Happy birthday Mo, plus a few links and notes
Posted by: Chad Jennings - Posted in Misc on Nov 29, 2011 
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After your 21st birthday, it’s really the round numbers that people seem to care about. They make a big deal out of turning 30 — to be honest, it was my 31st that made me feel significantly older — and you’re “over the hill” at 40. I remember my father having a big birthday party when he turned 50, and I’m pretty sure my mother will still deny that her 60th ever happened.
But turning 42? That birthday seems significant for only one man.
Mariano Rivera, No. 42 himself, turned 42 today. The game’s greatest closer is in the second year of a two-year deal, and there is already talk that next season might be his last. My guess is Mo will keep throwing those cutters as long as they’re effective.
Happy birthday Mo, and here are a few notes and links from another quiet Tuesday.
• Not really a note, but I had a conversation with another Yankees writer this afternoon. The topic of discussion: There is nothing going on with this team!
• A quick note on an earlier item from today: When Curtis Granderson opened that playground in the Bronx on Monday, for every home run he hit, the American Dairy Association & Dairy Council agreed to donate $100 to PS19X for school nutrition programs. Curtis actually hit seven, but the ADADC donated a total of $1,500 in honor of his visit.
• The Red Sox have their new manager, and it’s Bobby Valentine.
• Former Yankees reliever Brian Bruney has signed a minor league deal with the White Sox.
• Jon Heyman reports that C.J. Wilson has asked the Angels for a $100-million deal, which could be a lower-then-usual figure for the opportunity to play in California.
Associated Press photo of Rivera
Montero turned 22 yesterday right?
Sabean told John Shea of The San Francisco Chronicle that he will speak to Carlos Beltran’s camp today (Twitter link). “It’s a fluid situation as well as other conversations we’re in,” said the GM.
5/100 or 6/100?
Not interested in either, just curious.
Jesus Montero. Jesus Alejandro (Lopez) Montero. Born: November 28, 1989 in Guacara, Carabobo, Venezuela
Do you the Yankees pay part of A.J.’s salary in a trade – if they acquire another starter? The Yankees have done it before to get rid of an ineffective starter. . . .
MYYs paid $4 mil on Wright, not $20 mil plus.
and to the one that said the yankees can afford it, is beyond idiocy. Just because they can doesn’t mean they should. Why should they pay another team in one deal, then give up major talent such as Romine, multiple pitchers and more just for the priviledge of bailing out inept management of other teams?
Stoneburner-
The Braves are paying 10M of Lowe’s last remaining year, turning him into a 5M pitcher for the Indians. Since AJ has 33M remaining and a partial 10 team, NTC, I don’t think the Yankees will look to move him yet.
Why should they pay another team in one deal, then give up major talent such as Romine, multiple pitchers and more just for the priviledge of bailing out inept management of other teams?
—–
Because the pitcher you acquire is presumably a lot better than AJ.
This might be another year where Cashman and the owners do little now and wait until the trading deadline to address any weaknesses. Here’s a list of “possible” non-tendered candidates. Any interest in some of the pitchers or position players to round out the bench?
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/.....dates.html
Lefties Joe Saunders, Tom Gorzelanny? Micah Owings to pinch hit?
Ryan Spilborghs or Skip Schumacker off the bench?
You have to pay AJ one way or another…..you could potentially pay him less if you’re able to trade him. It’s tough to know if there is a match out there or not without knowing which 10 teams he’s put on his no trade….I’m assuming they are mostly west coast teams.
The Marlins have inquired about everyone else…..and they had success with another guy that struggled in NY (Javy)…..
How about that .
Mo and I share the same birth date .
( In month and day , not year though . )
How about that .
“Lefties Joe Saunders, Tom Gorzelanny? Micah Owings to pinch hit?”
I’d maybe sign Saunders to a minor league deal for depth if he would
Everyone have a great night. Until tomorrow.
Latest predictions for major FA signings subject to change.
Pujols-Cardinals
Reyes-Mariners
Fielder-Nationals
Ramirez-Angels
Wilson-Tigers
Buehrle-Cubs
Ortiz-Blue Jays
Night Trader,
Pujols-Cards
Reyes- Marlins
Fielder- Cubs (or Rangers)
Ramirez- Tigers
Wilson- Angels
Buerle- Nationals
Ortiz- Red Sox
Darvish- Ham Fighters
Beltran- Giants
Madson- Red Sox
Reyes-Marlins not Mariners.
Agree on Darvish, Beltran and Madson. Now it’s really goodnight. Blake take care. Tomorrows another day for good rumors!!
Pujols – Cubs
Reyes – Brewers
Fielder – Mariners
Ramirez – Angels
Wilson – Nationals
Buerle – Marlins
Ortiz – Blue Jays
Darvish – Rangers
Beltran – Red Sox
Bell – Boston
Madson – Blue Jays
E-Jax – Back to Cards
LGY November 29th, 2011 at 10:10 pm
Why should they pay another team in one deal, then give up major talent such as Romine, multiple pitchers and more just for the priviledge of bailing out inept management of other teams?
—–
Because the pitcher you acquire is presumably a lot better than AJ.
————————————————————————————————————————-
Combined, Danks and Thornton aren’t $30 mil better. And neither are very many others that you can dream up. All of that talent to pick up those two plus about $20 mil on burnett. In the end for all of that, you have a 36 year old and expensive relief pitcher. Only you would find that to be a great deal. Go figure. Stay away from Cashman.
you can subtract the Western Division teams and the AL East. That leave about 2 teams that have the money and return talent for Burnett and another 3 or 4 that are rebuilding.
BloggingBombersMark Feinsand
Spoke with Joe Girardi today; he’s happy Garcia re-signed and said the veteran won’t have to compete for a rotation spot – he’s got one.
Girardi: “Will we try to add one more veteran arm? It’s possible, but I feel pretty good about the guys we have in camp right now.”
Girardi on the possibility of signing a big free-agent pitcher: “Sometimes you feel that you can overpay for pitching and it can cost you.”
Girardi on Hughes/Nova having to prove themselves in spring training: “I think it’s extremely important that you don’t take it for granted.”
Girardi said he fully expects both Nova/Hughes to be in the rotation. Doesn’t sound like an open competition, but they have to pitch well.
Now that they have signed Booby V to manage, it’s now official:
Boston Red Sox: Chernobyl on the Charles.
This has made my hot stove. Can’t wait until February.
You can save money by paying AJ to pitch somewhere else, it depends on how you do it.
If you simply replace AJ with Noesi, you save whatever the other team is paying him, plus his entire salary is off the payroll, while you probably get better performance than he has given the past two years.
But I doubt the Yankees do it.
pat,
Thanks for those. Girardi was a chatty cat tonight!
So, we’re looking at CC/AJ/Garcia/Hughes/Nova.
Pretty good staff as it is. Might change before P&C’s report.
Sigh
Another year of trying to outscore everyone. Maybe the bats can show up in October this year.
Good to see two total question marks (or in Burnett’s case, awful pitcher) getting guaranteed spots in the rotation. Cash is playing with fire expecting the “bag of tricks” rotation to work two years in a row.
Two points: 1) Yankees paid Igawa to do nothing at the major league level. And he was a lefty. You don’t think they’ll squeeze every dime out of AJ? He’s not going anywhere.
Second point:
Pujols – Cardinals
Reyes – Marlins
Fielder – Cubs
Ramirez – Angels
Wilson – Angels
Buerle – Rangers
Ortiz – Red Sox
Darvish – Ham Fighters
Beltran – Red Sox
Bell – Padres
Madson – Mets
E-Jax – Cards
AJ is the Yankees’ Jesse Pinkman. They see something in him.
Pujols – CUBS
Fielder – CARDS
Reyes – METS
Wilson – R\SOX
Buehrle – NATS
Ortiz – B\JAYS
Beltran – FRISCO
Ramirez – ANGELS
——————–
DARVISH – YANKEES
I’ve thought about it; let’s keep Betances!
Why didn’t Ben Cherington give Lamont a call to tell him he didn’t get the job?
At first I thought that Valentine would be rub the vets in the clubhouse the wrong way.
But the more I think about it, he’s the right man for the job. Or at least has the right qualifications.
I would have preferred to have a total newb in there to really feel the heat and hopefully crush under the pressure.
But Valentine has dealt with New York and Japan, two baseball savvy markets. I think he’s more mellow and much more diplomatic now. Hopefully, Lucchino will be an intervening nuisance and Henry will continue to trip over his own shoes. That might drive Valentine nuts.
Good morning Lohud people.
A lot of folks here aren’t going to be happy about this. If not already mentioned, Cashman doesn’t appear at all ready to deal. In fact, according to the DN, right now the price – for a FA or trade – seems far too high and Cash and appears willing to go with the rotation he has, stressing patience. An article in the NYT is saying the same thing. Cash in stealth mode or seriously uninterested in the over-priced possibilities this far available?:
http://www.nydailynews.com/spo.....e-1.984289
It’s the payroll more than “overpricing” in an absolute sense. Even if the Yanks don’t sign a pitcher, the payroll will be very close to where it was the last few years. The escalators to players coming back chew up the “space” from Posada, Marte and Igawa departing.
If the Yanks had not signed Soriano last year, they would be players this offseason.
nydailynews.com
I get tempted a lot,” Cashman said by phone Tuesday. “And we definitely have the assets. But we have a lot more patience than we used to have. My job is always to try and make our team better, but my job is not to do it in a dumb way.
Mike Ri November 30th, 2011 at 6:53 am
nydailynews.com
I get tempted a lot,” Cashman said by phone Tuesday. “And we definitely have the assets. But we have a lot more patience than we used to have. My job is always to try and make our team better, but my job is not to do it in a dumb way.
____________________________________________________________________________
Morning, I’m not as unhappy at the way we used to do it as it did endup winning us several championships. As soon as Brian turns his new found patience into something other than early exits from the playoffs, then I think it’s a fair positive comment to make.
Well this mornings news is Bobby V coming in as the new skipper for Boston. I also see that the Garza rumors continue. It seems he could be had for prospects as opposed to current position players, but I have no idea if the new found patience would make that a dumb move. I always thought Garza was a good pitcher and just my opinion he would be an asset to the staff. Wonder if we could make a deal for him?
I don’t know if Cashman is close to doing anything or not……but specifically on the trade front he’s not going to tip the media off to it of he is.
Anything Cashman says this time of year has to be taken lightly…….but the facts are that he’s just not going to force a bad deal just to do something…….and that’s a good thing.
CC,Nova,Hughes,Garcia,AJ, and (Noesi) is a competitive rotation provided that we get the same
production from Nova and Garcia, and Hughes bounces back (I think he will).
It’s too bad AJ is not suited for the pen or he could easily be replaced by Noesi if he faltered during the season.
If Cashman sees the cost-effective upgrade he’ll go for it.
Not likely the the O changes much other than a tweak here or there.
I wonder if Cash would go after that Japanese SS who was just posted and then consider moving Nunez in a deal ?
The Granderson trade came out of nowhere ……without a whisper of speculation and was announced at the winter meetings I believe…….and we found out later that Cashman had been working on it sinse the World Series……..similar thing with the Vazquez deal.
That doesn’t mean he’s working on something …..but nothing he says means anything either.
“loose lips sink ships”, or in this case “trades”.
“I wonder if Cash would go after that Japanese SS who was just posted and then consider moving Nunez in a deal ?”
Hey MTU……I would think that a deal that really made sense for Nunez (with a big return) would have to materialize first and then secondly they considered him as a replacement. The success rate for Japanese infielders in the big leagues is basically 0%.
Blake-
I understand.
But isn’t the bid period already open on the Japanese SS ?
Do you happen to know if he has a slick glove or plays any other infield spots ?
Good morning-
Valentine, interviewed shortly after Francona was dismissed, said he didn’t see himself as a good fit for the Red Sox. Now we’ll see if he should have listened to his “inner self.”
From MLBTRs:
Yankees GM Brian Cashman offered a “would not say” to George A. King III of The New York Post when asked if he has any interest in Japanese shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima. The Seibu Lions posted Nakajima on Monday.
In the summer of 2010, Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker, called Nakajima Japan’s second-best hitter behind Norichika Aoki (who will also be posted). Nakajima asked to be posted last offseason, but the team denied his request. The 29-year-old hit .297/.354/.433 with 16 home runs and 27 doubles in 633 plate appearances for the Lions in 2011. Legacy Sports represents him in the U.S.
That means the 4 day silent auction will soon be held. I wonder if the Yankees are in it, allowing them to make Eduardo Nunez available in a trade for a starting pitcher. Could Nunez be the centerpiece of a deal that Kenny Williams wants for Danks? The White Sox are losing Juan Pierre their only base stealing threat.
MTU-
Geez, while I was slowly typing my entry you mentioned the same thing about the Japanese SS and Nunez.
Brilliant minds think alike, although mine is fading a bit.
“Do you happen to know if he has a slick glove or plays any other infield spots ?”
I don’t know a thing about him
YT-
Thanks. I just took a look at the #’s for the Twins Japanese SS and they were dismal.
You kind of got the drift of what I was getting at but it appears that Nunez would be a lot cheaper and probably a lot better.
So it seems like a non-starter, so to speak.
Stats on Nakajima:
http://www.japaneseballplayers.....=hnakajima
“Because the pitcher you acquire is presumably a lot better than AJ.”
Not your money so why should you care? Right?
“brilliant minds”.
You maybe. But me ?
That’s too funny.
I’m still after Danks under the right circumstances.
SI_JonHeyman-baseball execs are wondering whether yu darvish will ever post. be patient, says source. says likely to happen in 2 weeks
“Not your money so why should you care? Right?”
Trading AJ means you pay less money. If they are going to upgrade the rotation then AJ isn’t going to factor into the decision ….they have to pay AJ one way or another …….its not like if you keep him you don’t have to pay him…..
good morning!
Garza…Buehrle…just sayin’
Bobby V should be a good fit for the red sox, at least until he wears out his welcome.
Kate-
Like throwin’ gasoline on a fire.
Bobby V is a legend in his own mind.
Trading Aj-led to a lot of heated discussion last night.
Personally I think the Yankees will wait at least until midseason, to see how he performs out of the gate.
Financially I’m not sure but I don’t think the money owed him, if traded, would count toward the 42% luxury tax this year and 50% luxury tax next year, since he wouldn’t be part of the 40 man payroll, if traded before the start of the 2012 season??? Is this correct?
Yu Darvish is going thru a divorce. It’s possible, since a new lucrative contract in the US would possibly effect the settlement, that he waits a year.
In my heart of hearts I do not really believe the Yankees are gonna move AJ right now.
If he performs poorly again this season his trade value for next year will be near zero.
It would be easier for the Yankees to swallow the money for 1 year instead of 2.
His chief virtue is that he has been able to eat innings- very expensively.
If you get lucky on a given day he can still flat out dominate.
YT-
Perhaps it could be excluded. Do they have “community property” over in Japan ?
I’m not ready to spend that kind of coin on Darvish but hey it’s not my money or my job on the line.
I thought divorces in Japan were settled thru ritual combat.
With Samauri swords. Not in the courts.
Oh well. Shows ya’ what I know.
MTU-
Don’t know if they have “community property” in Japan. It took Matsusaka 6 weeks to sign on the dotted line after he was posted, the full 30 day window to negotiate a contract, plus the posting/auction period.
The only benefit to trading Burnett now might be lowering the hit on the luxury tax paid by the Yankees, but as I posted earlier, I’m not sure.
Isn’t Twirling Dervish’s wife some sort of supermodel ?
She may make more than him.
Maybe she needs to watch out.
Have to go and get my car serviced.
Good day to all of the morning crew.
YT-
Let’s face it. AJ is ours. Warts, Tattoos and all.
I’d love to watch a flick with him in his Media room and drink a few brewski’s.
I hear its the size of many movie theaters.
If you are interested in frequent updates/rumors involving Yu Darvish, this is a good site I found a few weeks ago.
http://yakyubaka.com/tag/yu-darvish/
I’ll check back later for any comments/answers to my earlier posts.
MTU November 30th, 2011 at 7:30 am
CC,Nova,Hughes,Garcia,AJ, and (Noesi) is a competitive rotation provided that we get the same
production from Nova and Garcia, and Hughes bounces back (I think he will).
____________________________________________________________________________
MTU, I think your assessment is where many are at, it’s a competitive rotation capable of winning 90 or so games, but not a championship rotation. At least that is my opinion. While the focus has been on pitching they still need to sort of a few things on offense. Hoping next weeks meeting sort out some of these areas.
Gary-
You never know what Cashman might come up with but I see him as “value-type” investor.
He’s looking for bargains. They are hard to come by.
MTU November 30th, 2011 at 8:24 am
Gary-
You never know what Cashman might come up with but I see him as “value-type” investor.
He’s looking for bargains. They are hard to come by.
____________________________________________________________________________
Exactly it’s a sellers market. You dig in on bargains your going to be at the pier watching alot of ships sail off to different ports. Just good business sense, when the agents and teams have the leverage they aren’t going to give it away.
Trader,
That is my understanding…..now it may have changed with the new CBA but I believe if the Yankees traded AJ then the entire 33 million comes off as it relates to the luxury tax. If that’s wrong then someone can correct it.
I don’t think the Yanks will deal AJ either most likely…..because I don’t know if there is a team out there that will take him now…..and it doesn’t seem like the Yanks are willing to eat enough salary to make it possible.
I do wonder though…..if they add a starter what they are going to do with everybody? They have 6 starters now including Noesi……now they could just start him in AAA but if they add another then somebody is going to be the odd man out…….
Jeter made Barbara Walters’ Most Fascinating People of 2011 List. The show will air December 14:
http://tiny.cc/2k2ck
blake November 30th, 2011 at 8:29 am
Trader,
That is my understanding…..now it may have changed with the new CBA but I believe if the Yankees traded AJ then the entire 33 million comes off as it relates to the luxury tax. If that’s wrong then someone can correct it.
I don’t think the Yanks will deal AJ either most likely…..because I don’t know if there is a team out there that will take him now…..and it doesn’t seem like the Yanks are willing to eat enough salary to make it possible.
I do wonder though…..if they add a starter what they are going to do with everybody? They have 6 starters now including Noesi……now they could just start him in AAA but if they add another then somebody is going to be the odd man out…….
____________________________________________________________________________
Blake, I tend to think that Garcia could be a spot starter and Noesi has to knock someone out before he gets into the mix.
I do wonder though…..if they add a starter what they are going to do with everybody? They have 6 starters now including Noesi
==================================
Most recent history, not only with the Yankees, but with virtually every team, says that you’re not going to get 30+ starts out of 5 guys. Having a 6th starter isn’t only a good thing, it is likely to end up being necessary.
Valentine is an excellent choice because he consolidates any stray feelings of Sox contempt that may have wandered off during their recent collapse.
It’s like if your % of pure loathing snuck down to the low 90′s while you were laughing your ass off at them, Bobby V puts it right back at 100%. Instead of “instant karma” it’s “instant hatred”
Has there been any news out there on Bartolo ?
Just curious.
“MTU, I think your assessment is where many are at, it’s a competitive rotation capable of winning 90 or so games, but not a championship rotation. At least that is my opinion.”
I agree … as a best case scenario, the present rotation merely faciliates the Yankees thru the regular season with our bullpen and lineup being as good as they are. But it is far from being dominant.
There are too many “ifs” that concern me about it. What if CC gets hurt, who assumes the role as temporary staff ace? Nova? He has questions himself? What if the league catches up to him and he has to take a couple of steps backward from where he was last season, before he improves again?
What if Garcia is unable to repeat his performance from last season? What if Hughes continues his trend of getting hurt and pitching inconsistent? And so and so forth.
I look at the staff as presently constituted and I imagine just how much better it would be if we could still plug Andy in as the #2. Everyone slots in nicely below that. So if we cant have Andy, then we need a pitcher to acquire who is not necessarily great, but effective, reliable, takes the ball every 5th day and consistently pitches deep into games, and has previous post season experience.
Two names come to mind for me – sign Buerhle as a FA or trade for Garza.
Those types of pitchers round out the rotation and make it that much more formiddable.
“Most recent history, not only with the Yankees, but with virtually every team, says that you’re not going to get 30+ starts out of 5 guys. Having a 6th starter isn’t only a good thing, it is likely to end up being necessary.”
True…..but my questions was if they add another starter via FA or trade? Noesi can be depth at AAA but that still would leave 6 guys. Either Hughes or AJ or Garcia would have to come out……
The Yankees have budgetary concerns it appears to me. They do not appear willing to make any significant expenditures. I foresee tweaks, at most.
For those who say wait until the trade deadline, I respond by saying two additional wild cards will further deplete possible acquisition possibilities and will increase the numbers of teams seeking to buy. Therefore, for the most part, what you see in April in the majors and minors will be the players in August.
That will make for a very dull winter meeting, and in my opinion, it is a mistake not to try to improve. The rotation has numbers, but most of the numbers have questions by their name. They need another pitcher they can rely upon as the season begins.
It’s Bobby the Brain in Boston.
He willl find new ways to lose…
Bronx Jeers-
True…..but my questions was if they add another starter via FA or trade? Noesi can be depth at AAA but that still would leave 6 guys. Either Hughes or AJ or Garcia would have to come out……
=========================
Which is why they probably won’t go crazy chasing a starter via FA or trade. If the Yankees can somehow get someone who is A) better than what they have, and who can B) be procured at “their price”, then we probably see something happen. If not, they probably head into 2012 with what they have. Either way, the old adage about pitching is as true as ever. You can never have enough.
The Yankees have budgetary concerns it appears to me
==============================
They have a budget, but HS has already demonstrated a willingness to stretch it if there is something out there that makes sense (Teixeira for example). If Cashman sees an opportunity to make the team better at the expense of stretching the budget a little, I have little doubt that he’d be able to sell HS on it.
“If the Yankees can somehow get someone who is A) better than what they have, and who can B) be procured at “their price”, then we probably see something happen.”
Yea I agree……but they certainly have been talking about adding a starter for a long time….and there are several options out there to consider. Personally I think that they actually pull the trigger on something this time…….but we’ll see.
Dogface,
Welcome by the way…..you are fairly new here right?
Blake
That’s what I’ve been wondering all winter. I think they add another starter next week.
“That’s what I’ve been wondering all winter. I think they add another starter next week.”
I tend to agree…..we shall see. The winter meetings may be crazy this year….I think a lot of teams have bern hesitant to do anything until the CBA was finished.
New Post: Wrapping up the month of November