Youkilis a Yankee

This will be tough for me. I’ve always hated Kevin Youkilis.

Now I’ll admit that the guy’s a gamer. I have nothing against his hustle. It’s just his attitude, batting stance, and the fact that he spent most of his career to date as a Red Sock has made me despise him. He’s always been one of my most hated players.

So what is he now? A New York Yankee. You can just imagine how difficult it must be now to root FOR him.

But necessity makes strange bedfellows. With Chavez gone and A-Rod missing 1/2 of 2013 due to the hip surgery (and probably being more and more the DH type when he returns), there was a huge hole at 3B for the Yankees.

A hole that Youkilis is signed to fill.

Now if A-Rod CAN play some 3B when he returns, esp. against a lefty, he may be able to play 3B, and the Yanks could play Youk at 1B and give Teix a 1/2 day off by DH-ing him. Youkilis has one Gold Glove award, and is an excellent 1B.

But it is 3b that he’ll be playing until A-Rod comes back.

I guess I can’t call him F-Youk anymore. At least not in 2013. It’ll be interesting how he gets along now with Joba.

Youkilis is a .283 career hitter. His 162 g. average is .283-23-96, OPS+ 124. But the last two years are an average of 121 games a year, .246-18-70, OPS+ 111, in 121 games. He hasn’t played 145 or more games in a season since 2008. This past season was not a good one. .235-19-60, OPS+ 99.

Youkilis turns 34 in March. You hope for .245-17-70 from him.

He did finish 3rd in MVP voting in 2008 and 6th in 2009. He is a 3x All-Star.

With A-Rod out, I could see him batting 5th. With an Ichiro signing coming soon, should Jeter be ready on Opening Day, I can see

Jeter, Ichiro, Teix, Cano, Youk, Granderson as the top six. If Ibanez is re-signed, then him 7th. Cervelli could be 8th (as of now) and Gardner 9th.

R, L, S, L, R, L, L, R, L

But the ages would be 39 (in June), 39, 33, 30, 34, 32 ….

and if the #7 hitter turns out to be DH Raul Ibanez, well, he turns 41 next June.

The Yanks would still need a righty hitting OF (Andruw Jones is going to Japan). Scott Hairston could be an option.

We still don’t know if they will look to upgrade the C position.

All we know is this. With A-Rod being out 1/2 a year, and with Chavez leaving, the addition of Youkilis was a must (unless you wanted Nunez, Nix or an untested rookie like Mustelier, Adams or Joseph playing there).

Which means swallowing our tounges and rooting FOR the guy.

More holes created, and none are being filled.

Ok, the few names out there I wanted were Victorino, Soria and Keppinger.

All are gone. Keppinger went to the White Sox today.

Meanwhile, another hole to be filled. Chavez goes to Arizona.

Meanwhile, the Yankees haven’t added ANYONE. There were rumors about Schierholtz coming to the Yankees to be a platoon OF. He signed with the Cubs.

So the Yanks still have holes at C, 3B (and now Chavez is gone, along w/Alex out for 1/2 a year), SS (if Jeter isn’t ready on Opening Day), RF and DH… and Ichiro and Ibanez, granted both old, are getting restless waiting for the Yanks to make an offer (as Chavez probably was). Are they even interested in them?

When are these holes going to be filled?

Are the Yanks interested in Youkilis (would fill the 1b/dh/3b Chavez role) or Reynolds (likewise)? If so, Youk and Joba on the same team? Reynolds and all those strikeouts?

Are they interested in Ross?

What’s the Yanks move? Their plan? I can’t figure it out. All I can figure out is their sudden frugality.

 

Slow time.

Well, there hasn’t been many posts lately for a number of reasons.

1) the season is over and we see what happens with trades/free agents.

2) Hurricane Sandy knocked my power off for 22 hours. I’m lucky. Many didn’t get power for many more days.

3) I’ve been busy. 48 hours of work this past week and 48 next. 40 Thanksgiving week and I’m not working on the holiday. 50 hour weeks the two weeks after T-Giving.

So we await on the major awards from MLB. So far, Cano and Teix got the GG, Cano and Jeter SS awards.

I don’t know what the Yanks will do yet with their free agents. They did give some qualifying offers (rejected) to Kuroda, Swish and Soriano. I expect Swish and Soriano to be gone. Kuroda is a question mark.

Martin is a free agent. I wouldn’t mind a 2-yr. deal for him, but remember, he only hit .211 last year (with 21 HR). Romine needs a full year at AAA, something his back injury prevented him from last year. So 2013 AAA, maybe 2014 back up Martin. If so, who is the backup? If Stewart, then best to trade Cervelli and see what you can get for him. Sanchez is on the come, so you don’t even know if Romine is the future. Sanchez is a few years away.

SS/3B is a problem. Jeter is 39 next June, and coming off a broken ankle. He had just 9 sb this year, his range is in question and now a broken ankle. I’d love to see Nunez figure more in the lineup for the 35-40 SB potential he brings, but where to put his horrendous defense? And A-Rod looks like a fading star. 38 next July. Do you really want a left side of the infield that has a 39 year old SS and 38 year old 3B? Guess what. You are stuck with it.

Do you bring back Kuroda and Pettitte? One will be 38 next year, the other 41 next June. Then there is Mo. He threw 25 pitches off a mound for a commercial. Good sign, but he will be 43 in a few weeks. Ibanez is on the block. 41 next year. Jones 35. Chavez 35. Who comes back?

This team MUST get younger.

Meanwhile, Toronto mgr. Farrell goes to Boston. Toronto is looking. One-time A’s SS Walt Weiss is now the Rockies’ mgr. Mark McGwire leaves St. Louis to become the Dodgers’ new hitting coach.

The Mets and Jason Bay reach an amicable divorce. That didn’t work out.

College Football: Darrell Royal died at age 88. He won 3 national titles for Texas in the 1960′s (although, as a PSU grad, I’ll dispute that 1969 one).

Lee MacPhail, who was the Yanks’ GM in the late 1960′s/early 1970′s, died at the age of 95. His dad (Larry) owned the Yanks for a brief time (1945-1947). Lee later became the A.L. President and it was he who made the Pine tar ruling.

The Yanks are thinking of flip-flopping Granderson and Gardner, moving the Grandy Man to LF. If they bring Ichiro (39) back for RF, they’ll have a speedy and good defensive OF, but having Ichiro AND Gardner cuts into your power.

If Torii Hunter really wants $20 mil over 2 years, count the Yanks out. He is 37 so it wouldn’t fit the “getting younger” plan.

I worry about next year. Too much age.

As for 6-4 PSU, I’m happy with the job Bill O’Brien has done. It’ll get much harder after this year. I see an offense that has come out of the stone age. Under very difficult circumstances, he has done a good job.

A strange year. My faves are Rivera and Polamalu (Steelers fan) and between the two, I don’t get to see them on the field what with injuries. I’m happy the Steelers are 5-3. They should beat KC tomorrow night, they should reach the playoffs.

But anyone doubting the Texans needs to be aware of them. Houston is for real.

Futile Five

So far the Yanks have played six postseason games. Here are a futile five.

Chavez 0 for 11, 6 K.

Cano 2 for 28.

A-Rod 2 for 19, 10 K.

Granderson 3 for 23, 11 K.

Swisher 3 for 23.

Combined, that is 10 for 104. Or .096.

Yanks advance to the ALCS. No rest, Game 1 tonight.

The Yankees defeated Baltimore 3-1 last night in Game Five of the ALDS, and get no rest after that do-or-die game because Game One of the ALCS begins tonight. Andy Pettitte will start for the Yankees at home against the Tigers, who knocked the Yanks out of the playoffs last year.

As for last night, CC went all the way, taking a one-hit shutout into the eighth. He gave up a run in the 8th but got out of a bases loaded, one out jam. He wound up with a line of 1 run and 4 hits in his 9 innings. The first run of the game scored in the fifth when Teixeira singled, shocked the world by stealing second, and scored on a single by the Yankees’ ALDS savior, Ibanez. Ichiro doubled in Jeter in the sixth, and Granderson, who came into the game with an ALDS line of 1 for 16, hit a solo HR in the seventh.

A-Rod was benched for this game. Chavez started at third.

The Yanks have made a roster move for the ALCS. Eppley comes on, Nunez is off.

For Joe Girardi, it has been a rough week, for he lost his father a week ago.

5 in 9th + CC = Game 1 Yanks ALDS win

The Yankees broke open a close game by scoring 5 in the 9th as CC Sabathia went 8 2/3 as the Yanks won Game 1 of their ALDS 7-2.

The game was delayed 2 1/2 hours by rain.

The Yanks jumped off right away to a 1-0 lead. Jeter led off the game with a single, and Ichiro doubled him in.

Two singles, a sac and a single gave the Orioles a 2-1 lead in the third.

The Yanks got it right back in the fourth. A-Rod walked, and after Cano grounded out, Swish walked. Teix just missed a 3-run HR on a drive that hit the scoreboard. A-Rod scored and Swish went to third on a long single by Teix, who was thrown out trying for a double.

CC got out of a 1st & 3rd, one out jam in the fifth.

The Yanks put two on in the 6th, but nada. The O’s put two on as Jeter made an error, but CC got out of it.

Frustration in the 7th. Walks to Martin and Ibanez and a sac by Jeter. 2nd and 3rd, one out. Ichiro hit into a force at home. A-Rod struck out.

Alex was 0 for 4 tonight, 3 K. I really hoped (but knew it wouldn’t happen) that A-Rod would be benched tonight for Chavez.

CC gave up a leadoff double in the 8th but left him there.

The Yanks then erupted for 5 in the 9th for the win. Russell Martin led off the inning with a HR. 3-2.

Ibanez singled. Jeter singled him to third and Nunez PR. Nunez scored on a swinging bunt single by Ichiro (4-2). After (cough, cough) A-Rod struck out, Cano doubled in two (6-2) and went to third on an error. Swisher’s SF made it 7-2.

CC went 8 2/3, 2 R, 8 H, 1 walk and 7 K.

Robertson faced 1 batter. K. Ballgame.

Game 1 ALDS Yankees lineup… weather permitting

Here is tonight’s lineup for Game 1 of the ALDS, weather permitting. Stats are the regular season stats. BA/HR/RBI  SB/total att.   OPS+ (100 is average)

Jeter SS .316-15-58  9/13  114
Suzuki LF .283-9-55  29/36  95
Rodriguez 3B .272-18-57  13/14  112
Cano 2B .313-33-94  3/5  149
Swisher RF .272-24-93  2/5  126
Teixeira 1B .251-24-84  2/3  116
Granderson CF .232-43-106  10/13  116
Martin C .211-21-53  6/7  92
Ibanez DH .240-19-62  3/3  104

Sabathia LHP  15-6  3.38   ERA+ 124

Ichiro’s stats are combined. With the Yankees he went .322-5-27, 14/19, OPS+ 114 in 67 games. He led the Yanks in SB despite only 67 games with the team.

As for Chavez? .281-16-37, 0/0 and OPS+ 126 in 113 games, 313 AB (A-Rod 122 games, 463 ab).

I must admit, there is a part of me that wishes that Chavez was at 3B tonight and not A-Rod.

Sorry for the delay. Games 159-161.

Sorry for the delay. I had computer issues.

The Yanks won three in a row and enter tonight’s final regular season game with a one-game lead. They clinched a playoff spot on Sunday night but going into today’s game 162, the final game of the regular season, they still don’t know if they are the division champ or the wild card. They don’t know if they have to play a game 163 in Baltimore tomorrow to determine the division champ or a wild card game on Friday. It is possible that should the Yanks lose tonight and the Orioles win, that the Yanks would have to go to Baltimore, play for the division Thursday, and if they lose that game, have to fly to Oakland to play the A’s in the sudden-death wild card game on Friday. What a mess.

Sunday in Game 159 the Yanks were down 5-1 after five and it appeared that they would fall one game behind the Orioles, but they came back to win 9-6. Jeter and Cano each had three hits and an RBI. Chavez hit HR #16. Hughes gave up 5 in 4 2/3, his ERA going to 4.23. Lowe kept the Yanks in it, 1 2/3 scoreless. Logan got the win to go to 7-2.

The Yanks got 9 in the 2nd on Monday night and beat Boston 10-2 in Game 160. Cano (31), Granderson (41), Martin (21) and Teixeira (24) all homered in that inning. Teix was just coming off the DL. CC went 8 and improved to 15-6, 3.38. Meanwhile the Orioles lost so the Yanks went up by one game in the A.L. East. Melky Mesa got an RBI single in his first MLB at bat.

If I told you back in March that in Game 161 of the season, with the Yanks nursing a one-game divisional lead, that the starting pitcher would be David Phelps, you would have said “Who’s Phelps?” followed by “you’re nuts!” But that is exactly what happened and the rookie did a good job. 2 R in 5 1/3 (ERA 3.34). But Teix killed the Yanks. His first two times up, GIDP with 1st and 3rd, one out. His third time up saw him hit into a force with 1st and 2nd, two out. The Yanks entered the bottom of the ninth down 3-1. The Orioles had won 1-0 in a game that featured just four hits from both Baltimore and Tampa Bay. It looked like the Yanks would fall into a tie for first again.

But Raul Ibanez hit a game-tying two-run HR (19). The Yanks then loaded the bases, but Teix flied out and it wasn’t deep enough to bring in a run. Cano grounded out.

Derek Lowe (combined 9-11, 5.11) pitched two scoreless and got the win when Ibanez hit a walk-off single in the 12th. Yanks win 4-3 and stay one game up.

They can win the division with a win tonight (Kuroda pitching) or an Orioles loss. If the Yanks lose and Baltimore wins, there is a game tomorrow in Baltimore with most likely Andy Pettitte starting. The Yanks enter tonight 94-67.

Jeter is now at 3003 hits heading into the last game of the season. A-Rod needs 101 hits for 3000 (next year) and also needs 14 HR to pass Willie Mays and 50 RBI for 2000.

Game 157. Yanks trounce Toronto 11-4, stay 1 up.

Hiroki Kuroda struggled, but bad Toronto baserunning and some key Yankees hits enabled him to pick up his 15th win as the Yanks trounced Toronto 11-4.

Coupled with Baltimore’s 9-1 win over Boston, the Yanks remain one game up on the Orioles for the A.L. East title with five games to go. The Yanks’ magic # for clinching the division is 5. The Yanks’ magic # for getting at least the 2nd wildcard spot is 2. They are one game behind Texas for the best record in the league.

Nick Swisher started things off with a two-run double in the first. He then made a fine defensive play as Brett Lawrie, who opened Toronto’s half of the first with a double, strayed too far off the bag on a grounder to Swish. He threw to Jeter and nailed Lawrie. Two outs later, a hit by Arencibia went for naught. It cost the Blue Jays a run.

A single by Ibanez and walks to Martin and Chavez loaded the bases with no out in the second. The Yankees only got one run out of it as Jeter GIDP and Ichiro grounded out. 3-0 Yanks.

Another baserunning blunder for Toronto in the second. Escobar doubled and went to third on a WP by Kuroda. Man on third, no out. Kuroda struck out Kelly Johnson and on the strikeout, C Russell Martin picked Escobar off of third. This really cost Toronto as a single double and walk later, the Blue Jays had the bases loaded. The struggling Kuroda got a strikeout to get out of it. But two baserunning errors had cost Toronto two runs.

In the fifth, Colby Rasmus hit HR #23 to cut the lead to 3-1 Yanks. But it should have been tied. Thanks, Toronto.

Kuroda went just 5 1/3, 2 R, 10 H, 2 walks and 4 K. You can see by the linescore that he was lucky to give up just 2 runs. He improves to 15-11, 3.34.

The Yanks got four in the sixth. Russell Martin hit a 3-run HR, his 20th HR of the season, and after a walk to Chavez and single by Jeter, Ichiro singled in Chavez to make it 7-1 Yanks. For Jeter, hit #3297.

Phelps replaced Kuroda with men on 1st and 3rd, one out in the sixth and got out of the inning. One run scored on a forceout. 7-2.

The Yanks got the run back in the seventh on a walk to Swisher, Granderson double, and forceout by Ibanez.

Phelps gave up a two-run HR to Adam Lind in the 7th (#11) as Toronto cut the Yanks’ lead to 8-4.

Phelps went 1 2/3, 2 R, 1 H, 1 walk and 1 K. 3.34.

The Yanks got a run in the eighth on a double by Ichiro and single by Cano. 9-4.

Robertson the 8th. 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 walk, 1 K. 2.79.

Chavez hit a 2-run HR in the 9th to close out the scoring. His 15th HR of the year made it 11-4.

Eppley 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 walks and 1 K. 3.40.

Soriano hadn’t pitched in a while, so he came in to get some work and get the last out. 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 walk, 0 K. 2.09.

Pettitte goes for career win #246 this afternoon. If he can get the win, he would tie Iron Man Joe McGinnity and Amos Rusie on the all-time list.

The Orioles host Boston tonight.

Game 153. Pettitte, 4 HRs lead Yanks 6-3.

Andy Pettitte tossed six shutout innings and the Yanks hit 4 HR in defeating the Twins 6-3 Monday night.

The Yanks win, coupled with Baltimore splitting a DH, pushed the Yanks a game and a half in front of the Orioles for the A.L. East lead. The Yanks’ magic number to win the division is 8.

The Yankees jumped off to a quick start. Jeter walked, Ichiro doubled. After A-Rod flied out, not bringing the run in, Cano’s groundout plated Jeter. Swisher then hit HR #23 to put the Yanks up 3-0 before Minnesota came to bat.

Pettitte got out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the first.  Since returning from a broken ankle, Andy has pitched eleven scoreless innings. Pettitte, who missed all of 2011 and came out of retirement this year, has been nothing short of amazing in improving to 5-3, 2.71. Win #245 of his career tied Jack Powell and Dennis Martinez on the all-time list.

In the fourth, Curtis Granderson hit HR #40 to put the Yanks up 4-0. Granderson became the first CF since Mickey Mantle (1960-1961) to hit 40 HR in back-to-back seasons. He joined Ruth, Gehrig, Mantle and Giambi as the only Yankees to have back-to-back 40 HR seasons. (Maris just missed, 39 in 1960 before 61 in 1961. Another who just missed was Alfonso Soriano, 39 in 2002 and 38 in 2003).

In the bottom of the inning, Granderson threw out a runner at the plate to end the inning.

Pettitte went 6, 0 R, 7 H, 1 walk and 3 K.

In the seventh, Ibanez, who is enjoying a revival the past few games, hit HR #18, and one batter later Chavez hit HR #14. 6-0 Yanks.

Joba had a 1-2-3 seventh. 1 IP, 0 R , 0 H, 0 walks, 0 K. 4.91. He’s been much better lately.

Then the bullpen got sloppy.

Wade 2/3 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 0 walks and 0 K. 6.46.

Justin Thomas 2/3 IP, 2 R, 1 H, 1 walk and 1 K. 8.22.

Robertson 2/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 walks and 1 K. 2.84.

Derek Jeter got hit #3295. Ibanez had two hits, Chavez three.