News and Notes 11/25/08

-> Tyler Kepner reports that Brian Cashman is expecting a big bounceback from Robinson Cano and Alex Rodriguez.  He also expects the rest of the lineup to perform better:

With the Yankees prepared to lose Jason Giambi and Bobby Abreu to free agency — and focusing mostly on pitching after trading for first baseman Nick Swisher — they need Canó to be the player they expected. His name was the first General Manager Brian Cashman mentioned when asked Monday about his confidence in the offense. “We think our offense is better than it was last year,” Cashman said. “We had injuries and underperformance. I think Robinson Canó is going to have a big year and bounce back to the previous two years rather than last year.” Cashman said he did not think Canó, Melky Cabrera or Swisher could play worse than they did last season, adding that catcher Jorge Posada and designated hitter Hideki Matsui should be recovered from injuries.

You have to love Cashman's enthusiasm, but the mere mention of Melky Cabrera makes my back bristle. Cashman is saying what he has to say, but there's a few things here that worry me:

• Cabrera, obviously.  If the Yankees could get their hands on a better offensive centerfielder, they would do it in a second.

• No one knows what to expect from Posada, but it's reasonable to think he could be at or close to his career averages of.277/.380/.477/.857 if not a few points below.  What we don't know about Posada is where he will be providing those numbers.  If it's not behind the plate, then there is no gain.

• If Posada isn't behind the plate, that creates issues for either Swisher at first or Matsui at DH.  Matsui was having a very good first half last season until his knee started giving him problems again.  After two surguries, what's reasonable to expect from him?

The Yankees had a +62 run differential in 2008 after a +185 in 2007.  They haven't gotten any younger in Matsui, Posada, Damon, or Jeter, and they're looking for guys who have steadily regressed to rebound.  If they're going to settle with this offense plus a minor tweak or two, they absolutely have to bolster the pitching staff to improve their run differential.  If they're unable to sign Sabathia or at least two middle tier pitchers, it's going to be a

long

season. -> The Pirates have signed two pitchers of Indian descent to free agent contracts.  How did they find them?  The Indian reality TV show "Million Dollar Arm." Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel hit 84 MPH and 90 MPH on the gun respectively after working extensively with Southern California pitching coach Tom House for over four months. It's hard to blame the Pirates for taking a stab at this one, even if it does reek of an American Idol-type stunt.  The fact is, there are 1 billion people in India and someone, somewhere inside that country must be able to do something remarkable with a baseball.  I don't know if a contest is the way to find that person, but if it promotes the sport in India and the Pirates can gather some young talent, who's to argue?  The issue will be judging that talent since there is nowhere near the level of competition there that you would find in Japan or North America. ->  Omar Vizquel has played his last game at shortstop for the Giants, according to GM Brian Sabean.  The club will now focus it's efforts on free agent shortstops Rafael Furcal and Edgar Renteria. Really?  Okay, I understand letting Vizquel go.  He had a .550 OPS in 266 at-bats in 2008, a .621 OPS in 513 at-bats the year before.  I think it's safe to say that Vizquel is done at the plate.  Just about anyone would be an upgrade at the position. So why spend the money on guys like Furcal and Renteria?  Within the AP article, it states:

Committed to developing its young player, San Francisco had been grooming speedy rookie Emmanuel Burriss asVizquel's successor,but adding a veteran such as Furcal or Renteria would allow Burriss additional time to grow into the position.

Burriss is 23 and posted a .686 OPS in limited playing time last season.  He hasn't posted stellar fielding stats, but he's young, cheap, and could post a similar OBP to Renteria or Furcal.  The Giants scored 640 runs last year, second worst in the league and a run behind Washington.  Their pitching fared a bit better with a 4.38 ERA, ninth in the league and just over the NL average.  They need to bolster their offense and wasting money at shortstop isn't going to get it done.  At least, not with Furcal or Renteria.