Arbitration decisions looming for Yankees
Posted by: Chad Jennings - Posted in Misc on Nov 22, 2010 
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Tomorrow is the deadline for teams to offer arbitration to Type A and B free agents. Without an arbitration offer, there will be no draft-pick compensation if those free agents sign elsewhere.
Of course, an arbitration offer comes with one obvious risk: The player might actually accept.
The Yankees have six qualifying free agents, which is more than most teams.
Lance Berkman
Type B
Berkman doesn’t want to be a part-time player, which suggests he would turn down an arbitration offer. That said, his hometown Astros have already said they don’t plan to pursue Berkman. Given that sort of uncertainty — there’s no obvious fit for Berkman right now — he could very well decide to take the arbitration money, hope for a bounce-back year with a good team, then try to hit the open market after 2011. It’s a risk in terms of both dollars and roster space. The Yankees don’t have room for a DH-only hitter like Berkman. Offer arbitration? No.
Derek Jeter
Type A
This is probably a pointless discussion because I don’t think either side would expect these negotiations to actually reach an arbitration hearing. That said, taking Jeter to arbitration wouldn’t be a terrible situation for the Yankees. Granted, it would cost big-time money, but a one-year deal wouldn’t be too bad. Offer arbitration? Sure. But I have to think these two sides can work something out before it gets to that point.
Andy Pettitte
Type A
Pettitte has said he won’t sign with anyone but the Yankees, which means no draft pick compensation anyway. Plus, agreeing to arbitration takes too much control out of the Yankees hands. I don’t see what there is to gain. Offer arbitration? No.
Mariano Rivera
Type A
Similar to Jeter, this is probably a pointless discussion because the the Yankees and Rivera are likely to work something out before a hearing. Also similar to Jeter, a one-year deal with Rivera isn’t a terrible situation for the Yankees. They’d have to pay quite a bit, but their long-term risk would be minimized. Offer arbitration? As long as the Yankees are willing to pay big for one year, I don’t see why not. But I don’t think it matters.
Javier Vazquez
Type B
Of these six candidates, Vazquez is the big risk-reward decision. Vazquez seems to be generating legitimate interest on the free agent market, and there’s little doubt he would like to get out of New York. Those two factors suggest he might decline arbitration and net the Yankees a draft pick. On the other hand, Vazquez could see arbitration as a chance to make considerable money for one year, during which he could reassert himself as a viable big league starter. To me, that risk is both very real and very significant. Don’t make the offer unless you’re OK with actually going to arbitration. I don’t think the Yankees want to do that with Vazquez. Offer arbitration? No.
Kerry Wood
Type B
I think the Yankees would love to have Wood back in the eighth inning, but they chose not to pick up his $11-million option for 2011. That tells me they don’t think Wood is worth what he’ll surely make in arbitration. He’s a good pitcher and a good fit, but given the Yankees offseason needs, I’m not sure it’s a practical option. Offer arbitration? No.
Bret -
Can’t see why the Cubs would move Marmol, at least not at a price the Yankees would be willing to pay.
How about this though:
Yankees get: Matt Lindstrom & Jeff Keppinger
Astros get: Joba Chamberlain
I’m pretty sure that’s not enough return for Joba – but I’ll be honest – I have no clue what his trade value is at this point.
I would offer Arb to Berkman, Wood, and Jeter.
Chip,
Why would they keep Marmol for the next 2 years only to lose him to free agency? They’re not going anywhere in 2 years.
He’ll be 30 when that contract is up.
Maybe the Yankees have something the Cubs can better build on.
WYH – explain to me how you increase strikeouts, pitching farther from contact, and don’t simultaneously increase your walks in the process.
“So you’re all saying that you believe in the single/magic-thrown fist theory?
But what about the bruised ear? It’s just hard to believe that a single fist could do all that damage. There has to have been a second fist thrower.”
———————————
When AJ hit the floor after knocking himself in the eye, Eiland proceeded to take his hand and say “Why are you hitting yourself?! Why are you hitting yourself?!” hence the other bruising.
Let’s just say AJ did not take to this kindly and Eiland spent the next month hiding out.
Regarding arbitration for Berkman and Wood, tough to go that route for the reasons Chad pointed out. With Posada at DH most of the time plus Jeter and A-Rod and a limited 40-man roster why take the chance Berkman says yes? And Wood is too expensive and you have the high injury risk.
I think offering arbitration to Berkman might be more of a risk than to Javy with regards to the risk that they would say yes.
“WYH – explain to me how you increase strikeouts, pitching farther from contact, and don’t simultaneously increase your walks in the process.”
Given the context of our discussion that question makes no sense. Is there a typo? You were arguing Wood’s walk rate would drop – the article I linked to doesn’t suggest it would, particularly.
WYH – i would expect it to drop naturally… the 6 or whatever it was last year is really abnormally high. i would expect the pitching coach to then further lower his walk rate since increasing the highest strikeout rate in the history of the sport seems like a non-issue.
Requiescat In Pace, J.F.K.
” … I was just feet away when I heard and felt the effects of a third shot. It hit the president in the upper right rear of his head, and blood was everywhere. Once in the back seat, I threw myself on top of the president and first lady so that if another shot came, it would hit me instead. … “
Back, and to the left… back, and to the left… back, and to the left
“On the other hand, Vazquez could see arbitration as a chance to make considerable money for one year, during which he could reassert himself as a viable big league starter.”
If he accepts arb and winds up back with the Yankees, he will be pitching in mop-up out of the pen. He isin’t going to get the chance to increase his value as a starter because he won’t be one. And trying to re-establish your value as a FB pitcher throwing 88 MPH in the AL East is incredibly dumb. Take a 1 yr deal with the Padres in the NL West to re-establish value.
Vazquez is a risk worth taking, IMO. He already has multiple suitors (Nats, Marlins, Rockies) and wants no part of NY.
not a fun day, try not to mock…
Patrick, your comments were incredibly rude. I don’t care what you think of Ted Kennedy or his brothers, but you calling people who like the Kennedy’s goofballs is just you itching for a fight. We were reminiscing – and you had to make it personal. If you think I’m a goofball or worse because I like Ted Kennedy, then feel free to ignore my posts.
“WYH – i would expect it to drop naturally… the 6 or whatever it was last year is really abnormally high. i would expect the pitching coach to then further lower his walk rate since increasing the highest strikeout rate in the history of the sport seems like a non-issue.”
ID-
I would expect the rubber band effect to lower Wood’s strikeout rate some – probably around the average of his last two years, about 5 per 9. But I expect his WHIP to stay high, close to 1.40.
I also expect his HR rate to bounce up significantly.
I expect Wood’s K rate to stay about where it is. (By the way, “the highest strikeout rate in the history of the game” put him 15th in the American League in strikeout rate last year among pitchers pitching 40 or more innings, not enough to make me like his walks.)
I expect the change in pitching coaches to have little effect.
I expect the Yanks won’t offer him arbitration or sign him. I expect another team to offer him a good deal to be a closer and I expect he’ll take it.
I also expect not to be upset about it.
My complete list of expectations regarding Kerry Wood.
That’s why talking politics is NEVER a good idea in this forum.
Of course we couldn’t possibly overlook “The Magic Loogie”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gcaq4ElAJrE
A PC can preach until he’s blue in the face, but his pitchers have to execute. They get too much blame when pitchers don’t pitch well………it’s all on the pitchers. Rothschild can preach strikeouts – ok, what does that mean? What’s he going to do for CC? CC is a finished product. Phil Hughes is not, but I don’t care as much about Phil striking people out as I do him showing that he actually has a good curve and decent change……If he doesn’t, then striking out 10 per 9 innings isn’t going to mean much. I don’t care about AJ striking out more – just get him back to decent and he’ll be a fine #5 starter. I am very much looking forward to seeing what Rothschild can bring and I like that he’s not going to force his philosophy on pitchers; he’s going to taylor his thoughts to the individuals.
I can’t see Cashman offering arbitration to anybody this year. I’ll miss having Wood in the pen, but hopefully someone will step up this year. If not, Cashman will make an August trade.
GF, we were just reminiscing. I happen to like Ted Kennedy -and so I mentioned it in passing. It wasn’t about politics. Patrick was the only one who took the conversation beyond where it should have gone.
But yes, talking politics is ordinarily a lousy idea…………though again, this wasn’t about politics really
Does it hurt worse if someone calls you a moron for your political views instead of your baseball views?
Rather the reverse, I’d say.
Betsy,
Phil and AJ striking out more batters is integral to their success next year.
Giuseppe Franco November 22nd, 2010 at 5:35 pm
That’s why talking politics is NEVER a good idea in this forum.
*****
See! Common ground and agreement there is hope.
Results are less important than ability?
See! Common ground and agreement there is hope.
———————————
I thought your were done talking politics?
All Rothschild has to do is pick out mechanical flaws and explain what to do about them to the pitchers in a way they will understand. That’s a big ask, but if he does that he’s worth his weight in gold.
His staff’s numbers seem to suggest he’s able to connect on some level with his pitchers. Hopefully that will continue with the Yankees.
I should add if Phil is somehow striking out 10 per 9 without a curve or change, then whatever he is doing is working and he doesn’t need those pitches.
LGY November 22nd, 2010 at 5:41 pm
Who was talking politics? I was telling GF that I agreed with him that talking politics here is a bad idea. : )
An interesting show on John Lennon tonight 9pm EST on PBS.
The Double Fantasy album his assassin had signed by Lennon that morning, with Chapman’s forensic prints on it no less, is going for 850,000.
WCYF,
I don’t think you picked up on what I was trying to do there with what I bolded. Bad joke by me I guess
The idiot left it at the crime scene at the Dakota, where John lived, and a bellhop turned it in as evidence.
LGY, Phil didn’t strike out a ton this year and apparently he was considered to have a terrific year. Why does he have to K more? He should concentrate on his breaking pitches and perhaps getting more ground balls………
AJ needs to allow fewer hits and walks and runs……………don’t care about the K’s. He’s had some games the last couple of years where he only struck out a few, but pitched very efficiently because he had a great 2 seamer and got ground balls.
It’s even a bad idea to mention a politician’s name simply because of their party affiliation.
By nature, politicians are divisive figures because it doesn’t matter what they do – somebody is not going to like him/her.
Betsy November 22nd, 2010 at 5:38 pm
But yes, talking politics is ordinarily a lousy idea…………though again, this wasn’t about politics really
—–
Understand the original discussion was about remembering what happened 47 years ago today. Terrible, terrible day in our history.
But, when you say you liked Ted Kennedy, it is easily defined as political and others will respond with their opinions. Those that liked him and those who didn’t are both right.
CC and AJ’s strike outs are down from their previous stops and their walks are up. Both of their K-BB ratios became worse (in CC’s case, considerably worse) since joining the Yankees.
CC is great, but his K-BB ratio hasn’t been what it was in the past. CC’s last 2 years K-BB ratios were 2.6 and 2.9. To put that in perspective, prior to joining NYY, he had not been under 3.9 since 2005. So he is considerably worse in that regard than he was in CLE.
Burnett’s never been a great K-BB ratio guy, but since joining the Yanks, he has put up his 2 worst ratios since 2001.
Why did their walks suddenly go up and their Ks go down?
Rothschild probably mentioned this in his interview and cited his track record of lowering walks and increasing Ks. Eliand appeared to do the exact opposite….
Betsy,
I think you misunderstand how most on here feel about Phil. He didn’t have a terrific year. He had a terrific year for a starter in his first full season and at his stage of his development.
The best way to allow fewer hits and runs is to strike more people out. Unless he magically transforms himself into a GB pitcher over the winter, it is integral he starts striking people out again. The Yankees signed him coming off a season in which he led the league with 9.4 K/9. He was down to 7 K/9.
A wise man on lohud once said, strikeouts are the most important thing.
Go Yanks, and that’s fine. I certainly have no desire to impose my opinion on others……Patrick could have made his opinions known without referring to Kennedy “fans” as goofballs. I don’t care how he feels about Ted Kennedy – he’s entitled to feel as he wishes.
The Double Fantasy album his assassin had signed by Lennon that morning, with Chapman’s forensic prints on it no less, is going for 850,000.
————————————————–
As macabre a piece of rock-n-roll memorabilia if there ever was one. Yet if I knew it was in a museum I was visiting, I’d probably seek it out.
I wonder what became of Chapman’s copy of “The Catcher In The Rye”?
Also, my comment was not intended as political. We were talking about the Kennedys and I mentioned Ted – people might have interpreted it wrongly, but I think had they read my comment in it’s appropriate context, they shouldn’t have.
LGY, that’s what I meant…..I left out the “for a first year starter” stuff because I thought that was implied.
You can’t compare what he did in 2009 to 2010 because he was in the bullpen……….check the pitchers with the highest K/9 ratio and they are almost all relievers. Phil started off the year striking out people at a very good rate (8 something per 9), but he dropped off drastically as the year wore on – for whatever reason.
I think strikeouts are overrated………
LGY November 22nd, 2010 at 5:44 pm
WCYF,
I don’t think you picked up on what I was trying to do there with what I bolded. Bad joke by me I guess
******
No that was excellent. I missed it until after I hit send. : )
I mean, overrated in the sense that you can be a very good pitcher without striking out a lot (though I think 7Ks per 9 is not bad).
Since I’m not on the same board as most of you in terms of Phil, I think there are other things I’d rather see him work on.
Betsy,
In terms of decrease in strikeouts I was talking about AJ, not Phil.
Betsy – Strikeouts are not overrated. They do not lead to a run being scored, add an out and don’t depend upon fielders – also predominantly up to the pitcher.
(excepting unique circumstances)
Patrick, your comments were incredibly rude. I don’t care what you think of Ted Kennedy or his brothers, but you calling people who like the Kennedy’s goofballs is just you itching for a fight. We were reminiscing – and you had to make it personal. If you think I’m a goofball or worse because I like Ted Kennedy, then feel free to ignore my posts.
—
Way to resurrect an argument that ended hours ago. Bravo
Well excuse me for being at work at a time you insulted me; sure – I’m just supposed to keep quiet. Right.
Betsy,
You can be a very good pitcher without striking out a lot, but most very good pitchers do strike a lot of people out.
The pitchers that are very good that don’t strike people out are much rarer.
Also, you have to take 7 K/9 in context, but at the same time he only induced 45% GB. So he wasn’t doing either thing well. Striking people out or pitching to contact.
Strikeouts are fascist
All I am saying is give blog peace a chance…
Ted Lilly, Ian Kennedy, and Jon Niese had higher K/9s than Sabathia
LGY, ok…………sorry. Well, AJ’s stuff is diminshed – there’s not much anyone can do about that.
You also mentioned that increased K rates would be important to Phil; I really think other things are more important………like learning out to put hitters away, not making so many mistakes to bad hitters, not giving up as many HRs, things like that.
What’s considered a very good K per 9 innings rate? 8?
Betsy,
Do yourself a favor and read the rest of my posts on the subject, I made myself very clear (3:48 pm post in particular). I’m not going to copy it here because I figured that this silly argument was over and I don’t want to ruin another blog entry with this garbage.
If you still have a problem, whatever
Ted Lilly, Ian Kennedy, and Jon Niese had higher K/9s than Sabathia
—
Ask not what your pitching coach can do for you…
WC, all I’m saying is that there are other ways to get people out. Phil and AJ have a lot of things to work on; I just don’t see how striking more people out is at the top of the list.
Higher k rate is always good because a strikeout is the best possible outcome for a pitcher. Yeah double plays are better but the pitcher has to depend on the fielders making the play.
Patrick,
I forgive you, you goofball.
“LGY, ok…………sorry. Well, AJ’s stuff is diminshed – there’s not much anyone can do about that.
You also mentioned that increased K rates would be important to Phil; I really think other things are more important………like learning out to put hitters away, not making so many mistakes to bad hitters, not giving up as many HRs, things like that.”
——————————-
Betsy,
No need to apologize. I agree with you on AJ. It is up to him. Mixing his pitches more may lead to more K’s. Who knows?
In terms of Phil, learning to put hitters away is just another way of saying striking people out. Also, striking people out is one of the keys to preventing HR.
A ball of goof?
I forgive you, you goofball.
—
This insult angers me a great deal! If I’m such a goofball, feel free to ignore my posts!!
A ball of goof?
—
Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of goof.
Also with Alex and Jeter on the left side of the IF with the next 100 years, hitting the ball on the ground is not ideal.
So what do you do? Tell the pitcher to throw harder?
LGY, maybe, but there are other ways to get outs besides strikeouts. He would get to 0-2, 1-2 very quickly and then he’d just fail to make good enough pitches to get the hitters out. I’m not sure why ……..but that’s a huge issue. Phil is never going to be a guy with a huge K rate – it’s not like he’s Verlander or anything. We have to keep that in mind.
K’s are golden…Bottom line
Also, it takes at least 3 pitches (usually more) to strike someone out – it only takes 1 to get them to pop up or ground out. Striking out a lot of people is a good way to be very inefficient and not go deep in games.
You work on repeating good mechanics.
Betsy November 22nd, 2010 at 6:13 pm
WC, all I’m saying is that there are other ways to get people out. Phil and AJ have a lot of things to work on; I just don’t see how striking more people out is at the top of the list.
*********
But getting a batter out by striking him out is the very best way to get an out by far. When a ball is put into play there is the chance for a hit or an error. The pitcher does not have to rely on anyone to make a play behind him.
This is especially true with men on base where a ball put into play can move runners and/or score a run.
Verlander career k/9 = 8.16
Hughes career k/9 = 7.88
Pat M, I just don’t see it. I see the value in Ks, but I don’t see how they are the be all and end all. Not every pitcher is going to be Verlander or Lincecum or some other guy with a golden arm; they have to find ways to get people out without King them all the time.
Wang never struck anyone out……….now he may not have been an ace, but he was a very good pitcher. Buchholz, who has great stuff, didn’t strike people out this year……..but he also never allowed a hit.
Bucholz BABIP = .265
There’s a reason he never allowed a hit
WC, I get that – I also get that it’s a very inefficient way to get outs. We talk about pitchers going deep in games………how do you do that and strike out a lot? You’d better be a unique pitcher that can get early K’s instead of expending 6, 7, 8 pitches just to strike someone out.
I’m sure we are all really hoping that Phil’s pitches Come Together next season.
Don’t Let Me Down Phil.
Phil Hughes is a strikeout pitcher, always has been and will only continue to be so as he improves…….He’s a 8 k 9 inning pitcher, it’s in his DNA….
Betsy,
It is ideal to get a batter out in 1 or 2 pitches.
The problem is that is not a long term recipe for success because of the dependent and out of your own control nature of what happens after the ball leaves the bat.
So, in an ideal world you pitch to contact and get outs efficiently.
In the realistic world, it just doesn’t work for the vast majority of very good and great pitchers.
Well I believe that pitchers, to a large extent, can control the quality of contact against them. When Phil was pitching well early, I didn’t think his success was due to luck – he was really inducing poor contact.
Betsy the average number of pitches per at bat in the AL. is 3.83
The K/9 leaders this year, 1-35:
Lincecum, Lester, Gallardo, Sanchez, Liriano, Weaver, Kershaw, Latos, Johhson, Hamels, Verlander, Lewis, Dempster, Jiminez, Scherzer, Hernandez, Wainwright, Shields, Haren, Rodriguez, Oswalt, Price, Billingsly, Halladay, Lee, Baker, Kennedy, Jackson, Hanson, Gonzalez, Niese, Marcum, Wilson, Sabathia
LGY, I’d have to go through the stats of the best pitchers in the league and see how many K’s they got. It would be best to be a GB and K pitcher, I suppose……….
Betsy-
Historically, strikeout pitchers tend to pitch more innings and deeper into games.
A pitching coach that (rightly) prioritizes strikeouts can emphasize certain pitch sequences and ways to attack a hitter.
He can go work through scouting reports with his pitchers and show them how to attack, what to throw when, etc.
He can create the pitchers gameplan around striking batters out.
Jon Niese was one of the top K pitchers? Wow………..Kennedy?
But look – Hernandez and Price, the winner and runner up in AL Cy Young voting, were not in the top ten. Halladay wasn’t…….
Just checked .
36 degrees below zero outside now .
Wow .
Betsy, you are generally not going to get a contact out on the first or second pitch. As I mentioned he AL average number of pitches per plate appearance is 3.83
There is not a pitcher in baseball that would not want to strike out every hitter he faced rather than relying on the batter hitting it at someone.
WC, is that high?
Wave, that’s true? That doesn’t really make sense to me……unless the idea is that pitchers who don’t strike out have to depend on their fielders or luck (re: the ground ball. Will it be hit at a fielder or go in between……) and sothey end up expending more pitches trying to get out of an inning – thereby not allowing them to go deep? Is that it?
It seems to me that being a GB pitcher, as much as people love it, has it’s downside – you can’t direct where a GB is hit, so if you give up grounders in the wrong places, your SOL
LGY, that makes sense………. A PC still has to have the horses to do it and Rothschild does. CC, Phil, AJ – they all have power arms
Phil Hughes is a strikeout pitcher, always has been and will only continue to be so as he improves…….He’s a 8 k 9 inning pitcher, it’s in his DNA….
—
You are correct, as usual. He’ll only improve as his secondary stuff gets better
WC, also a benefit – if you have guys on base and can K people, you have a better chance of escaping with minimal damage.
Well, Phil is like a lump of clay that is still soft enough to be molded, so I think he would be the biggest beneficiary of Rothschild’s “program”
MorningPerson November 22nd, 2010 at 6:22 pm
You work on repeating good mechanics.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now there’s an absolute truism. Great if Burnett and Chamberlain will buy into it.
Just look at the consensus best pitchers in the league and their k/9. They are usually near the top…
Betsy-
KO pitchers tend to pitch deeper into games because they tend to give up fewer hits, run into fewer jams and tend to be better pitchers.
Buying into repeating your motion and actually doing it are two different things. Not many pitchers do it that well and hardly any do it the great majority of the time. It’s a very hard thing to do. Like Halladay and Mo.
Most pitching coaches have the same goals.. “repeat your mechanics”, “more strikeouts”, “more groundballs”, “fewer walks”, “fewer homeruns”. The difference between them is how they implement those ideas. It’s yet to be seen how Rothschild will go about accomplishing his goals.
“you can’t direct where a GB is hit, so if you give up grounders in the wrong places, your SOL”
———————————-
That was very sabermetric of you Betsy
Welcome to the Dark Side
You will find your personalized Jeter Bashing Pamphlet on your left.
mikeaxisa “That team’s going to be a disaster next year. You’ll see.” Danny Tartabull after being traded by NYY to OAK in 1995. findarticles.com
————-
LOL. Tartabull was sure dead on with that prediction.
Phil Hughes is definitely a strike out pitcher. I think his upside potential is huge, he has a great physique, superb demeanor on the mound, cool and calm, mature for his age and throws hard. When he develops better command of his nasty breaking pitch and gets his change worked out he could easily be a number one or two for years to come
For once, we agree West Coast! I’m really high on Phil Hughes too, I think he’s going to be an ace.
: )
Is Kerry Wood worth $11M? Probably not, but he would hardly be an awful contract to be stuck with him for an extra year. I say, offer him arbitration, if he accepts, whatever, we would be paying a guy worth $7M, $11M, big whoop. If he declines, which I fully expect, given his desire to be a closer again, we get a draft pick.
Vazquez is a bit different. He would provide $0M value at an 8 figure salary. There you are wasting $10M+ on nothing.
I don’t think Cliffie Lee is in a hurry to finalize any deal with any team … he still needs time for that back to heal enough to pass a physical .
Kevin G (San Diego)
Do you think Marmol would be worth Montero to the Yankees?
Bruce Levine (1:07 PM)
It would be a lot more than Montero if you’re going to trade Marmol. Throw in Chamberlain and Gardner and you’ve got a deal.
***************
Bruce Levine is on crack!
Jesus Montero + Brett Gardner + Joba Chamberlain for 2 years of Carlos Marmol????
He’s a free agent in 2 years.
SHEESH.
That’s hilarious.
And since when is a leadoff CF caliber player with gold glove potential making the lead minimum a “throw in”?
Throw back in Starling Castro maybe.
Interesting how stats can be misleading. The general consensus is that the more patient a hitter is at the plate, the greater his chance of getting a pitch he likes, drawing a walk and tiring out a pitcher. I think we all would agree on that.
Yes when you look at Yankee stats for 2010, you know who the least patient hitter was? Robinson Cano, at 3.46 he was well below the AL average of 3.82.
This looks like a job for NYYrumors via Twitter…
Sorry Bruce Levine of ESPNchicago
“And since when is a leadoff CF caliber player with gold glove potential making the lead minimum a “throw in”?”
——————————-
If that’s who you think Gardner is, then why are you so adamant about trading him?
Blake,
Here’s what I just tweeted to Bruce Levine of ESPNChicago.
NYYrumors
@ESPNChiCubs #Yankees asking for #CarlosMarmol and #StarlinCastro for #BrettGardner #MLB
less than 5 seconds ago via web in reply to ESPNChiCubs
That sounds more like a Randy Levine idea than some clown named Bruce.
Ruby Tuesday November 22nd, 2010 at 6:29 pm
Just checked .
36 degrees below zero outside now .
Wow .
———————————————————
Like everything else in your world, it appears your thermometer is broken.
Let’s talk about MVP for a quick second. We are going to find out tomorrow.
What is the likelihood, considering recent trends in MVP voting, the tendencies of the voters, and team success, that Robinson Cano wins the MVP?
When all is considered, is he at all the favorite? What if Nate Silver were to sit down and predict this ? (which, maybe he did? I haven’t been checking up on him as much lately.)
For some reason, I can envision a scenario where Robbie gets only a few first place votes, but receives a large number of 2nd place votes and is propelled to the top. Compared to, say, a Tim Lincecum Cy Young, the year he didn’t have the most first place votes.
Cabrera will get too many votes for a scenario like that to play out for Cano.
i don’t think robbie will win it this year, and it’s a shame. he deserves it. hamilton was amazing, but no gold glove and only played like 130 games. cabrera has a big mac instead of a glove, and will likely finish 2nd. it’s a shame, but voters just aren’t going to give it to a guy who’s not a classic power hitter.
it’s why jeter never won an mvp. he should have at least 2
LGY, lol……………ick. Me, a sabremetrician? Lord, no………..I like the traditional stats (then again, I don’t like change; I just started using the DVR a few months ago).
Jeopardy had a whole category of Yankee questions/answers, but they were all negative (this team ran over the 1976 Yankees, this team came back from 0-3 in the ALCS, etc….), lol
LGY, Is that pamphlet as thin as the “Famous Jewish Sports Legends” they passed around on the movie “Airplane”? I hope so!
Pedroia isn’t a classic power hitter. Neither is Ichiro.
Cano had an awesome year. But two guys were better.
wcyf….Is there info on The Great Roberto Clemente’s pitches per AB ???? As GB has pointed out for several years now that both he and Robby Cano have very similar approaches to hitting , see ball hit ball……
Pat, not only same approach, but look at the numbers at their ages and in the same years of their careers. Really close. Neither walks much and neither strikes out much. Line drives all over the park and either can hit a homer about any time they want if they were dead pull hitters.
GB….I say Cano at some point will hit 40 over the boards….
I can see that…A little Yaz/Mattingly adjustment could do it for him. Bring Pinella in to teach him what he taught Donny Baseball on spring morning in 1984.
Pat can’t find that stats for Roberto C.
WCYF……Thanks for the effort….As GB alluded to, Roberto was a very aggressive hitter, and a very good hitter
Another similar hitter to Cano was Tony Oliva.