Yanks: Corbin to Visit Thursday

LHP Patrick Corbin is scheduled to meet with the Yankees tomorrow. He is a Yankee fan and they are Corbin fans. This should be pretty easy unless Philly starts adding extra years. The Yanks have won a ton of titles with lefty starter so having them at 2,3 and 5 probably won't hurt.  Also remember that though Sheffield is gone, they still have a lot of high upside arms on the come in case they need a spot start or three. Let's lock this down.

Yanks DFA Torreyes

The Yanks just claimed Parker Bridwell off waivers from the Angles and correspondinly DFA'd Ronald Torreyes. I pray to the baseball gods that this is the end of Torreyes and I don't have to go through another season of listening to reporters, announcers and the morons among our fan base whining about what is and ins't fair to a replacement level player. I have no idea what the Yanks see in Bridwell, who's been injured a bunch and gives up jacks aplenty, but one step and a time and I applaud this one. Now, no minor league contract and camp invite for Ronald, please.

UPDATE: The Yanks ended up trading Torreyes to the Cubs for a PTBNL or cash considerations. So, no ST invite seems likely at this point. Woo hoo!

This Week on the Blog

Alright, this week saw the Yanks make some roster moves, the Giants win again, and the Rangers and Knicks continue to show signs of "young player development!" Despites the Rangers tank job in their morning game after Thanksgiving, our teams are winning all of a sudden. Let's take a look at what's coming this week.

Yankees: The Yanks have started making moves, both big and small. The other day they made a somewhat puzzling trade for Locastro, whom, I thought would be a DFA type, but last time I thought the Yanks took back a guy I thought they'd DFA, it turned out to be Luke Voit. He had a big AFL season, so we'll have to see. In the field of bigger acquisitions, I think they have to hold their ground on Corbin and if the years or numbers get too big, be willing to re-sign Happ. Likewise,  I'd like to see them play "Who Wants to be a Yankee More" with Machado and Harper. Machado seems like an easier fit, but Harper could be insane in YS. Adding either one of them adds one more of what we already have, so let's hope whoever it is, finally tips things back to where they belong. Not sure if we'll see anything this week - I think any Sonny Gray trade will wait till some of the non-reclamation starters develops.  But one will happen, since Paxton has already taken his number.

Giants: Winning is better than - you know - losing. Tomorrow the Giants tee it up against an injured Philly squad, so who knows what can happen. Wish we still had Ron Dixon. Anyway, as the OL has played better, we've seen a functional and somewhat creative and productive O develop. And our needs really might be for another passrusher and dback than for a "franchise" type QB.  Not saying the Giants shouldn't find another one, but they might be able to cover next year with Eli on a salary cut deal and Lauletta. If Eli won't cut his salary, then Lauletta and another QB prospect. I happen to think Lauletta is our next QB, but there are no certainties, I just don't want to trade up.

Knicks: Mudiay might not suck. When the Michiganders underwhelmed last night Mudiay and Trier took over the game and delivered a 4th quarter win against a Pelican team that had put 41 one of them in last Friday's 4th quarter. In other encouraging news Noah Vonleh has joinded Kanter as a double double machine and he's got a three pointer! Mitchell Robinson is impactful whenever he's on the court, but he's always in foul trouble and only played 9 minutes last night before being disqualified.  I'm getting a little worried about Knox. He doesn't really move without the ball on O.  In fact, he usually just runs to a corner and never cuts to the hoop when he's got a clear path. Ridiculous, but I'm sure they'll figure it out. They figured out Mudiay, and that looked much harder.

Rangers: The Rangers had a no-show yesterday, so I'm sure they all had too much turkey the day before and had earned it. They have another game in 2 hours and let's hope it's a more representative effort and Chytil starts a new streak. Having said that, Quinn sure seems like a hell of a coach.  We're seeing the young players get better, with the exception of Brady Skjei, which is sort of ponderous. Up front, after calling up Fogarty they other day, they added Gettinger yesterday.  Combined with Kreideer, Hayes, and Chytil, that makes at least 5 power forwards for 3 lines. I wonder what they can get for MZA at the deadline, where, regardless of their success they should be sellers and careful buyers. Let's go, Rangers!

So there we are, winning teams and a Yankee team trying to get back where they belong.  Have a great week!

Ranger Recall Gettinger

After today's morning of embarrassment, the Rangers recalled 6'6" power forward, Tim Gettinger, from Hartford. Tim who be 20 till next April, adds to the collection of big physical forwards the Rangers seem interested in collecting. Tim has good hands and had 7 goals and 4 assists in 20 AHL games. Rangers have another early game tomorrow, against the Caps. We'll see if someone sits. Most of their D should sit after today's 4-0 loss. Especially Brady Skjei who looked bad. Not sure what's up with him; he's a big, fast guy, who should be thriving in Coach Quinn's system.  Instead, everyone - even Staal - seems to be outplaying him.  Weird.

Ranger Clock Isles

Alex Georgiev just got his first career shutout as he stopped the Isles at the Garden.  Didn't take long for the Rangers to get going.  Just 29 seconds in Chytil ended the suspense.  That's 5 in a row.  They scored two more in the first, one by McCleod on a tip, and one on a Pionk PP blast.  In the second they got a goal from Hayes, though they could have scored more, and in the third Kreider got his 12th.  They should not trade him.  Chytil became the first Ranger teen to score in 5 straight games.  Over the last 13 years only the best players in hockey, Stamkos, Crosby, etc. joined that list.  The worst player on that list is Jordan Staal, and he may be a Hall of Famer at some point.  This is fun.   Shatty and Mika each had 2 assists, and Kreider also had one.  So much fun.

Yanks Flip RHP Jordan Foley for RHP Jefry Valdez

Valdez is 6'1" and 165, though already 23. Yanks have been getting lucky with these minor league flips - Michael King, Juan Then - so let's see what happens. He's a power reliever who has had issues with his emotions on the mound. Not sure if he really has a power fastball yet, but also features a change and slider. We'll see if the velo ticks up or if I looked at an old scouting report. Last two seasons his K's have topped his IP's.

Also, the Yanks reportedly have an offer on the table for Adam Ottavino, who would be a good get.

Let's Get Patrick Corbin

I've had this picture in my Yankee folder for over a year.  The Yanks are going after another starter, and since they already moved Sheffield, any other trade for a top starter would start with Florial and add two or three more pieces. So let's not. The choice seems to be between Corbin, Happ and Eovaldi. Happ is older and could hit his expiration date any year now.  And Eovaldi has already had 2 TJS surgeries. Corbin will turn 30 in July, and has the classic lefty mechanics that Ford had and Tommy John had after his surgery.  Those guy's last.  Paxton turned 30 a few weeks ago so will be 30 all of next season. Also, Corbin has been on the upswing and reportedly wants to be a Yankee. Let's hope they can find the right deal.

Yanks 40 Man Day

By 8pm EST all teams in baseball have to set their 40 man rosters in preparation for the annual Rule 5 draft which takes place on the final day of the Winter Meetings. Yanks traded Sheffield off the 40 yesterday, but Paxton took his spot. Swanson would have had to be protected today, but now he's a Mariner.  Still the Yanks wil have to add guys, and might even need to make additional room.

In the past, the Yanks have generally saved the kids they have high hopes for and gambled on some advanced prospects they like or are too far away from the majors for other teams to take a keep all season. This burned them a few years ago when San Diegoe took C Luis Torrens and didn't return him.  The Yanks learned a lesson and protected Johnny Lasagna last year.  Let's hope they are equally careful, and lucky today.

Rangers Win Again!

Rangers just beat Dallas 2-1 on a late goal by Filip Chytil. This was the 4th game in a row where he's scored a goal, after being in a slump to start the season.  Jimmy Vesey had tied the game at one earlier with a helper from Howden.  Staal and Smith had the other assists. This was Hank's 500th win as a Ranger (regular season and post season included).  This rebuild is a BLAST.  They're now 11-8-2. They were 3 and 7, I think, to start the season. Holy smokes.

UPDATE: Kravstov was named to the KHL All-Star game.

Breaking: James Paxton to the Yanks

Jeff Passan is reporting that LHP James Paxton has been traded to the Yanks.  Not sure what for yet.  I'll keep updating.  Paxton is 30 and has had consistently good WHIP's, and was better in 2017 than he was in 2018, like Sevy.  I'll keep updating as we learn more.

UPDATE: It's for Justus Sheffield and two other prospects.  Wow. Depending on who the other two are, I don't especially mind this.  Sheffield has looked more and more like a #3, rather than a top of the rotation type guy. The other 2 are Swanson and Dom Williams.  Really like this move!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NE_4jaQWFb4

Giants Play Bad D, Still Win

Eli had one of his most efficient games, ever - in fact - his most, and Saquon and Odell did the rest.  Saquon as a beast and scored 3 TD's (2 runs, 1 pass) as well as 142 yards on a career high 27 carries.  He might have had a 4th, but Eli's on miss of the day (17/18) was a throw to the boundary side when he should have hit the field side of a wide open Saquon. Odell only had 4 catches, but scored and averaged 18.5 per catch. He also had a big first down on a reverse. Evan Engram has to become a bigger part of the O.  He had 2 catches for 66 yards. Sterling had 2 catches for 18 yards, Saquon had 2 for 10 and a TB, and Gallman had 2 for 22 as well as 2 rushes for 11 yards.

The D scored a pick 6, and had two more int's before ending the game with one, but man, were they otherwise awful.

If the early season Giant D shows back up, to play with the awakened O, this could become really fun.

This Week on the Blog

This was a weird one.  First, the Giants won a game, then the Knicks, who'd been playing so hard fell off a cliff.  The Rangers continued to do good things, but lost a shootem up with the Islanders in Brooklyn. And the Yanks did nada.  Okay, let's take a look at this one.

Yankees: Cash made the media rounds this week, and it does seem like the plan really is pitching and Manny - and that will only be cool if they win. I believed that getting Stanton would make things unfair, but I didn't expect all the injuries and Sevy falling apart.  I think the Yanks really need health and a better pitching coach.  Let's hope at least better health is in the cards.  Right after the WS ended, there was speculation that the market would develop quickly.  But it hasn't.  And the Winter Meetings aren't till the middle of December.  I wonder if I still have that Cold Stove picture in my files.

Giants: the Giants seemded to have straightened out their pass blocking in the win against SF.  That's huge, so was game by Solder, who had been awful and the encouraging game by new RG Jamon Brown.  He really looks like he could be the answer. Phew.  The other aread is the run blocking, and, this week, there were some clips going around that showed Saquon bouncing plays outside, when they are blocked up correctly for big gains up the middle. They have to get that cleaned up, especially now the Solder is good to go. I would like to see Evan Brown get a shot and see if he can save us another draft pick.

Knicks: The Knicks got blown out twice to start the week, before having another one of their try hard losses last night.  At some point, they'll have to learn to finish games. Oh, and the blowouts coincided with Lance Thomas being out (he'll be out for a month or so) - it sure didn't seem like he was that big a part of the D. Mitchell Robinson needs STEAK.  But he is showing the freakish AA that will keep us dreaming.  Knox is showing signs, too.

Rangers: Pavel Buchnevich was getting hot - and now he's out 4-6 with a broken thumb. Alas.  Our other super skillsy kid, Filip Chytil, is out of his scoring slump and has potted one in each of the last two games. Let's hope he catches fire. Brett Howden hasn't slumped but has been one of the best players on the team all year.  He's not as skillsy as the Euro's but he really is a hell of a player. I liked him last year, citing his good hands and feet, but he's coming faster than expected.  Lias Andersson is now up, and he's been impressive, but hasn't scored yet. Neil Pionk is a terrific offensive defenseman, but they have to pair him with a better defensive defenseman than Staal. That combo is hurting the Rangers.

So there we are. In the future, let's hope our teams don't all need rebuilding at the same time.  The drafts and moves are fun, but letting them lose is tough, even though it's the right thing to do. The losing is tough.  Have a great one!

Giants Win

Eli just did what he used to do all the time -- win a comeback game in the final minutes of the fourth quarter.  His deep ball is gone, but he did manage to spread it around in the final two minutes for the 36th such win of his career.  That's a lot. Now think of how many the D then blew... or Eli himself blew with a pick. Number could be North of 50. As the drive started, wasn't sure he could still do what we once took for granted. But he did it one more time.  So good for him, and bad for our draft position.

This Week on the Blog

Alright, Giants had a bye, Rangers made it to .500, Knicks were constantly competitive and the Yanks may be choosing aging bandaids over prime or entering their prime players.  We'll see. Maybe starting this coming week.  Let's take a look.

Yankees: The Yanks are still looking for pitching, pitching and more pitching according to all reports.  They are involved with Cleveland on Kluber and Carrasco and in on Paxton with Seattle.  They've explored Paxton before. And they've been rumored to be interested in Corbin before, too. I'd rather they trade for Kluber (if it makes any sense at all ) and re-sign Happ, neither of which would cost them a draft pick.  Corbin would.  And Happ is probably pretty similar for less dough and fewer years.  As per trades, I'm okay with moving Frazier and Sheffield and some of the other over 20's. But I'd only move them for a big return and only move Florial for a superstar level player, who may or may not be available. What I don't want them to do is trade guys from the last 2 drafts or IFA periods because I think Cabello, Salinas and Perierra might all be better than Florial. We'll see what happens.

Giants: The Giants today cut Patrick Omameh, which probably guarantees them a 4th or 5th round comp pick. He had been playing LG with the Jags and had only played RG as a rookie. He couldn't pick it back up, and though he was a bad signing, cutting bait is smart, and allowed the Giants to re-sign Quadree, the return guy they cut when they activated RJ McIntosh.  Plus, they wouldn't have cut Omameh if they didn't prefer what Jamon Brown is showing them. So they may have helpe their OL (Brown), their Return game (Quadree), their pass rush (RJ) and their draft (comp pick).  Not bad in the midst of another terrible season.

Rangers: The Rangers are now about to start another game, and are now 7-7-2 and showing a competitive drive we didn't see much last year, but also a propensity to give up late game tying goals.  Pionk has made some Bobby Orrish plays on O, but can also get burned on D.  Needs to pick it up, but there's something there.  They are  about to play the Blue Jackets, and that will change one of the three numbers. Let's see if they can overcome the late goal phenomenon.  They are playing hard and developing kids and that's all that really matters now.  They have to get Chytil away from McCleod - who I think is out now, so maybe Fil will start lighting it up.

Knicks: The Knicks lost today against a strong Toronto team, but they were competitive into the forth. Also, Kevin Knox had 12 points in 24 mintues and made some nice shots. Like the young Rangers, they are competing every night.  Also, Enes Kanter is getting a double-double off the bench every night. And Hardaway is proving himself to be a real scorer now that he's taking fewer bad shots. Mudiay also had 12 today and seems to have knocked Trey Burke out of the rotation for the time being. Different guys are contributing during different games, outside of THjr and Kanter, and that's not a terrible sign.  The consistency will come with guys like Frank, Mitchell, Trier, and Knox.  They are fun again and that's a gift to all of us.

Alright, so there we are.  Giants play Monday, the Knicks and Rangers keep playing every time they get the chance, and the Yanks could make a deal at any given moment.  Have great one!

Yanks Meeting With Cleveland

So the GM meetings are in full swing, and the Yanks are scheduled to meet with the Indians today, to talk about Kluber and Carrasco. This is a little different from the usual GM meetings where we tend not hear about what they discussed until it happens of doesn't happen around the Winter Meetings. Oviously, a deal with Cleveland would have to be won to be worth it. So far, nothing they gave us for Andrew Miller has particularly helped.  The Yanks are still deep enough to make most trades, but within that there are players they can move, and players they shouldn't.

This Week on the Blog

This week we saw progress from the Knicks and Rangers as they both won their first road games, the Giants might have lucked out on waivers, and the Yanks may or may not have given Brett Gardner a scholarship year.  Now let's take a look at this week.

Yankees: MLB free agency is now open, and some believe the market will develop quickly.  We already know that the Yanks will not be in on Bryce Harper as this point. Those things can change as they did with Tex ten years ago.  We'll see. Some take this to mean they are all in on Manny Machado, who, because he was traded in season, won't cost a draft pick. That said, if they do got after Corbin as one of perhaps starters they get, he will cost the draft pick. Of coure the Yanks are still loaded for trades and the best possible outcome from this offseason could be getting everything they want without sacrificing any draft picks. The trade market usually develops during the GM meetings, which, I believe, start tomorrow. Let's hope whatever they do is both exciting and makes sense.

Giants: The Giants are on their bye week.  Hopefully, they are practicing and getting Jamon Brown enough reps to slide in as their new Right Guard. He can really solve a problem for the Giants if things work out.

Knicks: Wow. The Knicks are developing right before our eyes.  Friday, Mitchell Robinson had a double double in what was only his 4th start.  And Alonzo Trier came off the bench to score 24.  Frank is getting better, and Dotson looks like another great second round pick. Kevin Knox is due back as soon as Monday, and he may be the best of the bunch.  And then KP will either be back  to finish this year or start next. There's wide presumption around the fanbase the Knicks will go after one or two big tickey FA's.  The real possibility suddenly exists that the Knicks will just need continued development, and continued Spursian good draft -- and they might not need to add Superstars because they will have produced three or four of them. This is amazing.  Even young and undermanned as they are,  they've been in every game and now they're starting to beat some teams.  They have back to backs today and tomorrow.  Let's see how they handle them. And Coach Fiz has walked his talk. Let's keep this one.

Rangers: The Rangers are also younger and developing (what the hell, Giants?). They're having some trouble scoring and have only gotten one win in regulation, with others coming by shootout. Still, a system is growing and the farm has been substantionally refreshed over the last two drafts. Frustratingly, Chytil hasn't scored yet, though he's been aggressive.  And after a good start, Buchnevich has been a healthy scratch lately. Seems to be Coach Quinn's favorite weapon. Like the Knicks, they are always playing hard and I just can't knock that.  The goals will come.

So there we are. We have one ponderously bad team, and two exciting young teams, as well as the Yanks who have been health luck and trade luck away from winning the whole thing and have a chance to fix their luck starting now.  Have a great week, everyone!