The LoHud Yankees Blog

According to Jon Heyman, Yankees director of pro scouting Billy Eppler has been called for a second interview for the Angels GM opening. Amateur scouting director Damon Oppenheimer was not called back.

Eppler spent today in Tampa going through the Yankees organizational meetings. He declined to comment when The Associated Press asked about the Angels job.

The Angels are still going through some first-round interviews, and reports indicate that the Rays Andrew Friedman is their top choice, but it’s unclear whether he’s legitimately willing to leave Tampa Bay.

Neither Eppler nor Oppenheimer has been closely connected to the Orioles GM search, but that interview process is on-going.

Associated Press photo

It’s nice to have our Associated Press buddy Mark Didtler down in Tampa. Here’s the latest from the AP, which reports that today’s Yankees organizational meetings lasted six and a half hours and will be concluded after just one day.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and other high-ranking team officials have gathered in Florida to address offseason plans.

A meeting on Wednesday lasted around 6 1/2 hours at George Steinbrenner Field, the Yankees’ spring training home.

Items on the Yankees’ agenda include whether to pick up right fielder Nick Swisher’s $10.25 million option and formulating potential plans for ace CC Sabathia, who can opt out of his 7-year, $161 million contract after the World Series. Cashman’s current contract expires at the end of the month, as well.

There were no announcements made after Wednesday’s session, which ended around 4:30 p.m. Although originally scheduled to be a two-day affair, the New York-based officials were returning home after completing their work on Wednesday.

Major League Baseball just sent this announcement…

Game Six of the 2011 World Series between the Texas Rangers and the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium in St. Louis has been postponed due to inclement weather and the forecast for rainfall throughout the remainder of the day.  Given the desire to play a game of this magnitude without interruption, and an outlook with better conditions over the next two nights, Major League Baseball, along with the Cardinals and the Rangers, determined that making the decision early would be the most prudent course of action to allow fans enough time to plan accordingly.

Game Six of the World Series has been rescheduled for Thursday at 8:05 p.m. (ET)/7:05 p.m. (CT) and will be televised by FOX Sports.  Game Seven, if necessary, will be played on Friday at 8:05 p.m. (ET)/7:05 p.m. (CT).

Nothing necessarily new here, but this is the latest from the AP down in Tampa.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and other high-ranking team officials have gathered in Florida to address offseason plans.

The first day of meetings started Wednesday at George Steinbrenner Field, the Yankees’ spring training home.

Items on the Yankees’ agenda include whether to pick up right fielder Nick Swisher’s $10.25 million option and formulating potential plans for ace CC Sabathia, who can opt out of his 7-year, $161 million contract after the World Series. Cashman’s current contract expires at the end of the month, as well.

Others involved in the meetings included managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner, team president Randy Levine, special adviser Gene Michael, senior director of pro personnel Billy Eppler, assistant general manager Jean Afterman and senior vice president of baseball operations Mark Newman.

Anthony McCarron posed the question in today’s Daily News: Now that John Lackey is lost for the season, could the Red Sox try to make a rotation splash by scooping up CC Sabathia?

Adding Sabathia to Boston’s already strong top of the rotation would be a significant blow to all of the American League, not just the Yankees, and whether it’s feasible or not — do the Red Sox really have the financial flexibility to make such a signing? — the very idea is why the Yankees want to get his Sabathia situation resolved sooner rather than later.

The free agent market offers no reliable ace, and the ball is in the Yankees court with Sabathia.* Why take the risk of letting him hit the open market?

George King suggested this morning “a five- or six-year deal for an obvious raise over his current $23 million a year.” The Yankees could raise Sabathia’s salary $4 million per year and not think twice about it. We’ll call that The Igawa Factor.

Obviously there are concerns with Sabathia’s size, and long-term deals are always risky with pitchers, but given some of the alternatives — Sabathia pitching for anyone else in the American League, Ivan Nova starting on Opening Day — coming to an agreement with Sabathia is an obvious priority.

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* I guess technically the ball is in Sabathia’s court because he doesn’t have to opt out, but everyone in baseball believes he will and the Yankees recognize that. It’s easy to predict Sabathia’s next move, so the Yankees can preemptively make a move of their own.

Associated Press photo

Yesterday, The Associated Press moved at least three different pictures of this dugout telephone. There was a vertical picture, a horizontal picture of just the phone, and this one showing the words World Series painted on the wall. I liked the words, so I chose this one.

Why such focus on a phone? Because haven’t you heard, this World Series is suddenly all about calls to the bullpen and superstars calling plays and managers making decisions that might actually influence the game. When the World Series started, I wrote a post saying the Yankees were built for his series — it was really just a reference to the bullpen — and now it turns out the Yankees were built for this World Series for an entirely different reason.

If this Series is going to be all about second guessing managers, Joe Girardi would have felt right at home!

I think I’m in the internet minority, but I actually like Girardi as a manager. I’ve certainly disagreed with some of his decisions — pinch hitting Eric Chavez for Brett Gardner certainly stands out as a recent example — but he always seems to have some level of logic behind his choices.* I might not agree with his logic, but at least you know he’s thought about these things. As a member of the media, that’s pretty much all I can ask for: Right or wrong, at least be able to explain yourself.

As Tom Verducci pointed out yesterday, Tony La Russa tried to explain his Game 5 decisions, but his explanations made little or no sense.

There are two very different managerial styles in this World Series. For those of you who don’t like Girardi, which would you rather have, an occasional over-thinker in La Russa or a “could get lucky” guy in Ron Washington? Or is by-the-book Girardi better than either World Series alternative?

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* Just a side note, but isn’t this what made the Yankees six-man rotation experience so bizarre? Agree or not, Girardi usually sets his mind to something and makes his choice. Choosing not to settle on five starters was uncharacteristic unless Girardi really thought the extra rest was providing a big boost.

Associated Press photos

The change in the Red Sox front office became official today, with two different press conferences in two different cities.

Ben Cherington was officially introduced in Boston.

“There will be changes,” Cherington said. “There will be small things we do differently, but we’re going to continue to build on the culture that Theo helped create with the Red Sox… It’s my job as part of that change to preserve what we’re good at and also serve as a catalyst for the change that we need. Because what’s going to work moving forward is not exactly what’s worked in the past.”

Theo Epstein was officially introduced in Chicago.

“I don’t believe in curses, (and) I guess I played a small part in proving they don’t exist, from a baseball standpoint,” Epstein said. “I do think we can be honest and upfront that certain organizations haven’t gotten the job done. That’s the approach we took in Boston. We identified certain things that we hadn’t been doing well, that might have gotten in the way of a World Series, and eradicated them. That’s what we’ll do here.”

• The big news out of the Cherington press conference was that John Lackey needs Tommy John surgery and will miss all of next season. This wipes out whatever slim chance the Red Sox had of dumping his contract.

• The Twins declined their option on closer Joe Nathan.

• Over at MLBTradeRumors, Tim Dierkes checked with some folks to come up with a price estimate on Yu Darvish. The conclussion: A minimum of a $100-million if he’s posted this year.

• The Blue Jays will not let manager John Farrell – the former Red Sox pitching coach — interview to be the Red Sox new manager.

• My father is a farmer, and I’ve never asked his advice for fantasy sports. Maybe that was a mistake.

Associated Press photo of Epstein

MLB Network announced today that it will televise all five games of the 2011 Taiwan All-Star Series between MLB players — including Robinson Cano and Curtis Granderson — and the Chinese Taipei national team from November 1-6. Greg Amsinger and Larry Bowa will call the games.

The complete American roster is below, but it was also announced that the Chinese Taipei team will include former Yankees starter Chien-Ming Wang and Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Hong-Chih Kuo, who were both born in Taiwan.

The first game of the series, played at XinZhuang Stadium in New Taipei City, will air on MLB Network on Tuesday, November 1 at 9:00 p.m. ET. Games two and three, played at Intercontinental Stadium in Taichung, will air on November 3 and 4 at 9:00 p.m. ET, and games four and five, played at Chengcing Lake Stadium in Kaohsiung, will air at 5:00 p.m. ET on November 5 and at 9:00 p.m. ET on November 6.

The complete game schedule is available here.

PITCHERS
Collin Balester, Nationals
Trevor Bell, Angels
Bill Bray, Reds
Phil Coke, Tigers
Ross Detwiler, Nationals
Dillon Gee, Mets
Jeremy Guthrie, Orioles
LaTroy Hawkins, Brewers
Mark Melancon, Astros
Felipe Paulino, Royals
Ramon Ramirez, Giants
Rich Thompson, Angels
Jose Veras, Pirates

CATCHERS
Drew Butera, Twins
Jeff Mathis, Angels
Ronny Paulino, Mets

INFIELDERS
Erick Aybar, Angels
Robinson Cano, Yankees
Michael Morse, Nationals
Ryan Roberts, Diamondbacks
Pablo Sandoval, Giants
Danny Valencia, Twins
Ty Wigginton, Rockies

OUTFIELDERS
Emilio Bonifacio, Marlins
Curtis Granderson, Yankees
Logan Morrison, Marlins
Josh Reddick, Red Sox
Andres Torres, Giants

Associated Press photos

Talking to the Kansas City Star after being hired as the Royals pitching coach, former Yankees coach Dave Eiland briefly addressed his 2010 leave of absence when he was away from the Yankees for 25 days.

“It was something that if it happened in the off-season,” Eiland said. “Nobody would have known anything about it. It was something I had to take care of. I came home, got everything where it needed to be and moved on.

“All is well, and I couldn’t be happier from a personal or professional standpoint. As I told (manager Ned Yost on Monday), I wish spring training was starting tomorrow.”

The Yankees Double-A team ranked in the bottom half of the Eastern League in just about every offensive category and had only one player reach double digit home runs. The pitching staff wasn’t much better, and that led to a sub-.500 record.

This might have been a breakout season for several Thunder players — Melky Mesa, Brad Suttle and Graham Stoneburner were intriguing for various reasons — but instead it was usual suspects Manny Banuelos and Dellin Betances who had most of the attention most of the year in Trenton (when the team didn’t have a future Hall of Famer at shortstop, that is).

Hitter of the Year: 2B Corban Joseph
Nothing especially overwhelming about Joseph’s season, just a typically solid all-around year for the versatile infielder who was an everyday second baseman this year. Joseph hit .277/.353/.415 and was one of only five players to get into more than 100 games for the Thunder. He led the team with 58 RBI and tied for the league lead with 38 doubles. A fourth-round pick in 2008, Joseph has been a steady hitter while playing second and third base, and should move up to Triple-A next season with an eye on a big league utility role at some point.

Starter of the Year: RHP Dellin Betances
He had a losing record and pitched only 105.1 innings for Trenton, but Betances still stands out because he led all starters with 115 strikeouts and a .219 opponents batting average. Betances and Banuelos each battled some control problems, a sign that they still have work to do before they’re fully polished, but both showed that they can be dominant. Betances allowed two runs or less in 12 of his 21 Double-A starts. He was better in the first half than in the second half, but more than held his own when given his first big league start in late September. He’s clearly not a finished product, but Betances showed why he’s such a highly touted young arm in the Yankees pitching-rich system.

Reliever of the Year: RHP/LHP Pat Venditte
Josh Schmidt and Wilkins Arias delivered typically Double-A impressive numbers, but neither pitched more than 35 innings, and Tim Norton’s incredibly dominant Double-A stint was cut short after just 29 innings. Meanwhile, Venditte threw a whopping 90 innings — all of them out of the pen — and carried a 1.23 WHIP that was the best on the team among anyone with more than 35 innings. Seen as a kind o sideshow, Venditte has gotten results at every level, and this year he held lefties to a .213 average with 43 strikeouts in 136 at-bats. He pitched at least three innings 10 times, and went as high as 4.1 innings (on 57 pitches). As he keeps getting outs at higher and higher levels it’s becoming more and more difficult to completely dismiss him as a legitimate prospect.

Breakout performance: RHP Tim Norton
Trenton’s truly eye-opening performance lasted only the first two months of the season. Coming back from injury, Norton put himself firmly back on the map with 22 exceptional relief outings for the Thunder. He struck out 44 batters in 29 innings, allowed a .124 opponents batting average and earned a promotion to Triple-A. After one outing for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Norton landed back on the disabled list and was never heard from again. One of several pieces of the Trenton roster that seemed so close to a breakout but ultimately fizzled for one reason or another.

Disappointing numbers: CF Melky Mesa
Coming off an MVP season in the Florida State League, Mesa came into this year with a 40-man spot and renewed hope that he might finally turn his exceptional tools — power, speed, defense — into legitimate baseball progress. Instead, he took a step back. Mesa’s strikeout totals went up slightly and his slash line dipped to .251/.329/.404 with nine home runs and 18 stolen bases. In an organization light on elite upper-level outfield prospects, Mesa offered some hope this season, but he didn’t do much to keep the attention. Austin Romine’s power numbers also dipped this season, Brad Suttle did nothing to resurrect his prospect status and Graham Stoneburner was limited to just 11 starts.

Top prospect watch: LHP Manny Banuelos
One of the top left-handed pitching prospects in baseball, Banuelos generated a ton of buzz in spring training, but he had 52 walks in 95.1 innings with Trenton. Only three of his 20 starts lasted more than five innings. But there were, of course, plenty of positives. Banuelos struck out 95, had a 3.59 ERA and held lefties to a .229 average. He was bumped to Triple-A in August and made seven starts at that level, including a seven-inning, one-hit gem against the Red Sox top minor league affiliate. Banuelos had a good-but-not-overwhelming season, showing the promise and the youth of a 20 year old.

Notable: C Austin Romine didn’t hit for the same power that he showed last season, but his batting average and on-base percentage both improved in his second Double-A season. He threw out 23.9 percent of base stealers, ranking seventh of nine qualifying catchers in the Eastern League… LHP Shaeffer Hall and RHP Craig Heyer each had 10 wins in solid but not standout seasons out of the rotation… After an impressive 2010 seasons, RHP Graham Stoneburner had a 1.69 ERA through his first three Double-A starts before being shutdown with an injury. He returned in late July, but he’ll ultimately need to take a mulligan on his season… RHP Josh Schmidt first got to Trenton in 2008. In his past three seasons he’s had a 1.61, 2.67 and 1.83 ERA in Double-A, but he’s gotten just 21 opportunities in Triple-A. Such is the life for a soft-tossing right-hander. Have to feel for the guy, though… SS Jose Pirela made a team-high 39 errors, the most among Eastern League shortstops… Nice year for OF Ray Kruml who hit .290 and earned some playing time in Triple-A… Up from High-A Tampa, OF Ziolo Almonto, 3B Robert Lyerly and RHP Chase Whitley were among the biggest names on the roster at the end of the year.