Sorting through the non-tenders
Posted by: Chad Jennings - Posted in Misc on Dec 13, 2011 
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Just a few names that standout from yesterday’s long list of non-tendered players. To various degrees, these new free agents might make sense as targets for the Yankees. As always, that’s only true if the price is right.
LHP Jose Mijares
Twins
He’s a 27-year-old lefty, hence the potential match for the Yankees. Once upon a time Mijares was pretty highly touted, but his numbers are trending the wrong direction. He had a 0.87 ERA in a short big league stint in 2008, then a 2.34 in 2009, 3.31 in 2010 and 4.59 in 2011. Perhaps most importantly, lefties hit .253/.330/.368 against him last season, not nearly as good as the .155/.228/.252 they hit against him two years ago.
OF Ryan Spilborghs
Rockies
He hit just .210 last year, and his splits the past two years have not been very good. But, Spilborghs is right-handed, he can play all three outfield positions, and he has a career .273/.357/.443 hitter against lefties, which isn’t too shabby. He could be a cheap alternative to that platoon outfield spot on the bench (but the Yankees are probably better off trying to get Andruw Jones to come back).
LHP Doug Slaten
Nationals
Like a lot of these guys, any interest in Slaten would surely depend on the contract, but he’s a left-hander, and the Yankees are looking for left-handed depth. The bad news is that lefties hit .333/.368/.639 against Slaten last season. The more intriguing news is that lefties hit .151/.235/.151 against him in 2010.
LHP Hong-Chih Kuo
Dodgers
A lot of the lefties you see on this list fit a similar profile: Bad last year, good the year before. Kuo was knocked around last year, with lefties hitting .289/.396/.489 against him. In 2010, he held lefties to a .095/.159/.111 slash line.
INF Jeff Keppinger
Giants
He’s not quite at David DeJesus status, but Keppinger always seems to be a popular topic of emails and chats. He’s a nice player, with some defensive flexibility and a solid bat for a utility infielder. He would make sense for the Yankees primarily as a backup at third base — with the ability to play second, short and a little bit of the outfielder — but he’s coming off a .255/.285/.333 season that’s quite a bit below his career numbers. With Eduardo Nunez and possibly Hiroyuki Nakajima already in the mix, the Yankees don’t have a pressing need for Keppinger, but he’s a nice player who seems popular in some corners of the fan base.
LHP Joe Saunders
Diamondbacks
After paying him $5.5 million last year, the Diamondbacks cut ties with Saunders despite a solid 3.69 ERA through 33 starts last season. He’s not a big strikeout guy, but he throws from the left side — with decent career splits against lefties — and he had a few solid years in the American League when he was pitching with the Angels. Could be a back-of-the-rotation or a lefty/long reliever candidate if the price is right.
LHP Aaron Laffey
Royals
The Royals claimed Laffey off waivers from the Yankees in October, only to non-tender him in December. Some of Laffey’s potential value comes from the fact he’s a left-hander with rotation experience, meaning he could — in theory — serve as a second lefty and also a second long man. But the Yankees didn’t seem overly impressed the first time around, and I doubt they’d want him back on anything but a minor league deal.
Joe Saunders would have to pay the Yankees for the price to be right in my eyes
KURODA-Kuo-Yu-Nakajima.
Naka Ku Ku Yu. It’s an Asian Winter in the Bronx.
lol, people were clamoring for Santana at the AS break last year… he may not even be ready for opening day this year.
LGY –
KURODA-Kuo-Yu-Nakajima.
Naka Ku Ku Yu
Isn’t that what Ghengis Khan shouted at Ben Stiller in the first Night at the Museum movie?
Patrick
The Nets better not steal Extra E from the Knicks.
ac1 December 13th, 2011 at 3:56 pm
His talent is just so wasted in the 7th inning. Cory Wade can pitch the 7th inning.
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7th inning more like the 5th
Didn’t Santana have the same surgery as Wang?
Tom in NJ – Similar, more invasive if I remember right.
LGY,
That’s ok we have enough Williams on the team already.
This FA period post lockout has been exciting and boring at the same time. All the CP3 stuff has been just absurd, can you imagine Bud Selig vetoing trades? Stern is drunk with power..
As for the boring part, well I was expecting the Nets to make a splash and get Dwight or sign Nene but it’s just dragging along. There are rumors floating around but nothing solid is happening, I can’t stand it!
can’t see mijares getting a big league deal with the yankees.
if he accepts a spring training invite, then it’s a great no risk move
repost
champ809 December 13th, 2011 at 4:44 pm
Hamels will stay in the NL- my guess is the Dodgers after Cuban buys the team.
Kershaw
Hamels
Billingsly
That may be the best in the NL in ’13….
I pray that Rothschild is of the opinion that Joba should be stretched out as a Sp next year and makes it his mission to convince Ca$h and Gen. Joe of this….
Sign Cespedes( 6/40mm) and Soler(6/15mm) send Cespedes to AAA to prove himself and Soler to the gulf coast league for a month or so and if he looks like he can handle it Low- A Charleston to play along side Mason, Dante, Cito, Gumbs and Gamel
LGY,
Go ahead and prepare yourself for a 3 year Thurman Martin extension……
That’s a bad sign for Montero’s future if they are really considering extending Martin already.
Billingsley kinda sucks.
Cashman said the other day that it took them 4 years to hand the full time catching duties over to Jorge…..I think they want to move slowly with Montero behind the plate so that he develops the skills and also so he focuses on getting his bat up to speed in the bigs first…….if they signed Martin to an extension then they coukd move at their own pace and then trade him when/if Montero is ready to catch full time.
Irreverent Discourse December 13th, 2011 at 3:54 pm
ac1 – I agree, at least to the extent that I think they should try to turn him back into a starter now. It’s the perfect opportunity. If it doesn’t work out he can always go back to the bullpen…
I’m not so concerned about him pitching this year as i am about maximizing potential.
————————
Sad part is this same logic applied just as easily in 2008…
the other advantage of extending martin is that he’s under team control. how much would the sox pay for him right now? 3/40? easily.
he likes ny, plays well and clearly isn’t bothered by the new kids showing up and taking some of his abs away. show him a little loyalty and sign him. a 4 year deal and romine is the starter, or maybe gary sanchez.
if one of those kids really surprises, you trade a young catcher, a commodity that’s rare it today’s game
Remember how Andrew Brackman was going to be the next Randy Johnson ?
L . o . l .
Another one of our over-hype Yankee propects .
L . o . l .
R . I . P . Andrew Brackman .
Girardi isn’t the manager to break in Montero at catcher. You wait and see, they’ll carry Romine or Cervelli on the roster, and Montero’s catching spots will be few and far between.
“Girardi isn’t the manager to break in Montero at catcher. You wait and see, they’ll carry Romine or Cervelli on the roster, and Montero’s catching spots will be few and far between.”
Cashman should take it out of Girardi’s hands.
You have to wonder what will happen to Banuelos and Betances .
“Cashman should take it out of Girardi’s hands.”
It would give Girardi a bleeding ulcer.
ID ~
Thanks for your answer re: the bidding process in the previous thread.
So, even though the bidding deadline is 2pm (my time) tomorrow, sounds like we may not know who the winner is till next week – unless the team doesn’t have to ponder too much over it…
When Robertson first arrived in the big leagues, Girardi was reluctant to use him in many situations. Now, he’s Joe’s ultimate weapon next to Mo. Bottom line is that D-Rob forced his hand.
Montero is a hitting machine and has got the most perfect RH stroke for YS that you could ask for in a young hitter. He’s also gonna force Joe’s hand. He’ll be a regular in the lineup in 2012, whether it’s as a C, DH, or maybe even 1B.
Hopefully Cashman continues to make strategic personnel decisions, and Girardi continues to make on-the-field tactical decisions. That’s how it should be.
Montero will get his chance to rake. If he does well, they’ll find a way to keep him in the lineup, irrespective of position.
blake December 13th, 2011 at 5:27 pm
“Girardi isn’t the manager to break in Montero at catcher. You wait and see, they’ll carry Romine or Cervelli on the roster, and Montero’s catching spots will be few and far between.”
Cashman should take it out of Girardi’s hands.
____________________________________________________________________________
Blake, brings to mind Billy Beane and Art Howell in Moneyball. I think Beane had to trade the other guy to get the player (I forgot his name) on the field.
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-labor
— allowing teams from the same division to meet in the playoffs before the league championship series.
— a ban on players getting tattoos with corporate logos.
— the possibility of players wearing microphones during games.
— a ban on players betting with illegal bookies on any sport.
— new language allowing the commissioner to discipline players for violating federal, state or local law or for conduct “materially detrimental or materially prejudicial to the best interests of baseball.”
— possible suspensions for intentionally throwing a ball or equipment at non-uniformed personnel with the intention of causing bodily harm; for assaulting fans, media or umpires; or for making public statements that question the integrity of the game, the umpires, the commissioner or the commissioner’s staff.
ID -
So, will Josh Beckett finally be fined for delaying the game?????
Quite a list, that is.
its funny how 25% of of bloggers on MLB traderumors believe yankees will win the bid.
Does anyone know what Noesi’s pitching arsenal consists of?
Benny-
Here’s a profile of Noesi :
http://riveraveblues.com/2011/.....esi-40596/
Has anyone seen the new Muppet movie?
Darvish only gave up 5 hrs in 250 innings last year? WOW!
Thanks for the info MTU, I’m bored and I wanted to make sure Noesi’s arsenal was updated for my MLB THE SHOW 11 haha.