28 and beyond - a pinstriped dynasty

[Mister_G]

28 AND BEYOND - A PINSTRIPED DYNASTY

The year is 2013. It's only been 4 years since the New York Yankees won their last World Series, but fans of the prestigious ball club are already beginning to question ownership, management and the general direction of the franchise.

The core four are quickly fading into memory, first Posada, Rivera next, with Pettitte and Jeter soon to follow. The Yankees are moving further and further away from their dynasty years, and closer and closer to the middle of the pack. With the Dodgers, Angels, other teams and even the luxury tax making it difficult for the Yanks to simply restock every season in free agency, the Steinbrenners and General Manager Brian Cashman have made it clear the franchise intends to stay under the 2014 threshold of $187 million and try to start rebuilding from within, the way they did with Pettitte, Jorge, Mo and The Captain back in the 90's.

But it won't be easy. The New York faithful are a notoriously impatient bunch, as they have been groomed that way by the late great George Steinbrenner. With questions looming, many wonder what the Yankees can accomplish and how long it will take to claim their 28th title. Things became even more uncertain with the surprise resignation of Brian Cashman, just one day before the season opener.

The Yankees had no time to replace Cashman so they made an unpredictable move in hiring Cash Andrews to take the vacant GM position. Andrews is just 27 years of age and had an unexpected rise through the ranks of the New York front office after being hired straight out of college. While the Steinbrenner family is confident in the young buck's ability, the New York fans and media are not. Can he prove them wrong and bring the Bronx another title? Or will he represent the downfall of the once celebrated franchise?

NOTE:
This dynasty will be starting in 2013 with my New York Yankees. I will be posting monthly reports from the GM's point of view, with screenshots of stats, standings, etc. to go along with it.

At times my play will probably get ahead of my writing, so if you're interested in stats and other things I may disappoint occasionally, but I hope everyone enjoys!


EDIT: Any way to change the title of this thread on the forum? The fact that I accidentally didn't capitalize the first letter of each word is really annoying me for some reason.

[Mister_G]

March 31, 2013

Wow. That's all I can say. It's only been 6 years since I graduated college and now I'm the General Manager of the New York Yankees. It's one of the most coveted jobs in baseball, but also one of the most scrutinized. I'd better get a feel for things quickly, because our fan base won't have any patience.

It's been made clear to me that staying under the 2014 tax threshold of $187 million is of the utmost importance, making things a little less flexible for me over the next year. We'll have Robby Cano, Curtis Granderson, Phil Hughes and Boone Logan coming off the books at season's end, so I'll have to manage our finances wisely if I want to keep the core of this team intact, with retaining Cano being my first priority.

With no time remaining before our first game, I won't be able to bring in "my guys" to help manage the team, meaning we'll be sticking with who we've got in terms of coaching and scouting personnel; Joe Girardi as Manager, Tony Pena Sr. as Bench Coach, Larry Rothschild as Pitching Coach, Kevin Long as Hitting Coach, Damon Oppenheimer as Head Scout and Steve Donohue as Team Trainer. I've set our scouting budget at $9 million and our player development budget at $12 million with the goal of vastly improving our farm system. Here's a quick look at our Minor League System, which ranks #20 overall, as well as our international prospect complex…






Many would say the strength of this team is our pitching and I would have to agree. This is one of the most well-stocked staffs and bullpens this team has had in years. A quick look…



Our lineup is another story. With Jeter, Mark Teixeira and Curtis Granderson sidelined for the foreseeable future we had to stock up on veteran bats. This squad will definitely not have as much power as last season…



Before I get back to work I figured I'd take a look at some pre-season predictions. Not going to say I agree with them, but many are predicting a last-place finish by my Yankees. Hopefully we'll disappoint these pundits…

[rpriske]

I'll be following this one... the game doesn't seem to like either of our teams this year...

[progen]

Good luck with one of the oldest teams in baseball.

[Mister_G]

May 1, 2013

Tough month here in the Bronx. We finished April with a 13-15 record, good for 4th in the East, but putting us only 2.5 games behind the division-leading Sox and Orioles. The season started in dramatic fashion as I made a trade the night before opening day. The offer was sent to me by Arizona GM Kevin Towers and I accepted after very little deliberation.

That's right Vernon Wells and Mason Williams for Jason Kubel. I know I said that we'd be looking to keep our prospects around, but I couldn't pass on the opportunity to shed Wells' contract. Acquiring Vernon Wells just a few days ago was easily my most hated move of the off-season and I had lobbied against it with Brian Cashman back when he was considering it. Looking at the trade, I thought the positives of shedding $7 million next year (if we decline to execute Kubel's option) and adding a powerful bat outweighed the negative of losing Williams, who is a good prospect, but not a great one.

The actual games started on a high-note with an opening day win over Boston, but things quickly fell apart as we lost 10 of our next 12, including a sweep to the Orioles to drop to 3-10. This record was partially due to losing Robinson Cano on opening day with shoulder tendinitis. We also lost Reliever Shawn Kelley on April 20th for 8-9 weeks. I called up Preston Claiborne to replace him, who has pitched 2 scoreless innings so far at the major league level.

After the 3-10 start we got back to Yankee baseball by going 10-5 to end the first month of the season. However, these victories came against the likes of Tampa Bay, Arizona, Toronto and Houston, not exactly the cream of the crop early in 2013. In the series against Arizona Jason Kubel went 4 for 10 with a HR.

At 13-15, I'm not too disappointed, considering we have not gotten Jeter, Granderson or Teixiera back and were without Robby Cano for a good portion of the month. I have confidence this team is turning it around. Speaking of Jeter, The Captain is currently rehabbing with AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and is batting .345.

Today we finish up our series with Houston and face off against Jordan Lyles (0-0, 3.05 ERA). After that the Oakland A's come to town.










May Awards
AL BOTM - CWS DH Adam Dunn (.338 BA, 11 HR, 27 RBI, 18 R in 23 G)
NL BOTM - ARZ 1B Paul Goldschmidt (.320 BA, .388 OBP, 11 HR, 20 RBI, 21 R, 12 BB)
AL POTM - LAA SP Tommy Hanson (5-0, 0.44 ERA, 29 K in 40.2 IP)
NL POTM - LAD SP Clayton Kershaw (4-1, 1.48 ERA, 32 HA, 43 K, 12 BB in 42.2 IP)
AL ROTM - TAM RF Wil Myers (.345 BA, 2 2B, 2 3B, 4 HR, 12 R, 16 RBI in 87 AB)
NL ROTM - ARZ CF A.J. Pollock (.312 BA, 3 HR, 13 RBI in 93 AB)

Who's Hot?
The Bullpen (6-4, 6 SV, 2.52 ERA)
3B Kevin Youkilis (.292/.358/.547, 6 HR, 20 RBI in 106 AB)
2B Robinson Cano (.378/.434/.622, HR, 12 RBI in 45 AB)
SP Phil Hughes (1-3, 3.41 ERA, 25 K, 7 BB in 34.1 IP)
CF Brett Gardner (.299/.367/.411, 2 HR, 12 RBI, 6 SB in 107 AB)

Who's Not?
SS Jayson Nix (.172/.221/.234, HR, 5 RBI in 64 AB)
C Francisco Cervelli (.171/.241/.276, HR, 7 RBI in 76 AB)
SP Hiroki Kuroda (1-4, 6.35 ERA, 18 K, 8 BB in 34 IP)
LF Jason Kubel (.208/.294/.354, 3 HR, 9 RBI in 96 AB)

Milestones & Accomplishments
April 3, 2013 - TEX CL Joe Nathan records save #300
April 9, 2013 - PHI SP Roy Halladay collects win #200
April 10, 2013 - DET RF Torii Hunter collects hit #2000
April 23, 2013 - DET RF Torii Hunter hits HR #300
April 28, 2013 - TEX CF David Murphy's 21-game hit streak is snapped

[Mister_G]

June 1, 2013

14-13 in May drops us to 5 games out of first, but was a slight improvement over last month. I thought it would help to get Jeter back, but he's been batting terribly since returning, despite batting over .400 in his rehab stint. His defense has been well below-average also.

On May 9th we received some awful news as more injuries piled up. Jason Kubel, who had raised his average to .228 strained his hamstring, sidelining him for 5-6 weeks and Ben Francisco did the same thing. This meant we had to fill the roster. We did so in two ways, first by calling up LF Cody Johnson and then by bringing back 39-year old Johnny Damon on May 18th. Neither has received more than a few at-bats.

10 days later, after a 4-9 loss to the Blue Jays we received word that Curtis Granderson had recovered form his injury and would start minor league rehab. Unfortunately, another 10 days later he was re-injured, putting him out for yet another month. This is especially disappointing considering our lack of depth in the outfield. At times Joe Girardi has been playing Jayson Nix in Left Field. Our one big positive during the month of May was that we were able to sign Robby Cano to a contract extension. It is a 7-year, $123.5 million deal, with the last two years being player options. While we don't anticipate having the same guy we have now 7 years down the road, this was something we had to get done, and I think we got him for pretty cheap. Though we are now tied up with $87.5 million going to four players next season, meaning roughly 60% of our payroll for next season will be split between Cano, A-Rod, Teixeira and C.C.

Some news from around the league, our scouting department turned up some marginal talent in Venezuela, Center Fielder Pedro Guzman, who we will take a look at from time to time. Some interesting stats, Robby Cano leads the majors in batting average, Pittsburgh's Starling Marte already has 9 triples this season, and Mike Minor and Justin Verlander have been dominant, leading the MLB in ERA and K's respectively.

Before I go, yesterday we received the news that Mark Teixeira would start rehab and that Middle Reliever Cesar Cabral had returned from injury. I decided to bring Cabral on board to the big club, while demoting Jim Miller, who had a horrendous 8.12 ERA.

May Awards (Monthly Statistics)
AL BOTM - DET 3B Miguel Cabrera (.346 BA, 7 HR, 21 RBI, 30 R)
NL BOTM - COL LF Carlos Gonzalez (.386 BA, .438 OBP, 7 HR, 20 RBI, 20 R, 8 BB)
AL POTM - OAK SP Tommy Milone (5-1, 2.47 ERA, 31 K in 43.2 IP)
NL POTM - ATL SP Mike Minor (6-0, 1.39 ERA, 45 K in 45.1 IP)
AL ROTM - MIN CF Aaron Hicks (.272 BA, 31 H, 4 HR, 15 RBI, 9 BB)
NL ROTM - NYM C Travis d'Arnaud (.305 BA, 5 2B, 3B, 4 HR, 14 R, 18 RBI)
SAL POTM - NYY CL Edwin Rodriguez (2-1, 10 SV, 2.25 ERA, 19 K in 16 IP)

Who's Hot? (Monthly Statistics)
2B Robinson Cano (.384/.407/.580, 5 HR, 23 RBI, SB in 112 AB)
SP Andy Pettitte (4-2, 3.70 ERA, 23 K, 14 BB in 41.1 IP)

Who's Not? (Monthly Statistics)
SS Derek Jeter (.182/.250/.212, 5 RBI, SB in 66 AB)
C Francisco Cervelli (.214/.325/.343, HR, 7 RBI in 70 AB)

Milestones & Accomplishments
May 8, 2013 - CWS SP Chris Sale strikes out 16 batters
May 11, 2013 - STL CF Carlos Beltran's 20-game hit streak is snapped
May 22, 2013 - MIL 3B Aramis Ramirez collects hit #2000
May 26, 2013 - ATL SP Mike Minor no-hits NYM
May 28, 2013 - NYY SP Andy Pettitte collects win #250

Other Notes
May 6, 2013 - TEX 3B Adrian Beltre shoots himself in the foot, will miss at least one month
May 8, 2013 - NYY signs 2B Robinson Cano to 7-year, $123.5 million extension
May 28, 2013 - SFO signs SP Tim Lincecum to 4-year, $46 million extension

[NYY #23]

Tough start, but with injuries that was to be somewhat expected although the setback to Granderson hurts. At least you got Cano locked up with an extension.

Hopefully everyone heals up for a strong second half. How's Wells doing in Arizona?

[Mister_G]

Originally Posted by NYY #23

Tough start, but with injuries that was to be somewhat expected although the setback to Granderson hurts. At least you got Cano locked up with an extension.

Hopefully everyone heals up for a strong second half. How's Wells doing in Arizona?

Wow, just checked and in April and May he batted .321 with 3 HR and 8 RBI basically as a platoon player. Not bad at all. And Mason Williams is tearing it up in AA. So far I definitely haven't gotten the positive side of that trade.

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by Mister_G

Wow, just checked and in April and May he batted .321 with 3 HR and 8 RBI basically as a platoon player. Not bad at all. And Mason Williams is tearing it up in AA. So far I definitely haven't gotten the positive side of that trade.

It's early though. I'm not a fan of Wells myself so it's hard not to get rid of him. Although I do like Mason Williams, but I won't hold that against you.

[Mister_G]

July 1, 2013

Another 14-13 month brings us back to .500 at 41-41, 1 game past the halfway point of the season. We are 3.5 games back of a wildcard spot, while we slowly fall back in the AL East race, now 7 games behind Boston, who is led by Will Middlebrooks breakout season and a comeback season by Jon Lester.

Our bullpen continues to be our strongest asset, as we are 1st in the American League in bullpen ERA. Joe Girardi has been very careful in managing the bullpen, but also made the questionable decision of naming David Robertson the closer over Mariano Rivera after going with a closer-by-committee for most of the season.It seems to have worked as Robertson has an ERA of 1.96 to go with 15 saves.

It's really been a combination of four different things that have left us at .500; our rotation, home run power, defense, and injuries. About halfway through June we did get Mark Teixeira back, but he is struggling with a .227 batting average. That news was followed by Michael Pineda's return after missing all of last season and this season. Pineda is desperately needed with David Phelps' struggles and the struggles of Ivan Nova in AAA. Pineda will have a rehab stint before being called up. Curtis Granderson also returned a few days ago and has started strong. However, we are now left with a logjam in the lineup. I placed Derek Jeter on the 15-day DL with a minor knee injury and major problems at the plate, but he won't be there for long and both Lyle Overbay and Ben Francisco, candidates to be sent down, have been performing admirably. Expect a trade in the next few weeks.

During this month we also had the Amateur Draft, where I believe we picked up some solid prospects. Right Fielder Justin Williams was our Round One selection. He is playing well with our Single-A affiliate in Tampa and has some major power. I also tried to stock up on Starting Pitching prospects. Here is a look at our first five picks, along with the first 10 picks of the draft…





With injuries plaguing the team it looks like I may have to make some moves when it gets close to the trade deadline. We'll have to figure out what to do when Jeter returns, and even A-Rod, though he suffered a setback and will take a couple more months before he can return, so who knows if he'll even play this season. What a bloated contract.







June Awards (Monthly Statistics)
AL BOTM - TEX 1B Lance Berkman (.391 BA, 36 H, 2 HR, 25 RBI, 18 R in 92 AB)
NL BOTM - WAS LF Bryce Harper (.386 BA, .457 OBP, 10 HR, 25 RBI, 22 R, 14 BB)
AL POTM - LAA SP C.J. Wilson (4-1, 1.36 ERA, 43 K, .167 OBA in 46.1 IP)
NL POTM - ATL SP Mike Minor (6-0, 1.39 ERA, 45 K in 45.1 IP)
AL ROTM - TEX CF Leonys Martin (.325 BA, 10 2B, 2 3B, 3 HR, 20 R, 20 RBI)
NL ROTM - MIA MR Mike Dunn (4-1, 4 SV, 1.74 ERA, 17 K in 10.1 IP)

Who's Hot? (Monthly Statistics)
SP Phil Hughes (2-1, 2.81 ERA, 43 K, 4 BB in 41.2 IP)
SP Hiroki Kuroda (4-0, 3.38 ERA, 17 K, 6 BB in 37.1 IP)
MR Joba Chamberlain (2-1, 0.61 ERA, 18 K, 6 BB in 14.2 IP)
C Francisco Cervelli (.304/.368/.464, HR, 12 RBI, SB in 69 AB)

Who's Not? (Monthly Statistics)
RF Ichiro Suzuki (.228/.283/.326, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 5 SB in 92 AB)
SP David Phelps (0-4, 6.11 ERA, 18 K, 10 BB in 28 IP)

Milestones & Accomplishments
June 19, 2013 - SWB 2B Corban Joseph's 35-game hit streak is snapped in win against ROC
June 21, 2013 - MIL 3B Aramis Ramirez hits 3 HR against ATL
June 22, 2013 - TOR RF Jose Bautista hits 3 HR against BAL
June 29, 2013 - ATL SP Tim Hudson collects win #200

Other Notes
June 1, 2013 - CLE trades CF Michael Bourn to NYM for SP Dillon Gee and Minor League SS Gavin Cecchini
June 2, 2013 - NYY MR David Robertson wrecks car, survives unscathed
June 16, 2013 - TAM trades CF Desmond Jennings to LAD for C Tim Federowicz and Minor League SS Corey Seager
June 16, 2013 - SEA deals 1B Kendrys Morales and $2.2 million to PIT for SP James McDonald

[baseballfanmas]

Good stuff, I like your dynasty report. Although I'm not a really big Yankees fan, I do like Cano and Teixeira on the right side of that infield.

Your monthly format is good, I like all the screenshots. I will be using a monthly format as well but won't have all the screenshots. I do hope I can make mine as good as yours and some other peoples.

[Mister_G]

Good luck!

I've done some dynasty reports for other games on other websites in the past and did really detailed write-ups, but I feel like the basic monthly with some screenshots is the way to go. Saves me some time so I can still enjoy the game, but still adds immersion so that I am better acquainted with my league.

[defo22]

I'm also playing as Yankees and they are terrible. Great read. I'll be following. Good luck.

[Mister_G]

August 1, 2013

July is always the busiest month of the season. You've got both the All-Star game and the trade deadline. At this time teams are always trying to either improve or get younger. I was stuck trying to toe the line. On one hand, we started the month at 41-41, not far out of the playoffs. On the other hand, this is an aging roster in desperate need to cut salary and age.

I started out by signing some international prospects. Starting Pitchers Carlos Mendez and Jose Lopez, along with SS Felipe Ewijk from the Netherlands will join the team. We will store them out of the country to start though, and I had to pay a little over $2 million for the rights to sign them.

The next step was to shed some salary. With so many players coming back from injury I thought it made sense to try and get some low-level prospects in exchange for some bench bats. I started by dealing Ben Francisco, Ivan Nova and Minor League Reliever Sam Demel to Washington for Minor League infielders Rick Hague and Matthew Skole. Skole is ranked the #150 prospect in baseball by Baseball Prospectus.

With the team still hovering around .500 on July 11th I made two big moves. The first was locking up Boone Logan to a 3-year, $9 million deal to solidify our bullpen going forward. The second was to trade Travis Hafner. Pronk had played well for us, but was useless out in the field, so I dealt him to Oakland along with Brennan Boesch, Thomas Neal and Kyle Roller for a trio of prospects, highlighted by Bobby Crocker, a terrific Center Fielder with some decent potential at the plate.

Next came the All-Star Game. Robby Cano and David Robertson were both named to the squad and Cano was named MVP after leading the AL to a 9-0 victory. The day after the mid-summer classic Michael Pineda came back into the fold. I sent David Phelps down to AAA, but Pineda has not pitched well in his first two starts, allowing 7 earned runs in 12.1 innings. We ended up losing 7 of our last 8 games before the trade deadline, falling to 51-56, a solid 12.5 games out of the division lead, and 7 back of the last wildcard spot. That's when I decided to make one last move. There were a couple of solid bats and solid starters on the market, but I couldn't risk the future of our franchise by trading a package of prospects, so I decided to attempt to toe the line once again.

Eduardo Nunez and 4 Minor Leaguers for Jerry Hairston Jr., relief prospect Paco Rodriguez, and 2 other solid prospects was the deal I made. Though Nunez has played admirably this season and is only 26, compared to Hairston's 37, I figured Nunez had just about hit his ceiling and the rest of the prospects we got back in the deal were superior to the one's we gave up. This deal should also boost our squad in the final two months. Hairston is a solid fielder who can play just about every position and was getting on base at a .336 rate with 4 HR. All that needed to be done was for Nunez and Hairston to switch clubhouses as we played the Dodgers that day. While Hairston went 0 for 5 in his debut, we finished with a 2-1 win. We'll need a lot more of those if we expect to make it to the Post-Season.

Along with the usual stats and standings I've included a glimpse at some of the league leaders…









July Awards (Monthly Statistics)
AL BOTM - TOR 1B Edwin Encarnacion (.310 BA, 12 HR, 26 RBI, 22 R in 26 G)
NL BOTM - MIL LF Ryan Braun (.433 BA, 8 HR, 21 RBI, 25 R)
AL POTM - TOR SP R.A. Dickey (6-0, 1.04 ERA, 51 K in 52 IP)
NL POTM - CHC SP Jeff Samardzija (5-0, 2.14 ERA, 30 HA, 47 K in 42 IP)
AL ROTM - TAM RF Wil Myers (.260 BA, 3 HR, 12 RBI)
NL ROTM - MIA MR Mike Dunn (4-1, 4 SV, 1.74 ERA, 17 K in 10.1 IP)

Who's Hot? (Monthly Statistics)
1B Mark Teixeira (.356/.462/.598, 4 HR, 14 RBI in 87 AB)
2B Robinson Cano (.352/.371/.537, 4 HR, 22 RBI in 108 AB)
LF Jason Kubel (.321/.367/.560, 4 HR, 14 RBI in 84 RBI)
SS Derek Jeter (.373/.415/.475, 7 RBI, 2 SB in 59 AB)
SP Phil Hughes (3-0, 3.19 ERA, 30 K, 6 BB in 31 IP)
MR Boone Logan (2.12 ERA, 19 K, 4 BB in 17 IP)

Who's Not? (Monthly Statistics)
RF Ichiro Suzuki (.179/.237/.274, 2 HR, 11 RBI, 2 SB in 84 AB)
SP Andy Pettitte (1-3, 6.59 ERA, 18 K, 16 BB in 27.1 IP)
SP Hiroki Kuroda (2-1, 6.16 ERA, 10 K, 14 BB in 30.2 IP)
CF Brett Gardner (.231/.281/.365, HR, 5 RBI, 7 SB in 104 AB)

Milestones & Accomplishments
July 11, 2013 - COL 1B Todd Helton collects hit #2500
July 20, 2013 - DET RF Chris Parmelee hits 3 HR
July 28, 2013 - TEX SS Elvis Andrus' 20-game hit streak is snapped
July 28, 2013 - TEX RF Bobby Abreu collects hit #2500

Other Notes
July 3, 2013 - PIT 3B Brandon Inge announces he will retire at season's end
July 5, 2013 - LAA trades 1B Mark Trumbo to MIL for SP Marco Estrada and $1.45 million
July 7, 2013 - CIN fires MA Dusty Baker
July 8, 2013 - MIL trades CF Carlos Gomez and $3 million to MIN for Minor League CF Eddie Rosario
July 9, 2013 - SEA deals MR Tom Wilhelmsen to PIT for Minor League LF Alex Dickerson and Minor League SS Wyatt Mathisen
July 10, 2013 - MIN trades SP Scott Diamond and $530K to BAL for Minor League SP Eduardo Rodriguez and Minor League SP Julio Rodriguez
July 12, 2013 - COL deals Minor League 2B Jordan Pacheco to SFO for Minor League SP Chris Stratton
July 14, 2013 - ATL signs C Brian McCann to 4-year, $52 million contract extension
July 21, 2013 - CWS trade 1B Adam Dunn and $3 million to TAM for SP Jeff Niemann
July 27, 2013 - TAM sends 1B James Loney, Minor League CF Ismel Antunez and $670K to SEA for SP Roy Oswalt
July 27, 2013 - CLE trades CL Chris Perez and Minor League SP Chris Reed for player to be named later
July 28, 2013 - CWS 1B Angel Sanchez suspended for 10 games for violating MLB drug policy
July 29, 2013 - TEX signs LF David Murphy to 3-year, $29.2 million extension
July 30, 2013 - SDG trades 3B Chase Headley and $3 million to ATL for SP Kris Medlen, Minor League 3B Mike Dodig and Minor League MR Yohan Flande
July 30, 2013 - ARZ deals 2B Aaron Hill and Minor League SP David Holmberg to CHC for SP Carlos Villanueva

[Mister_G]

September 1, 2013

The season is winding down and August was a month for the Yanks to step up and make a playoff push. Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned, especially early in the month as the team started out 10-13.

The worst of the news came on the 2nd day of August when the legendary Mariano Rivera tore his ulnar collateral ligament, ending his season and career. Mo will go down as the best closer in league history with 612 career saves. This year he came back after missing nearly all of last and took a lesser role as a setup man, collecting 4 saves with a 2.97 ERA.

On August 18th we also lost Robinson Cano for 3 weeks. He'll be back soon but he was definitely missed in the latter part of the month. The 30-year old is batting .331 with 18 HR this year. I called up second baseman Corban Joseph to replace him for the time being. Joseph had an incredible season with AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and since being called up has collected 8 hits in 23 plate appearances.

With the playoffs really fading away quickly, the team went on a 4-game winning streak to end the month, extending our playoff hopes for a little longer. We also received word that Alex Rodriguez was ready for rehab. I placed him at the AAA level, where he will likely spend the rest of the season.

A few other notes, I started taking last looks at the contracts coming off the books in the off-season. I was able to sign Lyle Overbay to a 1-year, $1.1 million extension and Joba Chamberlain to a 3-year, $8.5 million extension. Both have been key players this year and I was able to sign them for less than they would have demanded on the open market. Andy Pettitte, Kevin Youkilis, Jerry Hairston Jr. Phil Hughes and Curtis Granderson also come off the books soon. Andy will likely retire after a mediocre season and despite their solid years I don't expect to bring back either Youk or Hairston because of their age and declining skills. Hughes and Grandy are a different story. For the moment, Hughes is demanding too much money, and Granderson has played terribly this season. But, we'll see what happens in the off-season. Also, Ichiro announced his plans to retire. The future Hall-of-Famer will be missed. So now, at 66-69, we're 5 games out of the final wildcard spot with 27 games to go. It will be tough, but I have confidence we can do it.









August Awards (Monthly Statistics)
AL BOTM - DET 1B Prince Fielder (.286 BA, 10 HR, 22 RBI, 19 R)
NL BOTM - MIA RF Giancarlo Stanton (.316 BA, .371 OBP, 11 HR, 27 RBI, 21 R, 9 BB)
AL POTM - LAA SP Tommy Hanson (5-0, 2.11 ERA, 29 HA, 43 K, 10 BB in 47 IP)
NL POTM - MIA SP Ricky Nolasco (5-0, 1.06 ERA, 32 K in 42.1 IP)
AL ROTM - LAA RF Kole Calhoun (.305 BA, 36 H, 4 HR, 13 RBI)
NL ROTM - STL CF Oscar Taveras (.306 BA, 3 2B, 3 3B, 3 HR, 14 R, 11 RBI)
SAL POTM - CHA SP Corey Black (5-1, 2.58 ERA, 40 K, 20 HA, 10 BB in 38.1 IP)
SAL BOTM - CHA C J.R. Murphy (.333 BA, 9 HR, 21 R, 24 RBI)
IL BOTM - SWB LF Zoilo Almonte (.382 BA, 7 HR, 36 RBI, 24 R)

Who's Hot? (Monthly Statistics)
LF Jason Kubel (.325/.400/.625, 6 HR, 11 RBI in 80 AB)
SP Andy Pettitte (2-1, 3.03 ERA, 29 K, 8 BB in 38.2 IP)
MR Boone Logan (2-0, 2.12 ERA, 24 K, 7 BB in 17 IP)

Who's Not? (Monthly Statistics)
CF Curtis Granderson (.157/.246/.314, 4 HR, 8 RBI, SB in 102 AB)
SP Hiroki Kuroda (1-2, 6.21 ERA, 12 K, 9 BB in 29 IP)

Milestones & Accomplishments
August 1, 2013 - PHI 1B Ryan Howard hits 3 HR
August 4, 2013 - HOU CL Jose Valverde records save #300
August 17, 2013 - SFO snaps MIA RF Giancarlo Stanton's 20-game hit streak

Other Notes
August 8, 2013 - ATL 3B Chase Headley tears labrum, expected to miss 4 months, just days after being traded from SDG
August 11, 2013 - SEA LF Raul Ibanez announces intention to retire at end of season
August 15, 2013 - SEA Owner Hiroshi Yamauchi passes away, will be replaced by his son Millard Yamauchi

[Mister_G]

October 1, 2013

It was a long hard, injury-ridden season, and despite posting a 19-8 record in September and winning 8 of our last 9 games, the New York Yankees will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2008. At 85-77 we also posted our lowest win total since the 1995 season, which was only 144 games because of the previous year's strike, and our worst winning percentage since the 1992 season.

The final wildcard spot was decided in the final games of the season as the Oakland A's edged out the Seattle Mariners 2 games to 1 in their final series of the season. Besides injuries, starting pitching killed us. C.C. had an ERA of 4.99, the worst of his career. Andy Pettitte struggled with an ERA above 4.00. Michael Pineda struggled in his injury comeback. Hiroki Kuroda was extremely inconsistent, and David Phelps was not the pitcher we had hoped during his time replacing Pineda. The lone bright spot in the rotation was Phil Hughes, who will enter the off-season being able to declare for free agency.

The bullpen held its own all year long, and will come back looking much the same as it did this year. Joba, Cody Eppley, Shawn Kelley, Boone Logan, Paco Rodriguez and David Robertson will all be on the 25-man roster for their excellent pitching this season.

Honestly, our lineup was solid this year as well. We had some veteran bats that stepped in during injuries to Jeter, Granderson, Teixeira, Cano and A-Rod and performed well, while players like Kevin Youkilis and Brett Gardner contributed consistently throughout the season. There will be some changes made in the off-season however, especially to improve defensively and to possibly add some home run power to the lineup.

Not many would consider an 85-win season a failure, especially with so many injuries and low expectations from the media. However, the Yankee faithful are not of that many, which means I can't settle either. Next year we NEED to make the playoffs. Anything less will be an utter disappointment.











August Awards
AL Batting Title - KAN 1B Eric Hosmer (.352 BA)
NL Batting Title - SFO C Buster Posey (.321 BA)
SAL POTY - TRE SP Corey Black (16-10, 4.18 ERA, 170 K, 171 HA, 66 BB, .254 OBA in 174.1 IP during time with A CHA)

Milestones & Accomplishments
September 2, 2013 - NYY SS Derek Jeter wins AL POTW
September 7, 2013 - CLE 1B Jason Giambi collects hit #2000
September 13, 2013 - NYY SP C.C. Sabathia collects win #200
September 16, 2013 - LAA 1B Albert Pujols hits HR #500
September 22, 2013 - BOS 1B David Ortiz collects hit #2000

Other Notes
September 23, 2013 - KAN LF Alex Gordon announces retirement after fracturing his skull

[Mister_G]

November 1, 2013

With our season over I was left at home, watching the playoffs on TV. It wasn't the most exciting baseball I've ever seen to be honest as only one series went a full 5 or 7 games. Oakland defeated Texas and the Dodgers defeated the Nationals to advance to the Divisional Series where Texas swept the Angels, Detroit swept the Red Sox, San Fran swept St. Louis and Atlanta edged out the Dodgers in 5.

Texas and Atlanta advanced to the World Series after defeating their opponents in 6 games each. The fall classic looked like it would be one for the ages as Atlanta and Texas split the first two games in high-scoring contests, but in the next three it was all Texas as they won their first World Series title. 6 players on the Rangers batted over .350 in a series that provided plenty of offensive fireworks, but little pitching. After collecting 9 hits in his 18 World Series at-bats Shortstop Elvis Andrus was named World Series Most Valuable Player.

I'm left figuring out what to do with our roster, which certainly isn't World Series-worthy at this point. After Derek Jeter accepted his player option I had to make my first decision of the off-season, whether or not to execute the $7 million option on Jason Kubel's contract. Kubel batted .288 with 22 homers for us in Left Field, which was enough for me to keep him on board. Not sure what to do with Curtis Granderson though.

I also declined to offer arbitration to Hiroki Kuroda, Chris Stewart and Jayson Nix, while I wait to hear who the arbitrator ruled in favor of in the cases of Michael Pineda, Shawn Kelley, David Robertson, Francisco Cervelli and Brett Gardner. As for free agency, Phil Hughes, Andy Pettitte, Kevin Youkilis, Jerry Hairston Jr., Johnny Damon and Curtis Granderson will all hit the open market. We will also move on without Mariano Rivera and Ichiro Suzuki, two future Hall-of-Famers.

In other news, there were plenty of firings as Robin Ventura was axed by the White Sox and Buck Showalter was shown the door in Baltimore along with GM Dan Duquette. In other unexpected news, Hector Cortez purchased majority ownership of the Twins while Jerry Reinsdorf let go of his hold over the White Sox, making way for the Orlando Bonilla era. As for us, I'll be looking for a new Bench Coach in the off-season. Tony Pena Sr. decided to take some time off from coaching.

American League Wildcard Game
National League Wildcard Game


American League Divisional Series


National League Divisional Series



American League Championship Series


National League Championship Series


World Series


Other Notes
October 28, 2013 - Orlando Bonilla purchases majority ownership of CWS
October 28, 2013 - Hector Cortez purchases majority ownership of MIN
October 28, 2013 - BAL fires GM Dan Duquette and MA Buck Showalter
October 29, 2013 - CWS fire MA Robin Ventura
October 30, 2013 - DET trades C Victor Martinez to OAK for MR Ryan Cook and Minor League 3B Renato Nunez
October 31, 2013 - CLE deals CL Vinnie Pestano and $500K to SEA for a player to be named later

[defo22]

How do you do a trade with a player to be named later?

[GoBucsGo]

This is quite an enjoyable read.. Keep it up!

[Mister_G]

Originally Posted by defo22

How do you do a trade with a player to be named later?

Haha, you don't. I just throw that in occasionally when it's a minor leaguer.