SB Nation User Blog: r0ry

Nick Swisher out of a job?

r0ry — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 17:27:15 -0000

Rotowire -

Swisher does not currently have an everyday place in the lineup with the Yankees, the Westchester Journal-News reports. Barring a trade -- of either himself or one of the team's outfielders -- Swisher will likely be seeing time in right behind Xavier Nady, left when Johnny Damon needs a day off and in center if Melky Cabrera or Brett Gardner struggle. The Yankees have expressed a willingness to keep him around if they don't receive a suitable offer, so he may have to way for an injury to create an opportunity for more at-bats.

Wow. I find it hard to believe that Swish is really going to sit on the bench all year long, something has to give right?

I figured either he or Nady (or Cabrera I suppose) would be gone by now. Think the Yankees are asking for too much, or are teams legitimately not interested in any of them?

Westchester Journal-News

Abreu ----> Angels

r0ry — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 02:33:23 -0000

Yahoo's Tim Brown with the scoop.

Apparently it's a one year, 5 million dollar deal.

Is that still out of our price range? I thought that the speculation was that if we could shed half of Washburn's salary ($10 mil?) we might have had room for Abreu, back when he was looking for $8-10 mil.

Either way, seems like a hard deal for us to pass on. I'm sure the Angels have more appeal to Abreu though, seeing that they are division favorites.

Law Ranks Triunfel as No. 22 Prospect in Nation

r0ry — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 19:48:45 -0000

From ESPN.com. (Matthew's Note: Please include links when you copy and paste from other sources)

Triunfel opened a lot of eyes in the Arizona Fall League as the circuit's youngest player, showing tremendous natural aptitude for hitting and more than adequate fielding at second base. Triunfel sets up with his hands high, and they're so quick that he closes to the ball in no time, hitting line drives to all fields but rarely trying to pull the ball out, even though he probably could at the cost of some contact. Triunfel's performance this year was more impressive than it looks at first glance. For one thing, he started the year 3-for-39, then hit .307/.355/.433 the rest of the way, a period that included a suspension for violating team rules and a 3-for-46 stretch in June. For another, he was 18 in high-A, a level generally populated by players in their early 20s, and not only did he perform well, but he rarely struck out, a good sign that he was rarely (if ever) overmatched. He's an above-average runner and a good base stealer. He's a natural shortstop but played second in the Fall League, showing good hands and a good transfer on the double play.

There are some concerns on Triunfel. The suspension is one, his age is another. His listed date of birth is Feb. 27, 1990, which would mean he'll play all of 2009 at age 19, but as a Dominican prospect who's already put together physically, some have questioned his age. If he's really about to turn 21, he's still a good prospect, but not a potential star. There's no firm evidence to back up the questions, though, so for now, we'll assume he's going to turn 19 and is still on track for stardom.

The age concern is interesting.... I hope he's still 18.

Sexson Waived By Yankees

r0ry — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 19:36:29 -0000

New York Post

"In a move designed to boost the Yankees' sagging offense, the team today will demote Melky Cabrera to the minors, waive Richie Sexson, and promote Brett Gardner and Cody Ransom from Triple-A, The Post has learned.

Sexson was brought in with the idea of giving the Yankees a better attack against lefty pitching. But the dramatic holes in the first baseman's swing made him too easy an out.

Sexson had 28 at-bats as a Yankee, hitting .250 with one homer. He did hit .273 in 22 at-bats vs. lefties. But with Nady and Ivan Rodriguez now here, the Yankees must feel they have more righty options and wanted the roster flexibility and decided to subtract Sexson."

Huh. Does anyone else give him a shot this year?

He hit 250/.371/.393 overall for the Yankees and .273/.393/.455 vs. lefties.