BRING "BIG GAME" JAMES SHIELDS TO THE BRONX!

Ok, so not yet....but we have not even started the ALCS yet and this is already leaking. Hey, the baseball season isn't over yet and reading these juicy little tidbits is already getting me amped for the offseason. Let's get that Hot Stove going!

I'm trying not to get excited but I can't help it and reading THIS story from the New York Post just made it even harder. I don't hide enthusiasm well! While James Shields was mentally preparing and focusing on the Los Angeles Angels, our old friend Dave Eiland was hyping him up. I always liked Eiland, now I guess I like him even more. It was like he was prepping Sheilds for an interview. He was dangling him in front of the Yankees for the taking. Ok Eiland....what gives?

You trying to get on our good side here or what? There are some good arms that will be available this offseason namely Max Scherzer and Jon Lester. I am sure teams will be throwing all kinds of money at these two, but we can't forget about Shields. Actually, scratch that....teams can forget about Shields because I WANT HIM! Not that I wouldn't want Scherzer but come on....Shields is being dangled here. I see opportunity so I am jumping already.

There are some serious upsides with Shields. One thing that stands out for me is that he has pitched more than 200 innings since 2007. The guy is durable and we need that. Looking back at how our starting rotation suffered especially this past season, he would be a welcome addition. God forbid we lose CC Sabathia again, or Ivan Nova doesn't come back on time then we would have some extra stability there. Not to mention that he pitches deep into games and can save our bullpen.

Not to mention how often did we Yankee fans love to hate on the guy when he was pitching well against us when he was with the Tampa Bay Rays? I used to sit and grit my teeth and try anything in my bag of tricks to make him make a minor mistake against us and look human for once? He proved he could handle the AL East, so for once we don't have to question that.

I am still thinking back to the September 5th game we played against the Royals when he pitched against us. Talk about a deflating moment. He pitched a two-hitter against us that is just another reason why they are playing right now and we aren't.

Some people don't agree with me on this. A lot of people would prefer Scherzer and I can't say I disagree but either way the Yankees need another starter and he may be more affordable. I am reminded by many that he has not pitched well in the postseason but to those who point that out I ask....did you watch Sunday's game? I honestly thought his stuff wasn't that bad but he just couldn't put hitters away. Regardless of your interpretation....he battled and he frustrated the Angels who had the best record in the league! Some of the best hitters in the game, and they couldn't get the big hit and chip away at a lead. That is a gamer. Oh and, he is also going to start the ALCS. The Royals believe in him, and so do I.

I'm sure the Royals want him back. I wouldn't be surprised if Shields wants to stay. He wants to be on a winning team, and right now the Royals seem to be doing everything right while we have now had two losing seasons as Eiland described in his own words in that article. All I know is if there is a chance that Shields wants a taste of the big apple and he wants the bright lights the Yankees would be crazy not to give him a look.




 
 --Jeana Bellezza, BYB Senior Writer and Editor
Twitter: @NyPrincessJ


  

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MOVEMENT WITH LARRY ROTHSCHILD'S CONTRACT

Just a quick note to keep you in the loop. Our pitching coach Larry Rothschild will most likely return to the Yankees. According to multiple sources, both sides have agreed on the terms. 

We'll choose the New York Daily News on this one. They write: "Larry Rothschild and the Yankees are close to announcing a new deal, one which will bring the 59-year-old back to the Bronx, where he's spent the past three seasons on Joe Girardi's staff.

 

 A source said Rothschild's contract had not yet been finalized, but that the two sides had agreed to terms. Rothschild joined the Yankees in November 2010, signing a three-year deal to take over for Dave Eiland, who was dismissed following a tumultuous season during which Eiland took a four-week personal leave of absence."

People gave Larry a hard time this year, but the pitching struggles were not as horrible as the hitting. Kevin Long needs to be put under a microscope way before Rothschild in my opinion. I like Larry there, and I'm glad he's close on a deal.

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WHY AJ BURNETT IS AIRING OUT HIS DIRTY LAUNDRY

It’s been official for a few days now, but AJ Burnett is no longer on the Yankees. He’s with the Pittsburgh Pirates, and I’m happy with that. But we’re still going to talk about him, because he had some interesting things to say about his time with the Yankees starting with this line…

"It was fun the first couple of years. Then it got like, I'm never going to get out of this funk."
That comment sounded as though the marriage between Burnett and the Yankees was destined to get worse if he stayed any longer. AJ sometimes lets his emotions get the best of him, and if he stayed any longer while things got worse with him performance wise, who knows what’d happen with his psyche.

Burnett added on by saying "I let a few too many people tinker with me, maybe. When you let that happen, you start doubting yourself sometimes. You wonder, 'Am I doing it right? Is this how it's supposed to feel?' and things like that. In '09, nobody messed with me. I was able to do what I wanted to do on the mound, whether it was turn around, close my eyes and pitch upside down. Then you have a few bad games and you start changing and listening."

In fact, Russell Martin agreed to Burnett’s comments about AJ letting too many people tinker with him by saying "Exactly,'' Martin said. "A big part of getting better is knowing what information to retain and knowing what information to block out. The best way to do it is, when you’re working on something, work on something specific, work on that well and make it muscle memory. Once you get that going, you can move on to something else. If you’re trying to tinker with eight things at the same time, you’re not going to get any progress.”

After all, he’s right. Martin has tried to get into Burnett’s head, I’d imagine, since he came on board prior to last season. Maybe he tried to “tinker” with him too much for Burnett's liking, who knows. We may never know for sure.Now that Burnett is a Pirate, he needed to air out his dirty laundry. That’s not meant to be taken in a negative way. It’s not like he bashed the Yankees as an organization or anything, he just needed to explain what went on behind the scenes. Although one thing that I’m inferring from these comments is that he and Larry Rothschild may have not been a perfect fit.

It has been well documented in the past that Burnett needed, now former, pitching coach Dave Eiland, and Eiland was the key to “fixing” Burnett following the 2010 season. Read HERE. Trouble is, Eiland was fired and was replaced by Rothschild. I’ve made it clear that Rothschild is a pitching genius, and has been huge for the Yankees since he came over. Read WHY ROTHSCHILD IS A PITCHING GENIUS. Rothschild has tried to “tinker” with Burnett since he was hired by the Yankees, and maybe he fed Burnett too much advice to fix him and it could have taken a toll on AJ mentally. Either way, AJ Burnett is 35 years old, and while it’s hard to believe, his stuff is diminishing, most notably is fastball. Take a look…

The “wFB” is essentially the number of runs saved or allowed using his fastball. “+” for number of runs saved, “-“ for number of runs allowed, with “0” being average. So, to make a long story short, Burnett’s -34 wFB in 2011 means he’s allowed 34 runs more than the average MLB'er using his fastball, worst in the majors. The linear weight metric isn’t perfect, but it gives fans like you and me a general idea of how good or bad a particular pitch is. Read more about the linear weights HERE.

Also, you can see based on the chart that Burnett’s fastball velocity has dropped every year, thus he can’t get away with mistake fastballs like he used to. His “whiff%” or swing-and-miss percentage on his fastball, has been inconsistent the last several years. This is where the “tinkering” comes into play. He’s always been known as a two-pitch pitcher; fastball, curve ball, but with the fastball steadily declining, Burnett needs to get smarter. He needs to “tinker” his mindset as a pitcher. He needs to become more of a pitcher and less of a thrower.

Although it would have been nice if Burnett finished his contract with the Yankees, it just wasn’t meant to be, and a change needed to be made for both sides. The Yankees had three starters vying for one rotation spot, and the two other guys—Freddy Garcia and Phil Hughes—are much more worthy of getting one of those spots than Burnett. We wish Burnett the best of luck in Pittsburgh, and maybe Jeff Andrews, Pirates’ pitching coach, can guide him into the right direction. But based on Burnett’s comments, we now know for sure that he just wasn’t a fit in the Yankees puzzle for 2012.




--Jesse Schindler, BYB Staff Writer
Follow me on Twitter @SchindlerJesse



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WHY ROTHSCHILD IS A PITCHING GENIUS

After firing Dave Eiland after the 2010 season, it was a bit of a surprise when the Yankees hired Larry Rothschild to become the team's pitching coach prior to the 2011 season. Eiland was a pretty good pitching coach for the Yankees in his three years from 2008-2010, but Rothschild is a genius... a true pitching guru.Before Rothschild joined the Yankees he managed the original Tampa Bay Devil Rays, but it clearly wasn't a fit. His Devil Rays went 205-294 from 1998 through 14 games into the 2001 season when he was finally cut loose. But he gained some life as the pitching coach with the Chicago Cubs.Rothschild was the Chicago Cubs pitching coach from 2002-2010, and his pitchers provided a lot of good results during his time in the North Side. In fact, Cubs pitching struck out 11,604 batters, 1,802 more than the second place Houston Astros, and 2,945 more than the last place Detroit Tigers, from '02-'10. The Cubs pitching also produced the seventh lowest ERA in the majors during his nine years, checking in at a solid 4.10 ERA. Clearly he had an affect on the Cubs pitching staff during his time.

But the main thing with Rothschild is the strikeouts...the Rothschild effect. Pitchers strikeout rates seem to climb with Rothschild in the helm. Look at some of the Yankees starting pitchers strikeout rates in 2010 when Eiland was pitching coach, and in 2011 when Rothschild was pitching coach:CC Sabathia:
2010- 7.5 K/9
2011- 8.7 K/9, highest since 2008 (8.9 K/9)

AJ Burnett:
2010- 7.0 K/9
2011- 8.2 K/9, highest since 2009 (8.5 K/9)
Bartolo Colon:
2009 (Didn't pitch in 2010)- 5.5 K/9
2011- 7.4 K/9, highest since 2000 (10.1 K/9)

Freddy Garcia:
2010- 5.1 K/9
2011- 5.9 K/9, highest since 2008 (7.2 K/9)

Heck, even Ivan Nova's strikeout rate rose. Remember, he went back to the minors to work on his slider so he could elevate his strikeout rate in early July. Before being sent down on July 3 to AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Nova had a 5.0 K/9 rate. When Nova returned on July 30, his K/9 rate rose to 5.7 the rest of the way. Not a huge difference, but a positive difference nonetheless.

Although Rothschild has been in pinstripes for a year, the positive results have showed. The Yankees team ERA was 3.73 in 2011, lowest since 1985 when the team compiled a 3.69 ERA. For some perspective, in 1985 Larry Rothschild was pitching for the Iowa Cubs, AAA affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. The Yankees team K/9 total was 7.5 K/9 this year, highest since the World Series winning 2009 Yankees.

In the end the individual pitchers have to execute pitches, but Rothschild definitely gets a lot of credit here. But it's certainly a great accomplishment in itself that the Yanks got 310 combined innings out of castoffs Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon, something Rothschild can hang his hat on going into 2012.




--Jesse Schindler, BYB Staff Writer




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WHY CHANGE IS IN THE AIR

Change is happening, It's Monday and Dave Eiland, the Yanks pitching coach has been fired. Cashman said this: "I'm not going into any detail about what the reasons were."

In fairness, Cashman said the firing didn't have to do with the lousy pitching the Yankees displayed in the ALCS... ok, sure. Cashman termed the decision a "private" one. But actually, I do remember Eiland was out for like a month or more with a personal reason so, maybe, just maybe he had to leave for a family thing, or something private. Whatever the case, I liked Dave Eiland as a pitching coach. He was a terrible pitcher, but he knew how to work with the rotation and I think he made them better.

By the way, Cashman is planning to start negotiations with Joe Girardi this week. The plan is to sign Girardi to a new contract, and then the Yankees will figure out who will replace Eiland.

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WHY CONFIDENCE IS KEY

AJ Burnett's been downright inconsistant this year, make no bones about it. But I always find myself rooting for the guy because I know that when he's on, he can be unstoppable. That's why the Yankees signed him and that's what he proved to NY fans in 2009.

What AJ lacks is confidence. He can throw 5 shutout innings, strike out 7 easy, but God forbid someone turns on a 3-2 pitch and puts it in the seats... suddenly, AJ is unsure of himself.

At that point, Eiland's got to get out there. Talk to him, remind him what he's capable of. A lot of the time I see Eiland and Girardi looking at each other in the dugout and nothing gets done until it's too late and momentum goes the other team's way. Stop looking at the charts when it comes to AJ, just stroke the dude. Build him up, he needs it. Some personalities require that. It's like raising a child. Let's face it, AJ is a dominant pitcher and this is all in his head. He can overcome this.

Tonight, AJ pitches against Kevin Millwood. Millwood is 3-15, but that record is deceiving because the Orioles are actually winning now because of Showalter's personal quest to prove to the Yankees that's he's the greatest manager ever. Millwood is a great pitcher and the Orioles are very aggressive now.

AJ needs to pound the strike zone early, change up his pitches and trust his stuff. Throw that together with the Yankees actually hitting tonight off Millwood and I see them taking this game 6-3.

This weekend is a big deal for the Yankees. While the Baltimore Orioles are in last place, they are good. While the Yankees need to score first tonight, it all hinges on AJ and his confidence. If he doesn't let a base hit get inside his head and if the Yankees take these next three games to right themselves and get into a rhythm, they will be ready for the Rays next week in the Bronx. But if the confidence of AJ is not there tonight, It's going to be a long hard road. Tonight, AJ dominates... I hope.

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