It was funny… after one of the pitches to the last batter, Mo shook his head and muttered to himself.  The guys in the booth figured he was annoyed b/c he threw the first pitch right down the middle.  The hapless Pirate took it, but Mo was pissed he didn’t hit a corner.

i was never really concerned about Mo.  i’m starting to get more excited about the guys that were bigger question marks to me, namely Jorge and Matsui.

Matsui hit that ball a mile last night.  if those guys are reasonably healthy, it just make the lineup SOOOO much longer. 

last year, if they didn’t score with the top 4-5 guys in the lineup, they had to wait another 2 innings for a chance to do anything.  if they can stretch that to 7-8 deep, i like their chances.

For those who watched last night’s WBC game vs. Puerto Rico: did Derek Jeter put on a clinic of how not to play SS or what?  His performance in the field was positively painful to watch and well neigh cost the USA the game.

Neigh?  Harrumph.

His performance in the field was positively painful to watch and well neigh cost the USA the game.

Didn’t see, please tell.  Harrumph.

In brief, two balls that slipped “past a diving Jeter” resulted in runs for Puerto Rico.

In brief, two balls that slipped “past a diving Jeter” resulted in runs for Puerto Rico.

Any thoughts to his positioning?  I thought - just my observation - last year he was positioned better than in previous years.  A little deeper and more up the middle.  Whether that was something he did on his own or was due to different coaching I don’t know (and of course, it may be me rationalizing a reason for his average defense). 

I suppose I’m getting at if his positioning was like 2007, hopefully that is something that can be corrected by Yankee staff.  If he had the “better” positioning, than his range has slipped further, and we’re in for a long season.

Oh, and give the Frog a harrumph!

yeah, it wasn’t good. 

and he is being called out by Rosenthal to step aside for Rollins for the good of team USA.  i don’t know if that is his job or not, but it’s not a good sign when the mainstream media is already beating this drum when the Yankees still (likely) have 2 more years of Jeter at SS.

it’s going to be a very ugly situation next season.

or….maybe it’s just spring training still and Jeter will play SS like he did last season.

Re: Jeter. He looked like he was playing rather shallow on one of the play. And he also just muffed a grounder in the second play (could be the same one where he was playing shallow), so that was more a plain error versus lack of range.

Both the balls Jeter missed would have been turned into outs by an average SS.  We have seen this sort of thing plenty of times as Yankee fans but a) there is no obvious replacement for Jeter at SS and b) he is still one of the best offensive shortstops in the league and that’s why the team lives with his rather circumscribed range.  Given the availability of a superior defensive SS who can also handle the bat on Team USA, though, Jeter should clearly be relegated to the DH role.

Jason Jaramillo

Any relation to famed hitting coach Rudy?

...he is being called out by Rosenthal to step aside for Rollins for the good of team USA.  i don’t know if that is his job or not…

That would be Davey Johnson’s job, and Johnson has been pretty much alternating them.  Rollins got the benefit of some rather generous official scoring in the previous game against the Netherlands (while Jeter DH’d).

SG, do you have a projection for Tomko, Giese, Igawa, etc.?

Yeah, I cringed on those two plays last night and pointed them out to the people with whom I was watching the game. It was really painful. Both those balls were not hit hard and both were well to the SS side of second. Not good.

I don’t care how well Tomko pitches in spring training.  He has no track record of major league success and no business making the team.

He has no track record of major league success and no business making the team.

He was an average pitcher from 2004-2006 which wasn’t so long ago (He was also average from 1997 to 2000, but that’s pretty much irrelevant at this point in his career).  I’m not sure how much more you want out of a guy slated as a poorly paid long-reliever.  If he shows close to the form he showed in 04-06 why not?

He does have 7 seasons of 90 IP+ at 95+ OPS+.

Make that 7 x 90+ IP @ 95 OPS+.  Dunno if IP+ means anything to anyone.

What does one expect from a long man?  I was a bit shocked to see what one expects from a 5th starter.

I don’t care how well Tomko pitches in spring training.  He has no track record of major league success and no business making the team.

1.  It’s possible the coaching staff identified something in Tomko’s delivery that unlocks hidden potential…unlikely, but not impossible.  This may warrant middle releif or a #5 spot if there are a lot of injuries.

2.  Tomko has had 5 years of 190+ IP.  If the Yankees can show he has some value, Cashman might be able to spin him to a team like the O’s that have 3 SP spots open in return for a prospect.  He may not be right on THIS team, but he might fit somewhere else. Positive spring training results are definately a good thing.

Why would the Orioles, in full rebuilding mode and dedicated to young players, trade a prospect, even of marginal value, for a player like Tomko?  That makes absolutely no sense at all.

Perhaps the O’s weren’t the best example.  My point was that Tomko’s spring training could result in trade value for the Yankees.

For the O’s specifically, I’d bet they would consider trading catching prospects that aren’t named Matt Weiters for current year SP help.  Considering the Jorge’s aging curve and recent surgery, it might be worth looking into.

the yankees have been burned the last 2 years by the lack of a longman on the staff in the first month or two of the season.

Girardi said he wanted one last spring, but then all of the candidates either got hurt (Karstens) or got shelled (Rasner) in ST. 

so, they were left using Ohlendorf as the longman, and he burned out.  then they designated Hawkins as the long man, and he sucked.

the rotation this year is going to be MUCH better, so the problem should be mitigated somewhat, but i am sure Joba is going to have a few bumpy starts.  maybe Pettitte gets knocked around in the cold when he can’t locate his 89 MPH fastball yet. 

Tomko is decidedly mediocre, but there IS value in having a designate mop-up man early in the season.  the 2007 yankees spent all of May-July trying to recover from the bullpen abuse that happened in April. some of that was Torre, but some of it was not really having someone to soak up innings in blowouts.

i’d be OK with Tomko making the team initially, but i doubt he is still around come June.

Except, of course, that catching is the only position that the Yankees have prospect depth in spades.
Middle Infield is probably the weakest area though I agree with your basic point.

that said, i agree that the O’s would not trade for Tomko.

but maybe an NL team that is hanging around the WC hunt and in need of a 5th starter come July would.

not that i think he’d bring much in return.

or….maybe it’s just spring training still and Jeter will play SS like he did last season.

I’d be perfectly happy if Jeter can hit SG’s projection, which I think is like -7.  If he hits like last year, he’s still above average, and helping the team.

That would be Davey Johnson’s job, and Johnson has been pretty much alternating them.

Yeah, it sounds kind of like the idea is to win, but also to make sure that all of the “regulars” get in the kind of work they would in Spring Training so that they’re ready for the season.  While for sure I want the USA to win the WBC, I’d rather have Jeter prepared enough to have a solid April.

And, it looks like it’s a good thing the Yankees didn’t reacquire Aaron Boone when ARod went down.  Here’s to wishing him the best.

“IP+”

I could almost see that as a metric for starters… Average innings per start as compared to league average of same.  Not sure what it would do.  Intuitively it feels like some bullshit Buster Olney would make up to prove some point about how great Derek Lowe is.

I don’t think the WBC has any sort of adverse effect on position players.  If anything, the competition may help them get off to a faster start.  The effect on pitchers is far more debatable but in terms of Jeter, I would rather see Team USA win with Jeter as the DH.

In other words: Team USA has a far greater chance of winning with Jeter at DH and I don’t believe losing a bit of time in the field will hurt his performance in April.

so, they were left using Ohlendorf as the longman, and he burned out

Burned out?  I know the general consensus around here was that he was miscast as a multi-inning reliever, but the game logs don’t really bear that out.  He was never asked to throw more than 49 pitches as a Yankee.  Two of his four highest pitch count games were among his most effective appearances, and some of his least effective appearances were much shorter.  And of course, the Pirates used him as a starter once they got him from the Yanks.  There’s no real pattern of him doing better as a one inning reliever than as either a long man or a starter, unless you put a lot of stock in his 6.3 innings in 2007.  Maybe his problem is that he just isn’t that good.

In other words: Team USA has a far greater chance of winning with Jeter at DH and I don’t believe losing a bit of time in the field will hurt his performance in April.

I agree with the first, I don’t know about the second.  Even if it has a placebo-effect on the players (Jeter feels he is better prepared so he plays better) it’s useful.  And also, Neyer pointed out today that even if Rollins is the best defensive SS and Jeter the worst, over the course of the WBC it shouldn’t cost team USA more than a couple of runs, which also shouldn’t cost them the series.  And that would be if Jeter played every inning at SS, which clearly he isn’t.  We can get into the arguments left and right about how those 2 runs could come at critical times, etc. 

I think this a big deal because it is Jeter.  And I guess I just am not getting worked up about it.  Now, if Jeter is clearly playing poor defense and the Yankees have an option (no ARod is *not* an option!) to DH him and play a better defender who won’t kill you with the bat, then I’d get worked up.  But unless Ramiro Pena can suddenly start putting up an OPS of around .750 in AAA, that isn’t going to happen for a few years.

Maybe his problem is that he just isn’t that good.

I think that’s fair.  Unless he figures something out, he looks like he’s profiling to 5th starter on a non-contender/back-of-the-bullpen type of pitcher.  He’s got good stuff though so he always *could* still turn into something.  But time is running out.

Maybe his problem is that he just isn’t that good.

oh, i agree.  i wasn’t trying to make excuses for the quality of his pitching, though i admit it sounded that way.

just meant that they were forced to shoehorn a pitcher into a role they didn’t intend to because they didn’t have a designated longman and they wound up REALLY needing one. 

like i said, i don’t think the need will be as great this year, b/c much of the slack was because of Hughes and Kennedy, but i also don’t see the harm with taking a longman like Tomko or Giese for the first month or two of the season.

but i also don’t see the harm with taking a longman like Tomko or Giese for the first month or two of the season.

Actually, I wouldn’t be totally against them taking Igawa for the first month or two; if they want to take Tomko they need to free up a spot on the 40-man too.  As noted, we just want someone who can pitch some innings.  All Igawa is doing in AAA is blocking a pitcher - e.g. maybe Kontos. 

I mean, it’s almost all upside.  You aren’t expecting anything other than innings out of the spot anyway.  If he pitches well for two months - even if it is an illusion - you suddenly have a fairly young, LH starter who is on a reasonable contract.  Something that can be used to trade to a non-contending team to get a bad contract (maybe for CF), or to a contending team to get a prospect from the MiL.  Or you keep him and maybe he is the new Ramiro Mendoza.  And if he sucks…you’re taking the same risk with Tomko or Giese anyway, so you send him down and bring up someone else.  Free Kei!

If Tomko pitches the best, shouldn’t he get the job? I mean, why even bring him into camp if there’s literally nothing he can do to make the team? Seems like a real dick move to invite a guy just to suck up some spring training innings.

Same reason I wouldn’t be too disappointed if Berroa makes the team. He was given a (presumably) legitimate shot to make the team, and so far, he’s earned it (at least with the bat).

Angel Berroa is a bad hitter.  It’s nice that he’s had a good spring, but it doesn’t mean anything.  He’s a bad hitter who’s been lucky against limp competition.

So why even invite him?

I guess I can see them bringing some unemployed people along in case of injury.

Igawa’s not on the 40-man roster either.  He cleared waivers and was outrighted to SWB last July.

Giese is on the 40 man, I believe, and hence has the inside track.  Still he’s not a valuable enough piece that waiving him should be a concern.

I don’t see why e.g. the Orioles wouldn’t want a veteran pitcher who can start and somewhat competently and definitely cheaply bear some workload that would otherwise be shouldered by young pitchers developing and building endurance.  Imagine their prized prospects having years like Hughes, IPK, Joba in 2008 but having to keep pitching to avoid calling up David Clyde.

Yes, a cheap veteran who can absorb innings to save young arms is exactly what the O’s need.  I’m not sure what they would have to offer, and I’m not sure they would trade anything valuable to the Yankees, but it could make sense in the abstract.

Plus the Yanks are always baffled by rag-arm lefties…the O’s would get that out of Igawa.

<Yes, a cheap veteran who can absorb innings to save young arms is exactly what the O’s need.</i>

That’s exactly what I was thinking.  The idea gets a little tangled though when you start thinking about what the Yanks need vs. what the O’s would want to give up while rebuilding.

Either way, the O’s have to try approach .500 this year to keep the fans in the stands.  Baltimore sports talk radio callers constantly think the O’s will win 90 games this year…using SG’s projections from a few posts ago, that’s ~2 standard deviations away from expected.  But from a marketing prospective, the fans are excited, which means they will pay for tickets as long as they don’t disappoint too much.  In order to rebuild, they need current year revenue, which may make Tomko (or a similar, roughly average skilled innings eater) appealing.

Baltimore sports talk radio callers constantly think the O’s will win 90 games this year…using SG’s projections from a few posts ago, that’s ~2 standard deviations away from expected.

Well, that’s because SG has Matt Weiters woefully under-projected.  Of course, all projection systems have Matt Weiters woefully under-projected.  After all, the systems were all devised to deal exclusively with human baseball players.  Playing under a yellow sun in earth’s weak gravitational field, Weiters is 50-60 WAR easily.  And that’s accounting for the O’s keeping him in AAA until mid-May so he won’t be arbitration eligible until 2012.

Plus the Yanks are always baffled by rag-arm lefties.

I could definitely see the lefty thing not being nearly as big of a deal this year.  Replace Abreu/Giambi with Swishdy/Teixeira and now you only really have Matsui and Cano as the lefties on the team.  (Not counting Melky/Gardner because I’m not really expecting either to hit much versus RHP as well).

Neigh? Whinny.

Must of meant nigh.

MC, if I read you correctly, you seem to be suggesting that Matt Wieters is some sort of alien being, maybe like the ones who ruled Egypt in “10,000 B.C.”  Do you have any numbers or scouting reports to back that up?

I thought the Orioles rotation was bad, until I took a look at Houston’s. They are partying like it’s 2003. I wish them the best of luck. At least Baltimore has a few prospects on the way.

Do the Yankees play the ‘Stros at all this year?

go mo

“Matt Wieters is some sort of alien being, maybe like the ones who ruled Egypt in “10,000 B.C.” Do you have any numbers or scouting reports to back that up?

I think it was Baseball Prospectus that ranked him as the #1 prospect in all the lands.

From thebaseballcube.com, Weiter’s ‘08 AA numbers (half his season was in A+ ball):
AVG .365
SLG .625
OBP .460
OPS 1.085

AB 208
HR 12
BB 38
K   29

He’s 6’4” and switch hits.  Age 22.

The Os are bad on the field, but improving somewhat.  What they are doing well is marketing their young and/or marquee players.  Markakis is the big draw and they are making him the face of the Os.  I’m sure the Os probably could have pulled a trigger on a trade for Roberts, but they kept him.  Os fans like him.

Os fans have been patient for the last decade so I don’t see why Baltimore would be anxious to trade for one of the Yanks’ retreads.  Plus, it’s not like the Nats are playing stellar baseball and stealing the fanbase away from the Os.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP)—Hideki Matsui won’t play in the outfield for the New York Yankees until at least interleague road games in June and will be restricted to designated hitter and pinch-hitting appearances until then.

Matsui is recovering from left knee surgery last Sept. 22. Yankees manager Joe Girardi doesn’t want to take the chance of a setback.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=Au5gLTun_ChwvFAN3DvismURvLYF?slug=ap-yankees-matsui&prov=ap&type=lgns

Matsui shouldn’t play the field at all.  Strictly emergency availability.  Anything else is a mistake.  You risk hurting a good hitter, and you put an atrocious defender in the field.

Igawa’s not on the 40-man roster either.  He cleared waivers and was outrighted to SWB last July.

Yeah, I know.  My sentence about that was a bit non-sensical.  I was trying to point out that IF they were going to go with Tomko, they were going to have to clear a spot on the 40-man.  So in that case, you couldn’t use the “Kei isn’t on the 40 man” as a reason to keep him down.  I guess if you’re going to DFA someone to open a spot on the 40 man roster for a retread pitcher you aren’t expecting much out of, I’d rather go with Igawa than Tomko.  They’ll save a little bit of money - they’re paying Igawa ~4M either way and won’t pay the ML portion of Tomko’s salary - and will have a chance to build some trade-value in Igawa.  I don’t think he can build any more in AAA.

Seems like a real dick move to invite a guy just to suck up some spring training innings.

Not as long as they’re up-front about it.  If they tell him straight out he has little chance of making the team and the best he can expect is a MiL contract out of it, why is it bad?  He’s getting a chance to train with a Major League team and show off his stuff to other scouts.  He may have decided he was better off doing it with the Yankees than say the Astros or the Padres.  I think it’s only a dick move if they tell him he’ll be competing for a roster-spot they never intend to give him.  I’m sure he’d rather be in Tampa than working out at home waiting for someone to call.

I guess if you’re going to DFA someone to open a spot on the 40 man roster for a retread pitcher you aren’t expecting much out of, I’d rather go with Igawa than Tomko.

i guess the problem with this is when Tomko has outlived his usefulness, you DFA him and you get your roster spot back.

if you DFA Igawa again, you risk losing him while paying his salary (i think).

now, a lot of people don’t care about that, but of the two, i’d guess the Yankees would rather keep Igawa.

also, why is this bit about Matsui suddenly news?  he’s been the everyday DH in my mind since last season.

Yeah, when I saw the Matsui article, I was worried that some news had changed (like he was more hurt than we expected), but instead, it was just what we all already knew - that he is only going to DH.

also, why is this bit about Matsui suddenly news?  he’s been the everyday DH in my mind since last season.

True.  But there’s a difference between not wanting to play him in LF and deciding he can’t play there for medical considerations.  The end result is the same; Damon’s in LF.  However, it raised doubts in my mind about the progression of his healing/rehab.  Or, it could just be a journalist stating the obvious.

now, a lot of people don’t care about that, but of the two, i’d guess the Yankees would rather keep Igawa.

I suppose I can see that, and it might not be bad if Igawa got two months of success at AAA first and then maybe was called up to pitch in the bigs.  I suppose I’m looking at it that, at this point if Igawa has improved his command (locating his pitches down in the zone), and he STILL can’t be successful, then there isn’t much point in keeping him.  If he can be successful, then use him and build some trade value OR have a good swing-man.

I think the fact he is potentially blocking a prospect from pitching in AAA means they should figure out what to do with him soon as well.  Perhaps the Yankees really DON’T think that some of the pitchers that were successfull last year in AA are ready anyway though.

However, it raised doubts in my mind about the progression of his healing/rehab.  Or, it could just be a journalist stating the obvious.

i wasn’t picking on you for posting the link, i just thought it was odd that i have seen a bunch of articles about this in the last 2 days.

Matsui is hitting the cover off the ball this spring and is running the bases fine. 

i suppose he could have a setback at any point, but so far so good.

I think the fact he is potentially blocking a prospect from pitching in AAA means they should figure out what to do with him soon as well.

i guess it’s possible that he is blocking someone, but as much as we hate Igawa, he himself is actually a “prospect” as well.

pretend Igawa came over from, say, Mexico, in 2008 and pitched as he did in AAA.
he is a “prospect” for a 5th starter role, but if his name wasn’t Kei Igawa, we’d probably view him much as we view Aceves.

we might consider him a legitimate 5th starter option.

that’s not to say Igawa will ever pitch in the Yankee rotation again, but i’m not really sure Aceves is that much better.  he’s just “not Kei Igawa”.

i guess it’s possible that he is blocking someone, but as much as we hate Igawa, he himself is actually a “prospect” as well.

Well, the difference is Igawa is in his age 29 season.  Not sure if you can be 29 and still a prospect.  Though there are pitchers, especially lefties (see Moyer, Jamie) who develop after age 30, by and large we aren’t going to expect much more improvement out of Igawa.  I actually think he’s got the stuff to be a good pitcher, especially if they’ve made changes so that he keeps the ball down in the zone.

I’m not saying they should dump him.  But I don’t see the point in an age 29 pitcher blocking someone from moving through the system.  I read Chad Jennings blog most every day, and I don’t recall all the names but I think Kontos and Hacker are guys who showed success in AA last year but probably won’t be promoted because of a logjam of pitchers in AAA.  If they are truly auditioning for a long-man/spot-starter out of the pen, why not go with Igawa, and promote a AA pitcher to AAA?  Giese is on the 40 and if they want to give it to him fine, but if they don’t feel he is up to it?

At this point, Igawa is either going to be marginally successful and they can keep him, very successfull (“very” meaning anything better than league-average really) and they can keep OR trade him, or complete failure and maybe at that point he’ll want to go back to Japan and they can work a buyout with him.  I want to see Kei succeed and think he can.  But I also think it’s at the point with him that either you use him, or cut bait.

if you DFA Igawa again, you risk losing him while paying his salary (i think).

No, the Yankees would waive him and then the claiming team would have to pick up his salary.  It’s how he cleared waivers last time.

No, the Yankees would waive him and then the claiming team would have to pick up his salary.  It’s how he cleared waivers last time.

I think it’s a little different this time.  Since he’s already been waived once and outrighted, I think if he’s waived again once he clears waivers he can declare himself a free-agent, and sign with any team.  The Yankees are on the hook for his previous contract at that point.  He *could* decide to accept an assignment to the minor-leagues instead of declaring FA, but that’s unlikely.

Mike K., you’ve gone all hyphen-happy.

Mike K., you’ve gone all hyphen-happy.

Hmm…u r rite.  mbe Ill jst use txt wrds frm now on?

Since he’s already been waived once and outrighted, I think if he’s waived again once he clears waivers he can declare himself a free-agent, and sign with any team.  The Yankees are on the hook for his previous contract at that point.

This is correct.  You can only outright a player once.  If the Yankees DFA Igawa again, they risk having to pay the balance of his contract while he picks another team to pitch for.  Now that team might be in the Northern League, but still…