The New York Yankees will ring in the New Year by re-signing their utility outfielder and big bat off the bench, Andruw Jones.
Jones had a solid year off the bench for the Bombers in 2011, hitting 13 home runs and 33 RBI in 190 at-bats.
It might be one of the most underrated signings this offseason for New York (although there isn’t much competition) and here’s why.
It appears the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox will square off 20 times in 2011, the final showdown being the pursuit of free-agent starting pitcher, Hiroki Kuroda.
So where does each team’s need for a starter come from?
In New York, the Yankees have about as unsure a starting rotation as can be. Behind CC Sabathia, Ivan Nova is coming off a great rookie season in which he became of vital importance to his team. But there is no telling if Nova can do it again.
He’ll have to avoid the dreaded sophomore jinx, and even though Nova has shown to be cool under pressure, that still doesn’t guarantee his success in the future. It only helps it along.
As for starters three through five, right now it looks like Phil Hughes, A.J. Burnett and Freddy Garcia will be in those slots. But that isn’t even a certainty as no doubt guys like Hector Noesi and Dellin Betances will get a shot to make the starting rotation out of spring training.
But all six of those options, Nova included, all have one thing in common: uncertainty.
As for Boston, they are coming off the worst collapse in MLB history, desperately needing to change things—and fast.
Jon Lester and Josh Beckett should be more than sufficient enough to give Boston success as their one and two starters. But even Beckett is getting up there in age and could begin to decline at any time.
Don’t forget, since 2006, Beckett’s been very inconsistent every other year. And if the trend continues, 2012 might not be a good year for him.
Clay Buchholz should be ready for spring training, but battled injuries all season long. There is no telling how he will bounce back.
John Lackey’s season-ending injury leaves the Red Sox short a starter, but Lackey could just as easily be replaced by a Triple-A pitcher because of the horrid season he had last year. Still, it leaves a void in the rotation.
So clearly, both teams have one thing in common: they need a reliable starting pitcher.
One of the best men for that job, which has stood true throughout this offseason, is Kuroda.
In his four seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Kuroda made over 30 starts in three of them. His career record is 41-46 with a 3.45 ERA.
2011 was his best season, and while his 13-16 record with a bad team isn’t very telling, his 3.07 ERA was. It’s likely that if Kuroda moves to the AL East, his ERA would go up—moving from a weak offensive division to the best in baseball.
That being said, even if it does go up, Kuroda would still be a nice fit in the No. 3 slot of either team’s rotation.
After dropping his desire to play on the west coast and closer to his native Japan, Kuroda became a top target of both teams. Kuroda will be 37 years old next season, and is a good fit because he won’t be a long-term commitment.
Kuroda is expected to ask for a $12 to $13 million contract. I think that’s a deal that both the Yankees and Red Sox, both having deep pitching concerns, would be willing to make.
Both teams have the need, the money and the competition from one another to get this deal done.
So, let the games begin!
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The way it stands now, the New York Yankees starting rotation for 2012 looks like this:
1. CC Sabathia
2. Ivan Nova
3. A.J. Burnett
4. Phil Hughes
5. Freddy Garcia
While the order of the rotation is debatable, the fact that the Yankees need more help isn’t.
The Yanks got lucky last season with help from Garcia and Bartolo Colon, but don’t expect lightning to strike twice.
New York might end up with another starter before the season starts, but there is no evidence as such and with an undoubtedly overpriced market for free agents, they may do nothing.
So here’s a breakdown of the Yankees rotation and how each of these starters will fare in 2012.
A victim of circumstance, or bad luck? That’s what you have to ask yourself when reading the story of Don Mattingly. Throughout the history of sports, we’ve seen several players and coaches have tough luck in their respective sports. However, in my opinion, there is no figure in sports that has had worse luck than Don Mattingly. It seems his bad luck follows him wherever he goes.
I looked at the standings today and noticed the Dodgers are only one game under .500 and in third place. Although they’re out of the race for a playoff spot already, they haven’t had too bad of a season considering their situation as a franchise.
Since Mattingly has taken over as skipper, the Dodgers have run into all sorts of financial issues. Sure the tragic events of the Dodgers had already been set in motion before Mattingly arrived, but it became uglier after Mattingly took the job with the Dodgers.
Owner Frank McCourt is going through a brutal and expensive divorce and financially, the entire organization is struggling to make payroll. Not to pile on top, but the team isn’t very good on the field as well. Coincidence that Mattingly is there while this organization nosedives? Maybe, but this isn’t the only case of bad luck following Mattingly.
Don Mattingly was a loyal, lifelong Yankee until the day he became a bench coach for former Dodger manager Joe Torre. Mattingly played for the Yankees for 14 seasons, none of which resulted in a championship.
Mattingly played for the Bombers in the 80s and early 90s, some of the worst years in the entire history of the Yankees. Playing on abysmal teams, Mattingly still managed to win an MVP, multiple gold gloves, batting titles and All-Star selections. Mattingly even said he would’ve traded all that for a World Series ring, something he has yet to achieve.
In 1994, the Yankees were easily the best team in the American League, and were certainly competing with the Montreal Expos for the best team in the majors. It looked as though Mattingly would have his first chance at a playoff berth and a trip to the World Series. But with Mattingly’s luck, it never happened. A players’ strike cut the MLB season short, and the great Yankee season was abruptly ended.
It wasn’t until 1995 that Mattingly and the Yankees made it to the playoffs, Mattingly’s last year. With a bad back, it was bittersweet for Donnie baseball because he had no choice but to retire at the end of the year. After taking a 2-0 lead over the Mariners in the Division Series, the Yankees went on to lose the last three, further padding the bad luck history that plagued Mattingly and the Yankees.
After Mattingly retired following the 1995 season, the Yankees made another trip to the playoffs for the second year in a row. This time there was no choking, no blowing leads and the Yankees went all the way. After falling behind 2-0 to the Braves in the World Series, the Yankees went on to win the next four games en route to winning the ’96 series, their first championship in almost two decades.
Had Mattingly played one more year, he would’ve had the World Series ring that had eluded him his entire career. After his playing days were over, Mattingly served as a special instructor for Yankees spring training from 1997-2003, a job Mattingly held in the midst of a Yankee dynasty.
It wasn’t until 2004 that Mattingly would rejoin the big league club, this time taking the Yankees hitting coach position. The same year Mattingly rejoined the Yankees, the Bombers were one out away from taking a trip to the World Series with Mattingly on the bench. Mariano Rivera would blow the game in the ninth, allowing the Red Sox breathing room to come back. The Yankees then proceeded to complete the biggest collapse in sports playoff history, ultimately surrendering a 3-0 series lead and becoming the first team in MLB history to blow a 3-0 lead. Mattingly was on the bench for all of this.
Mattingly remained as a coach until the end of 2007, which was Joe Torre’s last year. It was thought, upon Joe Torre’s departure, that Mattingly would almost certainly be the manager of the Yankees. After interviews with Mattingly, Tony Pena and Joe Girardi, Mattingly was passed up for Girardi and didn’t get the job as Yankees manager.
Mattingly then followed Joe Torre to the Dodgers where ultimately, he would become manager when Torre retired. Before he became manager, he had to leave the team during the 2008 season to help his wife who was suffering from mental health issues. Mattingly would later return to the team after.
The multiple times Don Mattingly has been in the presence of tragic and devastating sports events is too much to ignore. Is he bad luck like many Yankees fans believe, or just a victim of circumstance?
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The same question comes up every year around this time. Should pitchers be considered as MVP candidates? The debate has been raging recently around Detroit Tigers ace, Justin Verlander, who is having a great season this year. Despite the season he is having, I still don’t believe pitchers should be candidates for the MVP award.
Make no mistake about it, the role of a top-flight starter on any team is of vital importance. They can single-handedly win a team 20 games a season and without their presence, most teams would be worse off. They can stop losing streaks when it seems like nothing else can. These things can make or break a team, but that shouldn’t make pitchers MVP candidates.
The last pitcher to win the MVP award was Dennis Eckersley in 1992 as the closer of the Oakland A’s. Eckersley recorded 51 saves that season while posting a 1.91 ERA.
Roger Clemens was the last starter to win the award in 1986. Clemens went 24-4, with a 2.48 ERA.
So clearly it’s happened before, but I respectfully disagree with those baseball writers who cast the votes that won the award for Eckersley and Clemens.
Despite how important a front line starter is to a baseball team, at best, they will only impact about 30 or so games a year. As far as a closer is concerned, sure they have more appearances, but their innings totals are much fewer than that of a starter. Adding up Eckersley’s innings in 1992, he pitched a total of 80 that year. When put back to back, that’s a combined total of about nine games.
That is simply not enough to be considered more valuable than a player who contributes to over 150 games a year. Not to mention, as well as a starter can pitch, nobody will win any games if there are no runs scored. That obvious fact alone expresses the importance of offensive players.
The impact a pitcher has during a season is overshadowed by the daily contributions of offensive players. As far as I’m concerned, there should be no debate on the subject and pitchers should automatically be excluded from the voting.
We may never see a pitcher win the MVP in this day and age as many sports writers refuse to give any pitcher so much as a single vote for the award and rightfully so. If baseball writers were more keen on making pitchers MVPs, I could make the argument that Mariano Rivera could have a few of them when comparing his numbers to Eckersley’s in 1992. But because of my stance on the matter, you won’t hear me make that argument because it just isn’t valid when talking about the MVP award.
Besides, pitchers have the CY Young award for the best pitcher and I feel that is more than enough to show praise for the impact of a great starting pitcher. I would be truly shocked if Justin Verlander was to win the MVP award.
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