We’re working here
Posted by: Chad Jennings - Posted in Misc on Sep 15, 2010 
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The Trop was completely silent except for the whack, whack, whack of Robinson Cano and Eduardo Nunez taking early batting practice with Kevin Long. Out of nowhere came the voice of Michael Kay recording a segment of the Michael Kay Show.
K-Long didn’t miss a beat.
The Yankees hitting coach stopped throwing and yelled, “We’re working here, Michael! Could you keep it down?”
Hilarious. Even better if it makes the show.
By the way, Cano is crushing ball after ball into the right-field seats. It’s impressive to watch, maybe more impressive to hear. Whack. Clang. Whack. Clang.
Frankie Piliere: I think Banuelos has a #1 ceiling, no doubt in my mind. Betances can be a 1-2 if he can stay durable enough and that’s a big if. We have to see how his stuff responds over the course of a full season. Brackman, I still don’t love, but he came a long way this year. I think he could be very interesting in the pen. He has frontline stuff, but his command has a lot of catching up to do. Noesi – mid rotation starter. Nova – 2/3. Stoneburner…the jury is still out for me. Phelps is a 4 for me. Warren I haven’t seen this season. Saw Marshall last year and the raw velo was fantastic but he has a ways to go.
Eli (NY): Does Montero rank in top 10 prospects for 2011?
Jim Callis: Yes, easily. Jesus Montero is still one of the top five prospects in baseball, and I’d take him over Bryce Harper.
What would be better is if Cano could clank one off of Kay’s bulbous head.
Kay is always talking over everyone else.
Oh great, I hope Nunez isn’t playing for A-Rod or Jeter. If he does, it’s another stupid move by Girardi. Jeter had a great day at the plate yesterday.
Anyone else just fall on the floor reading that comment about Terror and Harper?
I think Frankie’s assessments are pretty accurate.
Brackman is the wild card here IMO.
If he starts off well in AAA next year, I could see him either in the Yankee bullpen or rotation in the second half of next season. Especially since he is on the 40 man roster.
This is where being a little older will help him. Its easier to push the envelope with him because he’s more mature and his body is more developed.
Bret The Hitman September 15th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
The age argument doesn’t apply to Crawford. He’d be 34 through most of a 6 year deal. He’d turn 35 at the very end of year 6.
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Age applies to anyone. He’ll be getting older, and speed is one of the first things to go. If you think the human body does not decline from 30 to 35, perhaps you have not entered that stage yet?
You could also argue that Tex isn’t worth 180 million over Nick Swisher, but the Yankees didn’t pass up Tex because of the impact Tex has on the game.
Crawford is a high impact player in his own right.
Is he a 100 million dollar upgrade over Gardner?
No.
But if the Yankees want Carl Crawford, they’ll pay him.
CC,
Good stuff. Thanks for posting that. I value Pielleres opinion on These things because I’ve read enough of his stuff to know he knows what he’s talking about.
BTW, the next ESPN 30 for 30 short film is on Steinbrenner….those things are usually pretty.
brackman has given up 3 runs in his last 36 innings. Since he is on the 40 man, any chance they bring him up this yr as an extra arm out of the pen? He relieved last yr in the minors, so he would have a little history to fall back on.
Nunez was out taking early BP with Cano yesterday too. Doesn’t necessarily mean he’s playing. He could be, but him taking early BP isn’t hinting towards anything.
CountryClub September 15th, 2010 at 3:20 pm
Eli (NY): Does Montero rank in top 10 prospects for 2011?
Jim Callis: Yes, easily. Jesus Montero is still one of the top five prospects in baseball, and I’d take him over Bryce Harper.
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Wow, over Harper.
Jeter also has good #s against Shields
Comment From Jeff Jeff:
Jesus Montero or Bryce Harper ?
Frankie Piliere: I could say Bryce Harper but until he takes one swing in pro baseball, still taking Montero. That could change quickly though once I scout Harper at instructs. We shall see
Comment From Ethan:
Do you think Montero will be an everyday catcher?
Frankie Piliere: I think he’s come a long way and can be yes
Signing Crawford would probably mean Granderson goes, not Gardner, assuming the Yanks do get Lee as well, so the marginal cost argument really applies to Granderson.
But I just don’t think the Yanks are going to want to add that much salary in 2011. You can’t swallow anything bigger than your mouth, no matter how large your stomach is.
“But if the Yankees want Carl Crawford, they’ll pay him.”
Sure, but there isn’t a huge amount of evidence to suggest that will be the case. Like I said, he’s not worth $100M anywhere, especially here. He doesn’t bring anything close to Teixeira level impact to this team either. He might to the Angels, but not this team.
If any player applies the same care to his body as Julio Franco, he can perform and even excel through the 30′s and 40′s.
Crawford is an incredible athlete so I tend to think that what happens to beer drinkers by age 30 and through 35, won’t happen to Carl Crawford.
Different argument.
Nick Swisher was never going to be a long term solution at first base.
Carl Crawford is not as good an offensive player as Mark Teixeira.
I would also argue that, as good a defender as Crawford is, he’s not as good a defender as Tex.
Two different players with two different skill sets.
Plus, when you examine the entire roster, its doubtful they have any interest in adding another 100+ million dollar position player. Especially when the upgrade is marginal compared to the cost of the acquisition.
“I would also argue that, as good a defender as Crawford is, he’s not as good a defender as Tex.”
That doesn’t matter, as the defensive importance of left field swamps that of first base. And even if Tex is better (I’d disagree there), he isn’t that much better.
But the issue is money. Crawford is going to get a mega-deal and the Yanks just won’t want him enough to pay it.
Nick Swisher was the backup plan at 1st base and the Tex signing pushed Swisher to the bench.
Of course it’s an argument that differs in some respects because Tex is more valuable than Crawford but 180 and 100 are also different numbers.
Let’s hope the pinch hit HR by Jorgie and the cannon throw by Greg Golson sees the team get some good Yankee swagger.
For the sake of argument, let’s say the Yankees are interested in Crawford. (who isn’t?)
I don’t think he’s a Tex or Lee type of player. First of all, he’s not. Second, the need’s not there.
But lets say, that they want him. I still don’t think they’ll give him the kind of money that they gave CC, Tex, or Lee.
So let’s further say that Crawford would be the rare player to leave money on the table, then yes you try to move Granderson. Shouldn’t be too difficult but you’ll have to eat some moneys. The last years on his contracts are options, no?
But the good thing about that plan, is that you already have someone who can play CF. And he only makes $400K.
108
it certainly has made the blog a happier place
Julio Franco spent the last 12 years of his career as a PT player.
He wasn’t a 100 million dollar commitment.
Again, regardless of fitness, apples and oranges.
Plus, look at it from Crawford’s perspective……
If he goes to Anaheim, he is close to home in AZ. He also has ST close to home.
He gets to play in a great stadium, with a field that is easier on his legs.
He gets to play in great weather in a low key environment. Something he likes.
When you look at it from his perspective, playing in NY isn’t as appealing as playing in Anaheim.
Seems that Cano has “adopted” Nunez like Alex “adopted” Cano.
That’s good to see and how less experienced players learn and get better.
Bottom line as others have pointed out…Crawford isn’t 100 million dollars better than Gardner is.
We all know how valuable Sabathia has been to the Yankees this season…now imagine adding another guy of that caliber to the Yankee rotation. A guy that eats innings in addition to pitching well, that’s what happens if they sign Cliff Lee….it would be a huge signing and instantly make the Yanks a significantly better and more consistent team. That’s why that will be their focus this winter.
“Let’s hope the pinch hit HR by Jorgie and the cannon throw by Greg Golson sees the team get some good Yankee swagger”
Lot better vibe off of last night’s game than that following the game Swisher won with a 2 run jack against the O’s. Where Swisher left me with a sense of relief, last night’s game felt like something they could build on.
That said, in the end, it really comes down to the next day’s starting pitchers.
Re: Woods, the question is what is closer money going to be next year?
Blake
what has happened to your Braves?
yankee offseason priorities are sign cliff lee….
a rotation of lee, cc, hughes to start is very very good. pettitte may or may not retire and aj is a bonehead..they naks have nova and other young options for the 5th starter and if pettitte does not come back then we will figure out that spot but cc, lee, and hughes are a very very good top 3… cc and lee really help the pen…
crawford is a very good player but not worth the cost, gardner is 27 and a asset. gardners speed, defense, obp are real good….
crawford in CA is a good move for both parties……the angels need to get more athletic and unless you crave the NY scene why go there when you can go to so cal. make booku bucks and have much less hassles.
i live in LA, the chatter about the dodgers and angels loss seasons are nothing. the pressure out here is nothing like NY>
IMO Crawford won’t go to Anaheim he will go to the Red Sox. They will outbid Anaheim and will need to sign a big one when Lee signs with the Yankees.
Nice little moment, one you don’t get from the newspapers. Thanks, Chad.
I doubt very much that Crawford ends up in Boston. Just doesn’t seem like the right fit for him.
Kate,
They stink
can’t hit….should have traded for Adam Dunn like I said….
Ya gotta think that the Rays had zero chance of keeping Crawford. Even if they could afford or want to pay him, he’d probably want to get off the turf.
what do you guys think what Jayson Werth will get on the open market?
“Re: Woods, the question is what is closer money going to be next year?”
Using Billy Wagner as a more recent example, you’re talking about 2 years, $15M or so. Wood is younger than Wagner, so might be able to command a little more length.
Finances aside (it’s the Yankees – they’re worth $2 billion dollars) the comparison between Crawford and Gardner is absurd. Home runs and RBI’s do mean something.
Crawford – .304 – 15 home runs – 78 RBI’s
Gardner – .280 – 5 home runs – 45 RBI’s
From thehughesunit
Thoughts on Ivan Nova?
Frankie Piliere: Two good offerings. If he can live at 93-94 and locate his curveball he can be very good in the middle of the rotation. Still learning right now how to change his patterns and turn over a lineup.
You gotta think the Sox will also go hard for Crawford. They need to upgrade their OF badly. They also have $$ to burn.
“IMO Crawford won’t go to Anaheim he will go to the Red Sox. They will outbid Anaheim and will need to sign a big one when Lee signs with the Yankees”
Red Sox outfield is too left handed as is. Don’t think they really fit each other. Would think the Red Sox would be more inclined to talk with Werth.
Boston does have a lot of money to spend in 2011, whether for Crawford or others.
He’s not a fan of Boston and Arte Moreno can outspend the Sox on this one because, unlike the Sox, Arte isn’t as freaked out as John Henry is about luxury tax payments.
I think folks are going to be surprised this off-season at what the Red Sox do.
They will probably overpay for Jayson Werth.
Absent that, unless they make trades that work for them, the FA pickings are slim this off-season to fix what needs to be fixed in Boston.
Gardner would have more rbi’s if he didnt hit 9th most of the yr. And the difference between 5 and 10 hr’s is not worth 15 mil per yr (IMO).
If the Yankees wanted to spend 100m on a LF they would have signed holliday last winter. Not only is holliday better than crawford he could have been signed at a point in time when there was considerable uncertainty over what Gardner would produce. There is far less risk now in lf given gardners season.
Finally holliday would have been a much more productive investment because they would have signed him a year earlier and been able to add him to the team when jeter, posada and alex were a year younger than they’ll be during crawfords potential first year.
Spending that much on LF isn’t likely a viable fit. They didn’t do it for a better player who fit a greater need last winter. I don’t see them doing it now in a less compelling circumstance
I think that Crawford would be a great acquisition, but probably won’t happen because of money. He would provide a 4 player rotation for the OF with Gardner, Grandy & Swish and it wouldn’t be ideal because he is a LHB. Although Swish could still provide some BU at 1B which would allow Tex to get some rest as well.
Lee is the most important piece to the Yankees 2011 plans of course.
With ARod & Jeter needing some rest in 2011, I can see Nunez playing the inf role over Pena.
C – Posada, Montero & (Cervelli or FA)
1B – Tex & Swish
2B – Cano
SS – Jeter
3B – ARod
inf – Nunez
LF – Crawford
CF – Granderson
RF – Swish
OF – Gardner
OF – (Golson/Colin/FA)
DH – (Posada/Montero/Swish/ARod/…) Platoon
Sorry, meant to say the difference between 5 and 15 hr’s isn’t worth 15 mil per year.
cashmoney – whoever signs werth will be overpaying for his services unless it is the phillies or the reds. his splits away from the friendly confines of Citizens Bank Park are awful.
Crawford fits Mike Scioscia’s style of play better than Francona’s. Artie Moreno will open the vault to get Crawford with the Angels and get his team back in contention.
Boston is not Crawford’s kind of town. Playing balls off the LF wall for 81 games is not for him.
# Irreverent Discourse September 15th, 2010 at 3:54 pm
cashmoney – whoever signs werth will be overpaying for his services unless it is the phillies or the reds. his splits away from the friendly confines of Citizens Bank Park are awful.
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Something about him just puts me off. He has a Jason Bay vibe, in that he seems way overrated to me.
My uninformed Boston predictions:
Re-Sign Ortiz, Beltre, Martinez, Varitek.
Trade Papelbon
Sign Werth
If they sign Crawford they’ll trade Ellsbury.
The Other Phil September 15th, 2010 at 3:55 pm
# Irreverent Discourse September 15th, 2010 at 3:54 pm
cashmoney – whoever signs werth will be overpaying for his services unless it is the phillies or the reds. his splits away from the friendly confines of Citizens Bank Park are awful.
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Something about him just puts me off. He has a Jason Bay vibe, in that he seems way overrated to me.
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good point, I am pretty sure other team recognize that split and will do their due diligence in evaluating his worth though. I am thinking 4-55 mil .
WCYF – you couldnt be more wrong.
RBI’s are a product of where you hit in the lineup.
Gardner hits 1st or 9th. The 2 least likely places to get RBI’s.
Crawford is having the best year of his career.
Gardner’s OBP is higher than Crawfords, a much more useful statistic to worry about than HR or RBI’s.
# Wave Your Hat September 15th, 2010 at 3:57 pm
My uninformed Boston predictions:
Re-Sign Ortiz, Beltre, Martinez, Varitek.
Trade Papelbon
Sign Werth
If they sign Crawford they’ll trade Ellsbury.
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I don’t see them re-signing Varitek. “C” or no, I think he’s gone. Not like BOS is big on player loyalty… I thought Paps was a FA after this year?
Irreverent Discourse September 15th, 2010 at 3:54 pm
Actually Werth would be ideal in Fenway with the Green Monster. I like him in NY too as a RH bat which is what the Yanks need.
Werth also is a good defensive player & I remember his bombs in the 2009 WS.
RayVT – Werth doesn’t pull his HR’s.
http://www.hittrackeronline.co.....ype=hitter
“good point, I am pretty sure other team recognize that split and will do their due diligence in evaluating his worth though. I am thinking 4-55 mil”
Splits aren’t that bad. He was actually better on the road in 2008 and 2009. Not so much this year, but I’d still take his 2010 splits over any of about 5 or 6 Yankees.
Crawford would be a highly inefficient investment for the sox unless they can convince him to play cf. LF in fenway is far too small for Crawford to be able to produce the expected defensive returns needed to justify paying Crawford huge money.
Crawfords unwillingness to play cf makes him a difficult player to properly valuate outside of the rays context. The rays can afford to allow Crawford his preference for lf because they have upton. For a team without a plus defensive cf having to play crawford in lf likely hurts their capacity to save runs as a team.
Splits aren’t that bad.
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he still has decent OPS on the road despite a major split. As an overall player, I think 4-55 could be reasonable.
Yankees recall Royce Ring, designate Chad Huffman for assignment
By Mike Axisa
If I am Cashman this winter I hope to do a better job and not repeat a Vazquez, Granderson, Johnson, Park scenario. Perish the thought!
I am looking at an aging team in Jeter, Mariano, A-Rod and Posada, who knows if Pettitte will be back and if so how healthy and effective he will be and Burnett is, well, Burnett. Vazquez is gone as will be Berkman and Kearns, “maybe” Wood and Thames as well..
The only untouchables IMO are the core four, A-Rod, Cano, Teixeira, Hughes, Logan, Robertson and Swisher. Also Andrew Brackman, Dellin Bentances, Manny Banuelos and Jesus Montero.
I would sign Crawford and Lee. Money be damned.
This group, I am willing to trade, package, if possible, (big if) to make this a better team. Granderson, Romine, Albaladejo, Gardner, Joba, Peña, Nunez, Cervelli, Nova, Gaudin, Mitre, Curtis, Golson and any other minor leaguers if you can get a fair return.
Irreverent Discourse September 15th, 2010 at 3:58 pm
Crawford normally bats 2nd, so it isn’t much difference from Gardner’s slot for an RBI perspective.
Irreverent Discourse, how can I be wrong when all I am doing is giving my opinion? Did you notice the IMO?
I do not believe the green monster, or whether a player is right handed or left handed will be important factors at all in the Red Sox wanting Crawford. The fact remains he is a 29 year old star who steals 55 bases a year, is close to a lifetime .300 hitter, who hits on average about 14-15 home runs and knocks in 75-80 runs.
Cashmoney September 15th, 2010 at 4:09 pm
Great News! Hope Ring does great!
WCYF – opinions can most certainly be wrong. just as evaluating using only basic statistics can be done wrong.
I was referring to your 3:48 post… its just not a good way to compare those 2 players who’s game revolves around speed, not power.
ID – if you are saying Gardner would be a better alternative for financial reasons, I would find that to be a reasonable perspective. But if one were to take money out of it for discussions sake, if you could have either player who would you take? IMO, you would not find one GM that would choose Gardner over Crawford.
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