Results tagged ‘ Hideki Matsui ’
Yankees do not need Lance Berkman
I just don’t understand this trade by the Yankees. Lance Berkman is a good player, but a player that is unfortunately about to pass his prime. Some could argue that he has already past his prime as his offensive production since 2006 has diminished. The reason why the Yankees do not need Berkman’s bat in the lineup is that he plugs up the DH spot in the lineup, something the Yankees wanted to have more flexibility on this season. Hideki Matsui wasn’t resigned to allow Joe Girardi to use the DH spot players like Posada, who thanks to injuries and the grind of the season, can’t play everyday on the field, but whose bat is just too good to keep out of the lineup. Berkman could be a player whose bat is not good enough to be the DH and his defensive play is not as good as Teixeira’s glove.
What the Yankees need is starting pitching. Right now the Yankees have only two solid starters and an inconsistent trio of starters. Andy Pettitte, who is hurt, has been the Yankees best starter this year, along with CC Sabathia. However, AJ Burnett is inconsistent, Phil Hughes is approaching his pitching limits, and frankly Javier Vazquez is just one of those pitchers that could lose his concentration and stuff in any given inning. Unlike last year, the Yankees do not have three starters that they could ride the rest of the season. So, instead of beefing up a lineup that doesn’t need another bat, Cashman should go out and get a pitcher.
Update:
Berkman played first against the Rays on Sunday and his mistakes probably cost the Yankees.
Sabathia and Halladay dominant outings: Phillies/Yankees World Series 2010?
In a Spring Training World Series rematch between the Phillies and Yankees, both CC Sabathia and Roy Doc Halladay were very impressive in their respective starts of the spring. CC Sabathia, in 2 innings of work, only allowed two hits, 2 walks, and no runs, holding the Phillies scoreless. Equally, and more impressively, Doc Halladay, in his respective two innings of work, allowed no runs, no walks, no hits and struck out three Yankee batters. The two innings of work by both Sabathia and Halladay is only a scratch in the surface of what should be a debate that will rage all season long: Will these two teams meet again in the World Series?
One can make the case that the Philadelphia Phillies are more improved than they were last year. With Doc Halladay now anchoring the rotation, and with the hope that Cole Hamels could return to his 2008 form, the Phillies certainly could have a tough one-two top of the rotation. J.A Happ, and Joe Blanton, and Kyle Kendrick rounding out the rest of the Phillies starters, there is no doubt that the bottom 3 of this rotation could be the best in baseball. But the Phillies still need help in the bullpen that was mire with injuries last season. J.C Romero and Brad Lidge are recovering from off-season surgury and will likely need the entire spring or part of April to get back into top baseball form. Still, with all their bullpen problems, the Phillies will bring back most of the team they had last year, and are still the best team in the National League. The Phillies do not face much of a threat from the rest of the division, even though the Marlins and Braves could certainly give them a run. The rest of the National League, in my humble opinion, is just too weak offensively to beat the Phillies. Unless there is a disaster in Philadelphia this year, I believe the Phillies will win their third straight National League Pennant.
But are the Phillies good enough to beat the Yankees?
The Yankees, on the other hand, have one of the best lineups in the American League. But unlike last year, when the Yankees set an all time team record in homeruns, the loss of Hideki Matsui and Johnny Damon will certainly lead to a decline in homeruns. However, the Yankee lineup is more balanced now with a flexible DH position, and I look for them to manufacture runs by stealing more bases and executing more hit and runs than they were able to do last year. Pitching wise, the Yankees are not the best in the American League, but the rotation is good enough to help this team win. The key to the rotation this year will be A.J Burnett and his mindset. Will he be a consistently good pitcher, or will Burnett be a consistent inconsistent starter? As for the back end of the rotation, will Chamberlain or Hughes be the 5th starter? These questions will be answered by the end of the month.
Unlike the Phillies however, the Yankees do face tough competition within their division. The Red Sox have a much more improved rotation than they did last year, and the Tampa Bay Rays are a young and very talented team that will be much better improved than last year. If the Yankees are able to win the American League East, I have no doubt they will earn another trip to the World Series.
So can the Phillies and Yankees meet again? I believe it will happen.
Update: Mental boner on my part (am I allowed to write that?), Kyle Drabek was part of the Roy Halladay trade. See what happens when you only remember Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay and forget the rest? 
More thoughts on Nick Johnson.
Now that the Yankees are definately close to signing Johnson and parting ways with Johnny Damon most beat-writers believe that Johnson will be the everyday DH for the Yankees in 2010. I can live with Nick Johnson as an everyday DH since he is one of those players that gets a ton of walks during the season. Last year he walked 99 times and had a very good On-Base percentage of .426 which was the third best in the league; Johnson had an overall OPS of .831. That means Johnson gets on base via the walk or by putting the ball in play. Overall Johnson had solid numbers last year. But if he becomes the everyday the DH, aren’t the Yankees once again clogging up the DH position in their lineup? If so, then why did the Yankees let Hideki Matsui go?
Back to square one?
Bringing Nick Johnson back does not give the Yankees the flexibility at the DH spot they have sought in the past three years. Ever since Matsui’s defensive play began to decline as a member of the Yankees, the only spot for him in the lineup was the DH. That meant that players like Damon, Posada, Jeter, or A-Rod were left out of the lineup in days in which they could’ve been DHing. Potentially with Johnson the Yankees face the same situation. Here is a player whose defensive play has diminished. His range factor per game last season was 8.65; compare that to Teixeira’s 8.77. So if Johnson is used as a back up to Teixeira the Yankees are in a defensive disadvantage. More importantly, Teixeira can give the Yankees 150 or more games at first if he stays healthy; Johnson, who is injury prone, would likely to give the Yankees somewhere between 15 games or less. To put it succinctly, there is no spot on the field of Johnson. That means the only place in the lineup for Johnson is the DH. Unless Girardi and the powers that be do not consider Johnson an everyday DH, his only contribution to the team will be in that position.
By letting Matsui go and signing Johnson, the Yankee lineup has taken a terrible step backwards. Lets compare the numbers. Against right handed pitching this past season, Nick Johnson had an OBP of .420 and an overall OPS of .804, with 71 walks, 6 homeruns, RBI and 55 strikeouts. On the other hand Matsui had a .370 OBP with a .835 OPS. More over, Matsui had 15 homeruns, 49 walks, and 44 RBI’s. Against left handed pitching Matsui is clearly ahead of Johnson. His .358 OBP and .618 SLG for an overall .976 OPS, with 13 homeruns outshines Johnson’s .884 OPS, 2 homeruns and 21 RBI’s. Although Johnson had a higher OBP than Matsui (.440) against lefties, his slugging percentage is 174 points lower. Therefore, if Johnson comes in and clogs up the DH spot, he will likely not be as productive as Matsui was this past season, which begs the question; Why let Matsui go and sign a player that could also clog up the DH spot in the Yankee lineup? Keeping Matsui would have been a better option than signing Johnson.
Yankees are moving on.
Just heard a report on the radio that the Yankees have informed Johnny Damon’s agent that they plan to move on without him thus ending Damon’s 4 year stint with the Yankees. The Yankees are now close to signing Nick Johnson to a one year deal with incentives. Nick Johnson had a solid season for both the Nationals and Marlins. Johnson had a modest .291 batting average with 8 homers, 24 doubles, 62 RBI’s and 99 walks. He also had 84 strikeouts and overall had an OPS of .831. Johnson’s likely role with the team will be that of the Yankees designated hitter and possibly the back to Mark Teixeira.
Bittersweet goodbyes…
Now that the Yankees have officially parted ways with both Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui it is important to remember that both players were very instrumental in the Yankees championship season. The spring training lineup switch of Jeter and Damon worked wonderfully for Joe Girardi, as Jeter had a near MVP season while Damon almost reached a career high in homeruns. Yet as good a season as Damon had this past summer what I will remember him for is that double steal in Game 4 of the World Series. That night Damon’s three hits, two runs scored and two stolen bases will forever erase from my memory his 2004 ALCS Game 7 grand slam.
As for Matsui, it took 6 years, but he finally won a championship with the Yankees and left the Bronx as the World Series most valuable player and probably the most beloved Yankee of the past 10 years, second only to Derek Jeter in my humble opinion.
Although both players will be missed, it is time for the Yankees to move on and get younger. Trading for Curtis Granderson is a step in the right direction.
Matsui signs with Angels…
As expected Hideki Matsui signed a one year $6.5 million contract with the Los Angeles and will now be the Angels everyday DH. Matsui leaving New York was expected and it ends a successful (at times disappointing) 6 year run for Matsui as a member of the Yankees. In Matsui the Angels will get a player that hits right handed as well as left handed pitching. Last season for the Yankees, Matsui belted 28 homers, and in the playoffs hit several key homeruns, including 3 in the World Series. Signing Matsui also means that Vladimir Guerrero’s stint with the Los Angeles is over and he will likely sign somewhere else.
As a Yankee fan, it is tough for me to see Matsui leave. His bat in that lineup is going to be hard to replace. However the Yankees needed to free up the DH slot in the lineup and decided to part ways with the Series MVP. Overall it is a bittersweet day. Although Matsui will not play in New York next season, I’m glad he is staying in the Majors because he has been a model player in America.
Standardizing the Designated Hitter.
Commissioner Bud Zelig has formed an advisory committee on ways to improve the game and make baseball more enjoyable for its fans. One improvement that has gotten a lot of attention, especially after the horric post-season performances by Major League umpires, is instant replay. It is good for the League to look into ways of implementing instant replay as a way to reverse blown calls like Joe Mauer’s double-foul ball, or the pickoff of Nick Swisher at second. However another improvement got my attention and this one issue is one that is very important to baseball fans. According to John Schuerholz, former GM and now President of the Atlanta Braves and member of the advisory committee, said “he’d like to tackle the issue of standardizing the DH in both leagues.” “It’s the issue that’s been around the longest and has been the most profound topic,” said Schuerholz, and I agree. The DH is one of those topics that consistantly divides baseball fans along league lines and will always be a source of controversy. In fact Tony La Russa has said that baseball is more “beautiful” in the National League and that he would “kick out” the DH. Others however view the DH in more favorable light. Noted columnist and baseball fan George Will (who will also take part on the advisory committee) wrote once that the DH is just the “specialization” of baseball. The game afterall has specialized duties. Relieve pitchers sometimes come in to a game just to get one hitter, or two. Closers come into the game either in the 8th or 9th inning to nail down a victory. That is a form of specialization and the DH follows that pattern. I therefore hope that this committee does look into the idea of standardizing the designated hitter throughout Major League Baseball in one way or another. Unfortunately the National League and its fans stand in the way. They believe the National League robs baseball of its pureness and more importantly it diminishes strategy.
Of course that is pure nonsense. The National League and its fans seriously need to drop their holier than thou attitude about the DH and embrace the fact that the pitcher batting in the 9th spot doesn’t make the game more “pure” or more “beautiful.” The game with or without the DH the game is already beautiful and in ways the DH does enhance the game (no pun). There is still strategy in the American League despite the contrary believe that there isn’t. Of course the burden falls on the team that is on defense. For example, how do teams approach Hideki Matsui? As the everday DH for the Yankees, Matsui killed both right handed and left handed pitching. So in a key situation late in the game, with runners on base, a tired pitcher and Matsui spot next in the lineup, how would a manager approach the situation? Should I bring in a lefty, or a righty, or should I walk Matsui? That is strategy that came up several times this past season.
Pitchers would also benifit from a uniform DH rule throughout the Majors because they will concentrate purely on pitching. Watching a pitcher trying to hit is an embarrassment almost. Pitchers do not hit, they only go through the motions of an at-bat (to steal a line from George Will), and more importantly, they end up getting hurt rounding the bases. Chein Ming Wang is a victim of this archaic National League mentality. The Yankees most important starter in 2008 had his season cut short because he had to run the bases in Houston. Had the DH been available in the National League Wang would have only pitched in that game, and would have been avialable to the Yankees the rest of that year. The Yankees missed the playoffs in 08 because Wang, their best pitcher, was not there during the stretch run.
I therefore hope that this committee looks into expanding the role of the DH. Of course, the chances of that happening, of course, are rather small. But we can dream!
Roy Halladay will dominate the Winter Meetings
Whether he is traded to New York, Boston or stays in Toronto the Baseball Winter Meetings will be dominated by the Roy Halladay sweepstakes, and that is as good as it gets for us Hot Stove geeks! Roy Halladay is the best right hander in the league and any team that acquires his services for the upcoming 2010 season will no doubt be a much improved ballclub. However I think people should be a little weary about Roy Halladay. As the Hot Stove season progresses, Doc’s value increases and any team that is willing to make a trade with Toronto will undoubtely have to give up any of the top prospects protected from the Rule 5 Draft. On top of that, I look for Toronto to unload the salary of Vernon Wells, who is currently locked up through 2014 making an astonishingly high $126 million a year. So any team that is interested in Roy Halladay will likely have to take Wells off Toronto’s hands as well. Therefore I ask again; Who is willing to take Roy Halladay for one year, give up top prospects from the farm and potentially take on the salary of Vernon Wells? My guess is not many ballclubs are willing to do that.
Other things to watch from the Meetings….
Where will Jason Bay end up? It is likely that Bay will resign for the Red Sox, but then again Boston has a recent history of not landing key free agents when they seemed to be a lock. I’m watching with interest to see what happens with Bay. Here in New York, it would benefit the Mets to atleast make an offer to Bay. Unfortunately, it seems that the Mets will not spend a lot money this winter on established talent…again.
Matt Holiday is another free agent that will draw some interest. Again, the Mets should think about a player like Holiday if they wish to improve.
As for the Yankees their top priority right now is to resign either Johnny Damon or Hideki Matsui. Once that is done the Yanks should enter the Roy Halladay sweepstakes and in my humble opinion take a chance on Vernon Wells. But that shouldn’t happen until they deal with their free agents.
Yankees even series.
Well, so much for my baseball predictions and for that matter, the predictions of everyone who follows baseball and who is paying attention to this year’s World Series. I, along with everyone else, predicted that AJ Burnett and Pedro Martinez would give up a lot of runs and be out of the game rather early. Well, that prediction was wrong. Dead wrong. Everyone thought game 2 would be a slugging fest, instead the Baseball Gods said NO and gave us a pitchers duel instead.
And just how good were tonight starters? Well, for the Phillies, Pedro Martinez gave them another good outing. Tonight he pitched 6 innings and gave up only 3 runs, two on mistake pitches to Mark Teixeira and Hideki Matsui. Otherwise, Martinez pitched a great game striking 8 Yankees in the process. Many Yankee fans felt that Martinez was going to be lit up tonight and they were wrong. Martinez has never been intimidated by the Yankees and tonight wasn’t any different.
On the other hand, AJ Burnett pitched a great game for the Yankees as he was on his A game tonight. All night long Burnett used his breaking ball to neutralized the meat of the Phillies order, as Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Jayson Werth and Raul Ibanez went a combined 1-11 with 5 strike outs. When a pitcher is able to do that to these 4 hitters, there is a good chance that pitcher will in the game. Tonight, AJ Burnett got the job done.
Thumbs up….
….AJ Burnett. He gave the Yankees what they need, which was a solid outing and a chance to win the game. His curveball was bitting and gave the Phillies left handed batters problems all night long.
Thumbs up to Pedro Martinez, who also pitched a very good game. Martinez made only 2 mistakes tonight and both were hit out of the park, otherwise, he pitched a very good and very smart game, keeping the Yankees off balance tonight.
Thumbs down to…
….Yankees offense, especially its situational hitting. This has been the story all year long and again tonight the Yankees fail to get hits with runners on base especially with runners in scoring position. Tonight the Yankees were 1-for-5 and missed an opportunity to stretch the 2 run lead in the bottom of the 7 with 2 runners on and two outs.
Blogging again as last month of the marathon gets interesting.
Haven’t blogged in quite a while–infact I haven’t blog since August 24–I have been busy with life, but I’m glad I now have time to write again about the sport I truly love. And what an interesting time in the season life picked for me to start blogging again. Barely a month ago, on August 24th, the Yankees were leading the division by 7 games, the Tigers lead Minnesota by 4.5 games, and the Angels led the west by 5. In the National League, the Phillies led the division by 7, the Cardinals by 8 and the Dodgers led the Rockies by 3 games. In the Wild Card races, the Red Sox lead over the Rangers was only 1.5 games while the Rockies held a 4 game lead over the Giants. Less than a month later, Yankees still hold a relative healthy lead over the Red Sox, but by only 5.5 games, while the Tigers now lead the Twins by only 2.5 games. In the west, the Angels now have a 7.5 lead over the Rangers. In the Wild Card however, the Red Sox now have a 7 game lead as the Rangers have basically melted away during the stretch run. In the National League, the Phillies now lead by 10 games, the Cardinals magic number is only 3 and the Dodgers have a 5 game lead over the Rockies. Rockies now have a 4.5 game lead over the Giants. What makes this interesting is that on September 22, the division races and wild card races have remained the same and no team has yet clinched a playoff spot. That’s right, on September 22, not team has yet clinched a playoff spot. With the division and wild card races remaining virtually the same, this has to be the first September in which there hasn’t been a compelling pennant race. As a baseball fan, I’m therefore disappointed that in the month of September, there isn’t a compelling race in baseball. I know that the Twins are now only 2.5 games behind the Tigers, however I don’t see them overtaking Detriot for the division. The Twins will miss Justin Morneau during this critical period and they will unfortunately fall short of the division title.
But things could get interesting
However, I wouldn’t bet on division races heating up this late in the marathon. Even though both the Red Sox and Yankees lost tonight, if the Red Sox manage to take the next three games against the Royals and if the Yankees drop the next two games in LA–and are thus swept again by the Angels out in Anaheim–the Red Sox would only be 3 games behind the Yankees for the AL East title. In the central, if the Twins sweep the Sox and the Tigers drop 2 out of 3 to the Indians, the Tiger lead for the central title would only be 1 game. These would be very compelling races, if things turn out that way (and for the Yankees sakes, I hope it doesn’t.) If on Friday, the AL East race is only down to 3 games, there will be a baseball war in the Bronx for the next three days that will take the city of New York by storm. On the other hand, if nothing changes, it will still be a compelling series, but I fear it will be over shadowed by the two great, pro football teams in New York.
Thumbs up…
To Joe Saunders. Tonight (or should I say last night??) pitched an absolute gem. Saunders went 8 1/3 innings holding the high powered Yankee offense to just 2 runs. Saunders just made two mistakes, both of which were hit out of the park by Alex Rodriguez and Hideki Matsui. Since coming off the DL, Saunders is 5-0 with an crazy ERA of 2.07.
Thumbs Down…
To Milton Bradley. Not the board game company, but the baseball player. After having a career season last year, Bradley has been a huge disappointment in Chicago. To make things worse, he has made disparaging comments about Cubs fans (you know the people who pay his salary) and the Cubs organization as a whole (you know the franchise that gave him a contract). For his comments, the Cubs have suspended Bradley for the rest of the season and are now stuck with him for the next two years at a cost of $15 million a year. Not a good time to be a Cubs fan.
David Veloz
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