The Yankee bullpen, I believe consists of a lot more talent than the mainstream media leads to believe.
The Yankees made it clear before going into spring that Mariano, Farnsworth(less) and Hawkins were locks in the pen without even throwing a pitch.
Mariano is a no brainer. I'm not even going to waste my time . He's the best of all time period. Hawkins is somewhat of an interesting case. For so many years Hawkins was a high strike out kind of guy who disappointed clubs that were sold on his "pure stuff". Everybody thinks that they can change a guy and more often than not it doesn't work. The exception to this rule took place when Latroy stepped foot into Colorado. What formally was know as a pitchers nightmare (pre humidor days) Is now somewhat of a pitchers park. I guess the thought of Coors field with or without the humidor scared some sense into the Hawk. By making a complete turn around in his approach to getting outs. Hawkins has turned into a ground ball inducing machine. With occasionally sprinkling in a strike out here and there. I don't know why, but I have a good feeling about Hawkins this season.
Kyle Farnsworth in my eyes is a steaming pile of Sh*t.... I don't think I have to elaborate much. I'm sick and tired of holding my breath every time he the ball leaves his hand. I dont give a damn that he could light up the gun, it don't mean diddly squat if your ineffective.
We all know what Joba "the reliever" is capable of. one word describes his game..."untouchable" . Although I am against what the Yankees are doing with him, it does give them ample time to find a suitable replacement for the eighth inning role .
I'll use this as a Segway to make the case for the rest of this young and extremely talented bullpen. In my opinion this is the deepest the Yankee bullpen has ever been since I could remember. But the problem is that these guys are unproven or unheard of. I would like to highlight a few names that I think will make a HUGE impact on this team if its this year or even the future.
Not everybody is as high on Ohlendorf as I am, I think this kid is a stud. His mid to upper 90's moving fastball to compliment his filthy sinker makes me drool. Mark my words, Ohly will make the decision of moving Joba to the rotation a lot easier.
We know what we have in Brian Bruney. When he has decent control of his 97 MPH fastball he's lights out. I think the key to his success is not to over use him and keep him fresh.
Another guy who we briefly got a chance to get a look at late last year was Jose Veras. Although his stats by any means don't impress you(9.1 IP 7 K 6 R), it was only a small sample on this guy and I think he could be a decent releiver.
Edwar Ramirez's change up is arguably in the top 5 of the game. His only problem is his fastball tops out at around 90 MPH which means he desperately relies on location. When Edwar is on he is simply unhittable. But when he cant locate it is the extreme opposite.
A move that went under the radar this off season was the acquisition of Jon Albadejo. This kid throws a wicked slider and a dominant fastball and has from what I hear a really funky delivery where he hides the ball till the last second. Scouts praise his approach of "come right at you " mentality. Give it some time but he will be a mainstay in this pen for years to com.
I'm starting to get the impression that the Yankees just don't like Chris Briton(maybe cause he's fat). All he's done in his brief opportunities in the Majors with Baltimore and New york was pitch well. He gets no love for whatever reason, but sooner or later (I hope ) we will get to see what this guy is really made of.
Journey man Scott Paterson has been piling up some ridiculous numbers in the Yankee Minor league systems. He is turning some heads in spring and might land himself in the Bronx if he keeps it up.
Billy Traber was added to the 40 man roster as of last week, Maybe this ends the yanks desperate search of a lefty out of the pen. I myself am of the school of thought that its better to have the quality arms over the lefty. Just because hes a lefty it doesn't mean your any good. Just look at Sean Henn and Kei Igawa.
The long relief job will be given to Jeff Karstens , Igawa or Darrel Rasner. Karstens could hold his own and has surprising moxie. Rasner has pretty good stuff but is lacking the heater. On the other hand Igawa Is pure CRAP. Due to the fact that Karstens left a game recently with tightness and Igawa was ....well Igawa. It looks like that leaves the job to Rasner. I'm definitely OK with that.
The Bronx born Humberto Sánchez has been recovering from Tommy John since last season. He is listed as a starter, but when he comes back I see the Yankees trying to convert him into a Dominant reliever. The Same Go's for Andrew Brackman.
I am failing to mention names like Mark Meloncon, Heath Phillips, Dan Mccutchen etc... Which also have a lot of upside. But , I don't want to go through the entire farm system.
Overall the Yankee Bullpen (or future bullpen) is stacked with live arms that could throw pure heat. I'm not saying they will all pan out and turn to the next Papelbon(or should I say Joba) But its a sigh of relief to see there is a light at the end of the bullpen tunnel.
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Entering the 08' season the Mets bullpen looks better then it did last year.
with Duaner Sanchez finally available and the addition of Matt Wise, I believe that the mets will compete for one of the better bullpens in baseball.
Like they were last year before the collapse.
CL - Billy Wagner - last year wagner saved 34 of 39 games his pre all star game era was 1.64.
One stat that sticks out is that since and including 05' (min. 100 innings) Billy has the 2nd best era vs the NL and he is 2nd to only Johan santana. Another interesting stat is that last year his era from pitches 1 threw 15 was 0.00.
This shows that he is not prone to giving up a hr and is dominant when he is on and in more then half his GP he threw 15 or less pitches.
One interesting guy is Aaron Heilman there are times where he looks like the dominant setup man but throughout the year has also shown that he is the guy that gave up the GW HR to Molina in game 7 of the nlcs .I believe that with duaner sanchez both of them can strengthen the chain leading up to billy wagner.
Scott Schoeneweis - one stat that sticks out is that away from shea he pitched much better then when he was at shea the thing with him is that last year he pitched the entire year with a leg injury hopefully now that it has healed he can throw the ball better.
Jorge Sosa - this guy has the goods to be a starter in this league an working as the long man in the bullpen is the perfect role for him now. He has a good fastball that can hit over 95 mph...last year he went from long man to middle reliever and now that willie has told him his job I believe that he can show glimpses of how he pitched in Atlanta where he went 13-3 with a 2.55 era
Pedro Feliciano - last year in 64 IP he gave up 47 hits and had 61 K with a era at 3. good stats for a guy that will probably face lefties Ryan Howard, chase utley,brian mccan and nick johnson 19 times a yr (each).
Matt Wise - he put up ok numbers last year..and I expect about the same this year around a 4.50 era. I dont think he is an important part of the bullpen more of a guy that will pitch if Mets need to stretch their bullpen either if heilman needs a day off or if a starter doesn't go 6 innings.
Joe Smith - After giving up no runs in his first 21 plus innings last year...Joe ended up with a 3.45 era while striking out 45 in 44 innings he is the righty specialist as he proved this getting pujols out twice and even a rod out a couple of times he will probably have same role this year.
Overall last year even with the collapse the mets put up a better era then the yankees last year Mets under 4 era and yanks at 4.35 I believe that with a healthy Duaner Sanchez and the collapse behind them and with willie inserting roles in the bullpen something that wasn't there last year, the mets bullpen will be one of the best in baseball. Compare that to a rookie heavy bullpen of the yankees and I think the Mets take this one .Also important to note is that the yankee bullpen will be taxed heavily due to the young pitchers that have a limit on their innings and in the beginning of the season dont expect more then 5 innings out of Hughes Kennedy or Mussina..and with an injured pettitte...this spells disaster for a young yankee bullpen...I love joba on the bullpen and Mariano is the greatest but there are more innings in a game then the final 2...METS WIN!
(Abie makes some strong points but I beleive he is too high on the Mets BP and Too low on the Yanx BP. He also is bringing ERA stats and he is failing to notice that the Mets are playing in a crappy National League and the Yankees are playing in an offensive heavy AL. I'm going to have to disagree with him and go with this young tallented yankee bullpen over a Mets bullpen thats comming of a bad year.)
OUTCOME
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First Base -Mets
Second Base- Yankees
Short Stop- Reluctantly Yankees but very skeptical ( Jeter will probably have the better year but Reyes has the potential to be GREAT. )
Third Base- Yankees without question
Catcher- Yankees (Yanks win this in a laugher)
Center Field- Mets (In a landslide)
Right Field-Yankees (Church is unproven and Abreu is on his walk year)
Left Field-Yankees (Alou cant stay on the field)
Starting Pitching-Mets (Half the Yankee rotation is unproven and the other half is an injury waiting to happen.)
Bullpen-Yankees
