2014 Yanx - The Crumble Continues ???

[nymr83]

The entire AL East has a negative run differential. Yankees are the only team above. 500 and apparently feasting on their suddenly weak division.

[Frayed Knot]

Mainly the division is simply beating up on each other. Yanx are 5-2 vs Boston but not dominating any other East team.

Hard to project too much on RS/RA this early. The Yanx +/- despite its winning record is largely skewed by losses of 16-1 and 13-1

[Edgy MD]

I'm not sure that's really a skewing. I think a few 13-1 losses that would be 7-1 if not for the last two guys in your bullpen being suckers may just mean "a loss is a loss" in the short term, but possibly may meaningful data could project a real weakness over 162 games.

[Frayed Knot]

I don't think this year's Yanx have the same severe good/bad split that the late '90s teams consistently had which led to the occasional blowout on those days when a poor start by a starter or a heavy recent pen workload gave Torre the urge to rest his high-priced arms. The MFY teams of that era out-performed their pythagorean projections consistently for years and I thought the pen set-up had a lot to do with it.
But this current MFY pen seems neither as good or as bad at the extremes and so I expect that this year's rather extreme "over-achievement" [.577 winning pct while allowing 10% more RA than RS (110/121)] is more likely the result of a small sample size skewed by the two large blowouts.

At least I'm hoping it is because I'd hate like hell to see them keep it up after doing this all of last year too.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Fans really booed Cano last night. Quite a statement from fans of Ellsbury and McCann.

[MFS62]

Frayed Knot wrote: Under suspension you ARE allowed to participate in team activities so long as it's not a regularly scheduled game in some sort of league. IOW, nothing that goes on in front of paying customers. --- I'm sure that's not the official wording of the rule but that's more or less the gist of it. 'Extended Spring Training' is essentially a bunch of intra-team scrimmages.

So, what if A-Rod practiced at an MFY extended Spring Training session. Isn't he under suspension?
Or is there a difference among suspensions?
Not trying to be argumentative. Just checking out the fine print.

Later

[Frayed Knot]

I assume that ARod could work out w/the Yanx at their Tampa facility, BUT
1) they probably don't want him there. They said as much back when he made noises about coming to spring training and I doubt they'd be any more anxious to see him now
2) what good would it do? It's not a 17-year veteran is going to get much out of playing simulated games with teenagers or verse-vica.

Extended ST is geared toward either young players not ready for league play or injured vets on rehab.
I could definitely hear a Yanqui exec saying: 'You wanna stay in shape rich boy? Then go hire a trainer and stay the fuck out of our hair and away from our kids'

[MFS62]

No special consideration being given.
Thanks.
Later

[Edgy MD]

Tino Martinez, following in the illustrious line of Bobby Kennedy, Seamus Heaney, and Willie Randolph, invited to give the commencement address at Fordham.

Derek Dietrich and Casey Kotchman apparently not on the selection committee.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Edgy MD wrote: Tino Martinez, following in the illustrious line of Bobby Kennedy, Seamus Heaney, and Willie Randolph, invited to give the commencement address at Fordham.

Following the ceremony, the Yankees will retire his number.

[Guest Mets Guy in Michigan]

But Armando Benitez will drill him with a diploma right between the numbers!

[Frayed Knot]

Only the Rangers, Padres, and Royals have hit less than the Yankees 5 HR (tied with MIN, MIA) the Royals have only hit 1. With Kelly Johnson as the team leader (he has 2). As I mentioned a few posts earlier, there are/were a number of YLDBs who claimed to want this kind of team, who craved more bunting and running while cursing the "over-dependance" on HRs over the last decade or so because it clashed with their fantasy about the Yanx being a team of scrappy underdogs. I suspect that they won't sit at the bottom for long; McCann will wake up and start hitting that RF porch eventually, Teixeira's injuries aren't likely to be season long like they were last year, plus Beltran, Ellsbury, etc. But they're definitely going to find out if they like a reduced power team as much as they claim to because Cano & ARod aren't walking back into the clubhouse ... at least not THIS year (heh, heh).

The above two posts were from this thread back on April 10th.
Since that point the Yanx have morphed mostly back to their old ways and, while still below the league leaders in HRs, are now above league average and have caught up or passed many teams since that slow start.

Which was why last night's game was so much fun as it was a perfect example of what's driven their fans nuts in recent years. They wound up losing 10-5 to Tampa in 14 innings (5 hours 49 minutes btw) with 4 of their 5 runs coming via HRs (1 2R HR + 2 solos) including back-to-backs w/2 outs in the 8th to tie the game.
But then in extras they were leaving runners on all over the place (mostly against big-butted Heath Bell): 2 in the 11th, 2 more in the 12th, loaded in the 13th that one courtesy of a Derek '0-fer-7' Jeter come-backer) without ever being able to get the walk-off hit. Tampa even spent much of that time trying to hand them the game (errors, botched run-downs, etc.) but they wound up 1-13 w/RiSP
The Rays finally put up a 5-spot in the 14th and the Yanx was dead.

[Guest d'Kong76]

The booth is funny ... on McCann they are explaining how there
is always an adjustment period when joining the Yankees.

I know I would have trouble pooping on a platinum toilet seat.

[Frayed Knot]

Tough to decide which team had the worse bullpen night. Probably the Mets because they blew a lead, plus the Yanx had the decency to do so at 1AM EDT so there were fewer NY eyeballs watching.
But that doesn't mean theirs was easy to swallow for a fan.

Tied at one in the 8th in Anaheim last night, Yanx set-up man Shawn Kelly walks Collin Cowgill to start the inning, but then does the heavy lifting by retiring Aybar & Trout
So with Cowgill on 2nd and 2 outs they IBB Pujols - a logical enough move.
Problem was that Kelly followed that up with a walk to Ibanez loading the bases, then a walk to Kendrick (Howie not Anna) forcing in a run.
Out goes Kelly (literally, he got tossed for arguing) and in comes LOOGY Matt Thorton - who quickly walked the light-hitting John McDonald (PH-ing) to force in another run
Out goes Thorton and in comes Preston Clairborn (no really, that's his name ... and he's a baseball player not a hairdresser) who promptly walks Chris Ianetta and it's 3 runs for the Angels without a hit

Final score: Angels 4 (on just 4 hits) - Yanx 1

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

"Preston Clairborn" is the securities broker at your tennis club who cheats at line calls and insists on "air drying" in the locker room.

"Vidal Nuno"-- now there's a hairdresser name.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Frayed Knot wrote: Tough to decide which team had the worse bullpen night. Probably the Mets because they blew a lead, plus the Yanx had the decency to do so at 1AM EDT so there were fewer NY eyeballs watching. But that doesn't mean theirs was easy to swallow for a fan. Tied at one in the 8th in Anaheim last night, Yanx set-up man Shawn Kelly walks Collin Cowgill to start the inning, but then does the heavy lifting by retiring Aybar & Trout So with Cowgill on 2nd and 2 outs they IBB Pujols - a logical enough move. Problem was that Kelly followed that up with a walk to Ibanez loading the bases, then a walk to Kendrick (Howie not Anna) forcing in a run. Out goes Kelly (literally, he got tossed for arguing) and in comes LOOGY Matt Thorton - who quickly walked the light-hitting John McDonald (PH-ing) to force in another run Out goes Thorton and in comes Preston Clairborn (no really, that's his name ... and he's a baseball player not a hairdresser) who promptly walks Chris Ianetta and it's 3 runs for the Angels without a hit Final score: Angels 4 (on just 4 hits) - Yanx 1

Even better than that was the fact that the MFYs loaded the bases with nobody out in the top of that inning, only to be held scoreless when Gardner whiffed (Girardi tossed for a huge fit arguing a call in that AB) and a Jeter DP. Weaver came off the mound as though he'd been possessed by Francisco Cervelli.

Not for nothing, but the MFYs suck.

[Frayed Knot]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Not for nothing, but the MFYs suck.

Which is why it's annoying that they're still a game over .500 and tied for 1st place despite a negative 19 run differential.
You figure that'll catch up to them eventually but I kept thinking that last year too but it never did [their 85-77 record "should have been" 79-83 on account of a -21 RS/RA]

[Edgy MD]

.250 / .318 / .290 // .608

And the Rey Ord��ez farewell tour continues.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Beltran OBP .288
Granderson OBP .288

[Edgy MD]

I was thinking there should be a Beltran Bunch thread, but it's really just the two of them: Belty and Grandy. No other peer contracts.

[Frayed Knot]

Edgy MD wrote: .250 / .318 / .290 // .608 And the Rey Ord��ez farewell tour continues.

And that's off of 2 hits last night (including a rare double)

This situation bears watching as the season progresses and maybe sooner than that.

The Yanx have essentially been going without a backup SS since they've been playing a man short (they're One Player Short!!) during the Pineda suspension. But with that due to end this week and Pineda on the shelf injured, glove-man Brendan Ryan is the likely man in. Now Ryan can't hit at all but if you're going to get a 600-ish OPS at that position anyway you might as well get superior defense out there rather than the decaying carcass of Derek Jeter. The question is how often he'll opt to do that and/or pull El Capitan late in games for defense.
Girardi certainly didn't show Posada a lot of deference at the tail end of his career what with first hiding his catching equipment and eventually shoving him to the bottom 1/3 of the lineup (although reportedly those two were never warm and fuzzy even when they played together). Jeter, so far, has lost his #2 spot but how long can that continue without a rebound?

[Edgy MD]

Amazin' how people still call Mariano Rivera the classiest guy to ever class up a classy classics department, even as he emerges from retirement to throw a former teammate (and alleged friend) under the bus --- for no reason other than to sell a few books, I guess.

The unknowable Robinson Cano�s �heart is still� in New York, but this divorce with the Yankees has gotten really weird NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Wednesday, May 7, 2014, 8:54 AM Andy Martino Between enduring weirdly vicious spurts of booing during his return to Yankee Stadium last week, Robinson Cano had the chance to reconnect with some old friends in the organization, people to whom he reveals more of himself than he ever does to the public. �His heart is still here,� says one person who had the chance to catch up with Cano in New York. We never get to see these thoughts and feelings from the opaque superstar, who is now rendered even less knowable by 10pm Eastern start times and his decision to join a franchise that barely seems to exist. But his departure from the Yankees has become strange, a referendum on the heart and guts of a man. Cano arrived in the big leagues with limited English skills, so it is not fair to just call him quiet, and leave it at that -- but even after working to learn the language, he shared little. In the absence of information, we speculate, argue, boo, defend -- everything but actually understand this man who is now gone. The latest flare-up in this divorce between player and city began with an unlikely instigator, Mariano Rivera. In his new memoir, The Closer (written with the great Wayne Coffey and excerpted Tuesday in the Daily News), Rivera said: �This guy has so much talent I don�t know where to start... There is no doubt that he is a Hall-of-Fame caliber (player). It�s just a question of whether he finds the drive you need to get there. I don�t think Robby burns to be the best... You don�t see that red-hot passion in him that you see in most elite players.� Well. You appreciate Rivera�s candor, far preferable to canned compliments. If he believed this, he was right to say it, rather than add another layer of B.S. to a sports world full of it. But you also feel for Cano, who has to be wondering why, after playing 160 or so games every year under a relatively team-friendly contract, he continues to find himself in moments like this. You�ll recall that another Daily News scoundrel, John Harper, wrote the column of the spring this year, giving Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long the opportunity to critique Cano�s vexing decision to run to first base at reduced speeds. �If somebody told me I was a dog,�� Long told Harper, �I�d have to fix that. When you choose not to, you leave yourself open to taking heat, and that�s your fault. For whatever reason, Robbie chose not to.�� I was at Mariners camp in Peoria, Ariz. when this blew up, and asked Cano the first question about it. He was sitting at a table in a news conference room at the team�s complex, probably wishing for an easy, softball, �Welcome to your new team,� sort of Q and A, and instead dealing with the troubling animal comparison. �Robbie, Kevin Long --� At the first three words of the question, Cano stiffened, sitting taller in his chair. More amateur psychologizing, which is all we can do in reading this man: He looked pissed. But then he interrupted with a calm, mature and final response. �I don�t even pay attention to that,� Cano said. �I just want to talk about Seattle. I�m here now. Whatever they said, I�m not going to pay attention to that.� Nor did he seize an opportunity to defend himself last week, when faced with the dumbest fan behavior in recent New York memory. The myopia of a Yankee partisan criticizing anyone for jumping to the highest bidder was thoroughly chronicled after it happened, so we won�t digress here. But none of the heat came from Cano, who instead proved adept at deflecting controversy, and preventing the story from advancing. And yesterday, with Rivera�s comments bouncing all over talk radio and TV, Cano again refused to engage. His measured, classy response to reporters before the Mariners� game in Oakland was: �Everybody has a different opinion. That�s his opinion and I have to respect his opinion. I�m not going to go too far into this. That�s the only thing that I can say. My focus right now is this team. I�m here, we�re winning. I was over there already and now I�m here and now I�m focused on the team. I�m going to be excited for my teammates.� We know little about Robinson Cano, and that will not change. But we now know that when under duress, he prefers to keep his interior life private, or at least among friends. We know that he is able to muster composure and -- well, it�s not grace exactly, because there is awkwardness, but it is at least restraint. We know he is savvy enough to diffuse, rather than inflame. And that�s about it. Cano is a filthy rich Seattleite now, a few years from beginning a quiet physical decline, with the country�s attention elsewhere. The story is almost over, and we hardly learned anything. Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/baseballinsider/unknowable-robinson-cano-heart-new-york-divorce-yankees-weird-news-ny-mets-young-pitchers-yankees-win-blog-entry-1.1782657#ixzz312GO24pw

First of all: "...his decision to join a franchise that barely seems to exist." How pathetic. If New Yorkers are scarcely able to imagine life in other US cities, doesn't that make them the provincial ones?

Second of all: "Well. You appreciate Rivera�s candor, far preferable to canned compliments. If he believed this, he was right to say it, rather than add another layer of B.S. to a sports world full of it."

No, it would have been candor if he said it while the two were teammates and there was an actual risk. With Cano in another uniform and Rivera sipping cocktails at 3:30, it's, well, "small" is the best word for it I can come up with. Real small.

Third of all: Cano isn't being enigmatic when he doesn't take the bait and dive into your back page war of words, he's taking the high road. At least, that's what you'd have written if Rivera if that's what he did.

[seawolf17]

Edgy MD wrote: Amazin' how people still call Mariano Rivera the classiest guy to ever class up a classy classics department, even as he emerges from retirement to throw a former teammate (and alleged friend) under the bus --- for no reason other than to sell a few books, I guess.

Better that then throwing him into the pool, I suppose.

Robinson Cano played every game for seven years for the Yankees, with a 128 OPS+. Now he's a dog? FUCK THAT. God, I hate that fucking team and everything about them.

[Frayed Knot]

Some may recall that when Scott Brosius announced his retirement--during the off-season, not long after the 2001 WS loss to the DBacks--it took all of about 20 minutes for Rivera (and I believe Torre) to suddenly chime in with 'fact' that ol' Scotty B let them down by not turning a double play on the second of the two bunts* the Snakes put down in that infamous 9th inning.
Now maybe that's accurate and maybe it's not (tape doesn't prove things one way or the other) but the fact that it was open season for criticism the second he was no longer part of the tribe seemed kind of ... what's the word I'm looking for? - oh yeah, Classless.

It's also kind of funny/classless that YES announcers have suddenly "discovered" that Cano didn't/doesn't hustle. Yeah, he didn't do it for eight years while in the Bronx but that was scarcely mentioned at the time.




* to recap: leadoff single was followed by the bunt on which MR made the throwing error putting runners on 1st & 2nd w/0 outs. The next batter, Jay Bell, also bunted but Rivera was able to throw to 3rd for the force. Rivera then felt free to say (but only after Brosius's announcement) that after throwing to 3rd he turned towards 1st expecting to see a throw whiz across the infield to get the batter - but a throw never came, Brosius simply got the force and called for time therefore dooming the entire inning/season.

[Edgy MD]

* to recap: leadoff single was followed by the bunt on which MR made the throwing error putting runners on 1st & 2nd w/0 outs. The next batter, Jay Bell, also bunted but Rivera was able to throw to 3rd for the force. Rivera then felt free to say (but only after Brosius's announcement) that after throwing to 3rd he turned towards 1st expecting to see a throw whiz across the infield to get the batter - but a throw never came, Brosius simply got the force and called for time therefore dooming the entire inning/season.

You know, we have these text-editing tools for a reason.

[Ceetar]

Mr. Automatic.

[Frayed Knot]

Edgy MD wrote: You know, we have these text-editing tools for a reason.

I have no idea what this means

[Edgy MD]

It's just a joke pointing out the inflation of the text that I did.

I'm sorry if my meaning was too elusive, but why do people online keep saying "no idea"? Surely you have some idea. It's a sentence --- with a subject, predicate, object... .

[Frayed Knot]

The only reason I said that I had no idea what you meant because I had no idea what you meant.

[Edgy MD]

Way to double down on the completely un-necessary condescension.

It was a joke. One underscoring what you were saying. Surely you could at least try to be cool about that.