The 2011 All-Free Agent Team
Seeing as today is the first day where free agents can speak to any team, I thought it would be fitting to announce the 2011 All-Free Agent team….and this year’s is crazy good.
Starting Lineup:
- Derek Jeter SS
- Carl Crawford LF
- Jayson Werth RF
- Adrian Beltre 3B
- Victor Martinez C
- Vladimir Guerrero DH
- Adam Dunn 1B
- Rick Ankiel CF
- Orlando Hudson 2B
Bench:
- Paul Konerko 1B
- Juan Uribe Inf
- Johnny Damon OF
- Miguel Olivo C
Starting Rotation:
- Cliff Lee LHP
- Carl Pavano RHP
- Andy Pettitte LHP
- Hiroki Kuroda RHP
- Javier Vazquez RHP
Bullpen:
- LRP: Chad Durbin
- MRP: Grant Balfour
- MRP: Matt Guerrier
- LOOGY: Scott Downs
- LOOGY: Arthur Rhodes
- SU: Joaquin Benoit
- CL: Mariano Rivera
And there’s your 25-man, All-free agent roster for the 2011 offseason. That is definitely one of the best lineups in baseball, put together with a mediocre starting staff and a dominant bullpen, you have yourselves a world series contender. Happy offseason!
Olney: Yanks Offer to Lee Coming Soon
Via Buster Olney (insider required), the Yankees will make an offer to Cliff Lee within 72 hours. Anthony McCarron also backs this report.
Teams can talk to other players beginning tomorrow at 12:01 AM. For the Yankees, it is clear that Lee is there number one priority and it is expected that they will try to blow the competition out of the water in order to win his services. While they won’t be pursuing Lee as hard as they did Sabathia after the ’08 season, they will make a very strong push for the ace left-hander.
Jesus Is Coming.
Via Mark Feinsand, it appears as though Jesus Montero will in fact be the Yankees’ starting catcher in 2011. The Yankees are prepared to give their top prospect a chance to prove himself in Spring Training and offer the starting job as a reward.
Montero struggled heavily in triple-A during the first half of the year. However, something clicked at a not-so-surprising time. Before the 2010 trade deadline, the Yankees and Mariners had come to an agreement that would’ve sent Jesus, along with 2 other prospects, to the Mariners in exchange for lefty Cliff Lee. However, the deal fell through after the M’s got a report that David Adams had a fractured ankle. They then turned to the Rangers and swapped Lee for first basemen Justin Smoak. We all know the story from there: Lee dominates Yankees in the post-season for the second straight year and Texas wins the American League. After the deal fell through though, Montero got hot and went on to hit for a final line of .289/.353/.517.
There is no question whether or not Montero’s bat is ready for the big leagues, Baseball America called it “the best bat in the minor leagues.” However, there have been a lot of questions regarding his defense. Luckily, the Yankees’ front office believes that Montero made great strides behind the plate in ’10 and could probably catch in the major leagues.
To me, it seems like the real deciding factor here was Jorge Posada. The Yankees believe that Montero is in fact a better defensive catcher than Jorge at the moment and that is key. An improvement in defense, age, and maybe even hitting ability is always welcome and that’s what Jesus could be bringing to the Yankees next year.
The basic plan, as it stands right now, is for Montero to start about 100 games behind the plate, with Jorge and Francisco Cervelli catching the remainder. Jorge would become the team’s primary DH and Cervelli would be there to back-up Montero on days when Posada is unavailable.
These are definitely exciting times to be a Yankees fan. After a long wait, Jesus, along with a ton of crappy puns, has arrived.
2010 All-MLB 25-Man Roster
In my last post, The 2010 All-MLB Team, I picked out the best players at each position from last year. Now, it’s time to make a 25-man roster out of all that. *Keep in mind that I had to add some relief pitchers in order to fill this all out.
Starting Lineup:
1. Carlos Gonzalez LF
2. Troy Tulowitzki SS
3. Josh Hamilton CF
4. Joey Votto 1B
5. Robinson Cano 2B
6. Joe Mauer C
7. Adrian Beltre 3B
8. Vladimir Guerrero DH
9. Jayson Werth RF
Starting Rotation:
1. Roy Halladay RHP
2. Felix Hernandez RHP
3. CC Sabathia LHP
4. Adam Wainwright RHP
5. David Price LHP
Bullpen:
LRP: Darren O’Day
MRP: Daniel Bard
MRP: Mike Adams
LOOGY: Hong-Chih Kuo
LOOGY: Matt Thornton
SU: Joaquin Benoit
CL: Mariano Rivera
Bench:
1. Buster Posey C
2. Miguel Cabrera 1B
3. Omar Infante IF
4. Carl Crawford OF
The 2010 All-MLB Team
First off, I would like to apologize for not posting throughout this season, I have been very busy and Bronx Rumors has been put on the back-burner. I’m hoping to step it back up now. So on that note, I would like to present to you the 2010 All-MLB Team:
Catcher: Joe Mauer MIN
As far as choosing players go, this one is a no-brainer. Mauer led all catchers with a .327 BA, a .402 OBP, and .871 OPS. Add to that Mauer’s .469 SLG and you have yourself the best catcher in the major leagues for the last 5 years.
Runners up: Buster Posey SF, Victor Martinez BOS
First Base: Joey Votto CIN
As easy as Mauer was, this one was very difficult. Miguel Cabrera by the numbers was the best first basemen last year. However, he and Votto are not very far apart. Cabrera’s line was .328/.420/.622 and Votto’s was .324/.424/.600. The factor that I think really sets them apart is defense. Votto is a superb defensive first basemen and could even win the gold glove. Cabrera on the other hand is one of the slowest, most awkward first basemen you’ll see. Advantage: Joey Votto
Runners up: Miguel Cabrera DET, Albert Pujols STL, Aubrey Huff SF
Second Base: Robinson Cano NYY
I don’t think I need to say anything other than “step aside Chase Utley, there’s a new sheriff in town.”
Runners up: Omar Infante ATL, Martin Prado ATL, Dan Uggla FLA
Shortstop: Troy Tulowitzki COL
Tulowitzki is a player i’d trade for in a heartbeat. He has all the tools. He hit for a .315/.381/.568 line and complimented that with a .949 OPS, 27 HRs, and 95 RBIs. As far as shortstops go, no one reaches his level of completeness.
Runners up: Hanley Ramirez FLA, Starlin Castro CHC
Third Base: Adrian Beltre BOS
This one may surprise some folks, but Beltre really was the best third basemen in all of baseball last year, not some guy named Evan Longoria. Beltre’s line was .321/.365/.553, leading the majors in batting average and SLG. He also was the only 3B to get an OPS over .900 (his was .919). Top that off with 28 HRs and 102 RBIs and you have yourself a winner.
Runners up: Ryan Zimmerman WSH, Evan Longoria TB
Left Field: Carlos Gonzalez COL
Just a quick note, because of the insane depth of left fielders and sheer openness of center fielders, I have decided to call Josh Hamilton a center fielder for simplicity’s sake. CarGo had a monster year hitting .336/.376/.598 while leading LFs in BA, SLG, OPS, HRs, Rs, Hs, and RBIs. Needless to say, the dude’s a beast.
Runners up: Carl Crawford TB, Brett Gardner NYY, Ryan Braun MIL
Center Field: Josh Hamilton TEX
He’s being put here because the CF race was dreadful and he played center throughout the postseason. As for my reasoning, try this: he led all MLB in batting average (.359) and SLG (.633) and led all CFs in pretty much every offensive category: BA, OBP, SLG, OPS, and he led in Hs, HRs, and RBIs despite missing about a month of the season. American League MVP right there.
Runners up: Wouldn’t be fair to say anyone was even close
Right Field: Jayson Werth PHI
The soon-to-be-free agent had a monster 2010, leading RFs in SLG and OPS while batting .296, reaching base at a .388 clip, belting 27 HRs and driving in 85. Sin-Shoo Choo was close, but his numbers just weren’t as good as Werth’s.
Runners up: Sin-Shoo Choo CLE, Nick Markakis BAL, Nick Swisher NYY
Starting Pitcher: Roy Halladay PHI
What began as a very close race, Doc Halladay emerged as the easy favorite for the NL Cy Young. He was 5th in the majors with a 2.44 ERA, first in WHIP (1.04), tied for first in wins (21), 5th in Ks, and first in innings pitched. You could definitely make a case for Felix, but i’m gonna go with the Doc. Dude threw a perfect game and a post-season no-hitter in the same year!
Runners up: Felix Hernandez SEA, Adam Wainwright STL, Josh Johnson FLA, CC Sabathia NYY, David Price TB
Relief Pitcher: Mo
Choosing Mariano as the best relief pitcher is like the instant replay rules in baseball: a call can only be changed if there is indisputable evidence. And there is none. Sure, Rafael Soriano had a great year and Brian Wilson became crazy-popular with the “fear the beard” campaign, but none of them can touch the mystique that lies in Rivera’s hand, body, number, and name.
Runners up: Rafael Soriano TB, Brian Wilson SF
Designated Hitter: Vladimir Guerrero TEX
‘Ol Vladdy can still hit. Guerrero had a .300/.345/.496 line for the Texas Rangers, knocking in 115 RBIs and knotching a .841 OPS. He had a damn good year in the DH spot.
Runners up: Luke Scott BAL, Hideki Matsui LAA, David Ortiz BOS
Why The Rays Will Not Win The AL East
There has been a lot of speculation this season that the Tampa Bay Rays can return to their 2008 form and overtake the Yankees and Red Sox. Writers have been naming players like Evan Longoria to win the MVP (which is entirely possible) and carry the ball club. However, there is one word that sums up why the Rays cannot match up with the Yanks and Sox: Pitching.
In 2008, the Rays were the cinderella story of baseball. They had star young players like Longoria and B.J. Upton that were led by veterans such as Carl Crawford and Troy Percival. They were also led by a great pitching staff that included Matt Garza, James Shields, and Scott Kazmir. It was the perfect storm and they rode it all the way to the world series.
Also in 2008, the Yankees failed to reach the playoffs for the first time in ages, and thus were motivated to go on a spending spree in the offseason. Not only did they pick up one of the best offensive players in the game in Mark Teixeira, but they also fortified their rotation with CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett. Those two, along with good ‘ol Andy Pettitte, took the Yankees all through October and went on to win the world series.
This too had an effect on a division rival, as the Red Sox also fortified their team over the 2009-10 offseason. They went out and signed the likes of John Lackey, Mike Cameron, Adrian Beltre, and Marco Scutaro. By combining Lackey with their already strong rotation, they have one of the very best rotations in all of baseball.
Another team with one of the best rotations: the Yankees. After trading for Javier Vazquez and finally placing Phil Hughes in there, they are all set for October. This is why the Rays cannot beat the Yankees or Red Sox, their starters just don’t match up. Think about the starting five for the three teams:
Yankees:
1. CC Sabathia
2. A.J. Burnett
3. Andy Pettite
4. Javier Vazquez
5. Phil Hughes
Red Sox:
1. Josh Beckett
2. Jon Lester
3. John Lackey
4. Dice-K
5. Clay Buchholz
Rays:
1. Matt Garza
2. James Shields
3. Jeff Niemann
4. David Price
5. Wade Davis
The Yanks and Sox’s rotations are far superior. If you look at the individual match-ups, the only way the Rays could theoretically win is if Price and Davis finally start pitching their potential. Until then, the Rays will remain in 3rd place, and out of the playoffs while the Yankees and Red Sox fight it out at the top.
2010 Yankees Roster: Mine vs. Actual
I recently read this post and it got me thinking about how I would put together the 2010 Yankees roster. Note that the *s mean the players definitely will be on the active roster when the season starts.
Pitching Rotation:
1. CC Sabathia*
2. A.J. Burnett*
3. Andy Pettitte*
4. Javier Vazquez*
5. Phil Hughes
Bullpen:
CL Mariano Rivera*
SU Joba Chamberlain
MRP David Robertson*
LHP Damaso Marte*
LRP Alfredo Aceves
LRP/MRP/SU Chan Ho Park*
Starting Lineup:
1. SS Derek Jeter*
2. DH Nick Johnson*
3. 1B Mark Teixeira*
4. 3B Alex Rodriguez*
5. 2B Robinson Cano*
6. C Jorge Posada*
7. CF Curtis Granderson*
8. RF Nick Swisher*
9. LF Brett Gardner*
Bench:
IF Ramiro Pena*
C Francisco Cervelli*
OF Randy Winn*
1B Juan Miranda
OF Greg Golson
Notes:
I decided to go with an extra person on the bench (Golson, who is a speed-demon and solid outfielder) rather then an extra arm in the bullpen (Melancon would be my next pick) because of the flexibility of Chan Ho Park. He can eat up innings, pitch dominant set-up relief, or anything in between. I also felt more comfortable having a dedicated pinch-runner (Golson) and a pinch-hitter (Miranda, who I badly want to see in the majors on a regular basis).
I don’t really want to get into the whole Hughes/Joba thing, but I will give my 2 cents. After seeing Joba and Hughes in both roles, it seems like Joba is better in the bullpen, and, while he certainly was better in the pen than as a starter, Hughes is a more polished starter, with more then a fastball-slider combination. We saw it last year during the playoffs. Hughes began to struggle in the 8th inning, so Girardi instead handed the ball to Joba who took up his beast-mentality. So, to be clear: In the future, I see Phil Hughes as a Rick Porcello-type pitcher, and Joba Chamberlain as the heir to Mariano Rivera as the Yankees’ closer.
Some people have been talking about putting Granderson in left and Gardner in center, which does seem like a good idea to me. Joe Girardi called Gardner “one of the best defensive centerfielders in the game.” On the other hand, people have been doubting Granderson defensively for years (despite this play) and his production resembles that of a corner-outfielder. That being said however, the reason Gardner’s not in center is because he could very easily fall into a slump and have to be replaced. The Yankees do not want to see a Marcus Thames or a Jamie Hoffman rooming around in center field and are just going to stick with the security that Granderson brings. Besides, it can’t hurt to have a centerfielder that hits 30 homeruns.
The Johan Santana Trade Revisited
On February 2nd, 2008, the Minnesota Twins traded LHP Johan Santana to the New York Mets for four prospects. All seemed right with the world after it: the Mets, a year after they blew a historic lead to the Phillies, acquired one of the best pitchers in all of baseball in Santana and everyone thought they were primed for the post-season.
The Yankees-Red Sox rivalry (both teams considered front-runners for Santana at different times) didn’t dramatically shift in one direction since neither team nabbed Johan.
Plus the Twins felt that they got some very good prospects in return for their ace pitcher.
Oh how we were wrong. Let’s play this thing out with the winners and losers as they stand today in 2009:
Winners:
New York Mets:
The Mets acquire Johan Santana and then immediately signed him to a 6-year, $137.5mm contract, the largest contract for any pitcher at the time. This would prove to be a great move as Santana went 16-7 with a 2.53 ERA and 206 K’s in 234.1 IP. He would finnish 2nd in the NL Cy Young voting to Tim Lincecum of the Giants. This year he’s been good as well pitching to the tune of 3.13 ERA, .01 higher than that of his career. However, due to injuries to other players and bad offense surrounding Santana, the Mets failed to reach the postseason in 2008 and it looks as though the same ending will result here in 2009.
New York Yankees:
By not trading for Santana, Yankees’ GM Brian Cashman was bashed by the New York media. However, the move not to trade for the ace lefty has to proved to have been possibly the best move of Cashman’s career; Due to the prospects he didn’t give up at the time.
The Yankees top offer was Melky Cabrera, Phil Hughes, Jeffery Marquez, Ian Kennedy and Jhonny Nunez.
By not making the deal, the Yankees spun those prospects around for great things. Now the Yankees have C.C. Sabathia/Mark Teixiera in place of Johan Santana (they wouldn’t of been able to sign all three), Melky Cabrera has been playing a good centerfield and is having a solid bounce-back season, Phil Hughes is finally realizing his potential as a dominate set-up man, and Marquez and Nunez were both traded to the White Sox for Nick Swisher, the Yankees powerful right fielder. All has worked out extremely well for the Yankees.
Boston Red Sox:
While Brian Cashman’s move not to deal for Santana was good, Red Sox GM Theo Epstien’s may have been even better. The Red Sox top offer looked like this: Jon Lester, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jed Lowrie, Michael Bowden.
By not trading for Santana, they now have an dominate pitcher in Lester, one of the best base-stealers in the game in Ellsbury, Lowrie’s a below-average shortstop, and Bowden has huge potential (despite a terrible performance against the Yankees on Friday.
Losers:
Minnesota Twins:
Yes it’s true, the Twins, the team that dealt Santana are our one-and-only losers in this deal. They held out on Santana for too long and wound up taking the worst package on the table. Carlos Gomez, despite playing terrific defense and having amazing speed, never gets a chance to show off that speed because he never gets on base. His OBP his barely over .300 while his BA is constantly in the low to mid .200s.
The Twins recently released Phillip Humber so he’s a dud. Mulvey has pitched a little in the majors and hasn’t been that bad and Deolis Guerra is ranked as the Twins #12 prospect.
However, what’s even worse is what the Twins didn’t trade for: both the Red Sox and the Yankees had great offers on the table but the Twins kept asking for more.
With the Yankees, the Twins kept asking for Phil Hughes AND Joba Chamberlain, even though the Yankees stated clearly that Joba was off-limits.
With the Red Sox it was even worse, the Twins were asking for Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz, AND Jacoby Ellsbury. The Red Sox were never going to do it. Plus the Twins just should’ve asked for Lester and Ellsbury, both of whom were much better better than Buchholz.
Bottom line, the Twins messed up and the Mets, Yankees, and Red Sox all capitalized…big time!
Yanks Should Sign El Duque
I know I already have proposed this idea before, but I still believe that the Yankees should sign Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez. Despite getting released by the Texas Rangers earlier this year because he “didn’t show enough velocity or command,” I believe he could still pitch in the big leagues. It seems to me that he could benefit from a Bronx return like many players have in the past.
However, the bottom line is this: the Yankees could use another starter, El Duque’s a free agent, and he’s a proven winner. He pitches extremely well in the postseason which the Yankees could use if he proves effective over the regular season. In his career, El Duque is 9-3 with a 2.55 ERA and 107 strikeouts in 106.0 innings. The Yankees could use him as their 4th starter and put Joba in the ‘pen with Phil Hughes (an idea I’ve already pitched before). If you do that, you don’t have to limit Joba’s innings as much in the regular season.
Yankees Sign 3 Draft Picks
The Yankees have signed their 1st, 2nd and 5th round draft picks today according to Jim Callis and Keith Law.
1st Round Pick: Slade Heathcott
The Yankees signed their 27th pick overall for $2.2MM, that’s about $1.9MM over the recommended amount. Heathcott will play as an outfielder in proball and is a legitimate 5-tool player.
2nd Round Pick: JR Murphy
Murphy joins in a long line of Yankees catching prospects (J. Montero, F. Cervelli, G. Sanchez, A. Romine) after signing for probably 7 figures. Murhpy was an outfielder but converted to catcher due to athleticism.
5th Round Pick: Caleb Cotham
The Yankees signed the righty out of Vanderbilt for $675,000. That’s just $5,000 short of the most in the 5th round and 4 times the recommended amount. Cotham was bothered by a sore knee in the Spring, but didn’t allow an earned run in the Cape Cod league and threw 91-94 with his fastball.
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