Over christmas break my family and I are currently vacationing in the beautiful island of St.Kitts. And who is sitting at the hut in front of us? None other then the famous and very well respected New York sports reporter Bruce Beck. After talking to him for a little about some football we moved our conversation to the Yankees. I asked him just between us if he knew any moves that Cashman might be looking at making. And all he told me is what we as everyday fans know…nothing. There is no move being talked about or made because of a number of reasons. The new CBA restricts Cashman, all the teams that have good pitchers are asking for so much because they know they don’t need to trade them, and the market was so thin and over priced (see C.J. Wilson & Yu Darvish). But Bruce is a great guy, he’s great at what he does, and he knows plenty of big names. I’m sorry about the lack of posting but I will start again.
Let’s jump into the everyday fans knowledge of Mark Teixeira. He is probably the best defensive 1st baseman in the MLB. He makes plays that should be on Web Gems or Top 10 everyday. He puts some muscle on the ball a lot. He gets normal 1st basemen RBI’s, home runs, and runs. But have you every seen the team in a good position and during the commercial break you find yourself saying ” Come on Tex, hit it in the hole for once” instead of the opposite? Ya i find it myself a lot. Now lets get to the numbers. In 2011 Mark’s line was .248/39/111 in 589 AB. He had an OBP of .341, a SLG of .494, and a OPS of .835. Now if you look deeper into his line you also see that he had 110 SO. The line isn’t terrible. I’ll take 39 home runs and 111 RBI’s any day. But a .248 in Yankee stadium as a switch hitter? Come on, if Tex can learn how to go the other way and I think he can develop back into the top tier hitter he was and do what we brought him in to do. The 110 strikeouts is way too high. he should be looking to double that ball off the right center fence instead of just trying to hit that jet stream in right. he will hit the mistakes by pitchers like a high fastball or a hanging breaking ball and take it to the moon. if Teixeira learns how to hit like that I think his line next year could be at .275/34/115. The average will raise from him hitting the other way and using that wall a little more. The home runs will dip slightly because he will be more of a doubles hitter and not swinging for the fences. The RBI’s I think will stay the same because he and Robinson Cano are swapping places. I think hitting in the 5 hole behind and aging Alex Rodriguez will give him a lot more RBI opportunities. In his age 32 season I don’t see his defense falling off at all. He will still remain a lock in the heart of our lineup. If working with Kevin Long is something that is In Tex’s schedule then I think he can return to his former hitting glory. And hopefully him and some other key factors can lead us to Number 28!
In a so far slow offseason that may be very quiet this winter for the Yankees the biggest and almost only move they are making was the 5 year $122 million dollar contract extension they gave CC Sabathia to keep him in the Bronx. Yes they did Freddy Garcia back for another year and yes he is a somewhat reliable, low cost pitcher. But in all honesty he isn’t a big name like the Yankees were hoping to find on the trade market, and yes there is still time but no one is giving up their big pieces. If Kershaw, Hernandez, or even Cain were put on the trade block Cashman would be very diligently contacting GM’s to work a deal. I believe he’d be willing to give up a lot of prospects for the right guy. So let’s take a look at the starting 8 position players, key bench pieces, the starting 5, and the key bullpen pieces and what we can expect next year. So let’s start right at 1st base with Mark Teixeira.
Welcome to my blog! Just as an introduction I will tell you a little about myself. I am a 15 year old sophomore at North Springs High in Atlanta, Georgia. I know you’re wondering why I’m writing a Yankees Blog when I’m from Georgia. Well personally both my parents are from New York, one from Queens and the other from Brooklyn. I visit the city every year and make sure I go to at least one Yankees game. I saw them clinch the AL East in 2009, I also saw them hit their turn around point in Atlanta that year. And of course we made it to october and i went of for game 1, which was I have to admit amazing by Cliff Lee, and then Game 2 which was good to get on Pedro. I watch a lot of baseball and I hope you enjoy my commentary and views on Yankees baseball and major baseball stories.