This shouldn’t be news to anyone, as most contending teams will look to bolster their staffs at the deadline. The only teams who probably aren’t looking for pitching are the Phillies, Braves and Giants.
It’s still unclear whether teams will be buyers or sellers so it’s too early to tell which pitchers will be on the market. Felix Hernandez is the first name that comes to mind but NY Daily News beat Mark Feinsand unequivocally refuted that notion.
New poll: Will/did you watch the All-Star Game?
Hello Yankee fans. Last week I said the Yankees would want to be within a game of the Red Sox before Tuesday’s home opener (that I am attending!). It’s surprising the Yankees are up a game with a chance to get revenge on a surging Red Sox team. What a job the Yankees have done in the past five games beating some very good pitchers and almost beating Felix Hernadez before that. The Yankees pitching staff seems to be carrying their sporadic offense (who would have thought that at the beginning of the year?).
I don’t know about you guys, but I couldn’t be more excited about this Yankees-Red Sox series. After all the games the Yankees have lost to their rival this year, all of that can be erased in the next four days. It has a 2009 kind of feel to it. A Yankees sweep would put them up four games, which would be the biggest division lead in baseball this year.
At this point, there’s not much more analysis I can provide other than the fact that MLB Trade Rumors did not include Hernandez on its list of potential starters available at the deadline. However, there was a little conversation about him in the comments. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
Next poll: Will/did you watch the MLB draft?
Daily News Yankees beat writer Mark Feinsand made it clear in a tweet to me that the Mariners won’t be entertaining deals from the Yankees, or any team, for Felix Hernandez at the trade deadline.
No chance. I mean, like, zero. RT @lenNYsYankees I think you may have to eat your words in a couple months.
That’s about as adamant as you can get.
Zack Greinke is now a Brewer after reporters confirmed last night’s rumor. With the Red Sox catching every free agent they cast their line at, fans were looking for the Yankees to make a splash of their own. But Greinke was not the answer, as Jon Heyman tweeted last week.
KC trying to involve #yankees in greinke but nyy hesitant to risk him in NYC.
So who is the answer? You might be disappointed.
Felix Hernandez’s combination of ERA, innings pitched and strikeouts (ranked first, first and second in the AL respectively) was more than enough to earn him his first Cy Young Award. That’s why he received 21 of the 28 first-place votes.
CC Sabathia earned three of those votes, but wound up in third place behind David Price. I agreed with this order too.
If anyone can make an argument for why Hernandez was not deserving of the Cy Young honors this year, be my guest. Do it in the comments and I will definitely have a response.
Here’s my summary of my argument for Cano again:
I don’t think either Yankee leaders have a great chance at winning a big award, but Cano has a better chance because of Felix Hernandez’s dominant year.
New poll: Who starts Game 3 of the ALDS?
This post is in regards to my current poll on the left sidebar. Normally I’d wait until Monday for the new poll to discuss, but I noticed Robinson Cano has only received ONE vote for MVP.
I’m telling you now I sincerely believe Cano has a better chance at winning the MVP than CC Sabathia has at winning the Cy Young.
The Case for Cano:
Cano isn’t leading any major statistical categories, but he has a few things going for him that I factor into my MVP vote.
First, he’s the best player on one of the best teams in baseball. The Yankees are loaded, yes, but Cano plays a huge role into their success. For a while, he was the team’s only .300 hitter. Cano’s WAR (wins above replacement) beats Miguel Cabrera’s 6.5-6.1.
Second, he has the second best well-rounded hitting line (triple crown numbers) in the league. Only Cabrera tops him, but his team is 14 games out of the division lead right now.
Finally, Cano’s impact on defense is greater than Cabrera’s. For the record, I’ve ruled out Josh Hamilton because he’s been injured down the stretch. That’s a killer when it comes to MVP voting, I think.
The Case against CC:
Sabathia is really the real reason why Cano has a better chance to win a big award. I don’t think CC stands a chance against Felix Hernandez. This article from USA Today is why I’m writing this whole post right now, and this is when I started to realize this year’s Cy belongs to King Felix.
Bottom line: CC’s 20 wins don’t compare to Hernandez’s league-lead in strikeouts and ERA.
In Summary:
I don’t think either Yankee leaders have a great chance at winning a big award, but Cano has a better chance because of Hernandez’s dominant year.
CC Sabathia won his 20th game of the year last night against the Orioles, the first time he’s accomplished the feat in his 10-year career. However, what do wins even mean toward the Cy Young voting?
The fact is, pitchers can’t win games by themselves. If a starter throws 20 innings of shutout ball in a game, but his offense doesn’t give him any support, he won’t pick up the W.
Wins come down to run support. It’s not the only thing, but it plays a major factor in whether a pitcher earns the win or not. This is why Sabathia will not win the Cy Young this year and Felix Hernandez will.
| Pitcher | ERA | Run Support | Wins |
| Sabathia | 3.05 | 5.99 | 20 |
| Hernandez | 2.35 | 3.16 | 12 |
If you haven’t seen it, Greg Golson’s game-ending play last night for the Yankees is well worth waiting for the 10-second ad on MLB.com.
A Little Context: The Yankees led the Rays, 6-0, in the fifth, but it took a 10th-inning homer from Jorge Posada to even the series at 1 and put the Yankees back atop the AL East.
More Context: The Yankees lost a true pitchers’ duel the night before, also in extras, as CC Sabathia and David Price delivered Cy Young-like starts.
Sabathia is still considered by most (me too) as the leader for the Cy Young Award, especially now that Felix Hernandez’s workload will be monitored. But who really knows after my post yesterday.
A Lot More Context: Five of the Yankees’ last six games ended with a one-run winning margin. All five were decided in free baseball, but the Yankees won just two of them. That’s a lot of intense baseball in seven days.
Bottom Line: I’ve been extremely busy with my college newspaper lately, please marvel here, but for now I am definitely back. I’ll be perfectly honest; I didn’t catch a wink of football over opening weekend, not even my Giants (lenNY’s Giants? Maybe down the road).
My focus is purely on the Yankees until they’re eliminated. If they’re ever eliminated, that is.
| Date: | Mariners starters | Yankees starters |
| Fri., 7:05 p.m. | F. Hernandez (8-10, 2.62) | A.J. Burnett (9-10, 4.66) |
| Sat., 1:05 p.m. | Jason Vargas (9-5, 3.15) | J. Vazquez (9-9, 4.89) |
| Sun., 1:05 p.m. | Luke French (2-3, 4.02) | CC Sabathia (16-5, 3.12) |
Lineup Notes: Alex Rodriguez is back in the lineup tonight after missing the last three games against the Tigers due to a minor calf injury.
Surprisingly, Brett Gardner is hitting leadoff again despite A-Rod’s return. He has seemed a little more comfortable there the past few games and it took him out of his funk.
Prediction:
I was dead on with my call last series, so let’s see if I can come through again. Tonight will be a challenge, obviously (I just benched Burnett on my fantasy team), and I don’t like Vazquez’s chances tomorrow either. That leaves one small victory for the big man on Sunday.
The inconsistent Joba Chamberlain was ineffective once again last night, allowing a grand slam to Jose Lopez after seven shutout innings from Javier Vazquez. The granny made it 4-1 and that’s how it ended, as Felix Hernandez went the distance in 126 pitches.
Best of All: Vazquez had a no-hitter through 5-2/3 IP and wound up allowing five base runners while striking out seven. He’s really been a different pitcher since June 1. An incredible turnaround after I almost called for his head.
Nick Swisher stayed hot with a solo shot in the third. Let’s see if he can continue his pace after the All-Star break.
Worst of All: Ten hits, one run. Yuck.
Chamberlain. He really, really, really needs to get things together. However, Joe Girardi said he’s sticking with him as the setup man. After all, what other choice does he have? This is why the Yankees need to pursue a legitimate reliever at the deadline.
Coming Up: The last game before the break is at 4 p.m. today. CC Sabathia toes the rubber.
CC Sabathia almost completed a shutout in response to Felix Hernandez’s shutout yesterday, but then almost lost the shutout and the win in the eighth inning.
Luckily, after Sabathia allowed two runs to make it a tie game, Alex Rodriguez came to the rescue in the home half with a two-run shot. It allowed for Sabathia to earn his sixth straight win and for Mariano Rivera to finally get some busy work (that’s really what it is these days) in a 4-2 win.
Best of All: Sabathia NEEDED to be the ace today after the Yankees went down quietly against Seattle’s two aces. And CC was just that, an ace. He improved to 10-3 with the win, giving him an All-Star-looking record (if you know what I mean).
Worst of All: The bottom four in the order combined to go 0-for-11. Jorge Posada walked twice, but that was it. Yikes.
Coming Up: The Yankees continue their last homestand before the break with a weekend set against Toronto, starting tomorrow at 1:05 p.m. Don’t forget to follow my tweets @lenNYsYankees.
For the second straight night, the Mariners’ starter went the distance in a victory. Except tonight, Felix Hernandez tossed a shutout, one-upping Cliff Lee’s performance Tuesday night, for a 7-0 victory to clinch the series.
Best of All: Mark Teixeira and Colin Curtis were the only two Yanks to collect hits off King Felix — one apiece.
Javier Vazquez earned a quality start, but he couldn’t match up with Hernandez. He struck out eight while his record sunk below .500, once again, to 6-7.
Worst of All: The bullpen was not effective, but at least it didn’t matter in the end. Damaso Marte and Chad Gaudin allowed two earned runs each.
I don’t blame the Yankees’ offense. Clearly, Felix was on his game tonight and you can’t do anything about that. When he’s going right, he has some of the best stuff in the league.
Coming Up: The Yankees will try to avoid the sweep Thursday afternoon with CC Sabathia on the mound.
Hated Red Sox closer Jon Papelbon avoided arbitration with the Red Sox today, signing a hefty $9.35MM deal for 2010. King Felix Hernandez, a 2012 target for most Yankees fans, inked a five-year, (“in the neighborhood of”) $80 million contract with the Mariners.
That’s a lot of dough for pitchers.
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