Yankees blow 3-1 lead
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- March
- 16
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Morgan Ensberg and Adam Everett homered off Ron Villone in the seventh. After untouchable Colter Bean pitched a perfect eighth, Ben Kozlowski allowed two doubles in the ninth to lose it.
Bean’s line in five appearances: 5.2 2 0 0 0 6. The Yankees don’t seem to have any time for the guy but he should be in the mix, no?
I know spring stats don’t matter but Doug Mientkiewicz is 1 for 22. But he has struck out only twice and drawn five walks.
Alex Roldriguez is hitting .323 (10 for 31) but has one extra-base hit and two RBI.
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on Friday, March 16th, 2007 at 3:53 pm by Peter Abraham.
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Chad Jennings
Sam Borden
I’m addicted. I just told my boss, “Wait a minute, I’ve gotta read the update on Peter’s blog!”
well no doubt Bean is pitching well but he also is pitching later in the games where a lot of the younger and inexperienced guys at in the game, I wanna see him face proven major leaguers.
“Alex Rodriguez is hitting .323 (10 for 31) but has one extra-base hit and two RBI.”
Slacker. He sucks.
Stacey, I just went ahead and read your post as sarcastic. Right or wrong?
“Stacey, I just went ahead and read your post as sarcastic. Right or wrong??”
Yes. It was sarcastic.
good thing villone’s a lock for the bullpen. get used to innings like that, everyone. he’ll be here at least until july.
Ugh. Didn’t Villone sign a minor league deal? Can’t we just stick him in AAA?
“Alex Roldriguez is hitting .323 (10 for 31) but has one extra-base hit and two RBI.”
and your point is…??? its unbelievable that 10 for 31 can be overshadowed by one extra base hit and two rbi. get off arod’s back
yes, but villone has a clause where if hes not on the major league roster come opening day he can become a free agent
I’m pretty sure all the “statheads” and “nerds” said signing Doug Mientkiewicz was a bad idea. What he lacks in offense he doesn’t really make up for in defense, either. He’s gotten by on reputation alone these past few years.
Who knows, he may pick it up, but the first base situation is horrible, and it would be wise to send some pitching (Pavano?) for a halfway decent first baseman.
Heck, let’s get a first basewoman, just someone who can hit and field.
On to brighter subjects has anyone see the YES Promos for OPening Day so far they have run a Posada and Mariano one. They are great black and white the player talking about what it is like playing for the yankees etc then at the end they say whio they are give there number then the screen changes to Opening Day April 2nd. Makes you want these spring trainign games to be over already and get to the games that matter
Kasey,
On Ron Villone: I understand that has been policy in the past, but I’m hopeful things have changed. Cashman has said guys are competing for spots on this staff. Villone will need to pitch well to make the team. They would need to make a move on the 40-man roster if he does so I honestly don’t think he is anywhere near a lock.
I’m just curious, but what did most of us do before the Internet and blogs like this? Did everyone who posts here just argue with total strangers on the street about the Yankees all day long?
i was kinda hoping when villone declined arbitration someone else would sign him so we could get a draft pick out of it.
I think Villone has punched his ticket out. It’s a shame we couldn’t get that draft pick.
Todd -
Rightly, Joe discounts the results he sees in spring training. I think they’ll look at how Villone is throwing. Maybe he made two mental mistakes – or maybe his command was off today.
All that said, based on stuff Torre has said (in audio files from Pete’s blog), I don’t think the pitching staff that starts the season is the one we’ll find in the Bronx next month
Reading between the lines, there’s a very good chance that Bruney and Karstens will not start the year in the Bronx – purely because
1) the Yankees won’t need a long man to start the year – Pavano and Igawa might provide that
2) It’s better for Karstens to pitch than to sit and rot
This isn’t based on merit…
3) I also think it’s possible Igawa starts the season at Scranton
Why?
I THINK Henn and Rasner are out of options.
I could easily imagine a scenario where both guys start the season on the roster.
The pen is:
Mo
Farns
Proctor
Myers
Villone
Vizcaino
Henn
Rasner
And a 4-man rotation – Wang, Pettitte, Moose, Pavano
This could buy Cashman 2 weeks to find a trade partner for Rasner and a reliever.
Henn has time to win a job, and Villone certainly has time to lose one…. and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a deal or two by April 15th…
steve,
I hoped for that too. Villone is not a good pitcher and would be a waste of $2.5+ million. Sadly, He Has Earned Torre’s Trust.
I think Villone’s contract is contingent on him making the 25-man roster, so we could certainly jettison him without suffering any consequences. I’d be positively flabbergasted if that happened.
ChrisV82,
This statheadnerd is definitely with you on trading Pavano for first base talent. We have to prepare for the possibility that we won’t have a good first baseman in 2008 either.
As for Mientkiewicz and his .222 OBP so far – he will play better than that in the regular season. A little bit better. And then his back will go out.
(Man, look at all this vitriol from me about Mientkiewicz and Villone! I guess I must have it in for over-30, crappy baseball players.)
melhall27:
Before the Internet I guess I wore out my welcome with a couple of “baseball friends,” the other sports junkies at the office or various ex-brothers-in-law.
Now I can bore and irritate thousands, no millions, of fresh victims. You gotta thank Al Gore. Not only did he discover Global Warming, but I hear he invented the Internet too.
Lock. Box.
Mientkiewicz and Villone are reminiscent of the old Tampa signings of just a few years ago. They’re done, and ST is exactly the time to figure it out.
murphydog,
“Now I can bore and irritate thousands, no millions, of fresh victims. You gotta thank Al Gore. Not only did he discover Global Warming, but I hear he invented the Internet too.”
I think you just claimed a few more victims.
“Heck, let’s get a first basewoman, just someone who can hit and field.”
Yeah like maybe my grandmother!
Ha, just checking.
THE MORE I SEE OF VILLONE THE MORE I THINK JOE TORRE WILL FIND ANOTHER LEFT HANDER-THANK GOD
I’m really hoping the Yanks go after Teixera hard next year. He is a free agent after this year, no? You get Gold Glove defense, and a great bat, not to mention he’s still young. Pete, what do you think the possibilty is that Cashman will try to sign him?
I think the Yankees should take a close look at the Spring Training performances. Villone shouldnt break with camp. Minky isn’t doing very well but he’s all we’ve got. Phelps should be rewarded for his strong performances. I will be mad if Karstens doesn’t make the team.
I could be wrong with this Austin but I believe Teixiera is a free agent in 2009, not 2008.
Austin,
It’s a safe bet the Yankees will make a hefty offer to Teixeira (it helps explain the Mientkiewicz signing, anyway). He will indeed be a FA after this season and I agree he would be a great fit.
Wow Jeremy. Are you a stand up comic or something? That’s pretty funny.
murphydog,
I may have no job whatsoever soon if I keep spending so much time posting on this blog.
In 2008 Teixiera is ‘Arbitration Eligible.’ In 2009 Teixiera is a free agent.
http://www.rotoworld.com/conte.....mp;id=3329
Jamie:
I almost forgot about “Lock. Box.” Thanks ; )
RussW210,
I had gone by Cot’s Baseball Contracts, which says his contract expires after 2007.
http://mlbcontracts.blogspot.com/search?q=teixeira
If he’s not a FA until 2009, we had better hope either Phillips or Phelps evolves into a pretty good 1B.
scooter, i hope you’re right. but here are statements torre has uttered on more than one occasion this spring. some are paraphrasing, others are pretty much word-for-word.
- pavano and igawa are in the rotation. read that again.
- villone’s pretty much got a bullpen spot locked up.
- phillips has the inside track on the righty first baseman’s job due to his experience in pinstripes.
this is all stuff that’s been said several times now.
f
Derek Jeter is hitting .333 (11 for 33) but has one extra-base hit and two RBI.
What about Giambi? Matsui? Minky? Cano? Damon? What are they hitting?
I know Cano had that 3-run homerun today, and Giambi and Damon have at least one each. But how many extra base hits in total and rbi’s do they have?
Teixiera has been in the majors for 4 full seasons. he can’t be a FA until after 6 seasons.
Mientkiewicz is no longer a major leaguer.
Rich, thats a little extreme doug had a pretty solid hitting season last year until he came up lame with the back injury. We have a very good lineup all we should hope from him is great defense and if he puts up the offensive numbers he put up last year we should be fine with that.
hmmm,
Thanks for enlightening me on that point.
Jeremy, i wish he was a FA as much as anyone. he supposedly idolizes mattingly, and mattingly could be the manager next year, which could give the yankees the inside track.
Colter Bean is garbage
Could someone actually spell his name right please? His name is Mark Teixeira not Teixiera or Teixera. He won’t be a FA until the end of 2008.
Jeff,
Doug was in decline before the surgery, both offensively and defensively. There is no reason to think that the surgery has reversed that trend.
A team can never have enough offense to overcome a poor hitting 1Bman. Players slump, have bad days, get injured, hit into bad luck, etc.
So no, it would not be fine for Mientiewicz to put up last season’s poor stats yet again. It would be horrendous.
Rich, I can see where your coming from but I see no reason where Doug cant be serviceable here which is all you ask. He could also end up being like the Tony Womack signing where the organization realized it was a bad signing during the season and he ends up rotting on the bench. But hopefully its not the latter.
FYI- to round out the group
Cano is .333 (13/39) including 4 Extra base hits and 9 RBI
Giambi is .148 (4/27) but with 3 extra base hits and 4RBI
Matsui is .364 (12/33) but with 4 extra base hits and 3RBI
Damon is .250 (7/28) but with 1 extra base hits and 3 RBI
Posada is .353 (6/17) but with 3 extra base hits and 3 RBI
By the way in 314AB’s last year Doug hit .284 with 4Hr and 43 RBI which isent that bad considering his upside defensively, and Yes our stacked offense.
Jeff,
Why wait? I would rather let Phelps, Phillips, and Giambi share time at 1B.
Those numbers are OK for a SS, not a 1B.
Again, he is not the defensive player he once was.
thanks for the info Pat.
Rich, I can see your point on Phelps and Giambi. Giambi is a given and Phelps has looked very good this spring. But when it comes to Phillips he is the worst type of hitter he is a streaky hitter who when is hot is not even that good.
“Alex Roldriguez is hitting .323 (10 for 31) but has one extra-base hit and two RBI.”
You’ve got to be kidding at this point, right?
Not related to the conversation , but has anyone checked out the link to “No Maas” on Peters Blog. Check out the first story of that blog. I can’t believe it is linked on lohudblogs, LMFAO. Hilarious.
Jeff,
I only included Phillips because of his glove. He can be a defensive replacement.
Right now, I am focused on getting Phelps as much PT as possible.
He can be traded though. We have some trading chips. What is the advantage of trading for a player that will be a free agent in 1-2 years? Not having to put another insane monetary value on another talented player, battling all teams to be the highest bidder. I smell a trade.
Owen: I’ve linked to them for over a year now and I’m not going to take it down because they took a shot at me. I’ve got more class than that. Their blog is funny. I’d credit whoever does it but they remain anonymous for whatever reason.
If it comes to choosing a mix between hitting and fielding at first base, I would go with Phelps’ hitting over Phillips’ defense. As we saw last year, the Phillips late-inning-replacement for Giambi worked fine. Minky could be that replacement on the days he doesn’t play (depending on the pitcher).
Jeff hit the nail on the coffin, Phillips is streaky… when he is bad he is real bad, when he is good he is real average.
Pete – it’s probably the underdogs blog haha. He is right though, and funny, about A-Rods words being twisted around. We have the right to interpret them as we may but its hard to say A-Rod wants out when he says things like “One hundred percent, my wife and I, my daughter, we want to stay in New York.” People want to play that down and pay attention to the “Its up to the fans if I stay or not.” This reminds me of relationships when I was a kid, just wanting to hear that she would be my girlfriend forever but not paying attention to the real picture. Because she wouldn’t say it, it would upset me, just like some of the media (cough, Newsday) is upset at A-Rod for not being so straight forward… I know I’m comparing A-Rod to my ex girlfriend haha.
“I hoped for that too. Villone is not a good pitcher and would be a waste of $2.5+ million. Sadly, He Has Earned Torre’s Trust.”
One other person comes to mind when I hear this… TANYON STURTZE. Oh man, that guy was a mess.
Peter,
I have to tell you I have read your blog everyday since someone pointed it out to me a couple of weeks ago (definitely not a lifetime, I know!). Mostly I find your blog to be fun and intelligent, but I had to agree with “No Maas” on this one. Just as you are entitled to your opinion, I and they, are entitled to ours. (Just paraphrased what you said, I think?) That being said, I think you are wrong on Arod, but keep up the good work on the rest of the team.
Thanks for replying
Owen (Joe)
Isn’t Scott Boras the agent for Mark Teixeira?
He will ask for at least a Soriano-like contract and will compare him to Lou Gehrig.
Cashman doesn’t seem intent on long-term contracts anymore.
By 2009, the Yankees will need at least one starter or three, not mention Mo’s replacement.
2009 rotation
Wang
Hughes
Chamberlain
Betances
then possibly:
Sanchez
Ohlendorf
Clippard
McAllister
Kennedy
free agent
future draftee
Alex,
By 2009 Hughes is ready.Hopefully Betances and either Kennedy/Clippard/Chamberlain will be ready. Our minor league pitching is stacked with high potential arms. Now its not realistic to think all these will pan out but I honestly dont think our pitching will be a problem come 2009.Cashman’s recent philosophy of not overpaying for mid level FA and building from within is a great plan. But when it comes to a guy like Teixeira you give him what he wants.
Pitching wins championships, defense helps pitching. That’s why we have Alphabets at first base. The guys a freakin wizard with the leather, and anything with the stick is a bonus. Let’s not forget he’s batting in the nine hole… eighth at best. If he can pick it on D,and hit.240-.260 we’ll be fine.
Defense up the middle and in the OF matters. At 1B, not so much.
The lack of offense that the Yanks would be likely to get from Minky at 1B would never be made up by his supposed sterling defense. This guy is Tony Womack, no matter what his numbers were in the past.
Well, let’s look – he’s getting paid what – 1.5 mil? Not exactly Tex money – more like Womack money so let’s not get carried away. Defensively, he’s better than Giambi. Offensively, he’s supposed to be better than Phillips vs Lefties. He’s got a one year contract. Chill people – it’s not the second coming of Mattingly. He’s a stop gap. With our 1-8, who cares?
Rich, don’t forget Ivan Nova when putting together the 2009 staff.
sunny,
I certainly agree that he is not robbing the Yanks, but let’s face it — just about anybody is better at first than Giambi at this point. I am one of those “true believers” who says you do not give outs away. And based on his career arc and injuries, I think the Yanks would be giving away too many outs in front of Damon and Jeter if they let Minky play first regularly and hit ninth.
Mientkiewicz had back surgery. This back issue should be in the past hopefully.
This thought won’t shock many readers of this site, but Teixeira would be worth a big contract. He’s a switch-hitter, averages .900 OPS, fields well, and will be on the right side of 30 after 2009. He has also stayed healthy so far. While Alex is right that Cashman’s trend has been to avoid long-term deals, Teixeira may be too tempting a solution to a big problem (no halfway decent first baseman) to pass up.
As for Mientkiewicz, it’s true that, compared to guys like Giambi, Mientkiewicz doesn’t make a lot. But $1.5 million is still something, even for the Yankees, and Mientkiewicz is very likely to be a waste of all of it. The only hope he’s worth the investment is if JeterMVP is right, and Mientkiewicz’s back surgery fixed both his hitting (terrible for a first baseman) and defense (below average). Actually, JeterMVP’s point is the best pro-Mientkiewicz argument I’ve seen. I still don’t think it justifies the contract though. We’re gambling that Mientkiewicz will play significantly better than he has in the last three years.
Baseballs,
Are you Mientkiewicz’s PR man?
“Pitching wins championships, defense helps pitching. That’s why we have Alphabets at first base. The guys a freakin wizard with the leather, and anything with the stick is a bonus.”
Here are some problems with your statements.
1) First base, as Rich said, is a hitter’s position. Players who are truly “freakin wizards with the leather” play other positions. Big, Carlos Delgado-types who can’t play any other position play first base. You don’t put your defensive specialist there.
2) I would like someone, either you or anyone else who believes this, to explain to me why you think Mientkiewicz plays defense well. I don’t mean six years ago, I mean now. Mientkiewicz hasn’t had a positive FRAA since 2003 (when he had a FRAA of 1). If you’re not familiar with FRAA, that means that for the last three seasons, Mientkiewicz has been average or defensive liability at first base.
3) If you are wrong that Mientkiewicz is a wizard of any sort, and you are, then you pretty much admit that he is useless player, as he is only good for his defense.
“Let’s not forget he’s batting in the nine hole… eighth at best.”
Nor should we forget that it’s a very bad sign when your first baseman bats eighth or ninth.
“If he can pick it on D,and hit.240-.260 we’ll be fine.”
Don’t forget .240-.260 with no power and few walks.
If Teixeira is looking for Soriano-type money, then I think the Yankees should stay away from him. He is already 27 and it is too risky to give him a 8-year contract. One thing that you guys need to be aware of is his personality. He is gonna be another A-Rod in New York.
I think the real benifit of adding Mientkieicz is that there is no need to play Giambi in the field now. He should stay healthier and hopefully enjoy one of his most productive years in NY.
I appreciate that 1st is a position you want to have some production from, but our main worry isn’t scoring runs. Do we want to give away outs? Of course not, but esecially with young pitchers coming through, and with Igawa and Pavano both having question marks, we need a safe (if unspectacular) pair of hands at first. Nothing kills a pitchers confidence like seeing your opponent rally because your 1st baseman can’t pick Underdog’s throw out of the dirt.
As for pitching this is how I see the roster shaking out
Rotation
WANG
PETTITTE
MUSSINA
IGAWA
PAVANO
BULLPEN
RIVERA
FARNSWORTH
PROCTOR
VILLONE
MYERS
VIZCAINO
BEAM or KARSTENS (probably TJ Beam cos they don’t need long man and probably don’t want Karstens to have to alternate too much between pitching one innning now and trying to stretch him back out if Pavano gets hurt or Igawa struggles), and Beam has been unhittable since middle of last year.
Henn and Rasner are behind both of those guys. Even if they are out of options it doesn’t make sense to play em if they are only just making it into your top 10 or 15 relievers. A trade seems much more likely.
“He is gonna be another A-Rod in New York.”
Wow. So he’s going to put up an annual OPS of .900 over the duration of his contract? Bring it on!
I’m almost 100% certain that an average fielding, no-hit first baseman is absolutely worthless in the game of baseball.
Man, you guys are rough on Mientkiewicz. Give the guy a break it’s only spring training. Anything is better than Giambi at first. Let’s see how he does the first month of the season. If he proves to be horrible at the plate and barely average in the field, then throw him off the bus. Until then let’s worry about Torre’s bullpen selection. That could prove a lot more harmful then old Dougy at first.
good to see villone get rocked. i dont want him near this team. i’d rather have almost anyone: bean, beam, bruney, britton, karstens, rasner, myers, veras, etc.
as for minky, what else was cashman supposed to do? aurilia? hillenbrand? no thanks. like he said, when they didn’t get a good hitting 1b-man, they turned their eye to D. minky is NOT terrible despite his poor spring (just as karstens is not our ace). he has a career OPS+ of 99. ok, he’s an average hitter. he’s not going to slug much, but his career obp is actually higher than damon’s! he has a good eye and can draw a walk. we’re not talking about bubba crosby here. the guy is an average hitter with an above average glove. pretty good for the 9 hitter. not a bad acquisition, and for a decent price.
i also see Torre taking Phelps over AP bc he’s just the best 1b hitter we have. and who knows? maybe duncan tears it up in SWB and becomes the everyday 1b come july. i can dream.
It seems Henn would qualify for a 4th option year and not put on waivers after all.
http://baseballanalysts.com/ar....._and_1.php
[QUOTE]
* A player who is currently entering his fourth or fifth pro season and already has been optioned in three separate years gets a fourth option. Delmon Young has been optioned in three years (2004, 2005, 2006) and he’ll get a fourth option in 2007, which he’s doing his best to earn.
* A player who has missed one or more seasons to injury – meaning an entire season, or enough time to accrue fewer than 90 days on an active roster – may get a fourth option if, exclusive of those injury-shortened years, he has fewer than five full seasons in pro ball. A season in which he’s on an active roster for 60 days or more and then gets hurt still counts as a full season, but a season in which he’s hurt and then comes back and gets 60-89 days of service after the injury does not.
* Seasons spent entirely in short-season leagues (the New-York Penn, Northwest, Pioneer, Appalachian, Gulf Coast, and Arizona Rookie Leagues, as well as the Dominican and Venezuelan Summer Leagues) don’t count as seasons for the purposes of a fourth option.
As you might imagine, more players are eligible for fourth options than you might have realized, but they often don’t come to light because the players are low-profile or because they’re kicked off of 40-man rosters before the fourth option comes into play.
Since no one else is going to say it I will.
Ron Villone deserves to make the team.
He pitcehd really well in the first half of last year, struggled down the stretch because he had thrown far far too many innings. On the days he didn’t get into the game he was usually told to warm up at some point as well so put hundreds of more pitches on his arm.
I don’t expect to see him in the eighth inning too often, but he can go more than one inning when needed and now he has had a few months off, should be a good option out of the bullpen.
I’m surprised he didnt get any bigger offers this year. Both he and Ray King, who went to Washington for $5 and a packet of boiled sweets, seem to have been ignored in a market short of lefty relievers.
I know, I know, many of you will say that’s cos hes got nothing left, but I think he’ll surprise some of you.
Or we could trade Villone to the Red Sox – I hear they need a closer!
Villone is a year older than last year and doesn’t deserve to make the team. The Yanks have a lot of better options, and it would be foolish to keep a real pitcher in AAA while a cooked pitcher is still on the 25 man roster.
Mientkiewicz is all about A-Rod. Mientkiewicz makes A-Rod a better fielder, turning all of the errant throws into outs instead of errors. They were high school teammates, and Mientkiewicz will probably be A-Rod’s best friend on this team. Mientkiewicz also turns screaming doubles down the line into outs. With Giambi or Phelps out there, those shots are doubles every time. With Mientkiewicz, they’re outs.
“Don’t forget .240-.260 with no power and few walks.”
i am not a mientkiewicz fan, but this isn’t really fair.
last year he had an OBP of around .360. if he just does that, he will be fine.
i wasn’t crazy about his signing, but i understand the rationale. there is no way the yanks could have come into the year with Andy Phillips penciled in as their starting 1Bman. and Phelps was a total ?. at the least, they needed someone who resembled a major league player and was at least above replacement level, which phillips may not be.
here is the deal with Mientkiewicz:
2006
Minky: .283/.359/.411
Melky: .280/.360/.391
the yanks scored 930 runs with Melky batting 9th for much of the season. it doesn’t matter if that batting line is coming from left field or from 1B. if Mientkiewicz repeats his 2006, he would not be the sucking black hole that many think. think of like Mientkiewicz is replacing Melky, and Matsui is replacing Phillips.
IF (and it’s a big if) Mientkiewicz simply repeats his 2006, the offense will be just fine. on the other hand, he very well may be done. in which case, he’ll be DFA’ed at the trade deadline.
i didn’t like the deal, but i understand why it was done.
Ok, wizard may have been a bit strong, but he’s very good with the glove… you’ll see. With this lineup we dont need first basemans numbers from the first baseman.
How come everyone is so high on Minky’s defense, he is no longer the Minky 3 years ago. I would have to disagress with all three of you above.