if you don’t think this is terrible from a guy with little to no defensive value, i am not going to argue with you.

Bernie 2005- .249/.321/.367 12 HRs, 64 RBIs, 53 BBs, 485 ABs; RC/G = 3.8

Sorry that I won’t see you at MSU on Monday–I work there, but will be in Atlanta for the week. If you need a great place for dinner, try Fascino on Bloomfield Ave!

The Times has the best round up of the joint talk Brian Cashman and Theo Epstein held Friday night. I found this part on Bernie Williams and Joe Torre interesting:

Cashman took a few jabs at Bernie Williams, the popular Yankee whose exit from the team was not on friendly terms. Cashman said that Williams was terrible in 2005, but that he brought Williams back as a farewell in 2006. After Williams had a solid year, he wanted to return for 2007. But Cashman did not sign Williams. Cashman said that Williams’s music career “took away from his play.” Interestingly, Cashman said that Joe Torre, who was then the manager, looked for ways to play Williams in 2006 “ahead of guys who could help us win,” so Cashman did not want that to happen in 2007.
Cashman got rid of Bernie rather than telling Joe how to manage his squad. That strikes me as the right thing to do as a GM. The manager is supposed to control the action on the field. If he’s doing the wrong thing, either fire the manager or take away the player. (I think you saw the same thing with Miguel Cairo last season.) As Torre goes to the Dodgers, I wonder how much playing Bernie was loyalty to Williams or a desire to play veterans. Los Angeles fans should hope it’s the former.

Suffice it to say, for now,

1) Bernie’s numbers in 2005 actually didn’t differ that much from Melky’s in 2007, or Bernie’s own in 2003. They don’t compare favorably with his best years but they’re hardly “terrible”. That’s what happens when a player ages if he isn’t using PED’s; his skills decline, whether he works out or no. Anyway, to call his 2005, “terrible” is at best, hyperbole and at worst, self-serving dishonesty.

2) Canard #2- Torre didn’t play Bernie over better players in 2006. Matsui and Sheffield suffered season-ending injuries, leaving Torre no alternative but to play Bernie most of the season. And after the Yankees acquired Abreu on July 31, 2006, Torre still played Melky. In fact, Melky accumulated 106 and 91 ABs in August and September, respectively, little different from the 98 AB and 99 ABS he had in June and July.

The notion that Torre, in 2006, “played Williams ahead of guys who could help us win” is an exercise in revisionist history.

Once I post a piece of greater depth on my own blog, I invite you, if so impelled, to counter, of course.

But thanks as always for the response.

Sounds like a tough life! Have fun.