How To ? Getting Wins Means Little Things Help ?
Second place is not a bad spot to be in when July starts, for the season is just at its halfway point. Now that there are two Wild Card clubs to qualify for the post season, you would think that no team in that position would want to unload some of the players who helped them reach second place.
Well, this year there is at least one second place team which needs to wave the white flag, in spite of the fact that the calendar reads early July. Because they trail first place Cleveland by eleven games, the Twins have no chance of winning the American League Central division.
Optimistic fans at Target Field might refute the previous statement, recalling that just last year the Twins finished second to the Indians yet still made the playoffs as a Wild Card team. The difference, of course,is that Minnesota was playing .500 ball last July, a pace that was enough to qualify for the second Wild Card.
The 2018 Twins, in the other hand, are currently ten games under .500 and own the tenth worst record in the league. Three of the four teams that have played worse than Minnesota happen to be in the same division, which is the only reason the Twins are in second place.
Given the poor record and the huge gap between them and the Indians, the Twins need to make a trade that will benefit them in the future. Their best trade chip would be veteran starter Lance Lynn, who is signed for just this season.
His departure would not hurt Minnesota, since All Star ace Ervin Santana is expected to return from the disabled list this month. His presence will more than compensate for the loss of Lynn, who is being eyed by several contenders.
One of those potential trade partners, and the most practical, is the closest geographically to Minnesota, ln fact, the two teams actually share a broadcast network, cable station Fox Sports North.
Milwaukee is currently on top of the National League Central, but the defending champion Chicago Cubs are just a game back. To avoid a breakdown like last year the Brewers may be looking for a veteran starter like Lance Lynn, especially since Brent Suter had to be removed from his last start because of an injury.
Lynn could bring in exchange a Top Twenty prospect, perhaps even number seven Lucas Erceg. Drafted in the second round back in 2016, Erceg is a promising third baseman who is estimated to reach the Big Leagues as early as next year.
Folks in Minnesota might wonder why the Twins would go after a third baseman, considering the most feared slugger on their roster was an All-Star at that position last year. The answer of course is that Miguel Sano has no future at the hot corner, even if he overcomes his current offensive struggles while playing at Single A Fort Myers.
He will most likely take over at first in 2019, leaving the hot corner a question mark. Certainly utility infielder Eduardo Escobar has filled in nobly in Sano's absence this year, but the Twins need a long term solution for that position.
Milwaukee is well set at third with Travis Shaw, a left handed hitter with plenty of power to solidify the middle of the batting order. Even if the Brewers refuse to deal Erceg, they have a couple of catchers and promising hurlers among their top two dozen prospects. The Twins could certainly use a young catcher or a young arm who is close to the Big Leagues.
Much of the talk surrounding the Yankees this spring has been about the big names: Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and Gary Sanchez. There has also been a great deal of excitement about top Yankee prospects Gleyber Torres, Clint Frazier, Billy McKinney, and the list goes on.
FanGraphs estimates that the Yankees will win 95 games in 2018, good for second in the majors behind the Houston Astros.
Obviously, there's a good amount of luck that comes with a 162-game season. Still, being good on paper is a pretty good place to start.
Getting to 95 wins means a lot of little things need to go right as well. For instance, three Yankees in particular aren't making many headlines but they could play a pivotal role in 2018.
First up is Sonny Gray. The 28-year-old former Oakland A is entering his first full season with the Yankees. Gray finished 3rd in Cy Young voting in 2015. For several seasons in Oakland, Gray was the ace. After a dismal 2016 in which Gray threw only 117 innings, he bounced back in 2017, tossing 162.1 innings and posted a 3.55 ERA.
Although New York is a much bigger market than Oakland, Gray no longer needs to deal with the pressure of being the ace. He'll start the season as the number 3 pitcher, behind Luis Severino and Masahiro Tanaka. As a very good number 3 starter, Gray should benefit from easier matchups when opposing teams pitch their aces against the Yankees' top tandem.
Currently FanGraphs (Depth Charts) predicts Gray will post a 3.3 WAR in 185 innings pitched. This is a reasonable estimate, and it wouldn't be too surprising if Gray were to surpass this number.
Second on the list is CC Sabathia. During the offseason, CC Sabathia resigned to a 1-year, $10 million-dollar contract. Initially, Sabathia contemplated retirement due to persistent pain in his right knee. He had season-ending surgery in July of 2014. CC went under the knife again in October of 2016 and was on the 10-day DL last August due to right knee inflammation.
Sabathia still managed to win 14 games in 2017,in addition to accumulating 1.9 fWAR, while posting a modest ERA of 3.69. 2018 is probably going to be CC's last season. Fangraphs (Depth Charts) predicts a 1.6 fWAR for Sabathia this season.
A healthy Sabathia could win 10-12 games for the Yankees this season. Having Sabathia in the starting rotation gives the Yankees the versatility to keep Chad Green in the bullpen again in 2018 for an additional year of seasoning. Green will perhaps compete for CC's starter spot in 2019.
If Sabathia's able to land on that right knee without discomfort every 5 games, it will go a long way toward the Yankee's playoff hopes.
Third on this list, and possibly the Yankee getting the least recognition is Aaron Hicks. 2017 was Hicks' most productive offensive season so far in the major leagues. Despite only playing 88 games, Hicks set personal bests in home runs (15), runs (54), and RBIs (52). Additionally Hicks on-base percentage (.372) shot up 91 points over his 2016 total. Hicks posted a 3.3 fWAR in his 88 games, finishing 13th among AL outfielders and 5th among center fielders. If you adjust Hicks' fWAR/game over a full 162 games, he would have a 6.1 WAR. This would put him 3rd among AL outfielders in 2017. In a more modest fWAR/game adjustment of 134 games (the fewest games played of the only person ahead of him not named Trout), he would have posted a WAR over 5.
This post would place Hicks ever so slightly ahead of Justin Upton, as well as the likes of George Springer and Lorenzo Cain. I'm not making the claim that Hicks will live up to those numbers over a full season, but the potential is there.
Hicks could quite possibly put up 25-30 home runs, knock in 75 RBIs, and score 80 or 90 runs hitting in the bottom half of this deep Yankee lineup.
Former All-Star pitcher Matt Harvey, who helped lead the Mets to the pennant in 2015, has been designated for assignment by the team. That decision came after several changes the club had recommended for the struggling right hander, who has struggled the past few seasons.
He served a team suspension toward the end of last year, and during the first month of 2018 he has had trouble getting hitters out consistently. A few weeks ago New York manager Mickey Callaway moved him from the Starting rotation to the bullpen, and just a few days ago the Mets wanted to send him to the minors so that he could work on his delivery.
Harvey refused to accept the demotion to Triple A, which left the Mets to designate him for assignment. That decision means the club must now trade Harvey, who should find interest from plenty of teams.
Sports columnist Ken Davidoff in the May 4 edition of the New York Post mentioned five possible designations for Harvey, comprising the cross town Yankees, the Washington Nationals, the Miami Marlins, the San Diego Padres, and the Texas Rangers. Overall, Davidoff concluded that the team most likely to acquire would be the last on the list, the Rangers.
Several prospective suitors for Harvey's services were omitted from Davidoff's list, even though each one seems a better choice than Texas for the former All-Star. Unlike most of the five aforementioned, the following destinations are currently contending for a post season birth.
Not only does Harvey hail from an area not far from Philadelphia, but the Phillies also offer the familiarity of pitching against the same teams he faced as a New York Met. The Phils are a young team which finds itself in Second place the National League East, and adding a veteran starter can only enhance its chances of reaching the playoffs.
The club currently ahead of the Phillies, the Atlanta Braves, are also in the market to add a veteran to a mostly young rotation. Harvey, assuming a change of scenery leads to improvement, could fit in snugly behind Atlanta ace Julian Teheran.
Although currently in third place in the N.L. Central, the Pirates too have played well enough to warrant playoff aspirations. Because Pittsburgh dealt Garritt Cole to the Houston Astros over the winter, adding an experienced starter like Harvey seems a practical move.
One spot ahead of Pittsburgh is Milwaukee, which could strengthen its chances of overtaking first place St. Louis by landing a healthy arm like Harvey. The Brewers have one of the busiest front offices, having brought in outfield talents Christian Yellich and Lorenzo Cain over the winter. They would certainly be open to trade talks now with New York.
Harvey could also end up in the American League, where he would not have to risk injury while batting. The second place Twins need starting pitching, especially until All Star Ervin Santana returns from spring surgery.
Were former Most Valuable Player Josh Donaldson to for some reason reverse his initials, his main role in the Toronto clubhouse would literally fit him. The veteran third baseman, along with catcher Russell Martin, serves as the locker room DJ for the Blue Jays.
A recent article in ESPN.com discussed the importance of the players who pick the songs to play while the team is in the clubhouse. Senior writer Eddie Matz was able reveal which guys served in that role for each team, a list that comprises seasoned veterans as well as youngsters and even back ups in some cases.
George Springer is at the top of the list, mainly because his teammates on the Astros give his musical play lists as one of the main reasons Houston captured its first ever World Series Championship last year. The DJ for their opponents in the Fall Classic, the Los Angeles Dodgers, is known as JT by his fans (Justin Turner).
Unfortunately, none of the thirty DJs listed is literally a DJ, although one comes close. Had last year's American League Rookie of the Year been named David instead of Aaron, the New York Yankees would have a true DJ controlling the music.
Last weekend Major League Baseball, as it does one weekend every April, celebrated the player who Brownsville barrier in America's pastime. In honor of Jackie Robinson, every person in uniform for all teams wore 42, the number he donned In his Hall of Fame career with the Dodgers.
It is a nice gesture but, after nearly a decade of the same idea, the wearing of his jersey digits has grown a bit stale. The Commissioner and the other executives of MLB need to find a more creative way to pay homage to Robinson's legacy, which is all about diversity.
One simple idea would be to build on the current theme, the number forty two. Instead of just pointing out the accomplishments of that one player, baseball should give some mention to others who have worn it. That list has not only some of the game's biggest stars, but also reflects the diversity of the sport today.
Among the most important of those is Curt Flood, whose fight for free agency made him every bit as much of a pioneer as Robinson. The former All-Star wore that number during his first season with the St. Louis Cardinals, after serving a year out of the game for refusing to accept a trade to Philadelphia.
Also on the list is the most memorable closer in the remarkable history of the New York Yankees, Mariano Rivera. Because it has been retired for every team, he will be the last player inducted into the Hall of Fame while wearing that number. The gifted reliever wore forty two for nineteen years, nearly twice as long as Robinson did.
Outfielder Dave Henderson, prolific slugger for Seattle, Boston and Oakland, wore it for fourteen seasons as well as in three different World Series stints. Red Sox first baseman Mo Vaughn wore it for fourteen years, and he was the last person to bat with 42 as his regular number.
When he faced Rivera on August 13, 2000, it marked the final time a pitcher and hitter both wore that number. Vaughn was playing for the Anaheim Angels when he came to the plate against Rivera in the eighth inning, and that routine fly out marked the last time 42 would retire 42 other than in the Robinson tribute game of today.
Long time veteran hurler Rick Mahler had it on his back for twelve years, establishing the record for consecutive Opening Day starts. Right hander Sonny Seibert, who spent most of his career with Cleveland and Boston, acquired more victories (142) than any other hurler with those digits on his uniform.
Chicago White Sox first baseman Ron Little was the only other player to be selected as Rookie of the Year while having a four in front of a two on his shirt. Bruce Sutter is one of just a few members of the Hall of Fame who regularly wore forty two, which was on his jersey when he pitched for both thE Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals.
Well, this year there is at least one second place team which needs to wave the white flag, in spite of the fact that the calendar reads early July. Because they trail first place Cleveland by eleven games, the Twins have no chance of winning the American League Central division.
Optimistic fans at Target Field might refute the previous statement, recalling that just last year the Twins finished second to the Indians yet still made the playoffs as a Wild Card team. The difference, of course,is that Minnesota was playing .500 ball last July, a pace that was enough to qualify for the second Wild Card.
The 2018 Twins, in the other hand, are currently ten games under .500 and own the tenth worst record in the league. Three of the four teams that have played worse than Minnesota happen to be in the same division, which is the only reason the Twins are in second place.
Given the poor record and the huge gap between them and the Indians, the Twins need to make a trade that will benefit them in the future. Their best trade chip would be veteran starter Lance Lynn, who is signed for just this season.
His departure would not hurt Minnesota, since All Star ace Ervin Santana is expected to return from the disabled list this month. His presence will more than compensate for the loss of Lynn, who is being eyed by several contenders.
One of those potential trade partners, and the most practical, is the closest geographically to Minnesota, ln fact, the two teams actually share a broadcast network, cable station Fox Sports North.
Milwaukee is currently on top of the National League Central, but the defending champion Chicago Cubs are just a game back. To avoid a breakdown like last year the Brewers may be looking for a veteran starter like Lance Lynn, especially since Brent Suter had to be removed from his last start because of an injury.
Lynn could bring in exchange a Top Twenty prospect, perhaps even number seven Lucas Erceg. Drafted in the second round back in 2016, Erceg is a promising third baseman who is estimated to reach the Big Leagues as early as next year.
Folks in Minnesota might wonder why the Twins would go after a third baseman, considering the most feared slugger on their roster was an All-Star at that position last year. The answer of course is that Miguel Sano has no future at the hot corner, even if he overcomes his current offensive struggles while playing at Single A Fort Myers.
He will most likely take over at first in 2019, leaving the hot corner a question mark. Certainly utility infielder Eduardo Escobar has filled in nobly in Sano's absence this year, but the Twins need a long term solution for that position.
Milwaukee is well set at third with Travis Shaw, a left handed hitter with plenty of power to solidify the middle of the batting order. Even if the Brewers refuse to deal Erceg, they have a couple of catchers and promising hurlers among their top two dozen prospects. The Twins could certainly use a young catcher or a young arm who is close to the Big Leagues.
Much of the talk surrounding the Yankees this spring has been about the big names: Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and Gary Sanchez. There has also been a great deal of excitement about top Yankee prospects Gleyber Torres, Clint Frazier, Billy McKinney, and the list goes on.
FanGraphs estimates that the Yankees will win 95 games in 2018, good for second in the majors behind the Houston Astros.
Obviously, there's a good amount of luck that comes with a 162-game season. Still, being good on paper is a pretty good place to start.
Getting to 95 wins means a lot of little things need to go right as well. For instance, three Yankees in particular aren't making many headlines but they could play a pivotal role in 2018.
First up is Sonny Gray. The 28-year-old former Oakland A is entering his first full season with the Yankees. Gray finished 3rd in Cy Young voting in 2015. For several seasons in Oakland, Gray was the ace. After a dismal 2016 in which Gray threw only 117 innings, he bounced back in 2017, tossing 162.1 innings and posted a 3.55 ERA.
Although New York is a much bigger market than Oakland, Gray no longer needs to deal with the pressure of being the ace. He'll start the season as the number 3 pitcher, behind Luis Severino and Masahiro Tanaka. As a very good number 3 starter, Gray should benefit from easier matchups when opposing teams pitch their aces against the Yankees' top tandem.
Currently FanGraphs (Depth Charts) predicts Gray will post a 3.3 WAR in 185 innings pitched. This is a reasonable estimate, and it wouldn't be too surprising if Gray were to surpass this number.
Second on the list is CC Sabathia. During the offseason, CC Sabathia resigned to a 1-year, $10 million-dollar contract. Initially, Sabathia contemplated retirement due to persistent pain in his right knee. He had season-ending surgery in July of 2014. CC went under the knife again in October of 2016 and was on the 10-day DL last August due to right knee inflammation.
Sabathia still managed to win 14 games in 2017,in addition to accumulating 1.9 fWAR, while posting a modest ERA of 3.69. 2018 is probably going to be CC's last season. Fangraphs (Depth Charts) predicts a 1.6 fWAR for Sabathia this season.
A healthy Sabathia could win 10-12 games for the Yankees this season. Having Sabathia in the starting rotation gives the Yankees the versatility to keep Chad Green in the bullpen again in 2018 for an additional year of seasoning. Green will perhaps compete for CC's starter spot in 2019.
If Sabathia's able to land on that right knee without discomfort every 5 games, it will go a long way toward the Yankee's playoff hopes.
Third on this list, and possibly the Yankee getting the least recognition is Aaron Hicks. 2017 was Hicks' most productive offensive season so far in the major leagues. Despite only playing 88 games, Hicks set personal bests in home runs (15), runs (54), and RBIs (52). Additionally Hicks on-base percentage (.372) shot up 91 points over his 2016 total. Hicks posted a 3.3 fWAR in his 88 games, finishing 13th among AL outfielders and 5th among center fielders. If you adjust Hicks' fWAR/game over a full 162 games, he would have a 6.1 WAR. This would put him 3rd among AL outfielders in 2017. In a more modest fWAR/game adjustment of 134 games (the fewest games played of the only person ahead of him not named Trout), he would have posted a WAR over 5.
This post would place Hicks ever so slightly ahead of Justin Upton, as well as the likes of George Springer and Lorenzo Cain. I'm not making the claim that Hicks will live up to those numbers over a full season, but the potential is there.
Hicks could quite possibly put up 25-30 home runs, knock in 75 RBIs, and score 80 or 90 runs hitting in the bottom half of this deep Yankee lineup.
Former All-Star pitcher Matt Harvey, who helped lead the Mets to the pennant in 2015, has been designated for assignment by the team. That decision came after several changes the club had recommended for the struggling right hander, who has struggled the past few seasons.
He served a team suspension toward the end of last year, and during the first month of 2018 he has had trouble getting hitters out consistently. A few weeks ago New York manager Mickey Callaway moved him from the Starting rotation to the bullpen, and just a few days ago the Mets wanted to send him to the minors so that he could work on his delivery.
Harvey refused to accept the demotion to Triple A, which left the Mets to designate him for assignment. That decision means the club must now trade Harvey, who should find interest from plenty of teams.
Sports columnist Ken Davidoff in the May 4 edition of the New York Post mentioned five possible designations for Harvey, comprising the cross town Yankees, the Washington Nationals, the Miami Marlins, the San Diego Padres, and the Texas Rangers. Overall, Davidoff concluded that the team most likely to acquire would be the last on the list, the Rangers.
Several prospective suitors for Harvey's services were omitted from Davidoff's list, even though each one seems a better choice than Texas for the former All-Star. Unlike most of the five aforementioned, the following destinations are currently contending for a post season birth.
Not only does Harvey hail from an area not far from Philadelphia, but the Phillies also offer the familiarity of pitching against the same teams he faced as a New York Met. The Phils are a young team which finds itself in Second place the National League East, and adding a veteran starter can only enhance its chances of reaching the playoffs.
The club currently ahead of the Phillies, the Atlanta Braves, are also in the market to add a veteran to a mostly young rotation. Harvey, assuming a change of scenery leads to improvement, could fit in snugly behind Atlanta ace Julian Teheran.
Although currently in third place in the N.L. Central, the Pirates too have played well enough to warrant playoff aspirations. Because Pittsburgh dealt Garritt Cole to the Houston Astros over the winter, adding an experienced starter like Harvey seems a practical move.
One spot ahead of Pittsburgh is Milwaukee, which could strengthen its chances of overtaking first place St. Louis by landing a healthy arm like Harvey. The Brewers have one of the busiest front offices, having brought in outfield talents Christian Yellich and Lorenzo Cain over the winter. They would certainly be open to trade talks now with New York.
Harvey could also end up in the American League, where he would not have to risk injury while batting. The second place Twins need starting pitching, especially until All Star Ervin Santana returns from spring surgery.
Were former Most Valuable Player Josh Donaldson to for some reason reverse his initials, his main role in the Toronto clubhouse would literally fit him. The veteran third baseman, along with catcher Russell Martin, serves as the locker room DJ for the Blue Jays.
A recent article in ESPN.com discussed the importance of the players who pick the songs to play while the team is in the clubhouse. Senior writer Eddie Matz was able reveal which guys served in that role for each team, a list that comprises seasoned veterans as well as youngsters and even back ups in some cases.
George Springer is at the top of the list, mainly because his teammates on the Astros give his musical play lists as one of the main reasons Houston captured its first ever World Series Championship last year. The DJ for their opponents in the Fall Classic, the Los Angeles Dodgers, is known as JT by his fans (Justin Turner).
Unfortunately, none of the thirty DJs listed is literally a DJ, although one comes close. Had last year's American League Rookie of the Year been named David instead of Aaron, the New York Yankees would have a true DJ controlling the music.
Last weekend Major League Baseball, as it does one weekend every April, celebrated the player who Brownsville barrier in America's pastime. In honor of Jackie Robinson, every person in uniform for all teams wore 42, the number he donned In his Hall of Fame career with the Dodgers.
It is a nice gesture but, after nearly a decade of the same idea, the wearing of his jersey digits has grown a bit stale. The Commissioner and the other executives of MLB need to find a more creative way to pay homage to Robinson's legacy, which is all about diversity.
One simple idea would be to build on the current theme, the number forty two. Instead of just pointing out the accomplishments of that one player, baseball should give some mention to others who have worn it. That list has not only some of the game's biggest stars, but also reflects the diversity of the sport today.
Among the most important of those is Curt Flood, whose fight for free agency made him every bit as much of a pioneer as Robinson. The former All-Star wore that number during his first season with the St. Louis Cardinals, after serving a year out of the game for refusing to accept a trade to Philadelphia.
Also on the list is the most memorable closer in the remarkable history of the New York Yankees, Mariano Rivera. Because it has been retired for every team, he will be the last player inducted into the Hall of Fame while wearing that number. The gifted reliever wore forty two for nineteen years, nearly twice as long as Robinson did.
Outfielder Dave Henderson, prolific slugger for Seattle, Boston and Oakland, wore it for fourteen seasons as well as in three different World Series stints. Red Sox first baseman Mo Vaughn wore it for fourteen years, and he was the last person to bat with 42 as his regular number.
When he faced Rivera on August 13, 2000, it marked the final time a pitcher and hitter both wore that number. Vaughn was playing for the Anaheim Angels when he came to the plate against Rivera in the eighth inning, and that routine fly out marked the last time 42 would retire 42 other than in the Robinson tribute game of today.
Long time veteran hurler Rick Mahler had it on his back for twelve years, establishing the record for consecutive Opening Day starts. Right hander Sonny Seibert, who spent most of his career with Cleveland and Boston, acquired more victories (142) than any other hurler with those digits on his uniform.
Chicago White Sox first baseman Ron Little was the only other player to be selected as Rookie of the Year while having a four in front of a two on his shirt. Bruce Sutter is one of just a few members of the Hall of Fame who regularly wore forty two, which was on his jersey when he pitched for both thE Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals.
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