SB Nation - Jaret Wright

Worst New York Yankees of the Decade

Ed Valentine — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 16:00:17 -0000

We had some fun the other day debating the Pinstripe Alley Yankee Team of the Decade. Good points were raised on several controversial choices.

Along the way, some of you asked for the 'Worst Yankees of the Decade' team. I thought that would be fun, so I decided to take a shot at it.

Looking at the rosters over the years, though, I found it almost impossible to narrow it down to a single team. Instead, position-by-position, here are some of the most forgettable -- and regrettable -- Yankees of the past decade.

I am sure there are many other names that could or should be added to this list. But, this should get you started strolling down the wrong side of Yankee Memory Lane.

C -- Alberto Castillo, Chris Turner, Chris Widger, Todd Greene, Joe Oliver, Bobby Estelalla, Wil Nieves, Sal Fasano, Michel Hernandez,

1B -- Travis Lee (.105 in 7 games)

2B -- Tony Womack

SS -- Erick Almonte,

3B -- Wilson Betemit, Drew Henson,

INF -- Alex Arias, Felix Escalona (.000, 5 games in 2004), Mark Bellhorn (.118, 9 games, 2005), Cody Ransom, Angel Berroa, Morgan Ensberg

OF -- Kenny Lofton, Matt Lawton (.125, 21 games, 2005), Mike Vento, Justin Christian,

DH -- Jose Canseco

SP -- Kevin Brown, Tim Redding (54.00 ERA in 1 game, 2005), Carl Pavano, Kei Igawa, Jaret Wright (Carl Pavano BEFORE Pavano), Christian Parker (one 2001 start, got hurt, never pitched again), Jeff Weaver, Darrell May, Sidney Ponson (multiple times),

RP -- Alex Graman (19.80 in 3 games, 2004) & 13.50 in 2 games, 2005), Colter Bean, Bret Prinz, Sean Henn, Gabe White, Billy Traber, Anthony Claggett (33.75 ERA in 2 games).

I am ashamed to admit so many guys like this have worn the pinstripes during the course of the last decade. Yuck!

Cashman's moves

Travis G — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:00:40 -0000

More photos » by Paul J. Bereswill - AP

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Can we finally give some credit to Brian Cashman? After an eight year drought, he finally put the Yankees back on top of the baseball world.

After acquiring underachiever after underachiever, Cash built a team based on healthy and dependable stars. In years past, we'd seen the likes of Jaret Wright, Kevin Brown, Randy Johnson, Gary Sheffield, Jason Giambi, Jeff Weaver and Carl Pavano don the pinstripes, only to watch them either underperform or not perform at all. None of the aforementioned lived up to their billing, either through injury or ineffectiveness.

Carl Pavano started 26 games for the Yankees over four seasons. A.J. Burnett and CC Sabathia started 67 games this season alone. Mark Teixeira played 156 games, only sitting out a few times to 'freshen up.'

Not to denigrate George III, but his 'interference' only seemed to hurt the club. He's better when he stands back and lets his 'baseball people' run the team. The last dynasty began when he was barred from baseball. The one that is (hopefully) beginning now began when he ceded control to his sons (about 2007), who were far less 'hands on' than their dad. They in turn handed control over to Brian Cashman, a smart move considering he is the general manager.

Since the change in management, we've seen a marked improvement in the farm system: the '09 bullpen consisted almost entirely of former-Yankee farmhands: Rivera, Hughes, Joba, Coke, Robertson, Aceves. In fact, 13 of the 25 players (more than half) on the World Series roster were from the Yanks farm system.

Next year we're going to see the likely addition of several more: Frankie Cervelli looks to be the BUC, Mark Melancon and Austin Jackson may join the team around mid-season, Jesus Montero has an outside chance at playing a contributing role, as does Zach McAllister.

The money the Yankees save by using the likes of Hughes and Joba instead of Kyle Farnsworth and Tom Gordon can be used to acquire elite free agents (Tex, CC), not just good or over-the-hill ones (RJ, Sheff). Hughes and Joba were worth $17 million combined this year. They were paid about $1 million. Think about it this way: that $16 million difference basically paid for A.J. Burnett's whole season.

Instead of Big Stein forcing Cash to go after the likes of Sheffield and RJ (by all accounts, Cash wanted Beltran and/or Vlad Guerrero), he was able to sign quality in-their-prime players like CC and Tex.

Cashman was against trading for Johan Santana (at the price the Twins were asking), despite the apparent pressure put on him by other members of the front office. Future injuries and ineffectiveness were suspected, and he asked the most vital of questions: why pay twice for one player? Why give up prospects and money when, if the Yankees could be patient, a pitcher at least as good would be available for just money? (Imagine if this had happened when the Yanks were preparing for the stretch run, or if Phil Hughes and Melky Cabrera had been traded.)

I was admittedly against the Nady/Marte trade. Nady was coming off a career half-year while Cashman sold low on high-ceiling prospect Jose Tabata. To add injury to insult, both Nady and Marte missed the majority of 2009 (they combined to play only 28 games). Well, whatever happens with Tabata in the future, we'll know that that trade helped us win a World Series. Marte was essential to the playoff run, summoning the spirit of Graeme Lloyd: 4 ip, 0.00 ERA, 5 k, 0 bb, 2 h (and both hits were in one game!).

I'll talk about one more move: Nick Swisher. Any team could've had this guy, but that the Yanks got him for almost nothing (Wilson Betemit, Jeff Marquez and Jhonny Nunez, are you kidding me?), and that he was superior to not only Bobby Abreu but to every other Yankee OFer made the trade even more extraordinary.

Some skeptics will say Cashman is only a product of the highest payroll in MLB. But as we've learned first-hand this decade, spending the most money is anything but a sure way to win the World Series. Not only has Brian Cashman given the Yankees their 27th title, but has put them in a position to continue supplying the club with good, cheap talent.

PS: To the fans/readers of PA - thank you for an incredible season. The four of us fed off your incredible energy and enthusiasm. We hope to see you all throughout the off-season and 2010.

Busting out in the Divisional Round: Alex Rodriguez and Jeff Bagwell

HighLeveragePerformer — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:00:37 -0000

More photos » by Pat Sullivan - AP

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Story after story after story have been written in the past week about Alex Rodriguez' playoff redemption. For a player as maligned as Rodriguez, truly positive press can be hard to come by. After a season of high expectations for his team, the Yankee third baseman thriving outside of the spotlight- free agent signees Mark Teixeira, AJ Burnett and CC Sabathia, the resurgent Derek Jeter and their new baseball palace have stolen headlines that used to belong to A-Rod. If the result of this relative lack of exposure is the success we've witnessed over the first few games of the playoffs, then maybe Rodriguez could use some of that $300 million contract to force the NY beat writers to focus on Jerry Hairston, Jr. and Brett Gardner in 2010.

Besides the lessening of external pressure on the slugger, the lineup the Yankees have fielded this season is much stronger than those in playoff years past. Outside of 2004, his playoff performances have been well below his career averages. It's tough to judge a player based off of fewer than 35 AB, but it's the nature of the beast playing in New York, on baseball's biggest stage.

Jeff Bagwell never had to deal with the New York media, or the ire of the baseball public during his illustrious career. After four failed attempts to escape the first round the playoffs, Bagwell and the Astros finally managed to lay their collective demons to rest by beating the Atlanta Braves in the 2004 NLDS. Bags would see extended playoff ABs for the first time in his career, and he responded by posting a stupendous "triple-slash" of .318/.400/.682 in 22 ABs. No longer would he be forced to head into yet another off season coming off of tepid October performances.

Was there anything special about that October as compared to 1997, '98, '99 or 2001 (which in fairness was a solid, albeit short, postseason for Jeff)?

1997:

Position	Player	wOBA
C	Bradley	.305
1B	Bags	.428
2B	Craig	.410
3B	S. Berry/Spiers	.316/.404
SS	Bogar/Ricky	.315/.302
LF	Gonzo	.320
CF	Hidalgo	.373
RF	Abreu	.319

1998:

Position	Player	wOBA
C	Ausmus	.318
1B	Bags	.422
2B	Craig	.406
3B	Berry	.387
SS	Gutierrez	.301
LF	Alou	.416
CF	Everett	.359
RF	Bell	.373

1999:

Position	Player	wOBA
C	Eusebio	.320
1B	Bags	.422
2B	Craig	.368
3B	Cammy	.374
SS	Bogar	.294
LF	Javier	.374
CF	Everett	.416
RF	Bell	.296

Note: This season saw the likes of Daryle Ward (.336), Javier, and Matt Mieske (.333) start playoff games in the outfield. Yikes.

2001:

Position	Player	wOBA
C	Bradley	.270
1B	Bags	.408
2B	Craig	.364
3B	V. Castilla	.339
SS	J. Lugo	.303
LF	Alou	.397
CF	Hidalgo	.346
RF	Lance	.435

2004:

Position	Player	wOBA
C	Bradley	.271
1B	Bags	.364
2B	Kent	.369
3B	Ensberg	.321
SS	Everett	.313
LF	Craig	.349
CF	Beltran	.404
RF	Lance	.427

While the addition of Beltran and Kent in 2004 were huge additions, it wasn't as if the Astros became the '27 Yankees. In fact, this was Bagwell's worst season in his career (to that point), yet he had his best postseason ever. While A Rod's mates are clearly superior in 2009 than in seasons past, the same can't truly be said of Bags' bunch in 2004. Between his and Craig's declines, and the lowest output from 3B since 1997, this was a pretty good, but not superior lineup. What surprised me was that Jeff Kent, a power hitting second baseman throughout his career, posted Biggio-like numbers at second in 2004. Lance Berkman is great....like, "play for five more seasons and punch his ticket to Cooperstown" great.

If anything, I'd chalk up their 2004 NLCS appearance to not having to face Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, Kevin Brown, and John Smoltz, and instead facing off against Jaret Wright, John Thomson, Russ Ortiz and Mike Hampton. Wait a second...Ortiz? Hampton? Weren't they on the....this season? Damn.

Before you jump off the Joba The Starter bandwagon

Travis G — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 02:30:09 -0000

More photos » by Mark J. Terrill - AP

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Please read this (and yes, I know it's a bit late) -

Last night we saw a 23-year-old kid have a bad game. It was his second straight - no question about it. But let's not go overboard: from some of the comments on this site, you'd think Joba was as bad as Chien-Ming Wang. These knee-jerk reactions are irrational.

His ERA now stands at a-better-than-average 4.25, third among Yankee starters.

Joba's velocity last night was 93.5 MPH. Is that not good enough? It won't be as fast as when he relieved because that's the nature of baseball: pitching fewer innings is easier and less taxing.

And we've seen him be very successful as a starter - last season he had a 2.76 ERA with a 1.30 WHIP in 12 starts.

Now let's play a game called Guess the Pitcher:

22 years old, 4.48 ERA, 1.49 WHIP...

23 years old, 10.64 ERA, 2.20 WHIP...

22 years old, 4.74 ERA, 1.51 WHIP...

21 years old, 5.61 ERA, 1.64 WHIP...

25 years old, 4.82 ERA, 1.51 WHIP...

and now Joba: 23 years old, 4.25 ERA, 1.56 WHIP

My point is not that Joba will turn into a Hall of Famer (like the aforementioned pitchers), but that a bad stretch doesn't mean he automatically won't. It's two bad starts, two.

All I remember hearing the past couple years was how the Yankees had to develop their own pitchers so we wouldn't have to rely on the likes of Carl Pavano, Tim Redding, Jaret Wright, Kevin Brown, etc.; and the Quadruple-A guys that we got to know too well: Ty Clippard, Matt DeSalvo, Jeff Karstens, Darrel Rasner, Kei Igawa, etc.

That brings me to my next point: if you're throwing Joba into the pen, who takes his spot in the rotation? Sergio Mitre (28 years old, 5.36 career ERA, hasn't pitched in the Bigs since '07), Josh Towers (32 years old, 4.96 career ERA, last seen in '07), Jason Johnson (35 years old, 4.99 career ERA), Igawa (do I have to go over his resume?)? You liking any of them?

Joba is 23, has a 3.04 career ERA (3.62 as a starter).

So the choices seem to be ML re-treads with no promise, or watching a kid with a ton of promise go through normal ups and downs.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

In addition to all that, Andy Pettitte had another poor game. Should he be moved to the pen?

Joba's ERA as a starter is 3.62. Pettitte's over the same time frame ('08-'09) is about 4.62. A full run difference. Before you tell me that Joba doesn't pitch deep enough, I've already looked. He averages 5.1 ip/start - Pettitte has averaged a hair over 6 ip/start. How much is a full run in ERA worth? 2-3 more outs?

It would seem those traits might roughly even out. Therefore, if Joba deserves to be in the pen, why not Andy?

Looking Back at the 1st Round of the 1994 Draft

erik — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 23:30:10 -0000

Call me a curmudgeon, but I really hate the NFL Draft. Captain Hair-Do aside, it is a slog of a television event that really could be done in a matter of hours rather than days. Because football has become America's most popular sport these days, Bud Selig thinks he has to mimic the NFL by broadcasting the draft in prime time, starting at 6pm eastern on June 9. Rather than getting through several rounds on day one of the draft, only three rounds will be drafted, and then the draft will resume the next day at noon. All told, it is going to take three days to get through 50 rounds.

Thankfully, the draft is going to be broadcast on the MLB Network rather than ESPN, so we're spared of Steve Phillips and Bermanisms. While I'm happy that televised drafts mean more exposure, I miss the old days when the first round was blitzed through within a half-hour, with simply names being called monotonously through a speaker phone at a feverish pace.

Now that I got my Andy Rooney moment out of the way, I thought it might be fun to do a little retrospect of the first rounds of various drafts. This isn't deep draft research, there is plenty of that out there already to read up on.

We'll start with 1994, which is bustier than a cabaret show.

Charted below are all of the first rounders and their total WAR compiled for each player before they become eligible for free agency. A players' names that are italicized are those that did not play a single game in the majors.

	Pick	Team	POS	HS/College	WAR
Paul Wilson	1	NYM	P	COL	0.5
Ben Grieve	2	OAK	OF	HS	8.4
Dustin Hermanson	3	SD	P	COL	8.2
Antone Williamson	4	MIL	3B	COL	-0.7
Josh Booty	5	FLA	SS	HS	0
McCay Christiansen	6	CAL	OF	HS	-0.3
Doug Million	7	COL	P	HS	0
Todd Walker	8	MIN	2B	COL	7.4
C.J. Nitkowski	9	CIN	P	COL	-2.1
Jaret Wright	10	CLE	P	HS	0.3
Mark Farris	11	PIT	SS	HS	0
Nomar Garciaparra	12	BOS	SS	COL	41.5
Paul Konerko	13	LA	C	HS	6.4
Jason Varitek	14	SEA	C	COL	10.7
Jayson Peterson	15	CHC	P	HS	0
Matt Smith	16	KC	P	HS	0
Ramon Castro	17	HOU	C	HS	0.2
Cade Gaspar	18	DET	P	COL	0
Bret Wagner	19	STL	P	COL	0
Terrence Long	20	NYM	OF	HS	6.5
Hiram Bocachica	21	MTL	SS	HS	-1.1
Dante Powell	22	SF	OF	COL	-0.2
Carlton Loewer	23	PHI	P	COL	-1.8
Brian Buchanan	24	NYY	OF	COL	-0.4
Scott Elarton	25	HOU	P	HS	3.8
Mark Johnson	26	CHW	C	HS	1
Jacob Schumate	27	ATL	P	HS	0
Kevin Witt	28	TOR	SS	HS	-0.4
Jay Payton	29	NYM	OF	COL	7.3
Russ Johnson	30	HOU	SS	COL	2.5
Mike Thurman	31	MTL	P	COL	1.3
Jacob Cruz	32	SF	OF	COL	0.7
Chris Clemons	33	CHW	P	COL	-0.3
Travis Miller	34	MIN	P	COL	0

Nomar and his "No-mah!" days aside, this is a pretty "ouch" group. Varitek and Konerko later became all-stars, but for other teams than they were originally drafted. Paul Wilson and Ben Grieve were supposed to become superstars, instead Paul Wilson fell prey to his poor mechanics and later became a Kyle Farnsworth tackling dummy. Ben Grieve allegedly had no heart. Them washing out is like the equivalent of Matt Wieters and David Price both going bust. Bad times.

Josh Booty probably has the most interesting story out of this group, and it's worth telling. He was considered to be Peyton Manning's equal coming out of high school, but elected to take the big signing bonus and play baseball instead. After hitting .198/.256/.356 in the minors, including a record-setting 195 strikeout performance in 475 at-bats while in the Midwest League, Booty went back to football and quarterbacked at LSU. (Amazingly, Booty was on the post-season roster when the Marlins won the World Series). For the Bayou Bengals, Peyton Manning he was not, but he wasn't totally awful --- over two seasons he completed 49.3% of his passes for 3,951 yards and 24 TDs. Booty has been a third-string QB in the NFL for the Browns and Raiders, but never has taken a snap in the NFL.

Booty married one of "Barker's Beauties" from the Price is Right, a model who on the show dinged a prize car on Stage Door 3. Then there was also a DUI and taser incident involving Booty a year ago. His brother, John David, quarterbacked at USC and is now a backup for the Vikings. (Thank you, Wikipedia)

Sorting them out into groups ---

Group	#	Total WAR	Avg. Per Player	Avg. WAR per yr.
High School P	6	4.1	0.68	0.114
College P	9	5.8	0.64	0.107
College Hitters	9	68.8	7.64	1.27
High School Hitters	10	20.7	2.07	0.345
Non-Nomar Col. H	8	20.6	3.43	0.572

Not all drafts classes are equal, and while first-rounders don't have as high rates of attrition as players drafted from other rounds, the attrition rates are still high. For this draft at least, there seems to be a lot more sad stories than usual. At least it boasts of one (former) super-star.

WAR data from the ever-resourceful BaseballProjection.com