Author Archives: Alex Taffet

On Jonathan Papelbon and Reliever Volatility

Posted on November 16, 2011 by Alex Taffet
Papelbon Phillies

Late last week, news broke that the Yankees now-former nemesis Jonathan Papelbon had signed a four year $50 million contract with a vesting option for a fifth.  As expected, there was a great deal of reaction by Yankees fans, Red Sox fans, Phillies fans, baseball fans across the country.  Opinion varied from those calling it ...

Posted in Editorial | Tagged | 5 Comments

A Final Call for Joba Chamberlain to the Yankees Rotation

Posted on November 14, 2011 by Alex Taffet
Joba Chamberlain Fist Pump ALCS

"Of all the words of mice and men, the saddest are it might have been." -Kurt Vonegut Think back to the excitement of Joba Chamberlain.  Here was a 22 year old pitcher pumping 100 mile per hour fastballs past prodigious power hitters and unleashing devastating sliders that seemed to disappear straight into the dirt.  Not only ...

Posted in Player Feature | Tagged | 21 Comments

Yankees Trade Target: Wandy Rodriguez

Posted on November 11, 2011 by Alex Taffet
Wandy Rodriguez

With a less than stellar free agent market and several gaping holes in the rotation, it appears likely that the Yankees will fill at least one of these holes through trade.  While It is always fun to dream about acquiring pitchers at the top of the spectrum- Felix Hernandez would fit well with CC Sabathia, ...

Posted in Player Feature | Tagged | 15 Comments

Yu Darvish: A Rare Opportunity for the Yankees

Posted on November 9, 2011 by Alex Taffet
Yu Darvish 2

Clayton Kershaw, Tim Lincecum, Jered Weaver, David Price, Stephen Strasburg.  What do all these pitchers have in common, aside from the fact that they are young stud starters?  They were all drafted in the first round by the team for which they now play.  Not only were they all drafted in the first round, they ...

Posted in Editorial | Tagged | 9 Comments

The Horrors of an Overexposed Eduardo Nunez

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Alex Taffet
Eduardo Nunez

In 2011, Eduardo Nunez firmly established himself as the Yankees backup infielder.  Given the job out of spring training, the then 23 year old seemed to rise to the occasion. He surprised Yankees fans across the board with his ability with the bat.  Unlike utility players in the past (Enrique Wilson, Ramiro Pena, etc.), Nunez ...

Posted in Editorial | Tagged | 10 Comments

Which Free Agent Pitcher Should the Yankees Pursue?

Posted on November 7, 2011 by Alex Taffet
Yu Darvish

It seems to be the same speech out of Brian Cashman's mouth every offseason, "pitching, pitching, pitching."  And year after year, the Yankees are linked at one point or another to each starting pitcher on the free agent or trade market.  This year is no different, and with pitchers such as C.J. Wilson, Mark Buehrle, ...

Posted in Editorial | Tagged , , , , , | 13 Comments

Backlash to CC Sabathia Opting Out of Yankees Deal is Undeserved

Posted on October 31, 2011 by Alex Taffet
CC Sabathia Opt Out

As many of us have been expecting for months now, CC Sabathia is planning to opt-out of his 7 year, $161 million contract with the Yankees.  The backlash from fans has been significant, and can be expected only to get worse as this news is made official after midnight tonight.  But this outrage is irrational ...

Posted in Editorial | Tagged | 16 Comments

Comparing Carlos Beltran to Yankees’ Nick Swisher

Posted on October 28, 2011 by Alex Taffet
Carlos Beltran Giants

Yesterday, Rob reported on the rumor that the Yankees are currently considering former Mets outfielder Carlos Beltran.  At first glance, it seems to be just another case of a reporter attaching the Yankees and their vast resources to a random big name player.  After all, why would the Yankees consider Beltran when they already have ...

Posted in Editorial | Tagged , | 7 Comments

Who is the Real Curtis Granderson?

Posted on March 10, 2011 by Alex Taffet

Let me preface this post by exclaiming my admiration for Curtis Granderson.  He has long been one of my favorites in the game through his years in Detroit.  You can imagine my excitement then when the Yankees announced that a trade had been worked out to bring the young centerfielder to New York an ...

Posted in Editorial | Tagged | 6 Comments

Re-Evaluating How We Evaluate Players

Posted on February 28, 2011 by Alex Taffet
Sabathia, Joba and Hughes are all victims of pitching in a superior division.

As a semi-obsessive baseball fan, I spend much of my time looking through various statistical databases or browsing blogs around the internet, and a lot of the time, I find something worth writing about.  While perusing through baseball-reference, I came across an interesting bit of information. ...read more ...

Posted in Editorial | 12 Comments