It’s mailbag time
-
- June
- 30
I have been a total slacker when it comes to doing a mailbag. Sorry about that. So here we go. …
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Sinister writes: With the Reds looking more and more like sellers, they have a few people who interest me. Of course Ken Griffey, my favorite player, I’d really like to see him here but I doubt it happens.
Answer: I doubt it, too. The Yankees don’t need an outfielder or DH at this point.
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Jami writes: What’s the future for the Yanks at 1B? Anyone to sign or trade for before July 31
Answer: That will be the big question over the next four weeks. The Yankees have the young pitchers to pursue a player like Mark Teixeira. But Brian Cashman has said he’s holding on to them. That suggests the Yankees will get a second-tier player.
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Margie writes: I had a question about the Derek Jeter/A-Rod relationship. A lot was made of their turbulent relationship during spring training, but it hasn’t come up much during the season. Is this because they seem to have a better relationship this season than previous seasons, or just not something the media is concerning themselves with?
Answer: I think once Alex addressed the situation, it sort of went away. I never thought their relationship was that bad to begin with.
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Joe writes: I’ve been searching for some injury information on Jason Giambi, like updates or any information on when he might return or how his injury is coming. I remember he went on the 15-day DL on the last day of May, and was supposed to be out at least 3-4 weeks and see a doctor to be evaluated in like 3 weeks. Has there been any news on how Giambi is progressing, and when he might be back?
Answer: I had an update from Brian Cashman in the paper the other day. Giambi was examined last week and is still in a protective boot. He is at least three weeks away from playing, if not longer. If he did not play again this season, it would not surprise me.
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Chris writes: How can you explain the Yankees lack of aggressiveness on the base paths? I understand they do not have a copious amount of speed, but even A-Rod and Jeter have been dormant.
Answer: The Yanks ran more last year when Sheffield and Matsui were hurt. They have gotten away from that this season and it has been to their detriment.
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Natty writes: It seems like teams have been absolutely running all over us lately, what are your thoughts on this? Who are to blame; the pitchers, the catchers? Is anybody else worried about this?
Answer: As a group, the Yankee starters are slow to the plate and do a poor job of holding runners, so don’t blame Jorge Posada. I’d blame the coaches for not stressing it enough.
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Jennifer writes: Okay this is getting a little ridiculous. Jorge never gets a full day off! The guy is going to be burnt out by the All-Star break. Is there anyone out there who can replace Wil Nieves? He might be a nice guy, but we need to win and that just won’t cut it.
Answer: There is nobody in the organization worthy of trying. Is it worth trading a prospect for a catcher considering how bad the team is? Maybe not.
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Sean writes: Since 1979 a locker has been kept empty in Yankee stadium for Thurman Munson. Do they plan on continuing that tradition once the new stadium is built?
Answer: I checked with clubhouse manager Rob Cuccuzza who said as far as he is concerned, there will be an empty locker with a No. 15 over it. Certain things should not change.
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Nicole writes: Farnsworth, seriously, the guy scares the beejesus out of me. If his arm is so good, why can’t it find the strike zone? He wears glasses so I know he can see it. He brings about the same kind of stomach-churning acid attack that Felix “The Run Fairy” Heredia did when he was an unfortunate staple in the NYY bullpen. Hated it! Kyle is like a new Stephen King novel. You know it’s going to be scary, but not how. That’s my mailbag rant.
Answer: Not much I can add to that.
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Katherine writes: I was able to catch a spring training game in Fort Myers against the Red Sox. Chris Basak was playing that day and I really enjoyed what he was able to do at third base. Is there any future for him in the Major Leagues?
Answer: It’s hard to tell, Katherine, because he hasn’t played much. If he gets a chance, I would think it would have to be with a different team.
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Jim from Pennsylvania writes: With the trade deadline looming, can we expect any moves to bolster the pen, and how much are we willing to give up?
Answer: The Yankees need a first baseman, a backup catcher and bullpen help. Brian Cashman is on record as not being willing to give up any of his top prospects. Plus, is it worth boosting a team under .500?
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Huuz writes: I have been wondering for some time about how much it would to take to get Johan Santana from the Twins in a trade. I realize this is a pie-in-the-sky type thing, but this is the type of pitching that built the Yankees of the late 90s, and the type that has been missing for the past few years.
Answer: Pie in the sky? That’s a whole bakery. Santana won’t be a free agent until after the 2008 season. The Twins will be building their new stadium by then and could have the money to retain Santana. As for a trade, start with Chien-Ming Wang and either Joba Chamberlain or Ian Kennedy. Even that may not be enough.
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Chapy writes: You prove you know nothing about baseball with your critcism of Josh Phelps. If you look at the stats, he’s at least an average first baseman.
Answer: What is it with the statheads and Josh Phelps? These people latch their wagons to guys like Phelps and Farnsworth and apparently never watch the actual games. Phelps handles the ball like it’s on fire. Somebody else e-mailed me about Phelps and I relayed what Don Mattingly said about him. They wrote back telling me Mattingly was wrong. This is what it has come to, people think they know more about first base defense than Don Mattingly.
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Aryeh writes: I have a question about the Yankee draft pick Pat Venditte, who pitches with both arms. When a switch hitter comes to bat, what happens?
Answer: According to the rules, a pitcher cannot change arms during an at-bat. A batter, however, can change sides of the plate. Wait, checked it out. The batter has to stick with one side as well. My bad.
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Eric writes: I wonder what it’s like covering a game in the press box. What do you guys do all game, besides write stories?
Answer: It’s mostly write stories. For a night game, most of us have to file at least one story before the game, then a story as soon as the game ends. Then we write those two stories again, this time with quotes obtained after the game. So over the course of the night, you’re usually writing four stories for different editions of the paper. I spend time e-mailing agents or researching different angles for stories. Plus you have to watch the game intently. I try and chart every pitch, velocity, location and type.
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Thanks for all the questions. Please feel free to e-mail me at any time. Thanks for reading the blog.
This entry was posted
on Saturday, June 30th, 2007 at 6:11 pm by Peter Abraham.
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Peter Abraham
Just curious Pete, what do you do with those game charts? I’ve attempted to chart entire games, pitch by pitch, but for a guy who doesn’t get paid to watch the guys play (me, obviously not you) it’s impossible to do more than a couple of times a season.
Do the teams keep that kind of pitch by pitch info, too? A F7 in the box score is just an out, but there’s a huge difference if it cam on a stunning defense play off a sharply hit ball, or a lazy fly. I’d think teams would use that kind of non-statistical data.
I could be wrong, but I think Pete was joking about charting every pitch.
Called up Edwar Ramirez, Shelly Duncan, Gerrado Casidiego, and get Hitoki Iwase from japan
Hitoki Iwase is left hander veteran closer he’s better than myers and farnswothless
here his stats
2005 46 Saves 50+ mound appearance
2006 40 saves
yanks should get this guy soon or next year
Jeff, Eric:
My pitch charts are nothing fancy. Just whether it was a ball or strike, the velocity, what pitch and where it was, So for a typical at-bat I would list
X 94 FB in (strike, 94 mph fastball, inside)
82 C up (ball, 82 curveball up)
It’s just on a legal pad. I don’t do every pitcher, usually the starter and Mo. I also keep a scorebook, of course.
When doing mine, I was tracking the hitters as well – each pitch, whether the were swinging early, late, type of ball hit (sharp, weak, count it was hit on). Like I said, it’s impossible to do it for more than a few games a season unless there’s some temporarily insane publishing company out there willing to advance me for a probably boring book.
But I would think that’s the kind of thing the team scouts are doing – I just wonder if there’s a complete record of that kind of pitch by pitch information for every player. It’s be a massive undertaking, but I would imagine some trends would be discernible, and valuable, especially when looking to acquire a player.
Peter, you did realize that the poster Chaty was joking about his Josh Phelps question, right? (At least I’d assume so). And please, do not lump stat guys with people that think Josh Phelps is an average defensive firstbaseman.
Nice feature Peter
I bleed yankee blue, but I gotta say, that Munson locker thing has a creepy “Tell-Tale Heart” vibe goin’
The only grave sites I’ve visited are: JFK (arlington, et. al.), Jackie Robinson, Ben Franklin, Andy Kaufman, Edie Sedgwick, and Edgar Allen Poe in Baltimore
Peter, when you say “I spend time e-mailing agents” do you mean agents, as in Drew Rosenhauso and Scott Boros or do you mean publishing agents???
Pete, sounds like a lot of work. Need a sidekick?
Peter,
ANother day staying pat with the winning formula!!!!!!
Myers to valuable to get rid of? He and Villone make quite a lefty duo!!!!!!!!
Really rome is burining and nothing day in and day out nothing…...................
I posted this in the last comments section, but Pete posted again and this is kinda like another mailbag question for everybody to answer.
If you could blow up the roster right now, without any contract problems, who would you keep?
I keep:
Posada, A-Rod, Jeter, Cano, Cabrera, Wang, Pettitte, Villone, Proctor and Rivera.
Keep Villone and the reason is???
He stinks and is 37…. yea why don’t you keep nieves also.
when the answer to who you keep if money was no objest is like 9 guys you know you friggin team sucks…..........
I would keep Matsui also I think he will be fine and based on production I think his contract is half way decent….
seems the captain is bothered by right knee tendinitis
http://tinyurl.com/3ylwwh
Hey! I love your blog. I just wanted to drop you a line to tell you, when you write new blog posts, go over to BeTheRef.com and post a link to your story, and hopefully get a few extra readers. Keep up the great work on your blog and have a great weekend :).
Proctor lit a bonfire in the infield after the game and threw his equipment in it. Will he face discipline for that?
When can I expect Edwar with the major league club…seriously, I haven’t seen him pitch, but those stats…
NEW YORK—(MLB)Scott Proctor set off an inferno near the Yankee Stadium infield following Saturday’s 7-0 loss to the A’s, torching various items of his equipment in a smoky blaze.
Perhaps the hot-tempered Proctor hoped to excise some of his recent struggles, lighting a small bonfire a few feet from the top step of the Yankees dugout. He then watched from the railing for several minutes as the contents grew charred and unrecognizable.
“I’m just throwing like [junk],” Proctor said after the game in an expletive-laced rant. “I can’t expect to throw the ball over the middle and expect to get an out of it.”
Asked about the dual struggles of Proctor and left-hander Mike Myers, Ron Guidry leaned back in a folding chair, his right leg crossed over the left knee, sighed, and said, “I wish I had an answer.”
Guidry said. “Maybe they’re just dead tired. We abused them the first month and a half of the season,” Guidry said.
Proctor became a favorite of manager Joe Torre’s last season, when he led the American League with 83 appearances and gritted through the heavy workload—even ignoring a slight clicking sound in his right elbow late in the year.
http://tinyurl.com/2my638
Peter – About your “someone thinks he knows more about first base than Don Mattingly” (or words to that effect) comment – it goes along with our current fascination with amateurism. Whether American Idol, similar shows on TV, people trying to represent themselves in court, or reading up on medical conditions or whatever and thinking they know more than professionals in that field, this is what we have now. At the least, someone makes a fool of him/her-self. At worst, they do themselves real harm.
Emobacca – Did Scott really do that? After this game? I was at the game, and Scotty really was pretty bad. At least I didn’t have to relive it seeing on replay on TV.
I hope he gets it together, for his sake and that of Yankee fans.
“The Yankees don’t need an outfielder or DH at this point.”
I disagree. In fact, an outfielder and a DH are two things we really need because Damon is breaking (has broken?) down and Melky doesn’t hit well enough to start every day.
Assuming Giambi doesn’t return and Damon doesn’t magically get healthy without going on the DL, we need a new CF and a new DH. With Cano, Abreu, and Damon badly, Phillips or Cairo at first, and no Giambi, we simply can’t make the playoffs without quality additions at these spots. It would be great if we could improve our bench and pen too, but our first priority should be fixing the problems with the starting lineup, which become more apparent every day.
As for the Phelps comments, I think certain people are just messing with you because you wrote a lost of entries about how Mientkiewicz plays a sweet 1B and Phelps is a butcher. Everyone knows Mientkiewicz is a better fielder than Phelps, although there’s a legitimate questions as to how much better, and whether Phelps’ offensive contributions make up for his fielding deficiencies.
That said, I think it’s hard to argue that getting rid of Phelps for nothing in return was a good move. Phelps couldn’t be worse than Phillips or Cairo (especially Cairo) at first. Plus, as I said, we do need a DH because Damon will be going on the DL sooner or later. That DH could have been Phelps.
Joe from Long Island, on the other hand, I’d say that blindly following the advice of an “expert” is just as stupid as assuming you know better than the expert. I would trust Mattingly about a lot of baseball-related observations but when it comes to determining whether Player X is “better” than Player Y, accurate statistics are a better benchmark than anything Mattingly could say. His memory and perception are just as fallible as anyone else’s.
Great baseball players and managers paid millions to maximize their team’s odds of winning make absolutely boneheaded comments about baseball all the time. Go to FJM and you’ll see endless examples. I’m not saying Mattingly is wrong, I’m saying it’s ridiculous to assume that his opinions should foreclose any discussion about defense at first.
I think the reason why Jorge can not throw people out this year is he is too tired,he has to catch everyday and also be the no.5 hitter ,there is too much responsibility for him to concentrate on throwing. Last year he was very good at that.
Jeremy:
``...but when it comes to determining whether Player X is “betterâ€? than Player Y, accurate statistics are a better benchmark than anything Mattingly could say…’’
well that assumes that people can properly interpret statistics-and based on what i’ve read here, the vast majority of people cannot.
Uhhhhh actually Peter, the Yanks do need an OF and a DH “at this point”. Here’s some facts for you to admit to: Abreu sucks as the RF and should be benched, Damon sucks as the DH and should be put on the disabled list, and Thompson should be sent down to make room for a new OF and DH. But I guess you’re content with overpaid, underachieving, aging, HR powerless guys in power positions huh? I’ll take Shelley Duncan called up to be the DH and any halfway decent veteran platoon/ #4 OF over Damon and Abreu anyday, at least they’re new faces cuz I’m tired of watching Damon, Abreu, and Thompson.
What if Posada fell to injury and was out for 2 months? Are you kidding me with Nieves? Who’s the backup if Nieves gets hurt, the other flunkie Raul Chavez who sucks so bad he can’t take Nieves’s job? Why is Chris Basak on the team when he’s appeared in only 3 games with only ONE at bat and the Yanks already have Cairo? Why was Phelps signed for $600K only to be d.f.a. and claimed by Pittsburgh? Next time Cashman gets a bench player, he should get one that can be traded, not a Rule 5 player who can’t be like Phelps. Oh wait -there won’t be a next time when he’s fired for all the idiotic moves he’s made for 2007 and since 2004.
The free ride called the work Gene Michael and Bob Watson put into making 1998-2002 happen is over for Cashman and should’ve been after last year. But you’e perfectly fine with him keeping his job and all the wonderful moves he’s made for 2007 which have brought the Yanks to this sorry state like Igawa for one.
Ha that’s cool, you posted my Giambi question. Thanks for answering and nice mailbag..
Giambi shouldn’t be playing for the Yankees this season or next because he’s an admitted cheater thus a disgrace to the Yankees. He should be kept on the disabled list for the rest of this year then the Yanks should offer him a very fair deal: his entire $21M salary for 2008 to get lost (the Yanks clear his $5M buyout for 2009). Some A.L. team will be dumb enough to sign him for $5M so he still steals $26M for next year. So he’s the 2008 version of 2007 Pavano
so what? Did you know $9M paid to Jaret Wright ($4M), Javier Vasquez ($3M), and Randy Johnson ($2M) for this year will be off the books for next year? That can absorb the loss cuz that was money paid for nothing this year. Giambi’s buyout would cost only $21M9M = $12M.Use the insurance money on Pavano to further absorb the loss. If the Yanks make Melky the starting LF and Matsui the full-time DH next year, the loss of Giambi is even further absorbed. As bad as they’ve been playing the past few weeks, they did play markedly better once Giambi was gone, hopefully they can do so again but if they don’t it’s certainly not because Giambi isn’t here. You’ll never see 2006 Giambi again folks.
If he refuses the buyout, the Yanks should make his life hell including keeping him on the disabled list until he rots and is no good for 2009. Do what Baltimore did to Albert Belle and see Giambi file for and get his meal money from all that time sitting on his a ss like Belle did cuz his greedy pig agents will advise him to.
According to Caleb Breakey’s “Notes” column on newyork.yankees.mlb.com (“Notes: Yanks’ skid adds to pressure”), Giambi had the boot removed last Monday, and he is “set to have another scan next week to determine how quickly he is recovering from a partially torn plantar fascia in his left heel.”
Hitoki Iwase is the highest paid pitcher in japan right now.
So he will probably want more than 4 or 5 million dollars per year.
In the event that a switch-pitcher and a switch-hitter face each other, the pitch must declare which arm he is using for that at-bat. The batter can then decide which side of the plate they will take. Will Carroll mentioned this in reference to a recent article on a current college switch-pitcher.
happy 4th