Rivera Rehab Right on Schedule

We could see the great Mariano Rivera make his spring training debut Monday against the defending World Series champion, Philadelphia Phillies. Rivera threw live batting practice on Wednesday and said he’s “feeling better and better” and he “has no doubts” about being able to come back better than ever. He is set to throw another batting practice session on Saturday before his scheduled spring debut on Monday. It will certainly be a welcome sight to see #42 back on the mound again, as he looks ready for another brilliant season to add to his brilliant Hall of Fame career.

The Yankees are off today, but travel to Ft. Myers to face the Red Sox in a spring training grudge match sure to set the stage for what should be another season long battle between the Yanks and Sox.

Team USA falls to Venezuela 5-3

Both teams already knew they had advanced to the second round of the WBC coming into yesterday’s game. The game was played for seeding purposes for second round matchups in Miami. As a result, Team USA will start the double elimination second round against a formidable Puerto Rico team and Venezuela will face off with the Cinderella Netherlands squad. My picks to advance out of this quartet are USA and Venezuela, but Puerto Rico should not be taken lightly as they are the only undefeated team left in the tournament.

The tournament has been a gripping one thus far and should only get better. I implore everyone to tune into Team USA’s pursuit of the WBC Championship and cheer on Captain America Derek Jeter, and the rest of the USA squad.

-Favad Ali

A Prelude of Things Worse to Come

If you took a look at the box score from today’s Yankees/ Tigers game you might be a little worried about the line from newly acquired CC Sabathia. 1.2 IP-5 ER- 6 H- 1 BB- 0 K. Looks bad and I’m sure the first thought in a lot of people’s minds was that CC’s heavy workload the last two seasons is finally catching up with him. This doesn’t seem to be the case though. As reported on Peter Abraham’s great LoHud Yankees Blog, Sabathia is still working on his cutter something that takes him a few spring starts to get full control of. So Yankee fans needn’t worry.

The fans that should be worried about the stat line from today’s game are those of Detroit though. The Tigers ace Justin Verlander posted a line of 2 IP- 2 ER- 3 H- 4 BB-2 K. After a 2008 season where his walk rate increased and his strikeout rate decreased from the previous season, today’s numbers look like it could be more of the same. Of course I’m sure he’s still working on his own pitches and it’s only one spring start that means nothing but after a disappointing ‘08 you can’t help being worried about today’s start.

If Verlander doesn’t return to his pre-’08 form the Tigers will be in a world of trouble. After Armando Galarraga the Tigers staff has a number of questions. Jeremy Bonderman is still an injury concern, Nate Robertson is coming off a +6 ERA season, Edwin Jackson showed a glimpse of his potential in Tampa in ‘08 and who knows if we’ll ever see an effective Dontrelle Willis again. 20 year old phenom Rick Porcello looks to be another year away from hitting the big leagues. The Detroit bullpen isn’t looking any better either. Oft-injured flamethrower Joel Zumaya hopes to have a healthy season but in his 23.1 innings in ’08 he walked 22 batters. Also returning are Fernando Rodney, Bobby Seay, and Freddi Dolsi who combined for a 4.43 ERA last season.

The man they brought in to help stabilize their pen, Brandon Lyon, registered an ERA of 4.70 last year allowing 75 hits in 59.1 innings. It looks like its going to be another long year in Detroit. Wasn’t it just this time last year when everyone was handing the Tigers the World Series Championship and touting their ’unstoppable’ offense? My, how times have changed.

-Robb Lennahan

Dominican Disaster

Down goes the Dominican! Down goes the Dominican! For the second time in a week the mighty Dominican Republic went down at the hands of the unheralded Dutch team. The Netherlands move on to the second round of the World Baseball Classic in Miami and the Dominicans will disassemble and rejoin their major league clubs. However, the likes of David Ortiz, Miguel Tejada, Jose Reyes, Hanley Ramirez, Pedro Martinez, etc will not soon forget the embarrassment they suffered with these two losses.

It might not mean much to us here in the states. But back home in the Dominican, where this tournament actually does mean the world, the people are surely shocked and outraged by the performance of their team. The Dominicans, rich with MLB all stars at virtually every position were beaten by a Netherlands team comprised of mostly minor leaguers and veterans of the world renowned Dutch League. If there ever was a David and Goliath match up this was surely it. And like the age old story, this one ended with David slaying the mighty Goliath not once but twice.

For those who doubted the worth of this tournament should only have to watch this game and they would be convinced about the importance and quality of this competition. Kudos to the Netherlands on a great victory and shame on the Dominicans who were the victims of one of the greatest upsets in international baseball history, twice.

-Favad Ali

MLB: The New Class

For the most part spring training stats don’t mean much. If Albert Pujols were to go hitless all spring or Roy Halladay didn’t record an out it’s still a pretty safe bet that they would still produce once the regular season rolls around. However spring stats are a helpful tool to gauge what the emerging crop of youngsters may or may not do in the near future. I’ve decided to look at the spring stats of 16 top prospects who have a chance at impacting the big club sometime this season.

Take these numbers for what you will. Obviously they mean nothing. Dexter Fowler could become the biggest star and Matt Wieters could be the biggest bust, we’ll never know until they actually hit the big leagues. It’s just interesting to see their stats thus far in spring and also possibly useful if you have a forth coming fantasy draft. My sleeper pick is Beckham, come on zero strikeouts this spring you gotta love that!

-Robb Lennahan

Lets Make a Deal

Before the start of the 2008 season the Yankees committed themselves to a youth movement of sorts in the pitching staff by refusing to part with a group of their youngsters such as Phil Hughes or Ian Kennedy for Johan Santana. This proved to be a bad decision when a combination of injuries and poor performance held the duo to just 73.2 IP and a 7.45 ERA. Now for the ‘09 season the Yanks have gone back to their recent roots and spent heavily on the best free agents available, bringing in CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett to fill out the starting staff. This basically means another season in AAA for Hughes and Kennedy, unless, Joba Chamberlain goes to the pen and one of them win the #5 spot in the rotation, which as of now doesn’t seem likely.

Instead of sending Kennedy back to AAA, I think it would be in the Yankees best interest to trade the young righthander. While I do believe that you can never have too much pitching depth, especially young pitching, Kennedy just turned 24 years old and his trade value will only be decreasing regardless of how good he does in AAA this season. He last two seasons in the minors have been almost unbelievable. He’s pitched 223.1 Innings and struck out 246 batters while posting a 2.01 ERA and a 0.97 WHIP.

Unfortunately, he now seems lost in the shuffle in the Yankee organization behind the new big money guys CC and AJ, the phenom Joba and the younger Hughes. If the Yanks stick him back in the minors another year and attempt to move him next season they’ll find teams won’t be as interested in a then 25 year old pitcher with less than 100 innings experience in the big leagues. The time to trade Kennedy is now and here’s a few possibilities I thought could make sense.

1. A trade of potential for potential. Kennedy goes to the White Sox for power hitting 3rd baseman Josh Fields. The Yanks get a potential power bat to fill in at 3rd in A-Rod’s absence and the Sox get another young arm to go with Danks and Floyd. The Sox also throw in a 2nd minor leaguer to round out the deal.

2. At the trade deadline the Yanks send Kennedy, Mark Melancon, and Nick Swisher to the A’s for Matt Holliday. This is assuming the A’s have conceded the AL West and are looking to move Holliday and the Yanks are looking to upgrade from Matsui/ Damon in left field. If so its obvious what the Yanks get in this. As for Oakland they get a bat to replace Holliday for the rest of ‘09, a pitcher in Kennedy who they can put in their rotation right away and a young power arm for the pen in Melancon.

3. The Yanks send Kennedy, Melky Cabrera, and minor league pitcher Zach Mcallister to Milwaukee for Mike Cameron and Bill Hall. In Cameron the Yanks get a Gold Glove caliber center fielder with a little pop and in Hall the they get a replacement at 3rd for A-Rod and then a quality utility man off the bench when A-Rod returns.

Of course, I’m no general manager, I just play one on the internet, so I don’t expect any of these deals to happen. I haven’t considered salaries or any of the other fine points of making a trade. I just think in their raw form these deals make sense for both teams involved. More so, I like Kennedy and I just want to see him get a shot in the big leagues beyond a September call up and I don’t see that happening anytime soon with the Yankees.

-Robb Lennahan

Mets Release Duaner Sanchez

Omar Minaya announced today, that the Mets have released 29 year old reliever, Duaner Sanchez, citing diminished velocity and an inability to command his once devastating breaking ball. Sanchez returned last year after a lengthy layoff which included two shoulder surgeries. He was below league average last year out of the pen posting an ERA+ of 97. That, combined with his poor performance this spring led to the Mets decision to let him go.

A-Rod, A OK After Surgery

Alex Rodriguez had successful surgery Monday to repair torn cartilage in his hip (story). Everything went as planned and A-Rod is scheduled for a return sometime in May. A-Rod will have more extensive surgery on the same hip in the offseason but he should be ready to play for spring training 2010. The Yankees should be able to be alright without the three-time MVP in the lineup. However, it will take a concerted effort from the rest of the lineup as well as the starting rotation. Cody Ransom is still the leading candidate to fill in for Rodriguez, however another name has been thrown into the rumor mill as a possible A-Rod replacement.

According to the Kansas City Star, the Yankees are interested in aquiring Mark Teahen to keep third base warm until A-Rod returns. Teahen had an excellent 2006 campaign (.290/.357/.517), but has regressed the past two seasons with combined splits of .270./.333/.406. He would be a better option compared to Ransom and/or Angel Berroa. However, it would cost the Yankees a pitching prospect or two. I still think the best route would be to sign Mark Grudzielanek. He is a career .290/.332/.395 hitter and would only cost the Yankees a one year contract at around $1 million or so. Also, Grudzielanek would be an upgrade as a bench player once A-Rod does return.

-Favad Ali

"I'm Dutch isn't that Vierd"

I always thought anything is possible but now I know that statement is a 100% fact. Why? The Netherlands beat the Dominican Republic yesterday 3-2 in the World Baseball Classic. The Dominican team has so much depth that Jose Reyes has to come off the bench. This is a team that features Hanley Ramirez, David Ortiz, Miguel Tejada, Jose Guillen, Robinson Cano, and Willy Tavres. Yet they could only put up two measly runs against Sidney Ponson. That’s right Sidney Ponson!! The loss basically came down to a lack of clutch hitting for the Dominicans. The were able to put up 8 hits and 8 walks against the Netherlands pitching staff but left 21 runners on base. Miguel Tejada alone left 7 guys on. Also throw into the mix Tejada and Miguel Olivo hitting into double plays and Willy Tavares getting thrown out attempting to steal 3rd base and you have all the evidence you need to explain why they only scored 2 runs.

The pitching staff was as advertised for the Dominicans though. All three runs allowed to the Netherlands were unearned coming in the 1st inning from 2 errors and a wild pitch from Edison Volquez. The games staff which consisted of starter Volquez, Rafael Perez, Pedro Martinez, Dmaso Marte, and Carlos Marmol combined to allow only 3 hits and 2 walks while striking out 12. It was an especially impressive performance for Martinez who went 3 scoreless innings allowing only 1 hit and striking out 4.

The Dominican team is now one loss away from being eliminated in the tournament. Their next game is today against the Panama squad. If they can find a little life in their bats, the pitching staff should still lead them deep into the Classic.

-Robb Lennahan