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A Look Ahead: Catchers
In part three of “A Look Ahead” we look at catchers. In case you missed them, here’s part one where we looked at pitchers and here’s part two where the focus was on infielders.
Catchers:
The possible need(s): Back-up catcher
The options: Francisco Cervelli, Jose Molina, Ramon Castro, Gregg Zaun, Bengie Molina (unlikely)
The Yankees are going to need a back-up catcher next year. With Jorge Posada getting older, they’re going to need that catcher even more.
The two most likely candidates are Jose Molina and Francisco Cervelli. The way Cervelli played this year, I think he’ll get the nod over the aging Molina. While Molina still is one of the better defensive catchers in the league, Cervelli is exceptional behind the dish and brings more to the table hitting-wise. Plus, he’s bubbling with energy and all the Yankees pitchers seem to love him, especially CC Sabathia (and you know the Yanks want to keep him happy).
However, if they don’t want to pursue one of those options, they could turn to a veteren such as Gregg Zaun or Ramon Castro. Castro is the better hitting of the two, but Zaun could help bring up the young pitchers (something that Jorge Posada hasn’t done that great a job at).
However, in the end I think the Yanks will just give the job to Cervelli, after all, the front office loves him.
A Look Ahead: Infielders
Part 2 of “A Look Ahead.” Today we look at infielders:
The possible need(s): Utility Man
The options: Eric Hinske, Cody Ransom, Ramiro Pena, Mark DeRosa, Felipe Lopez, Bobby Crosby, Marco Scutaro, John McDonald.
As proven by recent teams that reached the World Series (Boston in ’07, Tampa Bay and Philadelphia in ’08), a good bench is a key to success. The Yankees have already improved their bench dramatically this year with the acquisition of Eric Hinske and could make it even better this offseason.
They could retain the services of Hinske and Ransom (they don’t have to worry about Pena) and then have the three of them duke it out in Spring Training with probably two of them making it to the big league club.
Another option would be to sign a free agent. The best looking name out there is that of Mark DeRosa. DeRosa is the definition of a utility man. He can play all four infield spots as well as the outfield. You combine that with a .300 BA and 20 HRs, you have yourself the best benchwarmer in the league. However, there are a couple of things going against DeRosa landing in the Bronx. In the past, he has expressed an interest in starting, something he was able to do in Cleveland. However, he would not be able to start in the Bronx (unless an outfield spot opened up. More about that later). A lot of other teams will be interested as well so the Yankees would have to out bid about 15 other teams, which they’ve managed to do plenty of times in the past.
They could also go after one of the other names out there. Lopez and Scutaro are certainly very attractive options. Or they could look at Bobby Crosby (remember his name was floated out there in trade rumors when A-Rod went down). Bottom line, Yanks have plenty of nice options when it comes to a utility man (or too).
A-Rod To Have Surgery; Out For Two Months
Yankees’ third basemen Alex Rodriguez has opted for surgery. According to numerous sources, A-Rod will have a “hybrid” surgery which will only cause him to miss two months instead of four. To do this, the surgery will be “limited” and will not completely heal him. A-Rod will have the procedure done tomorrow (Monday) morning by Dr. Marc Philippon, one of the best hip-surgeons in North America.
If the Yankees were to let A-Rod play with the torn labrum, he would’ve done more long-term damage to himself. The Yankees were stuck in-between the decision to have the surgery or not, for they are a much weaker team without their slugging-third basemen. But for now, they’ll have to make due with Cody Ransom or whoever takes over at third. But even with that, this seems like the smart move for the Yankees.
On another note, I am sorry for the lack of videos posted on our Youtube account, there have been some technical errors. But, the first video will be posted some time this week.
Week Overview: A-Rod Admission and Other Yankee News
Hey Yankee fans. I’m sorry for not posting for a while, I’ve just been really taken back by all this new news springing up. But I gotta cover it so here it goes; a quick summary of the events that have taken place lately and my thoughts on them:
A-Rod’s Admission:
Alex was very emotional during his interview with ESPN‘s Peter Gammons. He admitted to taking steroids in 2003 and perhaps even years before. A-Rod listed being young, stupid, and feeling an enormous pressure after signing a giant deal with the Rangers, as his reasons. I, along with many players including former Yankee, Jason Giambi, am glad to see Rodriguez come clean with this. It would’ve been much worse had he done what Roger Clemens did, and flat out deny it. Instead, he chose the clean, virtues path of admission. It will allow people to forgive him easier, something I hope all of you do.
First Days at Camp:
At the beginning of the off-season, Yankees GM Brian Cashman had one thing, or rather person, on his mind: CC Sabathia. Sabathia helped the Yankees reach their goals of better pitching, getting younger, and adding some life to the clubhouse! His, and A.J. Burnett’s (’cause lets not forget him), signing(s) represent two things: hope, and anxiousness. Immediately after Sabathia’s signing was announced, every Yankee fan had one thing on their mind: I wanna see him pitch! Well that day finally came this week, as Sabathia took his first pitch in a Yankees uniform, in a bullpen session at, newly renamed, George M. Steinbrenner Field. It was a great moment that again made Yankee fans anticipatory for another date: April 6th.
Other Yankees News and Notes:
Alfredo Aceves withdrew his name from consideration for a chance to play for Team Mexico in the World Baseball Classic. He will instead be at Yankee Camp for all of Spring Training.
Chien-Ming Wang, Jorge Posada, and Mariano Rivera are all recovering from their recent surgeries quite nicely; Wang took a bullpen session today and Jorge and Mo will be ready for Opening Day.
The Yankees signed Brett Tomko to a minor-league deal.
Joe Girardi, Jorge Posada and other members of the Yankee team will, literally, stand by A-Rod during his press conference on Tuesday in Tampa.
Team USA Roster
A look at the USA team roster so far:
Starting Pitchers:
John Lackey LAA
Roy Oswalt HOU
Jake Peavy SD
Relief Pitchers:
Jonathan Broxton LAD
Brian Fuentes LAA
Matt Lindstrom FLA
Joe Nathan MIN
J.J. Putz NYM
B.J. Ryan TOR
Scot Shields LAA
Matt Thornton CHW
Infielders:
Mark DeRosa CLE
Derek Jeter NYY
Chipper Jones ATL
Dustin Pedroia BOS
Jimmy Rollins PHI
David Wright NYM
Kevin Youkilis BOS
Outfielders:
Ryan Braun MIL
Curtis Granderson DET
Grady Sizemore CLE
Catchers:
Brian McCann
Who Should Cleanup For The Yanks?
This is one of the lesser-talked about things of the Teixeira deal (which is expected to be announced sometime next week): Who will bat cleanup? Teixeira or A-Rod? Well you can break it down a couple of ways:
1. Who’s the better hitter?
Well that question is pretty much a given; A-Rod. Yes Teixeira also is an excellent hitter, but A-Rod is better. Over his 6-year career, Teixeira has a .290 AVG, 203 HR, and 676 RBI. In that same time, A-Rod has a .301 AVG, 255 HR, and 734 RBI. Those are true statistics of a number 4 hitter.
2. Who will benefit more from having the other one batting behind them?
This question is a little hard to determine. Obviously, both would benefit greatly by having the other bat behind them. But the question is, which one would benefit more? I look at it as who is more comfortable in what spot? Well, A-Rod, after he left Seattle, has been a number 4 hitter and has batted cleanup for the Yankees ever since they got him (with a couple of stints as #3). Teixeira on the other hand, has spent most of his career as no. 3. While he was in Atlanta, he batted behind Chipper and that worked out o.k. However, when he got to L.A. and started batting 3rd, in front of Vladimir Guerrero, he reached his peak. Tex batted .358 with 13 HR and 43 RBI in 54 games as an Angel. If he could do that in front of A-Rod, that’s an unstoppable 1-2 punch. One that’s as good (if not better) than the Ortiz-Manny combo that the Red Sox had a couple of years ago (they didn’t have it at all in 08).
However, in the end, this isn’t a question for the media to decide; it’s up to Joe Girardi.
Teixeira Signing A Lot Like A-Rod Deal
When Mark Teixeira turned down the Red Sox’ offer for the Yankees’ something about it seemed very familiar. In fact, it was just like when the Yankees traded for Alex Rodriguez in February of 2004. A-Rod, like Teixeira, was a star player and a great hitter who played for the Rangers (Teixeira didn’t go from the Rangers directly to the Yankees like A-Rod). In fact, they both played on the same team in 2003. A-Rod was traded and Teixeira signed as a free agent, but they both could’ve gone to Boston, but didn’t. In the offseason between the 2003 and 2004 seasons, the Rangers were shopping Alex. The Red Sox picked him off the shelf and began to move towards the cashier. However, the deal came up a bit short.
Right around that time, someone said, “hey, wouldn’t it be great if Alex Rodriguez came to New York and just moved to third base?” It seemed unlikely though, as the Rangers had just named A-Rod the captain of their team. But the Yankees swooped in and within about a week, they traded Alfonso Soriano to the Rangers for A-Rod (one of those rare, good player-for-good player deals instead of prospects).
For a while, the Red Sox were seen as the front-runners for Teixeira, just like with A-Rod. However, the Yankees jumped in right at the end and nabbed him for $180 million, $10mm more than the Red Sox were offering.
A-Rod has put up very good numbers in his time so far in the Bronx (.303 AVG, 208 HR and 616 RBI in 5 seasons). However, he’s also attracted a lot of controversy too. Lets just hope that Teixeira only does the first one.
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