More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

Browse more photos »

Johnny Gomes is among the arbitration eligible players who was non-tendered today.

From the Daily Dish:

Gomes hit very well versus lefties, posting a .307 average with a .369 on-base percentage. His power certainly came mostly versus righties, but the ability to get on base consistently versus lefties should entice more teams than his power. 

Should the Yanks bring in Gomez to put some pressure on the corner outfielders?  He hit .307/.369/.545 against lefties.  Swisher hit .244/.393/.475 and Melky hit .268/.343/.420.

Gomes could DH (or push Swisher there), and he'd be a decent bat off the bench (something we're lacking right now).

For me, the money involved is the decision maker; if Gomez will play for incentives, it becomes a no-brainer.

I won't be calling this "Around the Yankee Universe" like Ed does, mainly because I can't afford to have the Yankees sue me, like they're doing to the guys over atThe Yankee Universe.

Good for those guys to keep writing, and they've got a good piece up on Cashman's interview with Mike Francesa.

I think I’d like to add if I could. It’s just that the prices on some of these (free agents) are prohibitive, and it’s a very limited list as well, the list that we would have an interest in.

Erik Manning of Fangraphs thinks that Kanekoa Teixeira is good enough to stick with Seattle (he was taken in the Rule 5 draft).  I won't second guess the players Cash added to the 40-man.  It's been decades since the Yanks had enough quality minor leaguers to lose any.  To lose multiple players in consecutive years speaks to how highly the rest of the league thinks of the Yanks' minor league system.

Will Carrol talked to MLB.com about some injury concerns for you fantasy players.

NoMaas is opposed to signing Mark DeRosa and so am I.  A NL team will offer DeRosa and Hairston Jr. more than the Yanks should.  We lost pitchers in the Rule 5 draft because we've got Reegie Corona, Eduardo Nunez, Ramiro Pena and Kevin Russo on the 40-man roster.  One of them will be able to be our supersub.  If we didn't have some faith in our prospects, we'd have never known Cervelli.

Scouting the Sally has a scouting report up on Single-A prospect Melky Mesa, which Dylan Sharek built off to underscore the primary difficulty of scouting: how do you know the guy you see on the day you're there is the guy who will show up day in and day out.

Joe Poz mentions a thought I'd been mulling in his piece about Granderson (he makes a Granderson Central quip- FreeBradshaw, you'd email me and let me know if you were really my sports writing idol travelling incognito among the unwashed blogging masses, right?).

In the AL Central, Granderson must have faced some great left handed pitchers.  If those guys dominated him, it would go a long way to quelling my still substantial worries that we've traded for a platoon player.

Granderson had a .245 OBP against lefties.  As the chart to the left indicates, familiarity breeds contempt; Granderson beat his average against 7 of the 9 pitchers against whom he had the most PA.

The JoePoz "good lefties" theory: busted.

My new hypothesis: Granderson simply doesn't pick up the ball well. 

It certainly explains his profile as a high strikeout hitter- his success depends on his natural talents (reaction and bat speed) overcoming his limitations.  The incredible difficultly of this limitation is highlighted when he faces a left- he has less time with both eyes on the ball and the pitch breaks away from him, so it's harder to pull.

So tell me, with the usual disclaimers about small sample sizes and bad luck, do you think I'm wrong?

More photos » by Chris O'Meara - AP

Browse more photos »

1. The Lineup Right Now

Continue reading this post »

More photos » by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP

Browse more photos »

I'm setting aside my mixed feelings on dealing away two of our most valuable trade chips for a guy who hit .183/.245/.239 against lefties.

I know that he put up a 3.5 WARP3 despite his struggles.

I know that Dave Cameron gave the move an A+ for the Yanks.

So I wanted to look at three quick measurement (courtesy of Fangraphs) to try to determine whether the Yanks have pulled off another Swisher, bringing in a player ready to bounce back after an off season.

Continue reading this post »

More photos » by Ted S. Warren - AP

Am I really worth all that?

Browse more photos »

Over at Fanhouse, former MLB scout and friend of Pinstripe Alley Frankie Piliere assesses a potential trade from the Jays' perspective.

1) He thinks there's no way that the Jays should expect two of Hughes, Joba, Montero and Austin Jackson.

2) He thinks getting one of those star potential players is the only way to avoid a Twins-Santana situation.  Quantity won't make up for quality.

3) Because the Jays have done well developing hitters in the last few seasons, the 2 pitchers are more valuable to the Jays than the 2 position players.

4) He thinks Joba has just about reached his potential- a 2 pitch thrower who will perform as well as the stuff he brings to the mound that day allows him to (not far off from my own assessment).

5) He thinks that Hughes is the centerpiece, but another pitcher or two will be involved.

Some of the combos he floats (not suggesting he was in on the negotiation, but in his assessment) Hughes plus a MLB ready player like IPK or Aceves plus a top flight prospect like Manny Banuelos, Hector Noesi, DJ Mitchell or Jeremy Bleich.

A deal for Hughes, IPK and Banuelos makes me flinch so much that I don't think I'd do it once I start paying attention to the dollar signs.  That's probably a sign that it's a strong proposal.