Clemens on the offensive again
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- January
- 28
Roger Clemens is a more effective campaigner than most of the people running for president.
After denials via press release, You Tube, 60 Minutes and a press conference, there is now a report on line from the Hendricks Brothers.
I haven’t had a chance to read the whole thing. But it seems to make the case that Clemens didn’t suddenly revive his career in Toronto.
While Clemens has mounted a multi-layered defense, what he says and how he looks in front of Congress will probably determine what most people believe. But as I’ve written here for a while, I don’t expect the truth in this situation to ever be black and white.
——————
Erik Bedard is about to be on the move to Seattle according to several reports. Then it is expected the Orioles will trade Brian Roberts to the Cubs. The O’s are going head first into rebuilding, which is what they had to do.
The Twins, meanwhile, remind me of a desperate blackjack player who keeps betting the shoe hoping that the cards will turn for him. But the Yankees have no interest, the Red Sox marginal interest and Mets are content to sit back and watch the price of Johan Santana fall.
Unless Hank Steinbrenner sends his brother off in a rowboat, Santana is not going to be in pinstripes. Brian Cashman is making his stand here.
——————
If you have the Seinfeld season 7 DVD, make sure you check out the extras to see the scenes George Steinbrenner shot that were trimmed out of the show. Big Stein did a good job, he was funny.
The scenes involve him asking Elaine to be his date to George’s wedding. Then he and Elaine go out for dinner.
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Peter Abraham
Thanks for the update Pete!
I’d like Santana to be in pinstripes, but the price mega$ contract + Hughes + Melky + ??? is too high. I hope Johan just waits out the year, then get the mega$ contract next year with the Yankees.
I heard that Big Stein was trimmed out of the show because the Steinbrenner impression from before were so dead on that people didn’t realize it was the real Boss and the people who did didn’t think it was funny
The Hendricks report on Clemens makes Boras’ books on players look like pre-school reading.
Mets better be careful that if the price drops too low on Santana, the Yanks or Sox may try to get back in without having to include Hughes/IPK or Lester/Ellsbury.
Hey, did you guys catch this blurb by Joel Sherman yesteday?
“The annual “woe is baseball” reaction arrived last week with news of the Yankees’ 2007 official payroll again being well over $200 million ($218.3) and again well ahead of the next-highest team, the Red Sox ($155.4 million). I hardly want to be a Yankees apologist, but it is much easier for me to justify the Yankees payroll then the projected 2008 Marlins payroll. The Yankees payroll is about half of their reported revenue.
That payroll has helped create a roster that has done what used to be thought of as impossible, drawing four million annually to The Bronx, while also is helping to launch a network. That payroll has created tremendous wealth around the sport in luxury tax dollars, and also via attendance drawn in visiting stadiums. Meanwhile, the Marlins’ highest-paid player in 2008 will be Kevin Gregg at $2.5 million and their total payroll is unlikely to exceed $20 million. That total is less than one-third of what the Marlins receive in revenue sharing/luxury tax (about $35 million) and from the central fund (around another $35 million), which covers, among other items, national TV and radio, the Internet and merchandising.”
Go Joel Go Joel Go Joel.
Great site for all time Yankees roster and uniform numbers among many other things :
http://www.ultimateyankees.com
i would hope that Cashman would jump at Johan if the price of players does come down… from what i understood about this whole situation, its the combo of prospects and dollars that makes it unreasonable for the front office.
Quick poll: if you’re the Twins, which is better:
A) current rumoured package on the table from the Mets
B) IPK, Horne, Jackson + B/C level prospect?
And for the Yankees fans, do you do B) for Santana? I do.
Or C) Ellsbury, Lowrie, Crisp and Masterson
the Yanks (B) is better than Mets (A), and comparable to the Saux© package. I would imagine the Twins would pick the Saux package, because they get 2 position players who could arguably slide in and contribute right away.
if the Yanks were able to get a IPK/Horne/AJax package together, i would do it, personally.
“Saux© package. I would imagine the Twins would pick the Saux package, because they get 2 position players who could arguably slide in and contribute right away.”
Hang on, I’m dumb, though. Ellsbury and Crisp aren’t in the same package. Ellsbury, Lowrie, Masterson, and ?? vs Kennedy, Jackson, Horne, ??
when are single game tix going on sale? Is it Feb. 18?
The yankees package is not going to be on the table. I read what’s stopping any trade is the rumoured 130-150 6-7 year deal Santana is looking for. Does he really think he’s going to be THAT good for that long. Or does he think teams are only into win Now so they’ll pay him That much.
i wonder at this point, who the Yankees are highest on… Tabata or AJax.
“I read what’s stopping any trade is the rumoured 130-150 6-7 year deal Santana is looking for. Does he really think he’s going to be THAT good for that long. Or does he think teams are only into win Now so they’ll pay him That much.”
Well…the mets are pretty friggin desperate. They might be willing to do that.
whozat, i was referring to Ellsbury and Lowrie, who could play CF and SS, respectively. there is no way the Saux would include Ellsbury AND Crisp in the same deal, and no way the Twins would take that.
The Twins would want to stick it to the Yanks (everyone does), but the devil’s in the details. And in this case it’s in the 72-hour window to negotiate an extension. Which team is most likely to get a deal done and consummate the trade? You got it. The New York Yankees.
I’ve been reading this site for a while now, and it’s great to get by my boring job. So this is my first post and just wanna say great job by all the bloggers and Peter.
Why is Kennedy called IPK, seems like a strange nickname even if his middle name is Paul.. and hidden meaning.
No way a Kennedy/Horne/Tabata deal could be enough. That deal is half of our current one it’s not good enough to cut it.
I think Tabata is further away but will be the better outfielder in the future.
“there is no way the Saux would include Ellsbury AND Crisp in the same deal, and no way the Twins would take that.”
yeah, I know. Brainfart on my part.
“whozat, i was referring to Ellsbury and Lowrie, who could play CF and SS, respectively.”
I don’t know that people are saying Lowrie is ready yet. I mean…if he was, wouldn’t we be hearing that the Sox are looking to move Lugo, if no Santana deal is done?
his middle name is patrick, not paul
“Why is Kennedy called IPK, seems like a strange nickname even if his middle name is Paul.. and hidden meaning.”
IPK is shorter to write than Kennedy
“No way a Kennedy/Horne/Tabata deal could be enough. That deal is half of our current one it’s not good enough to cut it.”
The Hughes deal is more than good enough. The Twins overplayed their hand, thinking they could get more and were wrong. Now the price is dropping because the bidding war they thought would materialize didn’t. Hughes/Melky and Kennedy/Horne/Jackson are of comparable value, in terms of trading off quality for quantity. Jackson could easily be better than Melky, but is further away. Kennedy is probably a solid MLB starter right now, and Horne could easily be one next year. Hughes is probably solid right now, and could be amazing soon. So…two good young starters and a potentially excellent CFer? Or one potentially great young starter and a league average young CFer?
There’s certainly a discussion there.
His first name is Ian and he’s referred to as Ian Kennedy by everybody outside the blog. I don’t where it started, but if I had to hazard a guess, it’d be a spinoff of CPK (California Pizza Kitchen).
The Mets might agree to win now and think later but even they said they won’t give more than a (added) 5 year deal But I expect that’s the best Santana will get from any team even if he waits for FA.
FYI David Cone to be in the Broadcast booth this year
http://www.nypost.com/seven/01282008/sports/yankees/david_cone_to_return_to_yankees_in_yes_b_567784.htm
Per NY Post today
David Cone to join YES Network. He will replace Joe Girardi in doing 50 games in the booth and will host the Yankees on Deck show.
Welcome back Coney!!!
A is better (if F-Mart is included).
and it gets Santana to the NL (worth a prospect to the Twins)
as for whether Santana will be worth that money at the tail end of the deal…consider this: look at what Carlos fricking Silva signed for a month ago. what do you think the equivalent of Silva will get on the open market in five years? 17 MM a year? a 33-year old Santana (he is 28 now, not 29) should be worth more than that!
That report substitutes length for meaning. The evaluation of ERA “margin” provides no actual evidence. It doesn’t account for the steady increase from 2002-2006. He was a mediocre pitcher from 1999-2002. It would have been expected that he was done.
Mere presentation of line graphs and charts doesn’t change my mind. And why does the report focus so heavily on the careers of 3 arbitrarily chosen pitchers (Schilling, Johnson and Ryan). Of those, it wouldn’t surprise me if Johnson was a user. And Schilling is an obvious choice since he didn’t learn to pitch until he was 30. Ryan was iron man, but his performance was prone to a higher degree of inconsistency because of lack of control in tandem with dominating velocity.
This report makes the case very poorly.
another thought: Hughes could be a stud, sure. but “could” is key.
Horne doesn’t interest the Twins…as well he shouldn’t. a 25 year-old should be able to dominate double-A! at his age, if he was a legitimate high-end prospect, he’d be pitching in the majors at his age.
repeat: Alan-fricking-Horne is only three years younger than Santana! that’s why he’s not highly regarded.
Ooh, so can we have like Cone in the booth announcing with Paulie?
Wouldn’t that be something?
Today is a good day.
IPK is much better than let’s say IK or Kennedy which brings to the point of calling him IPK. If Joba would be named James or something fans would be calling him JC. Phil Hughes doesn’t really have a nickname some call him Phil some Hughes PH doesn’t sound good enough. Got to find one for him maybe Fuse (lol).
I could see the Yankees getting back into the Santana sweepstakes if they don’t have to include Hughes. Cashman has done this before where he said he was not interested and then waited for the price to drop (Abreu, Damon)
Patrick, Paul what’s the difference hah. Yea I was just curious seems random ya know? We dont call Hughes PJH.
The Twins are really screwing themselves. I could see them taking the Mets deal ASAP until that falls through.
Would you guys do a Kennedy/Cabrera/Marquez deal for Santana?
Wouldn’t it be awesome if all the owner’s agreed to drop their offers and wait for free agency hah.
“a 33-year old Santana (he is 28 now, not 29) should be worth more than that!”
he turns 29 before the season starts, which is all that matters. he is 29.
Some food for thought before I (reluctantly) leave for class:
With Bedard likely going to Seattle, any chance the Yankees would try to engage Seattle to get Bedard?
Is anyone else a little concerned about A-Rod’s lifetime billion year deal?? I mean yea he’s gonna be amazing for many years to come.. but 10? Why didn’t they just give him a 7 year deal. Then if he’s still performing give him 3 more. Or have club options after 7-8 years.
“at his age, if he was a legitimate high-end prospect, he’d be pitching in the majors at his age.”
he had Tommy John which has set him back 1-2 seasons.
i guess being rated highly by all of the prospect publications isn’t enough for you.
“With Bedard likely going to Seattle, any chance the Yankees would try to engage Seattle to get Bedard?”
no chance.
Well, it’s Super Bowl week, so I’m going to kick it off with a nice human interest article. Even if you’re not a Pats fan, Brady sure is interesting. Otherwise, this is for Pete and the other two Pats fans on the blog.
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/giants/2008/01/25/2008-01-25_story_of_boy_named_tom_brady.html?page=0
Brady was a better baseball player than football player. Left-handed catcher with power. Drafted by the Expos. Lucky thing he stuck with the football thing.
agreed with hmmm
Why would the Mariners trade for Bedard just to trade him back. No way.
Comments on Damon coming into camp in shape.
http://bats.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/28/damon-on-gaining-weight-and-cashman-on-williams/#more-956
yeah, the Mariners traded for Bedard to combine him with King Felix, and have one of the best 1-2 combos to compete with the Angels in the West. I dont think they would move 4-5 of their own prospects to get him if they intended on spinning him elsewhere.
Well that’s not too good about Damon being 12 pounds over weight. He didn’t seem like he even cared. But I heard Abreu was working harder than ever to get into peak shape, that’s good. Iv’e heard different rumors about Matsui. Will he be 100% by SP?
To follow up the nostalgic feelings that Rebecca’s post inspired, here’s some great shots of the Old Yankee Stadium
Sorry – let’s try that again:
To follow up the nostalgic feelings that Rebecca’s post inspired, here’s some great shots of the “Old_Yankee_Stadium”:http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14850
blech – can’t seem to post the link right… but you guys can cut & paste!
“Well that’s not too good about Damon being 12 pounds over weight.”
Depends on what kind of weight it is. Where is the weight? We need context before we decide how to feel about it.
We are so close to spring training. Let’s get all this nonsense out of the way and enjoy giving Marcos Vechionacci and P.J. Pilittere the bleacher roll call in Tampa. Read http://cpcandtg.blogspot.com/ !!!
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=mlb&id=3218631
Chuck Knoblauch has volunteered to speak to Congress; subpoena withdrawn.
...still no news on where Chuck is or was, though.
As for Bedard, I cannot imagine why the Mariners would try to spin Bedard for more pieces after giving up their most valuable trading asset for him (Adam Jones).
Does Damon think we signed him to be a dh? Seriously, why wouldnt he lose weight so that we could get the speed that we need to leadoff. This really pisses me off. He waisted half of last year banged up and out of shape. You would think that he would come in 15 pounds lighter. Time to use Abreu at leadoff. Find a taker for Damon. We have anough over weight and banged up DH’s.
Just reviewed the Hendricks’ report. They did a great job making two things very clear:
1) what an amazing career Clemens had (the easy job)
2) Clemens’ peaks, valleys and career trends were very similar to other great pitchers with long careers (Schilling, Ryan, Johnson, etc.)—and there’s definitely no date in his career after which you see marked improvement.
Did Clemens juice? I still have no idea. But it’s clear most of the “evidence” people cite (other than McNamee’s testimony) is pretty bogus.
David Cone will be in the booth this year!!
off of NYT blog.
• Joba Chamberlain, our “Toast of the Town” winner, told Wedge, the Indians’ manager, to make sure the bugs weren’t there the next time the Yankees play in Cleveland. He also told Biggio that he was in diapers when Biggio started his career.
S.os27 I agree with your take on Damon. Damon makes himself sound real lazy in that article and I think he shows a lack of professionalism. He said he ran for 3 days and decided not to run anymore after he gained 5 pounds. I mean WTF!?!? Has anybody ever lost weight after running for only 3 days?
IPK follows in the tradition of other Kennedys: JFK & RFK.
why-why-why would they cut those scenes from Seinfeld..Even if it wasn’t funny, it would be Classic!
oops I don’t know how I did that. I wish I did!!
Dead Kennedys? j/k.
Just to jump in with why IPK is called IPK… It goes back to the days of the Kennedy administration. Everyone called Jack Kennedy JFK. Its a play on that. It was started by Newspaper reporters and it stuck.
I don’t really care about how much weight Damon is carrying as much as I care about what kind of shape he is in. If he loafed off instead of working out and keeping strong, then I have a problem.
One thing to remember though is muscle weighs more than fat. If he built up some additional muscle, then the weight gain isn’t that big a deal.
raymagnetic,
Im sorry i havnt been a fan of Damon since day one. His heart has always been with the Sox. Who knows if he would have started off hot last year if we would have been fresher for the playoffs. What chaps my hide is that he was complaining that he didnt like his role last year and that he would be open for a trade. But instead of comming in shape and fighting for a spot. He would prefer to go politics on us and go support a candidate, rather than run and diet for a few months. Keep in mind, he said at the start of last year that he felt good being heavier. We know how that ended. I guess he thinks there is no competition in left so whats the point. Again, I say ship his smily red sox A$$ out and bring in a speedster like Gardner to be the 4th outfielder. Or a Podsednic if you want to keep him in aaa.
Any chance on re-visiting the Giants on Matsui? It seems that the west has gotten tougher and they still havnt made enough moves to counter. They also need a money maker.
Pete and readers… Here is some Steinbrenner on seinfeld, not sure if this is all of it.
http://com.youtube.com/watch?v=_LD3udSurzw&NR=1
I cant see the twins coming back to the Yanks for any trade that doesnt include Hughes. This guy is a brand new GM and had the chance to do the hughes trade, he cant go back now and take less.
nice to see coney back.
and what was Mr. Coffee doing in those old YS pics?
I wonder why that report puts Curt Schilling in the same group as Rocket Clemens, Randy Johnson, and Nolan Ryan. You take those four names, looked at their career (and year-by-year) stats, and it is glaringly obvious that Schilling’s name does not belong there.
Schilling’s a good pitcher, a workhorse at times, but he’s not even close to that class.
Nice DK reference, mel. So which one’s Jello?
I say hold off on Johan, and keep a close eye on how the bullpen progresses this year. My money is on Joba being the setup man when the season starts. THe likes of LaTroy Hawkins and Kyle Farnsworth makes my tummy uneasy. I think by mid-season cash will be putting the necessary prospects for bullpen help.
Mark, I think it is because Schilling has been outspoken on the issue.
“Roger Clemens is a more effective campaigner than most of the people running for president.”
I know this is a joke, but honestly this is way too little too late. Why did he wait a month to back himself up? Reminds me of John Kerry’s failure to refute the swift boaters.
“Why did he wait a month to back himself up? Reminds me of John Kerry’s failure to refute the swift boaters.”
what are you talking about?
were you not paying attention when he went on 60 minutes? held the press conference? launched a lawsuit?
i don’t know if i believe him or not, but he’s been adamantly denying these accusations since a few days after the report came out.
Good to see Knob stopped “running”. I bet he was truckin it down 95 in his white bronco haha.
I skimmed over the Clemens report, it looks convincing. But of course they’re gonna pick out the best information that shows he’s clean, and not everything.
Also, just because your numbers don’t increase doesn’t mean you didn’t take it; case and point all the no-names that made up the majority of the mitchell report.
If the Yankees do NOT play Santana ball, considering Johan wants the big bucks, I say there is a 50/50 chance he is a FA next year.
If you consider Phil and Joba to be MLB’ers, depending on who you read, IPK, Horne, Jackson are 3 of our top 5. IPK and Horne (as of now, it could change) look to be our #4 and #5 in 2009. And Tabata is the only offensive impact position player we have coming in the next 2 or 3 years.
Santana is great, but his salary will not only put us over the threshhold for the next 5 years, but will make us very inflexable. As a FA, we should get him. But in a trade, his cost is too high.
‘Ello, back from class, have I missed much?
Why are people down on Damon for the weight? In the article it stated that he lost weight last year and it made him weaker. Let’s wait and see if it is going to affect him before we call him lazy.
“Unless Hank Steinbrenner sends his brother off in a rowboat, Santana is not going to be in pinstripes. Brian Cashman is making his stand here.”
I sorta remember Pete saying that there was no way Arod would ever be a Yankee again. I was glad he was wrong then and I hope he is wrong now!
Not taking away the fact that Pete is an awesome writer, just saying that with these high-profile players, you just can’t count anyone out.
Santana is great, but his salary will not only put us over the threshhold for the next 5 years, but will make us very inflexable. —————————-
That sounds painful.
If the Yanks pull Hughes off the table, which I believe they have, I think the Red Sox have the best packages on the table for Santana with the one headed by Ellsbury or Lester (if they are still available).
The Mets package is a disaster and a clear loss for the Twins to take. To go from having either Hughes or Ellsbury leading your package in the winter meetings to Carloz Gomez is a huge drop. Gomez can’t hit major league pitching yet. He’s fast. That’s it.
The other players in the Mets package aren’t even being counted on to contribute at the major league level with the exception of a spot start here and there for Humber.
I actually think the Red Sox can wrap this up if they haven’t pulled any of their proposals off the table.
If the Ellsbury proposal doesn’t exist any longer, then my feeling is the Mets get him for flotsam and jetsam and Gomez which would be a steal.
If Hughes were traded for him at this point, I’d be shocked since the Twins have mishandled this trade and it appears the offers are getting weaker by the day.
The pressure is on the Twins to do something soon or keep the guy and get draft picks.
Not only do they have the pressure to complete one of the trades, they have the added pressure that there isn’t much time left before Spring Training and if Johan doesn’t like the contract the team that acquires him offers, he can invoke his no trade and play out the year in Minny.
Bill Smith would like the village idiot if that happened.
The only thing that could save him would be a Twins World Series appearance if they ended up keeping Johan.
My gut tells me the Red Sox aren’t in this any longer, despite all the reports that they are. They have had the best package of players that fills the Twins needs since the winter meetings.
Yes, Hughes has been the best player ever mentioned in a potential deal, but the Red Sox are offering more pieces than the Yankees appear to have and better pieces than the Mets could have.
I think he’s going to the Mets unless Smith decides a package built around IPK instead of Hughes makes sense for them.
That would be a tough sell to the Minny fans though. Probably tougher than taking the Mets package and praying for miracles.
On a different note, I HATED seeing that the Red Sox acquired Aardsma from the ChiSox for their pen for two minor leaguers.
I know he’s not a big sexy name to most of you, but he’s a young RH reliever who has been avg’ing a K per inning and has some real potential and needed to get away from Ozzie Guillen.
Cashman should have gotten him with the bullpen still as unsettled as it is. At least he’s pitched at the major league level and shown promise.
I hate seeing the Red Sox get sleeper guys like this that we should have been in on.
He may turn out to be nothing or he could be an effective weapon in the pen. We should have been in on that.
G Love,
According to Olney’s sources, Lester’s off the table.
If Boston wins the bid (even though they probably don’t want to), Santana will wish he had an appointment for 6 root canals. Getting the money he wants from the Sox will be like getting blood from a stone.
its really hard to understand what the twins are doing here. JS’s value to them will decrease from opening day on, they’re never gonna get anything like what they’ve been offered at the trade deadline. They’re a good team but they’re probably going to struggle to compete in a tough division, lose and then have Santana and Nathan both leave and only get draft picks. The sox offer was to pre-empt the yankees, the yanks offer was to counter the sox and the twins let both teams back out simultaneously.
“I know he’s not a big sexy name to most of you, but he’s a young RH reliever who has been avg’ing a K per inning and has some real potential and needed to get away from Ozzie Guillen.
Cashman should have gotten him with the bullpen still as unsettled as it is. At least he’s pitched at the major league level and shown promise.
I hate seeing the Red Sox get sleeper guys like this that we should have been in on.
He may turn out to be nothing or he could be an effective weapon in the pen. We should have been in on that.”
The Yankees already have young hard throwing relief pitchers who walk a ton of guys. Why should Cashman have traded for another one of those guys.
Secondly, how do you know Cashman wasn’t in on him and Kenny Williams asked for Alan Horne and Alberto Gonzales? Do you think Cashman should have made that trade?
Thirdly, in 96 career innings that guy has given up 100 hits and walked 55. 55 walks in 96 innings is beyond horrible.
“i don’t know if i believe him or not, but he’s been adamantly denying these accusations since a few days after the report came out.”
hmmm, I couldn’t agree more.
“I know he’s not a big sexy name to most of you, but he’s a young RH reliever who has been avg’ing a K per inning and has some real potential and needed to get away from Ozzie Guillen. ”
i knew if i came here someone would be complaining that the Yankees let the Red Sox get a guy with a career ERA over 5 and a career WHIP over 1.6.
yes, he has struck out a lot of guys, but he also walks a TON of guys. which is the last thing the yankees need.
i agree that he WOULD be a decent guy to take a flier on, except he is out of options. so he has to make the team and stay on the team.
guys like that are OK to take a shot on if you can stash them in AAA if they struggle.
Yea Aardsma doesn’t seem like anything, we’ve got about 15 people fighting for 4-5 spots in the bullpen, don’t need to add anymore confusion.
Let the Met’s have Santana. Win win for us. We get to keep hughes, cabrera, money, and Boston doesn’t get him.
Do you believe in the “10 day” deadline.. lol I don’t. Sounds like Hank is influencin some other people
“If you consider Phil and Joba to be MLB’ers, depending on who you read, IPK, Horne, Jackson are 3 of our top 5. IPK and Horne”
OYF, Joba barely had twice as many innings as Carl Pavano last year. That means you shouldn’t call him a major leaguer yet
More seriously, look at our top players who are 25 y.o. and younger—Cano, Melky, Joba, Phil, IPK. I’d be glad to get Santana with just one of them (and arguably the one most easily replaced by the Yanks, given our current major/minor league roster and the addition of Santana) plus 2 of our top remaining prospects + someone else.
I cant wait till the day we stop talking about trading for Santana. It has been a long grueling process. I just hope it all stops in about a week or two and we can get on with getting whats rightfully ours. #27
Hey mel,
What do you think about Kidd going to Dallas. Would that put them over the top. Would your team and mine be playing for runner up? I heard a little while ago that the Lakers were after him and it wouldnt cost them Bynum. I would think that if it was a Farmer and Walton. I might pull the trigger. You need a guy to distribute the ball. Kobe is not the answer.
I didnt know the Hornets were for real. They laid a beat down on the Spurs. I think Paul might be the best point guard in the league.
hmmm,
Hows it going. Just wanted your thoughts on Abreu leading off if Damon comes in out of shape or gets banged up as usual. I dont think Melky has the patience that he had 2 years ago and i would say Jeter. But he is one of the most clutch players we have. He needs to be in more r.b.i. situations.
Abreu.. the leadoff man.. no he’s the PERFECT 3rd hitter. Sits on pitches like none other. A-Rod said Bobby’s, or as my girlfriend calls him, Roberto’s long at-bats helped him achieve the numbers he did. This patience cannot be wasted in the leadoff spot.
Melky would be the leadoff player if Damon was slacking off.
sos,
Paul is good, but he can’t carry the team. West has stepped up and Peja is still killing teams from the 3.
I think that Kobe’s gotten over his Kidd fixation. He likes mentoring his own kids. Farmar is not going anywhere. He’s their most consistent threat from the outside. While it’s true that the Lakers don’t need a true point guard because of the triangle, it’s been night and day between Smush and Fish. We have plenty of guys who can bring up the ball, don’t need Kidd.
Kidd to Dallas helps them. Heck a triple-double helps anybody. I’ve never been high on Dallas, tho. I think their window of opportunity has closed up already.
Losing Ariza? Ouch. Losing Bynum? Supersize Ouch. We’ll see how it goes. Losses since Bynum’s been out: Suns, Mavs, Spurs, Cavs. Hopefully we can recoup on the East Coast swing. Depending on who ends up in the #4 spot, that #5 spot might not be so bad.
I’m not saying Aardsma is Jeff Nelson. I never did. You guys overreact so much in here.
How can you dispute with me that the Yankees at this point should be taking a flier on ANYONE for the pen who has potential.
We don’t even know who our bullpen is going to be comprised of other than Mo, Farnsworth (who you all wanted fit for cement shoes last season) and Hawkins (who you all will want to fit for cement shoes soon).
I know they think they will solve it in house with what they have in the organization and I hope that’s the case, but there is nothing wrong with getting someone like Aardsma.
And for the poster who told me they might have asked for Horne, how do you know they did?
How do you know Cashman even called Kenny Williams?
The Red Sox gave up 2 low level minor leaguers to take a shot on a guy with no options.
I’m sure the Yankees could have gotten in on something like that otherwise it gets back to the paranoid Yankee fan logic that every team in baseball is out to help the Red Sox and screw the Yankees.
He could turn out to be nothing and could be released or he could put it together.
My point is with a bullpen with as many question marks as ours, we should be proactive and get as many major league ready arms in camp as possible and let it shake out.
Clearly, the Red Sox, who have a much better pen than we do at the moment, saw enough in the guy to give him a chance.
I know we can’t get everyone, but I just hate seeing guys like this slip past us without us giving them a shot to see if we can catch lightning in a bottle.
Shephard,
Good point. I do agree that Abreu helps Arod alot. I just dont think Melky is as patient as he once was. Maybe he got CANO-itis or something. If he comes in this year swinging at first pitches(as he did last year), then i think out best bet would be to have Jeter go back to leading off. This again is assuming Damon is either out of shape or hurt.
GLove, i dont think its really a matter of Cashman just letting him slip by. Maybe he knew he was available, saw his numbers, and decided to pass… last i saw, there were like 15+ options for like 6 spots in the pen (approx), and we already have a bunch of Aardsma’s to try out.
at some point, it starts to get to be too many options to try out where you dont have any more innings in spring training to really get a look at all of them.
mel,
I think Fisher has been just as valuable for your team this year as Bynum. Didnt watch Ariza play much. Is he that big of a loss even though you still have Walton coming off the bench? I hope your right about Dallas. They seem to always have the Spurs number. This may be the year we have to pull the trigger and get someone like (hate to say it) Artest. Im not a fan of Bowen. With injuries being second nature to us. We need a scorer who plays defense as well.
They are all over the Kobe vs. Lebron. Has Lebron finally surpassed Kobe?
Abreu’s a great third hitter, I don’t think there should be an argument about whether or not to move him in the line up.
What will be interesting to see is what Posada’s numbers are like this year, especially after last season—maybe it ends up being more effective to have him hit fifth behind Arod instead of sixth, with Matsui’s bum knee and all.
It tells you something about the line up that right now, the best spot for Cano is 7 or 8.
The lineup is gonna be pretty much up to Girardi.
1-4 is pretty much set with Damon-Jeter-Abreu-Rodriguez
8-9 is pretty much set with Duncan&Betemit/Cabrera
5-7 is gonna be pretty confusing.
Im guessing Matsui-Posada-Cano even tho Cano will have a higher avg than either of them, but hasn’t developed too much patience yet for walks.
Then adding Giambi throws things out of wack. Where would you guys put Matsui/Posada/Cano in our lineup?
“And for the poster who told me they might have asked for Horne, how do you know they did?
How do you know Cashman even called Kenny Williams?”
The answer to both of those questions is I don’t know. But can you definitively say that Kenny Williams didn’t ask for Horne or that Cashman didn’t call Williams? I was speaking hypothetically.
My basic point was that the Yankees have a lot of hard throwing relievers who walk a bunch of guys and I don’t mind that Cashman didn’t get him from the White Sox.
G.love,
We have an Aardsma. His name is Bruney. I dont want another guy on the team that walks the bases loaded. We need control pitchers. As iv learned from watching Farns and Bruney. What help is a flame thrower who doesnt always throw strikes? Walks as manny as he strikes out(a bit exagerated). Lets give the Ohlendorfs and Brittons a shot.
sos,
Ariza is athletic, has hops, and can defend.
Walton is slow, recovering from an ankle injury (again), and can not defend to save his life. But he has a high BBIQ (basketball IQ).
Everyone but us delusional Laker fans would take LeBron, but that’s o.k., he’s still our guy.
“I know we can’t get everyone, but I just hate seeing guys like this slip past us without us giving them a shot to see if we can catch lightning in a bottle.”
who would you remove from the 40 man roster to make room for Aardsma?
Henn? i guess i wouldn’t be upset if they did that.
but there are other things to consider. it’s not just a “free move”.
the Sox had room on their roster. the Yankees do not.
ugh you cant move Henn he’s our current lefty reliever if Igawa doesn’t work out. Hopefully he can bounce back.
Now that the Twins signed Morneau, I think Santana would agree to an extension for 5 years for 20 mil/year. Isn’t this the best scenario for everyone?
hmm:
And this is where we all go
#$#$%%@#% Carl Pavano, again.I would prefer to have all righties on the team. Than a 7 e.r.a. lefty.
I might be the only one that thinks this but i think Igawa would do much better in the pen. I think with his strikout ratio and batters not having 3 shots a game against him might do some good.
abe,
I think that seeing what guys are getting (ahem-Zito), Santana was insulted by the offer. I think he feels now is his time to get what he deserves. His frustrations with the Twins organization bubbled to the surface last year.
The best thing for all parties involved is for Santana to reach free agency. Some Twins fans feel that the 2 draft picks are worth more than what the 3 teams are offering anyway. (I know, I know. Denial is such a sad thing.)
Igawa = A Brown label Ohkajima in the pen?
Oh forget it. I dont know what im thinking. Just ship him out to San Diego for Kouz already.
from RAB:
A few months late
By: Ben K.
The Twins now say they would like an offer from the Yankees for Johan Santana in exchange for a package centered around Melky Cabrera and Phil Hughes. I think they’re a little bit late on this one. Rookie GM Bill Smith is about to learn what happens when you overplay your hand. No more Santana today after this unless, of course, a trade goes down.
Somebody lock Hank away for a few weeks. I’ve got a bad feeling.
Iggy, Farns, Henn and a bag of balls should do it now.
Actually, mid season, depending on how the Mets, Yanks and Sox are doing, the Twins may get a better deal.
hmmmm
I actually was thinking dropping Henn for Aardsma.
Again, I don’t think he’s the be all end all. I just think he could have been a nice option. Ozzie Guillen is very tough on relievers and I wouldn’t be shocked that a change of scenery is going to help this guy.
The one thing a lot of us are forgetting is that the major league experience in our bullpen outside of 3 guys, is not very high and 2 of those 3 guys are huge question marks.
I know we’re stacked with hard throwing RH relievers right now, but we still don’t know which of them will be good enough to make the club.
I don’t mena to beat a dead horse here. The Red Sox traded for the guy and he may suck.
I’m just frustrated and very concerned with the current state of our bullpen, not to mention 3/6th’s of our rotation have innings caps and 1/6th (Mussina) appeared to be shot toward the end of last year and was (properly) dropped from the rotation.
Because of the innings caps, the bullpen is more vital to this years team than ever. I think Mo’s back to back multiple innings days are long gone.
Hopefully, the kids in the pen pan out.
Some things need to be kept in mind.
... some of these ‘missed deals’ are not a hell of a lot different then trading one ball-of-balls for another. A Cordero type of guy can make a difference, but most of what has been available has been sloppy seconds at best.
... Cashman LIKES to do his real horse trading after mid season. As opposed to evaluating our team on paper, this gives himn a chance to see our real problems and weaknesses, and work to fix them. There are usually salary dumps or teams looking to ‘next year’, and ofter the value received is much higher this time of year.
... Look at our 2007 rotation, BP and bench in April of last year and then in September. Totally different teams.
... Cashman has turned into the Geru of ‘moves NOT made’, which from my perspective, has been great. Not everything he does works out, but he has been lean and mean since 2005, and I have great faith in him. I would NOT want to see this guy across a poker table from me.
Let’s just hope the Steinettes don’t fuk up a good thing.
It was amazing to learn the Twins kept Santana out of Fenway all last year, leading into his payoff season. Prior to that, his record there is poor. From Sid Hartman column. We did need someone who can pitch in Fenway.
“It was amazing to learn the Twins kept Santana out of Fenway all last year, leading into his payoff season.”
well, the Twins only played 1 series in Fenway the entire season. and it was the last series of the season when they were already eliminated from the playoffs.
so actually, it’s not at all “amazing”.
You’re right, that alone is not amazing. This is what Sid Hartman wrote:
“”However, the Red Sox surely are aware of Santana’s career record in Fenway Park.
* He was 1-3 with a 6.89 ERA through 2006, and
* he didn’t pitch there at all last year.
* Fenway Park never has been kind to southpaws.”
http://www.startribune.com/sports/14296781.html
Sid Hartman is lazy.
this took 2 minutes to look up:
in 2000, when Johan was a 21 YEAR OLD ROOKIE, he had a disastrous start in Fenway. 3.2 IP, 7 ER.
SINCE 2000, he has thrown 12 IP in Fenway with a 3.75 ERA.
the numbers Hartman cited are completely meaningless.