Arms Are a Way

               Last year's Spring Training for the Yankees was one nightmarish setback after another; leading off with Curtis Granderson's broken hand at the first exhibition game. 2014 has been a whole other story (up to this point) and highlighted by the very promising early results from the starting pitching staff - which was perhaps the biggest uncertainly going into this season. Big ticket import Masahiro Tanaka continues to mow down opponents and has shown no qualms about transitioning over to MLB...at least in the State of
Florida.

    

               Traditionally, pitchers are ahead of hitters during March and the first couple months of the season and are able to sneak their fastball past most bats. The positive sign about Tanaka is he has been getting swing and misses on his breaking pitches; namely the slider and his highly-regarded splitter. Basically as advertised, and with the clicks from Japanese cameramen occurring on every pitch, Tanaka's fastball reaches 93-94 mph, his slider about 85 mph, and that nasty splitter goes for about 85-87 mph and opposing hitters have given it praise. On the mound he looks calm and collective and you would think he's been playing in the Major Leagues for ten seasons already. For $155 million its looking like a wise investment that will pan out.

        

               Another major question concerning the starting rotation was who is gonna step up and take that open Number 5 spot. Early predictions pointed towards David Phelps, but in the results department Michael Pineda has taken lead with numerous dominant performances throughout the Spring. Finally back in the Yankee mix after last year's Tommy John surgery, Pineda has also drawn rave reviews for his 93 mph fastball and 87 mph slider; both which he throws from funky arm angles that has hitters off-balanced.

 

              The Yankee Coaching Staff feel Pineda's fastball will never return to the 97 mph level it was before they made the trade for him in 2012, but if he can bring any slither of dominance to the 5th starter's spot the way he's been dominating the Spring, then that trade really looks great because Jesus Montero has been an absolute bust for the Seattle Mariners. The once Yankee Crown Jewel of the farm system put on 40 pounds of Bartolo Colon and was mixed up in the Alex Rodriguez and Friends Biogenesis scandal which cost him a 50-game suspension in 2013. Even before that the Mariners had to send Montero down to the minors last season after he was barely able to maintain a .200 batting average.

              Speaking of whales, or former ones, the slimmed down version of CC Sabathia has also looked good in his past couple of outings. The lost weight hasn't brought about an increased fastball velocity as some may thought, but his control looks better, especially on the change-up and slider that made him successful in the early stages of his career. Ivan Nova is also coming around after getting thumped early on in Spring Training, and the prospect of having Nova-Pineda (two young hurlers with nasty stuff) at the back of that rotation, gives the Yankees the edge against almost any other team's 4-5 guys. The only concern in the starting department may be Kuroda, who hasn't looked good since after his first start of the Spring, but the fact he's a veteran and has been brilliant for the Yankees these past two years, there's really no sense of over-analyzing him at this stage.

   

               On the other side of the ball the position players seem to be coming along fine without any tears or breaks like in 2013. The Yankees are resting the sore calf of Jacoby Ellsbury, but he should be good to go by Opening Day. After a slow start, Derek Jeter has been getting some hits and covering his ground at shortstop. Mark Teixeira is also back at his old position and swinging the bat without any reports of pain, but both himself and the Yankee front office seem relegated to the fact he's going to have discomfort in that wrist the entire season. Perhaps Teixeira isn't going to have enough strength in the wrist to belt out 35 homers and drive in 120 RBIs, but being in a lineup that looks quite loaded with pop, he's gonna get his chances to drive in Ellsbury and Jeter. Based on how Girardi has been filling out the lineup cards during the Spring, it appears Kelly Johnson is going to see the bulk of the time at 3rd base. Girardi also should be happy with the way Ichiro has looked in 2014 - his bat has some life in it after dreadful 2013 in which he looked done. Perhaps motivated after a shameful 2013, or maybe energized by the arrival of his fellow-countryman in Tanaka, Ichiro can prove to be valuable since Carlos Beltran is going to need his days off in right field.

    

              The bullpen continues to be an open casting call and César Cabral, who gave quality innings for the Yankees towards the end of last season, is likely to make the trip up north with the team as their second lefty behind Matt Thornton. Dellin Betances, another former crown jewel of the farm system, has also impressed in Spring (finally after all these years) and could be an option as a late-inning hard-thrower, alla Joba Chamberlain, to compliment Shawn Kelley and David Robertson. Brian Cashman and the rest of the front office probably still have the pipedream of Betances being a successful starter, so any appearance from him might not come until August/September. The bullpen is going be an ongoing transformation the entire season of Cashman finding guys from the scrap yard, calling up minors, or making trades. It will be quite interesting seeing a $155 million starter and $500 million offense lose games because of a weak pen, so the pressure is on there and no Mo to save them.



               Surprisingly enough, Alex Rodriguez might've finally "got it" by not showing up to Spring Training and creating a circus atmosphere for his teammates. Despite the suspension, he could've reported to Tampa, and even with the Yankees likely sending him to the Minor League portion of the complex, his presence would've still overshadowed the positive vibes of the new faces like Tanaka and McCaan, plus the warm sendoff tour for Derek Jeter. Probably for the first time since 2003, Yankee Spring Training is actually about a baseball team and not one player and the money he makes or the substances he takes. Rodriguez is finally doing right by remaining silent and taking his punishment. The amusing (or sad) part is that he never released the supposed information he and his lawyer claimed to have that was going to clear his name, so basically the confirmation is in; he looked everyone in the eyes......again - and lied.



                Fans are going to have to find someone new to boo in 2014......

Last Core Out The Door

            For once, Yankee Captain Derek Jeter managed to out-headline Alex Rodriguez by utilizing the dawn of Spring Training and Facebook to announce that 2014 will be his final season as a player. Similar to what Mariano Rivera experienced last year, the usually humble Jeter will now be on a farewell tour - receiving gifts at home plate for each away city he visits.



            Perhaps a surprise to many who have been accustomed to seeing Jeter a shortstop for the Yankees since 1996, the news shouldn't come as a shock as Jeter is set to turn 40 years old and is coming back from a major ankle break after unsuccessfully trying to play last season (only 17 games). Although Jeter hasn't shown much lost range at short over the past few years, the injury, being out of baseball for a most of last year, turning 40, and the fact Jeter is entering a contract year; its very likely next year's offseason could've turned very messy between the Yankee front office wanting to inject youth into the position versus Jeter insisting he still wants to be the shortstop. Yankee ownership and Brian Cashman may regret the dip in t-shirt and ticket sales after this season, but they certainly have to be relieved from avoiding a showdown with the Yankee Captain who would certainly have the fans and media on his side.



            The previous Jeter deal, four years ago, started to get a little chippy with Brian Cashman telling the beloved Captain to go test their offer in the free agent market and making the conversations known to the press, which ultimately irked Jeter. Early Spring Training feedback on Jeter is that he's looking nimble and in much better condition than any point last season. With Cano and A-Rod out of the equation (at least for 2014) and whispers that Mark Teixeira's wrist may not be fully healed, Jeter is going to need to serve as a rock in the infield if the team to send him off with a good fight in October. Naturally, Girardi will give Jeter his fair amount of time at DH, but Jeter will need to play a very good amount of shortstop in order to get the likes of Soriano, Teixeira, McCaan, and Beltran into the lineup as much as possible for their homerun abilities......which is ideally what a DH is supposed to do. Not slap singles like Jeter does. According to Jeter, it was the time he spend away from the game last season, rehabbing his ankle, which made baseball not fun anymore and turned his mind into hanging up the cup after 2014.



            For Jeter to be bored with spending even one season on the rehab trail, it speaks character volumes for those such as Alex Rodriguez and Carl Pavano who couldn't get enough of the training complex down in Tampa.



            With Posada, Pettitte, and Rivera gone, plus Jeter ready to be retire; the final piece of the so-called Core Four from the last Yankee Dynasty will be off into the sunset.



            It'll be appreciated further as time passes by; the '96-'01 group was once in a lifetime



            Another homegrown Yankee player not ready to hang it up just yet, Brett Gardner, will be sticking around in pinstripes for at least another four season as he signed a 4-year $52 million deal. Once Ellsbury was signed to play centerfield, most had Gardner pegged as trade bait to bring in a starter pitcher. With this new deal, Gardner's salary will no longer be attractive to other GMs. Gardner was going to play left field for the Yankees in 2014, but he also has the ability to play center and provide near-Gold Glove caliber defense, so he serves as a great backup in case Ellsbury gets injured, which he has a habit of. The Yankee bank seemed tapped out after parting ways with $155 million for Tanaka, so the $52 million for Gardner came at a surprise. Also, as a organizational rule, the front office tends to not extend players until they're ready to hit the free agent market. The bending of this rule is probably a telling sign of what the front office thinks of Jacoby Ellsbury's ability to stay healthy during the first half of the long-term deal he signed for $153 million. Gardner, currently 30, will lose some speed by the time he's 33 or 34, but short-term its a solid investment for the Yankees since Ellsbury has trouble staying injury-free.



            It's also a further telling sign that the Yankees $175 million offer to Cano (and the refusal to budge a penny higher) was a complete lowball job in which they didn't want Cano back and knew he wouldn't accept an undermarket-valued contract. Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long provided more clues into this insight by mentioning the organization's struggles with Cano not running out groundballs or giving 100% effort in the field. Gardner, who is busting it on offense and defense all the time, was awarded with an extension that's probably a little over his head. Tanaka, Ellsbury, and McCaan were blown away with deals that put all other offers in second place, and Beltran received a third-year on his contact that would keep him in pinstripes till he's 39. But Cano, he's told of a $189 million team salary goal and given a plane ticket to Seattle because he wouldn't run out tappers back to the pitcher's mound while Gardner would try to beat those out.



            The Yankee bullpen hasn't received much love from Cashman during the offseason, but in a low-risk/high-reward pickup, the team inked former A's closer Andrew Bailey to a minor league contract. Bailey, who tried to takeover the Red Sox closer's job the past two years, has faced numerous health issues and currently wouldn't be able to pitch in for the big club till the summer. Still, a few seasons ago he was one of the best 9th inning men in the game for the A's, so he could potentially add something to the uncertain pen once July and August rolls around. Masahiro Tanaka has been receiving good reports regarding his throwing sessions in Tampa and a slimmed-down CC Sabathia looks determined to be the leader of the staff again.



              Get ready for a year of cheesy Jeter tribute videos on the jumbo screen.......