Joe Girardi spoke to reporters about Joba Chamberlain’s outing tomorrow and said how “he’s got to pick it up. We’ve told him, you’ve got to pitch now. We gave you those couple of starts to get under your belt, now you’ve got to show us. You’ve got to pitch.” According to Chad Jennings, Girardi said […]

I am becoming more of an Alfredo Aceves fans each day. Not only is he racking up the zeroes in Yankees camp (0.90 ERA), but he has a great perspective on success: no thinking. Aceves is no airhead, however, as Tyler Kepner noted in a piece from last summer. He thinks plenty as he devours […]

I really don’t know what to make of the Yankees fifth starter competition. None of the participants, with the exception of Alfredo Aceves, has looked particularly good. Joba Chamberlain did his usual one inning meltdown, although Sam Borden said he was told to work on his pitches. Personally, I am tired of even talking about […]

NYBD contributor Frank Russo reached out to his Tampa connections and passed me along some interesting tidbits: - There is actually a competition for the #5 spot and Alfredo Aceves has made a great impression on the Yankees brass. What does this mean for Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain? Both would go to the bullpen, […]

I always enjoy reading Rob Neyer’s Monday Mendozas but this one stood out to me: Ian Kennedy‘s a former first-round pick who throws five pitches and has a 1.95 career ERA in the minor leagues. Here’s a prediction for you: He’ll finish 2009 with a better ERA than whoever winds up being the Yankees’ No. […]

If you were looking to fill a hole in your rotation and gave you this scouting report would you be interested in the pitcher? PITCHES: Throws fastball 90-92mph (47% of all pitches), cutter 87-90 (14%), curveball 77-82 (20%), changeup 80-85 (19%). FB is most effective, cutter least effective. 1,232 total pitches (62% in the strike […]

Today was only the beginning of the battle for the fifth spot in the Yankees rotation. Our good friend Ari Kaplan from the Ariball Scouting Service broke down all the candidates with his scouting reports take a read: Alfredo Aceves: PITCHES: Throws fastball 90-92mph (47% of all pitches), cutter 87-90 (14%), curveball 77-82 (20%), changeup […]

Brian Cashman was on with Mike Francesa yesterday in a must listen interview for Yankees fans. Of course, the topic of the fifth spot came up and Cashman talked about the need to balance the team needs with the future development of Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes. One thing is for sure, Cashman doesn’t show […]

It appears my post regarding radio talk speculation about Alfredo Aceves going to the minors has started some dialogue. The good folks at River Avenue Blues discussed both sides of this debate earlier today. Both Joe Pawlikowski and Mike Axisa both make points about why sending Aceves and Hughes respectively to the minors would be […]

Last night Chad Jennings joined me on the weekly Sunday podcast. We talked about the young players in camp specifically Jamie Hoffmann, Kevin Russo, Ramiro Pena, Juan Miranda and Reegie Corona. When talking about the bullpen, Jennings speculated about a scenario that Chan Ho Park could send Aceves to the minors. Right now the Yankees […]

The Yankees made an early spring training signing inking Chan Ho Park to a 1 year deal worth $1.2 million dollars with another $300k worth of incentives. Park spent last years with the Phillies. Last week I broke down the Yankees bullpen I had five locks (Mariano Rivera, Damaso Marte, David Robertson, Alfredo Aceves and […]

As we near the reporting date for pitchers and catchers I will be looking at the major battles for both New York teams. Let’s start off with really the only big question mark for the Yankees: Who will be the fifth starter? Locks: Sabathia, Vazquez, Burnett, Pettitte Competition: Chamberlain, Hughes, Mitre, Gaudin Long Shot: Romulo […]

Fans of NYBD know my skepticism of Joba Chamberlain. Unlike many fan sites, we have provided some of the most objective commentary about the Yankees phenom. Last season things never quite got off the ground for Chamberlain. He had the offseason arrest, early season struggles and, when you just thought he was about to take […]

Back in 2001, the Toronto Blue Jays signed a lanky right-hander after watching him throw in San Luis Rio Colorado, Mexico. Perhaps they didn’t feel Alfredo Aceves had much in the way of potential, for Toronto quickly sold his contract to Yucatan of the Mexican League after he recorded a 2-1, 3.10 mark with the […]

With lefties Phil Coke and Michael Dunn heading to Detroit and Atlanta, respectively, righties Mark Melancon and Kevin Whelan will be given chances to fill bullpen spots in spring training. If they can accomplish that, and lefty Damaso Marte is healthy and flashes the form he did in the postseason – and fellow southpaw Boone […]