Last week, the New York Yankees avoided arbitration with relievers David Robertson and Joba Chamberlain. If there is any year for Chamberlain to prove his value at the back end of the bullpen, 2012 is his last chance. He missed the majority of the 2011 campaign due to an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery. Before he was put on the disabled list, the Yankees would never know which reliever would come out of the bullpen. There would be very few appearances made by the ace reliever seen when he ...
Enos Slaughter stepped up to the plate. It was the sixth inning of the third game of the 1956 World Series. The Yankees were in lot of trouble. After winning the first two games at Ebbets Field, the Brooklyn Dodgers were leading Whitey Ford and the Yankees, 2-1. The Yankees had to win the third game. Hank Bauer was on third, Yogi Berra was on first and there were two outs. Right-hander Roger Craig checked the runners and delivered. The Yankees led 4-2 when the pitch landed in the right ...
Tomorrow will be a sad day for Yankees fans as they say goodbye to a player that epitomized what it means to be a Yankee.A once-in-a-generation player, Jorge Posada feels that he is ready to move on from baseball and announce his retirement tomorrow, Tuesday, January 24th.There was much debate as to what would happen with Posada after the 2011 season. Many questioned his allegiance to the Yankees when he was quoted saying he would be willing to suit up for another team. Many questioned the Yankees for not making ...
There used to be a time when New York belonged to the New York Mets. From the late 1960s through the early 1970s, they were New York's top team.That changed when the New York Yankees won three consecutive pennants and two consecutive World Series from 1976-78. But during the middle 1980s, the Mets challenge returned.George Steinbrenner considered the Mets as great a threat to the Yankees supremacy as the threat the Boston Red Sox presented. Steinbrenner tried to play down his concern about the Mets, but he failed miserably. The ...
Before last week’s front office explosion, the New York Yankees offseason was associated with the scores of chirping crickets and rolling tumbleweed. Outside of renegotiating C.C. Sabathia’s contract, picking up Nick Swisher’s option and resigning Freddy Garcia, it had been a most un-Yankee like off season. However, after biding his precious time, Brian Cashman struck the market with shrewd assertiveness. Trading highly touted prospects and signing free agents, he reaffirmed the Yankees primary offseason goal of refurbishing their debatable starting rotation. Some of the faces on the carousel will look familiar, ...
Earlier in the podcast Matt and I briefly talked about who was going to ultimately win the Yankees No. 5 starter job. We both pretty much agreed that A.J. Burnett would win by default, but a deeper look shows that Burnett is actually poised for a nice bounce back year.I mentioned that Burnett’s 17% HR/FB rate last year looked extremely fluky and was way off his career average. A deeper look shows that was the highest home run rate in Major League Baseball since 2007 when who else, but A.J. Burnett posted a ...
It isn't mentioned much because the New York Yankees didn't make the playoff series, but the 1985 season produced an unanswerable question. So has almost every season in baseball history. Which type of player has greater value to his team—the one who gets on base and sets the table to start a rally or the player who drives in the table-setter? The 1985 Yankees finished two games behind the Toronto Blue Jays. They won 97 games, which was six games more than the Western Division Kansas Royals won. Don Mattingly ...
By all standards, Phil Hughes had a miserable 2011. After winning 18 games in 2010, the Yankees penciled in the righty as the No. 2 starter last season, but he gave up 16 earned runs in his first three starts before hitting the disabled list with arm fatigue. There was even a concern that Hughes was suffering from thoracic outlet syndrome, a rare disorder that affects blood flow. But after meeting with specialist Robert Thompson it was determined that the 25-year-old didn't have the syndrome. He eventually returned in July, made 14 more appearances, and ...
Robinson Cano is one player that has lived up to his potential. It is easy to forget the small number of highly heralded youngsters that become stars and even fewer have enduring careers. Houston Street was the 2005 American League Rookie of the Year. He received 15 first-place votes. Cano finished second by a wide margin, garnering four first place votes. Whom would you rather have on your team for the 2012 season? Johnny Gomes finished third, Tadahito Iguchi was fourth and Gustavo Chacin rounded out the top five. In ...
The Yankees were uncharacteristically quiet this offseason. They were not involved with the top free agent, Albert Pujols and never showed serious interest in Yu Darvish or C.J Wilson. It appeared as if they were content on going into the season with who they had on their roster.Their silence was broken when it was reported that they have reached an agreement with the Seattle Mariners to trade their phenom catching prospect Jesus Montero for Seattle's Michael Pineda.Although the Yankees were very high on Montero, their biggest concern was their starting ...