Yankees sign Chris Farley. Seriously
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Jul 18, 2007 
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The Yankees signed a pitcher named Chris Farley out of an indy league.
How great is that?
We’re picturing him getting called up and going up to Derek Jeter and saying, “Derek, remember the time in that playoff game when you ran across the field and caught that throw and flipped it to Jorge and he tagged out Jeremy Giambi? That was AWESOME!”
I’m sure the still-alive, pitching Chris Farley gets tired of such jokes. But the signing of Chris Farley merited a blog post.
Pete:
I wonder what Chris Farley’s childhood was like. Anyway, his stats aren’t bad. Do u know which affiliate the Yankees will plug him in the minors?
If the Yankees give him a good contract, maybe he can move out of that van down by the river.
sorry, this is from a previous thread, but i wanted to respond to SJ44′s post and not have it get lost:
“I disagree re: Abreu hitting third Kasey. I was at all 4 games in Tampa. He smoked the ball all four games. Even his outs were hit hard.”
to my recollection, he only hit 3rd in one game of that series, the final game. i may be wrong, though.
As a fat guy in a little coat, I approve of this signing.
Stores are close to selling out of panic buttons in New England. Red Sox fans in anticipation of a slide are rushing to retail outlets. They need to save ones from previous years and scratch the date off. They’ll never learn. Just keep on adding green paint to the sardine can.
Isn’t it about time they started signing some hitters instead of all these pitchers?
How old is he?
He’s 24.
If you click on his name, you’ll be connected to a link which has some background info on the player. he’s got some decent peripheral numbers, and i guess you can never go wrong building depth in pitching.
i would take a fat , dead and bloated chris farley of kyle farnsworth any day .
They signed David Spade to play 2b.
who the heck would eat 46 bag lunches?
in all serious though i heard a rumor about farley(dead comedian, not the minor league pitcher) that he was in a really crowded bar in chicago, back in the day. on a bet he got up on a pool table, dropped his pants a took a dump, leading to his being banned from the bar for life. again i cannot for certain verify the truth to this.
I agree, let’s also sign some guys that can whack the ball already!!!!!
“Hey, that’s a pretty girl down there. Gee, I wonder if she goes out with one of the “Yankees!?”
Hopefully, the Royals will have spent all of their runs when we meet them.
In related news, the real Chris Farley was recently reincarnated as a little girl:
http://www.openedgemedia.com/images/image000.jpg
New Lineup:
SS Jeter
RF Abreu
3B A-Rod
DH Matsui
-C Posada
2B Cano
1B Phillips
LF Melky
CF Damon
Was he living in a van down by the river?
So Mike Myers and Chris Farley could be on the same team. Cool.
Does anyone know anything about the status of the injury to Betances? Pete?
They did an MRI on Betances, and it showed not structural damage. They are going to rest him a bit and see how it goes.
Thanks, YankeeDudel.
Maybe the Bleacher Creatures could deliver a message to Torre / Cashman when they do the roll call tonight. Loud chants of ” no more Farnsworth ” would be a big help.
YankeeDudel–That’s good to hear about Betances. Hopefully, he’ll be pitching in about a week or two or however long it takes.
Proctor for Betemit is being floated around but the Dodgers don’t like that trade. We have an advantage, sort of. We are only one of a handful of teams that is willing to trade some relievers. I hope we can get Betemit. It would definitely upgrade the bench.
I want Scott Hatteburg, maybe DeSalvo for Hatteburg?
Previously pitched in a VAN DOWN BY the RIVER
FYI: This may have been mentioned, but the Trenton game today is a 12:05 game that Hughes is starting so we won’t have to wait too long.
Karstens pitched 5 last night with 5 SO giving up 4 hits and 1 run.
Why would Cashman who is desperate for quality relievers trade one of his quality relievers for a bench player????
On this market Proctor can get you a stud. Not a reserve player.
New lineup?
I bet you were cheering when Damons walk to leadoff the game last night resulted in a run and his walk in the 9th lead to the tying run.
How quick people are to run people off here.
Last night, SJ44 (generally a reliable commenter) told us that the Yankees were losing patience with Robinson Cano.
Robinson Cano OPS by Month
April: 657
May: 720
June: 753
July: 916
He really hurts himself with his isolated OBP (.039), but it’s still better than last year’s (.023). It seems to me that Cano is making an effort to have more professional at bats. He’s gotten into nearly as many (25 vs. 26) full counts as he did all of last year, and he’s getting into more 2-0 counts, too.
Last year he made his mark by slapping around a lot. He was a productive hitter, but he got lucky on BABIP. This year, he’s seeing more pitches. It’s an approach that I like, but it’s also yielded more Ks (he does swing at bad strike 3s, but he’s also putting himself in position to do so)
He doesn’t (and never will) have the eye of Giambi or Posada. But it’s dumb to understate the change of approach.
I think he’s now a fundamentally sounder hitter than he was last year. He got very, very lucky last year, and rode that to an 890 OPS. He’s at 743 this year. I think he can pretty reliably be counted on to produce about halfway between those two numbers. Derek Jeter’s a career 853 OPS, and I think you’d have to be thrilled if Cano ended up being an 810 guy.
You arent getting a stud for anyone out of this ‘pen.
Now let’s address Kyle Farnsworth and Luis Viz. Oh, boy, do I hate Kyle Farnsworth. His stuff isn’t impressive and his velocity has always been overstated.
Kyle Farnsworth is the living embodiment of a league average pitcher. His career 99 ERA+ says it all. He also has weird animal rages and (it seems) a pretty poor understanding of the game. He fields his position extraordinarily poorly, too.
Luis Vizcaino is not a credible bullpen stopper. He pitched pretty well in the NL from 2004-06. Coming into his age 32 year, he’d put up ERA+ of 110; 119; 133. Switching to the AL was bound to have an effect on him. He’s better than he was at the start of the season, but worse than he’s been recently. He’s benefiting now from hot hand and small sample set. Torre should ride him for what he’s worth but not be surprised when he starts going through a mediocre patch. The fact that I like him in the 8th inning isn’t really a glowing endorsement of his talents.
I’d also give the ball to Bruney in tight situations. Not because I think he’d convert all of them. But because his WHIP is pretty much where it was last year. And because he’s tough to hit. I hate watching a pitcher walk someone more than anyone. But I prefer it to a single followed by a bonehead throwing error followed by a double that’s smoked on a 1-2 count. Until batters start hitting him, I’ll take the bloated walk totals.
halfz, Viz pitched for CWS in ’05
Might as well finish:
Mike Myers isn’t as bad as he’s made out to be. I get nervous if he’s warming in a tight situation. But that’s because I get nervous when I see anyone who’s not Mariano warming in the pen. I don’t care if he can’t get out LHers. He’s getting out the righties. If I had someone who had a 0.75 WHIP against right-handed hitters, I wouldn’t care if he was supposed to get out the left-handed ones. I’d just use him.
Scott Proctor has a declining BB to K ratio. That’s worrying when it falls so precipitously. But he’ll probably look good for his next several outings. He embodies the streakiness of bullpen pitchers. These guys aren’t starting and they’re not closing and they’re not dominant specialists. So they’re mediocre MLB pitchers who were drafted for a reason who have the ability to look really good when things are working for them.
Yes, Viz did. Pretty dumb of me, considering I was looking at his numbers.
Ron Villone is in the same mold as the other guys.
That leaves Ramirez and Britton, both of whom I’d give chances to. Though not last night for either of them. I expect Ramirez will get figured out, but it’s July, and it might not happen until November. Sean Henn I’ll pass on. He seems very, very marginal.
The Yankees should also promote Bronson Kiheimahanaomauiakeo Sardinha, just to give Bob Shepperd a workout.
Agreed on Myers. They need to change his title from “left handed specialist” to simply “reliever”.
Another great call by some commenters here on this blog. The lets trade or demote Cano lobby.
Almost as good as the trade/get rid of A-Rod posse.
Myers is a toad. Hes useless. He cannot get a lefty out. Right now hes a mop up guy.
Farnsdearth should be traded, but his contract may not let that happen. The only logical team is the Phillies and Rod Barajas comes to mind. Vizcaino is staying. I kinda like him and so does Mo. Also, Mo helped him with his delivery for the cutter. That’s why he’s been effective. That, and a consistent workload. Bruney, the ever imploding one, needs to stop overthrowing. That is the problem. Myers needs to leave. Villone can stay, IMO. Proctor, the other ever imploding one, isn’t half bad. He might get hot in the second half like last year.
http://www.minorleaguebaseball.....#038;_mp=1
Link to free audio for Hughes’ start.
Our team is pretty complete. We have a decent rotation with others to rely on should some in the rotation disappoint. We have a great lineup. One of the best in the Major leagues, if not the best.
Our bullpen is decent as of late and will continue to improve. Trading Farnsworth wouldn’t hurt us, though.
Phillips, Melky, and Cano have all been performing very well as of late and that is what is helping the continued spark provided by Arod, Jeter, and Posada. Keep the faith. This season is so far from over that it’s just ridiculous
I went to the Staten Island game Sunday and was wondering when Betances struggled. Glad to hear hes ok though, I could tell he wasn’t throwing as hard and was concerned.
Was also at the game last night, just incredible.
The comedian Farley kinda looks like Pete. Pete, why don’t you work for Callahan Auto??
That Saigon wh*re bit off my nose!
Final thing:
Mike Pagliarulo may think he’s an expert, but Brian Cashman also deserves to be graded on the basis of what he’s put/left in the system. By that measure, not nearly as bad as the grade Pags gave.
The team pitching numbers at Trenton this year are insane. A 2.63 ERA in 825 innings? Fourteen team shutouts in 94 games? A K/9 IP rate of 8.53 Only 676 hits allowed?
But I guess Pags is too busy missing Jaret Wright and Randy Johnson to think of the farm.
myrtlebeachfan,
Don’t forget Matsui! Hottest power hitter in the game right now and playing great defense.
But why should Myers leave? Of COURSE he’s not getting LHers out. But he’s apparently tough to hit if you’re right-handed. Who cares what function he was supposed to fill? The bullpen is mediocre. Myers is mediocre. But he’s doing something well, and he’s not being utilized in a way that reflects understanding of his splits.
But you could also call him a toad.
Every team out there needs bullpen help. And they would all take a guy who throws 97+mph especially if the team trading him is picking up some salary.
It won’t be hard to trade Farnsworth.
The problem is who do they trade for to replace him and add depth to that bullpen?
Its easy to say trade him but since bullpen is a huge problem it doesn’t make any sense to trade a piece of that pen.
Tony in NJ :
why do you defend overpaid players that arent performing ?
its like going to a restaurant , ordering a t-bone and getting a mcdonalds cheeseburger and saying its o.k.
Who cares what function hes supposed to fill???
Myers is only here to get lefty’s out. That’s his only job.
He wasn’t signed to be a long man. Or a right specialist.
I’m sure they can find an NL team that wants a guy like him
“Just let me pitch for the Yankees FOR THE LOVE OF GOOODD!!!”
Rufus–We have Chris Britton, Sean Henn, and Jim Brower waiting in the wings. Then there is TJ Beam. Karstens and Rasner are getting healthy too and can pitch out of the bullpen.
Because a guy is hurt and not performing means hes supposed to be cut or traded or demoted??
Patience isn’t required? Picking a teammate up when he is struggling isn’t what teams do?
A manager inspires not a lot of trust and loyalty in his players if he starts doing that.
How can you argue with me chris about this?
The same people who are calling for everyones head this year tried to run off A-Rod last year. How is that working out???
I’m sure it would be great if we had Ervin Santana and Chone Figgins right now!
See, Wilson Betemit is the right idea in terms of making a trade…strong bench help. His stats aren’t great this year on paper, but he deepens our bench with speed and the ability to play 3 positions. I like where the Yankees’ heads are at.
Question though: if we trade Proctor for Betemit, who do we use to fill the hole in the pen, albeit a small hole since Proctor has been up and down all season.
I’m sure Torre will trust important outs to guys like Britton, Beam and whoever else is pitching for Scranton.
I have this bridge in Brooklyn I can sell you too if you believe that.
2 thoughts .. Cano is learning and needs to learn. his BA with RISP and 2 outs is pathetic.. Obviously he is too talented to give up, hopefully he listens and learns and becomes a little more selective with RISP.
Our pen is a big big problem….We have no 8th inning guy and I doubt one is available for what we should pay.. We need to mix and match. Right now torre is not using ramirez or myers almost at all and this will cause Viz arm to fall off soon.
Obviously myers should be designated for assignment and Ramirez must be used..Farnsworth should be moved if possible or demoted to early in the game(they have no choice)..They should give Britton and ramirez a chance(I have said this at least 59 0 times)..I am not saying these guys will succeed but we will never know and the guys we have now are average at best….I pitch in the late innings whoever is hot among viz., bruney, proctor, ramirez, etc…Villone should be used as the long guy or desingated for assignment also.
Karstens, rasner, and Igawa should be looked at for the pen not as starters…………..
How is Proctor a small hole?
He pitches basically every othe rgame and Torre trusts him.
How is that a small hole especially when the bridge is in such flux?
So now we should trade Proctor and Farns and trust the 7th and 8th to who exactly?
Bruney? Beam? Colter Bean??
I pray Cashman doesn’t listen to the fans.
What happens last night of he brings in Ramirez in the 10th and he gives up a run and they lose?
What would everyone here be saying?
Let the guy get his feet wet in the 5th and 6th. No pressure situations.
Sorry to say but we need wins right now. Every game we can. This isnt the spring. This is not a time for try outs.
mel:
Re your 12:06 message. I love Matsui’s bat and his professionalism, but IMO his defense is a real liability. Last night it was really on display. He’s so slow.
Cashman has made every player not named Mo Rivera available at this point. What does that tell u? That means these guys who are professionals aren’t living up to their contract. Cash wouldn’t be doing this if Torre is comfortable with what he has. Viz will probably stay and so will Proctor, if the right trade doesn’t come along. Farnsdearth has had only 4 1-2-3 innings in 41 appearances. Myers is getting right handers out because he has moved to the right side of the rubber for whatever reason; but if you are a left hander and u can’t get lefties out, what good are u?. Bruney’s talent is there, but the kid control problems are very apparent. Proctor has always been better in the second half so we’ll see with him. Vizcaino got his kinks worked out, thanx to Rivera.
Stuart,
You want Villone DFA’d now too? WHy? Because of one swing from Pena???
You guys are heard to please.
Sorry to tell you but Stanton, Nelson, Wetteland, and Mendoza are not walking through the door here.
So he should trade everyone who isn’t performing at any given time for whatever reason. And if you can’t trade them then just cut them, right?
So cut Damon, Abreu.
Trade Cano. Proctor, Mussina.
And trade everyone in the pen and replace them with Trip A players.
Sound move especially after you’ve won 10 out of 13 and starting to find a groove.
I’ll take a fans perspective and word with a huge grain of salt.
Now that the Vizcaino Fan Club is almost full it was right on here that i read daily about DFA’ing him.
SO yea. Huge grain of salt when I hear these same people now trading the pen and cutting them all.
It’s a good problem to have. This 8th inning. It means the starters are actually pitching well.
Joy!! Heavens!
Go out and get a strike thrower. It won’t cost you anything in your top 10 of prospects.
Peter-Brilliant post. LOL! I miss Farley. R.I.P. We still love yah Chris! If we didnt, we wouldnt bring you up in convo every chance we get.
Line on Hughes so far: 2 innings, 1 hit, i run (scord on error), 3 ks.
that is 1 run
No, you shouldn’t trade everybody who is struggling. Myers and Farnsdearth should be gone. That should happen. Chris Britton already proved that he can handle the AL East so has Sean Henn. Henn was demoted so that Villone wouldn’t exercise his opt-out clause. I know Proctor will pitch better in the second half since he tends to do that. Viz is staying. Bruney will probably be staying. Myers & Farns can leave.
Every team in baseball is looking for bullpen help. You know what that means? Nobody is getting anybody for “free”.
If the Yankees want to trade Farnsworth, its going to require them eating at least half his salary. That’s tough to do, no matter how bad he is. Especially if you aren’t getting much back in return.
Some of you talk as if the Yankees are flush with great relief pitchers. They are not. They are all equally bad. Just some are a little better than others.
They tried Brian Bruney in bigger situations. He couldn’t throw the ball over the plate. Late inning walks leads to rallies, which leads to wins. The Yankees lead the majors in walks out of the bullpen this year. A main reason why the bullpen has struggled so much.
Giving Bruney a role he is not able to do solves nothing. At best, he is a 7th inning guy. At worst, he is a mopup guy. He is not a guy who can pitch in bigger situations. He has shown that all year, when given the chance.
Proctor? Gutty guy, probably overworked, but still not a strikethrower.
Villone and Myers at this point are just bodies and nothing more.
Edwar? A rookie. Let’s keep that in mind when crying about his lack of use. I would like to see him pitch a little more but, not in 8th innings. That would be dumb.
Farnsworth? He is what he is. The real solution (at least for the time being) is to get him out of the 8th inning role.
Vizcaino has pitched well for two months now. I don’t care what the statheads may think of him, right now, he is the solution for the 8th inning. At least until (or if) he begins to regress.
That’s all Torre can do at this point. He doesn’t have studs out there. He just has to ride the hot hand and hope he doesn’t get burned too much.
At this point, the best “acquisitions” the Yankees may get at the deadline are Karstans, Hughes and Giambi. Not bad when you think about it.
I would LOVE to see them rid themselves of Farnsworth. However, I am not in favor of giving him away AND eating a ton of cash. That’s fan talk and not logical GM decisionmaking.
Farnsworth has to go, if only due to Bernie Williams Syndrome. Everyone should be able to see that Farnsworth is not cut out for close-and-late appearances, but Torre keeps trotting him out there in the 8th anyway. The only way to save us from Farnsworth is to get rid of him.
Hughes: 3 innings, 1 hit, 1 run, 4 ks.
Sean Henn hasn’t proven he can “handle” the AL East. He got demoted because he couldn’t throw the ball over the plate. We forget how much he struggled with the strikezone the last two weeks he pitched in NY.
Sean Henn is no answer to anything. Frankly, if they could move him and get a guy like Ty Wiggington, which was one of the rumors floating around a couple of weeks ago, I’d do that deal in an instant.
Britton? He has shown he can pitch in 6th and some 7th innings of games. Enough to warrant a shot? Yes, if they move somebody out. But, I wouldn’t get carried away to think he can solve their bullpen issues. If it was that cut and dried, he would already be in NY.
IMO, I’d give Jim Brower a shot before Britton because he has pitched better than Britton this season.
We are not going to know HOW to use Edwar until we see him pitch. His stats up to this point demand that he be given a chance. If he fails, too bad. If he succeeds, who knows maybe he can help late in the game. The point is we need to see him pitch. Let’s put it this way, if there were only 2 pitchers in the pen tonight in the 8th in a close game– Farnsworthless and Edwar– whom would you rather see?
A couple things.
I guess you mostly disagree on Myers. I still don’t think that a LHP who can’t retire lefties is “worthless.” It’s not to form, but RHers don’t hit him. Not a big deal, though. He won’t sniff big spots or take long innings, so I don’t care enough.
Are we seriously talking about the Jim Brower who’s 35 years old? Who had one, if that, acceptable year (2001, Cincinnati) in the majors? Hmm.
Also dumb is thinking that Sean Henn is ready to do anything better.
Hate to say it because I hate Farnsworth, but neither of those guys is going to improve on Farnsworth’s 96 ERA+
Edwar’s stats are AAA stats so, the stat argument is not exactly apples to apples. Even a guy like Farnsworth would put up great AAA numbers. Its a whole different ballgame in the majors.
They have somebody who can pitch 8th innings….Vizcaino.
I am not debating the issue of giving Edwar more work. I too, would like to see that.
My issue is the 8th inning. No way do I want to see him pitching 8th innings. That’s not the way you develop relief pitchers. Its how you ruin them.
The Indians tried that “trial by fire” approach with Carmona last year and it failed miserably. One could argue the 8 blown saves and the 1-10 record, probably cost them a playoff berth.
Only by moving him into the starting rotation were the Indians able to get Carmona back on track.
I don’t want to see the Yankees go that route with Ramirez.
The issue is, getting Farnsworth out of the 8th inning role. They can do that without giving it to Edwar. There are plenty of other situations where they can work him in. The 8th inning is not one of them, IMO.
We should move Henn for anyone we can get. A decent bench player would be fine. Henn is never going to be much for us.
Britton is wasted at AAA. Not much else to it. We should trade him or use him (preferably in place of Myers).
Re: Brower, I am talking about who is pitching better, he or Britton. Brower has pitched well as the Scranton closer all season.
At the start of the season, that was supposed to be Britton’s role but, Brower beat him out and hasn’t lost the job.
I don’t care how old he is because he isn’t a long term solution.
For the next two months, if given the option, Brower or Britton, I choose Britton because he has pitched better.
Obviously, I wouldn’t plan my future around him but, for two months, he may merit a shot if they can’t find somebody better on the open market.
I came across an interesting statistic regarding bullpens in the first half.
Yankees 15 blown saves.
Boston 3.
Had we cut that number in *half* we’d be in it to win it.
Through 4, Hughes has given up 2 hits (lead-off double in 1st and a bloop single in 4th), 1 run (scored on error by catcher), 4 ks and 1 walk.
While the stats are AAA, Edwar has replicated the same 2 ks per inning record at every level. Because his out pitch is an unbelievable change, the chances are good that he would also have success here. Torre is just so pig-headed– I mean loyal– that he won’t give him a chance. As far as my hypothetical question, I would take Edwar, not Farnsworthless. Anyway, the whole question is moot probably, because he’ll likely be sent down when DeSalvo comes up, which is disgraceful as far as I am concerned. Myers should be discarded/traded as Torre will not even bring him in i obvious Loogy situations anymore.
The obvious Loogy situation being Matt Stairs the last 2 nights.
Hughes done after 4.
I see it as when to give Edwar a chance versus if. There hasn’t been a non-pressure situation recently (most of our past few games have been decided by 3 or fewer runs) to warrant throwing him out there. As a rookie, you don’t want to put him out there in a position to fail.
You can’t compare minor league stats when evaluating players. That’s fools gold. The hitters at the minor league level aren’t nearly as good as ML hitters. Especially when it comes to hitting off speed stuff.
For years, Colter Bean put up similar numbers in the minors. Everytime he came up to the Yankees, he failed.
Watch the Angels approaches to the plate with Ramirez. More disciplined, they sat on his changeup and were able to handle it.
Don’t get me wrong, I think Edwar could turn out to be a good pitcher. But, you can’t use stats to evaluate it. You have to ease him into the battle. Its the right way to develop him, if the goal is to develop him.
Really, since the last time he pitched, the only game one could make a reasonable argument that he should have been in was Saturday night in Tampa. Aside from that, there hasn’t been a situation that merited putting him in and I am an Edwar fan.
he’ 26 when you want to develope him at 30. His change up is nasty an Torre has been an idiot handling him.
I know Chris Farley personally, he used to play for the North Shore team in the Can-Am league, his stuff is unbeliveable, 100 mph, and he was released and now plays for the Oakland A’s.