Nobody could have predicted...

...empty seats at Yankee Stadium.

And while we're at it, here's the Yankee defense so far, courtesy of NoMass, who really should have direct links by now.


Of course, this is a really small sample size, but utterly consistent with the past 4-5 years.

The numbers represent runs saved above or below position average per 150 games (UZR/150).

UPDATE: To clarify, at this point, Swisher will give up 70 more runs over the course of a "season" than an average RF. Again, small sample size, but he is definitely below average.

Well, that settles it

I guess I'll never see a game in the new Yankee stadium either.

Because this is all I'll be able to afford...


How do you spend a billion+ on a stadium and let this happen to your fans?

Unpistevable.

Summing up 8 years of futility in one paragraph

I'm working on my Yankees season preview, but I wanted to follow up my book review with a key excerpt from The Yankee Years:



Ho. Lee. Shit.

I knew it was bad, but that's comically, befuddlingly bad. By hey, we spent a few hundred million on Kevin Brown, Javier Vasquez, Jeff Weaver, Alyssa Milano Pavano, Randy Johnson, and Roger "Oh my goodness gracious" Clemens (2007 edition). So we have that going for us. Which is nice.

Jeetus.

Book thoughts

I couldn't resist picking up The Yankee Years, by Tom Verducci with Joe Torre.

This is a thoroughly enjoyable read, chock full of detail about Torre's 12 years as Yankee manager. An important point: it was, as I suspected, not at all sensationalistic, as the initial reports from the NY tabloids would have had us believe.

I've always enjoyed Verducci's writing with SI, and he doesn't disappoint here. It took a few chapters to get used to the time-jumping, but he ties the jumps together so well that you never ask "what the hell is going on here?"

Highly recommended. I had issues with some of Torre's management style, primarily the "trust" card in the bullpen that led him to overusing certain guys every year to the point that they were useless by October (remember QuanGorMo?), but hey: job security in pro sports, especially with the Yankees, is pretty much nil. He did things his way, was highly successful at it, and went with his convictions, repercussions from the higher-ups be damned. This book makes it crystal clear how fucking difficult that job is.

Next, it's time for my annual re-reading of Ball Four to get geared up for the baseball season. Not only the best baseball book ever written, one of the best books period. In my all-time top 10 for sure, maybe even top 5. I don't think about book lists as much as music lists.

Juiced

Well, at least he admitted it and got it over with.

Let's see if he gets the Pettite/Giambi treatment, or the Bonds/Clemens treatment.

Social experiment begins... now.

(h/t for the image - tj)

March can't get here soon enough

In the spirit of Christmas, here are some baseball links.

Shysterball on the silly annual exercise of bemoaning the Yankee payroll. Smart comments too.

On a related note, people who are bitching about Yankee spending don't seem to be mentioning the fact that $77 million came off the books this offseason.

Yankees by the numbers.

On the ethics of not signing Barry Bonds. Can we please not endure this line of questioning again this season?

Is it getting drafty? Yes, yes it is.

Sorry, the Yankees haven't been the "team to beat" in a while now. Yes, I like that they signed two very good players still in their twenties for a change, but let's calm down here. Soon we'll have Buster Olney and Toast exclaiming "the Yankees could score 1000 runs this year!" again. Just like every year.

Speaking of Buster, many good points here.

Doug Glanville on winter ball. Very well done.

Give this man a job.

Projecting the Mets.

Phew. Merry Christmas, everyone!

Cash money!

Cash is staying.

Now if we could only get Hank to shut the fuck up.

Nice inning there, jackasses

Hey, good thing we traded away a decent reliever for a washed-up catcher.

Angels 7th inning:
2 solo homers, Yankees give up a 3-1 lead.

Angels 8th inning:
homer (1)
double
single (2)
error
double (3, 4)
single
single (5)
wild pitch (6)
single (7)

Yup, that's 7 runs in, and no outs yet.

Good thing I have to take a shower and go downtown to drink, so I don't have to watch the rest of this shit.

Yankees

They drafted this kid in the 41st round. He needs to be in the majors pronto.

I mean, he's the boss of the "titylicious booty poppin club" for fuck's sake. That kind of ingenuity will surely provide the spark the Yankees need to make a solid playoff run.

Yankees

Man, the glow of that little 5-game winning streak certainly faded fast...

Pitching, anyone?

Kyle Farnsworth, masterbaker

See, Toast? He serves a purpose after all.

The Yankees pitching staff

Fucking terrible too.

Bobby Abreu

Terrible fucking outfielder.

My eyes may be deceiving me...

..but I believe the Yankees just picked up what is known as a "clutch hit." Nice timing on that grand salami, Bobby.

Now let's see if the pitching can hold it.

Yankees

With this pitching staff, who needs enemies?

Yankees update

They suck. Period.

Of course, it's quite early in the season, and they were worse last year for two full months.

I'm already tired of the announcers and their weather-related excuses. If the Royals can play in the rain and cold, the Yankees should be able to play in the rain and cold. It's that simple.

Yes, they'll go on their inevitable streak, and yes they'll make the playoffs. But this is a team that can't seem to play offensive baseball well for more than 2 innings a game, if that.

What does this add up to? Well, trying to figure out which team will beat us in the ALDS.

Why is this?

Let's go back to our (ideal) lineup:
Johnny Damon LF - done
Derek Jeter SS - still going, still 190 hits, more injury-prone with age
Bobby Abreu RF - solid, but streaky
Alex Rodriguez 3B - phenomenal
Jason Giambi 1B - done
Jorge Posada C - going downhill (nice contract year though)
Hideki Matsui DH - going downhill, streaks great or fucking abysmal
Robinson Cano 2B - good, still improving
Melky Cabrera CF - average, at best; great in the field

It's about time the talk of "great line-up top-to-bottom" and "1000 runs!!1!1!eleven!!!" and all that shit that hasn't been the case for 6+ years be put to rest.

Good enough team, and the Angels will kick our fucking asses in October.

Yankees.....

3 runs a game isn't going to cut it with that highly suspect pitching staff.

Mmmm, 5.4 ERA.

YANKEEEEEEEES!!!!!!!!!

That is all.

The 2008 Yankees

From LoHud

The 2008 New York Yankees:

Lineup
Johnny Damon LF
Derek Jeter SS
Bobby Abreu RF
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Jason Giambi 1B
Jorge Posada C
Hideki Matsui DH
Robinson Cano 2B
Melky Cabrera CF

Bench
Jose Molina C
Shelley Duncan 1B-RF-LF
Morgan Ensberg 1B-3B
Wilson Betemit 1B-2B-3B-SS

Starters
RHP Chien-Ming Wang
RHP Mike Mussina
RHP Phil Hughes
RHP Ian Kennedy

Relievers
RHP Mariano Rivera
RHP Joba Chamberlain
RHP LaTroy Hawkins’
RHP Kyle Farnsworth
LHP Billy Traber
RHP Ross Ohlendorf
RHP Brian Bruney
RHP Jon Albaladejo

————-
60-day disabled list
RHP Andrew Brackman
RHP Humberto Sanchez
RHP Carl Pavano

15-day disabled list
LHP Andy Pettitte
RHP Jeff Karstens

Yikes. That's a lot of money for not a lot of depth.

This could be the least home runs a Yankee outfield has ever hit. In fact, this team kinda sucks, on paper. Well, they'll figure something out. Not surprised, though, that a lot of pundits have them missing the playoffs. And I have to admit, that pitching staff and that lineup will have a hard time keeping up with the Indians or the Tigers in the battle for the Wild Card spot.

Hughes and Kennedy need to prove themselves, and quick, otherwise it's Wang, Pettite, and disaster.

Well, yeah, but who else are you taking?

FJM has tons of fun with the OUTRAGE over the statistical analysis that shows how bad a fielder Jeter is.

Now, I'm a true-blue fan of the Yanks, have been since I was 5 or so. But I can also admit that his numbers, no matter how you slice them, are horrendous.

I still can't think of anyone I'd rather have on my team, at SS.

The better fielders are crap hitters (e.g. Adam Everett, the best SS glove out there, but has no stick), and the better hitters are OK, and not worth what he's worth. Yes, I know, I'm pulling an intangible here.

I'm not getting into numbers right now, I'll save the true geekery until March. Also, it's 10:30 and I'm drunk. I don't have an hour to put together the reasoning to at least soften my admitted bias.

If any Yankee fan wants to disagree with the facts, I'll just offer this, for now. You know that pivot-jump-throw that sends Michael Kay into paroxysms of joy? That's only necessary because Jeter doesn't get to the ball in time in the first place!! Everett would have fielded the ball, set his feet, and made just another ho-hum out. I watch 160+ Yankee games a year, and don't miss Baseball Tonight. I see almost every play. It's fucking undeniable. You know why his fielding average is good? Because errors only get marked when you touch the ball and fail. So, he takes two steps, waves weakly, and the ball is fielded by Gojira or Melky. No error. Also, no range factor.

Seriously, read The Fielding Bible. It'll do you some good.