Friday night notes and links: Pettitte, Castro, Pavano
Posted by: Chad Jennings - Posted in Misc on Jan 25, 2013 
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A few notes and links as we head into the weekend.
• I couldn’t get down to Joe Torre’s Safe at Home Foundation gala last night, so I sent my old friend Marc Carig in my place (not really, but he was there for Newsday). Torre explained that Andy Pettitte hasn’t been ruled out as a WBC pitcher, but the Yankees aren’t sold on the idea. “They have expressed concerns because of the injuries he has had,” Torre said. “Again, that’s the most important thing, to make everybody comfortable with what’s going on.” Brian Cashman didn’t have much to say about the Pettitte decision, telling the Daily News only that Pettitte’s not currently on the Team USA roster.
• Speaking of Marc, now that he’s switched papers and beats, Andy McCullough is jumping onto the Yankees beat for the Star-Ledger. Give him a follow on Twitter. I think you all will like him.
• Alex Rodriguez had major hip surgery earlier this month. Not sure why it’s news that Brian Cashman admitted Rodriguez could miss the entire season, but apparently it is. As both Andrew Marchand and Erik Boland have pointed out — trust me, those two always agree with one another — Cashman has always said it’s at least possible Rodriguez could miss the whole year.
• The Royals claimed A’s catcher George Kottaras off waivers. That means, even if the Yankees had been interested, they couldn’t have claimed him because the Royals have a higher waiver priority.
• According to Baseball America’s latest minor league transactions, the Yankees have re-signed RHP Kelvin Castro. You might be familiar with the name because Castro spent seven seasons in the organization as a light-hitting middle infielder, but last year he was converted to the mound. No clue what sort of upside he has as a pitcher. My guess is the Yankees are still in the process of finding out for themselves.
• Buster Olney picked the 1998 Yankees as the best team of all time.
• Not among the best of all time is Carl Pavano, who’s somehow managed to get hurt again. This time he ruptured his spleen while shoveling his driveway. No, I don’t think the Yankees would have been interested even if he were healthy.
• One player I thought the Yankees might be interested in, Yorvit Torrealba, has signed a minor league deal with the Rockies. Not sure Torrealba would have been a legitimate upgrade over what the Yankees already have in camp, but he would have been one more veteran option at catcher.
Associated Press photo
This is a new one – even for Pavano.
blake says:
January 25, 2013 at 10:06 pm
Gattis is a decent LFer and could catch some ( though he’s not real good there). RH power bat….he is old for a prospect and has nowhere to play on braves now….Yanks should check on him
Pavano should retire before he kills himself.
Miguel Munoz Rodriguez agrees with the NY Yankees
http://dplbaseball.com/feature.....y-yankees/
Anyone have any other info on this?
Buster Olney says the 1998 Yankees are the best of all-time. Buster has the ’39 Yankees second, the ’27 Yankees fourth and the ’86 Mets ninth.
On the ’98 Yanks, Buster writes:
But that year, the Yankees didn’t really care about just making the playoffs, or reaching the World Series. The players had felt like they had blown a great chance in the ’97 playoffs against the Indians, and the Yankees went into 1998 on a mission to win the championship. Or bust.
This drove them to the greatest season in the history of baseball. They crushed teams with their rotation, with the depth of their lineup, with their bullpen, with their bench. They outscored opponents that year by 309 runs, or almost two runs per game. Every member of their primary every day lineup had an on-base percentage of at least .350. They led the AL in ERA by a little less than half a run per game. They allowed only 37 unearned runs the entire season, one of the lowest totals in history at that time. Their hitters accumulated almost 200 walks more than their pitchers allowed.
They had lost the first three games of the regular season, and after that, they were never really vulnerable again until one 48-hour period in the American League Championship Series, until Orlando Hernandez struck out Jim Thome on a 3-2 changeup with the bases loaded — a pitch El Duque had learned only weeks before — to end a sixth-inning rally in Game 4.
Otherwise, they did in the postseason what they had done all summer long. They won 11 of 13 games and outscored their opponents 62-34 in those three rounds of the postseason. They wrecked opponents.
The good old days. Didn’t remember the changeup bit about El Duque.
Link to that article plus a good video by Olney about the 98 team:
http://espn.go.com/blog/new-yo.....-best-ever
The Yankees may hope this story is true. If A-Rod misses the entire season, the insurance kicks in and pays his salary.
http://bleacherreport.com/arti.....hip-injury
Later folks.
I don’t care if the Yankees get out of paying Arod for 2013, that doesn’t increase my entertainment.
BIG AL January 26th, 2013 at 1:02 am
The Yankees may hope this story is true. If A-Rod misses the entire season, the insurance kicks in and pays his salary.
http://bleacherreport.com/arti…..hip-injury
————
Why not just hope A-Rod returns and is productive?
“Why not just hope A-Rod returns and is productive?
The insurance money wouldn’t help us at all….that goes right in Hals pocket.
The only thing to hope for is that Arod comes back and can give some value….
Towers said there were 3-4 teams that were persistent on Upton and made legit offers….also said the 3 team deal at the winter meetings was very close to happening but fell apart
I’m still kind of stunned how worst-case-scenario A-Rod’s new contract has been. It was ill-conceived to begin with, for sure, but who could have foresaw all these problems? We don’t even know if his talent has really regressed that much yet — the guy has just been banged up for years now.
It has gone sideways big time….but I do think it’s important to remember who Arod was when he signed this new deal …he was coming off a 9.7 fWAR season and had tons of leverage.
To me…the Angels signing Pujols to a similar contract after seeing how bad it can go was much worse
blake January 26th, 2013 at 7:08 am
Towers said there were 3-4 teams that were persistent on Upton and made legit offers….also said the 3 team deal at the winter meetings was very close to happening but fell apart
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Looks like they really liked Prado. He’s a good player, and perhaps he’ll really captain that team. The extension was the key part and it sounds like they’re going to be working on that.
The Braves have to be happy with the trade, but I’m interested to see how this Dbacks team shapes up.
blake January 26th, 2013 at 7:10 am
It has gone sideways big time….but I do think it’s important to remember who Arod was when he signed this new deal …he was coming off a 9.7 fWAR season and had tons of leverage.
To me…the Angels signing Pujols to a similar contract after seeing how bad it can go was much worse
——–
Pujols is older, I definitely think it was a bad move. A-Rod has that degenerative hip, but Pujols has a much larger build. I think he could break down even quicker.
I love the deal for the Braves but if the Dbacks can sign Prado to a reasonable deal then I’ll like it better for them…..Prado is a real good player…a player I’ve wanted the Yanks to get before. Delgado could make the deal for Towers if he hits his ceiling…..
Since I know the Yanks aren’t doing anything…I’ve play frank Wren this morning…..he could call up the Padres and offer Teheran and Gattis for Headley….go for it while you can
Simmons
Headley
Heyward
J Upton
Mcann
B Upton
Freeman
Uggla
Pitcher
Yikes
You’d really have to blow away the Padres to get Headley. I don’t know much about Gattis, but Teheran would help.
Gattis is a guy we should be trying to trade for too….he’s totally blocked in the braves OF and is 27 years old….big RH power….can play the OF corners and catch in a pinch. Doesn’t K much in minors
I don’t know if the Padres would move Headley or not….but given that he’s a FA in 2 years, that they have a 3B prospect pretty close to ready….and that they could get a good return for him then they probably should think about it
BA compares Gattis to Willingham
I haven’t seen much written about the loss of The Chief, Sweaty Freddie. Ah well.
It would be great if Nova had a bounce back season. This team needs a few bounce back seasons, from Tex, Youk, and Grandy.
“The insurance money wouldn’t help us at all….that goes right in Hals pocket.
The only thing to hope for is that Arod comes back and can give some value….”
so what’s good for yankee fans and what’s good for hal are the inverse of each other.
that’s very unyankee-ish
un-american even
against truth , justice, and the american way
“so what’s good for yankee fans and what’s good for hal are the inverse of each other.”
Until I see otherwise….
I’m not sure what’s going to happen to Youkilis’ wine now, “SauvignYoouuk Blanc.” http://www.eventwines.com/Prod.....de=1225-06
Is this thing a collector’s item now? Should I go to the liquor store next door and buy up all of their bottles?
@NYDNSportsITeam: Feds, MLB probe A-Rod adviser for possible PED link http://t.co/zhhCrLFl
morning all..no moves made by the NYY through the night but I feel one coming & even if there isn’t a move they’ll be ok
Will A-Rod have to appear on to Oprah?
BIG AL January 26th, 2013 at 1:02 am
The Yankees may hope this story is true. If A-Rod misses the entire season, the insurance kicks in and pays his salary.
————————————————-
this isn’t the worst idea …never want anyone to leave the game because of injury but I think Arod is on the slippery slop in production and health
when Arod did admit to taking something did he just say it was only when he was in Tex
blake January 26th, 2013 at 8:00 am
@NYDNSportsITeam: Feds, MLB probe A-Rod adviser for possible PED link http://t.co/zhhCrLFl
———————————
this won’t be good
joeman says:
January 26, 2013 at 8:15 am
when Arod did admit to taking something did he just say it was only when he was in Tex
Yes.
blake January 26th, 2013 at 8:18 am
joeman says:
January 26, 2013 at 8:15 am
when Arod did admit to taking something did he just say it was only when he was in Tex
Yes.
———-
This has always been a suspicious claim. It makes no sense at all.
blake January 26th, 2013 at 8:18 am
joeman says:
January 26, 2013 at 8:15 am
when Arod did admit to taking something did he just say it was only when he was in Tex
Yes.
———————————-
do you really think he spoke the truth
Realistically, A-Rod would only have quit using if he thought he would be caught, or after he had been caught, if he’s not still using. It has absolutely nothing to do with being a Ranger or being a Yankee.
I don’t know enough about the inner-workings to say when most players probably stopped using…
———————————-
“do you really think he spoke the truth”
I dunno….don’t really care that much. They started testing in 2006 I believe and he has one of his best seasons in 2007
It was noted that A-Rod had lost muscle mass heading into 2007.
Awhile back JF posted a list that supposedly was the full list of guys that tested positive when Arod did and only his name came out…..I don’t know where he got it or if it was legit or not but there were some very interesting names on it including one Pedro Martinez
I don’t think Arod needed PEDs in his prime when he took them….now is when they’d help him
RadioKev January 26th, 2013 at 8:24 am
Realistically, A-Rod would only have quit using if he thought he would be caught, or after he had been caught, if he’s not still using. It has absolutely nothing to do with being a Ranger or being a Yankee.
I don’t know enough about the inner-workings to say when most players probably stopped using…
blake January 26th, 2013 at 8:25 am
———————————-
“do you really think he spoke the truth”
I dunno….don’t really care that much. They started testing in 2006 I believe and he has one of his best seasons in 2007
——————————–
I do believe he used more than he said he did..would it keep him out of the HOF
I think Arod took the brunt of the critisim for a whole bunch of players that tested positive and whose names werent leaked
when you admit to something …sometimes you don’t admit to everything….whatever he was a great player and if I had a vote I would vote yes
blake January 26th, 2013 at 8:31 am
I think Arod took the brunt of the critisim for a whole bunch of players that tested positive and whose names werent leaked
——–
I mean, it was a smear campaign against him. His name was leaked by someone. There are definitely other guys who weren’t in the Mitchell Report who took steroids.
And then there are some guys who receive no criticism at all, like David Ortiz…
“And then there are some guys who receive no criticism at all, like David Ortiz…”
It’s incredible how his past is just ignored
Sports “journalism”
Big Papi is a folk hero; he gets immunity.
I said back in Dec that I thought would sit out the 13 season just because how all this came about and his decision not to do surgery until Jan..although I can also see why the delay because they wanted him to do pre surgery workouts…
blake January 26th, 2013 at 8:35 am
“And then there are some guys who receive no criticism at all, like David Ortiz…”
It’s incredible how his past is just ignored
——————————————————
living here in CT there are a lot of RS fans around and they never talk about Ortiz….
I live in Boston. I can tell you no one talks about it. It was willfully ignored.
Sportswriters are more concerned with Piazza and Bagwell…
Greg Amsinger brought up Ortizs PED history the other day and it was brushed off as usual
enough of that for me….I do hope the kid comes out and kills it in ST and wins the job, out-play those other 2 by a large margin
Good Morning.
Has the season started yet ?
Not much to talk about now that the big Fish has been traded.
like to see BG have a big ST also, I think he could take the lead-off spot away from Jeter ( have to see how he rebounds from that injury)
Big Fish? When was Stanton traded?
I mean, hey, I tried to start the Freddie Garcia appreciation thread. No bites.
I’m gonna jump in my Time Machine and set it for Spring 2015.
That oughta work.
MTU January 26th, 2013 at 8:46 am
Good Morning.
Has the season started yet ?
Not much to talk about now that the big Fish has been traded.
——————————————-
maybe the Mia rumors will start again with GS
Kev-
You’ve got admit. This has been one of the most boring Yankee OS in a long while.
N’est pas ?
If the season started today then who DHs? We literally have no DH
MTU January 26th, 2013 at 8:48 am
I’m gonna jump in my Time Machine and set it for Spring 2015.
That oughta work.
———————
maybe just maybe the current owners won’t be the owners in 15…..and if you want to fast foward two years bite your tonuge
MTU, go back to bed, nothing happening here…although, we could go out for a wicked snow drive in the Subaru and scare everybody and their little dog too.
blake January 26th, 2013 at 8:50 am
If the season started today then who DHs? We literally have no DH
————————————–
wonder if early in season they DH jeter
If Cash can do nothing else then he needs to at least get Soriano to give a DH and balance the lineup a bit….
Ichiro RF
Jeter SS
Cano 2B
Tex 1B
Youk 3B
Granderson LF
Soriano DH
Cervelli C
Gardner CF
Would at least give them some balance and a chance offensively
Joeman-
Maybe not. We’ll see.
I’m thinking Hal wants to sell. His heart really isn’t in this.
He should sell it to someone whose is.
blake January 26th, 2013 at 8:54 am
If Cash can do nothing else then he needs to at least get Soriano to give a DH and balance the lineup a bit….
Ichiro RF
Jeter SS
Cano 2B
Tex 1B
Youk 3B
Granderson LF
Soriano DH
Cervelli C
Gardner CF
Would at least give them some balance and a chance offensively
————————–
I would welcome back Soriano…why not
lets have the kid catch instead of Cervelli …please
Mills-
Let’s do it. In a “pretend” sort of way.
I can use the excitment.
Id prefer a Romine/Cervelli tandem
Anybody got a first baseman sorta’ like , Willie Upshaw?; I’m not sure if mine works. At least Rajai Davis can do your best , Dave Collins slow fade. Oh, Colby, you better be good for something.
AROD being out for the season would give Hal a nice big wad of cash he can hoard. Makes for a fun season. How much cash can Hal accumulate? Too bad the balance sheets are so hidden or we could really have fun.
I’d prefer a Jaso/Romine tandem.
Time for the most important meal of the day.
I’ll be back.
I like what Cash has done with this team in the off-season, has himself a VG all around a VG all around staff & filled almost all the holes he needed to fill OF & IF..a DH who can hit both RH & LH pitching would be a big help..
I am also for Romine and Cervelli if for no other reason than I hate watching Stewart hit. It is unclear what upside Romine has, but we know who the others are.
After all these years,….another Soriano.
If they put Romine at AAA then I hope they make Cervelli the primary guy because he at least isn’t a zero at the plate
Joeman,
He has brought back the same players except for losing several starters. So what do you like? Youkilis, another guy who was good several years ago?
If Colby ain’t, ” right,” at least I’ve got the Gose.
NEW————————-
Mark DeRosa is with us to get everybody home from the bar in reasonable shape.
while i was spoofing hal’s un american lack of competitive spirit i came across this old superman radio show
it’s pretty amazing. it starts out about a youth baseball team jimmy olsen is managing. his best pitcher is replaced by a new kid who beats him out for best pitcher. the kid who is replaced gets mad and causes trouble and eventually the kids uncle gets involved. the kids uncle says they’ll get even with the new kid and jimmy olsen and takes the replaced kid to a secret meeting where they’ll take care of things. it turns out to be a KKK meeting. that’s right , superman takes on the clan.
this was in 1946. a quick read shows that a human rights activist infiltrated the kkk and then contacted superman producers and they made up a superman story against the kkk.
pretty amazing for 1946.
the kkk tried to do a boycott of kellogs products who sponsored the program. it failed as ratings soared for the superman episode.
http://www.youtube.com/playlis.....BC375F0440
what does this have to do with hal?
i think it’s about taking chances and standing up for what’s right. that superman show went way out on a limb standing up against the kkk. you don’t see mainstream media shows with mass market advertisers do this now. standing up for what’s right on something as important as opposing the kkk was back then is too controversial and not nice. it would offend.
so “nice’ companies don’t do that. what does this have to do with hal?
hal is one of those “nice” people who doesn’t rock the boat, doesn’t stand up if it means things might get messy, or if he might lose some money doing what’s right. to hal “right” seems to be what makes him money.
i realize baseball was segregated in those days , but in my child mind in the 50′s the tv superman and the yankees represented the same thing. truth, justice , and the american way.
the yankees represented something special that was not just being good on the field but playing the game the right way, on the filed and off.
yeah, this was an ideal and maybe a myth in reality, but it was a guiding principle. kids got it even if adults didn’t. the point i’m making is playing it safe isn’t the same thing as doing the right thing. hal appears to be a play it safe person unless he proves otherwise.
it was from a new york team that jackie robinson broke the color barrier. new york is a place where things changed there can impact things everywhere. the yankees have this tradition too. they are not a play it safe team. they are at their roots a” truth justice and the american way” team which means being controversial and causing trouble sometimes.
would hal stand up against the kkk or be the one who brought jackie robinson in? no, he wouldn’t , no way.
so when people wonder out why hal paying it safe for him is so irritating to some people its more than just bringing back a horace clarke era. it”s that hal doesn’t stand up and take chances and do the right thing. it’s as if he’s worried he might get his hair messed up.
every time period has it’s injustices . if a baseball team doesn’t stand up and show the way in the way it competes, what does that make them? was tiger woods just a great golfer or did he break some barriers? i’m not just talking race stuff here; it could be anything.
are there women in the yankee management or ownership who have any say? what’s up with that hal? make a change hal. make things better. have your baseball team stand for something.
as flawed as george was he got the idea of ideals that are worth fighting for. hal appears to be a country club guy who grew up rich who just doesn’t seem to get it. to hal “good’ is simply the bottom line, return on investment. yeah george like money, but he placed other things ahead of making money, like winning the right way in good old fashioned competition.
hal if he is to be a good yankee owner needs to step up and stand for something he needs to have the yankees win in the right way. what does that mean in today’s world? i’m not totally sure, but i do know that just standing back and acting like a palm beach trust fund rich guy isn’t it.
if hal figures out a way to give kids today the feeling my friends and i had when i was a kid when we watched superman and the yankees, he’d be on to something. we knew who gehrig and who jackie robinson were. baseball was more than just baseball.
Reason Arod’s condition is news?
Simply because it’s the only news that constitutes news for the organization!
I suspect the org. is hoping he retires, they pass the cost balance to the insurers and write off the worst FA deal in baseball history!
Oh, and Hank get’s his credit cards back………as long as he promises to think about things other than baseball!
Randy L,nice comment,but beliefs/values were much different in the era you note, I know,I’ve lived it.
Today it’s all about attempts by businesses to be “fair”(whatever your interpretation of fair is),and of course to make money by pleasing everyone.
A very old and wise aphorism is “he who pleases everyone,pleases no one”
I’m sure you realize this attitude has trumped a sense of community in the country at large over the last 50 years.
comnsnse-
i’m stretching it a bit but in keith silver’s book he says you have to learn to separate the signal from the noise. there is so much noise now, so much info, what do you pay attention to?
when we were kids , there really was this strong signal of doing things right. we really did know what right was. now,” right” is so mixed in with so much noise , it’s easy to get lost in the noise and have no clue what’s right.
it’s a challenge for all of us.
Randy L, the questions then are what are the most important challenges and more importantly ,what are the solutions?
Finally who decides?