The Sunday links
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- August
- 5
That A-Rod guy hit a home run or something.
Alex Rodriguez had a few calls to take after his milestone. This notebook also has news from Scott Boras, Wilson Betemit, Jason Giambi, Joba Chamberlain and some transactions.
Phil Hughes didn’t have a great comeback but the Yankees easily beat the Royals.
The Sunday Baseball Notes takes a look at what Atlanta did at the trade deadline, Johan Santana’s harsh message to the Twins and the Yankees passing up a trip to Asia.
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on Sunday, August 5th, 2007 at 4:37 am by Peter Abraham.
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Peter Abraham
Neifi Perez is an idiot. I don’t like to use that word, but he most definitely fits the frickin’ bill. He won’t be playing in the MLB ever again, IMO.
John Schuerholz pulled a real coup when acquired Royce Ring, IMO. Everything is obviously self explanatory. I thought the Braves were already better than Mets before the trades. Now, they have to be the favorites to win that division. They do need another starting pitcher, badly.
Peter – I’m sure you will talk about ARod with his historic 500 HR on Saturday in your morning blog. I sent this to Buster Olney as well, doubt he’ll read it with so many emails coming into his email box. What do you really know ARod will do in the off-season? Is ARod a guy who will say, “Hey, I’m all about being recognized as the best baseball player ever, that means I should, no doubt, finish my career as a Yankee. If I stay in New York, I will be honored among baseball greats such as Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle. I just need to hit like I did before Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS and I will win a few championships” Or, do you honestly believe he will allow himself to leave New York to get the highest dollar available for his last major contract and hopefully win a championship? What do you honestly think will happen?
My gut feeling is he stays in New York because he wants to deep down win a World Series and be recognized as the best ever on greatest ever baseball team in history.
Joe Monte
Joe,
If he could get as much or more money than in NY why should he stay in NY? The fans have shown they’ll boo him irrationally (see 2006).
With the increase in attendance the last few years it’s only natural there’s a much larger percentage of Yankee fans who are front runners and they’re quick to attack, and come up with rationales like “so and so is not a TRUE YANKEE”.
Putting up with booing when things are going very badly is one thing, putting up with booing when things are going OK but the throngs need someone to take their frustrations out is ridiculous. Why put up with that?
I don’t know if yankee fans are front runner, but rather slow to warm to transplants.
we were frosty to Maris (trade from KC) and Rocket, but after a couple of years, we fell head of heals for them.
Joba Chamberlain was hitting 99 on the gun. Struck out 5 of 6 batters faced in two innings of relief.
His relief CV: 3 outings, 4 innings, one hit, zero runs, 10 strikeouts of 12 batters faced.
Cash, get him up here immediately if not sooner. He is fully cooked and ready.
BJ
Looking at the stats for Giambi at Scranton. He has one hit in six official times up. (4 walks). He is not ready for a return. Let him get 30 to 40 times up. The team is winning. He would be dead wood for the Yankees right now.This is not the time for him to play himslef back into shape.
Joba will be up here Monday for the Toronto series.
The emergence of Joba is good news but the dumping of Farnsworth will be equally good news. Farnsworth is a non factor / non contributor to a jelling team. The bad apple in the Yankees barrel.
Roger Maris didn’t get appreciated until his eulogy at St Patrick’s. As for what A Rod is thinking, in 2000 was he thinking “I’ll go to a state like Texas where high school football is king so I can make a whole bunch of dollars and Tom Hicks can buy half of Liverpool”??
The name of Ichiro’s dog comes from combining his and his wife’s first names. Yumiko’s Yumi can also be read as kyu, and Ichi + kyu becomes Ikkyu in Japanese.
I’m still happy we didn’t get Gagne. Joba’s showing great stuff in AAA, and I’m hoping he shows up in the majors as well.
Gagne’s pitched 2 innings for Boston, striking out 3, but he has given up 5 hits and 2 ERs.
I was at Scranton last night. If Joba isn’t with the team in Toronto tomorrow, I’ll be shocked. The fastball was 94-98, and one pitch hit 99. Slider 87-89. Mixed in a 78-82 change or curve (couldn’t tell from my angle). On a full count, threw a 88 slider after a 98 fastball and the batter had no chance. Almost unfair.
Total minor league stats for the year: 9-2, 2.45 135 K and only 27 walks in 88 1/3 IP. If he gets a breaking pitch over for strike one and then comes back with the heater, the batter has little chance.
I think Joba should be called up as well, but before we deem him the next Mariano, remember triple A is different than the majors and Hughes didn’t have a great game yesterday.
Joba and Hughes both have great potential, but they will stuggle at times too, especially in NY. How they handle those struggles will be ther test if whether they make it or not.
Pete, just a quick note to let you know how much I love this blog. I’m here everday, ignoring the trolls and learning from almost everyone else. Anyway, I missed the game yesterday (my godson’s 6th birthday party – he is a great kid!) but I heard the postgame on the radio. Then I come here this morning with a cuppa joe and drink in all the baseball goodness. Thanks for this place, Pete. You do an awesome job.
the yankees have to be careful counting on young pitchers with little or no experience down the stretch. the red sox counted big time on manny delcarmen and craig hansen last year and they were part of the reason that the red sox imploded. hansen has never been the same.
it’s human nature to get all revved up about how good something is that shows promise, but it’s a mistake in baseball to count on it. hughes hasn’t proved anything yet in the major leagues. the red sox had a rookie last fall that pitched a 6 inning no hitter in the major leagues. i can’t remember his name. that’s the point. one game doesn’t mean anything. hughes is raw and full of potential. that means he may be some help as a fifth starter as long as you have a good long reliever ready to go on the days he gets pounded on his bad days.
on the other hand, the young players cano, melky, phillips, and betamit have had some significant mlb time in and give some youthful energy that is mixed with some seasoning. mixing that energy with star veteran players is fun to watch. i don’t give out many compliments to cashman, but he deserves some kudos for getting betamit and getting these other young players into the lineup.
the difference with these players and hughes and maybe chamberlain is that the first group has had a lot of mlb time before being thrown in there in a pennant race. hughes and chamberlain will probably need a taste this year and well into next year before they help much consistantly. then again it’s worth a roll of the dice to see if you can catch lightning in a bottle with them. if you have back up if they fail and the yankees can pull them out if they are in over their head, no problem. just don’t count on them. it’s too much for young players no matter how talented .
if the yankees can get ahead in the wild card, it’ll give them a shot in the arm for going after the red sox. the yankees by the way are tied with the red sox in the espn expanded standings for the first time this year.
randy–The Yankees don’t have a choice but to go with young players. You might as well go with your two best prospects. Although, I don’t trust Torre with Joba’s arm though.
Here is a nice Stat to ponder…Over the last 15 games, Yankees are 11-5 and have scored OVER 9.5 runs per game…Apply that pace for the next 52 games and we finish 98-64 and score 1148 runs for the season….( I’m just sayin’..LOL )
I meant,,,we are 11-4 ….sorry…
If Farnsworth clears waivers we should just release him and be done with it…he will never be able to be trusted even if he turns it around and has a few 1-2-3- innings in a row (which I doubt)…he is just taking up space…..forget the money (easy for me to say
and move on and bring up Jaba and see what we got…and Miguel Cairo needs to go, not Duncan, his bat is too valuable against lefties, 1 of our weaknesses all year, lefty pitchers……finally I know its easy to second guess and I have wanted Torre fired and wanted Pinella or Bobby Valentine to manage this team…but why is Vizcaino in a game with a 10 run lead, shouldn’t he rest for a closer game and why doesn’t someone in the organization take Torre to task for Sturtze, Quantrill, and Proctor overuse…its like a big joke around baseball by all writers about the overuse of these guys and yet Torre still does it…it just doesn’t make sense this beating up of relief pitchers….I read alot of different baseball columns and I have read about 15 different writers make jokes about this matter and Vizcaino pitching yesterday keeps the joke running, and running….
Think in the article “Joba Chamberlain allowed one RUN in two scoreless innings of relief and struck out five.” s/b “Joba Chamberlain allowed one HIT in two scoreless innings of relief and struck out five.”
i read a lot but dont write; comparing joba to manny delcarmen? silly imo
Anyone want to go on record as to what relievers Joe uses today? You know Mussina will only go 6 innings, tops.
Pete before i head out just wanted to give you thumbs up. Your updates and reports are great for people like me who are constantly moving. You seem to have a lot of that “you heard it here first” type of news. I respect that. Also dude you give the best old school concert and music updates. My dad still has all his old school albums that he refuses to rid of. He has a room that looks like a library full of stuff from Sly & The Family Stone, Springsteen, to Prince, Billy Joel, Jim Morrison and all that stuff. Even though my, Green day Fall out Boy music or Chemical Romance cd collection probably won’t ever be as music historical as yours. I do appreciate your music knowledge as well as this baseball blog.
Oh and thank you for giving the ups about the family day with Jorge Posada and his family. I sent a text to my co-worker who thought it was the coolest.
We aren’t suggesting that Joba is the next Mariano. There probably will never be another Mariano. Getting to watch him pitch is a once in a lifetime treat, something I cherish every single time he comes into the game. We are watching the absolute best at his position by far. No other position in baseball has such a definitive number one player other than the babe.
What many of us are saying is that Joba has certainly dominated minor league players. If that isn’t a meter of possible success in the bigz, than nothing else is, and you might as well never ever promote a player. Our starting pitching is almost as good as anyone’s and we have the number one offense in baseball currently. Our pen is in shambles however, and there is no place to go but up. If we are to make a legitimate playoff push, we need help asap. By not acquiring Gagne, Cash placed a huge vote of confidence in his youth. He needs to act accordingly. I hope to see Joba up by Monday.
BJ
First and foremost, I want to say thank you to Pete for his tireless work on this blog, great work. Also, does anyone remember 2002, two guys named Lackey and K-rod….how did that work out? Hughes and Joba, will provide a better spark than anyone that was on the market or that was on this team, think Igawa and Farnsworth. Also, if anyone thinks that these two can be compared to Delcarmen or Hansen, needs to really think before they put it in writing. Hansen forced Boston into a major league contract out of college and never proved anything in pro ball and Delcarmen is good at best. As for Torre, I hope someone helps him with managing Joba, he can’t let him rot like Edwar and/or destroy him like so many. Lastly, I am a big supporter of A-Rod, and always have been, not that last year didn’t drive me crazy at times, but I know that I wouldn’t boo him just to boo him. I think front-running fans thought it was the hip thing to do and reporters and/or editors need to sell papers, it’s a business (sorry Peter), that is why they were and/or are so hard on him, it sells. I may be naive, but I think there is no way he leaves, he will get paid though. There is nowhere else in all of baseball, not Chicago, not the west coast, and definetly not Boston, that will give him the stage that the New York Yankees can. Just listen to his press conference, he knows it, it took him four years to figure out New York, be yourself and don’t be fake. Straw and Reggie have both said it, there is no better place to play than to play in New York for the Yankees. Thanks again, Peter.
Perhaps we should forget Chamberlain as a reliever,and put him in Hughes spot in the rotation.Hughes started out yesterday’s game like a house on fire,but sagged badly after a good start.Maybe he could be used in the pen.All in all,The Francise showed badly yesterday.
Is there any downside to putting Krazy Kyle on waivers?
Is there any way to find out who has been put on waivers, other than if someone claims that player?
I definitely think its reasonable to say, as Randy I is saying, not to count on young players.
He’s not saying, “don’t do it”. He’s saying, “don’t count on them”. Probably, as you would count on somebody like Clemens, Mariano, etc.
That’s not unreasonable.
As far as the Delcarmen/Hansen comparisions, the taste last year definitely helped Delcarmen. He has been outstanding for the Red Sox this year and, IMO, makes it a waste they got Gagne.
Delcarmen has pitched better than Gagne in the setup role and its actually going to hurt Delcarmen’s development if they reduce his role for Gagne. But, that’s the Red Sox problem. I could care less about them.
Hansen? Was always a product of the metropolitan hype machine and nothing more. If he played in a more competitive baseball conference in college, and came from another area of the country, he would have never been a first round pick. He’s not that good.
In a way, the Yankees had no choice but to call up Joba at this time. Not only is he needed but, he has dominated minor league hitters all season. It doesn’t really do him any good staying down there and dominate those hitters any longer. If he only has about 40 innings reamining on his innings cap this year (my guess), its time to head to the majors and begin your career.
Hughes? I may be in the minority but, I thought he pitched great for the first 4 innings yesterday. For missing 3 months of the season, he was throwing first pitch strikes and doing very well.
The 5th? The leadoff walk to Gathright hurt him and its clear he got a bit gassed in the hot weather.
Either way, if you ask me who should be the 5th starter the rest of the way, Hughes, Igawa, Clippard or DeSalvo, its Hughes in a landslide.
Hughes and Chamberlain don’t have to dominate. They have to contribute. If they do, its a positive to have them with the big club.
Now, if we can just Torre to not use Vizcaino with a 9 run in the 8th inning of games, we can get ready for a nice stretch run.
Need to get Joba up soon if we intend to rely on his as our 8th inning guy in the playoffs. He needs the ML experience. Yes, we will make the playoffs….. I recall Gene Hackman’s quote in o Hoosiers “after Ollie hits his 2nd shot”. You need a positive outlook and it doesn’t hurt to have a guy with a 98 MPH fastball and a 88 MPH slider.
I would not release Farnsworth but I would definately put him through waivers. If another team picks him up, good riddance. Otherwise, this will at least give Cashman the chance to trade him before the August 30th deadline.
That Farnsworth-Wickman trade might still happen. For some reason, Atlanta wants Farnsworth back. I bet they’ll come down on their cash demands (that we pick up both salaries).
I am never a big believer in spending somebody’s money. One of the laughable things fans and people in the media do, is tell teams how to spend their money.
Its easy for somebody to say, “trade for that guy, who cares what it costs”. Or, “eat the contract, so what”, when its not your money or your job to make that decision.
However, they may be getting to that point with Farnsworth. I don’t know how much longer they can have the guy on the roster and perform the way he does each time out.
Its also difficult to listen to the manager constantly defend him because it makes him sound weak. Its almost as if he is afraid to unnerve him. I think we are past that. He is clearly unnerved.
Farnsworth can’t pitch in NY anymore. The fan reaction alone makes it impossible for him to succeed here.
The guy isn’t a mental giant as it is. To get booed as soon as your name is introduced can’t be helpful.
Its going to be a tough call for Cashman when it comes time to call up Joba. Would it shock me to see them DFA Farnsworth, and eat a TON of money, to add Joba to the roster?
A week ago, I would have said, “yes” that would shock me. Now? I am not so sure.
Here’s the transaction I expect to see Monday morning. No inside info
just my gut feel.
“Purchased the contract of RHP Joba Chamberlain from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and optioned RHP Jeff Karstens to Sranton/Wilkes-Barre. Activated 1B/DH Jason Giambi from the 15-day disabled list and designated INF Miguel Cairo for assignment.”
Let Farnsworth pitch as a long reliever (give him his work) and hope that a team like Atlanta is willing to give up something for him before August 30th.
RE: The Padres signing Hillenbrand
He’s playing AAA ball here in Portland and absolutely sucks. As of Thursday, his BA was .045 or thereabouts. I’m really glad Cash didn’t sign him. He seems to be the position player version of Farnsworthless.
Remaining Yankees games. Over half of the gamese left against the AL East (31/52). Toronto, Baltimore and Detroit make up most of the games left.
TOR – 10
BAL – 9
DET – 8
BOS – 6
TAM – 6
KC – 4
CLE – 3
LAA – 3
SEA – 3
Where’s peter? is he driving to the stadium with CRod ?
Scooter-
The schedule gets brutal starting tomorrow, no more tee ball against the Royals and D-Rays.
This next two week stretch tells you whether this team is a playoff team or not….Indians, Tigers, Angels, Red Sox…