Winning with Broken Bombers? - A Yankees Dynasty

[LondonYankee]

August 1st 2018

All-Star month was a busy one for me while the team had it's worst month so far this year. A 15-11 record isn't terrible but the Orioles closed the gap on us by 2.5 games and are now 8 games back.



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Mason Williams good form has continued, he got himself another Player of the week award this month and continues to lead the club in homers.
Williams was also one of our All-Stars, he was joined by Chris Sale, Mark Montgomery, Matt Snyder, Brandon Belt, Xander Bogaerts and Thomas Pham.



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As the trade deadline loomed I got some business done that I think has improved us as we push for the AL East title and the playoffs.

First up I strengthened my OF back up. Josh Reddick hasn't impressed and it may be knee-jerk with him only being with us a few months but I traded him to Kansas for Kelly Dugan. Dugan is 4 years younger and hitting at .323 this year versus Reddick's .203. I had to throw 3 minor leaguers in to sweeten the deal but I didn't see any of them contributing to a title push this year so I saw them as disposable. Short-termism maybe, but lets be honest, my job is on the line this year, we have to compete.

Next with C Jason Castro hitting a bit of a slump I traded for some real competition for him. Toronto's Tim Federowicz was that man. The Jays got LF Tucker Neuhaus and 3 other AAA level players. All of them are over 24 and not likely to ever crack my 25 man so again were movable.

Next bit of business was to secure Chris Sale to an extension, he's 15-3 and has an ERA below 2.50. I'm sure he'll earn every penny of the $85m he's due over the next 5 years; the last year and $17m is a team option.

We now head towards the business end of the season and need to hold it together. Steinbrenner's finger is hovering above the FIRE button, can I hold him at bay?

[LondonYankee]

September 1st 2018

Our first losing month of the season, please don't let this team fall apart now?! 13-15 for the month and the Orioles close to only 6 games back.



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Despite the losing month, some of the team enjoyed success. Both Brent Keys and Thomas Pham got Player of the Week awards while Brandon Belt took the Player of the Month award. Belt in particular looks like he's hitting form at exactly the right time of the season, lets hope the rest can help him to push us over the line.



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[LondonYankee]

October 3rd 2018

We went 15-11 over the last month of the season to finish 1st in the AL East, 5 games ahead of Baltimore. I'd have liked to have seen a stronger finish to the year but we're heading to the Postseason for the first time in 3 years!



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As you can see below my goal of improving the defense was achieved and this has clearly helped us win more.



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Here's the MLB Batting stats:



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We're used to seeing Yankees feature in the batting charts, not so used to seeing them on the Pitching leaderboards. This year both Sale and Anderson feature a healthy amount:



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And here are the team stats for Batting:



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Brandon Belt of course leads the way, but Matt Snyder is again a stand out. Mason Williams has over 20 stolen bases and over 30 homers, a good season from him. Jurickson Profar batted below par in my eyes but his defense more than made up for that. Xander Bogaerts likes the long ball but also loves his K's.

Team stats for pitching:



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Sale and Anderson are head and shoulders above the rest but Trevor Cahill has pleased me this year too. ERA's are a bit high in the bullpen but that aside Brandon Kintzler, Johnathan and Mark Montgomery have impressed me.

Now it's time to focus on AL West champs Seattle in the ALDS.

[LondonYankee]

October 2018

Wild Cards:

AL: Detroit beats Baltimore
NL: Washington beats LA Dodgers

ALDS

Cleveland sweeps Detroit 3-0

NY Yankees beat Seattle 3-2

We won the first two in New York before getting beat up in Seattle. Our offense really struggled throughout but we just about had enough to seal the series back in the Bronx.

NLDS

Arizona beats Washington 3-2

Milwaukee sweeps Philadelphia 3-0

ALCS

New York Yankees beat Cleveland Indians 4-1.

Our offense still weren't firing and we lost the first game in Cleveland, being shut out. I then changed the line-up with Asdrubal Cabrera coming in at 3B in place of Anthony Rendon. This proved crucial and although it's fair to say we didn't score big we took the next four games straight to advance to the World Series!!

NLCS

Arizona Diamondbacks beat Milwaukee Brewers 4-3

The D-Backs came from behind to secure their place in the Series. They had the best record in the NL in the regular season behind a very strong rotation and bullpen. I will need our All-Star offense to step it up if we're to prevail!

[LondonYankee]

October 2018

World Series

The first two games were in New York and having wrapped up the ALCS early I had Brett Anderson and Chris Sale ready to go.
My two aces didn't disappoint and gave us a 2-0 lead as we flew out to Arizona.

Our record in National League ballparks is horrible and that didn't change over the next three games as the D-Backs took it to our pitching staff, Trevor Cahill in particular. We headed back East in a bit of a hole.

We looked like we were out on our feet as Arizona held a lead into the 9th inning, however we dug ourselves out the mess and went to extra innings. Both teams threatened to win it but failed to capitalise until Asdrubal Cabrera drove in a single in the bottom of the 14th.

So to Game 7. We held an 8-7 lead into the top of the 9th. Our supreme closer Mark Montgomery unbelievably blew the save and we were again headed for extra innings. Montgomery stayed in for the 10th and held Arizona scoreless. Brandon Belt, having a disastrous postseason after a great regular season stepped up to the plate against their master closer and did this:



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Bill James and every other sabermetrician can claim that 'clutch' doesn't exist all they like but sometimes you got to go with your gut and I just felt that Belt had something special in him as he got to the plate.
Championship #29 for the Yankees and a very happy Hank Steinbrenner was the first to congratulate me. I guess I'll be back next season!

[LondonYankee]

December 1st 2018

After clinching the World Series there was little time to celebrate as their was plenty of business to be done.

First order of business was filing our arbitration offers then getting extensions sorted for 3 players. MR Brandon Kintzler and SP Anibal Sanchez were both extended for one more year at less than $1.7m each and these deals were wrapped up easily. Neither is a superstar but they provide solid effort every time.
The third player on my list was postseason hero, Asdrubal Cabrera. We'd talked during the season but his demands were way higher than I had in mind for him. Obviously his success through October made him dig his heels in more and his agents eyes light up. He's not shifting from a $17.5m, 6 year demand. I'm not prepared to go higher than $11m per for 3 years. Talks will continue right up to the free agency filing date, and maybe even beyond that, but we seem too far apart right now.

While these negotiations took place this years Hall of Fame inductees were named; Manny Ramirez and Chipper Jones the two additions to Cooperstown.

The annual awards were also dished out. Jurickson Profar took a Gold Glove for 2nd Base, achieving exactly what I'd demanded of him, next year I hope his offensive production will ramp up.

Chris Sale took the AL Cy Young award, and deservedly so. He finished with a 20-6 record from 34 starts. His ERA was 3.23 and he k'd 284 while walking only 59 in 242.1 innings.

To complete a great season for the Yankees, individually as well as collectively, Brandon Belt won his 2nd MVP award. He finished the season hitting .331 with 27 homers and 97 RBI's.

Arbitration awards:

MR Noel Arguelles $1.4m. Team win.
OF Brent Keys $6.85m. Player win.
MR/SP Stephen Thompson $771k. Team win.
3B Anthony Rendon $2.4m. Team win.
MR Kurt MacNamara $735k. Team win.
C Tim Federowicz $9m. Player win.
MR Cody Eppley $950k. Team win.
MR Nick Wasson $1.75m. Player win.
C Luis Torrens $3m. Player win.
IF Nick Delmonico $3.5m. Player win.
OF Thomas Pham $8.6m. Team win.
CL Mark Montgomery $2.2m. Team win.
OF Kelly Dugan $6.6m. Player win.
SS Xander Bogaerts $8.75m. Player win.

Next up the Winter meetings and I have 2 big targets in mind, along with hoping to secure Asdrubal Cabrera's extension.

[LondonYankee]

January 1st 2019

The Winter meetings are done and it's been a massive month for the Yankees. With Hank Steinbrenner happy to extend my contract for another 4 years and give his full backing for a full on assault at a title repeat, I went in motivated to improve on an already strong team.

I gave up on my attempts to re-sign Asdrubal Cabrera when it became evident that he wasn't interested in coming down from his $17m per year demands.

Next there was significant change in the catcher department. First hot prospect Luis Torrens was moved on. I felt his arbitration award was over the top and that he wouldn't be worth $3m for a couple of years yet, however he obviously carried some trade value. Baltimore were interested and offered up SP prospect Victor McClure. McClure has seem serious heat and a whole lot of movement on his pitches and is really highly rated by my Scouting Director Gabriel Ochoa.
Next up starting C Jason Castro was also dealt away. He went to the Cubs for another legit pitching prospect, MR Eduardo Rodriguez. The fans hate this deal but Castro has only a year left on his deal and wants over $20m according to early talks with his agent. Besides Gabriel Ochoa has found me someone I can see really pushing Tim Federowicz and who comes in a whole lot cheaper than Castro.
That guy is the A's Bruce Maxwell, who is on league minimum $490k and arrives in exchange for SP Max Scherzer. Max has been a good servant but his time is up in New York.

Next up was a 3 way deal, involving two teams I'd already dealt with. First I dealt with the A's again, sending IF Nick Delmonico in return for OF BJ Boyd. Then, the blockbuster part of this 3 way and one I'd been after for a long time. Yep, that's right, it was time to land 3B/SS Manny Machado. In return for the career .271 hitter and defensive star, the Orioles got OF BJ Boyd, MR Cody Eppley and 3B Anthony Rendon. I'm very excited about Machado's arrival and can't wait to see him in action.

Finally it was time to add the final piece of the puzzle for 2019. Atlanta were my trade partners this time and again it was a huge deal. We received 2 time NL Cy Young award winner Julio Teheran (lifetime 101-49, 2.87 ERA), sending Josh Johnson and SP prospect Jake Brentz.

I feel we've had to give up a bit in these trades but that we definitely come out ahead. Teheran and Machado are massive acquisitions and I'm already looking forward to Spring Training.

[LondonYankee]

1st April 2019

Spring Training is done and it couldn't have gone better for the Yankees. A 20-2 record was better than anyone could have wished for and far better than anyone else in the majors.



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With the bat, Jurickson Profar was the standout performer hitting .370. Brandon Belt also hit well. A couple of youngsters have also hit themselves into contention for a spot in the 25, Rob Williams and Ryne Birk show hope for the future.



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Of the starting pitchers, Chris Sale, Brett Anderson and Victor McClure were really good while Julio Teheran struggled. Mark Montgomery, Kurt MacNamara and Nick Wasson where the standouts from the bullpen.



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Hank Steinberg makes no bones about his goals for the season, 'Stuart, you got to win it all again this season, I see no reason why you can't' No pressure as usual then.

The media are also pretty much decided it's ours to lose, tipping us to win the AL East by 18 and have the best record in the bigs. They expect Mason Williams to be in the top 5 hitters and both Chris Sale and Julio Teheran to be top 10 pitchers.

Next up we'll be finalising the 25, the starting rotation and the line-ups.
Before we get to that though there are two rule changes to note, first the DFA period has been extended to 11 days. Secondly, arbitration eligibility has dropped to 2 years.