Hot Stove Mailbag No. 6
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Nov 10, 2008 
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Dave writes: Simple question – if you’re Brian Cashman how would you value 1. CC Sabathia, or 2. AJ Burnett and Derek Lowe?
Answer: If I’m Brian Cashman, I quit back in October and now I’m making huge bank giving corporate speeches and waiting for a job to open up with a team whose owner had no children. But since you asked, I would value Sabathia more. Give me one great pitcher instead two guys I can’t be sure of. Burnett is not another Carl Pavano, but he is very overrated.
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Josh writes: Oftentimes in sports you hear that one player called another to wish them good luck, or to give them some sort of advice. Well, Derek Jeter called CC Sabathia as you know and I was wondering, do they have a phone book or something like that with the players numbers, or do they just ask around until they find the number they need?
Answer: Derek Jeter’s cell phone contract list must be something. Think about that for a second. As for calling CC, he probably had the number already or called some mutual friend to get it. There is no phone book of big leaguers.
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Rich in Taipei writes: Instead of Mike Cameron would the Yankees have interest in Willy Taveras? They are completely different, but I don’t think Taveras will strike out as much, he is younger, better speed on the basepaths and I don’t think his .251 average is going to be his norm over his career. I think he would make the offense go in a different sort of way. My only question about him is what type of arm does he have?
Answer: Congratulations, Rich, Yours is the first e-mail ever from Taiwan that wasn’t about Chien-Ming Wang. As for Taveras, I am not crazy about him. He’s a career .331 OBP guy who hits for no power but can really run. I’d just as soon pay Brett Gardner $385,000 to do that. Cameron could be an effective one-year stopgap sort of player in center. This whole question is likely moot anyway. I’m hearing the Brewers plan to hold on to Cameron anyway.
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Daniel writes: I have a question about the new stadium. I recall that a surface-level train station would be part of the construction (or perhaps nearby), and it would allow people from areas like Westchester County to come to down without having to drive. Have you heard anything about this? Or maybe it’s the creation of wishful thinking.
Answer: Yes, Daniel, they are building a train station. I don’t know the exact details, but I heard all the Metro North lines will run through the Stadium stop on game days and that the station will be on the Hudson Line. The station is only a short walk away from the Stadium. We have anybody out there who can help us on this one?
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John writes: With all the talk around Mark Teixeira, wouldn’t Nick Swisher be a great option at first for the Yankees. With the White Sox not wanting him in CF, he plays first and part time in the outfield. Switch hitter coming off a bad year, but has power. He certainly walks and has a little bit of speed. He is a cheaper option there. When on the A’s seemed to be a good character guy and like a mini Giambi. He’s 28 years old or will be. He’s signed with option for 2012. Little over $5 million per year. To me, you add him at first which gives you great production.
Answer: I personally like Nick. I remember Ty Kepner and I interviewed him in Chicago last season and he seemed like a good dude. But here’s the problem: He had four at-bats in the division series and only 61 in September. The White Sox decided that they were better off without him in the lineup. He was .191/.298/.427 in the second half with 28 RBI. You want him through 2011? Swisher will pop a few homers. But his slugging is regressing and that’s not a good sign. I don’t see him as a “great” option but he could be a serviceable one. He was miscast a bit in Chicago as a leadoff hitter, which cut down his production probably. He’s an interesting player.
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Teddy writes: Pete, you blogged about football a lot last season. What happened this year?
Answer: I’ll tell you what happened. Bernard Pollard crippled Tom Brady in the first quarter of the first game of the season. That’s what happened. I had Brady as the starting QB on my top fantasy team (sadly, I have three fantasy teams) and the Patriots are my favorite team. Thanks to the ever-brilliant Bill Belichick, the Pats will manage to win 10 games and make the playoffs, but they aren’t going to the Super Bowl without Brady. So what’s the point?
My only hope now is that Brett Favre throws three picks in a game the Jets must have at the end of the season then retires again. The only thing that makes me happy with the NFL is that the Giants are so good that is eases some of the pain of the Super Bowl.
I’ve taken the opportunity to watch more college football. My favorite part is when they show Joe Paterno get off the bus using a cane. Seriously, who outside of Mr. Peanut uses a cane? I also like USC linebacker Brian Cushing, a Jersey kid. He’s a beast.
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Thanks for all the questions, everybody.
i think nick swisher is a nice option for first aswell
re: Yankee Stadium/Metro-North train station
http://www.mta.info/mta/news/releases/?en=070521
BTW, it’s coming along nicely and can be seen from the Hudson Line now when you pass near the parking for the old Stadium.
Jeter and Sabathia are both endorsers of Brand Jordan. He probably had his number through that connection.
Jesus Abe your a Pats fan?
Also I do like Swisher but clearly there’s a pretty big chance of him flopping in NY.
About Metro North and Yankee Stadium, see this also:
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_.....adium.html
(Pete Donohue is the Daily News’ mass transportation writer).
why not Hank Blalock?
he’s a better hitter then Swisher. And doesn’t strike out.
vinny-b (Hank Blalock for 1st base)
November 10th, 2008 at 7:43 am
why not Hank Blalock?
he’s a better hitter then Swisher. And doesn’t strike out.
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i think blaylock had his option picked up
Blalock’s option was picked up. Swisher is a nice guy, but he seems washed up. He did absolutely nothing for the White Sox this year.
“why not Hank Blalock?
he’s a better hitter then Swisher. And doesn’t strike out.”
he also hasnt been healthy for 2 years.
Yes Blalock had his option picked up for 6.2M. Doesn’t mean he can’t be traded for though.
“Blalock’s option was picked up. Swisher is a nice guy, but he seems washed up. He did absolutely nothing for the White Sox this year.”
RAB did a pretty good job explaining the benefits of a Swisher acquisition.
would prob come at a fairly cheap price prospects wise, and has a reasonable contract for the next couple seasons.
while his BA dropped, he still got on base, during the course of the season, an extraordinary amount, and plays plus defense at 1B, or can fill in at any of the OF positions, providing roster flexibility.
he also doesnt come with the potential baggage for any major injury, or lingering injuries.
Swisher’s not the best option potentially on the market, but i think he’s certainly better than what he showed last year in Chicago.
It’s difficult to imagine how any Yankee fan could be dissatisfied with Sabathia, Teixeira, and Lowe wrapped up by mid-December.
Lowe takes the mound for every start and is a groundball innings eater which is all that’s needed for a 4-5 man in the rotation.
“Lowe takes the mound for every start and is a groundball innings eater which is all that’s needed for a 4-5 man in the rotation.”
it appears to me that people are more angry at the potential for having to root for another former Red Sox player than come to terms that he might be the best pitcher capable of helping this team win games in the current free agent market.
yes. Texas did pick up the option.
Texas is said to have interest in Kennedy. I still like a Kennedy-Blalock trade (Kennedy the centerpiece)
**that he (Lowe) might be (one of the) best pitcher(s) and options** in the current free agent market**
The Swish may have been….may have been juicing during his good years.
“Yes Blalock had his option picked up for 6.2M. Doesn’t mean he can’t be traded for though.”
No it doesn’t. However, his value right now is pretty low due to his injury history. Unless the Rangers are wowed by an offer, I think it’s likely they keep him to start the year, see if he can stay healthy and bump of his value, then move him before the deadline. Bradley won’t be back in Texas, so Blalock/Davis can probably split the 1B/DH duties.
“I still like a Kennedy-Blalock trade (Kennedy the centerpiece)”
Kennedy cant be the centerpiece to any trade right now.
“Kennedy cant be the centerpiece to any trade right now”
touche
And as a Jet fan I would enjoy nothing more than seeing Matt Castle throw 4 picks in the game with all of them returned for a td. I hate the Pats. Yes hate, not even dislike.
“Kennedy cant be the centerpiece to any trade right now.”
and its not that IPK doesnt have any potential value, but he lost a lot of his luster after his performance last season.
as a nice secondary or complementary piece, Kennedy makes a lot of sense. not a centerpiece.
“And as a Jet fan I would enjoy nothing more than seeing Matt Castle throw 4 picks in the game”
if Mangini would’ve gameplanned properly in the last meeting, this may have happened. We will see if Mangini redeems himself, thursday. Or if he continues to be out-coached.
the Jets have had a talented team. And have played hard all year (even in every loss). It all come down to the coaching.
“Kennedy cant be the centerpiece to any trade right now.’
For one of Blalock, he could be. Can’t imagine the Rangers would want him though. Don’t think IPK’s game would play well in such a hitter’s park.
Also doubt Cash would move IPK for one year of Blalock.
* one YEAR of Blalock
Pete, what are you doing up at 5:35 in the AM? Are you in the Eastern time zone?
“It all come down to the coaching.”
The Jets better hope that’s not the case.
I don’t really understand the fascination with Blalock. He has only had one outstanding year(04), and will be 4 years removed from his last decent full season(05), all in one of the best hitters parks in the game. Coincidentally, those years were at the end of the don’t ask, don’t tell steroid era. Also, he has only 34 career games at first.
“I don’t really understand the fascination with Blalock.”
i think it was really one of Brandon’s ‘out of the box’ ideas that somehow caught traction amongst the masses here on the blog.
Mark:
and I don’t understand the facination with mediocre players like Nick Swisher. Blalock’s issue, have been injuries. Not lack of talent. And he is only 28. In his career he has a knack for delivering in the clutch. Isn’t this what the team lacked, last year? Hence, the facination.
Nick Swisher – Low batting average, good power a la Jason Giambi
That’s not change, that’s more of the same
“I’ll tell you what happened. Bernard Pollard crippled Tom Brady in the first quarter of the first game of the season. That’s what happened.”
Bad attitude Peter. Fandom is about taking the good with the bad. Did we as fans of our favorite team take the attitude that the Yankees weren’t going to the World Series so what’s the point?
When Wang got hurt, we kept talking about the Yankees. When Joba replaced him and got hurt, we kept commenting on the Yankees. When the roster looked like a revolving door at the ER and the likes of Rasner, Ponson and Pavano were taking the ball every 5th day, we kept commenting.
“and I don’t understand the facination with mediocre players like Nick Swisher. Blalock’s issue, have been injuries. Not lack of talent.”
Swisher doesnt lack talent. he averages 25+HRs/80+ RBI/.350+ OBP over his 5 seasons in the major leagues.
“In his career he (Blalock) has a knack for delivering in the clutch.”
what sort of evidence is there to be able to say something like this?
yeah, we’re all familiar with Captain Clutch, aka Hank Blalock.
Blalock delivers in the clutch??? Is there a source on this?
He’s been on the Rangers his entire career, right? Since Blalock’s been up, the Rangers have had a sniff of pennant race baseball in only one year. That was 2004 when they finished in 3rd place, 3 games out. That was Blalock’s best year, but when the chips were down in September, he batted .226 with a hideous .698 OPS. Looking at his career splits, there’s nothing to suggest he elevates his game in the big spots. His numbers are decent, but far from spectacular.
“His numbers are decent, but far from spectacular.”
and according to what i found on baseball reference, Blalock has a career average just below .300 with RISP.
again, not bad… but building a reputation for hitting in the clutch? where does that come from?
trad hughes for a kemp,mclouth,chris young then trade cano,kennedy for adrian gonzalez,chris davis,etc….
sign sabathia,dempster,mussina.i think mussina will be back.
rotation of
sabathia
wang
dempster
mussina
joba
i wouldn’t trade cano or hughes for an old veteran but if we can get a good young fb & cf for several years i do it but it has to be the perfect players in return or i don’t do it.
we would still have several good pitchers in the minors.
i don’t see us fixing fb & cf unless cano and or hughes is used unless we sign tex and keep cano wich is an idea i like better.then maybe we use cano for a pitcher like cain.
“cano,kennedy for adrian gonzalez,chris davis,etc….”
Not going to happen.
Texas already has a 2B who is probably Cano’s equal offensively, maybe better.
SD is salary dump mode, and Gonzalez’s contract is much friendlier than Cano’s.
“Pete, you blogged about football a lot last season. What happened this year”
C’mon Pete… give the real answer. You got sick of hearing people on here crying about this being a NY board and no place for the Pats…..
To shut the babies up… you stuck a bottle in their mouthes.
Fredo Corleone
November 10th, 2008 at 9:27 am
“cano,kennedy for adrian gonzalez,chris davis,etc….â€
Not going to happen.
Texas already has a 2B who is probably Cano’s equal offensively, maybe better.
SD is salary dump mode, and Gonzalez’s contract is much friendlier than Cano’s.
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id doesn’t have to be those exact players but along those lines.
hughes for a cf/fb,cano for the other unless we sign tex wich i don’t see the yankees giving him 200 million dollars.that would be insanity.
i think we are going to need a very big bat know.
this lineup doesn’t look that scary.
“he also doesnt come with the potential baggage for any major injury, or lingering injuries. ”
Actually, the concern with Swisher is baggage. His slugging percentage has decreased considerably the past two seasons. His isolated power has fallen even more precipitously. And last year he fell off a cliff.
There’s been speculation that Swisher’s performance could be related to using PED’s/ greenies. Not saying that’s the case but given his progressive decrease in power and his abysmal year last year the pattern is concerning. That concern was made all the more so by the fact that his second half performance was even worse than his first half performance.
“while his BA dropped, he still got on base, during the course of the season, an extraordinary amount, and plays plus defense at 1B,”
Swisher didn’t get on base at a high rate at all last season. He had a .332 OBP. He had a .298 OBP in the second half of last year. He was basically a replacement level player the second half of last year.
Now if you want to say his BABIP was anomalously low and caused all of this I suppose you could. But a BABIP of .251 doesn’t explain much of what went wrong. Also, when a BABIP goes down in step with a decrease in isolated power one can also conclude that the players BABIP may have decreased simply because he wasn’t hitting the ball as hard as he was in years prior. That is at least part of why Swisher’s BABIP decreased compared to prior years.
He also doesn’t play plus defense at first. He’s ok. Last year he was .5 runs better than a league average 1b. The season before he was 1.5 runs better than a league average first baseman. He’s about an average defensive player.
He may be worth acquiring if you could do so cheaply. But let’s not kid ourselves – he’s a major risk with a lot of questions swirling over him.
And Kenny Williams is a smart guy. He gave up a ton to get Swisher including Gio Gonzalez and Fautino de los Santos. To give up two very good pitching prospects like that (one of who is a lefty) for a player and then to look to trade that player after only one year is a really damning indictment of Swisher. That doesn’t speak very well of what his playing abilities are perceived to be by a team that knows him best.
Bru:
Adding Posada and Matsui to this lineup for a full season still makes it far more imposing than most in baseball.
If players are performing something close to their career norms, it’s a Top 3 lineup in MLB.
“The season before he was 1.5 runs better than a league average first baseman.”
Sorry. Meant to write that Swisher was 1.5 runs worse than a league average 1b the season before last.
Fredo Corleone
November 10th, 2008 at 9:27 am
“cano,kennedy for adrian gonzalez,chris davis,etc….â€
Not going to happen.
Texas already has a 2B who is probably Cano’s equal offensively, maybe better.
SD is salary dump mode, and Gonzalez’s contract is much friendlier than Cano’s.
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it sometimes depends on needs also.for instance if sd has a good fb in the minors and needs a sb.
we don’t know what team will do what but cano packaged with the right prospect(s) will bring us a good young fb,cf,pitcher.
i just don’t see anything in the fa market that can fix fb ?& cf so i think a few trades are needed.
i’d love to keep both hughes,cano and all our prospects but if we use hughes,ajax to get a good young cf why would we need ajax who gave us no wins in 08.
do you really wanb’t to go with gardner in cf?
i think cashman is going to suprise us this offseason with his outside the box thinking.
Hey CB, where did you get your defensive numbers for Swisher. I checked bbtf.org and saw him listed as .5 runs above average for 1B but he played more than half his games in the outfield last year and I think BBTF just combines all his defense into one entry. What I’m saying is, I’m not sure 0.5 runs above average is accurate for Swisher, unless you got that same number elsewhere. He could be a lot worse at 1B or a lot better.
Swisher is definitely a risk, he lost almost 100 points off his OPS this year. Maybe it was just a down year but I wouldn’t give up much value for him.
Fredo Corleone
November 10th, 2008 at 9:39 am
Bru:
Adding Posada and Matsui to this lineup for a full season still makes it far more imposing than most in baseball.
If players are performing something close to their career norms, it’s a Top 3 lineup in MLB.
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i agree but we still need a fb & cf.i can see going with gardner in center but what about fb?
do we keep cano & hughes or use them to fix cf & fb? if we keep them how do we fix these 2 positions?
“Actually, the concern with Swisher is baggage.”
my point was no injury concerns.. he’ll be on the field for you, and he’ll play hard everyday… and he can play multiple positions.
but yeah, i never said there arent questions about his production levels, but i do think he’s a better player than his stats last year indicate.
which is why i prefaced my assumption of a Swisher acquisition with a fairly cheap price of prospects.
NEW YORK GIANTS 9-1 !!!! WHO WANTS NEXT!?!?!
OOPS GIANTS 8-1 !!!
Nothing better than bandwagon Pats fans immediately jumping off when they feel their team won’t be in the SB this year.
Nick Swisher would be a nice pickup… for the BENCH! He could back up at a number of positions, play some late inning defense and DH on occasion. He isn’t even worth Kennedy as far as I’m concerned. Blalock would certainly be superior as an everyday 1B, but the cost of acquiring him would be much higher.
Let’s worry about the little pieces later… right now it’s time to get serious about Sabathia and Teixiera and go from there.
vinny-b,
I don’t like Swisher either. In fact, if you don’t want to give Tex 7 years and 140M or so, and I don’t, this is a bad year to have 1B woes. I don’t see a satisfactory 1B out there without giving up Hughes and/or Cano, or tying up tons of money for a long time. If we give up Cano, we have a gaping hole at second instead of first. In the long run, I think it is tougher to replace a player like Cano than it is 1B, even though the options are bleak right now.
Perhaps Kotsay for first. He hasn’t played there much, but from what I saw of him, he was very good defensively; but maybe that was beginner’s luck. Not a power bat, but a decent bat for the bottom third of the order. Also, if someone like Adrian G. becomes available at the deadline or next offseason; Kotsay would be easy to dump.
“where did you get your defensive numbers for Swisher.”
Patrick,
I got those stats from bbtf – Chris Dial’s data.
I like the way Dial did his OPD a lot better in 2007. He broke the defense down by each position the player played.
I assume he changed that in 2008 because the data didn’t support that kind of separation. If a player had too few chances at any position he played the margin of error around the estimates may have gotten too large.
That said, I believe (and I could be wrong on this) that the defensive statistics Dial lists correspond to the position that Dial has the player listed as.
So for Swisher, he’s listed as a 1b not as a CF. So I believe those defensive statistics are for his play at 1b.
Why did Dial list him as a 1b? I think this is the reason. Swisher played 535 innings in CF and 462 innings at 1b. So the majority of time he did play CF. That’s a bit deceptive however due to the number of plays he had to make at both positions.
At 1b he made 447 put outs. In CF he made only 138 put outs. So even though he played 54% of his innings in CF he only made 24% of his total put outs in CF.
I believe dial is only listing the position at which the player made the majority of his defensive plays – not the position at which he played the majority of his innings.
I don’t think Dial just lumped together Swisher’s defense at CF and 1b in one aggregate number. That would make no sense and dial is a smart guy.
“right now it’s time to get serious about Sabathia and Teixiera and go from there.”
it was my assumption that Swisher is really only being discussed based on the belief that Teixeira wont be in pinstripes.
Ok that makes sense CB, thanks for the clarification.
It’s always amusing to read about players from other teams coming here – how even though the numbers aren’t all that good, at least they’re healthy and will play hard for you, etc., etc. It’s amusing because the Yankees already have players like that that people want to get rid of.
“It’s amusing because the Yankees already have players like that that people want to get rid of.”
kind of like shuffling the deck chairs on the titanic.
i think its moreso hopes that a player can regain former status with the famous “change of scenery.”
its also a bit of an educated gamble… trying to buy low, and sell high.
Turn Two
Ah, yes, the “change of scenery” argument.
You’ve got a more positive outlook on it than I do, clearly.
are ther any good 3rd baseman available? what about moving arod to fb?
we can sign a 3rd baseman and keep hughes,cano.
“You’ve got a more positive outlook on it than I do, clearly.”
i like to think i have a positive outlook, period
but i’m not saying i think Swisher should be acquired myself instead of Teixeira… just that he’s one of a number of options to consider, should the Yankees not sign Teixeira.
My point was that with or without Teixiera, Swisher is a terrible idea for a full-time 1B. That’s why I referred to discussion about him as “little pieces”. I wouldn’t want him as a full-time starter, period.
If Tex doesn’t happen and there’s nothing attractive out there the best option might actually be a Giambi one-year deal with an upgraded backup/late inning defense guy.
Just another reason to sign the best FA 1B available in many years.
If Tex signs elsewhere…resign Abreu…and platoon Miranda and Kevin Millar
No, your eyes are not deceiving you…kevin millar
ok. I now believe we’re not getting Matt Holliday. The Rockies tried to rape St Louis. Not that i blame them.
NYY needs to go crazy, signing International players. Then we will get our own Vlad, Beltran, Upton, etc. In my opinion, a better investment then signing FA’s for 10yrs/200 million.
86w183
November 10th, 2008 at 10:25 am
My point was that with or without Teixiera, Swisher is a terrible idea for a full-time 1B. That’s why I referred to discussion about him as “little piecesâ€. I wouldn’t want him as a full-time starter, period.
If Tex doesn’t happen and there’s nothing attractive out there the best option might actually be a Giambi one-year deal with an upgraded backup/late inning defense guy.
Just another reason to sign the best FA 1B available in many years
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please not giambi.
the yankees have to get away from an all hr or walk guy,slow,terrible defense,can’t bunt to save his life.
there has to be better options.
trade for a fb & cf,sign sabathia,dempster,mussina.
sign an infielder,trade cano and prospects for a good young first baseman that will lock down the position for 8 years,someone like loney,votto or someone similar.
the fb we get in return will replace cano’s production.then package hughes,ajax,kennedy for a long time solution in cf.
all the free agents are old,expensive or not that good.tex would be great but i don’t see the yankees spending 300-400 million on both him and cc.no internal options.
a few trades are the only way.
at least with trades we might get a few reasonable contracts and fix the 2 positions for a long time.
if we get a good young cf we won’t need ajax anyway and there is no guarantee he will be good.
you can slice it and dice it anyway you wan’t but i don’t see how the yankees can avoid trading hughes and cano to fix fb and cf.
imo trading them is the right thing to do because you fix the 2 positions the right way with good young players for a long time and in addition to signing sabathia,dempster/mussina/burnett,etc…. we should be ok.
i don’t see any other options but i do not see the yankees trading cano.
The Fielding Bible plus/minus fielding leaders and trailers at each position for 2008 show no Yanks in the top 10 at any position, but if I am reading it right show Cano tied for worst in the majors at 2b, Jeter tied for fourth worst in the majors at SS, Giambi second worst in the majors at 1B, and Abreu second worst in the majors in RF.
Given that, I would not be in favor of any scenario that brought back Giambi or Abreu except in connection with a Matsui trade that would let them be DH only.
Given the weakness up the middle defensively. I wouldn’t mind a Cano trade if there was one that made sense (which I am inclined to doubt).
If we could just improve the defense, our pitching would improve without doing anything else (although I still want CC, of course).
it is going to cost a few prospects to fix the mess but it can be done.the yankees have a lot of talent in the minors especially at lower levels but they are riskier.
no team is going to give us any good players.they are going to start with asking for joba.of course you hang the phone up.
hughess might turn into a great pitcher but we need a centerfielder and fb.
we can wait for ajax but we will still need a fb.
do we use hughes,cano for that or try to use another package like kennedy and others and keep hughes,cano,brackman,montero,ajax and would lesser prospects get it done.
of course i would try to put a nice package of quantity prospects together to maybe just get a first baseman and go with gardner & melky in center until ajax comes up but if that doesn’t work why not trade hughes,cano.
if we can keep hughes,cano,brackman,ajax,montero and fix fb & cf i think we are in great shape going forward but i do not see it happening.
i would not mind a lineup of
*damon
*jeter
*nady
*arod
*matsui
*loney
*posada
*kemp
*a new second baseman while giving up hughes,cano and a few prospects but keeping montero,brackman.
i am not saying that we will get loney or kemp.i am using them as examples but something along those lines.a good young cf & fb that will lock down those positions for years.
i would like to see a big bat in there somewhere to protect arod a little more.
a rotation of
*sabathia
*wang
*dempster/burnett/perez/lowe
*mussina/pettitte/dempster/lowe/perez
*joba with acevez,giese and the several pitching prospects in the minors we should be in great shape.
if we sign tex & sabathia with 2 more pitchers that would be even better but i’m not sure the yankees will add 75 million by signing tex and 3 pitchers but it is possible.
“The Fielding Bible plus/minus fielding leaders and trailers at each position for 2008 show no Yanks in the top 10 at any position,”
Wow. That was really sobering. What a disaster the yankees defense was in 2008. Just horrendous.
The more you take a look at Cano’s 2008 season the worse it gets. Just amazing.
In 2007 Cano made 17 more plays than an average second baseman. That was 5th best in baseball.
In 2008 Cano made 16 fewer plays than a league average second baseman. That was worst in baseball.
How is that possible?
Jeter’s defensive performance was puzzling this year. 5th best zone rating of any shortstop in baseball. But his +/- was tied for 5th worst? Throws? Zone Rating has its limitations but that’s a large discrepancy. And its Jeter’s range that has been a problem – which Zone Rating should be picking up.
I like Dewan’s +/- system a lot but I wish they could express it as a rate statistics rather than as a counting stat.
By +/- Nate McClouth was the worst defensive player in baseball. Of course he won a Gold Glove. By +/- Chase Utley was the best defensive player in baseball. And of course he didn’t win a Gold Glove. What a joke.
Its too early to judge Kennedy or Hughes. Maybe they need more work but, you cannot label them just yet. It takes a couple seasons for kids to develop. Whether your a baseball player, journalist, medical doctor, lawyer, the first year is always a learning process no matter what you do.
It amazes me that some of the fans label these kids as “bad” pitchers right away. Especially the commentators, its ridiculous for people that supposedly have a high level of intelligence.
San Diego simply cannot and will not trade Adrian Gonzales. He is a hometown product, enormously popular with the local fan base, signed to a very favorable contract, and probably the only Padre with genuine power, even in Petco…an incredible talent, and the only Padre position player worth going to see play. Don’t draw extreme inferences from the financially driven decision to trade Peavy.
Anytime I see the trade proposals for first base on this site I’m reminded of Dr. Evil in Austin Powers movies.
I’m specifically reminded of how he comes up with all of these plans to take over the world but gets shut down by number 2 because all of his ideas probably won’t work. Exasperated Dr. Evil says “f it let’s just do what we always do, steal a nuclear warhead and hold the world hostage. ”
I’m hoping that when it comes to first base the Yankees have that same mentality of “F it, let’s just do what we always do,” sign the best player available and hold the rest of baseball hostage.
WYH:
I think that aside from Cano, what you see in the Fielding Bible is pretty consistent with reality.
Cano simply had a bad year all the way around, defense included. I think he’s better than what his ’08 showed. Don’t see him as a Gold Glove type, but do see him as a very solid glove man at 2B.
Ray, well said.
Fredo, right on the nose. If Long is doing what we are told he is, and Cano stays with it during the season, he will more than bounce back.
Defensive stats can be so ambiguous IMO. I believe in what I see as far as defense goes so unfortunately I don’t get anything close to the “big picture”.
Cano seems alright to me at 2B. At times he gets too fancy but when his head is right, he makes some nice plays. He goes to his right and to back towards the line real nice. He’s got a quick release turning the DP.
Pete, It’s great to see you as a fan.
For the Yankees, re-stating the obvious, focusing in on the starters is key. For the lineup, figuing that Posada is Posada behind the plate and Matsui is our DH, we need to fix CF or 1B but not both. Plugging in Teixeira would solve a lot…
* Damon (L)
* Jeter (R)
* Teixeira (S)
* ARod (R)
* Matsui (L)
* Posada (S)
* Nady (R)
* Cano (L)
* Cabrera/Gardner (S/L)
You may have to play with the bottom of the lineup so there aren’t 3 left handers in a row, but the point is that Teixeira really makes the 09 lineup deep enough to win.
“Cano seems alright to me at 2B. At times he gets too fancy but when his head is right, he makes some nice plays. He goes to his right and to back towards the line real nice. He’s got a quick release turning the DP.”
exactly.
The only thing that Cano doesn’t do is smother balls like Iwamura & Pedroia.
Otherwise he’s fine defensively and has the potential to be a great offensive 2B.
“Cano seems alright to me at 2B. At times he gets too fancy but when his head is right, he makes some nice plays.”
Defensive stats can be very ambiguous and they’ll never be as exact as offensive numbers.
But they are very helpful, especially when the different measurement systems all correspond.
And with Cano the fielding bible, zone rating, and relative zone rating all converge. Cano was a far below average defensive second baseman this year. Far below. He just fell apart defensively in the second part of the season. His zone rating plummeted.
No doubt he has the physical skills to be a very good defensive player. He showed that in 2006 and 2007. But last year was just a complete blank.
Cano’s got the arm and range to be a gold glover, his problem is between the ears…
Noreaster,
There’s no argument that can be made for not wanting Tex at 1B. Except that he may turn into another Giambi with an albatross contract. But baseball-wise, he’s a great fit for us. Perfect, actually.
Everyone but Brandon & vinny-b are on board. We’re still working on them.
Teix is 2 years younger-29-than Giambi was-31-when he signed to play here.
If he signs a 7 year deal, Teixeira would be the same age-35-as Jeter, Damon, and Matsui are now.
There were periods of time last year when Cano just lost interest. I think that is largely what cost him defensively as well. He has a little bit of Soriano in him, as far as taking hitting struggles to the field with him. We will see major improvements in all areas this year if he has his focus all year. A big if, but he is certainly capable.
House M.D. uses a cane
Slightly thinking ahead . . .
If the Yankees were to land Teixeira, is he flexible enough for occasional times as a corner OF if the Yankees felt the time had come toward thinking the careers of A-Rod and Jeter could be extended by playing some occasional 1st base on a somewhat revolving basis ?
Any thoughts ?
“Just lost interest” …
Know him intimately, do you?
LOL!
Joey’s Poodle,
You did watch him play this year, didn’t you? Did he look like he wanted to be there for 162 games?
If the Yanks are thinking about playing Arod, Jeter, and others at first soon, they need only a stopgap for the next year or two. They would also be making a bad decision.
The notion of moving Jeter to first down the road seems crazy to me. As a shortstop his bat is fine, but a year or two from now at first? I’m not buying that.
His play was lackadaisical at times, but in the absence of any real explanation on his part I don’t presume to choose among the many possible reasons why that might be, and I can’t help giggling at those presumptuous enough to imagine they know which one must be right and silly enough to make public pronouncements about it.
Another reminder that it would be a complete waste of time to produce a parody of nonsensical bloggerations when so many are perpetrated in perfect seriousness.
” I had Brady as the starting QB on my top fantasy team ”
so the question is, what round, and what # pick ?
oh, and poor JoePa
if the loss wasn’t bad enough, they took a huge hit in the standings. they deserve more than 8th…
Cushing’s a roid head. He was a big user at BC and I figured when he went to college and couldn’t use anymore he would fall off. Well not only has he not fallen off, he has gotten even better. Makes me wonder what they put in the water at USC?
Patriots fans are so spoiled. Some fans of other teams would kill just to make the playoffs. Think: Detroit or St. Louis. It makes me angry to hear a Patriots fan gave up on their team because they don’t expect to win the Super Bowl. That’s a bit pathetic.
Signing Tex is a big gamble for another reason in addition to the ~10yrs/$200mil~. We still don’t know if Posada will be able to come back from the surgery to catch. ??? Last we saw of him, his arm was terrible! If he can’t catch, he’ll have to play first or we trade Matsui and DH Posada.
An alternate idea is to trade for a fine young 1st base prospect and then if Posada need to play first, the prospect can get more seasoning at AAA.
Specifically, the Royals have Kila Ka’aihue (who at AA had a .450+ OBP, 104/67 BB/K, and 37 jacks in just over 400 ABs). Awesome!
He is a very good prospect (in fact the Royal’s 2008 minor league player of the year) but he could be available for the right price, since they now have a huge glut at first base with Jacobs, Gload, Butler and Shealy.
To get quality, you must give up quality. Trade Phil Hughes for Kila Ka’aihue.
You are a Yankees beat writer but also a Patriots fan? Wow. I don’t think that’s allowed.