Phillies snatch up Cliff Lee, Yankees left hanging

According to multiple sources, Cliff Lee is returning to the Phillies. Lee rejected a seven-year, $150 million deal from the Yankees to sign with the Phillies for five years, $100 million (approximately).

This gives the Phillies one of the best rotations I’ve ever seen on paper.

Poll Results: Yankees are World Series favorites

The Yankees made easy work of the Twins the ALDS and that influenced last week’s poll results. Fans voted the Bronx Bombers as the favorites to win the World Series with the Phillies coming in a distant second.

I didn’t think fans would have that much confidence in the Yankees despite heading into the postseason on a low note.

By the way, if the Phillies make the World Series again this year, it will be their third time in a row. The Yankees played in the World Series four times in a row from 1998 to 2001. Just sayin’.

New poll: Four-man rotation for Yankees in ALCS?

Halladay throws 2nd no-hitter in playoff history, Don Larsen’s perfect game the 1st

When I first heard Don Larsen threw a perfect game in the 1956 World Series, I didn’t think anybody would be able to match it. Roy Halladay didn’t today, but came as close as you can possibly get by throwing a no-hitter with just one walk.

Congratulations, Doc.

You struck out ex-Phillie Scott Rolen three times and finished with eight for the game, one more than Larsen K’d.

Here’s the video of Halladay completing the no-no. That last play wasn’t easy for catcher Carlos Ruiz, by the way. Here’s the box:

 

2010 MLB Postseason Predictions

I was just looking at my preseason predictions, and, well, I’m not very proud. Of the eight playoff teams, I picked three correctly (Yankees, Phillies & Giants). I think I deserve a chance to start over now that the postseason is here. Here we go:

ALDS:
Rays beat Rangers in three games
Yankees beat Twins in three games

NLDS:
Reds beat Phillies in five games
Giants beat Braves in four games
---
ALCS:
Yankees beat Rays in seven games

NLCS:
Giants beat Reds in six games
---
World Series:
Yankees beat Giants in four games
---
Hey, and I didn’t even change my World Series picks!

P.S.: I’ll be going over my preseason predictions in full once all the award winners are announced.

Poll Results: Fans scared of Rays in playoffs

In my latest poll, fans voted they were most scared of facing the Rays in the playoffs. Neither the Twins nor the Rangers received many votes.

I sided with the fans this week. The Rays were the only team listed that has a deep starting rotation. It’s really hard to compete when you don’t have answers for David Price and Matt Garza.

If the season ended today, the Yankees would face the Rangers in the first round and have home field advantage until the World Series (if they get there). The Rays would face the Twins.

Just for kicks, I’m going to look into the National League for minute.

The Phillies, Braves, Reds and Giants would be in the postseason, but the Padres are fighting desperately for a spot.

My preseason World Series pick of Yankees vs. Giants is still intact, but I’m starting to think the Phillies are too good once again.

Next poll: Who deserves their award more?

My 2nd Citi Field experience (with pics): Deja vu all over again

When I saw the Mets play at Citi Field last year for the first time, I didn’t expect Bronson Arroyo to toss a shutout — but he did. When I was at the game last night, I expected Phillies ace Roy Halladay to do the same thing — and he nearly did.

Doc threw eight beautiful innings, holding the Mets to four hits without walking a batter and ousted Mets spot starter Pat Misch in a 4-0 win.

The Mets would’ve had a legitimate shot to win this game if it weren’t for their three ugly errors which cost Misch three unearned runs. Ruben Tejada’s attempted double play turn sailed into left field, Misch fielded a bunt and threw it into right field, and David Wright let a grounder go through his wickets.

Despite the errors, the most comical part of the night was listening to the boos from fans as Francisco Rodriguez trotted out from the bullpen. It was his first game of eligibility after assaulting his father-in-law.

Now for some pics:

Look at all of that red! In left field, there were more Phillies fans than Mets fans.

The only time we saw the new home run apple was during the seventh inning stretch.
Here’s a picture of the original home run apple, now located in front of the stadium.
Here was the view from our seats ($20 face value).
And here were the bozos sitting in front of us. The guy on the right’s shirt says, “Don’t mess wit da Mets, Aaight!”

You can check out more photos from the game on my Facebook page!

A-Rod breaks out in Royal dismantling

While I was at Citi Field watching the Mets get embarrassed by rabid Phillies fans, the Yankees were at work in Kansas City. Alex Rodriguez powered the charge with his fourth career three-home run game and five RBIs in an 8-3 blasting of the Royals.

Best of All: It was A-Rod’s best game all season, and he put it all together in his last three at-bats. Even better news: A-Rod is saying Kevin Long found something in his swing that made the difference tonight.

Long has also made a big impact on Curtis Granderson, who slugged his 11th homer and hit two balls to the warning track tonight. I’m starting to think the new Yankees team MVP is K-Long.

Jorge Posada also homered and reached base in three out of five chances. Every Yankee hitter had at least one hit tonight.

Worst of All: Phil Hughes pitched a quality start, but didn’t strike out a single better.

Coming Up: The Yankees look for the series victory Sunday afternoon. Be sure to join the conversation with me on Twitter!

Yanks offense shut down again, lose series

For the second night a row, a Phillies pitcher came into town and held the Yankees bats silent. Last night it was Jamie Moyer. Tonight it was Kyle Kendrick — 22 years younger than Moyer — who put the Yankees offense to shame, pitching seven innings of one-run ball en route a 7-1 win.

Best of All: Robinson Cano. He notched his 31st multi-hit game with his RBI single in the sixth. Andy Pettitte pitched great (7 IP, 2 ER, 3 BB, 7 K), but the bullpen blew up in the ninth inning giving the offense no chance at a comeback.

Worst of All: Joba Chamberlain couldn’t record an out in the ninth. The Yankees Nos. 1-3 hitters combined to go 0-for-11. It was a rough night in the Bronx.

Coming Up: The Yankees host the Mets this weekend. That should be fun. The only problem is they are playing great baseball recently. I’ll have a series preview up tomorrow.

Moyer becomes oldest pitcher to beat Yankees in 6-3 win

The Yankees had no answer for the ageless Jamie Moyer tonight, as he only went into the stretch twice through eight innings in a 6-3 win. The Yankees rallied off Brad Lidge in the ninth, but he struck out Jorge Posada, the tying run, to end the game.

Best of All: The bullpen. How about 5 2/3 innings of near perfect pitching from Boone Logan and Chad Gaudin? After Logan intentionally walked Jayson Werth in the fourth, the Yankees retired 16 straight Phillies.

Posada and Robinson Cano had solo homers off Moyer.

Worst of All: A.J. Burnett. He didn’t have it. And he hasn’t had it in his last three starts now. He only lasted 3 1/3 innings tonight, allowing all six runs on six hits and four walks. He allowed 10 runs over his two prior starts.

Coming Up: The decisive Game 3 is Thursday night. Same time, same place.

Yankees make it a home run Halladay

Despite all the rough history, the Yankees made the usually dominant Roy Halladay look like a starter for the Diamondbacks. Home runs from Curtis Granderson, Nick Swisher and Mark Teixeira doubled Halladay’s season total and propelled the Yankees to an 8-3 victory.

Best of All: CC Sabathia battled through seven tough innings against a patient and persistent Phillies lineup. He put his team in position to win and, with some seventh-inning insurance runs courtesy of Francisco Cervelli, the unpressured bullpen sealed the deal with ease.

Worst of All: Robinson Cano only had one hit in five at-bats. Despicable, ain’t it? Good baseball from the Yankees today, except when Sabathia forgot to cover first on a grounder hit to the right side in the fourth inning.

Coming Up: Game 2 will be in front of a national audience, ESPN-aired, featuring Kyle Kendrick and A.J. Burnett.

Yanks lineup without A-Rod to start Phillies series

Tonight’s lineup via the Star-Ledger:

Derek Jeter 6
Curtis Granderson 8
Mark Teixeira 3
Robinson Cano 4
Nick Swisher 9
Jorge Posada DH
Brett Gardner 7
Francisco Cervelli 2
Ramiro Pena 5

Anyone missing? Oh that’s right. That would be Alex Rodriguez. The highest paid player in the game and the Yankees cleanup hitter. He hopes to be back tomorrow (which is what he said about today, too).

Via Erik Boland:

ARod says he won't play today, hopes for tomorrow. But feels "much better" than he did Thur in Balt when he came out

Via Marc Carig:

If ARod returns tomorrow, it will be at third base. "We're talking full go," Girardi said.

This will be his fourth game missed in a row. The Yankees were fine without him against the Astros this weekend, but they are the Astros. Tonight is the Phillies.

Bottom line: The Yankees won’t have A-Rod tonight against Roy Halladay, putting them at a huge disadvantage.

Phillies-Yankees series preview: World Series rematch

Last year’s World Series runner-ups will get a chance at revenge tonight, as the Phillies visit the Bronx for a chance to restore some of their dignity.

The Yankees have their starters lined up nicely to start a tough week at home that culminates with a weekend series against their subway rival Mets. But the Phillies aren’t messing around either, as they are sending out one of the best Yankee killers of all-time tonight: Roy Halladay.

Mark Simon of ESPN New York penned a piece on just how dominant Halladay has been against the Yankees. A complementary table to the article shows Halladay holds the second-highest ERA+ against the Yankees in the modern era (only trailing Hoyt Wilhelm).

The Yankees thought they had gotten rid of Doc when he was traded from the Blue Jays to the Phillies in the offseason. But now, he’s back and hasn’t slowed down. He’s already got a perfect game under his belt this season (just sayin’).

Head to Head:
They met once in the regular season last year before the Yankees beat them in the World Series in six games. The Phillies won two out of three in the season, but the lone Yankees win came in walk-off fashion.

Pitching Matchups:

Date:	Phillies starters	Yankees starters
Tues., 7:05 p.m.	Roy Halladay (8-4, 1.96)	CC Sabathia (6-3, 4.01)
Wed., 7:05 p.m.	Kyle Kendrick (3-2, 4.80)	A.J. Burnett (6-4, 3.86)
Thurs., 7:05 p.m.	Jamie Moyer (6-6, 5.03)	Andy Pettitte (8-1, 2.46)

Players to Watch:
Phillies: Placido Polanco. He’s the team’s lone .300 hitter and is picking up a  lot of the slack the injured Jimmy Rollins has left this third-place team. Polanco is hitting .354/.391/.465 on the road this year.

Yankees: Many of the core players are carrying the offense at home. I’ll give the nod to Alex Rodriguez, as we expect to see him return from his hip flexor injury tonight. He’s .352/.442/.625 at Yankee Stadium in 2010.

Prediction:

Tonight looks like a battle of the aces at first glance, but realistically Halladay is the heavy favorite. I’d count on Andy Pettitte to win Thursday leaving Wednesday as the tossup game. But I’m scared of Kyle Kendrick since only one Yankee has experience against him (Mark Teixeira: 1-for-12, HR). I’m hoping to avoid the sweep here, folks.

Yankees schedule analysis

My roommate did some research on the Yankees schedule this season, and he came up with some very interesting data. Here’s the breakdown of the schedule by month.

Month	Home	Away	Total
April	7	15	22
May	16	13	29
June	14	12	26
July	13	13	26
August	16	13	29
September	15	12	27
October	0	3	3
First Half	41	47	88
Second Half	40	34	74
Total	81	81	162

I guess the biggest noteworthy thing about the schedule is the Yankees are getting more road games out of the way in the first half, which gives them more home games down the home stretch.

Below are the dates of the series against the Red Sox and Mets, plus some notable games.

April 13 vs. Angels — home opener (ring ceremony)
April 4-7 at Red Sox
May 7-9 at Red Sox
May 17-18 vs. Red Sox
May 21-23 at Mets
June 15-17 vs. Phillies
June 18-20 vs. Mets
June 25-27 at Dodgers
Aug. 6-9 vs. Red Sox
Sept. 24-26 vs. Red Sox
Oct. 1-3 at Red Sox

Pick your infield: Phillies or Yankees

When River Avenue Blues directed me to a column headlined “Phillies have best infield of baseball’s modern era,” I was expecting an in-depth comparison between the Phillies and Yankees.

Instead, he rambled on about the infield combo of Tinkers to Evers to Chance. Go to the column if you want a history lesson from the old-timer. But if you want to compare this year’s infields, keep reading.

For reference…

Yankees	Pos.	Phillies
Mark Teixeira	1B	Ryan Howard
Robinson Cano	2B	Chase Utley
Alex Rodriguez	3B	Placido Polanco
Derek Jeter	SS	Jimmy Rollins

Awards: The biggest statement from the column I have a problem with is the one about all the awards the “Phils’ Fab Four” have accrued.

Every member of the current Phillies infield has been an All-Star. Polanco and Rollins have won Gold Gloves. All four have won Silver Slugger awards - Polanco as a second baseman in the American League. Rollins and Howard have been MVPs and Utley is in the MVP conversation each year. It is a much-honored group.

Awesome. Let me quickly recap the Yankees infield accolades.
- Teixeira: 2xAll-Star, 3xGold Glove, 3xSilver Slugger
- Cano: 1xAll-Star, 1xSilver Slugger
- Rodriguez: 3xMVP, 12xAll-Star, 2xGold Glove, 10xSilver Slugger
- Jeter: 10xAll-Star, 4xGold Glove, 4xSilver Slugger
Oh, and Jeter and Teixeira have been second in MVP, and Cano has received votes twice. I’d say the Yankees win the award battle.

Offense: These days, comparing home run and RBI totals won’t suffice. The most commonly accepted stat in comparing offensive skills is OPS or OPS+. OPS+ is a weighted version of on-base plus slugging percentage (100 is average, above is better, below is worse). So, let’s compare.

Yankees	‘09 OPS+	Phillies	‘09 OPS+
Teixeira	149	Howard	140
Cano	129	Utley	136
Rodriguez	147	Polanco	88
Jeter	132	Rollins	86
Total	557	Total	450

Sorry, it’s not even close. I’d say the Phillies have the better top 3 (despite the numbers), but the Yankees easily have the better four.

Defense: I’d say both have very good defenses, but having Teixeira as an anchor at first base gives the Yankees the slight edge. Howard had 14 errors, Teixeira had 4 (in four less games).

Forgetting someone? The column didn’t even include catchers, which is a position some might consider in comparing infields. And this category would no doubt go to the Yankees. I’ll take Jorge Posada, even at age 38, any day over Carlos Ruiz or Brian Schneider.

Rojas: Contreras signs with Phillies

The NL Champion (World Series losing) Phillies have bolstered their bullpen with ex-Yankee Jose Contreras, according to ESPNDeportes.com’s Enrique Rojas.

The deal is pending a physical and we only know it’s a one-year deal.

Contreras, 38, was great out of the bullpen for the Rockies last year after stinking up the joint in the White Sox rotation.

The deal comes about a month after the Phillies acquired Roy Halladay in the biggest blockbuster deal of the winter and yesterday’s re-signing of Joe Blanton to a three-year deal. But Contreras will most likely be staying in the bullpen for the Phillies.

Photo credit

Yankees capture #27 for #27

Twenty-seven times the Yankees have won a World Series. It was Joe Girardi who chose to carry the burden of that number on his back for his first two seasons as the skip. Now, he won’t have a burden to carry, but a decision to change numbers awaiting.

The Yankees beat the Phillies 7-3 last night, propelled by Hideki Matsui’s six runs batted in, the World Series MVP.

Quick ‘Cap:
Matsui gave the Yankees an early lead on a two-run homer in the second inning, and then drove in two more on a single in the third. But he wasn’t done yet. After Mark Teixeira drove home Derek Jeter in the fifth, Matsui smacked a two-run double to make it 7-1.

The Phillies finally got to Andy Pettitte in the sixth with two runs, forcing him out of the game. Joba Chamberlain, Damaso Marte, and who else, but Mariano Rivera closed out the game, the series, and the season as John Sterling would say. Full box score here.

Thoughts:
In 1923, the Yankees won their first World Series in their brand new stadium. Last night, the Yankees won their last World Series in their brand new stadium. Absolutely amazing.

I cannot say enough about Hideki Matsui. Six RBIs in five innings is unreal. I was almost even more surprised with Marte’s ability to strike out Chase Utley and Ryan Howard. With Mo, there wasn’t too much surprise.

Line of the Night:
Matsui: 3-for-4, HR, 6 RBI, 2B, R. Meet your MVP, world.

Up Next:
The offseason!

Don’t worry. This blog isn’t shutting down until next April or anything. I’ll be continuing my Yankees blogging all winter and into next year. This is my final recap of the year, and I would like to thank all of my friends and followers for supporting me along the way. None of this would be possible without you, and for that, I am extremely thankful.

And on that note, GO YANKEES!

Yankees.com screenshot

Something tells me I’m going to want this pic. (click to enlarge)

Hideki Matsui World Series MVP!

Hats off to this man. GODZILLA! What a guy. Congratulations to Hideki Matsui and all of his fans in Japan. He was an excellent addition to the Yankees for the past six seasons, and I’m glad he’s finally got a ring to show for it. With, or without him next year, I wish Matsui all the best.

Yankees are 2009 World Series Champions!

I’m speechless.

Pregame talk: World Series Game 6

Tonight could be a good night. A very, very good night for Yankees fans. The stage is set. Two postseason poised pitchers, Andy Pettitte and Pedro Martinez, set to duke it out. For the Yankees, a World Series ring is on the line. For the Phillies, a chance to extend the series and repeat as champions. First pitch: 7:57 p.m. EST.

Phillies Lineup:	Yankees Lineup:
Jimmy Rollins SS	Derek Jeter SS
Shane Victorino CF	Johnny Damon LF
Chase Utley 2B	Mark Teixeira 1B
Ryan Howard 1B	Alex Rodriguez 3B
Jayson Werth RF	Hideki Matsui DH
Raul Ibanez DH	Jorge Posada C
Pedro Feliz 3B	Robinson Cano 2B
Ben Francisco LF	Nick Swisher RF
Carlos Ruiz C	Brett Gardner

I thought Joe Girardi might swap Cano and Swisher because of Cano’s awful postseason slump. And now Swisher seems to be getting back on track. Otherwise, I like the series back in the American League with the DH. It gives the Yankees the advantage with Hideki Matsui now.