Myers: “I had an absolute blast.”
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Aug 06, 2007 
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Mike Myers was packing up his apartment and preparing to return to his home in Colorado when we spoke tonight.
His bags had been put on the plane and he was headed to the bus when Brian Cashman pulled him aside and told him he had been designated for assignment.
“I was surprised,” he said. “But I know I didn’t do the job they brought me over here to do, at least not as well as I hoped.”
Myers said he enjoyed his two seasons with the Yankees. “I had an absolute blast. I played with some special people and some great players. I’m glad I did it,” he said.
Myers also appreciated what Joe Torre said to him.
“Joe said I was a good teammate and that he appreciated the fact I took the ball in any situation,” Myers said. “That made me feel better about things.”
Myers was not effective against left-handers, no question. But don’t write off his tenure in pinstripes. He pitched well on many occasions and several times this season saved the bullpen by pitching an inning or more. He leaves the Yankees leading them in appearances.
He also was a mentor to Chien-Ming Wang, taking him out on the road to restaurants and exposing him to American culture.
“That’s the tough part, you make some good friends in this game,” Myers said. “Wang is a great kid. I’m going to miss not going out for sushi with him in Toronto.”
Myers has cleared waivers and will be traded or released in the next 10 days. Don’t be surprised if he’s pitching against the Yankees at some point this season.
Pete…Newsday is reporting that the Yanks are calling up Jim Brower to take Myers spot. If this is true, why is this happening? Ok so they want Joba to make one or two more relief appearances. But why a 35 year old nobody in Brower over Ramirez?? Is Edwar’s .59 ERA and 16+ k/9 not good enough or something??
I dont get this at all
Even though he was not effective I would prefer he wound up in the Nl..
Nuce guy to bad he did not get the job done. It was the right move and more moves like this should be done with the pen.. there pen is a mess.. Torre almost gets a pass on how he uses the pen because of the lack of reliability is so high he can’t trust any of them..
Is it true Brower is coming up?? Joba should be up shortly else they have alot of explaining to do…..
When did the Yankees place Myers on waivers that he cleared it so fast?
He sounds like a great guy, and was always classy. I won’t miss his performance on the baseball field vs lefties, but I’ll miss him as a person.
They do not need to announce waivers and it constantly goes on. I think the process is quite involved with blocking and all kinds of interested strategy…
Yeah. Thanks Mike. I sure would have released Farns first though…
Regarding Brower, I’m sure it’s only for a few days. Joba prob. still can’t go into Canada.
As a Yankees and (NY) Giants fan. With players like Tiki Barber and now Michael Strahan showing no class on their pays out its nice to hear a guy like Meyers go out like a man. I’m glad to hear a pro that appreciates his place and doesnt want to burn bridges. I wish him the best. I hope he gets another job. Hopefully we can trade him but if not that okay. I just hope that more guys with class like that get jobs over jerks like Farnsworth more often in sports.
Good news on myers i liked him but he just wasnt cutting it
next step farnsworth
proctor had two perfect innings for my secondteam dodgers against an impressive arizona team. granted it is the NL but proctor is just that good. he will be missed he was just class. i still think we should send him a letter as a blog. GO VIN SCULLY.
“I sure would have released Farns first though…”
IF they were willing to pay him to play for someone else, they’d have eaten the money and traded him to the Braves. They’re not going to just dump him.
If the Brower thing is true, though…I’m speechless.
“but proctor is just that good”
Then why all the walks and homers with the Yanks?
Myers gave people nightmares just like Farnsy… all I can say is wooooooooooooooooooooohoooooooooooooooooo
SO LONG HALLOWEEN !!!!!!!
So who takes over as the Yankees’ Allen Covert look-alike with Myers gone?
I am happy that they got rid of Myers, it was definitely time. He ate alot of the innings in blow out games but he took up much to much space in the bullpen and wasnt consistent in getting lefties out anymore. They could not keep him for mop up duty and he could not be trusted in a close game. Maybe this move will make Bruney get his act together a little bit more. When he sees that people that arent getting the job done are getting released.
I think they wanted to give Chamberlain 2 days off since he just pitched 2 innings. I would think he will join the team in Toronto if not then definitely against the Indians. Maybe they want to see if Brower can get people out and then they would keep him and Karstens would be sent down when Chamberlain comes up. Or if Brower isnt good then he would go down when Chamberlain is ready.
Class act. Hopefully, Cash can trade him to one of the contenders in the NL and give him a nice place to land for the rest of the season.
He just never seemed to have it this season, although I know we’re all going to missing him as an option when Boston rolls into town. Say what you want, but he handled Ortiz just as much as Ortiz handled him. I remember a few big outs Mike got on Ortiz, just like I remember Ortiz taking him deep.
The Yanks might catch a break with Baltimore.
Baltimore’s ace Erik Bedard pitched yesterday (Sun.8/5). They have a day off tomorrow. If they give Bedard an extra day of rest, he starts vs. Boston on Sat.8/11 and the Yanks don’t face him in the Yanks-O’s series 8/13-15. This also means Bedard gets an extra day of rest after that Sat. start vs. Boston cuz Baltimore has a day off Thurs.8/16. If they start Bedard on normal rest, the Yanks will face him in the final game of the three-game set Wed.8/15 (Boston will face him Fri.8/10). I wonder what the O’s manager will do. I’d think he’d start Bedard on normal rest vs. Boston & the Yanks also so he doesn’t get too much rest w/ extra days of it 8/6 & 16. Or maybe he wants to protect his ace.
“I remember a few big outs Mike got on Ortiz, just like I remember Ortiz taking him deep.”
You can say that about any pitcher. I can remember Kyle striking him out in a big spot. I can also remember Kyle giving up lots of big hits.
If he wasn’t getting Ortiz out more than 70% of the time, he wasn’t anything special.
If they’re planning on bring up Chamberlain. I just wish they would do by now…..He needs to get his feet wet before the heavy games come in about 2 weeks……
brower, huh? well, that’s the obvious move. you’ve got a kid throwing 97-99 with a wicked slider who’s struck out 10 of the last 12 batters he’s faced. you gotta keep that kid on ice for a bit and get brower up there. it’s the only move, really.
this team’s bringing brower up instead of chamberlain and, yet, some people are convinced that jason giambi and johnny damon are going to sit on the bench while melky cabrera and andy phillips play. wake up.
I hope Myers gets traded to the NL. Maybe the Brewers, Cards, or Phillies would want him. I don’t mind Jim Brower being promoted. I think he has been a career minor leaguer. I’m not sure, but he has been pretty good at AAA. He took over the closer spot and hasn’t religuished it since.
* relinquished
Kasey do you think they have converted Joba to a relief pitcher and will keep him in the minors??
Man you are even dumber then I thought. If Joba is not up within a week every person in the yankeed front office should be fired… Unless Joba got hurt he will be up in days…..
Again want to break open your piggy bank to bet on it or ask your mommy for your allowance to bet…
there is no friggin way this Joba experiment will be called off, the results do not warrant it and if they called it off Joba better be back starting immediately. He is there #1 prospect you do not screw with that type of talent…
Kasey again on the Damon in CF.. How much you want to bet??
Melky is the CF for the season unless he gets hurt..Damon will play less then 8 games at CF the rest of the season.. My presdiction is Damon will play 5 games at LF about the same in CF and 30 or so games at DH that is it unless he hits aton..
“this team’s bringing brower up instead of chamberlain and, yet, some people are convinced that jason giambi and johnny damon are going to sit on the bench while melky cabrera and andy phillips play. wake up.”
You would think that Torre would learn the lesson from last year in the playoffs (see Gary Sheffield)… but alas, you are right… Leche and Andy will be sitting when Giambi returns
“Don’t be surprised if he’s pitching against the Yankees at some point this season.”
I am sure the Yankee batters are hoping he does.
Melky is the everyday CF….Even St. Joe understands that by now…..Damon, Giambi are now LH DH’s, and PH….Duncan & Belemit share the same roles from the Right side…..At least there’s a very good bench now…..Joba needs to be called up now…..
i don’t know why,
i like Myers.
and Andy Philips, too.
i wish Giambi never came back.
“i wish Giambi never came back.”
Don’t we all.
I can’t believe Giambi is returning for the Toronto series. He hasn’t done anything, but one homerun. I don’t think he’s ready.
stuart,
your intellect is staggering.
at no point did i say they were going to call the joba thing off. but why call up brower when joba’s clearly ready? it’s an idiotic decision.
great, melky’s in CF. if you say so. that means phillips sits. either way, everyone’s going to be sorry giambi came back.
enough with the stupid piggybank stuff alright? your posts are ignorant enough without the pathetic attempts at humor.
oh, and i’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but johnny’s been playing in the field quite a bit more lately, be it LF or CF. i’m sure that’s just a coincidence. no way they’re trying to get him ready to play the field on a regular basis again.
i’ll defer to stuart’s wisdom on that.
JOBA IS COMING UP!!!!
http://www.nypost.com/seven/08.....e_king.htm
written by George King
facing meyers would be great . since the yanks are so lefthanded heavy . he cant get lefty’s out . see ya meyers , too bad you couldnt take farnsworth with ya .
I hope it’s Joba and not Jim Brower. Nothing against Brower. He’s pitched well this year. But we don’t have many 40 man spots to fill and both would need to be added. Given the choice and the urgent need to compliment our hitting with good relief pitching, the time is NOW to see whether the answer is in-house. We have 24 days until Sept 1.
My guess is it’s going to be Brower. This makes absolutely no sense to me but I certainly hope he pitches well. NY Post is reporting Joba but Newsday is reporting Brower and has a quote from Cashman stating that “He’s [Joba] not getting on a plane to Toronto [today]“.
So, we swapped a 38-year old lefty for a 34-year old righty when we had several under-30 options on the 40 man roster (Beam, Britton, Henn, Ramirez). Well, let’s see what Brower can do – he did make the AAA all-star team.
I assume we’ll still see Joba soon.
Good to see the papers are alinged on this one. NYT and Newsday reporting Brower. NYP reporting Joba. NYDN reporting Ramirez. I’m pretty sure its Brower and by the weekend Joba will join the team.
Myers is the 1st step in the bullpen restructuring. Brower, Joba, Edwar and possibly Britton all figure in but if Farnsworth can’t be moved, Torre must NOT use him for the 8th inning any longer. It would give the team breathing room to the set up for Mo.
Peter, dont forget to post the Jays lineups this week………………………………………………………………………………………
Pete,
All that loyalty and you still got scooped on Joba? But seriously, what’s the deal? Is he being activated today or what? The Post says he is, others says he’ll be with the team but not activated. Please find out.
Thanks!
Scooter,
I was just going to post the same thing!!! lol
Talk about “hedging your bets”.
My guess is, Joba won’t be called up for today’s game since he is unavailable to pitch until Tuesday. No sense having a guy on the roster unavailable to pitch.
Who gets the call today? Your guess is as good as mine.
One thing that all this stuff shows me…..Stick Michael has more input than he had a few months ago.
Stick was the guy championing the Shelley Duncan callup. Stick also was the first guy who suggested they move Joba to the ‘pen to help them this year. FWIW, Stick also thought Hughes could have helped them down the stretch last year.
Stick also wanted Ramirez in NY and really likes Brower. If Brower is in the mix, coupled with the other stuff going on, it tells me Cashman is listening to Stick and Stick’s ideas are being used.
That’s good news for EVERY Yankee fan.
Well since we really don’t have any shutdown lefties on the big league team or down in AAA and AA i guess the whole match-up situation has failed again for the 6 consecutive year in a row.
The thing is, it doesn’t matter what happens, if a veteran is there Torre will use him over the rookie. If Brower joins the team today and Joba joins in a few days, or even if it’s the other way around, Brower will cancel out Joba if they are on the team at the same time. The only way to get Joe to use the rookie pitchers is if he has no other choice. The move should have been to remove Myers and replace him with Ramirez or Chamberlain, replacing him with another veteran does no good because of our fking retarded manager. I guess our only hope is to have Brower give up ten runs against the Blue Jays today, but why should we have to lose a game to prove what we already know(that Brower and guys like him aren’t the answer to the Yanks bullpen problems)?
Bring back Jesse Orosco!!!
Look again at the NY Post article… it doesn’t have any source at all saying Joba’s getting called up. It’s just the writer’s speculation. The Brower news seems much more like actual news and not an assumption, plus it quotes Cashman as saying Joba’s not happening, while the Joba article has no quotes from him.
Myers was absolutely garbage against lefty’s this year. They didn’t sign him to be a mop up guy.
Stuart, why do you have to go with the personal insults? Is your Damon point really mean that much to you that you have to call people stupid? Get over yourself.
sj44-
that’s music to my ears that michael is having a major influence on the make up of the team. i haven’t seen much written about this. where are you getting the info on michaels?i’d like to look more into it. it seems the front office would be immensely better if he had more say on the roster and the future development of players.
as you know i’ve been extremely critical of cashman for most of this season. the things i didn’t like have gone away. back up catcher is resolved nicely. no hamstring pulls on a weekly basis from an inept trainer, clemens in the fold for a championship push, the first base platoon fiasco with mientkiewicz and phelps is gone, and melky is playing all the time.
cashman could not have been worse in the first half of the season , but he’s making up with it with some great moves. betemit for proctor was beyond good. betemit seems to fit in nicely with cano and melky for a young trio who could be with the team for a long time.
i hated messing with melky last year to get sheffield in the lineup for the playoffs. hopefully the yankees have learned their lesson from that one.
damon and giambi should have to fight their way into the lineup with their performance.real yankees don’t need to know their role. they show up ready to play. to me the mental toughness it takes to not know if you’re going to play or not and still be ready is one of the litmus tests for handling the pressure of being a yankee. clete boyer as a winter ball manager used to cut players who came into his office needing to know where they stood. giambi and damon have to suck it up and take advantage of whatever playing time they get.
andy phillips represents this kind of mental toughness. with all the uncertainty he faced this year he kept playing and battling with a positive attitude. now that’s he’s dealt with the pressure of cracking the lineup, he’s mentally prepared for a pennant race and the playoffs. giambi and damon should have to pass the same test to get back on the field. no free passes for anyone.
Andy Phillips:
OPS+ 102
RC/27 4.81
Can we please stop acting as though this uber-religious, semi-handsome, 30-yr-old 1st baseman is the Savior?
Jason Giambi:
OPS+ 120
RC/27 5.79
Yeah, I don’t like Jason personally. But if the Giants are paying Barry $20 million dollars to cheat and the commish goes to watch him play, we should be allowed to use our cheater!
Randy,
Stick did an interview on the FAN on or around the All Star Break.
In that interview, he talked about the “state of the team”.
He said he felt Duncan was the RH bat off the bench that could help them and he would like to see him in NY. Then, he said, “Its only my opinion and that doesn’t mean much”! lol
He then talked about Brower, Ramirez and Britton in Scranton. He felt Brower was pitching better than all of them and thought he would be useful in the Yankees bullpen. He loved Ramirez but, like Nardi Contreras, felt his fastball command was shaky. Despite that, Stick felt he could be a useful guy in long relief in NY.
Britton? Another good arm but, not as ready as Brower or Ramirez.
He then talked about Chamberlain and talked about how they could use him this year. Stick felt a move to the bullpen could be a way to limit his innings but still get use out of him (in NY) this year. He, like Cashman, is a big believer in setting innings caps for younger pitchers.
I know he was in on all the meetings leading up to the trade deadline.
I saw him on the three roadtrips I was on this year and at a couple of games at the Stadium. Usually, he doesn’t travel that much anymore.
I am taking all of that circumstanial evidence and coming to the conclusion he has a major voice again in the organization.
Too many moves are happening that I know wouldn’t be happening if not for his involvement.
some of you guys need to relax.
every single roster move that you don’t agree with and everyone is an idiot and needs to be fired.
Joba *IS* coming up. it may be in a few days, maybe he has passport issues, who knows, and Brower is just filler for a few days.
by this time next week, Joba will be up. Britton might be up, he is just coming off the DL and the Yankees ALWAYS like to give injured guys a few rehab games first.
some of you people are like a bunch of spoiled 5 year olds.
the Yankee organization is very slow and deliberate in their maneuvers, but they largely steer the ship in the right direction. Melky is STILL playing everyday. Shelley Duncan got his chance. Phillips got another chance.
the next 3 weeks are going to be a trial period for who gets to stick around if the Yankees make the postseason.
you WILL see Joba, you will probably see Britton and Ramirez again, you might see Cairo released. there will be a lot of moves, and by the end of the month, you will see a very strong 25 man roster.
you can’t have every single player you want as soon as you want them. all season you guys have whined about Nieves, Cashman got Molina. you whined about Phelps and Myers, they are gone. you’ve whined about the bench, so he calls up Duncan and gets Betemit. BUT OH NO, PROCTOR HAS THROWN 2 GOOD INNINGS AGAINST THE DIAMONDBACKS!!1!!1! a team that scored about 4 runs in 3 games against the yankees, they have a PATHETIC offense. pathetic. they’ve scored 467 runs so far, or 14 more runs than the Pirates.
Cashman has quietly assembled a great bench, a great starting line-up, and a decent rotation. all that’s left is the bullpen. so what, he couldn’t get Gagne. that’s life. Joba is coming. Ramirez and Britton might be coming.
this is a GOOD team. they have a +150 run differential. Boston is at 134, Detroit at 76, Anaheum at 63. The Yankees, despite trading Sheffield, are on pace to score 33 more runs than last year.
the incessant whining on this blog is so tiresome.
good post, randy.
the only thing i would say is that sometimes you have to correct mistakes DURING the season, and having mistakes to start the season is not the mark of a bad GM.
sometimes for whatever reasons, certain players are just not available in the off-season. i am certain that cashman explored all the backup catcher options in the off-season and just couldn’t find anyone who was available without giving up a prospect. so he went into the season with Nieves, and when Neives couldn’t get the job done he made a move. same thing with Phelps. Phelps had intriguing power and you can’t deny he didn’t have a great spring training. but when it didn’t work out, they released him.
the reason Cashman looked “bad” in the beginning of the season is simply b/c Cano, Abreu, Damon, and Matsui were not playing up to their career lines. now that they are, the team looks pretty good. with the same players.
if those SAME guys simply played at a constant level all year instead of big slumps followed by huge surges, the Yankees would be in first place. or if they just slumped at different times. but they didn’t. they all slumped at the SAME time. and couple that with injuries to Wang, Hughes, etc., and the Yankees dug themselves into a big hole.
Randy 1
I guess when Damon played with a broken bone in his foot and a bad shoulder last year and Giambi played injured all last year they weren’t playing under any pressure either ???
Phillips is a good player, no doubt, but lets not apply for sainthood for him just yet. He’s had a couple of good months over two quality career major league players who have been injured. He played well last year and then took a nose dive if you recall.
Betemit was supposed to be acquired last year but we missed him as he was traded before we could get him otherwise Cairo would have not been here this year.
Blaming Cashman for what he’s tried to do and now saying he’s done OK is just second guessing. His thought process has been correct from the getgo but everything hasn’t panned out the way he hoped it would.
hmmm-
cashman has come on strong. if sj44 is right, he’s working more closely (or paying more attention )with michaels. i think cashman’s power is more balanced now. the bad start forced the team to reasses the 100% in control thing. he’s clearly in control, but he doesn’t appear to be the lone ranger anymore in decisions.
you have to admit the yankees were a bad team out of the gate and for most of the season. it’s not whining pointing those things out. but at the same time , even people like me who bashed cashman all year have to give him credit. this is a remarkable turnaround of performance and personnel. good for him. he still should remember the season starts in april and not after the all star break. he’s lucky cleveland and detroit have faltered or this run would have fell short.
i pointed out last night that the yankees relievers compare favorably with the past 5 world series winners as far as team reliever regular season era. only the angels really had a vastly superior bullpen. it would have been nice,but they didn’t need gagne. they can do it without him. it’s going to be interesting rolling the dice with chamberlain.
the yankees have caught the red sox in the espn expanded standings(or pythagorean) so yes they are a very good team. now the test is to see how they handle some of the better teams. they’re not out of the woods yet,but things are looking very good. a tip of the hat to cashman to get them to this place.
When was Cashman not working close with Stick???
Forgive me if I doubt the rumors and the stories and the commenters here who think they know anything.
vinny 5743-
do you have something against open competition? cashman lost a lot of his power by the time the all star break came around. even he’s accountable, and that’s a good thing.
i don’t like the shape damon came into spring training. i don’t like giambi not taking care of his heel spurs which are easy to prevent.
i prefer veterans over young players, but that doesn’t mean i like to see them get a free pass into the lineup. with all the experience they have they should have no problem beating out a young player. but if they can’t take the heat and some hungry young player takes their job, that’s the way it goes.
hmmm-
your second post came up as i was writing. you know my bias towards playing experience for gms, but i’m open to cashman when he works closely with someone like michaels. as i said, cashman has impressed me with his recent moves. betemit especially.
i think Cashman has always listened to Michael. Michael was always one of the people on the Cashman side of the Tampa/Cashman battle.
for example, last season, Michael was the guy pushing Andy Phillips and Cashman largely let Phillips have the job for 2-3 months, not calling up Pena or making a move until Phillips had that terrible July and Cashman got Craig Wilson.
i think you are underestimating how much Cashman values Michael.
Cashman’s guarding of the farm system like a hawk is a page right out of Michael’s playbook from 1992-1995.
Cashman is a Michael protege and we are going to see the fruits of that approach with another great homegrown core in the next few years.
either way, like you said, things are moving in the right direction.
hmmm
hey ,if i can get mostly on the same page with you after the way we started out, who knows, cashman may become my favorite gm.
It’s like Old Home Week with SJ, Randy and hmmm firing away.
I think hmmm is right on the money with: “the next 3 weeks are going to be a trial period for who gets to stick around if the Yankees make the postseason.” That may mean Giambi more than anyone else except the bullpen. Thus, I have to expect that Giambi will probably get some serious playing time if only to determine whether he has come far enough back to make the post season roster. There’s almost no point to bringing Jay back now unless they are going to give him ABs or else he’ll get rusty and he’s just taking up a roster spot. The real question for me is whether Jay can Pinch Hit effectively.
murphydog-
hey now we’ve got a quorum. maybe we should vote on something. i haven’t had time to comment much because of my summer work load down here on cape cod. i will report from here that red sox fans are getting very nervous that the yankees are in their rear view mirror. they also are not happy with the prospect of the yankees coming on strong in the wild card. my hunch is that the two teams are on a collision course for a second round meeting in the playoffs.
Question, did it occur to anyone that Brower could actually be a VERY good pitcher for us? Maybe he will surprise us and be the 7th or 8th inning guy for the rest of the season, maybe the post season. I really liked Myers in the pen and I thought he was a great option to start innings and pitch to righties, but if thats not what we need, thats not what we need. Let’s see how Brower and Joba perform and evaluate from there. I think Brower will surprise us and Joba will have some difficulty at the start.
Randy 1,
That’s a falacy at best. How do you know Cashman lost anything. The doubt was in your mind and in the mind of the writers you mimic since Cashman has been following his gameplan since day 1.
Damon could not work out as usual over the winter due to his injuries and thus he wasn’t in his normal shape. You can twist the facts to suit yourself but the facts remain Phillips is not of the caliber of a Giambi or a Damon at this point in time. He’s a good player but not in their league. If he was, he’d be making their money at 30 years old wouldn’t he ??? He hasn’t proven he can maintain for any length of time as his current pace as the veterans can.
This could be his turn around year but the proof will be in the pudding, so to speak.
I know he’s a left-handed specialist, but it’s interesting that Mike Myers has the best ERA of any Yankee to pitch more than five innings this year (2.66). I hopehe can find a good place on a team, if not as a specialist then just as a good reliever.
Good Ridence to Mike Myers. Thank goodness Proctor is gone too. Now, hopefully we can get rid of Farnsworthless. Its time for the New York Yankees to win another world series for 2007.
Seems like a true class act at the very least. I won’t exactly miss him on the field, but he seems like a good guy off of it. I wish him the best of luck wherever he winds up.
Myers:When knew that you leave Yankee’s,all of friends are very sad, please believe in any event we will not forget, you will be our idol,we hope can see you again in MLB, fuel