Friday, December 15, 2006

Just Say NO Ca$h Money!

George King, who generally has questionable information regarding the Yankees, reports that the team is getting close to offering Doug Mientkiewicz (whose name I can now type without looking!) a one year deal to hit at the bottom of the lineup and play caddy to A-Rod's sensitive side. Mientkiewicz was a high school teammate on the football team and King notes:

"A-Rod was the QB and Mientkiewicz was his favorite target as a tight end."

I leave the jokes to your imagination. All that aside, I think this is a collossally bad idea. Doug Mientkiewicz (I even like typing it now!) is a bad baseball player. Not just bad, but VERY bad. But Mike, he's got a glove made of Valkyrie's hair and winged shoes given to him on Mount Olympus by Zeus himself. King's article speaks to the vaccuum cleaner reputation of Mr. Mientkiewicz:

"His airtight defense negates the fact that he bats left-handed. And he is a career lifetime .275 hitter versus southpaws. Damon, a former Red Sox teammate, gushed about what having Mientkiewicz at first would mean. "There are not too many first basemen who could save two or three runs per game, but I have seen Doug Mientkiewicz do it and the guy is amazing," said Damon, who played with him in 2004."

I love Johnny Damon as much as the next person, but he almost makes the point for me. Damon played with a stellar defender in 2004. This is not 2004. Let's look at what Doug Mientkiewicz has done the last several years, shall we?

VORP

2004 Minnesota (-2.6)
2004 Boston (-6.4)
2005 NY Mets (-0.2)
2006 Kansas City (6.2)

EQA

2004 Minnesota (.241)
2004 Boston (.200)
2005 NY Mets (.255)
2006 Kansas City (.265)

WARP3

2004 Minnesota (1.0)
2004 Boston (0.0)
2005 NY Mets (1.0)
2006 Kansas City (2.0)

Now let's turn our attention to his strong suit....DEFENSE!!!

RATE (100 = league average)

2004 Minnesota (96)
2004 Boston (100)
2005 NY Mets (94)
2006 Kansas City (93)

RAA (Runs Above Average)

2004 Minnesota (-3)
2004 Boston (0)
2005 NY Mets (-5)
2006 Kansas City (-6)

If you look at these numbers, Johnny Damon saw league average defense over the course of 47 games. That was the best of Doug Mientkiewicz over the last 3 seasons. The last two seasons he's gotten progressively worse. His physical condition no longer allows him to play that great defense, and has robbed him of any ability at the plate. If you field Mientkiewicz at first this season, you will be putting the equivalent of a backup catcher in the lineup at a position that you can throw a dead cat and hit a 20 homer, .900 OPS guy. This guy has 1080 total at bats over the last 3 years. He has a total of 21 home runs and 120 RBIs in that span. That's the equivalent of two full seasons of play in which he would have averaged 10 home runs and 60 RBIs from 1st. Good Lord Ca$h Money!! Just say no!!

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Do you The Yankees have Interest making an contract offer to free agent Chin-hui Tsao?
Tsao was highly regarded as a prospect while in the Colorado minor league system, but after he made his MLB debut in late 2003, he has been frequently injured. He missed nearly all of the 2004 and 2005 seasons, and the entire 2006 season. This leaves his future, in light of these injuries, in doubt. Following the 2006 season, the Rockies did not tender Tsao a contract offer, making him a free agent. He was non-tendered by Rockies and making him a free agent.
An interesting name is Chin Hui Tsao. His minor league record was tremendous and his stuff was ridiculous (high 90s to 100 fastball with killer slider and change.) Throw his name out and ask if the Yankees are interested? Seems like a worthwhile gamble. He's taiwanese like Wang. Tsao and Wang can help each other and talk in Taiwanese.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=IoUSHId3VLc
Chin-Hui Tsao strikes out seven
http://youtube.com/watch?v=INmzgXsomvE&mode=related&search=
Tsao Throws between 159km- news162km

Anonymous said...

I have secret formula and masterful plan for the Yankees making the playoffs next year and eventually going to world series.

Do you guys Remember Kenny Rogers Fiasco? Rogers was caught redhanded by Foxsports. He cheated and use the pinetar all regular season.Tigers eventually make their first trip making the playoffs.

How about Big Unit and Pavano put some pinetar in their gloves and hands throughout whole regular season ala Kenny Rogers? When The Yankees do makes playoffs; they stopped using pinetar. thoughts?

Anonymous said...

Tsao is Recovering from right shoulder surgery .

August 21, 2006
Chin-Hui Tsao hasn't been able to do much rehab since his 15-pitch bullpen session on August 1, according to the Rockies website. Tsao, who hasn't pitched this season while recovering from shoulder surgery, might not be able to return until 2007.

http://www.rototimes.com/mlb/player/3755

Anonymous said...

Phil Seibel to the Angels for Brendan Donnelly.?



Does Donnelly who has been controversial and was caught using pinetar in his glove. Donnelly and Tavarez former cheaters and pinetar users.Maybe Both of them can teach Matsuzaka how to use some pinetar.

Sox get Donnelly

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/

Anonymous said...

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2006/12/sox_sign_jc_rom.html
Red Sox sign J.C Romero .

Theo's doing big things. The Redsox are back in world series contender...As a Yankees Fan, I wave the whiteflag for 2007. Cashman is an overrated Gm and He didn't make anymoves to strengthen Yankees rotation and bullpen

Mike Plugh said...

Trolls, trolls, RSN trolls

Anonymous said...

Where was Cashman when the Sox got Donnely, Romero?


Joe Torre was asked one thing at the beginning of this off-season... what improvemnets would you like to see in 2007.. and you know what Joe said? MORE OPTIONS IN THE BULLPEN.

yet Brian Cashman has given torre no more options..

if anyone thinks torre is gonna trust britton, you be fooling yourselves.


Theo Owns Cashman.
Theo's doing big things. The Redsox are back in world series contender...As a Yankees Fan, I wave the whiteflag for 2007. Cashman is an overrated Gm and He didn't make anymoves to strengthen Yankees rotation and bullpen.



we won the division last year by 12 games"

and matzuska will win 20 all by himself which means the red sox will win the division by 8 games next year.

cashman simply hasn't done a good job.

Anonymous said...

Yankees shoud hire another assistant general Manager to help Cashman and making deals quicker. Redsox front Office who did hire Ex Royals GM Allan Baird as assistant general manager to Theo. Baird who helps offseason plans and decide what deals Theo can make. Also Theo have Jed Hoyer and Ben Cherington as an assistant.

Mike Plugh said...

This blog is populated by some very smart baseball fans that have found me through other places where good discussion is commonplace. That said, most of the people that come here nowadays are blitering idiots. Ugh.

I have to make this a registration only site. That's gonna happen within weeks.

Anonymous said...

Rumor Has it When Schilling leaves and retires next year , Redsox might go after Carlos Zambrano who will be a free agent next year. Theo and Co are already scouting potential free agent pitchers next year.

Anonymous said...

Cashman, were waiting.

We can't hide around this any more, the Red Sox look better now with their bullpen, the Yankees need to make more moves, I'm not talking about getting All Stars, I'm talking about getting some depth, some pitching, Cashman come on man, make some moves, make a statement, not an expensive one, just a statement.

Anonymous said...

Does anyone know when Carla Pavano files for free agency next year? Does his contract expires after next year? thanks

RollingWave said...

Donnelly is essentially a suckier Scott Proctor 5 years from now, he didnt' make the MLB until 30, he has steadily gotten worse over the last couple of years. in another words, he's fine as a low stress inning guy, but if he's ever in a higher stress sitaution it would probably do the Yankees more good than the Red Sox.

JC Romero is the same deal, he was terrible last year for the Angels, are people just going " OMG THEY GOT SOMEONE, I NEVER HEARD OF HIM HE MUST BE GOOD" in truth at best he would be Mike Myers, at worse he would give the Yankees a few free wins .


Mike, don't know if you got my E-mail on Tsao, the basic logic is simply to stash him in AAA and see if he can turn it around. obviously it's a gamble that could turn into nothing, but certainly there have been such gambles that turned into a ton (Chris Carpenter anyone?)

He was rushed around in the Rockies system, the most ridiculas example was in 03 (the year he made the MLB) when he threw 150 innings.... in 02, he threw 50, that's a incrediable 300% increase in workload. think it's a coincidence that he broke down after that? certainly he has to be blamed for most of his injury troubles, but the Rockies are hardly innocent

seriously though, if you look at his 03 AA records, and compare it o 06 Phillip Hughes, you see why people are high on him. it's not just because he's from Taiwan.

Anonymous said...

The Redsox think they are Old Dodgers from Brooklyn who wears letter "B" in front of their helmet. The Redsox are copycats and their mindset are they are dodgers of north. I think Redsox the Braves of the North not Dodgers.

Anonymous said...

Dice K: 0-2 in 2002 World Series


Dice-K went 0-2 in Yomiuri's sweep of the Lions in the 2002 Japan Series. Godzilla, in his last games for the Giants before becoming a Yankee, did not hit him well, but DIce-K did not dominate.

Check this out from YouTube--Dice-K giving up a 2 run bomb. Could this be a sign of games to come, especially at Fenway?:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIXp1aReMaQ

Anonymous said...

Recent moves by Theo makes Redsox bullpen so scary and formiddable.

Here's my point


Lefties - Romero - He held lefties batting avg. .202 last year

The Yankees lineup mostly heavy left-handed

Okajima - lefty specialist/ setup man in japan.

He will probably goes in big game against - Matsui, Giambi , Cano



7th inning- Brandon Donnelly - Bulldog, Workhorse and Intimidator. He likes to wear his glasses and be gagne like

8th- Tavarez - "Freddy Kreuger" Should I say more? He was converted to starter and eat innings especially depleted and injuries on redsox rotation last year. Tavarez works on his conditioning and stamina last year , get ready for next year.

9th- Timlin - Closer- "Old Crone and Antique" Jeter's had a hard time against Timlin.


As a Yankees Fan, Never underestimate the Redsox Bullpen next year.

jake said...

im convinved that jason, ashtar, alex ja, etc are all the same guy

which is sad

Anonymous said...

What does everyone think of the possible three way deal to send Melky to the Braves and get Mike Gonzalez from Pittsburgh? (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2699700)

Mike Gonzalez has some great stats. A 2.17 ERA in 54.0 IP and only gave up 1HR. 64Ks to 31BB with 24 saves is pretty good. The only thing that worries me is the tendonitis he had in his arm and his relatively low amount of innings pitched each year. (We know as a primary setup guy hes likely to do 60-80 with Torre's bullpen management)

Still, it seems to me like a good move. We all know Melky is great but he would never be more then a 4th Outfielder with the talent on the team. Even if we moved Damon or Matsui to 1st at some point in the future would you rather Melky in RF/CF or Andruw Jones/Ichiro Suzuki in 2007? Or maybe Tabata in 2008?

I think the rumor is true that there are talks about this but while I'm sure Pitt would accept a LaRoche for Gonzalez deal, the Yankees are going to have to add another player to make Atlanta happy. That player is probably what will make or brake the deal.