The LoHud Yankees Blog

Yankee Stadium is somewhere in this picture. Can you find it? 

Clearly it’s a snow day in New York, but in Washington and Detroit, there are some updates on Chien-Ming Wang and Johnny Damon.

• It’s looking like Wang might be going to the Nationals. The Dodgers are reportedly out of the running — or at least, they aren’t offering what Wang and his agent want — and that seems to leave Washington as the front runner. Our old friend, and good friend, Pete Abraham reported this morning that Wang had already decided on the Nationals, and frankly, Pete is pretty well sourced in Wang’s camp.

• We’re still hearing rumblings out there about the Tampa Bay Rays, but the Tigers seem to have come front and center in the Damon sweepstakes. Damon seems to like Detroit — him being a Red Wings fan and all — and it seems the feeling is mutual, though it’s hard to say what kind of deal Detroit might offer. Atlanta has reportedly discussed a one-year deal with Damon. (tip of the hat to Tom in NJ)

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Just my two cents on the Yankees pursuit — or non-pursuit – of Wang and Damon…

As always, it’s about what the individual teams can offer. I’m sure every team in baseball would love to have Wang on a minor league deal, or would love to get Damon for something like one year, $2 million. The Nationals, though, might be willing to guarantee Wang a big league contract with a spot in the rotation once he’s healthy. I’m not sure the Yankees would (or should) do that. The Tigers probably have more use for Damon at this point – more glaring hole at the top of the lineup – which might let them offer more than the Yankees (budget issues aside).

All things being equal, both Wang and Damon might prefer a return to New York, but until we know what exactly is on the table, we can’t know whether all things actually are equal.

First, a quick story… I’ve only been to Europe once, but that was in 1998 when the World Cup was in France, and I happened to be at the top of the Eiffel Tower when a half dozen members of the U.S. soccer team showed up. I actually have a picture of myself with Cobi Jones standing at the top of the Eiffel Tower two or three days before he played in the World Cup. Completely random, and completely cool.

Of the many things I loved about Dan’s guest post this morning, there was this line: “the Yankees have captured my imagination ever since I first heard the thwack of a ball fired from Andy Pettitte’s left paw into Jim Leyritz’s waiting glove.”

Context is a great thing.

For a lot of fans who started following the Yankees in 1996, imagination might have been captured by young Derek Jeter bursting onto the scene, but Dan started following the team in the World Series. The first pitch he ever saw came from Pettitte in Game 1, and four days later Pettitte pitched one of the defining games of his career.

My picture with Cobi Jones would be pretty cool regardless of context, but the fact it was taken at the top of the Eiffel Tower before the World Cup makes it one of my favorites. Referencing Pettitte would make sense for any Yankees fan, but for a fan who was just beginning to follow the game when Pettitte went 8.1 scoreless against the Braves, the reference carries a little more weight.

Next up in the Pinch Hitters series is Dan Barnett, who offered an outside perspective — a very outside perspective — on being a Yankees fan.

Truth is, Sam and I got several proposals asking to write a guest post about being a Yankees fan from far away. Some from middle-America, some from the West Coast, but only one from England. That was Dan’s proposal.

“I’m English, 30ish, have family in Brooklyn and New Jersey,” he wrote. “(I) have been lots to NYC and am most definitely a fan of your country, and particularly the Yanks. I know pretty much no other baseball fans over here in the UK, it’s not even a minority sport. Thankfully there’s an ESPN channel so I get to watch some games.”

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“It’s in there, all the time, looking for a way out.” – Nick Hornby, Fever Pitch

If, like me, you’ve been raised as a sports nut, you’ll appreciate the unerring capacity that an irrational love for your sports team has to rear it’s ugly head, at any time.

When it comes to a sports team, I have already grown up with my true love. She’s called Arsenal Football Club, one of the great English soccer teams with a long tradition and history (take note, Chelsea). I have admired from afar the comments on this blog for three years, marveling at and envying the knowledge you Yankee fans have on your team. I can reciprocate – but only with respect to the Arsenal, and few of you are interested in the movie that plays regularly in my head, with the hero appearing at the far post in the last minute of the 1979 FA Cup to clinch one of the all time classic finals.

I grew up happy with my team. True, they were pretty poor through much of the 80s, as I went from child to teenager, but they were mine, and they were enough for me.

And then, in 1996 of all years, under the influence of my brother who lives in New York, I stayed awake late one October night to watch my first ever live baseball. Most of us over here are cynical, sneering, quintessentially ‘English’ about US sports in general. We dismiss baseball as “rounders”. The heavy reliance on stats, we say, is a clear indicator of a sport with no soul.

How wrong can a nation be?

That Series in 96 enhanced my view of America for good, and opened my eyes to the wonderment of (Yankee) baseball. The U.S. is a misunderstood nation abroad at the best of times, but for me it embodies much that is wonderful in the world, and the Yankees have captured my imagination ever since I first heard the thwack of a ball fired from Andy Pettitte’s left paw into Jim Leyritz’s waiting glove.

True, UZR and WAR sometimes seem beyond my ken. I still struggle not to pin too much depression onto one defeat, or to hang over-optimism onto a solitary win. But I read this blog every single day. I hang on the news of new signings, at weird hours of the night the Macbook gleefully informs me of another Mariano save, I pay $15 per month just to see 3 or 4 Yankee games on ESPN “America”.

In my heart I have found there is space for both Arsenal and the Yankees. Plenty of space. The Yankee Universe is aptly named, friends…

The latest stop for the World Series trophy came today at West Point. This picture seems to be a good way to end the day.

Of course you do. A handful of reports from across the country brought some updates on the former Yankees and current free agents.

• Chien-Ming Wang might be close to a deal. Ken Rosenthal reports that Wang has offers on the table and is close to making a decision. Rosenthal names the Dodgers and Mets as candidates, but says they’re behind some unknown teams. Meanwhile, the Nationals are said to be “aggressively pursuing” Wang.

• An odd pitch from Scott Boras to Detroit: Johnny Damon likes the Red Wings. So maybe the Tigers are still in the mix for Damon. The Braves might also be in the mix, but it seems that the Reds are not in the mix.

• Hardly the same big name as Wang and Damon, but former Yankees lefty Chase Wright has re-signed with the Brewers.

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By the way, that Detroit Free Press story about Damon includes a mention of former Tigers outfielder Marcus Thames signing with the Yankees. The note includes a quote from Brian Cashman, who said Thames will compete for a job, “against the Rule 5 pick Jamie Hoffmann and against any other players we bring to camp or who are available through the spring.”

Two of my closest friends had their first baby last March. Schulyer Grace Anthony was not yet born when Mark Teixeira signed with the Yankees. If all goes well, she’ll be in third grade by the time the Yankees need a new first baseman. In short, that’s the state of the Yankees at first base. It’s Teixeira’s position, and wondering what comes next is the same as asking whether you have any plans for 2017.

Starter: Mark Teixeira
Backup: Nick Johnson
Veteran insurance: Juan Miranda
Almost ready: Jorge Vazquez
Low rising: Brandon Laird

I realize Miranda isn’t a veteran in the traditional sense, but after hitting .288/.375/.476 in the past two Triple-A seasons, he’s as ready as he’s ever going to be. He’s no Gold Glover, but he’s not the defensive butcher he’s sometimes made out to be. There could be worse options as Teixeira’s Triple-A caddy, especially considering Johnson and Nick Swisher can also handle first base. Vazquez has lived up to his power-hitting reputation, and 1B/3B Laird should bring his considerable pop to Trenton this season. But, obviously, first base is all about Teixeira unless an injury gets in the way.

Worst-case scenario: The last five words of the previous paragraph: “injury gets in the way.” At this point, Teixeira is a proven force. It’s silly to speculate a worst-case scenario of him falling on his face. He struggled early last year and finished as an MVP candidate. Teixeira can hit, he can field and he’s only once played fewer than 145 games in a season. He’s about as reliable as they come. If, for some reason, he can’t produce this season, then the worst-case scenario obviously involves some combination of Johnson being injured, Miranda struggling in his first real big league exposure and Vazquez stumbling in his second year in the Yankees organization.

Best-case scenario: Ladies and gentlemen, your 2010 American League MVP, Mark Teixeira. The best-case scenario at first base is that simple. Digging a little deeper, it probably also involves a dominant Triple-A season from Miranda, leading to his trade value soaring through the roof while Vazquez crushes home runs night after night in Trenton and Scranton. The best-case scenario for Laird actually doesn’t involve first base at all, it involves him proving he can stick at third.

The future: The only way the Yankees first base future gets murky is if Teixeira ages poorly, or if the Yankees need first base as a future home for either Alex Rodriguez or Derek Jeter, but all of that is wild guesswork and extreme speculation. Teixeira is signed through 2016, and for now, that’s the only first-base future that matters.

An attempt at the complete depth chart
An educated guess, but just a guess
Scranton: Juan Miranda
Trenton: Jorge Vazquez
Tampa: Brian Baisley? (probably several guys getting occasional starts at first)
Charleston: Rob Lyerly, Luke Murton
Extended: Reymond Nunez

Here’s the latest press release.

Yankees outfielder Curtis Granderson today joined Major League Baseball in supporting the new White House Anti-Obesity Campaign, which was introduced today in Washington by First Lady Michelle Obama. The nationwide campaign, which will address the serious epidemic of childhood obesity, for the first time ever will set a national goal of solving the obesity challenge within a generation, so that America’s youngest children reach adulthood at a healthy weight, it was announced today at The White House. This campaign will be designed to unite and inspire families to take real and sustained actions to eat better, be more active, and make a commitment to embracing healthier lifestyles.

Building on its commitment to the cause, Major League Baseball also announced today an expansion of its “Wanna Play?” initiative, a program dedicated to youth fitness. The MLB “Wanna Play?” program debuted last year with events in Cincinnati, Houston, and Philadelphia. In 2010, the program will be administered by Boys & Girls Clubs of America, the Official Charity of Major League Baseball, with the goal of reaching 175,000 Club members. “Wanna Play?” encourages boys and girls ages 6 to 12 to increase their physical fitness by focusing on agility, coordination and balance while infusing baseball and softball elements throughout the program. “Wanna Play?” features a variety of fun and engaging activities and games to help young people improve their fitness, increase awareness of good nutrition and hydration, and learn basic baseball and softball skills.

“Major League Baseball takes its responsibility to be a positive influence in the lives of young people very seriously,” said Baseball Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig. “We are proud to expand the ‘Wanna Play?’ program’s emphasis on physical fitness and good nutrition as part of MLB’s support of the First Lady’s new initiative. I can think of no better MLB representative to stand alongside the First Lady today than Curtis Granderson, a role model and ambassador for baseball who has demonstrated a passion and dedication for all issues relating to enriching young people’s lives.”

“As a member of the Major League Baseball family, I hope that we can educate young people on a variety of topics to help them in their development and communicating the importance of physical fitness and living a healthy lifestyle is critical,” said Granderson. “I’m proud and honored to be invited by the First Lady to take part in this special event, and I pledge to do my part to continue stressing the importance of staying active to today’s youth.”

Granderson, an All-Star centerfielder who joined the New York Yankees this off-season and known for his strong community work, was the Detroit Tigers Roberto Clemente Award presented by Chevy nominee and was voted by his peers as the 2009 Marvin Miller Man of the Year. He established the not-for-profit Grand Kids Foundation in 2008, focusing on improving opportunities for inner city youth in the areas of education and youth baseball. As a Major League Baseball Ambassador, he has visited Europe, South Africa and China to promote the game of baseball to thousands of fans overseas.

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By the way, looks like our friend Bryan Hoch actually made the trip to D.C. for the Granderson event. He has a story with some comments from Granderson over on mlb.com.

I don’t know Chad Bohling especially well. The way I understand it, when he was hired to be the Yankees director of mental conditioning, Bohling didn’t talk to the media at all. Even non-baseball small talk was almost unheard of. Since I’ve known him, though, he’s been very easy to talk to during his two- or three-day visits to Scranton, and he was easy going when I saw him again during the big league playoffs.

Then again, I’ve never asked Bohling about his job or about any of the players he’s worked with, and I’m sure that’s the way the Yankees prefer it. There’s a reason you never read Bohling’s name in the papers.

There is a mental side to every sport. I don’t know whether that’s especially true in baseball, but I know it’s certainly true in baseball. Players get lost in their own heads all the time, and the Yankees have embraced the fact that there’s a mental side of the game that needs work, just like the physical side.

That mental work, though, isn’t talked about very often. Like Jeff wrote in this morning’s guest post, a lot of athletes carry a certain amount of pride. Hitters will talk all day about their work in the cage, but a lot of them either shut down or don’t know what to say when asked about the mental part of their preparation.

For most of us, it remains an unknown part of the game, the ultimate intangible.

Next up in the Pinch Hitters series is Jeff Wildfogel, who used his knowledge of sports psychology to write about the mental side of baseball.

In most circumstances, this is exactly the kind of post I would want to avoid, but Jeff has the background to write as an authority. He is a performance psychologist and mental coach who has worked with elite athletes. He’s also a vigorous follower of the Yankees organization, and those of you who followed my blog in Scranton or follow the forums on Pinstripes Plus will recognize Jeff’s name as one of the more respected fan voices out there. 

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In the Yankees meltdown in the ALCS against Boston in 2004, Alex Rodriguez was 1-for-12 with no RBI in Games 5 through 7 – and looked bad in doing so. From Game 5 of the 2004 ALCS until the 2009 post-season, ARod hit .143, 8 for 56, with 1 HR and 1 RBI in 16 post-season games and was an easy out with runners on, 0 for 15 with no RBI.

Sports psychologists know that the big mistake players make in pressure situations is feeling that they have to change what they are doing to match the importance of the situation. They try harder, take more (or fewer) pitches or change a thousand other things. The 2004 season was ARod’s first with the Yankees. Many Yankee fans and people in the media blamed ARod’s ineffectiveness in the last three games of the ALCS for the Yankees historic collapse. In response, it seems ARod took it upon himself to show the world, Yankee fans, his teammates, and himself that he could lead the Yankees to a World Series Championship. I don’t know what ARod told himself every time he got up with runners in scoring position in the post-season from game 5 in the 2004 ALCS until the 2009 post-season, but it was probably some version of, “C’mon Alex, you’re the man. Everyone’s counting on you. Show them what you can do and what you’re made of.”

What happened to ARod is what happens to players who don’t handle pressure well. They try too hard, become self-conscious of what they are trying to do and of their past failures, and become too aggressive or too tentative, or fluctuate from one to the other.

But then, in the 2009 post-season, ARod played like the best player in baseball hitting .358 with 6 HRs and 18 RBI in 15 games, including 11 for 25 with 3 HRs and 15 RBI with runners on base. What changed? The difference in ARod’s post-season performances might be random fluctuations in small samples as some claim, but I think that after being embarrassed by the steroid revelations and undergoing hip surgery, ARod finally realized that he wasn’t going to please everyone, couldn’t be Superman, and in many ways became comfortable being Alex Rodriguez rather than trying to live up to being the highest paid and best player in baseball.

With the internal pressure off, ARod performed like the great hitter he had always been. His physical skills hadn’t changed; his technique hadn’t improved. The difference was his mental approach.

While baseball players have access to pitching, hitting and strength coaches, and to instruction on just about every physical aspect of baseball, it’s only recently that the Yankees have hired sports psychologists to help their players improve their mental game. But have the Yankees done enough?

Question: How many sports psychologists does it take to change a light bulb? Answer: One, but only if the light bulb is willing.

This joke illustrates the problem I think the Yankees are facing. While it’s great that they provide players with someone to help with their mental game, it’s not so great if players don’t avail themselves of this help. In my experience, that’s exactly what happens more often than not. Players choose not to work with a sports psychologist for many reasons. Some of the emotional reasons include 1) concern that if they did work with a sports psychologist, others would think them mentally weak, 2) believing that players at their level should be able to master the mental game by themselves, and 3) that working with a sports psychologist implies that they have problems, an implication that makes them uncomfortable.

While such attitudes toward pitching, hitting, and strength coaches would be seen as absurd and counterproductive, that is exactly where baseball and mental coaches are too often today. The Yankees need to do a better job educating their players on what sports psychologists do and why it’s not a stigma to work with one any more than it is to work with a strength coach. Until the Yankees help players see why they should work with a sports psychologist and why there is nothing negative implied by doing so, many players who want to perform at their best under pressure, shorten their slumps, focus better, stay motivated when rehabbing from surgery, or want to improve any other aspect of their mental game, are not going to be helped by the Yankees having a sports psychologist around and will choose to fend for themselves.

If it took ARod several years to straighten out his mental game, and then only by chance, why would it be any different for Robinson Cano, Brett Gardner, Joba Chamberlain, and other Yankees? As a Yankee fan, I think it’s a great shame to have a $200 million payroll, the best coaches and instructors available, and then, in essence, leave each player’s mental game up to chance.

I leave for Tampa in eight days. Several players, including Derek Jeter, are already working out at the Yankees complex. Pitchers and catchers officially report next week. We’re almost there, everyone. Just hold tight a few more days! This is hardly a unique idea, but this seems to be a good time to take a daily look at the state of the Yankees, position by position. We’ll start behind the plate.

For the Yankees, there is no single position with more organizational depth than catcher. Four catchers made the Yankees top 8 prospects according to Baseball America, and likely big league backup Francisco Cervelli wasn’t one of them. Jorge Posada hit 22 home runs last year, Jesus Montero is one of the top hitters in the minor leagues and Gary Sanchez is very quickly opening eyes in the lower level. The state of the Yankees catchers is very good, and might be getting better.

Starter: Jorge Posada
Backup: Francisco Cervelli
Veteran insurance: Mike Rivera
Almost ready: Jesus Montero
Low rising: Austin Romine, Gary Sanchez, J.R. Murphy

A quick snapshot of the organizational depth shows Montero one step away from the big leagues. What it doesn’t show is that Romine is only a step behind. It also doesn’t leave much room for names like P.J. Pilittere (upper-level depth) and Kyle Higashioka (more lower-level talent). Unless the Yankees make a late signing, Cervelli will go into spring training as a heavy favorite to open on the big league bench, while Rivera will provide experience in Triple-A. He could be useful if the Yankees need a short-term place-filler like Kevin Cash was last season.

Worst-case scenario: Pretty much every worst-case scenario involves Posada breaking down because of age and Montero taking a step back defensively. That said, Posada hit very well and stayed pretty healthy last year (except for that May breakdown). Montero seems to be improving, not declining, behind the plate. If something were to happen to Posada early in the year, the Yankees who would probably have to lean on Cervelli and Rivera (or a new addition) to get them through until Montero is ready for the big leagues. That wouldn’t inspire a lot of confidence.

Best-case scenario: Posada repeats last year’s numbers. Cervelli plays like Jose Molina, but with a better bat. Montero is screaming for a call-up by mid-June. Romine emerges as one of the top five catching prospects in baseball. Sanchez is compared to Montero, but Murphy is fighting him for playing time. With this many names and this much talent, the best-case scenario is pretty mouth watering.

The future: Posada is signed through 2011. He’ll certainly be the regular catcher this season, and how much time he gets at designated hitter in 2011 might depend on Montero’s development. By the time Posada’s contract expires, the Yankees could have both Montero and Romine ready to play every day at the big league level.

An attempt at the complete depth chart
An educated guess, but just a guess
New York: Jorge Posada, Francisco Cervelli
Scranton: Jesus Montero, Mike Rivera, P.J. Pilittere
Trenton: Austin Romine, Kyle Anson
Tampa: Mitch Abeita, Jose Gil
Charleston: Kyle Higashioka, (maybe Jeff Farnham, I actually have no idea)
Extended: Gary Sanchez, J.R. Murphy