in litigation against the league and the team that pays him $30 million per year and is on his way to becoming the biggest sociopath in sports history. I’d put one in his back every chance I got if I could throw 90 mph. (I can throw about 60 mph.)

As for Ortiz saying something stupid, that’s what he does every year. Sometimes he calls Boston a “shit hole” even though he’s never once been booed at Fenway, even when he was hitting .050 for a couple of Aprils. Sometimes in July he complains about his contract negotiations from the previous winter. Even though he ended up getting more than he wanted, he claims the process was “embarrassing.” Now, he doesn’t agree with what his teammate did, probably because he likes A-Rod as a friend but more so because he hadn’t said anything stupid this year. But because the Red Sox kept winning, and because Dempster essentially received double his suspension because the Red Sox didn’t want him to pitch, it didn’t really blow up into a huge story this year.

You sound like such a sad loser, by the way. Go back and read what you wrote. It has “sad loser” written all over it.

Keefe: I don’t care that people throw at A-Rod, I care that Dempster did for no reason and you made my point. What does A-Rod making $29 million and suing the Yankees have to do with Dempster? Is Dempster’s aunt a member of the Yankees’ legal team and has to work late now to research and go over paperwork because of A-Rod’s lawsuit? Is Ryan Dempster suddenly baseball’s sheriff for no real reason other than that he wants to be?

Before we go on … Koji Uehara hasn’t given up a run since June 30, has retired 73 of his last 80 batters, throws a splitter basically every pitch and is 38 years old. Is Koji Uehara real life?

Hurley: You continue to cry like a school child. That’s weird to me.

I don’t understand the Koji thing. I mean, I understand it, but when you watch him pitch, he hardly looks like a dominant closer might look in your mind. What’s gotten it done for him is his splitter. Jarrod Saltalamacchia was saying last week that he doesn’t even know what the splitter is going to do. It’s got a lot of movement, and it’s not always the same, so hitters have just been baffled. I don’t know how someone hasn’t gotten into one over the past few months, and I don’t know how much longer it can continue, but to answer your question, no, he’s not real life. He was the team’s fourth choice at closer, behind Joel Hanrahan, Andrew Bailey and Junichi Tazawa. I don’t think a team has ever lucked into a dominant closer quite like this before.

Keefe: Ah, the Red Sox just lucking in to more things like going to Los Angeles for a three-game series and not facing Clayton Kershaw or Zack Greinke or getting Rick Porcello in the series finale against the Tigers or even getting the Dodgers to bail them out and stopping what looked like five-plus years of more bad baseball in Boston. And now a dominant closer down the stretch that they didn’t even consider for the role earlier this season?

On Thursday night the Yankees will face Jake Peavy for the first time with the Red Sox. Peavy has been very good in five of his six starts with Boston with the exception of one clunker against the Royals on Aug. 9. The Red Sox will face Ivan Nova 2.0 who has been dominant since returning from Triple-A and was just named AL Pitcher of the Month after going 4-0 in six August starts with a 2.08 ERA. On Friday we get Andy Pettitte and Felix Doubront, on Saturday we get David Huff in what would have been Phil Hughes’ spot and John Lackey and on Sunday we get Hiroki Kuroda and Jon Lester. Sadly, CC Sabathia will miss out on the chance to put the Yankees in an early hole and blow a lead and there won’t be a Ryan Dempster reunion.

When it comes to these two teams the pitching matchups never seem to matter. The Pettitte-Doubront game will end up being the 1-0 affair and the Kuroda-Lester game will turn in a 12-10 gongshow. But even knowing that the starters don’t matter since long gone are the days of Roger Clemens-Pedro Martinez games, which matchup or matchups intrigue you this weekend?

Hurley: You’re leaving out the fact that Miguel Cabrera missed two of the three games against Boston this week. That was pretty lucky too.

I don’t know which game will be best, but what is up with Sunday’s game being at 1 p.m.? I believe there is a sport called football on at that time. I wish that game was at 4 p.m., when there’s only one good football game on, but such is life.

I’m looking forward to seeing Jake Peavy pitch in Yankee Stadium. That dude gets charged up and drops F-bombs on the mound for throwing one ball. It’s nuts. I guess I like watching guys who look like Mutant Jeremy Renners curse angrily on live TV.

Keefe: Speaking of guys you like watching, I have somehow never ask you what your obsession with Cliff Pennington is. So what is it?

Like you said, the Yankees are due to win at least four of the last seven games of the season series because that’s just how it goes. When these two teams meet for important four-game series (or five in the case of 2005), crazy things tend to happen. And with the Rays playing the Angels on Thursday and then the Mariners over the weekend, the Yankees need to win this series or even do what they did in August 2009 in the four-game series in the Bronx that changed the division and the season.

The Yankees need three or four of these games this week to keep the pressure on the Rays and to even put some pressure on the Red Sox. And if that happens I will see you (well, your inbox) next week for the final three game of the season series.

Hurley: Cliff Pennington has a rocket arm. You should see that guy throw. Best player ever. No competition. He hasn’t figured out hitting yet, but maybe in his 30s he’ll get there.

I’m rooting hard for the Red Sox because if they win three of four and send the Yankees onto a slide, that means you won’t be invading my city next weekend. And any time you can stay away from me, I’m happy.

Blogs • Yankees

Aug 20, 2013

Alex Rodriguez vs. Ryan Dempster

Ryan Dempster wanted to leave the game a hero on Sunday night in Boston, but he left the game a loser, who helped the Yankees’ playoff chances and made A-Rod out to be the good guy.

The last time the Yankees and Red Sox started a regular-season gongshow I was playing in a Wiffle ball tournament on my friend’s front lawn. I remember hearing the news and being devastated that I missed it, but not as devastated as I was a few hours later when I found out the Yankees had lost the game on a Bill Mueller walk-off home run.

I never believed that brawl turned the Red Sox season around. The Red Sox had a rotation led by Pedro Martinez and Curt Schilling, the best 3-4 lineup combination in the world with David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez (two performance-enhancing drug users that the city of Boston has conveniently forgot about), a .304/.380/.477 guy leading off in Johnny Damon and a strong mix-and-match bullpen. They made a key deadline trade and won 98 games. They weren’t an underdog story and were never supposed to be one. They were built to be a juggernaut and a bench-clearing brawl didn’t make them one.

I don’t think the near-brawl on Sunday night will turn the Yankees season around. If the Yankees make the playoffs it will be because they are finally healthy for the first time this season and their lineup finally has actual Major League players in it. They will make the playoffs if CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitte stop sucking. And they will make the playoffs if Phil Hughes only sucks a little. They won’t make the playoffs because Ryan Dempster wanted a picture of him and A-Rod in every bar in Boston the way the picture of A-Rod and Varitek is.

After Ryan Dempster’s first fastball sailed behind A-Rod’s legs on Sunday night, I thought it just got away from Dempster and the Fenway crowd’s cheers were an attempt to relive what happened nine years ago and make something of a nothing moment. Then the second fastball came inside on A-Rod, but not enough for him to move out of the way and I thought Dempster was just going to pitch A-Rod inside and try to get him to ground out to short or pop one up in the infield. The third fastball was more inside than the second pitch and A-Rod jumped back, but it wasn’t as much inside as the first pitch and a reason to think anything. And then there was the fourth fastball, which drilled A-Rod in the side.

Immediately following the fourth fastball, I didn’t think Ryan Dempster was trying to hit A-Rod. Why would he? Up until that hit by pitch, A-Rod had been 2-for-2 (two singles) with a walk against Dempster in his career, but that certainly wasn’t enough for Dempster to want to hit him unless A-Rod showboated on one of those two singles. And here were the Red Sox, leading the Yankees 2-0 with a chance to win the game and the series and bury the Yankees’ division chances, so why would Dempster hit him? It couldn’t possibly be because A-Rod had been suspended 211 games by Major League Baseball for performance-enhancing drugs and that he was still playing after appealing his suspension? Ryan Dempster, who has been a player rep, couldn’t possibly be against the rules that he helped create as part of the union, could he?

I didn’t immediately think that Ryan Dempster could think he is Mr. Baseball and the protector of the game. I didn’t think that the failed starter turned failed reliever turned failed closer turned average NL starter turned awful AL starter would think that it’s his duty to take a stand against PEDs and back the sport that cared less about PEDs 15 years ago than they do terrible umpiring now. But for that at-bat and I’m sure the time leading up to that at-bat when he found out he would pitch against the Yankees and A-Rod in the series, Dempster thought he was a first-ballot Hall of Famer and the face of the good guy’s in baseball and forgot that he’s the career under-.500 pitcher with the 4.87 ERA since coming to the AL last season and the only thing he’s ever led the league in is walks (2001) and earned runs (2002).

Going into Sunday night and into that first at-bat with A-Rod, Dempster undoubtedly thought he would leave Sunday night’s game as someone who did baseball a favor, a hero in Red Sox Nation, a role model for the sport and the first guy to stand up to PED users on the field. But when he left Sunday night’s game with one out in the sixth inning to the most embarrassing of Fenway Park standing ovations (and there have been plenty of them over the years) after giving up an absolute A-Bomb to A-Rod and loading the bases, Dempster hadn’t accomplished any of his goals. And when Brett Gardner smoked a three-run triple, which cleared the bases that Dempster had loaded up for Drake Britton and gave the Yankees the lead, the only thing Dempster had accomplished was opening the door for the Yankees’ division and playoff chances a little more and turning A-Rod into somewhat of a likeable figure for those who have no reason to like him.

The difference between Ryan Dempster and I is that I don’t care that A-Rod used PEDs. (This is also the difference between beat writers and I. Well, it’s not the only difference. Excessive eating, giving unnecessary stats, asking bad questions, telling corny jokes and tweeting the play-by-play of spring training games are also some differences.) I don’t care that A-Rod used PEDs, admitted to using them, said he would never use them again and then used them again. I don’t care that he might have thrown other players under the bus or that every day there’s another story connecting A-Rod to shady characters in South Florida or doctors with sketchy pasts or to lawyers better suited for a Lifetime movie or that Brian Cashman is “uncomfortable” talking to him or that his lawyers are planning to sue the Yankees. I care about the Yankees winning games and A-Rod helps them do that.