A rough two weeks for Matsui
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- September
- 12
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Is it time to worry about Hideki Matsui?
Godzilla is 6 for 49 (.122) in his last 14 games with two RBI and one extra-base hit. He has gone from .308 to .289. His slump has sort of gone unnoticed as the Yankees pound out wins.
But Matsui is a huge piece in the lineup and the Yankees need to get him going again. He says no, but you have to wonder if his sore knees are the cause of this slide.
Maybe getting to Fenway Park will help. Matsui is a .318/.382/.870 hitter there over 33 games.
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on Wednesday, September 12th, 2007 at 1:21 pm by Peter Abraham.
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Chad Jennings
Sam Borden
Josh Thomson
It’s not Godzilla’s knees, it’s his swing – he’s bailing out way too much.
Nothing a couple of batting practice sessions smashing the ball to left field cannot cure. And honestly, a cold Matsui in the beginning of September means a hot Matsui at the end of the month going into October. Baseball is a numbers game, and the numbers always even out.
Maybe if the Yankees used a camera man to steal pitching signs from the opponent, Matsui would get the average up. Works for the Pats, right Peter?
At minimum Matsui needs to be moved down in the order so that Arod gets something to hit. He looks awful.
is Matsui the streakiest Yankee hitter ever?
hmmm-
Theres a good chance he is.
But maybe thats good this time around?
He can start getting really hot again come say, oh, I don’t know, October?
Optimism!
You don’t move him down in the order to shake his slump.
If you do, you have 3 lefties stacked in a row and that hurts the overall lineup.
You can’t mess with the entire lineup to get one guy going.
Right now, hitting between ARod and Posada is probably the best place for him to shake a slump. He’s going to get good pitches to hit.
Its definitely his knee IMO because, his bailing out is a way to take the pressure off his knee.
His last two AB’s were encouraging last night. Just missed a HR in the first AB and the sac fly to left was a very good AB.
He was like this earlier in the year then got hot again. Hopefully, he has another hot streak in him that takes him through October.
He’s always been streaky, he’ll be fine. Moving Giambi up the order (which Joe is no doubt considering) would be a mistake.
Why can’t Matsui switch spots with Posada??
matsui should be batting lead-off. I read that on NOMAAS
Matsui has always been a pretty streaky hitter. The YES guys did a good job looking at his problems last night during the game. The scariest part of this is Matsui now looks an aweful lot like Abreu did at the begining of the year… hopefully he can straighten it out and have an October like he did in July.
Because you have Matsui, Giambi and Cano, three lefties, all in a row.
That gives the opposing manager an easy way to matchup his lefties relievers against their hitters. Not the way to go.
No lineup has all 9 guys hitting at the same time. The key is not messing with the entire lineup to get one guy going.
Leave him where he is and he will shake the slump. Its the not the first one of his career and it won’t be the last.
Who would’ve ever guessed that Giambi would be healthier than Matsui at this point in the season? Hope he gets better. We need Godzilla to eat the Red Sox Nation!
Matsui will be fine. We’ll all be looking back at this in a few days and saying ‘Ha, I knew he’d break out of it’.
you are RIGHT…he will break out of it TONIGHT with 2 hits, one for extra bases ! GO GO Godzilla !
Oh Uncle Vito I think you forget the part where that extra base hit is actually a run scoring extra base hit.
I also think Matsui should stay as the DH the rest of the year.
Its not only easier on his knees, Damon is a much better defensive LF at this point in their respective careers.
Defense is important in the post-season and I’m much more comfortable with a healthy Damon in left rather than a gimpy Matsui.
Does anyone think Matsui should get these next two days off so that he can go into the weekend series fresh? He just doesnt look right. A couple days off could do the trick. Damon seems to be doing good in left field and have Betimet play short to give Jeters knee some rest as well. Jeter d.h.
Will Molina play catch Moose tonight?
SJ44-
I know you like to argue for the sake of arguing, but before spouting off and educating all of us with your brilliant insight, why don’t you do a little homework. Who cares if we have 3 lefties in a a row? How many teams have the luxury of a decent left-handed releiver any way. I found the data to support the arguments below in the five minutes since you posted.
- Matusi’s three year split against lefties is .849 OPS vs. .905, not that big a difference (not to mention he is hitting both RH and LH with equal futility now)
- Giambi’s is .872 v .934
- Cano’s is pretty bad, but regardless of whether we have 3 lefties in a row or not, they can always bring in a lefty against him
- Not to mention that with the expanded roster, if the opposing manager brings in a lefty that Torre thinks Giambi can’t handle, he can go to the bench since he will likely be removed for defense any way.
- Posada is simply a better hitter than Matsui, reagrdless of the slump. Habving your best hitters bunched together and get more ABs is pretty much ABC line-up mamangement that doesn’t need to be over-complicated.
good point hmm . its what i was just thinking about – matsui is the streakiest hitter of all time . well maybe not all time but damn close . he’ll come round again maybe just in time for the playoffs .
Michael T,
BRILLIANT.Agree 100%
Hopefully he can get rolling again tonight and carry it into the Boston series. We’re going to need him.
Matsui has said his bat feels slow. I would give him at least a couple of days off. The Yankees are plenty deep enough to do so.
I see that Torre has been nominated for MOY, Why? what has he done to deserve this? This team should have been playing like this for the whole year. The fact that it took a bunch of kids to inspire this club to play harder really bugs me. He has missmanaged the bullpen to the point where he has been restricted by his GM with using his most valuable arm. He has juggled the line-up so that guys who are hot sit until they are cold as ice and then are expected to come through in a big spot. MOY? give me a break!
I was thinking maybe the team should hire an astrologer who could chart everyone’s horoscopes, which would help determine the lineups and pitching changes.
That and some photographers to steal the other teams signals
A-Rod needs good protection in the lineup (especially in the playoffs, if we get there) because none of the good teams are gonna give him anything to hit. Ideally Matsui is 5th in the order, but he´s gonna have to give A-Rod protection. Posada may be the best protection A-Rod could get, but then our 6, 7 and 8 hitters are Matsui, Giambi and Cano (all lefties) and that´s far from perfect.
If Matsui doesn´t start hitting soon I would like Cano or Giambi there, whomever is hot.
_Matsui has said his bat feels slow. _
well, give him a faster bat
_I see that Torre has been nominated for MOY_
Phew!! you had me going there. for a moment I thought it was April first.
the difference , to me , between matsui in left and damon is speed . its what saved hughes night last night on that vernon wells liner to left . damon got there where as matsui MAY not have . matsui does get a good jump on balls but so does damon . damon has a weak arm and throws like a girl where matsui just has a weak arm . i believe last nights line-up is the yanks best offensive line-up vs. righty’s .
Dr. Acula,
The White Sox are treating Ozzy like MOY since they just extended his contract in middle of the season. The White Sox are the biggest upset this year in MLB. Ozzy rips everyone and I am sure I am not the only one who can’t understand half the things he says.
Shelley Duncan is a right handed batter, not only that, he hits towering home runs without even using a bat.
Problem solved.
DR. A,
All true, Matsui says bat feels slow NY Newsday. Torre nominated for MOY Yankees.com.
With the expanded rosters, every team has an abundance of pitchers, many of them lefties.
Giambi has had trouble with lefties all season. Having 3 lefties in a row makes no sense right now. Its equally foolish to change a winning lineup right now, simply because Matsui is in a slump.
How has it hurt their offense the past two weeks? It hasn’t.
Why would you try and give any team with an expanded roster an easy way to get out of innings by putting three lefties in a row in the lineup?
Its not, “arguing for the sake of arguing”, its common sense. Try it sometime.
There’s more to the game than just quoting stats. You have to add some context to them.
There’s no context to using the past numbers of guys who are not as good as they were in the past (Giambi, for example) when they were compiling the numbers.
In other words, you want to shake up a successful lineup simply because one guy is slumping. By changing the lineup, you actually put the slumping player in a worse position to shake the slump.
Makes no sense.
ozzie guillen is like steve phillips. No need to expand, that response stands on its own
And, I forgot to mention that Jorge has historically been a beter hitter frm the left side. His three year OPS split is .818 OPS as a RH batter and .855 from the left side.
So, in essence we already have “3 lefties” in a row since turning Jorge around to the right side knocks off about 5% of his OPS (roughly the same as facing a lefty does to Matsui and Giambi).
But don’t let the facts get in the way of a good old baseball bromide.
The problem is, Duncan isn’t with the team right now. He’s being examined for a possible hernia.
If he is unavailable, good, the righty bats off the bench aren’t exactly appealing.
“Dr. Acula
September 12th, 2007 at 2:19 pm
Shelley Duncan is a right handed batter, not only that, he hits towering home runs without even using a bat.”
Hahah
Yes Shelley Duncan just threatens the baseballs with a forearm slam and the ball wishes itself into the stands.
one way that w. bush can end the war in iraq? Send Shelley Duncan, the war will be over in 20 minutes
Giambi has had trouble with lefties all season. Having 3 lefties in a row makes no sense right now. _Its equally foolish to change a winning lineup right now, simply because Matsui is in a slump._
well, why don’t we dig up Lou Gehrig and stick “him” in the lineup. At the very he’d be disciplined at the plate, not to mention, he’d scare da hell outta the other team.
Damn, I forgot; Gehrig is a left hander.
migames,
Does Philips still think Seattle is the team to beat in the WC??!
You are using 3 year splits as your “facts”?
Is Giambi the same hitter he was 3 years ago? Nope.
How about looking at THIS YEAR.
This year, both Giambi and Cano have had their ups and downs against lefties. That’s what is relevent. Not what guys did 3 years ago, which play a role in the compiling of those numbers.
You wrap all your arguments into stats you think are irrefuable.
The problem is, they all are irrefutable. Especially when using 3 year splits for older players.
Stats are useful used in the proper context. Just spouting them off as imperial, final resolutions make little sense.
The Yankees have always been about balance in the lineup. I see no reason why it should change now.
Its not exactly like they are having trouble scoring runs.
SJ44,
How about a roundup on the minor league postseason. Apparently SWB are out, but what about the rest of the Yankee teams? And what’s your opinion of Austin Jackson?
Giambi vs. left-handed pitching, 2007: 58 PAs.
Can you say “small sample size”?
And even so:
vs. lh .290 OBP/.483 slg/.771 OPS
vs rh .363/.447/.810
And the logic escapes me that we should be fearing the opposing manager bringing in left-handed call-ups that weren’t good enough to make the team. If he is doing this instead of using his best arems, regardless of handedness then he is doing us a favor.
I shouldn’t have to explain this to someone who suffered through the great Mike Myers match-ups with us all year long.
I had a hernia once.
it felt like I getting “high-fived” in the sack by Shelley Duncan!
steve phillips gave up on seatlle. I think he likes the expos chances this year….
SJ44-
By your loginc of focusing on “what have they done for me latley:. Matsui and his 10 games of sub-100 OBP should be out of the line-up period. So this argument is moot.
What annoys me about your posts is that you don’t have any analytical support whatsoever, but think that you have a monopoly on the truth. Simply by throwing out worn bromides like “we can’t have three lefties in a row” like it is a Known Fact (TM).
Mel-
This is a great site to keep up on the Yankee Minor Leagues
http://mvn.com/milb-yankees/
a hernia to the rest of us is pain, a hernia to shelley duncan is message therapy
And you live on stats as a be all, end all.
When the stats don’t measure up, you cry, “small sample size”.
Simply put, Jason Giambi is not the same player he was a year ago, let alone 3 years ago.
So, quoting his numbers on a 3 year basis just seems meaningless to me.
Anyway, its just baseball talk. Don’t take it so seriously.
You seem to have a bigger problem with “monopolies of truth” since you treat numbers as the ultimate truth.
All I am saying is, there is more to it than just raw data.
DMan,
Thanks. Noticed that Austin Jackson had 3 rbis.
question —
what if a-rod has another crappy playoff run ? does he still get the big contract ? does he opt out ? does any of this matter ?
Another point, if you want to focus on more recent results:
Robinson Cano’s 2007 splits against lefties (obp/slg/ops): .375/.462/.837
Against righties: .338/.491/.829
Now that you brought it up, Robby appears to be figuring out how to hit lefties. But how does that support your point?
what is everyones take on moose tonight?
Does he make it out of the third? I didn’t get a good sense of how much ‘better’ he was after his short relief appearence the other day.
I can’t believe that anyone is debating changing the lineup right now. They are mashing almost every night. I like the lineup as is, especially when Damon leads off and plays left. The good news is that the Yankees should clinch the wild card at around the same time Boston clinches the division. This will allow Joe to take his foot off the gas and get each player regular rest. Let the B team play some games. Might be time to call up another OF and DL Duncan.
Its funny, when the stats don’t measure up, we hear the “small sample size” line.
When the stats do measure up, they are the be all end all in discussions.
Jason Giambi isn’t the same player he was wnen compiling his past numbers. It seems to make sense to me to discuss what he is now, as opposed to what he was.
The stats alone, without context, aren’t “ultimate truths”.
If they were, you could just manage teams viz computer.
We cannot afford another game where Hideki comes up twice with bases loaded and makes a lame out (ok, the 2nd time it was a sac fly). We were lucky there was only 1 out both times.
Posada protecting Alex is *much* more important thant Posada protecting Hideki.
Concerns about “bunching up lefties” are as nonsensical and unproductive, in my opinion, as lefty-lefty pitching matchups.
I’m a fan of Ozzie. *hides underneath his chair* I can’t explain why.
Shelley Duncan could be a huge loss, IMO. A power bat from the right side seems hard to come by these days.
Hopefully, Matsui can pull out of this slump by October.
I was very happy to see Ohlendorf pitch yesterday.
migames,
I know you meant Nationals and not Expos, but its funnier to think that he picked the Expos!
_Does Philips still think Seattle is the team to beat in the WC??!_
Funny how EPSN doesn’t bring that up.
That and his other $**t eating quote, “the yankees do not have enough pitching to make the playoffs.”
Ya, tell it to Dice-L and 9.54 ERA.
Boy when the season is over, am I gonna work of Steve Philips and Michael Kay (”nobody thinks this team has a chance at making the playoffs”).
Nate-
My take is that Moose will be bad, but not awful tonight. I predict something nibbling his way through 4 innings and change and 4 runs. The Blue Jays without Glaus are a pretty bad hitting team. They were pretty bad even with him.
Sad thing is that with the hot bats, and Joba, Mo and Farnsy throwing well and rested I’ll take it.
I hope Moose pitches well tonight. The Blue Jays hit Hughes hard but right at somebody. I have my reservations about Moose. I’m praying he pitches something of quality.
nate c,
I was thinking about that earlier. I think that Moose will be closer to the good Moose than bad Moose. He’s had a very humbling experience where he had to acknowledge that something is definitely wrong. That opens the door to adjustments which is good because he could be a little stubborn. The time off was good because he could step back, slow it all down, and look at the whole situation. Now it’s like a re-do, but he’s been there before and the pressure is off. He may even be a little motivated. lol. Mad Moose on the Mound!
Mel,
I think Austin Jackson is the prime example of having patience for an athlete to transition to being a baseball player.
It took him a little while to get going as a pro since, it was the first time he was a “baseball only” athlete.
I thought the Yankees smartly advanced him to Tampa, even though his numbers weren’t so great at Charleston, because it got his competitive juices flowing.
Since his promotion, he has been one of the top OF’s in the minor leagues.
He played a great CF in Tampa, played well in his only game in AAA, and has had a solid post-season thus far for Trenton. He was the offensive hero in their Game 1 win last night.
He can definitely play CF at the major league level. He’s really smooth out there. He has shown to be a better hitter than anybody could have expected this early in his career.
With he and Tabata in the OF for Trenton next year, they may be the youngest OF tandem in AA in 2008.
A full season of AA will tell us a lot. That seperates the men from the boys regarding future performances.
If both those kids play well in AA next year, the Yankees are going to be in great shape for the future with their OF prospects.
Also, don’t sleep on Colin Curtis. He is also in AA now and, after a slow start following his promotion, he is hitting the ball very well.
The Trenton OF for 2008 looks to be, Curtis-Jackson-Tabata. That will be fun to watch.
Mel-
Yah. Lets hope Jackson keeps that up. Hes got a lot of potential I think.
SJ44-
You are right, why should we bother looking at actual data to assess player performance? Instead we should rely on your all-knowing eye and irrefutable comments like “both Robby and Giambi have had their ups and downs against lefties this year”.
Dr Acula–Can you create pics of Steve Phillips eating crow?
_I was very happy to see Ohlendorf pitch yesterday._
that’’s the main point.
lost in all this talk about left handed batters verus astrology is Yogi’s axiom, “half of this game is 90% pitching.”
2 useless questions I’m pondering rather than working:
Yankees with the initial B have come thru in random places in the postseason- Bucky and Boone. Could Bobby or Betemit be the one this year?
If the Yankees win the World Series, who should get a bigger share; Carl Pavano, Josh Phelps or Kei Igawa?
I just got back from 2 trips in my time machine…Sunday Night : NYY 87-62 1/2 game back of BOS at 88-62….End of season NYY 96-66 winning the division and BOS was ????, I couldn’t see but they were IN THE DUST !…I didn’t want to ruin the surprise and see the results of the World Series, but I would guess there are some good results coming there, too ! OPTIMISM RULES….POSITIVE…POSITIVE…POSITIVE !!!
( Oh and Matsui will be fine…he’ll have 2 hits tonight and at least one will be for extra bases ! )
I know you meant Nationals and not Expos, but its funnier to think that he picked the Expos!
No, no, he picked the Expos…i stand by what i said
mel – i agree that the mad moose could be a good thing. but at this point it is hard for me to imagine him giving us 5 or 6 innings with a few runs.
i am absolutely rooting for it, but at his age, i just don’t know what he has left.
pat-
I’d give Igawa a share just for beating the Sox that one time when Karstens broke his leg.
E-ROC,
hey buddy, thank you for the idea! that’s really good.
Thanks, SJ44. Looks like some feel that he has a better chance at staking a claim on CF than Melky. When do you project a September callup and when do you think he can make an impact (i.e. start)?
pat
I’ll go with… Yes. Both shall come up big.
And Ill say, Phelps.. Just because. But thats a tough question!
“Yankees with the initial B have come thru in random places in the postseason- Bucky and Boone. Could Bobby or Betemit be the one this year?”
Im still waiting for Bubba Crosby to come thru in the 2005 ALDS
michael t,
settle down a bit buddy. you’re way to interested in trying to bash sj. this isn’t a pissing contest. we get it, you want to be the smartest guy in the room. sj’s been providing some great info for a while here.
you’re both guilty of some of the same stuff you’re accusing the other of. keep the comments constructive. if you don’t like what he’s saying, fine, don’t respond to it.
Yeah, let’s use 3 year old data to discuss players. That makes sense.
The problem with statheads like yourself is, you can’t reconcile the fact that you have to use both judgment and stats to make decisions. You just believe stats trump everything. Which, they don’t.
You use the numbers and the numbers alone to make decisions. If the numbers don’t add up, you cry “small sample size”, and look to find another set of numbers to make your point.
My point is, if you don’t use the numbers in the proper context, they are meaningless. Such, your rants on the current lineup situation.
Why mess with the lineup now? Its working. There hasn’t been a time all year where every hitter in the lineup has been hot. I haven’t seen a lineup all season that had all 9 guys hot at the same time.
Right now, Jeter, Matsui and Giambi aren’t hitting. The solution isn’t always moving guys up or down.
Example: Melky in the leadoff spot. He hits better when he bats 9th. He presses when he is in the leadoff spot.
He’s having a better year than Damon. However, as a leadoff hitter, Damon is a better choice.
Regardless of how much Damon struggles, I’d rather have Damon leadoff than Melky because he understands that role better. That’s just one example.
It seems to me, the team is playing very well and scoring their share of runs with the lineup that’s presently in place.
I see no reason to change it, despite what 3 year old numbers may say.
I prefer to live in the present, despite that being a “small sample size”.
Lets rag on Skinny Mike- I dont like him at all.
Thought I’d share this: Callis of BA picked Papelbon over Joba in the lightning round.
Guess the sample size is too small. I’m still impressed with Joba’s start.
Mel,
Re: A September callup, it all depends on how they do next year.
AA will tell us a lot about Tabata and Jackson. If they have good years in AA, it would give me great confidence both players have futures in NY.
Until I see them perform in AA, I am optimistic, but not yet sold on their futures. I do like what I see from both guys at this point though. They are talented. They just have to do it against better competition now.
AA is tough. We get spoiled when we see guys like Joba and Kennedy blast through AA like its nothing. In most cases, teams best propsects are in AA. For example, last night, Trenton best the Indians best pitching prospect, Adam Miller. He is their Hughes.
I thought Ohlendorf was impressive last night. A lot of life on his pitches.
He may be a guy that benefits from a move to the bullpen because he can just concentrate on throwing two pitches for strikes. His sinking fastball and slider are major league quality pitches, IMO. More than enough to be an effective relief pitcher.
I think he and Edwar will both be in the Yankees bullpen next year.
With the money the Yankees will be paying out to keep Posada, Arod and Mo, the more they can get minimum salary guys (like Edwar and Ohlendorf) to give them quality performances will make it a lot easier for them to withstand the spike in payroll/luxury tax.
At least for 2008. In 2009, a lot of money comes off the books.
Guys don’t get a hernia-they can get a hisnia. Girls are known to get a hernia.
SJ,
Cashman is really high on Olie (easier no?) in the bullpen. He and Joba were part of the same experiment. I noticed that Miller was bested in that game, but there were some big errors. I know a lot of people love Edwar, but he’s the scariest of the prospects to me (yes, more than Igawa). He’s a one-trick pony that seems to give up more HR than singles. Of course, he can always teach himself other pitches (that’s a great story btw). But he’s a Yankee and he can strikeout guys, so go Edwar!
I know we’re right in the middle of the pennant race, but if you guys were to project, who would be the 25-man for Pete’s preseason guide?
SJ44-
I don’t want to argue so I’ll just respnd and move on.
1. I am not really a stathead, I just like tosee if the data support the decision being made. If you are going to continue batting Matsui 5th, when it is clearly hurting us, there better be a good reason why. If the premise is “can’t have three lefties in a row” then the data can be analyzed to support this (i.e. prone to lefty match-ups whould mean that the 3 hitters have bad splits)
2. I tend to trust more data rather than lees which I why I used 3 year splits. But I agree that more recent results are important too, particularly for younger developing players. That is why I pointed out the 2007 splits for Cano. But, you can’t focus to much on the present, or you would dump a slumping guy like Matsui. What is it, other than his longer-term track record (which some refer to as “stats”) that makes you supprt his being in the lineup at all? Using only recent stats or trusting my eyes would lead me to conclude he is toast.
3. Agree completely that I’d rather have Damon lead off than Melky. This comes from watching the games. Even though this is an off year for Damon, he “seems” to have a btter approach than Melky. But I can quickly back this up with facts like Damon’s 2007 OBP of .350 being better than Melkys (.343). Plus his 23 out of 25 tolen bases vs. Melky’s 13 for 18. Or how about 4.31 pitches per PA for JD this year vs. 3.58 for Melky. Doesn’t that stuff interest you at all, particularly to back up an intuitive sense that JD is still a “better” lead-off hitter.
4. Just because the team is scoring runs overall doesn’t mean Torre shouldn’t try to do better. We have been prone to getting shut down at times when even a marginal pitcher is on (Sonnenstine comes to mind). Down the stretch and in the post-season every run will count. Having Matsui kill rallies, or having ARod pitched around just so we don’t risk being “lefty match-upped” late in the game carries a burden of proof, imo. And I have yet to see any.
That is the context that you claim I lack. I do appreciate your insight, particularly into the younger kids. You were the first here to really point out that Hughes stuff wac lacking due to the injuries. Of course, this can be supported by the stats too (diminshed velocity, reduced k/bb rate, and most importantly, dramatically higher fly ball to ground ball ratio).
mel-
Hard to argue with Papelbon over Joba as a reliever. he has essentially had Joba’s 14 inning domination over the course of two years (K rate, BAA etc). 14 innings sn’t really enough for ERA to matter.
But if Papelbon’s shoulder limits him from starting, the I’d take Joba all day long. He supposedly still hits 96 mph in the 6th inning, and could be a 200+ inning horse (and cheap) for years to come. I’ll take that any day over a 60-inning closer who alreaady has to be babied.
I posted this the other day, but it’s my take on the opening day roster for next year. The only edit I might make is being more certain that Ohlendorf is a part of the 2008 bullpen (given that he does well/improves in the Arizona League this fall), and Humberto Sanchez’ inclusion waits until late 2008 or 2009.
For my money (okay, George’s…), I really like this roster as is. I like having a Giambi/Duncan combo on the bench and can certainly live with Minky and Betemit as the other two guys. The six-headed monster that is Damon/Matsui/Giambi/Duncan/Minky/Betemit certainly allows the Yankees some flexibility, and gives them the opportunity to play both “small ball� and “long ball�, as we’ve seen them do time and time again over the course of the last 10 weeks. Add Jose Molina to the “big six� of A-Rod, Jeter, Cano, Abreu, Jorge and Melky and you’ve got the strongest group of any team in baseball; one that gives you tremendous power, very good defense and good speed.
That allows Joe to have 12 pitchers and you can play with that all you want, but we know that it includes:
Wang
Hughes
Kennedy
Chamberlain
Pettitte
Rivera
Farnsworth
Vizcaino
Mussina
and some combination of three of:
Britton
Edwar Ramirez
Ohlendorf
Villone
Igawa
Horne
Sanchez
Pay all the salaries of the above for 2008, given the following:
A-Rod 35.0
Jeter 19.0
Cano 1.0
Abreu 16.0
Posada 15.0
Melky 1.0
Giambi 21.0
Minky 2.0
Betemit 1.0
Damon 13.0
Matsui 13.0
Duncan 1.0
Wang 1.0
Hughes .5
Kennedy .5
Chamberlain .5
Pettitte 16.0
Rivera 13.0
Farnsworth 6.0
Vizcaino 3.0
Mussina 11.0
Igawa 4.0
Britton .5
Other 1.0
All told, adds to about 195.0. Add Pavano at 10.0 and some other spare parts on the 40-man at about an average of 1.0 – 2.0 each (league minimum for 2008 is 390K), and you’re looking at a total payroll of about $225.0M.
Given that roster, I think the Steinbrenners sign up for that in a heartbeat, considering:
1) they are contributing over $100M per year via luxury tax and revenue sharing with a similar salary figure for 2007;
2) the key free agents will return because Joe Torre will return, for, I’m guessing a three year re-up (that will put him, given 95 wins per year, at Joe McCarthy’s all-time Yankee mark of 1,460, and likely leave him 4th on MLB’s all-time wins list at around 2,350).
3) they will make a LOT more money once the New Yankee Stadium opens the following year (don’t forget that before the “Joe Torre Era�, they never reached 3.0M in attendance and wanted to relocate to Manhatten);
4) the team (THIS team) has a record of 43-21 since July 2, when the pieces started coming together.
If I were King for a day….
Forget about moving Matsui to shake his slump- either he shakes it or not. I don’t think moving him a bit would change that.
But what about switching Posada and Matsui to give A-Rod a bit more protection, at least until Matsui breaks out of this. I suppose A-Rod has been doing well without Posasa so far, but it couldn’t hurt to prevent teams from just walking A-Rod these last bunch of games.
Again why not give Matsui a couple days off? Therefore hitting 2 birds with one stone by having Jeter d.h.(to rest his knee).
DMan – Thanks for that link, I’ve been wanting to hunt down a good MiLB Yankee blog.
Bobcat – Sanchez is probably a long shot with his Tommy John surgery.
Hence, my edit. Sanchez is throwing currently, but optimism says late next year.
One Last Rant:
If there are so many lefty relievers we should fear matchin’ up against us, then riddle me this?
Why haven’t the 26-time World Champion YANKEES, with a payroll higher than every other sports franchiss combined, had a decent LOOGY since Graeme freakin’ LLoyd!
C’mon, it has been ten years. I even remember when we took the corpse of Jessie Orosco for a whirl.
Check out Tom Verducci’s email answers.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.c.....index.html
Bobcat,
The only things I would change to your 2008 line-up are.
No way to Briton.
Horne at AAA as a starter-eventually to succeed Pettite.
Moose- cut loose…Pavano’s salary comes off this year we can use the savings there to pay for this.
Philips for Minky…He’s more versitile.
AND NO TORRE!
I don’t know who I would replace him with though. MAybe Larussa or Girardi. Girardi scares me a little with the way he runs his pitchers into the ground.
Larussa can bring Shelly’s dad over to be the Pitching coach. I am a gator fan but am not sure about the job he is doing, he seems slow to correct a pitchers mechanics when they are out of sync.
The Yankees offense is not broken. It does not need to be fixed because of one player’s slump. Even 2, if you count that Giambi, until last night, hadn’t produced. Right now you let it ride. Matsui will probably be fine. And frankly, Alex Rodriguez doesn’t seem to be having a problem with the batting order the way it is.
It was exactly a year ago when Matsui rejoined the team after recovering from his broken wrist. He’s due!!
Matsui is a very important part of the lineup, and has been known to slump in the past. It would be good to give him two days off so he can slaughter the red sox this weekend.
Manny took light batting practice today.
I imagine he’ll take a pain-killer injection and play this weekend (atleast as a pinch-hitter).
to be fair Pete the MVP Alex Rodriguez also helped Matsui
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09.....ref=slogin