Top stories from last week:

• With a chance to wrap up the Fall Classic, the Yanks lost Game Five after AJ Burnett imploded even though his track record on short rest was good. Despite the fact that their gameplan backfired, fans remained optimistic.
• Prior to Game Six, it was officially announced (to no one’s surprise) that Andy Pettitte would get the ball on short rest. The team also announced that Burnett would be available out of the bullpen if need be. Ramiro Pena replaced the injured Melky Cabrera on the roster.
• Despite all the concerns about Pettitte starting on three days’ rest, the Yankees took Game Six thanks to the amazing Hideki Matsui. The win gave them the franchise’s 27th World Championship, the first time a team won the World Series with a 35-yr old shortstop in over 50 years.
• It turns out that Mariano Rivera was nursing an injury the whole time. Brian Cashman also made sure to thank everyone behind the scenes. The parade was amazing, as you’d expect.
• World Series ratings jumped 42% from last year.
• We had some very light rumors at the end of the week, and most expect to see Pettitte back in pinstripes next year. Hideki Matsui, on the other hand, ruled out a return to Japan. Bobby Abreu re-signed with the Angels, setting the market for Johnny Damon. Jon Heyman mentioned that the Yanks may be willing to go two years for Johnny.
• Chien-Ming Wang will visit Dr. Andrews today to see how his surgically repaired right shoulder is progressing.
• RAB readers voted Damon’s double steal in Game Four their favorite moment of the postseason, aside from winning the whole thing, of course.
• Derek Jeter might be getting a bridge named after him, which is cool.

Please take a second to answer the poll below and give us an idea of how confident you are in the team. You can view the Fan Confidence Graph anytime via the nav bar above, or by clicking here. Thanks in advance for voting.

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

Fan Confidence Poll: November 9th, 2009

AzFL Surprise (11-1 loss to Mesa on Friday)
Colin Curtis: 0 for 4, 2 K – he had more walks than strikeouts prior to this game
Zach Kroenke: 1.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, 3-2 GB/FB – 21 of 36 pitches were strikes (58.3%) … PitchFX had him at 89.84-91.5 with the fastball, which is a good mile or two an hour faster than we’d seen him lately
Grant Duff: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 1-1 GB/FB – 9 of 13 pitches were strikes (69.2%) … PFX had him at 93.3-96.3 with the heat

AzFL Rising Stars Showcase (West beat the East 8-7 on Saturday) the east squad had a 7-0 lead with two outs in the first, and they blew it
Mike Dunn: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 1-0 GB/FB – 11 of 14 pitches were strikes (78.6%) … he actually picked up the win in this game … PFX clocked him at 95.27-95.8, so he was bringing the heat

And now for your weekly winter ball updates…

Dominican Winter League
Abe Almonte: 4 G, 0 for 3, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 SB
Juan Miranda: 1 G, 2 for 4, 1 RBI, 1 K – maybe he takes Hinske’s spot next year
Wilkins Arias: 10 G, 8 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 3 BB, 6 K
Ivan Nova: 4 G, 3 GS, 18 IP, 12 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 13 K – he’ll be among the first callups next year
Jon Ortiz: 5 IP, 3.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
Jose Valdez: 7 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 8 K

Mexican Pacific League
Walt Ibarra: 15 G, 10 for 29 (.345), 7 R, 1 2B, 4 RBI, 2 BB, 8 K, 1 SB
Humberto Sanchez: 3 G, 3 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 1 K

Venezuelan Winter League
Reegie Corona: 13 G, 9 for 29 (.310), 7 R, 3 2B, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 5 K
Edwar Gonzalez: 17 G, 14 for 52 (.269), 7 R, 2 3B, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 1 BB, 10 K, 3 SB, 1 CS
Carlos Mendoza: 3 G, 0 for 3, 3 K – well, that’s not very good, now is it?
Jesus Montero: 9 G, 3 for 26 (.115), 2 R, 1 RBI, 3 BB, 4 K
Luis Nunez: 10 G, 8 for 31 (.258), 1 2B, 6 RBI, 2 BB, 3 K
Marcos Vechionacci: 9 G, 6 for 16 (.375), 2 R, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 CS
Romulo Sanchez: 11 G, 12.1 IP, 10 H, 9 R, 6 ER, 8 BB, 5 K – too many walks
Josh Schmidt: 7 G, 5 GS, 23.1 IP, 22 H, 17 R, 12 ER, 8 BB, 20 K – after a great start, things went south for him in a hurry
Pat Venditte: 7 G, 9.1 IP, 11 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 7 K
Eric Wordekemper: 1 GS, 3 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 0 K

The Puerto Rican League season starts on Thursday, though the rosters still haven’t been posted yet.

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

Fall ballin’

• November 9th-11th: GM Meetings in Chicago. Definitely not as exciting as the Winter Meetings, though you may see a deal or two get done.
• November 20th: Players who filed for free agency officially hit the open market. Prior to this date, they are only able to negotiate with their current team.
• December 1st: Last day for teams to offer their free agents arbitration. Any Type-A or Type-B free agents that sign with a new team before their old  team offered arbitration do bring back compensation draft picks.
• December 7th-10th: Winter Meetings in Indianapolis. Total chaos.
• December 10th: Rule 5 Draft. Last year, players had to be added to the 40-man roster on November 20th to avoid being eligible, but I’m not sure what that date is this season.
• December 12th: Last day for teams to tender contracts to unsigned players, a.k.a. no-tender day. Could easily be Brian Bruney’s last day as a Yankee.
• January 5th-15th: Salary arbitration filing period.
• January 19th: Teams and players exchange salary figures for arbitration.
• February 1st-21st: Arbitration hearings.
• March 2nd-11th: Teams can renew the contracts of pre-arbitration eligible players (0-3 years of service time) if they have not yet accepted an offer. Teams can renew players for pretty much any salary they want, though most teams (Yankees included) have a scale they use that bases a player’s salary on service time.
• March 17th: Last day to put a player on unconditional release waivers and pay only 30 days of termination pay. After this date, teams must pay 45 days worth of termination pay.
• March 31st: Last day to put a player on unconditional release waivers and pay only 45 days of termination pay. After this date, teams must pay the player their full 2010 salary.
• April 4th: Opening Day, rosters must be cut down to 25 players.

So that’s that. Now if you have any questions about when a team has to offer a player arbitration or anything like that, you can always refer back to this post.

Anyway, use this as your open thread for the night. The Cowboys and Eagles are your late game, and there’s also some new episodes of Family Guy and American Dad on as well. Some say Seth MacFarlane is a one trick pony, but I still enjoy it. Anything goes, just be nice.

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

Open Thread: Important Offseason Dates

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

Open Thread: Giants-Chargers

Because baseball loves its stats, and because the Elias Sports Bureau keeps every stat imaginable, we often hear off-beat statistical happenings. Player A is hitting .345 in the second half in night games, for instance. We also get historical milestones, such as, Player B was the first Panama-born player to record six straight outs in Game 6 of the World Series. Of the many that surfaced this year regarding the Yankees, one got more airtime than others: no team has won a World Series with a 35-year-old shortstop since 1955. Sure enough, it happened again in 2009.

The 2009 Yankees had another first-time-in-a-long-time milestone as well. According to Andrew Baggarly*, the last time the World Series champions also had the highest paid player in the game was the ‘86 Mets. They had Gary Carter at $2.8 million, less than a tenth of A-Rod’s 2009 salary. All of this is a friendly reminder to not think that just because something hasn’t happened in a while that there’s some causal reason for it.

Hat tip to Pinto for the pointers.

* I will never be able to hear Baggarly’s name and not think back to this report. He ran with an unconfirmed rumor that “Sabathia has declined the Yankees’ six-year, $140 million offer.” While that might have technically been true — Sabathia ended up signing for more — it was just horrible timing on Baggarly’s part. Cashman flew to San Francisco that very night and got to work on Sabathia’s contract.

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

That’s never happened before

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

Today’s football open thread

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

B-Ref’s user survery

It’s essentially the AzFL All Star Game, and even though Stephen Strasburg won’t be playing because of a muscle strain in his neck, the game still will feature oodles of talent. In the starting lineups alone, you have eight first round picks, three superhigh profile international signees, and a handful of late-round sleepers. The rosters read like a who’s who list of top prospects (off the top of my head, I see no fewer than 18 first round picks), so it’s almost like a second Futures Game.

The only Yankee farmhand participating in the game is lefty reliever Mike Dunn, who we saw briefly in September. He’s surely get to face a batter or two at some point. If you’re interested in checking out the game, it’ll be on MLBN at 8pm ET.

Feel free to chat about it here, or whatever else you want to talk about. The Rangers, Devils, Islanders, Nets, and Knicks are all in action tonight, plus you’ve got more college football games than I care to list. Anything goes, just be respectful of each other.

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

Open Thread: AzFL Rising Stars Showcase

Later in the day, Drew Silva linked to a bit by Tim Kurkjian with a few Yankee bits. He thinks that the Yanks will let both Damon and Matsui walk, replacing their production with Jason Bay or Matt Holliday. I’m not sure I agree with this at all. He also mentions that we should “look for the Yankees to re-sign [Andy Pettitte] for at least one year.” That would be ideal.

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

Light rumors for late Saturday afternoon

A World Series moment with the Chamberlains

It’s sometimes easy to forget that Major League Baseball players are young kids who are struggling to adjust to a world very unfamiliar to them. Subject to more debates over the last 2.5 seasons than any 24-year-old should, Joba Chamberlain has been growing up in the New York spotlight. Starter, reliever, overhyped or not, Joba has heard it all. When the Yankees won the World Series on Wednesday, Joba and his dad shared a moment captured by photographers and Yahoo! Sports’ Big League Stew author Kevin Kaduk.

The story is a great reminder about how baseball is about families. It’s about how baseball is about the people and how the players we analyze, the players we admire and the players some people criticize are, at heart, just people similar to you and me. At ‘Duk writes, baseball is always about a father having a catch with his son, and Joba and Harlan had the joy of sharing a baseball moment this week that doesn’t come around too often.

Yanks’ son leaves in a huff

While Joba and Harlan had their hug, Pedro Martinez was feeling less than happy about the game. After his Game 6 defeat at the hands of the Yankees, Pedro tried to duck out on reporters. The media throng cornered him in the hallway, but he would speak only in Spanish to them. One fan taunted him with a chant of “Who’s your daddy?” but Pedro was clearly upset about losing the game. Beating Pedro made this World Series victory even sweeter.

A calm in New York

For Tyler Kepner, 2009 marked his eighth season covering the Yanks and their first World Series under his watch. From World Series losses to 0-3 ALCS comebacks, it has been a tumultuous few years in Yankeeland, but as Kepner wrote on Wednesday night, this World Series restored a “peaceful, easy feeling” to the Bronx. No team has won more games in the 21st Century than the Yankees have and now they have their title to go with it. It has indeed been a peaceful time for Yankee fans.

Post from: River Ave. Blues A New York Yankees blog

World Series hangover: Joba, Pedro and feelin’ good