GUESS WHO HAS THEIR EYE ON DAVID ROBERTSON...

....besides the Yankees, of course.

It has been rumored that "at least 6 teams" are interested in signing him. I guess we can't be too surprised, we know how amazing David Robertson was for us this year. He deserves all of the attention, but which teams are out there trying to lure him away from us?

This week we wrote SOURCE: METS WANT DROB FOR LEADERSHIP & "TOP" CLOSER and I must admit just the thought of this made me squirm. I don't think I could function if that happened. Now I can see the stars aligning here and I wouldn't be surprised if the Detroit Tigers also chased after him.

This season the Detroit Tigers looked really strong on paper. They had a great rotation and when they added David Price I was sure they were going to finally get to the postseason and give everyone a run for their money. As good as the starting rotation was though, the bullpen was a weak spot and Joe Nathan's disappointing season definitely didn't help matters. The bullpen needs help, and it may be time to add a young, reliable closer....enter Robertson.

But the Tigers are not the only team who have their eye on Robertson. The Chicago Cubs are also rumored to be interested in luring him to Chicago. I think the new addition of Joe Maddon as manager also makes an interesting perspective here. Maddon is very familiar with Robertson as the Rays Manager. He knows what Robertson can bring to the table, so I wouldn't be surprised if they do push for him. The Cubs also have some money that they can spend this winter, so maybe they will try to make a splash and sign Robertson.

One interesting thing that comes to mind here, is every "rumor" piece that I have seen about both the Mets and the Cubs talk about finding a leader. Even the Mets piece we published mentions leadership. Obviously, Robertson has more to offer than just  his pitching ability, he can help lead a team, especially teams that are in rebuilding mode.

That being said, aren't we looking for leadership too? Next season Derek Jeter will not be on the field so he can develop into a leader for us here. If leadership is enticing, then who am I or anyone else to get in his way? But there is one thing to remember here. The Mets and the Cubs are rebuilding. The Yankees are too but not the same way but we have postseason expectations every season. Who knows what the real story is here yet....but we will definitely be following this and keep you all updated as the rumor mill heats up!




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




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JOBA CHAMBERLAIN SAYS: HAVE A NICE DAY!

I love this and you know me... I want to see Joba Chamberlain succeed.  To be frank, it doesn't matter if it's with the Yankees, the Tigers or the Moondogs, the truth is, when you push yourself, you gain some confidence, jump some hurdles and climb the mountain of life. I want to see Joba do well with his clean slate.

That's Joba's Tommy John surgery scar with a tattoo to mask it above.  It's perfect for him and creative. This is courtesy of the Detroit Free Press.  Gotta love this.

And not that it matters, because exhibition games don't count... it counts to Joba that he pitched well in his debut. According to the Star Tribune, "Joe Nathan and Joba Chamberlain each pitched a scoreless inning to help the Tigers beat the Atlanta Braves 5-2 on Thursday. Nathan and Chamberlain were brought in to solidify a Tigers bullpen that struggled last season. Chamberlain, who foundered with the Yankees in 2013, had a strikeout."

Keep going kid... and have a nice day.

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THE YANKEE PEN: AREN'T WE LOOKING ALITTLE THIN?

The Yankees are definitely looking at a renovation of the active roster, with some big-name signings this winter. With a little less fanfare, the Yankees have also begun to reform their bullpen. The way the Yankees are addressing the bullpen leaves some question marks, and introduces risks that may prove costly during the season. Nothing is more frustrating than losing late in the game, and the bullpen’s ability to shut down games is critical.

The retirement of future Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera forced the issue, as the Yankees are still working out who will be the named closer for the team. With Joe Nathan signed to the Detroit Tigers and although Grant Balfour didn't sign in Baltimore due to a shoulder problem, read HERE, he's going to sign somewhere. There's no doubt, the closer market is drying up. If the Yankees take no action, the de facto closer would be David Robertson.

We love DRob, and he brings excitement to the 8^th inning, where he has found a home for the past few years. The question is, can he handle the 9^th inning. Yes, it is a question. While it is not fair to draw too many conclusions from his brief stint as closer in 2012, when Mariano Rivera was injured, he did not look as strong as we expected. On the upside, he entered the game last year 11 times in the 9^th inning or later and looked impressive. Four of those times he held a tie, he converted all three save opportunities, and zero losses. He has the stuff to do the job, but without the experience of doing it over a long season, he is a little bit of a wildcard.

Middle relief has let two of its regulars go. Joba Chamberlain, who showed tremendous potential in 2007 and 2008, just flat-out tanked. He signed with the Detroit Tigers just over a week ago, and we wish him the best. Boone Logan, who has been the lefty specialist for the Yankees for the last seven years, signed with the Colorado Rockies. He certainly was erratic at times, but only four times out of 61 appearances did he blow a game or take a loss.

Matt Thornton signed a 2-year deal with the Yankees in recent days, which helps replace what Boone Logan brought to the Yankees. A 37-year old career lefty middle reliever, his veteran presence should bring some stability to the bullpen. That veteran presence may come in handy, given how the Yankees relief pitcher strategy is shaping up.

It is obvious that the Yankees want to grow the bullpen from their farm system, DRob and Thornton aside. The list of candidates will likely include Adam Warren, Shawn Kelley, and Preston Claiborne. Other kids coming up can include Dellin Betances and Cesar Cabral, who continue to show promise. All of these guys have potential, and our hope is that all of them mature to be strong reliable pitchers. However, it is impossible to look at a rookie and determine with any kind of certainty whether or not you are looking at the next Mariano Rivera or the next Joba Chamberlain. They all looked great at times. They all made rookie mistakes at other times.

That is where the rub is. I think you are going to find that the bullpen, as it stands now, will generate a lot of excitement. Nevertheless there will be times, especially when the pressure is on in a must-win scenario, where you are going to want that rock-solid veteran to slam the door on an opposing rally. Invariably we will see this kid crew falter from time to time. It is only a matter of how often, whether we can stomach it, and how well positioned we are to go to the market if things start to go down.

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

   

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YANKEES TARGETING JOAQUIN BENOIT

Interesting nugget... I'm not sure what to make of it yet.

According to Bob Nighengale of USA Today, the Yankees have had many "internal discussions" about the possibility of bringing in Joaquin Benoit to the Yanks bullpen.

The #Yankees would love to grab two relievers and have had lots of internal discussions about Joaquin Benoit
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) December 11, 2013

Now I have had plenty of discussions with BYB freaks about the possibility of David Robertson closing for the Yankees.

I personally think the guy is ready, but I also liked the idea of a guy like Joe Nathan.  He's gone though.  Then, I chatted it up today with people about Grant Balfour as the Yankees' next closer.  Mixed reviews on that one.  Now I wonder if the Yankees have any intention of signing Benoit to close, or if they'll have he and DRob compete for the job.

It's hopefully going to get interesting at the Winter Meetings now for the Yanks.  Just so you know, here's alittle background: In 2013 for the Tigers,  Benoit had a 2.01 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and 73 Ks in 67 innings.

Keep checking back to us here at BYB and we'll tell you what happens next.

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TOP PITCHING THAT THE YANKEES MUST SIGN

It is a well-established maxim that in baseball, pitching wins. We all saw it clearly last season, as our starters and our bullpen failed us at key moments. As the Yankees front office is putting together the 2014 team, pitching has to be at the forefront of their work. Here are some key people that we should be keeping an eye on.

It goes without saying that the Yankees need to re-sign Hiroki Kuroda. Every year at this time, we debate about which players we should acquire, and whether or not they can handle the Bronx, whether or not they can continue to perform based on their current record, whether or not they can handle the AL East. Kuroda has done all of these, to the point where our ace, CC Sabathia, actually admitted that Kuroda was performing at one point in the 2013 season as the ace of the staff. Kuroda’s ERA in pinstripes over the last two seasons has been 3.32 and 3.31. With proper run support, that is enough to get you 20 wins. He has given up less than one home run per nine innings, and only two walks per nine innings during that time, which speaks to his consistency. Speaking of Sabathia, after him, the only guaranteed starter with more than one season of major league experience is Ivan Nova. That is not what you want at the top of the rotation. Kuroda’s signing has to be a top priority.

Even after signing Kuroda, the rotation is not strong enough. Most of us seriously doubt that they can run with the likes of the Red Sox, Tigers, and other American League juggernauts with that top 3. We like the possibility of Ervin Santana. In four of the last six seasons, he has put up an ERA below four and thrown 200 or more innings. Over the course of his career, he has 1.2 home runs, 2.8 walks, and 7.1 strikeouts per 9 innings. Most intriguing, he pitches extremely well against the Red Sox and Tigers, against whom we need big wins. Over the last 3 years, he is 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA and .175 BAA at Fenway Park and he is 1-1 with a 2.75 ERA and .237 BAA at Comerica Park. Big wins in those ballparks are worth gold. At age 30, he can round out the rotation very nicely for a long time.

The sad day arrived when we said goodbye to Mariano Rivera, but now it is time to find another closer. We all love David Robertson, but I agree with the sentiment that he may not be closer material. The Yankees need to look at Joe Nathan. After missing 2010 with Tommy John surgery, and a dreadful 2011 season, he has recovered nicely with two successful seasons for the Rangers. His statistics have improved over the last two years, recording 37 and 43 saves respectively, and posting ERA’s of 2.80 and 1.39 respectively. Closers have to be clutch, and against the most competitive teams in 2013 (Boston, Tampa, Detroit, Cleveland, and Oakland), he gave up only four earned runs over 16 innings (2.25 ERA) and converted eight saves in nine opportunities. Even at age 39, he will be in a position to hold down the big competitors while perhaps mentoring some rising talent like Mark Montgomery.

If you ask anyone paying attention to the Yankees’ situation, they will all tell you that there are many holes to fill in many positions and roles. Nevertheless, pitching is critical to winning on any ball club, and these are the guys that the Yankees need to chase.

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

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SANTANA & BALFOUR ARE GOOD PREDICTIONS

So, you need to appreciate all that MLBTradeRumors.com does, I mean everyone goes there for information. They do a wonderful job.  I read this morning some 2014 Free Agent predictions and I wanted to share them.

Tim Dierkes put together a list of 50 players.  No easy task, but he makes it look easy.  He mentioned 2 pitchers that every once in a while, the Yankees are connected to right around the trade deadline.  Ervin Santana and Grant Balfour.  Here's what he said about each:

"Ervin Santana - Yankees.  Santana is competing with Tanaka and Garza for the title of best available starting pitcher, after posting 211 innings of 3.24 ball for the Royals this year.  Santana throws relatively hard, avoids walks, and doesn't turn 31 until December.  He has been homer-prone at times, and some teams may balk at losing a draft pick and giving Santana our projected five-year, $75MM deal.  Nonetheless, the list of suitors should be long if the Royals aren't able to retain Santana, potentially including the Yankees, Twins, Blue Jays, Nationals, Mariners, Rockies, Phillies, Dodgers, Astros, and more."

I like this idea.  I don't love it, but I like it and I get it.  Clearly I am more excited about Masahiro Tanaka than Santana, but he could be valuable in our starting 5.  Good idea.

"Grant Balfour - Yankees.  After saving 62 games over the 2012-13 seasons, Balfour will likely be seeking a closer gig in free agency.  The Aussie, 36 in December, could get something like $18MM over two years. As with Joe Nathan, the Yankees, Angels, and Tigers make sense, but with more than a half-dozen closer types on the market, a few of them will need to settle for set-up jobs."

Tim makes alot of sense, in fact, I was just speaking to someone on Twitter about Grant Balfour and they suggested to me that they would rather have Balfour than say Joe Nathan, a guy I noticed was a free agent just the other day, read JOE NATHAN'S AVAILABLE & WE NEED TO GET HIM.

Anyway, I thought this was interesting and wanted to bring it to you this morning.  Good work as always Tim.

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JOE NATHAN'S AVAILABLE & WE NEED TO GET HIM

So it turns out that the Texas Rangers picked up Joe Nathan's option to return to the Rangers, but it turns out he's voided the option.

According to MLB.com's TR Sullivan, Joe Nathan is now a free agent. Sullivan writes simply, "Joe Nathan is a free agent. He has voided the option for 2014. The Rangers picked up the option but he voided it."

Now the Yankees are in need of a closer.  I had suggested that it may be DRob's time to take the reigns in THE TIME IS NOW FOR DAVID ROBERTSON!, but you can almost make an argument for closer experience over DRob.  The big question is, will the Yankees go for a guy like Joe Nathan? I find the idea interesting and I like what Nathan brings to the table.  In 2013 for the Rangers, Nathan had 43 saves in alittle over 64 innings and an ERA of 1.39.  In other words... I'll take it.

It will be a nice pickup and I'd be interested in seeing what the Yankees do on a pitcher like this. Hey Brian... you listening?

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NUNEZ NEEDLES NATHAN & LILLIBRIDGE HELPS WIN IT!

 (In Photo: A smiling Nunez, but more importantly the Captain is smiling)
The Yankees won a game.  Not only that, they scored 5 runs.  Crazy I know, but these are the Yankees we've been waiting for.  Let's start with the pitching and then we'll get to the dramatic part:

Phil Hughes started and went 5.2 innings.  He gave up 4 hits and 3 runs.  He was not outstanding, but you know what? None of our starters have been lately... except for the recent appearance by Ivan Nova and of course... Hiroki Kuroda.  One thing Hughes did do was keep us in the game.  Boone Logan came in and gave up an earned run on a homer.  But that was the end of the run scoring for the Rangers. The Yankees hitting went like this:

In the 3rd inning, Austin Romine doubled in Melky Mesa. Shortly after that, Ichiro Suzuki knocked in Romine. In the 4th, Brent Lillibridge reached on a fielders choice, and with that, Vernon Wells scored.  Then nothing... until the 9th.

In the 9th, Eduardo Nunez tripled and with it knocked in Vernon Wells to tie the game.  Then .... Holy Lillibridge... That's right...

Brent singled in Nunez for the go ahead run off Joe Nathan and Yankeeland rejoices... we won!

Final: Yankees 5 - Rangers 4

Maybe this is a sign of things to come... I'm happy, you should be happy... go buy one of our shirts... I know, shameless plug... that's how I roll!

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MARIANO & WETTELAND ARE ABOUT TO BE REUNITED

 

No, the Yankees didn't just sign John Wetteland... but it's a good guess considering the age of our team this year... No... check this out...

I love the way baseball handles the many, many stories involved great players, intertwining names of today and yesterday when the "greats" like Mo are getting ready to hang it up.  Enter the Texas Rangers who are planning probably one of the smartest ceremonies this season for "the Mo Tour."

It turns out, according to the Texas Rangers, that in the pre-game ceremony of the Yankees-Rangers game on the 25th of July (their last meeting of the year), they are going to honor Mariano Rivera with 2 guys on hand; Joe Nathan, who Mariano set-up in the 3-0 victory and save by the American League the other night, and an old friend, John Wetteland.

According to ESPN HERE, "Rangers closer Joe Nathan and former Texas closer John Wetteland, who was succeeded as the Yankees closer in 1997, will participate in the ceremony scheduled to start at 12:50 p.m. The Rangers and Yankees will play the final game of a four-game series at 1:05 p.m. "

You gotta love that.  No doubt my friend Larry, a Bleeding Yankee Blue reader who happens to live in that area will be going to that game, and if that's the case, I have a request Larry: 

1. You must where your Bleeding Yankee Blue shirt! (And you readers can buy one HERE.)

2. You must take pictures and write up something for me about that day's ceremony.  In other words Larry, I'm hiring you as a freelance BYB Correspondent for the day my man!

Classy move by the Rangers! Damn, I'm going to miss Mo.

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A MARIANO MOMENT I'LL NEVER FORGET

We'll recap the All-Star game as soon as we can. Hopefully first thing in the morning, maybe even tonight after this post. Don't hate us...  I mean let's face it, we're tired.  Even the BYB writers need to sleep... but I just want to mention something that I will never forget and I wanted to make it it's own post.

You know me, I believe kindness makes the world go 'round.  When you're a kid, or a rookie and you have your first hit, or first strikeout, you cherish it and you love getting high-fives from your teammates. You write the date on the game baseball and put it on your dresser.  My kids have dozens of them and not only that, they remember who told them "good job".  As you climb the ladder of life, or baseball, you do the same thing. 

Now, after a long career for Mariano,  I noticed something that FOX failed to pick up and mention, but I know you saw it and appreciate it and if you missed it, Bleeding Yankee Blue will bring it to you now, because it's important.  As you know, Mariano Rivera game in tonight and then was followed by Texas Rangers Joe Nathan to get the Save and the American League won tonight, 3-0.

But look,  it wasn't the game as much as the "moment" that I saw tonight. As the American League was shaking hands after a job well done, Nathan and Mariano looked at each other. There was a brief conversation that only the 2 of them know about. Then, there was smiles, and a ball exchange and then a hug.  Joe Nathan gave Mariano the game ball. 

Now, maybe it me being in my 40's.  Maybe I'm just an old sap that reads into everything, hoping there's a great moment of humanity or kindness or symbolism.  Moments like that stick with me forever and it makes you realize just how much of an impact someone like Mariano Rivera has done for this great game of baseball... for you, for me and even for Joe Nathan who did the right thing tonight, in Mo's last All-Star game ever, as well as his last season in this great game as a New York Yankee.

Moments like that make you appreciate this game... enjoy it as a fan and know this... you won't read about that moment  anywhere else, but BYB. That's the truth.

Good work Joe Nathan... and Mo... we will miss you.

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