Hot night, but not for the Yankee bats
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Podcast on Jun 28, 2007 
Print This Post
| 
Email This Post
Ah, air conditioning.
As for the Yankees, they’re in the fiery furnaces of hell. They have scored four runs in their last 31 innings and have somehow managed to play 18 innings at Camden Yards with one extra-base hit.
Jeremy Guthrie and Erik Bedard are having good seasons but they’re not Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax.
As for Roger Clemens, a 44-year-old pitcher got tired in the sixth inning of a game that was played in 97-degree heat. Frankly, when he gives the Yankees five shutout innings they need to give him something to work with. It’s hard for a pitcher to work on expanding the strike zone when every pitch can cost him the game.
“We’re not giving our pitchers any room,” Joe Torre said.
Asked what he’s seeing from his offense, Torre sighed. “Nothing,” he said.
Here’s the problem with the Yankees: Give me all the moves you would make with their offense. Jeter, Abreu, Cano, Rodriguez, Posada, Matsui and Damon are pretty much locked in given their salary and/or past performances.
You could play somebody else at first base but it’s unlikely to be a big improvement over Cairo. You want play Damon in center? Then who is the DH?
I’m not a big Shea Hillenbrand fan. But for three months, he’s worth the shot. He’s a gamer who will give you a decent batting average. If Mientkiewicz comes back, he’s more useful as a bench player than what they have now.
I would be surprised if Hillenbrand were not in pinstripes by the weekend. The Yankees can afford him and Anaheim will not demand a top-level prospect in return.
It’s too early to say the Yankees are finished. They’re down eight games in the wild card with three months and 87 games left. That’s making up one game every 10 days or so.
Here’s some Joe Torre audio:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
really i think we’d be healthier if we ust gave the Yankees a miss for a few games so our blood pressure can normalize. Yeah so, what do you think the US’ chances are against Argentina tomorrow? I think we are going to get creamed.
I dontl know about Shea coming to the Yankees. He’s a downer and we need some sort of energy. I think he’s not one to turn things around. If anything the bad vibes here would consume him and he’s just be part of the problem. We need a solution. What that is, I have no idea. All I know I’m sad that Henry has gone to Barca. sigh.
You obviously are high from the heat Pete.
Shea Hillenbrand now is nothing like he was back in Boston.
But he will be a Yankee as Cashman is a garbage picker.
I prefer Carlos Pena from the DRays instead. A B level pitcher would get him from the DRays who desperatly want pitching. Throw in Farnsworth and it could be a done deal.
Yanks are down 8 games, but can’t beat the worst of the worst.
The problem with the Yankees in the past years is that they play to the level of their competition and that annoys the heck out of me. They bring their A game against great teams and scratch out wins. Put them against the last place teams and they fall asleep. Happen way too often to just be coincidence.
Carlos Pena to 1st.
Any reliever available that can throw stikes. Gagne would be a nice addition but I question his ability to stay healthy. Otsuka may be a safer bet.
Let’s try some AAA relievers for some time giving them work.
Damon can be traded and there are teams that would take him, even with his salary. He has a partial no trade. Yankees may have to eat some Salary but would get a nice return.
Arod embraces New York and Fans
Nice Interview from MLB.com
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/articl.....8;c_id=nyy
This link may be better. He talks about playing and how he’s learned a lot and thanks the fans.
http://mlb.mlb.com/content/pri.....052506.jsp
I really dont understand the Shea talk. If you decide you need to do something at 1b, then do something real. Shea would be an incremental improvement over what we have – not worth the effort. I would rather even play Andy P every day and see if he could actually find his groove at this level.
i think its time for a shakeup of the batting order to get the hitters out of their comfort zone. bat jeter, matsui, a-rod, posada, abreu, cabreara, cano, cairo/phillips, thompon. DH matsui and/or abreu and put in thompson to give the lineup some energy not unlike last year when melky came up. DL damon to rest him then slowly put the batting order to what it was when damon comes back. If it works.
I personally don’t like trading anything, even crap, for Shea. If he’s at his best, he’s a bit of an improvement, but he doesn’t get on base, doesn’t take pitches, and doesn’t hit for much power. He’ll hit for a higher batting average than Cairo or Phillips (again, IF he’s at his best) but that’s about it.
The problem is, what Shea would the Yanks be getting? Shea at his best, or the Shea of the past year with the Giants and Angels, who has been mediocre at his very best and awful more often than not, and who traditionally has had worse second halves of the season? I dont like Cairo or Phillips playing first regularly, but Shea isn’t much of a solution, and while clearly the Angels aren’t going to get anything much, I’d hate to even trade a crap prospect for someone who may very well put up Cairo offense with worse defense.
But hell, nothing else is working right now. May as well.
Why are the lefties having a problem hitting this year? Last year with Mattingly as the hitting coach they were doing so well.
Moves ? Unfortunately, right now, I don’t think there are any moves that can be made that can really improve the team – at least not PLAYER moves. Joe Torre has been a godsend for this team and it’s sad that he may have to go mid-season, but I really don’t see any other choice at this point. This team is defeated and if they can’t get it done against Colorado, San Fran, and Baltimore, there is virtually no reason to think they can pull it out at any time in the near or distant future.
Not only does the team need an infusion of energy by letting Torre go and bringing Girardi in, but the constant refusal to use young players MUST go with him. Shelley Duncan, Edwar Ramirez, and Chris Britton need to be on this roster and playing regularly right now.
Someone please make an argument in favor of keeping Torre. It feels to me like that move is all but inevitable at this point. Let’s just get it done and get on with it.
Sherard – I’m with you. It is time. Joe’s grated on me for years with his veterans only approach, and his absolute abuse of the bullpen. He got away with that because his offense was always there to bail him out. No more. It’s time for a change. The status quo won’t cut it – nor will Shea Hillebrand…
Can someone PLEASE!! explain to me why you use your closer in a 4-0 game on the road, when the night before you didn’t use him in a tie game? This makes no sense to me. The night before all you had to do was score 1 runs!! But he uses him in a game when you have to score 5 to win!! boggles the mind!
Jennifer, he “needed work” according to Ken Singleton on the YES broadcast. It’s insane I know.
If Shea Hillenbrand becomes a Yankee then I am done with these season and Cashman needs to be fired. There is absolutely no reason to pick the guy up. Check out his numbers below from 2006 and 2007. These would be bad for a golve-only second baseman. For a no defense 1B/DH, they are beyond terrible. Anyone who thinks the Yankees should pick this guy up has no business writing about baseball.
2006:
VORP – -6.3
EQA – .236
OPS – .690
2007:
VORP – -9.0 (that’s right he’s 9 runs below a replacement level player)
EQA – .212
OPS – .600
I would take a chance on shea hillenbrand…he will be “singing for his supper” big time. Maybe we can catch some lightening in a proverbial bottle and ignite something. Also, abreau, mussina, damon need to be sent away asap.
The Yankees don’t need Shea Hillenbrand, and they don’t need batting average. They need a first baseman who can hit home runs. They top the league in OBA, and are fourth in BA. But they are 8th in HRs. No team is good enough to win consistently with just sequential offense (though the Angels did it once)—you need those three-run homers.
Mike so he didn’t need work the night before? in a tie game? But he needed it when we were down by 4? Ken is trying to cover up for Joe’s stupidity.
Pete, I can’t understand your opinions about Hillenbrand.
Hillenbrand was a bad hitter last year. This year he is terrible, sporting a line of .254/.275/.325, good for a 62 OPS+. As Adam pointed out, this makes him worse than replacement level. We might as well stick with Phillips.
Plus, you’ve repeatedly said that defense is valuable at first. Hillenbrand is a bad fielder.
You’ve also said that you’d rather fail to make the playoffs than win with a guy like Bradley, who is actually an above-average player, because of Bradley’s bad character. Is Hillenbrand really that much better in the character department?
There’s no good reason to take on Hillenbrand. None.
However, I did enjoy the Youngstown reference.
Uggh Shea.