The LoHud Yankees Blog

I’m here in the Bronx. Here’s a shot of the new bridge from the new Metro North station.

The Yankees are moving into their new Stadium today. There’s some media availability later on this morning and The Journal News will have both a still photographer and videographer on the scene to document what is a unique event.

As senior director of stadium operations Doug Behar said, “This is a once-in-a-lifetime event for us. We’ve been planning this for a long time.”

Check back on the blog later for photos, video and a report. I’m going to try and put some photos up via the iPhone from the scene, too.

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The question of the day on the Faceoff blog is what concerns you most about the Yankees? Sam Borden posted his thoughts and I’ll be chipping in myself. Give Sam your thoughts over there.

January is traditionally a slow month for baseball news. So for the second year in a row, we will showcase other blogs with a series of pinch hitters.

Next up is Tom from The Bronx Block.

Tom lives in New York and has been blogging for about a year. He will be starting up a new blog, The Yankee Universe, soon. Here is his post:

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Today, I’m analyzing the 2009 version of the greatest rivalry in baseball: the Yankees and Red Sox. I’m not sure if a solar flare hit the earth, the Prime Mover took his eye off our spinning blue marble, or what, but the natural order of the universe has been disrupted. The Red Sox winning championships and the Yankees consistently coming up second best? This is not acceptable and I have a sneaking suspicion that it’s somehow responsible for this worldwide recession we’re currently undergoing. I can’t prove it yet, mind you (not for lack of trying), but I can’t help thinking these two tragic events are somehow connected.

What I can prove is that the planet has tilted back upon its proper axis and is spinning normally, again. The Yanks have signed the top three free agents on the market, possess a bustling bullpen of young, versatile power arms, and have several key contributors coming back from injuries (Posada, Wang, Matsui) while other Bombers are due for bounce back years (Swisher, Cano, A-Rod, Jeter). Yes, Crybaby Nation you can pretty much mark it down that the good old days of your Red Sox finishing second every year and finding ways to blow big games are back.

It’s pretty clear that the dynasty days of the 90s have returned for the Yanks but, just for the sake of science, logic and pointy ears, I’ve done a statistical analysis of each player and compared them to
their Beantown counterpart. In my mere allotted 500 words, I don’t have space to reveal the calculations, but I can go into depth in the comments if you have any questions and I’ll post a companion piece with deeper analysis on The Yankee Universe and Bronx Block. I used an amalgam of the traditional stats, the newer sabermetric stuff, and the replacement level value stats, utilizing mostly baseballreference.com and fangraphs.com.

I gave a score out of 10 to each starting player, starting pitcher, and closer. The bench of each squad received a group grade out of 10 as did the setup men and the back of the bullpens. Add it up and
surely we’ll see a huge gap between the Yankees and Red Sox.

The results: Yankees 124.5, Sox 121. Thank you very much. Without the words to spare, I must forego the sturm and drang to admit that we have to get used to the fact that the Red Sox are a really good team with an extremely well-run organization that is likely to give the Yanks a run to the wire each year. Oh, and you can throw the Rays in there, too. I guess this just makes it all the more interesting, right?

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Thanks, Tom. Coming tomorrow: Nick from San Francisco.

The Yankees have six outfielders at the moment — Melky Cabrera, Johnny Damon, Brett Gardner, Hideki Matsui, Xavier Nady and Nick Swisher — so they never really considered singing Rocco Baldelli.

Nobody knows for sure how much Baldelli will be able to play for the Red Sox given his history with injury and illness.

But one thing we know for sure is that Rocco is one classy dude. My buddy Marc Topkin of the St. Pete Times notes in his blog that Baldelli took out an ad in their paper thanking Rays fans. Hopefully they both read it.

Marc also points out that the Rays will be giving away cowbells to fans at the April 15 game against the Yankees. Fantastic.

The estimable Keith Law of ESPN.com has his top 100 prospects up today. You can read the first 25 for free, the rest are on Insider.

He has Austin Jackson (46), Jesus Montero (83) and Andrew Brackman (95) in the top 100.

You may have heard that the Yankees built a new stadium. Well, they’re moving in tomorrow.

Starting at 7 a.m., the Yankees will move nearly all of their employees across the street to their new offices. You think your last move was a pain? They have 1,500 plastic crates and will be using four trucks going back and forth.

The only aspects of the operation staying behind will be the ticket office, the mailroom and the clubhouse staff. They will make the move on Feb. 27.

Tomorrow’s date was set months ago, so the Yankees are right on schedule with their plans.

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Sam Borden is on the Faceoff blog today wondering whether baseball needs a salary cap. Head over there is you want to offer an opinion.

I don’t believe a cap is needed and can sum up my argument with three words: Tampa Bay Rays.

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Did you see the Oscar nominations? The Dark Knight didn’t get a Best Picture nod, although The Reader did. No Bruce Springsteen (who won the Golden Globe) for best song. There were only three nominations in that category, two from Slumdog Millionaire. No best actor for Clint Eastwood, either.

January is traditionally a slow month for baseball news. So for the second year in a row, we will showcase other blogs with a series of pinch hitters.

Next up is John from Sox and Pinstripes.

John represents the pinstripes portion of the Sox and Pinstripes blog as a regular contributor from his current home in San Francisco. His first game was seeing Ron Guidry strike out 18 and he was in the stands on Oakland when Derek Jeter made his famous flip to Jorge Posada. John is married to a Red Sox fan but says good parenting prevailed and his son’s favorite player is Jeter.

Here’s his post:

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It wasn’t exactly on a where-were-you-when-JFK-got-shot level. But I clearly remember when I first read that the Yankees signed Mark Teixeira. I almost coughed up my breakfast, and the first person who popped into my head was Red Sox exec Larry Lucchino. My immediate thought was, he dubbed the Yanks the “Evil Empire” over a measly little signing of Jose Contreras?? If only he had known, if only he had kept his powder dry for this offseason.

With that said, perception and reality don’t always synch up. For example, before CC Sabathia and Teixeira, 17 players had signed contracts of more than $100 million. The only one of those where the Yankees lured a player from another team was Jason Giambi in 2001.

Still, did the Yanks panic and scrap Brian Cashman’s youth plan in favor of a return to Steinbrennarian (as John Sterling would say) excess?

Not at all. The four major additions this winter (including Nick Swisher) are ages 28, 28, 28 and 32. This is not Kevin Brown and Randy Johnson revisited. In fact, when Sabathia’s deal expires, he will only be as old as Derek Lowe is right now.

These moves also give Cashman the buffer to use his kids more. With Teixeira, you can let Brett Gardner and Melky Cabrera battle. With Sabathia and Burnett, you can give Phil Hughes a shot at the fifth slot.

Did the Yankees need Teixeira? No, but they were vulnerable this year, and really would have needed him next year when two more important bats (Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui) came off the books.

The Yankees made the one move they did need to make: Sabathia. And they hit the bonus round with Teixeira, an addition that helps this year, fills an urgent need next year and, best of all, was also the one move that the rival Red Sox really did need to make.

Now the Sox face a fading core of injury-prone vets (David Ortiz, Mike Lowell, Jason Varikek) with a hugely disappointing set of free agent options next winter. And with their top prize gone, they’ve ended up getting even older this winter with Takashi Saito (39) and John Smoltz (41).

Suddenly, in a single winter, the Yanks are younger and more athletic, and the Sox are older, more injury-prone, more vulnerable. These moves take the pressure off, not only for this season but the next several seasons, while the Sox risk being left without a chair when the free agent music stops.

We’ve heard all the gripes, and reminders that you can’t buy titles. True enough. We all know how the last Yankee major coup over the Sox, Alex Rodriguez, has worked out so far. But when you look at what historically works best for the Yanks, it isn’t just about money — that’s a constant — it’s about smart use of money. Players in their primes, brought in at positions of need, surrounded by home grown talent.

Check, check and check.

The games are still to come, but the Yanks just had a very good winter, the Sox a very rough one.

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Thanks, John. Coming tomorrow: Tom from Bronx Block.

With the able help of Jeff the tech guy, I reorganized the blog roll a little. I added a category for the three blogs over on the Yes Network site.

So now there are links to Pinstriped Bible along with Kaat’s Korner and The Max.

If anybody knows of other blogs that chronicle the organization’s minor league teams, I’d be happy to add those to that category. My next project is to go though the list of fan blogs and weed out those blogs that have gone to the big server in the sky.

As always, if you have a Yankees blog and want a link, all you need to do is e-mail. Well, and send $100. I could use the money.

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If you’re on Facebook, you can add this blog and get links to new posts there. So far nearly 1,200 people have signed up.

Oh, and Jeff the Tech Guy said our RSS feed has been fixed.

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If you have any good ideas for the blog, feel free to e-mail me at any time. I have a few new features I want to try out in 2009. Blogging is like baseball, if you screw up one day, you can always get it right tomorrow.

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Meanwhile as Rex Ryan was making a bunch of wild-eyed threats, these two coaching giants were scouting the Senior Bowl.

Tickets remain available for Tuesday’s event at Sacred Heart University in Connecticut featuring Joba Chamberlain and Jon Lester.

Here is the release:

Joba Chamberlain, 23, of the New York Yankees and Jon Lester, 24, of the Boston Red Sox will share the spotlight at Sacred Heart University on Tuesday, January 27th, 2009. The two pitchers will take part in a “Hot Stove Conversation” in the William H. Pitt Health and Recreation Center on campus at 8 P.M.

The University has recently hosted such well known speakers as former New York City Mayor and presidential candidate, Rudy Giuliani, and Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, Doris Kearns Goodwin.

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I’m curious to see if Joba’s personality changes in the wake of his DWI arrest. I personally like him. He has a lot of energy, he talks to everybody and he’s competitive like a football player when he takes the mound.

But you can argue that it was too much, too soon for Joba in terms of his popularity and the arrest was a culmination of his living too fast. He never got arrogant but he was a little cocky and there were a few occasions when he slipped into the third person when doing interviews. Some of the old-school guys on the team found it amusing.

I look at this way: He was 21 when he made the big leagues and most of us did a lot of things we regret when we were that age. What matters is how events shape you moving forward.

Joba is one of the most important players on the team because, in time, he can be the best starter in the game. He has a chance to be that good. It’s a big part of what will make 2009 so interesting.

January is traditionally a slow month for baseball news. So for the second year in a row, we will showcase other blogs with a series of pinch hitters.

Next up is Gary from Yankees And More.

Gary is from Wayne, N.J., and works for Passaic County as a social worker. A season-ticket holder and long-time fan. Gary’s favorite Yankee all-time is Don Mattingly. Mariano Rivera is his favorite active player.

Here’s his post:

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I have been going to the old Yankee Stadium for the past 25 years. I have seen many things in that time. I have seen Dale Berra and Bobby Meacham getting thrown out at home plate on the same play, Doc Gooden’s no-hitter, playoff and World Series games, Roger Clemens’ 300th win, A-Rods three home run game and many more. The curtain has gone down on the cathedral and it is bittersweet, a few tears were shed but now I am ready for the new Yankee Stadium.

The new Yankee Stadium is right across the street, which makes it easier. I have seen the progress of the new Stadium over the past year. I now feel the excitement building, I can’t wait to step foot in the new cathedral in April. The Yankees have not won a world series since 2000 but a new era is starting and with it a new string of Yankees success. Big Tex, CC, and A.J. have made moving into the new Stadium even more exciting. This stadium has the same look as the pre-renovation Yankee Stadium.

The new Stadium has a martini bar, steakhouse, museum, more leg room and more vendors and bathrooms where you never have to miss a pitch, since you can still see the field while standing on line. As I write this, I am growing more excited. 2009 is definitely a time for change and it should be a great year. It will be difficult at first to not go right to section 5, tier reserved, row M, seats 7 and 8. I am sure I will take the full tour of all the new stadium has to offer at the exhibitions against the Cubs and be ready for my first game shortly after. There are going to be lots of memories to be made, hopefully a lot more playoffs and World Series wins.

I am sure I will see Jeter and Mo have their days, A-Rod break the all time home run record and who knows what else? The great thing about baseball is every time you step foot into the stadium, you never know what history you may witness. I can’t wait to get it all started, a new era is born. I will see you all at the new cathedral.

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Thanks, Gary. Coming tomorrow: John from Sox and Pinstripes.