Game 47: Angels at Yankees
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- May
- 26
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Here is the lineup:
YANKEES
Abreu RF
Jeter SS
Matsui LF
Rodriguez 3B
Posada C
Giambi DH
Cano 2B
Mientkiewicz 1B
Cabrera CF
Wang RHP
Pregame chatter: Johnny Damon is not in the lineup because of sore legs but will not be going on the DL. … I have no idea what the record is for most innings by a catcher but Posada is going to shatter it at this rate. If Wil Nieves can’t play a day game after a night game, what’s the point of having him around? … Thanks to Brian Heyman for calling in the lineup. … I am off today and have things to do, so this will probably be the last post for a while. Enjoy the game.
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on Saturday, May 26th, 2007 at 11:47 am by Peter Abraham.
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Chad Jennings
Sam Borden
Josh Thomson
This game is not on the MLB EI package and I won’t be able to watch it.
What a relief.
Go Yankees.
Has there been any talk about acquiring a new backup C?
Also, Torre is driving this time to the abyss, just saying.
and joe puts abreu in the leadoff hole again?!?!?!!?
damon should be put on the 60 day dl so he can get into some athletic shape and stop hurting the team with his pathetic play.
Three problems:
1. Chris Coste has now been optioned to AAA by the Phillies. Cashman MUST go get him and replace Nieves with Coste. Something is VERY wrong if Coste is in AAA and Wil Nieves is on a ML roster. They are going to kill Posada.
2. Damon should be on the DL. His legs are his game and he has no legs right now. What’s the point of having him on the active roster? Its crazy to play shorthanded everyday.
3. The lack of a bench shows, not only in the fact that guys like Posada are overworked but, having Giambi in the lineup everyday. He isn’t hitting, doesn’t hit with any power anymore (probably because he flunked a drug test so no “help” in that regard) and they are forced to keep a dead bat in the lineup, which kills this offense.
Regardless of how they have to do it (nice or ugly) there is no way Jason Giambi and Johnny Damon can both be on this roster next year. Only one can DH and, for a combined 35 million dollars, they really limit upgrading the roster. Whomever the GM may be has to make moving one (or both of them) out of here their #1 priority.
Reviewing one thing from last night I can’t understand.
Torre showed more patience with Clippard against the Mets than he did last night. Why is that? Assuming one agrees with pulling him early (which I don’t, since he wasn’t hurt), why go to DeSalvo and Vizcaino if you are looking for more consistency? He said was the reason behind the move Neither guy can throw consistent strikes and, in the case of Vizcaino, he is now the worst relief pitcher in MLB since April 20. The move made no sense.
If you are going to pull Clippard, why not use Villone for 2 innings? Last night was the third outing in a row Villone pitched 2 shutout innings. He could pitch 2, get you into the 7th, then you have your regular guys, Bruney and Proctor, set up after that.
Pete, I know how you feel about Torre but, this is the kind of stuff that defies explanation. You can’t make these kind of in game mistakes on a consistent basis. Which, unfortunately, he does.
This team has enough glaring weaknesses. If the manager is going to be one of them, that’s a big problem.
He has to be more patient with the young pitchers.
What the heck has Luis Vizcaino done to “earn” his trust that Tyler Clippard has not?
Last night was one of those head scratching Torre moves that really makes you wonder about his ability to get the job done at this point in his career.
Does anyone know if Yankees forfeit a draft pick to Boston when Damon was sign to a contract?
In other news,
http://tinyurl.com/2zzt5q
The Hancock Family is class all the way.
sc – Yes, we lost our first rounder for the Damon signing.
Damon has become Bernie Williams part 2 in CF defensively. I was worried this would happen in years 3 and 4 of the contract, but unfortunately it has happened this year.
Damon was a free agent.
I can’t find anywhere that Joe explains the rational for pulling Clippard? Anyone have anything.
“This team has enough glaring weaknesses. If the manager is going to be one of them, that’s a big problem.”
Well said SJ44.
And good for Clippard for voicing his disappointment at being hooked.
hey pete, heres that malin song u talked about fo rpeople who want to listen, http://youtube.com/watch?v=dlmBCrBJokA
keep getting an error when i try to access that post’s comments section
In regards to the Hancock lawsuit, with all due respect to the family for their loss the sole responsibility for the accident is on the person who decided to drive while he was drunk.
Hopefully this bogus lawsuit gets tossed, I mean suing a driver because his car stalled?!?!?! you gotta be kidding me.
Who is going to take Giambi’s DH duties, SJ? He got two hits last night and walked. Hopefully he’s breaking out of his slump. Giambi always has a massive slump during the season — right after he hurts himself — and then he breaks out of it.
Nieves is worthless. If they don’t trust him, then DFA him and bring up Omir Santos.
Damon can, and should, take Giambi’s place as the DH, with Melky going to CF.
At some point, this team is going to have make defense a priority. Especially since they say they want to be more “pitching first” as a team.
Giambi hasn’t hit for 6 weeks and two weak singles mean nothing. Its like greenies, you have to ween off them, and the Yankees need to ween off Giambi.
With all the stuff swirling around him, having him in the lineup everyday is a problem. It doesn’t help the team.
Granted, with Damon out, he has to play. However, they need to begin the process of ridding themselves of Giambi.
His salary, and lack of production, can no longer be ignored.
He is a HUGE impediment toward fixing what’s broken with this team. The sooner he can be removed, the better.
For everyone bashing Damon, this is his line over the last week:
.333/.429/.417
So he’s not currently killing the team. This isn’t an argument against DLing him, because he could use the half-month to get his legs and back into shape. But until yesterday, it wasn’t affecting his play.
Josh: I deleted the post, I can’t get the You Tube thing to embed correctly.
SJ:
Right on the money.
Is Santos any better? His career minor league line is pretty awful.
If Damon goes on the DL, I suppose Melky would go to CF and Thompson would get brought up. Thompson has been respectable:
.268 .344 .402 .746
Sure wish they’d give Shelley Duncan a look. He’s played 1B and OF at Scranton. He’s raking with 12 knocks so far this year.
.331 .412 .648 1.060
I have been on the fence about Torre, but batting Abreu leadoff is a joke. He is lost at the plate, and now is guaranteed more AB’s than anyone else on the field.
Why not try:
Jeter (R)
Cano (L)
Posada (L/R)
Arod (R)
Matsui (L)
Giambi (L)
Cabrera (L/R)
Abreu (L)
Minky (L)
Santos and Chavez are terrible. The next best in-house option would be PJ Pillittere in Trenton. Then again, he’s a defense-oriented guy, too. Frankie Cervelli is still at least a year away.
Why wouldn’t Joe just condense the lineup and bat Jeter leadoff?
Jeter
Matsui
Arod
Giambi…….
It makes no sense that Abreu even sniffs the top 6 right now. I’ve NEVER been a Torre basher, but a lot of his moves have been suspect lately. Abreu sucks right now, and to give him the most ABs is stupid.
Santos is batting .289 at Scranton. Nieves is batting .037.
Edit: Tony didn’t even see your post. Looks like we’re on the same page.
Coste actually got sent to AA Reading. He told the team he wanted to go there so he could catch everyday (Phils top C prospect Jason Jaramillo is at AAA Ottawa) He desparately wants to be in the bigs and would be asset to the Yanks. The phils have extra catchers- the Yanks have exta RH Reliever.
SJ- do you think they might do Vizcaino for Coste- straight up? If so- bye, bye Luis. If not, Farnsworth for Coste + AAA pitcher (to replace Britton when he is called up)
Yeah, I just looked up Santos. He’s been heating up in May, I guess, since his stats were much worse last time I checked.
Give ‘im a try. Not much to lose, really.
I don’t bash Damon. He’s a hard worker who takes pride in his play. However:
Hitting wise, I might agree that Damon seems to be coming around, but it is also true that he can’t play every day, and his physical difficulties are affecting his outfield play. If the team were playing more consistently and you could count on the pitching staff (both rotation and pen), then you can afford for Damon to miss a ball or throw here and there. But more importantly, getting a day off here and there is not only not helping Damon recover, it means that this team cannot put out its “A” lineup day after day. (Granted, their “A” lineup this year has been shaky, but when was the last time the lineup that was expected to play everyday actually played together and in the order they were expected to?)
Abreu is starting to see the ball batter and will hit or get BBs.
Peter: Do you know if Damon has had blood tests recently? Perhaps he is lacking necessary potassium in his body which will cause cramping, commonly located in the calves.
Dear Mr. Torre,
Bobby A. is batting .220 this month. What ig God’s name is he doing in the leadoff spot???
ig = in sorry
We need a new bench. There’s a problem when Pehlps is your best bench player.
Cairo and Nieves are not major league players, and Melky is one of the many victims who is sufering from sophmore slump.
Cashman has always made the bench an afterthought, and let’s nto foregt about all hsi pitching mistakes over the years- Weaver, RJ, Pavano, Wright, Farnsworth, Vizcaino, re-ssigning Mussina, letting Lieber go, Brown, etc.
Cashman needs to go, as does Torre at season’s end. Just don’t replace Joe with Mattingly. Bring in Girardi, Big SStein!!!
Colorado Yank – Torre said that he saw Clip being erratic and not having good command – however he had no walks. 48 of 77 for strikes which is 62%…right about where it should be. He was getting hit, but there were some balls to the outfield that could have been played a bit better.
Question for all – where is the best place to see the game through the net (e.g. gamecast, sportsline). I have tried several and they all seem to get hung up at some point. Any suggestions?
The dumb continues.
Is anyone ever happy with anything the Yankees do. It’s one complaint after another. Almost feels like a Red Sox board.
Vizcaino is a issue. This isn’t the same Vizcaino that was in Arizona. Something isn’t right.
Farnsworth is a huge issue and will be taken care of before the deadline.
Wil Nieves is a problem and wasn’t the right choice.
Other than that, the Yankees are solid. They lost yesterday cause they got beat, not cause Torre mismanaged.
Jeff, obviously Torre will go as his contract is up. DUH.
The dumb continues.
Clippard didn’t have any walks, but he did throw a couple of wild pitches. I think that might have hurt his cause for staying in the game. As I said before, I think he couldn’t have done any worse in one inning more. The game was still close at the time; in his game against the Mets and also in this game, he showed some tenacity; at some point you need to let your younger guys pitch through.
Colorodo Yank – Clippard was leaving pitches up high. If he stayed in, the score would have been a lot worse than it was.
Re: Damon’s legs, Suzyn Waldman said the problem stems from his chronic back pain. When pitching him, Scott Boras always emphasized he’d never been on the DL,(except for the time he had a collision in the outfield) was so consistent. Which to me says it’s likely he’ll be going there in the near future.
does anyone know why the game is blacked out on MLBtv? Its not being shown nationally.
Some more terrible pitching, and this time, from our ace. The only reliable pitcher on this whole team is Wang. And just to show you how unreliable the pitching is. Bruney and Proctor from the pen. That’s 3 reliable pitchers on the whole team.
This game is getting ugly fast. I hope it’s not going to be another bullpen showcase.
FOX blacks out all the games on Saturday.
Can I get the game through a website/radio connection?
Pettite is the only reliable starter this year. Wang can have no hit stuff one game, and his next time out gets rocked. Lack of consistency is one of their largest problems this year.
Worse than pulling Clippard was going to another, less effective rookie who’s been a starter for his whole career. Why is Villone on the team except to pitch in that spot, where he was lights out for the first half of last year?
Also, enough already with Vizcai-oh-no. I’d like to think we’re just trying to get one or two decent outings out of him so that some team (Philly?) can be suckered into taking him off our hands. But considering the standings, can we afford to have him blowing up any more games?
Young catchers in minors bat well because they play every day. Really it is a crap shoot getting anyone let alone a rookie who could bat effectively with so few at bats. But nieves should go it’s time to roll the dice again.Also you can’t use the same releivers evry day so everyone that says villone should have come in earlier or even Proctor- they were losing and they just hoped for some quality innings which DeSalvo and or Viz should be able to handle. Give Torre a break!
Here’s the thing about all the Clippard hemming and hawing. It’s easy to bash Torre in retrospect, when the bullpen fails completely. We don’t know how well Clippard would have done if he had been left in, but by all indications he would have continued to get rocked by leaving his pitches up in the zone.
The Yanks bullpen is just bad (with only a few exceptions). When our starters can’t get the job done for 6-7 innings, we’re going to be in trouble no matter what kind of moves Torre makes.
However, I agree that Torre’s hook is too short, and that he has irrational trust in guys like Vizcaino– but I don’t think that a different manager would be able to make this bullpen look much better than they are.
If you want to rant, I would focus on Torre’s decison to bat Bobby in the top spot. Let’s give the most number of at-bats to the worst hitter on the team- genius!
big steve: you can listen to the game on mlb.com if you have paid for mlb.tv. thats what i’m doing now
Anyone have an MLB tv proxy for todays game?
Wang has given up 3 runs in the 1st inning. Definitely time to take him out to go to our pen.
Game is over already, yankees are pathetic and have zero effort.
fire joe
I think it’s time for beer already…
yup…
In the last month, Abreu leads the Yanks in at bats, batting .196, onbase percentage of .256. He leads the Yanks in SO with 21 (tied with Cano), and has only drawn 9 walks (Posada has 11). We’ve been very patient for two months now, but the only thing Bobby should be sitting at the top of right now is the bench.
I wish Damon would just go on th DL. If your hurt your hurt. Don’t say it’s not that bad because you have a streak of never being on the DL. Get on the DL a get healthy. He is taking a roster spot we could badly use. Can you say, Bernie Baseball?
nothing is going right.
Jeff:
http://www.myp2p.eu/MLB.htm
Angels is the only team in AL that Wang has not beaten so far in his career…
This line up is such a joke. Watch me get an easy shutout!
BTW, I think the 2007 Yankees is the worst team in the history of baseball. I don’t think this is overstating it at all.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
Wang may be settling down. He’s only thrown 50 pitches, which means he could still go 6 or 7 as long as he keeps his sinker down. I think we still have a game here.
Okay… he’s definitely settled. How ’bout some offense?? Please?
Certainly Torre is not to blame for last night’s loss. But he is a horrible manager of pitchers. Last night is a small sampling of why the bullpen gets overworked. Granted, Clippard wasn’t sharp, but did throw strikes and had thrown 77 pitches. Send him out for the fifth and if he gets in trouble, then yank him. Villone should have been the only option and even then (5th) it was early.
MINKY! Big hit right there, the Yanks finally plate a run. Rally? Oh wait- Abreu’s up.
Melky, energy…
Scratch that- it’s Melky, the only one with a BA worse than Abreu’s.
Alex literally manufactured the run.
I had you worrying there for a moment didn’t I, Angels fans? No sweat. It’s just one run. King Escobar is still completely in control. Facing some of these AA hitters is kind of fun to tell you the truth. BTW, The Kotchman just told me he’ll get the run back with a homer.
What is Melky’s arm like? At this point I feel like it’s time to give him a chance to play in right field. Last year Melky put up good numbers when he was an everyday player- this year he’s only been used sporadically, and I think that’s hurt him. Melky couldn’t possibly do much worse than Abreu, right?
Next inning Alex will have an RBI if he gets to bat, i.e., someon gets on base and not doubled up.
Wang is really turning this around here- the first two innings he looked terrible, but he’s adapted well and been efficient since–75 pitches. After Abreu gets out the meat of our lineup should be able to tie this up.
After first inning Wang has been stellar.
It is up to the offense to score some runs and win this game. Of course, unless clueless Joe takes Wang out before his time and brings in his favorite Vizcaino.
well 3 run 75 pitches… he obviously should come out right?
Torre should be aggressive and let Bobby steal. We should get a run this inning.
Alright! Bobby proves me wrong. See- all it takes is a little pressure. We definitely need to make the most of it this inning. C’mon Jete- time to extend the hit streak.
Do you think that bunt was called from the bench? Weird move with Jeter up…
Jeter did it on his own.
bad luck inning. man things don’t go the Yankees way
The whole season so far has been like this. Most of the breaks, especially umpire calls, went against the Yanks. Hopefully things will turn around.
Looks like we’ll win this one. We can cruise from point. A two-run lead is more than enough. This team can’t come from behind that often. As for tomorrow’s game, we have our ace Lackey going, so it is nice to get a sweep on the road, even if it’s against a bad team.
For all the people that booed A-Rod, How much worse would things be without him this year?
Yankees will win today.
Offense will wake up this inning.
Wang has a quality start so far (6 innings, 3 runs).
10 pitch inning. Wow. Wang gets better every inning he pitches. Don’t touch him Torre!
The best hitter in the league is attempting to bunt with a man on first. Beyond stupid.
Wang turned a bad inning into a quality start. Nicely done. Let’s pick him up, guys.
jesus christ @ the yankee offense.. this is so painful to watch
“Thompson has been respectable:
.268 .344 .402 .746″
But KT was ice cold when he was first sent down to Scranton. In his last 10 games:
16 for 41 (.390 .444 .610 1.054) and 5/5 in stolen bases
and he’s been hot longer than that, going 22 for his last 57 (.386)
man, I just wish I can pitch to this team every game….I could be a 30-35 game winner. I don’t even have my best stuff today.
Since the 1st inning, Wang has pitched 6 shutout innings, given up 3 hits and 1 unintentional walk. If the Yanks can’t come back from a 3 run deficit…
the yanks cant come back from a 1 run deficit anymore, this team has zero heart, zero desire and no effort whatsoever.
as soon as we get down 1 run the offense packs it in for the day
the only time they will mount a respectable comeback is when were down by 8-9 runs
3-0 and ends up striking out… unbelievable.
As a Yankee fan I will keep watching and hoping, but this team is average at best and those who recognized it in April should be recognized for recognizing this fact so early on.
Damon needs to go on the DL.
Abreau needs to sit a few games.
Torre needs to step up his game.
All the guys not running hard to first base I think that shows a lack of respect for Torre.
Did Pavano have his surgery yet? Has any insurance coverage kicked in?
abreu is the worst player on this team, yankee fans need to do what they did to a-rod last year and run this clown out of town.
hes lucky he isn’t in philly anymore they wouldnt put up with this garbage play by him
My prediction for the final score (not that it matters at this point): 6 – 1.
my prediction 4-3 Yanks
Yanksmitch, Torre heard you and Wanger got 8 innings!!!
Yanks lose today, which is a great possibility. Cashman is gone. They have Toronto coming up and that looks like a series the Yanks should win. Its very rare for a team to fire their GM in the middle of the season, but this team is the epitome of a bad squad. When they pitch, they cany hit. When they get 5+ runs like last eve, they cant pitch. Torre has been over his head ever since hes had to work with plsyers that werent 100% gamers like he inherited in 96. They had BY FAR the best pen and guys that would run through walls to win. This team has guys that are just happy to cash their enormous checks and have ZERO fire. Its maddening to watch
great at bat by godzilla right there. let one fly a-rod!
Another quality start from Wang. His Line today 8 innings ip 3 runs, and 6k.. Yankees Offense continues to be awful.
the more things change the more they stay the same, a-rod double play against the angels to kill a rally……..i believe i’ve seen this before
a rod comming through in the clutch….i think the real a rod is back
Well, my work’s done. By mid-season, Yanks will be at least 25-30 games behind the BoSox, which I think we’ll face in the ALCS.
What more does Torre have to do to be fired? Anything? This is getting ridiculous now. He has to go.
Hey Kelvim. That is very clever and funny to keep posting as Kelvim. And it never gets old either. You’re the funniest and cleverest comedian to ever live.
The team quit in the 2006 ALDS and it has carried over into this season……….I think the fans are the only ones who can see this
FIRE CASHMAN. HE PUT THIS TEAM TOGETHER. Torre does the best he can with what he has. It’s not his fault this team is a bunch of sissies. CASHMAN MUST GO. HE HAS FAILED MISERABLY.
“Certainly Torre is not to blame for last night’s loss. But he is a horrible manager of pitchers. Last night is a small sampling of why the bullpen gets overworked. Granted, Clippard wasn’t sharp, but did throw strikes and had thrown 77 pitches. Send him out for the fifth and if he gets in trouble, then yank him. Villone should have been the only option and even then (5th) it was early.”
Torre was completely to blame for last nights loss. Taking out Tyler Clippard for Matt DeSalvo/a 2nd inning of Vizcaino (when he is always terrible in his 2nd inning of work) was the difference in the game.
“the more things change the more they stay the same, a-rod double play against the angels to kill a rally……..i believe i’ve seen this before”
Blame the only guy who scored a run today. That makes a whole lot of sense.
“a rod comming through in the clutch….i think the real a rod is back”
The word is “coming” – learn to spell.
Get off A-Rod’s back you idiots. Without him it would have been a shutout today. Morons.
wow bad call.
Nice trade, Cashman. Abreu for Sheffield. Beautiful work.
Pathetic loss. Having Abreu strike out for the 3rd time up there with the tying run on 1st was the inevitable outcome for batting him in the leadoff spot.
hahaha what a surprise abreu k’s looking to end the game. what a joker he is get this bum out of pinstripes let him ride out the rest of the year and see what cabrera can give us in right field
Horrible call. Ump completely expanded the zone for K-Rod. Unbelievable.
Cashman is a demonstation in ineptitude. Fire him.
they did not trade abreu for sheffield but heck with the facts moron…
hahaha what a surprise abreu k’s looking to end the game. what a joker he is get this bum out of pinstripes let him ride out the rest of the year and see what cabrera can give us in right field
——
That was a ball. Abreu should have taken that pitch. The ump shouldn’t call balls a foot off the plate strikes.
My husband is saying that the ump expanded the zone entire inning. High outside pitch to left-handers was also out of the zone and called strikes.
I’m glad Bobby didn’t swing at that strike 3. He couldn’t do anything on the ball 4 inches off the plate. All he could do was hope for a decent ump.
Dear stuart:
Um actually, by picking up Abreu to play right while Sheff was injured, Cashman effectively replaced and traded him. Dumbass.
It was indeed a “swap” for Sheffield with Abreu. May not have been a trade, but it is looking like a horrible swap now. He is a Cancer for the team now. Thank the lord he is out after this year.
Let’s see. Since the atart of the Mets series. 2 losses, 2 wins, a loss, a win, 2 losses. Where is this team going??
NOWHERE>
The Yankee Season in a nutshell. Come close, get screwed by two straight bad strike calls, and take it lying down!
Torre needs to explode outta that dugout and give that blind son-of-a-bitch holy hell!
Its not like the Yanks couldn’t afford not having Torre around for a game or two (suspension).
That pitch was in the right-handed batters box, at least 4 inches off the plate. A horrible call, but the ump was giving pitchers a huge strike zone all game. Unfortunately, that last call was particularly terrible.
Quote from Sosh and Redsox Fan named Lollardfish007
Abreu’s still outperforming Lidle …
Geoge was very wise to put pressure on Cashman. Now, Cash won’t be against firing Toree knowing that if it was him or toree to be fired, better Toree than him. Hopefully Joe Giradi get the team together.
Torre should not be managing on Monday night.
Stormy: Abreu watched 2 hanging sliders go by him for strikes 1-2, he had already k’d twice today and seeing as how he is off of steroids and has no skill anymore he was bound to strike out.
with 2 strikes in the 9th against the best closer in baseball you protect the plate!!!!!!!!!
jones that may be true moron but again he did not trade him for sheff twit. they traded sheff for sanchez, whelan, and clagget..
so you are wrong moron…………..
btw sheff sucks, detroit is on the hook for 2 more yrs at $19 mill..
It could of been a totally different 9th inning if the ump used the same strike zone as he did the rest of the game. Both pitches to Giambi were outside, a pitch to Cano and last pitch wasnt even close. That doesnt mean that the Yanks would of scored even if they had the bases loaded and no one out. The lineup takes way too many days off, more then they decide to show up. Now they have to count on old man Mussina and his 80 miles an hour fastball to not get swept.
Torre – Cashman – Abreu – ARod….and on and on. Why pin it on one person? If you are watching these games it is obvious that when our pitching is effective, the offense takes the day off and vice versa. It’s a matter of timely hitting and consistent defense. You can remove Torre and bring in Girardi or Mattingly – but they aren’t going to do that much different. A new GM may re-tool the team, but not at the expense of young talent. The strategy is the same – put the best 9 out there to give us a chance to win. Fact of the matter – we just aren’t a good team right now.
stuart:
sheff’s better than abreau. you can’t argue that. besides, you’re a homo.
Yeah, sosh, and Abreu sees the ball better than Tony Conigliaro!
Gentlemen…
Well, the sins of the past are finally catching up with the Yanks. It was inevitable really. You can’t just pile on crap after crap and not eventually feel the consequences.
The Yanks are DOA this year… I don’t see any way they will salvage this season. They are 5 games below .500 and in all likelihood 11.5 games behind the Sox and 8 back of the WC.
I’m calling it now… Yanks 2007 season time of death – 4:04pm 5/26/07
The fat pu$$y toad has returned, and his name is Bobby Abreu. I hate this guy. What a chickens$%@ bas%#&$. I hate everything about him, from that stupid rocking motion of his, to his fat stupid face, to that empty headed, SCARED expression in his eyes. Torre should play the bat boy instead. He can leave the bat on his shoulders just as well as Abreu, and he won’t look as bad.
LOL at all you idiots. None of you had a problem with the make up of this team before the season started, now all you do is complain and blame everybody. Hindsight is 20/20 huh? I think is is Levi, Rocco, Tim, Mary, Taylor, and Jim’s fault.
Why focus on Bobby Abreu?
Abreu is only one of the things that have gone wrong with the Yanks this season. He is a “patient hitter” who sees a lot of ptiches. Two of those in his last at bat were balls based on the strike zone for the first 8 innings. He also is a lifetime .300 hitter with a .409 OBP. What is he supposed to do, change his hitting technique after 12 successful seasons?
The Yanks scored one run – and that was driven in by Minky!
im not blaming arod…its just nice to see him back to his old self…anything but a double play ground out would have been nice.
At least we have Yankees Classics. In 5 short months, this season will be history, at which point we’ll go from being way behind to way ahead (in terms of championships that is). This team is awful and the season is all but over. I think every Yankee fan has the right to say that. The fairweather fans that heap on the scorn, however, can simply make their way to Shea.
“Abreu is not a real Yankee. He did not take the bat off his shoulder, but stared at those pitches. You know Jeter and Posada would not do that. Hell Melky is better than Abreu. Sit Abreu and play Melky.
So frustrated right now…”
Someone should alert this guy that Jeter has watched 3rd strikes in the 9th in the last two games he’s been up and the Yankees have been losing.
Whenever the Yankees are losing/lose you can always count on some Yankee fans to always try and take cheap shots about A-rod.
Did A-Rod NOT score the only run in this game for the Yankees, or did I miss something?
nobody is blaming a-rod for today’s loss. he along with all the other multi zillion dollar yankee hitters cant hit worth 2 dimes when its needed!
Sooner or later this steam will go on a run and win 45-20…The concern is will it be too late…..It has to get better…This is not 1965 or 1982,there’s to much talent….But the clock is ticking louder every day…..
Bad teams complain about calls. The Yankees are a bad team. Led by Torre today, they are now complaining about the umpires. A waste of time.
Want to do something positive? Don’t pull starting pitchers for garbage relievers in the 4th inning of a one run game and don’t bat a guy who no longer can hit in the leadoff spot. Those are situations you can control. Whining about calls? You have no control over it.
Was the call bad? Probably so. Bobby Abreu has now struck out looking 5 times in the 8th and 9th innings with the tying runs on base this season. For whatever reason, he doesn’t swing the bat in those situations anymore.
I think Torre was just trying to give cover to him, as opposed to trying to make some kind of “statement” about the umpiring. This team doesn’t argue calls on the bases when guys are out by two feet. Now, they are going to whine about balls and strikes?
I didn’t hear the Red Sox whine about the 3-1 pitch to Youkilis with the bases loaded Monday night that was CLEARLY outside.
They should shut up about the calls and play baseball.
Last year, Abreu hit .338 as a Yankee, and was an on base and RBI machine.
Hindsight is always wonderful when folks complain about the Abreu trade. No Abreu, no playoffs last year.
This year, like with Damon and Giambi, he hasn’t been the same player. Why? Who knows.
More importantly, who among all of us would have predicted it? Not only with Abreu but, with the entire offense, sans ARod, Jeter and Posada?
Some things are unexplainable and the inability of this team to hit is one of them.
Bottom line, its not a good team. What can they do about it? Not a whole helluva lot until the trade deadline, then they need to clear the decks of as many guys as possible.
One bad year? Everybody has one. No big deal. Keep this team intact, one bad year becomes two, which becomes three, etc. Wrong way to go.
It may even involve eating some money on some deals. How would you like to be Brian Cashman going to George and telling him how many millions of dollars he has to eat in contracts in order to move guys? That won’t be a pleasant conversation.
But, it will have to happen if they want to fix what’s broken with this team.
More than the talent issues, which are many, their spirit is broken. Its a listless, lifeless team that, truth be told, doesn’t come to play everyday and doesn’t compete.
Winning teams hate losing more than they like winning. They only have a handful of guys who feel that way.
The rest? Its all fun and games, laughing and joking away.
Now, the joke is on them. One of the five worst teams in baseball, with an obscene payroll, whom NOBODY is fearful of anymore.
Its not going to be an easy climb back and it can’t happen unless they can begin (somehow) to de-construct the team this season.
If they wait until the off-season, they won’t be able to fix all that’s broken.
Its tough to watch and it is a shame but, it happens to every team in baseball at some point. Its just time to rebuild.
“im not blaming arod…its just nice to see him back to his old self.”
Some fan you are.
Here’s a trade for the Yankees which benefits all parties:
Damon and Giambi to Colorado for Todd Helton, then Colorado trades Giambi to the Angels for whatever (that’s up to the two teams to decide).
The Yankees get rid of Damon and Giambi. Cabrera takes over CF and leadoff, moreover plays everyday like he should and showed he could do last year. Helton takes over 1B, bats fifth, and protects A-Rod. No lefthanded power is lost. Mientkiewicz becomes the solid backup 1B he really is and should be. Matsui moves to DH. Kevin Thompson holds down LF and bats ninth until a righthanded power-hitting LF is acquired. The Yanks can also get a look at and showcase Thompson. Phelps, the odd man out with Helton at 1B and Mientkiewicz backing up Helton, could be part of a package to land a LF. Too bad the Yanks can’t make Phelps the backup catcher thus release Nieves. Helton costs the Yanks only
$91M – $26M to Damon cleared = $65M – $41.75M to Giambi cleared = $23.75M!!!
The Rockies clear $91M to Helton – $26M they pay Damon = $65M. They can play Damon at 1B after he learns the position, a small price to pay for clearing $65M. They also get whatever the Angels give them. They should consider trading Helton for Damon like a $26M buyout of Helton with players acquired and $65M worth of new players.
The Angels get a big bat at DH in Giambi and a new 3-4-5-6, L/ R/ L/ R heart of the order in Giambi/ Vlad/ Kotchman/ Matthews.
I think Damon and Giambi would agree to this trade. Damon got a World Series ring with Boston, so I doubt he’d care if he had to play 1B for 2 years in Colorado. He most certainly could NOT play Colorado’s huge OF. Giambi would be on a World Series-contending team who plays in a ballpark 20 minutes from where he grew up and minutes away from several beaches he likes to hang at.
I can’t see how any of the three teams would be hurt by this trade. Who’s taking on Helton’s $91M? Who besides the Angels would want Giambi? Who besides Colorado could take on Damon’s measly $26M vs. Helton’s $91M?
“Whenever the Yankees are losing/lose you can always count on some Yankee fans to always try and take cheap shots about A-rod.”
Yep.It makes you wonder what team they really root for.
Pitching and Defense
For so many championship teams, Pitching and defense carries them through tough times. Last night, I watched several ball not caught in the outfield, I watched pitchers who were to young, or to terrible (Vizciano), to stop a team in order to give a Yankee team a chance to catch up. In all, you may not like Torre, but in reality, this is a ill-fated mob. Cashman has to take the bullet here. The biggest mistakes leading to this in my opinion was:
1. Counting on Pavano
2. The Roster allocation with so many pitchers, and a thin weak bench
3. No back-up catcher to Posada
4. No arms in the outfield
5. Signing Igawa for the cost
6. Not signing Beltran ( All Yankee Management Who Were involved.
7. Injuries aside, this team has too many holes….
Damon & Giambi to Colorado for Helton then Giambi to the Angels for whatever Colorado & the Angels agree upon.
Yanks:
Cabrera CF/ Jeter/ Matsui DH/ A-Rod/ Helton 1B
Kevin Thompson LF & batting ninth until a righthanded power-hitting LF could be acquired. The Yanks can get a look at and showcase Thompson.
Colorado: Clears $91M to Helton – $26M they pay Damon = $65M
They put Damon at 1B, a small price to pay to clear $65M. They’re not getting jack but a contract like Damon’s with Helton’s $91M.
Angels: 3-4-5-6, L/ R/ L/ R lineup of Giambi DH/ Vlad/
Kotchman/ Matthews
Damon would agree to the trade if Colorado was on his list of teams he cannot be traded to cuz he got a World Series ring with Boston so what’s playing 1B for Colorado for 2 years? Giambi would agree to the trade cuz he’d be going to a World Series-contending team which plays 20 minutes from where he grew up and the beaches he likes to hang at.
sj44-
i’m jumping on your badwagon for chris coste. here’s an amazing story for anyone that likes baseball:
http://www.nbcsports.com/mlb/465938/detail.html
the phillies have no need for him at all. they are paying about 2.5 million for their back up as it is. he can’t crack their mlb roster. he’s such a gamer that he asked to go to double aa so he can catch everyday.
he needs to be a yankee. read the story and you’ll see why. cashman has a history trading with philly. let’s do what we can here to start a movement to get him in pinstripes.
props for wang…..
SJ44-
On most counts, I’d have to agree with you. But I am hoping, with fingers crossed, they won’t rush to judgment on Cashman. Give him another off-season. I believe he’s got the right “vision” (whatever), but that it will take time to get it right, because of the “dead weight” the Yankees have to carry right now, contract-wise. I would be the happiest person if they do turn things around, but right now, even the most optimistic of fans (myself included) has to concede that this is going to be a very, veyr difficult season.
Jd Drew –
The only move I think Cashman failed on was signing Igawa and way underestimating how much Boston would spend to get Matsuzaka (with the caveat that Boston had NEVER spent like that before). Pavano — well, a reasonable person would assume that the injuries had run their course and the tide was due to turn, especially considering that Pavano went the extra mile to do off-season training and get himself in shape. ALSO do not forget that Pavano was not going to bring much on the market, and IF he did pan out, he was, in fact a bargain that they already had in the fold. You CAN’T use 20/20 hindsight. Other teams wanted Pavano badly, thought his career was on the rise, not the fall.
I am looking for something to happen this week. Even if it’s symbolic, something. Either Farnsworth gets traded, or Vizcaino, or both, are moved somehow, somewhere. I really do not see Cashman going anywhere right now, and I don’t see Torre going anywhere, partly because of Clemens, but partly because it would end up doing more harm psychologically than good right now. And Girardi’s not the guy RIGHT NOW, nor is Mattingly, unless they’re giving up totally on the season.
Damon has to go on the DL, or Giambi, or both. Bring up 2 kids. How much worse can they do right now?????
It’s not an easy time to be a Yankees fan, and there may or may not be a chance to salvage the season (the up-side: more games left than games out
), but now let’s see how creative they can get. Who would have thought all the chickens would come home to roost at the same time????
One more thing:
Colorado taking Damon and his $26M and getting players for Giambi would be like buying out $91M Helton for $26M, only with $65M worth of players acquired and players acquired from the Angels.
Giambi/ Vlad/ Kotchman/ Matthews, a L/ R/ L/ R lineup in the 3-4-5-6 makes too much sense for the Angels to pass up.
Helton 1B, Matsui DH, Cabrera CF, Thompson interim LF before a new LF is better than Mientkiewicz/ Phelps 1B, Giambi DH,
Damon CF, Matsui playing like an old man and DH masquerading as a bad LF.
SJ44-
It’s true that a team going well will not bother to pay much attention to blown calls by umpires. I’m sure that in years past, the same things happened. But when every game is precious, those blown calls DO make a difference. The pitch to Abreu was in the opposite batter’s box. He could not even have swung defensively on that pitch. It was a blatantly missed call. Now, he may or may not have gotten on base, but surely, K-Rod and the Angels did not need the extra help today, and really, all you’re asking for is the umpires to be consistent. What Abreu said after the game was basically that — you need to know where the strike zone is to have a chance.
Boston 10 Angels 1, Boston 8 Angels 0. Boston 7 Angels 2
Here is my point. I love how the Angels always go up to fenway and lay an egg no matter who is on the mound for the Angels or Redsox.But when the schedule brings the Angels to Yankee Stadium its like the angels sons and daughters are being held hostage by the Yankees and the Angels play us do or die, Im just sick of it. We lost to this team in 2002 and 2005 Boston swept them in 2004 And dont care me a Redsox fan because this is the truth.
Casey Kotchman was 2 for 12 against the Redosox at Fenway, Against us he makes every single tough play goes 3-3
The entire angel lineup did squat at fenway to make a long story but they show up to play the Yankees simple amazing and frustrating
I’d throw in Brian Fuentes somewhere in that theory of a trade from Colorado. Yanks have been interested in him for a while and he’s good.
That was the worst trade idea EVER.
Damon is not going to go to Colorado. Why would you want a first baseman who is barely better than Giambi, still old and breaking down, and on contract for 3 more years beyond Giambi??? The only way the Angels will take Giambi is if he is given away. Worst trade proposal ever.
Your logic is that Damon will go play for a loser b/c he already won a ring? Good thinking. HAHAHAHA, WOW
Positive and Negatives
Positives:
Jeter, A-Rod, Posada, Cano, Mientkiewicz, Pettitte, Bruney, Proctor, (8)
Non-Factors:
Wang, Matsui, DeSalvo, Clippard, Myers, Villone, Phelps, Rivera (Barely makes this group) (7)
Total Negatives:
Abreu, Damon, Cabrera, Cairo, Mussina, Pavano, Farnsworth, Giambi, Nieves, Visciano (10)
When 40 % of you team is failing to produce, it makes you a .500 team, and as Parcells said “You are what you are”. We’re a 500 team at best.
Hi fellas, just back from the game. Nice day today, eom.
Ok, I can’t leave it at that. Frustrating game. I am starting to move towards SJ’s opinion that they are just not that good of a team. So many weaknesses now. Schedule gets easier after Fenway, but they will now have to play exceptional ball after that and I am starting to wonder if they could. Either way, I would hate to be in Cashman’s shoes, pretty much every move he’s made lately has back fired. Only good move I can think of was getting back Andy, but losing him the first place was bad. It doesn’t seem like he will survive the offseason, next GM will have a tough job.
Redsox are Devil,
This team is what it is like you said. There aren’t any quick fixes are band-aids to old teams. Its going to take a few years to get back to being dominate. A lot of bad contracts and old players on this team that aren’t going anywhere overnight, even though 60% of the idiot fans on here think that any team in the league will take our bad contracts
What do you guys see in Melky Cabrera? Hes a fluke…yet you all want him out there? I dont understand, hes a fat dominican who cant even measure up to his peoples talent.
Why did the Tampa Posse pass up Valdy Guerrero for Gary Sheffield? Huge mistake by Tampa (not Cash). And why in dah heck didn’t we sign Carlos Beltran. Two wicked serious blunders right there! Well, we got to move on cause we are in deep do-do right now! Anyway out of this mess?
Mel- Big Props!
Jones- I know stuart went over the line, but you say “homo” like if it’s a bad thing. before you know it, you’ll be questioning Tinky-Winky’s and Sponge-Bob’s sexuality.
Doreen- two thoughts on umpires:
1. its a day game after a night game thing. If Giambino has to rest after playing 1st base at age 37, then a 45 yrd home plate ump calling 300 pitches will have bad days.
2. umps carry grudges. Before he became the D-backs manager, Bob Brenly was a broadcaster and a major league catcher. without naming names, he said umps would actually whisper to him “just frame it close” and they would proceed to manipulate the strike zone with someone they had a beef.
3. Go Danica Patrick!!!
Helton trade NO under any circumstances… enough of old guys with huge contracts…..
do anything with; vizciano, farnsworth, nieves. I mean trade them, DFA them, send to minors whatever.
bring up Britton, send Desalvo down after monday, bring up real relief pitchers… get coste or as I said days ago trade Farnsworth to philly how about along with Vizciano..
Cabrera will be fine, morons he is 22, and can field, run, has a great arm, and will be a good contact hitter.
As I said before the Hughes injury hurts a ton, he is legit………….
they need to make some trades or moves but adding any payroll is moronic…………….
again I also would trade, dfa, whatever Cairo and try Phillip at 2b or 3b but obviously this move is not exactly a huge one…
Can people please stop blaming Cashman or whomever for not getting Vlad? Vlad did not want to play on the East Coast, it’s as simple as that.
Randy I:
Thanks for the article on Chris Coste. I peruse Yankee blogs not for the predictable rants but for humor or info, and this was good info.
Jd Drew:
You gave a good summary of where we are. A 25 man active roster is no longer enough for MLB. The NFL went from 40 to 47, and then approved of an official practice squad (formerly an “illegal” “taxi squad”). I would propose 13 pitchers, 3 catchers, 6 IF and 5 OF. That’s 27.
As Bill Parcells famously said, you are what your record says you are. In other words, it very well may be 1965 all over again: Big name stars atop the lockers, but the actual players are aging/declining/losing interest. The silver lining could be this: If we’re, say, 43-42 at the All Star break, I for one will be saving a lot of time (and brain cells) NOT watching or listening to the games until the Hot Stove League and spring training.
steinny wanted sheff instead of vlad. he is a shrewd talent evaluator like most of the guys on this site.
that one move alone is huge…
georgie also wanted the giambino… this mess is his fault, cashman has been telling them for yrs, they need to stop spending and replenish the minors.. thank god they got rid of rj, sheff, and wright, imagine things would be even worse if they kept those guys……
Baloney Vlad did not want to play on the east coast….
that is nonsense, stenny did not want him..
they could have had him ….
RJ -
Yes those were blunders, and I think they both came from Tampa.
They were worried about Vlad’s back, and his desire to play here. That’s why Anaheim got him for a song (relatively speaking). I believe not signing Beltran was for two reasons: one they got RJ instead, two they were scared of long term deals because of what was going on with Giambi at the tmie.
I’ve really tried hard to be optimistic this season, but I am getting ready to throw in the towel.
Our outfield is god-awful.
Since Damon cannot contribute on a daily basis to this team, I really think we should put him on the DL and call up KT. Damon’s bat is getting hot, but if he can’t consistently play, he is part of the problem and takes away flexibility from the roster. Go away and get better Johnny. See you in a couple of weeks.
Putting him on the DL and getting him healthy might get him healthy enough to play every day. If he can prove able, it will also give Cash a better chance to showcase him in the second half for a trade (I know, no trade clause, but you have to hope.).
If we can’t score runs consistently, we had have to improve our defense. KT should be able to do that. KT to right, Melky in center, Bobby to the bench. Still, that’s 2 out of 3 outfielders that can’t hit a lick, but at least they can play some D for us. I’m not that well versed in our minor leagues – is there any other possibility than KT?
Can Phelps play the outfield? Oh god help me, for reaching like that.
It’s going to be interesting to see what Cashman can do – he’s got to be working the phones furiously at this point.
Another so call reason for not signing Beltran ( big mistake ) They were still stuck with Kevin Brown’s B.S. contract as well…..They also figured between Lofton & Bernie Centerfield was covered……Not signing Beltran was one of the bigger non-signing blunders in Yankee History….Along with not re-upping with Reggie in 1982…
“thank god they got rid of rj, sheff, and wright, imagine things would be even worse if they kept those guys……
quick question…who would you rather have in right…a fierce right handed hitter like sheff where every at bat is armageddon or a soft player like abreu (lefty) who doesnt hit for power anymore and is afraid of the wall.
FIRE TOREE and KEVIN LONG
Manager: Giradi
Bench Coach: Tony Pena
Hitting: Mattingly
1B Coach: Someone in the Organization mayve Paul O’Neil?
Moves to make NOW:
-Damon to DL (Call up Thompson)
-Vizcaino for Coste
-DFA Nieves
-Myers to ATL
-Callup Britton
-Callup Henn
-DO NOT USE FARNSWORTH AS SET-UP MAN
Moves to make LATER:
Trade Jason Giambi
I guess Pete is on vacation again! This blog has fewer and fewer updates as time goes on. It stinks as much as the Yanks do.
For some reason Abreu reminds me of Raul Mondesi. Similiar skill set (or lack thereof).
It is really hilarious reading all thease trade proposals. Did it ever occur to you that the other GMs have some intelligence and will not take our cast offs? Any way, it helps to vent, i guess.
I am not giving up on the team yet.
They have a chance to make it as a wild card.
The primary competition for wild card is form AL central and they will be beating up each other.
So far Yanks have been suffering from inconsistency and almost all the breaks are going aginst them. This will change.
Inspite of the rotten results so far, the team has talent and it will show shortly once they overcome the inconsistency.
Also, today, give credit to Escobar. He pitched very well. Good pitching silences good hitting and that is what happened today. We should have won yesterday, but every one knows what happened!
Cashman will make some moves in the next few weeks and improve some of the weak areas.
To sum it up: Yanks will win the wild card in the last week of the season. Then they will go on a tear and make it to the WS. Keep the dreams up.
Manager-controlled low points of the day:
Abreu leading off. Jeter passed Abreu for plate appearances, thank goodness, but Abreu still leads the team in outs. I think it’s clear by now that changing Abreu’s spot in the lineup isn’t going to help him. Stop maximizing the damage Abreu does to the team and bat him seventh. Bat Jeter leadoff if Damon isn’t able.
Seeing on the jumbotron, in the seventh inning: “Now warming up in the bullpen: Kyle Farnsworth.”
Seeing on the jumbotron, in the eighth inning: “Now warming up in the bullpen: Mike Myers, Scott Proctor.”
Never seeing on the jumbotron: “Now warming up in the bullpen: Brian Bruney.”
(That said, my compliments to Torre for using Rivera in the ninth. That was a smart move that I didn’t expect him to make. Torre also made a great move by leaving Wang in to pitch the eighth. I thought it was a poor choice not to pull him after the gave up a walk in the eighth, but he immediately proved me wrong by inducing a double play grounder.)
Jeter attempting to sacrifice a runner over, resulting in a double play. Why would Torre take the bat out of the hands of the hottest hitter in baseball? This caused me and the fan sitting next to me to simultaneously scream out various obsecenities.
I still enjoyed the game – I don’t think I’ve ever failed to enjoy a game at the Stadium, even one last year that the Sox won by 17 runs. It was a joy to watch Wang, after letting Angels hitters spray line drives all over the ballpark in the first, revert to ace form in the second and rack up strikeouts and ground ball outs for the rest of the game.
The hope isn’t completely gone. When Abreu came up in the ninth, I felt that he would come through, and I think that feeling was shared throughout the Stadium. Of course, when he K’d looking, I joined in a wail of digust. My tier seats were too high up to see whether the pitch was outside; all I knew was that Abreu had stood like a statue during his entire at bat.
Torre is absolutely to blame for last night’s loss. Clippard had given up only three runs, thrown less than 80 pitches, and shown a tremendous amount of poise in his first start. We stink. It’s time to realize this, put these kids out there, have them take their lumps, and begin building a strong contender. It’s OK for Clippard to struggle. Jeremy Bonderman…hell, Glavine and Smoltz took their lumps at the major league level and became better pitchers because of it.
Torre cannot manage this team next year.
Don’t worry. Help is on the way. DeSalvo is being rewarded for his sterling effort on Friday with a start on Monday. I really don’t think it is unrealistic that we will be behind 20 games in 2-3 weeks. Oh, and Hughes sprained his ankle rehabbing. You cannot make this stuff up. Maybe we should hire an exorcist.
With as miserable as DeSalvo was on Friday and against the white sox, how on earth can he get a start?
So DeSalvo gets a start after the pathetic performances on Friday and against the White Sox? And the Yankees bat Abreu (maybe the worst hitter of all the starters now) leadoff? There’s no telling just how ugly things could get with this roster plus the worst strategic manager in the game today in Clueless Joe Torre.
We stink right now….It’s sad i couldn’t give my tickets away for tomorrow….looks like i’m going…what will happen next….this team needs a fight in a major way…..
arod looked great in the clutch today is all im saying
Only Texas, Tampa Bay and Kansas City have worse records in the AL than the Yanks. There are 21 teams in MLB with a better winning percentage. The Yanks are also chasing Boston which sits at #1.
In the “12 games of make-or-break” against heavy competition the last few weeks, they sit at 4-7 with one more game to go.
If you released a bunch of players (Giambi, Abreu, Pavano, etc) who don’t do much – you still have to pay their salary. Does anyone know if that money counts against them for the luxury tax? If they get below the threshold, they can save a considerable amount of cash even though they’re on the hook for these dopes. Just want to use those funds for something good (like further farm development) and give those roster spots ot young kids to develop at the big league level for next year…
Does Peter Abraham read these comments?
Or just get a feel for the ranting and raving with a quick browse?
All said and done, the Yanks are only 7.5 games behind in the Wild Card and still more than 100 games left. It is not that surmountable if they play up to thier potential.
Keep the hope alive.
fire cashman now
I don’t think there is any doubt that major league umpires will soon have to face the instant replay music. They blow like 2-3 plays a game.
From Rotoworld.com:
“Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s Chris Britton pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings on Friday to lower his ERA to 0.82.
Maybe it’s time to find a way to stash Luis Vizcaino on the DL and give Britton an extended look. He has a 26/9 K/BB ratio in 22 innings.”
Is their anyone even running this organization? How can this major league reliever just rot away in Scranton while our bullpen is such a mess?
It’s not like this is a fluke. Last year, in 54 innings, Britton had 41 k’s vs. 17 walks with an era of 3.35 and a 1.17 whip. And the Yankees are waiting for…………?
Just looked at the standings for the 1st time in a while. The only teams with worse records than the Yankees in the AL are Tampa Bay, Kansas City and Texas. It will be June in a couple of days.
The patient is hemorrhaging on the operating table.
Randy I
Great story on Coste. Thanks for the link.
Tony B:
There is another option to Kevin Thompson, it’s Shelley Duncan. 1B/OF at Scranton. .322 with 12 hr’s. .631 slugging and 1.033 OPS. I don’t know about his defensive skills however. Perhaps someone on this blog who has seen him play can help us there. KT can’t hit AT ALL. I’m in no rush to see him back here.
Ramar:
If you read Pete’s prior posts, you’d know he was off this weekend because he’s headed out on the next roadtrip on Monday.
Yanks Fan in Cali:
Yes, Pete reads the comments, and responds to some of them on occasion.
It looks like Damon is not going to be placed on the DL any time soon. But, if he was, I think Kevin Thompson would be the best bet to bring up in the interim. He’s been hitting well of late, but more importantly, he is a very good fielder and has some speed. I am skeptical about Shelley Duncan. I know he looks to be having a good year in SWB right now, but he was never that good in Trenton. I’d like to know if he’s doing anything differently that’s caused his play (hitting) to improve so much (average-wise).
I agree about Chris Britton — he should be given a chance in the majors. It would seem he couldn’t be any worse than what’s here now (Viz and Farns).
Chris Coste looks like he could be a real find for the Yankees if they could get him. Thanks for the info, SJ and Randy 1. SJ, the only thing I disagreed with in your post had to do with the demeanor of the team. They look to be having anything BUT fun and games. Or maybe I’m just projecting the fans’ feelings.
Sitting under the mango tree
Me midget and me can shoot for the moon
Sitting under the mango tree
Me midget and me make smooloolooch soon
Sitting under the moonlit sky
Me midget and I can sit holding hand
Sitting under the moonlit sky
Me midget and I can make fairyland
Mango, banana and tangerine
Sugar and ackee and cocoa bean
When we get marry we make them grow
And nine little chillun’ in a row
Sitting under the mango tree
Me midget and me can shoot for the moon
Sitting under the mango tree
Me midget and me we plan marry soon
Mango, banana and tangerine
Sugar and ackee and cocoa bean
When we get marry we make them grow
And nine little chillun’ in a row
Sitting under the mango tree
Me midget and me can shoot for the moon
Sitting under the mango tree
Me midget and me we plan marry soon
Sitting under the mango tree
Sitting under the mango tree
Sitting under the mango tree
Sitting under the mango tree
Doreen,
Too much laughing on the bench this year to suit my tastes. Led by our captain, unfortunately. Especially during losing streaks.
They laughed away entire series in Seattle and Chicago. To me, it sends the wrong message.
We see less laughing now because, I am sure, its beginning to dawn on some of these guys there isn’t going to be a “miracle” turnaround. They just aren’t very good, they now know it and that’s not laughing matter.
I thought I was making too much of it until I heard Paul O’Neill, Tino Martinez and Joe Girardi each bring it up when critiquing the Yankees.
Some guys, like Jeter, can keep it loose yet still play their butts off. Most other guys can’t do it, especially most of the guys on this team.
Randy, glad you found the Coste article. The kid is a gamer and he would represent one part of re-tooling this team. An attitude adjustment.
Forget Todd Helton folks. The LAST thing this team needs is another awful contract. They have to be in “bad contract dumping mode”, not in “bad contract acquisition” mode.
Plus, do we really need another LH hitter on this team?
Save your bullets for Mark Texiera, if he comes on the market. Switch hitter, younger, Gold Glove, and a better option. He can be had with the right package of young pitchers and $$$$.
In the meantime, you have to do little things to try and make this season more respectable. Coste, call up Chris Britton, begin the process of trying to find homes for some guys who can’t be back here next year, stuff like that.
When its May 27 and you are one of the worst teams in baseball, with 70% of your roster full of guys who can no longer play, and you are the New York Yankees, nobody is going to give you a break.
Nobody feels sorry for Goliath. They just have to suck it up, play a little better and we have to hope like heck Cashman can move some folks out at the deadline to begin the rebuilding process.
Thanks Johnny for destroying Yankees Franchise….Your washed up and use Yankees money for your evil deeds. Somewhere Dark room, Theo and Lucchino are laughing . I wish Cashman and Yankees never signs you the first place…. I have to wait two more years until contract runs out…
I wouldn’t get on Damon too much. The guy had a great year last year and is hurt right now. Its not like he doesn’t want to play. He’s hurt.
If you want to point your venom at somebody, take aim at Jason Giambi. That contract, which hurts the Yankees MUCH more than Damon’s, and all the stuff associated with it, has done more damage to this franchise, on and off the field, than anything Johnny Damon will do during his time here.
Jason may be a very nice guy. However, the contract, and the fact he can’t play anymore, is one big reason why the franchise is in the shape its in right now.
Here is something to think about. For people who say, “its early”, and “one early game doesn’t make a season”, think about this.
When ARod hit his HR off Borowski, capping the sweep of Cleveland and that miracle comeback, the Yankees headed to Boston, 8-6 with a ton of momentum.
They led the Sox in Game 1 of that series 6-2, in the 8th and Andy was rolling. They blew that game, was swept in the series, and the entire season changed.
They are 13-19 since the Cleveland game, and the swagger and confidence is gone from this team.
As long a season as baseball is, there are some games/moments that define a season.
When we look back on this season, losing that 4 run lead at Fenway may be the game that changed the entire season for the Yankees.
I mentioned the trade for Chris Coste yesterday,after reading it from Peters’ Post back at the end of Spring Training.
HE is generally considered a GOOD GUY,and should be on the Yankees roster with no question.
I think Jorge has had to come into just about every game Wil Nieves has started this year.
Does Anyone remember that Wil made the team out of ST last year,and then on 4-7-06 he was Designated for Assignment to make room for Koyie HILL!!!!
Luis Vizcaino is the second coming of both Felix Herendous and Felix Rodriguez…agh just pitiful to watch.
As for Josh Phelps….I say give the guy a chance to play,He had 3 hits on Saturday 5-19-07 against the Muts,then the next day even though it was Righty John Maine pitching,he was on the bench!
Why was he plucked by two ML teams this past winter after spending 06 with AAA of the Tigers?Orioles an Yanks must have saw something.You can always use Minky for late inning defense,not that it matters now.
tip of the hat again to sj44 for noticing coste was sent down to the minors.
people seem to like the story on chris coste so much i’m going to post it again :
http://www.nbcsports.com/mlb/465938/detail.html
cashman needs to move on this or something similar or posada is going to get hurt from being overworked.
it would be the feel good story of the year if coste could help the yankees. he also plays first base so he’d give some flexibility too.
I think Damon’s stats was fluke last year.. Damon’s is the same person who were laughing in Yankees dugout when Yankees are losing Tigers last year. This year, He announces that Yankees are best team in baseball..The Redsox benefited from it when Yankees sign Damon..
How were his stats a “fluke” last year? Aside from home runs, his production was the same as it was in his good years in Boston.
Just because you don’t like the guy doesn’t mean you can be blinded by what he can do.
When healthy, he ignites the offense, can run down balls in the OF, and is a winner. What more do you want?
Get off all this Red Sox paranoia. The guy plays his butt off, which is one of the reasons why he is hurt all time.
If they had a few more guys like Damon on the team, in terms of max effort, they wouldn’t be in the position they are right now.
They are paying 20 million bucks a year for a guy who took himself out of a key World Series game, and has embarrassed this franchise with his drug use. ‘Ya think that’s a bit more serious than Damon’s issues?
SJ:
Good point about blowing that 6-2 lead against Boston being a momentum changer. Reminds me of the Leyritz HR in the ‘96 series against Atlanta… just the other way around.
With the way Damon is feeling and the “production” of Melky and Bobby it is time to beg Bernie to come back. Suck it up Cash and get him back.
Not only could he provide a spark but he can be a neutalizer to lefty pitching in the later innnings coming off the Bench.
sj44-
i think an important question to ask is why does philadelphia have so much catching and the yankees so little. they did go out and sign barajas last winter. that blows another hole in the theory that there were no catchers available.
well there are now. time for cashman to act .
Yes, I hate Damon guts since He’s Former Redsox.. Redsox use the Yankees again by fooling them to sign him.. Yankees aren’t going anywhere until Damon’s off this f*cking team.
Advice to Cashman, Don’t sign Curt Schilling or I will stop watching Yankees.
Redsox are Devil:
Isn’t it time for you to finish your homework for next week?
??? I’m finised college six years ago and got my college diploma.. you don’t know me.. owned…
Yeah, cause Coco Crisp is tearing it up in Boston.
Bernie’s career is over. Let it go. He can’t save the Yankees.
Mussina today. Ugh. I don’t know if I have the stomach to watch the prima donna today… he of the 6.52 ERA. I was big on bringing him back too. Heck, his ERA was 3.51 last year… in the top five in the A.L. What a disappointment. I didn’t expect him to be an Ace… but I did expect him to be an average to above average starter who could eat innings.
Note to Brian Cashman:
PLEASE! Acquire Fatso Schilling so we can rid ourselves of this moron fan!
Dr Suess ran along.. Redsox Troll… Gtfo Yankees blogs.
“Bernie Williams” “Bernie Williams” “Bernie Williams” “Bernie Williams” “Bernie Williams” “Bernie Williams” “Bernie Williams” “Bernie Williams” “Bernie Williams” “Bernie Williams” “Bernie Williams” “Bernie Williams” “Bernie Williams” “Bernie Williams” “Bernie Williams” “Bernie Williams” “Bernie Williams” “Bernie Williams” “Bernie Williams”
Johnny GO back to Boston… Stupid Bum…..
Why not use Phelps as the backup catcher (he could be bad but at least he can hit a little) and righthanded Ph and bring up Shelley Duncan to share time at 1B?
And this from a “college” graduate.
The education system in this country is a mess.
“??? I’m finised college six years ago and got my college diploma”
Judging from your sentence structure – I gess they dint lern ya much Engliss, huh??
Dr. Seuss. I guess you don’t speak two languages like I do and english only.. Ooops, I’m smarter than you… owned.
I speak 4 languages.
Here’s something in Spanish……
“Adios Moron….”
Vada di nuovo all’università ,
There were catchers available guess what none of them wanted to be a BACKUP with the Yankees. The issue is that we have Posada (which is a GREAT issue) and the available catchers did not want to be his caddy they all felt they could start. The larger question is why they went with Nieves instead of Pratt. I have not seen a good reason yet why this chjoice was made.
I also think that this is a larger issue which I have brought up before is that I think more and more there are going to be very few players that really want to come to New York. They want the money but they dont want the scrutiny. I really do think how Arod was treated last year made a lot players think hmmm.
Redsox are Devil,
You don’t get a diploma from college, you get a degree. Generally described with two or three letters.
Talk about owned.
This is little doubt Britton should be called up. It seems the Yankees put more stock in his poor ST than what he did the whole 2006 season. It makes no sense.
College Diploma If you go to local community college.
Degree = University
owned…
Deep To Left: I agree with your assessment on Mussina. His velocity is down to 84-86, and, more importantly, his location is not there either. I could tolerate his excuses for bad outings when he was winning more than losing, but this year he whines every outing – “too much rest…not enough rest….bad breaks”….wah, wah,wah.
I still maintain that we need a righty hitter with some power to balance this lineup. Torre and Cash can claim that the current lefties in the lineup can hit lefty pitchers, but it helps to offset the lefty specialists that are used in the latter innings. Acquiring Texiera would do wonders for our lineup, but he won’t come cheaply.
This team obviously needs some sort of spark. Johnny Damon is a gamer, but he’s not much help right now sitting on the bench. DL him for 10 days and give Kevin Thompson a shot. Same with Giambi. DL him for 10 days and give Shelly Duncan his shot. Duncan is a below average fielder and has holes in his swing like Phelps, but he deserves his shot as a DH.
If both are hitting well after 10 games, then other decisions will have to be made.
I would place both Giambi and Abreu on waivers to gauge potential interest from other teams for a possible deal.
I thought that maybe Cashman could get Andruw Jones for a relatively inexpensive package of players/prospects, however, watching him perform over the past month, maybe that’s not a good idea. He has lost much of his range and his power..as is the case with many current athletes in what is now the post-steriod era.
SJ, Randy,…..
Losing to Red Sox after leading 6-2 and its analogy to the Breves game are indeed momentum changes.
But there is a major difference. With Braves it was a short series and momentum change plays a big role in a short series and little time to recover.
As far as this current regular season is concerned, Yanks are behind in the wild card by 7.5 games. There are three teams they have to contend with – Detroit (.604 winning percentage), Chicago (.545 winning percentage) and Minnesota (.479 winnig percentage). I am discounting Seattle, Oakland and Toronto, but could be proven wrong!
There are still 115 games to be palyed by Yanks. So, far they have not gone on a roll. The primary reasons are injuries to the starting pitches and many good offensive players going into slump, inluding A-Rod (I am a strong supporter of A-Rod and shame on those who boo him!. Now A-Rod and Cano are hitting. Damon is hitting too. The two who need to get out of their slump are Abrue and Giambi. Abrue will come out of it. He is still young (relatively!) and showing signs of coming out of slump.
However, I am not so sure about Giambi. He is hurt, there is so much swirling around him and I boubt he will recover from all of it while in New York. He should be traded for some usefull pieces – backup catcher and/or a strong bench player- even if Yanks have to pay most of his salary. Then move Matsui to DH – he is atrocious in LF. Cabrera should be in Left. Damon should go on DL, recover fully and come and play CF. Abrue is OK in Right. In fact this will be a very good outfield. If Damon does not recover from the injuries then alternatives should be found for CF.
I do not ocnsider 1B a real issue. Sure, good to have some one like Texiera. Minky and Phelps are doing OK. We do not need an all-star at every position. Only thing I hop is Torre distributes the time between them more evenly. Still, I do not consider this major issue.
Vizcaino should be let go as he is under contract only for this year and they have to eat probably a couple of million, not like 40+ mil in the case of Giambi. Britton should be brought up. I am wondering why Jorre keeps giving ball to Vizacaino. The only ligical explanation I can give is that Cashman and Torre are hoping he would pitch decently in a couple of games, that would prove he is not hurt and then trade him for backup catching or bench player or a low level prospect. I will still keep Kyle. He is down right now, but some point in the futuure he will play a useful role.
Now, all this does not mean a thing, if Joe Torre continues to be this dumb ingame manager. He needs to stop managing every game as a WS 7th game and unerstand we can not win them all and stop buriing the bull pen. Also, he needs to show some trust in these kids. This is regular season for god sake and there are 115 games yet to be played.
As I said numerous other times, Yanks will make it to the playoffs. If they play up to thier potential, even with thier weaknesses, they will be fighting Boston and all other also rans in the AL East. Detroit, Chicago and Minnesota will be beating up on each other.
Once they make it as a wild card, who knows what will happen? Didn’t wild card teams have better success than the divison winners in the last few years? May be we will kepp that trend alive!!!!!!
So you aren’t real smart, RS are devil, you could only manage community college (also known as remedial highschool).
Try this, genius:
Hasta la vista, puta.
Aufwiedersehen, Dumbesel.
Sawadee, Hia.
Ottenga un cervello.
Giambi and Abrue can not be placed in waivers. They have no trade clauses. They can only be released outright and then they can sign with any team they want.
it’s a myth that there were no catchers available. there are 120 professional catchers at the triple a and mlb level.
philadelphia signed barajas for 3 million for one year. he was available. he is a part time catcher with philly.
cashman simply didn’t do the job on back up catcher.
if there are 10,000 things that a gm has to do to be ready for the season, i’d say cashman did about 85% of them . i think the old supposedly bad yankee system with cashman and tampa sharing power would cover 95% of what had to be done.
i think cashman simply doesn’t get to things. i think he’s so obsessed with 100% control that he doesn’t delegate well. things bother me like the fact that the angels have an assistant gm, ken forsch, that pitched in the majors (even had a no hitter) while the yankees have an assistant gm , jean afterton, that i have no idea what she does. you think afterton sees the game the way forsch does.
i think the yankees are understaffed in the front office. things just don’t get done. it has all the signs of a poorly run business.
one of the signs is not paying attention to getting a good back up catcher.
there’s a reason why cashman is on the hot seat with steinbrenner.
jean afterman , i should have said.
Mussina has to traded at the deadline National League teams will fight over him. He is not part of the solution he is part of the problelm.
I think we’re still putting too much emphasis on a backup catcher. Sure, it’ll hurt us down the road when Posada is worn out. But as for as year-to-date is concerned, the production we’ve gotten out of the C position is one of the tops in the majors. Not having a backup catcher is not a contributing factor to where we are today.
I’d have to agree it IS indicative of Cashmen perhaps being unable to tend to all of the GM’s responsibilities. YRandy, you may be right… in his zeal for total control, Cashman may have bitten off more than he can chew and may be driven out of NY because of it.
IMHO, I believe that would be a shame. Cashman has good skills, and can obviously deal with Big Stein… but the bottom line is the bottom line. He needed to surround him self with a few team member to help do his bidding, and the appearance is at least, that this wasn’t done.
One more time….
You can not trade people like Mussina unless they agree to it. All these prima donnas have no trade clauses.
Mussina doesn’t have a no trade. But, he is a 10 and 5 guy.
Meaning, 10 years in the majors, 5 with one team.
He can’t be traded without his permission. He isn’t going anywhere.
Face it, folks, nobody is going to trade for 8 figure guys who are underperforming. If the Yankees are going to make trades, they will have to involve prospects, not over the hill veterans.
Which begs the question, do you really want to give up quality arms for the future to try and save THIS team?
SJ — If they do that, then any good Cashman did in building up the system will be for naught.
I have a thought regarding Cashman and his ability (or lack thereof) to delegate. It could well be that in his first year of being “the one,” he is more concerned with having all the answers all the time. I sure hope Steinbrenner gives him another season to right the ship, because I think he will learn to delegate, and he will learn those people he can “trust,” for lack of a better word.
I understand what you’re saying, SJ44. But perhaps some teams that are in contention at the trading deadline would find a DH like Giambi or a RFer like Abreu or a SP like Mussina, appealing. These guys might be convinced to waive there “no trade” clauses for a chance to play in the Post Season — if the Yankees are not contending.