Nine years ago, Bartolo Colon was a stud pitcher on his way to a 20-win season. As talk of relocation continued, the Montreal Expos went all in, shipping prospects Cliff Lee, Brandon Phillips and Grady Sizemore to Cleveland for Colon. Both Colon and Lee have won Cy Young Awards since, but Lee was this offseason's top free agent and Colon is a consolation prize for a Yankees team that has a thin rotation despite its fat checkbook.
Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports reports that the Yankees have signed Colon to a minor league deal (Twitter link). Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that Colon will earn $900K in the majors and has the right to be released if he isn't on the team after Spring Training (Twitter links).
Colon, 38 in May, last pitched in the majors for the 2009 White Sox. He started 12 games for Chicago and posted a 4.19 ERA with 5.5 K/9, 3.0 BB/9 and a 44.4% ground ball rate in 62 1/3 innings. Before that he pitched for the Red Sox, where he was effective for a seven-start stint in 2008. Colon's last standout season came in 2005, when he won the Cy Young Award for the Angels.
The Rangers, Indians, Rockies and Pirates all monitored Colon this offseason as he pitched in the Dominican Republic
ALBONDIGA!
no press confrence. was this the guy that Brian Cashman wanted lol
I think this is going to be a better move for the Yankees than the Yankee haters are hoping it will. Colon wouldn’t have worked this far back if he didn’t have the desire, and his temperament will make him a great addition in the clubhouse. On top of all of that, the Yanks won’t look quite so cry-baby-ish a year and a half from now, when Cliff Lee goes on the 60-day DL with a bad back.
and the award for dumbest post goes to…..
lunchbox45. lol
good one, back under the bridge you go.
Dude… what the hell are you talking about?! If Colon makes our lineup in any way, we have a lot bigger problem than we think we do.
Biggest advice for you to guys is to keep him the heck away from interleague games.
Seriously, he was pretty alright for us, but he threw out his back swinging for the fences and he’s a few years closer to forty now. Decent depth move and the money’s trivial at their budget, but this has a 1-1,000 chance of being anything but $900K down the toilet.
I remember that swing! Hilarious..
“Threw out his back” is an understatement. After that swing, guy left the batters box, the field, the dugout, the ballpark, the city of Boston, *and* the country. He went back to the DR and was never heard from for the rest of the season!! “Suspended indefinitely” because, well, he had no intention of coming back up.
Respectfully disagree. I look forward to a 39 year-old Bartolo Colon like I would have *dreaded* a 39 year-old Cliff Lee. But then again, that’s why they play the games, isn’t it.
We have a big problem already and his signing up will not hurt anything and if it works out it will be win win for everyone and if it works out it was a cheap fix.
Nice to see you’re not bitter about Cliff Lee.
Not that there’s anything at stake here — we’re talking about baseball, not foreign policy — but just for the record, if you were, hypothetically, to go back through my posts to the time before Lee committed to the Phillies, you’d find me saying that signing him to such a long contract after he’s already exhibited a quirky back is a terrible idea. Like I said, it doesn’t matter one way or the other, but it’s only bitterness if I thought we’d be glad to have him, which I never did.
I’ve got no idea what you said before the deal happened and if you were against it, kudos. But “the Yanks won’t look quite so cry-baby-ish a year and a half from now, when Cliff Lee goes on the 60-day DL with a bad back” sounds kinda bitter, whether it’s about Lee signing elsewhere or the flack the Yanks have got since I don’t know, but it definitely sounds bitter.
Sorry, Charlie, that’s just flatly self-contradictory. If I said it before we signed him, it isn’t bitter. Period. Someone’s going to regret signing him to that gigantic contract. I said it before it wasn’t going to be us, and I’m saying it again now that it isn’t us. Bitter means, now that it isn’t us I have to wish ill-will on the guy, where I wouldn’t have before.
Colón, like so many other players in Mexico and the Caribbean winter ball, has shown a great desire to keep on playing and staying competitive… heck, in México was playing until this season when he announced retirement, and was still in excellent shape to play thirdbase or at least be a DH, his power never diminished but he was willing to play for free (he received a car each season as a payment).
Now… i don’t know if Bartolo Colón aged 39 equals Cliff Lee aged 39, Bartolo has been a power pitcher whose injuries started to appear once he became so overweight, Cliff Lee is a ‘finesse’ pitcher who has shown a propensity to hurt his back, but in the end i also criticized the proposed deal the Yanks offered Lee, it’s not the same to offer a pitcher tons of money with 30-35 maximum starts per season and an injury reduces his playing time at least in 1/3 of the season, to offer tons of money to Jeter, for example, since the second, if injuried, could still play AND help in 100+ games.
I’m absolutely 1000% certain you are wrong. And its not because I’m a Yankee hater. Its only because I am a truly objective talent evaluator. That doesn’t mean I’m claiming to be a talented talent evaluator. It means I am objective. And I can say to a veritable certainty that this signing will make the Yankees weaker.
Cliff Lee has pitched 200 plus innings over the past four years.
Bartolo Colon has gained 200 pounds in the same time frame.
Actually… yes, one of his objectives is to sign washed-up, has-been players, injuried players with a high return rate to keep the minor leagues intact. That way, when the time comes to negotiate his new contract as General Manager he will be able to ask more than the $3 million dollars he is earning as of right now, based on how the experts (even ESPN) rate their minor leaguers. Specially pitching (Manuel Bañuelos from Monterrey, México is being touted as one of the 3 best lefthanders in the minor leagues who’s ready to play in the majors, and he’s just 20).
This must be the big offseason splash right?
Just wait…David Wells is licking his chops right now.
-C
I don’t think they could both play for the Yankees at the same time because they only have one XXXXL jersey.
Have to have two with C.C. around
They need to put a LOT more food in the clubhouse now!!!!
Probably for more than one reason.
Real Big! Lol!
Wah wah waaaahhhh
I hear he and Sandoval are doing P90X together. In the best shape of their lives.
Sabathia will join them
And Joba
Fatties
In that case, they’ll do their best and forget the rest. Bring It!
this is what they call in the biz, scraping the bottom of the barrel
I would agree, but Colon ate the barrel.
Cue a bunch of snarky comments even though this is just a no-risk minor league signing.
cue someones comment about cueing snarky comments
Hey guys, look how witty this dude is.
Cue yankees fans saying this is a low risk- high reward signing, which it is not
If you read carefully you would have seen I said “no-risk.” No sign of high reward anywhere in my sentence.
How is any signing ever a no risk?
because they’re paying him in leftover hot dog buns?
Ya, they must have him “clean up” all of the old food
There’ll be some sharp elbows at the buffet table this season
Hopefully he doesn’t throw out his back
Not much of that to do with CC around
Because $900k is literally 1/200 th of our usuall budget and he’s not guaranteed a roster spot on the 25 man roster?
I think it’s more of a no risk no reward signing. I hate this guy for some reason.
He sure had our number in the ALDS against the Angels, but that wasn’t yesterday, either.
How is it not alow risk/high reward signing? The low risk is that it’s a $900k minor lge deal. The high reward certainly DOES NOT translate into 200 IP and a 4.00 FIP. However, if he makes the team out of ST or his called up and gives innings a a 4.50 FIP or becomes an arm out the pen then how is that NOT a high reward relative to the financial expense?
If the Sox or 28 other teams made this deal would there be more than 20 comments about it? Would any of them actually bash it?
Wasn’t Thames a low risk/high reward deal as well? Get real ppl.
The dude is 38 and hasn’t pitched in majors since ’09. There is no HIGH reward. Low risk/mediocre reward.
A high reward is relative to what the risk is.
Ex. Sox signing Brad Penny to $5 mil = Higher expectations or higher level of reward,
Yanks signing Colon to a $900k minor lge contract= Lower expectations than Penny/Sox situation and lower threshold of reward.
If Colon pitched a month in AAA, got called up and pitched 10 starts to a 4.75 FIP and the Yanks salvaged/scrapped 7 wins from his starts where he went 6 innings and “held” the opponent to 4 runs and then gave the Yanks 15 appearances out of the pen to a slightly better 4.20 FIP then that would literally be a HIGH reward in relations to what was paid.
“If the Sox or 28 other teams made this deal would there be more than 20 comments about it? Would any of them actually bash it?”
Tito could hold a press conference to say that “nothing has changed since yesterday with the Red Sox,” and it would get 150 comments. And, yes, some would bash it until Godwin’s Law came into effect…. :O)
Umm, when the White Sox signed him in 09 I remember a huge outcry and lots of fat jokes. Then when he went missing I remember more fat jokes. So don’t think this is a Yankees bashing thing. This is a fat pitcher that has never really been THAT good bashing thing.
Ok…ok. Here’smy contribution.
“Bartolo Colon is so fat….
….that one time he jumped in the air and got stuck”
…..that when he walks his thighs talk to one another. Left thigh says “After you my friend”… right thigh answers “No sir after you”.
……that ppl don’t walk with him,they walk among him’
See…I can join in too.
Just like Bosox fans did 2 years ago! its creepy how similar the role reversal is from the Yanks-Sox offseason 2 years ago! Hopefully we win a championship just like the Yankees did!
It is low to non-risk if you consider they just spent 1/194th of the 170+ millions the bosox commited in three players this offseason… and that’s not counting the 20+ million a year extension Adrián said Theo asked him to sign until the season begins (to avoid having to pay more luxury tax in 2011), did not sound so happy about it here in México, and more so now that the bosox prohibited him from playing winter ball, which he loves because fans in México and the caribbean still love baseball for the game.
am i supposed to be happy?
I believe they call this “Plan Z”
That would be Carlos Zambrano actually
Man, I wonder what the contract details are? Rights to all of the
‘All you can eat buffets” in New York. Unless he gets himself into good shape, he mine as well work at the food stands.
This is probably going to be the funniest thread ever.
I can’t stop laughing at the headline. “Do these pinstripes make me look fat”, asked Bartolo.
Reply : “No Barto, the trough of Arroz con pollo and Cochinillo Asado make you look fat in pinstripes”.
I get dizzy trying to star at the vertical pin stripes on my shower curtain. One can only imagine about staring at Colon’s broad back in uniform.
Bartolo is Spanish for unreasonable or thick-headed.
Bartolo Colon=Thick colon
Actually, in spanish lingo, Bartolo is also somebody who’s crazy and/or dumb, but in reality its derived from Bartolomé, which means, in hebrew: bar (son) and tolmay (or Tolomé in spanish), or, the son of Tolomé, in english its the same as Bartthemy.
His last name is Colón using a tilde or ortographic accent over a vowel, in this case the O, not Colon which has a non-written accent in the first O.
Colón means somebody who colonizes, who makes a colony, which comes from the name of Cristobal Colón (or Christopher Columbus for the anglo speaking people).
PS
Colón is also the currency of both Costa Rica and El Salvador.
He eats innings……………….. But only deep fried and covered in barbarque sauce, with a side of fries
Quite possibly the best post in this thread!
weeaaak!
Haha…but he DOES wash it down with a 2 liter of diet Pepsi though. In his defense that makes it all better right?
and a diet Coke
Desperate times call for desperate measures, gentlemen.
And disparate measurements.
You literally should enter the next “Last Comic Standing” contest. Bravo!
If he’s in the Bronx this year, it’ll be a sad day for Yanks fans
Considering the series of events that would have to occur to bring said day about, it’d be more of a sad month.
At least he should make A-Rod look like he’s in his prime again!
Clearly ownership overstepped Cashman yet again.
That could be the funniest post of the year ladies and gentleman.. Unless they yankees give Arod yet another 10 year contract extension beyond the 7-8 year behemoth he will never fulfill..
So I guess Cliff Lee signed elsewhere? HAHAHAHAHA Low risk low reward…
Oh, he must be the back up plan in case Mark Prior doest work out!
YIKES!!!!!!!!!!
Mark Prior was signed as a reliever. Glad you know your baseball.
Jets could have used the yankees starting rotation as their offensive line
LOL. Awesome.
Here’s a challenge: Who would you rather have on your team Bartolo Colon, Mark Prior, or Chan Ho Park?
depends on what Chan Ho Park had to eat before the game…
The same slop Sabathia eats before every game…
Yeah well that slop works a whole lot better for CC then it did for Park.
Got that right. Park’s not eating enough I guess.
BTW I am a Yankee fan. I just like exaggerating signings like this!
Well… Colon could pitch affectivly if he stops eating the ball before every pitch
He has a thing or two to learn from CC. Yet, CC is fatter and fatter every season. *Sigh*
Except he isn’t and has lost 15 lbs this off season. Say what you want about CC but his weight has never effected his performance.
Of course it hasn’t! It was only a joke to tie into the Bartolo Colon conversation. But really, there has to be room for some jokes when the guy is one of the largest pitchers in baseball.
man… you can do better then that.
He’s the only pitcher that umpires never have to worry about throwing balls back to them, huh?
Maybe a combination??….
Mark Park?
Chan Ho Colon?
Park!
Here’s a challenge: which verb needs your question after using ‘rather’?
“Would you rather”
have as a pitcher?
fire?
cook?
trade?
Didn’t know I was dealing with the grammar police on this site. It was just a fun question.
Desperation is the world’s worst Colon
Who makes that again? Calvin Klein? No… who is it?
Oh! Right! Tony Reagins.
No…actually it’s Brut.
It’s sad to see this once great franchise fall on hard times.
Yeah… I mean they’re going to have a lineup featuring the likes of Teixeira, Cano, Jeter, A-Rod, Granderson, Gardner, Swisher, Posada, and Russell Martin, a bullpen that’s closed out by Soriano and Rivera… and a rotation that has to settle for Sabathia and Phil Hughes as the front two starters.
They’re probably doomed.
Oh, wait…
After CC and Hughes (Who is only “ok”) They fall off a cliff
Off a “Cliff”…heh, good one…
Hughes won 18 last year, how many did Beckett win ? or Lackey ?
Well Beckett won 6 and Lackey won 14. By the way Felix Hernandez won 13 so that either makes him a worse pitcher than Hughes (and Lackey), or it makes your argument foolish. I wonder which one…
Yeah Hughes as a 24 yo after his first full-season is just ok. No way should anyone expect any better.
Sox fans are hilarious.
This is coming from the same fan base that signed Penny and Smoltz for a total of $10 mil just to get rid of them both and watch as they were paid to pitch for other teams and have 10x much more success than they did for the Sox.
YOU…(pointing fingers at all the irrational Sox fans thinking this COlon signing is an act of desperation) should be the LAST ppl to be making serious comments about this deal.
YanksFan,
I usually enjoy your comments and find you the most agreeable Yankees fan on this site. That being said, your argument is silly. “Red Sox fans can’t say anything because your team did something similar 2 years ago.” If anything we should be the first to comment. We know first hand that it doesn’t work.
In regards to the signing itself, the money is negligible. I don’t see why anyone is saying this is a terrible signing. If the Red Sox signed Pedro Martinez right now to the same minor league deal Red Sox fans would applaud it.
Just wanted to have some fun with jokes. When they Yankees sign one of the most worn down pitchers in the MLB its hard not to laugh and make jokes, after they missed out on Cliff Lee
Anything batting after A-Rod on your list is a toss up and who cares who’s closing out your bullpen when your starters can only go 5 innings. And when you’re placing PHIL HIUGHES behind CC Sabathia as your #2 (a guy whith only 1 single GOOD season after 3 mediocre ones) that says volumes about said team.
I’m not a Yankee fan ..
but I have to say, judging a 24 year old pitcher after a decent season based solely on his work out of the pen as a 21, 22 and 23 year old… Is an excellent way of evaluating talent..
honestly move over money ball, here comes stupid ball
Riiiiigggghhhhtttt….Because before that he didn’t start games at all.
He didn’t end up in the bullpen because he was getting shelled as a starter.
You must evaluate using the “revisionist history” technique.
The guy spent the last 1/2 of 09′ in the bullpen where he FINALLY did well. Before that he sucked as a starter. His ERA was almost 7.00 in 08′!!!! uin 07′ it was close to 5!
To my point, Hughes = ONE solid season as a starter. FACT. Smarten up and get your facts staright.
Okay that was 2008. Things change. Know who also had a pretty bad 08 season? Clay Buchholz, who went 2-9 with a 6.75 ERA, and in twice as many starts so I can say he was more ineffective. Then he pitched better in 2009 and had a strong 2010. If Clay turned it around in 2 years, why can’t the same happen to Hughes? Both are talented young stars.
First off. LunchBox clearly indicated he wasn’t a Yankee fan, so clearly he has no need to stretch the truth.
Get your facts straight.
2007 @ age 20- Started 2 games, the last being a 6 inning no hitter left he game w/ injury and didn’t pitch again until August where he made 11 starts of which 6 of them he went at least 5 IP w/2 runs or less allowed.
2008 @ age 21-Complete shellacking in 8 starts before getting hurt, going on the DL and finishing the season in AAA.
2009 @ age 23-Started in AAA, came up to replace Wang who was hurt. Started 8 games and had a bloated 5.00 ERA that was blown high because of one really bad start (2 IP,8 runs). Take that one game out and he had a 3.54 ERA and 31 KO in 33 IP. He then went to the pen when Wang returned and was spectacular as a bullpen arm posting a 1.40 ERA and 0.85 whip out the pen in 51 IP.
2010-He won the #5 spot in ST and had a break through year sprinkled with great performances and some bad ones as well. What you would basically expect from a 23 year old in his first full season in the bigs as a starter and the first time ih his professional career (majors/minors) where he pitched more than 146 IP. In fact it was the 1st time since 2006 that he ever pitched more than 146 innings.
PLEASE get your facts straight and learn NOT to use small sample sizes and LEARN to put the stats you have in context. He did not get sent to the bullpen “because he was getting shelled as a starter”.
I honestly wonder now if the yankees are going to work the trade route…montero(there is almost no need for him with cervelli who is good a defense and martin in the fold, also posada will probably get some starts at C this season)+prospect or two +$$$ for a pitcher.
Cervelli is actually pretty poor on defense, and even worse with a bat.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Woo–that was a good one. Wait–that wasn’t from the Onion Network–that’s a real story? Does anyone have David Cone and Kevin Brown’s agents’ cell numbers? You can try them, too.
I’m a pretty big fan of…
1. Sabathia
2. Clemens
3. Colon
4. Wells
5. Chamberlain
It’s not just a rotation, it’s an offensive line. When the NFL players go on strike, the Yankees can step in and play for the Giants or Jets (whomever is willing to pay more).
-C
Baseball reference must have his amateur signing weight. He probably hasn’t been 185 since he was 12
The Yankees sound like the Yankees of old just acquiring stud players…if only it were 5 years ago
That’s the biggest backside anyone’s seen in the Bronx since J-Lo moved out.
Didn’t Heyman report this weeks ago? He’s the best.
Can we stop calling ballplayers ‘studs’ unless they look like Brad friggin Pitt? Man, that word drives me nuts.
Clearly they picked him as a piece for the big Felix trade….
hopefully Seattle will understand that with Colon’s weight he counts as 3 pieces
He’s fat. Am I doing it right?
Perfectly.
Off a “Cliff”…heh, good one…
Mets front office is peeved that the Yanks stole their big off season acquisition yet again!
Hate to be behind Colon, CC and Joba in the buffet line. Slim pickens at best.
You won’t have to wait in line, you will have to go to a buffet in a different state. They have all of them reserved for “THE BIG THREE” (CC-Colon-Joba)
Somewhere right now, Kei Igawa is breaking out in a cold sweat. Then, he remembers the $4 million, and is comforted.
so i guess this is the year the yankees miss the playoffs again, followed by some brainless spending that lands them some turd in the rotation to rot beside burnett as he finishes out his 5 year contract.
the sox missed the playoffs in 06 and won it in 07
the yanks missed the playoffs in 08 and won it in 09.
the sox missed the 10 playoffs and looked primed for a 11 run
sometimes with teams constantly so stacked need to let some fat die off and reload. Although admittedly next years off-season isn’t great for reloading and the only piece the yanks might lose is cc.
I don’t think CC will opt out but that’s a seperate point.
Moreso, I think some the biggest contributions the Yanks might get might be from w/in. With seven starting prospects starting 2011 @ AA or higher their biggest contributors can be the ones that have great 2011 campaigns. I know the Yanks hate to start too many inexperienced pitcher at once but I can totally see something like Sabathia-AJ-Hughes-Nova-Brackman/Banuelos/Betances/Warren/Noesi in 2012 if there’s no Cy Young caliber guy on the market next winter, especially if th 2011 team can hold their own and make it into the playoffs. If they fail to make the playoffs then all bets are off.
Riiiiigggghhhhtttt….Because before that he didn’t start games at all.
He didn’t end up in the bullpen because he was getting shelled as a starter.
You must evaluate using the “revisionist history” technique.
The guy spent the last 1/2 of 09′ in the bullpen where he FINALLY did well. Before that he sucked as a starter. His ERA was almost 7.00 in 08′!!!! uin 07′ it was close to 5!
To my point, Hughes = ONE solid season as a starter. FACT. Smarten up and get your facts staright.
lol he’s 24 dude..when he was with the big club most kids were still in AA and AAA yet you judge him on that…
Roy halladay had an era over 10 as a 23 year old in 13 starts..
you’re just being an irrational yankee hater
the funny thing is about all this comments about how the Yanks are losing it or this is funny… Yanks have 27 titles.. they must be doing something right, cashman has brought in 5 rings.. he must know a thing or two about low or no risk signing.. look at marcus thames last yr everybody that was a terrible move, “oh the yanks are signing this old, washed up…” blah blah blah … last time I check yanks won 95 games last year and were two games away from the Series… only guy the lost that they had all yr was Thames and they got someone better with Jones… You guys talking on every Yanks thread about how sad it is and ha ha ha are a complete joke…
I would say that’s far from the funny thing about all these comments…
There’s some really quality fat jokes in here.
I love when Yankees fans quote how many titles they have, going back like 85 yrs. They have 1 in the last 10 yrs. All 10 of those years with 110+ million dollar payrolls. Not so pretty sounding now, is it? hahaha
Oh yea, the Red Sox have more championships in the last 10 yrs too btw. Just a little salt for the wound.
That’s 1 more title than the Cubs, Dodgers, Mets, Mariners, Tigers, Braves and Astros. Why mention those teams and not many others if you ask? They all rank amongst the top MLB payrolls and combined have 2 World Series APPEARANCES these past 10 years. 2 WS appearances in 70 chances, as opposed to 3 WS appearances in 10 chances for NY.
Also, no team has more regular season wins, playoff wins, division titles, playoff appearnces as the Yankees.
If you want to call the Red Sox the “Team of the Decade” by winning 1 more WS the past 10 years than the Yankees, then go ahead. But if World Series’ won is your standard of Team of the Decade, then that means the Blue Jays had a better decade in the 90’s than the Braves.
Besides winning a Cy Young, Bartolo Colon also threw the only foul ball that I have ever caught at an MLB game – a ball hit by Ricky Gutierrez that caromed off an extremely unathletic looking sort wearing a Megadeath concert t-shirt. So Colon’s got that going for him too.
Cool story dude.
Please sign Duscherer, even Freddy Garcia is better than this.
Colon will never hold a candle to the great El Guapo. At least El Guapo WANTS to play baseball. Colon disappears somewhere in South America when things get tough.
Was there chicken wing sauce on the ball?
At least they’re getting younger….wider….but younger.
I think Pettitte will come back but still sign Duscherer, Freddy Garcia and if you can get Vlad for $2M, why the heck not? .300/115/29!?!
So you agree, it should be a straight-up trade? 3 for 1?
Prior, Jones and Colon? Party like it’s 2003 baby!
Would he take a minor league assignment if/when he does not make the roster? Just wondering, have really fallen out of touch with this guy…
I don’t know if I’ve ever seen so many bad fat jokes in one place.
anyone notice on on baseball-reference he’s listed at 185 =-X
Are the Yankees as bad they are being made out to be? They still have a lot of really god pieces. I know they are thin when it comes to starting pitching, but they should be contenders, right?
With CC and Bartolo, the Yankees will never be thin when it comes to starting pitching.
Touché…
Did he just call Bartolo Colon a prize?!?
And Dustin Pedroia is listed at 5’9″.
Further solidifying my beliefs that they are trying to re-create a 2003 all-star team. First Prior, then Jones, and now Colon.
..and in other news the Yankees have offered Ron Guidry a minor league deal…I’d have more faith in “Louisiana Lightnin” than Colon….Hell Dwight Gooden and David Cone are still out there…lol….Pedro? My 7 yr. old?
And this is what happens when your “fans” pour beer all over and spit at the prize free agent pitcher on the markets wife and family….You end up with Bartolo Colon and Mark Prior praying one of them has something left…
People are making way too much about the yanks lack of pitching. Unless Cano, ARod, and Tex go 0-1500, the yanks are going to win a ton of games. An 8-6 win is the same as a 5-1 win. The lack of depth could cause a problem in the playoffs. Cashman is just building depth so in a pinch he can at least throw out a major league pitcher versus whoever is sitting at the end of the bench.
They can win 161 games during the regular season for all I care. It will be funny to see them take a first round exit due to poor pitching.
Is Ron Guidry still available?
This just in, KEVIN BROWN IS COMING BACK TO THE BRONX!!!
I still hate this guy for stealing Johan’s Cy Young which would have made it 3 in a row
Sign Duchscherer and be done with this nonsense.
On the bright side, this confirms that Bartolo Colon is actually still alive. Who knew?
Minor league depth? OK. For considerations to the majors, no way.
Might as well try to talk Moose into coming back. Or find Aaron Small…
New York restaurant owners are delighted by this signing.
Taco Bells stock skyrocketed after this story broke
The Yankee payroll/lb just went way down
I’m no Twins fan, although I do like their players and the way they function as an organization… but I became a huge Johan fan during his years with the team. That year that Colon won the Cy over him was ridiculous. Johan should have won that. And I guess that’s where my hatred stems from for this guy.
Oh things are getting desperate in New York, looking more and more like they wont make the playoffs
Typical cashman. Just like Nick Johnson, Randy winn, javy vasquez, lance burkman ect were low risk right? Great, now with andruw jones, mark prior and bartolo colon all we need is a time machine and we will have the best team in baseball! CASHMAN=FAIL
Typical Cashman, Just like Nick Johnson, Javy Vasquez, Randy Winn, Lance Burkman, Austin Kerns etc were all Low Risk aka garbage signings right? Great, Now with Mark Prior, Andruw Jones and Bartolo Colon all we need is a time machine and we will have the best team in baseball! CASHMAN=FAIL!!! THE GUY HAS THE BIGGEST CHECK BOOK IN BASEBALL TO WORK WITH AND THIS IS THE BEST HE CAN COME UP WITH? GIVE ME A BREAK!
Is he suppose to put a gun to Cliff Lee’s head or demand that other teams trade him their stars? Grow up. This still the same team from last year minus Andy Pettitte. Aside from Arodys Vizcaino there wasn’t a single resource that will be missed from any of those deals/signings you just mentioned.
If only he knew some of AA’s Jedi mind tricks.
this is starting to feel like the 2005 Yankees
Typical Cashman, Just like Nick Johnson, Javy Vasquez, Randy Winn, Lance Burkman, Austin Kerns etc were all Low Risk aka garbage signings right? Great, Now with Mark Prior, Andruw Jones and Bartolo Colon all we need is a time machine and we will have the best team in baseball! CASHMAN=FAIL!!! THE GUY HAS THE BIGGEST CHECK BOOK IN BASEBALL TO WORK WITH AND THIS IS THE BEST HE CAN COME UP WITH? GIVE ME A BREAK!
This is a no-lose deal for the Yanks. It seems like they never make these kinds of moves for obvious projects. When Bartolo drives by cattle farms he spooks the poor cows. What ever, good luck.
they needed a new tarp so they decided to buy his underwear
Actually, I thought both the Smoltz and Penny moves were the RIGHT kind of moves to make just not for the price they paid. For that reason, I would think that Sox fans should understand this deal and that it’s not a bad move at all. THAT was the reason why I felt it odd for them to blast this deal. That fat jokes are not a big deal to me and quite funny.
Also, with a AA and AAA rotation full of young and hopefully mlb bound pitchers Bartolo might be able to give the kids some insight on what to expect in the majors. That’s an added bonus to me.
Back to the Sox deals for Penny and Smoltz. Just because they overpaid for both and both were epic fails doesn’t mean the thinking wasn’t logical or unjustified simply because the desired results never materialized.
I would rather have the Yanks turn to Bartolo in an act of desperation first as a mid-season callup rather than rushing a kid who might get shelled vs Boston and suffer thru a bruised ego. Throw Bartolo’s fat @ss on the fire first.
They each were 1 yr deals too man. But I mean, why do the Yankees need both Prior and Colon? Seems like they are hogging all the reclamation projects. Let some other teams have some fun too.
No man is above a good fat joke. It’s nothing personal against the Yankees, it’s just what they get for signing a fat guy. If it makes you feel any better, we’ll all probably make the same cracks if the Sox sign Sidney Ponson tomorrow. Honestly, I’ll probably just be lazy about it and link this thread.
Whenever I faced Ponson in the older video games he would always shut me down for some reason. I would hammer Pedro and kill Halladay only to get blanked by Ponson. If Cashman is listening and based on my experience the Yanks should get Ponson. Judging from his baseball I.Q. he’ll probably listen to this reason.
Ponson has been a Yankee on two separate occasions, as I recall, and neither ended well.
On a related note, I once threw a no-hitter in MLB Power Pros with Tim Wakefield. The moral of the story is that video games are bad for you.
“On the bright side, this confirms that Bartolo Colon is actually still alive. Who knew? ”
The manager of his local Burger King.
“I would rather have the Yanks turn to Bartolo in an act of desperation first as a mid-season callup rather than rushing a kid who might get shelled vs Boston and suffer thru a bruised ego.”
Whatever happened to Chase Wright, anyway?
Traded to Milwaukee, which means the Yankees will try and reacquire him, as well as however many bratwurst he can carry, to keep Colon and CC company.
Don’t leave Joba out, he looks like he could hold his own in a sausage eating contest.
People have probably said the same thing about A-Rod and Jeter, although for very different reasons. (Oh, and nice taste in usernames.)
that’s just wrong
He’s still “pitching to contact” in the Pacific Coast League.
500 innings equals 55 games not 162. Not saying he will “fail” or be any less than what you expect him to be but the fact is, he has NOT played a full season at 3B since 7 years ago.
500 innings equals 55 games not 162. Not saying he will “fail” or be any less than what you expect him to be but the fact is, he has NOT played a full season at 3B since 7 years ago.
Forget about the weight, nobody’s mentioned the Bozo The Clown curly hair.
Well, at least back when he was a Major League Pitcher, he was an innings guys. That seems to be an attribute they avoid. With that line-up and back of bullpen give me any guy who can log 200+ innings and pitch to a 4.00 -4.75 ERA and you’ve got a 12-15 win guy at the back end of the rotation. God, look how awful John Lackey was for the Red Sox last year, 233 hits in 215 innings, no complete games ,highest era in 5 years, lowest k to IP in 5 years, . . and he won 14 games.
If Bart pulls off a miracle and makes the team, starts every 5th day, and keeps his era below 5 he could move ahead of AJ Burnett at this point. As I said in an earlier post, There’s a reason guys like Livan Hernandez, Bruce Chen, Kevin Millwood et al always have jobs, they eat innings. With the Yankee line-up any one of these guys “could” win 15 games as a 4th or 5th starter, but they continually pass on them. They would rather spend lots of money on a free agent starter, or pull someone off the injury pile and wait for a miracle. Livan has pitched over 1700 inning in the last 8 years to a 4.37 ERA and average 33 starts a year. He keeps teams in games!!
Correction, the Yankees rotation WAS thin, but it just got a lot fatter.
After reading this article I only have this to say. LMAO!!!
The Yankees are going to spend the money they were going to spend on Cliff Lee on catering for CC, Andruw Jones, and Bartolo Colon.
solid signing by the yankees… just like how signing rafael soriano to a 3 year, 45 million dollar deal to be a setup guy was a solid signing.
the Yankees suck
And the Mets rock!!
4 pages worth of comments about bartolo colon to ANY team is beyond me..
I pity the Yankees if they depend on this guy to be their 5th starter savior.
Trust me, I’m delightful.
Funny, Red Sox fans were serious when they talked about ‘4 aces’ with guys like Bartolo Colon, Brad Penny, and John Smoltz included.
Post of the day.
Wheres CC?
No we were not, we never were. We already had Beckett-Lester-Wakefield-Dice K. Don’t get mad, and make dumb comments
lol always good when you mock another yankees fan. good work
QUOTE: “they talked about ‘4 aces’ with guys like Bartolo Colon, Brad Penny, and John Smoltz included.”
What’s even funnier is you can’t count to 4 apparently!!!
ummm … that would’ve only been funny if it was actually true.
Colon, Penny, and Smoltz makes”3″! ( in your defense, colon and penny combined are like 3 people)
Maybe Colon will just leave midseason like he did on the RedSox…. and LOL @Kei Igawa, what a waste!
hey Kei Igawa had 1 or 2 good innings
I think what’s most funny is your complete lack of comprehension of the word ‘included’.
Ahem: link to sports.espn.go.com
One of the funniest sports articles of the decade. And don’t try and tell me this wasn’t the rallying cry (‘bang for the buck!’ ‘historic depth!’) of the Red Sox’s 2008-2009 offseason, both from the fans and the media.
It’s actually amazing to see the similarities between this offseason and that one, only the roles are reversed. Even more amazing is the fact that there are absolutely zero articles painting the Yankees’ offseason in a positive light, and no articles decrying the Red Sox for ‘ruining baseball’. Well, seeing how the MSM works, maybe it’s not so amazing.
I live in boston. It’s a joke how bad people were saying Penny and Smoltz were going to be Aces. This move has absolutely no risk. Colon isn’t being brought aboard to be an ace, if he makes the team it’ll be to eat some innings early on in the season.
he has a dirtyyy curveball
No. He lands on the wrong foot.
As long as he puts his best foot forward.
You make no sense, he wont stand a chance in the Mlb
Not read the story..But from his last stint in the bigs with Chisox and Boston before.. His arm was in no shape for fast warmups for relieving duties and he walked out on Boston over being sent to the pen anyway.. Wonder if anything has changed?
That sounds encouraging. I mean there is such a small jump from winter ball to MLB. This is the lowest risk lowest reward signing ever. For real, what the f’n point of signing this guy? The Yanks already have Prior. Isn’t one reclamation project enough?
Yeah man, I hate all those stupid and idiots!
How is it no risk, they are paying him, so there is risk.
“I just want to thank God….”
You gotta admit that coming from the “Devil” that’s pretty funny!! 😀
Robinson Cano being eaten during spring training is absolutely a risk.
wait….. you dont??
Yes, I was mocking a Yankees’ fan by saying his post was funny, and then mocking the Red Sox fans that actually made these kinds of posts in seriousness 2 years ago.
They are only paying him if he’s good enough to play in the major leagues. Which he won’t be. So there’s no risk.
“How is it no risk’
SEE: the Yankees payroll.
Are you really going to argue this point? How about this, on a scale of 0 to 10 this would rank as a 0.01 risk for the Yanks. Happy?
Yeah you make a great point. I’d much rather have Colon than Buchholz.
Your a silly silly man!
Wow “Award for most desperate comment goes to” THE DIAPER!
I really liked the fact that you laughed at your own joke.. thank god to because no one else is going to
hahaaha nicely done. I gotta try that sometime!
GOD this is so dumb.
This thread is a joke. Cano has proven he is an Elite player. A-Rod was still a 3.9 WAR player. The yanks have one of the best outfields in the majors with Granderson, Gardner and Swisher (all three who have very valuable offensive assets). Burnett could be a major bounceback candidate especially since last year he was going through a messy divorce. If AJ can regain his confidence and pitch well CC, Hughes, AJ and three men almost any team wouldnt mind in their rotation.
PS Hughes was an all-star last year so I don’t know how CC and Hughes make one all star caliber pitcher…
Blackcourt is a Sox fan just trying to get a rise out of us. Clearly, Tex’s 2010 had more to do with the 2 or 3 nagging injuries he had. He still had a very good year. Now if he’s basing his “starting to decline” comment off of his age (31 in April), then he should really be more worried about what kind of production to expect out of Youks who is 1 year older and will be spending a full season at a position he hasn’t played EVERYDAY since 2003 in AAA.
I think the difference is that hindsight shows us that those moves were an absolute bust, those players are now two years closer to the grave and the Yankees are signing some of these guys anyways. If you see that neighbor you hate’s house burn down, do you then go out and buy the same model smoke detector when it hits the clearance rack?
Other than that article about the Yankees being far and away clear favorites to win the division because they signed a set-up man… (Soriano)
I’ll post the link in another comment in case it doesn’t get approved. It’s by Wallace Matthews for ESPN New York.
There is no public outcry cuz Boston traded for one star and signed one as a free agent! The Yankees spent over 400 million on 3 high-priced, type A, free agents in one offseason which was unprecedented!
I agree using W-L as an example is a fail. But it should be noted that of Hughes 17 wins as a starter, 16 of them he allowed 3 or fewer runs. Nontheless, W-L is pretty useless
Especially when Dusty Baker gets involved…
(Insert obligatory Dusty Baker fat joke here)
-C
Ppl are making more of this deal than neccessary. The Yanks are not going to send out a #5 that they feel can’t compete. IF Colon if unable to meet the minimum expectations of a #5 pitcher (capable of providing 6 IP and 3-4 runs or less allowed) then he won’t be pitching for them for long. At worse, he can be an option for them to use and abuse until one of the AA or AAA pitchers get a little lathered up in AAA or until a trade candidate materializes as the pretenders distinguish themselves fromthe contenders.
not as long as you or any other Philly fan expects anything close to a top prospect.
Hahaaha low blow man, low blow. All we have to do is be good enough for the wild card, because come playoffs, 3 pitchers can carry us. I would still pass on giving up prospects for Blanton, and just let Mitre give it a go.
I’d be happy with a Kei Igawa and Sergio Mitre trade for Joe Blanton :), of course, the Phillies would owe some money to the Yankees too just to make it fair
(in a high pitched voice) Awkkkkkward.
that’s what my ex-wife said.
Pretty sure that isn’t true. They signed him to a minor league deal so there has to be some money involved, and he has the right to be released if he doesn’t make the team out of spring training so they would be on the hook for the minor league portion of the deal; they would have to pay him that to sit on the couch and eat cheetos.
Whilst I agree the Mets shouldn’t have a Jackie Robinson memorial, Jackie never played in L.A. so that would be equally inappropriate. At least he played for the Dodgers though, I get that.
So are you saying the Mets can’t pay whatever tribute to Jackie that they wish? Most Brooklyn Dodger and NY Giants fans became Met fans seeing as how most hated the Yankees. Jackie spent his career in NY so the Mets paying special tribute is understandable.
Really? Does anyone really think the Yanks are counting on Prior and Colon to be anything more than minor lge depth for possible call ups? Maybe….MAYBE…Colon shows something in ST and the Yanks decide to go with him rather than a rookie who might benefit from another month or two at AAA to get some kinks worked out or get their confidence up?
I expect silly “rivalry” comments from some, but there are a lot of guys I respect that are saying some really stupid things about a minor lge signing.
Yeah… NOT!
The bosox and its fans, as always, overhyped and glorified those acquisitions, turning a blind eye to the fact they had signed washed up players to be their starters, OF and reliever, and it blew in their face, and the whole nation enjoyed it when the yanks beat Penny and Smoltz so bad they were left go from the bosox, while everybody not a red sox fan kept on laughing at the bosox remarks from spring training.
Now… fans of yanks aknowledge the acquisitions of the NYY as something not so wise, but don’t overhype it nor glorify it because they know Colón is not their answer (check their comments), they even criticized Soriano’s contract and Jeter’s extension. At least its a big difference between those two years, Yanks fans aknowledge the NYY offseason was not a pretty one (altough it left them with the best 1-2 punch in baseball since Rivera-Wetteland from 1996, which is one of the best of all time, if not the best in terms of a 1-2 punch of relievers), and aknowledge the teams to beat are still the Rays and now the bosox, while bosox fans went from criticizing the money the yanks spent in 2008-2009 to shut up about their own spending (it feels good when the team you love spends money to fill up their voids, doesn’t?).
So… in short, please try to take a couple of minutes to remember past offseasons, don’t deny what’s known all around baseball, you’ll only end up like one of the millions of obnoxious bosox bandwagonners who don’t remember when their team was going down the toilette and abandoned ‘their’ team during their mediocre seasons (by the way i similarly despise yanks bandwagonners who weren’t rooting for the yanks during the bad years in the 1980’s and don’t even know who Pagliarulo was, or never watched Fischlin catching).
I thought it looked more like he was rolling.
I laughed, but it wasn’t at the Joke.
Et, tu Brute?
Yanks have thought about this already and have taken precautions by creating a Hannibal Lecter mask decorated in brilliant Yankee pinstripes which Colon is obligated to wear once he arrives at all ballparks both at home and on the road.
Unless your link is clearly promoting your blog or website, we’re pretty lenient with the linkage. Especially for a reference sake.
The difference is: the 2009 article of the bosox was written by Jay Stark, a seemingly neutral analyst, while the 2011 article of the NYY was written by a Yanks homer, in Wallace.
He makes 900k IF he makes the major league squad. If he doesn’t make the team, he can choose to become a free agent again. Ignorance is annoying.
ZERO RISK
First of all if I’m wrong it’s no big deal so there’s no reason to be a jerk about it. Second of all, I’m not convince that I am wrong; where does it say that he doesn’t make anything if he doesn’t make the team? It says they signed him to a minor league contract, was it a contract to play in the minors for free? I don’t think they can do that. If I’m wrong about how these things work tell me how don’t just proclaim that my ignorance is annoying you.
Miss playoffs. Because if making or missing the playoffs rests with us obtaining or not obtaining Blanton then we’re cluster poopied anyway and might as well keep Betances.The idea of the Yanks trading Betances, Banuelos, Brackman or Montero for Blanton and his $18 mil is not simply absurd because I think it is, it’s absurb because if you look at the level of prospect packages given to better pitchers recently then there is ZERO precedent to think that would actually happen. The Yanks DID trade Vizcaino but I think that was a factor of them, wrong or right, expecting better production from Vazquez and the fact that VIzcaino had health concerns (had major surgery prior to the trade) and was passed up in the depth charts by other young pitchers.Given what is expected from Blanton, I can’t see any team with a good farm giving up a top 5 prospect for him, even in a 1 for 1 deal.
Miss playoffs. Because if making or missing the playoffs rests with us obtaining or not obtaining Blanton then we’re cluster poopied anyway and might as well keep Betances.
I just wanted to post that again because of how perfect it is
I can’t say I honestly believe that Colon or Prior will break camp with the Yankees, but I gave simply what was asked for: a reason why signing guys like Colon and Smoltz was applauded for the Red Sox two years ago, but are being panned for the Yankees now.
Yanksfan, I have to give you some props here. I’ve been a reader on these comments for a long time and never really have posted till recently but I find myself agreeing with you quite often. While the reward may not be anything more than a league average #5 starter there really is no risk at all given the small financial hit. Why people are bashing this so much is beyond me. Neither Colon or Prior have guaranteed roster spots so really anything they give the Yanks can be viewed as a bonus. Why not try to catch lightning in a bottle?
Maybe in his scenario CC ate Hughes on their way to the All-Star game?
Seconded. That pararaph was basically art.
Just for the record, the moderator edited the comment because I would never use a word like “poopied”.
Must be a Disqus thing then, because I’ve never once managed to get a linked post approved on here and the only three things I’ve ever linked to on here are B-R, Fangraphs and the Extra Bases blog (And I’m reasonably sure I don’t work for the Boston Globe).
The fact that he said “there are absolutely zero articles painting the Yankees’ offseason in a positive light” makes your argument irrelevant.
Now I’ve never personally seen the entirety of Silence of the Lambs, but as I recall, Lecter still ate a whole bunch of people, mask or no. The way I see it, your only hope of having an All Star this year if Colon actually shows up for ST is based off of the fact Granderson and Gardner are relatively fast runners.
No. The logic of either move remains true. You can never have enough mlb experienced pitching. The probability of success has dimished but then so has the financial outlay.
The costs of Penny, Smolts and Colon for the Red Sox vs Colon and Prior for the Yankees are night and day as the Sox commited over $10 mil. The Yanks with those two have commited maybe $1.5 to $2 mil? And the expectations were/are in line with what each team expected/expects in return. The Sox expected good mlb performances (regardless of whether that was reasonable) from those 3 whereas the Yanks are literally expecting nothing much in return but are hoping to catch lightning in a bottle.
Youk logged close to five hundred innings (Close to half the season) at third base in 2009.
The Yanks are smart. If Colon had that look of hunger on his face then someone would kick Mitre in the back of his knee and scatter. Sacrifice Mitre so that others can live and play another day.
Except you completely missed the part where anyone really expected much out of any of them unless they were overly-optimistic fools. Most sox fans expected Smolts to be a #3 and didnt expect a whole lot from Penny other than to eat innings. As I recall, anyone who I knew (myself included) was livid with the signing of Colon.
Aside from CC, who can you rely on as of right now? The man can pitch, but he is going to need days off.
CC, Hughes, AJ. It’s not great… but hopefully the offense can carry us if/when AJ implodes. =/
I’m still holding out hope for Pettitte to return midseason, as unlikely as that may seem.
All I know is A-Rod had better stay off of his mound.
Thanks. I guess Yanks and Boston are magnets for biased criticism.
Wait….42 minutes since you posted that and no “Bartolo already flattened the mound” comments. Seemed like a “gimme”….
People said the same thing about RA Dickey last season when he joined the Mets. Colon was once a great pitcher, there’s no reason to believe he can’t do it again if healthy.
Colon is fat and old. He can’t compete.