Mike Silva's New York Baseball Digest » Freddy Garcia

Andy Pettitte, Michael Pineda, and the Latest on the Yanks Rotation

Monday, April 23rd, 2012

The setback to Michael Pineda this past weekend where he was shut down after only 15 pitches on Saturday, along with the recent struggles of the Yankees rotation, have turned the signing of Andy Pettitte from a “luxury item” to a thing of urgent necessity. So how concerned are the Yankees with Pineda’s latest setback? I spoke with a […]

Putting the Pettitte Cart Before the Horse

Tuesday, March 27th, 2012

Andrew Marchand of ESPN NY has consistently been concerned about Michael Pineda‘s velocity this spring. He, along with some other members of the media and blogosphere, have almost comically tracked each Pineda pitch. The thought of sending Pineda down to the minors seemed absurd earlier in spring, but the signing of Andy Pettitte gave the meme a more […]

Veteran Intangibles that Stats Can’t Measure

Monday, March 5th, 2012

All offseason we debate the merits of acquiring different players. Sometimes, we don’t understand why a team brings a veteran into camp when there are cheaper replacements that could do the job just as well, or even better. The Mets were accused of this when they held on to expensive veterans such as Alex Cora […]

Phil Hughes and the Yankees Rotation

Wednesday, February 29th, 2012

Joel Sherman of the NY Post reported yesterday the competition for the Yankees fifth spot is rigged; in other words, Phil Hughes gets it unless he completely falls apart like he did last spring. Considering the reports from Tampa are that he’s in great shape, I expect him to join CC Sabathia, Hiroki Kuroda, Ivan Nova and Michael Pineda in the rotation. Joe […]

Giants Rejected Yanks Offer For Matt Cain

Friday, November 25th, 2011

I received some interesting Thanksgiving news from down in Tampa. Apparently, the Yankees recently contacted the Giants and offered four players for Matt Cain. The package was a combination of at least one position player and several minor league pitchers. Some of the names that were bandied about were Jesus Montero, Nick Swisher, and different minor league talent that included names such […]

Accolades, Prognostications and Hype, Oh My!

Thursday, September 29th, 2011

It was pre-ordained. It was a team that was predicted by so-called baseball experts to be one of the greatest in baseball history. A team personally handcrafted and built by a genius named Theo Epstein, a man many considered to be one of the greatest GM’s in baseball history. Yes, everyone celebrated from Harvard Yard […]

The Yankees Postseason Rotation is Still Murky

Friday, September 23rd, 2011

The ALDS will start on Friday, September 30th. Despite the fact that we are week away, it doesn’t appear the Yankees postseason rotation is any more settled today than 10 days ago. You know CC Sabathia will take Games 1 in every series. Ivan Nova, a minor leaguer in the middle of the season, very […]

Morning Digest: Mets and MLB Drop the Ball on First Responder Tribute

Monday, September 12th, 2011

There was no Mike Piazza to homer off Steve Karsay last night. Even if there were, I doubt yesterday’s Mets- Cubs game could ever recreate the drama of September 21st, 2001. The Mets did a nice job honoring the ten year anniversary of 9-11. They had alums get involved all weekend and participate in charity […]

The Underrated Freddy Garcia

Monday, August 8th, 2011

Bartolo Colon has been the big story for the Yankees starting rotation. Who would have thought he could emerge as the Yankees #2 starter when they signed him this winter on the advice of Tony Pena? The other big surprise, to a lesser extent, is Freddy Garcia. It’s Garcia that gets talked about far less […]

Hideki Irabu’s Legacy, Johan Santana as Freddy Garcia, Jimenez Risk, SF Exec on Wheeler, Is Beltran the Best Positional Player in Mets History?

Friday, July 29th, 2011

Very sad news out of Rancho Palos Verdes, California as former Yankees pitcher Hideki Irabu committed suicide. TMZ is reporting he hanged himself to death. Irabu was certainly a disappointment with the Yankees when you consider the hype he came with to the States. He never lived up to the “Japanese Nolan Ryan” billing that was given to him […]