Bullet Bob Turley dies at 82.

Bullet Bob Turley, who was the first Yankee to win the CYA and who was a star of their 1958 WS Championship team, died yesterday at the age of 82.

Turley began his career in 1951 with the St. Louis Browns, going 0-1 in one game. He returned to the majors with the Browns in 1953, going 2-6. After a 14-15, 3.46 1954 season with the Orioles (the Browns moved to Baltimore after 1953) in which he led the majors in K and BB, was an All-Star and finished 23rd in MVP voting, he was traded to the Yankees in a 17-player deal.

Turley went 17-13, 3.06 for the 1955 Yankees. He was an All-Star, but led the AL in walks again. He went 0-1, 8.44 in the WS.

In 1956, Turley was 8-4, 5.05. He did pitch a great game in losing Game 6 of the WS. In 11 IP in the series, he only gave up 1 run.

He bounced back in 1957, going 13-6, 2.71. In the WS, he was 1-0, 2.31.

1958 was Turley’s year. He won the CYA (awarded at that time to only ONE pitcher—the best in baseball) by going 21-7, leading the AL in wins and CG, and the majors in winning pct. and … walks. Not only did he win the CYA, but he drew seven first-place votes in finishing as the runner-up to Jackie Jensen for the AL MVP award (Mantle got no first-place votes as he finished 5th). He was named an All-Star for the third and final time.

Turley went 2-1, 2.76 in the WS with a save. The Yanks, down 3 games to 1, came back to win the last three games of the Series behind Turley. He threw a CG shutout in Game 5, saved Game 6 by getting the last out and came out of the bullpen to win Game 7 with  6 2/3 innings of relief. He was named the 1958 WS MVP.

Turley wasn’t the same after that, going 26-33, 4.19 from 1959 through his final year of 1963. He dropped to 8-11, 4.32 in 1959 and was 9-3, 3.27 in 1960. He was 1-0, 4.82 in the 1960 WS.

In 15 postseason appearances, eight starts, Turley was 4-3, 3.19. He was a member of four Yankees WS Championship teams (1956, 1958, 1961 and 1962).

After going 3-5, 5.75 for the Yanks in 1961, he went 3-3, 4.57 for the Yanks in 1962. He wound up his career going 3-11, 4.20 combined for the Angels and Red Sox in 1963. 2-7, 3.30 for the Angels and 1-4, 6.10 for Boston.

His last game was just two days after he turned 33.

He wound up his career 101-85 with an ERA of 3.64 (ERA+ 101; 100 is average). His 162 g. average was 39 g., 29 starts, 13-11, 3.64.

As a hitter, Turley hit .126, with 4 HR and 32 RBI. His OPS+ was (-4).

Turley was known for picking up opposing pitcher’s pitches. Many times, he could tell whether the pitch would be a fastball or breaking ball and would whistle to let hitters like Mickey Mantle know what was coming.

Turley wore #19 with the Yanks.

The Yanks beat Army at West Point Saturday, 10-5. Brennan Boesch and Melky Mesa HR’d. They have off today (Easter Sunday) and will open the season at home vs. Boston tomorrow with CC on the mound.

What a difference a few weeks make

The Yanks made a bit of a surprise move today, DFA-ing David Aardsma. Instead, Shawn Kelley, Cody Eppley and Adam Warren make the team. My guess is that once Phil Hughes comes off the DL, Warren will be sent down to AAA.

But think of this. A month ago, it looked like Aardsma was a lock. You didn’t expect Warren to be on (and frankly, I’d have taken Nuno over Warren).

Not only that, a month ago, Boesch, Wells, Francisco and Overbay were trying to win jobs WITH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS.

You didn’t expect them to be going north with the Yankees.

What a crazy month.

S.T Game 34. Yanks beat Nats 4-2

Andy Pettitte tossed six solid innings in his final spring tuneup before the season starts and Kevin Youkilis homered as the Yanks beat the Nats in D.C. 4-2.

Pettitte went 6, 2 R, 1 ER, on 5 H, 0 walks and 6 K. Joba pitched a 1-2-3 7th, Robertson a 1-2-3 8th. Both had 1 K.

Joe managed like it was the regular season, bringing in Mo for the 9th. Typical Mo. 1-2-3. 1 K.

The Yanks got all four of their runs in the fourth. Youkilis led off with a HR,  Hafner singled and Wells doubled him to third. Nunez drove in two with a single and moved up on the throw. Stewart singled in Nunez. Cano, Wells and Nunez each had two hits.

The Yanks will play Army in West Point tomorrow, then have off Sunday before opening the season at the Stadium Monday vs. Boston. They have gone 14-19-1 this spring.

S.T. Game 33. Yanks lose 2-1 to Pirates, Kuroda great.

Hiroki Kuroda gave up just one hit in six scoreless innings as the Yanks lost 2-1 to Pittsburgh on Thursday to drop their spring training record to 13-19-1. They now leave Florida. They will play the Nationals in an exhibition game on Friday in D.C., then play an exhibition game at West Point on Saturday. Sunday will be an off day and they will open the season vs. Boston on Monday.

Kuroda struck out five and walked no one. Boone Logan faced two batters and got no one out. Both runners scored. He gave up a walk and then one-time Yanks’ prospect Jose Tabata lined one off Logan’s hip. Logan says he’s fine but he was then removed from the game as a precaution. David Aardsma gave up hit, walk and WP in 2/3 IP. Cody Eppley went 1 1/3, scoreless. Jim Miller pitched a scoreless inning.

In the bottom of the 9th, Lyle Overbay’s two-out double with men on 1st and 2nd scored Thomas Neal with the Yanks’ only run, but PR Casey Stevenson had to be held at third. Dan Johnson, who has had a poor spring (.061 and four errors) struck out to end the game.

Yankees cut Rivera (Juan, that is), keep Overbay and Francisco

In a bit of a surprising move, the Yanks cut Juan Rivera, 34, who hit .244-9-47, OPS+ 81 with the Dodgers last year. His 162 g. average for his career is .274-20-83, OPS+ 102.

Instead, they kept Lyle Overbay, who it appears will be a platoon 1B. Overbay was just picked up three days ago after he was cut by Boston. Overbay is the better defensive 1B (1222 games there as opposed to 106 for Rivera), but in 2011 and 2012 COMBINED, he played in 186 games, (Pit, AZ, Atl) and hit .239-11-57, OPS+ 89. Not only that, but Overbay is 36. He is a lefty hitter, so maybe he can take advantage of the porch. But Overbay was never a big power hitter, as he has a 162 g. average of .270-16-71 OPS+ 108 for his career.

Until Jeter returns from the DL, it appears like Overbay at 1B vs. Righties with Youkilis at 3B, and (like on Opening Day vs. Lester) Youkilis at 1B vs. lefties with Jayson Nix at 3B.

Of course, the Yanks are also hoping that Teixera can return.

The Yanks are also keeping Ben Francisco, 31, as a backup OF. Francisco hit .240-4-15 in 192 AB (3 teams) in 2012. Over the past two seasons COMBINED, he is .242-10-49 in 182 g., OPS+ 89. His 162 g. ave. is .257-15-56, OPS+ 101.

Brennan Boesch apparently will make the team. A lefty bat, Boesch will be a backup OF with Francisco, behind Wells, Gardner and Ichiro (until Granderson returns). Boesch, 27, hit just .240-12-54 for Detroit last year (OPS+ 77). His 162 g. ave. is .259-18-75, OPS+ 96 (100 is average).

With the injuries (Jeter, Granderson, A-Rod and Teix) and defections (Martin, Ibanez, Chavez and Swisher) it’s a patchwork lineup. Which is why many are predicting gloom and doom for the Bronx (Ex?)-Bombers this season.

The 13 position players going north appear to be:

Cervelli, Stewart, Hafner, Overbay, Cano, Nunez, Youkilis, Nix, Boesch, Francisco, Wells, Gardner and Ichiro.

Hopefully A-Rod, Granderson, Jeter and Teixeira get back soon. That 13 looks quite mediocre. Their HR total between the 13 of them could be 100 less than the Yanks hit as a team last year.

Ronnier Mustelier has a bone bruise on his knee from his collision with a railing in chasing a foul ball. Mustelier had an outside chance at best of making the team, but he won’t now. I hope he hits well at AAA and shows a good enough glove. I’d rather have him than say, Nix or Francisco.

Hughes will start on the DL and so will Rapada. Two spots are up for grabs. The ten pitchers so far going north are CC, Kuroda, Pettitte, Nova, Phelps, Joba, Logan, Robertson, Aardsma and Mo.

You wonder if Vidal Nuno (named best rookie in camp) may make it, or Shawn Kelley, Cody Eppley or Jim Miller.

The Yanks are coming north. They will play an exhibition game vs. the Nationals in D.C. Friday and one at West Point vs. Army on Saturday. They will be off Sunday before starting the season Monday vs. Boston.

 

S.T. Game 32. Yanks beat O’s 11-8

The Yanks beat Baltimore 11-8 tonight to run their S.T. record to 13-18-1.

Mason “Classical Gas” Williams was 1 for 2 with 2 RBI. Eduardo Nunez was 2 for 3 with an RBI. New 1B Lyle Overbay was 2 for 5. Brennan Boesch had a 2-run HR. He and Francisco went back to back. Addison Maruszak and Bobby Wilson each had 2 rbi.

Dave Phelps went 5 1/3, 3 R, 4 H, 2 walks and 9 K. He was great until the 5th.

1 R in 2/3 for Spence, 4 R in 2/3 for Pinder.

Cedeno 1/3 scoreless. Goody and Claiborne each with a scoreless inning.

Hughes will miss his first start of the season, DL. Jeter will not play in  another spring game— even if Minor league — until next week.

Tim McCarver  (who a lot of us don’t like) is packing it in after this season.

S.T. Game 31. Yanks tie Houston, finalize Wells deal, give Overbay a shot.

The Yanks went against Houston tonight and finished in a 4-4 tie. Their record (after 31 games, and I include [most don't] the game against the D.R. WBC team) is 12-18-1. Maybe this is why Buster Olney and Jayson Stark are predicting the Yanks to finish last in the A.L. East. Of course on Monday they start the season at 0-0.

CC struggled, giving up 3 in the first. He lasted 5, 4 R, 6 H, 3 walks and 4 K. He’s next scheduled to start the opener against Boston at the Stadium next Monday.

Mo went 1, his usual. Scoreless. It’s rare when some team touches up Mo in spring training, 43 or not 43 years old.

Robertson, Joba, Logan and Nuno each pitched a scoreless inning.

Down 4-0, the Yanks got a run in the fifth on a Nunez walk, SB and a triple by Gardner.

The Yanks tied it in the sixth. Cano led off with a single and Youk doubled him home. Hafner singled and Hafner advanced on an error. Vernon Wells groundout plated a run. A few batters later, Stewart singled in a run to tie it while Juan Rivera was gunned down at the plate.

Gardner was 2 for 3 with an RBI. Travis Hafner, who was having a bad spring, went 3 for 4.

The Vernon Wells deal was finalized. The Yanks will pick up about $13MM of the $42MM Wells has left on his deal. In return the Angels get two low level minor leaguers who really didn’t do much or seem to have too much of a future with the Yanks: OF Exicardo Cayones, 21, who was in A- (short season) ball with Staten Island last year (.228-1-15 in 47 games) and LHP Kramer Sneed, 24, who was 0-7, 5.37 at High-A Tampa last year.

The Yanks also “dumpster dived” for 1B Lyle Overbay and will see what he has left. The lefty hitting 1B is 36 and was just released by Boston. The lefty hitter averaged 145 g., .270-16-68, OPS+ 110 from 2004-2011 for MIL/Tor/Pit/Az. For his career, a .270 hitter, OPS+ 108. Pop, but not a lot of it. .259-2-10 in 116 AB last year.

As Olney and Stark mentioned, some of these moves smack of desperation and patchwork. It doesn’t seem like the Yankees doing this. Which is why each predicted the Yanks to finish last in the A.L. East. It smacks of 1965 or 1966. Aging and/or injured greats (think of Mantle, Howard, Ford, Maris and compare them to Jeter/A-Rod/Teix/Granderson) with no farm system coming up. Ugh.

Once promising, the Yanks released IF Dave Adams. They signed RHP reliever Dan Otero (0-0, 5.84 in 12 g. w/SF last year).

Jeter finally admits that he won’t make Opening Day.

 

 

Hope he’s wrong…

I heard part of a discussion between Buster Olney and Jayson Stark over the internet. In it, Stark picked the Yanks to finish last in what appears to be a very competitive A.L. East. From division champs, best record in the A.L. to last in the A.L. East. 1965 revisited?

We can hope he’s wrong.

But…   aging players, injuries, etc.

It doesn’t look good.

Meanwhile, I drove to work through a snow shower trying to convince myself that Opening Day is next week. It doesn’t feel or look it.

News on an off-day.

We still don’t know who is going to the Angels as part of the Vernon Wells deal. All we know is that the Angels will pick up at least $29MM of the $42MM due Wells in 2013-2014. The Yanks will allocate most of their $13MM this year to avoid going over the cap in 2014.

Hopefully, the 3x GG and 3x AS Wells will get back to what he was (but for the price, wouldn’t it have been better to keep Swish? After all, he could have played 1B while Teix was out and go back to the OF when Teix was healthy).

Wells, 34, will most likely go to LF with Gardner remaining in CF. But Wells is coming off .218-25-66 (OPS+ 84) in 2011 and .230-11-29 (OPS+ 91) in 2012. Two bad years in Anaheim. He did have a good 2010 with Toronto (.273-31-88, OPS+ 125).

His 162 g. average for his career is .273-26-92. OPS+ 106, slighty better than average. He has 259 HR. He has mostly hit 3rd or 4th in his career but  most likely won’t here. 6th or 7th seems more likely.

But you hope he can get back to what it was. His last two years have been lousy. The Yanks are picking up $13mm of the $42MM. You wonder where that $$ was when they let Chavez, Swish, Martin or Ibanez go.

The Yanks say that they have the $$ because the WBC is picking up the tab on Teix, since Teix got hurt for the WBC (as with the Dodgers, the WBC and Hanley Ramirez).

Still, the move looks like a desperation move because of the fact that Chavez, Ibanez, Martin and Swisher are opening the season in other cities while Granderson, Jeter, A-Rod and Teix are opening the season on the DL.

Details to come, but Vernon Wells coming to the Yanks

Vernon Wells is a 3x GG (Gold Glove), 3x AS (All-Star) but also an OF who after leaving Toronto had two bad years with the Angels.

The Yankees are hoping they get the Toronto version of Wells. For Wells is coming to the Yankees to hopefully replace power lost through injury and free agency.

Wells, 34, has played mostly CF in his career, a bit of LF and RF. It will be interesting to see if he plays CF with Gardner going back to LF or if he plays LF with Gardner in CF (I prefer the latter).

Wells is a .273 hitter with 259 career HR and a career OPS+ of 106 (100 is average). His last good year was in 2010 for Toronto, .273-31-88, OPS+ 125. Since then in two seasons with the Angels, he’s put up (2011) .218-25-66. OPS+ 84 and (2012, in 77 g., 1/2 a year) .230-11-29, OPS+ 91.

The Yanks are hoping they get the Blue Jays version of Wells, 2002-2010 who averaged .279-25-89, OPS+ 109.

They could use a power bat. On Opening Day, Chavez, Swisher, Martin & Ibanez will be on other teams, and A-Rod, Granderson, Teixeira and most likely Jeter, will be on the DL. That’s a lot of missing offense.

Wells is owed $21MM for this year and next. The Angels are apparently picking up $29MM of the $42MM with the Yanks responsible for the rest.

Wells has had a good, comeback spring so far. 11 for 36 with 4 HR. The Yanks hope it continues. That way when Granderson comes back, Wells could fill in for the Grandy Man, Gardner or Ichiro or DH to give Hafner a rest.

There is a minor leaguer going to the Angels in the deal, but no confirmation. Rumors are it could be Slade Heathcott, 22, who in 65 games (GCL/A+) hit .302-5-29 with 19 SB last year. Many have compared Heathcott’s style of play to Lenny Dykstra’s.

If Heathcott goes, then Mason “Classical Gas” Williams must deliver and become the Yanks CF of the future. Williams, 21, was in low and high A ball last year, and and 91 games hit .298-11-35 with 20 SB.

Meanwhile, the Yanks (for now) say they aren’t interested in Yunieski Betancourt, released by the Phils today. Betancourt, 31, is a SS with some pop, but he doesn’t walk enough. His 162 g. average is .266-11-65, but only 21 walks for those 162 g. OPS+ 82. Good pop, not selective. Mostly SS, some 2b (55) and 3B (8) games. Given Jeter’s woes, you wonder if the Yanks will eventually become interested, or with Jeter out they are committing to Eduardo Nunez.

You also wonder if the recent setbacks for Jeter are a harbinger of the end.