The LoHud Yankees Blog

Back in February, as pitchers and catchers reported to spring training, I wanted to be bold. I made my roster predictions, and I wanted to go away from conventional thinking in the rotation. This is what I wrote at the time:

I really wanted to shake up the system here and predict either Hector Noesi making the rotation or the Yankees pulling off a late-spring trade for a fourth starter. In the end, I decided to go with conventional thinking. I do think Noesi could make a serious run at a rotation spot…

Of course, Noesi didn’t report to camp on time, and he was sent to the minor league complex long before making any sort of impression. He instead made an impression in the regular season, sliding into a long relief role and pitching well enough to stay in the big league bullpen.

But what to do with Noesi going forward?

Yesterday, Kevin Goldstein reported that Noesi will be working as a starter this winter. It makes sense in so many ways, not only to build up his innings, but also to let him return to the role he had throughout the minor leagues.

Noesi has proven he can get big league hitters out, and although his walks were up this season, he has a strong history of throwing strikes. He kind of reminds me of Ivan Nova, if only because he never generated Phil Hughes-level prospect hype, but he still pitched well in the minor leagues and drew some relatively quiet raves about his ultimate potential.

Given the number of strong rotation prospects in the upper levels of the Yankees system, it’s inevitable that some will be either traded or converted to the bullpen, and it may be that Noesi has found his spot as a reliever. I could be that he’ll continue to thrive in that role, eventually moving into late-inning situations.

But there’s a lot to be said for letting a young starter stay in the rotation until he proves he can’t handle it. If Noesi has enough to make it as a big league starter — and the Yankees don’t need him in the bullpen next season — it might be worth taking a look. Maybe it’s next spring that I’ll go against conventional thinking and predict Noesi breaking camp with a rotation spot.

Associated Press photo

The Yankees are out of the playoffs, but these guys are still playing, all with ties — some stronger than others — to the Yankees organization.

C – Omir Santos
The Tigers backup catcher came up through the Yankees minor league system, advancing as high as Triple-A without ever getting to New York. Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina (brother of Jose) and Gerald Laird (brother of Brandon) could also apply here.

1B – Miguel Cabrera
The Tigers cleanup hitter was already emerging as one of the best hitters in the game when he played for Yankees manager Joe Girardi back in 2006.

2B – Jerry Hairston
The Brewers utility infielder have played all over the field, and so far he’s hit .375 in both the division series and the LCS. He played a similar, but more limited utility role with the Yankees in 2009.

SS – Elvis Andrus
The Rangers shortstop got to Texas as part of the prospect package the Braves gave up to acquire current Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira back in 2007.

3B – Wilson Betemit
One of several Tigers third basemen, Betemit spent a year and a half as a utility man with the Yankees before being included in the trade for Nick Swisher, one of the more lopsided deals of the Brian Cashman era.

CF – Austin Jackson
The Tigers center fielder was long considered the Yankees center fielder of the future before he was traded as part of the package that brought Curtis Granderson to the Bronx. His offensive numbers have slipped since his near Rookie of the Year debut, but his defense remains outstanding.

LF – Carlos Guillen
Who would have thought an outfield corner would be a hard spot to find an obvious connection to the Yankees? Guillen isn’t even on the Tigers active roster because he’s rehabbing a calf injury. He’s played all over the field — including left field — and even his Yankees connection is weak: He was once traded for former Yankees starter Randy Johnson.

RF – Lance Berkman
The Cardinals right fielder and cleanup hitter was a short-term rental for the Yankees last season. When his career seemed all but over, Berkman has rebounded to have a season similar to those he had in his prime with the Astros.

DH – Prince Fielder
The Brewers first baseman is the son of former Yankees first baseman Cecil Fielder, who hit .391 in the 1996 World Series.

Associated Press photos

Curtis Granderson and Robinson Cano are among the headliners for a group of Major League Baseball players traveling to Taiwan next month to play a five-game series against the Chinese Taipei national team. A few details from MLB…

The Taiwan All-Star Series will consist of five games played between November 1st-6th in three different cities – New Taipei City (XinZhuang Stadium) on November 1st, Taichung (Intercontinental Stadium) on November 3rd and 4th and Kaohsiung (Chengcing Lake Stadium) on November 5th and 6th. Each game will feature MLB All-Stars playing the Chinese Taipei national team and all games will be broadcast live in Taiwan by FTV, Major League Baseball’s exclusive over-the-air broadcaster for regular season and Postseason games.

Not all of the roster has been announced just yet, but the team will be managed by Bruce Bochy of the Giants. The roster so far includes:

PITCHERS
Bill Bray, Reds
Ross Detwiler, Nationals
Dillon Gee, Mets
Jeremy Guthrie, Orioles
Mark Melancon, Astros
Jose Veras, Pirates

CATCHERS
Drew Butera, Twins
Jeff Mathis, Angels

INFIELDERS
Erick Aybar, Angels
Miguel Cabrera, Tigers
Robinson Cano, Yankees
Michael Morse, Nationals
Ryan Roberts, Diamondbacks
Pablo Sandoval, Giants
Skip Schumaker, Cardinals
Danny Valencia, Twins

OUTFIELDERS
Emilio Bonifacio, Marlins
Curtis Granderson, Yankees
Logan Morrison, Marlins

The roster includes a not that Cabrera’s participating is “subject to postseason commitments” but includes no such note for Schmaker, who’s also still playing. The roster includes open spots for at least one more infielder, one more outfielder, a third catcher and it lists six additional spots for pitchers.

Associated Press photos

In the postseason, starting pitchers hold a press conference the day before they pitch. The clubhouse isn’t open to media pregame, so these afternoon press conferences are a feeding frenzy for writers desperately needing some sort of early story or a sidebar that will hold up for the next day’s paper.

In the postseason, even an uninteresting starting pitcher gets several column inches of space in the next day’s paper.

Safe to say, C.J. Wilson is well aware that some of those column inches have been devoted to his pending free agency, and the possibility of joining the Yankees. I’m sure it comes up often, and he was asked about before last night’s start in Game 5 of the ALCS.

“Where else would I rather be than here right now?” Wilson said. “This is the ultimate spot to be. I am in a good organization. I have worked my whole life to get to this point. I am not going to misappropriate any mental resources towards the future. The only future for me is (today). That’s the only thing I am worried about.”

When the Rangers postseason run ends, Wilson will have little choice but to shift his attention. He’s expected to be the top free agent starting pitcher — unless CC Sabathia actually hits the market — and that’s going to make him an active part of the rumor mill. An agent speculated to Buster Olney last night that Wilson could get a five or six-year deal worth anywhere from $60 million to $100 million depending on his postseason success.

“I am a baseball fan so obviously I pay attention to everything that’s going on,” Wilson said. “I read stuff every once in a while about what is going on in baseball, in other organizations. I try to keep abreast of it because it’s my industry.”

Associated Press photo

After looking at some of Girardi’s questionable managerial choices yesterday, it seems only fair to spend some space looking at three of his decisions that paid off significantly. Agreeing is never quite as fun as debating, but here they are.

Derek Jeter as the leadoff hitter
The experiment of Brett Gardner at the top of the lineup and Jeter batting second didn’t even last through the entire first month. By the end of April, Gardner was back in the No. 9 hole, Jeter was at the top, and Curtis Granderson was thriving as the No. 2 hitter.

When Gardner went on one of his extended hot streaks, there were plenty of calls for Girardi to make another change. Jeter looked like a lost cause, Gardner was getting on base regularly, and it seemed time to give up the idea of The Captain playing up to his title.

Of course, Girardi stuck with Jeter, and Jeter made him look like a genius with a terrific second half, when he was clearly a better offensive player than Gardner.

Dave Robertson as the setup man
Initially, Girardi’s hand was forced. Rafael Soriano and Joba Chamberlain both landed on the disabled list, and clearly the Yankees best reliever – non-Mariano division – was the escape artist Robertson. Girardi moved Robertson from the sixth inning to the seventh inning to the eighth inning, and Robertson kept getting the job done.

The tough decision came when Soriano finally came off the disabled list. There seemed to be an expectation that Girardi would cave to Soriano’s contract and his status, but that was never the case. Girardi stuck with Robertson in the eighth inning, and Soriano became the best-paid, most-accomplished seventh-inning reliever in the game.

Of course, it seems like an obvious move now, but Girardi often takes heat for not being willing to make this sort of decision – he tends to favor a lengthy track record ahead of recent results – but he stuck with Robertson’s hot hand, and it paid off.

Jesus Montero being allowed to fail
Remember Jesus Montero’s first Major League at-bat? Bases loaded against Jon Lester, Montero somewhat notoriously swung through a fastball that was way up and out of the zone. It was not a particularly impressive first look, and Montero went hitless that day.

But Girardi kept giving the kid opportunities, and the kid came through with a strong month of September that would have won him a starting spot in the playoffs had the Yankees faced a left-handed starter. Girardi didn’t give up on Montero. If anything, he seemed fully committed to giving him more and more chances.

In a relate move: Girardi’s decision to put Jorge Posada back in the regular lineup for the division series also paid off. Posada was one of the few Yankees to actually hit with any sort of consistency that series.

Associated Press photos

Yesterday morning’s post about the proposed trade for Nick Markakis made me think about Kelly Gruber.

I can’t explain why — and I’m honestly not sure there was a reason — but as a kid growing up in the mid to late 80s, some of my favorite baseball players were good-but-not-quite-great third basemen. I really liked Gruber and Tim Wallach and Carney Lansford. For no logical reason at all, I liked them more than more-accomplished third basemen like Wade Boggs and Mike Schmidt.

My team was the Cardinals, and they had Terry Pendleton — their own good-but-not-quite-great third baseman — but I kept hoping they’d make a trade for one of my guys. I have no idea why. I just liked them, and I was certain the rest of the baseball world undervalued them.

That’s why yesterday’s post made me think of Kelly Gruber. My guess is that every baseball fan has one or two opposing players who they value beyond what the rest of the world thinks they should.

Who’s yours? Who’s your Kelly Gruber? Who’s your Nick Markakis?

This afternoon, Major League Baseball announced that Lance Berkman and Jacoby Ellsbury were named Comeback Player of the Year in the National League and American League. Berkman is an obvious choice, but I tend to agree with my friend Mark Feinsand: Bartolo Colon would have been a better choice in the AL.

Ellsbury had a great year coming back from injury, and there’s no question his season was better than Colon’s, but I’m not sure that’s a comeback.

Berkman was a comeback. It was a return-to-form for a player whose career seemed to be on the verge of ending. He was bad last year, and an MVP candidate this year. That’s an easy pick for Comeback Player of the Year.

Ellsbury was hurt last year. He got better from 2008 to 2009, and then he got better again from 2009 to 2011. He’s not a terrible choice for this award, but Colon’s career was left for dead. The guy didn’t even play last year, then he popped up with a 4.00 ERA at age 38 while doing his part to keep the Yankees rotation afloat during the first half of the season.

Ellsbury had the better year. Colon had the better comeback.

• Interesting stuff from Joel Sherman about the pressure of being a general manager for the Red Sox and/or Yankees. Reminded me of a conversation I had with Kevin Towers this spring, talking specifically about Brian Cashman’s job.

“I don’t think you could ever relax working with the Yankees,” Towers said. “Even working with (Cashman) last year, I don’t think he was ever relaxed, I just think over time he’s probably a little more confident being in the environment now and having a pretty good feel for it. There’s a side of him coming out that people aren’t used to seeing, and I think it’s probably confidence more than anything.”

• David Ortiz indicated that he’s not planning to come back to Boston, and he had some kind words for the Yankees organization: “It’s great from what I hear,” Ortiz said. “It’s a good situation to be involved in. Who doesn’t want to be involved in a great situation where everything goes the right way?”

• For whatever it’s worth, there are certainly more logical places for the Yankees to spend their resources than on a 35-year-old designated hitter, no matter how productive he’s been. Hard to imagine Ortiz in pinstripes, not so much because of hte Boston connection, but simply because it’s a piece that doesn’t fit.

• Seems really strange, considering the Yankees seemed to love the idea back in 2007, but the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader is reporting that the Yankees organization wants its minor league affiliates to come up with something other than “Yankees” to call themselves. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Tampa and Staten Island all go by the name Yankees.

• Remember Jose Valdez? Probably not. He was a pitcher in the Yankees minor league system a few years ago, and when he hit free agency, the Astros signed him to a Major League deal (an aggressive and surprising choice considering Valdez had pretty much peaked as the last man in the Yankees Triple-A bullpen). Well, now he’s been outrighted off the Houston roster. Last week, the Astros did the  same with Lance Pendleton.

• A few other familiar names from Baseball American’s latest minor league transactions: Eric Hacker elected free agency from the Twins, Cody Ransom did the same with the Diamondbacks and Brian Schlitter was outrighted by the Cubs. Schlitter was only briefly with the Yankees this spring, Hacker made it to the 40-man roster a few years ago and never got a call-up, and you probably remember Ransom.

Associated Press photos

If the Yankees are planning to make a push for C.J. Wilson, the Rangers might be ready to turn the tables.

A source tells Wallace Matthews that the Rangers could make a significant bid for CC Sabathia, assuming Sabathia opts out of his contract with the Yankees.

“I hear they’re going to throw a boatload of money at him,” the source said, “But I think he’ll stay with the Yankees. He’s talked so much about how much he loves New York, and besides, the Yankees can’t afford to lose him from that pitching staff.”

If Sabathia does hit the open market, my guess is a lot of teams will try to “throw a boatload of money at him.” Elite starting pitchers aren’t hitting the open market too often these days, and Sabathia would certainly be the best one available this winter.

All the more reason for the Yankees to lockup a deal before Sabathia hits the market. And, frankly, all the more reason for Sabathia to opt out and cash in.

The Yankees have made three more moves to get their 40-man roster situated.

• INF Reegie Corona has been reinstated from the 60-day disabled list and outrighted to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He’s accepted the assignment.

• RHP Joba Chamberlain has been reinstated from the 60-day disabled list.

• OF Justin Maxwell has also been reinstated from the 60-day disabled list.

Nothing too surprising or significant about these moves. The Yankees have to take players off the 60-day eventually. The fact Maxwell wasn’t outrighted suggests the Yankees would like to hold onto him for a possible big league role next season. Taking Corona off the roster was an obvious move after he missed all of this season recovering from an arm/shoulder injury. Corona has some speed and versatility, but he’s easily eclipsed by Eduardo Nunez and Ramiro Pena.

The Yankees 40-man roster now stands at 39.

Now that we know amateur scouting director Damon Oppenheimer and director of pro personnel Billy Eppler have been given permission to speak to the Angels about their general manager opening, the natural question is, how much would it hurt the Yankees to lose one of them?

Problem is, I’m not sure how to answer it.

Obviously Oppenheimer and Eppler are very good at what they do, otherwise teams wouldn’t be interested in talking to them about running an organization. Oppenheimer’s drafts have been productive since he took over in 2005 — his ’06 draft really stands out — and Eppler is in charge of the scouting department that brought the Yankees Freddy Garcia, Bartolo Colon, Eric Chavez and Luis Ayala.

From my perspective, their personalities are similar, if only in the fact that they’re easy to talk to and willing to dive into the nuts and bolts of a situation. They’re thorough and detailed, and I have to think those are two of the necessarily qualities for their jobs.

How much would it hurt the Yankees to lose one of them? I can’t quantitatively say for certain, but my guess is, quite a bit.

Associated Press photo with Eppler in the middle