SB Nation User Blog: NumberSeven

Jeet and Tex bring home the gold...

NumberSeven — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:03:39 -0000

Derek Jeter has won his fourth Gold Glove at shortstop, joining New York Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira among the American League players honored for fielding excellence.

....

Jeter and Teixeira helped lead the Yankees past Philadelphia last week for the team's 27th World Series championship.

Nice to see Jeter rewarded for what was probably his best defensive season of his career. Let's hear what the nay-sayers have to nay-say about that!! Tex, to me, is a slam dunk. Seeing him play everyday this year raised my already high level of admiration for his defensive abilities.

Gardner's not cracking the lineup...tonight.

NumberSeven — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:04:22 -0000

But Jerry Hairston, Jr. is, according to Rotoworld.

Nick Swisher has been benched in favor of Jerry Hairston Jr. for Game 2 of the World Series. Hairston is 10-for-27 (.370) lifetime against Phillies starter Pedro Martinez and Swisher is 11 for his last 77 (.143) with one homer dating back to the regular season.

I guess Girardi is just SUPER in love with Brett off the bench. Well, here's hoping Hairston's career numbers against Pedro translate into success for tonight.

LoHud's got the lineups, here.

Also of note, Jose Molina - catching and batting ninth. Somebody explain to me why Cervelli's not on the roster and Bruney is? Sigh.

MOMENT PAST Just saw Joe Nathan walking down 49th Street. It took me a minute to figure out why he...

NumberSeven — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 17:23:34 -0000

MOMENT PAST
Just saw Joe Nathan walking down 49th Street. It took me a minute to figure out why he looked familiar. Missed opportunity for some trash talk.

Anybody else seen this guy face to face? He is a BIG friggin' dude.

Posada: Molina to catch AJ

NumberSeven — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 18:16:47 -0000

This is according to the LoHud Yankees Blog:

Jorge Posada just revealed that Joe Girardi told him on Sunday that Jose Molina will catch A.J. Burnett in this series.

...

“I just hope we win that game,” Posada said. “That’s all I’ve got to say.”

He added, “It’s not like I didn’t see it coming.”

When asked if he might be the DH when Molina catches, Posada said he wasn’t sure but that, “Matsui is our DH.”

Also confirmed on Tyler Kepner's twitter page.

Hopefully this works out for everyone. With AJ pitching to a comfortable backstop, there will be no excuses. I just hate to have Matsui's or Jorge's bat sitting on the bench in favor of Jose Molina.

Here he comes...

NumberSeven — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 17:39:45 -0000

The new "It" guy will soon be a Free Agent:

Aroldis Chapman, the Cuban defector considered to be one of the top pitching prospects in the world, petitioned Major League Baseball for free-agency status recently and is likely only weeks from becoming a free agent, according to his agent.

Early Monday, Chapman's representatives announced that the left-hander has established residency in Andorra, a tiny country of about 84,000 that borders Spain and France.

By establishing residency outside the United States, the 21-year-old Chapman avoids being subject to baseball's amateur draft. MLB must study his residency and legal paperwork before declaring him a free agent.

...

Since Chapman has a passport -- a rarity for Cuban defectors -- MLB is not expected to take much time in determining his free-agent status. Chapman's passport helps verify his identity and allows him to immediately apply for a visa to play in the United States. Once he is declared a free agent, teams can officially work him out and begin bidding for his services.

In an interview with ESPN in August, [Chapman's agent Edwin] Mejia said teams would have to come to Europe to work out the pitcher.

How high will the bidding go? And let's remember, this is not a polished professional. Chapman is raw, albeit raw with absolutely sick physical tools. I see another Red Sox-Yankees bidding war in the not too distant future.

Pete Abe Defecting

NumberSeven — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 14:14:22 -0000

Pete Abraham, late of the Journal News, is heading North. From the horse's mouth (or pen... or computer):

I was hoping to keep this quiet another day or two so I could compose my thoughts. But that’s not possible these days.

So here it is: I’m leaving The Journal News after nearly 10 years and going to work for The Boston Globe.

I’ll be covering baseball — yes, the Red Sox — and blogging for Boston.com. The Globe approached me in August, right around the time my newspaper was going through some painful restructuring that you all heard about.

I , for one, used to really enjoy Pete's "everyman" kind of take on the Yanks. Kind of like a fan with a press pass. Lately, I haven't enjoyed his complaining- about A-Rod, the new Stadium, etc... - kind of like a fan with press pass. So best of luck Pete- you can tirade anti-A-Rod-style to your heart's content now, with a captive audience.

(h/t to Tyler Kepner's twitter page, where I first came across the link.)

Jeter leaves without talking to the media. That's extremely rare for him.

NumberSeven — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 16:48:10 -0000

Jeter leaves without talking to the media. That's *extremely* rare for him.

Tyler Kepner tweet after last night's game.

That is strange for Jeet. And haven't seen much about it elsewhere.

Jim Rice = D*ckhead

NumberSeven — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 18:56:49 -0000

Jim Rice doesn't think today's major leaguers are good role models, as he told the players at the Little League World Series. For the most part, sure, fair assessment. But then what he said was this:

"You see a Manny Ramirez, you see an A-Rod [Alex Rodriguez], you see [Derek] Jeter ... Guys that I played against and with, these guys you're talking about cannot compare," Rice said to Little Leaguers gathered in the cafeteria.

***

"We didn't have the baggy uniforms. We didn't have the dreadlocks," Rice said. "It was a clean game, and now they're setting a bad example for the young guys."

Asked later at a news conference to list current players worthy of the Hall of Fame, Rice suggested Seattle Mariner outfielders Ichiro Suzuki and Ken Griffey Jr., and Chicago White Sox slugger Jim Thome.

He said he believes current Hall of Famers who did not cheat don't want players who took performance-enhancing drugs to join them in the Hall.

Flexing the muscles in his right arm, Rice said, "That's all the steroids you need . . . It's called God-given talent."

So where the hell does Jeter come up in all this? PED's? Check for A-Rod and Manny. Baggy uniforms and dreads? Check for Manny. So tell me Jim, how is Derek Jeter setting a poor example for kids? Why are Ichiro, Junior, and Thome on your pedestal?? Perhaps because they are not Yankees? I mean they've played in the same era as DJ, aren't they subject to the same groundless suspicions? I just don't get it. All I know is I would give plenty to make sure my kid grows up to be Derek Jeter.

We always knew Jim Rice was an asshole, but even this took me by surprise.

Hello again Claggett... goodbye Cody??

NumberSeven — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 19:03:51 -0000

From Pete Abe:

Anthony Claggett is headed to Toronto and will join the Yankees today. He was 4-6 with a 3.02 ERA in 32 games at Scranton. Claggett was on the 25-man roster on April 18 and allowed eight runs on nine hits in 1.2 innings against Cleveland.

...

The scenario could be Cody Ransom gets DFA’d, Claggett is here for a day or two and at some point Ramiro Pena rejoins the team. We’ll find out soon enough.

Please let this be the end of the Cody Ransom era... Not to mention I'd love to see Pena back up.

Thinking about Johnny Damon

NumberSeven — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 19:57:49 -0000

In the midst of all the Yankees (Joba-Hughes bullpen/starter, Cervelli-Posada, A-Rod, Jeter at SS) banter, there's one subject I don't think I've seen much of (if any) this year- here or otherwise, and that's: What happens to Johnny Damon?

As he comes to the end of his 4-year $52M contract, I think back to his time in pinstripes as being solid. Although I've liked him- when I think back, he's been banged up quite a bit. And even seemed to be breaking down at times- which made made surprised when I looked back and saw that he's never played less than 141 games in a season for the Yanks.

Year					G		R				HR	RBI	SB				BA	OBP	SLG	OPS

2006	NYY	AL	149	115	24	80	25	.285	.359	.482	.841
2007	NYY	AL	141	93	12	63	27	.270	.351	.396	.747
2008	NYY	AL	143	95	17	71	29	.303	.375	.461	.836
2009	NYY	AL	78	61	16	49	8	.284	.370	.528	.898

(stats from Baseball-Reference.com)

He's having arguably his best statistical season, offensively speaking, as a Yankee. His BA is just about his career average, but he's slugging higher than ever (thank you new Stadium) and he's on pace to score more runs, and have more RBIs and HRs than he's had in his career.

Next year the Yanks will have under contract OF's Melky, Gardner, and Swish- add to the mix the Austin Jackson's and come-what-may FA's of the world. So where does that leave Johnny? What's reasonable to bring him back? (Or is it even reasonable to think about bringing him back?) A two-year deal at $7-8M per? One year deal? Less money? Will he take less years/money? I am sure some of these questions will be answered by the what the economic climate brings this offseason. If last offseason taught us anything though, we can't expect big numbers to be thrown around for guys in their mid-30s.

So I ask again- if it was up to you- what happens to Johnny Damon?