3 INTERNAL RIVERA REPLACEMENTS

For the last 16 years, Mariano Rivera's value to the New York Yankees has been indescribable. But watching him struggle last night against the Mariners has made me think about what will happen  when Rivera  is no longer around. As stable a force as he is, he is mortal. Here are 3 possible internal replacements.

1. Joba Chamberlain: He may be a bit inconsisent, but seems to be regaining his old form. His fastball speed is back to the 95-98 MPH range, with a good slider that is capable of fooling hitters. To me he seems like the most likely replacement option.

2. David Robertson: Though it seems more likely that he would be a setup man, he has closer capable fastball speed with good control of his pitches.

3. Dellin Betances: He has yet to make his major league debut, he is big, has a great fastball, with very good control of his pitches. He is an intimidating presence on the mound with a lot of upside.

Honorable Mention: Manny Banuelos, Andrew Brackman

I'm not saying Rivera is done, but someday he will be and the Yankees need to prepare for that day.

TURN OF EVENTS FOR POSEY?

Since joining the Giants last season, Buster Posey has been the leader of the Giants in every facet of the game. He's been the Giants' best hitter, a great fielder, and has earned the trust of every pitcher on the staff. This made the news that Posey is out for the season with a broken leg so devastating. It may get worse though, as there has been some debate over whether or not he should be a catcher at all and this confirms to me that he should be moved to right field. He still has a good arm, which every right fielder needs, he can still hit, and can still be the on field leader, just not of the pitching staff.  The point being that catchers have more colllisions and take more of a beating than any position on the field and Posey is just too valuable.

Most catchers play many years behind the plate, Yogi Berra played 18 years at the position and won three MVPs, bu he was not the only power hitting offensive player on the Yankees. Mike Piazza, Roy Campanella, even Jorge Posada had long and successful careers as the backstop. The Giants, however, lack enough power at the plate to risk Posey's future health.

Maybe a season without him will convince the Giants of the same thing. He is far to valuable to this team to have this reoccur and if that means not being a catcher, then so be it.

MESSAGE FOR GIRARDI: - TIME FOR CHANGE

The Yankee organization is too loyal to their aging stars and they must make some changes if they want to contend for the World Series again this year. What you need to do, Joe Girardi, is take some risks and never mind upsetting the veterans, Posada and Jeter specifically. The Yankee lineup must undergo a makeover.

NEW LINEUP:


1. Curtis Granderson, CF: He is like a poor man's Ricky Henderson in terms of power and speed, which is good to have at the top of the lineup.  He gets a lot of hits, too.

2. Nick Swisher, DH/RF: Though he has been struggling mightily, it might be worth showing some faith in Nick Swisher. Lets not forget, he did hit 29 home runs last year.

3. Mark Teixeira, 1B: Tex has been hitting well of late, but he still needs protection from either Cano or A-Rod. He could back up A-Rod and be backed up by Cano.


4. Robinson Cano, 2B: With Nick Swisher and Jorge Posada struggling, it becomes easier to pitch to Cano because you don't have to worry about who lurks in the on-deck circle. He might see better pitches if A-Rod was batting behind him. Not to mention, Cano has a .316 average, with 8 home runs and 29 RBI in 30 games in  the cleanup spot in his career.



5. Alex Rodriguez, 3B: With two guys who need protection batting in front of him, A-Rod must be the one to provide it.

6. Derek Jeter, SS: Though Jeter cannot be counted out completely, it is clear that he isn't the player he once was. He must accept that fact and do what is best for the team.


7. Russel Martin, C: Not much to say here. Martin remains a clutch, stable force in the Yankee lineup.

8. Jesus Montero, DH/RF: If it was up to me, Montero would have been in the majors for about a month and Posada would be benched.


9. Brett Gardner, LF: The reason Gardner is batting ninth is because he is good at getting on base with his speed, which is a good way to close out the lineup.

Note: Like I said, I would have benched Posada a month ago, but if he isn't hitting by mid season, I would try to convince him to retire and/ if it didn't work, I would release him and buy out his contract.

BOSTON SERIES PREVIEW

Game 2: CC Sabathia vs. Josh Beckett

Even though in his last start against the Red Sox, CC Sabathia didn't have his best stuff and was beaten by tonight's starter Josh Beckett, he still only gave up 1 earned run. Also, the Red Sox were more desperate to win because going into that game, they only had 1 win. I believe Sabathia will build off his final few innings in his last start against Detroit and pitch well.

Meanwhile, I also believe Beckett will pitch very well against a struggling Yankee lineup and make this game interesting.

Prediction: Yankees 4-2

BOSTON SERIES PREVIEW

Game 1: Bartolo Colon vs. Clay Buchholz


The Yankees hit Buchholz well, with an overall batting average of .314, and 17 RBI. Also, Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano began to come around last night, each blasting a home run in an 11-5 Yankee loss.
Also, Bartolo Colon has held this Boston team to a.169 average against him over the course of his career.


PREDICTION: Yankees 7-3.

 

IVAN NOVA: THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS

Last night may have been the best start of Ivan Nova's young career. He gave up only 1 run (0 earned) in 7.1 innings, while only walking 1 and giving up 2 hits. The part that was most impressive, was that he got 16 ground balls, with only 3 fly balls, because he was in complete control of his sinker, which had a lot of great late movement. Inducing that many ground balls is Chien Ming Wang like, while his fastball was like Josh Beckett's. Could he be similar to both?

Nova has a hard sinker, which can cause hitters to roll over on them, hitting the top of the ball into the ground instead of connecting with the sweet spot of the bat. He also has a swing and miss fastball. When he really reaches, and is in mid season form, he can hit 97 miles per hour on the radar gun. His velocity is already showing signs of improvement. Last night, he hit 94-95 miles per hour a few times. He had been throwing 91-93. Don't get me wrong, he isn't going to strike out twenty batters in a game, but he might strike out 6-8 and get plenty of batters to ground out.

COLON & BECKETT BACK TO CY YOUNG FORM

Bartolo Colon has been one of  the biggest surprises this season and is an early candidate for comeback player of the year. Meanwhile in Boston, Josh Beckett has also been surprisingly dominant. In his three previous starts before last night, he was 2-0, giving up only 3 runs in 23 innings and allowing only eight hits.

Colon has only started two games, but has pitched in relief as well. In his last four outings, the first two in relief, he has only allowed 4 runs in 22 innings, giving up seventeen hits while walking only five. The more impressive part is that he is throwing his fastball up to 96 miles per hour at age thirty-seven. When the Yankees signed him this offseason, most people were expecting him to be a long reliever who would spend a lot of time in the minor leagues.

Beckett's brilliant start was unexpected,as he didn't even pitch in the Majors last season and has been injury plagued since his Cy Young season in '05.  But when it comes to real surprises, it has to be Colon. He spent all of last season pitching in the Dominican Republic, ballooned up to 260 lbs and at almost thirty-38 years old, he's pitching like twenty-seven. In his two starts, he was not only lights out, but pitched very deep into both games.

RED SOX FINDING WAYS TO WIN WITHOUT BIG GUNS

When the Red Sox traded for Adrian Gonzalez and signed Carl Crawford during the offseason, they expected them to rejuvenate the team. That hasn't happened yet. While Adrian Gonzalez has 9 hits in his last 30 at bats, he hasn't had the power that Red Sox fans expected in the early going. He is only hitting .267 with only one home run thus far. Carl Crawford has only 3 hits in his last 23 at bats and is hitting a mere .135 on the season with no home runs and 3 runs batted in. Despite the fact that neither player has produced to a level that is expected, the Red Sox have won six of their last eight games. Besides their pitching, most of the production has come from guys like Dustin Pedroia and Jed Lowrie, who are very talented, but not the players who were expected to carry the team.

Jed Lowrie is hitting .426 with 3 home runs and 12 RBI and has an On Base Percentage of .451.

Dustin Pedroia is hitting .314 with 2 home runs and 6 RBI and has an On Base Percentage of .435.

It is also worth noting that their home run leader is Jacoby Ellsbury, who is not known for his power. He has 4 home runs, but is only hitting .190.

Stats from:
http://mlb.mlb.com/stats/sortable_player_stats.jsp?c_id=bos

WHERE I STAND ON FRANK MCCOURT

I was surprised to hear Bud Selig's announcement that the MLB was going to oversee operations for the Los Angeles Dodgers.  It seems to make sense because the team has suffered as a result of the very public marital difficulties of Frank and Jamie McCourt.

Frank McCourt, who has owned the Dodgers since 2004, has had very mixed success with the team. The teams he has put on the field have normally been very talented and always competitive, but his teams  never seemed to match up with the franchise's storied past in the eras of managers like Tommy Lasorda, Walter Alston and players such as Sandy Koufax and Steve Garvey. McCourt has also had his share of financial troubles as the team is now $400 million in debt.

I believe McCourt was never wealthy enough to make the team a big market success. The proof of this is the teams he has put on the field. His teams have been a mix of aging veterans (Jeff Kent, Steve Finley, Jason Schmidt, Nomar Garciaparra, Manny Ramirez and Rafael Furcal) and raw, yet talented prospects (Jonathan Broxton, Chad Billingsley, Matt Kemp and Andre Eithier). Though these teams have been, and still are very talented, they don't have the star power that would be expected from big market teams.

McCourt obviously wasn't a complete failure as an owner -- the team made the playoffs in four of seven years.  But they could never make it all the way.

I just hope to see the Dodgers back in World Series contention again, because I'd like to see the East Coast/West Coast rivalry of the Yankees and Dodgers renewed.

AROLDIS CHAPMAN: THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY

Aroldis Chapman has been nothing short of amazing. Since being brought up to the majors in August of 2010, he has given up only three earned runs ( all last year, ) in 19.2 innings, while striking out twenty-six. He has also given up only 11 hits. The scary part is that there's more to the story. He is the hardest throwing pitcher ever clocked. Last year he threw a fastball at 105 miles per hour, the fastest pitch ever recorded, but he started this season at an average of about 91 miles per hour. Any concerns were put to bed last night. He threw a few fastballs at 103 miles per hour, but even more amazing, he threw one at 106 according to the Reds' Great American Ballpark radar gun. Other radar guns had it as between 102 and105.

The part that sucks is that he probably could have been a Yankee. There were reports earlier this year that the Yankees had offered Chapman $54 million, but he accepted the Reds offer of $30 million. I don't believe that for a second. I actually believe the opposite. Aroldis Chapman probably hadn't seen $54 million, or for that matter $30 million, even in the movies. The point is that nobody, except Cliff Lee, leaves $24 million on the table, especially to not go to the Yankees, a team which has a history of treating foreign players well.

I believe that the Yankees lowballed Chapman, and didn't even come close to $30 million.