Tag: New York Yankees (Page 45 of 52)

      Hot Stove: Shaking Things Up

      November 8, 2008 /

      This is when the baseball season is really interesting—while no games are happening and speculation flies around about who will be changing uniforms and shifting the balance of the sport’s power. It sure beats watching a nine-inning game that goes on for four hours or more.

      So the two big names that are free agents and will be courted heavily are CC Sabathia and Manny Ramirez. Forget the fact that commissioner Bud Selig cautioned teams about forking over too much money in a slow economy. Those two guys are going to rake in the cabbage either way, because teams will bid for them at ridiculous numbers. So far, the Brewers, Yankees and Angels seem to be the first in line to make a run at CC, and Manny’s agent, Scott Boras, had a 90 minute conversation with Dodgers’ GM Ned Colletti on Tuesday, but that pretty much means nothing. Still, the Dodgers owe their fans an offer to Ramirez, even if Boras is looking for a 5-6 year offer.

      On the trading block, would you believe Tigers’ slugger Magglio Ordonez? The Tigers reportedly have enough holes to fill that they are willing to part with one of the game’s premier hitters to do so. That kind of deal has Yankees written all over it.

      Two players whose team option was not picked up were the Yankees’ Jason Giambi and Dodgers’ Brad Penny. For all the talk about Giambi and steroids, the guy did hit 32 homers in 2008 and still has some pop as well as the penchant for bad mustaches.

      Though the Mets need bullpen help more than anything, they are talking trade with Tampa Bay for starter Andy Sonnenstine. The Mets are also talking like they will not be bringing back Aaron Heilman, which is about as good a move as any trade to acquire a player.

      Finally, free agent Ken Griffey may be heading back to Seattle, and pitcher Derek Lowe may be headed back to Boston. Stay tuned…..

      Bullz-Eye Sports Channel, Fantasy Baseball, MLB

      Yankees preparing to overspend for CC Sabathia

      November 6, 2008 /

      The New York Yankees are getting ready to offer CC Sabathia an exorbitant amount of money.

      CC SabathiaCiting two unnamed baseball executives, the New York Daily News is reporting the New York Yankees are preparing to make free agent left-hander C.C. Sabathia a ‘huge’ offer after Nov. 14. Sabathia has already been offered $100 million by the Milwaukee Brewers, who retain exclusive negotiating rights until Nov. 14.

      Two executives said Wednesday at the GM meetings that they believe Sabathia will wind up in New York, based solely on the expectation that the Bombers’ offer would easily exceed all others.

      Word has it that the Yankees are also prepared to deal for Jake Peavy of the Padres. The Bombers are also interested in Cole Hamels, Tim Lincecum, Cliff Lee, Brandon Webb, Johan Santana, Roy Halladay and are looking at the cost of digging up Cy Young.

      Fantasy Baseball, MLB

      Yankees target CC Sabathia, Manny Ramirez and Mark Teixeira

      November 5, 2008 /

      Jon Heyman of SI.com reports that the New York Yankees have made ace CC Sabathia their top winter target. And just for good measure, they’ll also have Manny Ramirez and Mark Teixeira on their radar this offseason, too.

      CC SabathiaThe incumbent Brewers extended to Sabathia a very respectable offer for about $100 million, and at least the Dodgers and Angels may also heavily compete for the Vallejo, Calif., native. But baseball people at the general manager meetings here see the Yankees as attempting to blow away the field for Sabathia. Santana’s record deal for a pitcher is over six years.

      Boosted by the new Yankee Stadium, revenues that are expected to skyrocket even in a flagging economy, the potential of about $80 million in player payroll coming off their books and driven by their first non-playoff season since before the Joe Torre era, the Yankees will also make plays for superstar first baseman Mark Teixeira and outfielder and hitting savant Manny Ramirez, a longtime Yankee killer (and in 2008 a Red Sox killer, as well), and haven’t ruled out signing one of those two sluggers along with Sabathia.

      If you hated the Yankees before, you’ll hate him even more this offseason. Not that it matters because it’s the Yankees and they can finically do whatever they want, but a word of warning to the Steinbrenner’s – watch your spending on top flight free agent pitching. Just to name a few: Barry Zito, Mike Hampton, Russ Ortiz, Kevin Brown, Jason Schmidt – all highly coveted free agent starting pitchers, all gigantic busts.

      Now maybe Sabathia is less of a risk considering he’s used to pitching in the AL, but signing him to one of the richest contract in baseball history has trouble written all over it. But again, not that it matters because the Yankees can do whatever they want when it comes to spending.

      Fantasy Baseball, MLB, Rumors & Gossip

      Top 50 MLB Free Agents

      November 5, 2008 /

      Manny RamirezSI.com released its top 50 MLB free agents. The first team listed is that player’s current team and the second one is SI.com’s “best fit” for that player.

      1 CC Sabathia 28 SP Brewers Dodgers
      He’s a behemoth, yes, but he proved in ’08 that he might not just be better than Johan Santana, but the most valuable player in baseball. He’ll be rewarded as such, and could turn down Yankee riches to play for a contender in his home state, and to hit every fifth day, which is something he genuinely loves.

      2 Mark Teixeira 28 1B Angels Yankees
      The guy’s got everything – he’s a young, powerful switch-hitter who plays a Gold Glove first base. Soon he will be able to buy everything, and the Yankees would love to devote a chunk of the revenue from their new ballpark to bring him aboard.

      3 Manny Ramirez 36 OF Dodgers Dodgers
      He’s like baseball’s version of Catherine Tramell. So enticing, so beautiful to behold, but be careful if you get too close. L.A., of course, is still in the relationship’s first blush, and will probably pay a fortune for a potential ice-picking.

      4 Francisco Rodriguez 27 RP Angels Angels
      Single-season saves record overshadowed fact that he’s lost velocity on his fastball, doesn’t go more than one inning and was perhaps only the AL’s fifth best closer (after Rivera, Papelbon, Nathan and Soria). Many consider the Mets to be the frontrunner for his services, but they’re on the hook for Billy Wagner’s $10.5 million salary in ’09 and would be wise to pursue a cheaper option.

      5 A.J. Burnett 31 SP Blue Jays Yankees
      Brittle in the past but threw a career-high 221.1 innings in ’08, which was (guess what?) his contract year. His 231 strikeouts led the American League, and his filthy stuff will have G.M.s salivating — particularly those that lose out in the CC Sabathia sweepstakes.

      It’s incredibly ironic that no team would touch Burnett with a 600-foot pole around the All-Star break and now he’s one of the most coveted free agents on the market. The Blue Jays couldn’t have given Burnett away at midseason for a coloring book and a box of crayons.

      Fantasy Baseball, MLB

      Derek Jeter the worst fielder in baseball?

      November 4, 2008 /

      A couple of stat geeks got together and did a study to determine which MLB fielders were the best and worst at each position. According to their research, New York Yankees’ infielder Derek Jeter is the worst defensive shortstop, worst defensive fielder at any position and worst uniform-wearer in all of baseball.

      Derek Jeter“They watched film of every major-league game, and had recorded every ball off the bat by the direction in which it was hit [the vector], the type of hit [groundball, flyball, line-drive, popup, etc.] and by how hard the ball was hit [softly hit, medium, hard hit],” according to James.

      In an earlier article that appears on James’ Fielding Bible Web site, BIS ripped Jeter.

      “They had analyzed the outcomes to determine who was best at turning hit balls into outs,” James wrote. “One of their conclusions was that Jeter was probably the least effective defensive player in the major leagues, at any position.”

      Jeter is no stranger to statistically questioned fielding. A Penn University study released in February found Jeter to be the worst shortstop in the majors.

      “Maybe it was a computer glitch,” Jeter told The Post during spring training. “Every [shortstop] doesn’t stay in the same spot, every one doesn’t have the same pitching. Every one doesn’t have the same hitters running. It’s impossible to do that.”

      There’s no question Jeter has lost a step over the years, but it wasn’t too long ago that he was one of the best defensive shortstops in the game. And regardless of what a couple of stat-heads say, Jeter never takes a play off, often sacrifices his body to make plays and always plays with energy.

      Other shortstops like Jimmy Rollins, Troy Tulowitzki and J.J. Hardy might be better defensively, but I would still take Jeter on my team in a heartbeat.

      Fantasy Baseball, MLB

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