During last nights game I started wondering: How would Proctor do as a closer?  He’s shown flashes of dominance, and did particularly well last night.  I forget how young he is, but he’s only in his mid 20s right?  Assuming Torre doesn’t make his arm fall off, I wonder if he’s an option for Mo’s successor.

Proctor’s actually 30 this year.  He has closer-type stuff, but I still think he’s a little too homer prone and wild to succeed Mo long-term.  I like Proctor and think he developed last year, and that it wasn’t just a fluke, but I don’t see him as a Yankee closer of the future. 

Bruney looks like a potential heir to Mo on the current team.  I also think the Yankees have hopes for Whelan and Melancon from the farm system.

Proctor has failed spectacularly as a closer in the past.  He’s a good reliever, but he’s a long way from dominant, and based on what I’ve seen being made the closer messes with his head.

Abreu can’t have collapsed completely, could he?  No.  I’m sticking with the mantra that this is a (very bad) slump and he’ll come out of it.

Cano worries me more, because he has some bad habits (hacking at EVERYTHING).  But he seemed better last night.  Hopefully he can continue along those lines.  He’s always going to be a hacker.  But he was hacking at pitches nowhere near the strikezone, whereas when he’s good he’ll hack at any pitch IN the strikezone.

It sure has been nice to see good pitching from the starters.  The Pettitte signing sure looks awesome right now, eh?  Hopefully he keeps it up (no way he finishes the year with a sub-3 ERA, of course).

Jesus, Jeter’s BABIP is only .384 (.361 for his career)! He’s gonna hit .350 all year.

Melky has 5 walks in May SG (three in April), he’s on his way back, although his start will probably ensure that he has pretty poor numbers at the end of the season.

Cano, who the fuck knows?

Me, I’m worried about Abreu.

***PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT***

Yankee fans, please take a moment to gaze in awe at the greatness of Jorge Posada.

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Jorge’s not gonna hit .350 all year, but my goodness are we lucky to have him.

one thing i’ve noticed with Abreu is that he is swinging at ball 4 a lot this year.  my guess is that he is trying to hit his way out of his slump, whereas if he were comfortable with his offense, he would take his walk and pass the baton.  i don’t think his batting eye has just disappeared overnight, so i expect him to start pulling up his OBP even if he’s not going to slug .500 this year.

Ok, I will ask. What is the formula for BA/BIP? Shouldn’t it always be greater than or equal to BA?

What is the formula for BA/BIP?

(H-HR)/(AB-K-HR)

HRs are not considered in play.  AB that end in K are obviously AB where the ball was not in play.  So it’s non-HR hits / AB that end with a ball in play.

Mientkiewicz’s BA/BIP is really low, especially given his high line drive percentage.  He’s a good bet to improve.

Interesting, so Alex Rodriguez’s probability of getting a hit is the same as his probability of getting a HR in an all or nothing situation (K or HR).

Just channeling some Jayson Stark there.

I’m afeared that Eyechart’s current hot streak is a fluke and will keep him in the lineup all year eating up at bats and hitting terribly.  I was hoping that the Clemens signing meant that some of the AAA and bullpen pitching depth might be used at the deadline to aquire a 1st baseman who can BOTH hit and (shocking idea I know) field.

The Yankees, on this season-long pace so far, win 92 games. Just imagine what their pace could be like once they get Clemens and Hughes!

I feel like Cano was instructed in the offseason to be more selective, although obviously that wasn’t working, so he said, “screw it, I’m going to go back to swining at everything”... except he never did swing at everything to begin with.

I’m not sold on Cano as a long-term answer at 2B.  If he can hit somewhat close to what he did last year, maybe a trade is the answer.  It may be inevitable if A-Rod leaves.  Yanks will need a 1B and a 3B.  I think the Yanks could find a respectable 2B alternative to Cano via free agency/farm and use Cano to get a 1B/3B.  Right now, the farm doesn’t have any solid 1B/3B prospects ready to contribute (sorry Duncan).

I’d like to see Bruney get a shot to replace Rivera.  As others stated, Proctor isn’t closer material.  Tommy John has scuttled any short-term closer prospects from the farm: Melancon, Cox and Sanchez.  Bruney looks to have the physical and mental traits needed to close.

I’m less worried about Abreu if he is batting lower in the lineup and Matsui can be half way decent for the short term.  If Abreu comes around to a decent shadow of his former self, I’m okay with it.  Just make sure the top of the lineup features the better hitters.

Mientkiewicz as long as he’s not horrible (which is possible) is fine hitting 8 or 9.  And Phelps is serviceable.

“I’m not sold on Cano as a long-term answer at 2B.”

What?

Cano has looked really bad, but he seems to have the ability to get hot and go on a tear.  Look at last year.  He hit .275/.302/.339 in May, and then hit .374(!) the rest of the way.  And again, Abreu is certainly not the same player he was at his peak.  Remember, there was a reason Philly traded him.  But if you look at his monthly splits over 2005 and 2006, he tends to mix some bad months, like he’s having now, with good months, like he had in August and September of last year.  I just think it’s a little premature to worry about him being done, and even if he IS done, the Yankees aren’t committed to him long-term.

I’m afeared that Eyechart’s current hot streak is a fluke and will keep him in the lineup all year eating up at bats and hitting terribly.  I was hoping that the Clemens signing meant that some of the AAA and bullpen pitching depth might be used at the deadline to aquire a 1st baseman who can BOTH hit and (shocking idea I know) field.

I don’t think the Yankees would turn down a chance to trade for a better first baseman if the opportunity arose, but for now I’m with SG:  let’s see if Minky can put up a .350 OBP with a .420 slugging.  That, combined with Phelps, might be a low-cost (gasp!) solution.  The Yankees don’t need to have an All-Star at every position in the field or in the lineup.  In addition, I think the big superstars who play first base, most of whom are in the NL, unfairly pump up the expectations for the position.  Just take a look at the first basemen who populate the American League East:  Youkilis, Overbay, Huff, Carlos Pena/Wigginton.  Youk and Overbay are good, but not great.  Keep going around the rest of the AL.  Are the Yankees really at such a huge disadvantage here, considering the talent in the rest of their lineup?

“Keep going around the rest of the AL.  Are the Yankees really at such a huge disadvantage here, considering the talent in the rest of their lineup? “

Seriously. AL first basemen suck.

you guys don’t like Sean Casey?

It may be inevitable if A-Rod leaves.  Yanks will need a 1B and a 3B.  I think the Yanks could find a respectable 2B alternative to Cano via free agency/farm and use Cano to get a 1B/3B.  Right now, the farm doesn’t have any solid 1B/3B prospects ready to contribute (sorry Duncan).

Alberto Gonzalez to SS.  Jeter to 1B.  done.  A-Rod stays.

this is next year, of course.

Or…we could get really crazy and have ARod at 3rd, Gonzalez at SS, Duncan at 1st, and Jeter in LF (Matsui is the DH).

It’s way too early to start looking at next year, or looking at who to trade/move to a different position.  Hopefully some of the younger guys (Melky, Gonzalez, and Duncan) will force their way into the discussion next year.  They and what ARod decides to do will be the biggest factor I think in what the Yankees do in the off-season.

OR….Cano to 3B, A-Rod to SS, Jeter to 2B, Matsui to 1B, Damon to LF, and sign Andruw Jones.

so simple.

j/k.

Alberto Gonzalez is extremely weak at the plate.  He is supposed to be good in the field but hasn’t even looked good there so far in Scranton.  Sorry, but he’s not a major league prospect for anything but utility fill-in (goodbye Miguel Cairo).

i wasn’t serious.

So who else noticed that Mientkiewicz has a better slugging percentage than Abreu.

I noticed last night, when I was writing something up.  That can’t be a good sign.

I mean, good for Malphabet for playing well, but Abreu does need to pick it up eventually—I’m sure he will.  I am just rather impatient at the moment and have no problems with him hanging out in the 7th hole until he figures it out.

I was looking at the Hardball Times stats today and noticed their PrOPS stat that predicts what a players OPS should be given the types of balls they have hit.  I know it isn’t a perfectly predictive stat as it appears fast guys like Jeter and Ichiro always outperform their PrOPS, while lumbering sluggers like Giambi and Sexson always underperform theirs, but it is still interesting.

This year the third best hitter by PrOPS on the Yankees is….Eyechart!  A little crazy, scary and promising all at the same time.  PrOPS thinks Dougie should be hitting 318/371/512, which is obviously way beyond his ability but interesting.  But he does have the terrible BA/BISP, which should be much higher given his decent LD% - so maybe there is some hope there.  I will try to be less harsh on the guy from now on, especially since I just picked him up in my AL-Only league.