Kuzul

It’s no secret that fans across the nation cringe at the sight of a poor performance from their team on a given night.

Often times, fans will use the excuse that it is still early in the year and these players and teams will turn it around.

The 2010 MLB season has offered up its fair share of great moments and performances from some of the league’s best; but as we head into mid-May, there is still some doubt amongst even the most faithful of fans that the following players will turn it around.

Some players aren’t living up to their massive contracts, others may have finally hit rock bottom, and some are playing under the guise that the season hasn’t even started yet.

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Joe Girardi refused to endorse Javier Vazquez. This was in response to his lousy outing last Saturday afternoon.

Not surprisingly, Girardi skipped Vazquez’s turn last night. The Yankees manager realized Boston was not the place for Vazquez to fix his mechanical issues.

The beleaguered Yankee starter will start Tuesday evening against the Tigers.

The Tigers are salivating at that thought. Even the Twins feel optimistic about their chances against Vazquez when they play at New York next weekend.

When the opposing teams have that feeling, it’s time for that starter to be out of the rotation. In Vazquez’s case, the Yankees must trade him.

There’s no reason to keep him when the manager gave up on him.

That’s right. Girardi gave up on him by skipping his turn. If Girardi truly believed in Vazquez, he would have started him last night.

The Yankees are in good shape. If they lost to the Red Sox last night, it wouldn’t be a big deal. They can sacrifice a game just to see Vazquez work out his issues.

It’s hard to get anything for him, but at this point, a live body would be considered a good return for the underachieving starter.

What was Brian Cashman thinking when he acquired Vazquez this winter? Only he knows why.

The guess is Cashman wants to prove he is capable of making good trades. That’s one of his weak points as a general manager.

He wanted to demonstrate that his gut instinct on Vazquez was right the first time when he first acquired him in December of 2003.

He acquired Vazquez in response to the Red Sox acquiring Curt Schilling that year. The pundits thought Cashman was wise to get a young starter who was not entering the prime years of his career.

All signs indicate it would work out when Vazquez pitched well enough to be an All-Star in his first and only season as a Yankee.

Then, Vazquez struggled in the second half.

In the 2004 offseason, the Yankees relegated him to Arizona for the surly Randy Johnson. Both trades did not pan out for either team. Johnson was hurt and ineffective while Vasquez was nothing special in Arizona.

The Diamondbacks traded Vazquez to the White Sox in the 2005 offseason. He struggled for the White Sox. It got to the point where Ozzie Guillen questioned his mental toughness and his ability to pitch in the American League.

Everyone thinks Guillen has no credibility, but in this case, he’s right.

Vazquez gives up easily as soon as he walks batters or gives up hits. Other team detects that, and they realize he can be beaten.

In the American League, his command is terrible.

It’s not surprising he is failing in his second stint with the Yankees.

The Yankees thought he would give innings to his team, and he would do well with the run support he would get. It hasn’t happened.

Vazquez pitched in the fifth inning three times this season. He went three innings in his last start against the White Sox.

If he is going to lose games, he should at least go deep in games by going six or seven innings. Girardi could avoid overworking his relievers that way.

When a team scores many runs in one inning, it’s the starter’s job to go throw zeroes on the scoreboard for the next few innings. Whenever Vazquez receives runs to work with, he gives it up by giving up more runs.

This has gone on too often. It has gotten to the point where he is unreliable.

ESPNNewYork.com’s Wally Matthews made a good point about Vazquez dragging the Yankees down by his inability to pitch. That’s not a good thing.

If his teammates are tired of watching him pitch, something has to be done.

One wonders if Vazquez was happy to go to New York. He knows fans haven’t gotten over his Game 7 performance against the Red Sox in the ALCS. In that game, Vazquez relieved starter Kevin Brown in the second inning, and was just as unsuccessful.

During his introductory press conference last year in Atlanta, he talked about looking forward to pitch without distractions. He talked about pitching with a proper frame of mind.

He did well in Atlanta. He pitched against an inferior league. Most importantly, no one was there to bother him.

In New York, that’s not the case. New Yorkers hate underachievers. The inquisitive New York media ask questions when guys struggle.

There’s a reason players don’t embrace playing in New York.

That seems to be case with Vazquez. He doesn’t look like a happy person.

Of course, losing does not make anyone happy, but this troubled pitcher is rattled right now.

The Yankees owe it to Vazquez to trade him. They owe it to the Vazquez’s teammates.

Most of all, they owe it to us.

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From 2003 through 2009 Javier Vazquez had thrown at least 200 innings in every season except for one, and that was 198 innings in 2004, with the Yankees.

Vazquez had long been known in the Sabermetric world as a pitcher who always had great peripheral stats like K/9 and BB/9, whiff rate, etc., but never seemed to have the ERA, WHIP, or W-L numbers to back it up.

In 2009 Vazquez seemingly put it all together as he posted an incredible 9.77 K/9, 1.81 BB/9, and 5.41 K/BB rate, all of which led to a sparkling 2.87 ERA and 1.03 WHIP.

This season, however, has been nothing short of a disaster.

Is it the return to the American League? Is it pitching in home run haven Yankee Stadium? Is it the pressure of New York? Or is it something else?

All of the above-mentioned possibilities could certainly be contributing to Vazquez’s struggles, but there are some numbers that could indicate something more—something that hasn’t been a problem in Vazquez’s career so far.

Vazquez’s velocity is down. He had held an average fastball velocity between around 91 to 92 mph. This season his average fastball velocity sits at 88.9 mph. While that velocity is showing signs of creeping back up, it is still well below where it has been over the past two seasons.

Velocity Chart at FanGraphs

The other obvious problem is Vazquez’s lack of command. He hasn’t posted a BB/9 over three since 1999. After five starts and 23 innings this season, he has walked 15 (5.87 BB/9). In his last two starts the strikeouts have been down as well.

The lack of command combined with less velocity has led to a contact rate against of about 80 percent, right around league average. Vazquez is normally much better than league average at generating swings and misses.

What is causing these stats to become so skewed from Vazquez’s career averages? Could he be hiding an injury?

Both a drop in velocity and a loss of command can be indicators of an injury. We saw a drop in command from Edinson Volquez through nine starts last season. Erik Bedard is another case where his command went from 3.16 BB/9 in 2006 to 2.82 in 2007 to 4.11 in 2008 and 3.69 in 2009. Bedard only made 15 starts in both 2008 and 2009.

B.J. Ryan was a case where drop in velocity also met with a loss of command. He went from a 4.3 K/BB rate in 2006 to only throwing four innings in 2007, walking four in those four innings and allowing 13 hits.

This, of course, is nothing more than speculation on my part. But Vazquez is the type of pitcher that might try to pitch through any type of pain. He’s been a workhorse for his entire career, and he once again is a key member of the most scrutinized team in baseball. Again, these are not definite conclusions, just speculation on my part.

The Yankees are going to skip Vazquez’s next start. Maybe the extra rest will do him good. Maybe he can find his command and velocity going forward.

Maybe, but then again, maybe there is something going on that we don’t know about. Only time will tell at this point.

These are not the indicators of something good about to happen.

Charlie Saponara is the owner/author of fantasybaseball365.com and can be contacted at cs.fb365@gmail.com. Follow FB365 on Twitter.

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The New York Yankees went into last night’s game against the Baltimore Orioles with a 16-8 record and have essentially gotten nothing from Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez, Curtis Granderson, Nick Johnson, and Javier Vazquez.

I guess that might be all relative because they have gotten some unreal production from guys like Francisco Cervelli, Marcus Thames, Andy Pettitte, and Brett Gardner. But going back to the players who have struggled, perhaps the biggest concern for the Yankees in the long run is Vazquez.

To say Vazquez has been brutal so far in five starts is the understatement of the century. In five starts, Vazquez is 1-3 with a 9.78 ERA. I am thinking he should never be allowed to pitch in the American League again.

Things have gotten so bad for Vazquez that the Yankees will skip his next start in Boston against the Red Sox. Manager Joe Girardi said he wants to give Vazquez a “couple of days to catch his breath.”

That is AKA for “We have zero confidence in his ability right now and we can bury the Red Sox this weekend and Vazquez can’t help us do that at all.” Vazquez will make his next start against the Detroit Tigers on Monday.

So now that the Yankees have skipped his start, what has been Vazquez’s biggest issue this year?

First and foremost his velocity is down. Last year, Vazquez averaged about 91 mph on his fastball. This year, his fastball is down to about 88 mph. If you are right-handed and throwing 88 mph you better a) hit your spots 95 percent of the time and b) know how to trick people.

Vazquez hasn’t learned how to do either this year.

Second, Vazquez is not throwing groundballs. His groundball rate is around 34 percent, which is the lowest of his career. Coincidentally, Vazquez is throwing more flyballs (47 percent) this year than any other point in his career.

If almost 50 percent of the balls hit against you are flyballs in that joke of a stadium in the Bronx then you are going to be in for a long season. There is no way Vazquez can continue his current flyball rate and be successful.

The Yankees will give Vazquez every opportunity to turn things around. But if his velocity and groundball rate don’t improve, Yankee fans might boo Vazquez right out of the Bronx.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg

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My Double G Sports fantasy baseball team which is competing in the Battle of the Blogs continues to struggle and has hit a new low. I am now officially in last place in the Willie Mays Division and am ranked 13 out of 20 teams.

This past week I lost to Babes Love Baseball by a score of 13-6-1. It was a team wide struggle as my team had a combined .268 average for the week and my pitching staff worked to a horrific 5.31 ERA. On the other hand, Babes Love Baseball had a weekly batting average of .291 and its pitching staff was 7-0 with a 3.16 ERA.

Babes got good weeks from players like Adrian Beltre and Johnny Damon, but the biggest star of the week for her team was rookie Jason Heyward. Thinking back to the draft, Babes Love Baseball took Heyward right before I was going to. It came back to haunt me this week as Heyward batted .350, scored five runs, hit a double, and three home runs while driving in seven runs. Barry Zito , Dan Haren, and Tommy Hanson all pitched very well for Babes Love Baseball last week.

My team was once again led by the red hot Robinson Cano. The second baseman batted .440 this week with two doubles and four home runs. He also drove in seven runs while scoring six times himself.

Marlon Byrd also had a nice week, batting .393 with three doubles and two home runs. He drove in five. J.D. Drew made the most of his 12 at bats for my team as he has started to heat up a little bit. Drew scored four runs while batting .417 including a double and three home runs.  The success of these three was not enough, however, as key players like Jose Reyes, Hideki Matsui, and Franklin Guttierrez all had bad weeks. None of the three batted over .200 this past week.

Read more about this past week as well as a preview of this week at Double G Sports .

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So far in 2010, it’s pretty safe to say that Javier Vazquez stinks for the Yankees.

He hasn’t just been bad. He’s been horrific—so horrific that every time he departs from Yankee Stadium, he gets by far the loudest boos of the team.

In his first five starts back with the team, he is 1-3 with a 9.78 ERA.

His longest outing thus far has been 5.2 innings. His innings totals aren’t that high, but his hits, runs, walks, and ERA are extremely high.

Clearly, this is not the same pitcher from 2009 who won 15 games for the Braves and had a 2.87 ERA—not even close.

Right now, it is looking like Vazquez’s results from a year ago may have in fact been a product of the National League, which is slightly easier to pitch in.

John Harper from the New York Daily News made a very bold suggestion, which makes a lot of sense for both teams.

The Yankees trade Vazquez to the Mets.

The Yankees would be shedding Vazquez from their rotation, along with the $11.5 million he is due.

The Mets would get a pitcher that is better equipped to pitch in the National League and another arm that can go behind Johan Santana and Mike Pelfrey, especially with John Maine and Oliver Perez not pitching well enough to be trusted.

I know a lot of people might think that would be a crazy trade to make, especially with it being only a month into the season, but Vazquez isn’t getting any better.

His fastball has been reported to be a couple of miles slower than in 2009 (91 to 88), which could be from pitching so much over the last couple years and arm fatigue and be the reason for his bad starts.

Not only is Vazquez getting hit hard, he is also walking a lot of batters every game, including four in his last start against the White Sox on Saturday. Vazquez already has 15 walks on the season. In 2009, he only had 44.

Now, I will admit I was a major fan of the trade in the winter because we only traded away a fourth outfielder in Melky Cabrera, who is only hitting .213 in Atlanta. I thought as a fourth starter, Vazquez would dominate in this rotation with CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, and Andy Pettitte in front of him.

Instead, Phil Hughes is pitching better than Vazquez, as is Sergio Mitre, who might get the job if Vazquez gets bounced from the rotation.

Trading Vazquez to the Mets makes sense. Apparently Omar Minaya tried to get Javy over the winter, but he didn’t have a pitching prospect for the Braves like the Yankees did.

Now, with the scene a little different, the Yankees may as well give away Javy to Omar.

The Mets need more pitching. The Yankees need Javy to change his address.

The Mets have also been rumored to be interested in Baltimore’s Kevin Millwood and Houston’s Roy Oswalt. Both players would require a decent package in return.

I doubt Vazquez would cost much for the Mets to get now.

Stay tuned to see if anything develops with this story or it gets swept under the rug.

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Since Brian Cashman took the reigns of a championship-bound team in 1998, he has acquired several players who were run out of town following their disastrous tenures in pinstripes. Scathing condemnations written by dozens of columnists questioned these previously successful players’ respective abilities to succeed under the bright spotlight of New York. 

So as all three of Cashman’s previously lauded offseason acquisitions—DH Nick Johnson, CF Curtis Granderson, and P Javier Vazquez—continue to struggle as the calender turns to May, public opinion has shifted noticeably. More specifically, the average Yankee fan has begun to wonder whether any of these athletes, especially Vazquez, will be able to positively contribute towards a successful 2010 campaign.

But as I often like to say, nothing denotes the ignorance of the average sports fan—and journalist —more than overreactive impatience.

The fact is that of all of the supposedly exemplary players who failed in New York, none were as talented, established, or consistent as Javier Vazquez. In fact, Vazquez is the only pitcher in the history of the sport to have posted 10 consecutive seasons of at least 10 wins and 150 strikeouts.

The main problem is that expectations for Vazquez were simply far too high. Never in his career has the righty been as thoroughly dominant as he was in 2009, nor was he even decidedly above average in four full seasons in the American League, where he only once posted an ERA under 4.60.  

That said, if one’s idea of success for Vazquez—a number four starter who was acquired for a fourth outfielder and two above-average prospects—was a Cy Young caliber season, he or she needs to take a long, hard look at the mirror.

The fact is that after a completely inept April, many have come to believe that the totality of Vazquez’s 2010 season will be more like those of previous Yankees busts than any of Javy’s own. But again, these people are simply wrong, as previous acquisitions who failed to succeed under the New York spotlight cannot be evaluated in the same respect.

Carl Pavano had one good season in Florida before getting paid $40 million to wilt under pressure and pain. Jaret Wright got paid a mere $21 million to do much of the same.

Jeff Weaver had a half of a season of a sub-4.00 ERA before he started his career in New York, and Kevin Brown was 40 by the time he imploded in pinstripes.

Not surprisingly, a lack of Major League experience resulted in mediocre careers for Jose Contreras and Hideki Irabu. 

Looking back, there was little reason for optimism for any of the aforementioned pitchers. Most of them simply did not have a large amount of talent. The only one who did was born during during the Johnson administration.

So when thinking about the prospects for the rest of the 2010 season, it is only appropriate to be reasonable. Do not stoop to the level of the average fan and suspect that pitching’s version of the apocalypse is afoot. Instead, understand that five starts is far too little of a sample size to predict failure.

Do not suggest that the slumps that Granderson and Johnson are currently going through are characteristic of long-term busts. Instead, realize that both are undergoing the same frustration that every Major Leaguer experiences several times a season.

And most of all, do not claim that New York is the greatest place to play in the world and then shower the city’s athletes with unwarranted hate and regret. Instead, recognize that players of Vazquez’s caliber do not simply implode in a certain city when they have pitched favorably for four other teams.

As special as New York is, to suggest that one place is such a prestigious and volatile place to live is also indicative of the average Yankee fan’s egotism. Sure, New York is great, the media is rough, and the pressure is measurable, but these things have never, in the history of sport, had such a profound effect on the career of a single athlete. 

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The New York Yankees finished up a three game series against the Chicago White Sox with a 12-3 win today. The Yankees won the series by winning the opening game as well as the finale, but losing the middle game.

I wanted to share some thoughts that came to mind as the series wrapped up.

New Look Outfield

It appears the Yankees will have a new look in the outfield for up to a month. Center fielder Curtis Granderson left Saturday’s game with a hamstring injury and is now on the disabled list. In his absence Brett Gardner will move from left to center. That leaves Randy Winn and Marcus Thames to platoon in left field. Gardner will now need to be in the lineup every day, including against tough lefties. Someone needs to step up with Granderson out.

Rest Up

Manager Joe Girardi used today’s blow out to give some guys a little bit of rest. Third baseman Alex Rodriguez was given the day off. Some reports are that A-Rod felt something in his leg during Saturday’s game. GM Brian Cashman  said the team thinks it’s “nothing rather than something.”  First baseman Mark Teixeira got a half day off as he was the DH today. Due to the blow out score, Girardi lifted Derek Jeter  from the game early and replaced him with backup catcher Francisco Cervelli. Once this move was made, Ramiro Pena who was playing third moved over to shortstop and Cervelli played third base.

Read more thoughts from the Yankees/White Sox series plus a preview of whats next for New York at Double G Sports .

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If Yankees’ GM Brian Cashman purchased Nick Johnson and Javier Vazquez at a department store, he would be frantically searching for his receipt right now. Sorry, no returns.

As the calendar turned to May, Vazquez continued to display the same ineptitude he showed in April as the right-hander was destroyed by a weak-hitting White Sox team Saturday afternoon. Vazquez allowed 11 base runners in three plus innings and five earned runs, including three home runs. His ERA on the season now stands higher than the Empire State Building at 9.78.

Clearly, Vazquez’s second tour of duty in New York is beginning to look like another wretched ordeal. He’s not locating his fastball, he’s hanging off-speed pitches, and his head is a mess.

There are five months left in the season, but the litany of failures Vazquez has previously suffered in the AL along with his visibly fragile temperament all suggest that this experiment is the same lost cause it was the first time around.

I’ll reiterate that my stance on Vazquez is not merely based on his disgraceful tenure in pinstripes. I cited a myriad of factors here over two months ago including his AL nightmares and his incompatibility with the dimensions of Yankee Stadium.

While many supported the move to reacquire him at the time, that bandwagon is looking awfully light now as exemplified by the boos that cascaded down on him upon his premature exit on Saturday in the new cathedral.

According to Michael Kay, Vazquez did a disappearing act for the media prior to Saturday’s game and that is as inexcusable as his performance thus far. If your play is terrible, you need to at least be accountable and if that is too much to ask in May then I don’t see how you can make it through September.  If your skin is thinner than Kate Moss, New York is an impossible place to play.

Vazquez’s next turn in the rotation is slated for Friday in Fenway Park and there has already been discussion over whether he will make that start since the Yankees can skip him due to their off day on Thursday. Although the Red Sox lineup is not as menacing as it once was, putting Vazquez in that chaotic environment would be like throwing him to the wolves.

On the last year of his contract, Vazquez will see his future play out elsewhere. The only question is how soon that will occur. Since Vazquez has a history of success in the NL, he may actually be movable despite his miserable start to 2010 if the Yankees are willing to eat a portion of his $11.5 million salary.

Brad Penny, John Smoltz, and Vicente Padilla all resurrected their careers to some extent last year after their respective defections to the NL (Penny continues to thrive in St. Louis this year and Padilla was the Dodgers’ opening day starter before landing on the disabled list).

Granted, the three above were unceremoniously released by their AL clubs, but Vazquez should be better than all of them at this stage of his career and proved as much last season in Atlanta.

Look for NL contenders to inquire about Vazquez prior to the trade deadline. Ironically, if the Mets are still in the mix in July, Vazquez would be a good fit for them in their gargantuan ballpark.

Johnson, meanwhile, was 0-1 in a pinch hitting appearance which dropped his average to an embarrassing .136. Johnson is buoyed by his .378 OBP, but that and his expiring contract are the only redeeming qualities about him at this point.

His predecessors, Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui, continue to excel in their new locales. Damon, who is on fire, hit a walk-off homer Saturday in Detroit and raised his average to .344, accompanied by a .439 OBP and slugging percentage of .511.

Incidentally, he’s also been lauded for contributing to the rapid development of former Yankee farmhand and the early AL Rookie of the Year favorite, Austin Jackson.

Curtis Granderson, the big name Detroit traded for Jackson among others , strained his groin running the bases Saturday and was immediately placed on the disabled list. Struggling while Jackson, Ian Kennedy, and Phil Coke contribute in Detroit and Arizona, Granderson has yet to find himself as a Yankee.

Lefties still give Granderson fits as he bats .172 against them in 2010 and just .215 with a .303 OBP overall.

In spite of his slow start, he’s a Yankee for the long haul and will be given every opportunity to succeed once he is healthy because, unlike Vazquez and Johnson, the Yankees have simply sacrificed too much for Granderson to allow him to flop.

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Last night my dad called me and asked me if I wanted to go to the Yankee game with him on Sunday. I told him I had plans for Sunday and asked him why we didn’t just go Saturday (today) instead. I was promptly told, no and reminded that Javier Vazquez is pitching today which meant that he didn’t want to go. “With so many good pitchers on the staff I’d rather wait and go see somebody better,” my dad said.

That’s the way it is with Vazquez, people just would rather avoid him. Well, Javy’s former manager Ozzie Guillen can’t avoid him, not today. Why would Guillen want to avoid him? Well because today is the first time Vazquez will face his former team since the manager called him out.

‘’He hasn’t been [a big-game pitcher], that’s the bottom line,” said Guillen . What you see is what you get, Javy is going to be Javy. I just want him to be aggressive, throw the ball over the plate and knock somebody on their [butt]. That’s a big three games for us… You have to be mean. Go out there and show them we show up to play, show up to kick your guys’ [butts]. And believe me, that will take care of itself.’’

Unfortunately for Guillen it did not prompt the response he was looking for, anger. Instead Vazquez responded this way:

“You know what? It’s not going to [change a lot of opinions] because I’m really the type of guy that when I retire, I’m going to be home in Puerto Rico with my family. I’m not looking to have to change minds if people feel that way…”

So being directly challenged by his manager was not enough to get Vazquez to pitch with a chip on his shoulder. Will facing him for the first time since the run-in do it? Can he use this as motivation to turn his season around? It’s hard to say, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

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