Bronx Bomber Ball

It wasn’t too long ago that every time Ivan Nova took the mound, you could feel confident in his ability to toss a solid all-around game. Fast forward to the present and Nova is a shell of his former self as inconsistency and injuries have derailed his career. A recent report from the New York Post’s Joel Sherman has indicated that the Yankees are indeed willing to trade him.

Thanksgiving is upon us in 2015 and there are many things I am grateful for as this year comes near the end. I thought I would share my list of what I am thankful for as a Yankee fan and hopefully hear from others on what they are thankful for as a Yankees fan as well.

With the days of handing max contracts to top free agents seemingly gone, Brian Cashman has turned his focus to acquiring players with a high ceiling that haven’t quite reached their potential. This strategy has quickly shown signs of success, as the Yankees return to the postseason in 2015 may not have been possible without the emergence of Didi Gregorious, Nathan Eovaldi, and Dustin Ackley. Unfortunately, due largely to their lack of right-handed power bats, the Yankees were dominated by Cy Young award winner Dallas Keuchel in their one-game playoff. Should Cashman decide to forgo giving large contracts to the big righty bats on the market like Justin Upton or Yoenis Cespedes, acquiring Dodgers OF Yasiel Puig may be the perfect solution to prevent a repeat of game 163.

The Hot stove is heating up and the Winter Meetings are approaching. At this point of the offseason, the trade market creates the most buzz. One of the names being thrown out there is OF Brett Gardner. It is no secret the Yankees are trying to ship Gardner as he’s been involved in rumors with many teams like the Mariners, Cubs and Dodgers. The Yankees certainly won’t get an ace for Gardy but he can bring back a controllable middle of the rotation type pitcher. That of course, would leave a hole in LF. As the Yankees showed us in 2015, they are not afraid of going inside the organization to find a replacement. Here are five guys who could take over in left, with Gardner possibly on the move.        Might Judgement Day be Coming?

On the fifth episode of the Bronx Bomber Blog Podcast, Steven Eareckson and Bryan Peng discuss the recent John Ryan Murphy-Aaron Hicks trade, issue with the starting rotation, Brett Gardner trade rumors, address Robinson Cano's possible unhappiness in Seattle., and the second base situation with Dustin Ackley and Rob Refsnyder.  We also get Steven's opinion on signing an outfielder if Gardner were to be traded. Subscribe to the  Bronx Bomber Blog Youtube Channel  for weekly podcasts featuring your BBB writers! Here is  the audio-only (SoundCloud)  podcast in case you wanted to listen while multitasking. Thanks for tuning in! Follow Steven Eareckson @ SteveTheScholar Follow Bryan Peng @ bpeng7 Follow the Bronx Bomber Blog @ bronxbomberblog

We’re now heading into year 18 of the Brian Cashman regime and it’s definitely been a rocky relationship between he and the fans throughout his tenure. The Yanks have won four championships since he’s been in office but people are starting to grow weary of him and some of the decisions he’s made. But, a few seasons ago, Cashman started acquiring players that fit a certain criteria. Hear me out and let me tell you why even through all of the poor contract’s he’s shipped out, Cashman has figured something out.

Today it was reported that Robinson Cano is apparently unhappy in Seattle and wants back in New York. I don't think anyone is overly surprised by this. When you bolt for a poor franchise for nothing more than money this kind of thing happens. Robinson Cano reportedly unhappy in Seattle, would like to go back to New York https://t.co/yGoTIYWIjn — HardballTalk (@HardballTalk) November 23, 2015 This is coming off the heels of Yankee broadcaster Michael Kay advocating the team trade Jacoby Ellsbury to Seattle for the once beloved-in-New-York second base star. That's probably a decent starting point but I guarantee neither franchise would do that deal. Cano in Pinstripes

About a week ago or more Yankees YES Network broadcaster Michael Kay was discussing a trade that would have Robinson Cano landing back in the Bronx. He suggested that the Yankees and  Mariners swap outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury for Cano. Crazy right? Not as much as you might think?

Throughout the last couple of days there have been rumors circulating, which indicate that the Yankees are looking to move closer Andrew Miller as a way to improve the starting rotation. While starting pitching is an urgent need for the Yankees, they should not do so at the expense of losing Miller. In his first year in the Bronx, Miller put up terrific numbers, and quite frankly made me forget David Robertson even existed. Late inning relief is one of the few spots in which the Yankees have an advantage over most of the other teams in the league. To surrender this advantage would be asinine. With that being said, I would like to emphatically beg General Manager Brian Cashman to refrain from trading Andrew Miller. Losing Miller would be extremely detrimental to the team’s prospects in 2016. While trading from a source of strength to improve a glaring weakness would normally reconcile with conventional wisdom, in this case that source of strength is too important to weaken.

It's been a very quiet offseason for the Yankees thus far. A minor and rather uninteresting trade for Aaron Hicks has really been it for the Yankees. However, rumors still continue to swirl about the Yankees trading Brett Gardner and he has been reportedly a chip in discussions with the Mariners and more recently the Cleveland Indians . I personally think the Yankees should try and unload the more expensive, and perhaps inferior, Jacoby Ellsbury - this however will almost certainly not happen. #BlueJays , #Dodgers , #Yankees among the teams to have at least preliminary trade talks with #Indians , sources say. (1/2) — Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) November 18, 2015 For each of 3 teams mentioned, #Indians would obtain everyday OF and part with a starting pitcher. Many scenarios in play for CLE. (2/2) — Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) November 18, 2015 Let's say for a second that Gardner is traded. Then what? Apparently Brian Cashman thinks the aforementioned Hicks could be

Jon Moros i reports that the Blue Jays, Dodgers, and Yankees have had 'preliminary talks' with the Cleveland Indians about one of their starting pitchers. We wrote not too long ago that Cleveland might be a good trade partner in the way of Carlos Carrasco and now it appears as that may come to fruition. #BlueJays , #Dodgers , #Yankees among the teams to have at least preliminary trade talks with #Indians , sources say. (1/2) — Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) November 18, 2015

As the 2015 World Champion Kansas City Royals proved, a good bullpen can take a team deep into the postseason. As we all so helplessly witnessed last season, the New York Yankees bullpen needs some work. Both Andrew Miller and Dellin Betances were virtually lights out for the majority of the season and the Yankees also received solid 2015 showings out of LHP Justin Wilson, RHP Adam Warren, and LHP Chasen Shreve. Outside of those 4 relievers, the Yankees bullpen was wildly inconsistent the entire season which left Miller and Betances with over strenuous workloads. With a lot of question marks in the Yankees bullpen, signing multiple relief pitchers with a strong track record will be imperative to their success heading into 2016. Let’s take a look at some of the arms that could help bolster the Yankees bullpen at a reasonable price tag.

Although the offseason is young, the hot stove in the AL East is already burning. Yankees GM Brian Cashman has already made a few moves of his own and the Red Sox made a bold move in acquiring flamethrower Craig Kimbrel. Cashmans’ moves were relatively minor ones and under the radar, so as Yankee fans, we can hopefully look forward to some bigger ones as the offseason rolls on. Lots of rumors have been floated around by analysts and fans alike, some more believable than others.

This past season the Yankees surprised many when they over-achieved and made the postseason. They did this with timely hitting (that was extremely streaky at times), a pretty lethal back-end of the bullpen, and a so-so rotation. It is expected that teams like the Red Sox and Orioles won’t just sit back and do nothing this offseason, so if the Yankees expect to make the postseason next season they need to upgrade their rotation. One guy who in my opinion is one of the most underrated starters in the Bigs is former Baltimore Oriole Wei-Yin Chen. Here are 3 reasons the Yankees should sign Wei-Yin Chen.

It was announced Thursday evening that Yankee Catcher, Brian McCann won the AL Silver Slugger award. This is McCann’s 6 th silver slugger award and 1 st while playing for the Yankees, as the other 5 came in a Braves uniform.   The second half of 2015 wasn’t kind to McCann (or to the Yankees bats as a whole), but he still finished with 26 home runs and 96 RBIs. His batting average for the second consecutive year ended up being .232. Nevertheless it was still a productive year for a guy the Yankees invested highly on 2 winters ago. He has certainly been an upgrade over the production guys like Francisco Cervelli, Austin Romine and Chris Stewart gave the Bombers prior to the signing.

In what looks to be a busy offseason for the Bombers, GM Brian Cashman has made two trades today. We learned earlier in the day that Cashman shipped infielder/outfielder Jose Pirela to the San Diego Padres in exchange for pitcher Ron Herrera. Later, Cashman traded backup catcher John Ryan Murphy to the Minnesota Twins for outfielder Aaron Hicks. Needless to say, neither of these moves makes the Yankees any closer to being World Series contenders, however sometimes shaking things up may not be a bad thing.

Baseball history has its share of true legends who have transcended the game into a greatness that seemed unmatched by other sports. Players like Lou Gehrig, Hank Aaron and the “Great Bambino” Babe Ruth, have blessed the sport of baseball with their powerful swings, presence, and all around great play. Since this time a lot has changed. Baseball has become sort of a secondary if not some people’s last choice in sport to follow. This isn’t because those much appealing “long balls” are gone, it just has more to do with how they have managed to hit the seats and whom the sender was. The once glorified home run ball has now become, in some eyes, a mockery of sorts. Players like Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds and star New York Yankee slugger Alex Rodriguez have participated in providing baseball’s biggest value of entertainment. It’s how they did it that kills many baseball fans.

Ten Years, $200,000,000. This is the contract, free-agent left-handed hitting outfielder Jason Heyward, is projected to receive this offseason according to the MLB Trade Rumors website. The team they are predicting to sign Heyward is the New York Yankees.

On the fourth episode of the Bronx Bomber Blog Podcast, Matt Cote, Aaron Carroll, and Bryan Peng discuss the trade rumors surrounding Andrew Miller, debate Jason Heyward and Justin Upton, whether the Yankees need a starting pitcher or a more consistent outfielder, talk Ben Zobrist, and finish with a discussion on how the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry needs to be more intense. If you'd like to watch it on Youtube, you can watch directly from here or follow this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ez7jtKoSZ7U ! If you'd like to listen to the audio version on soundcloud, it is below so you can listen here, or follow this link to our soundcloud  https://soundcloud.com/bronxbomberblog/bbb-episode-four-andrew-miller-heyward-vs-upton-and-ben-zobrist . Follow Matt Cote  @mcote31 Follow Aaron Carroll  @ACarroll116 Follow Bryan Peng  @bpeng7 Follow the Bronx Bomber Blog  @bronxbomberblog

With the devastating imminent departure of Chris Capuano (I kid, I kid), the Yankees may look to the market to acquire a finesse left-hander to “replace” Capuano. Obviously, Capuano was absolutely dreadful and the need to a replacement for him isn’t necessary, but what if you can get a better version of him? What if that better version is Rich Hill? Am I going crazy for saying what I am about to say? I want Rich Hill.

Whether you hate him, love him, or have chosen to ignore him, there is one thing you cannot deny: Alex Rodriguez had one heck of a season. After being suspended for the entire 2014 season and the amount of injuries he had in the seasons before, there was not much expected of him. However, what started out to be a slow season for Rodriguez, quickly turned into one of his best in his career.

There are still various question marks as to what the 2016 team will look like, but I think all fans can agree one aspect will remain the same; Alex Rodriguez will be the designated hitter. No matter what, he is going to be back for the 2016 season. Well of course, unless he decides to retire which would surprise all of us considering the numbers he put up this year, and the fact that he wants to collect the money he is owed.

Arguably the weakest position on the field for the 2015 Yankees was second base. Stephen Drew was the starter for the first 5 months and was far from a fan favorite, because of his batting average which hung below the Mendoza line for the majority of the season. Yankee manager Joe Girardi backed up Drew, saying he was just unlucky. While Stephen did provide a spark at times, with a couple multi-homer games and a clutch 9 th inning game tying single in Seattle, Drew is set to hit free agency and a return to pinstripes is unlikely.

According to many sources, the Yankees will not be pursuing any top tier free agents such as David Price and Yoenis Cespedes. For a few reasons, I think it is a good idea to steer clear from most of these players that are in for a huge raise. One reason being, like so many other times, the Yankees would be paying huge money for past performance and the decline years and like so many times before, I want to at least wait until the other headache contracts expire. For this article, I decided to take a different and possibly more realistic path to free agency and who I would like to see the Yankees target this winter to fill areas of need.

A crushing loss in the World Series finally drew the Mets surprising season to an end. A talented and young pitching staff guided the team through the season while midseason additions jump started their once stagnant offense. Many in the baseball world were quick to jump on the Mets bandwagon and crown them as the Kings of New York. Let me say this, I was very happy to see the Mets do well and make it to the World Series. They are an exciting, talented young team that earned their place in October. I just could not bring myself to root for them because at heart, the Mets are a rival and I am a die-hard Yankee fan. The two teams are two completely different in their own ways and in this article, I’m going to give a position by position breakdown to see which team has the edge at each spot and why the Yankees still reign supreme in New York. in the present and future.

On the third episode of the Bronx Bomber Blog Podcast, Chad Raines and Matt Cote discuss more on free agency, which begins Saturday. Topics include Justin Upton, the Yankees needing a reliable left-handed pitcher, the inflation of MLB contracts, and trading for Craig Kimbrel. They also discuss free agent bidding wars in the AL East and look forward to the division for the 2016 season! Follow Chad Raines  @chad_rain Follow Matt Cote  @MCote31 Follow the Bronx Bomber Blog  @bronxbomberblog

We all know how the saying goes, out with the old and in with the new. After Derek Jeter’s retirement following the 2014 season, the Yankees had a glaring hole at shortstop. Yankees GM Brian Cashman made a surprising deal acquiring the young, unproven Didi Gregorius for another young, unproven arm in Shane Greene in a three-way deal with the Tigers and Diamondbacks. From the beginning, I saw this as an experiment for the Yankees. Didi had to play his way into pinstripes, and although his first year wasn’t perfect, Didi has earned another season with the club. Photo Credit: Kathy Willens | AP

Here is the second Bronx Bomber Blog Podcast! We will continue bringing these to you throughout the offseason. In this episode, our very own Chad Raines, Greg Wilson and Bryan Peng  analyze Gary Sanchez's performance in the Arizona Fall League, discuss Greg Bird's role going forward, address the gaps in the Yankee bullpen, talk about Didi Gregorius and comment on the World Series! Enjoy! Follow Chad on twitter  @Chad_Rain Follow Greg on twitter  @GregWlsn13 Follow Bryan on twitter  @BPeng7

Between Andrew Miller winning the Mariano Rivera Award and Dellin Betances leading MLB relievers with 131 strikeouts, the back-end of the Yankees bullpen was a vital part of their 2015 success. However, outside of Justin Wilson and Adam Warren (when he wasn’t in the rotation), the Yankees bullpen often fell flat, especially in extra innings.

As the World Series between the Kansas City Royals and a New York team not from the Bronx is coming to a close, the Yankees are gearing up for this winter’s free agency. When it comes to free agency, fans and analysts alike can point to numerous weak spots on the Yankees roster such as second base, a right handed power bat or a right handed bullpen arm. However, this roster’s most glaring need resides in its starting staff and this free agency class is plentiful of solid arms.