The latest from the Bronx:
- The Yankees bullpen probably won’t be any better in 2016, Jeff Sullivan of Fangraphs opines. The Yankees now have the most fearsome trio of relievers of any team in baseball with Aroldis Chapman, Andrew Miller, and Dellin Betances, but Sullivan can’t fathom the ’16 bullpen actually besting the 2015 bullpen. The Yankees were 66-3 when leading after six, and 73-2 when leading after seven innings, and there’s not much room to grow from there. Still, the Yankees were projected to regress a bit in the bullpen area, so the Chapman acquisition made plenty of sense.
- The Bombers head into 2016 with plenty of work to do, as Bryan Hoch of MLB.com writes. The Yankees may look to address their starting pitching as none of their starters topped 170 innings in 2015. Still, they have plenty of names to work with as Masahiro Tanaka, Michael Pineda, Luis Severino, Nathan Eovaldi, CC Sabathia, Ivan Nova and Bryan Mitchell are already in-house. It appears that outfielder Brett Gardner and left-handed closer Andrew Miller could be available if the Yankees get an offer they can’t refuse, but that has not come along yet.
- The Yankees’ bullpen trio could make history, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com writes. No team has ever featured three relievers who recorded at least 100 strikeouts in a season and only six teams have ever had two pitchers reach the 100 K mark. Cassavell stacked the three Yankees hurlers up against the 2014 Royals bullpen trio and also compared them to some reliever groups from the past.
Might want to check the spelling when you post your stories (Paragraph 1)
Love your work though, keep it up.
If you look at the glass half full then the Yanks should be in good shape with their starting pitching, they will all be fresh going into the season. They also have younger players ready to take spots like Bird, Judge, and Sanchez. The additions of Castro and Chapman make them better than Wilson and Drew.
There a little better, but the Red Sox are a lot better. They need a young left handed starter and a solid right handed reliever. A more consistent 3rd baseman wouldn’t hurt either.
Hard for a last place team to not improve.
How are the Red Sox better? Aside from Price they have no reliable starter, and their bullpen matches the Yankees basically.,
Yankees bullpen is a lot better.
I don’t think you could say the Yankees bullpen is a lot better.. Both teams have really elite bullpens. The Red Sox have kimbrel, Smith, Ueherea, and Tazawa. as a super solid core. The Yankees have Miller, Chapman, and Betances, also a very solid core. Correct me if I’m wrong but who else do the Yankees have in the pen? Red Sox have four high end reliveers, the Yankees have three elite pitchers themselves. But do the Yankees have depth? The Red Sox have a ton of guys on the team who might end up in the pen. Owens, Kelly, Johnson, Ross, Ellas, Wright, Layne. I think the Red Sox have more depth while also having a good elite late inning crew. As elite and nasty as the Yankees top three are, the Red Sox bullpen is slightly less risky ( the risk is spread out). Both teams have a guy that could be a risky player, Koji because of age, and Chapman because of his off the diamond issues.
As far as starting pitching neither team is perfect. I don’t know the Yankees as well as the Sox but I would think the rotation would be
Tanaka
Pinada
Severino
CC
Evodi/Nova
The Red Sox is
Price
Buch
Erod
Porcello
Kelly/Owens/Johnson/Wright?ellas
Both are risky but I’d take the Sox. Price is a horse and an Ace. Tanaka has shown he can be an ace but can’t stay healthy. Pinada has the talent but gets hurt like Buch. Buch I think has shown he can succeed when healthy. He’s the real question mark. CC and Porcello are both overpaid but Porcello probably has a better chance at a bounceback. Severino and Erod are both super good looking youngsters. I’d be happy with ether. Then the 5th spot is up for grabs for both teams. Lots of talent there for the Red Sox and I know Evodi has upside.
I think both teams are setting themselves up for the longterm. The Yankees are probably looking at more toward 2017/2018 then they usually would because of the contracts comming off the books and free agents to be after 18.
Red Sox may have a better “fourth man”, but their 7-8-9 trio is still second best.
I can even make an argument that Chapman, Miller and Betances are even all better than Kimbrel. And I’m saying that because over the past 2 years, Betances is 1st in WAR, Chapman is 2nd, Miller is 4th, and Kimbrel is 8th among relievers
The Yankees trio all have a higher K/9, better ERA, better FIP, better xFIP than Kimbrel in that span.
One other thing to keep in mind is Kimbrel and Smith are moving from very pitcher friendly parks to a very hitter friendly park
No one is saying the Sox pen isn’t good. But it is no better than the Yankees (on paper).
MB923, I said that the Red Sox have less risk because the talent is spread out. They have more depth then the Yankees. Outside of those three the Yankees don’t have that much talent in the bullpen. WAR is not great for relievers. Kembrel is right up there and is one of the top closers in the game. The Yankees top three are the best trio in baseball but a bullpen is more then three pieces.
I’m aware , but they are 3 very big pieces. Very big.
And by the way, their “fourth man” Chasen Shreve had a better year than Tazawa (though Shreve struggled in the 2nd half). So that answers that.
The Yankees are not the Tigers. Cashman and co. are probably the best at building a bullpen. They have enough depth
Should be a fun AL East battle yet again.
To start off, I have to say that Red Sox fans value Koji and Tazawa way too much, they weren’t that good. Koji I have to admit had an average year, but he got injured, and at 40+ years old, is he really going to be as good as you make him sound to be, I don’t even think he is gonna repeat his 2015 numbers.
When you look at the Yankees top 3 arms in the pen vs the Red Sox top 3, you can’t argue, Chapman, Miller, Betances vs. Kimbrel, Smith, Uehara. Compare their stats, #1 Chapman, #2 Miller, and #3 Betances led the league in in K/9, with Betances working the most innings, and not to mention that they are 1-3 in total strikeouts. All 3 of the Yankees arms finished with an ERA under 2.00, can you say that about the 3 Red Sox relievers, no because even Kimbrel, in a pitcher friendly park didn’t have one. Now to look at the 4th man, Tazawa vs Shreve, Tazawa did not have a good year, and is not getting any younger, he doesn’t have age on his side like Shreve, Shreve had a monster year until he faded down the stretch since he had never worked so many inning in a season before, while Tazawa was never actually good, even when he was given the closer role when Koji and Mujica went down, he didn’t do well, blowing 7 saves and a bloated 9.43 ERA.
If you go Chapman, Miller, Betances, Shreve vs Kimbrel, Smith, Uehara, and Tazawa, the Yankees core is younger, at an average age of 27 vs 31, and that’s not including the young bullpen arms the Yankees have in triple a, Pazos didn’t allow a run in his time up, and Lindgren will only get better, they are younger than Tommy Layne and and Craig Breslow and are more effective as well, so when you say that the Red Sox have a “super solid 4 relievers” it’s actually just Kimbrel who is actually gonna be any good. Bottom line is, the Yankees pen is much better.
Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. I’d like to think Chapman/Betances/Miller matches Kimbrel/Smith/Uehara, but it’s close. Red Sox also have Tazawa, a good quality pitcher who was overworked last year. Maybe the Yankees have an edge here, but if that’s the case, it’s not big enough to separate them IMO.
For starters , however, Red Sox basically only have David Price as the reliable starter.
Are you really asking how a team who was short of pitching and just added David Price and Craig Kimbrel got better? They also added Smith to their pen, he was a solid closer last year.
The Red Sox have a tremendous young team and did a tremendous job in curing what ailed them last year. (Pitching)
I wasn’t asking whether they were better as a team (because clearly they are), the question I was answering was whether the Sox were better than the Yankees, and I’m not sure we are just yet.
The Red Sox were 9 games worse than the Yankees last season, so even being a lot better doesn’t mean as good as the Yankees.
The Red Sox also had a much improved team by the time August rolled around. They also added two great pieces to the pen, an ace, and a power bat off the bench. The Sox have a really good young core. Both teams have question marks but I think the Sox are the better 2016 bet.
The exact opposite could be said as well. Just because we got better doesn’t mean we’re not as good as the Yankees. We’ll have to wait and see. Both teams look pretty competitive right now, but it all depends on how you play on the field.
What hasn’t been mentioned here is the Yankees are 14-19 when tied after the 6th inning. The addition of Chapman should help the Yankees improve on that percentage.
Girardii tends to not use his top 3 in tie games. A lot of those games were lost in the 7th when guys not in the top 3 were used.
It’s amazing. It’s been less than a week that he’s been in pinstripes, and Chapman’s value has gone through the roof. I hear they can land Jose Fernandez for Chapman, Judge and Mateo.
Is that sarcasm because I haven’t heard of a single trade scenario involving Chapman being traded. Miller? Yes.
Nope. Dead serious. Check Riveraveblues dot com.
LOL!!! That’s a yankees blog, and boy the kool-aid must taste pretty good over there. Get real
Pinstriped kool-aid.
You probably don’t realize it’s run by Mike Axisa who also works for CBS Sports.
Slothbroth must have poor reading comprehension because he did not say they can get Fernandez for those 3. This was his exact quote in an article about Chapman
“The Marlins have some young starters to offer — Justin Nicolino, Jarred Cosart, Jose Urena, and Adam Conley jump to mind — and perhaps they’ve indicated a willingness to move one for Chapman. Or heck, maybe Chapman can be part of a Jose Fernandez trade. Package Chapman with, say, Aaron Judge and Jorge Mateo and a fourth piece, and maybe the Marlins budge with their ace. I’m just spitballin’ here.”
“Chapman can be part of a Jose Fernandez trade. Package Chapman with, say, Aaron Judge and Jorge Mateo and a fourth piece, and maybe the Marlins budge with their ace. ”
Yup… my reading comprehension is off when a BBWAA writer says that. Isn’t this guy going to be voting in Hall of Famers?
Your words Slothbroth:
I hear they can land Jose Fernandez for Chapman, Judge and Mateo
And here’s his words :
Package Chapman with, say, Aaron Judge and Jorge Mateo and a fourth piece, and maybe the Marlins budge with their ace.
1 – He said a fourth piece. 2- He said he’s spitballing which basically means he’s throwing out ideas and likely to get laughed at
Lastly, yes he is or will be a part of the BBWAA and I assure you his ballot will be much better than some of the other public ones revealed (One voter only voted Griffey and Bagwell)
Sloth, is a Yankee hater and just try’s to troll Yankee fans. I still can’t believe the mods haven’t banned him because he brings ZERO to this website with his useless comments.
Sorry if my post offended you, Mike. I dig your writing, its just ludicrous the trades you come up with. Good luck with the blog and your hall of fame ballot. Now I know your screenname.
I read it earlier and didn’t actually remember that proposed idea. It’s highly unlikely but not at all preposterous.
What would the Marlins ask for Fernandez hypothetically? A package of 3-5 top prospects. Keep in mind that “top prospects” doesn’t always mean :”currently listed as a top 100 prospect by BA, MLB or whomever”.
A package of Judge, Mateo and let’s hypothetically say Domingo Acevedo (big signee last year from DR) and Jhalan Jackson (a 2015 draftee).
What’s the value of Chapman? 2 top 100 prospects?
Not saying the Marlins would want those latter two pieces or that the Yanks would pull the trigger but it’s not absurd. The post did say Chapman, Judge, Mater and a 4th piece.
And keep in mind that the Marlins were reportedly interested in Chapman, even if it was just for 1 year.
Southbeach……MIA wanted Seagar, Urias, Pederson, and other from LA. That’s 2 top 5 prospects plus another MLB ready player in Pederson who was a top 20. They wouldn’t give up Fernandez for an elite closer/soon to be FA when they won’t be competing for the WS this year, and a few prospects. Any trade with NY would start with Severino, Judge, Mateo + more.
Agree. It isn’t happening.
@bigkempin
Article says the Marlins were interested in trading for Chapman. Obviously they knew they would only be getting him for one year. Also, and I find this humorous. Go back and read articles about rumors of a player being available for a trade. Read the proposals made by some readers and then look at what that team actually gor in return for the player.
The Todd Frazier trade is a good example. Allegedly they asked for Salazar or Carasco and eventually a deal was made for a different team for a much less glamorizing package.
Also, I think we have understand that top 100 prospect rankings are for fans. It’s not what GMs and scouts use for trade purposes. Cano, Gardner, Melacon, Robertson, etc were never mentioned in ANYONE”s top prospect rankings yet they turned into desirable mlb players.
A trade for Fernandez is far fetched. I’m just saying that Chapman, Judge, Mateo and two other prospects is not an insane proposal.
“”Yup… my reading comprehension is off when a BBWAA writer says that. Isn’t this guy going to be voting in Hall of Famers””
There is no way that being a BBWAA writer makes you an expert on current trade value or baseball in general. The Hall is sort of a joke. Instead of relaying on a random writer for a pro Yankee blog, why don’t you use common sense or logic? If the Marlins are moving thier ace, that would show they are not going for it in 2016. Why would they need a closer with a year left on his contract? That makes little sense. Why would they trade an ace for a haul worth less then Shelby Millers haul? The only elite talent under contract the Marlins would get there is Judge and he is no sure thing. Thats a bad trade.
The Yankees need to shed some contracts before adding any new ones. In 2017 some contracts fall off the books. But that being said. Don’t expect the Yankees to wait that long. Before the 2016 season starts. You can BET that Gardner is going. I can’t see the log jam still there by spring training. I also expect Nova on the block. Who will they get traded for? Only Brian Cashman knows for sure?
For all the press devoted to the Yankees trio of relievers, the Orioles also have a stacked pen. While the names aren’t as famous as Chapman/Miller/Betances, a trio of Britton/O’Day/Givens has no reason not to be just as successful.
If you take away team bias and just look at it as cold hard facts it tells a story.
WAR ranking- #2, #3 and #6
K’s/9- #1, #2 and #3
LOB%- #2 (Chase Shreve), #6 (Bets), #7 (Chap) and #19 (miller). Astros, Royals and Giants are the only team with 2 in the top 20. Yanks have 4.
I personally would’ve prefered that they used the prospects for a starter but it’s hard not to say they aren’t the best 3 combo in baseball. (at least on paper)
Never thought I would say it but Almora and Edwards
Yes the bosox have obviously outgunned us in the free agent signing I wish the yanks management would sign a good starter so we can matchup with the rest of AL east
They definately have outgunned the Yankees in free agency, but let’s not forget that they did the same thing last offseason, and neither of them worked out, Sandoval and Ramirez, I’m not saying that Price and the rest will be busts, but just because you win in the offseason doesn’t mean that it will workout as we saw with both Hanley and Pablo.
In my opinion, the Yankees can contend with the team they have now, sure I’d love to add someone like Upton or Cespedes to balance out the lineup, with either of them signed Judge becomes expendable and he can be part of a package for a young arm, but then again I’m not Brian Cashman, but it doesn’t sound all that bad to have either of those 2 signed to play right field after Beltran’s contract expires, and get someone like Carlos Carrasco in exchange for Judge and a couple other pieces. Anyway, with a healthy year from Tanaka, Pineda, and Eovaldi continuing to improve, add a full year of Severino, CC with a new knee brace, and now shortening the game to 6 innings, the Yankees are in good shape, Starlin Castro can’t be any worse than Drew, providing good defense and solid numbers, granted, anyone can say that “if this happens and this and that then our team is going to contend” but if in this case, all the Yankees need is healthy starters and we can win #28. The Yankees won 87 games last year, and they got better this offseason without adding an albatross contract, hey Red Sox fans, you just signed a lefty workhorse at the age of 30 for 7 years, you guys better pray that he opts out, cuz if not in about 5-6 years you’re gonna have the same situation the Yankees are having with Sabathia only thing is, price is worth 10 million more.