Gardner gets day off, Nunez gets first start
Posted by: Chad Jennings - Posted in Misc on Aug 21, 2010 
Print This Post
| 
Email This Post
Fair warning to anyone driving to the game from the White Plains area: Even allowing for the expected traffic, it took me more than twice as long as usual to drive to the stadium this morning. Not good at all.
Derek Jeter SS
Nick Swisher RF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Robinson Cano 2B
Marcus Thames DH
Jorge Posada C
Austin Kearns LF
Curtis Granderson CF
Eduardo Nunez 3B
Posada
August: .191 .321 .277 .598
Last 7 days: .250 .455 .438 .893
I hope he’s coming out it it. The lineup usually turns on whether or not Jorge is productive. Without A-Rod, even more so.
It’s good that there’s a plan for Ivan Nova but it won’t be until September. Hopefully Javy’s “dead arm” holds up and Burnett doesn’t throw another stinker before then.
http://newyorkpost.com/p/sport.....OfQesjO7WO
Ugh. We have to drive TO the White Plains area today. Not looking forward to it.
Agree 100 percent about Posada. If he could start hitting on a consistent basis it makes the Yankees lineup much more dangerous.
Sorry Gardner is not playing today but I guess he needs a breather.
repost:
A major reason why the Yankees likely decided to make McCallister available in the Kearns deal is because they had already decided that they could not protect him on the 40 man roster during the rule V draft.
I think that was a major part of their thinking. There’s so much talent in the system that it would have been very difficult to protect McCallister. They have a number of players to make decisions on whether to protect. McCallister likely wasn’t going to make it even on to the 40 man.
And if McCalister wasn’t protected there is almost no chance he wouldn’t have been taken.
So rather than lose him for nothing the Yankees traded him at the deadline.
Doreen
Back-up is probably (usually) on the Deegan. Go Tappan Zee and you’ll probably be fine.
Brandon Inge is on waivers. The Yanks have to put in a claim don’t they?
Great 3B insurance and a dramatic upgrade as a backup C. He has a career ops of .806 vs LHP
Don’t know if they’d win the claim or what the Tigers might want, but they gotta make the move.
“A major reason why the Yankees likely decided to make McCallister available in the Kearns deal is because they had already decided that they could not protect him on the 40 man roster during the rule V draft.”
Good point.
Also, don’t they need a 40 spot NOW when they have to activate Marte and/or Johnson from 60 day DL? That must have played in the decision as well.
I hate giving Gardner a day off without Alex in the lineup, but these guys need a break as this has been a grueling stretch and Alex won’t be back for awhile probably, so……………..
I hope we can re-sign Kearns, but I doubt it; no player wants to ride the pine when they can start elsewhere. I’m not sure about Wood; I’d be interested in re-signing him, but if he gets an offer to be a closer elsewhere………..
Also, don?t they need a 40 spot NOW when they have to activate Marte and/or Johnson from 60 day DL? That must have played in the decision as well.
Marte is on the 15 day DL so he’s on the 40 man. It’s a long shot Johnson is playing this year. They will need a 40 man spot to activate Aceves though.
McCallister is definitely a victim of the Rule V draft.
As for the thought that Kearns and Wood could stick around here you never know.
If I were Cashman, I would make a very fair offer to Wood to come back and set up for Mo and close on days Mo can’t go.
The only wrinkle to that is if another team believes Kerry Wood is their closer and wants to sign him for more money/years.
I like Wood. I really feel like he came in and took innings away from Joba that were not being handled well.
Signing him instead of the annual Cashman Hawkins/Park types that get waived by mid season might be a very good idea.
As for Kearns, the question is does another team view him as a full time starter?
If they do, he has to go there.
But I like him on this team and if this if our OF next season it would be smart to have Kearns be part of it for his RH bat and ability to field his position well.
Cashman made good moves at the deadline. While Berkman’s impact remains to be seen, Wood and Kearns are very nice role players.
Inge can’t catch anymore because of his knees. They both underwent surgery in the last year and his right knee still gives him a lot of trouble.
Chances are he would never clear waivers to the Yankees. Someone, particularly in the NL would put in a claim on him.
I think the issue with keeping Wood will be how little money he would accept to remain with the Yankees given how up against the apparent $200m threshold they will be, especially if they want to find a way to sign both Lee and Crawford.
For that to happen, Pettitte will likely have to retire (not that I want to him to) and Granderson or Swisher will have to be traded.
It would also help if Jeter took a paycut, but obviously, that’s as likely as me dating Megan Fox.
SJ,
Inge would have to pass through the AL first before being exposed to the NL.
That said, I don’t see the Yankees getting him or the Tigers helping the Yankees at all after the nonsense from this week.
I know I mentioned this yesterday, but I still feel kind of bad for Damon. He mouths off at the Yankees and a former teammate just before he hits waivers and has a chance to come back here if the Yankees got to claim him or he cleared.
Kearns is interesting. The more Girardi rotates the OF and DH and he’s in the mix, the more likely he may want to stay if they want him.
Would you rather play 65% of the time for a contender or 100% of the time for a non-contender if the money is somewhat equal?
“Marte is on the 15 day DL so he?s on the 40 man. It?s a long shot Johnson is playing this year. They will need a 40 man spot to activate Aceves though.”
Yes, you are right, I meant to say Aceves.
Ace will certainly be activated lastest by 1st September and they need a 40 spot. This trade to Indians already clears that spot.
I wouldn’t bet on getting Crawford. Lee is another story.
Still can’t see them doling out two more $100M + contracts.
Rich,
If you offer the money we paid to Park and Gaudin combined this season to Wood for next season, it’s an attractive offer. Remember, Gaudin when we first waived him was paid several million for this year and I think Park got somewhere between 1-2 million.
Would a 4 million dollar per year offer get Wood to come back?
If the rest of the league doesn’t see him as a closer, it would.
Depends on what other teams think of him.
“Would you rather play 65% of the time for a contender or 100% of the time for a non-contender if the money is somewhat equal?”
The problem is the money is almost never equal under those circumstances.
“I wouldn’t bet on getting Crawford. Lee is another story.”
I tend to agree, but with A-Rod, Posada, and/or Jeter possibly beginning a decline, they may need him.
SJ
I thought any AL team would have precedence over an NL in waivers. No? Or is that a different kind of waivers I’m thinking of?
pat,
That’s exactly how I see it. If the Yankees stick with this OF configuration for next season, Kearns should be a part of it. In the rotation as it stands, he’s going to play a lot.
If there’s ever an injury, he’s a full time corner. It’s a good place for him and I like what he brings here. He plays hard and doesn’t appear to be a jerk.
He’s also good insurance against Granderson & Gardner struggling vs. lefties.
Since we’re not sitting on a prospect who can fill his role by next year, I would bring him back provided he liked it here.
# pat August 21st, 2010 at 11:04 am
Kearns is interesting. The more Girardi rotates the OF and DH and he’s in the mix, the more likely he may want to stay if they want him.
Would you rather play 65% of the time for a contender or 100% of the time for a non-contender if the money is somewhat equal?
———
That might be easy for us to decide but we’re not established major league players who are used to playing everyday.
Kearns is certainly fine with his situation now because he can’t do anything about it. But when it’s time for him to decide his own fate, he’ll probably find a job where he believes he’ll get the most playing time.
GF, I suspect they won’t go after Crawford either……….of course, it depends what they think about Gardner. I think they will have tunnel vision at first – they’re sights are set completely on Lee. Maybe Wood and Kearns won’t want to wait to see what happens, like Matsui didn’t want to wait.
I think there is a good chance Kearns returns next year.
He would make more money than he did in Cleveland and could get a lot of AB’s as a 4th OF in NY.
Under that plan, they would not go after Crawford.
Wood? Tougher case.
He loves Girardi, and he and Mo have really hit it off.
The issue is whether or not he gets a chance to close somewhere else for closers money.
The great unknown as of right now.
However we may see it, players want to play; I don’t think Kearns will be back – he’s simply not going to be guaranteed significant playing time.
No need for Brandon Inge. The next Brandon to man 3rd base for the Yankees looks to be Brandon Laird.
10 more days before callups can be made to expand rosters. The only real needs for the team are Ivan Nova and possibly Chad Moeller to give Cervelli some time to clear his head and Jorge to be ready for the postseason.
before we annoint Wood anything maybe we can see him pitch in 20 games and get some big outs.
wood and berkman and kearns to me are rentals only……
they can’t replace the TZ fast enough. that bridge is the bane of many people’s lives.
I tend to agree, but with A-Rod, Posada, and/or Jeter possibly beginning a decline, they may need him.
————-
They won’t need Crawford unless something happens with Granderson or Gardner.
“The problem is the money is almost never equal under those circumstances.”
Kearns signed a minor league deal to play this year. What kind of money do you think he could get next year?
I want Kerry to do well because it helps us and he seems like a great guy, but if he does, he’ll get an offer to close. This would actually be a great situation here because with the Yanks’ need to be careful with Mo, Kerry would get a chance to close at times.
G. Love
He’s making $10.5m. IIRC, Gaudin originally signed for $2.9m (just a crazy decision) and Park about $1.2m. That’s $4.1m, which I would think is less than Wood could get if he closed for some teams, and as I mentioned, will they even have that much available given all their other commitments: scheduled raises for Granderson, Swisher, and Cano, as well as Hughes and Joba getting raises since they will be arbitration eligible?
I think it’s an open question.
I thought the A.L. teams get first crack at Inge because he’s on an A.L. team.
pat
You’re only talking about Kearns? Oh, he only made $750k this year. He’s doable if he would take that again.
I thought your second sentence was a general point. My bad.
Kearns is a lunch box type of player, kind of a dumpy looking guy who just goes out and does his job.
I hope he keeps it up, he has been a great pickup.
“They won’t need Crawford unless something happens with Granderson or Gardner.”
If Jeter is a 100 OPS+ player instead of a 120ish OPS+ player, if A-Rod is a 120ish OPS+ player rather than a 140ish OPS+ player, if Posada can’t be at least a 120ish OPS+ player, they need another bat.
As long as Wood throws half way decently for the Yankees, some other team will give him at least a one year deal to close and that deal would likely start at 4M+. probably closer to 5M.
It would be nice to have him back but it would be a surprise.
I’d also think that Kearns will find a starting job somewhere.
Rich,
No one will pay Kerry Wood 10 million to close anymore. He’ll get 4-5 million tops I think per year.
If we put 4 million aside for him to come back, it’s a fair offer.
Kearns has been a part time player for three years now. I doubt he gets an every day opportunity so a clear role on a great team is likely to be very attractive. I suspect Wood will be tougher and much more expensive to retain.
I don’t think Inge can catch full time, but his legs are healthy now and he could catch as much as Cervelli and he would hit better blindfolded. Even if he never catches he’s a big upgrade on other 3B fill in options and can DH as well.
The Tigers front office won’t let the Gardner/Guillen/Damon spat affect their thinking. But it might keep the Yanks from bringing Johnny back to DH in 2011. It was a stupid and completely unfair comment about Gardner since Guillen having his leg in front of the base was the biggest reason he got hurt.
If they sign Crawford, which is very unlikely, they will trade either Granderson or Gardner. Kearns will still have a role to play as a potentiall RH platoon aginst tough lefthanders and occasional start.
Given Kearns did not get any ML offers this year, if Yanks play fiar with him with an offer above 1M, I beleive he will consider staying.