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A Biased Look at the New York Yankees, the Greatest Franchise in the History of Sports

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December 29, 2005

Miguel Cairo Back in Pin Stripes

by @ 9:16 pm. Filed under 2006 Season

After spending a season across town playing for the Mets, Miguel Cairo is coming back to the Yankees. This is a decent pickup because we get a utility infielder that can play all four spots for a mere $1 million. I thought the Yankees should have ponied up and paid Rafael Furcal to be our utility infielder, but we can’t have everything.

December 27, 2005

Steinbrenner Hit With $34 Million Luxury Tax Bill

by @ 3:29 pm. Filed under 2006 Season

We have a world where Cuba is pretty much the only communist holdout, and where even China is slowly converting to a free market economy. In Major League Baseball however, socialism is alive and well. While whiners like the Kansas City Royals moan about how they have such a small market and can’t compete, the Yankees are being hit with the bill. A $34 million dollar bill. Just because they want to win and George Steinbrenner is a financial genius and can make money by the truckloads.

I really hope the players union can get up after being kicked in the teeth (twice) and put an end to this bullshit. Most of that $34 million is coming out of the players pockets because you know Steinbrenner would have doled it out in salaries. And this doesn’t even include the other socialist policy, revenue sharing, which will also cost the Yankees several million dollars, again.

Over the past three years, the Yankees have paid out over $63 million in luxury taxes. That’s more then some team’s payrolls. Bud “Robin Hood” Selig must be proud.

The Red Sox were the only other team last year to be on the hook for luxury tax however their recent slide to mediocrity means they probably won’t have a tab in 2006. In the meantime, the Yankees will probably push their four year total up close to $100 million. And people say the Yankees are bad for baseball?? That doesn’t seem to stop them from holding their hands out begging for money.

December 23, 2005

Bernie Williams Will Play At Least One More Season For Yanks

by @ 6:38 am. Filed under 2006 Season

One year, $1.5 million. This is a solid deal because I think Williams has one more season left in tank. His role will be limited to fourth outfielder/pinch hitter, but he can still play a role on a Yankees team that should contend for the 2006 World Series. Had he been signed on to start, I would have been a little more concerned but now that we have Damon, I’m hoping Williams fits into his spot nicely.

December 22, 2005

Last Minute Christmas Present

by @ 2:21 pm. Filed under Uncategorized

First off, I have a confession to make. One of the blogs I make an effort to stop by at least once a week is a Red Sox blog. The reasons are two fold. One reason is, it’s always interesting to get the other side’s view of things and the second reason is, Jere, who runs the blog, is a heck of a writer and when he calls me out on a comment, it’s usually pretty well thought.

Anyway, Jere’s mom is an author and her latest book looks like a solid read. I haven’t picked it up yet, so I don’t know first hand, but based on the write up at Amazon and the blog, it looks like something worth picking up.

December 21, 2005

Johnny Damon, Yankees Centerfielder

by @ 8:32 pm. Filed under 2006 Season

I knew George Steinbrenner wouldn’t let us down. In what’s been a pretty quiet Hot Stove league for the Yankees, the owner and the Yankees’ front office pulled off quite a coup. Not only did they fill one of their glaring holes from last year, but they did it by stealing said hole filler from the hated Red Sox. Johnny Damon is a Yankee.

This solves a ton of problems. No more hearing about Alex Rodriguez or Derek Jeter moving out there (although Jeter heading to center might be a worth while experiment). And Hideki Matsui, who probably had his best year in left field to date, won’t have to make the switch either.

Damon’s a solid hitter. He’s a career .290 hitter and while his career .353 OBP isn’t awesome, he’s been on the north end of that the last two seasons. So while he doesn’t draw a ton of walks, he doesn’t strike out either. In fact as I look through my 2006 Hardball Times Baseball Annual, I can see that he hits more groundballs then average (which is good, as he can use his speed) and he also has a higher line drive percentage, which equates to more hits.

Depending on the metric, Damon’s also a solid fielder. Again looking at the Hardball Times Annual, Damon ranked fifth in the league amongst centerfielder in Runs Above Average. His 14.1 RAA/150 games was well ahead of the Yanks 2005 centerfielder. Bernie Williams was near the bottom of the list with -8.4/150 games Now this is a range measure, and you’d expect Damon to be up there. What he’s most criticized for is his weak arm.

If we look at Baseball Prospectus’ metrics, which I believe takes everything into account, Damon had 14 Fielding Runs Above Replacement, which was -5 Fielding Runs Above Average. That was his first FRAA in his career. Williams had 12 FRAR and a -1 FRAA, but those numbers are slightly out of whack because he only played in 100 games or so out in center.

So we get a relatively light hitting contact hitter who is an upgrade out in the field. I like it. And if you’re not convinced, take a look at this lineup

1) Johnny Damon CF
2) Derek Jeter SS
3) Alex Rodriguez 3b
4) Gary Sheffield RF
5) Jason Giambi 1b/DH
6) Hideki Matsui LF
7) Jorge Posada C
8) Robinson Cano 2b
9) 1b/DH to be named later.

So if we can swing a deal for that final spot (I’m hoping they can make a deal with the Royals to pull in Mike Sweeney), the Yankees have the best lineup, from top to bottom, in the league. Now they just have to work on pitching up another arm or two to fill out the rotation.

Johnny Damon Signs With the Yankees

by @ 8:59 am. Filed under 2006 Season

The poster child for the Red Sox is now a Yankee. They’re getting him for 4 years, $52 million. While that’s a little steep, it definitely fills a hole in the Yankees outfield.

I’ll write more on this later tonight.

December 20, 2005

Yankees Sign Octavio Dotel

by @ 9:34 pm. Filed under 2006 Season

This is an interesting pick up. Dotel had a rough year last season. He had elbow surgery, and he was hardly spectacular in 2005. The good news is, prior to this past season, Dotel was one of the best relievers in the game. He has 725 strikeouts in 600 1/3 innings and he’s held batters to a .213 clip.

Dotel won’t be ready until July at the earliest. He’ll be getting $2 million with another $3 million in potential performance bonuses. So the Yankees could have three “closer” quality relievers in their bullpen after the All Star break next season. If this works out, the Yankees will have the best triumvirate of relievers in the league.

I was a little surprised to see Bernie Williams decline arbitration. I was hoping to see him back next season, even if it was in a more limited capacity. Williams is definitely a class act and in his prime, he was one of the best players in the league.

December 18, 2005

Yanks Lose Out on Nomar

by @ 2:49 pm. Filed under 2006 Season

This isn’t a huge deal, but Nomar Garciapara looks like he’s close to signing a one year deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers. And apparantly it looks like he’s going to play first base for them.

So that leaves the Yankees without a first baseman, unless you count Jason Giambi at the spot, which I don’t. Might be time for Steinbrenner to pull of that big deal to help fill the hole. Not that the Yankees are lacking in offense or anything. Mitch Jones had a solid season down in AAA Columbus (27 homeruns, but he struck out 174 times and he led the Eastern League in strikeouts and homeruns the year before). Maybe they’ll let him have a shot, and in the process, take a stab at Adam Dunn’s single season strikeout record.

December 17, 2005

Yankees Deal For Ron Villone

by @ 11:12 pm. Filed under 2006 Season

The Marlins dump continues and this time the Yankees were on the receiving end. They picked up middle relief pitcher Ron Villone for minor leaguer Ben Julianel. Villone has a solid arm even as he gets up in age. He struck out 70 batters in 64 innings, and he can even spot start if need be. He’ll join a solid pen that consists of Mariano Rivera, Kyle Farnsworth and the newly acquired left hander, Mike Myers.

Julianel turned 26 in September and he still hasn’t even had a cup of coffee (heck, he hasn’t even pitched above AA). He came to the Yankees when they moved Sterling Hitchcock, but he had a solid season last year in Trenton. 106 strikeouts in 87 2/3 innings, which was mostly relief. But like I said, he’s kind of a man among boys, so you’d expect him to be solid at that level.

December 11, 2005

1923 World Series Retrospective

by @ 9:54 pm. Filed under World Series Retrospectives

1923 was a historic season for the New York Yankees. Yankees Stadium opened and drew over a million fans. While this was a touch down from their seasons at the Polo Grounds in 1920 through 1922, the Yankees were still the only to team to ever draw a million fans, and this was their fourth year in a row doing so.

Babe Ruth also had another historic season. He set the single season walk record with 170 (which has only recently been broken by Barry Bonds). He also won his first and only Most Valuable Player award (despite deserving several more). He hit a career high .393 and he also had his best ever OBP with .545, the fifth best mark of all time. Throw in his fifth homerun title in six years along with a single season record of 379 times on base (which still stands), and you have a historic season by most standards. For the Babe, it was one of many.

The Yankees also had a top notch pitching staff. With a rotation that was five deep, Bob Shawkey, Joe Bush, Waite Hoyt, Sam Jones and Herb Pannock all threw over 235 innings. The Yankees led the league in ERA (3.62), complete games (101), and strikeouts (506).

And once again, they had to square off against their World Series arch-nemisis, the New York Giants. The Giants beat the Yankees to win the crown in 1921 and 1922 and Yankee fans all hoped to get this monkey off their back once and for while while bringing home a title to the Bronx.

Game 1 Highlights
Giants 5, Yankees 4 Giants Lead Best of Seven Series 1-0

The first ever playoff game at Yankees Stadium was a dramatic one as the Yankees hosted the Giants’ in their own stadium for the first time. Waite Hoyt got the start for the Yankees and Mule Watson went for the Giants.

The Yankees didn’t waste much time as they got to Watson early. In the bottom of the first, Whitey Witt led off the inning with a lineout and then Joe Dugan drew a walk. Babe Ruth forced out Dugan and then Bob Meusel doubled home Ruth to make it a 1-0 game.

The Yankees put a couple more runs on the board in the second inning. Aaron Ward and Wally Schang led off the inning with back to back singles and Everett Scott moved them both over with a bunt. Hoyt struck out but then Witt singled to drive both Ward and Schang home.

Through the first two innings, the Giants managed only a single against Hoyt, but in the third inning the wheels fell of the wagon. Four hits and a walk turned into four runs and the rally was capped off by Heinie Groh’s two run triple. Hoyt was pulled with only one out in the inning in favor of Bullet Joe Bush, and by the end of two and a half innings, the Yanks were down by a run.

Both pitchers settled down and the middle three innings were basically a pitchers dual. It wasn’t until the bottom of the seventh until either team mounted any kind of rally. Bush singled and then scored on Dugan’s one out triple to tie the game. Babe Ruth then hit a hard grounder to the first basemen and Kelly went home and got Dugan out at the plate to effectively end the rally.

That run would be critical because in the top of the ninth, the Giants put a run on the board to take the lead again. The Yankees went down quietly in the bottom of the ninth as the Giants took the first game of the series.
Game 2 Highlights
Yankees 4, Giants 2 Best of Seven Series Tied 1-1

Herb Pannock took the mound in game two for the Yankees as he went head to head with Hugh McQuillan. Like in game one, the Yankees got on the board first. In the second inning, Aaron Ward hit a solo homer to put the Yankees up 1-0.

Unfortunately, the lead was short lived. In the bottom of the second, Irish Meusel took Pannock deep for a solo shot to tie the game.

Both teams went down quietly in the third, but in the top of the fourth, the Yankees busted the game open. Babe Ruth led off the inning with a solo shot to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead. Bob Meusel struck out, and then Wally Pipp singled. Ward popped out to make it two outs, but Wally Schang kept the rally going with a single. Wally Pipp moved over to third on right fielder Ross Youngs error, and then Everett Scott singled home Pipp to give the Yankees a 3-1 lead.

They’d add an insurance run in the fifth on another Babe Ruth solo homerun, but it wouldn’t be neccesary. Pennock cruised through nine innings of work. The Giants scattered nine hits against him, but only two of those were for extra bases and he walked only a single batter.

Game 3 Highlights
Giants 1, Yankees 0 Giants Lead Best of Seven Series 2-1

This game was all about pitching. Yankees starter Sad Sam Jones squared off against Art Nehf and the two had a masterful pitchers’ duel. Through the first six innings, neither team had put a run on the board. The only real threat came in the bottom of the fifth when the Yankees had runners at first and second with one out, but the rally was summarily squashed when Jones failed to help out his own cause by hitting into an inning ending double play.

In the top of the seventh, the Giants finally put themselves ahead. The future Hall of Fame manager and backup centerfielder, Casey Stengel hit a solo homerun to put the Giants ahead 1-0. Stengel would later make up for it by leading the Yankees to seven World Series wins as a manager.

And that was it. Jones and reliever Bullet Joe Bush held the Giants to four hits, but one of them was the Stengel homerun. On the other side, Nehf held the Yankees to six singles, and none of those runners crossed the plate.

Game 4 Highlights
Yankees 8, Giants 4 Best of Seven Series Tied 2-2

This game was over pretty quickly. In the top of the second, the Yankees put six runs on the board and by the end of the fourth, they had an 8-0 lead. The Giants tried to mount a comeback in the later innings but they fell short and lost 8-4.

Whitey Witt, Bob Meusel and Everett Scott all drove in two runs while Babe Ruth went one for three with two walks and two runs. Bob Shawkey walked away with the win despite giving up twelve hits and four walks in 7 2/3 innings of work.

Game 5 Highlights
Yankees 8, Giants 1 Yankees Lead Best of Seven Series 3-2

The Yankees won a very important game five by once again blowing out the Giants. The Yanks put three runs on the board in the first inning in front of their home crowd, and they added four more in the bottom of the second to make it a 7-1 game. For the final seven innings, only the Yankees put a lone run as both pitching staffs settled down.

Joe Dugan and Bob Meusel had huge games for the Yankees. Dugan went four for five with a homerun, three RBIs and three runs. Muesel went three for five with three RBIs and a run. Babe Ruth went one for four with two runs and walk.

Starter Bullet Joe Bush held the Giants in check by holding them to only one run on three hits. He walked two and struck out three.

Game 6 Highlights
Yankees 6, Giants 4 Yankees Win Best of Seven Series 4-2

The Yankees won their first ever World Series in an exciting game six. Herb Pannock took the mound against Art Nehf at the Polo Grounds.

The Yankees got on the board in the top of the first inning on Babe Ruth’s third homerun of the series. The solo shot gave the Yankees a 1-0 lead, but it was short lived as the Giants tied the game up in the bottom of the first.

The Giants proceeded to chip at Pannock and they scored a single run in each of the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to give the Giants a 4-1 lead. Things appeared to be heading towards a game seven, but the Yankees ended up having something to say about that in the eighth inning.

Aaron Ward led off the inning with a pop out, and then Wally Schang and Everett Scott had back to back singles to put runners at the corners. Fred Hofmann pinch hit for Pennock and he drew a walk to load the bases. Pitcher Bullet Joe Bush pinch hit for Whitey Witt and he drew a walk to drive in a run. Joe Dugan then drew a walk to drive home another run and to shave the lead to a single run.

Then Babe Ruth came to bat. You’d expect some kind of game changing homerun, but Ruth struck out in a key moment. Fortunately his teammates picked him as Bob Meusel singled home Hinkey Haines (who pinch ran for Hofmann) and Ernie Johnson (who pinch ran for Bush). Meusel also scored on the play due to Bill Cunninghams error in centerfield.

At the beginning of the inning, the Yanks were down by three. By the end of the eighth, they were up by two runs. Reliever Sad Sam Jones held the Giants to one hit in the final two innings as the Yankees wrapped up the first of many World Series victories.

December 8, 2005

Bernie Williams Offered Arbitration

by @ 11:16 am. Filed under 2006 Season

It looks like one of the cornerstones of the late 90s Yankees championship teams will be sticking around after all. Bernie Williams was offered arbitration, and I’m assuming he’s going to accept it. So his days roaming centerfield might not be over.

I kind of like the move. I know he’s been pretty poor out on the field as of late, and he’s lost some of his swing, but it’s better then overpaying for Damon and losing a draft pick (Damon was offered arbitration as well). If they can work a platoon of sorts to maybe get Williams off the field late in the game (maybe trade for Nook Logan in Detroit) with a defensive specialist, it might just be able to work if Williams can find his swing next season.

December 2, 2005

Introducing Your New Setup Man, Kyle Farnsworth

by @ 8:41 pm. Filed under 2006 Season

I like this move. Not only did the Yankees sign Farnsworth for less then Tom Gordon went for, but in my opinion, we got the better guy. Farnsworth was very effective for the Tigers last year, and he did even better after he got traded to the Braves. In all, he had 87 strikeouts in only 70 innings, and that’s not too shabby. The hard thrower was second in the American League in pitches over 100 mph with 14, which trailed only the Orioles Daniel Cabrera. His fifteen throughout the entire season (he had one with the Braves) put him fourth in the major leagues behind Cabrera, Billy Wagner and A.J. Burnett. Stats were courtesy of the Bill James Handbook 2006.

He seems to have a Bret Saberhagen thing going though, as his even numbered years have been less then stellar. Hopefully that trend will end in 2006.

Goodbye Tom Gordon

by @ 12:02 pm. Filed under 2006 Season

Tom “Flash” Gordon signed with the Phillies yesterday and he’s making some nice dime. Three years, $18 million. So now that he’s out of the picture, we can concentrate on signing Kyle Farnsworth. And it looks like he was waiting for Gordon to sign to hopefully inflate his price a little. In addition, it looks the Rangers are in the mix but I expect it to be an easy decision for him. Yankee pinstripes trumps all.

I was thinking about it and I wouldn’t have minded if they signed both Gordon and Farnsworth, basically giving us shutdown relievers for three innings. You could also spell Rivera now and then in save situations by giving the ball to the pitcher with the most rest. But now that can’t happen.

December 1, 2005

Yankes Eye Gordon and Farnsworth

by @ 6:38 am. Filed under 2006 Season

Not a lot of trade talk going on with the Yankees. The only tidbit I’ve been able to find is that the Yanks are looking at both Kyle Farnsworth and Tom “Flash” Gordon to drop into the setup man role. Gordon’s been Mariano Rivera’s setup man the last two years, but I like the idea of getting Farnsworth, a hard throwing right hander, into the slot. He kicked butt last year (until the NLDS) for the Tigers and Braves, but he’s had some rough seasons in the past and has the rep of being a hot head.

Hah, I should have checked the news sites this morning, because now AP is reporting that the Yanks are close to a deal with Farnsworth. Nothing on the length or terms of the potential deal.

Winter meetings are next week, so it’ll be interesting to see what happens.

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