Tag Archives: Hiroki Kuroda

Andy Pettitte To Rejoin 2012 Yanks For An Encore

Posted on by Ryan Kantor

Some unexpected news came out of Yankees camp this week when retired Yankee legend, Andy Pettitte, got the “itch” for pitching and decided to come out of retirement to rejoin the already improved 2012 New York Yankees.

Pettitte said it was the Yankees or nothing, when explaining his decision to return to his old team. Despite New York’s already loaded pitching staff, they couldn’t say no to bringing another strong pitcher into the fray, especially one that has such a special relationship with the team. Now that Andy Pettitte is back, it simply feels like they should win the World Series, as was the feeling during many of his previous years with New York.

In 2009, Pettitte was a playoff hero. He won the clinching games in the ALDS (vs. Minnesota), the ALCS (vs. Los Angeles), and the World Series (vs. Philadelphia). In 2010, Andy was an All-Star, but battled injuries that limited him to just 129 innings. Likely prompted by those injuries, he retired after 2010 and hasn’t pitched since the 2010 ALCS vs. Texas. Now completely healthy, he can help a Yankees team that boasts the deepest rotation in baseball.

Sabathia and Kuroda still headline the Yankee rotation, but with most expecting a mild regression from Ivan Nova, newcomer Michael Pineda struggling with his velocity in Spring Training (throwing around 88-92 mph compared to the 94-96 mph he was throwing last year early in camp), Garcia injured, and Hughes working to bounce back from a sub-par season (I think Hughes can break through if given the opportunity this season) Pettitte can be of much more than sentimental value.

He gives the Yankees seven, that’s right, seven capable starters for 2012. It appears that GM Brian Cashman saw the team’s weakness and made a big point to fix it. This is the deepest rotation I can remember dating back to the 2005 Chicago White Sox. At the risk of jinxing the Yankees, I don’t see any way they’re unable to put together a reliable five-man rotation with their current roster.

So how does this affect the rest of the rotation? Garcia was likely headed to the bullpen before this news broke. Now that’s almost certain and he could potentially be traded, though it may not come right away, as Pettitte won’t be ready for the start of the reason.    Michael Pineda has struggled this Spring and while we hope he picks up steam in the new few weeks, if he flops out of the gate this gives him an opportunity to get a little more seasoning in the minors. If not, Hughes will be the odd-man out and that I think is unfortunate. Hughes is having a strong Spring, he finished last year better than the way he started it, and I fear the Yankee brass will move him around the way they did Joba Chamberlain and wreck his still promising career. I hope they can find a way to keep Hughes in the rotation if he is pitching well. I’d love to see another 18 wins come from Phil Hughes this year.

Regardless of how it all plays out, I believe I speak for almost all Yankee fans when I say Andy Pettitte is always welcome, and we’re glad to have him. He’s in a select group of beloved Yankees with Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera. With fingers crossed, I must mention that MLB’s all-time postseason win leader now has an opportunity to go out a champ with his sixth ring as proof that this comeback was no Michael Jordan effort.

For thoughts and reaction on the signing, check out MLBTradeRumors.com.

Yankee Hero, Andy Pettitte, is back after sitting out 2011.

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Yankees Add Final Piece To The Puzzle: Raul Ibanez To Join New York

Posted on by Ryan Kantor

Just days after clearing $13 million off the books by sending beleaguered right-hander, AJ Burnett, to the Pittsburgh Pirates the Yankees have filled their last critical need by signing a power hitting DH. Raul Ibanez is set to join the Bronx Bombers on a $1.1 million contract that maxes out at $4 million with incentives. This is welcome news as the Yankees had been looking for a reliable, veteran lefty after they created the hole in the DH slot by trading C/DH Jesus Montero for Michael Pineda.

The Yankees remained patient during the first half of the off-season, while the Angels were signing Albert Pujols and CJ Wilson, the Red Sox were finding new management, and the Marlins were making headlines every week. That patience has paid off. They resigned CC Sabathia early on and then added Michael Pineda and Hiroki Kuroda while subtracting AJ Burnett to strengthen a weak pitching staff. They lost star prospect, Jesus Montero, in the process but plugged the DH hole with Raul Ibanez while prospects like Austin Romine and Gary Sanchez prepare to take over the catching duties. Alex Rodriguez will likely transition into a primary DH role in the coming years, so using a veteran to fill that role in the immediate short-term may have been a plus.

The only priority the Yankees have not checked off their list was signing a lefty specialist for the bullpen and that is of no fault of their own. They came to terms with Hideki Okajima, but the contract fell through when he failed his physical.

The Yankees now have arguably the deepest lineup in baseball. They also have the maybe the deepest rotation outside of Los Angeles–where the Angels boast Jered Weaver, Dan Haren, CJ Wilson, Ervin Santana, and Jerome Williams–and they’ll return one of the baseball’s best bullpens. Personal reasons have made this one of the toughest off-seasons for Brian Cashman, but he has made this one of his most wildly successful baseball off-seasons.

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AJ Burnett Will Have New Faces To Pie In 2012

Posted on by Ryan Kantor

258 walks later, AJ Burnett may be looking at his last day as a New York Yankee. After three up-and-down years in New York (mostly down) and the additions of Michael Pineda and Hiroki Kuroda, the Yankee front office is looking to shed some payroll by finding someone to take Burnett’s plump contract off their hands (yes, the Yankees need to cut payroll).

In his first year, AJ was a blessing for a stodgy Yankee clubhouse, bringing a much needed lightheartedness and his signature shaving cream pie face-plants. In the two subsequent seasons, that would unfortunately devolve into self-inflicted injuries and arguments with Jorge Posada. After those two poor seasons, both with ERAs above 5.14, AJ Burnett has become the Yankees seventh best starter and will still command $16.5 million in each of the next two seasons.

According to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports:

Deal needs MLB approval. Yankees will pay $20M of $30M left on Burnett’s contract, receive two low-level minor leaguers from Pirates.

When we signed AJ Burnett prior to the 2009 season, I was not pleased. I had always rooted against the tattooed, Greenday fan during his years with the Marlins and Blue Jays. Always seeming more like a talented thrower than a thoughtful pitcher, I put Burnett in the group with Josh Beckett and Carlos Zambrano as pitchers to root against while I cheered for the Mike Mussinas and Greg Madduxs of the world.

I quickly had to get on board with AJ Burnett in pinstripes as he was a part of the Yankees strong 2009 off-season that included CC Sabathia and Mark Teixeira, and his success would be paramount to the Yankees. In his first year, he made this easy to do. His playfulness and on-field success made him a crucial piece to a championship team. He threw 207 innings with respectable 4.04 ERA, and his game 2 performance in the 2009 World Series will be remembered by Yankee fans for years to come. Unfortunately, that would be the climax of his career in New York. He was shelled in game 5 of the 2009 World Series allowing six earned runs in two innings and followed that with an ERA of 5.24 in 2010.

While I thought it was a poor contract at the time, it was largely justified by the results in 2009, when Burnett played a big role in the Yankees’ World Series Championship. Even his back-to-back 5+ ERA seasons haven’t made me forget his contributions. So while I’m far from an AJ Burnett fan, I’m thankful for his contributions to the Yankees 27th World Series Championship. It is time for the Yankees to move forward without Burnett on the roster, and he’d probably benefit from a fresh start and respite from the AL East and the pressures of New York. So, I hope the Yankees are able to complete a trade, but I also thank AJ Burnett for his time in pinstripes and wish him success in Pittsburgh (assuming this trade is finalized) where I (and Jeff Nelson) think he’ll rediscover some of his past glory.

Related Articles

AJ Burnett: Why His Contract Was Not A Mistake For The New York Yankees

AJ Burnett: Cutting Off The Nose To Spite The Face

As always, please subscribe to this blog by clicking the “Follow” button at the top of the right sidebar. If you don’t have a WordPress account, you’ll have to enter your email address. You can share your opinions in the comment section below or by tweeting to @Ryan_Kantor. Thanks for reading! 

Why Yu Darvish Will Be The Best Japanese Pitcher Yet

Posted on by Ryan Kantor

We’ve seen quite a few pitchers make the move from the Japanese league to the MLB with varying success. Kei Igawa, the total flop for the Yankees comes to mind. Hiroki Kuroda, a solid success now joining the Yankees is another. This offseason the Texas Rangers compensated for losing starting pitcher CJ Wilson (and Cliff Lee last year), by bringing over maybe the most promising Japanese pitcher yet, Yu Darvish.

Now don’t mistake me for an overexcited Rangers fan ready to jump on the Darvish bandwagon. This is a considerably risky move. The Rangers, a franchise at their very pinnacle, will be devastated if Darvish is a bust and his contract prevents them from re-signing key pieces like Ian Kinsler. The Rangers paid $51.7 million as a posting fee and another $60 million for the actual contract. Here’s the year-by-year breakdown. His contract is back-loaded.

Here’s why he could be a resounding success. Unlike Daisuke Matsuzaka, who was supposed to be the greatest thing since fried rice, Darvish works off a fastball. Just about every pitcher in baseball (save knuckleballers) uses a fastball as their primary pitch and then uses breaking and off-speed pitches to vary off of that. Many felt Matsuzaka could be dominant because he was so different, but what many others feared ended up being the case. He nibbled too much, threw too many pitches, and walked too many hitters. Darvish worked on being more aggressive last season. He only walked 36 batters. Darvish has played five seasons in Japan, and only once posted an WHIP over 1.00. He’s never posted and ERA over 2.00. In those five seasons he allowed 39 home runs. By contrast, AJ Burnett allowed 31 home runs last season.

Darvish has been totally dominant in the Japanese league, and while we may want to stick our nose up at their league, let’s not forget who the defending World Baseball Classic Champions are and who closed out that championship for them (if you didn’t guess, it was Japan and Yu Darvish). Here is a great article by Yahoo Sports on Yu Darvish. It explains that each of his five seasons in Japan was better than Matsuzaka’s very best season. He’s got a nasty fork ball (basically a strong sinker), he’s consistent, he eats innings… Sure, playing in Texas will be a tough billing with the summer heat and the hitter friendly ballpark, but a schedule heavy on Oakland, Seattle, and Houston should make it more manageable than it sounds. The overexcitement about previous Japanese pitchers and their subsequent failures has made everyone (except those in the Texas Ranger front office) skeptical about another hot-shot Japanese pitcher, but the opportunity to watch Darvish is just another reason I can’t wait until baseball season.

As always, please subscribe to this blog by clicking the “Follow” button at the top of the right sidebar. If you don’t have a WordPress account, you’ll have to enter your email address. You can share your opinions in the comment section below or by tweeting to @Ryan_Kantor. Thanks for reading! 

Hiroki Kuroda and Michael Pineda To Don Pinstripes

Posted on by Ryan Kantor

It appears that Yankee GM, Brian Cashman, was just taking his time. Yankee fans watched the Angels sign Albert Pujols and CJ Wilson. They watched Mark Buehrle sign with the revamped Miami Marlins and the Rangers win exclusive rights to negotiate with Japanese pitcher, Yu Darvish. Rumors surfaced that the Yankees would add Jair Jurrjens to their shaky, pinstriped rotation in exchange for young shortstop Eduardo Nunez, but nothing came to fruition.

After resigning to the fact that the Yankees may not make a major move this off-season, Yankee fans were hit with two huge moves that may transform a lousy rotation into a deep, World Series caliber group. One that could even be called the strength of the team.

After months of hearing that Hiroki Kuroda was uncomfortable moving to New York and would either remain in Los Angeles or head back to his native Japan, the AP has reported that the two parties have struck a 1-year, $10 million pact. Kuroda is 36 years of age, but his age is not a concern to me and evidently not too big of a concern to Brian Cashman. Last season Kuroda posted MLB career bests in wins, innings pitched, strikeouts, and ERA–finishing the year with 13 wins, 202 IP, 161 Ks, and a 3.07 ERA. Barring unforeseen injury I don’t think a 17 win, 3.60 ERA season is an unreasonable expectation.

In the same day that Yankee fans heard Kuroda would don pinstripes, they also learned that star prospect, Jesus Montero, was traded. The reaction went something like this, “Oh no, they gave away another star prospect. We always do this! This is terrible… Wow, we got Michael Pineda. Hmmm, he’s pretty young, huh (22)? Wow, with Kuroda AND Pineda our rotation is pretty good now. I think I like this deal. Wow, we may win the World Series!”

Moving catcher Jesus Montero stings, but I’m not totally heart-broken for a few reasons. First, The Yankees already re-signed Russell Martin, meaning Montero wouldn’t have played much behind the plate this year. It also hinted at the possibility that the Yankees didn’t feel comfortable with Montero’s defense behind the plate. He’s much less impressive as a DH prospect than a catching prospect.
Second, the Yankees are loaded with good catching prospects. Austin Romine is lauded as a well-rounded catching prospect that can hit (although not as well as Montero) and field. The younger Gary Sanchez gives the Yankees minor league depth at the catcher position, as a top 30 overall prospect according to Baseball America. Trading from a position of depth (likely the most minor league catching depth in baseball) to solve an immediate problem without getting older makes sense.
Prior to Transactions
  1. CC Sabathia
  2. Ivan Nova
  3. Freddy Garcia
  4. Phil Hughes
  5. AJ Burnett
After Transactions
  1. CC Sabathia
  2. Michael Pineda
  3. Hiroki Kuroda
  4. Ivan Nova
  5. Garcia/Hughes

With Posada retiring and Montero now on his way to the Pacific Northwest, the Yankees may have created a hole at the DH slot. This may have been intentional though, as they now can give Eduardo Nunez plenty of playing time on the left side of the infield while keeping Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter well rested. The rotation looks fantastic, with two potentially dominant pitchers at the top of the rotation and an incredible amount of depth. The Yankees still need to add a lefty in the bullpen to help Boone Logan, but suddenly baseball season can’t start soon enough. The Mariners and Yankees, after failing to consummate a Cliff Lee deal, reunited to strike a seemingly win-win trade. The Evil Empire is back.

As always, please subscribe to this blog by clicking the “Follow” button at the top of the right sidebar. If you don’t have a WordPress account, you’ll have to enter your email address. You can share your opinions in the comment section below or by tweeting to @Ryan_Kantor. Thanks for reading!