Showing posts with label CC Sabathia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CC Sabathia. Show all posts
Thursday, January 22, 2026
Saturday, October 19, 2019
Linky Links
Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.
- Fan raised $43k to hand out "Stand With Hong Kong" t-shirts at Lakers home opener. Be interesting to see how the team handles this.
- Yes - this is true. I am lazy!
- CC Sabathia's Hall of Fame case. Was Sabathia better than Luis Tiant? Or Curt Schilling? Neither of those players are in the Hall of Fame.
- Cool science.
- The Trade War seems to be effecting the strength of the Chinese economy. As an aside I loved this quote from the article; "Authorities will loosen policies, but in a more restrained way." Loosening things through further restraint? That's the Chinese Communists for ya.
- South Park pokes fun at LeBron James for his China comments.
- Heh Heh
- Fan raised $43k to hand out "Stand With Hong Kong" t-shirts at Lakers home opener. Be interesting to see how the team handles this.
- Yes - this is true. I am lazy!
- CC Sabathia's Hall of Fame case. Was Sabathia better than Luis Tiant? Or Curt Schilling? Neither of those players are in the Hall of Fame.
- Cool science.
- The Trade War seems to be effecting the strength of the Chinese economy. As an aside I loved this quote from the article; "Authorities will loosen policies, but in a more restrained way." Loosening things through further restraint? That's the Chinese Communists for ya.
- South Park pokes fun at LeBron James for his China comments.
- Heh Heh
Tuesday, May 01, 2018
Player Comparison
Here's a Player Comparison for your consideration - both players are starting pitchers.
Player A - 239 W / 3.69 ERA / 3343.1 IP / 2862 SO / 61.0 WAR
Player B - 216 W / 3.46 ERA / 3261.0 IP / 3116 SO / 79.6 WAR
The only real advantage Player A has over Player B is in wins but what if I told you Player B also had 22 saves while Player A had none? How about if I also told you that Player B was a monster in the playoffs going 11-2 with a 2.23 ERA while Player B was a pedestrian 10-6 with a 4.20 ERA? Game, set and match to Player B - right?
Well Player A is CC Sabathia who has been recently touted as a potential Hall of Fame player when he retires. Player B is Curt Schilling who is eligible for the Hall of Fame but many of the same people touting Sabathia haven't voted for him.
Schilling is 15th all-time in strikeouts and every player ahead of him (except Roger Clemens) is in the Hall of Fame. Schilling is 26th all-time for WAR and every player ahead of him (except Clemens and Mike Mussina) are also in the Hall of Fame.
The whole process has turned into a joke!
Player A - 239 W / 3.69 ERA / 3343.1 IP / 2862 SO / 61.0 WAR
Player B - 216 W / 3.46 ERA / 3261.0 IP / 3116 SO / 79.6 WAR
The only real advantage Player A has over Player B is in wins but what if I told you Player B also had 22 saves while Player A had none? How about if I also told you that Player B was a monster in the playoffs going 11-2 with a 2.23 ERA while Player B was a pedestrian 10-6 with a 4.20 ERA? Game, set and match to Player B - right?
Well Player A is CC Sabathia who has been recently touted as a potential Hall of Fame player when he retires. Player B is Curt Schilling who is eligible for the Hall of Fame but many of the same people touting Sabathia haven't voted for him.
Schilling is 15th all-time in strikeouts and every player ahead of him (except Roger Clemens) is in the Hall of Fame. Schilling is 26th all-time for WAR and every player ahead of him (except Clemens and Mike Mussina) are also in the Hall of Fame.
The whole process has turned into a joke!
Friday, October 12, 2012
Flotsam and Jetsam
Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.
CC Sabathia's real name is Carsten Charles Sabathia... Who said it - Joe Biden or Michael Scott?... Have to wonder if the Nobel committee chose to give the Nobel Prize to the EU in an effort not to pay the prize money (who would collect?)... Very cool betting story. The moral as always - be sure to quit when you are ahead!... Talk about making chicken salad out of you know what. It should be remembered that Dan Duquette only got the Orioles GM job because other candidates thought the position was too radioactive. Now Duquette has re-established himself as a top GM in the game. Good for him!... Cool - a diamond bigger than the Earth?... Hate to think that this may be it for Scott Rolen. Sad to see him go out on such a sour note... SNL should do skit about ESPN peon that is sent to tell Bobby Knight that the network no longer wants to use him on TV... For proper elocution a person must have consistent vowel movements... I'm a Red Sox fan but part of me wants to see the Yankees win this series just so I can hear all the people arguing that Alex Rodriguez should be left off the 25-man roster against the Tigers. That would be delicious...
CC Sabathia's real name is Carsten Charles Sabathia... Who said it - Joe Biden or Michael Scott?... Have to wonder if the Nobel committee chose to give the Nobel Prize to the EU in an effort not to pay the prize money (who would collect?)... Very cool betting story. The moral as always - be sure to quit when you are ahead!... Talk about making chicken salad out of you know what. It should be remembered that Dan Duquette only got the Orioles GM job because other candidates thought the position was too radioactive. Now Duquette has re-established himself as a top GM in the game. Good for him!... Cool - a diamond bigger than the Earth?... Hate to think that this may be it for Scott Rolen. Sad to see him go out on such a sour note... SNL should do skit about ESPN peon that is sent to tell Bobby Knight that the network no longer wants to use him on TV... For proper elocution a person must have consistent vowel movements... I'm a Red Sox fan but part of me wants to see the Yankees win this series just so I can hear all the people arguing that Alex Rodriguez should be left off the 25-man roster against the Tigers. That would be delicious...
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Flotsam and Jetsam
Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.
The Yankees have to give CC Sabathia an extension or redo his 7-year $152 million contract. There are no aces available in the 2012 free agent class and CC would make a fortune. I am amused by the situation because it seems like the perfect storm of controversy and unmet expectations is brewing for New York this season... Am I a heretic for wanting to own this painting? I also have to note that a Christian can look at that an laugh while if it was Mohammed and not Christ - a fatwah would be issued for the artist's death... The things you learn on the Internet (via Mental Floss): "Replacement players used during the 1987 NFL strike included current Saints coach Sean Payton, UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel, and Suge Knight"... I am trying to think of a more despicable athlete from my lifetime than Art Schlichter and I can only think of Rae Carruth and OJ. Schlichter was just charged with felony for allegedly ripping off Columbus widow for more than $1 million... The Patriots will be retiring Drew Bledsoe's #11 in 2011 - kind of symmetrical if you think about it. Bledsoe is also eligible for the Football Hall of Fame starting this year. I think he deserves to be voted in... As a pretty much hard and fast rule - real men should wear neither Capri pants nor yoga pants. So let it be written, so let it be done... Congratulations to Bill Russell who is getting the Presidential Medal of Freedom today. It still bugs me that there is no statue to Russell in Boston...
Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.
The Yankees have to give CC Sabathia an extension or redo his 7-year $152 million contract. There are no aces available in the 2012 free agent class and CC would make a fortune. I am amused by the situation because it seems like the perfect storm of controversy and unmet expectations is brewing for New York this season... Am I a heretic for wanting to own this painting? I also have to note that a Christian can look at that an laugh while if it was Mohammed and not Christ - a fatwah would be issued for the artist's death... The things you learn on the Internet (via Mental Floss): "Replacement players used during the 1987 NFL strike included current Saints coach Sean Payton, UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel, and Suge Knight"... I am trying to think of a more despicable athlete from my lifetime than Art Schlichter and I can only think of Rae Carruth and OJ. Schlichter was just charged with felony for allegedly ripping off Columbus widow for more than $1 million... The Patriots will be retiring Drew Bledsoe's #11 in 2011 - kind of symmetrical if you think about it. Bledsoe is also eligible for the Football Hall of Fame starting this year. I think he deserves to be voted in... As a pretty much hard and fast rule - real men should wear neither Capri pants nor yoga pants. So let it be written, so let it be done... Congratulations to Bill Russell who is getting the Presidential Medal of Freedom today. It still bugs me that there is no statue to Russell in Boston...
Monday, December 22, 2008
Yankees 2009 Starting Rotation
So far this off-season the Yankees have added CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett but they have also lost Mike Mussina to retirement and Andy Pettitte is a free agent who may not be returning. So in essence you have added two starting pitchers and have probably lost 2 starting pitchers. How do the pairs compare? Using 2008 numbers:
Sabathia 17-10 / 35 GS / 253 IP / 76 ER / 2.70 ERA
Burnett 18-10 / 35 GS / 221 IP / 100 ER / 4.07 ERA
Combined 35-20 / 70 GS / 474 IP / 3.34 ERA / 6.77 IP/GS
Mussina 20-9 / 34 GS / 200 IP / 75 ER / 3.37 ERA
Pettitte 14-14 / 33 GS / 204 IP / 103 ER / 4.54 ERA
Combined 34-23 / 67 GS / 404 IP / 3.97 ERA / 6 IP/GS
The incoming tandem had 1 more win and 3 fewer losses (and yes I know how subjective wins and losses are). Even if you added 4 additional wins to the Yankees in 2008 - they still would have finished in 3rd place.
Probably most significant among the above stats is the fact that the new combo pitched about 1 more inning per start than the old combo. The Yankees bullpen was a weak spot for the team last year (and probably next as well) so going deeper into a start is a big plus. The caveat that has to be noted is that both CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett had their career bests in innings pitched last year. Asking them to match those numbers may be asking too much. It is very likely that the extra inning per start will evaporate and the production levels will be along the lines of what Mussina and Pettitte contributed.
An independent measurement of a player's contributions is Bill James' Win Share Method (where 4 win shares = one team win). Here's how the 4 players did in 2008:
Sabathia 25 WS
Mussina 18 WS
Burnett 14 WS
Pettitte 11 WS
Based upon those numbers the incoming duo had 10 more win shares which translates to 2.5 more wins. Which again wouldn't have been enough to have gotten the Yankees out of 3rd place last season.
I guess this is a long way to explain that Yankee fans shouldn't be placing orders for World Series travel plans quite yet.
So far this off-season the Yankees have added CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett but they have also lost Mike Mussina to retirement and Andy Pettitte is a free agent who may not be returning. So in essence you have added two starting pitchers and have probably lost 2 starting pitchers. How do the pairs compare? Using 2008 numbers:
Sabathia 17-10 / 35 GS / 253 IP / 76 ER / 2.70 ERA
Burnett 18-10 / 35 GS / 221 IP / 100 ER / 4.07 ERA
Combined 35-20 / 70 GS / 474 IP / 3.34 ERA / 6.77 IP/GS
Mussina 20-9 / 34 GS / 200 IP / 75 ER / 3.37 ERA
Pettitte 14-14 / 33 GS / 204 IP / 103 ER / 4.54 ERA
Combined 34-23 / 67 GS / 404 IP / 3.97 ERA / 6 IP/GS
The incoming tandem had 1 more win and 3 fewer losses (and yes I know how subjective wins and losses are). Even if you added 4 additional wins to the Yankees in 2008 - they still would have finished in 3rd place.
Probably most significant among the above stats is the fact that the new combo pitched about 1 more inning per start than the old combo. The Yankees bullpen was a weak spot for the team last year (and probably next as well) so going deeper into a start is a big plus. The caveat that has to be noted is that both CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett had their career bests in innings pitched last year. Asking them to match those numbers may be asking too much. It is very likely that the extra inning per start will evaporate and the production levels will be along the lines of what Mussina and Pettitte contributed.
An independent measurement of a player's contributions is Bill James' Win Share Method (where 4 win shares = one team win). Here's how the 4 players did in 2008:
Sabathia 25 WS
Mussina 18 WS
Burnett 14 WS
Pettitte 11 WS
Based upon those numbers the incoming duo had 10 more win shares which translates to 2.5 more wins. Which again wouldn't have been enough to have gotten the Yankees out of 3rd place last season.
I guess this is a long way to explain that Yankee fans shouldn't be placing orders for World Series travel plans quite yet.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Just Saying
Yes the Yankees signed CC Sabathia to a big contract but how will that convert into wins and losses for the Yankees? I have long believed that the first year in the Bronx is taxing on any pitcher and even the biggest names have struggled in their first season. Here's how the last 6 big name pitchers have fared during their first year at the House that Ruth built.
Carl Pavano - 4-6 with a 4.73 ERA
Randy Johnson - 17-8 with a 3.79 ERA
Kevin Brown - 10-6 with a 4.09 ERA
Javier Vazquez - 14-10 with a 4.91 ERA
Roger Clemens - 14-10 with a 4.60 ERA
Mike Mussina - 17-11 with a 3.15
Everyone is optimistic that CC won't be overwhelmed by the experience of playing in the Big Apple. The argument goes that his temperament and his experience of playing in the American League will cancel out any extra pressure of playing for the Yankees in New York. That clearly hasn't been the case historically.
The Yankees will be lucky to get 17 wins out of Sabathia. Lucky! More likely they are looking at 14 (if history is any guide). Keep in mind that Sabathia is taking Mussina's slot and Mussina finally won 20 for the Yankees in the 8th and final year of his contract. Everyone was optimistic that given the run support of the Yankees that the super free agent Mussina could be penciled in for 20 wins a year. How did that work out? How many rings does Mussina have again?
Yes the Yankees signed CC Sabathia to a big contract but how will that convert into wins and losses for the Yankees? I have long believed that the first year in the Bronx is taxing on any pitcher and even the biggest names have struggled in their first season. Here's how the last 6 big name pitchers have fared during their first year at the House that Ruth built.
Carl Pavano - 4-6 with a 4.73 ERA
Randy Johnson - 17-8 with a 3.79 ERA
Kevin Brown - 10-6 with a 4.09 ERA
Javier Vazquez - 14-10 with a 4.91 ERA
Roger Clemens - 14-10 with a 4.60 ERA
Mike Mussina - 17-11 with a 3.15
Everyone is optimistic that CC won't be overwhelmed by the experience of playing in the Big Apple. The argument goes that his temperament and his experience of playing in the American League will cancel out any extra pressure of playing for the Yankees in New York. That clearly hasn't been the case historically.
The Yankees will be lucky to get 17 wins out of Sabathia. Lucky! More likely they are looking at 14 (if history is any guide). Keep in mind that Sabathia is taking Mussina's slot and Mussina finally won 20 for the Yankees in the 8th and final year of his contract. Everyone was optimistic that given the run support of the Yankees that the super free agent Mussina could be penciled in for 20 wins a year. How did that work out? How many rings does Mussina have again?
Friday, July 04, 2008
CC Sabathia to the Brewers?
Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the Brewers are serious in making an offer to acquire CC Sabathia from the Indians. The cornerstone of the Brewers package would be top outfield prospect Matt LaPorta - who could play a corner outfield, 1st or DH. The Indians could sure use a power hitting outfielder but 1st and DH seem to be clogged with the trio of Victor Martinez, Travis Hafner and Ryan Garko (though LaPorta could prove to be an improvement over Garko). LaPorta, who went from a 14th round pick in 2006 by the Red Sox to the 7th overall pick in 2007 by the Brewers, seems like as good a person as he is a hitter. Rosenthal mentions another top Brewer prospect - shortstop Alcides Escobar - but that combination seems a steep price to pay for Sabbathia. Maybe JJ Hardy and LaPorta? Hardy may be a 3rd baseman in the next few years and 3rd is a sore spot for the Indians. Sure Casey Blake has done a yeoman job but he's 35 and prospects Andy Marte and Beau Mills may be more smoke than fire. Filling holes at a corner outfield position and shoring up 3rd base would seem to me to be the biggest needs for Cleveland and a Matt LaPorta and JJ Hardy deal for CC Sabathia would seem to accomplish that.
Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the Brewers are serious in making an offer to acquire CC Sabathia from the Indians. The cornerstone of the Brewers package would be top outfield prospect Matt LaPorta - who could play a corner outfield, 1st or DH. The Indians could sure use a power hitting outfielder but 1st and DH seem to be clogged with the trio of Victor Martinez, Travis Hafner and Ryan Garko (though LaPorta could prove to be an improvement over Garko). LaPorta, who went from a 14th round pick in 2006 by the Red Sox to the 7th overall pick in 2007 by the Brewers, seems like as good a person as he is a hitter. Rosenthal mentions another top Brewer prospect - shortstop Alcides Escobar - but that combination seems a steep price to pay for Sabbathia. Maybe JJ Hardy and LaPorta? Hardy may be a 3rd baseman in the next few years and 3rd is a sore spot for the Indians. Sure Casey Blake has done a yeoman job but he's 35 and prospects Andy Marte and Beau Mills may be more smoke than fire. Filling holes at a corner outfield position and shoring up 3rd base would seem to me to be the biggest needs for Cleveland and a Matt LaPorta and JJ Hardy deal for CC Sabathia would seem to accomplish that.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Baseball Flotsam and Jetsam
Miscellaneous baseball thoughts and observations.
I think CC Sabathia will be traded but I don't think the Red Sox will be involved. Why give up a Clay Buchholtz or a Justin Masterson for potentially only half a season of Sabathia? Starting pitching is not a major concern for the Red Sox anyway with a front four of Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Tim Wakefield and Jon Lester followed by a pick your choice of Clay Buchholtz, Justin Masterson and Bartolo Colon as fifth starters. I think if the Red Sox do trade for pitching - then it will be for bullpen help and they won't be giving up too much in exchange. I'm guessing that just in the AL you'd have either Chad Bradford of the Orioles or Ron Mahay of the Royals available for the right price... Speaking of Clay Buchholtz - it looks like he's being very effective at AAA Pawtucket. He's 3-1 with a 1.87 ERA in 7 starts. It looks like he's also on a pitch count since he hasn't pitched past the 7th inning in any of his starts despite the low runs allowed. The idea is probably to keep him fresh for the second half of the MLB season. An idea I agree with... Is Jeff Kent a Hall of Famer? With one more RBI he will break his tie with Dave Parker and have 48th place on the all-time RBI list all to himself. Unless I'm mistaken - Kent has the most HR and RBI of any second baseman in history... If Kent sticks around for another year or two - he will most likely catch and pass Harmon Killebrew who is tied for 34th on the all-time RBI list with Rogers Hornsby (both players have 1584 RBI). Passing Hornsby would be important for Kent because Hornsby is considered the best offensive second baseman in history (although he played over 600 games at other positions - thus the reason Kent has more RBI as a second baseman). I won't argue that Kent was close to Hornsby with a bat (Hornsby had a career .358 BA and an OPS+ of 175) but passing Hornsby on the RBI list will be significant for Kent nonetheless... Speaking of Harmon Killebrew - today's his birthday! Happy 72nd birthday Killer. How screwed up is the Hall of Fame voting? Consider that Killebrew has 573 HR and in his first year of eligibility for the Hall he only got 59.6% of the votes. Killebrew had to wait 4 years to be voted in by the gasbags who call themselves baseball writers...
Miscellaneous baseball thoughts and observations.
I think CC Sabathia will be traded but I don't think the Red Sox will be involved. Why give up a Clay Buchholtz or a Justin Masterson for potentially only half a season of Sabathia? Starting pitching is not a major concern for the Red Sox anyway with a front four of Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Tim Wakefield and Jon Lester followed by a pick your choice of Clay Buchholtz, Justin Masterson and Bartolo Colon as fifth starters. I think if the Red Sox do trade for pitching - then it will be for bullpen help and they won't be giving up too much in exchange. I'm guessing that just in the AL you'd have either Chad Bradford of the Orioles or Ron Mahay of the Royals available for the right price... Speaking of Clay Buchholtz - it looks like he's being very effective at AAA Pawtucket. He's 3-1 with a 1.87 ERA in 7 starts. It looks like he's also on a pitch count since he hasn't pitched past the 7th inning in any of his starts despite the low runs allowed. The idea is probably to keep him fresh for the second half of the MLB season. An idea I agree with... Is Jeff Kent a Hall of Famer? With one more RBI he will break his tie with Dave Parker and have 48th place on the all-time RBI list all to himself. Unless I'm mistaken - Kent has the most HR and RBI of any second baseman in history... If Kent sticks around for another year or two - he will most likely catch and pass Harmon Killebrew who is tied for 34th on the all-time RBI list with Rogers Hornsby (both players have 1584 RBI). Passing Hornsby would be important for Kent because Hornsby is considered the best offensive second baseman in history (although he played over 600 games at other positions - thus the reason Kent has more RBI as a second baseman). I won't argue that Kent was close to Hornsby with a bat (Hornsby had a career .358 BA and an OPS+ of 175) but passing Hornsby on the RBI list will be significant for Kent nonetheless... Speaking of Harmon Killebrew - today's his birthday! Happy 72nd birthday Killer. How screwed up is the Hall of Fame voting? Consider that Killebrew has 573 HR and in his first year of eligibility for the Hall he only got 59.6% of the votes. Killebrew had to wait 4 years to be voted in by the gasbags who call themselves baseball writers...
Sunday, June 15, 2008
The All-Disappointment Team
Going into the season many fans and fantasy baseball players had high hopes for certain players but not all the big names have pulled their weight. Here's my All-Disappointment team up to this point of the season.
C - Victor Martinez Indians - 0 HR before going on the DL
1st - Richie Sexson Mariners - .675 OPS
2nd - Freddie Sanchez Pirates - .236 BA - where's the guy who won a batting title?
SS - Troy Tulowitzki Rockies - .152 BA before going on DL
3rd - Ryan Zimmerman - just a .718 OPS before going on DL (yet still leads the Nationals in HR and RBI - that's how bad the Nationals are)
OF - Curtis Granderson Tigers - just 3 SB and a .246 BA
OF - Delmon Young Twins - Just 1 HR - the Twins would have been better off trading for the power hitting of Coco Crisp
OF - Gary Sheffield Tigers - .213 BA before going on DL - may be the end of the line
DH - Travis Hafner Indians - 4 HR before going on the DL
EDIT: As Donald pointed out - Andruw Jones should have been listed. He's the worst free agent signing this year.
SRHP - Roy Oswalt Astros - 5.06 ERA - really?
SLHP - CC Sabathia Indians - starting to turn things around but still no back-to-back Cy Young Awards
Closer - JJ Putz Mariners - 7 saves and a 5.21 ERA before going on DL
EDIT: As groug (what kind of name is groug?) points out - Barry Zito should be the SLHP. Mea culpa.
Going into the season many fans and fantasy baseball players had high hopes for certain players but not all the big names have pulled their weight. Here's my All-Disappointment team up to this point of the season.
C - Victor Martinez Indians - 0 HR before going on the DL
1st - Richie Sexson Mariners - .675 OPS
2nd - Freddie Sanchez Pirates - .236 BA - where's the guy who won a batting title?
SS - Troy Tulowitzki Rockies - .152 BA before going on DL
3rd - Ryan Zimmerman - just a .718 OPS before going on DL (yet still leads the Nationals in HR and RBI - that's how bad the Nationals are)
OF - Curtis Granderson Tigers - just 3 SB and a .246 BA
OF - Delmon Young Twins - Just 1 HR - the Twins would have been better off trading for the power hitting of Coco Crisp
OF - Gary Sheffield Tigers - .213 BA before going on DL - may be the end of the line
DH - Travis Hafner Indians - 4 HR before going on the DL
EDIT: As Donald pointed out - Andruw Jones should have been listed. He's the worst free agent signing this year.
SRHP - Roy Oswalt Astros - 5.06 ERA - really?
SLHP - CC Sabathia Indians - starting to turn things around but still no back-to-back Cy Young Awards
Closer - JJ Putz Mariners - 7 saves and a 5.21 ERA before going on DL
EDIT: As groug (what kind of name is groug?) points out - Barry Zito should be the SLHP. Mea culpa.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
The New York Yankees
The Yankees are poised to have a significant turnover in their roster from this year to next. They have 7 big contracts that could be coming off the books after this October. The players include:
Jason Giambi - $5 million buy-out or $22 million club option. So if they do the buy-out they still save $16 million over 2008 costs. Buh-bye.
Bobby Abreu - $16 million. I don't think he'll be back but I could be wrong.
Andy Pettitte - $16 million. Very well could be back as insurance against the youngsters continuing to stumble. If the Yankees fail to land a top free agent starter - then he'll definitely be back if he wants to pitch.
Mike Mussina - $11 million. Buh-bye.
Carl Pavano - $1.95 million buy-out or $13 million option. So if they do the buy-out they save roughly $9 million over 2008 costs. Buh-bye.
Kyle Farnsworth - $5.5 million. Baseball's answer to the hockey goon.
LaTroy Hawkins - $3.75 million. God awful. Buh-bye.
Combined those 7 players equate to $71.75 million (after buy-outs) that could be coming off the books after this season. If those players were let go then that would open holes in RF, 1st, a couple of starter positions and a couple of bullpen positions. What free agents would be available to fill those slots?
The big target would be Mark Teixeira and I'm guessing Scott Boras will squeeze Hank Steinbrenner for a Jason Giambi type deal. If they fail to land Teixeira then they may have to go with a young player or convert Matsui or Posada to a 1st baseman.
The other big target (pun intended) will be starter CC Sabathia. Look for Steinbrenner to throw Johan Santana money at CC (and if Sabathia's appetite for money is anything like his appetite for food then Cleveland can probably waive bye-bye to CC). Best case scenario for the Yankees is a rotation of Sabathia, Wang, Chamberlain, Hughes and Kennedy.
So the Yankees could possibly spend $44 million or so on Teixeira and Sabathia and still have about $27 million available to fill in the rest of the holes with marginal free agents and young players from the farm system. If the Yankees fail to land at least one of these two targets then they could be in a world of hurt next year.
Two things to note and neither item should be overlooked:
First - with that many aging veterans in their "walk" years the Yankees will probably be faced both with injuries and with an elevated level of selfishness in the clubhouse for the rest of the season. The selfishness is only natural when you think of how pampered and self-centered most millionaire athletes are in the first place. There could be lots of sniping in the clubhouse and the problem could spiral out of control with no Joe Torre father-figure around to keep it in check. Don't discount this factor in what looks to be a 3rd place finish for the Yankees in the AL East this year.
Second - the Yankees biggest rivals - the Red Sox - have no such issues. The Sox will just have to deal with a new contract for Jason Varitek and Varitek has made it clear he wants to stay in Boston.
The Yankees are poised to have a significant turnover in their roster from this year to next. They have 7 big contracts that could be coming off the books after this October. The players include:
Jason Giambi - $5 million buy-out or $22 million club option. So if they do the buy-out they still save $16 million over 2008 costs. Buh-bye.
Bobby Abreu - $16 million. I don't think he'll be back but I could be wrong.
Andy Pettitte - $16 million. Very well could be back as insurance against the youngsters continuing to stumble. If the Yankees fail to land a top free agent starter - then he'll definitely be back if he wants to pitch.
Mike Mussina - $11 million. Buh-bye.
Carl Pavano - $1.95 million buy-out or $13 million option. So if they do the buy-out they save roughly $9 million over 2008 costs. Buh-bye.
Kyle Farnsworth - $5.5 million. Baseball's answer to the hockey goon.
LaTroy Hawkins - $3.75 million. God awful. Buh-bye.
Combined those 7 players equate to $71.75 million (after buy-outs) that could be coming off the books after this season. If those players were let go then that would open holes in RF, 1st, a couple of starter positions and a couple of bullpen positions. What free agents would be available to fill those slots?
The big target would be Mark Teixeira and I'm guessing Scott Boras will squeeze Hank Steinbrenner for a Jason Giambi type deal. If they fail to land Teixeira then they may have to go with a young player or convert Matsui or Posada to a 1st baseman.
The other big target (pun intended) will be starter CC Sabathia. Look for Steinbrenner to throw Johan Santana money at CC (and if Sabathia's appetite for money is anything like his appetite for food then Cleveland can probably waive bye-bye to CC). Best case scenario for the Yankees is a rotation of Sabathia, Wang, Chamberlain, Hughes and Kennedy.
So the Yankees could possibly spend $44 million or so on Teixeira and Sabathia and still have about $27 million available to fill in the rest of the holes with marginal free agents and young players from the farm system. If the Yankees fail to land at least one of these two targets then they could be in a world of hurt next year.
Two things to note and neither item should be overlooked:
First - with that many aging veterans in their "walk" years the Yankees will probably be faced both with injuries and with an elevated level of selfishness in the clubhouse for the rest of the season. The selfishness is only natural when you think of how pampered and self-centered most millionaire athletes are in the first place. There could be lots of sniping in the clubhouse and the problem could spiral out of control with no Joe Torre father-figure around to keep it in check. Don't discount this factor in what looks to be a 3rd place finish for the Yankees in the AL East this year.
Second - the Yankees biggest rivals - the Red Sox - have no such issues. The Sox will just have to deal with a new contract for Jason Varitek and Varitek has made it clear he wants to stay in Boston.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Cleveland Indians
Steve Henson of Yahoo! Sports has a "hot stove" look at the Cleveland Indians. I got a good chuckle out of this part:
It's also amusing to see the love for Casey Blake when everyone was ready to give 3rd base to prospect Andy Marte before the season started.
The Indians two big needs are a starting corner outfielder and a closer. I would go after Japanese free agent outfielder Kosuke Fukodome but I'm not sure about what they can do about a closer. Francisco Cordero coming over to the AL would be just as big a risk as sticking with Joe Borowski. And Cordero would be looking for Casey Blake type money.
If the Red Sox were to lose out on Mike Lowell it would be pretty ironic that the Indians would need an outfielder (Coco Crisp) while the Red Sox big need would be a 3rd baseman (Andy Marte). I chuckle at that almost as much as Casey Blake's contract necessitating an 11% hike in ticket prices.
Steve Henson of Yahoo! Sports has a "hot stove" look at the Cleveland Indians. I got a good chuckle out of this part:
The versatile Casey Blake also is a year from free agency, and nobody recognizes his value more than Shapiro. So expect a serious attempt to keep Blake in the fold as well. Maybe that's why the Indians announced Monday they have raised prime season ticket prices by 11 percent.Yeah - sure. Good luck to the Indians trying to justify a big ticket increase so that they can re-sign Casey Blake. To be fair - Henson had just got done saying that CC Sabathia will be a free agent after 2008 and I think he meant to justify the ticket price increase on the re-signing of both players. The way its written is ambiguous and I chose to chuckle at the idea of re-signing Casey Blake to a mega-contract causing the ducat inflation.
It's also amusing to see the love for Casey Blake when everyone was ready to give 3rd base to prospect Andy Marte before the season started.
The Indians two big needs are a starting corner outfielder and a closer. I would go after Japanese free agent outfielder Kosuke Fukodome but I'm not sure about what they can do about a closer. Francisco Cordero coming over to the AL would be just as big a risk as sticking with Joe Borowski. And Cordero would be looking for Casey Blake type money.
If the Red Sox were to lose out on Mike Lowell it would be pretty ironic that the Indians would need an outfielder (Coco Crisp) while the Red Sox big need would be a 3rd baseman (Andy Marte). I chuckle at that almost as much as Casey Blake's contract necessitating an 11% hike in ticket prices.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
CC Sabathia Wins Cy Young Award
CC Sabathia won the Cy Young Award and I for one have no argument with it. He had 19 wins, a better ERA than Josh Beckett and he led the majors in innings pitched. He deserves it.
However, what I don't get is how 2 voters could completely leave Josh Beckett off the ballot. How could one voter leave CC Sabathia off his ballot? If the Angels beat writer gave his first place vote to John Lackey - then he needs to be outed for being a homer. The writers need to have their ballot's be public. It's ridiculous.
CC Sabathia won the Cy Young Award and I for one have no argument with it. He had 19 wins, a better ERA than Josh Beckett and he led the majors in innings pitched. He deserves it.
However, what I don't get is how 2 voters could completely leave Josh Beckett off the ballot. How could one voter leave CC Sabathia off his ballot? If the Angels beat writer gave his first place vote to John Lackey - then he needs to be outed for being a homer. The writers need to have their ballot's be public. It's ridiculous.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Flotsam and Jetsam
Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.
I give all the credit in the world to Vanderbilt for its 17-6 victory over South Carolina but I also have to think that with Kentucky beating LSU - then the Gamecocks may have gone into this game a bit too cocky and maybe looking ahead of the Commodores because they had handled Kentucky pretty easily. Pride goeth before a fall... Dumbledore was gay? Richard Harris went his whole career without playing a gay character, always the man's man. Now I find nothing wrong with Rowling saying she wrote Dumbledore as a gay character but my first thought was to wonder if Harris knew this before hand if he would have accepted the role. And if Harris turned down the role - then we could have all been spared the awful Michael Gambon taking over as Dumbledore after Harris' death... Lyford has the stats to back up a point I made before Game 1 vs the Indians - if the Cy Young voters waited till after the playoffs there's no way CC Sabathia would be close to Josh Beckett in Cy Young voting. It should be noted that over the last 12 years only two players have won the Cy Young award and have also had their team win the World Series. That was Randy Johnson in 2001 and Greg Maddux in 1995.... Just saying but 5-2 Clemson has outscored their opponents by 107 points so far this season but in the 4 games vs ACC teams they have scored 92 points and given up 92 points. I think you could say Clemson likes to pad the stats versus out of conference teams...
Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.
I give all the credit in the world to Vanderbilt for its 17-6 victory over South Carolina but I also have to think that with Kentucky beating LSU - then the Gamecocks may have gone into this game a bit too cocky and maybe looking ahead of the Commodores because they had handled Kentucky pretty easily. Pride goeth before a fall... Dumbledore was gay? Richard Harris went his whole career without playing a gay character, always the man's man. Now I find nothing wrong with Rowling saying she wrote Dumbledore as a gay character but my first thought was to wonder if Harris knew this before hand if he would have accepted the role. And if Harris turned down the role - then we could have all been spared the awful Michael Gambon taking over as Dumbledore after Harris' death... Lyford has the stats to back up a point I made before Game 1 vs the Indians - if the Cy Young voters waited till after the playoffs there's no way CC Sabathia would be close to Josh Beckett in Cy Young voting. It should be noted that over the last 12 years only two players have won the Cy Young award and have also had their team win the World Series. That was Randy Johnson in 2001 and Greg Maddux in 1995.... Just saying but 5-2 Clemson has outscored their opponents by 107 points so far this season but in the 4 games vs ACC teams they have scored 92 points and given up 92 points. I think you could say Clemson likes to pad the stats versus out of conference teams...
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Red Sox / Indians ALCS Game 1
The Red Sox spanked the Indians 10-3 last night in the first game of the ALCS. Here are my thoughts and observations from the game.
The game was built up as a potential pitcher's duel between the top two AL Cy Young Award candidates. I had a feeling that CC Sabathia was going to be nervous and that the Red Sox were going to get him into a high pitch count early in the game. The over / under on runs for the game was set at 8 and I had told a friend earlier in the day that the game probably wouldn't be a low scoring affair at all. Looking back I wish I put my money where my mouth was and took the over for last night's game.
Speaking of looking back - I'm guessing there are a number of voters for the Cy Young Award who may be second guessing their vote for Sabathia over Beckett after last night's game. I think Josh Beckett deserves the award but when you look at the numbers - Sabathia is equally deserving. My guess is that Beckett would be OK with things if Sabathia got the award but Beckett got the World Series ring.
As good as Josh Beckett was last night - I think any Red Sox starter would have earned a W with 10 runs to back them up. Those runs don't just happen either. When you have an all-time great combination of David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez in the middle of the order reaching base with every turn at bat - the runs aren't accidental.
Seeing how devastating the Ortiz-Manny combo has been so far in the playoffs actually makes me a bit mad. I'm mad at all the writers who make it a pastime every spring and early summer writing about how Manny should be traded and how his antics aren't worth the production he brings to the plate. You'll hear nothing but the sounds of silence regarding Manny from those knights of the keyboards now that the playoffs have rolled around and once again Manny is the best right-handed bat in baseball.
I'm talking about morons like Peter King who makes Manny his personal off-handed comment pinyata. Yeah - keep picking the Vikings to win the Super Bowl, bitching about how your fat ass can't fit in a regular size airline seat and how "the Papelbon bubble has burst" (August 14, 2006). Manny Ramirez is one of the all-time great hitters and next year we will see him passing some significant milestone on the all-time lists as frequently as Peter King writes talking from his ass pronouncements in his Monday Morning Quarterback column.
I know I should be looking at the positives of last night's win but by the same token - I think that those writers who teed off on Manny should be held accountable and now is as good a time as any. This - of course - won't happen because other writers just let those things slide, pretend those words were never written and then they scratch their head and wonder why Manny doesn't speak with the media.
As far as the series going forward is concerned - I'd look for more of a low scoring pitcher's duel tonight with Curt Schilling the veteran who has been there before and Fausto Carmona the young gun who seems hard to phase pitching tonight. It looks bad overall for the Indians though because CC Sabathia does not seem to hold any mystery for the Red Sox batters and that was the horse the Indians really needed to ride to victory.
The Red Sox spanked the Indians 10-3 last night in the first game of the ALCS. Here are my thoughts and observations from the game.
The game was built up as a potential pitcher's duel between the top two AL Cy Young Award candidates. I had a feeling that CC Sabathia was going to be nervous and that the Red Sox were going to get him into a high pitch count early in the game. The over / under on runs for the game was set at 8 and I had told a friend earlier in the day that the game probably wouldn't be a low scoring affair at all. Looking back I wish I put my money where my mouth was and took the over for last night's game.
Speaking of looking back - I'm guessing there are a number of voters for the Cy Young Award who may be second guessing their vote for Sabathia over Beckett after last night's game. I think Josh Beckett deserves the award but when you look at the numbers - Sabathia is equally deserving. My guess is that Beckett would be OK with things if Sabathia got the award but Beckett got the World Series ring.
As good as Josh Beckett was last night - I think any Red Sox starter would have earned a W with 10 runs to back them up. Those runs don't just happen either. When you have an all-time great combination of David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez in the middle of the order reaching base with every turn at bat - the runs aren't accidental.
Seeing how devastating the Ortiz-Manny combo has been so far in the playoffs actually makes me a bit mad. I'm mad at all the writers who make it a pastime every spring and early summer writing about how Manny should be traded and how his antics aren't worth the production he brings to the plate. You'll hear nothing but the sounds of silence regarding Manny from those knights of the keyboards now that the playoffs have rolled around and once again Manny is the best right-handed bat in baseball.
I'm talking about morons like Peter King who makes Manny his personal off-handed comment pinyata. Yeah - keep picking the Vikings to win the Super Bowl, bitching about how your fat ass can't fit in a regular size airline seat and how "the Papelbon bubble has burst" (August 14, 2006). Manny Ramirez is one of the all-time great hitters and next year we will see him passing some significant milestone on the all-time lists as frequently as Peter King writes talking from his ass pronouncements in his Monday Morning Quarterback column.
I know I should be looking at the positives of last night's win but by the same token - I think that those writers who teed off on Manny should be held accountable and now is as good a time as any. This - of course - won't happen because other writers just let those things slide, pretend those words were never written and then they scratch their head and wonder why Manny doesn't speak with the media.
As far as the series going forward is concerned - I'd look for more of a low scoring pitcher's duel tonight with Curt Schilling the veteran who has been there before and Fausto Carmona the young gun who seems hard to phase pitching tonight. It looks bad overall for the Indians though because CC Sabathia does not seem to hold any mystery for the Red Sox batters and that was the horse the Indians really needed to ride to victory.
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