Yanks could unveil Tex on Tuesday

From Anthony McCarron (Daily News):

The Yankees are making plans for a press conference to fete new first baseman Mark Teixeira, perhaps as early as Tuesday, according to baseball sources.

Teixeira agreed to an eight-year, $180 million contract two days before Christmas. The deal has not been officially announced because Teixeira must first pass a physical that could be scheduled for tomorrow.

Well, there’s a “perhaps” and a “could” in there, so nothing is set in stone, but I would think that the team will look to debut their new 1B now that the holiday season is essentially over (for baseball).

Quick Bits: Perez, Jones

1. Kevin Kernan thinks that the Yankees should move on from Andy Pettitte and sign Oliver Perez. You know, the idea is whimsical in that Kernan believes being a Yankee will keep Perez—a talented 27-year old lefty—focused (he’s a bit of a headcase). However, Perez’s numbers last year were not pretty (105 BB) and his agent, the lovable Scott Boras, is looking for a multiyear deal. Now, I don’t think he’s the answer and would rather have Pettitte over Perez, but I do agree with Kernan in that the upside with Perez is pretty big. I don’t think it’ll ever blossom with the Yankees, though.

(Props to RAB.)

2. Speaking of second chances for guys with talent, PA at LoHud ponders an Andruw Jones trade. Basically, the Dodgers reworked Jones’ contract in order for them to make him a more attractive commodity via trade. I actually debated such a trade weeks ago before the contract was reworked and thought if the Dodgers ate most of the cash, maybe he would bounce back in the Bronx after a miserable 2008 (and a very poor 2007). However, then I looked at his numbers and remembered hearing about his bad attitude in LA (and even Atlanta, before that), where he refused to change his approach at the plate, and how he showed up to spring training looking like he ate nothing but doughnuts in the off-season. In the end, I agree with PA in that a minor-league deal would work (if the Dodgers cut him, maybe), but I would not give him any sort of guaranteed deal for CF.

Jones and Perez are two projects, to say the least. The only thing we can know for sure is that we can’t know what to expect from either player. So is it worth it to pay for unknown commodities when you already have significantly cheaper ones sitting in your clubhouse (Gardner, Melky, Hughes, IPK, etc.)? I don’t think it is, but again, there is some upside in both cases.

Worrisome Wang?

Using FanGraphs (I love you), here are a few interesting trends that we’ve witnessed in relation to our displaced ace, Chien-Ming Wang. While I noticed the following items by simply looking at the provided stats, Peter’s post at FG certainly solidified my line of thought.

Wang’s GB% (ground ball) from ‘05-08:

2005 = 63.9%
2006 = 62.8%
2007 = 58.4%
2008 = 55.0%

Interestingly, CMW’s GB% had decreased with every year. He’s throwing it less and we’ve basically seen a 9% drop in its use since he came into the league. Now, is this truly a cause for concern or is this CMW switching things up a bit, in order to diversify his pitching portfolio? Well, let’s look at Wang’s K/9 numbers since 2005.

2005 = 3.64
2006 = 3.14
2007 = 4.70
2008 = 5.12

Clearly, one can see that Wang was striking more hitters out this year. His GB% is decreasing while his K/9 is actually increasing. So what if he’s striking out more people instead of acquiring ground outs, that’s not bad, but what gives? If he is striking out more people, how is he doing it? Well, one can then ask, what is he throwing if he’s not using the GB as much?

2005 = 12.9%
2006 = 14.7%
2007 = 16.2%
2008 = 17.1%

That’s how often Chien-Ming Wang threw his slider over the past 4 years. Since 2005, CMW has upped his slider production with every year (obviously, he throws his FB the most). Essentially, it becomes evident that Wang is throwing more and more sliders in order to strike out more hitters. His subsequent GB% has been hampered, although the numbers are still high. However, one must also note the following in relation to Wang’s increase in K’s and sliders:

2007 = 2.66
2008 = 3.32

The provided numbers are Wang’s B/9 figures. As seen here, Wang walked (or at least he would walk) more people in 2008 than he did in 2007. He’s basically sacrificing some control in order to K more hitters and throw more sliders. Despite this, Wang still maintained a solid ERA, but his WHIP was the highest it has been since he joined the Yankees (1.32).

Hmmm, does this worry you (decreasing GB%, increasing B/9, etc.) or do you think it’s simply a young pitcher developing?

Born to buck Boston

Mark Teixeira’s father played high school ball with Bucky Dent. Who knew?