To mute or not to mute, that is the question.

Does listening to these two make you feel like this?


*Props to Stringfellow Hawke and Jake Fratelli for also contributing to this post

In a new NoMaas feature, we will be presenting Minor League Player of the Week awards to standout performers in the Yankees’ system. We hope this will serve as a good resource for lots of folks who don’t have the time to track the farm on a daily basis, and could really use a nice summary. For our first installment, we used season-to-date numbers to determine the winners.

Minor League Players of the Week:

Pitcher:
Hector Noesi, 23, RHP, A+
12.0 IP, 16K, 1BB, 5H, 2ER

Noesi isn’t someone whose name is thrown out there a lot when discussing Yankees’ pitching prospects; he’s a 23 year old who hasn’t pitched out of A ball and doesn’t have overwhelming stuff. However, his development was greatly slowed by Tommy John surgery in 2007 and he was only pushed as a prospect in this last year. Noesi responded by posting a 2.92 ERA, backing that up with a 9.08 K/9 and a sparkling 1.15 BB/9 in time split between Charleston and Tampa. His control was certainly on display to begin the season and If he keeps pitching like this a promotion to Trenton might be in the cards.

Position Player:
David Adams, 23, RHB 2B, AA
.368/.400/.579 in 40 PAs

David Adams (NoMaas’ #9 ranked prospect) wasted no time in getting to work at Trenton. Always pegged as an offense-first second baseman, Adams hasn’t lived that title down and is tied for the organization lead in doubles (5). While these robust numbers are bound to come down (.481 BABIP), this is a glimpse of what the University of Virginia product can do when he gets on a roll. Keep in mind that he’s put up this assault with 28 of his 40 plate appearances at his home park, an institution notorious for deflating offense.

Honorable Mentions:

Deangelo Mack, 23, RHB, OF, A
.265/.390/.529 in 41 PAs

Ivan Nova, 23, RHP, AAA
17.2 IP, 18K, 3BB, 15H, 4ER

Jose Ramirez, 20, RHP, A
10.1 IP, 15K, 2BB, 11H, 4ER

Led by Andy Pettitte’s 8 innings of 4-hit ball, the Yankees moved to 9-3, on pace to have their best April since 2003 when they went 20-6. At +25, the Bombers also have the best run differential in the American League.


If a man can’t hit, he can’t fight.

With Robinson Cano’s hot start, we’ve been seeing lots of chatter from Yankee fans declaring him as the best 2B in the AL, unrivaled even by Brett Pedroia’s brother, Dustin. We’ve already made our thoughts known on this before, but we’ll get into a little more detail. There really isn’t much of an argument at this point. Take off the pinstriped goggles and the better player is clearly Dustin Pedroia.

While it makes us do a throw-up burp to write this, it’s true. You can say what you want about who will be better going forward. But, there is no debate to who has been superior over the course of their young careers.

In terms of WAR, the last three seasons between the two look like this:

2007: Cano 5.0, Pedroia 3.8
2008: Cano 0.5, Pedroia 6.7
2009: Cano 4.4, Pedroia 5.2

It’s also worth noting that Cano has 913 more ML plate appearances than Pedroia, and the Keebler Elf still has accumulated more career WAR than Robbie, 15.8 to 14.1.

For an overall offensive rate stat, you can look at Fangraphs wRC+, which is also park-adjusted: Pedroia 122, Cano 115

And for a quick note on fielding (which is included in WAR), Pedroia wins there with a UZR/150 of +7.4 versus Cano’s -5.4.

So while we hope Cano continues his assault in 2010, Pedroia remains the best 2B in the AL until someone knocks him off the phonebook he uses to sit at a table.

The NY media is pushing the idea of another personal catcher scenario:

On the morning of an A.J. Burnett start, the concept of a personal catcher was a topic in Joe Girardi’s pregame interview session. For a change, it had nothing to do with Burnett, who is making his third straight start Saturday with Jorge Posada behind the plate. C.C. Sabathia pitched brilliantly Friday night for the second consecutive outing, and both have come with the backup, Francisco Cervelli, catching him.

If this ends up happening, this would be really, really stupid. CC is a great pitcher regardless of who’s behind the plate. He doesn’t need a personal catcher who can’t hit. Sometimes we’d really like to dropkick the media in the chest.

Chan Ho Park is on the 15-day DL.


We hope you come back solid.

Cano: 2-4, 2 HR
Granderson: 2-4, 2 3B


*Props to Mick Shrimpton and Wade Garrett for also contributing to this post

Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse for Shrek…

Hip-hop mogul Jay-Z and his business partner sued Boston Red Sox baseball player David Ortiz on Thursday for naming a Dominican Republic nightclub after their chain of 40/40 Club sports bar lounges.

They have accused Ortiz of trading on the fame, value and goodwill of their name through his club Forty/Forty and its website, www.fortyforty.net, which they say has caused their business “marketplace confusion and damage,” the lawsuit said.

“David Ortiz is fully aware of plaintiff’s Manhattan 40/40 Club, since he had been a patron there on several occasions long before he opened his infringing Forty/Forty Club,” said the lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court.

Source

Because of his lack of power, Brett Gardner must maintain a keen batting eye in order to generate a high enough on-base percentage to be a pinstripe-worthy hitter. Gardner has a history of struggling upon being promoted to a new level, but then adjusting successfully. BG started out his career very nicely at Single-A with a .84 BB/K and a .433 OBP. Here’s what happened to his BB/K and OBP after that:

1st year at AA: .69/.352
2nd year at AA: 1.03/.386

1st year at AAA: .49/.343
2nd year at AAA: .92/.414

1st year at MLB: .27/.283
2nd year at MLB: .65/.345

Can Gardner take the next step and add an above-average bat to his already top tier glove and wheels? His approach over the first week and a half gives some hope that he can. Gardner is only swinging at 14% of pitches thrown out of the strike zone. According to Fangraphs, this is the 8th best rate in the league.

In the few PAs he’s seen so far, Gardner has a BB/K ratio of 1.33. His thus-far stagnant OBP (.333) appears to be the product of some bad luck: Gardner is hitting the ball well (as evidenced by his 20.0% LD rate), but his BABIP (.250) is lower than his career average.

If Gardner can maintain his early season approach (hopefully minus the incessant bunt attempts), the OBP will go up and he will be a very valuable player.

Date / Avg FB Speed / Max FB Speed

4-4 / 92.36 / 95.6
4-6 / 95.12 / 96.4
4-11 / 93.47 / 95.1
4-14 / 92.65 / 94.7

Source: BrooksBaseball