A MET WON SOMETHING

No big surprise here, because Pete Alonso is a beast, but last night he won the home run derby. Pretty impressive.

SNY writes:

"The Mets slugger credited his strategy of conserving his energy throughout the night so he would not be tired come the final round. 'Yeah, survive and advance,' Alonso said at post-Derby press conference. 

'Go in with a killer instinct. It doesn't matter how many you hit, you just need to have more than the guy you're facing.'  Alonso did exactly that, hitting just one more home run than the hitter he was paired against in each round. 

In the first round, Alonso hit 14 to Carlos Santana's 13 and then Alonso hit 20 to Ronald Acuña Jr.'s 19 in the semifinal. Both times Alonso had earned the extra 30 seconds and both times he did not need to use it. 

'I'm really happy I didn't have to swing a lot going in the extra rounds,' he said. 'That's the one thing most of my teammates .... pretty much all were saying conserve as much energy as possible, stay hydrated, keep body loose.'"

Congrats to Alonso. Maybe now the Mets can celebrate something for a moment.

THE YANKEES LIVE TO SEE ANOTHER DAY!

It's not over yet. The fat lady ain't singing yet. We still have a faint pulse.....and we can still tie this series up after all. It's been rough but we pulled it off and WE ARE STILL ALIVE!

Photo: Getty Images

Last night was tough to watch. Going until the bottom of the seventh with no score is just an invitation for a great team like Cleveland to come in and sucker punch you. I was biting my nails and pacing the floors in our home. Thank the baseball gods for the dominating pitching performance from Masahiro Tanaka last night! We needed that three hit, one walk show from Tanaka. It was a saving grace when Yankee offense looked like it was checking out for the winter already.

Photo: Getty Images

Then Greg Bird finally gave the Yankees the lift we really needed with that solo home run against Andrew Miller. Tanaka was doing his part, and Bird finally gave him some support. Bird has taken a lot of heat this year thanks to all of the time on the disabled list. Tonight I was reminded of what we saw back in 2015. Bird showed off in a big way. THAT is the Birdman Yankee brass and fans expect to see.

Photo: Getty Images

Thank goodness all we needed is that ONE RUN because usually that's not enough when you are dealing with Cleveland. I was a nervous wreck when we had to run out for a last minute errand and we were listening to it all go down in the ninth inning on XM Radio. I was sitting in the passenger seat sweating with my eyes closed, head bowed down as if I were praying and I had my fingers and toes crossed.....if Carlos Santana got a hit against Aroldis Chapman I was going to absolutely lose my mind in our car.

Thank goodness it didn't and we WILL have a Game 4. But a lot still has to go right if we want to force a game 5.

First things first, mother nature needs to cooperate. The weather for Monday does not look good at all. The bulk of the rain looks to be likely during the morning and early afternoon hours but by game time there is still a 50% chance of rain right now.

Photo: Getty Images

Assuming there is a game and no rain out Luis Severino needs to dominate.
We need our ace tonight, not the guy that pitched one-third of an inning against the Twins in the Wild Card. This time he is on regular rest and I am sure he wants to redeem himself. Tanaka does well on longer rest and that worked well for us but that didn't work well for Severino. We need length from Severino and if he pitches well our offense also needs to show up unlike last night. The odds of Cleveland having a repeat lackluster offense again tonight are basically zero.

No brainer here, but the bats need to come alive again
The Yankee offense has stalled and we got lucky winning a 1-0 game against Cleveland. That was too close for comfort. The bats need to be out and working on overtime tonight. Aaron Judge and his 0-10 slump needs to end. Didi Gregorius is only 1-for-11 and Brett Gardner is 1-for-12.  The top of the lineup is especially going to be key for this Yankees offense. They need to set the table and the heart of the order needs to clean house, simple as that because we won't have another 1-0 win against these Indians.

Photo: Getty Images

I wish we weren't behind in this series and I wish Joe Girardi would've freakin' challenged that hit by pitch on Friday. I know it is foolish to look back but replays suggest that would have been a potentially game-saving strikeout. Who knows if we would've come back and won anyway considering how we really choked that lead away but still....it could've been a difference.

Tonight decides if we go back to Ohio and fight in game five or if we all go home for a long winter's nap. I'm not ready for a nap yet so let's protect the house and win!




--Jeana Bellezza

BYB Managing Editor 
Follow me on Twitter: @NYPrincessJ

SCALPING BIRDS

The Indians are on a tear, but the Blue Jays are keeping it close and keeping it interesting. Again... these post season games have been unbelievable and fun to watch.  Very evenly matched.  If the Yankees were in the playoffs, I would have had a heart attack right about now...

Anyway, the Indians won against last night going up 2 games to zip against the Jays. This time it was because of a Carlos Santana solo shot in the 2nd.

And a Francisco Lindor single that scored Rajai Davis.  Later on, it was Andrew Miller to Cody Allen and game over...

Pretty incredible game.  Nice to see the Indians really turning it on.

Final: Indians 2 - Blue Jays 1

HOMER HAPPY!

Indians edge the Red Sox last night, proving to everyone that they are for real.  Many were under the impression that with Rick Porcello on the mound, the Sox would easily take game one. That wasn't the case...

Hardball Talk writes:

"The Indians hit three home runs off of Rick Porcello in the third inning and held on to edge the Red Sox in Game 1 of the ALDS... The Red Sox retook the lead in the third on an Andrew Benintendi solo homer off of Bauer. 

But then the Indians’ offense would explode. In the bottom half of the third, Roberto Perez led off with a solo homer. After Carlos Santana grounded out, Jason Kipnis and Francisco Lindor hit back-to-back solo homers of their own, pushing the lead to 5-2."

The Sox came within 1, but Cleveland held them. Andrew Miller did great work in the 5th, 6th and 7th innings, reminding everyone in the Bronx that he is missed...

I love @Indians @a_miller48 @BleednYankeeBlu

— Suzanne (@suzieprof) October 7, 2016

Miller is a team player, a tough, tough competitor and we truly do miss him in the Bronx.

In the end, the Indians held the Sox... and win game 1.

Final: Indians 5 - Red Sox 4

A SHOOTOUT ENDS THE STREAK

The Yankees bats finally broke out in a frenzy of hits, striking first with a 3-run home run off the bat of Brian McCann. In their first 5 at-bats, the scored more runs than in any Yankees 9-inning game over the last week. They scored more runs in the first inning than in any of the prior 63. Yeah, it's been that bad.

The scoring didn't stop in the first inning. Stephen Drew hit his 15th home run of the season in the top of the 2nd to put the Yankees up 4-0. Drew doubled in the loop of the 4th to score Didi Gregorius for the Yankees 5th run. Brett Gardner followed with a double to score Drew. In the 6th inning, again it was Gardner scoring Drew, this time on a base hit up the middle.

It's a good thing the Yankees kept scoring because the Indians kept scoring too. Down 4-0 in the bottom of the 2nd, Michael Brantley scored Giovanny Urshela on a sacrifice fly and Carlos Santana singled in Jose Ramirez to cut the lead in half. In the 6th inning, with the Yankees leading 7-2, back to back doubles by Yan Gomes and Abraham Almonte followed by a Lonnie Chisenhall single made it 7-4. They tacked on another run on a wild pitch by Dellin Betances. They were like those pesky midges that wouldn't go away. Yeah, I know. It is in Cleveland after all.

By the time we reached the bottom of the ninth, the Indians scored to make it 8-6 and to bring the tying run to the plate. Thankfully, Andrew Miller returned to form after his last outing. Miller Time got his 25th save on a called third strike, ending the Yankees losing streak.

Results were mixed on Nathan Eovaldi. He improved to 12-2 as he recorded his 6th consecutive win on the road. He did a decent job but reached 100 pitches in the 6th inning. Honorable mention goes to Brian McCann, who hit his 20th home run of the season. He, Yogi Berra, and Mike Piazza are the only catchers to have done it 8 or more consecutive years now. Honorable mention goes to Stephen Drew - mark the day in the calendar - for scoring four times tonight. That's a career high for him.

Finally, Greg Bird got his major league debut tonight. It was a little less momentous than he or the rest of us hoped. He went 0 for 5 with 2 strikeouts leaving four men on base, one of them in scoring position. Still, he's up and that's a sign that the future is on its way.

So, hopefully, this marks the end of the dark times. The Yankees are a very good team, and this could turn the page for them. The Blue Jays also won tonight, so the Yankees are still a half game out of first. But they're still one ahead of them in the loss column.

Final: Yankees 8 - Indians 6

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






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FURTHER EVIDENCE MAKING AROD "THE EXAMPLE" DID NOTHING

Baseball and PEDs is like a hamster on a wheel sometimes... it keeps going and never stops and never changes.

Bleeding Yankee Blue said it and we've been saying it for years. Bud Selig wasn't about cleaning up baseball at all. He was about making Alex Rodriguez the example because he just didn't like him.  Guess what?  It didn't work, and now, with recent news about Jenrry Mejia and now 3 Yankees minor leagues being busted for drug use... let's call Selig what he is... a jack ass.

According to Hardball Talk:

"New York Yankees Minor League right-handed pitchers Anderson Acevedo, Anthoniris Santana and Carlos Santana have each received a 72-game suspension after testing positive for metabolites of Stanozolol, which is basically old fashioned anabolic steroids."

OK, so let's review.  Stiffer drug penalties don't work in baseball. Why? Because getting suspended for PEDs is like pushing the reset button. 

Players get busted, they go away and will come back and all will be fine and forgotten.  Melky Cabrera.  Manny Ramirez...twice. Ervin Santana. Ryan Braun. Bartolo Colon. Alex Rodriguez...and trust me, Jenrry Mejia and Santana, Santana and Acevedo too.

What happened to cleaning up baseball? Bug Selig was about smoke and mirrors.  Bud Selig was hell bent on being the Commissioner that "cleaned up baseball", but it seems to have gotten worse, hasn't it?

Right... right... Bud can't hear me.

Look, I'm not naive.  I know what goes on in sports and it's been going on forever, but it was crystal clear to me that the strike in 1994 nearly ended baseball, and then, when players started hitting home runs and got bigger, the fans came back.  Bud saw the money rolling into MLB. His thinking was "Why complain now?"

Everyone loves a home run, right? And so baseball was back and bigger than ever. Home run records were broken and "Wow... isn't this great for baseball?"  Well, under Bud Selig's own definition... no it wasn't, but why say anything then?  Crook.

When people started noticing, Selig began to pretend there was concern.  He went through the dog and pony show, Congress, "stricter drug penalties", but as players went away to serve their fines and new players returned, all it showed me was MLB was still selling violators jerseys in their stores, and baseball and those punished players stats would stay intact and continue to play.  In essence... nothing happened. 

Nothing until Bud Selig decided to treat ARod as the example, "So this kind of thing wouldn't happen again."  Selig netted and punished the biggest villain in baseball, who also happened to use PEDs.

With Alex Rodriguez down and out... it was over and Bug could ride into the sunset. He accomplished his goal.

One problem... Alex came back better than ever this season, and hey Bud, steroids in baseball is still here.

Message to Bud Selig; You destroyed the sport and you wasted everyone's time doing it.  This ones on you.  If I was Manfred, I'd find away to fine you!

The commissioner who cleaned up baseball... right... not buying it.

Here's that hamster...

 




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ATHLETES & BASEBALL: WHO TOPS THE LIST?

When I think of athleticism I think of speed, dexterity, finesse, strength, movement, power, balance, precision, and how these features work together to make a person successful in his sport.  It has often been said, mostly by MLB players themselves that baseball players can succeed in multiple sports because of the depth of their athleticism.

According to ESPN.com “Orioles center fielder Adam Jones, a great athlete, said, "I've told players from other sports, 'We [baseball players] could play your sport better than you could play our sport.” In other words, players of other sports can’t hack it in baseball, no matter their athletic ability.  In my eyes, the best NBA player of all time is Michael Jordan.  No one has ever moved like Mike, hustled like Mike, floated in the air like Mike or scored like Mike.  Sure we have LeBron and Kobe, but they are no Michael Jordan.  To see him beat Patrick Ewing in the Garden back in the early nineties was one of the most incredible experiences I have ever witnessed.

No one can hold a candle to Michael Jordan, and I am not even a big NBA fan, let alone a Bulls fan.  But he couldn’t play baseball, even when he tried to for the Chicago White Sox as he neared the end of his NBA career.

There have been a number of two sport athletes over the years, most of which eventually chose one sport over the other.  Bo Jackson played left field for the Kansas City Royals and running back for Los Angeles Raiders in the late 1980s before a hip injury ended his football career and cut short his baseball career.  He was the only athlete to be named an All-Star for two American sports.  He was and still is an incredible athlete who is sharing his knowledge with newbies at White Sox camp this spring.  He even warned Seattle Seahawk Super Bowl winning quarterback, Russell Wilson to “keep his talents on the football field, and not expand to the baseball  diamond.”

Wilson has been drafted by the Texas Rangers and has been working out with them this spring.  Wilson would join the likes of Jackson and Deion Sanders who has been encouraging Wilson not to give up his dream of playing football and baseball. 

So why am I saying all of this when it comes to taking the crown of best athlete? Because being a top athlete in any sport means you have depth in multiple areas.  In baseball it means you have power and precision and speed.  And that means you top the charts in hitting and base stealing and defensive magnitude.  There are a number of players that come to mind who fit this profile.

Guys like Chris Davis, Robinson Cano, Miguel Cabrera and Torii Hunter certainly come to mind.  But no one is more vivid in my mind than Mike Trout, my pick for the number one athlete in MLB right now.  He seems to have it all.

“Via Baseball Prospectus’ True Average stat, which expresses runs created per plate appearance on a batting average scale after adjusting for park and league scoring conditions, he’s been an even more effective hitter than last year (2012). Like Cabrera (.377), he’s on pace for a season that would rank among the top 25 since 1950, which is as far back as BP’s stats go,” according to Sports Illustrated Strike Zone at the end of last season.  And he is bringing on the heat again this spring, batting .400 with four home runs.  He can run, he can cover center field well and he gets on base.  He is my choice for best athlete.  But I will also say that guys like infielders Manny Machado and Dustin Pedoria, outfielder Bryce Harper, pitcher Max Scherzer and catcher Carlos Santana also should get consideration.

What about the Yankees’ best athlete?  I am hugely behind Brett Gardner for that award but I wouldn’t rule out Alfonso Soriano and Jacoby Ellsbury who definitely place well on the charts in slugging and speed as well.  The one thing that sets Gardner apart of from the pack is his powerful combination of commitment, persona and poise.  He exemplifies what it is to be a Yankee athlete and I appreciate having him on our team.

Baseball is exciting to watch today because of all of the competition and athleticism in the game.  It is exciting to watch young and old play well.  Guys like Derek Jeter this season and even Mariano Rivera last season, who had the athleticism and rigor to come back from debilitating injuries and climb to the top of their game make it even more special to watch.  I look forward to watching records being broken, web gems in the field and monster homeruns topping the highlights of every game.  It’s the great American pastime and it’s baseball at its finest.

--Suzie Pinstripe, BYB Opinion Columnist
Twitter: @suzieprof



 
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WANNA REPLACE RUSSELL MARTIN? TRADE FOR CARLOS SANTANA

Once Russell Martin agreed to a two-year, $17 million contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates, I was very upset. In fact, I hadn’t been upset about a Yankee-related free agent signing since Cliff Lee chose to take less money to go back to the Philadelphia Phillies prior to the 2011 season. I really believe the loss of Russell Martin will hurt, unless if they make a splash for, say, Carlos Santana.

Before I make my case for trading for Carlos Santana (No, not musician Carlos Santana, the catcher currently with the Cleveland Indians), I just want to elaborate how the loss of Martin hurts. People who wanted to replace Martin continued to point at his low .211 batting average. Now, the low average is certainly not a good thing, but in his time in New York he did everything else moderately well. Over the last two years, Martin posted a solid .224/.317/.405 batting line while catching at least 125 games in those two seasons. In that span, only six catchers hit more homers than he did (39), while just 10 other catchers posted higher walk rates than he did (10.7%). Add that to the fact that he’s a good defensive catcher, while the pitchers enjoy pitching to him, the Yankees will certainly miss him if they end up settling with a downgrade.

Since all the in-house/free agent options either don’t fit the bill or are just plain awful, the Yankees really don’t have a choice but to look at the potential trade market if they are intending to upgrade at the catcher position. This is where Carlos Santana comes in. Now, before I continue I want to caution everyone that this is pure speculation as of right now. Personally, I have no idea if the Indians are willing to let go of Santana.

They seem to be shopping guys like Shin-Soo Choo, Asdrubal Cabrera, and Justin Masterson around, so maybe if the price is right they could do the same with Santana, and with the Winter Meetings just around the bend, anything can happen.

Acquiring Carlos Santana would be an instant upgrade at arguably the most important position on the field. In his young career, Santana, 26, has batted .247/.363/.443 in three seasons and 1459 PA’s while hitting 51 homers and driving in 177. He has suffered from knee issues in 2010, but since then he has been able to catch at least 95 games behind the plate in the last two years. Perhaps the Yankees could increase his workload to around 110-115 games and DH him in some of the others he’s not behind the dish. As for the pieces it’ll take to get him, I’d have to think catcher Gary Sanchez would be included. Cleveland also needs pitching, so I’d have to think either David Phelps or Ivan Nova would be in a trade as well, and that’s probably just a starting point, so who knows how much the Yankees will be willing to give up. Finally, money shouldn’t be a problem as he’s owed just a little over $18M over the next four years with a $12M club option for 2017.

If the Yankees don’t end up trading for Santana, which might be the case, it’ll be just about impossible to upgrade the overall game Martin brought to the Yankees the last two seasons. The Yankees being unable to pay Martin $17 million is pretty telling, as they aren’t kidding around with this $189 million plan set for 2014. Though I’d love to trade for Santana, I have an awful feeling the Yankees will settle with signing a one-year downgrade instead.




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


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