Yankee Draft Stuff

Monday marks the beginning of yet another MLB Rule 4 draft. The Yanks are picking 30th and have an extra second rounder, but then no more extra picks through the 50 rounds. Sorry if we've been a little less system oriented around here since the Montero trade. Hopefully, the draft will jumpstart our interest, as Damon Oppenheimer and the scouts have been doing better and better each year.

As I outlined in January, the new rules probably won't effect the Yankee strategy, except that they might opt to pick their highest bonus kid in the first round, rather than later as they did with Williams and Bird in the last two drafts.

The Yanks seem to be re-committed to taking prep bats and it's really paying off in Charleston this year. So I expect to see more of that. Hopefully, they'll be able to find some lefty power, but as long as the kids have a reasonable shot at developing a Yankee Bat, handedness shouldn't figure into it too much.

Same goes for the pitching side, where I think they will once again try to find lefty arms they like but may keep missing most of their favorites as they have in the last two drafts - which isn't to say they haven't gotten some value there with Tracy and Camarena. etc. They have, but it wouldn't surprise me to see them take close to ten if the windows are right.

Beyond that, I expect them to grab more prep starters and college power/K relievers. They've found excellent value doing that over the past few drafts.

It will be interesting to see if they are willing to blow next year's one by going over budget on a kid this year.

The signing date this year will be July 13, so we won't have to wait out a long D and F/overslot period. Should be fun. Go Yanks!

Rangers Sign Lindberg

The Rangers have come to terms with Oscar Lindberg, the other Swede they needed to get signed before the end of June, thereby retaining his rights for the foreseeable future. Lindberg who was acquired in the Ethan Werek trade had an okay, not great, year. He is exactly the type of player the Rangers need to have develop if they want to be as deep on their third and fourth lines as they believe the Devils are.

Yesterday, the Rangers signed Marek Hrivik, and former junior hockey league star who went undrafted during his eligible years. He joined the Whale in March and showed enough skill and potential to earn a contract. He's another forward that they'll need if they really want to be four lines deep at some point in the not too distant future.

Thus far we haven's seen any of the prospect trades or college signings that has marked the last few pre-draft periods. The Draft starts on June 22. The MLB draft starts Monday, and I will either start writing some Yankee stuff for it tonight or tomorrow.

Rangers Sign Fast

The Rangers today announce the signing of Jesper Fast, who was called Jesper Fasth when they drafted him a few years ago, but has since changed his name. No word on Oscar Lindberg yet, but Fast puts another one of the Rangers top prospects under contract. Fasth suffered a devastating leg injury early in this past season, but was able to somehow make it back before the year ended and prove his health to the Rangers. Can't wait to see this kid. He was an Anders Hedberg special when we drafted him. He's combines speed with a good shot. I wonder if he'll be at the prospect camp. And of course, I wonder what else they're going to do to get things moving in the right direction again. Go Rangers!

Justin Schultz?

Justin Schultz is an offensive defenseman who used to run the power play for McDonagh and Stepan at Wisconsin. At 22 he has withdrawn from Wisconsin and is still unsigned by Anaheim who drafted him with the 43rd pick back in 2008. It's believed he withdrew last Tuesday, so that would have started Anaheim's exclusive negotiating clock. If they can't sign him within 30 days, he becomes a free agent. They can also trade him now. This situation is similar to the one Tim Erixon was in last year when the Rangers traded their 2 2's for him. The Rangers don't really have any extra picks this so if they want to trade for Schultz, it would have to be players or future picks. Or, they could just wait till he's a free agent and sign him. Between McDonagh and Stepan they should have pretty good information about what Justin wants to do. Go Rangers!

UPDATE: Mats Zuccarello Aasen has apparently left the Rangers to sign a two year deal with the KHL. So, he won't be alleviating our scoring woes next season.

FURTHER UPDATE: Mats is denying this.

Rangers Offseason

That was tough. As much as I believed we were ahead of schedule and this was all gravy, losing like that was brutal. But the future is really bright, and it's been turned around really quickly. It will be interesting to see what moves the Rangers will make as they continue to fine tune the roster for a long run among the league's elite.

First off, as currently composed and coached, they are a little challenged on offense. The continued development of Kreider, Stepan and kids like Yogan and Thomas should help address that over the coming years, but will they want to do something sooner? Hard to know how they view their window and where they are.

Second, though their biggest problem is offense, will they trade Gaborik? He came up small in the playoffs, and has a big contract. Gaborik is still a much better player now than Gomez was when we got a boatload for him. It will be interesting to see if they move him then try to fill his salary slot with Parise or someone.

Third, will they bundle some talent and prospects to fill the offensive need? And if so, who are they willing to trade and who do they see elevating them on O?

Fourth, will Sauer ever be back? This is a big question, because McIlrath is probably still a year away, and Erixon doesn't offer the toughness that Sauer does when healthy. Will they look outside the organization for a rock ribbed replacement?

These seem to be the big questions, right off the bat. Thus far the Rangers only have 4 draft picks, but they usually end up adding more when needed during the draft, so expect another good one.

Anyway, we should all be very excited about what's coming. Go Rangers!

Full Time Coach

Today, Mike Woodson and the Knicks agreed to get hitched. Gone is his interim designation, here is his full time, multi year gig. I'd like to see what he can do. People have challenged his effectiveness over his career and well as his reputation for defense. Yet, we all saw the Knicks win and play defense for him. That deserved the encore. What's more, he spent his formative playing years under Bobby Knight and Red Holzman. So he must have insanely sound fundamentals and some insight on how to teach them. I'm not against this move at all, and didn't feel like we had a Phil Jackson team. Now it will all depend on the roster and if it can stay healthy. The Knicks should at least be dangerous going forward.

ARod Hits 2 Bombs

Andy Pettitte pitched well again and ARod hit two homers as the Yanks pounded the Royals 8-2. No, it's not 2009, it's 2012 and the Yankees are gonna need guys like Andy and ARod doing what they used to if they want to push off the reboot for another year or more. Grandy also homered. Hughes looked good again last night, and while many have panicked, the Yanks have used to play around .500 till June formula then take off pretty often since they started making the playoffs regularly again back in 1995. Don't give up just yet.

Backs to the Wall

Wow. The Rangers just lost game five at home. To play there again this year, they have to win game 6 in Jersey. Once again tonight, Henrik didn't look like Henrik and the Rangers - unbelievably - fell behind 3-0 in the first 10 minutes. Then they came back. Prust scored late in the first. Cally scored early in the second and Gaborik scored 17 seconds into the third to tie it. Then the Rangers seemed to relax. I don't know why, but they got outplayed and outworked for the rest of the third and ended up losing 5-3. If they want to win even 1 more game this year, Hank has to be better. They can still win two, but they're going to have to really pick it up. We're about to find out what their leadership is really capable of. Go Rangers.

Hank!!!

We really do have the best goalie in the world. He was flat out AWESOME today as he shutout the Devils for second time in 3 games. The Rangers were a little flat to start, but a well called timeout by Torts seemed to right the ship before anything was given up. It was scoreless till the third, when Dan Girardi scored a power play goal. A few minutes later, Kreider redirected a McDonagh blast to make it 2-0. Btw, Kreider and McDonagh may already be the two best players on the team. They are amazing and what Kreider is doing is magical. Wow. Boyle assisted Callahan on an empty netter to make it 3-0 once again. You have got to love these Rangers and it's only gonna get better.

Big Third!

Wow. After looking slow and tired for the first two periods of Game 1 the Rangers were a house of fire in the third. And Chris Kreider was the main fire man. First he and Del Zotto assisted on Girardi's goal that made it 1-0, and then he scored a goal of his own that made it 2-0. Eventually, Artem Anisimov potted an empty netter to cap off Henrik Lundqvist's brilliant shutout. What a game by Hank! Rangers go up in the series 1-0 on a night when they started out looking a little gassed from Saturday then exploded to take it. Let's do it again, Wednesday! Let's Go, Rangers!

Giants Add Talent With Low Risk Gambles

Since raising a few eyebrows by drafting Jayron Hosley, who flunked the pot test at the combine, with their round pick this year, the Giants have started a veritable botox party by adding trouble but talented DB's ex-Tennessee S Janzen Jackson and today, ex-Florida S/CB Will Hill. Jackson was undrafted this year and Hill was undrafted last. Both fell on off field issues, because on the field, like Hosley, they are big time talents. Usually, when the Giants hit gold in UDFA it's with an unsung guy like Victor Cruz or Rich Seubert, years ago. All three of Hosley, Jackson and Hill could have been first rounders if things went a little differently. Hosley and Jackson have already come across as contrite in interviews. The interesting guy is Will Hill, who may be the funniest and least appropriate tweeter who has ever laced them up. It will be interesting to see if he can fit in. But, on paper right now, the Giants have seriously upgraded their DB talent. Now let's see if they can all stick.

Ahead of Schedule

As the Rangers move onto the Eastern Conference Final for the first time in 15 years, it's important to remember they are about a season ahead of schedule. It was by next season that we expected, and still expect to make a serious run at the cup -- after bringing up a few more prospects and perhaps making a trade or two from roster/farm strength. Several of the prospects, like Erixon, McIlrath, Thomas, Miller and Yogan finished up with the Whale, who's season ended the other night. I hope those kids are invited to travel with the team and watch the rest of the ride.

Kreider is up a playoff season before people thought he would be, and he's made a difference, both great and not so great. Hopefully, he finds a little more consistency going forward and the Stepan/Cally/Kreider line starts making hay again. Hagelin has been the key to the Richards line, and if we can finally get Gaborik going, it could be a very special year.

As well as the Rangers have played so far in these playoffs, they have yet to get hot. Now, that may be harder to do with the constant line changing that goes on, but they're all playing the same system and I wouldn't be surprised if they do get hot at some point. They have the right kind of goalie and D. Let's go, Rangers!

Onto The Eastern Conference Finals!

For the first time since 1997 the Rangers are moving onto the Eastern Conference Finals where they will face the Devils. This would not have been possible without the incredible play tonight of Hank and Brad Richards and Michael Del Zotto, who not only assisted on the Richards goal, but scored the winning goal and was terrific and physical on D. He's really coming of age. Torts has now coached 5 game 7's and all of them have ended with a 2-1 score. He's 4-1 in those games. Now let's win the next round faster, please. These games have been too intense. Oh, and the NHL tried to screw the Rangers once again by disallowing a third goal that would have iced it earlier on a phantom "ref blew the whistle" call. What does the NHL have against their biggest market? I don't know, but screw em, Let's Go Rangers!!!

A Mechanical Adjustment

Phil Hughes said he found and has fixed a mechanical adjustment. All of a sudden his velo is coming back and the bite on his curve has returned. In other words, the Phil Hughes we saw tear through the minors may finally be showing up, and if he is, it's just another reason why the Yankees shouldn't have panicked and traded Montero in January. Yanks won again today, and it looks like they may be starting a little earlier than usual this year. Good. The draft is 3 weeks away. Hopefully that will rekindle my enthusiasm.

Cano is Heating Up

Robbie Cano is now 12 for his last 20 and has his BA back over .300. This is enormously good news for the Yanks as they try to piece together wins and hover around .500 early. They just beat the Mariners and Felix Hernandez 6-2. Though, one of the Mariner runs came on a sickening Jesus Montero homer to right. Imagine him in our lineup- oh and his catching has been FINE. Still, the stupidest trade I have ever seen the Yankees make, and they've made tons. Oh, and it's looking like both Banuelos and Betances will help the Yanks before anything they got in that trade did.

Moving on, the draft is coming up in three weeks and the Yanks have gotten very good at that under Damon Oppenheimer. I'm hoping they have another prep heavy killer that will fire me up again after the trade.

Andy's coming back Sunday. We'll see if he stays back and contributes or if the plug gets pulled.

Rookie Camp

The draft picks, signed UDFA's and tryout players should all be in town now and perhaps done with their physicals. Hosley, Robinson, Mosley and McCants have already signed, and Wilson, Randle and Kuhn shouldn't be far behind because of the new CBA.

The Giants will be getting their first look at the kids in shorts. Not much can be learned at these things, but natural speed and athleticism will show up. Because they are at the offseason max of 90, if one of the tryout players impresses, they will have to cut someone else. I'm not exactly sure which QB's will be on hand, but what we're looking for is speed and hands from the skill picks and no injuries. It will be interesting to see if Wilson is 4.35 explosive, but he may not go full speed. Again, the key is no injuries. Another key is seeing how often TC says that the playbook is "Chinese" to the new kids. Should be fun.

Knick Season Ends

Well, after adding a C who would eventually become defensive player of the year, discovering a very good and possibly great PG on the waiver wire, and switching midstream to a more defensively oriented coach, the Knicks won exactly 1 more playoff game than they did last year. The question of their offseason will be: can they move Amar'e for cap relief or value or a combination of both. If they can't they are hamstrung. They don't have any first rounder this year so the draft is unlikely to add to next year's post season totals. Some believe they can move Amar'e. We'll see.

Marc Staal and that is ALL!!!!!!

Holy Frijoles, what a comeback! Richards! Staal! Nirvana! Let's finish this in 6!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Knicks Finally Win a Playoff Game

Carmelo Anthony scored 41 and Amare finally showed a capacity to also have a big game while Carmelo was. It was a tight one, but the Knicks finally ended their multi-year playoff losing streak. They could start a new one Wednesday in Miami, but at least they weren't swept. Obviously, the offseason beckons and, at least at the outset, the Knicks will have neither cap room nor premium picks with which to improve themselves. Should be interesting. Let's see if they can win 2. Go Knicks!

Yankee Minors: A Cuban Connection?

This past week, the Yankees signed a Cuban defector named Adonis Garcia for a reported 400K. Though not a big ticket IFA, he fits in with an emerging Yankee pattern of searching for bats in a niche market. The market is mid-range Cuban position player market, and it may start paying dividends for the Yanks this season.

Previous, signings from this market include Ronnie Mustelier and Yadii Mujica, a pair of overage prospects who just got promoted to AAA after hitting .353 and .443 in the offensively oppressive Eastern League. Mustelier has played everything but catcher and first for the affiliates and was was either tied for the Eastern League lead in homers or one back when he was promoted. Mujica is a shortstop, and they've been starting at third and short for the AAA Yanks since their promotions.

Adonis Garcia is an outfielder and he will probably start in Tampa, though it could be lower.

Now, unless lightning strikes, none of these guys are gonna be long term solutions for the Yanks, but, they could provide a cheap and effective bench going forward. Depending on how well he defends, Mustelier could be the Super Utility guy the Yanks have been trying to develop for years. In other words, a guy they can drop in the lineup who can hit consistently and add some pop.

They've been trying to do that with Nunez, but his D has been problematic and his bat is inconsistent. Mustelier is a bit older, but we'd also be getting all prime for his controllable years with the option of throwing him in a trade if someone better develops. Likewise, Mujica and eventually Garcia could add depth and save the Yanks from wasting prospects or millions on role players.

This could be very efficient and it bears watching. Nice idea, Yanks!

Stage Managed

When y0u watch hockey all of your life, and play it a lot as a kid, you tend to know the rules and how they are usually applied. Today, in Game 4 in Washington, nothing was usual about how the rules were applied. In fact, they seemed to be applied to give one team opportunities and ignored to strip opportunities for the other team. The other team was the Rangers. Today, they "lost."

After the Stanley Cup is decided, the NHL is primed for another long labor stalemate which will push it even further behind fricking NASCAR. Nice? Right? But I think the bigger issue is that the refs are deciding games. We saw them them try to do it in the Winter Classic and saw them actually do it today. Is the point to make longer series so the playoff teams can stockpile cash for the lockout? Is it to give fans the maximum amount of hockey possible before taking it away from us again?

Whatever it is, it stinks, and it needs to be stopped and then investigated.

Ranger Lookout

As the Rangers begin Game 4 of their playoff series against the Caps, the second week of May is about to start. Last year, that lead to flurry of activity down on the farm, such as the Werek/Lindberg trade and the signing of Christian Thomas. It will be interesting to see if they are as active with both the prospecty Rangers and the prospecty Whale in the second round of their playoff runs.

But it's clear, the Rangers have made a commitment to their process, so I expect them to be proactive once again in the weeks leading up to the 2012 NHL Draft. We'll see what the news is. Go Rangers!

Feel Better, Mo

Mo Rivera tore his ACL shagging flies in the outfield before tonight's forgettable game against the Royals. It's unknown if it was his intention to retire after this year or come back for one more. It still is. But I wish him only the best and my appreciation of and gratitude for all he has meant to the Yanks, baseball, and us fans know no bounds. God bless you, Mo.

Gaborik!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, I hope you are all still alive. Marian Gaborik just scored the game winning goal for the Rangers in TRIPLE OVERTIME! Richards made the pass. Lot of heroes tonight, especially Hank. But also including guys like Mitchell. Del Zotto, Kreider, Hagelin, Cally who had the other goal, and McDonagh, Girardi and Staal who were absolutely brilliant and heroic. The series goes to 2-1. Now let's close it out! Go Rangers!!!!!!!!!!