New York Yankees active off-season

http://www.faniq.com/blog/The-New-York-Yankees-are-very-active-in-the-offseason-Blog-73344

Here is my link to an article I did about the New York Yankees and their very active off-season so far. 

A wild day for the Hot Stove league

A wild day for the Hot Stove league


The baseball off-season is never really boring. It does have its ups and downs. There are times that are much more exciting then others. The time is usually coming as the MLB winter meetings begin on Monday. This year though something crazy happened, we had a winter meetings like day a week early. I have never seen anything like it, it was a wild day for the hot stove as there were signings, trades etc. This all happened on a Tuesday, the week before the winter meetings. To be honest I don’t even think a single day during the winter meetings could top this.

I will try to keep up with it all but I am sure I may be missing something. It was so crazy I don’t even know if I could keep up with it. I am a HUGE baseball fan and it was still hard for me to comprehend all that went on. The New York Yankees signed Jacoby Ellsbury to a seven-year 153 million contract. The Oakland Athletics were wheeling and dealing as they traded for Jim Johnson technically the night before. They also traded Seth Smith to the San Diego Padres for Luke Gregorson. The Robinson Cano saga took an interesting turn as it looks like the Seattle Mariners are appearing as major players for him.

The Boston Red Sox signed A.J. Piersynski for one year. The Florida Marlins signed their catcher from last season Jarrod Saltalamacchia to a three year 21 million dollar deal. The Detroit Tigers finally got their closer in Joe Nathan for a two-year deal. The Tampa Bay Rays took part in a three-way deal. They traded for Ryan Hanigan who is a catcher from the Cincinnati Reds and Heath Bell from the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Reds received David Holmberg from the D-backs and Arizona received right handed pitcher Justin Choate and a player to be named later or cash considerations from Tampa. The Diamondbacks also sent around 500,000 to the Rays.

The Kansas City Royals were moving closer to signing Carlos Beltran who started his career with them. The Oakland Athletics also completed a rare in the division trade. They got Craig Gentry from the Texas Rangers and right-hander Josh Lindblom and they are exploring trading their pitcher Brett Anderson. The Rangers got from Oakland Michael Choice. The Houston Astros, yeah the Astros got involved. They traded for Colorado centerfielder Dexter Fowler. Colorado reportedly agreed to terms with Justin Morneau. Do you have that all and I hope I didn’t miss anything.

It was the wildest day I can remember without there even being a game. I don’t even remember a day during the winter meetings being like this. The winter meetings won’t be as interesting this year but there are still some things that could happen.

Shin Soo Choo is still out there as well as Robinson Cano. The starting pitching market hasn’t really taken shape and a trade for the Rays David Price could happen during the meetings. If nothing else I am sure you will hear plenty of rumors about it. The intrigue for Tanaka will go up with a new posting system about to be put in place. It looks like it will be a max bid and then basically an all out free for all like free agency for him. There will be plenty to talk about and then it will be holiday time which will lead you into the new year and about a month away from spring training.

New York Yankees Hot Stove notes

New York Yankees Hot Stove notes


The New York Yankees officially announced a two-year deal with Brendan Ryan. There is a third year option. He is a defensive whiz who played a lot of SS for them at the end of last year. He is insurance for Derek Jeter. They are giving him two million a year and the third year option is for one million.

The Yankees apparently extended an offer to Hiroki Kuroda. It is for one year and 15-16 million. He takes his time and the Yankees know that but they are really trying to entice him. He has been very good for the Yankees the last two years. He has burned out at the end of the year but the Yankees have enough pitching that they could protect him more now. This would be a big signing for the Yankees considering they only have CC Sabathia and Ivan Nova as sure bets. They want Tanaka from Japan but don’t know when and if he will be posted. If they have CC, Nova and Kuroda they can fill out the other two spots with Phelps, Pineda, Warren, Nuno and feel comfortable.

The Yankees traded what ended up as their starting catcher last year. Chris Stewart is headed to the Pittsburgh Pirates for a player to be named later. He was a guy that most likely would have been non-tendered so instead they traded him getting something for him. It will most likely be a single A player.

The Yankees non-tendered David Adams who was a huge disappointment last year when he got his chance. Matt Daley and Jayson Nix were the other two players who were non-tendered. There were no surprises with this.

How about Robinson Cano, the Yankees and him remain about 80 million apart. He wants somewhere in the neighborhood of nine years and 250-260 million. The Yankees have offered him seven years and 160-170 million. I expect the Yankees and him to eventually come to an agreement but I don’t think the Yankees are going to budge much. They may go to 8 years and 200 million. He could find a team but right now there doesn’t appear to be any other team.

The New York Giants get back on the winning track

The New York Giants get back on the winning track


The New York Giants defeated the Washington Redskins on Sunday night. The final score was 24-17 and the game took place at FedEx Field in Washington D.C. It was a really good game; the Giants found themselves down 14-0 in the second quarter but rallied to tie it at the half. The Giants defense took over in the second half and Eli Manning was better then he has been.

Eli Manning was 22-28 for 235 yards and a touchdown with an interception. His 78.6 completion percentage was his second highest in his career for a full game. His passer rating was the second highest of the season. It was his best game since week one against Dallas in that way. The Giants rushing game wasn’t as good, they rushed for 80 yards on 23 carries. It is still better then what it was earlier in the season. Peyton Hillis who was inactive the past two games led the team in rushing. He had six carries for 45 yards. Andre Brown had 14 attempts for 35 yards. Victor Cruz led the team with six receptions for 80 yards. Brandon Myers had five receptions for 61 yards. Hakeem Nicks had two catches for 34 yards.

The Giants defense was really good after a slow start. They had a season high of five sacks. Justin Tuck had four and he only had 2.5 coming into the game. It was a career high for him and is tied for the third highest total in team history. Cullen Jenkins had the other sack. Tuck now has his highest season total since 2010. Jon Beason who has been great since coming to the team had 17 tackles. Will Hill had a forced fumble and his first career fumble recovery. The Giants held Alfred Morris of the Redskins to 26 yards on 11 carries. He came into the game as the third leading rusher in the NFL.

The Giants are at 5-7 and still mathematically in the playoff picture. They have to win every game though to have a shot and this was a good start. The Giants will play at the San Diego Chargers on Sunday afternoon. They will then return home to take on the Seattle Seahawks before going to Detroit and finishing at home with the Washington Redskins.