Five Ways the Yankees Can Claim Back New York

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This year, the New York Mets temporarily captivated “The Big Apple” throughout their Pennant winning run. Meanwhile, the Yankees suffered an early playoff exit to an up and coming Houston Astros squad that has the foundation to compete for the foreseeable future. Here is a checklist of five priorities General Manager Brian Cashman should consider to bring the “Bronx Bombers” back into the Fall Classic.

1. Avoid the Surplus of Elite Aces

This winter, pitching is the subject of conversation among baseball writers and fans alike. Several of baseball’s best pitchers, including 2015 Cy Young Award candidates David Price and Zack Greinke, enter free agency with the hopes of earning a contract comparable to the Washington Nationals’ Max Scherzer. Scherzer was awarded a seven year, $210 million dollar deal to be at the forefront of what (on paper) looked to be the best rotation in the game. 

While Price, Greinke, and the World Series Champion Kansas City Royals’ Johnny Cueto may appear tempting for any club to take the next step, age needs to be of concern. All three pitchers are already over 30 years old and have thrown over 1400 innings. This should be a red flag especially to a Yankees team enduring the final, ugly years of its C.C. Sabathia contract. Sabathia helped New York win in his first year, but Scherzer was meant to do the same in Washington and the Nationals didn’t even make the playoffs. One pitcher can help a team contend, but it is no guarantee. With the amount of time and money dedicated taken into consideration, Cashman should steer clear.

This, however, does not mean they should go without at least considering some of the more affordable assets they could potentially obtain. Their current rotation for 2016 already features at least seven different arms within their organization, but it’s often said that “you can never have enough pitching.” They have been linked to free agent right hander Jeff Samardzija, who, after the worst year of his career; could be had for cheap. Mike Leake could be a possible match as well, and could serve in the lower half of the rotation. An extra pitcher could wind up being a smart investment considering the injury potential of Michael Pineda, Masahiro Tanaka, and Ivan Nova, and the off field issues surrounding Sabathia.

2. Sign Ben Zobrist

The Yankees have burdened themselves with an overwhelming number of unwanted long term contracts ever since George Steinbrenner revolutionized the free agent market in the 1970’s. They have never seemed to learn their lesson and only reward players who are capable of performing well throughout a majority of the deal, beyond just the first few years. Prior to 2014, they spent about a half billion dollars allocated between Tanaka, catcher Brian McCann, and outfielders Jacoby Ellsbury and Carlos Beltran. All four players have been productive in their time, but it can be argued that none of them were really worth their contract.

The only player of that quartet whose salary was a fair estimate of his projected value was Beltran, who was only signed for a three year contract. The goal of his deal was to provide a switch hitting savvy veteran who could bridge the gap for prospect outfielder Aaron Judge. With Beltran coming off the books following the 2016 season, it may be smart to reach out to Ben Zobrist for a similar offer.

Zobrist will turn 35 next year, and his offensive production has declined. However, he is relatively durable and quite possibly the best utility player of this generation. He can play every position but pitcher and catcher, with his strengths coming at second base and in the outfield. Acquiring him will give the Yankees flexibility, which is desperately needed with as many aging, injury prone position players as they have. For much of 2015, they had the third worst offensive production at second base (according to River Ave. Blues). Stephen Drew was released this past week, and they are left with Dustin Ackley and unproven prospect Rob Refsnyder to fill the void. Having the option of starting Zobrist over either of those two, or in order to give others needed days off, would be welcoming.

3. Relieve the Bullpen

One of the biggest positives the Yankees benefitted from in 2015 was the strength of their bullpen. Closer Andrew Miller joined the fold after receiving a 4 year, $36 million dollar deal, and he went on to win the AL Reliever of the Year. Dellin Betances continued his recent stretch of dominance, finishing the year with a 6-4 record, a 1.50 ERA, and 131 strikeouts. He has thrown more innings than any other reliever over the past two years, and the end of last year showed that he was human after all. Fatigue may have been a factor in Betances’ late season regression, and it was certainly warranted. 

Manager Joe Girardi has always placed an emphasis on his bullpens. He is typically pleased with his starters exiting the game in the 5th or 6th inning, which has often been a topic of debate among Yankees fans. His expectations make it so the bullpen is counted on to hold the game for at least three innings on most nights, and often this means some combination of Betances and/or Miller are needed to keep the score in tact.

It would be smart for Cashman to look to add one or two more established right handed bullpen options, either by trade or through free agency. Ryan Madson and Darren O’Day are free agents and it appears as though a majority of the game's top closers are on the trade market. More relievers will allow for Betances, Miller, breakout left hander Justin Wilson, and Adam Warren to breathe between appearances and potentially make them even more effective.

4. Flip an Outfielder to Sign Jason Heyward

It may not appear so concerning at the moment, but the Yankees are set up for some serious decline at the top of their lineup. Brett Gardner and Ellsbury showed their capabilities and chemistry batting leadoff and second in the order in April and May, but injuries hampered their hot starts. 

Ellsbury was placed on the disabled list in May after spraining his knee, and batted .220 following the All Star break. Newly hired hitting coach Alan Cockrell revealed that Gardner also played through a wrist injury during most of the second half, ultimately causing him to bat just .206 in that same timeframe. Their lingering pain affected the lineup’s explosiveness, and Girardi wound up having to bench Ellsbury for Chris Young in the Wild Card Game.

Gardner is currently signed through 2018 with a team option for 2019, and is owed $37.5 million guaranteed. Meanwhile, Ellsbury is owed $105.7 million through 2020 with a team option in 2021. Both players offer similar value, despite the enormous difference in their average annual value. Gardner was drafted by the Yankees in 2005 and has played his entire career in New York, whereas Ellsbury came up through the Red Sox system and played his best years there. 

Because Gardner’s contract is considerably more affordable than Ellsbury’s, he is widely regarded as their best trade chip. Yankee fans may prefer to see Ellsbury moved than the fan favorite, but Brian Cashman may not have a choice. Moving one of the contracts would help not only add additional value elsewhere on the team (perhaps in the bullpen, such as elite closer Craig Kimbrel of the Padres), but would open up another spot in the outfield.

Much has been made about the 2016 Free Agent pool containing the most value until 2019, when Bryce Harper is projected to become a free agent. The Yankees have been linked to Harper since he was a prospect, but there are no guarantees that he will wind up in New York. Rather than waiting, it may be wise to use some of the approximate $62 million that will come off the books soon from Beltran, Sabathia, and Mark Teixeira’s expiring contracts towards a long term outfield mainstay. That player is Jason Heyward.

Heyward was a mega prospect when he arrived in Atlanta in 2010. In his first game for the Braves, after Hank Aaron tossed out the ceremonial first pitch and passed the baton, Heyward hit a home run in his first career at bat. He drew comparisons to Willie Mays, and was even nicknamed “The J-Hey Kid” in his honor. He placed second in NL Rookie of the Year voting that year and made the All Star team after batting .277 with 18 home runs.

Since then, he hasn’t quite tapped into the power potential he once offered. He only hit over 20 long balls once, in 2012. He does offer value in other facets of the game, collecting a career Wins Above Replacement (WAR) value of 31.1. He has been touted as the best defensive right fielder in the game, and was given the 2014 Wilson MLB Defensive Player of the Year award in recognition. 

After being dealt to the St. Louis Cardinals last offseason for pitcher Shelby Miller, Heyward enjoyed his best year to date, batting .293 and helping the Cardinals to the best regular season record in baseball. He batted .357 in 14 at bats against the Chicago Cubs in the NLDS as well.

Oh yeah: and he’s still only 26 years old.

Signing Heyward will not be easy, as he makes for the most interesting free agent storyline of the offseason due to his relative youth compared to other outfielders Yoenis Cespedes and Justin Upton. Technically, a player doesn’t typically begin their “prime” seasons until around the age of 27, so there is a chance he could still increase his home run output. Even if he doesn’t, he is a fantastic athlete with no history of off field issues and would be a key component  of the lineup for years to come.

St. Louis grew attached to Heyward in their lone year together, and is likely to offer him a significant contract to stick around. But if Cashman were wise, and is able to move either Gardner or Ellsbury; he is worth a second look. Harper may be available eventually, but if the Yankees plan on winning now, Heyward would increase their chances.

5. Keep Core Prospects Together

In spite of all the free agent speculation I have discussed thus far, I do love what the management has done in recent years to improve their farm system and youth as a collective. Didi Gregorius stepped into Derek Jeter’s shoes and evolved into one of the better shortstops in the American League by the end of 2015. Nathan Eovaldi performed well in the rotation, using his high velocity to collect 14 wins. And Yankee fans were entertained with the debuts of top prospects Luis Severino and Greg Bird; who were all able to contribute significantly when called upon.

When the Yankees won four World Series titles in five years during the late 1990’s dynasty, their roster was composed of a mix of excellent young players such as Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, and Mariano Rivera, and veteran leaders like Paul O’Neill and David Cone. Youthful teams today such as the Cubs and Mets were able to use a similar formula to make deep postseason runs. 

This Yankees team can do the same with the few maneuvers suggested above and a continuation of the good things they managed to do in 2015. But the core needs to stay together, which means Brian Cashman needs to find ways to improve the team without trading Severino, Bird, Gregorius, or Judge. The team needs to establish chemistry in order to win (see: Royals), and years of experience playing together will do just that. 

There may be bumps and bruises along the way, but this strategy gives them the best chance of hoisting the World Series trophy by the end of next October. That, everyone; is Yankees baseball at its finest.

We Won't Stop! Mail from William

Hey guys, Drew back here! There was a bit of confusion recently between Frankie, William, and I which resulted in me receiving both William and Frankie's cards in the same box! I accidentally posted the mini Mariano Rivera figure with Frankie's cards, but that actually was from William. Anyway, everything is now worked out, so let's see what William had to offer!

We begin with a whole lot of 2015 Topps Yankees goodness! I did wind up buying 2015 Topps cards at Target surprisingly, but I only pulled a few of the Yankees cards. Luckily for me, William opens quite a bit more than me, and is one of the most generous people in Internet history. I kicked off with the two amazing Jeter cards, both of which have become two of my all time favorite cards. The second it was revealed that Jeter's classic celebration would be the first card in the set I knew this was going to be a special year for baseball cards. I really like the gold parallel of David Phelps too; I'm going to miss him next year when the rotation is on the DL. 

I'm going to hope and pray if Sabathia and Tanaka get injured next season that they don't look sign this lefty bullpen specialist. Curtis James Jackson III, aka 50 Cent, threw perhaps the worst pitch of all time to kick off a Mets game last season. Seriously. (Vlad could still hit it though)

Well, it really doesn't get much nicer than this 2014 Topps Chrome insert of Jacoby Ellsbury! I've always kind of liked the 1989 Topps design, and I think they did a great job with it in this case. I don't have much of Ellsbury in my collection, and I have a good feeling about him in 2015. So I think I've got to do something about that.

I mentioned earlier how the new Derek Jeter 2015 cards are among my favorites of all time. This one has got to be up there now too. From everything I've seen, 2014 Stadium Club looks amazing, although it's not much of a surprise. I may have to try and get some for myself, but I could just be content with this sweet Core Four tribute. It's so weird thinking that this era of Yankee excellence has come to a close. 

He also tossed in some older cards of a couple of my personal favorites. I love that Tino Martinez Donruss rookie; even if I may have it already I'll never get enough of it.

Capping it all off was this rally towel from the Orioles playoff run last year. He seemed to have gotten about a million of these from FanFest this year, and it is a welcomed addition to my collection. If it was a Red Sox logo, I could use this in all sorts of different ways, but I can tolerate his Orioles enough to leave this unharmed. 

I'll never be able to fully repay you for all of this stuff, William. It means a lot to you that you think to send me all sorts of nice things on occasion; it's living proof that you're one of the best people I've ever come across (although you certainly don't need to send anything to prove that). Thank you so much!

See Ya!

Thoughts on Cano

Hey guys, Drew back here. In case you haven't heard, Jay-Z brought my favorite player away from New York and all the way to Seattle. Yeah, you heard that right. It's unbelievable to me that a man who lives for New York took away one of the Yankees' finest pieces without putting a lot of effort into the negotiation. Alicia Keys brags on Jay-Z's classic "Empire State of Mind": "New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of". Mr. Carter obviously is infatuated with everything about the Bronx, but I guess he dropped that love when he went and took Robinson Cano as far from the Big Apple as possible. Hopefully Robby likes seafood and rainy days, because while Seattle is a beautiful city, there is no place like New York.

From a business standpoint though, it makes sense. The Yankees weren't budging from their original offer of 7 years and $170 million, and Seattle, fresh off a $2 billion TV deal, was willing to open their wallets for the star second baseman. After a supposed hiccup between Jay-Z and Mariners owner Howard Lincoln, the two sides eventually agreed to a 10 year, $240 million dollar deal. The move put Seattle back on the map for the first time since the times of Randy Johnson, Alex Rodriguez, Edgar Martinez, and Ken Griffey Jr. While the move doesn't project them to now be a playoff caliber team, they supposedly aren't done. They've been linked to free agents Nelson Cruz and Shin-Soo Choo, and have expressed interest in trading top pitching prospect Taijuan Walker for a David Price or Matt Kemp. The Mariners finally have the money they needed to contend with Texas and Oakland (who seemingly gets it done without all the money). This move also makes Jay-Z look great, as he was only $60 million off from his original goal of a $300 million dollar move, which at first sounded absolutely ridiculous to anyone but him.

Sure, the move makes sense for a Seattle franchise that is struggling tremendously to put fans in their seats. However, they can't stop here, or else they will essentially throw $240 million out the window. They aren't paying $24 million a year for Cano's age 41 season, they're paying $240 million over 10 total years in order to bring Seattle its first World Series championship. If they don't win during this next decade, the contract will be a colossal failure. Cano is already 31 years old, and if they expect him to put up similar numbers to what he's produced for New York during his prime years, they're crazy. Take a look at similar moves, especially Albert Pujols, who got the exact same deal as Cano but was a year older at that time than Cano is now. Pujols was expected to bring Los Angeles back to the top, but now they're drowning in his enormous contract as his performance is making him look like more and more of an average player. Seattle has the money and prospects to build a winner now, but they have to keep in mind there are plenty of other elite teams out there, including the Yankees, whose signings have already made up for the loss of Cano. With just Cano leading the way in New York's lineup last season, the team struggled tremendously. However, with the money they would've used mostly towards Cano, they've already signed Brian McCann, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Carlos Beltran, and seem to be far from done!

I'm not calling the Yankees geniuses for dumping Cano and his enormous contract off with the Mariners. I've never liked the way the Yankees have handled their roster. Since the days where they allowed players such as Jeter, Posada, Bernie, Pettitte, and Rivera to develop into All Stars, they've practically bought their whole team. Cano was one of the last remaining pieces that came straight out of their farm system, and he was in the midst of writing his script to being the next Yankee to take his career straight to the Hall of Fame. Instead, he chose to start a new chapter in Seattle that could make or break his chances to eventually be enshrined in Cooperstown. But in this day in age in baseball, the best business decision for New York was to let Cano walk. The Yankees certainly don't have to worry about money, however their revenues decrease significantly if they don't have a contending, playoff caliber team on the field, which was proven during their injury riddled 2012 season. With 3 potential All Stars now in the heart of the Yankees lineup, nothing could go wrong, right?

Wrong. Ellsbury is signed for 7 years and $153 million dollars, and he's faced numerous injuries over the past four years with Boston. McCann will most likely have to be moved to 1st base a few years into his 5 year contract, and you never know how Beltran's knees will hold up, especially in year 3 of his deal. The Yankees outfield now consists of tortoises Beltran, Wells, Soriano, and Ichiro, and hares Ellsbury and Gardner. At least one of those 6 is now expendable, Gardner easily having the most trade value. The Yankees believe that having two speed threats and top notch defenders would be a good thing, but I think their top priority should be finding a short term solution at either second or third base. I also believe New York needs to add a solid reliever that can close if needed such as Joaquin Benoit, or maybe even Grant Balfour. Nobody knows how David Robertson will fare stepping into Rivera's shoes, so having some dependability as backup will be key. I believe the rotation needs one more solid upgrade too, even despite their resigning of Hiroki Kuroda. I'm not confident enough in David Phelps to have him lock down one of their five rotation slots, but I'm willing to give Michael Pineda a shot at least in Spring Training to prove his worthiness. Without Cano, the Yankees should get by just fine, however, if they don't make the playoffs after all their spending it could significantly impact their financial situation as well. You're taking a gamble any time you go and add a big fish from free agency to your team, because besides for believing his talents will translate, you also have to hope he has the right mindset to get along with the players and become a leader. I think Cashman is choosing the right type of players for the team, specifically McCann, who draws a lot of leadership/talent comparisons to Thurman Munson.

While having Cano for the rest of his career would be a nice story, it was in the best interest of the Yankees organization to start off on a new foot, especially after the chaos that took place last season. The team wasn't awful, but it didn't offer a lot of hope towards current and future attempts at contention. The Mariners are right for giving Cano a chance to revitalize their organization, but only if they can add more pieces to surround him.

On a personal note though, I'm going to miss the heck out of Robinson Cano. He's been my favorite player besides for the Core Four members for years now, and if you've been to my blog before, you'd know he's an enormous part of my collection. I'm currently not planning on parting ways with any of my Cano PC, and I'll continue to add to it, but probably to a lesser extent. He's still one of my favorite players, I mean you can't blame him for taking a contract worth $65 million more than the next best offer. Had he agreed with Seattle if they only offered $20-30 million more than the Yankees did, I'd be genuinely upset in him and probably would look to sell a majority of my collection of his. However, this deal was too enormous for him to pass up, even if it means being stuck in gloomy Seattle for the next decade (which won't happen anyway most likely- see Alex Rodriguez's Texas contract and Prince Fielder's Detroit deal). Cano was the first player I really followed from the very beginning, as he was an up and comer when I first started to follow baseball. I've been honored to watch him develop into the Hall of Fame caliber player he's become, and he's been a heck of a lot of fun to root for. I'll continue trying to be a fan of his, up until Seattle and New York face off in the playoffs. It's going to be fun.

I'm going to miss you Robby Cano, don't you know?

See Ya.

Tier One Relic Set Additions!

Hey guys, Drew back here. Over the past month or so I've bought quite a few cards off of eBay, including the 2 I'm about to show from the set I'm attempting to complete, 2011 Topps Tier One Top Shelf relics. I already had 31 of the 50 cards going into these purchases, so with these two I'm now 66% of the way through! So, without any further delay, take a look at my latest pickups for this high end relic set.

First, I was able to cross off Jacoby Ellsbury from the list. I'll have you guys know it is very painful for a Yankee fan like me to buy a card of a Red Sock. When this set is done, Pedroia, Crawford, and Ellsbury will hide in the back of the box. 

Second, and lastly for now, I picked up the Jose Reyes relic. Reyes hasn't been anything special this season for Los Miami Marlins, which was disappointing to me considering I took him in the third round of my fantasy draft. Hopefully in the second half of the season he'll show how he won the batting title last season in the Big Apple!

Anyways, that'll do it for now. If you have any Tier One relics for trade, please please please check this page to see if I've got it or not, and if I don't, feel free to comment or email me to let me know. Thanks everyone!

See Ya!

WalMart Stop: Series 2 Blaster + Value Box Break!

Hey guys, Drew back here. About a week or so ago, right before I left for New Hampshire, we stopped at Wal-Mart for some groceries and other stuff. I hit up the card aisle and walked home with a blaster of the new 2011 Topps Series 2 baseball, as well as the collector's recent hit, the Topps "Value Box". I haven't bought much of anything new card wise this year, but I definitely wanted to check out the new series as well as the recent rave over the actual "value" in the Value Boxes. Take a look at how I did:

I first tried out the series 2 blaster box, and here were just a few of the notable base cards. I didn't pull a single notable American League player, and if you may have noticed, this blaster was filled with stars of the NL East! My favorite base card I pulled was either the pumped up Huston Street or the Jose Reyes. The cards look pretty good as always, but there still was a lot of typical, boring pictures.

Also, a staple in the Wal-Mart Topps products is now the black back cards, where only the player is shown in color but the rest of the card, including the border, is black. I pulled some decent ones in the 2 packs that are like this, but none that I really want to hang on to. 

Next were some of Topps' inserts, many of them have already been extremely overdone. But, wait, is that shiny I see? Topps introduced the "Diamond Stars" insert in this series, and I pulled Ichiro and Ryan Howard. I actually really like the looks of these cards, but everything else is very boring and redundant. 

Hey look, more reprinted boring cards! Sigh. When will Topps learn that I really don't reprints of cards from the past 10 years. Next year, I will get on my knees and pray that us collectors won't be fooled again! 

Next is by far my favorite insert of the year, the new Kimball Champions set. While Series 1 was mostly devoted to current players minus a few legends, Series 2 is all former greats of the game. As you can see, I pulled some pretty good ones, in Ruth, Maris, and Robinson! 

Next are the parallels, which are pretty nice. The gold cards are getting very bland and unexciting now, and while Topps thinks its a great idea and a tradition, it's old, and boring, like that sandwich you'd find in your locker on the last day of school that's been rotting there for months. The diamond cards are new and very nice looking, but I sure hope after this year is over that they won't go back and make another "tradition" of them.

Finally, my commemorative patch pull was of Athletics pitcher Brett Anderson. I don't quite get these cards very well. If you're going to feature an old school logo, this being from the 1967 A's, why wouldn't you feature a player from that team? The patch looks cool, but throwing Anderson on there does not quite make sense to me. Oh well, I guess you win some and lose some, especially in this hobby. 

After a very "meh" blaster, we move on to the value box. In this box you get 5 packs of 2011 Topps Series 1, as well as two packs of this year's Topps Heritage, 2 diamond giveaway code cards loose in the container, and a Legend Chrome Refractor.

Also included is this MLB Collector's Guide, which brings collectors through every year of Topps' history, spanning a different star player for each year. It's a great way to teach the younger audience about the hobby, in case you were looking in getting a son or someone you know interested in the hobby. 

I know you are all sick of seeing these same Series 1 cards over and over again, but 1 thing I do want to tell you is if you need help with your Topps set, send me a wantlist and I can help you out, because, since I won the factory set, most, if not all of my base are for trade. 

My chrome refractor turned out to be of Jackie Robinson, rather than Babe Ruth or Mickey Mantle. While I would have much preferred one of the Yankees, you can't not like a card of Jackie Robinson. The card looks beautiful under a light, with great reflection and shine to it. If anyone has a Mantle or Ruth I would trade this for it though.

Here are the same old inserts as always, with a Toppstown in each pack (didn't scan Mike Stanton), and some diamond inserts of Brandon Morrow and Billy Wagner. 

Minus the lower group of cards in this scan, here are the better looking inserts I pulled. I love the Mantle "The Lost Years" insert, and I wish that was a real card and not just a made up insert. The Rivera Kimball Champions is a favorite of mine as well, definitely staying in my collection for a while. The Diamond Giveaways were all accumulated through both boxes, and there were 4 total. I was hoping to pull a Diamond card but instead I pulled a few cards from 1973, Danny Cater and Alex Johnson. 

While the flagship product didn't treat me overly well, Topps Heritage certainly did. In the 2 packs, I pulled a Then and Now insert of Mantle and Fielder, as well as some star players and solid rookies. 

I got very lucky in one of the Heritage packs as well, pulling this bat card of Jacoby Ellsbury! Talk about some good value! Ellsbury has been excellent this year for Boston, and it's a pretty good pull if you ask me. It's for trade for any Yankee though, since you all should know how I feel about Boston!

All in all, the value box, which was $5 less than the blaster, certainly had more value than the blaster, so keep that in mind the next time you visit a retail store. Again, most every card that isn't of a Yankee is for trade, so please contact me at yanks1996wsc@gmail.com. For most of the base/inserts I'd be interested in trading for anything in my wantlist on the sidebar. Thanks everyone!

See Ya!