Game 44. Teix back to 3rd in lineup today

The Yanks try to stay above .500 today. Teixeira is back up at 3rd in the lineup.

22-21, 4th in A.L. East, 5 1/2 back. Even with the Pythagorean mark, OPS+ 108, ERA+ 102.

Jeter SS .341-5-16  3/4  130  Hit count: 3149
Granderson CF .250-13-24  1/3  134  Still want him to RUN!
Teixeira 1B .229-5-20  1/2  78   Needs to get it going. 
Rodriguez 3B .276-5-15  5/5  109   See below
Cano 2B .304-5-17  1/1  127
Swisher RF .239-7-27  0/0  102  See below.
Jones DH .217-4-8  0/0  93    See below.
Martin C .179-4-10  1/1  79   See Below.
Nix LF .263-2-4  0/1  129  5 for 19. 

Pettitte LHP  1-1, 2.51. ERA+ 171.   3rd start of his comeback.

Jeter leads the AL in hits. 3 behind Waner and 5 behind Brett on the all-time list. But since May 4, hitting .231 (15 for 65), with last night’s RBI as his only RBI in that period (16 games). All hits are singles except for one double, and there have been 6 GIDP.

A-Rod has just 1 HR since 4/27. Of his 43 hits, only 10 are XBH. Where’s the power?

Swisher:  .177 since 4/28, 1 HR, 4 RBI.  11 for 62, 17 strikeouts in that span (compare lack of HR to A-Rod; same time period).

I have to wonder if Mustelier, at this point, would be a better option than Jones. Mustelier in 42 games AA/AAA? .337-8-29. 5/9 in SB.

I also have to wonder if a 40 year old Posada could hit better right now than Martin. (Not catch better, mind you…)

Pettitte is looking for career win #242, Yankee win #205.

Game 6 lineup

Against the Orioles tonight. Yanks off tomorrow, home opener vs. Angels on Friday.

Jorge Posada will be throwing out the first ball on Friday, per Jack Curry of the YES network. You can imagine the applause he will receive. No word as to whether Jeter will catch it.

Tonight’s lineup (and let’s hope the bats are better w/risp!)

Jeter 6
Granderson 8
Cano 4
Rodriguez 5
Teixeira 3
Swisher 9
Ibanez DH
Martin 2
Gardner 7

Sabathia LHP (0-0, 7.50)

Posada retires today.

Jorge Posada announces his retirement at a press conference at Yankee Stadium today. See Bronx Baseball Daily (link at right) for a review of Posada’s career.

Cody Ross signed with Boston. He most likely will platoon in RF. Boston still has holes to fill.

Kevin Millwood signed a minor league deal with the Mariners. Omar Vizquel signed with Toronto. Vizquel, the active leader in games, PA and AB, will be 45 in April. He has 2841 hits.

Besides Ibanez, Damon, Vlad, Matsui… forgot another DH still out there: Derrek Lee. One off the board: Wilson Betemit, who signed with Baltimore.

Ex-Phils broadcaster Andy Musser died at the age of 74.

 

Posada retirement announcement to be Tuesday

Rob Abruzzese over at Bronx Baseball Daily (where I contribute the Classic Yankees series, check it out), has on his blog that the N.Y. Post is reporting that Jorge Posada’s retirement press conference will be on Tuesday.

I have written a Classic Yankees piece for BBD, which Rob most likely will run soon after the press conference.

Update: Rob has it set to run on Tuesday morning. (1/24/12).

These are the Celtics?

It’s funny looking at the standings and seeing the Celtics at 4-7. What makes it worse is that the NBA season is just 66 games this year because of the lockout, which means less recovery time.

Allen, Garnett and Pierce are getting old, and it’s showing. You wonder if, like with Bird, McHale and Parish, Boston hung onto them too long.

Pierce suffered through a long stretch of the Celtics not being any good, and now, they are reverting to what he dealt with for so long.

It’s hard watching the fabled franchise (17 NBA titles) struggle. You wonder what the long-range plan is, because it’s apparent that the Big Three (plus Rondo) are struggling.

I see one letter in the NY Post today. It asks “besides Yogi, what other catcher other than Posada, has five rings?” Now, Posada wasn’t there long in 1996, so that ring may not mean as much as the other four (1998-2000, 2009), but how about I give an answer? Bill Dickey. (1932, 1936-1939, 1941 and 1943).

A Catching Lineage.

As I mentioned in the previous post about Posada, NO team can match the Yankees’ catching lineage. NONE. Let’s briefly look at that lineage.

1) Bill Dickey. HOF. #8 retired by the Yanks. Yanks 1928-1943, 1946.
.313 BA. 202 HR. OPS+ 127. 5th, 5th, 2nd and 6th in MVP voting 1936-1939. 8th in 1943 (a WWII year) at the age of 36. (Yanks mgr. 1946).

2) Yogi Berra. HOF. #8 retired by the Yanks. Yanks 1947-1963, Mets 1965. Yanks mgr. 1964, 1984-1985. MVP 1951, 1954, 1955.
How about this run? 3rd, 1st, 4th, 2nd, 1st, 1st and 2nd in MVP voting from 1950-1956.
.285 BA. 358 HR. OPS+ 125.

3) Elston Howard. #32 retired, Yankees 1955-1967, Red Sox 1967-1968.
1963 MVP. Also 10th in MVP 1961, 3rd in 1964.
.274, 167 HR. OPS+ 108.
Had he not died at age 51, could he have become the first black manager of a NY team?

4) Thurman Munson. #15 retired. Yankees 1969-1979.
Untimely death at age 32.
Could he have become a Yankees mgr.?
.292, 113 HR, OPS+ 116; MVP in 1976. 7th in 1975 and 1977.

5) Jorge Posada. #20 (we’ll see). Yankees 1995-2011.
HOF? (We’ll see). Future Yankees Mgr.? (likewise).
.273, 275 HR, OPS+ 121.  3rd in MVP voting 2003, 6th in 2007.

Sources indicate Posada to retire

From Twitter:

YankeesWFANSweeny Murti

Jorge Posada will announce his retirement within the next two weeks, per source.

So Jorge will retire as a Yankee. #20 probably won’t be retired, but no team has the legacy of great catching that the Yankees can boast. From Dickey to Berra to Howard to Munson to Posada.

You only wonder if Jesus Montero could be next. His hitting isn’t in question, but there are questions about his defense. The 22 year old hit .328-4-12, OPS+ 159 in his brief stint with the Yankees in 2011 (20 for 61).

As for Posada, a great career, and he’ll see the HOF ballot after the 2016 season. I don’t think he’ll get in, but he should garner nice support (kind of like Bernie Williams now).

Let’s look at Posada’s record.

Full-time catcher for four WS champs (1998-2000 and 2009; he was there in 1996, but was 1 for 14 in eight games, so five rings).

He played on two other teams that went to the WS. (2001 and 2003).

.273 B.A., 275 HR (same career total as Maris, 12 behind Bernie). OPS+ 121. That OPS+ number is superb.

Tied with Yogi Berra for most HR in a season by a Yankees catcher (Jorge hit 30 in 2003; Yogi hit 30 in 1952 and 1956).

Five Silver Slugger Awards. A 5x All-Star.

Two top-10 MVP finishes (3rd in 2003 and 6th in 2007).

A .338 B.A. in 2007 (no leg-hits for Jorge!); he turned 36 in August of that year.

His intensity will be missed.

He played in 125 postseason games, about the equivalent of another full season for a catcher. In those games, he hit .248-11-42.His 162 g. average (a bit ridiculous when talking about catchers, but still) was .273-24-94.

Even if we take his 17 seasons and divide his stats by 14, we would get this:

131 games (more like a full Posada season), .273-20-76. Definitely not a bad 14-year average for a switch-hitting catcher. You’d take that anytime for one year, and you’d certainly take that as an average for 14 years.

Posada, 40, has these numbers on BaseballReference.com:

No Black Ink. Hurts him.
Gray Ink: 17 (Average HOF: 144) Hurts him.Now two others:

HOF monitor 98. Likely HOF? 100.  So close.
HOF Standards 40. Average HOF? 50. Close.

Similar batters, (an asterisk indicates a HOF player) Lance Parrish, Gabby Hartnett*, Bret Boone, Javy Lopez, Gary Carter*, Vern Stephens, Joe Gordon*, Bill Dickey* (surprise!), Bill Freehan, and Benito Santiago.

Note the catchers in that list, and note that Hartnett, Carter and Dickey are HOF catchers. Lopez comes onto the ballot this year, but like Posada, will most likely fall short.

Posada may not be a HOF player, or get #20 retired, but he may get a “day.”

He deserves a huge hand at the next Old-Timer’s day. Maybe one last “Hip-Hip, Jorge!”

From Yankees fans everywhere, Thanks, Jorge.

Mo to have surgery, Posada refutes claims he contacted and was rejected by Mets.

Mariano Rivera will have vocal cord surgery tomorrow to remove polyps. He should recover in a few weeks but will be completely silent for a while.

Jorge Posada’s agent refuted earlier reports today that Posada contacted and was rejected by the Mets.

In the NFL, Donovan McNabb asked for and was granted his release from the Vikings. There are reports that Dallas and Chicago could be interested, since both put claims on Kyle Orton, who went to KC. McNabb may be an OK backup for someone, but it appears more and more that his days as a starter are over….if not indeed his days in the NFL, period.

Weekend wrapup.

I’ve been a little busy lately, and besides, other than the awards, there hasn’t been too much baseball happenings right now.

The AL MVP will be announced tomorrow, and the NL MVP on Tuesday.

So…a trivia question (answer at the end, no cheating!). Justin Verlander could become the first pitcher since Dennis Eckersley in 1992 to win the MVP award, and first starter since Roger Clemens in 1986.

Eckersley and Clemens were both American Leaguers.

Who is the last NATIONAL league pitcher to win the MVP award?

Ok. I see the Post today, and someone is praising Torre for calling Posada a possible HOF player but criticizing Girardi for not catching Posada and for putting Posada ninth in the lineup.

C’mon. Open your eyes. What was Girardi going to do? The sands of time wait for no man, and it was obvious over the last few years that Posada’s defense was getting downright awful. Not only that, but Posada was hitting .147 after the games of May 10th. You can’t just keep him in the 6 or 7 spot. Jorge hit just .248 in 2010 (albeit with a 115 OPS+) and just .235 this past year (OPS+ 87).

This writer shouldn’t have criticized Girardi because of HIS blind loyalty.

It looks like Grady Sizemore is going back to the Indians. There was expectations that the Indians would let the free agent go. Sizemore, 29, was a 30/30 player in 2008, but has suffered through three injury-plagued years since.

The Twins signed Ryan Doumit, who hit .303 in limited time for the Pirates this year. He provides insurance for the recently oft-injured Mauer (C) and Morneau (1B) as well as RF protection in case Cuddyer leaves.

Meanwhile, the Pirates look to be getting Clint Barmes. The SS hit .244 for Houston in 2011.

Speaking of Houston, they’ll be coming to the AL West in 2013, necessitating more interleague play (which I hate) because each league would have fifteen teams. So there would have to be at least one interleague game. As for me, I’ll hate having to see Granderson or Gardner try to negotiate that silly hill in CF in Houston.

Yoennis Cepedes is all the rage in the Dominican. The Cuban defector had something like 33 HR and 90 RBI in 99 games. The 26 yr. old CF is said to want $35-50MM.

Which makes me wonder…could the best free agents on the market be people we don’t know much about outside their stats in foreign competition (Cepedes and Darvish)?

Back to Houston and the switch of leagues. Now a second wild card. I hate it. Instead of epic collapses, Boston and Atlanta would have made the playoffs under the proposed new scenario.

Yup. A team that comes in third in its own division can now make the playoffs. Yankee haters should hate that concept. After all, don’t they complain that they win too much or have an unfair advantage? Now here you have them, and every other team in baseball, getting a chance to get lucky at the right time and be crowned WS champs after a season in which they finish third. No wonder America is floundering. We reward mediocrity.

…and yes, two wild cards can be from the same division, as I wrote above. The “top seed can’t play a wild card from its own division” rule for the division series would be eliminated.

Worse yet, the “series” between the two wild card teams? One game. One game is football. Not baseball. Of course, the silly alternative is to have a best of three, but then the other teams are waiting around too long.

The best alternative? FEWER playoff teams. Whatever happened to the phrase that John Houseman used to say in those Smith-Barney ads.

EARN IT.

Last but not least, and not to get political, Phil Mushnick has a great column in the Post on the ridiculousness of the presidential debates. How refreshing it would be for a candidate NOT to participate in the debates (moderated by someone asking silly questions to sometimes meet his or her own personal agenda) but to issue policy statements. Just state or print out what you stand for and what you will do. Have one to one interviews on the major networks stating your plan. As Mushnick states, a debate between eight persons seems more like a spelling bee…or a game of musical chairs. It sure doesn’t seem like this process of elimination is the proper way to pick a president.

Ok. The answer to the trivia question:

The last National League pitcher to win the MVP award was Bob Gibson in 1968.

Game 5 ALDS. Yanks bats not clutch. Season over. Tigers win 3-2.

No changes in the lineup. It’s the same.

Jeter 6
Granderson 8
Cano 4
A-Rod 5
Teixeira 3
Swisher 9
Posada DH
Martin 2
Gardner 7

Nova 1

All hands on deck. Including the bullpen.

If the Yankees lose, this could be his last game for Jorge Posada. If he wants to play next year, it most likely would be somewhere else. But who wants him at 40? He didn’t catch (except VERY briefly) this year, and turned into a part-time DH. This could be it.

One-time Yankee Robin Ventura has been named the new Chisox mgr.

Scherzer could be called out of the Tiger bullpen if they have to go to someone early.

Uh, oh. Nova gives up back-to-back HR to Kelly and Young in the first. 2-0 Tigers. It’s Young’s 3rd HR of this series.

Cabrera, not known for his glove, robs Jeter of a double. Yanks go down 1-2-3.

Not good. Leadoff double by Magglio in the 2nd. Nova gets out of it.

WOW. What a quick hook. Hughes in.

Nova 2 IP, 2 R, 3 H, 0 walks, 3 K.

Yanks get two on (Gardner a single, remember I wanted him back at leadoff? He singles. Remember I wanted A-Rod dropped? He struck out in the first) but Cano flies out. 2-0 Tigers after three.

WOW. I really wonder if Girardi is overmanaging here. Logan in for Hughes after a one-out single in the 4th.

Hughes 1 1/3, 0 R, 2 H, 0 walks, 2 K. Logan gives up a single, gets a flyout and K.

But God, Girardi is going through pitchers like s**t through a goose. Overmanaging?

A-Rod walks, after a flyout by Teix, singles by Swish and Posada load the bases. One out. Martin up. Big Moment.

He pops up. Damn. You have to get at least one there. Damn, a SF?

Gardner. Full count. Pops up.

Damn. NOTHING. Could that have been their one shot of the night? You can’t do that—blow a chance—in a do or die game.

You have to get at least one there. 2-0 after four.

And guess who’s pitching now? CC.

Logan 2/3, 0 R, 1 H, 0 walks, 1 K.

Leadoff double. You wonder about this. CC rested enough? More overmanaging?

Whatever. If the Yanks don’t hit, all the pitchers in the world won’t help.

WHOA. Maybe it is NOT overmanaging. Nova left with tight pitching forearm.

Big trouble. After 2 K, CC intentionally walks Cabrera, but Martinez foils the stategy. Single. 3-0 Tigers. This isn’t looking good. K.

Yanks need to start hitting. Now. 3-0 after 4 1/2.

3-1 after 5. Cano gets a HR.

CC gets a K. Gives up a walk.

CC 1 1/3, 1 R, 2 H, 2 walks, 4 K.

Soriano in. You get the feeling that the batboy is next. DP.

Scherzer replaces Fister for the bottom of the 6th.

Teix hitting better. Had a double, flies out deep to CF. Posada gets a two-out hit. Wondering why no PR here. Posada can’t score on something to the gap. Martin whiffs. 3-1 after six.

It’s getting late, bats.

Bottom 7. One out. Jeter singles. Sherzer out. The Yanks could really use a HR by Granderson or Cano here. Granderson singles. Benoit misplays a weak dribbler into a single. Bases loaded. One out.

Alex.

Time to prove you still belong at cleanup, Alex. 2 hits in the 8th inning of Game 4.

Nothing otherwise.

The Yanks can’t waste ANOTHER bases loaded, one-out opportunity here.

Alex whiffs.

I have been saying ALL SERIES LONG he shouldn’t be hitting cleanup. I have even advocated Chavez over him.

Am I right, or what?

Teix walks. 3-2. Swisher up.

Failing to get a run in (I’d kill for a SF sometimes) in the 4th is killing the Yanks right now.

Typical Swisher postseason AB. 1 for 29 or so with RISP. Whiff.

Yanks not getting the job done with bases loaded. Can’t even get the SF with bases loaded, one out.

If they lose, remember what I’ve written all year—that sometimes I’d kill for a SF.

You know what? I like Swish. I’d also consider NOT picking up his option. See about a RF on the free agent market. Why? Swish hasn’t done anything in his postseasons with the Yankees. Another big postseason moment for him in which he’s done nothing.

Robertson for the 8th.

Soriano: 1 2/3, 0 R, 0 H, 0 walks, 2 K.

Robertson: 1-2-3 with a K.

Yanks down to their last six outs.

Gardner gets a two-out single. Jeter hits one deep to right. Caught a few steps in front of the wall. Didn’t miss a 2-run HR by much.

Mo for the 9th.

and who is up in the 9th? Granderson, Cano … and A-Rod.

It always comes down to A-rod, doesn’t it?

I’ve advocated all series long to bat Gardner (.412 this series) leadoff, drop Jeter, Granderson, Cano down one. Get A-Rod (.118 this series) out of cleanup.

Am I right, or am I right?

Mo. Two pitches. Two out.

A 1-2-3 inning. On five pitches.

He lowers his postseason ERA to 0.70.

Valverde hasn’t blown a save all year. You hope the law of averages catches up here.

Granderson pops up.

Cano flies to CF.

Of course, it always comes back to A-Rod.

He whiffs. 2 for 18 in the series.

C’mon. I’ve said since AFTER GAME ONE to get A-Rod out of the cleanup spot.

Do I know what I’m talking about or what?

The Yanks can point to two innings where they lost this game.

Twice they had the bases loaded and one out. They got a total of ONE run out of it, and that was on a bases-loaded walk. I’ve said this a lot on this blog: sometimes you would kill for a SF. With bases loaded, one out, Martin popped up. A-Rod struck out the other time.

Like I said, I would have given A-Rod a day off in this series and played Chavez a game. Maybe two.

The offseason now begins. The ALCS is set, Texas (home field) vs. Detroit.

Meanwhile, this is probably the last we see of Posada.