Tag: Baseball

Yankees

CC Sabathia Agrees to 1-year, $8 million deal with Yankees

According to reports, the New York Yankees have re-signed veteran starting pitcher CC Sabathia to a one-year, $8 million contract.

The left-hander did not have much interest in testing the free-agent market, enticing the veteran to take less money to return to New York after making  $25 million in 2017 to $10 million in 2018. Sabathia has been with the Yanks for ten seasons, and would presumably like to retire in the same uniform.

Sabathia was 9-7 with a 3.65 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, and 140 strikeouts in perhaps his best season on the Bronx Bombers in the last five years, showing the MLB community that he still has some gas left in the tank.

In addition to locking up Sabathia, the Yankees also recently re-signed Brett Gardner to a one-year deal.  “These are known commodities,” said Yankees GM Brian Cashman. “We know exactly who they are in that clubhouse, who they are dealing with our press and our fans, and obviously — most importantly — competing on the field of play.”

 

The 38-year-old lefty has built quite the resumé throughout his 18-year career. Since his debut in 2001, Sabathia has been named an All-Star six times, three of which came as a member of the Yankees. Furthermore, he won the AL Cy Young Award in 2007 when he posted a 3.21 ERA with 19 wins and 209 strikeouts. In 2009, he also was named the ALCS MVP for two strong starts against the Angels. In Game 1, he limited his opponent to one run on four hits and a walk in eight innings, striking out seven in a 4–1 Yankees victory. His start in Game 4 was just as impressive, pitching another eight strong innings, allowing only one earned run on five hits and two walks while striking out five. New York would go on to defeat the Phillies in six games to take home the World Series Championship.

Although CC Sabathia isn’t the ace he once was, he is still a valuable asset to have at the back-end of the rotation as the Yankees look to make a postseason run in 2019.

 

Featured Image via Flickr/Keith Allison

Mets

Introducing Mets General Manager Brodie Van Wagenen

The New York Mets recently filled their front office vacancy by hiring Brodie Van Wagenen to replace Sandy Alderson as the organization’s GM.

Van Wagenen has established himself as one of the most prominent professionals in the sports business industry as an agent with the Creative Artists Agency. As the Co-Head of CAA’s Sports’ Baseball division, Brodie has represented many high profile clients, including  Ryan Howard, Robinson CanĂł, and Ryan Zimmerman. He has also had a number of current Mets as clients such as Yoenis CĂŠspedes, Noah Syndergaard, Tim Tebow, and Cy Young candidate Jacob deGrom.

Although he does not have any front office experience, the Mets have the utmost confidence that Van Wagenen will be able to use the skills he has acquired over his career to guide the Mets’ front office, making the team relevant in the MLB landscape once again.

His knowledge of all things baseball makes him a perfect candidate for his new role, any many professionals in the industry agree.

“He’s built to run things; he’s built to lead,” said his ex-teammate Kyle Peterson. ““In many ways, he’s been preparing for this role for the last 25 years. He was one of the leaders in his industry. It’s not like he needed a job and I know he wouldn’t have taken any job. He’s going to surprise people who don’t think he’s ready. He has a million things to learn, but if you’re assuming he can’t learn them, you’d be wrong.’’

“He lives in this market, he knows our team, knows the pace of the city, said Mets Assistant GM John Ricco.” “So he doesn’t have the institutional knowledge, well, we have a lot of people in-house that do. Can we cover it? Those are the questions I was asking myself. I’m a little less a believer that this is a real leap of faith. I think he brings a lot of the things the good GMs have already and we can cover the things he doesn’t have.”

While being a front office member of a New York team is never easy, the consensus is that his transition into his new position will be relatively smooth and will bring the same impact he had on his clients as an agent to the entire Mets franchise as their leader.

 

Featured Image via Flickr/ Doug Kerr

Mets

David Wright to Play in Final Home Stand Before Likely Retiring

David Wright hasn’t played an MLB game since 2016, and many fans around the league thought he might never make a return to the field after battling lingering back and shoulder injuries, but the Mets have announced their intentions to start the captain one final time on September 29th before he likely retires from the game.

Wright has been the face of the Mets franchise for a long time. He has been on the club since 2004 and has experienced his share of success during his years in the Big Apple. Over the course of his career, he has been selected to seven All-Star Games while winning the Gold Glove Award and the Silver Slugger Award twice. He has shown tremendous dedication and loyalty to the Mets organization which earned him the title of “Captain” in 2013.

You can’t deny the impact that Wright has had both on and off the field. From day one, he has dedicated himself to the organization and making it the best possible place to play the sport he loves.

He has solidified himself as one of the best players in Mets history. He is the franchise’s career leader in RBIs (970), hits (1,777), runs (949), and stolen bases (196), all while batting .296 in his career.

This will be the end of the road for “Captain America,” but it is impossible to undervalue the effect he has had New York Mets baseball. He will forever bleed orange and blue.

David Wright is a Mets icon, one of the finest players and people ever to wear the uniform, Mets uniform or any uniform, and clearly our fan favorite,” said COO Jeff Wilpon.

 

Featured Image via Keith Allison

 

Mets

Jacob deGrom ties MLB record with 25th straight starts allowing three runs or fewer

Jacob deGrom has been outstanding this season, maintaining a 1.68 ERA to go along with 230 strikeouts. He continued his historic campaign last night by making MLB history, tying the record for 25 straight starts allowing three runs or fewer, a record that dates back to 1913.

Despite this accomplishment, deGrom remains focused on the task at hand: winning baseball games.

“I honestly have not been looking at stuff like that, just trying to get ready for my next start,” deGrom said. “I am out there trying to put this team in a position to win. I don’t like giving up runs.”

Mickey Calloway likes what he sees from his ace, but is even more impressed by his attitude when he takes the field. “He’s been the best pitcher in all of baseball,” Callaway said. “It’s grit and determination. He just won’t be beaten.”

As usual, deGrom didn’t pick up the win. He went six strong innings against the Dodgers while striking out six and allowing only two hits and one earned run. However, the Mets only offered the All-Star one run worth of run support, so he got the typical no decision he is used to. That one run also came off his own bat when he drove in Jay Bruce with a single that put his club on the board.

His teammates feel for deGrom as he deserves to have a better record than 8-8. “It is what we come to expect from Jake every time. It is almost not fair. We expect him to go out there and pitch seven innings and give up zero or one run every time. For him to keep doing that and then not get these W’s is unfortunate.”

Every time people doubt his abilities and argue that he shouldn’t win the Cy Young Award, the young pitcher gives them a reason to reconsider.

 

Featured Image via Flickr/slgckgc

Yankees

Yankees Manager Aaron Boone Suspended One Game

New York Yankees Manager Aaron Boone has been suspended one game and fined an undisclosed amount for his conduct during the team’s 7-5 victory over the Detroit Tigers. Josh Bard is expected to serve as the organization’s manager while Boone serves his time.

He had made contact with home-plate umpire Nic Lentz while arguing balls and strikes, causing him to be promptly ejected from the ball game. Boone put on quite a show for the fans of the Bronx Bombers as he showed the umpire his best catcher impression.

After the game, Boone was asked about the entire encounter, to which he replied, “”I hadn’t stretched yet, so I wanted to make sure I was good and loose. I guess, [it was about] giving my kids something to make fun of me about.”

At only 45-years-old and in the midst of the first managerial campaign of his career in baseball, Boone still has a lot to learn on how to conduct himself both on and off the field. You are expected to set a good example for your team, and this display did not accomplish that.

Because he is a first-year manager, his behavior could be attributed to the fact that he has yet to develop the mindset of a leader and still holds onto the attitude he had as a player.

Aaron Boone was an MLB third basemen for twelve seasons which included 54 games as a member of the Yankees. He was named to the only All-Star game of his career that very season as he put up rather impressive numbers by hitting .267 with 24 home runs and 96 RBIs for the Yankees and the Reds that year.

Nevertheless, Yankees players were glad that he stepped in to defend his club. “He protected all the guys, for sure,” said Gleyber Torres. “He’s the manager. He does a good job, and we’re proud for that. After that, we started [to get] a little more excited, and we tried to win.”

Boone will be able to be back in the dugout by the time the Yanks take on the Oakland Athletics on Monday.

 

Featured Image via Flickr/Ben Mortimer

 

 

Yankees

The Yankees Acquire 5-Time All-Star Andrew McCutchen

The San Francisco Giants have traded Andrew McCutchen to the Yankees in exchange for Abiatal Avelino and Juan De Paula.

This move is likely to offer a temporary replacement in the outfield while All-Star right fielder Aaron Judge recovers from a fractured wrist. The timing of this trade suggests that Judge is not close to a return, which is a cause for concern within the Yankees organization.

McCutchen isn’t the player he once was but is still productive nonetheless. He has maintained a .255 batting average to go along with 15 home runs and 55 RBIs in 130 games with the Giants this season. However, MLB fans are used to seeing much more from the former All-Star center fielder.

“Cutch” experienced his glory days as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates when he started for the club from 2009-2017. He always hit for a good average, but he really came into his own between 2011-2015. In that span, McCutchen was named to five All-Star games, awarded four Silver Slugger Awards, and was even bestowed with the Roberto Clemente Award for his tremendous sportsmanship and community involvement. He was also honored with the most coveted awards on both the offensive and defensive ends of the field, winning the NL MVP Award in 2013 as well as the Gold Glove Award in 2012. His best season from a statistical standpoint came in 2012 when he hit a career-high .327 with 31 homers and 96 RBIs.

The Yankees hope a change of scenery will be able to revitalize his career as he is having a subpar season. He has struggled to get hits like he used to, which could be attributed in part to the fact that AT&T Park is so spacious. However, Yankee Stadium is much smaller so you can expect to see a bit of a spike in his home run totals.

It remains to be seen if McCutchen can get back to where he once was, but its hard to doubt a guy who has been named the Most Valuable Player in years past.

 

Featured Image via Wikimedia Commons

 

Mets

Jacob deGrominates the Philadelphia Phillies

In yet another spectacular performance by two-time All-Star Jacob deGrom, the Mets pitcher pitched a complete game while allowing no earned runs, lowering his ERA to an MLB-best 1.71.

His attitude towards the game is what makes him one of the best, determined to blank his opponents by any means necessary. “I definitely wanted to go out there and throw the ball well,” deGrom said. “But every time I take the mound, I want to put up zeros. What other guys do is out of my control.”

Eight innings deep, the Mets ace had thrown 99 pitches and was due up third in the batting order as the Amazins came to bat. Typically, MLB managers would pinch hit in a situation like this in an attempt to add some extra run support to cushion their lead, but when a player is throwing the way deGrom was, this is no easy decision to make. His pitching coach left it up to Jacob.

“Do you want it?” Dave Eiland said to his pitcher. “Yeah, I’ll finish it,” deGrom replied. “You sure you want it?” Eiland continued. “You don’t have to.” “I want to finish it,” deGrom said. The rest is history.

This makes two wins in a row for the Cy Young candidate, a stat that has not come easily to the 30-year-old thus far this season. Despite his excellence, he has struggled to put tallies in the win column, through no fault of his own. This can be attributed to New York’s lack of offensive prowess.

The Mets have had a tough time putting up runs when deGrom is on the mound. In fact, he ranks 4th to last in run support per game with an average of 3.76 runs behind him per nine innings. As a result, he only holds an 8-7 record this season.

However, his win-loss totals should not cover up the fact that deGrom has been arguably the best pitcher in all of baseball. He is the only pitcher to have an ERA this low in the last 18 years with at least 25 starts under his belt besides Zack Greinke in 2015.

He makes a strong case for the Cy Young Award, bestowed upon the best pitcher from each league in the MLB. Jacob has undoubtedly earned the right to be in the conversation, and if the voters of Baseball’s Writers’ Association of America can overlook his modest win total, he is deserving of this recognition, to say the least.

Mets manager Mickey Calloway agrees with this assertion, saying that “Jacob has continued to prove why he is probably the front-runner at this point.” He has also been quoted stating, “If we ended the season right now, he should win it.”

It’s not every day that you see a pitcher in the majors with an earned run average south of 2.00, and if this honor eludes him merely because he is on a club that can’t produce runs to back up his dominance, then the league seriously needs to contemplate the criteria by which they give out the coveted award.

 

Featured Image via Flickr/Keith Allison