GIO GONZALEZ JUST FORCED THE YANKEES TO MAKE A DECISION

We've been watching this for a couple of weeks now. We knew decision day was coming, and this time Gio Gonzalez took control and is forcing the Yankees to make a decision. Gio opted out of his contract on Saturday, which gave the Yankees 48 hours to either release him or add him to the 25-man roster. Time is ticking, and by the end of today we will see what the final decision is.

We knew this was coming and shouldn't be too surprised to see him opt out. The Yankees added him as insurance for CC Sabathia's health concerns and Luis Severino too. If Domingo German hadn't been as reliable as he has been maybe this would be a different story. The Yankees like what they have seen from German and are comfortable enough with Jonathan Loaisiga as depth. Even so, the old saying goes you can never have too much pitching depth. Maybe if Gio wasn't expensive pitching depth on an already expensive payroll they would keep him. I just don't see the Yankees keeping him at this point. Adding him to the 25-man roster adds a $3 million base salary and an additional $300,000 per start.  Who knows though, maybe I'm wrong.

(Photo: Michael Majewski)

I can't blame Gio for opting out. The Yankee starting rotation has thankfully been healthy thus far, even with the very full listed of injured players. The Yankees seem set with their starters, which makes Gio expendable for now. If he has no clear path to the majors here, all he needs is one other team to give him a chance.

And that's not unrealistic at this point. There are teams out there that are struggling with pitching. The Angels need help, the Red Sox will be without Nathan Eovaldi for awhile and surgery could be on the table. The Mets also have their own tricky situation with their ace Jacob deGrom and other ineffective starters.

Photo: Times Leader

So Gio may be in demand and in a new job pretty quickly. According to MLBTradeRumors HERE, the Mets are watching the situation with Gio closely. Degrom has a "barking" elbow and he has been placed on the injured list, but may strangely choose to forgo an MRI, read more HERE. Strange approach but, whatever. Add the ineffectiveness of Jason Vargas to the current state of the Mets pitching staff and they may be in immediate need of rotation help.

Something tells me we may still see Gio in New York, and we shouldn't be surprised. If Gio was a position player he'd definitely have a spot right now on this team. Weird how baseball works. If this is the end of Gio as a Yankee, I still wish him all the best.

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

EYEING DALLAS KEUCHEL

I'd love the Yankees to sign Dallas Keuchel to a short term deal. No idea if he'd go for that, but the way I see it, the Yankees could use him, and he could at least re-invent himself instead of sitting on his couch waiting for a big money, long term contract. I know he's lowered his expectations, and that's good. But look, it's clear, he is perceived as being damaged goods or a pitcher that just doesn't have it anymore. I don't believe that's the case. I believe it's just a market that got away from him.

There's a new report that has the Mets actually being a team that are perhaps reaching about Keuchel though. Hey, with Jacob deGrom getting hurt and being placed on the IL, this could potentially be a big deal for them. But there are other teams too:

SNY writes:

"As Jason Vargas struggles, the Mets have remained in touch with free agent starting pitcher Dallas Keuchel. Here's the latest... 

April 18, 12:14 PM: Keuchel is open to signing a one-year deal and then "resetting," reports Jon Heyman of FanCred. It was reported by Ken Rosenthal on April 7 that Keuchel was open to a one-year deal worth more than the $17.9 million qualifying offer he rejected from the Astros or a longer-term deal at a lower average annual value."

Heyman's FanCred name sounds ridiculously stupid... just saying. Trying too hard.

Look, the Yankees have Gio Gonzalez down on AAA.  I love that option, but we are hours away from the Yankees potentially losing him because of an opt-out clause.  And so, if they do, the Yankees need to move on Keuchel. It's the right thing to do.

Hell... maybe it will freshen up the Yankees stale start.  Who knows... I just want to start winning consistently. Dallas can help.


  

THE END OF THE DARK KNIGHT

Finally.  I can't stand this guy.

Photo: Getty Images

If you know anything about BYB, you know that being an ego maniac gets you nowhere and we see that garbage immediately and cut right through that. Matt Harvey falls into that category and now, it's all coming back to haunt him, and I am hoping once reality sets in, he will either just be quiet, or eat some humble pie and become a regular person.  Hard lesson to learn, but I have a hunch he will eventually learn it, or maybe not because tools don't always learn when they fall from grace... or fake-grace... whatever this is that Harvey is in right now.

Metro writes a great piece about the latest Harvey saga.  Check out this gem...

"The New York Mets being able to trot out their five stud starters of Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler and Steven Matz isn't going to last for long.

Some of that is because veteran southpaw Jason Vargas, who was signed during the winter provide some much-needed rotational depth, will be returning from an injury to his non-pitching hand in the coming days.

Photo: Getty Images

But most of that is because Matt Harvey simply is not an MLB-caliber starting pitcher anymore and we all saw it again on Thursday night."

The Mets lost to the Braves, and suddenly there has been a change in the Mets playing style.  They are starting to lose. There is a lot of speculation that Vargas will replace Harvey in the rotation. And I'd love to see that happen. Hell, I think Mets fans would... he's just not good.

Now I'm not a Mets hater, but I am not a fan of Harvey. And hey, Harvey is a Met, so people think I'm anti-Met. I'm not. I just want Harvey to have a reality check.  He's not the same pitcher he once was according to many, but to be honest, I think he was never that pitcher... I think he was just once lucky.

Photo: Getty Images

As I wrote in IF JUDGE STAYS HUMBLE... HE'LL BE FINE,

"Harvey... knew he was good, pretty much told everybody he was great, bought into the hype and reeked of arrogance as he said it, and tried to bang strippers using the ol' "I'm the Dark Knight, wanna see my penis?"

Photo: Getty Images

So once Harvey started to realize he wasn't very good, and started having problems, the media pounced, because like I have written earlier, while celebs and athletes can be cool, there is always someone to remind them they are not, because they do digging through scandal, or blow up stories to try and knock them down."

Harvey was knocked down, but much of it was because of his own self-consumed arrogance.  When reality set in, he was no longer Nolan Ryan, he was more like Mark Fidrych (God, rest his soul)

A fun character, but that's about it.

No one likes to see a person be successful more than me, but admittedly, I enjoy watching failure happen when a person thinks he is untouchable. Matty is that.

Here's some humble pie, Mr. Harvey....

Eat it.

And good luck to the Mets, they'd be better off without him.

ARMS RACE NEARLY RUN

New York is unarmed. The Yankees have huge holes in their rotation right now, and these need to be filled. But with who?

This year’s crop of Free Agent pitchers was already thin. Most of the best options are already off the table. If the Yankees will win this arms race, they will need to act fast. First, let’s examine potential mistake signings.

Ricky Nolasco, 13-11 with a 3.70 ERA, should not be a priority. His lifetime ERA is an unimpressive 4.37 over eight seasons starting on the mound. He also believes he is worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $16 million. Uh, no. Take a pass.

Jason Vargas has more encouraging stats. He’s a durable southpaw with a 3.97 ERA, and a lifetime record of 42-44. In other words, he’s just what the Yankees need behind CC Sabathia and Ivan Nova. Perfect. If he weren’t asking so much. MLB.com reports he is looking for $30 million over three years. Pasadena.

Ubaldo Jimenez? No. Don’t let the strong second half of last season fool you. Jimenez has a delivery that wreaks havoc on his arm. He is made of glass. Danger, Will Robinson! Redrum! Redrum! Beware the Ides of March! We are saying we have no faith in Ubaldo. This is not a pass, this would be a fail.

This brings us to Ervin Santana. He is easily the most desirable starter still available. But while he had decent numbers last season, he still provokes red flags. He has had three 15 win seasons, but not in the last couple years. He’s only posted ERAs below 4.00 in consecutive seasons just one time. But season ERAs over 5.00? Uh, he has three of those.

Santana is expecting a contract of $112 million over 5 years. This would be why he is still available. While Ervin remains a potential fit for New York’s rotation, there is no way he is worth that much. But he’s the guy the Bronx might have to go with, simply due to the dearth of other options. Get him to be reasonable, then sign him.

But for his price tag, Santana would need to win 20 games in his first two seasons in Pinstripes. Do you think he can do that? Didn’t think so. The Front Office would get burned down for that fiasco.

Matt Garza appears to be the only realistic option for the Yankees. He is not a personal choice of this writer, but he is the biggest piece of gold left in the pan. He didn’t do so well with Texas. There, Garza posted a an ERA of 4.38 with a losing record of 4-5 over 13 starts.

But Garza made 60 starts in three years with the Chicago Cubs, posting a 3.45 ERA. And here’s something interesting, he does well in the AL East. Against the Red Sox, whom he has faced 18 times, Garza boasts a 7-4 record with a 3.83 ERA. Did that get your attention? It should.

His price tag should be significantly lower than previously mentioned Starters. Garza is only 30 years old, too. Considering what is or, more accurately, what isn’t available means he is the best option. Other teams are circling. New York should act fast.

Don’t forget Roy Halladay. The case was made for him in Pitching Fits. Doc is worth a long serious look. His veteran presence would stabilize New York’s pitching staff like nobody else.

Regardless of who the Yankees pick up, the arms race is almost over. And it’s one New York cannot afford to lose.


 
Chad R. MacDonald
BYB Features Writer
Facebook: New York Yankees the Home of Champions
My Blog: ChadRants



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WHY THE YANKEES WERE SWEEPLESS IN SEATTLE

Tonight was another one of those annoying low scoring, deep into extra innings games. It seems like the Yankees have had a ton of them this season while losing just about all of them. This time it was against the Seattle Mariners. The pitching on both sides was fantastic, but the M's were a little better last night as the Yanks failed to sweep the Mariners in Seattle, something they've yet to accomplish since 1999. 2 times last night the Yankees were close to possibly winning this game. Once by Curtis Granderson in the ninth who was robbed by a leaping Ichiro and once by Mark Teixeira who was robbed of possibly a double or by Michael Saunders in the 11th. But...it wasn't their night.
It was a 2-1 final in 12 innings in this one. Mike Carp scored the first run for the M's in fourth on an Ivan Nova wild pitch. Nick Swisher chased Jason Vargas, who pitched a great game, with a solo shot in the seventh. And finally, in the 12th inning, Luis Rodriguez, yes Luis Rodriguez, hit a walk off solo bomb off Cory Wade to lead off the 12th. By the way, Luis Rodriguez has nine career home runs in 400 career games.Obviously the Yankees offense was pretty much non-existent. As a team they went 4 for 38 (.105 average). They also went 0 for 4 as a team with RISP, and they left six man on base. It's just one of those games, nothing you can do about it. It was the last West Coast game of the season, so maybe they really wanted to get out of Seattle.

Both starters were great in this game. Let's start off with Ivan Nova. He continues to make his case to be the number two starter in the playoffs by going 7.1 innings, allowing five hits, four walks, and five strikeouts on just 87 pitches. Jason Vargas also pitched a great game for the Mariners, he went 6.2 innings, allowing just three hits on one walk and six K's. If you love pitchers duels, this one's was for you.

Final Score: Mariners 2 - Yankees 1

The way the Yankees lost this game would make this a stupid loss. But I'm already over it, and I wrote this about 10 minutes after the walk off homer landed in the seats. The Red Sox lost yet again yesterday, thus the lead in the AL East is still at four games. The Yanks have an off day today, their final one of the regular season, to travel to Toronto to take on the Blue Jays. CC Sabathia (19-8, 2.93 ERA) is scheduled for the Yanks to pitch, against Brett Cecil (4-9, 4.37 ERA) for the Jays. Let's go Yanks!



--Jesse Schindler, BYB Staff Writer




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