SB Nation User Blog: Let's Talk About Tex Baby

The new lineup

Let's Talk About Tex Baby — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 04:05:42 -0000

Assuming the Nick Johnson signing becomes official we're looking at something like...

Jeter-Johnson-Teixeira-Arod-Granderson-Posada-Cano-Swisher-Melky

So basically we've replaced Damon and Matsui with Granderson and Johnson. Is that an upgrade? I doubt it. I'd be surprised if Grandy and NJ are able to replicate Damon and Matsui's numbers from 2009. although Damon and Matsui probably wouldn't have replicated that either. Still we're losing 2 guys who were proven in the clutch...2 guys who you really felt comfortable with being at the plate in bit spots. I definitely think that for the $1 mil difference, Matsui would have been a better choice at DH than Johnson.

But maybe this isn't a finished product. Damon/Matsui cost $26 mil last year while NJ/Grandy are costing around 11 mil this year. There's room to add another outfielder, although I have no idea who that would be, and still save money. Maybe they'd still bring Damon back if his asking price drops, although that means he'd be the full-time left fielder again now. There's also room to add someone mid-season if this lineup isn't working out.

Grand(erson) Central and what to do next.

Let's Talk About Tex Baby — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 02:04:12 -0000

That's my prediction for the Sterling home run call. First on Granderson. I think you can make a case for it both ways, but I like the trade. Granderson's flawed, especially in his inability to hit lefties, but he's great in the clubhouse and he's a better player than he showed last year. I think the Tigers misused him a bit and I think he'll be mpre productive if we're smart enough to bat him 5th, 6th or 7th. Bottom line, if Austin Jackson turned out to be Curtis Granderson I wouldn't have been disappointed so its like getting the reward without the risk.

This tips the Yankees' hand that they're not in on Roy Halladay. I can't believe they'd give up 3 of their top 4 prospects in one offseason.

This move also means that the offers to Damon and Matsui are going to be below market value. It'll be up to them how much they want to stay. If we're really going to do the rotating DH thing we need to build up a pretty strong bench. Otherwise if a starter gets hurt we're looking at 2 weak bats every day. One advantage of not having a regular DH though is that it would leave the door open for Montero to come up and DH in August and September.

Offseason Plan

Let's Talk About Tex Baby — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:07:47 -0000

A few others have put theirs so here's mine. It may be a little dull, but stick with what works, right?

Rotation: C.C., A.J., Pettitte, Joba, Hughes. Non-tender Wang and re-sign him for 2.5 mil or so. Let Hughes pitch as a regular starter until the all-star break and then move him to the pen and let Wang take his spot. I'd rather not sign Lackey for a couple of reasons. First, I want Joba and Hughes to both get a fair shot in the rotation. Second, I like the free agent pitching market better in 2011. Halladay or Beckett anyone? In case of injuries we have Ian Kennedy and Zach McAllister in AAA ready to get a shot.

If Pettitte retires, which I hope he doesn't, I don't think we need a star, just a solid #3. I'm not a fan of Jarrod Washburn or Randy Wolf for multiple years, but I think the Royals would give up Gil Meche pretty easily and he's only got 2 years left on his contract.

Infield: We literally have the best all-around infield in the history of baseball. No changes necessary. Let Pena be the full-time utility guy.

Outfield: I'd like to bring both Damon and Matsui back, preferably for 1 year each. Unfortunately I think Damon will require 2, which is ok, but if someone offers more than that I'd let him go. Realistically: Damon 2 yrs/18 mil. Matsui: 1 year/6.5 mil. If either Damon or Matsui walk I'd bring back Xavier Nady on a 1 year deal rather than go for Halladay or Bay who I just don't think are worth the contracts they're going to get. I'd give A-Jax a chance to make the team in spring training and let him share time there with Melky.

Catcher: Yes, we'd all like to see Posada DH more but it's not going to happen because we don't, and won't have a backup capable of catching 60 games. Anyone who's good enough to catch 60 for us is good enough to catch 120 for another team given how weak catching is around the majors. I'd let Molina go and make Cervelli the backup.

Bullpen: It would be nice to sign a Rafael Soriano to set up Mo, but he's going to get a closer job somewhere so it's unrealistic. I think the combo of Robertson, Coke, Aceves, Marte can hold the fort down until Hughes joins them late in the season. Non tender Bruney. Non-tender Gaudin because it'd be silly to pay 3 mil for a long man, but try and bring him back for less in that role. Give Mark Melancon a shot to win the final bullpen spot.

So there you go. It wouldn't be a very exciting offseason, but we just won 103 games and the World Series. Do we need an exciting offseason?

Did Cashman mess up?

Let's Talk About Tex Baby — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 19:34:59 -0000

All the Joba talk recently brings up an interesting question. At the beginning of the season, the Yankees' plan was to have Joba build up his innings and then move to the bullpen in August while CC,AJ,Wang and Pettitte manned the rotation. If Wang hadn't gone down Joba would be pitching in relief now instead of making 3-inning starts. But Wang did go down and now we're left wondering if Joba can handle game 4's after being messed around with for the last 2 months of the season.

So back to that question. Did Cashman make a huge mistake by not acquiring a compitent back-end starter before August 31st? Jon Garland is the obvious guy since the Dodgers got him for nothing but I'm sure there were other guys being dangled out there who weren't signed for 2010 as well. Hopefully Joba pitches a couple of good games in October and this doesn't come back to haunt us.

Why isn't...

Let's Talk About Tex Baby — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:29:38 -0000

Why isn't Phil Hughes throwing 50-60 pitches in a minor league game today so that he can start for the Yankees on Tuesday? I can't understand the logic being used here, that we are going to have to suffer through Sergio Mitre with Hughes sitting in the bullpen. It's not an impossibility that Mitre would pitch well on Tuesday, but there will be starts beyond that before Wang comes back. In 52 major league starts, Mitre is 10-20 with a 5.20 ERA and a 1.53 WHIP...in the National League. This is Sidney Ponson and Darrell Rasner all over again. Solid, but unspectacular AAA numbers at age 28 don't change that.

When the opportunity's there for Hughes to start I don't see why the Yankees wouldn't take it. He gives them a better chance to win and the more times he starts in the majors, the better in terms of his development.

Another bad roster decision.

Jobanalysis

Let's Talk About Tex Baby — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 05:23:14 -0000

On the game yesterday, Kay and Cone mentioned the discrepancy between Joba Chamberlain's home and road numbers a few times. They were mostly focusing on his inability to get a win at home, but as it turns out the contrast in his performance as a whole is pretty stark.

At home: 8 starts, 38.1 IP, 0-2, 5.17 ERA, 1.64 WHIP, 40 K's, 24 walks
On the Road: 7 starts, 42.2 IP, 4-0, 2.74 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 33 K's, 16 walks.

So on the road you have a fairly dominant pitcher, averaging over 6 innings per start. At home you have a guy with a high ERA that averages less than 5 innings per start. Kay and Cone speculated that Joba may be nervous pitching in front of the home crowd, but I think there's a much better explanation here. It seems like Joba is bat shy at the stadium while he pitches a lot more to contact on the road. This is shown by his elevated K and BB rates at home. The job for Girardi and Eiland now has to be to convince Joba that the ball isn't traveling at Yankee Stadium like it was in April and that every fly ball he gives up isn't going to go out. On the bright side, I think these numbers imply that if he starts pitching agressively at home, Joba can be a top of the rotation starter this year even if he doesn't regain the 98 mph heat.

Stop worrying about the bullpen

Let's Talk About Tex Baby — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:38:18 -0000

One of the most surprising things about Sunday's loss was that when the highlights were shown on a couple of the local sports shows, the headline seemed to be that Brett Tomko gave up 3 runs and the theme was "that Yankee bullpen blows another one." This has been going on all year with fans desperately searching for ideas to improve this supposedly horrible pen - move Joba back there, trade Cano for a reliever, and so on.

Tomko was in the game for one reason. The starting pitcher left after 1 inning. That is never a circumstance that lends itself to success, not even in the best bullpens in baseball, which, I'm sorry to tell the doubters, the Yankees have one of. Tomko stinks, but he is the last guy out there and he'll be gone soon. Look at the top 5 middle relievers right now:

Brian Bruney - 2.61 ERA, 0.48 WHIP, 12.2 K/9.

David Robertson - 1.84 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 14.1 K/9

Alfredo Aceves - 2.33 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 7.8 K/9

Phil Hughes (as reliever) - 2.08 ERA, 0.80 WHIP, 12.1 K/9

Phil Coke - 3.64 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 6.7 K/9

That is pretty formidable right there. The pen looked bad early on, but because of the inconsistency of relievers in general, it's normal for it to take until June to sort things out. Jose Veras is gone. Edwar Ramirez is gone. Jonathan Albaladejo is gone. I'll take my chances with the unit the Yankees have right now, who are quietly becoming a pretty dominant force.

Pettitte's aches and pains

Let's Talk About Tex Baby — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 15:42:20 -0000

What we're seeing right now with Pettitte is the major downside of incentive-based contracts. If he wasn't pitching for an extra 750K for every 10 innings over 180 this year, I'm sure Pettitte would be on the DL right now instead of going out there every 5 days and looking brutal every time. I'm sick of seeing guys warming up in the 3rd inning every time he pitches because no one's sure if his back is ok. This isn't working. The Yankees need to take a stand and at least make him skip a start.