Comments on: Pettitte: Yankees or retirement in 2008

By: Drive 4-5

Drive 4-5 — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 22:04:39 +0000

YankeeinMichigan,

I assume Nate Silver isn’t talking about the Kyle Farsworth that pitched for the Yankees the last 2 years. That Kyle Farsnsworth had a total of five one,two,three innings this year and has a bacl ailment that doesnt allow him to pitch on successive days. Is there another Mr Farnsworth he referring to? If not, Mr. Silver needs to find a new line of work.

By: JJNJ

JJNJ — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 21:57:42 +0000

Andy is a true class act. I hope he’s back next year, and would love to see him open the new Stadium!

By: Lefrak Stomper

Lefrak Stomper — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 21:07:08 +0000

Wishing, and hoping, and praying that Andy re-ups and that the Front office offers him 1 year options for at least 4 or 5 more years. Figure Andy pitches till he’s 40-I know, I know, his elbow is always going to be a concern, but he looks to be in fantastic shape otherwise, so let’s say he can pitch those 5 years and average 14-15 wins, by age 40 he’ll have 260-270 wins, near Hall of Fame numbers, especially if he keeps his career e.r.a. below 4, and his winning percentage about what it is now, .600+, Andy in the Hall, I’d drive to Cooperstown the day he’s inducted to say, “It has been an honor and a pleasure to watch you work…”

By: YankeeInMichigan

YankeeInMichigan — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 21:05:36 +0000

Laura, Nate Silver is one of the brightest analysts around, and he is very often right, so I wouldn’t disregard anything that he says. He cautioned against overpaying for Rivera, as a big, three-year contract could end up looking pretty ugly in 2010, and could end up blocking young pitchers. For the closer role, he suggested Farnsworth (who certainly has stuff — just apparently not the makeup) and Ramirez (who just needs to do something to his HR-pitch), with Joba as a fall-back option.

That being said, Nate is a “pure stathead” who gives little regard to intangibles such as “clutchness” and “chemistry.”
I have problems with Nate’s suggestion of dumping Abreu in favor of Bonds or Dunn. Such a move, which would weaken the OF defense, presumes that Abreu’s .400 OBP days are a thing of the past. I would give Abreu one more year to see whether his decline is for real, and then make a clear-headed decision in 2009. $16 million each for 1 year of Abreu and Pettitte (whom Silver also disses as being extraneous in a staff of Moose-Wang-Hughes-Joba-Kennedy) are low-risk investments (i.e. neither will suck in 2008) that will buy time.

I like Nate’s idea of a Betemit/Lamb competition/platoon at 3rd.

By: CYF

CYF — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 20:47:07 +0000

Jeremy, good point. But, if ARod had waited just a couple of days for the opt out (and not done it during the World Series), and spoken to the Yankees just once (even if he had zero intention of staying here), the fans would be crying instead of toasting him. ARod would have the new contract (like SJ says, that one’s in the bag. It’s just a matter of Boras squeezing the last penny he can), and he’d still have the public on his side. Boras is undoubtedly a great agent, so you wonder why he made this mistake. Maybe team Boras needs a better PR guy.

By: Drive 4-5

Drive 4-5 — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 20:42:40 +0000

Sorry Jeremy, but AFraud left us little to be thankful about. Maybe if he didnt choke so bad in the ‘04,’05,’06 and ‘07 playoffs and left after helping us at least win a pennant we could tolerate being lied to a little easier.

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 20:38:04 +0000

There are a lot of intriguing theories about ARod’s personality here, but this is the same guy who accepted a pay cut in the blocked 2004 trade to the Red Sox that preceded his trade to the Yankees. He has also been open about his need for therapy. Anyone who has watched the team over the last four years could see he has showed just as much enthusiasm and energy on the field as any other player.

He’s a complicated guy and I don’t think he can be summed up easily. I wish he had left more gracefully but what can you do? We will never figure him out. We should just be thankful we got four excellent years from the guy at a bargain price.

By: Drive 4-5

Drive 4-5 — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 20:37:18 +0000

The Yaks have another 3rd base prospect named Mitch Hilligos. He played A Ball this year at Charleston and hit .310 with 168 hits in 128 games. He had a 38 game hit streak at one point. He doesnt seem to have much power though, with only 4 home runs and 53 rbi.

By: This (Next) Year

This (Next) Year — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 20:36:13 +0000

2 random thoughts:JG says that KW has the best stuff of any pitcher he has caught– by far. Afraud did buck Borass once when he took a below market deal as a youngster in Seattle. Guess he has regressed maturationwise as he has aged.

By: SJ44

SJ44 — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 20:34:56 +0000

The Giants would give him the money. The Angels may give it to him. The Mets may and don’t count out the Marlins. There are more teams who will give it to him.

In fact, I would bet my life that Scott has two of those offers in his pocket right now.

Put it another way. If a team just used their MLB money they get annually, that covers a year of Arod’s contract.

For the sake of this discussion, let’s say the merchandising money given to teams is that strong for the last 5 years. That means, the the team giving Arod the money is not really taking money from their OWN coffers! They are using “bonus” money, if you will.

My point is, teams have the money and somebody will give it to him.