Originally Posted by
Olympic Fan
As a Yankee fan, I've obviously been disappointed as to how our big off-season deal has turned out.
Michael Pineda, who was supposed to be the No. 2 pitcher in the rotation (and perhaps our future ace) underwent shoulder surgery and will miss the season. Jose Campos, the 19-year-old minor league phenom included in the deal was shut down in May with a sore elbow.
So basically, the Yankees have gotten nothing for the deal ... so far.
On the bright side (for Yankee fans) it looks like the team didn't really give up that much. Jesus Montero, the much-hyped slugger whose departure infuriated so many Yankee fans, has been awfuly mediocre for the Mariners. Through half the season, he's hitting .253 with 8 homers and 30 RBIs. He has a dreadful (for a DH) 678 OPS and an OPS-plus of just 92). That's far worse than the Yankee DH platoon (usually righty Andruw Jones -- 855 OPS or lefty Eric Chavez -- .848 OPS).
Hector Noesi, who also went to Seattle in the deal, has been terrible -- he's 2-11 with a 5.77 ERA.
Montera might get better -- he has actually been an effective hitter against lefties (.355 BA, although with little power). Of course, that just reflects to how helpless he's been against righthanded pitching. The Mariners have given him 33 start at catcher -- and if he could play the posiiton, his batting stats wouldn't look so bad, but he's been a terrible defensive catcher.
Anyway, just wanted to take a moment to breathe a sigh of relief. It doesn't look like we blew it big time, even with the problems for Pineda and Campos. In the long term, if either bounce back we could still win the deal in the long run. Good sign -- Pineda, who has been in Florida rehabbing, showed up in the Yankee clubhouse last week. He says the rehab is going well -- maybe, what reporters noticed was that the had lost a ton of weight. He was overweight last year at Seattle and that might have worn him down. He was overweight in spring and that might have contributed to his injury. Good news that he's now trim.
On Montero, it's worth noting that (like essentially every Mariner) his home/road splits are quite skewed. Everywhere other than Safeco Field, he's hitting .297/.338/.432 with a 117 OPS+, which is pretty darn good for a 22-year-old in his first full ML season. The problem is that he has to spend half his games hitting in the offensive suppression machine that is the Mariners home stadium, where he's a remarkably poor .206/.247/.333 and 56 OPS+.
Amazingly enough, that home line makes Montero an above average Mariners hitter in Seattle. They cannot hit the ball at all at home (a problem when they spend half their games there). As a team, the collective home line is .196/.275/.288, with just 126 runs in 44 games. On the road, they're actually decent - .258/.309/.422, and over 100 more runs in just 4 more games (238 in 48). Stick this team in any other park in the league, and they're a good offense - if you projected their road performance across all 92 games they've played, they'd have 456 runs, which would tie with Texas for most in the major leagues (although Texas, Boston, and NY are probably ahead in R/G).
Just be you. You is enough. - K, 4/5/10, 0:13.8 to play, 60-59 Duke.
You're all jealous hypocrites. - Titus on Laettner
You see those guys? Animals. They're animals. - SIU Coach Chris Lowery, on Duke