Results tagged ‘ Brian Cashman ’
Pineda Quits Baseball to Sell Ice Cream
Yesterday the Yankees lost Michael Pineda to the disabled list. Today they lost him to Mr. Softee.
24 Hours after the Yanks learned their 23-year-old righty would start the 2012 season on the DL due to tendinitis, Pineda announced he is retiring from baseball to fulfill his lifelong dream of selling ice cream. The soreness in his throwing arm was too much for the young hurler to handle.
“My arm – it just really hurts,” Pineda told the media earlier today.
“I never really wanted to be a baseball player anyway. When I was a kid I saw a guy driving a big truck around, giving out ice cream to all the kids in the neighborhood. I knew right then that was what I wanted to do.”
The news came as a shock to Yankee General Manager Brian Cashman, who traded Jesus Montero and Hector Noesi for Pineda on Jan. 13. The announcement stunned Cashman to the point of near speechlessness.
“I…really have no words because nothing like this has ever happened to us before,” Cashman said.
“I never would have thought this would transpire when I made the trade. I know many folks are critical of my work a lot of the time, and this time they have every right to criticize the move.”
Manager Joe Girardi is disappointed to see one of his young guns go, but at the same time is wishing Pineda the best in his new endeavor.
“We’re sorry Michael had to get hurt and we’re a little sad to see him go,” Girardi said.
“At the same time we’re really happy for him and hoping he becomes the Cy Young of ice cream sales. I know in my heart he has the ability to sell those frozen treats like no one else.”
Contrary to what many might think, Pineda has had experience in ice cream sales. When he was four, he owned his own ice pop stand on his front lawn. A hard-working merchant, Pineda would freeze lemonade, orange juice, and fruit punch in ice trays and sell assorted-flavored ice pops to his neighbors for a dime.
He eventually grew tired of watching the local ice cream man take his business, however, and began his aspirations of becoming an ice cream salesman.
“My friends would come to my stand, reach into their pockets, and right before I made a sale he would come into the picture,” Pineda explained.
“I would hear the ice cream man’s music start playing and my friends would run to him. All the money I would have made went to him. It was then I knew I wanted to do what he was doing and sell ice cream.”
Pineda has always loved ice cream. Growing up he cited mint chocolate chip as his number one favorite dessert. Cookie dough, strawberry, and sherbet are three other flavors he loved to eat after dinner – that is, if he finished his broccoli.
Yet Pineda’s absolute favorite was a specialty popsicle called a “Bubble Play” – a pink, icy delight made to look like a baseball glove with a gumball attached to the center of it.
“Bubble Play was my favorite, I loved to eat those” Pineda said.
“I don’t know if they make it anymore, but if they don’t I will get them to make it again. It’s a million dollar idea. I will make a million dollars in ice cream sales bringing back the Bubble Play.”
With his baseball career over, Pineda plans to start small. He will set up shop much like he did on his lawn 19 years ago. Only this time, his ice cream stand will be located outside Yankee Stadium. He is hoping to get hired someday by the Yankees and become a famous vendor inside the Stadium.
“I hope people know they can always come to me for ice cream,” Pineda said.
“I won’t ever be on the Yankee Stadium mound in front of everyone, but that’s OK. I just hope one day Mr. Cashman sees me and hires me to sell my tasty ice cream to the Yankee fans. I can at least contribute to the organization that way and make the fans happy.”
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
I haven’t written a fake article like this in awhile and felt I was long overdue.
Happy April Fool’s Day! 
Blockbuster Friday
I was driving home from covering a high school basketball game tonight and I felt like the General Manager of a baseball team – or maybe more accurately a Yankees beat writer. My good friend Brian text messaged me, breaking the big news. I immediately called him, and we began discussing the moves and the circumstances surrounding the transactions the Yankees made.
Just when we all thought this off-season for the Yankees was dead, tonight happened. A pulse; some life in the dead of winter. The Yankees made a huge trade, swapping rookie catcher/designated hitter Jesus Montero and reliever Hector Noesi to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for flame-throwing, right-handed starter Michael Pineda and Single-A righty Jose Campos.
You’d think that would be enough for one night, but the Yankees weren’t done.
Along with swapping Montero for Pineda, they deepened their rotation with the signing of Free Agent starting pitcher Hiroki Kuroda, who had been with the Los Angeles Dodgers since 2008.
Just like that, the Yankees have some pitching depth.
Pineda has the potential to serve the Yanks as a viable number two starter behind CC Sabathia – a role A.J. Burnett has failed to live up to these past two seasons. Kuroda can help fill the middle and back end of the rotation, along with Burnett, Ivan Nova, Phil Hughes, and Freddy Garcia.
Obviously with seven starters, the Yankees’ hurlers will be seriously duking it out in Spring Training for a spot in the suddenly-populated rotation. There were some rumblings after the Pineda deal was finalized that Hughes could be on the block, yet nothing is confirmed or set in stone. But trading away one of the excess starters is another story for another day; a bridge that can be crossed when the Yankees get to it.
Right now let’s look at what the Yankees gained and what they gave up.
Pineda was an All-Star in his first MLB season last year, finishing 2011 with a record of 9-10 and a 3.74 ERA. The 22-year-old (23-year-old on Wednesday, Jan. 18) logged 171 innings and struck out 173 batters over that span. He gave up 133 hits and walked 55 of the 696 batters he faced.
Pineda finished fifth in the American League Rookie of the Year voting – behind his new teammate Nova, who came in fourth place in the voting.
His numbers were acceptable for a rookie last year and for a 22-year-old kid to be handed the number two spot in the Seattle rotation behind Felix Hernandez – a rotation that didn’t exactly receive a great amount of run support – and flourish the way he did was nothing short of remarkable.
Although his overall numbers were stellar (all things considered) his line against the American League East teams kind of turns me off. Pineda had a 4.73 ERA in nine starts against AL East opponents. It almost goes without saying that as a Yankee starter, he will be expected to be able to beat the Boston Red Sox.
Case in point: July 24, 2011 vs. the Red Sox at Fenway Park.
Pineda allowed seven earned runs on eight hits in just 4 1/3 innings pitched. He struck out four batters and walked one, as the Red Sox topped the Mariners, 12-8. Five of Pineda’s seven runs surrendered came in the first inning; pounded from the get-go.
Looking at that example doesn’t make me feel great about the trade.
I think the best thing the Yankees can do is let Pineda be himself; stretch him out and allow him to throw as many innings as he did last year, if not more.
What they can’t do is put him on an innings limit, given his age, and turn him into another version of Joba Chamberlain. I would also hope the Yankees learned the first time, and will choose to either permanently place him in the bullpen or in the rotation without switching him in and out.
Please. No “Pineda Rules.”
Considering what they gave up, I’m going out on a limb, but thinking the rotation is where we’ll be seeing Pineda.
While it remains to be seen how he fairs in Spring Training (let alone in the Bronx this upcoming year) I know one thing is for sure: whatever they do with him, they need to be careful. Otherwise they’ll end up with another young arm that needs Tommy John surgery. They wanted to avoid Tommy John altogether in Chamberlain’s case, and in the end he wound up needing it anyway.
As far as what they gave up: we barely knew Montero, although we knew the Yankees were preserving him for a long time. The 22-year-old powerhouse was called up in September and put on a little bit of a hitting show in the 18 games he played in ’11.
Montero clubbed four homers in 61 at-bats with four doubles, 12 RBIs, seven walks, nine runs scored, and 20 hits. Overall he notched a .328 batting average and secured a .590 slugging percentage.
For his short time in the show, he has certainly made it count.
Overall, I see this as a trade that could basically be a win for both sides. Seattle gets a power bat and a DH, something they hadn’t exactly possessed these past few years. The Mariners also have to realize they received a player who could be the 2012 Rookie of the Year, if he has a so-called “coming out party” this season.
Montero could do it. I have no doubt in my mind.
In return the Yanks get a potential number two starter, something they’ve had the last two years but haven’t had consistently. Hughes was the Yanks’ number-two man in 2010, but seemed to pitch with a tired arm down the stretch. Plus, we all saw how poorly he pitched in the ALCS vs. Texas.
Nova turned into the number-two starter last year – and let’s not forget that he left the deciding game of the ALDS vs. Detroit with an apparent arm injury. The Yankees needed that consistent second guy, and now they might have him.
And not only do they have a number two starter, they added a middle man: Kuroda.
Since 2008 for the Dodgers the 36-year-old Kuroda is 41-46 with an ERA of 3.45. Last year he tossed 202 innings giving up 77 runs on 196 hits while fanning 161 batters and walking 49. He also recorded 13 wins, a career-high for him in MLB. The Yanks signed him to a one-year contract worth about $10 or $11 million.
He was never an All-Star and he isn’t the flashiest pitcher in the world, but he provides the Yankees with a little bit of depth. If he can give them 10-12 wins from the third, fourth, or even fifth spot in the rotation, they have made a good move.
There are only two things I see working against him:
1) The fact that he’s pitched his entire career in the National League.
2) The Yankees’ history with Japanese starting pitching.
If Kuroda can adapt to AL hitters, learn to work in and out of trouble – and shed the stereotype Hideki Irabu and Kei Igawa left for him – I know he will do fine.
Now that the Yankees have a stacked rotation, essentially they gave away their designated hitter in Montero. It frees up a huge spot in their already-potent lineup and it begs the question: who will DH for the Yankees in 2012?
Andruw Jones?
Eduardo Nunez?
Will they sign Carlos Pena?
Is Johnny Damon coming back to New York?
Was giving away the DH a ploy by Brian Cashman to set up the signing a very powerful Free Agent?
Let the speculation begin…
Yankee Bullpen Nickname: You Heard it Here First!
I have given a name to the Yankee bullpen:
“The -ianos.”
That would be (Pedro) Feliciano, (Rafael) Soriano, and Mariano (Rivera).
Right now I am picturing Michael Kay and the rest of the YES commentators and analysts calling them by this nickname. And somehow, I get the feeling that I’ll be sitting down watching a game and Kay will blurt out to John Flaherty,
“Flash, I just came up with the perfect nickname for the Yankee ‘pen: The -ianos. It makes perfect sense!”
Then Flaherty will respond with something like,
“Michael, you always come up with these funny names. You are a genius .”
Then of course I will become upset, yelling at the TV set about how I came up with it first.
Hopefully the Yankee ‘pen will make some noise next year. Former Yankee reliever Jeff Nelson already said the blueprint for the 2011 Yankee bullpen reminds him of the corps of relief pitchers from the Yankee Dynasty from 1996-2000.
That’s a good sign.
“The -ianos” will most likely make up the heart of the bullpen and did well for what it was worth in 2010. With the Mets last season Feliciano was 3-6 with a 3.30 ERA, but was able to dominate most lefties. He only gave up eight extra base hits to hitters batting from the left side of the plate. They only hit .211 against him and he allowed no home runs to left-handed hitters in 92 appearances.
That kind of brilliance will be used to counter David Ortiz and the rest of the A.L. power lefties.
Soriano, as most people know, agreed to a three-year deal with the Yankees last Thursday. The 31 year-old flame-throwing righty will be the eight inning man in the absence of Kerry Wood, who returned to the Chicago Cubs. Soriano led the A.L. in saves last year with 45 for the Tampa Bay Rays.
According to several reports, the decision to sign Soriano was not the decision of Yankee General Manager Brian Cashman. In fact, he was not happy the deal went down, probably because the Yankees paid around $35 million for him and lost their number one draft pick.
Today Soriano was introduced at Yankee Stadium in a press conference and had an apparent exchange with the Yanks’ GM.
One source said Cashman’s conversation with Soriano went something like this:
Soriano: “I’m happy to be a Yankee.”
Cashman: “And we’re happy that you’re a Yankee, too. Although I’d personally be happy with other players instead.”
That would make me terribly uncomfortable.
In any event, Soriano is a Yankee. And he best live up to his contract, or else Cashman will be standing in front of all the executives who pushed for Soriano, smiling and saying, “I told you so.”
Rounding out “The -ianos” is who else but the Sandman, Mariano Rivera. There’s really no need to even go into detail about Rivera’s capability. He is a legend. Last year he picked up 33 saves and boasted a trim ERA of 1.80. He signed a two-year deal this off-season, meaning the Yankees will be treated to his services for at least another two seasons.
Mo is Mo and I expect another solid year from him.
With the bullpen pieces in place, the Yankee relievers should make life easier for the starters. But just remember, if Kay, Flaherty, or anyone else for that matter calls them “The -ianos” and says it’s their idea…
No no no.
You heard it at Yankee Yapping first.
A.J. Martelli
Recent Comments