YANKEES LOOK AT COLLEGE RANKS FOR NEW PITCHING COACH

I was surprised when the Yankees fired Larry Rothschild, a lot of us were. It didn't make a lot of sense at first, but then I took a step back and thought about it. The game has evolved, Major League Baseball has changed a lot and the Yankees haven't evolved with it. This is the Yankees next big step and if the rumors are true, this could be a HUGE step.

According to multiple sources, the Yankees are might be reaching into the college ranks for their new pitching coach. We'll go with NJ.com for this one HERE because there are two candidates that have caught the Yankees eye.

As of yesterday, the Yankees are rumored to have interviewed two college coaches and I'm sure it is just the start. The Twins started a trend when they hired Wes Johnson as pitching coach from the University of Arkansas last offseason and had success in his first season. So far, Johnson is the only person to make the leap directly from college to MLB pitching coach, but others have moved from the college ranks to take on other roles within MLB organizations in recent years.

So maybe the Yankees will be the second? The Yankees were set to interview Matt Hobbs yesterday, who actually took over as Johnson's replacement in Arkansas and he is credited as a young, technologically-savvy coach. Maybe the Yankees can grab the next Arkansas superstar.

The Yankees also interviewed Chris Fetter from the University of Michigan. He is described as a "rising star" in the industry and also has interest from the New York Mets. Fetter was a minor league pitching coordinator for the Dodgers for a short time and was also a scout for the Angels for three years. Fetter places a heavy emphasis on analytics, which Brian Cashman and Aaron Boone love. Fetter is also Michigan's all-time innings pitched leader and was drafted in the 9th round of the 2009 draft by the Padres but he did not advance past Single-A and after four seasons he transitioned to coaching. He sounds like he is exactly what the Yankees are looking for.

He fits the Yankees new vision, but will he be as successful as Johnson? It will be interesting to see how a once minor league baseball player turned to college coach will be able to successfully coach major league hitters. Will a veteran pitching staff respond well to a college turned MLB pitching coach?

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. I like that the Yankees are adapting, and I am okay with the analytical approach BUT is this the right approach? Comment and tell us what you think. Do you think a college coach could improve our pitching staff? I'm interested to see how this plays out.

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa
BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @NYPrincessj

NATIONALS WIN THE WORLD SERIES!

It's a better story than the Astros winning. The Astros always win. The Astros are more cocky... they have ego. The Nationals? They don't have that. They have a great pitching staff and a few old timers named Zimmerman and Kendrick and a bunch of scrappy young players.  A nice blend, a nice story... congrats to the Nats!

My best part of Game 7? When the homers happened. Howie Kendrick and Anthony Rendon launched some pretty timely homers to put Nationals ahead.



Once that happened, Joe Buck was no longer excited. Obviously because the Astros weren't winning.
I tweeted this... just because I think Buck may be the worst TV personality there is.

Buck’s so quiet right now it’s like the Nationals just opened the bathroom door and caught him jerking it to the Astros or something.

— Robert Casey (@BleednYankeeBlu) October 31, 2019

I'm just thrilled the Nats pulled it off!

Congrats boys! Way to go!

ROCK STAR PITCHER GERRIT COLE IS A YANKEES FAN

Source: The Comeback

Everybody loves Gerrit Cole. Even the two young ladies who risked their entry to any MLB park in the future by lifting up their shirts in hopes of catching the young pitcher's eye, love him.  He's a competitor.  He's a rock star pitcher.  And he's a Yankee fan.

"Imagine Cole, who grew up a Yankees fan in Southern California, fulfilling a childhood fantasy and heading a pinstriped rotation. Alas, the imagination can send Cole many places," reported the NY Post.  But being a Yankees fan may not be enough to sign Cole, who clearly will be the loftiest free agent signing in 2020.

Source: Boston Globe

"Cole’s next meaningful pitch will come on Opening Day 2020, with him as the owner of a contract likely to land in the $250 million to $300 million range," reported the NY Post.  Teams like the Angels, Dodgers or even his current team, the Astros all will likely bid for him.  As a California native, Cole could choose to stay home and play local, but maybe he'd like to wear the interlocking NY across his cap as a player instead of just a fan.

Source: SNY

"The Yankees hardly stand as an organization in crisis; to the contrary, they own a strong nucleus and advanced to Game 6 of the American League Championship Series before getting ousted by this ridiculously loaded Astros team. Their brand, however, is built on winning championships, and a sizable portion of their fan base is nauseatingly spoiled to the point of viewing joyrides like 2019 as a failure," reported the Post.

Do the Yankees put all their chips in and go for it?  I think so.  The championship drought feels a lot more uncomfortable this fall.  The Winter Meetings will be here before we know it.  Cashman has to close a deal with Cole.  It is just that simple.

--Suzie Pinstripe
BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @suzieprof

KATE UPTON IS HOT, BUT SHE'S WRONG

If I am working and stuff doesn't go my way, the last thing I want is my wife fighting my battles. Justin Verlander was on the losing side of the World Series Game 6 last night.  Get over it, Kate. That's baseball.

What happened last night at the Nationals / Astros game was great for the Nats when they eventually won, but it didn't always look good.  That play at first base with Trea Turner busting down the line was a perfect running play.  If anything, what was in question was the throw, NOT the run.  Turner made it to first, then busted to second and then the umpire threw him out for interference or some garbage.

Look at this:



And then that gets me to Kate Upton. Ranting like she's Giselle after Tommy Brady lost the Super Bowl.

You're hot, but you're wrong about this one. Do you really think Umpires take into account that runners are running between the "2 lines"?

He wasn’t within the base path. Those who don’t know the rule you HAVE to run inside the 2 lines. Not sure why the review is taking so long... pic.twitter.com/SzUJTA4L70

— Kate Upton (@KateUpton) October 30, 2019

No, they are looking at the play at first base... because if you look at 90% of baseball players running to first... they aren't doing that.  Relax.

Game 7 is happening folks! If you're a baseball fan... it's what you want!

LARRY ROTHSCHILD IS GONZO...

So wait... did we have a pitching problem this season?

Or... did we have the right pitching, but just couldn't get over the hump because Larry Rothschild was there. I'm confused. Whatever the case, Larry Rothschild is gone.

Double G Sports writes:

"The New York Yankees made a bit of a surprise move, as they fired longtime pitching coach Larry Rothschild. Rothschild had previously been the pitching coach of the Yankees since 2011. He was the right-hand man of Joe Girardi and was kept on when Aaron Boone became manager of the Yankees. This was the first big move of what will be a pivotal offseason for the Yankees. 

Perhaps Rothschild was fired because he had a more old-school approach to pitching. It seems nowadays that the most successful teams in baseball focus more on the analytics of pitches, including spin rate and arm angles."

Terrific perspective and it actually makes a lot of sense.  We have evolved in major league baseball... and the Yankees have not evolved with it.

Whatever the case, despite what people are saying... I'm not surprised.  You can't have a new, young hungry team and not replace coaches on top. It was time.

Thanks for your time, Larry.  Now we turn elsewhere.

STOP BLAMING THE PITCHING, THAT'S NOT WHY WE LOST!

I'm ready to move on to next season, but I guess we have all winter to talk about that. If we really want to talk about "what went wrong" for the Yankees we need to take a hard look at some of the stats here and understand what fell apart. It's easy to make emotional statements about the ALCS but, what about the facts?

So yesterday, we posted CASHMAN AND BOONE SAY THAT PITCHING DID NOT COST THE YANKEES THE SERIES. Awesome read by my colleague Suzie, but I disagree. And that's what makes Bleeding Yankee Blue unique. No agenda. Diverse opinion. It's the beauty of working here. We work as a team but, we don't always share each others opinions. This is one of those times.

I agree pitching wasn't perfect. We do not have as strong a rotation like the Houston Astros do and I tip my cap to them. However, despite that fact the Yankees pitched pretty well. Again, not perfect....but pretty well. Did they do enough? No, but did the pitching cost us the series? I have to say no. The starting pitching did okay. Luis Severino was tough to watch and the starters once again didn't pitch deep into games like we needed them to.

We can dive deeper and say that our relievers also weren't at their best. Adam Ottavino did disappoint me, not going to lie there. J.A. Happ also struggled. It wasn't fun watching Jose Altuve take Aroldis Chapman deep in Game 6 for a walk off but those things happened. These moments are NOT what caused the Yankees to lose the series, but the lack of fundamentals did.

When you breakdown the pitching, the Yankees actually had a better ERA than the Astros according to Baseballreference.com HERE. The Yankees pitched to a 3.13 ERA, vs the Astros who had a 3.44 ERA. So despite some big errors from our bullpen and some of our starters not pitching like or better than Gerrit Cole they kept us in the game. Here's where it went wrong....

It's a familiar story we have talked about before. The Yankees left too many guys on base. The Astros left their fair share too but let's break it down.

So were the Yankees terrible with Runners In Scoring Position? Absolutely! But, so were the Astros. This series came down to moments, and capitalizing on mistakes. The Yankees made the mistake of leaving MORE guys on base and not driving them in. Justin Verlander was beatable, and so was Cole for that matter. They got hits, but they couldn't bring them home. The Astros were able to take advantage of our mistakes, and we simply couldn't do that with them.

I understand the frustration about pitching. Our rotation has been a weakness. We needed to address it last winter and we didn't do enough. I still like the James Paxton acquisition, but we needed more. Hopefully we get it this winter. Actually, we BETTER! The talent out there this season is great. There are more than enough arms out there to make the pitching better. Bottom line is....the pitching did not lose the series.

We can't blame a lack of pitching for this loss. The stats say the pitching was better than the Astros so we should feel GOOD about that. What we should not feel good about is the hitting. You can't leave 10 guys on base and expect to win even if Masahiro Tanaka went out there and threw a no-hitter. The offense didn't do its job. The 42 men left on base and better team RISP prove that. Does it suck that Chapman pitched a walk off homerun in game 6? YES! But so do the 8 runners that were left on base before Altuve even got up to the plate. That wakoff could've been avoided.

Now, can we stop blaming the pitching and stop talking about the pipe dream of beating the Nationals if we did win the ALCS? That's the past. We made it to the postseason with the pitching we had so it wasn't a deal breaker. Let's talk about 2020 and that starting pitcher we want to get instead! It's time to move on.

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa
BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @nyprincessj

CHAPMAN WINS RELIEVER OF THE YEAR AWARD

There is no question... Aroldis Chapman should have won the Reliever of the Year award.  Anyway, ESPN has this:

"Closers Aroldis Chapman of the New York Yankees and Josh Hader of the Milwaukee Brewers were named relievers of the year on Saturday...Both Chapman and Hader finished with 37 saves in the regular season, tied for third in the majors behind the 41 of San Diego's Kirby Yates and the 38 of Houston's Roberto Osuna."

There you have it. Good stuff.

CASHMAN & BOONE SAY THAT PITCHING DID NOT COST THE YANKEES THE SERIES

Source: Forbes.com

I can barely get that headline out of my mouth let alone stroke them on the keyboard.  Are Brian Cashman and Aaron Boone out of their minds?  Seriously? Now I have heard everything.  Get a load of this nonsense courtesy of the New York Post:

"Pitching is not what cost us that series with the Astros, at least in my opinion,’’ Cashman said. “I felt that our hitting with runners in scoring positions is what sent us home.” Okay, it does take two to tango but the pitching put us in undesirable positions of which hitting could not undo.  Even DJ LeMahieu, who was nothing short of stellar, couldn't do enough to carry us to victory.  But, okay, let's blame the hitting.

Source: N.Y. Post: Charles Wenzelberg 

According to the Post, "Manager Aaron Boone said he didn’t think they needed an additional ace to win a championship next year." Another bold and ridiculous statement.  We need starting pitching.  We've needed pitching since 2010 and we waited, and waited, and waited and nothing. We picked up some pitching here and there.  We built up the bullpen.  But we do not have rock star pitching.  We have opening act pitching and that is simply not enough.

Source: SNY.com

"In the five games the Yankees used a regular starter in the ALCS, those starters had a 2.28 ERA. They didn’t get much length — both Paxton and Severino having short outings, while Green flopped as the opener, when he allowed three runs in the first inning of Game 6," reported the Post.

Source: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports 

And rumors have the Yankees signing a big time pitcher in the off season to make up for another failed season for the Savages.  Could this signing be Gerrit Cole? "Coming off a season where he had a 2.50 ERA and 0.89 WHIP with an astounding 326 strikeouts in 212.1 IP, Gerrit Cole will hit the free agent market this offseason as the biggest starting pitching prize. The Yankees, again being second-guessed for their lack of reliable top of the rotation pieces after another playoff ouster, could be among the teams competing for Cole's services," reported SNY.com.

Source: NY Times

We never had a fully functional starting rotation.  CC Sabathia tried to push out one more season and he did okay through about July but his body could not sustain anything more.  Luis Severino was out the entire season.  James Paxton got hot in August.  J.A. Happ just is not consistent.  Masahiro Tanaka needs six days rest to be great.  And I won't even mention the other starter in this piece.  We need starting pitching and if Cashman and Boone want to bring home a championship in 2020, they better stop their ignorant banter and get out there and get some.

--Suzie Pinstripe
BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @suzieprof

THE DUMB PATRICK CORBIN ARTICLE

I hate obvious stories. I hate stories that go out because the paper needs content.  This is one of them.

World Series 2019: Patrick Corbin says he has ‘no regrets’ about shunning Yankees for Nationals

In it, Corbin talks about picking the Nationals over the Yankees, and how he's happy with his decision. Duh.

"'The big reason was to come here and make it to the World Series and win the World Series,' Corbin told reporters a day before his scheduled start Saturday in Game 4 against the Houston Astros. 'I knew the guys here were capable of doing it. It’s a great team and we’ve just put things together really well.'

OK. Now. Let's pretend the Yankees made it to the World Series.  They beat the Astros and were playing the Nationals in the World Series.  I suspect the quote from that article above would go something like this:

"'The big reason was to come here and make it to the World Series and win the World Series,' Corbin told reporters a day before his scheduled start Saturday in Game 4 against the Washington Nationals. 'I knew the guys here were capable of doing it. It’s a great team and we’ve just put things together really well.'

Stupidest content of the weekend and not even worth printing. You disappoint me NJ.com and even Patrick Corbin for that matter.

Happy Saturday. Sorry to waste 40 seconds on this... but this is dumb.

NO YANKEE BASEBALL? NO PROBLEM. THERE'S ALWAYS FOOD

A Quick note. There's a great Instagram that you need to follow.

Look, with no Yankee baseball and the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros duking it out... for me at least... I really don't care.

I want my Savages in, and without them, a break from baseball I guess.  But look... BYB isn't going away. We will still be here 24/7 giving you Yankee updates, dialog, rants and such, but we'll also look around the universe and bring you other stuff.

Like this...

@imforkinstarving

A fun follow if you like food and I love it! It's like food porn. The food is from all over the place... even cool drinks, ice cream and even gives me ideas on what I'd like to chow down on for dinner and such.

Just fun. Give it a follow, you will not be disappointed. Love it!

Anyway... shout out to food.  I'm now going out for breakfast... or fish tacos... or anything. I'm forkin' starving!

COULD THE YANKEES HAVE BEATEN THE NATIONALS?

I don't know about you, but I am rooting for the Nationals to win this World Series. All of New York, even Mets fans, want to see the Astros lose. Nothing like some solidarity.

The Nationals have not been disappointing us, leading the series 2-0 (also leading me to win my bet with my mom). If the Yankees did make it to the World Series, could they have come out victorious?

A Nationals/Yankees series would have had some history behind it. The last time a D.C. team has made the World Series was in 1933 where they played a New York team. The Senators beat the Giants in 1924 to win Washington's only World Series pennant.

A problem for the Yankees as we all know is pitching, and the Nationals have a solid rotation that could've shut down our big hitters. But, the Yankees do have a better bullpen than the Nationals. Especially those who weren't 100% such as Giancarlo Stanton who is a known Nats nightmare.

However, the Yankees did out-hit the Astros with runners in scoring position in the ALCS (.171 vs. .109) and won the home run battle (10 vs. 8). Sadly the timing was off with these hits and couldn't keep the Yankees in the post-season.

The Yankees also played sloppy during the post-season making way too many errors and getting outplayed by the Astros. But, now the Astros are getting outplayed by the Nationals.

With a 100% healthy team and solid pitching, I think the Yankees could've definitely done it. However, all we can do now is root for the Nationals to win and look to the offseason to make improvements.

The Nationals are the first team to win the first two games of a World Series on the road since the 1999 Yankees. Of the last 18 teams to take a 2-0 lead, 17 went on to win the World Series. Just saying.

--Missy O'Rourke

BYB Contributor

Twitter: @missy_orourke

EXPERTS ARE MAKING ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT GERRIT COLE

The Yankees-Gerrit Cole connection has been around for over a decade now. This winter the story will continue. Cole is about to get a big payday. Some "experts" say he could be the first pitcher to get a $300 million deal. Will the Yankees finally get Cole in pinstripes....or will he snub the Yankees yet again?

The Yankees have wanted Cole since the 2008 draft, but he chose college instead. The Yankees tried to get him again in 2017 from the Pirates, but that trade never worked out. Now here we are heading into 2020 and the Yankees are STILL chasing him. As much as the Yankees want to sign Cole, some experts predict the Yankees are NOT the favorites.

Whether the Yankees are the favorites to sign Cole or not does not matter to me. Last winter we were the favorites to sign Manny Machado and that never happened. That word really means nothing to me. I don't buy into the hype that Cole grew up a Yankees fan so he is a perfect fit for the Yankees.  We heard the same thing about Patrick Corbin last year and that didn't end in our favor either. According to Andy Martino of SNY HERE, the "general assumption" is that the Yankees will absolutely pursue Cole, but since he is a California native he will prefer to play for a West coast team.

Take that for what you will. I don't buy that. There is one big factor here that you can't ignore....Scott Boras is Cole's agent. We all know what Boras does, and that is get the biggest and best deal for his clients and he is going to have a very busy offseason. Not only does he have a big list of free agents to find new deals for....but he also represents the top four starters on the market.

The offseason may not be here yet but Boras is already talking about deals, read more HERE. I think he is right, this winter won't be stagnant like the last two. This free agent market is just too good and you have to give credit to Boras, we may dislike him at times but the guy knows what he is doing. "Ironically the teams that have been willing to pay for starting pitching are in the World Series,” Boras said. “Clubs are going to look at that and certainly understand that is the formula that gives them the best chance to win a championship." And his pitchers are the ones playing in the World Series.

Cole is going to get his payday. The other starters represented by Boras will also get their paydays. Recent history has already shown us that nostalgia doesn't always make a decision. It didn't for Corbin, hell even Andy Pettitte left New York for Texas where he grew up but then went back to the Yankees and ended his career with us.

Money has and will continue to factor into these decisions and Boras is good at getting the most of it for his clients. If the Yankees are bidding against the Dodgers, Angels or any other west coast team for Cole so be it.
We will have to wait and see who exactly has the best package to offer, but don't count the Yankees out yet because they are on the East Coast. Only Cole and Boras knows what Cole wants.....and no matter what I guarantee he is going to be happy in the end.

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa
BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @nyprincessj

BILLY SAMPLE GETS HIS DUE

I was always a fan of Billy Sample. Loved him with the Rangers... was thrilled when he played for the Yankees. Just a scrappy, hardworking dude with a great work ethic.  To learn more about my friendship with Billy these days, you gotta read BILLY SAMPLE JUST KEEPS ON GOING among others. Just type in "Billy Sample" in the search engine of BYB... there are a ton of stories about Billy there.

Anyway, I am happy to congratulate Billy on a great achievement.  They have named a baseball field after him in Salem, Virginia.

WSLS writes:

"The city of Salem honored one of its most famous sons on Friday with the dedication of a plaque and scoreboard sign. The field at Kiwanis Park is now known as Billy Sample Field, the same field Sample played on back in the day. 

Sample was a decorated athlete in his time at Andrew Lewis High School, playing baseball, football and basketball. He attended Andrew Lewis after attending the Carver School. 

He went on to play major league baseball for about a decade and also does play by play broadcasting. 

On Friday, friends and family were there as they unveiled the honor. Sample said he's proud to have his family name and legacy rooted in the place he loves. "

You can't beat accomplishment. I am very happy for Billy.

Congrats my man!

GIRARDI TO BE PHILLIES NEW MANAGER. METS LOSE AGAIN.

The Mets are idiots.

There are reports out there that Joe Girardi has become the Phillies new manager. Great move.

The New York Post writes:

"Girardi was one of three experienced candidates the Phillies interviewed, with Buck Showalter and Dusty Baker also receiving consideration.... His hiring by the Phillies, who fired Gabe Kapler after two seasons earlier this month, also marks a return to the NL East. Girardi was the Manager of the Year in 2006 for the Marlins, but was fired after one season after a fallout with then-owner Jeffrey Loria."

Now the Mets need to figure it out.  They just need new everything to help that young team blossom. Right now they are a total mess.