Soriano goes to Nats.

Rafael Soriano saved the Yanks’ bacon last year by saving 42 games after Mo went down. He has now gone to Washington for a $28 MM, 2 yr deal. No way the Yanks were giving him that, esp. since they are giving Mo $10 MM to close in what will probably be his final season.

Having written that, I really like the Nationals chances to win the WS this year. Heck, they don’t have any room for Michael Morse (who would look nice as the Yanks’ DH this year). Harper gains another year’s experience, the kid gloves are off Strasburg, you have Gio Gonzalez, LaRoche is back, as is Ryan Zimmerman, Werth moves back to RF, they picked up Span, and have a closing trio of Clippard, Storen and Soriano.

Could Washington see its first WS since 1933?

Happy New Year! Things are quiet….

As we usher in the New Year of 2013, things have been quiet in Yankeeland.

There are no hot rumors of trades or signings as we still wonder who will be the Yanks’ catcher and DH in 2013, not to mention who’ll fill out the bench.

A couple aging Hall-of-Famers are coming off major injuries (Jeter, Rivera) and another (?; steroid abuse, Alex) will miss half the year if not more because of an operation.

Meanwhile, there are a couple of free agents still available. None of the major ones really fit the Yankees needs, and with the Yanks cutting back on spending, the $$$ isn’t there for them.

Michael Bourn, Kyle Lohse and Rafael Soriano are still out there. Soriano could be a fit, only because he went 2-1, 2.26 with 42 saves in filling in for the injured Rivera last year. But Soriano probably wouldn’t want to go back to the setup role he was unhappily doing in 2011. But after a strong year, it’s interesting that he opted out and still is unsigned.

Boston has been talking to Adam LaRoche, since the Napoli deal may fall through.

Shaun Marcum and Joe Saunders are out there. So are Jose Valverde and Delmon Young.

Young is a righty bat, which the Yanks could use, and a .284 hitter. He was the ALCS MVP vs. the Yanks last year. Although his 162 g. average is .284-16-89, his OPS+ is just 98 due to a poor BB/K ratio. (27/115).

There is still Scott Hairston. There’s Thome or Berkman.

There’s …. (fill in the blank).

But it appears the Yanks are “dumpster-diving.” Who they pick up between now and the start of spring training (and it’s getting closer), who knows?

As of now, who will  be the C, DH or bench?

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate has gone up 2%… and that’s just from all the NFL coaches and GMs being fired. Black Monday indeed.

 

MVPs to Miggy, Posey

Miguel Cabrera’s Triple Crown season (the first in MLB in 45 years) won him the A.L. MVP award today. Cabrera hit .330-44-139 with an OPS+ of 165.

Buster Posey won the award in the NL with a .336-24-103 mark, OPS+ 172. His OPS+ was the best in the majors. He led the majors in batting average (after Melky disqualified himself after having been nabbed for PEDs).

Robbie Cano of the Yanks finished 4th in the MVP voting, Derek Jeter 7th. In the past three years, Cano has finished 3rd, 6th and 4th.

For Jeter, it was the eighth time in his career he finished in the top 10 for MVP.

Rafael Soriano finished 2oth in the balloting, and someone (?) actually gave a 10th place vote to Raul Ibanez (.240-19-62, OPS+ 104), who finished 24th.

Meanwhile, if you didn’t already hear, the Yanks’ AAA franchise in Scranton/ Wilkes-Barre has a new nickname: the RailRiders.

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.

Baseball passings and free agency

Pascual Perez was killed in an armed robbery at his home. Perez, 55, went 3-4, 2.87 in 17 starts for the Yankees in 1990-1991. For his career, he was 67-68, 3.44, ERA+ 110 from 1980-1985, 1987-1991 with the Pirates, Braves, Expos and Yankees. He had drug problems throughout his career. In the 1982 NLCS he was 0-1, 5.19. He won 15 in 1983 for the Braves (All-Star) and 14 the year after. His brother Melido pitched for the Yankees 1992-1995, going 33-39, 4.06 during that period.

Dave May, an OF with the Orioles, Brewers (twice), Braves, Rangers and Pirates from 1967-1978, died at the age of 68. He was once traded for Henry Aaron (when the Brewers traded for Aaron at the end of his career to return him to Milwaukee to DH). In 1973 May was an all-star with the Brewers (.303-25-93, 8th in MVP voting) and he hit .251 in his career.

OF/1B Champ Summers died at the age of 66. He hit .255 from 1974-1984 with the A’s, Cubs, Reds, Tigers, Giants and Padres. He last played for the 1984 pennant-winning Padres.

Free agents:

Rafael Soriano opted out of his contract. We’ll see if he returns. Meanwhile, it’s not certain whether Mariano Rivera is returning. He turns 43 at the end of this month and is coming off ACL surgery.

If Nick Swisher departs (free agent), there has been rumors of the Yanks possibly pursuing Torii Hunter on a one or two year deal as a stopgap until kids like Tyler Austin are ready. Hunter is 37.

Which creates a problem. Most of the Yankees free agents are old. Never mind Jeter and A-Rod both signed for next year (when they turn 39 and 38 midseason). You have Mo at 43. Pettitte will be 41 next year. Do you bring back Kuroda at 38? Ichiro at 39? Chavez at 35? Ibanez 41 next year and Jones 35 are old. What about them?

Martin is also a free agent. CC will be 33.

Of course I want the team to win. But there is no getting around the fact that the Yankees are getting long in the tooth. They need to get younger, and soon if not now. But how to gently get rid of legends like Mo, Pettitte and Jeter (I’m not suggesting dumping them, but one day the page has to be turned).

Of course, it doesn’t say much for your farm system if 40 year olds still outperform 25 year olds.

 

ALCS Gm 1: Yanks blow early chances, lose in 12. Lose Jeter until 2013.

The Yankees blew early chances, had a miracle comeback (Ibanez again!) to force extra innings, but then lost Game 1 of the ALCS 6-4 to Detroit.

Even more devastating was the loss of Derek Jeter until next season with a fractured ankle.

The Yanks can only blame themselves for the loss. The left the bases loaded in the first when A-Rod’s grounder was fielded on a good play by SS Peralta, who forced Ibanez at second. They left them loaded again the next inning, when Cano’s smash up the middle (Cano is 0 for his last 21 in the postseason) hit Fister on his wrist and deflected to Peralta, who nipped Cano at first. A-Rod hit into a DP in the fifth. In the sixth, after the Tigers scored two off Pettitte in the top of the inning, Teixeira reached on an error. Ibanez doubled. 2nd and 3rd, no one out, and the Yankees once again got NOTHING. A-Rod struck out (and was PH for… again…. later in the game. Sheesh. 5 more years and $114 million left on the contract of a 37-year old who looks done). Swisher walked. Granderson and Martin each struck out. Three times they left the bases loaded in the first six innings. THREE TIMES.

Pettitte, who lost game 2 of the ALDS 3-2, pitched another good game and once again got no support. 6 2/3 IP, 2 R, 7 H, 3 walks and 5 K. He left trailing 2-0.

Derek Lowe went 2/3, 2 R, 2 H, 0 walks and 1 K. The Tigers got two in the 8th. Delmon Young getting the first one with a HR (he killed the Yankees last year and did it again last night, 3 for 6 with 3 RBI).

So they went into the bottom of the ninth down 4-0. Ichiro hit a 2-run HR to cut it to 4-2. Then, with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Teixiera, down 0-2 in the count, worked out a walk, bringing up Ibanez, who stunningly, amazingly, did it again. A 2-run HR to tie the game.

On the game went.

Logan 2/3, 0 r, 0 H, 0 walks, 0 K.

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

Rapada 1/3, 0 R, 0 H 0 walks, 1 K.

Soriano 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 walks, 0 K.

Robertson 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 walks and 1 K.

But then Phelps, who lost Game 4 of the ALDS in the 13th, lost this one in the 12th. 1 IP,  2 R, 3 H, 1 walk and 1 K. 6-4 Tigers.

In the middle of that top of the 12th, Jeter fell while fielding a ground ball. He was carried off the field and is done for the postseason with a fractured ankle. Nix will SS from here on out. Nunez is back on the roster.

You hope Nix can provide a spark. Hardly anyone else is.

The Yanks have their backs against the wall. They aren’t hitting (3 for 13 RISP, 13 LOB). They lost their captain. Kuroda on 3 days rest tonight. Down 0-1 in the series. They have to win tonight to avoid going down 0-2 heading to Motown.

Cano was 0 for 6 last night and is 0 for his last 21 or so in the postseason. We know how bad A-Rod (0 for 3, left 6 on) and Granderson 0 for 4 have been. I was one calling for Chavez, and he went 0 for 3 and is hitless in the postseason himself (although, to be fair, Jackson made a great catch to rob Chavez of a double last night). Swisher is 1 for his last 35 or so with RISP in the postseason.

The Yankees wasted another good pitching outing by Pettitte, who is still waiting for postseason win #20.

They have soldiered on this season without Rivera. They lost Pettitte for two months with a fractured ankle.

Now they have to do it without Jeter.

It would help if someone besides Ibanez and Ichiro (who besides driving in all 4 last night, had 2 of the 3 RBI in the do-or-die Game 5 of the ALDS vs. Baltimore) turned up clutch.

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.

Down to the “Dirty Dozen.” Game 151. Today’s lineup.

With his outing yesterday, CC remained at 13-6. His ERA went down to 3.47, ERA+ 120. Soriano went to 2-1, 2.10, ERA+ 200 with his blown save. Robertson, who got the win, went to 2-7, 2.88, 146.

The Yanks have won six in a row and eight of their last nine.

87-63, one game up on Baltimore for the A.L. East lead. The Yanks’ magic # for clinching the division is 12. It is 7 for clinching at least the 2nd wild card. The Yanks are one game better than their Pythagorean record, and the OPS+ is 110, ERA + 109 (100 is average).

Today’s lineup. Day game after a night game so last night’s hero, the starting catcher Russell Martin, sits.

BA/HR/RBI  SB/Total attempts   OPS+

1. Jeter SS .323-15-57  9/13  119    3291 career hits
2. Suzuki CF .281-8-50  26/31  95  2589 MLB hits; more in Japan
3. A-Rod DH .275-18-56  13/14  116   647 HR, 2890 hits
4. Cano 2B .297-30-78  3/5  141    no 100 RBI for cleanup hitter  
5. Swisher RF .258-21-83  2/5  115
6. McGehee 1B .218-9-41  1/2  78   See below.
7. Nix 3B .246-4-18  6/9  91    3 for his last 21.
8. Jones LF .197-13-32  0/0  85  433 HR, but see below. 
9. Stewart C .248-1-13  2/2  69
Nova P 12-7, 4.85  ERA+ 86

As a Yankee, Ichiro is .327-4-22, 11/14, 119. Much better than in Seattle (.261-4-28, 15/17 and 84). McGehee is 8 for 51 as a Yankee, .157-1-6, OPS+ a horrendous 36).

Why I want Andruw Jones off the postseason roster and off the team in 2013: Since July 18, Jones is .130-1-6 in 92 at bats. 12 for 92. 25 strikeouts. Good Lord, CC can probably hit better than that.

 

Game 148. Ichiro’s great day leads Yanks to D/N Sweep.

For the day, Ichiro Suzuki was 7 for 8. His last hit gave the Yanks a sweep of their D/N DH with a 2-1 win.

The Yanks came into the DH in a virtual tie with the Orioles for first place. As the O’s take the field to take on Seattle, they have to look at the fact that the Yanks swept a DH from Toronto today, 4-2 and 2-1.

Rookie David Phelps was sensational again. Here is a rookie in a pennant race making what, his 10th or 11th MLB start? He went 6 2/3, 1 R, 3 H, 3 walks and 6 K. He got a no-decision but his ERA drops to 3.24. A rookie in a pennant race! I surely hope he is in the rotation next year. He’s earned it.

In this game, Ichiro, who was 3 for 4 in game one, went 4 for 4 and had the game-winning hit. The aging Ichiro had 4 SB in this game.

In the second, Toronto scored but the Yanks got the run back on a ground rule double by Stewart. This was just after Nix was thrown out at home on an Ichiro single.

So it stood until the 8th, when Ichiro’s two-out hit capped a 4 for 4 game and gave the Yanks a 2-1 win.

Logan went 1, 0 R, 0 H, 0 walks and and 2 K. 3.88.

Eppley wound up with the win. 1-2, 3.59. 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 walks and 1 K.

Soriano, who saved game 1, did it again in game 2. 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H , 0 walks and 1 K. Save #42 lowered Soriano’s ERA to 1.99.

Jeter was 1 for 4. That one hit, #3288 of his career, was his 200th hit of the season.

Game 147. Pettitte great as Yanks win opener of D/N DH, 4-2.

The Yanks were rained out last night, and the weather was so bad in my area, about 100 miles SE of NYC, that my DSL was out for probably 36 hours or so. No Internet, no updates.

So the Yanks had a Day/Night DH today. In the interim, the Orioles had won an 18-inning marathon out in Seattle, so it was a virtual tie for first.

Andy Pettitte amazes me. He misses a year, comes back and it’s as if he never left. He then gets a broken ankle on a liner up the middle. He’s 3-3, 3.22 when he goes on the DL…. after being off all of 2011.

So he returns today off the DL. He’s limited to 70 pitches or so. After 4 innings, he is at 68. Girardi lets him go for the win (as Andy in his career has earned) and Pettitte has a 1-2-3 fifth inning on 7 pitches. 5 IP, no runs. 75 pitches…. and most importantly, the win. Andy’s 244th career win pushes him past HOFer Juan Marichal on the all-time list.

The Yanks got three in the first. Ichiro (who had a HUGE day, going 7 for 8, 3 for 4 in this game 1), singled and then Swisher singled. Cano doubled in a run. A-Rod’s groundout made it 2-0 and moved Cano to third. Granderson’s SF made it 3-0.

Pettitte 5 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 2 walks, 3 K. He gets the win, ERA to 2.97. He improved to 4-3, 2.97 in 10 starts. It’s as if he never retired.

Rapada one batter, a hit. 0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 walks or K. 2.78.

Lowe 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 walks and 0 K. Combined ERA 5.41.

Joba 2/3 IP. 0 R, 1 H. 0 walks and 0 K. 5.74.

Logan 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H. 0 walks and 0 K. 3.96.

David Robertson almost spit the bit in the 8th. From 3-0 Yanks to 3-2 Yanks.

2/3 IP, 2 R, 4 H, 0 walks and 2 K. ERA to 2.98.

Luckily, Soriano picked up save #41. 1 1/3, 0 R, 0 H, 1 walk and 2 K. ERA to 2.02.

For Soriano, there was more to come.

The Yanks did get an insurance run in the 8th on a double by Ichiro and a single by Swish.

Only the top three batters in the Yanks’ lineup had hits. Ichiro was 3 for 4, 2 runs scored. Swisher was 2-4 with one scored & one rbi. Cano was the same.

If you missed it, Baltimore won last night against Seattle in 18 innings, so coming into today, it was a virtual tie.

Right now, the Orioles would win the tiebreaker due to a better record in the division.