HALL OF FAME 2020 COULD BE A ONE-MAN SHOW

I don't understand how some people can say baseball is boring. There's so much strategy and I love how things can change in a game faster than you can blink. All of the walk off home runs or the unbelievable plays and the pitchers duels keep me interested. Then there's also just the human interest side of it. We all have our favorite players, Mariano Rivera was mine. I loved watching him play and I loved watching him get inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame this weekend. But have we just seen the most interesting Hall of Fame class for years to come?

It's been fun to watch all of these new names be added to Cooperstown recently. In the last 6 years, the Hall has been working overtime making new bronze plaques for their 29 new additions. That's more guys added to the Hall in the last decade without including the 17 Negro Leaguers that were inducted back in 2006. So, can the trend continue?

It doesn't look likely. According to baseball reference HERE the 2020 potential Hall of Fame Ballots there could be fewer bronze plaques being made not only for next season, but for a few years to come. Looking ahead to next year's first year eligible players include: Bobby Abreu, Jason Giambi, Cliff Lee, Josh Beckett, Eric Chavez, Alfonso Soriano, Adam Dunn, Paul Konerko and Derek Jeter.

The biggest name on the list goes without saying, and that's Derek Jeter. The rest of the guys on the list for the first time were all good players, but even media outlets like Newsday are wondering.....could Derek Jeter be the only one inducted into Cooperstown next year? Could it be unanimous? Rivera was the first to get a unanimous vote, could Jeter be the second?

The first year ballots are not as exciting as recent years so that theoretically opens the door for players returning to the ballot to possibly earn extra votes. But would they get enough votes? The player with the highest votes from last year is Mr. Controversial Curt Schilling with 64.7% of the votes. After some stupid and racist comments back in 2015 and 2016 that hurt his votes he has won back a surprising number of votes the last couple of years which has inched him closer to the needed 75% to be voted in.

So whether you like Schilling or not, the smaller pool of eligible players may help him get voted into Cooperstown. His eventual election into Hall of Fame looks like it is getting more likely. He may not get in next year, but he may get in by 2021 which is his ninth year on the ballot.

The upcoming first year players through 2023 look pretty uninteresting compared to recent years. We could see very small classes for the foreseeable future. Is Jeter the only inductee next season? It will be interesting to see how many votes Jeter does get, and if anyone else shares the stage with him.

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

MESSY, MESSY, MESSY!

The Yankees had an opportunity to win last night against the White Sox, but the save was blown by David Robertson.  Do I blame David Robertson? No. Should you? No. Why? Because to be perfectly honest, the Yankees shouldn't have put DRob in that situation in the first place.  With the offense we have, we shouldn't have to try to scratch together runs, game after game.  But we are, and it's a problem.

You know why I love DRob? Because the guy's a man's man. He stood tall in the post game as deflated as he was, he talked to reporters and said, "It's on me." I'm paraphrasing, but you get the idea.  The reality is... the Yankees should have and could have done more.  I don't blame DRob for this loss.  I blame the bats and wonder why we are having such a hard time scoring runs.  As Professor Hinkie said in the 1969 classic, Frosty the Snowman... Messy, messy, messy.  That's it!


Let's take a look at the Yankees pitching first. Hiroki Kuroda has had issues.  There is no question about it.  4.2 innings, he allowed 8 hits and gave up 4 runs.

Not the Kuroda we knew last season.  The pen held the Sox after that.  Dellin Betances and Adam Warren continue to pitch well and the Sox didn't score again until Adam Dunn cranked a 2 run, walk off home run in the bottom of the 9th off DRob.  Again, The White Sox are 3rd place in the AL Central... they're at .500. Not exactly a powerhouse.  How are we not having batting practice off these guys with the bats we picked up this off season?

Our hits and runs went like this...

In the first inning, Brian McCann homered. It was a 3 run homer knocking in Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira.  Then, finally in the 7th, on a wild pitch, Brian Roberts scored.  Jacoby Ellsbury then sacrificed Alfonso Soriano home.

Those are your Yankees' 5... then Dunn knocked in a 2 run homer for the walk off win for the Sox.

Not happy right now, but I blame our Yankees as a whole.  We need to get it together.  Sure, DRob blew the save, but where is my team? They are surely not all on the same page and it's obvious at this point. We need confidence... fast!

Final: White Sox 6 - Yankees 5

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IS CURTIS GRANDERSON REALLY TRADE BAIT?

The great trade debate has started. More specifically, the one involving Curtis Granderson. Most Yankee fans seem to be split pretty much down the middle on this one. With all the holes to fill in our line-up recently, some think this would be about the most ridiculous thing that Brian Cashman and the Steinbrenners could do, while others think this is the perfect time to do it. Let’s weigh the pros and cons out here a little bit.  

• Pro: Granderson is a huge home run hitter. The past two seasons, he lead the majors with 84 homers.

•  Con: He also strikes out, a lot. This season alone he had a whopping 195 strikeouts. The only major league player with more strikeouts this season was Adam Dunn.

• Pro: Granderson has been able to find his swing against left-handed pitchers.

• Con: His numbers have dropped dramatically from 2011 to 2012, going from .262/.364/.552 to .232/.319/.492. He also went from 153 hits and 119 RBI’s to 138 hits and 106 RBI’s.

  

• Con: Granderson is not the greatest defender. Even before the trade talks started, there was speculation over the possibility of moving Brett Gardner to center and Granderson to left. Granderson just doesn’t have the same range of motion anymore.

Granderson is well liked by fans and has more then earned his pinstripes, but I will not sugar coat the situation. It is possible that his time with the Yankees is about to be over. And better to part ways now then to hold on too long and end up regretting it.

It is possible that at the end of next season, when both he and Robinson Cano become free agents, the front office is more likely to work out a contract with Cano then with Granderson. It kind of puts him in the same situation that Nick Swisher was in last year, knowing he may face his last season in New York.

Granderson is looking at $15 million this season. The Mets, Mariners and Phillies are all in need of either a CF or a power hitter and have some spending money to be able to pull it off. The possibility of him being traded is not altogether unrealistic. Being able to trade him gives Cashman the coin and wiggle room he needs to make other deals.

Of course, you have to ask who would be in our outfield? Gardner could possibly take center. I’m still incredibly optimistic that Ichiro Suzuki will be back in pinstripes and will take right. Of course this still leaves us with a hole in left. Raul Ibanez is great but isn’t an everyday player. And those holes in our line-up are starting to worry me a little bit.

For the right player, I don’t think trading Granderson would be half bad. I like Granderson well enough and will continue to follow his career once he leaves, but this is a business. With the winter meetings started, baseball is moving fast. Just look at how quickly Russell Martin turned to the Pirates. If they plan on moving Granderson, they need to get it done now and start filling up those empty positions before we end up with bottom of the barrel picks. This Yankee off-season is beginning to mirror the off-season Boston had last year, which is entirely too much for my liking.

--Erica Morales, BYB Writer
Twitter: @e_morales1804




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2012 BYB AMERICAN LEAGUE PREDICTIONS

Every baseball blog site is posting their MLB predictions. I’ve never been a huge fan of predictions because the game is simply unpredictable. Either way, we’re going to try to defy the laws of Major League Baseball predictions starting with the American League. Enjoy.

AL East:

1. Yankees: Elite offense and bullpen, rotation strong even without Michael Pineda. X-factor: Phil Hughes; could have breakout, All Star season.(In Photo: Desmond Jennings)
2. Rays: Starting rotation could compile 1,000 innings this year and Longoria could rise to MVP status after unlucky 2011. X-factor: Desmond Jennings; Could be a 20 homer, 50 steal guy.

3. Red Sox: Bobby Valentine has work cut out for him after questionable pitching decisions (ie: Daniel Bard in rotation, Alfredo Aceves closing), though Boston has elite offense, could finish fourth in AL East. X-factor: Daniel Bard; If Bard struggles in rotation look for him to shift back to ‘pen.

4. Blue Jays: Jose Bautista is the best in the game, Brett Lawrie a superstar in the making, fixed leaky bullpen though rotation has questions. X-factor: Brandon Morrow; if he harnesses his electric stuff (Led AL SP’s with 10.19 K/9 in 2011) he could contend for the AL Cy Young.(In Photo: Matt Wieters)
5. Orioles: Have absolutely no chance of winning AL East, though Matt Wieters is one of best catchers in baseball. X-factor: Zach Britton; one of the O’s best young pitchers. If they want to see any improvements they need Britton to mature.

AL Central:

1. Tigers: Great offense, back end of bullpen, and Justin Verlander. Defense takes big hit with Miguel Cabrera moving to third, could hinder pitching. X-factor: Max Scherzer; reminds me of a young AJ Burnett. If he can harness his stuff to go behind Verlander and Doug Fister, this team could win it all.(In Photo: Justin Masterson)
2. Indians: Got off to great start last year, but faded badly in second half. Justin Masterson is a future marquee name anchoring the Indian rotation, Chris Perez and Vinny Pestano one of best 8-9 inning combos. X-factor: Travis Hafner; needs to stay healthy for full season to even dream about overtaking Detroit.

3. Royals: Oodles and oodles of young talent in majors and minors, Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, and Alex Gordon among others are future stars, very thin rotation. X-Factor: Luke Hochevar. Former number 1 overall pick pitched 198 innings in ’11, needs to take step to the next level.(In Photo: Adam Dunn)
4. White Sox: GM doesn’t know if contending or rebuilding, loss of Mark Beuhrle is huge for rotation, Alex Rios and Adam Dunn are terrible contracts and dead weight to the team. X-Factor: Adam Dunn; He can’t be worse than last year, right?

5. Twins: Suffered insane amount of injuries last year, don’t know if Francisco Liriano is taking the next step to be consistent, elite starter. X-factor: Health of Joe Mauer and Justin Mornaeu; both have laundry list of injury concerns, almost a given they’ll miss a chunk of team each.

AL West:

1. Rangers: Powerful offense 1-9 with strong, young rotation, bullpen could be leaky with Nathan closing. X-factor: Yu Darvish; If he pitches like an ace, this team could define “Third time’s the charm”.
(In Photo: Kendrys Morales)
2. Angels: Incredible 1-4 in rotation, not much offense after Pujols, questions in the bullpen with Jordan Walden closing. X-factor: Kendrys Morales; If he stays healthy and produces 2009 numbers, look out.

3. Mariners: Felix Hernandez, Jesus Montero, Dustin Ackley, Rally Fries, and their commercials are all they have. Virtually no offense, though Montero and Dustin Ackley are future stars, Ichiro is over the hill. X-factor: Justin Smoak; Still find it hard to believe Jack Z traded Cliff Lee for this guy, needs to show results and fast.
(In Photo: Brandon McCarthy)
4. A’s: Brandon McCarthy is the most underrated pitcher in all of baseball, should be 3-ring circus when Manny Ramirez returns. X-factor: Yoenis Cespedes; Had good showing in Japan, could have big rookie year.

Wild Cards: Angels, Rays
ALCS: Yankees over Rangers
MVP: Evan Longoria
Cy Young: CC Sabathia
Rookie: Jesus Montero
Comeback player: Phil Hughes
Manager of the year: John Farrell

I’m sure there are some picks that I’ve made that you disagree with, and that’s fine. Feel free to sound off in the comments. Look out for our National League predictions and our World Series pick on Saturday or Sunday. After all, I can't give you our World Series pick if I didn't give our National League predictions yet, right?




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

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WHY WE NEED TO FORGIVE & BURNETT

Whatever’s happened before with AJ Burnett is the past. We're going with a clean slate right now Ladies and Gentlemen. After all, many of the Yankee fans have written him off, but not so fast, the Yankee brass has not, at least that's what they want you to think.

Sure, they tried to unload him, but no one was biting so they pulled him back and Cashman quickly presented a smoke and mirrors trick to try and convince Yankeeland that he back’s AJ Burnett suddenly. (Read HERE.) Look, I’m not stupid, I know AJ’s been less than stellar, but it is what it is… AJ Burnett…never a truly outstanding pitcher, but instead, a good pitcher with problems.

Now that we officially know that, let’s remember who we have and enter Spring Training with him completing for a spot in the Yankees rotation like everyone else. After all, Freddy Garcia is, Phil Hughes will, Manny Banuelos may... so why not let AJ do it too. It’s only right.

Instead of killing this guy and crucifying him, we need to now put our differences aside and back him. Look, even great pitchers like Jack McDowell came to the Yankees and looked like they could be a perfect match, but then even he fizzled just as fast as he showed up. AJ Burnett is no Jack McDowell, he loves us fans... McDowell flipped us off. But the point is, pitchers sometimes can't handle New york pressure. It gets in their head... but one thing you can’t do is get down on your New York Yankees, you still need to back them. I’m not preaching here like Don Imus in Odd Jobs (Now that IS an obscure Pop Culture reference), but I’m just making a point, you get what you get and you don’t get upset. That means, we know what we have with AJ and until we come up with a solution to fix the problem, AJ Burnett is a pitcher for the New York Yankees and we need to support the guy.

What are we going to so, ship him off to Chicago to be with Theo and the Cubs and get Alfonso Soriano in return? Or trade bad contract for bad contract and send him to the Chisox for Adam Dunn? Actually, I love that idea. All these scenarios have been talked about and nothing is happening. So, now we do what we do as Yankee fans... We take a deep breath, and much like we did when Carl Pavano was the Opening Day pitcher for us in 2007, we support our guy, even if we hate him and we ask him to do what he’s supposed to do… his job. You never know, this could be AJ Burnett’s best year ever… maybe… if we give him alittle love…

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IS RAUL IBANEZ BRONX BOUND?

So scanning through the New York Post sports section this morning and I see the following headline, "Yankees interested in Ibanez".  You can read the column HERE.

Anyway, needless to say that caught my eye.  There is no question our pitching has miraculously shaped up over the last few weeks but the one big hole in our lineup is the lack of a left handed DH with power.  Here at BYB we have discussed a few possibilities such as Matusi (read HERE), Damon (read HERE), and even Adam Dunn (read HERE).  But one name I have not thought of much was Raul Ibanez but the more I think about it the more I like it.

Ibanez's average dropped last year, hitting only .245 but he still hit 20 HR's and drove in 84.  For Ibanez that was a down year because the previous 4 seasons he averaged 24 HR's and 100 RBIs.  But if we got a left handed DH who could bang out 20 HR's and 84+RBIs, I'd sign up for that in a heartbeat.

Okay, so Ibanez is 39-years-old but who cares really if he is DH'ing?  Plus, like Damon and Matsui he has post season series experience and knows how to play and hit in the big game.  Is Ibanez my first choice, no.  But I certainly would not be upset if the Yankees brought him to the Bronx for a year or two for the right price.

What do you all think?

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--Mikey Blue, BYB Senior Writer
Email: DonnieBaseball2323@gmail.com
Twitter: @MikeyBlu23

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WHY BURNETT CAN BE TRADED FOR DUNN

The Burnett trade rumors are everywhere. It is amazing that so many Yankee blogs are talking about it. People really have had enough of AJ Burnett. I feel sorry for the guy. I know, people tell me, “The guy's a millionaire, don’t feel sorry for him, he can’t do his job.” OK I understand where you're coming from, but I’ve said this since day one, AJ Burnett is not an ace, he's a good pitcher. AJ Burnett has never been an ace. He came to the Bronx with CC Sabathia surrounded by headlines of “1,2, PUNCH” and media hype and we all bought into it. Sure, we won in 2009 and while it showed a good, yet, slightly inconsistent AJ Burnett, we learned to live with it. After 2010 we became annoyed and now, after 2011, we're pissed. Something needs to be done. Well, we did something by getting Michael Pineda, a 22 year old who’s supposed to be better than AJ Burnett, but let’s not forget, Pineda’s got less experience. Plus, we also have Ivan Nova, a question mark if you think about it. Can Nova have the same year he had last year?

We have Phil Hughes who had a “dead arm” situation all last year and we really don’t know what to make of him in 2012. Oh yeah, and we have 37 year old Hiroki Kuroda who may not be able to hack the Bronx because it’s a hitter’s park compared to Dodgers Stadium….and of course Freddy Garcia. Sound solid to you? Yes, behind CC, we have a much better rotation minus AJ Burnett, but that’s if everything positive we see on paper comes to light in the Bronx, then we're unstoppable. All I'm saying is let’s face reality here. AJ may be inconsistent, but at least we know what we’re getting. I’m really not sure what to make of these other guys.

After the Jesus Montero trade, my buddy in Miami sent me a note that read: “I’m still not sold on Pineda.” I get it. We, much like the Mariners have no idea what to expect from our new acquisitions. Sure, they can both have amazing years, or they can both struggle. Or, like I’ve said a ton, Montero may become a superstar and maybe Pineda can't crack the Bronx code and shits the bed. I’m not getting down on my New York Yankees, I’m offering a harsh reality. We need to wait and see. Bottom line...in some regards, I feel like it’s 2011 all over again.

So back to AJ Burnett. While Yankeeland wants him gone, rumor upon rumor suggests trading him for a DH. I guess the thinking is, get your DH, get rid of Burnett, and everyone is happy. There have been names like Billy Butler, and Adam Dunn floated. I definitely don’t see Billy Butler being offered by Kansas City; the Royals should hold onto that guy, but let’s face it, the Royals could use some pitching, and like I’ve stated in WHY NOT TRADE AJ BURNETT FOR BILLY BUTLER?, Burnett could be the Ronald Miller of Kansas City. A leader and mad popular. For anyone one of you that missed my Ronald Miller reference from Can’t Buy Me Love, I am clearly too old and use too many obscure movie pop culture references… I’ll work on that.

Adam Dunn, while interesting, would fix the problem quickly, a crappy contract for a crappy contract and both the White Sox and Yankees get the parts they need but still have the money to deal with. That being said, it’s not a bad solution. The only issue is Adam Dunn has 3 years left on his contract, AJ Burnett has two. If the White Sox and Yankees were to pay the rest of each of their own players contracts for 2012 and 2013 and then split the last year of Dunn's contract in 2014 down the middle, I say... it sounds easy enough. To be specific, the Yankees pay $16,500,000 in 2012 and $16,500,000 in 2o13. The White Sox would pay $14 million in 2012 and $15 million. Then the Chisox and Yankees would split $15 million down the middle of the remaining money of Dunn's contract. Read about that rumor HERE.

There is no doubt in my mind that Brian Cashman will trade AJ Burnett, or hell, I’ve heard Phil Hughes as another suggestion. Now look, I can’t see the Yankees "Golden Boy" going anywhere, but maybe they’re willing to unload Hughes for a DH, we shall see. Cashman said today that he’d looking in trading pitching excess for hitting, that, according to this report HERE. That doesn’t mean he won’t, I believe it means he will, he just needs to find the right combination of pitcher for hitter and get the deal done. Will he? I can’t officially say, but there goes my gut again, I think so. Could someone like Adam Dunn be coming to New York for AJ Burnett? Well, in my trade scenario it's very possible, although, I’m still partial to a Johnny Damon reunion.

Whatever happens though… I support my New York Yankees…I just want to start Spring Training already. How many days again? 28?

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