Spring training Game 9: Reds at Yankees
-
- March
- 10
YANKEES
Damon CF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Rodriguez 3B
Giambi 1B
Posada C
Matsui DH
Green 2B
Gardner LF
Pitching
Chamberlain (3-4 innings)
Rivera (1 inning)
Kennedy (3-4 innings)
Hawkins (1 inning)
Bruney
Veras
REDS
Bruce CF
Hatteberg DH
Griffey Jr. RF
Phillips 2B
Dunn LF
Encarnacion 3B
Votto 1B
Valentin C
Janish SS
Pitching
Bailey
Volquez
Stanton
Coutlangus
Lehr
Notes: The Yankees are in the middle of an hour-long (at least) meeting with MLBPA executive director Don Fehr and members of his staff. … Chien-Ming Wang will start Tuesday and Andy Pettitte on Wednesday.
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Peter Abraham
Reds at Twins?
I guess that’s really Reds at Yankees
Spring training Game 9: Reds at Twins?
Pete must really be tired.
What’s the MLBPA meeting about? “The collision”?
Thanks…
Crap. We did a due over with the twins and let me guess. We traded the whole team for hmmmmm Loriano?
Reds at Twins?
That could be an interesting game, and where the heck did the Twins get the $$ for A-Rod?
Pohlad would turn over in his…well…office?...if he knew that’s what Bill Smith bought!
Wow, I wonder who the Yankees got back from Minnesota?
They do a union meeting every year at spring training fehr makes the rounds to every team gives them updates, talks about union stuff nothing unusual
Reds and Twins
Maybe you should have slept until 8, Pete.
According to the innings projection from Pete it looks as if Joba is being prepared with the same schedule as the other starters.
I think it was said before that Joba will probably start the year in the bullpen before a mid-year transition to the rotation.
Is this too much moving back and forth – ST as a starter, spring games as a reliever, AAA for stretching out, Summer as a starter, Fall as the ace (at least we can dream)?
Oh I see…thanks gayle.
I look forward to seeing the stats of tonights game tomorrow morning. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to watch live, but box scores can be just as thrilling.
red vs twins? I guess Pete had a little too much fun at Mons Venus last night.
I’m glad to see I’m not the only one who needs to improve on proof reading! LOL.
Yikes, you all need to give Pete a break. We all know what he meant.
A perfect example of why not to rely only on spellcheck before posting documents!
I was wondering why Pete wasn’t covering the Yankee beat anymore.
Not sure if this affects the Yankees directly, but their Governor, that good friend Richard Emery, is in trouble.
http://wcbstv.com/breakingnewsalerts/spitzer.prostitution.ring.2.673848.html
I hope that Joba warmed up by throwing eggs at Fehr. He and Selig are totally complicit in the steroid scandal.
Bailey vs. Chamberlain? AWESOME!
Look forward to the Chamberlain/Bruce matchup leading off as well.
Too bad this game had to happen tonight rather than this afternoon…HUGE midterm test tomorrow.
Pete was traded to a Cincinnati paper. Sorry guys.
this is very strange the way its being put out. he slept with a prostitute, right, he didnt run a prostitution ring, right. yet both articles i followed the link to said he was “linked” to a prostution ring.
Dustin, it’s all in good fun.
I hate that YES never ends up broadcasting the games Hughes or Joba pitches in.
And instead of covering the Joe Torre benefit, his highlight will be covering the annual “Big Red Machine” reunion.
oh yaahhh, pete’s just gunna love livin in minnesoowda, ya…
c’mon – yes he was linked to the ring bc he contacted the organizer of the ring to arrange for his prostitutes.
c’mon, yeah he was linked to it because he was a customer! If you buy stolen goods you are in trouble just like whoever stole the goods, same goes for prostitution.
Yeah! Pete fixed it!
Y’s Guy, I was watching Fargo the other day and I had to turn it off because I couldn’t stand the godawful accents.
i’ve been ‘linked’ to walmart since i bought a toilet brush there last week,
I haven’t read the article, but I’d imagine that they found this person by investigating the “ring”. Why do men in power continue to believe they’ll never be caught? Paper trail, paper trail, paper trail. It’s the get out of jail free or get a reduced sentence card for the madames. When will men learn?
well, i dont live in ny but, okay the guy slept with a prostitute, thats a problem for his family, they’re not gonna charge him with a crime right? so who cares who he slept with and wether or not he paid for it?
mel – yeah, he was caught by an FBI wiretap. And was identified in court papers as “Client 9.”
For someone who was elected on his promise to clean up Albany, this is flabbergasting.
men will never learn.
That’s why I’m glad I’m a woman.
Y’s: hiring a prostitute is still illegal. And certainly inappropriate behavior for a sitting governor! They impeached Bill over less than this.
Not everyone who lives in Minnesota talks like people from the movie Fargo.
Besides, people with their own accent issues shouldn’t be throwing stones, lol.
Is that Mel from Flight of the Conchords posting on here?
lori, right and the clinton impeachment was a joke, so he slept with a (legal age) woman who worked for him, big deal. as for spitzer, if you want to charge him with hiring a prostitute, they know the adress of where to send the fine.
yeah i know spitzer’s a reformer and he’s got more egg on his face because of the fbi tapes, but who’s buisness is it who anybody sleeps with?
Anybody know if there will be any TV coverage of the game tonight?
see I go by Chris Rocks words
he’s the governor he should have a ring off pros…...
never mind
I thought Fargo was in North Dakota?
Yeah Andy is playing. But we can’t watch it.
Mel,
Fargo is in ND. Most of the movie was set Minnesota though.
Will tonight’s game be on the “radio”? Anyone?
I imagine mlb.tv might have it?
Anybody know if there will be any TV coverage of the game tonight?
None in NY except mlb.tv. If you get FSN Ohio you might get the game.
lighten up fine people of minnesota, if new yorkers can take all the jokes and lousy imitations of our accents, you should be able to handle it once in a while
and it was a great movie! yah knoowwww!
Fargo is in ND, but the accent of that region is pretty much the same. Most people from Fargo that I know, loathe the movie.
directv4life!!
Jax are you kidding me? With all their excellent programming like Yogi and a Movie, Centerstage, Yankeeography, Manchester United Soccer, Ively League collgege football, rotating all 12 games over the networks five years that are Yankees Classics ect…where would they ever find the slot time to show pre season baseball games. There are priorities you know.
Y’s guy: From the NY Times article:
“Federal prosecutors rarely charge clients in prostitution cases, which are generally seen as state crimes. But the Mann Act, passed by Congress in 1910 to address prostitution, human trafficking and what was viewed at the time as immorality in general, makes it a crime to transport someone between states for the purpose of prostitution. The four defendants charged in the case unsealed last week were all charged with that crime, along with several others.”
Just checked MLB.com and the game is on mlb.com tv but it seems not a radio link up there
I like MLB.tv. Wish it was free, of course, but I’ll take my games any way I can get them.
The J Train, it could be worse, redsox classics on NESN cycles through about 3 different games.
Not on radio. mlb.tv and FSN Ohio have the game tonight.
so you’re point is that spitzer should be charged with human trafficing for sleeping with a prostitute?
c’mon if i got caught i’d probably pay $300 plus court costs. send him the bill and get over it.
Y’s Guy,
Have you seen the Domino’s Pizza commercial with the kids who order the pizza with their fake Brooklyn accents? It’s pretty clever.
Isnt prostitution legal in Nevada? Man i bet he wishes he was governor of that state instead.
mel,
did you read my arod and jeter fav 5 conversation on last thread?
I almost forgot about 2 of the YES Networks all time best programming…Ultimate road trip and the cream of the crop, Bost Vs NY Poker
Nice to know you Governor steamroller.
Sorry about Spitzer, but I hope that David Patterson takes over. He is a personal friend of my family.
Glad to see Alex and Jorge back in the line-up.
Speaking of celebrity mug shots. Which celebrity had the worse mug shot?
who cares who he slept with…I honeslty dotn know one person who hasnt at least gotten dome from a hooker at least once in their life. Its like drinking water…everyone has done it…EVERYONE
With the pitching line up set up to make sure Joba and Ian get their work in and for mo and hawkins to get an inning a piece Bruney and Veras may not get into the game at all.
Not a positive for either if they get bumped from their appearances.
The first at bat will be one of those terrific spring training moments. Joba vs. Bruce.
Bruce was baseball america’s minor league player of the year and #1 prospect. Joba was #3.
Both Joba and Bruce started last year in single A. Great talent all around.
Joba vs. Homer Bailey is also quite a pitching match up. Some people liked Bailey better than Phil as prospects last year. Bailey is still a thrower more than a pitcher. Watch him and you’ll see how advanced as young pitchers both Hughes and Joba are in comparison.
Bailey may be a beckett type where he has great stuff but takes several years to figure it out.
A 7pm ST game at Legends field not on YES???
WTF??
“Bailey may be a beckett type where he has great stuff but takes several years to figure it out.”
If he ever does:-)
I feel like guys like Bailey are the reason that some people are so down on pitching prospects. Not to say this will happen to this particular kid, but I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard that kid A has electric stuff and projects as a future ace…and then he never gets his walk rate under 5 and goes on to be average or worse.
That’s one of the big reasons I’m so high on Hughes and Joba. They have great stuff but ALSO show great control of it. They’re already pitchers, especially Hughes. Kennedy also. That makes them much more likely to reach their ceilings, in my mind. They could be derailed by injury, true. So can anyone. BUT they won’t be derailed by the inability to command their electric stuff.
I guess I’m saying that perhaps prospect evaluators should take pitchability and command more into account when they’re ranking guys. It just seems like likelihood that a guy will actually reach his ceiling should weigh heavier. Who’s the guy who ranks prospects on a 1-10, A-D system? I like that.
Theyre probably going to run some kind of programming on Princetons vs Brown womens field hockey
sos,
Nick Nolte.
Maybe they can play the Michael Kay story tonight on YES. “The Michael Kay Story: Why I’ve never had Ketchup”
CB,
Didn’t they play together at that All-Star prospect game? Joba had a bit of trouble, but he and Votto were the talk of the weekend.
Wasnt Bailey ranked higher than Hughes the beginning of last year?
What would you guys think if in this years all-star game had Girardi and Torre in it to help manage each side? Or being that its the last year of Yankee staduim,had them be managers for each team. Think it might be a little more worth watching?
I don’t think Eliot’s problems are whether he gets charged or not. “Johns” usually aren’t charged in exchange for their promise to testify against the hooker or the madame.
The talk is that he resigns tonight and our legally blind Lt. Governor, David Patterson, (scion of NYC lawyer and Civil Rights icon Basil Patterson), is sworn in.
The new story is that Eliot is heard on a Federal wiretap as a repeat customer of the prostitution ring (and maybe he got a little freaky).
Pride goeth before a fall.
Pfffft !!!! .... the oldest profession in the world. I wonder if Rudi Julie Annie was linked along with Spitzer ?
If Spitzer’s guilty, he should definitely resign. And if he won’t, then he should be impeached or whatever processes are in NY law for removing him, should be put in effect.
And, Beckett’s walk rates were never nearly as bad as Bailey’s have been. Actually, Beckett had great BB/9 numbers(low 2s) in the minors, and then they rose about a walk per nine in the majors…but Bailey’s been up around 4 – 5 BB/9 several times in the minors
“Pride goeth before a fall.”
Actually in his case, it was the hair.
I go with James Brown.
from last thread.
mel-A-rod’s Fave-Five:
1. Jeter
Arod-Hey jete what are you doing?
Jete-its 3 in the morning! What the hell.Cant this wait!
Arod-You said i can put you in my fav 5 and i want to go over my swing with you.
Jete-Look Alex,im in bed and dont want to wake up Jessica with this nonsense.
Alex-I just want to know if i should due away with the blowing out before every pitch? Hello. Hello?
Whos in your fav 5?
“Wasnt Bailey ranked higher than Hughes the beginning of last year?”
By some. They were consensus 1-2. Some had Hughes higher, some Bailey. But this is my point…I think Hughes is a much better bet to realize his potential, and sooner, than Bailey…if Bailey ever does. I think Bailey has “more electric stuff”, but it’s clear that he only knows where it’s going some of the time. Hughes has excellent stuff, perhaps a tick lesser than Homer’s, but Hughes has command already. That, to me, is a big deal.
I really dont see what the big deal is….so what, he bangs hookers, bug deal…millions of people do.
Clay isn’t that weird. I mean how can someone never eat catsup?
I think YES isn’t carrying the game tonight because the Nets play at 8.30, and the Nets are actually in the middle of their season.
SoS,
Just got back from the other thread you dope. It’s funny. That’s my fave of all the Wade/Sir Domehead ads.
So, let me get this straight. Spitzer’s the john that got caught? I thought he was the prosecutor! This is so rich. Martha and Jeter calling in the favors. HooHoo. That’s funny.
“I guess I’m saying that perhaps prospect evaluators should take pitchability and command more into account when they’re ranking guys.”
All very good points. It’s not an easy thing to do either way and the stuff vs. pitchability issue is always there.
Ideally you’d love to have both but that rarely happens.
Even when you look at a guy like Tim Lincecum who everyone loves – he’s really not a pitcher. He’s throwing as hard as he can, using his whole body to do it, and adding deception into the mix.
Same thing for Felix Hernandez. He’s as talented as any player in baseball but he’s far from a finished product and he’s entering his 4th major league season.
But at the same time – if you don’t wait on guys with arms like that chances are you’re not going to have a top notch ace. Or at least your decreasing your chances of getting that #1 guy.
Everyone loves Beckett now and many have him well on his way to the hall of fame. Beckett is often described as the single biggest differentiator between the sox and yanks. And in turn that’s what set off so much of the Santana chase.
But last year was beckett’s first very good regular season.
More often that not it takes a long time for pitchers to develop – that’s just the way it works for the majority of pitchers who go on to become very good.
Look at Jake Peavey, CC Sabbathia, Eric Bedard, Roy Halliday… the list goes on – all took quite a while to develop at the big league level before they became true ace type starters.
That is why Phil and Joba are just very special, very rare arms. They are already pitchers more than simply throwers. They both have extraordinary command. Joba’s fastball is so devastating more because he consistently throws it at the knees and on the corners more than because its 99 mph.
During the Santana trade discussions a number of people said that because of the pitching depth the yankees could absorb the loss of hughes.
I don’t think that’s true. Not because they lacked depth, but because it is very uncommon for a young power pitcher to be a refined pitcher rather than a thrower. A franchise gets an opportunity to acquire a Hughes type talent very infrequently. There just aren’t that many 21 year olds wired that way.
If the yankees want to both win and rebuild at the same time that really depends on having guys who are both very talented and very advanced in their approaches.
That doesn’t happen much at all. Homer Bailey may be a bust or may be the next Beckett. Unfortunately, that’s much more the rule than the exception.
So, when did Buchholz pass Homer? After his no-hitter?
Who here thinks that Hughes has a chance for a no-hitter or even a perfect game? He’s been close and it looks like when he’s locked in he’s tough to hit.
Sorry, one “t” in David Paterson.
Eliot Spitzer is in about as low a place as a human being can be at the moment. I’m not a fan, but I’m trying hard not to enjoy this because it would just not be fair.
If he tries to stay on, he will be subjected to a wolf pack of attackers led by Sen. Joe Bruno, the guy Eliot’s people tried to screw earlier in Eliot’s term. The impeachment process would no doubt begin.
But since we have not heard from Sen. Bruno today, (and it would be soooo easy for Bruno to start the impeachment talk today), it suggests to me that Bruno is pretty sure that Eliot is leaving asap.
I get to see the game now!!
J Train and others – Why don’t you send your “whats the big deal?” arguments to Spitzer? He’s resigning because he’s embarrassed, not because he’s being charged with a crime. Hes a crap governor anyways so New Yorkers should be happy.
jennifer,
Did you break down and order mlb.tv?
jennifer, you didn’t move to ohio, did you?
“Who’s the guy who ranks prospects on a 1-10, A-D system? I like that.”
John Sickels. http://www.minorleagueball.com/
Talking about Laptop. I read today that the Sox might make a trade for Marquiz. Because Bucholz is struggling. Has anyone seen him pitch this year? What is wrong with him this year vs. last? Can he be the next(i forgot his name that was called up to the pen by boston,threw hard and now cant make it passed a ball)hansen(i think).
Girardi on the FAN in a few.
Is MLBTV.com worth the $90. Is it technically good/ sound ok/ is it consistent?
Wait, did Spitzer announce he’s resigning?
Jimmy: Meh, yea, and depends if you use the old player or the new.
OK just browsed the article. He’s not fighting it, so he needs to resign because officials need to be held to a higher moral and legal standard.
If he was the governor of an all-male state he might be able to get away with it. But when half of your constituency is female, they just won’t stand for that crap.
Sox will regret trading Gabbard for Gagne.
I think (just a feeling) that he will be the best of the Sox young pitchers.
What amazed me about Hughes is when he was on last year, teams wouldnt hit him hard. Even base hits were barely passed the infield. Yesterday i dont think a ball went to the outfield. Having the ability to keep a ball in the park has to account for something. Ask Igawa or Wright.
“But at the same time – if you don’t wait on guys with arms like that chances are you’re not going to have a top notch ace. Or at least your decreasing your chances of getting that #1 guy.”
True, true. But, I think that a lot of evaluators jump the gun by ranking pitcher super-high based on raw stuff without command, and that the odds against those guys achieving that lofty expectation is high enough that it makes sense to temper the ranking somewhat. Or, failing that, the sophisticated fan should be able to look at a highly-touted pitching prospect, see that his command really isn’t there, and thus be able to temper their enthusiasm.
I think Horne is a good example here. Personally, I think that his improved walk rates last season will probably regress to his career mean. Why? All the scouting reports I read about his arm action say that he’s got an uncorrectable flaw that will lead to him battling control problems for his whole career. Thus, I figure he’s an ideal trade-high candidate.
RE: Beckett…His walk numbers were very good in the minors, and still ok when he got to the majors. I think what really “held him back” in his earlier seasons was health, and not so much command. I think he’ll regress to the mean a bit this year.
Bailey, on the other hand, has had some pretty poor walk rates in the minors. I see what you’re saying, that Beckett is an example of a hard thrower who grew up a bit while in the majors and started commanding his stuff better. But I’m really dubious about Bailey’s ability to do the same, just because he’s never really showed the ability to keep from walking guys at ANY level.
Thanks Rebecca
SoS,
Hansen gave up the run to break up the shutout today. Isn’t he the prep star from New York? They must hate him in Boston. He just hasn’t panned out there possibly because they rushed him due to injuries 2 seasons ago. Someone said that New York might be just the place for him to develop.
The Red Sox are looking for a 5th/6th starter. Its tough to count on Lester and Buchholz to give them 180-200 innings this year.
Wakefield is a question mark health-wise. They need another veteran starter who can eat innings.
When you look at their rotation, there are some significant question marks. This was even prior to Beckett’s back spasms.
That’s why they brought in Colon. Unfortunately, so far he is just eating, not eating innings.
Marquis? Personally, I think his stuff is taylor made for getting lit up in the AL. Can’t locate his breaking ball, tries to just overpower people, and has a hard time when things don’t go his way.
The Schilling injury is a very big injury for the Sox. It will be interesting to see how they work around it this season.
“Didn’t they play together at that All-Star prospect game? Joba had a bit of trouble, but he and Votto were the talk of the weekend.”
Joba, Bruce and Votto all played in the Futures game last year. The star of that game was Justin Upton.
But Joba threw very well. You could tell he was juiced and over throwing.
That game the radar had him at 101 mph – that was the first time I think joba ever hit over 100 on the gun.
The thing I remember about that game most was Joba pitching against Wladamir Balenteing, a very good outfield prospect for the mariners with a lot of power who has a chance to make the mariners this season.
Joba threw him a pitch sequence that almost made me fall out of my chair. It was something like 86mps slider, 98 mph fastball on the corner, 83 mph curve ball on the corner, 76 mph change darting downward and then he struck him out on a 98 mph fastball.
That’s not the exact sequence but it was something like that. I just remember seeing him throw 98 on the corner and then throw a nasty change up that was over 20 mph slower a pitch or two later.
It was unbelievable. I remember watching that and thinking that major league hitters are not going to be able to touch his stuff. Didn’t think he’d be ready so soon after that but that at bat was eye opening.
Rebecca – Not yet, but there are lots of reports saying the announcement is “imminent.”
Bucholtz struggling is not surprising. I think he’s going to be a fine pitcher but I think a lot of people jumped the gun with him last year. Some folks even started saying he’s better then Joba.
I have Hughes on my fantasy team
Rebecca,
I chose to use the old player. Is there a that big of a difference between the 2. If so,you wouldnt know how i can change it to the new.
Jimmy,
You get more games on mlbtv than on your cable.
mel,
I can remember all these people saying that we should have got Hansen, being we had a pick before Boston. I actually remember being upset about not getting him and all the hype that surrounded that pick. Guess it wasnt that much of a loss after all.
How did Joba pitch in the game?
7:15 game tonight
Thanks SoS
Suddenly there is a crack(s) in the Sox pitching staff’s armour. Without a dominant Beckett they are nothing spccial.
SoS: the new one doesn’t lag nearly as much as the old.
The game is on MLB.tv and also streaming on SOPCAST. Worth it to see Joba (SOPCAST is free)
Jimmy,
If you’re hardwired then use the Silverlight player. If you’re on wireless then use the old player.
I’m thinking of getting the year deal because the quality is better. I’m also assuming that all the Gameday features as far as baserunners, number of outs, etc. that are on the Silverlight player will be enabled once the season starts up.
The good thing (or bad) is that you also get the audio WCBS with Roy & Dale Rogers. The really good thing is that you can go to the archived games and watch the whole thing or the condensed game (10 minutes).
Hardwire,though, that’s the way to go.
“RE: Beckett…His walk numbers were very good in the minors, and still ok when he got to the majors. I think what really “held him back†in his earlier seasons was health, and not so much command. I think he’ll regress to the mean a bit this year.”
My comparison betwen Beckett and Bailey wasn’t about control – it was more mental and approach.
Becket always had good control – that’s true. Bailey doesn’t. But that’s not Bailey’s only problem.
He’s not a pitcher – he’s just throwing the ball. Beckett also wasn’t a pitcher for a long time even with his plus curveball.
For years, whenever Beckett got in trouble, he’d just try to throw the ball through the catcher. He wasn’t really setting guys up, mixing his pitches, etc.
That’s why the Red Sox were pulling their hair out that first year with Beckett. His control was fine. But he just kept throwing rather than pitching and it didn’t work.
On top of that he was well known to not heed advice from his pitching coaches to change his approach. He just kept doing the same thing over and over, trying to throw hard all the time.
Most power pitchers have to go through this phase before they become true pitchers. Tom Seaver and Roger Clemons are the extreme outliers.
It was only after Becket got beat around that first year in the AL that he finally decided to rethink what he was doing and listen to the pitching coach.
Bailey, like most young power pitchers, is doing the same thing. That’s as much of his problem as the control is.
There’s a difference between command and control. While Beckett always had good control he didn’t always have good command. Command comes from pitching, having a plan and executing it.
There is a natural progression to the development of the majority of all star power pitchers. You see it over and over.
I asked last week,besides Arod and Pujols. Which other player has a chance for the all time homerun record? CB were you the one who said Upton? Fielder was another choice.
Jimmy,
I thought at the time, and was proven correct, that Texas made out pretty good on that deal.
It worked out for Boston, but Gagne made it very interesting. 2 more losses and we would’ve been the East champs.
They traded away Arroyo and Gabbard. For position players. Could they use those guys now? Probably.
The Yankees have a plethora of pitching, but look where we are now compared to a year ago. Clippard and Matt DeSilva are gone. We were depending on those guys down the stretch. Now, the Yankees have options that don’t include giving up you top 10 pitching prospects. That’s a warm and fuzzy feeling.
BTW,being that Upton and Fielder are already 23 and have less than 100 homers. I dont see them getting close to the homerun record. The only other player i could see having the chance to get close would be Cabrera.
Fielder won’t last long enough. He’s big and the body won’t be able to hold up.
It’d have to be someone who’s in the National League in their younger years who successfully makes the transition to the AL to DH.
Ahh, man, look at our pitching today. The games I want to see, aren’t televised. The games I could care less about, are televised. I don’t want to see Wang and Pettitte pitch in spring training lol. I want to see all the young guys: Hughes(still haven’t seen him), Chamberlain, Kennedy, Horne(who got cut before I could see him), Marquez(haven’t seen him), Patterson(saw him briefly.
McCutchen and Melancon are gone, too. I didn’t get to see those guys, either. Oh well lol.
Carry Over From Last Thread:
Mel, I wouldn’t have traded Hughes. I’ve said that countless times. Personally, I believe Phis is the closest thing to an Ace this team has. What else is funny about that is when it comes to Phil Hughes, I have been nothing but optimistic about him, even more so than I am regarding Joba (although Joba has my confidence too)
Mel, you have to remember this important fact, and it will explain why I have as you call a “man crush” on Santana..
For many years now I’ve been wanting an Ace for the Yankees and even before I knew Santana was going to be traded—about 4 years I’d say—I’d wish for a guy like Santana to lead our rotation. When we had the chance to get him, it was like a dream come true. You know the end result.
I love baseball, truly it is something that puts me at peace with myself (No matter how negative my text seem, some gets lost in translation I assure you) in this day players being traded so much, on one team to the next.. it’s really hard to keep just on favorite team. I mean 5 years ago I absolutely hated Detroit! Well now they have 3 of my favorite players!! How can I hate a team that has three of my favorite players? Also, I’ve always disliked Boston’s teams (except maybe when I was a kid watch Rice and Yaz) but now they have two of my favorite players, Lowell and Becket.. and I really like watch Pedroia.. he reminds me of my brother who is an MD but had to battle dislexia his whole life.. yet he did it against all odds. Pedroia’s size issue worked against him and people doubted him to ever make “The Biggs” .. How can you not respect that?
Okay so if you figured it out, I have been a Marlins fan since they were conceived.. since I lived in Miami, and all the Marlins that went to new teams are still some of my favorites..
This post is getting too long.. I’ll create a new one to respond to SJ44
“BTW,being that Upton and Fielder are already 23 and have less than 100 homers. I dont see them getting close to the homerun record.”
Justin Upton is only 20. He’s also considered to have talent of historical proportions – he’s considered to have talent on the Ken Griffey and ARod level. That’s how people think of him. Hitting for power is also considered to be his strongest tool.
Prince Fielder has two full seasons in the majors – he has 80 career home runs and is the youngest hitter to ever hit 50 HR in a season.
Sure Cabrera’s is up there – but the question the other day was hitters how cold break the record besides ARod, Pujols and Cabrera.
If you want a question that’s very hypothetical Fielder and Upton are two names to throw into the mix besides the more obvious names.
Upton? he’s not a true home run hitter.
Mike and the Mad Dog interviewing Girardi. They can’t seem to grasp two things:
1. Girardi is not going to make public the innings limits of Joba, Hughes and Kennedy.
2. They can’t understand the logic behind Joba’s future being in the starting rotation. The fact they believe Joba’s future is as a setup man is really comical.
What a waste of airtime. So many good questions they can ask him and they waste their time with nonsense.
Any further dents in Boston’s pitching armor leaves them susceptible to picking up scrap heap types as a bandaid approach.
They simply do not have the depth in the farm system to call upon contrary to what they’d have people believe. Masterson and Bowden can’t be counted on until 2009-2010 at the earliest.
“Upton? he’s not a true home run hitter.”
You can’t look at numbers for a player who made his major league debut when he was 19.
On a 20-80 scouting scale Justin Upton is considered to have 80 power.
Scouts uniformly say that he has power hitting tools that are historically great. Talent wise, at his comparable age, the only other recent players who are comparable are Ken Griffey, ARod and perhaps Josh Hamilton.
Jimmy –
I actually do the monthly deal with mlb.tv instead of paying for the season all at once. It may end up being a little more expensive, but I know that if the quality goes south at some point I’m not locked in to paying for the remainder of the year.
I’m using the new player, but it’s hard to tell any difference yet because the ST games are only available in 400K. The new player is boosted from 700 to 800k for the regular season ganes – hopefully it will be a noticeable difference.
SJ44:
If what you say is true that we needed to trade Wang,Kennedy,Cabrera I would have walked too. I just find that hard to believe that the Twins chose what the Mets offered over Kennedy/Cabrera. I guess stranger things could’ve happened.
If we had no choice to walk away, then we did the right thing. That still does not negate the fact that we are in dyer need of good pitching, especially left-handed pitching.
Maybe if the trio didn’t have inning limitations, I’d be more comfortable but they do. I hate to think that we are going to close out the historic Yankee Stadium with a reminder that we didn’t make the playoffs (I hope that doesn’t come to fruition)
As great as the Yankees had a season last year with all the pitfalls, they still hardly ever seem to click as a synergetic unit. They still don’t seem like they have that synergy to me. Hopefully they will get it sooner rather than later.
Rebecaa:
I know you disagree with me often. I appreciate that. I know my thoughts aren’t always correct and it takes objective and civil disagreements to expand my knowledge and bring out in me thoughts that I wouldn’t have come up with myself. Isn’t the internet (or as Pete calls it, the interweb) swell?
My nephew played summer ball with Justin Upton a few years ago.
Its funny. They are the same age. He is a soph in college and Justin is in the majors. Amazing.
Justin has power. PLENTY of it. I don’t know if he is going to hit 800 HR’s. But, he will be a power hitter in his career.
The last kid I saw at his age that good was Arod.
Justin is really a special, special talent.
Phil Hughes nickname should be “The Phizz” because you can hear the ball “fizz” once he lets go of it.
Phil looks awesome. You know Twins fans will cry very soon..
cb,
espn and fox is showing uptons age at 23.
That was the deal Fleas. I know one of the agents of the players involved and, to his knowledge, that was the final offer the Twins asked of the Yankees.
Its easier (not better, easier) for the Twins to trade him to the Mets for a lesser package. He’s out of the AL and they don’t have to face him during the season. That’s why Smith made the deal after he lost his opportunity to get Hughes in December.
As I have said in the past, I would have made the deal in December because they would have been able to keep Wang and Kennedy, get Mike Cameron to play CF this year, and have Johan signed long term.
Once Smith starting shopping the deal again, I don’t blame the Yankees for moving on. Once Cameron went off the market and they saw how well Hughes was throwing the ball in January, there is no way I do the deal.
The Yankees have 3 guys, Hughes, Wang and Chamberlain, who are potential aces. As good as Johan is, he isn’t close to what Pedro was in his prime with the Red Sox.
Despite having that ace, Boston still couldn’t overtake the Yankees. Mainly because, instead of having one ace, the Yankees had DEPTH throughout the starting rotation.
That’s what they are trying to do now. Create a deep staff, with more than one guy being able to be called an “ace”.
Personally, I think its the way to go. Especially in the AL because of the number of great offensive teams in the league.
It takes more than one top pitcher in a rotation to win. As good as Johan is, he can’t do it by himself.
fleas,
Nice post, and if know anything about me, I like to joke and tease.
I think in general, you have two kinds of posters here. No, not optimistic and negative. Male and female. You won’t see a single female who absolutely hates on things in general. (Blondie was one, but I think she was clowning).
Now, it’s an interesting concept about females invading this blog. I sometimes wonder if the guys feel sports is a man thing. Truth is that some of us gals here really like sports. But as females we don’t really like friction and conflict. So sometimes the spitting and pissing matches that happen here are a real turnoff. The funny part is that some of the guys here know more about cooking than the girls do.
Has the blog changed over the last two years? Is it a kinder, gentler place? It seems to be that way to me. Look across the web and see if you can find a place where fans treat each other and the occasional fans from other teams with such respect.
Whatever the gender ratio here is, I don’t think you’ll find a more passionate, dedicated, knowledgeable, and fun fanbase than you do here.
Wait…Grabbing a tissue here…
I have Justin Upton on my fantasy team as well
I think two things seperate this blog from other Yankee blogs.
One is respect. The folks who are active posters here respect each other. We may not always agree but, we have respectful dialogue.
Second is baseball knowledge. This is a knowledgeable blog. Lots of folks on here bring very good baseball discussion to the table.
Its why some of us sharpen the axes when trolls and whiners come aboard.
There are plenty of blogs where that type of behavior is not only tolerated its encouraged.
One of the reason why this blog has become so popular is because you can have respectful AND intelligent baseball discussions.
Its why its our goal to keep it that way throughout the season.
Rebecca: Definitely a high risk/reward player at this point. His value right now in a keeper league though is through the roof.
Without a healthy Schilling the Sox pitching staff aren’t going to be as good as they’d been expecting this year, even with a dominant Beckett.
Some wild guesses on Boston pitcher wins this year, not scientifically based at all:
Beckett? I’m sure he’ll miss a couple starts, his health is usually pretty good but not always. 18 wins. Wang could match him win for win.
Matsuzaka is a veteran so he will probably be about the same as last year. If he’s any better, I wouldn’t expect it to be by much. 15 wins. Could Pettitte do better? Yep.
Wakefield had a couple good years there. A knuckleballer can be unpredictably good or bad, but he hasn’t show nearly as much of the consistency he had going for him in his best year. 11 wins. Could Moose do as well? Probably, but even if he if he comes close that’s fine.
Lester has to be commended for his off-field health battle, but I haven’t heard him hyped as much as Buckholz. And Buckholz, while he has good talent, still has to pan out. They can use him a lot this year and it may not bother him, but if he throws too much then who knows a couple years from now. I won’t guess season win totals for any of the kids because it’s hard to be sure how many starts they’ll get, and Joba could spend half the season in the bullpen. But if you measure NYs 3 kids against Boston’s 2 kids at the end of the year, NY does better.
Colon will probably have his streaks during the season but I really doubt he’ll be like his old self for the whole year. 12 wins with some time off for injuries.
Schilling will probably try to contribute but not be able to finish the season. Max 5 wins if he’s lucky then he’ll be done.
Yes there’s some promise on the mound in Boston, but some key question marks & potential weak points too. If a couple guys in that rotation fall on hard times for any length of time, the bullpen will get worn out like NYs did at the beginning of last year.
In that regard, mid-level depth is where NY may have the edge this year.
Assuming they’re in the mix come October, Boston won’t have anything left to sustain a 3-round playoff run.
“2. They can’t understand the logic behind Joba’s future being in the starting rotation. The fact they believe Joba’s future is as a setup man is really comical.”
I don’t bother criticizing the media much and don’t listen to those two too often.
Today I did because I wanted to hear Girardi.
What a mistake.
This crusade they are in is past stupid. It is past idiotic for so many reasons.
I can’t believe they don’t understand why keeping him in the pen is an absolute waste. To get 70 innings out of that arm over the season is just an unacceptable baseball move.
He arguably has the best fastball and slider in all of baseball right now. On top of that he has two pitches that are definitely going to be plus pitches with some time and experience.
I can’t think of another pitcher in baseball with that kind of pure stuff and command. He has better stuff the Justin Verlander!
That would be one of the worst decisions in the history of the franchise.
A few years from now, in a 5 game playoff series how could you not want Joba available to pitch 2 of the 5 games? Or 3 of 7?
People who want him in the pen like the those two seem unable to project or imagine anything different than the 24 innings they’ve seen.
And their level of certainty about it is just plain arrogant.
Do they really think Hank Steinbrenner is forcing the yankees to put joba in the rotation?
I think it says something about the character of this blog that while my age group (18-24) is perhaps the largest demographic of internet users, I, at 21, am one of, if not the, youngest poster on a near nightly basis.
(probably not a surprise that I’m also one of the least knowledgable, but that’s not the point!)
SJ, how does the waiver wire work? Do GM’s pick up some kind of newsletter and pick a name or is there a database? Just curious about the process. Moeller was released on Sunday and the Yankees picked him up today. Surprised he lasted that long. lol.
I posted the steinbrenners buying the tampa bay rays on the last thread and making them our aaaa team. With all this Upton talk. Maybe we should and have him play the outfield with Ajax and Tabata. Then we would have the Triple threat in the pitching side and in the outfield.
“espn and fox is showing uptons age at 23.”
Are you looking up his brother’s age – BJ Upton? He’s 23.
We’re not referring to BJ. We’re talking about Justin – on the Diamondbacks.
BJ is also tremendously talented but he doesn’t have anywhere near the power Justing does. People project BJ to be a potential batting champ and Justin a home run king.
CB,
What’s even funnier is, they can’t understand that if Joba stayed in the bullpen all season, and pitched 70-80 innings, that would put the Yankees in a real developmental dilemma going forward. That is, his future is as a starter.
I agree with you. The idea that Hank Steinbrenner is “ordering” Girardi to make Joba a starter is laughable.
Joba has ALWAYS BEEN A STARTER!!! He was drafted as a future #1 starter. He never relieved in his life until he was placed in the role last year.
Brian Cashman has said from the day Joba was called up, his future is as a starter.
So today, Fatso and Fruit Loops offer a new “theory” on this issue.
Hank ordered it and Girardi, desperate for the job, just rolled over and agreed with the terms so he can get the job.
Mind you, they didn’t share this “theory” with Girardi. They , as they usually do, waited until they were done interviewing him, he was safely out of listening distance, then offered up their angle on the deal.
Sadly, there will be some of their listeners who actually believe this BS.
Its what happens when you give 6 hours of your airwaves to a couple of guys who don’t know a single thing about baseball other than the bat and the ball.
Mel,
Teams are sent e-mails each day on waiver activities.
In the old days, there used to be a ticker in the offices and the transactions would run on them daily.
Now, IIRC, its all done by e-mail.
anyone think Torre might put something like this together with this year’s Dodgers?
Just to touch on what you guys were talking about:
When I started this blog, I was determined not to let the comments section get out of control like a lot of blogs. I had the IT guys set up a filter of obscene words. I also stayed on top of deleting certain posts and banning trolls.
It’s never going to be perfect, but we have a great community here which is the best part of the blog as far as I am concerned. I am motivated to post as often as I do because you guys motivate me. It really is a two-way street.
I’m hoping we can do a lot of cool things this season. More interviews, etc. Podcasts too.
Mel: The waiver wire used to a literal wire, like a teletype. Now it’s all computerized. The GMs get a report from MLB
Rebecca,
(probably not a surprise that I’m also one of the least knowledgable, but that’s not the point!)
Not true!! And you can always take your sword and join the guys with their axes as they fend off the trolls!
(Only 21? Please keep an open mind about the marriage thing. Motherhood is definitely worth the inconvenience of being married. haha)
Thanks to all who responded about MLBTV.
Must agree that this Blog is an oasis of Knowledge and Civility in the desert of ignorance and rancor that is the interweb.
Thanks Peter
“My comparison betwen Beckett and Bailey wasn’t about control – it was more mental and approach.”
Makes the sense.
Other than “Great Stuff” what is it that had Bailey ranked alongside hughes going into 2007?
Pete,
Thanks for the kind words and waiver info.
Oops.
Thanks to SJ also.
ladies, please spare me the crap about men. unmless there’s another shoe to drop, the hooker was female, committing the same crime as spitzer only 5-10 times a day. and dont try to tell me a $5000/hooker is a white slave from romania or something its much more likely she’s a deb with a coke habit.
mike and chris sure know how to beat a topic to death
you’d think if enough people told them they were wrong, they’d eventually get it. i guess not.
Fatso and Froot Loops … good one.
Does Girardi look at it as a necessary evil, a contractual obligaton? I can’t imagine him putting up with anyone who was incompetent.
“What’s even funnier is, they can’t understand that if Joba stayed in the bullpen all season, and pitched 70-80 innings, that would put the Yankees in a real developmental dilemma going forward. That is, his future is as a starter.”
SJ,
I know. I didn’t even want to get into that because that issue seems the most difficult to get across to people who think joba has to stay in the pen.
He threw 113 innings last year. (damn those stupid hamstring pulls…).
If he throws 80 innings this year he will be regressing in terms of his arms strenght – not developing.
So next year you are stuck with the same innings cap – only worse because in 2008 he will be coming off throwing fewer innings than he did in 2007.
What sense does that make in terms of the development of a guy with #1 stuff.
It’s just beyond comprehension. Then at the same time they went on and on and on about how the yankees had to trade hughes and kennedy to get Santana because the team doesn’t have an ace!
It makes no sense – at all.
Have the yankees had a better pitching prospect than Joba – ever? And you want to put him in the pen?
Can’t take credit for that one. Imus coined them that nickname many years ago.
Its one of the more accurate nicknames he has ever come up with re: his former co-workers.
This blog is great. The people here for the most part are great too. Pete does a fantastic job (as obssessive as he is) keeping his posts fresh and filtering out the children and I should probably say the adults that act like children.
From time to time we all get heated, but thats are very humanness and I totally am okay with getting heated as long as we come back down to earth.
Mel, I like how you put it. I know a lot of significant others that are female and enjoy watching baseball just as much as their make counterparts.
In fact I am totally gender neutral. My 2 1/2 year old daughter already throws left-handed and can nail a baseball off a tee. You’d be surprised! That ole saying, “You throw like a girl” that I grew up with in the neighborhood would have become “You throw like you have all thumbs” or something..
I won’t forget to mention that she also almost has the whole lineup down and when Arod comes up she yells, “Arod Home Run!” and if he grounds the ball she yells at him to hit it “higher” and “louder”, but louder I think she means farther!
Got an extra tissue?
SJ44:
I hear ya, that is all well and good that we have awesome potential with three Aces. Sadly, I don’t think that is enough to carry us this year. Our rotation and BP have just too many question marks. However, it doesn’t mean we won’t be as surprised as we were with what Chacon and Small did for us so unexpectedly.
I’d be happy if one of the three became a true ace. I think that one will probably be “The Phizz” even of Joba. If Joba didn’t have inning limitations, by all means make him a starter.. but with that in mind, I’d be more than happy to keep him in the BP this year and have him train to be a starter to open the new stadium.
Did anyone hear M&MD last week with Murti arguing about Joba’s role?? very unprofessional. At least they made a “sort of” apology today.
But they really need to lay off.
Any of you guys like Kellerman and Kenney?
No truth to the rumors of Eliot Spitzer throwing out the 1st pitch at tonight’s game.
CB,
Sorry. Yes iv been talking about B.J. Havnt seen Justin play yet(wasnt aware they had an upton as well). My bad. I guess we wont have to buy the Rays anytime soon.
I also enjoy all of the camaraderie on this blog and how people are respectful to each other. It really is fun observing and commenting on the discussions. Trust me, Rebecca, you have a lot of knowledge. I’m only 23, so I am young and dumb!
And I saw that Randy Johnson made his spring debut today, giving up three runs in an inning and 1/3. I’m still thankful that he is no longer a Yankee. Sigh of relief!!
new post up…
A scout told me this weekend he thought Joba Chamberlain had the best stuff IN BASEBALL!!
Let’s say, that’s a bit excessive on his part.
For a scout to say that, it tells me he is in the discussion when it comes to having the best stuff in the game.
Now, go through ALL of the 8th inning guys in the game and tell me how many of them will be in that catagory.
You don’t waste a guy with Joba’s talent in the 8th inning. He fills in that role for now until he is ready to start. Its really not that complicated.
Can you imagine the nights in the second half of the year the Yankees may skip a Hughes or Kennedy start to save their innings and have Joba replace them in the rotation? That’s scary!
I think fans understand the development curve the Yankees are undergoing right now. I think very, very few members of the media can grasp the concept. I really believe that.
All we hear is, “Hank won’t put up with it”. Well, they didn’t do the Santana deal did they? Hank wanted to do it, didn’t he?
Tells me, he is either “putting up with it”, or its not his sole call as to the direction of the organization.
JMO but, this is the year for teams to make hay on the Yankees.
Next year at this time, you are going to have Chamberlain, Hughes and Kennedy solidly in the rotation. Alan Horne and Daniel McCutcheon knocking on the door. Mark Melancon and (IMO) Humberto Sanchez in the Yankee bullpen and Andrew Brackman beginning to get ready to make his mark in the organization.
Who knows, you may even have CC Sabathia replacing Pettitte or Mussina in the rotation.
In other words, the Yankees are building it back up again. All the while, still fielding a team very capable of winning a World Series this year.
“Sorry. Yes iv been talking about B.J. Havnt seen Justin play yet(wasnt aware they had an upton as well). My bad. I guess we wont have to buy the Rays anytime soon.”
No need to apologize at all. Its confusing with their names and it took me until your second post to figure out what was going on.
If you haven’t seen Justin play make a point to do so. Again, I have no idea what he’s going to do because he’s so young – but he’s a startling talent. Just amazing.
I think the Diamondbacks messed around with his position too much (and shouldn’t of let Stephen Drew stand in the way of really trying him at short) but other than that he’s as good a young baseball player as we’ve seen in a while.