Rivera, Dye Co-AL Player of the Week
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Jun 29, 2009 
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Seriously, MLB, you couldn’t let Mariano have this by himself? I think Jermaine Dye would have been cool with it.
This release from MLB:
Right fielder Jermaine Dye of the Chicago White Sox and closer Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees have been named the American League Co-Players of the Week presented by Bank of America for the period ending June 28th.
In six games last week, Dye led the Majors with a .500 (12-24) batting average, 25 total bases and four doubles while also notching three home runs and six RBI. The 35-year-old posted a Major League-best 1.042 slugging percentage in addition to his .520 on-base percentage. Last week, the two-time A.L. All-Star right fielder compiled six consecutive multi-hit games and increased his home run total to a club-best 18. On Sunday, Dye hit a solo home run in the eighth inning en route to a 6-0 win over the rival Chicago Cubs at U.S. Cellular Field. The home run marked his 155th with the Chicago White Sox, passing Bill Melton and giving Dye sole possession of seventh on the club’s all-time list. The 17th-round selection in the 1993 First-Year Player Draft is currently hitting .287 with 18 home runs and 45 RBI entering play today. This marks Jermaine’s sixth career weekly award.
In three appearances last week, Rivera collected three saves while posting a 0.00 ERA with six strikeouts. On Sunday, the 39-year-old recorded his 500th career save against the rival New York Mets at Citi Field. He became the second player in Major League history to accumulate 500 career saves and currently ranks second all time behind only Milwaukee Brewers closer Trevor Hoffman, who has 571. The nine-time A.L. All-Star closer has the most saves in A.L. history. Rivera also earned his first career RBI on a ninth inning walk shortly before completing his milestone on the mound. Rivera currently owns a 2.93 ERA and has compiled 18 saves in 19 opportunities this season. This marks Mariano’s second career weekly award (previous: 6/9/2008).
Other noteworthy performances for the week included Toronto Blue Jays second baseman Aaron Hill, who hit a Major League-best four home runs, and Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, who posted an A.L.-leading .571 on-base percentage. Also considered was Seattle Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki, who led the Majors with 14 hits and eight runs scored.
Tourneau, the world’s largest watch store, will supply Jermaine Dye and Mariano Rivera each with a luxury Swiss Tourneau timepiece, suitably engraved, in recognition of their achievement as the A.L. Co-Players of the Week presented by Bank of America.
No slight, Pete. It’s a player of the week award, not player of the decade.
I’m surprised they even gave Mo consideration. He worked, what, twice?
agree with the first post, there couldn’t be anything more arbitrarily insignificant than mo notching his 500th save in a game in june…
Does anyone else see the irony in MLB giving multi-millionaires free watches for being a “Player of the Week”?
BUT, i was there, so i got to see his completely meaningless 500th save, in addition to his completely meaningless 400th save a few years ago…
i have good luck
m and Tom B = highly intelligent big picture – looking folks.
I wish I could get a fancy watch for being good at my job for a week!
And I think Mariano would be cool if it just went to Dye.
Mo doesn’t really get too worked up over all the accolades. Victories are enough.
Can’t wait for his HOF induction speech.
“I did my job the best I could. Thank you”
How gracious was he yesterday in the post-game and on the ESPN segment. Me mentioned K-Rod, Nathan, Hoffman, Papelbon and Soria as all being better than him.
Who does that?
Honestly, I don’t remember feeling so worked up over a milestone.
People will knock K-Rod for that crazy walk but he did honor “Coney’s code” with a steady supply of fastballs.
And where was YES last night. Bobby friggin Flay after Mo’s 500th? What’s wrong with you?
A fancy watch that they probably will never wear let alone see.
Mo pitched 3 times with 3 saves and 0.00 ERA. Sounds like week honors to me.
Not to mention his frozen rope to center and his bases loaded RBI walk…yeah boy
Okay, reread the post. Yes 3 appearances, 0 earned runs berrryyy impressive. But how is that any different from any other week?
Yes never does post game coverage after a Sunday night ESPN game. Hey, they need their days off too!
Do you get an award for being player of the week? Like a Trophy or Certificate or something?
yeah, Paplebum needs to take some lessons in professional remarks about your peers (superiors as far as he’s conserned)…I hope his arm falls off before he becomes a Yankee
How would YES have known that MO would record his 500th save yesterday? On paper, this matchup looked like a rout.
concerned…I’m a grate speller obveusly
Jermaine Dye? Fail.
someone mentioned a few posts ago that the ESPN broadcast agreement may actually prevent YES from doing pre/post-game coverage.
Beane did a very poor job this winter. He acquired veteran hitters and paired them promising young starters all making their debuts basically. Not a good combination at all.
He should have waited another year for their arms to mature and then gone out next year and gotten the bats.
You can always do pre-post game shows even during the World Series. However there are usually restrictions such as field access, the live network gets all guests it wants first and that sort of thing
Forget YES and their days off. SNY did a postgame.
Why does the agreement prevent a Yankees post game but not the post game on SNY? That’s what I still don’t understand
“First, we asked Tiger to imagine himself as a superstar player in another sport.
In other words, if he lived in a world in which he wasn’t well on his way to becoming the greatest and most accomplished golfer in history, would he rather be LeBron James of the NBA, Peyton Manning of the NFL, Sidney Crosby of the NHL or Derek Jeter of MLB?
“I’d pick Jeter,” Tiger said. “I’m good friends with Derek and he’s a tremendous person. The Yankees have a storied history and a tradition of winning, and to be their captain would be pretty neat.”
But we didn’t leave it at that.
We also asked Woods what position he’d play if he did happen to make it in professional baseball.
“I’d be a pitcher,” Tiger said. “That’s the position I played growing up, and I really liked it.”
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/articl.....8;c_id=mlb
Mike R-
You have to do something to put fannies in the seats.
But SNY’s post-game focused on the Mets.
I think it’s silly to have a network of your own and not do pre- and post-game coverage for games broadcast elsewhere. What else is Nancy Newman for?
that could be misinformation…that’s just what some one posted earlier today
Doreen – that was my point
if SNY did a post game one would think there was nothing preventing YES from doing one, too
Good question about why YES isn’t allowed to do a postgame but SNY is. Maybe YES is allowed to but just chooses not too because the 8:00 ESPN games always seem to end at midnight or later and the ratings are terrible those nights so they just give their team the day off.
WFAN is very amusing today
Rishi –
It’s frustrating for post-game junkies like me! My husband couldn’t care less about the post-game interviews and can’t understand why I watch them. I think it comes down to, for me, that I don’t want the game to be over if they win, and I’m looking for anything to hang my hat on if they lose.
A long time ago I realized I really wasn’t getting to know the players, but it’s better than nothing. And the questions and answers aren’t usually particularly enlightening or inspiring. In fact, hearing someone ask 5 different players the exact same question is sometimes maddening.
But I like the post-game anyway.
Jeter’s Edge
June 29th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
Good question about why YES isn’t allowed to do a postgame but SNY is. Maybe YES is allowed to but just chooses not too because the 8:00 ESPN games always seem to end at midnight or later and the ratings are terrible those nights so they just give their team the day off.
*~*~*~*~*~*~
You’re probably right – an unfortunate night to take off
Doreen – I like the post game too
I even watched some of it on SNY just for the highlights etc.
You’re good to watch when they lose – I really only watch when I can, if they win!
But, Jeter’s Edge, that’s why they have the second string players like Nancy Newman – to cover for the “A” team.
Bob Lorenz could still have his night off, and they could maybe go with a skeleton crew, and they don’t need the booth guys. A camera guy, a lighting guy, a sound guy, Newman and a reporter person (not Kim Jones). Just, you know, something that would enable the fans to get a Yankees’ viewpoint at the end of the game.
SNY was able to do it.
Or – maybe – does it have something to do with who the home team is?????
When the Yanks lose I can’t turn the TV off fast enough.
Rishi -
I watched SNY a little last night, too.
“Maybe YES is allowed to but just chooses not too because the 8:00 ESPN games always seem to end at midnight or later and the ratings are terrible those nights so they just give their team the day off.”
Bingo. From their standpoint… what sense does it make to dispatch Kim Jones, Lorenz, and the camera/production people to a game that ends at Midnight on a Sunday Night?
WYH -
My brother-in-law almost missed Castillo’s missed catch because he was getting ready to shut his t.v. off in disgust! He never watches post-game after a loss, either.
SNY has their SportsNite show at 1 AM every night anyway, so they need to get reaction from the Mets… so they might as well have a postgame as well. It may not be as cost prohibitive for them as it is for YES considering they do have a highlight show at 1 AM.
francessa saying pena is a very good looking ss as a player that is.
what a change.
if this kid can hit even a bit he is going to be special.
And YES does a good job with their post-game. It’s much better than SNY.
Although I hate it when they cut away from an interview.
Haven’t they figured out that fans would rather hear a player talk than an analyst?
I do miss Torre’s “fireside chats” from his office. I’m sure the press conference set-up is much kinder logistically but there’s something lacking. Too formal. Previously it was like we were all in Joe’s office and no matter what was ailing the team, Joe made it sound like it was under control.
I thought ESPN did a good job at the end of the game… showed Mariano hugging each teammate, then interviewed him.
What else did you want? I bet that 95% of the fans are not going to sit through a 1 hour postgame past midnight listening to reaction from each teammate.
TD123 -
I think it has more to do with wanting “your own people” doing the interviews. That’s probably silly, I know.
“Beane did a very poor job this winter. He acquired veteran hitters and paired them promising young starters all making their debuts basically. Not a good combination at all.”
After he traded for Holliday many people thought part of the brilliance of that trade was that of course beane would be able to “flip” holliday at the deadline. This was said all over the place.
It was as if because it was Beane magic would be involved. Somehow Beane would be able to get back for holliday as much, if not more, than he gave up for him despite the fact that holliday would only be closer to free agency and the economy was in the tank.
Now – not so much. The A’s will have to eat money to trade Holliday. Of course that’s ok because the A’s will get the uber valuable two draft picks. The A’s of course generally don’t go over slot and don’t have a particularly good track record drafting recently. Nonetheless the move is genius.
Now supposedly Beane as told by ownership to field a competitive teams this year. But one can question how he went about doing it.
Why was trading for Holliday the right move to make? Was the risk of him tanking in Oakland given the differences in ball parks warranted, etc.
New direction for the A’s. Books out on how Beane will adapt.
TD123
June 29th, 2009 at 4:23 pm
I thought ESPN did a good job at the end of the game… showed Mariano hugging each teammate, then interviewed him.
What else did you want? I bet that 95% of the fans are not going to sit through a 1 hour postgame past midnight listening to reaction from each teammate.
*~*~*~*~
I think you’d be wrong…ultimately, having the interviews available at least on Yesnetwork.com drives web traffic and revenue. It’s 2009 – if you are not optimizing all your multimedia challenges, you are falling behind.
Now I have no idea what’s on SNY.com, but when the Yankees have no post-game, coverage is very limited.
*challenges should be channels…
Pena can hit, “just a bit”. He’s not going to be “special”. Even as the fulltime shortstop, he’s not going to be special. Try Bucky Dent with some speed.
“Why was trading for Holliday the right move to make?”
——-
it’s possible Huston Street alone would get back almost as much as Holliday, no?
Eduardo Nunez would be the next in line at shortstop if he ever gets his fielding under control. He has the superior bat and speed of the two.
The YES postgame shows wayyy too many highlights of other games. I understand they are trying to stall the audience while Kim finishes the interviews, but it is pretty annoying.
I think we folks are learning is there are no “geniuses” as GM’s. Its a tough job and nobody bats 1.000 on trades, draft picks, roster construction, etc.
There are guys just are just flat out awful in the gig. Steve Phillips and Jim Bowden are two examples.
For the most part though, GM’s are only as good as their ownership, in terms of giving them the money to compete, and those they hire around them to advise on players, player transactions and player development.
There are no one man bands in today’s baseball.
off-topic but just read the moneyball comments. my problem with the book is more with lewis than billy beane. for all lewis’ pontification about beane’s character, there is really little actual info about him or his “system.” even that little info appears to be totally made up, because even just simple fact-checking of dates and stats was obviously not done. but a-rod still needs to be the dh because he is still recovering from an injury, he has a 10 year contract, and hitting is still worth more than fielding. that’s why he is a 3b in the first place. even if the new 3b stinks.
Rishi,
That Tiger Woods/Jeter article reminded me of a Ted Williams/Sam Snead story. They were arguing about which was tougher, hitting a baseball or golf. Williams made all of the usual arguments about the ball moving, round ball/round bat, etc. When he was done, Snead simply said: “Yes, but in golf, you have to play your foul balls.” I thought it was a great story.
I wish they had audio of Suzyn’s postgame reports
Tbhey have no third baseman who can replace Arod. Arod has also played great defensively for the last week.
He’s not a DH. He’s a third baseman and that’s where he will reside.
They aren’t weakening the team by putting ARod at DH.
I really liked what I saw of Eduardo Nunez, thought he actually might be a plausible successor at SS if he develops well and stays healthy. And he’d be ready at about the right time to the mentored by his predecessor, wouldn’t he?
Billy Beane is yesterday’s news… his time has come and gone.
SJ44
June 29th, 2009 at 4:35 pm
Tbhey have no third baseman who can replace Arod. Arod has also played great defensively for the last week.
He’s not a DH. He’s a third baseman and that’s where he will reside.
They aren’t weakening the team by putting ARod at DH.
————————————————————
Love your typos, SJ. You’ve been paying attention.
Francessa had a excellent idea earlier for 2010
Jeter to left field, Pena to SS, Psada to DH, Cervelli to catcher. Let Damon/Matsui walk…. get younger, faster, and better defensively up the middle.
Joey’s Poodle
June 29th, 2009 at 4:36 pm
I really liked what I saw of Eduardo Nunez, thought he actually might be a plausible successor at SS if he develops well and stays healthy. And he’d be ready at about the right time to the mentored by his predecessor, wouldn’t he?
————————————————————
Nunez’ bat is developing nicely, but, he looks worse on defense than Nick Green.
“it’s possible Huston Street alone would get back almost as much as Holliday, no?”
Might now be that much difference between the two. The big variable is whether or not the A’s will or can absorb part of Holliday’s salary. If they don’t they might get less than what Street brings back.
They are 12 games under .500 and 10.5 games back of the Angels with no shot at the wild card.
They really have to trade Holliday but they’ve painted themselves into a corner. He’s having a terrible season. Beane has no leverage. And in general a key reason why his trades for veterans work out is because he trades them when he has leverage – which generally means trading them a year earlier than needed.
That’s not going to be the case with Holliday. It’ll have to be a salary dump or they’ll have to eat money. And if it’s a salary dump they might find limited demand for absorbing that money given that holliday currently as an OPS that’s about the same as Juan Pierre’s.
My favorite part of the post game is the booth report. The interviews always seem to a lot of the same. But, at least with the booth report you might get a laugh if they won and some good analysis. Overall, I’m happy with the Yanks announcers. Cone > Singleton > O’Niell > Lieter > Flaherty. Kay does a decent job as ring leader.
Thanks for the update GB7, but sorry the news is not ALL good on the kid.
Younger and faster up the middle doesn’t equate to better. If that were the case, teams would load up on world class sprinters.
Joey, Nunez has a strong arm, but, like Angelini, just makes too many mistakes on normal balls hit to him.
You can be a genius and be wrong sometimes. I’m not saying Beane is a genius, but by and large he has done a lot with a little.
If you have the luxury, as the Yanks do, of getting the CC’s and Tex’s of the world, you are going to make fewer mistakes in acquiring talent (as long as maximization of talent per $ spent is not the issue).
If you have limited resources, you have to guess and sometimes you are going to guess wrong, no matter how good you are. And you need something to drive your marketing campaigns, so you are forced to guess every year. So saying Beane hasn’t done well in the last couple of years doesn’t convince me particularly.
Where the Yanks’ front office falls down lately, it seems to me, is in the little things – 13 pitchers, no “Plan B” with ARod, Angel Berroa, a 40 man roster spot for Brackman, ignoring Duncan and JRod when you are playing 9 straight games in NL parks.
I suspect, if given the $$, Beane would also sign CC and Tex. I can’t help but wonder if Beane might be a little better at the margins, though.
GB7, if you happen to know, how old is Nunez now?
Pot, kettle. Kettle, Pot.
I’m guessing that the home stadium team can do a postgame on an ESPN night, but that’s it. I’ll look further into it when I’m released from the day cage
And now that I look @ it, my name has a typo. LOL @ that.
J.B. Cox…man I remember when he was drafted and thought he was going to be like Street. Looks like he got tired of the scene and his injuries may have pushed his decision to quit too.
Getting rid of Swisher was the only shrewdness that Beane has shown in recent years.
GM is indeed a tough job that’s only getting harder. There’s already a heck of a lot less room for error.
Imagine signing a Kei Igawa type player and actually having to use him in the rotation?
Cano could use a day off for body & mind.
Swisher is just streaky and shows brain latency at times.
Kei Igawa…now that’s a guy who should be washing my car…
Joey, E. Nunez is just 22 this month. There is another Nunez, Luis Nunez that is a carbon copy of Pena through their minor league careers….23 years old this coming November.
Moving Jeter to LF, Cervelli to C and Pena to SS reduces the offensive advantage the Yankees have at every one of those positions.
In other words, it makes the Yankees a weaker team.
If the Yankees did that, do you know who the first person would be ripping them when it doesn’t work? Mike Francesa.
That’s about as bad an idea as one could have to reshape the team.
Don’t know if this is what you want, but mlb.com archives all the WCBS audio broadcasts.
“You can be a genius and be wrong sometimes. I’m not saying Beane is a genius, but by and large he has done a lot with a little.”
True. But that also depends on what the source of one’s “genius is.”
If the source of that genius is a management strategy with a low barrier to entry then that might not be the kind of strategic advantage that is going to last.
If that genius is in an astute eye for talent, like Terry Ryan had, then there’s a good chance that will last.
Oakland has been bad for a while and they are horrible once again this year.
Many teams with limited budgets have been better about leveraging the draft, acquiring amateur talent and developing it.
Oakland’s been better. All I’m saying is that Beane has had to radically alter strategies and I think there’s uncertainty as to how he’ll do. And it does seem to me that he’s late to the game regarding drafting and signing young players for the post steroids era.
I like him. He’s done a good job in oakland. But what made him successful before wasn’t sustainable. That’s all I’m saying. If he can continue proving to be more adept at other at identifying and exploiting market inefficiences then he’ll be successful again.
I think that’s what he was trying to do with Holliday. Veterans were being undervalued this winter so he tried to pick Holliday up in a market flooded with older corner outfielders.
The worst that ever happened to Holliday was getting traded to Oakland. What he is doing this year is confirming everbody’s fears of what he would be away from Coors. The A’s will probably get few good trade offers for him, and I think that he will find the FA market very difficult this offseason. Bad economy + can’t hit at sea level + minimal to no Yankee interest = Bobby Abreu type market for Holliday.
Here I am in beautiful downtown Baltimore getting ready to see my favorite team tomorrow – the Yankees.
I don’t know why I am seeing so many Red Sox caps around here!
Who needs an AL schedule, when you have access to ESPN.
Go Yankees!
Pete please tell me you know MLB won’t take any opportunity to honor anything Yankees.True baseball fan know what MO has accomplished,and that he’ll get in the hall 1st time nominated.
Mo’s a living legend still under contract to further
thrill us all.
Thanks for the additional info, GB7, I appreciate your taking the time.
22 is young, but not a baby.
Play Cisco, Pena, Gardner etc. everyday, they will be exposed.
Gardner the last 2 nights – 0-8.
Cisco on Friday – 0-5 and failed with RISP including runner on 3rd, 1 out.
Why do people want to turn bench players into regulars? Look at the Mets— their entire lineup is bench players and they got exposed this weekend.
Mariano should have had the week all to himself. His accomplishments are to dye for.
Mariano should have had the week all to himself. His accomplishments are to dye for.
Jeter looks fine at SS this year. Give him credit he worked hard. He looks good with rest…Give him a day off a week like Alex
CB-
Going for underappreciated sluggers wasn’t a bad idea, but like anything else there’s plenty of room to guess wrong. In hindsight, Beane should have guessed Dunn instead.
I agree that no one strategy can be successful in baseball. Beane’s gone in several directions, and he’s been successful more often than not. Or, maybe he’s like a slugger who either hits a home run or strikes out. I don’t really know.
Billy Beane has kind of bothered me and I’ll tell you why.
He comes across as being so concerned about prospect-building that he never seems to do enough to help the Athletics win NOW. Aside from 2006 and 2001, when have the A’s been even close to the Angels in the past decade?
I’m not saying the A’s should act like the Yankees did 2002-2006, but would it kill them to get, say, one franchise player?
Rishi, that Tiger Woods/Jeter article was so cool, thanks for posting! Wish the reporter would have posed that question (about which athlete they’d want to be) to some of the Yankees, I’d love to hear their answers.
List of the 104 leaked??
http://rotoinfo.com/read_article.php?articleId=318
we need to remember that pena,cervelli are bench players.
jeter in lf,pena at ss,posada catching like sj said weakens all of those positions except the dh spot.
in the of you wan’t at least 2 big bats that put up good numbers.
20-30 hr’s,90-100 rbi’s.
an outfield of jeter,melky/gardner,swish would be terrible.
very little production.
posada dh’ing i meant to say
Baseballfab: That list is nearly identical to the one that came out pre-Mitchell report.
That does not, however, mean it’s not real…
Its the backup QB syndrome bru.
Everybody thinks the backup QB should be the starter but, he’s a backup for a reason. He’s not as good as the starter.
Same thing with the mania for the bench players on the Yankees.
These are kids, not yet fully formed as major league players.
If you want to be the Marlins, you can give the kids 3-4 years at the big league level to learn how to play.
In NY, with the Yankees? That’s a fireable offense, which is why it won’t happen.
As for Billy Beane, I’m a big fan of his, and still moping over Sony cancelling Moneyball. Beane is the truth, he does punk other GM’s all the time in drafts and trades, but actually putting it all together is what seems to be his biggest problem. Also, his teams have been too much built
for the regular season. The best I ever heard it put was “Oakland never wins anything because they get to the playoffs and pitchers throw strikes.”…which is also kinda the same problem the Yankees have had. But we have unlimited assets and Beane doesnt, so I think there’s more of an excuse for it in his case. I still think Beane with the payroll of even a team like the Angels or M’s = dynasty.
Also, this current pitching core he has…Cahill, Anderson, and Vin Mazzaro, the pride of Hackensack…is definitely for real. But their hitters are nowhere near as good as the ones he used to have in the Zito/Mulder/Hudson era. Giambi in particular has really fallen off a cliff. Did anyone see this coming with him? Cause I honestly didn’t, I knew he’d regress, but not like this!
I have NO idea if it is real or not, I just saw it posted….
Joey’s Poodle
June 29th, 2009 at 4:57 pm
Thanks for the additional info, GB7, I appreciate your taking the time.
22 is young, but not a baby.
————————————————————
Not a problem, Joey. Happy to pass on how I’ve seen these youngsters grow. Bad infield defense in the Yankee ststem is an issue that needs to be fixed. angelini, Joseph, E. Nunez, Sublett and Lassiter all have defensive problems and it needs to be fixed. Corner infield defense isn’t much better. I think their defensive problems do affect their offense.
He hasn’t drafted well in years. In fact, he’s been punked more in the draft than he has punked anybody in the last 4-5 years. A major, major weakness of his in recent years.
“Going for underappreciated sluggers wasn’t a bad idea, but like anything else there’s plenty of room to guess wrong.”
No it wasn’t a bad idea. But it’s also not a guess. Oakland’s scouting just hasn’t been that good for a long time. They’ve done better more recently but for a while it wasn’t good.
And I don’t know where their major league scouting stands now. For a franchise like Oakland the Holliday trade is a killer. It really is a big hit.
And to so grossly misjudge talent like that and it’s fit for one’s franchise, especially when other alternatives were available, is concerning.
Nothing is going to substitute for an eye for talent. And I can’t say Beane has that eye or knows how to set up a systems that picks the right talent without having that system rely on statistical analysis other people aren’t doing.
Just as Cashman’s ability to acquire talent in a market entirely different from the late 1990′s/ early 2000′s is going to be significantly determined with how Hughes, Chamberlain, Kennedy, etc. do Beane’s will be by Cahill, Anderson, Mazzaro and Ynoa.
~BaseballFab
Where is Bond,Arod,and Pujols,not on list?
Jose Pirela either has or will soon pass Angelini as a top shortstop prospect in the system. He has more upside than Carmine or Nunez.
Response to Mo throughout baseball:
“So many others around the game offered their praise. Tigers manager Jim Leyland called him “the MVP of baseball” over a stretch of about half a decade. Indians infielder Jamey Carroll said that Rivera has “that one pitch that everybody wishes they had.” Cardinals closer Ryan Franklin called him “the ultimate closer.”"
http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com.....8;c_id=nyy
Mo Will be on Mkay show soon
Baseballfab
Where’s Mcguire?
“Jose Pirela either has or will soon pass Angelini as a top shortstop prospect in the system. He has more upside than Carmine or Nunez.”
At this point Angellini is not even in the conversation for the team’s top SS prospect. And that says a lot more about Angellini than it does the other SS the yankees have.
CB,
Very true. Still, Pirela is having a fine year in Charleston.
The real list will show who tested positive for that given test. Players were forwarned that the test was coming and could have cycled off rather easily.
There’s a few names that probably should be on there. McGwire retired in 01. He most definetely wouldn’t be on the list.
SJ44 – I added drafts because I was thinking back to the year where he famously convinced Kenny Williams that it was a better idea to draft Royce Ring instead of…I believe it was Swisher, but I could be wrong. And come to think of it, Williams was also the victim of the most one-sided trade Beane has made of late, which also involved Swisher (for Sweeney and Gio Gonzalez…though who knows if the latter will ever live up to his hype?)
Since Williams later traded Swisher for Betemit, though, maybe all that says more about Williams than it does about Beane. Beane did draft Mazzaro though, right? Do you think he’s really as good as he looks right now, or is it just the 1st time around the league syndrome?
Billy Beane has kind of bothered me and I’ll tell you why.
He comes across as being so concerned about prospect-building that he never seems to do enough to help the Athletics win NOW. Aside from 2006 and 2001, when have the A’s been even close to the Angels in the past decade?
===========================================================
Actually, the A’s haven’t fared that badly in recent years. Since 2000, they have finished…
~ 1st place 4x
~ 2nd place 3x
~ lost in the LDS 4x (Yanks 2x, BoSox, Twins)
~ lost in the LCS 1x (Tigers)
Wish I could say as much for my team
But things seem to be looking up, slowly but surely, as they have both a new GM and a new field manager who are bringing a new attitude and atmosphere which seems to be boding well for a bright future – we shall see.
bengino just ripped rivera on sny. bitter mutt fan, cause mo embaressed kfraud
Pirela’s defense has been as bad as the rest of the middle infielders. NYY made a major error in putting Angelini at Charleston and not getting him time in the NY-Penn or Gulf coast Leagues, where some of these issues could have been addressed. Justin synder is another that they are rushing through, and he is a britaly bad defensive 2nd baseman. Fortunately, he hasn’t taken that to his at bats. Angelini has power, though it hasn’t shown, and outstanding speed. Great arm, but, erratic. It’s just that his hands are stiff, and for my money, he’s better suited for left field or even center.
“bengino just ripped rivera on sny. bitter mutt fan, cause mo embaressed kfraud” details?
The steroid “list” looks dubious.
Given the myriad of mainstream media outlets and blogs, one or more would have picked up on it and ramped up the reporting.
Secondly, don’t the names look a little too convenient?
Most are people who have been suspected of PEDs use, ones there have been whispers about. Not one name outside of K-Rod is actually surprising IMO.
With more than 100 names on the list, I think you’d find some more surprises and not necessarily all-star caliber players.
I really don’t get the ‘Cervelli will be exposed’ crowd.
Cervelli has provided two pivotal hits when the ship was teetering: one in Baltimore, the other in Atlanta.
He is not overwhelmed @the plate, and more than that you can not ask. He stays within himself, and takes what the pitcher offers. His hits have been well-placed (but by no means ‘lucky’), and aided by hustle (see the aforementioned Baltimore game).
If it was a marginal difference, I’d say move along. It is NOT a marginal difference. Cervelli makes the Yanks tangibly better. Molina is a black hole w/the bat, and increasingly overrated w/the glove.
rebecca no problem
they made a list of first big accomplishment from ws mvp, to allstar game, first save
joe brought his first blow save, 2001 ws blown save. then claim krod would have a few ws as the yankees closer. you could see the h2te and bitterness in his eyes
Teddy: Wow, that’s an embarrassment.
At least Rivera will be classy and ignore it.
He will get exposed because he’s not a finished hitter. Two of his “big” hits were of the bloop variety.
He needs more AB’s in the minors and also more experience behind the plate.
He’s played in limited action. I know folks love to take 50 AB or 20 game sample sizes and decide a player is ready but, Cervelli isn’t there yet.
He’s not as good a catcher or player as Molina when Molina is healthy.
Its very tough for young players to sit on the bench. Particularly when they have more to do to finish their games.
The smart thing to do with Cervelli is to get him to AAA for the second half of their season. Those 150-200 AB’s will go a long way into making him a better player for next season, when he will be the backup catcher.
Thanks to those who provided info on Nuke La Loosh – I probably won’t make a point to see it because I really hate romantic movies..at least now I know who the guy is and yes, I can see how AJ has a bit of the character in him. He seems like he doesn’t try to overthink things, which is not a bad way to be.
I know this was discussed before, but absolutely Francesca was a wet blanket. It almost seems like he doesn’t like the Yankees – he seems more like a Sox fan. Oh well – I turned him off after the first ten minutes.
well rivera ended their season in 2000 ws, 500 at cit, embarssed krod at the same time. he a fool
“I believe it was Swisher, but I could be wrong. And come to think of it, Williams was also the victim of the most one-sided trade Beane has made of late, which also involved Swisher”
Victim?
That might have been a good trade for the 2008 version of Swisher but has it been a good trade given what Swisher is doing in 2009?
Do you really think Beane wouldn’t like to have the 2009 version of Swisher on the team right now?
What Williams decided to do with Swisher this past winter is immaterial to the trade Beane made the year prior.
Ryan Sweeney is a good defensive player who is a terrible offensive player for an corner outfielder (and in Cf his defense isn’t all that special). He’s been awful at the plate this year and a significant reason why that team can’s score runs.
What has Gio Gonzalez been? He’s been terrible as pro and people aren’t nearly as excited about him as they were a couple of years ago. His future looks to be in the pen.
De Los Santos had TJ surgery and hasn’t gotten past high A ball.
Do you think Beane really feels that’s equivalent value for Swisher, a player who has a .377 wOBA and is on base to be 45 runs better than a league average player?
CY Young won 511 games. He got an award name after him that pitchers get annually for a great season.Closers usually lose out to starting pitchers on this award.
MO should have an award named after him,for excellence in a closer annually for closer,when he retires.MLB has a model
to go by now.
Just imagine The Mariano Rivera award,aaah!!
CC Sabathia makes the Yankees a better team. So does Derek Jeter. So does Mariano Rivera and Mark Teixeira.
Arod really makes the Yankees better because it seems that when he hits, everybody else hits. When he doesn’t, the entire team doesn’t hit.
Francisco Cervelli doesn’t make the Yankees a better team. He has done a very, very nice job filling in for Molina.
However, to say he, “makes them a better team” is a gross overstatement of his skills and really unfair to the kid.
He’s not going to be a difference maker in the race. That’s why its better he gets more PT in Scranton when Molina is ready to go.
I am far from a major league farm system expert, but going into the season Keith Law had Oakland’s system ranked #3 in the major leagues. Hardball Times has them #4. (For comparison, Hardball Times has the Yanks #20.)
Hardball Times said that “the overhaul of [the A's] farm system has been very impressive” and that they “have a ridiculous amount of pitching talent”.
I think Billy Beane has to be given some credit for that.
cervelli’s 290 obp & 343 slg is not going to cut it.
molina is not much better but he is a little better & better defensively.
no brainer.
now if you wan’t to let molina go to save money this year or next i don’t have a problem because the difference between the two is not huge.
cervelli should be trade bait when montero or another catcher is close.
i don’t see cervelli hitting enough to make it as a starter.
Benigno ripped Mo? He didn’t have the guts to do that on WFAN? I can’t imagine that he would rip Mo – that doesn’t make any sense whatsoever…..He and Evan were embarrassed by K-Rod last night – they didn’t blame Mo (not that they had any right to).
I heard Orel Herschiser on with Kay for a few minutes, lol – he actually made it sound like Trevor Hoffman belongs in the same breath. He definitely didn’t go out of his way to praise Mo…..
Just listening to AJ now (thanks for the link!) – he’s got a really nice sense of humor. CC’s comment to AJ about using the change not meaning that he’s not being aggressive is very interesting…..
“It’s just that his hands are stiff, and for my money, he’s better suited for left field or even center.”
I think they’ll need to make a decision on whether or not to move Angelin off of SS. He’s been so brutal there that it’s hard to believe his troubles in the field aren’t affecting his hitting.
They may need to put him in the OF and send him back to the GCL. I don’t know. They gave him $1M signing bonus so they’ll stick with him.
What would the Yanks chances be of landing Josh Hamilton? Probably more of an offseason deal than now if it’s even possible, but I would love to see AJax, Hamilton, and Damon or Melky next year with Gardner as the 4th outfielder.
My feeling is that Texas would want a package that is too steep, given the risk that Hamilton comes with. But it sure is nice to think about!
well betsy he ripped mo real good and you could see the bitterness in his eyes. he pathetic
“I really don’t get the ‘Cervelli will be exposed’ crowd.”
The game over the weekend where they faced Mike Pelfry was very telling.
Pelfrey’s not that great. He’s fine.
Cervelli was completely overwhelmed at the plate. He had no chance to hit pelfrey’s stuff because Pelfrey’s heavy fastball just crushed him. Cervelli had awful swings and looked like a minor leaguer up there. Compare that with the quality of the at bat Pena had.
Cervelli has looked overwhelmed not-infrequently. He’s done a great job but there are many instances when he really does look like a minor leaguer trying to hit major league pitching. He’s done better against junk ball pitchers. But he’s far from a finished product.
Betsey, forget the romantic part of it, it’s not a bad movie if you can get passed Susan Serandon and her self righteous side kick.
Costner has got some great lines in it and the baseball situations are classic.
Pete, any news?? Time for another post…thx
Wave,
I think 50% of the farm system raves people in the media give the A’s is because they like Billy Beane.
I don’t know of a lot of baseball people, or Baseball America, the real authority on minor league baseball, see the A’s as a Top 4 farm system right now.
What always cracks me up about those rankings are how the Yankees are ranked so low.
Cervelli, Pena, Gardner, Cabrera, Chamberlain, Hughes and Robertson are all guys who have been in the mix and helped the Yankees win games this year.
Add Mo, Jeter, Cano, Pettitte, Wang and Posada and tell me another team in the race right now that has 13 of their 25 guys, 52% of their roster homegrown that’s in the pennant race.
I would think a big part of determining farm system effectiveness are the number of guys who get called up and help the parent club.
CB
June 29th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
“It’s just that his hands are stiff, and for my money, he’s better suited for left field or even center.”
I think they’ll need to make a decision on whether or not to move Angelin off of SS. He’s been so brutal there that it’s hard to believe his troubles in the field aren’t affecting his hitting.
They may need to put him in the OF and send him back to the GCL. I don’t know. They gave him $1M signing bonus so they’ll stick with him.
————————————————————
He actually tracks the pop flies back the same way Jeter has made an art of doing. They finally did move him back to Staten Island a few weeks ago, but, still at shortstop.
BaseballFab
June 29th, 2009 at 5:06 pm
“List of the 104 leaked??”
http://rotoinfo.com/read_article.php?articleId=318
Just finished Canseco’s book “Juiced.”
Looking over that list it looks like it could be authentic. Numerous players with career threatening injuries, looking for relief, many players with bloated ripped bodies with popeye forearms, some players who were one or two year wonders, than broke down.
“I am far from a major league farm system expert, but going into the season Keith Law had Oakland’s system ranked #3 in the major leagues. Hardball Times has them #4. (For comparison, Hardball Times has the Yanks #20.)”
They do have a good system and you have to give Beane significant credit for that. He’s assembled a number of promising pitchers.
That said he didn’t do that through the draft at all. Nearly all of the A’s young talent came through trades. They gave up assets for those younger players.
How you arrive at having a good system matters. Trading Dan Haren to revive your system is a real cost. The trade off was clearly worth it for the A’s but that’s not the same as drafting well and building your system that way.
And over the past 5 years or so the A’s have drafted very poorly. That might be changing now with Jemile Weeks and Grant Greene but it’s still not clear how they’ll do.
Beane kept using the old approaches that worked for him in prior years in the draft despite the fact that more and more teams were using those techniques that made him successful.
That team can’t be good on a sustained basis unless it drafts very well. And they haven’t done that for years.
SJ44-
Like I said, I’m no minor league expert – I’m sure that with your nephew you take a lot more interest in that than I do – but Baseball America ranks the Oakland system #3 (as of April 1, 2009).
SJ44-
“Add Mo, Jeter, Cano, Pettitte, Wang and Posada and tell me another team in the race right now that has 13 of their 25 guys, 52% of their roster homegrown that’s in the pennant race.”
Good point, but many teams could not afford to keep their home grown talent. For example the Marlins could have a pitching staff of allstars.
“Does anyone else see the irony in MLB giving multi-millionaires free watches for being a “Player of the Week”?”
irony noted. Didn’t you know that wealthy people don’t pay for anything. They expect to receive everything for free.
Ichiro Suzuki who’s already making 17M/year gets housing money of 32 thousand with annual cost of living raise, 4 1st class free plane fare to Tokyo a year, a new car, personal trainer, and whatever else he can wangle!
“Beane kept using the old approaches that worked for him in prior years in the draft despite the fact that more and more teams were using those techniques that made him successful.”
That seems like an unfair criticism to me – that’s pretty much the fate of all innovators. Thomas Edison hung onto to direct current a lot longer than he should have in the face of the alternating current challenge but he’s still a Hall of Famer!
good point about the yankees farm system.
the yankees have a ton of guys helping on & off from their system.
i just don’t understand the lack of love.
if hughes & joba turn into good pitchers,we can produce one good infielder,of , catcher,bullpen arm wich it looks like we might we are in great shape.
montero,ajax,melancon & an infielder along with the guys helping us now we have done great.
“That seems like an unfair criticism to me – that’s pretty much the fate of all innovators. Thomas Edison hung onto to direct current a lot longer than he should have in the face of the alternating current challenge but he’s still a Hall of Famer!”
So are you saying that Beane is washed up?
Innovation is one way to win games. But if that’s going to be your strategy then you’ll need continuous innovation or you’ll wind up irrelevant.
The Yankees Minor League teams get ripped partly because they stack major league players or AAAA players in AAA. Then the other players don’t seem to be progressing as well as some other teams whose lineup really is AAAA in the majors. It is difficult to compare players on different levels and leagues. A Holiday may shatter records in the Rockies and bust in the AL. NL pitching is skewed as well w/o a DH. AL pitching likewise the other way.
The Yankees are easy to rip because they are known better and their minor leagues are by and large older players. The Yankees have done well in the draft since 2004/6 time period. They also did great in the Stick era. The time in the middle was a time when the Yankees got rid of prospects for short-term fixes. There is a bias of uninformed fans when it comes to the Yankees that says they are all bought with huge salaries. My perspective is most Yankees were kept at large salaries. Years past the Yanks would have traded for Santana and given their best prospects away. Signing CC/AJ kept the prospects and acquired the player thru FA but the Yanks had to be patient. The league will suffer if the RSox & Yanks are patient.
and Rivera has his first RBI in the same night on top of everything… funny how things work out sometimes