New Stadium Progress pictures!

I came across some pictures of how impressive the new stadium is looking on Baseball Fever and Yankee Tradition this evening, and thought I’d share them! Cannot wait to take in a game there!

Some shots from today’s game v USF

Bobby Murcer

The Official site is reporting that Bobby Murcer is having to go for further investigation on an area of concern on his brain following on from all he went through last year.

Both of us here at Highlander Origins, I’m sure as well as all Yankee fans from around the world would like to wish Bobby all the best with this investigatory procedure, and all we can hope is that it shows up to be nothing of major concern.

vs University of South Florida

Seems like the game today went fairly well, although anything other than a huge win would have been kinda worrying. The young guys did a great job pitching but it is pretty funny looking down at the ERA’s of all the pitchers -

Chamberlain – 0.00

Kennedy – 0.00

Hughes – 0.00

Igawa – 36.00

Marquez – 0.00

Horne – 0.00

Wright – 0.00

Taking away Igawa’s interesting inning, the rest of the staff(which must have an average age of about 22) went 8 innings, while striking out 8 and only giving up 1 hit. Also, good work by Curtis in RF, who went 1/3 with a 2b and supposedly made a really nice play in the field.

Who’s on first?

For what seems like the latest in a long line of Spring Training dilemmas we are again faced with the one question that will surely still be making Lou Costello roll over in his grave.

We have, yet again, reports that Jason Giambi is looking good and wanting to get some use out of his mitt this coming season. As my namesake touched on a couple of days ago, however, everyone seems to be talked about as an MVP or a Cy Young candidate in Spring Training. Then again, if he really has dropped some weight and increased his mobility (although an increase on virtually nothing still isn’t going to be too great…), then he could do a job, and, to be honest, I hope he gets the job to start the season.

Aside from the stats that suggest that he does a marked amount better in terms of batting stats while playing both sides of the game, it would make things a whole lot easier for the rest of the lineup on a day to day basis. For a start, it would allow us to keep our best bet of a leadoff hitter playing left field (again, Damon’s another one that really seems to be talking up the fact that he’s raring to get going this season).

Another, and for me, more significant benefit, is that it allows us to keep Matsui in the DH slot on at least a semi-permanent basis. Matsui’s numbers since he stopped getting 20+ AB’s on a regular basis seem to suggest that he is very much a player who thrives on building consistency. He is, as we’ve seen, a very talented hitter, and if we can try and get him 450+ AB’s through the season, he’ll likely put up close to the .300 / 25 HR / 80+ RBI he’s more than capable of.

As for Giambi, while many are likely to get on his back should he start playing well by complaining that he waited till his walk year before doing so, I have absolutely no problem with this – there’s no point in recriminating about what he’s done over the past 6 years of his deal. If he puts up monster stats in his walk year, then every party is a winner. The team will have a very powerful and feared slugger to add to an already potent lineup, and he’ll do well for himself when it comes to getting a contract at the end of the year, wherever it happens to be (I’m assuming the organisation won’t have a collective brain-fart and pick up his option…a pretty safe bet if ever there was one…).

That being said, I can definitely see a valuable role to be played by the likes of Shelley, Wilson, and Morgan Ensberg. Each of whom has their own benefits, and specific uses to the team.

Shelley Duncan seems to swing big, hit big, but having the option of a slugging righty off the bench can’t do the team any harm (nor can having someone who’s got such ‘fan favourite’ status…reminiscent of Shane Spencer from a seemingly bygone era). In terms of his glovework, while he seems to be slated to share time at 1B (along with pretty much the rest of the 25-man roster it would seem), I think he could be of a lot of use as a backup outfielder. After all, Damon and Abreu are both, to be polite, approaching the twilight of their careers, and aren’t going to be able to face up to 162 games in the field. Shelley seems to have pretty decent range, and has a cannon for an arm. An ideal option to have as backup. Certainly an upgrade on his predecessor as a fifth outfielder in Bubba Crosby…

Wilson Betemit is another interesting one. As hard as he’s likely to try, I really struggle to see him seeing much time at first. For me he’s fourth on the depth chart behind Giambi, Duncan and Ensberg. On the other hand, he’s a solid hitter (putting together stats of .250 / 32 HR / 103 RBI in his last 613 AB’s) who will be a more than useful bat off the bench, and will provide a ready replacement should A-Rod or Jeter ever need (or more likely be forced into) taking a day off every now and again. What seems even more remarkable is that he seems happy to sit on the sidelines and take his chances when he can get them. Someone with that kind of patience seems to be a rarity in today’s game, and hopefully one the team can benefit from through the year. As with Shelley, he’s a significant upgrade on the previous backup for his positions in Miguel Cairo.

Morgan Ensberg is an interesting one. He has put up respectable numbers through his career, and again, is likely to see at least some playing time throughout the season. Again, I really can’t see him assuming anything other than a role on the bench, and so long as he’s happy to do that, and take his cuts when he can get the at bats, he seems like a very useful option to have on the bench.

All in all, while we’re not going to see the defensive prowess of Mientkiewicz again this year, the organisation has plenty of options should their first (or second or third) plans fall through. Certainly a better position to be in than just having the options of Giambi + A.N.Other from the past few seasons, and all of the options, as with the bench players for the rest of the positions, seem to be notable upgrades on what’s gone before them in recent years.

Now if only we could be a bit more certain about the rotation for a change…

THE BIG 3 – part 1

With so much attention being afforded towards the potential of Joba Chamberlain, Ian Kennedy and Phil Hughes it would be easy to forget exactly how much we are asking of “the big three”. Not only is the 2008 season apparently resting on the shoulders(and elbows) of these three men, but so is the next fifteen years of the organisation, if you believe the New York press, that is. It’s high time for a reality check, so lets clear a few things up -

1 – Phil Hughes was projected to make the club at some point in 2008, it was only extenuating circumstances that placed him in the rotation in 2007.

2 – Joba Chamberlain was on almost no ones radar one year ago, yet it seems he is expected to play pivotal roles in both the clubs rotation AND it’s bullpen.

3 – Ian Kennedy, like Joba, was a virtual unknown not so long ago and like Joba, with so few professional innings behind him, can we, and should we really expect huge things from him in 2008.

“The big three” are 21, 22 and 23 years old and they are reminded in almost every interview that they are the clubs present and the clubs future. In the end, i, like every Yankee fan believes that the JobaPhilIan era is going to be a long and successful one, but i don’t necessarily believe it will begin in 2008, especially with the constant pressure being piled on them.

BLOG JUICERS

The creators of this blog(neildo84 and ph34) would like to announce that they do not tolerate performance enhanced blog juicers. We are checked regularly and have tested negative for all blog related steroids.

SPRING TRAINING OPTIMISM??

How come almost every report you read from Spring Training is always remarkably positive? The way the managers and coaches talk during the spring makes it sound like the whole team is going to be competing against each other for the big end of season awards. It’s really pleasing to know that the Yankees are going to have 6 or 7 Cy Young candidates this year as apparently Kei Igawa, our 7th starter, is looking sharp already!!!!!!

Joba Rules?

It now seems that Joba is destined to start the season in the bullpen (according to Dave Eiland today on ESPN Radio). This leaves me at a total loss to explain how his season is going to pan out. Using Tom Verducci’s research concerning the progressive workloads of young pitchers (an excellent read if you haven’t seen it yet - You can access it here…), the organisation should ideally cap Joba at around the 150 innings mark.

Going through the whole season as a starter this will likely only allow him 24 or so starts (assuming around 6 1/3 to 6 2/3 innings a start). With the season at 162 games, plus hopefully an extended postseason run, I can’t help but think that this is an inefficient way to use one of our best assets. If he is even 50% as effective as he was in the run in last season, then he will be a major asset through this season.

For me, the sensible option, especially if the organisation is genuinely planning for a postseason run (which, with a $200m+ payroll should be an absolute minimum expectation), would be to go for what was suggested earlier in Spring Training, and use him from the bullpen to start the season. He’s proven there, and it would surely serve to further his reputation. Some time around the All Star Break he could be made ready to start with a stint in Scranton, and ideally leave him 80+ innings before reaching his ‘cap.’

Without Joba as a starter in the first half, there are still five (mostly) solid starters in Wang, Pettitte, Phil, Kennedy and Moose, with fallback options like Karstens and Igawa should injury or anything else befall the rotation. With a good few arms in the minors that could potentially be ready to make the step up later in the season, having the option of inserting Joba into the rotation for the stretch run could really prove to be a move to push this team to the next level, and possibly even cement a playoff place.

While it’s unlikely that someone could step up and match Joba’s effectiveness in the run in like last season, there are surely enough arms in the system to be able to compensate for the loss of Joba as a setup man (who knows, maybe even Farnsworth may come good……stranger things have surely happened…). This kind of strategy would effectively save Joba’s arm for later in the season, where we’re likely to need it most, and help the organisation ensure that they don’t hang him out to dry by overworking him this year, and jeopardising him for the long run. Surely this is by far the best way for the organisation to use the assets available to it?!

BEHIND THE DISH

JORGE POSADA -

Posada has had the good fortune to catch for some of this generations very best pitchers and he has grown into his role very nicely. That being said, he receives an abundance of credit for his game calling abilities when realistically, it is a skill which is vastly overrated. Isn’t it odd that Catchers get credit for calling a great game when it usually comes with a good pitcher on the mound? They rarely, if ever, get slaughtered when their pitcher has a bad outing. The same can be said for for every Catcher in the Major League Baseball and is not only exclusively aimed at Posada. If i am wrong, it is a very worrying sign for the Yankees as the only pitcher that Posada has nurtured to any degree of prolonged success is Chien Ming Wang. Posada has received many promising pitchers through the years with the Yankees and they have had disastrous times in the Bronx. For example, Javier Vasquez led the NL in strikeouts the year before the Yankees traded for him, he failed miserably in Pinstripes before becoming a decent middle of the rotation innings eater for the Diamondbacks and the White Sox. Other examples would be Jose Contreras, and to a lesser extent Jeff Weaver(we may laugh now but he was a top prospect in Detroit and any team would have loved to have had him). In my opinion, this had little to do with Posada but if he is to be given credit for catching shutouts then he should receive criticism when his staff gets lit up.

Defense – Posada’s defense is, an all honesty, way below par. His throwing has steadily improved throughout the years with better footwork accounting for superior throws and higher caught stealing percentages. Unfortunately, his blocking abilities are equal to that of my wheelchair bound Grandmother’s. One of my most disappointing moments of 2007 came in the ill fated ‘bug’ game. With Joba struggling on the hill, Posada’s weak efforts to stop Joba’s pitches only involved him flailing a glove in the general direction of the ball. This was a feeble and depressing effort from a big leaguer, not to mention uninspiring for a pitching staff. If the trend continues, you have to worry how effective Joba’s slider and Hughes’ curve will be if they cannot trust their catcher’s blocking abilities.

Offense – Having slated Posada on defense, it is only fair that i lavish praise on him for his work with a bat. Last years stats were awesome, and even if unlikely to be repeated, a return to his form of old would be far from a terrible thing. More of the same is what is required of Posada and there is very little reason to believe that he won’t post great numbers in 2008.

JOSE  MOLINA -

In a brief stint with the Yankees, Molina looked significantly above average on defense while posting solid, if not spectacular numbers on offense. Molina is a gigantic upgrade over his predecessors – porn star lookalike Sal Fasano and light hitting Wil Nieves, a man who would probably crack under the pressure of being a bat boy. In short, Molina could be a starting Catcher on many teams and must feel sick about the ludicrous deal Yorvit Torrealba was given in the offseason.

SUMMARY –

The Catching position is something that the Yankees do not need to worry about in 2008 but one question has to be asked – was the deal for Posada a good move for the Yankees? With an abundance of offense throughout the lineup and defense hardly a strong point, was it a wise move investing over $50 million into an ageing catcher who is not far short of being defensively abysmal when Molina could do a good job in a predominantly defensive position while saving the Yankees tens of millions of dollars? I know one thing for sure, i’d rather Molina catching, with the money saved from the Posada deal invested into signing a couple of proven relievers.