YANKS MAY RESIGN CHAPMAN AFTER ALL

This is a nugget, and only a nugget and it comes from Boston Globe's Nick Cafardo who does it better than anyone.

Of course, there has been a ton of talk about the Yankees becoming sellers by the quickly approaching trading deadline and part of that is because there is a true lack of consistency with the team and winning isn't always there. 

Names like Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman have been mentioned alot. But Cafardo plants this nugget in the middle of his piece...

"The Yankees are working their way back into the race, so trading Chapman isn’t in the cards at the moment. Chapman can be a free agent after the season and the Yankees have been impressed with the flame-throwing lefthander and may try to re-sign him. The Yankees believe in their three-headed monster at the end of games and have no reason to break it up now."

Now look, it kind of makes sense and I gotta tell you, not only are the 3 of them a terrific bullpen bridge, the marketing of these guys for the Yankees future will prove outstanding.

I've never heard this nugget, until now... and I wanted to bring it to your attention.  Do what it what you'd like. I did find it interesting however!





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ARE TRIPLE DIGITS REALLY ALL THAT IMPORTANT?

I am tired of all of the hoopla around Aroldis Chapman hitting triple-digits on the radar gun.  I actually don't care.  We need consistent hitting and starting pitching more than anything else before I can get excited about Chapman's swift throwing antics and the Stadium amping up the crowd around this "excitement."

"Each of Chapman’s 11 pitches Friday night in the Yankees’ 5-3 win over the Twins seemed like its own event and excited the announced crowd of 44,808 more than anything else in the game as he struck out the side to earn his 14th save," reported The NY Daily News on Saturday.

"The fans ooh and ahh as every pitch from the lefty flamethrower crosses the plate, and they collectively express astonishment again a moment later when the speed of the pitch is shown on the video board in center field."  This exhibition is more like a side show at a circus than a baseball game. It's like the Yankees are using Chapman's arm as a mirage to distract us from the real business going on in the dugout and on the field.  The real business of the Yankees just treading water among the youth surrounding them in the American League East and across baseball in general.

Did we forget that we have a great bullpen without Chapman?  Or are the Yankees executing an strategic plan that will enable them to actually dump Chapman and others in order to rebuild?  Will there be a fire sale soon after the All Star Break with Chapman at the helm?  

So, maybe, yes, triple digits are really that important for us as part of our rebuild for the future. Thanks, for listening fans, and letting me work this all out.  I feel much better knowing that the bullpen hype up around Chapman is merely to allow for brighter days in the future of the Yankees.

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





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DON'T OVERTHINK IVAN NOVA'S STATEMENT

No Randy Miller... Ivan Nova is not Joe Namath.

Look, I'm all for confidence, but when confidence is overplayed, sometimes folks tend to get sucked into it to make a story.  Before you know it, the person spoken about is overhyped, and then every time they go out there, their tits are lit up and before you know it, fans start to wonder why everyone spoke so highly of him in the first place. Look at Matt Harvey? Hype is his friend... and lately, even hype left town on Harvey.

Ivan Nova is confident, and that's great.  We should support that.  What we shouldn't do is get excited.  We should just let it happen...

Randy Miller of NJ.com has the story:

"Ivan Nova was feeling pretty good sitting at his locker before the Yankees headed out for batting practice.

The right-hander already been out in the bullpen on this beautiful, breezy afternoon at Yankee Stadium throwing his between-starts bullpen, and he says his session couldn't have gone better. 

'My command was good every one of my pitches were good ... curveball, sinker., everything,' Nova said with a smile during a 10-minute interview with NJ Advance Media.

 Nova then proceeded to make like Joe Namath at Super Bowl III by guaranteeing that his future starts will be dramatically improved beginning with his next outing, Monday night at home against the AL West-leading Texas Rangers. 

'Definitely,' Nova said with conviction. 'I'm turning it around Monday. I'm turning the corner and will start pitching good. Monday.'"

I wish Nova the best. I love that cockiness in players sometimes... but Monday and the future will tell what happens to Ivan Nova... not just this statement.

P.S. There's only 1 Joe Namath... I met Joe Namath. Ivan Nova? He ain't Joe Namath.




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SABATHIA SAYS HE'S GOOD TO GO...

And I believe him.

Quick note.  Last outing, CC Sabathia twisted his ankle.  It was unclear if the guy would be able to make his next start.  But according to CC, and the Yankees, CC will be good to go and will pitch in his next turn.  NorthJersey.com has the story:

"Sabathia said his ankle feels fine and plans to make Tuesday’s start against the Rangers as scheduled.

 The left-hander rolled his right ankle while backing up home plate in the third inning of Wednesday’s start. He then stumbled while delivering a pitch in the fifth inning, and manager Joe Girardi removed him from the game one batter later. X-rays came back negative....

'There’s really no swelling. I think [trainer Steve Donohue] did a really good job keeping it wrapped and keeping the swelling out,' Girardi said. 'Our plan is for him to make this start, to throw his bullpens when he’s supposed to. He just might have to tape it.'"

Let's hope the guy is fine, we could use him. He's been quite good for us this season.

 

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IKE DAVIS STINKS... AND HE KNOWS IT

I kind of feel bad for Ike Davis, but the reality is, when you don't perform at the major league level, you shouldn't be playing. The trouble is the Yankees have Mark Teixeira coming back, Rob Refsnyder can now play first, AND he's hitting and Ike's about the get squeezed out.

New York Post has this:

"...with Mark Teixeira potentially on the verge of rejoining the Yankees on Saturday after rehabbing a knee injury, it’s anyone’s guess how many chances Davis will get in The Bronx. It’s hardly the first time things haven’t gone according to plan for the former Met.

'I think I’ve had a great experience,' said Davis, who signed with the Yankees after being released by the Rangers this month. 'I don’t think I performed the way I wanted to or that my career has gone the way I hoped it would go. But I also had a lot of weird things happen and I don’t think that’s given enough credit. I ran into some bad luck.'”

Whatever the case, I guess we just gotta see what happens to Davis in the Bronx.  Just so you know, in 14 at bats, Ike has just 3 hits.  Maybe it's a small scale, maybe he's just terrible... who knows.  I do know this, the Yankees needed to make a move with the possibility of Tex not coming back, and Ike was the move.  Can't blame them for that.




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BONDING OVER LAUGHTER

I like to laugh... and Brendan Ryan is freaking hilarious.

I was lucky enough to get to know Sharyn and Brendan Ryan a bit when he was with the Yanks and now obviously he's gone and back with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.  But during our chats and watching comedy bits the Yankees put out last year, I realized very clearly that while Ryan takes the game extremely seriously, he's just a down to earth, a funny dude and Sharyn says that's one of the qualities about him that makes that marriage so incredibly tight.

We took a break with our BONDING OVER series for a few months, but it's back today on a light Yankee news Friday.  Here are the others we've done in the past:

BONDING OVER STRENGTH
 
BONDING OVER A PINT
 
BONDING OVER PASSION
 
BONDING OVER BASEBALL
 
BONDING OVER MUSIC
 
BONDING OVER FAMILY 

BONDING OVER FOOD

Now I wanted to share alittle bit about 2 of my favorites to highlight in this series... Brendan and Sharyn Ryan.



If you don't already know, B is pretty damn dead-on when it comes to his Harry Caray impersonation.  Sure, it's slightly exaggerated, but I gotta tell you, I've seen many over the years... Ryan's is the best. He talked to #BYB about how it evolved. Click on the Soundcloud link above.

Now just so you know, Sharyn's just as fun! Every year they dress up for Halloween... she sent me some of those pictures to highlight on BYB when we did our interview with them. (Read EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: BRENDAN & SHARYN RYAN). They are a wonderful couple... totally into each other, fun, alive and rolling with it.

Obviously, through all the stresses of baseball, being away from each other many times during the year, trades, free agency, they still manage to keep the bond strong.  I have no doubt that much of that has to do with making each other laugh.  A sense of humor is a key to any marriage.

So here's a salute to the Ryan family.  Good people, honest people.... and funny people.  I am happy to feature you guys in the latest installment of our BONDING OVER series.  Here's to you both!

And to the BYB audience, we'll be talking with the Ryans soon.  I want to get an update for all of you on how they're doing now that Brendan is in LA with the Angels!

Look for it soon! Enjoy your Friday.

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YULIESKI GOURRIEL MAY BE ON THE MOVE

Now, you know that the Yankees have recently been attached to Cuban free agent Yulieski Gourriel and that's because every time the press has a moment, they bring his name up to Aroldis Chapman. 

That's when Chapman talks about how excellent of a ballplayer Gourriel is.  There isn't TRULY a connection between the Yankees and Gourriel, it's slightly fabricated, but that being said, the Yankees need to think about guys like this.  Roll the dice. I mean, at this point, you can only get better adding talent... you know what I mean?

Here's the latest on Gourriel, just to keep you in the loop. According to SNY:

"... The Mets will hold a private workout for free-agent 3B Yulieski Gourriel next week, the team's assistant GM John Ricco told reporters in Atlanta.... Gourriel held a private workout for the Dodgers in Los Angeles this week, according to reports."

Will the Yankees get in on this guy? Look, I doubt it, I'm going to be honest.  But whatever man... you gotta wonder what the Yankees will do with this team, and ultimately, this is something they shouldn't just take off the table yet. 

We will see, but in the end, all this was was an update for all of you from the folks you love at BYB.  Do what you want with it...and carry on.

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MUSICAL CHAIRS

So Mark Teixeira is down in Triple-A Scranton working out that knee in hopes to get back to the team this weekend....the keyword is 'hope'. I don't throw a lot of faith into this plan. I want to but given his track record I am hoping for the best but planning for the worst case scenario because let's face it, Tex is as fragile as the porcelain figurines my mom had in our china cabinet when I was growing up.

So in the event that he does make it back somehow....who gets to stay and who gets bumped off of the team? Some may instantly think about Ike Davis since he is the newbie on the team, others may say Refsnyder since he is the rookie with all of the options but there is one more option that I think makes more sense.

I think the Yankees should consider sending Ronald Torreyes down to AAA. No disrespect to Torreyes because he has done the job that the Yankees asked him to do but I think he is the least important piece on the team right now. He is a backup shortstop, and the Yankees have already shown that they are willing to put Starlin Castro back in that position if they feel that Didi Gregorius needs a day off.

Castro has the experience to fill in and help out. It's not ideal, but it would still work. Not only that but....I kind of forgot Torreyes existed. He has made very brief one inning appearances lately and his bat has cooled off. It's unfair to keep him up and deter his own development if he isn't getting the workload. He's still young. Let him go back down and get consistent at bats.

I can't say that I am a huge fan of Ike Davis, but I think it would be wise to keep him around at this point. He is the only true first base man and I can't believe I said that because I laughed when we picked him up....but the Yankees need the depth. It's unrealistic to think that Teixeira is going to come back from a complicated injury and just play everyday until the end. The realist in me says it's not going to happen.

Davis is the Yankees fifth first base man we have seen with Chris Parmelee and Dustin Ackley currently out. There's still so much of the season left so it wouldn't hurt to have a little more insurance so we aren't scrambling again when Tex gets a boo boo. The Yankees could choose to option Davis to AAA instead since he does have options but since he has 5 years of service time he could refuse the assignment. He has bounced back and forth between the minors and majors before but who knows if he wants to do it again.

Another option would be to send Rob Refsnyder back down to AAA, but that would be counter productive at this point. The Yankees have spent a lot of time molding him into a serviceable first baseman so sending him back down would be foolish. Not only that, the Yankees can't afford to not play him with a .300BA. They need to find a way to put his bat in the lineup whenever possible. This is his time and the Yankees need to let him prove what he can do in the majors. He may not be the most experienced at first base, but he would also give more flexibility in the field. He's played at first, second, third and right field since being recalled in May and while he may not excel at any of these he certainly isn't bad at them either. He is not a defensive liability. Based on what he has been able to do for this team I think he has earned his spot.

I don't think Tex is taking this seriously right now so the Yankees need to be serious about how they reconfigure this roster. Right now, Tex reminds me of Paul Walker's character in the movie Varsity Blues. He ill advisedly took shots to treat an injury in hopes to keep him playing. Granted his coach was irresponsible and only believed in winning at all costs. He pushed Walker's character to ignore the injury and push through the pain. In this case, Tex is a grown man and he is his own worst enemy. Hopefully Yankee brass watched that movie because in the end it cost Paul Walker's character his season and the backup quarterback had to step in.

This is all Teixeira's own doing and I can't support that. I hope the Yankees are smart enough to recognize that Refsnyder and Davis are the necessary backup quarterbacks in this scenario. For now, I will hold my breath and watch nervously. Let's hope for the best.


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








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ANOTHER REASON YOU NEED TO READ KEIDEL

If you don't read Jason Keidel or Pete Caldera, 2 of my favorites in the sports writing world, you're missing out on good, quality work.

Jason Keidel writes in a CBSSports.com piece about the Yankees, and their winning ways, and top notch, "win at all costs" mentality for years and years under George Steinbrenner... that has suddenly vanished from Yankeeland.

"... fourth place doesn’t cut it. Nowadays, it seems like the Yankees are resigned to their place in AL East obscurity, buried in mediocrity. 

When they whiff on a Jacoby Ellsbury, they retreat to corporate cliches and fawn over the farm system, which hasn’t produced an everyday All-Star since Robinson Cano. Would George just stand pat, and wait for the cosmos to kick in? Would he talk about the process?

Maybe King George didn’t always do the right thing, but he always did something. What he didn’t do was speak in half-baked platitudes about grinding and keeping the faith."

Exactly what we've been crying about here on Bleeding Yankee Blue. Keidel has a bigger stage, but the message is correct.  Sure, we can lean toward the whole "George would be rolling in his grave right now", but the reality is, George is dead, but the Yankees should be the same.  DO SOMETHING!

Read Keidel's entire piece HERE.  It's great.

Nice work Jason, as always.

 


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YANKEES LOSE SOMSEN

Baseball can be fun, can't it?

 Quick note about a guy we picked up just a few weeks ago.  Layne Somsen.  We wrote THE YANKEES JUST SIGNED LAYNE SOMSEN May 24th. Today he was claimed off waivers from the Dodgers.

MLB.com writes: "The Dodgers claimed right-handed pitcher Layne Somsen off waivers from the Yankees on Wednesday...Somsen will be with his third organization of 2016, having started the season with Cincinnati before being claimed by the Yankees on May 24. He allowed five earned runs in 2 1/3 innings with the Reds in the first Major League action of his career."

And there you have it.




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BIG WIN!

That title was the text I received as soon as the Yankees beat the Rockies 9-8 today.  The truth is, Joey Moses, living in Australia and being a huge Yankee fan, was absolutely right.  It was big. 

It was huge actually... It showed us Yankee fans that despite a pretty lame season, the Yankees are still trying to fight.  Thank God!

It was a see-saw battle today. When Chase Headley hit his first ever Yankee grand slam, I thought for sure we were on our way, but the Rockies came back against CC. 

Now... CC went 4.1 innings, gave up 7 hits and 6 runs.  Not exactly his best outing of the year, but I'll give him one... he's been outstanding otherwise this season.

The Yankees were down 8-4 at one point.  It was in the bottom of the 7th that Carlos Beltran was able to slug a 3 run homer, and that was followed by Didi Gregorius singling, knocking in 1 more. 

In the bottom of the 9th, with Starlin Castro up... a homer, and a walk off and win for the New York Yankees.  When clutch happens... it's usually Castro.  It's why we have him.

And so, there you have it... Joey Moses was right... the win was big... the win was huge, and Yankeeland is happy once again!

Final: Yankees 9 - Rockies 8

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