WILD CARD IS BRILLIANT MLB MARKETING STRATEGY

Regardless if the Yankees ultimately sneak into the MLB Wild Card or not, the race itself has not disappointed.  As a matter of fact, the concept of the Wild Card in its entirety is brilliant marketing.

According to MLB.com, "In total, with 1 1/2 weeks left in the season, there were still 12 clubs in the Wild Card races, meaning 30 percent of the franchises still had postseason hopes not based on division titles. That kind of thing was the hope when former Commissioner Bud Selig pushed for the Wild Card and an expanded postseason format, which were initiated in 1995. One of the reasons behind the Wild Card concept was the 1993 San Francisco club that won 103 games, but had nowhere to go after it finished second to Atlanta in the NL West."

Just after the 2011 season, MLB announced that it would be adding two wild card teams to the postseason. The two wild card teams in each league face each other in a one-game playoff, much we saw with the Yankees versus the Houston Astros last season. The one and done winner of this game advances to meet the top seed in the Division Series.

While most of the division races are finalized, the Wild Card is giving some unlikely teams some additional post game help.  It's like YES Announcer and formed Baltimore Oriole Kenny Singleton said during this week's coverage of the Yankees, "I love September baseball." And so do the fans.

Duke University has its own Chronicle and earlier this month one of the writers had this to say about the Wild Card phenomenon, "As someone with a roommate whose Boston Red Sox have bounced back-and-forth all season between leading their division, hanging onto a wild card and sitting on the outside looking in, I’ve had to live with the insanity and excitement that the final month of baseball can bring. I don’t figure it’s going away any time soon." And he'd be right.

As a matter of fact, Cleveland.com, a newspaper much like our NJ.com out of Ohio, is running a poll to see if fans would like to see the game extended to a three-games series. The early results say, that the majority of fans who have completed the poll would in fact like to see the Wild Card extended.

 

I have to say, I like the Wild Card and I love baseball, so why not have more of both? Some players are not in favor, including Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen who gave his opinion prior to Spring Training this season.

"You run into a hot pitcher who has his best stuff and your season is over in one night," McCutchen said. "It really stings. You play all season to get to the playoffs and it doesn’t seem quite fair that you have no margin for error. It was hard to watch the rest of the playoffs (last year). We had big dreams," reported CBS in February.  The Pirates have not had Wild Card success, failing to move on two out of the last three years.

According to MLB.com, "Of the 21 World Series played since the Wild Card was in place, six have been won by Wild Card teams. The Marlins became the first Wild Card team to win the World Series in 1997. Then they won again in 2003, thus gaining the distinction of being the only team to win two World Series without winning a division title."

So, the Wild Card, although a terrific marketing strategy for Major League Baseball yielding additional merchandise, ticket sales and media coverage, is stressful for teams and their fans, like us. It makes the season overall longer, but it enables fans who love the sport, more fall ball, which is a good thing for me.  Time is ticking for the Yankees' hopes, but guess what, there's so much post season ahead of me as a baseball fan, that it makes the sting a little less potent.

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

BABY GIRARDI SHOWED HIS TRUE COLORS

Frustration is in all of us.  Sometimes when things don't go your way, you want to yell and scream and bitch and moan and walk away from the situation because you can't face the loss, or, you just can't formulate the words to express it.  You feel attacked, piled on and ultimately it's overwhelming.

But as a leader, you can't walk away from your responsibilities, and when things crumble in front of you and you watch a team lose a game that probably should have been won, the best and most respectful thing you can do is stand there tall and take your lumps as a leader.  And by lumps... I mean the reporters want answers for the fans and for their jobs, and you as the leader, the manager needs to take it!

Sorry... that's what being a leader is.  Joe Girardi is no longer a leader.  Joe Girardi showed no spine last night after that loss.  That's because Joe Girardi is responsible for losing the last 2 games for the New York Yankees.  Yes, the Yankees swing the bats, but when you play MUST WIN GAMES, you put in the top players to win those games. If you do all you can and still not win, it was a noble effort. But there isn't a noble anything lately.

There is no longer any excuse for going to a binder and trying to figure out match ups AND ONLY USING THAT BINDER TO MAKE YOUR DECISIONS IN BIG GAMES.  When you do that and don't use your human "gut instincts"... it will burn you... and Joe got burned.  I could see it in the first inning of last night's Yankee loss against the Blue Jays.

Gibbons is out managing Girardi. Gut vs. Binder

— Robert Casey (@BleednYankeeBlu) September 23, 2016

The Yankees weren't outplayed... Joe Girardi was.  A binder will tell you to put the shift on when Edwin Encarnacion comes to the plate.  But "gut instinct" will tell Gibbons to have Encarnacion to poke one the opposite way with a man on first.

That set up a 2 run inning for the Jays and for me clearly right then, you knew who would win the game, because Girardi set his players up for failure.  Bryan Mitchell was left out there to struggle.  Larry Rothschild went out twice to talk and calm down Bryan but he didn't have it.  HOW ABOUT YOU SEE THE STRUGGLE AND PLAY TO WIN, JOE.  Remove the kid.  Run through all your guys and TRY TO WIN THE GOD DAMN GAME!  He didn't.  He waited too long.  He put in guys who probably didn't belong in at those certain moments... and in the end, he set them up for failure.  Shame.

I was blown away by Joe walking out on reporters last night.  It was JV.  It was disgusting because what it told me is that he can no longer handle being the manager of the New York Yankees.  If you live under a rock, here's LoHud to map out last night's spectacle:

"...The Yankees have to win every game that's remotely within reach, and Girardi's been aggressive with his bullpen lately, but he couldn't count on his offense to score three runs in the final two innings, and so he did not go to the top reliever available. This was not considered a close game.

Pressed on that point, though, Girardi grew agitated and declared the postgame interview over after two and a half minutes.
Here's the exchange:

• Joe, do I understand that you’re saying 3-0 is no longer considered a close game?
   
• 'No, but I’ve been throwing Adam multiple innings. Parker has been throwing pretty good for us. He didn’t tonight. I could have went to Adam and then maybe I don't have him tomorrow. We have some issues, in a sense. We don’t have a starter Monday. I’m just trying to piece it all together.'

As another reporter started a question, Girardi got up from his desk and declared, 'I'm done, I'm done, that's it,' then marched out of his office.

It was as angry as I've seen Girardi during a postgame interview in probably two years. Hard to believe he was particularly surprised or offended by the question, but at this point Girardi's clearly out of nice ways to explain his team's down-the-stretch collapse."

"I'm done, that's it!", No Joe... answer the question!  Or, here's a better, less professional one... "Why aren't you playing to win?"

Thanks to Chad Jennings for a great piece.  I'm adding to it.

I'm disappointed in Joe. In fact, Joe needs to apologize to not only that press cluster, but to the Yankee fans who want to see him and the Yankees do their job.  Sure it's frustrating for Joe, but that's the job, and as a leader, you need to lead.

No game is ever perfect, but as a leader and manager of a team... I expected more from Joe.  The press has been professional this season despite the Yankee hiccups and setbacks, never once getting out of line. Joe lost hair and got gray.  But as a Manager of the New York Yankees, that's what happens.

But here's the most telling part of all of this.  Giving up.  Joe gave up last night.  Fans did too if you read Twitter.  But that's not how life works, folks.  We are taught at a very young age to work hard toward your goals.  It will be hard and long and in the end, worth it... but you stick to it and things will happen.

As a team you do the same, TOGETHER. Joe Girardi showed some symbolism last night.  He took the line of questioning from reporters personal and didn't make it about his team... and in the end, he not only walked out on the press, but walked out on the Yankees and us fans.  It was wrong and kind of pathetic. But it should not be that way. You know how I know? Because Wally Matthews of ESPN New York said it best when he tweeted back a fan last night who gave up just like Joe Girardi....

Thanks, but you're not going anywhere yet. If I have 9 games to go, so do all of you https://t.co/0et1hrzt1D

— wallace matthews (@ESPNNYYankees) September 24, 2016

You said it, Wally.  Last time I checked, a team sticks together, be it reporters, fans or a team. All around, it's a group effort... a team effort and a leader sets the tone.

And so I ask you, Joe... What happened to you?

YES, SANCHEZ IS ELIGIBLE FOR THE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR AWARD!

It's time to dispel some inaccurate rumors flying around about Gary Sanchez and whether or not he is eligible for American League Rookie of the Year consideration. It's nearly impossible to find how rumors like these start. My best guess is that it started with a Daily News story entitled "Should Gary Sanchez win Rookie of the Year despite playing fewer than 60 games? THAT’S DEBATABLE". In their defense, if you read the article, they never suggest that he doesn't qualify. Their point was that he may not have played enough this season like some of the other contenders for Rookie of the Year. Now if you only read the title, you may have drawn the wrong conclusion and, well, that's how rumors start.

Let's set the record straight. To be eligible for Rookie of the Year, you have to be a rookie defined as follows:

A player shall be considered a rookie unless, during a previous season or seasons, he has (a) exceeded 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched in the Major Leagues; or (b) accumulated more than 45 days on the active roster of a Major League club or clubs during the period of 25-player limit (excluding time in the military service and time on the disabled list).Rules, regulations and statistics | MLB.com

His 131st career at-bat took place on September 12 at the Stadium against the Dodgers - ironically, a game I was at! So he is definitely eligible as far as the rules go. The only question remaining is whether or not he'll get the votes from the members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Honestly, I call that a question out of courtesy to the other players having the misfortune of starting their careers in the American League this year. I am sure their prospects looked great in July.

If you take all the players who are considered rookies this year with 100 or more at-bats and start comparing their stats, it's clear who is the top player. His OPS (1.137) is more than 200 points better than second place. His slugging percentage is more than 150 points better than the guy in second. He leads in batting average with .329, better than Derek Jeter's .314 in his 1996 Rookie of the Year campaign. If he had as many at-bats as Trevor Story, who plays in homer-happy Coors Field and leads rookies in home runs, Sanchez would have over 40 home runs by now. NBC Sports' Bill Baer got it right when he said that Gary Sanchez is "running away" with this.

That "if he had as many at-bats" statement headlines the critics' claim that Sanchez doesn't deserve the award because he hasn't had to endure a full season of play. Clearly, baseball recognizes that you cannot give the ROY award to a guy who only played a few games, just like they cannot give the batting title to someone hitting .500 who had only two at-bats and was lucky enough to get a hit. That's why they have the minimums the way they do. If having 130 at-bats takes you out of eligibility as a rookie, it should be enough to warrant consideration.

We'll see what the baseball writers decide. This is a slam dunk. Unless something dramatic happens in the last 10 games of the season, this is a done deal. He will be the 9th Yankee to win the award, joining Jeter, Dave Righetti, Thurman Munson, Stan Bahnsen, Tom Tresh, Tony Kubek, Gil McDougald, and Bob Grim.

--Ike Dimitriadis, BYB Senior Staff Writer
Follow me on Twitter: @KingAgamemnon

NO REAL YANKEES-ENCARNACION CONNECTION

Silly story and we won't entertain it here at BYB. Sorry to be a tight ass, but this is dumb. 

With the Yankees, there are always rumors that float out there... but this isn't even close to a rumor. It's more of a mention, and I'm telling you right now... don't bother biting...

NJ.com writes:

"According to Jon Heyman of Today's Knuckleball, Blue Jays slugger Edwin Encarnacion could be on the Yankees' radar when free agency arrives:
 
The Red Sox, who need to replace iconic DH David Ortiz, are an obvious option, as mentioned awhile back in this space. The Yankees, with Mark Teixeira retiring could be another one, though they have top young player Greg Bird coming back."

So... the rumor is... what?  Edwin Encarnacion is a free agent and American League teams will be looking at him? Not a rumor folks, reality.  "The Yankees... could be another one" as in another option where Encarnacion could land. Key word is "could". For the record, he also "couldn't." 

There is zero discussion, evidence, anything about this being serious and the Yankees have Greg Bird, part of the youth movement coming back anyway. And quite honestly, his back -up will be Tyler Austin... OR, vise versa.  The point is, there is nothing here with Edwin, we're good at first base and DH. Bottom line, as a reader, we were robbed!

I hate the rumor season almost as much as I hate Heyman writing anything. Because anything for him, is usually nothing.

Happy Friday.

LOOKS LIKE CASTRO COULD BE BACK!

We were just talking about the Yankees injury report in YANKEE INJURY REPORT & THE SEPTEMBER LIMP and that we really didn't know the status of Starlin Castro, but we expected him to be done for the season.

We wrote: "Starlin Castro is done for 2016. We saw the hammy pull and many are disappointed about it; I know I was.

MLB.com writes: 'Yankees believe that Starlin Castro's first season in pinstripes could be over after he was diagnosed with a Grade 1 strain of his right hamstring, sustained in a 6-5 loss to the Red Sox on Saturday at Fenway Park.'"

But that may not be the case.  The New York Post writes: "Castro ran on the treadmill at the Yankees minor league complex on Thursday in hopes of getting back on the field at some point during the next four days in Toronto...Asked if he expected to play versus the Blue Jays, Castro said, 'For sure.'

Manager Joe Girardi insisted before Thursday’s 2-0 loss to Tampa Bay that Castro could be back.
'That’s my hope,' Girardi said. 'I don’t know if it’s realistic. … I hope we get Castro back fairly soon. We’ve got to see where he’s at.'”

Hopefully we see the dude. I know our playoff chances are slim, but I liked having Castro in the lineup this season and I like that he wants to be out there.

WHEN 'PROVOCATIVE' GETS STUPID

I happened to be on Sportspyder today and I read a headline that another blog made. It made me spit out my coffee in laughter. The headline read The New York Yankees Should Consider Dealing Gary Sanchez In The Offseason. I'm not kidding. 

 Now, after all this New York Yankee team has been through, having old, broken down players, finally selling off valuable veterans, and collecting a pretty substantial haul of talented youth, and IN ADDITION, bringing up some youngsters who can finally play because the log jam was removed... why in all that's holy would the Yankees want to sell off Gary Sanchez?

He's young. He's our golden boy, and by the way, now we can actually be contenders next season with a young Yankee team.  I found the headline stupid... really provocative... and really stupid.

I dove in:

"What Sanchez has accomplished is simply unfeasible. Continuing at this rate, or three-quarters of it, would be unquestionably legendary.

With that said, it is not safe to assume it will continue. Sorry, Yankees’ faithful..."

OK, break that down for a second; every player levels out, but does that mean you just deal him before he does? I get value being up and all of that, but this is a KID with VALUE that's helping us turn the corner! Golden boy made a splash and it's the exact splash that the Yankee fan base has been looking for. Not only that, Yankee brass is loving this after the season we've had.  Flipping him for pitching is dumb. We can get pitching through free agents and trades with other players on the Yankee farm as well as other veterans... Brett Gardner anyone?  Here's more:

"Here are the crucial questions you need to ask yourself from a Yankees organizational perspective:

 If Billy Eppler dialed Brian Cashman and offered Mike Trout, a 25-year-old face of baseball, for Sanchez, do you do it?

If Michael Hill rung up the Yankees’ GM and offered Jose Fernandez, the epitome of an ace which the Yankees so desperately desire to climb over the hump in 2017 and beyond, does the well-respected GM take the deal?

If Farhan Zaidi made a bold call which featured a discussion involving Clayton Kershaw, a once-in-a-generation starting pitcher, do you entertain it?"

And so here's my question, and it's not crucial, it's just obvious... why would you assume, Trout, Kershaw or Fernandez WILL continue to be dominant or even be available? I mean, those are stars, but Sanchez could easily develop into one too. And I have news for you... the Dodgers are not looking to unload Kershaw.  The Angels will not trade Mike Trout and if the Marlins are looking to deal Fernandez, trust me, Brian Cashman is not giving up Gary Sanchez.

Fernandez, while good, has gotten slightly chunky of the years... a bit slower and not as incredible as he's been presented. But yea, still a catch. Bottom line, ALL players break down, but when you have something special, like Gary Sanchez is... you give him every opportunity to be great and not only that, you sell the crap out of that merchandise along the way.

Would the Yankees unload Sanchez?  If they did, they'd lose an entire fan base that would not cozy up to exchanging Gary for Kershaw, trust me. And to be honest, the Yankees are done with that stuff.  The Yankees are into the youth movement now.  We've seen the kids, we love the kids and we can't wait until more kids come up.  We are rebuilding and not trading away youth anymore.  And that's why I cannot get on board with such a ridiculous theory in my opinion.

Bottom line... being provocative is one thing. Being ridiculous is another. That's what this is.  Sorry Emmanuel Berbari of Elite Sports NY. I like your work. I don't like this one. In the grand scheme of things, with all the Yankees have done this season to turn things around, selling Gary Sanchez is definitely not on the agenda.

GARY SANCHEZ SHOULD BE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR!

You could make the argument that giving Gary Sanchez the Rookie of the Year award would be wrong, but I don't think it is a far stretch. In fact, I have heard this argument against then in favor of him but it is hard to overlook exactly what he has done for the Yankees. Sanchez is a game changer...and more than that he is a difference maker.

Who knows where this team would be right now without Sanchez and I really don't want to imagine that. Sanchez was that breath of fresh air. He brought life back into a dead team and earned high praise from clubhouse veterans. Brian McCann went so far to say that his future was "off the charts" read that HERE and Mark Teixeira called him "amazing, incredible, impressive" read that HERE. That is a lot of high praise for a kid that has only played in about 1/3 of the season. In only 42 games, Sanchez has a .337 BA, 19 home runs and 38 RBI's.....imagine what those numbers would've been if he played the entire season.

Sure, there are a lot of young, promising kids in the major leagues right now. In fact, some are calling Detroit Tigers pitcher Michael Fulmer not only the favorite to win the award but also in the running for the Cy Young award. Fulmer has added a lot of value to his team. He's played in a lot more games and he looks ace-like. That's a lot of high praise too.

But the one thing that stands out for me is that Sanchez helped pick up a deflated team. The Yankees were an old decrepit baseball team. They looked like walkers from the walking dead. There was no life to this team. We sold all of the big guns off and were just going to pay until October and then play golf...or at least that is how my dad puts it. This team was just supposed to fall by the way side and look forward to brighter days.....but NO!

Enter Sanchez. In a short amount of time his offense picked up a sleeping team. Suddenly, the gap was getting closer instead of wider. The Yankees are chasing a wild card instead of a long winters nap. He came in with his game face on and revitalized the team. He brought a veteran presence and was an intimidating bat in the lineup. I bet Brad Boxberger wishes he chose differently on Tuesday. Maybe he should've listened to Kevin Cash and walked him to pitch to Billy Butler. I bet you he won't make that mistake again.

A rookie is playing the role of a leader in the Yankees clubhouse. Stats are always important in baseball, but Sanchez performs and gives an exciting new presence to this Yankee team. It's one thing to be a productive player, but not everyone has that excitement factor. A young kid changed the energy of this team and helped the Yankees start winning again. He adds excitement for not only the end of this season but for many seasons to come.

Stats only get you so far. Memorable players have that extra spark in them and not all players are leaders. Sanchez has become a silent leader for this team and he is that breakout player. Even if major league baseball does not vote him as Rookie of The Year Yankee fans everywhere will know that he is our Rookie of The Year. There is excitement and anticipation in Yankeeland again.....can you feel it? I can't wait to see what happens.

 --Jeana Bellezza, BYB Senior Writer & Editor
  Follow me on Twitter: @NYPrincessJ

HOPE!

If we don't make the playoffs with the youth we have this year, it will be crushing.  But hey... no one expected us to be good this year after our slow start, and so, we won't get too crazy. But can you imagine if we could pull it off? I mean, just to make it to the playoffs with all the turmoil this season would be my World Series.  Then we can look ahead to 2017.

Gary Sanchez is an animal. He's unbelievable. 2 more home runs tonight... 5 RBIs.  19 homers so far this season and he's only been to a major league plate 162 times.  That's the most ever in history for a kid his age (23). But it's not just youth that did damage tonight. 

Brian McCann, who feels absolutely zero pressure because of Sanchez in the spotlight, went 4-5 tonight and he's literally promoting Sanchez in the post game show!  Mac is just giving kind compliments about just how special Gary is.  I have tremendous respect for McCann. He is a class act and I love that he's not a selfish player.

And how about this; Donovan Solano had 3 hits tonight with a double and home run.  Think about it... a few days ago, Solano was with the RailRiders. The Railriders won a championship last night without the kid. Today though, after congratulating his former AAA teammates he came up big in the majors.  I guess God felt bad for him missing out and gave him the night of his life.  Whatever it is... it's something special all around.

Right now the Yankees in the Wild Card race look like this:

Long shot? Sure.

Hope? Yes... absolutely.

Final: Yankees 11 - Rays 5

Go Yanks!