THE MARLINS SNAGGED PRESTON CLAIBORNE

Preston Claiborne is no longer a New York Yankee.  He'll be joining Martin Prado and David Phelps in Miami.  Claiborne was claimed off of waivers according to several... but we'll go with Hardball Talk on this one:

"Designated for assignment by the Yankees last week, right-hander Preston Claiborne has been claimed off waivers by the Marlins.

Claiborne has held his own as a big leaguer with a 3.79 ERA and 58/24 K/BB ratio in 71 career innings through age 26, so Miami probably views him as a potential middle relief option."

I always liked Claiborne, but it became clear to me that he had fallen out of favor with the Yankees in recent appearances. 

Good luck to Preston.  He'll do just fine in sunny Miami, I have no doubt.

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SOMETHING JUST HAPPENED TO PRESTON CLAIBORNE TOO...

It's been a busy day in Yankeeland.  First, the Yankees trade Martin Prado and David Phelps to Miami for Garrett Jones and Nathan Eovaldi.  Now comes word that Preston Claiborne has been designated for assignment. 

That note comes from Andrew Marchand of ESPN:

Preston Claiborne DFA'd
— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) December 19, 2014

Now look, Yankeeland is in a frenzy right now. People can't understand the moves they're making, yet many are calling for the Yankees to "get younger" and use the farm to blossom these players.  Well... that's happening.

We're trading for younger players, and we'll most likely call up Rob Refsnyder and Jose Pirela to play second this spring. I mean, it makes the most sense to me now that Prado is a Marlin.

Sure, DFAing Claiborne seems weird, but it's all relative to what's happening right now. The Yanks are making moves. With those moves, there are other moves that had to be made to make it all work.  That's what happened here. 

For newcomers who have no idea what Designated for Assignment means... here's the definition:

"Designate for assignment (DFA): A player is designated for assignment when he is removed from the 40-man roster to make room for a different player. Once a team DFAs a player, it has 10 days to trade him, release him or place him on waivers. If the player clears waivers, he can then be outrighted to the minor leagues."

Gotta love Google.

If more moves happen, BYB will bring it to you.

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NOT OUR DAY

You ever wake up late for work, miss the bus, it's pouring and you don't have enough money for the bus ride into the city? Then, you get to the city, get splashed by a puddle and realize you forgot your wallet?  That was the Yankees today. It started with Masahiro Tanaka... and continued to get worse after that...

Tanaka didn't have it today. What are you gonna do?  Hey, if we were in a pennant race, I'd be worried. Let the guy have a bad outing.  From everything I read, his arm is fine. Tanaka went only 1.2 innings, gave up 7 runs on 7 hits, 5 of those runs were earned. Preston Claiborne gave up 2 more... and Bryan Mitchell gave up the Sox 10th.

The Yanks scored 4, and only came alive in the 7th.  By then it was way too late. There were 3 errors by the Yankees, including throwing errors and a dropped ball by Eury Perez.  We left 9 on base.  We didn't seem like a very good club at all and I guess that's why we didn't make the playoffs, huh?

The irony of it all, was while the rest of the team just didn't have it,  Stephen Drew had 2 RBIs today when he hit a grounds-rule double in the 8th.  Other than that, and the amazing ovation and chant the Red Sox fans gave to Derek Jeter today... that was it:



I appreciate what the Sox fans have been doing the last few days and I have a theory to why they are chanting for Jeter. It's respect. Think about it.  This is a guy the Sox were in a heated rivalry with for years.  Jeter would compete hard against the Sox.  The Sox fans remember that.  The Sox fans respect that. They respect Jeter for his dedication to the game.  This was a guy they wanted to beat badly, but it didn't always work out the Sox way.  That being said, it didn't always work out our way either.  It was a tough give and take, and Jeter was there for most of it.  Sox fans remember that.

Jeter was part of the rivalry when it was extremely tense... and looking back, it was great time in sports.  Today though... today, the Sox fans impressed me yet again.  I tip my cap... Thanks for being so good to our Captain!

Final: Red Sox 10 - Yankees 4

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THE YANKEES & FINDING THEIR WAY TO THE FINISH

My recaps are the same every single night.  Either I'm telling you the Yankees lost because there is absolutely no run support, or they won a game and I'm suspicious of being too excited about it.  I'm a Yankee fan in purgatory and it's killing me.  The passion isn't there ladies and gentlemen, and for the first time in my life, I'm being honest about the rooting situation and Yankees inconsistency.  Does it make me a bad fan? Nope. It does however make me cautious.

Look, you and I and millions of other Yankee fans had the perfect 2014 scenario in our heads back in March.  We win the championship in Derek Jeter's last year.  I mean, it's supposed to happen that way... right? On paper, we're the killer team that can beat anyone.  In reality... we're not that team.  Tonight however, the mighty New York Yankees are finding their way to the finish... somehow... some way.

We won a game. Shockingly, Mark Teixeira ran his nuts off and got a go ahead triple hustling.  Don't worry, he probably strained something.  Give a tip of the cap though, he went balls out tonight.   Mike O'Hara, did you catch it?

As Bryan Hoch of MLB.com writes:

"Down by four runs after Chris Capuano managed to record only one out in the first inning, the Yankees struck back for six unanswered runs against Tampa Bay starter Jake Odorizzi, chasing the right-hander in the fifth."

Life is good when the Yankees are able to score.  Not only that, have you noticed Brian McCann is actually hitting lately? He cranked out his 18th tonight.    But I'm getting ahead of myself. See? One Yankee win and I'm getting all giddy and I need to control it.  You know the Yankees... they build you up one night, just to rip your heart out the next... That's the motto of 2014.

Anyway... first off, Chris Capuano started and literally shit the bed tonight.  0.1 innings pitched, he gave up 4 runs and 4 hits.  He was followed by 5 pitchers.  Chase Whitley being one of them and he did his job after Cap, going 2.2 innings and giving up only 1 hit.  Preston Claiborne and Adam Warren looked good as well.  Then the boys,  Dellin Betances and Esmil Rogers were able to shut down the Rays.

The Yankee run scoring went like this:

McCann hit his solo shot in the first.  In the 3rd, McCann singled driving in 2. In the 4th, Chris Young homered.  In the 5th, Tex legged out a triple and McCann scored.  Shortly after, Chase Headley knocked in Tex.

In the bottom of the 8th, Ichiro doubled and Headley scored.  Then, Chris Young doubled and Ichiro was able to score. Those are your 8.  EIGHT RUNS!

Life is good when the Yankees win.  But, there's one important part of this puzzle... come closer... closer...
WE NEED TO WIN ALL OF THE GAMES THE REST OF THIS SEASON AT THIS POINT!

Final: Yankees 8 - Rays 5

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YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENED TO ZOILO ALMONTE

The Yankees have designated Zoilo Almonte for assignment.  In addition to that, Matt Daley has been released.  Once again, Bleeding Yankee Blue writer Jeana Bellezza will be aggravated and ask, "Why?" and with that, I'm sure her next piece will include names like Brandon Laird and Ronnier Mustelier and once again pushing the youth movement in the Bronx. I agree with her. 

It's just madness. I believe in Almonte. I also believe Almonte will be a big help for the Yankees one day. They just need to keep the guy with the big club long enough so he can blossom.

Zoilo designated, Matt Daley released
— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) September 2, 2014

But look, the reality is, Zoilo and Daley moves have to do with the fact that September call ups are here and with that, the following names have been called up:

Preston Claiborne
John Ryan Murphy
Chase Whitley
Bryan Mitchell
Antoan Richardson
Chaz Roe
Rich Hill
Chris Young

Yanks call up: Chris Young, John Ryan Murphy, Preston Claiborne, Bryan Mitchell, Chase Whitley, Rich Hill, Antoan Richardson and Chaz Roe.
— David Waldstein (@DavidWaldstein) September 2, 2014

All the youngsters listed should have an invite, plus I believe Almonte shouldn't have moved anywhere. But I guess for the argument of moving around personnel, logically, moving down someone like Almonte makes sense in that regard.  I don't get Rich Hill... I don't think I ever will. I thought by now he would have been released.  Roe could help, and no... Chris Young doesn't belong there either.

That being said... don't get crazy, it will all work out.  I promise... maybe.

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TANAKA CAN'T KEEP PERFECT STREAK

The Cubs got to Masahiro Tanaka. Of all the teams this season, it was the Cubs.  Well, that's baseball and some days last place teams can turn it on better than the rest of them.  They beat Tanaka and his perfect record. No worries... he's allowed to take the loss once in a blue moon... life goes on, right?

Tanaka went 6 innings last night. He gave up 4 runs, 3 of them earned, 8 hits and struck out 7. The Cubs came after him run by run starting in the 3rd inning and scored one in the 4th and 2 in the 6th. In the 7th, with 0.1 innings pitched, Preston Claiborne allowed 2 more.

The Yankees combated that with 1 stinking run... 1, off Jason Hammel and company. Mark Teixeira singled home Brett Gardner in the 6th.  That was all she wrote.  Kind of sad actually, but you need to give Tex some credit... the dude is delivering almost every game.  That's what we pay him for.

The best 2 plays for New York were made by Tanaka himself on plays to home:

I like that.

Over all, a dud in Chicago last night.  Not too thrilled about it, but we come back now and win... that's all we can do, in this great game of baseball.

Final: Cubs 6 - Yankees 1 

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YANKEELAND PANIC! WHERE'S OUR CONFIDENCE?

The Yankee world has been turned upside down.  Suddenly we all know what is needed to fix our club. We all have the answers. It's is unbelievable to think that nearly 60% of our rotation is KO'ed and while we can still hit and score runs... we can not pitch. We have no confidence, we have no true leader...we have no Mr. Miyagi.

All of it is a bunch of crap, and I mean that respectfully to all the fans, me included.  We are spoiled brats who have it in our minds that if we stack our lineup with "superstars" we will never lose.  Well, that's not how baseball is played.  Baseball is played with pure guts, heart, confidence and believing in yourself... not just talent. It's true... the Yankees should not have lost to the Mets last night.  On paper, that would make sense... but we did.  Do we fire Joe Girardi? No... why would we?

Should we ship out Preston Claiborne and Matt Thornton because they let up runs to put us behind after we were up 7-4? Nope. Again, why the hell would we do that?  Do we suck it up and realize that it's a 162 game season and it's May 13th? Um... yeah.  Baseball is a long season... we will be fine.  This is a bump in the road. We are the mighty Yankees... we will survive. But we  need someone to step forward to take the reigns and show us the way... we need our own Mr. Miyagi.

Look, last night we started out great.  Brett Gardner hit a grand slam and we were on our way.

In fact, in last night's game, Derek Jeter and Yangervis Solarte each had 3 hits.  Jacoby Ellsbury and Alfonso Soriano had 2. We were hitting well.  But something happened.  The Mets kept on coming and as shocking as it was for me, it was for you:

@MyMiaLove @jetdom @suzieprof @BleednYankeeBlu 4-8 in last 12 games. Five losses in a row to @Mets
— T. Frank Gentry (@yankeefrank23) May 13, 2014

@BleednYankeeBlu @DRob30 yup joe needs to go
— Jesse.Valenciano (@j2marine) May 13, 2014

These @Yankees are the most fragile flowers: c'mon #BuckUpBoys @BleednYankeeBlu
— Doug Stroup (@dougstro) May 13, 2014

The Mets scored 1 in the 5th, 2 in the 6, 2 in the 7 and 3 in the 8th.  Suddenly we were behind and the Yankee pen had imploded. The Mets poured it on.  We stood there and couldn't stop them.

The good news is we scored 7 runs last night. The bad news, we had no defenses, we were helpless.  It was like Danny Larusso in Karate Kid. No... not at the end, but in the chase to the fence.


We got our asses beat. Luckily for Danny, in the shadows stood Mr. Miyagi to right the ship, defend him and build him up... and get him some confidence.

Well, where is our confidence in Yankeeland now? Where is our Mr. Miyagi?  Where?

Final: Mets 9 - Yankees 7

We win today... we win the rest of this week. Time to dig deep.

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SNOOZER IN ANAHEIM

I am in no position in my life right now to watch a game on the West coast and wait for my Yankees to lose. It may be the worst idea of getting a good night sleep EVER.

The Yankees lost last night.  I wish there were fireworks, but there were not. Unless you liked Joe Girardi getting tossed... and I know many of you do...

The Yankees had just 6 hits and only 1 run all night. The run came in the 7th, when Mark Teixeira singled and knocked in Derek Jeter. Other than that...a whole lotta nothing. I mean sure, the Captain had 2 hits and that was nice to see, but nothing spectacular came out of Anaheim.

David Phelps started and went 5.1 innings.  He gave up just 3 hits and 1 run.  He did well. Shawn Kelley gave up the other 3 runs and got the loss last night.  He didn't look too great walking a helluva lot and that's when my anger and anxiety started to grow. As Bryan Hoch wrote in his own recap, the Yankees were ejection happy:

"A borderline strike call and a dismissive finger wave had Joe Girardi irate and ticketed for an early exit, as the Yankees' manager fired his cap into the Angel Stadium turf and jawed furiously inches away from the face of home-plate umpire Laz Diaz.... Diaz...  then ejected Kelley following his removal in a pitching change. Matt Thornton issued a bases-loaded walk, and so did Preston Claiborne as the Angels grabbed a three-run lead."

I couldn't sleep after that. No quality hitting. Some bad pitching and a whole lotta nothing.

You know, hitting is something that's important in this great game of baseball.  My son's really struggling right now at the plate.  I tell him, "Hit off the tee, I know it's boring, but Derek Jeter does it every single day." If you don't practice, you can't be a great hitter.  Now last night the Yankees just shit the bed in the hits and runs scored department... but you gotta wonder how many of their parents were screaming at the TV like I was talking to my son, asking... "I wonder if he's working on that?"

Something needs to get fixed quickly ladies and gentlemen... I wanna see my Yankees winning.

Final: Angels 4 - Yankees 1

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FIGHTING FOR A DUD

When you see a fork in the road... take it.  Yogi Berra said that once. Tonight, no matter how many obstacles were in the Yankees way, when they saw an opportunity, or a fork, they took it.  But then... in the 14th, the Rays took the game.

This game had everything dramatic about it.  There was no question that the Rays are good.  Well, the Yankees are too.  It was a prize fight. I was literally falling asleep at my keyboard trying to get this post up for you... but it was killing me because it was back and forth all night and I was just getting mad tired.  At one point on Twitter, I asked if we could please have a walk off.  Then, 2 times in extra innings we were set up... only to not bring the runner home.  I was getting crankier and crankier. It was clear, the Yankees had this game right? It was like getting geared up for the school dance. You put on a nice outfit. You knew you looked good, only to hope and pray you'd see the pretty girl, but when you walked into the gymnasium, you saw her see her kissing Tommy Colucci. The wind came out of your sails.  Trust me, no one wants to see any girl kissing Tommy Colucci.  Tonight... The Rays were Tommy Colucci... and I was crushed.

The pitching tonight was pretty good. I mean, you have to remember that we are against a good hitting Rays club. Usually, they score runs, but the Yankee pitching held them well.  Vidal Nuno gave up all his runs in 4.2 innings.  He also gave up 5 hits. True, he was NOT outstanding, but the pen was, for a while. Nuno was followed by Dellin Betances, Preston Claiborne, Matt Thornton, DRob Shawn Kelley and Adam Warren. All of our relief was outstanding.

Then Chris Leroux gave up 5 runs in the 14th.  Yup... not good. I didn't want to see that happen and I know you didn't want to either. Secretly though, I was ready for bed...

The Yankee hitting was exactly what we've been looking for the past few days.  Jacoby Ellsbury was 4-5 and Alfonso Soriano was 3-5 tonight.

 Brian McCann, Mark Teixeira and Alfonso Soriano each had homers.

In fact, the Yankees tied it 4-4 in the 9th with that Soriano homer.  Then after the Rays made it 5-4, the Yankees came back again with Jacoby Ellsbury singling home Brian Roberts. 5-5 at that point. But then it stopped. Sure, we had base runners but we couldn't get them home.  We teed them up pretty good, but no matter what we did, be it being in a pickle to advance a runner or just not knocking that big hit, we could not hit them home. Disappointing.

In the end, both teams battled, but Tommy Colucci got the girl, and all us Yankee fans now have bags under our eyes and alot of aggravation.

Final: Rays 10 - Yankees 5

Crap...

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THE YANKEES HAVE RISEN!

It's Easter.  Yankee fans went to bed last night sad and uneasy. Today, the Yankees handed the ball to Vidal Nuno and crossed their fingers after getting absolutely humiliated the night before losing 16 - 1.  I mean, Dean Anna was the mop up guy last night. What could be worse.  Today, the Yankees needed this one.

They needed a hero.   Who knew the hero would be Dean Anna and who knew the miracle on this Easter Sunday would be working a great at bat and an eventual walk to force in the leading run in the bottom of the 12.  Don't know what the heck I'm talking about?  I'm talking about "moments".  I'm talking about what makes baseball great.

The Yankees and Rays were notched at 1-1 until the 12th inning. It was then that Dean Anna fouled off a bunch of pitches and worked the count to 3-2.  Then, he walked and with the bases loaded, Brett Gardner scored.  I knew it was important when I saw "no expression" Masahiro Tanaka shouting for joy from the bench.  Right then, there was hope. Shortly after that, Carlos Beltran singled scoring Brian McCann and Jacoby Ellsbury. 

Then Alfonso Soriano singled home Anna, and just like that, we were up 5-1. 

At that point Preston Claiborne got the win, Heath Bell got the loss and Dean Anna was smiling ear to ear. Mop up guy last night, working out a walk today.

Sure, we can talk about the Yankees pitching troubles all you want, but if you think about it, the Yankee pitching kept a good hitting Rays club at 1 run all day. Nuno went 5 innings giving up 3 hits.  David Phelps, Matt Thornton, Adam Warren, Shawn Kelley and Preston Claiborne only allowed 1 run and pitched well.

In the end, when the Yankees backs were against the wall, and Yankee fans hopes were dwindling... there was a miracle.  Ironic.. it came today of all days... Easter Sunday.  Wow.

Final: Yankees 5 - Rays 1

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THE HAMMER FALLS ON CERTAIN YANKEES

Just wanted to keep you in the loop on some interesting developments around Yankeeland as they finalize their rosters just one week before Opening Day.

First off, our friend Russ Canzler.  We like Russ at BYB and today we wrote a great piece about him titled COULD RUSS CANZLER BE THE KEY BACKUP AT FIRST BASE?

The problem is he was reassigned just a few short hours after we posted that piece.  That’s what happens right around this time of year.  Guys play their guts out with the hope and dream of making it, but he didn’t and was reassigned… that’s baseball.

That’s not all though:

Preston Claiborne has been optioned to AAA.  According to Chad Jennings of LoHud who chatted with Girardi, the Yankees thought he would do much better this Spring.  Girardi said: “He just really never got on a role in spring training. As we told him, we know he’s capable of pitching much better than he did. It’s his job just to go get ready.”

Other guys are Zoilo Almonte, an outfielder. He was also optioned to AAA.  That means Ichiro Suzuki is in fact sticking with the Yankees and all those rumors from Buster Olney and Jon Heyman about "Ichiro’s days numbered" are just crap, at least for now.

Scott Sizemore will join Canzler. He too was reassigned.

As Chad Jennings writes: “... It’s basically down to Eduardo Nunez, Yangervis Solarte, Dean Anna and Zelous Wheeler for two bench spots. Nunez and Anna are on the 40-man."

Just wanted to keep you in the loop. I love our BYB audience.

The new baseball season is 1 week away… I can’t wait!

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THE YANKEES & THE PANAMA SERIES

This is a cool little thing that the Yankees are doing in Mariano Rivera's native Panama.  There will be a series in Panama and the Yanks have set their roster for the series. They'll be playing the Marlins in what is being called the "Legends Series" on the 15th of March.

According to Paul Hagen of MLB.com, the roster the Yanks are taking there is as follows:

"The complete Panama roster:

 Pitchers: Cesar Cabral, Robert Coello, Preston Claiborne, Matt Daley, Chris Leroux, Jim Miller, David Robertson, Sabathia, Yoshinori Tateyama, Warren, Chase Whitley


Catchers: Cervelli, Jose Gil, John Ryan Murphy, Gary Sanchez


Infielders: Dean Anna, Jeter, Corban Joseph, Jose Pirela, Yangervis Solarte, Zelous Wheeler  

 Outfielders: Zoilo Almonte, Carlos Beltran, Adonis Garcia, Brett Gardner, Antoan Richardson, Alfonso Soriano"

Joe Girardi said he wanted Brian McCann to stay back to prep for the regular season.  "I just thought it worked better if [McCann] stayed here seeing our starters." OK. Makes sense.

Joe also spoke of the Panama series:  "We know what the Yankees mean to Mo, and we know what his country means. To be able to combine the two is really special. Because Mo goes home every winter and sees family. He loved his time there...For me, if I was ever able to bring the Yankees to East Peoria, Illinois, it would be a huge deal to me. Right? And that's in the same country. So it is a huge deal."

Even yesterday, Dean Anna tweeted about Panama:

Excited to play out in Panama this weekend.
— Dean Anna (@DeanOfSwing) March 13, 2014

Check out two recent pieces about Dean Anna by BYB writers Steve Skinner and Erica Morales here:

GOOD THINGS COME TO THOSE WHO WAIT

WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH DEAN ANNA?

Anyway, not to get off track, I just wanted to keep you in the loop on Panama. It's historic and something that's happening. I'm glad they could do something like this.

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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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