Bleacher Report - Articles by Mitchell Fleischman

Yankees Analysis: How Alex Rodgriguez Can Repeat As AL MVP

Mitchell Fleischman — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 15:11:42 -0400

We all know that last year was magical for A-Rod. The name "Mr. Clutch" seemed to switch from shortstop to third base last year, but can Alex really repeat the type of season he had last year?

I think the main point that Rodriguez needs to maintain is his consistency. Although he did blast 54 home runs last season, Alex was far from consistent.

Everyone remembers what he did last April, belting 14 homers and hitting a red-hot .355. Look what happened in May: .235 with only 5 homers.

I won't bore you trying to come up with more sentences to present the information, so here it is: June, .402 9 HR; July, .206 7 HR; August, .330, 9 HR; September, .362, 10 HR.

You can plainly see that besides August into September, consistency was A-Rod's weakness.

Can you really "fix" consistency? It's either very simple or very complex, depending on how you think of it. The simple part is keeping his mechanics sorted out, making sure his leg kick is straight, and not too high.

In addition, he's got to make sure he doesn't "over-do" an at-bat, like sitting on every pitch like it's Game Seven of the World Series, bottom of the ninth, team down by three, two outs, full count and the bases loaded.

He's got to take it easy and let the at-bat "take care of itself." Alex is a great player and sometimes puts a little too much pressure on himself to perform other than just playing a good game of ball.

The other aspects of the game are a bit more complex. I've covered simple parts of his mental state, but there are other factors that play in.

In the past two years, he's created much drama off the field, which is not good for his game. Although the controversy with the lady (other than his wife) didn't affect his game greatly, it's not the thing to do in the middle of a race for the AL East title.

Alex has to avoid anything that will distract him from the baseball field.

A large part of the game is a player's defense. Many coaches will argue that defense carries into the AB and offense carries out onto the field. If you don't believe me, check out A-Rod's statistics in 2005: 48 HR, .321, .971 fielding percentage.

Now look at 2006: 35 HR, .290, .931 fielding percentage, .40 lower than the previous year. Look at the trend last season, 2007: 54 HR, .314, .965 fielding percentage.

It's not as good as 2005, which was his best year as a third baseman, but it's good considering he's relatively inexperienced at the hot corner.

Don't get me wrong, 2006 was much more mental than anything. He felt that he had to carry the team after Hideki Matsui and half the pitching staff was injured. Having the burden of carrying the team on your shoulders is no small feat, and the impact was evident on his offense and defense.

A-Rod is here to stay, and these are just a few of the things that he needs to do to remain an elite player in the game of baseball.

Yankees Analysis: The Yankees Kei Igawa Solution

Mitchell Fleischman — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 14:48:53 -0400

I'm not one to criticize the Yankees, but here's a move that I find questionable. They purchased Kei Igawa from the Hanshin Tigers in Japan.

It was a gamble, just like the Red Sox acquisition of Daisuke Matsuzaka, but it did not pay off. The Yankees locked up Kei to a five-year, $20 million deal in late 2006. The Yankees need to do something to relinquish that contract to Kei.

I respect the man fully and his commitment to the game. I probably couldn't perform on the mound anything like he can. However, Igawa is not Major League material. He wasn't able to make the transition from Japan to the majors.

It's actually a little surprising considering that his and Daisuke's numbers weren't too far off in the Japanese league. My prediction was pretty accurate last year for Daisuke, but I was way off on Igawa. I estimated he'd have a mid-four ERA and a record of 14-9. Obviously this was a mistake.

Unless he makes some drastic change, I see no reason for keeping him around. He gave up four ER in one inning to University of Southern Florida college students. If that's not an indicator of what his skills are, then I don't know what is.

Truly, all of his ratios are not good, ERA, HR:IP, BB:IP, Hits... all below the "accepted" standard for a quality pitcher.

I do all the complaining, but provide no solutions. Well, here's the solution:

If there's one thing that Igawa can work on, it's his changeup. As much as everything else is subpar, his change up can be devastating if used correctly.

If he can spot it on the outside corner during the right count in the AB, he can up his strikeouts and lower his hits and ERA. Those will either get a lot of ground balls or high pop-ups.

Also, if he can develop his fastball a little bit more, the change up will become that much more effective. Besides that, control is Igawa's major flaw. A well-placed fastball is still the best pitch in baseball, but the key is location.

If he can spot the fastball and change up, he can become an effective inning-eater. The thing I do like is the hesitation in his pitching delivery. If he uses that to his advantage and changes the timing of it, then he can keep hitters off balance.

I hope this offers some insight into the workings of Kei Igawa—and how the Yankees can utilize him to make their organization better.

Bobby Abreu: Contact, Power, or Neither?

Mitchell Fleischman — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 15:55:41 -0400

We as Yankee fans know that Bobby Abreu had a sub-par season last year. But with a new season and an entire winter of rest, how will this impact Abreu? We all remember that last spring Bobby sprained his oblique muscle and we can safely say that it impacted his season. A relatively strong start faded away to a struggle over the summer and a strong return in the latter months. The power wasn't there last year, which may have been because of the oblique strain. Abreu seems in a groove this spring, belting a homer in the past week. We can only hope that this carries over to the start of the season.

Not only is Bobby's offense a pivotal part of the Yankees line-up, his defense is vital. He's got an arm that can contest with most outfielders of the day (Vlad "the impaler" not included). So it is important that his defense and offense build from each other. If statistics continue, he'll have a solid defensive year like always. The only problem that we might attest to is the offense. Abreu isn't getting any younger, and his numbers have been steadily declining over the past two years. It seems as if he used up the rest of his career home runs in the 2005 home run derby. We can only help that he has a stellar year, at least as he did in the last half of 2006 when coming to the Bronx. We all know that after coming to the Bronx in July of 2006, Bob had a fantastic second half, hitting well above .300.

I, as much as anyone, wants Bobby Abreu to do well this year, but it's time to be realistic. Unless something stellar happens, look for Abreu to hit around .277 with 13-15 HRs and 95-100 RBIs. Still, expect the classic OBP to stay well above .400. Although he is getting older, he'll still keep that ability to spot balls in the zone.