Results tagged ‘ Michael Pineda ’
Pineda excited to be with Yankees
Michael Pineda was at his house in the Dominican Republic when his phone rang. It was Brian Cashman on the other end of the line, telling the right-hander that he was now a member of the New York Yankees.
Pineda grinned as he recalled the moment, saying how excited his mother and father were. Not to take anything away from his time with the Mariners, but Pineda was thrilled too. The Yankees name carries weight, and Pineda said he couldn’t wait to report for Spring Training in Tampa. He hasn’t been disappointed.
“Right now, I like everything,” Pineda said. “I’m excited to be here with this team. It’s pretty good here, so I like it.”
Pineda throws a bullpen this morning, working with Francisco Cervelli. Here is the full list of pitchers-catchers workouts on tap:
Early BP: Manny Banuelos (Jose Gil), Cesar Cabral (Gary Sanchez), D.J. Mitchell (Kyle Higashioka), Dellin Betances (J.R. Murphy).
Group 1: Phil Hughes (Gustavo Molina), Ivan Nova (Gil), Pineda (Cervelli), CC Sabathia (Russell Martin), Rafael Soriano (Austin Romine).
Group 2: Freddy Garcia (Sanchez), Hiroki Kuroda (Martin), Boone Logan (Romine), David Robertson (Murphy), Cory Wade (Kyle Higashioka).
Tex likes Yankees’ trade for Pineda
Mark Teixeira offered a positive review for the Yankees’ big move of the offseason, saying that Michael Pineda could have a great impact on the club’s rotation for years to come.
Jesus Montero, dealt to the Mariners in last month’s four-player deal, might well turn into an elite big league hitter, but Teixeira said that the gamble seems to be worth it.
“Montero might be really, really good. He’s got a chance to be special, but so does Pineda,” Teixeira said last night at the Thurman Munson awards dinner in midtown. “I think that’s what we’re banking on; Pineda being a top tier starter and somebody that can be a force for a long, long time.”
Teixeira and the Yankees faced Pineda just once last season, on May 27 in Seattle. Teixeira went 2-for-4 against the right-hander, including a first-inning solo home run.
“[Pineda has an] electric fastball, really good slider,” Teixeira recalled. “He’s so big. Any pitcher that is that big, that can throw that hard, his margin of error is going to be a lot bigger than everyone else’s. He can go out there and not even his best stuff. When you’re 6-foot-7 and throw 97 (mph), you’re going to get outs.”
Teixeira did seem to suggest that the Yankees could use one more bat to complete their offseason shopping. If the season started today, New York’s DH would likely be Andruw Jones, with some consideration given to Minor League slugger Jorge Vazquez and the rest of the at-bats rotating between players like Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter.
“We basically have the lineup we had last year,” Teixeira said. “Rotating a DH wouldn’t be bad, but if you could pick up a guy that could come in and give you some pop off the bench or be a DH every now and then, we’re not going to say no to that. We can use all the help we can get.”
Cashman: We could trade for a DH
In a conference call with reporters discussing the Michael Pineda trade on Monday, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said that he’d be more inclined to trade from his pitching depth to acquire a designated hitter than to sign one on the open free agent market.
When the Yankees officially announce the signing of right-hander Hiroki Kuroda, they’ll have seven starters vying for five spots. CC Sabathia, Ivan Nova, Pineda, Phil Hughes, A.J. Burnett and Freddy Garcia are also in that mix.
“Maybe I use our excess pitching to find a bat,” Cashman said. “That’s a possibility. … We stretched the payroll to get [Kuroda] done, so I’m not sure what we have financially. I think we’ll look at the trade market first and foremost and see where that takes us.”
Among the DH options out there, the Yankees have reportedly heard from Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui, Vladimir Guerrero and Raul Ibanez, but are not thought to consider any of them an urgent priority.
“I think [the free agent market] would be secondary,” Cashman said. “Not that any of those players aren’t quality, but I do think it’s probably in our interest to first and foremost see what’s available in the trade market, because we have excess starter. There should be a demand and an interest at the various levels in our starting pitching that might prove beneficial.”
If the season started today, the Yankees would likely go with Andruw Jones as their DH, though they are curious about Minor League slugger Jorge Vazquez.
Pineda ‘beyond excited’ to be a Yankee
The Yankees media relations department just sent out a quote from the newest Bombers pitcher, Michael Pineda, as the four-player deal with the Seattle Mariners was officially announced today:
“I’m feeling great and I’m beyond excited,” Pineda said. “I never thought I would become a New York Yankee so early into my career. This is the best thing in the world. Pitching alongside CC Sabathia, I’m speechless. And playing alongside players such as Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter is unbelievable.”
Yankees GM Brian Cashman is on a conference call with reporters right now in which he said that Jesus Montero “may very well be the best player I’ve traded, and I’ve been doing this for a long time.” More information to follow on yankees.com.
Is Pineda a lock as the Yankees’ No. 2 starter?
As the dust settles from Friday’s big deal between the Yankees and Mariners, many – this space included – have been touting Michael Pineda as a good fit to slide behind CC Sabathia in the Yankees’ rotation. But that may not be the case if the Yankees choose a more conservative route with bringing the hard-throwing righty into the 2012 season.
A person familiar with the Yankees’ thinking said this weekend that Pineda shouldn’t be considered a lock as the Yankees’ No. 2 starter, and added that cases could be made for Ivan Nova, Phil Hughes, Hiroki Kuroda and even A.J. Burnett in that spot over Pineda.
“It’s not my decision, but I would not slot him there,” the person said. “I think he’s got a chance to get there someday, but I wouldn’t be looking for that soon. … From my standpoint, there’s still development here that needs to take place. This is not a finished product. I would not put him in the situation where, hey, you’re starting Game 2. But maybe that’s ultimately what gets decided.”
One point of concern is Pineda’s changeup, which still needs to be thrown more to become a reliable pitch for him. Right now, he’s been succeeding largely behind his fastball and slider. This much is certain – with seven arms to fit five slots, the rotation promises to be a good topic of discussion for manager Joe Girardi and pitching coach Larry Rothschild in Spring Training.
Bobby V. weighs in on Yankees moves
This shouldn’t be a surprise, but new Red Sox manager and noted sandwich wrap inventor Bobby Valentine wasn’t exactly turning cartwheels this morning over the Yankees’ moves to acquire Michael Pineda and Hiroki Kuroda. That didn’t stop Valentine from weighing in, as Ian Browne passes along:
“Pineda, when I saw him the first half, he looked unhittable,” Valentine said. “Second half, he looked OK. [The Mariners] saw a lot of him and they traded him. Kuroda is a good pitcher [but] a year older than he was last year [and] pitching in the American League and not the National League.
“[Going from] pitching in not a great pitchers ballpark from a great pitchers ballpark. They’re probably an upgrade from [Bartolo] Colon and [Freddy] Garcia. Probably, I don’t know. It seems it.”
Bryan Hoch
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