Machado, CC (cardiac care) and lost targets.

Manny Machado will apparently make his decision after the new year, and all reports are that the Yankees are his first choice, as long as the years and money are close.

But will they be? Rumors are that the Yanks would go 7 years (Machado is 26) and maybe to an 8th if necessary while the Phillies would go 10 years. It appears the White Sox are probably out of the running. Machado apparently has met with no one else.

So does Machado go with where his heart lies (Yankees) or not? What if the Yanks offer 7 years @ $30MM /yr for $210MM but the Phils blow him out of the water by offering 10 years @ $35MM/yr for $350MM? What then?

And if the Yanks sign Machado, and Didi comes back, do the Yanks DH Andujar and move Stanton to LF (with Gardner being a backup OF).

Could the end of the season see a lineup like this?

Hicks CF
Judge RF
Machado 3B
Stanton LF
Gregorius SS
Sanchez C
Andujar DH
Voit 1B
Torres 2B

 

CC stands for Carsten Charles when it comes to CC Sabathia, but in a scary recent development, Sabathia found out that CC stands for cardiac care. Sabathia had a stent put in his heart on Dec. 11 to fix a blocked artery after he complained of chest pains and other recent problems. He should be good to go in spring training. Still, a scary moment.

Two potential free agent targets for the Yanks are off the board. One was Daniel Murphy. Murphy could have been a backup option for if the Yanks do not get Machado, as he could have been used at 2B (and later 1b/dh as well as 2b/3b when Didi returns) while Gleyber plays SS until Didi returns. His lefty bat would have played well at the Stadium, but his defense is below par. Murphy signed a 2 year deal with Colorado, where he has a .330 career batting average.

And Andrew Miller is off the board as well, so No-Runs DMC (Dellin/Miller/Chapman) will not be reunited. Miller signed a 2 yr (with an option for a third) with the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Yanks did sign a couple of lefty pitchers to minor league deals. I don’t expect either to make the major league team, but…

UPDATE: Figured I’d discuss those two pitchers. Rex Brothers, 31, 20-14, 3.79 in his career (ERA+ 119). Missed all of 2016, went 4-3, 7.23 in 2017 for the Braves, pitched in only 1 MLB game in 2018. Did save 19 games with a 1.74 ERA for Colorado in 2013.

The other is Danny Coulombe, 29, 1-1, 4.56 for the A’s in 2018. 6-4, 4.27 (ERA+ 97) in his career.

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Minor League Report. Frazier Injured?

I don’t know if the Yanks would have traded Clint Frazier anyway, word is he’s off the table, but it may turn out that they couldn’t anyway. Frazier dove for a ball in the first inning and was pulled from the game shortly thereafter.

AAA: SWB (51-44) won 7-3. Shane Robinson, Frazier’s replacement, 2 hits. 1B Mike Ford, 3 hits, triple shy of the cycle, HR a solo HR off of Andrew Miller. 3B Rey Navarro 2 hits, double, HR,  2 RBI. C Francisco Diaz 2 RBI. 2B Brandon Drury 2 hits, RBI.

SWB’s bullpen pitched 4 2/3 scoreless, no-hit innings. Columbus had Andrew Miller pitching (rehab) and Shane Bieber, who recently faced the Yanks, pitched as well.

Swanson 4 1/3 IP, 3 R, 4 H, 0 W, 3 K. Gave up 1 HR. 4.54
Gallegos (W, 2-1, 3.55) 2 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 4 K.
Kahnle 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 w, 1 K.  2.65
Carroll 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 3 K.  2.43

AA: Trenton (52-44) lost 3-2. SS Kyle Holder 2 RBI.

Bollinger (L, 4-4, 5.34) 5 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 6 H, 0 W, 3 K
Koerner 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 2 W, 1 K.  3.28
Sosebee 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 0 K.  3.86

High A: Tampa (49-48) won 4-2. CF Estevan Florial finally back here after being out with an injury and rehabbing at a lower level. 3B Angel Aguilar 2 hits, 2 RBI. DH Rashad Crawford 2 RBI. 2 hits 2B Hoy Jun Park. 3 hits LF Dom Thompson-Williams.

L. Rijo (W, 1-0, 3.00) 6 IP, 2 R, 6 H, 0 W, 3 K.
Weissert (H, 2) 12/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 2 W, 2 K.  3.60
Wivinis (S, 7) 1 1/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 2 K.  1.95

Low A: Charleston rained out.

Kaprielian, Torres, and others shine in AFL. Tanaka 7th in CYA voting, Miller 9th.

The Arizona Fall League will be coming to an end soon, and in his final appearance, James Kaprielian was great.

Kaprielian (2-3, 4.33) pitched 4 1/3 innings, gave up 0 runs, 1 hit, 2 walks and struck out 4 in Scottsdale’s 4-0 win.

Here is how other Yankees’ prospects did in the game.

Nestor Cortes, 1 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 walks, 3 K. 4.70.

J.P. Feyereisen 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 walks, 5 K.  2.57.

2B Gleyber Torres 3 for 4, scored 2 runs, had a double, drove in a run, struck out once. He is now hitting .403 in the AFL. Nope, that is not a typo. .403! The 19-yr.-old, acquired in the Chapman trade, has already won AFL player of the week twice and seems to be a shoo-in for the AFL MVP.

LF Tyler Wade 0 for 3, walked, struck out. .235

3B Miguel Andujar 0 for 4, RBI, struck out. .284.

MLB announced the Cy Young Awards. In the AL, Rick Porcello. In the NL, Max Scherzer. Scherzer had won one previously in the AL with Detroit. Justin Verlander’s fiancee, model Kate Upton, wasn’t too happy about Verlander losing out, as shown by some Twitter posts she made. Verlander actually got more first place votes than Porcello, but less total points. Two writers left Verlander off the ballot. Hmmm, maybe Verlander and Upton now understand the electoral college as well? (Just kidding). The key is that although Verlander had 14 first place votes to Porcello’s 8,26 voters had Porcello 1st or 2nd, while only 16 voters had Verlander 1st or 2nd.

The Yankees’ Masahiro Tanaka came in 7th in the voting. Andrew Miller, who started the season with the Yankees then was traded to the Indians, came in 9th.

One thing that hurt Tanaka (14-4, 2.07) was that so often he pitched well, but wound up with a no-decision because of the Yankees’ struggling offense.

The AL and NL MVP’s will be announced tonight.

Cubs win epic game 7; first WS title since 1908. Zobrist MVP.

First a correction. I forgot that Albert Pujols also drove in 6 RBI in a game. He was 5 for 6, scored 4 runs, had 3 HR and had 6 RBI in Game 3 of the 2011 WS. A game where he tied the WS record for HR AND RBI in one game.

So the four to drive in 6 in a WS game are Richardson, Matsui, Pujols and Russell.

Now to Game 7. Where to begin. It was epic.

The Cubs beat the Indians in ten innings, 8-7. It’s the first WS title for the Cubs since 1908. They are the sixth team to come back from down three to games to one in a best-of-seven World Series. The others: 1925 Pirates, 1958 Yankees, 1968 Tigers, 1979 Pirates and 1985 Royals.

Ben Zobrist was named WS MVP.

Dustin Fowler led off the game with a HR, the first time that ever happened in a Game 7.

The Indians tied it in the third on a single by Carlos Santana.

The Cubs got two in the fourth (Russell SF, Willson Contreras double) and two in the fifth to go up 5-1 after 4 1/2. Corey Kluber and Andrew Miller both didn’t have it. You can tell some pitchers were worn out.

Javier Baez homered for one of those Cubs runs in the fifth. The other scored on a single by Anthony Rizzo.

In the bottom of the fifth, a wild pitch let two runners score. 5-3 Cubs.

In the top of the sixth, David Ross, playing in his last MLB game, homered. What a way to retire, by homering in Game 7 of a WS. 6-3 Cubs.

Then, four outs away from victory, the Cubs let the game slip away for the time being.

With two out in the bottom of the eighth, Jose Ramirez singled and the Cubs brought in Aroldis Chapman.

Chapman’s recent workload caught up with him. He gave up a double to Brandon Guyer, and then shockingly, a 2-run HR to Rajai Davis that tied the game up.

The game went into the tenth. Kyle Schwarber singled and was PR for. After an out and an intentional walk, Zobrist doubled. After an intentional walk to load the bases back up for a DP, Miguel Montero singled to make it 8-6. Cleveland got out of the inning with no further damage, but the fatal damage was done.

The Indians didn’t go quietly however. (You knew it wasn’t going to be easy for the Cubs after 108 years, didn’t you?) After two out, a walk, an advance due to defensive indifference and a single (Davis again) made it 8-7 and put the tying run on first with the winning run at the plate. Cubs fans had to fear a game-tying double or WS winning HR. Michael Martinez grounded out and it was over.

For the Indians, another year of waiting for their first WS title since 1948.

For the Cubs, they can retire the Billy Goat. As for the 108 year gorilla (not monkey) on their backs, that’s gone, too.

Theo Epstein, president of the Cubs, can probably book his HOF ticket. As GM of Boston, he ended an 86-year old Curse of the Bambino and as President of the Cubs, ended the 108 year Cubs’ curse.

Finally, Joe Maddon, Cubs’ manager, wins a WS (he lost as Tampa Bay mgr. in 2008). Maddon comes from Hazleton, PA, about an hour’s drive from me.

Now for the hot stove league. Who gets traded? What free agents go where?

WS Game 4: Indians one win away from breaking Cubs’ heart again.

The Cleveland Indians are one win away from their third WS title—and first since 1948—after a 7-2 win over the Chicago Cubs in Game 4.

For the Cubs, it’s one more loss until they chant “wait ’til next year” which they have done each year since 1908.

For Terry Francona, now 11-1 in WS games, it’s one win away from ensuring a ticket to Cooperstown as a HOF mgr. We won in 2004 and 2007, both in sweeps while Boston’s manager. If he now takes the Indians to a title, breaking yet another curse (86 years for Boston, 68 for Cleveland), his election should be assured.

Jason Kipnis had 3 hits, inc. a 3-run HR (the first player to hit a 3-run HR at Wrigley Field in a WS since… Babe Ruth) and Carlos Santana had 3 hits, inc. a HR in the victory. Francisco Lindor had 2 hits and an RBI.

Corey Kluber pitched six strong innings for the win, giving up 1 run. He even drove in a run with an infield single.

Andrew Miller finally cracked, giving up a HR to Dexter Fowler.

Game 5 is tonight in Chicago.

WS Game 3: Cleveland wins pitcher’s duel, 1-0. Goes up 2 games to 1.

The Cleveland Indians spoiled the first WS game at Wrigley Field in over 71 years by winning a pitcher’s duel, 1-0, on Friday night.

The win in Game 3 of the Series puts Cleveland up 2 games to 1.

PH Coco Crisp’s RBI single in the seventh was the only run of the game. Cleveland had wasted some scoring opportunities earlier.

The game ended when Cody Allen struck out Javier Baez with the tying run on third and the winning run on second.

Andrew Miller got the win.

I don’t recall when a possible WS winner would have been shutout so often in their losses. After all, both Indians’ wins in this series are by shutout, and both Dodgers’ wins over the Cubs in the NLCS were by shutout.

 

WS Game 1: Indians shut out Cubs, 6-0.

Indians’ catcher Roberto Perez hit two homers and drove in four runs as Cleveland beat the Chicago Cubs in Game 1 of the World Series 6-0 last night.

Game 2, tonight, has been moved up one hour to a 7 PM start because of weather concerns.

Indians’ ace Corey Kluber struck out 8 in the first 3 innings, and wound up with 9 in his six innings of work. Andrew Miller (2) and Cody Allen (1) finished off the shutout. Miller did struggle, giving up 2 hits and 2 walks, but worked out of trouble each inning.

Ben Zobrist had three of the Cubs’ seven hits. Kyle Schwarber, who missed just about the whole season after suffering a torn ACL very early in the season, was activated by the Cubs and DH’d in the game. He had played in three Arizona Fall League game to prepare. Schwarber’s injury was so early on in the year that his first hit of 2016 was in this game. He had played in just two games, going 0 for 4.

Francisco Lindor had three hits for Cleveland, as did Jose Ramirez.