Myth vs. reality … one more addition
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- May
- 29
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Myth: Bernie Williams would help this team.
Reality: I’m begging people to stop with this. Bernie had a .332 OBP last season and is 38 years old. He can’t run, field or pinch hit (7 of 33 from 2004-06). And if you thing his presence would somehow lead to magic, you should know that he was regularly the last one to arrive at the park and the first one to leave. Bernie was given a chance to try and make the team and he turned it down. Case closed.
Meanwhile, if you’re interested, I’ll be on ESPN’s “Outside The Lines” at 3:30 EDT today.
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on Tuesday, May 29th, 2007 at 3:29 pm by Peter Abraham.
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Chad Jennings
Sam Borden
Is anyone gonna give an OTL report?
You have got to be kidding me this conversation about trading clemens is simply fodder for this program. That discussion is like the discussion about trading our players with no trade clauses simply not going to happen.
How’d you post it at 3:29 PM, if you went on around 3:34 PM, when I saw you..? Lol
Pete, good job on OTL
I always thought you should be the go to guy when it comes to ESPN and the Yankees.
and I have no idea how one bench player who would prolly start once a week tops would somehow drastically impact this team. Not to mention that they already have four outfielders and none of them are on the dl. Damon should be but isnt going so bernie would get little if any playing time even if he was on the team – maybe an occasional pinch hit. He might have impacted one game at the most if he was a yankee right now. I really dont see how bernies presence would have changed this sitatuation at all.
BTW when do they stop calling this a season long slump and start calling it a bad season? I am so tired of hearing slump. This is not a good team slumping any more – this is just a bad team.
Pete, you gotta give us a little more time than that… i couldve set up my tivo before work if i had known.
I realize Bernie’s time came and went the day he decided not to show up for camp, but I personally think the dynamic of this team changes if you have a 5th OF instead of a 3rd 1B, especially when Joe refuses to use Phelps.
That’s a spot on the roster completely wasted… At least with Bernie around, you know Torre would make use of him at DH, for better or worse, and you might be able to convince Giambi or Damon to hit the DL and seriously take some time to heal up.
Will Pete’s interview be on ESPN 360? I just missed it and was curious to what transpired.
If they can muster up a run or two for Pettitte tonight, he’ll be the stopper… he’s been the closest thing we’ve had to a stopper this year, when we score for him.
bernie signing would be more of the same; old, can’t move, and stupid idea.
i love bernie he was great but the key word is was….
they again can make incremental moves to improve there team now without negatively affecting the futre..
what is the latest on Hughes? his injury hurts the team…….
thanks..
This season has been like bad golf. Some days you can hit your drive, but have no short game. Some days you can putt, but not drive or hit your irons…. The Yankees have shown a monster offense when we had no pitching for it to be enough, and have shown good pitching when they couldn’t score a run. Would be nice if they can do both on the same day a heck of a lot more often.
Come on, its all about “intangibles” with Bernie. So says that noted Yankee “expert” Mike Francesa.
Bernie’s presence will make relief pitchers not walk in 5 runs in the last 4 games and actually pitch like they belong in the major leagues.
His presence will make Johnny Damon play like he is 26 again.
His presence will make Jason Giambi hit like when he was on steroids.
His presence will make Joe Torre manage like he did when Don Zimmer was at his side.
His presence make Bobby Abreu look like the 2006 Bobby Abreu again.
He can do all of that Pete because Mike Francesa says so, and his minions follow suit.
It just cracks me up that people really think Bernie could have helped this year.
damn straight on Bernie. He was horrible for the last two years. Lofton should have been here.
Chris NY,
It’s also been like watching bad (or any, imo) golf: frustrating and boring.
SJ nice to be in agreement with you for once.
I dig ya and all Pete..but way to stomp a man’s legacy with the jab about being “last in first out.” I realize you are probably tired of people calling for Bernie, but that line was a bit uncalled for, in my opinion.
You are right about his time being over, but there was no need for a cheap shot.
Chris NY…
Precisely, great post. If you look at our run differential our record should be MUCH better than it actually is. Plus we’ve had this slump/mailaise during the roughest part of our schedule.
Call me crazy, but I still think this team can turn it around and go on an incredible run. The question is now becoming this – even if that does happen will the hole be too big to climb out of???
I just heard a rumor that Bernie has been working out with Jesse Orosco. They are both planning a comeback and Jesse is teaching Bernie how to pitch. Expect to see Bernie on the hill against Boston this weekend, with Jesse bumping Mariano out of his closer role.
Kevin M, Turn Two posted in a different thread earlier that we’d need to play something like .650 ball the rest of the year to get to 95 wins… so climbing out is certainly possible, but I’d say it has to start NOW.
The turning point in the season was in April when we went to Boston right after Alex hit the walkoff vs Cleveland.
Pettitte pitched a gem and then Mo came in and Boston got some of the weakest hits I have ever seen off him to win the game.
Since that day this team has lacked confidence and a winning attitude. Mariano is the heart and soul of this team and I think the team goes as he goes.
So when is Bernie Williams Day? Think we should retire his number?
back to the golf analogy.. it proves that this team can pitch, can get good relief, and can hit. Consistency and health being the obvious reasons for the horrible record. So a run is definitely possible, the potential this team has can’t be ignored, no matter how hard they’ve tried to look like the Kansas City Royals.
Jeff NJ, absolutely. He has earned a place on that wall. His name is in plenty of Yankee and post-season record books and will be remembered as a great Yankee. Wish he got a better “storybook” ending, but it is what it is. Should not hurt his legacy in the long run.
I wouldn’t retire his number Jeff.
At least not for the next 5 years.
Ichiro will need it! lol
After Ichiro is done here, THEN you retire Bernie’s number.
My personal favorite, Pete, is one you forgot to post:
“Kevin Long should be fired and Bernie should be the new hitting coach.”
I’m not joking. I’ve heard that one several times today already.
Yankee Rican in FL,
I don’t think it’s a cheap shot if it’s true. I’ll ASSume Pete’s not going to make things up.
SJ44, I hope you don’t mean that about Ichiro.
kenny, you didn’t hit a lick while you were here, you grumpy bastard. Wish you did, but you didn’t.
Now please stop with Johnny Damon voodoo doll.
Mark Fiensand said the same thing last year about Bernie.
ok so in one breath you say cash just gained control over the team a yr and a half ago and can take no blame for such awful signings as pavano, brown, weaver and the like. In the next breath, you talk about all the world series cashman has won for us. MAKE UP YOUR MIND. He cant take the credit for three world series but have absolutely nothing to do with the god awful pitching signings that followed. If the tampa faction was in control, why does the tampa faction not get credit for 98 99 and 2000.
Cash has been in control of this team for one and a half yrs. He has succeeded in spending 45 million on a single A pitcher and dint sign Lilly, a pitcher who proved he could handle pitching in NY and currently has a 3.2 era and a whip of 1. He has traded a guy who pitched 200 innings for us last yr for a srcub that cant get an out in the majors and a scrub that cant get an out in the minors. He traded one of our three biggest power bats for a 23 yr old that is about to go on the dl for two yrs (and had been injured eight times for the past and was just a leading candidate for TJ surgery.) He hired a new training coach which led to a rash of hamstring injuries including one to the best pitchger in our organization and our future. He didnt sign a lefty reliever when we needed one cuz apparently there were no good ones available and we had to re0sign ron villone while the redsox signed Okajima who is the heart and soul of their soft underbelly of a bullpen. And matsui told cash to look into signing Okajima. Im not going to say he signed abreu becuz i actually agrred with that signing (one of the few signings by cash i actually thought was great) and thought it was great at the time but that also has fallen through. He ignored the bench in the off season – which was also a glaring weakness last yr and needed to be addressed – there was also options in the FA market like loretta. He went out of his way to not sign a quality backup catcher when he knew posada is 35 and if injured would put a hjuge dent in the season. Vizcaino has only hurt the team since cash has gotten him. Fans were screaming at me that a left handed hitting first baseman with no real pop was fine becuz of our offense when cash signed him as I wholeheartedly disagreed saying what if the offense struggles at a point. And his glove certainly doesnt make up for his lack of production. Granted, Cash signed Pettitte – an excellent move. Cash has not traded away our pitching prospects like Hughes, clippard, chamberlain, betances and kennedy – a very smart move. If u want to give him complete credit for bringing up Cano and wang that was an excellent idea. Small and chacon were the only real moves in cashmans career that were risky and actally worked to his favor. Bringing back clemens was a must and even if it is a bust no one can fault cash for re-signing clemens. However, you look at all of the bad trades, signings and moved by cash- we got no one for RJ and sheff, Vizcaino is awful, Mienky is worthless, Igawa was one of the worst signings in history only two yrs after our second worst signing in history, our bench sucks, we need a lefty in the pen who can pitch well, our eighth innning setup man is an overpaid hack, abreu not hitting right now is just unlucky and the training and condition coach killed us; and then look at the good moves cash has made in the last two yrs or so – getting pettitte and clemens back was a great idea, trading RJ i guess helped us do that, getting chacon and small and then preforming well was very lucky and not trading any of our prospects was smart. You start to realize that the negatives far outweight the positives. These moves all contribute to cash’s bad track record, not just marty miller.Miller was just one of a series of blunders cash has made in his caree. He has just not been a good GM for us and the good moves he has made almost every GM in baseball would have made. I dont know why he still gets such solid support from yankee fans when he has really done nothing to help this team win.
Bernie is more of a “shot in the arm” for the Allman Brothers than he would be for the Yanks.
Bernie looked like Willie Mays circa 1973 (Mets) a few times in the last couple of years.
We must get younger. Bite the bullet and give at least acouple of years to get younger and better.
The great run is over – lets start looking to build for the next one.
If the team is going to lose every day with these depressing outings, I’d rather watch them lose every day with Bernie Williams.
“If the tampa faction was in control, why does the tampa faction not get credit for 98 99 and 2000.”
dave, you are an absolute trouble maker.
He went after Mark Loretta. Loretta signed with the Astros because he felt he would play more in Houston than he would have in NY.
I am not saying Cashman hasn’t made mistakes. He has.
However, how is the on field performance of guys this year on Brian Cashman?
You do realize EVERY guy on the team, except Pettitte, Posada, ARod and Jeter have underperformed. Who would have thought that going into this season? Hindsight is ALWAYS 20/20.
What could he have done differently this off-season, aside from putting together a better bench? Even if he did put together a better bench, with the way most of the team have underperformed, would it really make a difference right now?
Would you have traded Cano, Damon, Matsui, Giambi and Abreu this off-season? All guys who have WOEFULLY underperformed this year.
Were you for that Melky Cabrera for Mike Gonzalez deal in the off-season? Gonzalez is now out for the season with Tommy John Surgery.
Did anybody “predict” Melky would struggle this much this season?
Aside from the fact that several of those guys have no trade clauses, how do you go about trading those guys off what they did last season?
How about Mariano Rivera? Would you have traded him?
Going into the season, this looked to be the best bullpen the Yankees have had in years. It hasn’t worked out.
So, what do you have done differently?
He hasn’t done anything that would resort to a “fireable offense”.
EVERYBODY wanted Randy Johnson and Gary Sheffield out of here. Now, we are second guessing those deals? Even though they had no place for Sheffield this year and had no interest in extending him for three years.
Randy Johnson asked to be traded. That trade allowed them to get Pettitte and Clemens back.
Sometimes, you make moves and they work out. Other times, you make them and they don’t work out.
But, instead of crying about the moves, what do you have done differently this off-season?
Me? I would have gone for Ted Lilly instead of Kei Igawa and I would have tried to upgrade the backup catcher’s spot.
Overall, when you look at everything he has done this year, sorry but, I think he is entitled to having the chance to overcome this bad year. Let’s see if he can fix it.
If he can’t, then you can fire him.
But, IMO, it would be a major mistake to fire him now.
He isn’t the reason the team is so terrible this year. At some point, the players have to take responsibility for that.
Guys don’t laugh but what does IMO mean? I’ve seen it on this blog a few times and I have no idea what it means.
Melissa it means in my opinion
Dave:
Hang on. I think history was actually a little different.
The Nucleus of the dynasty was put together by Gene Michael while Steinbrenner was suspended in about 1990. The team really started to come together around 1995. That team was built around a solid base and built from within, using young, athletic, cheap talent. They actually got better the more they played together and with a couple of key acquisitions including Brosius, Martinez and O’Neill, and then we arrive at the incredible 1998 Yankee team. What was left of The Gene Michael Yankees, for want of a better term, continued to have success until 2000, and it seemed like no matter what you did you couldn’t stop this team from winning.
Then they didn’t win the WS in 2001 despite getting to the 7th game. This was not good enough however and the Tampa Faction took advantage of George’s displeasure and began to exert more influence, eventually subverting Gene Michael who was pushed aside. Then the fun really started. Money and common sense flew out the windows, contracts got longer and less sensible, older mercenaries were courted and the farm – - and Cashman The Boy GM – - were ignored. In short, The Tampa Faction gets “credit” for mortgaging the future.
Those were the guys Cash took on and beat two years ago. Gene Michael was Cash’s mentor and Cash wants to return to the early 1990s when the last dynasty was built.
Pete,
What about all this crazy “TRADE MO” talk that’s been going around the comments section of the blog?
Is there something there that would justify trading away the greatest closer in the history of the game or do you think that this idea should be shot down as well?
thanks brandon
Murphydog, SJ44, hmmm, and Randy 1 –
Thanks for your sanity. I wouldn’t add a thing to what you’ve all said so eloquently.
Everybody sing….
“All we are saying, is give Cash a chance.”
Doreen,
I agree. The key is listening to the right people.
SJ44 – The best post in weeks.
It’s too bad Chad Tracy bats lefty, the Yankees would be able to acquire him w/ the new rookie Mark Reynolds ready to take over 3B in Arizona. He’s only 28. (Tracy can play both 1B and 3B). He could be insurance if ARod opts out of his contract in the off-season. Face it, the Yankees are only going to win w/ the current team as the minor system doesn’t have any impact position players ready over A (advanced) ball to contribute in the majors.
This season is so bad, I’d actually prefer watching you on ESPN.
I agree 100% on the Bernie issue. There’s nothing he could do to help this team.
Pete, somebody OWES me a new remote. Mine was thrown against the wall after Myers did his lousy impression of a “lefty specialist” last night. So you tell Myers he can email me for instructions.
All kidding aside, he really hasn’t been that good this year. He has had a few bright moments but as a whole, he hasn’t done what he was signed to do. (see Ortiz and Crawford)
You are definitely right about Bernie. I heard one guy on WFAN actually say that we don’t have Bernie out there to make catches in the OF… Did he not watch the Yankees for the last few seasons?
Maybe Bernie would have helped a couple times in some pinch hitting situations, but from his own admission, he is not a good pinch hitter. There are also times when he might have hurt us. For example, who knows if Bernie would have gotten on base in the game against Cleveland when A-Rod hit the walkoff HR. If you remember, Josh Phelps started off that 2 out rally with a HR of his own with 2 outs. Bernie probably would have pinch hit for Phelps in that spot and if he makes an out, we lose that game.
everybody, i’ve been writing all day to combat the negativity and get all of you totally pumped. the whole season is going according to plan and we are about to witness firepower the likes us humans have never seen. roger clemens silenced a group of reporters by violently slamming a table last night. kruschev tried a similar tactic one day but all that did was inspire sting to sing about it on “the dream of the blue turtles.”
roger scares people. and that will be the shadow that all of baseball will be living under by mid july. mount clemensia, the volcano that shelters and protects yankeelandia.
brian cashman will be gm for a long long time and we should give thanks.
the fury of clemens will be useful in the clubhouse. here is what i think should happen. they should make farnsworth disappear. like when roger arrives, just send him to bolivia. in a villa, surrounded by tortoises and peacocks with plenty of guava juice and eggs so he is happy.
then all of baseball will ask, “what happened to kyle farsworth?” the yankees can be coy and say something like, “oh, we are trying to find out, it’s kind of like with bubba tramell. hey check out the new iphone!” this will distract people, while the yankees reel off win after win like a lion eating marzipan chipmunks.
but then, somebody in the clubhouse who takes care of shining the players bats can leak a rumor that the yankees, led by clemens killed and ate kyle farnsworth in a furious ritual. they drank the blood and took the field. in fact, it is rumored that the red woolen glove that torre now wears when he signals for a reliever was inspired by his blood red hand when he devoured farnsworth’s heart.
i know, it’s a crazy rumor but people would be scared facing the yankees because of the possibility that they are a talented team made up of angry cannibals.
clemens will bang his fist.
“Hang on. I think history was actually a little different.”
murphydog-
are you sure you didn’t mean “once upon a time” ?
that’s a nice story and mostly right about how important michael was (and is), but you forgot another gm who played the game like michael did, you forgot bob watson was there from 96-97. when i see the same facts about who did what i see ex players making great gms in michael and watson. i just don’t see it with cashman, a never played the game guy. he’s fine as part of a management team, but 100% in control . no way.
doreen . thanks for the nice words, but i’m a little off key with the others on cashman. i’d like to see him share power with someone like a luchino above him and an antonetti below him. i think he’s overwhelmed with the job. he needs to delegate more. as far as the blog goes, at least the discussion is looking at all the sides of the issue.
randy,
just wait, the crazies will come eventually. The posting so far all makes sense. This is a two year process. I really think this team will have the potential to make the playoffs every year but I don’t think they will be serious contenders until 09 at the earliest. By 2010 a lot of bad contracts are off the books, the farm system should be churning out some good looking prospects and management will be able to sign some key free agents to put around them. Most of the big contracts don’t come off the books until after 2008 or 2009 so everyone is going to have to be patient. There aren’t going to be any miracle trades or waiving players. This isn’t the NFL or NBA, waiving a player and eating his contract very rarely happens or helps. Giving them away for free is possible but also won’t help anything b/c their contracts are still on the books.
You guys don’t seem to realize that the curse was “reversed” in 2004. It didn’t end, it was reversed. The Yankees are now the cursed team. After a collapse like that, they have been getting progressively worse, progressively more unlucky….
I don’t see why Bernie wouldn’t help when we’ve got Melky who sucks, Abreu who sucks, and Damon who’s hurt. Oh yeah, having a proven winner like Bernie around is soooo unnecessary. Pfff Nobody is saying he would be the missing component to winning a world series, we’re far beyond that since Cash committed to entering this season with Pavano and Igawa as our Plan A, but I think he could definitely help us right now. Especially if we had just one first baseman that could play instead of two that are half-players, because all we’ve got now is a half-player everyday at first base.
Also if they give those guys away for nothing, there contracts are on the books PLUS you have to pay there replacements 1.4 times there contract price with the luxary tax. Not going to happen no matter how much Steinbrenner wants to win.
Pollyanna, you are so stupid, please stop posting.
Randy 1 –
You may not be entirely in the same key, but you share some key notes! And most importantly, SANITY.
I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad idea to bring in some more people, as long as they’re like-minded in long-term planning. I think Cash is finding his way here. He fought for this, and primarily he had to put his footprint on things. Now that he’s done that, he can maybe more comfortably delegate. It would make sense that it would take a while to find the people you’re comfortable with.
anthony, don’t deny it. you know you are totally flipping out. get pumped! cannibal!!!
You are totally wring – we won 4 championships with Bernie – now we stink without him – perfect cause and effect.
We need to bring back Paulie as well. Tino too.
Porkchop –
Your last installment totally cracked me up!!!!!! Keep it up — it is so much needed right now.
Yankee Rican: I’m writing the truth. Bernie used to show up last and leave first. He wasn’t late and didn’t leave early, he just spent as little time at the park as possible, which is certainly his right. My point is that the idea that he would foster better chemistry simply isn’t true. Bernie is an intoverted type of guy.
SJ – i liked your post. There is one thing however, I have a slightly different angle on…
With regards to the whole “Ted Lilly INSTEAD of Kei Igawa” thing, I’m not sure it has to be one or the other.
Let’s say Cashman didn’t sign Ted Lilly because he didn’t want Ted Lilly, because he didn’t want to be locked into a 4-year deal with a pitcher who was over 30 and not all that great.
Was he wrong? Should he have in fact signed Lilly? At this juncture, it certainly appears so – but only time however will tell the truth.
But let’s assume that he in fact DID sign Lilly – does that mean he shouldn’t have ALSO picked up Igawa?
In my opinion, the Igawa signing in itself, is not bad.
What did the Yankees get in Igawa?
A young, left-handed pitcher with a relativly low salary. Hence, a new commodity. The only negative thing was the posting fee – but that was the “COST” of that commodity.
The Yankees invest money all over the place and unless it goes on the payroll, we usually don’t know about and it doesn’t really matter to us. The posting fee shouldn’t either.
Was signing Igawa a knee-jerk reaction to not getting Dice-K? I’m sure that was a factor but the point is that we didn’t have to give up any players or much on the payroll – only a bit from the bank account.
Of course Igawa hasn’t been good so far and it may have been better to start him at AAA – but he is a long-term project that could be very good and/or have trade value in the future – and if isn’t – it was just money and therefore a gamble.
If you want to say that Cashman made a mistake by not signing Lilly or Meche etc., I wouldn’t really disagree but I have no problem with taking a chance on Kei Igawa.
If you read both Joel Sherman’s and Buster Olney’s books about the Yankees, Bob Watson was a GM in name only. He had no authority to make any deals and didn’t even interview the managerial candidates when Buck was fired.
He had little to do with the rebuilding of the team.
I never bought into the “never played the game” stuff re: GM’s.
John Schuerholz, Theo Epstein, Dave Dombrowski (Detroit), and Mark Shapiro (Cleveland) and Larry Beinfest (Florida) are 5 excellent GM’s who never played major or minor league baseball.
Neither has Ned Colletti (LA) or Brian Sabean (SF) who, BTW, had more to do with rebuilding the Yankees (when he was a super scout and front office guy) than a lot of people give him credit for.
Mike Flanagan (Baltimore) played in the majors and is an awful GM.
Good GM’s come in all shapes and sizes. Playing professionally doesn’t really give them a leg up on the gig.
Randy I:
You made a great point, that Cashman is “overwhelmed” in the job. He asked for sole authority and got it. As the Chinese proverb goes, Be careful what you wish for, you might get it. Most of his tenure has been as an intern, gofer and front man. He may be very insecure – evidence is the reference by Doreen that he hasn’t brought ANYONE into the org to support him. He’s a one man band.
Nick B:
Unfortunately, the farm system has very few promising position players on the horizon. Maybe Tabata and Cervelli, but they’re both 3 years away. We’ll need to spend – I’m thinking Buerhle, Torii Hunter, Teixeira.
He’s not a one man band at all. His chief advisor is Gene Michael. His Assistant GM is Jean Afterman, who is very good.
He completely upgraded the scouting and player development departments and has Damon Oppenheimer overseeing it.
Its not a one man band at all.
Just because those folks aren’t “out front” doesn’t mean they aren’t working.
Traditionally, the Yankees don’t like having a lot of “voices” speaking for them as an organization.
They usually limit it to only certain heads of departments (such as Levine, Trost, Cashman and Torre) and not assistants or lower level employees.
I’ve been a fan for over 40 years and I can’t ever remember being 13 out by Memorial Day. And for those people trying to rally the troops by invoking 1978 forget that we had a pitcher that was automatic and stopped 16 or 17 losing streaks. We also fired the manager in the middle of the year and went with a manager with a total opposite demeanor. We also blew a 3 game lead with less than 2 weeks left in the season. This is more like 1979. Lots of talent, but inconsistent, injury prone and demoralized especially after 8/2. What’s the answer? ….Immediately halt construction of the US Cellular Field clone going up across the steet. Maybe the ghosts will then reverse all the bad karma that has permeated the team ever since the groundbreaking.
sj44-
epstein and shapiro are surrounded by twice the staff that cashman has. if someone hasn’t played the game like cashman,epstein, and shapiro they need an army of help to make up for what minaya, beane, williams,and ryan can see and feel because they played the game.
cashman can’t be a non player gm and be the lone ranger .
…and while i’m at it you were dead wrong when you said what the rank of the yankee payroll was from 1995-2000 .you said in response to me saying “When has the younger, more athletic, cheaper philosophy worked?
you said”Let’s see……..how about from 1995-2000, when ranked from fourth to tenth in overall salary, had few “dead moneyâ€? contracts in tow, a stable manager, front office, and scouting department. â€?
here’s the actual rank.
yankees rank in total salary
94-1
95-2
96-1
97-1
98-2
99-1
00-1
01-1
http://www.baseball-fever.com/.....hp?t=48598
“younger and cheaper” doesn’t work for making the playoffs every year. i think for every year that a team makes the playoffs, the cost goes up exponentially for each added year.
SJ 44:
You do make some good points but:
Is Stick still working full-time? I’m under the impression he is not. I love him (he of the hidden ball trick!) but he is 69.
What evidence do you have that Jean Afterman is “very good”? Maybe you read something nice a Yankee beat writer said about her 2 years ago. What has she actually done – advocated Igawa, maybe?
As for “completely upgrading” the scouting and player development area – yes, he’s overhauled it, but it’s much too early to draw any conclusions as to the quality of the results.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad the idiotic Tampa Cabal of Steinbrenner sycophants has been exiled, but we don’t know what Cashman’s rule will prodece.
produce
“His Assistant GM is Jean Afterman, who is very good.”
in the last series against the angels the angel gm was ken forsch. forsch threw a no hitter as a player.
who would you want evaluating a player, afterman or forsch?
asst gm that is
Okay, first of all, nobody knows for sure how the Yankees would be doing if Bernie were on the team. Most likely, things would be about the same. But there is no way to tell. One seemingly small change — in baseball as in life — could have a profound impact on everything else, causing a chain reaction that greatly alters the course of events. So please stop using absolutes when it comes to hypothetical questions. The two are incompatible.
Secondly, I can’t believe there is even a discussion about whether Bernie’s number should be retired. Of course it should!
I became a Yankees fan when our double-play combination was Gene Michael and Horace Clark and, I got to tell you, today’s Yankee fans have become incredibly spoiled. Fans talk about the lack of loyalty among players and owners, and that is true. Unfortunately, fan loyalty has taken a beating also.
Bernie is class. He is a winner. He had a fine year last year. And, I suspect, we would be better off with him this year than without him.
Did anyone see Pete on OTL? What did he say? I don’t see it being repeated overnite on ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNnews.
Afterman doesn’t evaluate players. Her job is to handle contracts and arbitration cases. Her job as “Asst. GM” does not involve player evaluation.
The Yankees have a pro scouting department to do that.
Most “Asst. GM’s” in baseball aren’t in the talent end of things. Most of them handle the financial side of the business.
There are some exceptions but, that’s the general rule.
SJ – I said in my post that I don’t blame cash for abreu, damon, cano and giambi not playing well. I realize only jeter, posada, arod and maybe matsui are playing at or above their past performances.
You keep asking what he should have done differently and I already said – Cash should have signed Lilly over Igawa, he should have traded farnsowrth and picked up a solid eighth inning guy like spiers, He should have picked up a solid lefty out of the pen like Okajima or walker. He shuld have payed Loretta a little more than everyone else so we would have a decent bench. He should have picked up a better backup catcher- any one in the majors is better than nieves. He should have kept sheff and gave him one more yr after this yr ( a short term contract) and taught him how to play first in the off season – sheff is an amazing athlete and could have e asily learned first base in the five month off season. He couldn’t learn it in the week leading up to the playoffs but five months is plenty of time considering he already played third.
I wanted to trade Cabrera for Gonzalez (as u said hindsight is 20 -20) but now melky sucks and Gonzalez is injured so I guess the trade would have been a bust for both teams. I actually did predict a huge fall off for Cabrera. He was waay over-rated last yr and the limited playing time is stunting his development. I would have traded Farnsworth for a catcher and a minor leaguer with some potential – saltamachia ( we would have spiers we don’t need farnsworthless.) I would have traded pavano for anything we could get even if we had to pay part of his contract. I would have picked up pettitte. I would have traded RANDY for owings even if we had to pay the majority of his last yr and didn’t get any one else with owings. And if they wouldn’t give us owings – I wouldn’t have traded randy at all.
You say let cash have another yr and if he cant fix things then fire him? So u will sacrifice this yr and next to give cash a chance? That is the worst idea I have ever heard. This is cash’s team now- he has had it for a yr and a half. If they cant get in the playoffs this yr. He doesn’t deserve to be in the majors any more nevermind be a GM for the yanks. He took a 200 million dollar payroll and cant make the playoffs with it. I canrt believe how much support cash has gotten from the fans for not making a single good move in his entire career. Cash basically has as good a batting average in terms of moves made as wil nieves. He has made maybe three good moves out of 20 in the last yr and a half. When did he earn all of this respect that u ppl are giving him?
Sean, Igawa wasn’t a bad trade? He costs 48 million and he cant even pitch in the majors right now. Who cares how young he is if he is only helping tampa? I love how ur excuse is its just money … Cash’s whole plan was to cut payroll then he wastes 48 million on garbage and a fan says don’t worry cash its just money. Well, zito would have just been money too, might as well have tried him out for a bit ya know – see how that worked cuz its just money ya know. And u say if it doesn’t work we can just trade him? No if it doesn’t work we just flushed another 48 million down the toilet due to cash’s genius. That’s 88 million between him and pavano down the drain. You cant trade garbage without paying the entire salary. If it doesn’t work then cash is fired no ifs ands or buts.
So SJ, Jean afterman is good at making contracts? How could u possibly know if she is good at that or not?
no matter how bad bernies numbers are he is the only one besides for jeter that can come through when the games on the line
Isn’t Stump Merrill some sort of assistant to Cashman these days?
Pete, you are right on the money with this post. It drives me crazy when I hear fans pine away for Bernie as if he would be the difference maker this year. We all love Bernie, but the last thing this team needs is another broken down veteran with declining offensive numbers who is a defensive liability. With the way Matsui, Abreu and even Damon have been struggling out there this year I shudder to think how horrid our outfield defense would be with Bernie hobbling around out there. And you know damn well Joe would still play him in the outfield.
At the time was Igawa really that bad of a signing? He did lead the Central League (non-DH league) three times in strikeouts, including last year. The Japanese did win the WBC last year, didn’t they? I thought from the beginning the Yankees should have started him in the minors to get acclimated (as they did for Hernanez and didn’t for Contreras and Irabu). He is the only starter to survive the lousy “performance enhancement” coach.