COULD ADDISON REED BRING RELIEF TO YANKEES?

Source: KATHY WILLENS/AP

I saw it with my own eyes.  I was there.  I felt it in my core as he trotted onto the field from the bull pen in the 7th inning on Friday night.  I thought to myself, "this is just a sick joke that Joe Girardi is playing on me; he's not really coming in to ruin my perfect night at the Stadium." But alas, there was Tyler Clippard warming up to supposedly "get us out of a jam," which I might add he has not had much success in doing these last couple of months.  The Tyler Clippard presence on this team must end and honestly, I'd happily take 28-year-old Addison Reed in his place so that Clippard can be DFA'ed and we can all find some relief.

Source: SCOTT CUNNINGHAM/GETTY IMAGES

"With the Mets reportedly "open for business" on trade conversations, relief pitcher Addison Reed's name has been talked about as a potential piece the team could move on from in a July fire sale.

According to Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe, "interest is picking up around Reed's name--but there's skepticism that the team most in need of a late-inning arm would be able to make the Mets an offer they would accept."

Source: Drew Hallowell/Getty Images North America

As of pre-game time on Saturday, right-handed pitcher Addison Reed has 15 saves on the year with a 2.53 ERA and 43 strike outs.  Over the last seven days, his ERA has been 0.00.

Source: Mike Stobe/Getty Images North America

Reed could make an impact on the bullpen without us giving away too much. And that keeps the Mets from dealing with the Washington Nationals, who acquired Daniel Murphy from their Division Rivals when the Mets failed to counter a free-agent offer. According to the NY Daily News, "If it’s the Yankees, that doesn’t mean Clint Frazier or Justus Sheffield or even Miguel Andujar. But considering that Reed could provide protection in case (Dellin) Betances can’t solve his walk issues or simply add needed bullpen depth, the Yankees should be willing to give up a prospect with value."

Source: Bob Levey/Getty Images North America

"Even if the Mets move Reed--or any other veteran--it could be spun as a move that wouldn't kill the team's chances of making a run this summer. Much like the Yankees moving Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman last summer, the Mets could theoretically play better baseball without a late-game reliever," reports NJ.com.

Source: Mike Stobe/Getty Images North America

Anyway you spin it, we need someone to replace Clippard who clearly is sucking the life out of fans like me let alone the team itself.  He seems to have "mush" status, bringing bad luck to the team once he enters the field.  And I think the thing that makes it worse is that he doesn't even know what is happening.  According to his post-game interview on Friday night's massacre on the mound, "I feel very good about where I am at on the mound right now," Clippard said.  "I feel like my stuff is there. It's just frustrating."  

Source: Mike Stobe/Getty Images North America

With a quote like that, Reed couldn't get here fast enough in my book.  As the deadline continues to grow closer, it will be interesting to see what Brian Cashman and Co. do to bring relief to both starting and bull pen rotations.

Time will tell... until then, #SendDownClippard.

--Suzie Pinstripe

BYB Managing Editor
Follow me on Twitter: @suzieprof

BYB Stack Merchandise (2017)

BYB HOT STOVE: VOLUME XVIII

Here we are at week 18 of our Hot Stove series and the heat is on Phillies' GM Ruben Amaro, Jr. one more time.  According to ESPN, Amaro tells us that "All pitchers can get hurt. All players can get hurt. It can happen any time. That has nothing to do with the way we go about our business, [by] planning for a player to get hurt. That doesn't make any sense." He is referring to the potential career-ending injury Phillies' ace Cliff Lee is suffering from a tear in his common flexor tendon near his left elbow and the very healthy Cole Hamels who is still up for sale.  It sounds to me that Amaro wants to trade Hamels before he gets hurt- well, isn't that just terrific  According to ESPN, "So trading Cole Hamels is the best, potentially franchise-changing card remaining in Amaro's deck. If he plays it now, he won't get that A-plus or A-double-plus deal he's been looking for. But he might get an A-minus deal." Folks something is going to happen soon and it all sounds like dirty money to me.

The Toronto Sun is reporting that there is interest from the Arizona Diamondbacks and Detroit Tigers in Blue Jays catcher Dioner Navarro.  Navarro who is slated to miss a couple of starts, is open to the ideas because he, like our third baseman, Chase Headley, wants to play everyday.  According to The Sun, "Everyone in baseball knows that the Jays need relief help ... just as everyone knows the Diamondbacks need someone to go behind the plate."  So, a trade with the D'Backs for a couple of relief pitchers like Addison Reed or Brad Ziegler could happen.  Or, maybe Navarro stays in Toronto and is the everyday DH since Russell Martin will likely take on the starting role behind the plate. Toronto will be lethal this year, anyway you slice it, so my guess is picking up some relief pitching is essential for Toronto to be at the top of the East come late September.

The San Diego Padres strike again. Yahoo Sports is reporting that "The San Diego Padres are positioning themselves as a favorite to land Cuban infielder Hector Olivera, showing a willingness to spend significant money after strong-but-failed attempts to sign Cubans Yasmany Tomas and Yoan Moncada earlier this offseason, sources told Yahoo Sports.  The market for Olivera heated up Tuesday, with the Padres considering an offer upwards of $50 million, according to sources. The Atlanta Braves, Oakland A's and Los Angeles Dodgers remain in the mix."  Who would have thought that the Padres would ever be this aggressive.  But having a weak infield could hurt the club, hence this big push toward Olivera.  The Padres need to make their off season spending worthwhile- no weak links will be tolerated by new GM A.J. Preller.

(In Photo: Jason Hayward)
Last up, The New York Daily News is reporting that "According to two major league sources, the Yankees and Atlanta Braves were talking more than we knew over the winter, in addition to swapping Manny Banuelos and David Carpenter. The Yanks were interested in what would have been a blockbuster acquisition of outfielder Jason Heyward and shortstop Andrelton Simmons." What? Really?  Yep! "Before the Yanks acquired shortstop Didi Gregorius, they asked Atlanta about Heyward and Simmons. It is not clear what the Braves would have wanted in return, and it is possible that talks never progressed to the concrete offer phase."  What a difference that would have made.

That's all for Hot Stove Volume XVIII.  We will keep our eye out for the latest on Hamels and the rest of the trade talks across MLB. 

--Suzie Pinstripe, BYB Senior Staff Writer
BYB Hot Stove Columnist
Twitter: @suzieprof



You've made BYB the fastest growing Yankees fan site in history. Now shop at the Bleeding Yankee Blue store!  Follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and LIKE Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook!  Also, don't forget to check out the BYB Hub!

THE BRIDGE TO DAVID ROBERTSON

Ever since Mariano Rivera popularized the role in 1996, teams have sought to find one or more relief pitchers on their respective staffs to be setup men. These guys bridge the late innings from the starter to the closer. For the last 4 seasons, that person was David Robertson, who has recorded between 30 and 35 Holds per season over that time. Now the Yankees have penciled in Robertson as the closer for the team, and the question is now around who will fill the gap. In my mind, I think there are two pitchers who could form a very powerful tandem, in the way that Jeff Nelson and Mike Stanton did for Mariano Rivera years ago. Those two pitchers are Dellin Betances and Matt Thornton.

Matt Thornton is a career setup and bridge pitcher, mostly with the White Sox. Since 2006, he has set up Bobby Jenks, Sergio Santos, and Addison Reed to the tune of about 20 Holds per season. He kept his ERA in the 2’s and 3’s for the most part, coming in mostly for the 8th inning, and earned an All-Star appearance in 2010. He appeared in one postseason with the White Sox, and has yet to yield a postseason earned run. At age 37, he is in a position to serve as a veteran mentor to some of the younger Yankees pitchers. Despite his recent Spring Training outings, his history says that he should balance out a nice 8th inning one-two punch.

Meanwhile, Dellin Betances has been on fire since converting to the bullpen. A once-rising future starter, Betances seems to have found a home and settled in to his role as a relief pitcher. Last year, he spent most of his time in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre as a relief pitcher, and saw both his ERA and WHIP take a nosedive. His strikeout to walk ratio doubled, and his performance in Spring Training this year has turned some heads. In 8 innings of work scattered across five games, he has given up two hits, two walks, and struck out seven. Granted, he’ll be turning 26 on the 23rd of March, and he has yet to face a high-pressure major league situation, so we’ll still have to see if he can hack it in the 7th and 8th. Nevertheless, the outlook is bright right now.

With the departure of Mariano Rivera, the change of role for David Robertson, and the almost complete overhaul of the Yankees bullpen, the 2014 season should prove to be an interesting and formative year for the Yankees pitching staff. While anything can happen, these two pitchers seem to be the most likely candidates to form the bridge to the closer. Given their pedigree and recent performances, it should be very interesting.

--Ike Dimitriadis, BYB Writer
Twitter: @KingAgamemnon
My blog is: Shots from Murderer's Row



You've made BYB the fastest growing Yankees fan site in history. Now shop at the Bleeding Yankee Blue store!  Follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and LIKE Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook!

PUTZ FOR ICHIRO? THIS HAS TROUBLE WRITTEN ALL OVER IT

Over the course of the last week, there has been a rumor making the rounds about the Yankees’ interest in J.J.Putz. More specifically, it names Ichiro Suzuki as the target of the Diamondbacks’ interest, read HERE. On paper, it looks like an opportunity for both teams, as it solves logjams on both sides of the trade. The Diamondbacks just signed Addison Reed and need to move Putz. The Yankees have six outfielders with significant playing time in the outfield, not to mention the up-and-coming rookies, and at least one of them has to go. Is this a win-win, or a disaster in the making?

J.J. Putz has been closing games for the majority of his 11 seasons in the majors, having accumulated 189 saves in his career. The question is, is he a reliable pitcher as of right now? He was the primary closer for 2011 and 2012 for the Arizona Diamondbacks, getting 77 saves over those two seasons. He was also closing for the Mariners back in 2006-2008. However in 2013, he hit rough times, converting only five of nine save opportunities by the end of April. After injuring his elbow, he lost the closer role to Heath Bell. He only saw one more 9^th inning save opportunity for the rest of the season – where he blew the save – and was relegated to setup and mop up work. When you see that from a pitcher who will turn 37 before the season starts, you are not thinking that he had a bad year. You are thinking that he may be done. Which is why this rumor is not the hopeful kind.

On the Yankees side, the 40-year old Ichiro Suzuki had a non-stellar but respectable 2013 season. Despite hitting only .222 over the last two months of the season, he still finished the season with a .262 average. He put in his time, clocking in for 555 plate appearances over 150 games. His fielding percentage of .989 was slightly above the league average and his range factor was a little below the league average. All stats say he is a respectable major leaguer, his best days are clearly behind him, and he if he wants to play he will not be forced into retirement quite yet.

Therefore, here is the dilemma. The Yankees still need help in the bullpen, and they have outfielders in surplus. With Ichiro’s productivity being on a downward slope, he would be a good candidate to put on the block. Make no mistake - I am not happy about putting him out there. Nevertheless, someone has to go, and you are not going to get a whole lot of value when you are offering your worst outfielder. If we are going to offer Ichiro to someone, can we not get more for him? Ichiro may not be an All-Star anymore, but I would like to think that someone would offer more than a 37-year old pitcher with a 55% save percentage in his prior season.

The rumor continues to get airtime, and we will see what happens. Brian Cashman, if you are reading this, take this to heart. This deal, if true, has trouble written all over it.

 
--Ike Dimitriadis, BYB Writer
Twitter: @KingAgamemnon
My blog is: Shots from Murderer's Row

Thank you to all the Bleeding Yankee Blue readers for continued success.  You've made BYB the fasted growing Yankees fan site in the history of Yankees fandom.  Thanks for reading, sharing and enjoying. Follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and join the group Bleeding Yankee Blue (Official) on Facebook, just type it in.

YANKEES ON THE WRONG END OF THE SWEEP

The Yankees were swept by the Chicago White Sox.  The End. Go to bed.   Look, this is simple for me.  Losing a game stinks, losing 2 in a row sucks.  Being swept going into a day off for a fan is the most frustrating thing that can happen.  All I will do now is think about what could have been in this last game and it will bother me until Friday.  

The Yankees are in a heap of trouble.  Sure, I can act like everything will be fine and this is a bump in the road, but this is almost the end of August.  Not only is now the time where we need to turn it on, we need to dominate right about now.  Our pitching is a mess, don't get it twisted.  We can act like we have starters to win a short series, but we were just swept, so clearly we don't and we can't. Yeah, CC Sabathia's coming back, but let's face it, even CC Monster hasn't been a monster this year. Sure, we have Hiroki Kuroda, but how long can we expect him to be awesome all by himself? It just ain't fair.

(In Photo: Chris Sale)Tonight was more about the fact that the Yankees couldn't hit Chris Sale rather than Phil Hughes stinking up the joint.  Hughes pitched pretty good.  His line looks like this: 7 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 5 strikeouts.  Chris Sale kept the Yankees to 1 run the whole game.  Then Addison Reed came in and got the save.

Highlights? Not too many. There were 4 hits total for the Yanks.  Robinson Cano was 2-4 and Derek Jeter had a hit, a homer and his average is up to .324. Damn the Captain is awesome! Jeter cranked his 13th home run, how do you like that?

Final Score: White Sox 2 - Yankees 1

Who knows, maybe the day off can shake the cobwebs off the Yankee bats and clear their heads.  For me, a true fan, I'll be reflecting on this. I'll be angry, annoyed and my mind will wonder as I try to piece together in my head a way for the Yankees to become that dominant force I love.  Then I'll realize around Friday morning over coffee that it's not my job to do that, it's Brian Cashman's.  The Yanks need to get things moving... time is a ticking and we need a streak.... not 3 in a row. Not 4 in a row...10 in a row.   Wake up Yanks...wake up.

Please comment, we have DISQUS, it's easier than ever. Let me know what you think and follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and join the group Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook, just type it in.