Morning Bits: Toronto Series, Chavez comes up big and more
Good morning all. Nice that the Yankees salvaged a split with the Tigers. The Yankee will begin a new series tonight in Toronto. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:07 PM EST. On the mound will be Garcia vs Romero.
Enjoy the game and enjoy the weekend.
Now for some links…
– Katie Sharp & Mark Simon of ESPN have all the stats to watch for tonight’s game.
– Andrew Simon of MLB.com has all the notes and tidbits of the upcoming series with the Jays.
– Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com writes that the Yankees are in good shape if they can find their rhythm.
– David Waldstein of the NY Times writes how Chavez is coming up big for the Yankees during A-Rod’s injury.
– Joe Zemla of Yahoo Sports ponders how many future Hall Of Famers do the Yankees have on the roster.
Posted on August 10, 2012, in Notes & Links and tagged Eric Chavez, Freddy Garcia, New York Yankees. Bookmark the permalink. 54 Comments.
Brian D.
fishjam25
jimmytoucan
Matthew B
Delia E.
Dan H.
Matthew S.
Michael P.
Mike D.
Ken…… Jeter is hitting .313. You still think he will hit below .300 this season? He also leads the AL in hits. man he should retire.
Matt S…
I have been wrong before but, it wouldn’t surprise me if he is above .300, it would help the team if is.
I must apologize for not taking into account his style of hitting when I said he was going to be under .300 this year.
I hope to be wrong again next year!
Matt S. – do you think Jeter’s defense has gotten so bad….that his offense no longer makes up for it?
no.
Good answer Matt, I agree!
Were facing Ricky Romero tonight? Man. All the Yankees have bad numbers against him. The only one who hits over .400 against him is Brett Gardner and he’s not an option.
Delia, Rickey isn’t pitching up to his numbers this year.
that’s being kind Doug lol. Ricky blows this year,
Matt S. Do you think Jeter is a below avg SS ? Or average? Or above average? Defensively speaking.
I would say if there was a category between average and below average.
Matt s. – only 2 players have gotten 150 hits in 17 consecutive seasons…Hank Aaron and who else? Hint : it’s an iconic Yankee.
Matt has gone to bed….
Below avg. read the stats, I know you will belive them, even if you can’t see.
Twasp…
Sorry I missed your question about who was the fastest Yankee.
I am sure you knew my answer anyhow; “The Mick” by far and away the fastest ever timed.
Shortstop is a young mans position, Jeter has passed by many of the shortstops because of his hitting ability and overall playing ability. He will go down as the greatest shortstop of all time You can’t compare players on one facet of the game, especially when their at the end of their careers. The only shortstop that I saw better overall than Jeter was A-Rod. Both are immortals.
This I like, A-Rod is the best I have ever seen. Nomar was considered #2.
Jeter is the best all around Yankee SS I have ever seen. The only thing is, his defense has always been suspect. The Yankees have had some very good SS over the years…mostly good glove and ok hitters…”The Crow” Crosetti and Scooter come to mind, although Scooter was a very good hitter in the clutch.
Wow Doug…….do you really think Jeter will go down as the best SS of all time? Better than Honus Wagner?
Nomar quit on his team Ken and was hurt all the time. No way on earth I would ever want him over Jeter.
Matthew B…
I didn’t say I would take Nomar over Jeter, I said he was rated as #2.
Do you know of anyone with any sense, taking Nomar over Jeter? I am sure you nor I know of anyone that would want Nomar or Manny, both of whom quit on their fellow team mates…biggest unwriten rule ever thought of!
You’re right Matt B. …….. Nobody mentions Nomar in the same conversation with Jeter anymore…..It’s an insult to Jeter…the ultimate team player.
PS – Nomar was a big juicer
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/136971-nomar-juiced-no-doubt-about-it
Should anyone even talk about Nomar? If they do, it is as a statement…what a waste of talent?
Yeah…Ken….Nomar juiced his way to inflated HR totals and then he broke down like all the juicers eventually do. He quit on the Red Sox …….Jeter would never do that.
Ken – only 2 players in MLB history have gotten 150 hits in 17 straight seasons who were they?
Hint – one is an Atlanta Brave one is a Yankee.
Hammering Hank and the Yankee SS!
Good job Ken.
WTF? Are you applying for the Jeter butt wiping position?
If Jeter could actually field a damn ball the Yankees could win this game!
Ken, have you seen the kid Machado they are talking about with Baltimore? He really does have a lot of similarities to ARod when he first came up. He’s tall & lean with the same huge powerful hands as Alex. When he fields the ball and throws from the side, he looks just like Alex did when he came up with Seattle. Eventually ARod gave into temptation and started steroids which caused him to get bulky and injury-prone but Machado has the same lean but wiry strong body type and alot of the same tendencies as Alex did. Check him out.
He even has the same high leg kick when he hits. But unlike Alex now, the kid has great flexibility and can clear his hips and pull the ball with authority….check out his 2 HRs from yesterday.
http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?c_id=mlb&content_id=23790027&topic_id=17807232
Yes, I saw him a bit, not much. What I saw, I liked but, would need more time to evaluate him in person.
He looks like he knows what the game is about.
You may have nailed him as a young A-Rod.
I heard that Machado works out with A-Rod in the off season, the kid looks to have alot of talent. I think Bundy will have a bigger impact than Machado, he has a long way to go to measure up to A-Rod. I think Trout and Harper will be better players.Machado hit .266, 11 HRs, and 58 RBI in AA with the Bowie Baysox this year.
Doug, from the little I have seen of them, it looks to like Trout is #1 and Harper is #2. If either one of them stop improving at this stage of their careers, the others will by-pass him quickly.
I can see they look good now but after five years in the Show…I want to revisit them to see how they have done.
How about you?
Ken – you are right on point about Trout …he scored from second base on a sac fly…..remember SPEED KILLS(tm).
If I were starting a team today and could pick anyone in the World, I’d choose Mike Trout….even over Matt Kemp, McCutcheon, Braun, etc….
Between harper and Machado, obviously Harper has accomplished more in the Majors already but I haven’t seen enough of either to determine who’s more valuable. I can tell you if they are close in ability, the guy who plays a premium position gets the edge. There are very few Shortstops who can hit nowadays and there are people who say if the 2010 Draft was done over today, Machado would go 1st over Harper. I’d be happy to have either! With Machado & Bundy coming, Baltimore is a team on the rise.
Fish – Doug can no longer use the word random(tm) as it has be trademarked under the patent # 13eqboli.
Hahaaaaa
old yankee, it looks like Trout will be more of a base stealer and better defensive player than Mantle, but he won’t have his power. Harper has the power and hitting ability. What amazes me about him is that he converted to the outfield from catcher. The kid is only 19 so it is harder to get a read on him. Machado is a SS who can hit with power, therefore the A-Rod comparison. I think all three have a chance of being stars for along time, but I think everyone would see Trout as the best player. The catches he has made this year are a career of hightlights for most players. This kid has all the tools.
Ken – was Mantle a mediocre defensive player and base stealer? Does Trout have better tools?
No player I have ever seen has had better tools than Mickey…he had the best 5 tools I have ever seen!
He had one tool missing, the great and all important 6th tool not many talk about…Baseball instincts!
So far the closest 5 tool players I have seen in person are A-Rod (whether you like it or not) and Josh Hamilton.
This guy Trout looks to be a guy that may have all 5 tools but one year is not a career. I have not seen him a lot but what I have seen is very good…he seems to have enough bat speed (for power) and is fast enough to be a good OF, how good, we don’t know. Give him another year or two then we will have a better read on him. As far as better tools, nope, speed and power will hold him back.
Mickey could steal (and did a few times) something over 100 but, he had no base stealing instincts and got bad jumps, bad reads etc. So, no he wasn’t a good base stealer.
As for being a better fielder than Mickey, I think Mickeys speed makes it about even, or to close to call. Trouts fielding is very good and would out last Mickeys speed, with age speed goes but talent stays the same until age catches up with it also…so go the legs, goes the player, not an old saying…fact!
Ken – the best 6 tools player I’ve seen is Arod.
1. Power 600 + home runs
2. Avg .300 + avg
3. Golden glove
4. Rifle arm
5. Speed
6. Incredible baseball instinct – especially on the base paths
Many argue that Mays was the best 6 tool player.
Trout has already made catches that Mickey wouldn’t have made, defensively he if better. Trout also is a better base stealer. Mantle was a better power hitter!
doug…
You are comparing the 50s’ and the 2000s’, can’t be done for a great many reasons we have all gone over. When Trout wins a 3 crown, HR titles, BA titles, covers as much ground as Mickey than he will be better. You ever wonder why no one has ever won the MLB 3-crown sense Mickey? Just look at the numbers he had to have to win the Crown.Trout may end up being better then Mickey in 3 of the six tools but some he’ll never get better at.
Does that mean he will not rate as a 5 or 6 tool player, no way! How much power, speed is needed to have them count as one of five tools?
One year is not enough time.
Doug….you are right, again…..Trout has made some fantastic plays in the outfield. Mickey wouldn’t have been able to make the same catches because he probably had headaches from the sun beating down on him…..and being tipsy from the previous nights beer fests.
Fish – this kid Machado might be another Arod. does he have a cousin named Yuri?
Twasp – In all seriousness, I wonder what type of player ARod would have been if he hadn’t succumbed to steroids? While they obviously helped him, I think they hurt him later in his career after he stopped and has had trouble staying on the field. Going by Alex’ statement that he didn’t start roids til he got to Texas, let’s look at the #s before he said he started. Both he and Jeter had 5 full seasons from 96-2000:
Alex
3456 PA – 955 H – 189 HR – 130 SB – 623 R – .311/.376/.567/.943 – 140 OPS+
Jeter
3514 PA – 996 H – 78 HR – 108 SB – 600 R – .323/.396/.470/.865 – 123 OPS+
Great numbers fishjam, for both of them.
The numbers for A-Rod while in Taxes can’t be out of line with those by much if any…not counting HRs!
The reason I said HRs don’t count is because Texas is known as a HR haven but, see what the numbers show; Sea-42,42,41 HRs–TX-52,57,47 HRs to much of a difference, Juice? NY–36,48,35,48,35,54 in 2009 after which it was down hill. It seems as though he hit a few HRs without the joy juice in NY. 2-48 HR and 1-54 HR seasons. Going by these numbers, it is not a big enough difference between his Texas-3 yrs @156 HRs and NY 3 best years @ 150 HRs to say how much the juice helped A-Rod or how much he really used.
So, I say, BS on any ban from the HoF his numbers don’t show the great differences that others users do.
With or without he would have been very very close to what he did end-up with any how.
Agree or disagree?
Arod would have been a great player with or without steroids. Even when he was a skinny SS he was hitting over 35+ home runs a season . The guy led the league in batting in his first full season as a pro! And to be able to be that productive from the SS position is amazing. Add to that a great arm, great range and excellent base running….he has to be the best I’ve seen along with Big Head Bonds.
You were doing good and telling the truth until the last 5 words. Why didn’t you quit while you were ahead?
Ha ha ….Bonds was a great player also even without steroids.
twasp, all of the great players that took steriods were great without them! What the writers should being doing is finding the ones that weren’t great! We all know that Bonds and A-Rod are 2 of the best players of all time regardless of PEDs.
Doug…..yes…agree………why is Ken telling me I was wrong saying the last 5 words about Bonds? That he was a great player?
Doug – do you think greenies were performance enhancing drugs? Did they increase batters reaction time to hit the ball thus raising there batting averages?
twasp, to me greenies are PEDs that 95% of the players took, the only reason that they are being down played by writers is that they would have to put an asterisk next to every HOFer for the last 50 years. They don’t want to do that, steriods are just a cop out.
Doug ….. I think you are right …… Did you read Jim Bouton’s book Ball Four ? He said Mickey loved to take greenies to get over all his hangovers.
If that’s true than Mickey took PEDs to enhance his performance. Do you think that is why he hit the ball of the facade because he was so jacked up on amphetamines?
Ken – do you know who beat Mickey Mantle in the home run derby ? Hint: a Minnesota Twin.
Doug – do you remember Celerino Sanchez? Yankee third baseman?