Game 31: Mariners at Yankees
-
- May
- 2
YANKEES
Cabrera CF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Duncan 1B
Matsui LF
Giambi DH
Ensberg 3B
Molina C
Gonzalez 2B
Wang RHP (5-0, 3.23)
MARINERS
Ichiro CF
Lopez 2B
Ibanez LF
Beltre 3B
Clement DH
Sexson 1B
Balentien RF
Burke C
Betancourt SS
Bedard LHP (2-0, 2.04)
Chien-Ming Wang vs. the Seattle hitters.
Erik Bedard vs. the New York hitters.
Notes: Wang has pitched twice to Molina this season. He has allowed one earned run over 16 innings. … Seattle has lost two straight. … The Yankees have lost three straight and six of eight.
Back later with updates.
UPDATE, 6:01 p.m.: Jorge Posada has received opinions from all of the doctors (James Andrews, Tim Kremchek and David Altcheck) and all agree that he has rotator cuff tendinitis and will need rest and rehab. Surgery is a possibility but not until the offseason. There does seem to be a little concern about his labrum, too. But the general consensus is that his problem is with the rotator cuff.
Posada will go another 10 days without throwing or swinging then start a two-week rehab period. After that, they’ll determine where he is. He will need minor-league rehab games. We’re looking at early June assuming there no setbacks. Given what happened last time, they will be cautious. I would guess maybe June 10,
Meanwhile, Phil Hughes learned today that he is nearsighted and he is being fitted for glasses. So that explains some stuff as well. He thinks the cracked rib is related to a mechanical flaw, which also explains some stuff.
RHP Jose Veras is here, taking the spot of Hughes.
With the day off coming up on Monday, the Yankees will skip Ian Kennedy’s next start. They won’t need a No. 5 starter until May 10. They’re discussing whether it will be Kennedy or somebody else.
UPDATE, 7:21 p.m.: Just a terrible night here at the ballpark. It was 49 degrees at first pitch and it’s windy. Several writers are watching the game from the press room (and shame on you all) but we’re here in the elements.
Kansas football coach Mark Mangino was on the field before the game talking to Joe Girardi and bench coach Rob Thomson, a KU grad.
I’ve probably mentioned this before, but Ichiro may be my favorite player to watch in the majors. What a talented player and he has such great flair to what he does. I’ve interviewed him a few times and found him to be a good guy as well.
Meanwhile, another Japanese star who is a good guy, Hideki Matsui, just delivered an RBI single to give the Yanks a 1-0 lead. Make it stand up, Wanger.
UPDATE, 7:58 p.m.: Check out this stat from the Yankees’ media notes:
Robinson Cano had the lowest batting in April (.151) for a player coming off two consecutive .300 seasons since Lyman Bostock hit .148 in April of 1978.
UPDATE, 8:35 p.m.: It’s going to take somebody really smacking one to hit the ball out tonight. The wind is blowing straight in.
Meanwhile, I made a little semi-witty remark during Girardi’s pre-game press conference and Anthony McCarron of the News stole it for their blog. But at least he credited me.
UPDATE, 8:59 p.m.: That pesky Ichiro stole second and third and scored on a groundout. That snapped a streak of 13 consecutive scoreless innings by Wang.
UPDATE, 9:09 p.m.: Something must be wrong with the Wanger’s fingernail. He sometimes gets a blister under there. I have him at 90 pitches and he’s able to go 100-110 at this point.
Regardless, he was terrific again tonight.



Peter Abraham






nice to see Cano getting a rest
So Bedard is good for at least 7 IP 1 ER against this lineup.
yet another Fresh lineup….well if it works for ya, Joe….just keep doin’ it,,,right ?
I always do this
GONZO !
Probably a good move giving Cano the night off. Doesn’t hit anyone lately, but has never hit Bedard well. Weakest lower third of a Yankees order in years, but there aren’t a lot of alternatives.
Would love to see a nice 7 inning outing from Wang to rest up the pen from the beatings they’ve been taking. Lets go offense…time to kick into gear. Seattle’s struggling a bit so lets take advantage and get this home stand over to our advantage.
Wooo the sweep! But listen Yankees fans…im from Detriot..i was at the game last night and the stadium was dead…no buddy was into the game…I mean come on your the greatest fans in the world…start acting like it.
Hey I was pretty close.
jennifer
May 2nd, 2008 at 3:05 pm
Any shots at tonights lineup?
Melky cf
Jeter ss
Bobby rf
Matsui lf
Shelley 1b
jason dh
Cano 2b
Jose c
Alberto 3b
my Mike Francesca is telling me Joba is going to do great in the 8thing with that the yankees will lose 9-3
no cano…maybe it will be good to get a break. Wang’s gonna get his 6th win tonight and there won’t be any offensive troubles. (let’s hope for that at least!)
May we see the winning fomular again tonite: Wang-Joba-Mo!
good, Cano needs a day off – or two or three
Peter – do the Vets (Jeter, Mo, Mussina, Andy,) seem worried yet?
No Robbie Cano, dontcha know?
Does Cano have a rib injury?
May we see the winning fomular again tonite: Wang-Joba-Mo!
I’d rather see another CG =)
Well, if ever there was a night we needed Wang to pitch…
I think the funny thing in all this is that it hasn’t been bad trades that have put the Yankees where they are, but bad signings.
It’s been Cashman’s lack of ability to asseess talent that has led the Yankees to a glut of ineffective players. Now Cashman is turning his less-than acute acumen toward developing young talent…Think about.
Wang will save us.
I hope
Dave,
If you’re going to subject us to posting the same comment in three (3!) consecutive threads, at least fix your spelling.
cross posting my last point about arroyo:
“You projecting that he can do that in the AL. I’m not so sure he can.
When he was in the AL, he wasn’t consistent at all.
He gets to face easier lineups in the NL.
Just not a fan of trading good prospects for a JAG (Just Another Guy).
I’d take the financial hit and trade a better level prospect for a guy like Kevin Millwood before I would go after a guy like Arroyo.
That is, if the Yankees feel they have to go outside the organization for pitching help.â€
Again, you are underrating Arroyo. He played 3 seasons in the AL.
2003 – 17.3 IP, 4 walks, 14 K’s, 225 ERA+
2004 – 178.7 IP, 47 walks, 142 K’s, 121 ERA+
2005 – 205.3 IP, 54 walks, 100 K’s, 100 ERA+
Above average for all 3 seasons. His first season in the NL was way better than his career averages but it came back down last year to more in line (110 ERA+).
I’d take Arroyo’s 2005 numbers over any pitcher in our organization except Wang/Pettitte. Nobody but those two could match those numbers THIS season.
Millwood has been worse than Arroyo over the last 4 years.
You really should go look at the stats for both of them, I linked Arroyo’s above, here is Millwood’s http://www.baseball-reference.com/m/millwke01.shtml
Stick to one lineup Joe. Stop moving everyone around every night.
What really bugs me is how we have the toughest schedule in the league. We get Seattle now after Detroit just leaves town on fire. We have more away games than anyone – also, we have to play all of the top teams while the Bosux get to play the Tampa Bay every other series. It’s just not fair – I don’t understand why MLB hates the Yankees so much.
Looks like a decent line-up. Hopefully Wang can save the Yankees and give them length. The M’s are rather aggressive swingers, so maybe he can get them going out of the zone.
Mel, I didn’t realize Dave appeared here with the same comment. Well I answered him in another thread but now am thinking I posted well after everyone had hopped above! So here is my post in its entirety, part of it which was for you.
Dave – that’s because nobody wants to watch Detroit. You know, they’re so, well, last year…
Mel – you truly ARE the voice of reason. And I know you’re right. It’s not going to make a difference no matter what we say to them. But still, I say that I am not going to bother saying another word about (whatever). Then I read another “off base†post (ha ha, like my answers are the correct ones. Well they are, yes?
) And I think to myself, you REALLY need to respond to that! Geeze, how can he/she even be thinking that way????? Yeah that last word syndrome can be a killer!
“When you do what you love, the money usually follows.†I’ll do you one better, though if you’re someone who wants the money to follow this will fall on deaf ears. Do what you love, and as long as you can find a way to keep a roof over your head and food on your table, you will achieved the greatest success life has to offer – self satisfaction.
I know I chose a branch of my profession where there is notably little money to be had. But I had to satisfy the burning in my soul or I would have been nothing more than a well-paid fraud.
Chew on that a while!
I wonder if Wang can hit
Aside from interleague play, the Yankees will play virtually the same schedule in terms of teams as the Red Sox. They’ll just play those teams at different times. However, the scheduling of the days off is ridiculous.
How can geriatric Giambi be in this lineup? He is ZERO against lefties! My god is Girardi taking stupid pills!
Yankees are 51 wins and 55 losses with
Giambi in the lineup since the beginning of 2007. Please DFA him!!!
ok Joe G when it gets to July this lineup better be figured out non of this Larry Brown stuff
Giambi has a .982 OPS vs Bedard.
At this point who cares, he is really terrible right now.
lol I was going to gripe about the lineup, but you all have it covered.
Mr. Exceptional,
Exactly. The bad signings have piled up. Cashman had the right idea trading out of deal like Jaret Wright, Randy Johnson, Sheff, but then seemingly abandoned that approach.
I know Damon, Giambi have no trade clauses, but he traded Randy Johnson who had a bad back and couldn’t pitch for a bevy of players who have helped the team.
He had a chance to get out from under the money owed to Igawa last season when the Padres claimed him and instead pulled him back.
I don’t know if any of you remember, but before last season there was actual interest in Carl Pavano. Teams were willing to take a shot on him provided we ate some money.
One of Cashman’s best attributes was when we’d eat money on a deal in a trade, he made sure we got something valuable back for eating the money.
Then this off season comes along and the guy sits on his hands. He rubber stamps resigning vets and picking up Abreu’s option.
He refuses to deal prospects who were insanely hyped during the off season. I mean seriously, if he thinks everyone one of the prospects in the system is going to pan out he’s insane.
We’re seeing the law of averages with top prospects happen right before our eyes.
Not all of them become good players. It’s a risk.
He sent the word out to opposing GM’s that don’t even bother asking him for his prospects in a trade which in essence means he’s not interested in trading.
Part of the reason for a farm system is to develop trade chips to help the major league club.
It’s just frustrating to me as a fan to see the mixed signals the organization sent this off season. Sign Arod, Mo and Posada to record deals and roll the dice on a rotation with 2 rookies and a vet who got kicked out of the rotation last year for being ineffective.
Most of us who didn’t drink the Generation Trey kool aid saw the definite potential for what has happened.
The mistake that was made was Hughes and Kennedy were lumped together with Joba.
To put it bluntly, they both have a long way to go before they should be lumped with Joba ever again.
Expanding on my earlier point…if you actually look at why Cashman was able to make trades (absorbing big money), he’s an even worse GM than I thought. Imagine him GMing a team who didn’t have their coffers filled like the Yankees. His poor decision making and talent evaluation without the money would mirror some of the lesser teams.
trisha,
I often repost myself, but usually give warning.
As for doing what you love. I agree. Do what you love. But you got to eat, too.
I’ve discouraged my son from thinking about being an attorney. (Sorry, guys!) With the following caveat: Do it if you think you can make a difference in the world. If you can be an advocate for an honorable cause or demographic and if you can, and this is so cliche, change the world then go for it. As we already have so many fine attorneys doing prosecuting, litigation, defending, and estate planning!
“Stick to one lineup Joe. Stop moving everyone around every night.”
Is it really so hard to understand why he’s juggling the lineups regularly?
The regular third baseman and catcher are injured. Cano and Giambi aren’t hitting. Lefties have been pitching against the Yanks lately.
With all those things going on is it really that difficult to ascertain that there will be lineup changes?
I’ve discouraged my son from thinking about being an attorney. (Sorry, guys!) With the following caveat: Do it if you think you can make a difference in the world. If you can be an advocate for an honorable cause or demographic and if you can, and this is so cliche, change the world then go for it. As we already have so many fine attorneys doing prosecuting, litigation, defending, and estate planning!
Pfff tell your son to be a defense or corporate IP lawyer
“If you can be an advocate for an honorable cause or demographic and if you can, and this is so cliche, change the world then go for it.”
Which is what I did – at least I consider it an honorable cause with a chance to make life a little better for some people who need help.
I have a comfortable roof over my head, and I have food on my table. My car is now 10 years old – and still running fine! People are all different so there is no right or wrong in how you do things (as long as you’re not intentionally trying to hurt someone else). Material wealth has never been a priority of mine. If it was I would have probably gone into contract law for a very large and lucrative firm!
Amen Trisha.
this line up is fierce!!!
Dave (from Detroit)
How many threads are you going to post the same nonsense?
And where were you during the first ten games that the overrated Tigers played? You didn’t sow up like theTigers offense and pitching!
P I T C H I N G – Will be Detroit’s downfall, book it!
Wow, I underestimated the number of lawyers there are here. My son is going into economics, so I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a JD somewhere down the line.
Hey, did you guys see this?
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3378829
I like that Girardi is trying to get everyone play time and he’s trying to set up good matchups but I think consistency might be helpful. The best lineup he can put out with the current injuries:
Damon LF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Matsui DH
Giambi/Duncan 1B
Cabrera CF
Cano 2B
Molina C
Gonzalez/Ensberg 3B
Platoon Duncan and Giambi vs L and R, split time with Ensberg/Gonzalez depending on whos playing better. Everything else should stay steady, stop screwing around.
Funny you mention changing the world mel. My personal statement for Law School was related to a quote by Ben Franklin. He was asked after the Constitutional Convention what they had made. He said “A Republic, if you can keep it.” I want to be a lawyer as a means to uphold the Constitution and protect this fine country. If you don’t do what you love you’ll be miserable.
The questionable defense is going to kill the Yankees. It has been all year. Watch Seattle tonight. They can play D.
“I think the funny thing in all this is that it hasn’t been bad trades that have put the Yankees where they are, but bad signings.
It’s been Cashman’s lack of ability to asseess talent that has led the Yankees to a glut of ineffective players. Now Cashman is turning his less-than acute acumen toward developing young talent…Think about.”
How many of those bad signings were George Steinbrenner’s lack of ability to ‘asseess’ [sic] talent?
Cashman was GM in name only for a big chunk of those decisions.
I have to say, horrible law professors can squeeze the joy out of the world, however.
Especially when they take credit as having worked on nearly every important document ever…seriously, the professor I had apparently worked for the secretary general of the United Nations, wrote a pamphlet on how to solve global warming, and oh, by the way, his aunt or uncle is descended from the guy that discovered the south pole!
Hey V, thanks for calling me on my typo.
Cashman was responsible for plenty.
See y’all game time.
Wait…maybe Seattle’s defense if awful too. I take that back. They used to be good.
Just heard that about Marvin Harrison.
Just have to see what happens. They are still investigating.
Oops, another typo. V…help me out.
G. Love and Mr. Exceptional,
When the Yankees make the playoffs again this year do you two solemnly swear to never ever ever ever ever post your drivel here again?
Arroyo is not the answer. Patience is.
i’d like to see the cano benchings continue. he should be sitting for 3 in a row. sure, he’s enjoyed success for 2 or 3 seasons. its obvious his complacency is starting to catch up with him. time for a serious reality check. he’s got a long way to go and still has a lot to prove, whether he thinks so or not.
Arroyo is not the answer. Patience is.
Reading comprehension is a good thing! A good thing you do not possess!
raymagnetic â„¢ …you have my solemn promise. I hope and pray the Yankees make the playoffs, if they do great. I will never post again.
If they don’t…well I’ll probably never post again then either.
I’ve only had some time of recent to post. Come playoff time, I won’t have time to be posting.
The problem is, Damon is hurt and Cano is lost. Add to it the injuries to Arod and Posada and Giambi’s inability to play anymore, and it makes putting a lineup together a struggle.
G Love, Phil Hughes was the #1 starting pitching prospect in all of baseball.
Name me a GM in the last 6 years who has traded the #1 starting pitching prospect in the game? Teams don’t do it anymore.
The Diamondbacks and Mets didn’t even trade their #1 pitching prospects for Haren or Santana. You want to blame Cashman for not trading Hughes?
It would be GM malpractice if he traded Phil Hughes in the off-season.
He wasn’t “insanely overhyped” coming into the season. He was a guy everybody thought could get the job done.
He had a very good first start against the Blue Jays, after coming off a good September. He also had an excellent post-season outing and excellent spring. Since then he has struggled. It happens.
Nobody could have predicted he would struggle like he has after the way he pitched from September of last year to his first start against the Blue Jays. If they did, they sure as heck didn’t write it about in here.
If you want to argue he overvalued Kennedy, that’s reasonable.
But, what were his reasonable alternatives? The free agent market stunk this off-season. Signing overvalued guys to bad contracts just keeps the same vicious circle that has hurt the Yankees in recent years going. At some point, you have to stop doing business the wrong way. They decided this was the off-season to do so.
Trading Damon or Pavano? Nobody wanted those guys. Plus, Damon has a limited no trade clause which makes it tough to trade him.
Its easy to say, “he should eat the money” but, do we know how much money he was supposed to eat to make deals?
Without that information, wouldn’t you say its tough to say, “he blew it”?
What if he had to eat 75% of those contracts and would get non-prospects in return? Do you still think he should make those deals?
He’s not perfect. No GM is. But, to blame him for holding onto Hughes or not trading untradeable guys is unfair.
Let’s remember, one of the reasons they had to sign Damon was because they stayed too long with Bernie Williams and ignored developing players from within from 2000-2005.
What Cashman is trying to do now, and its a very difficult task, is not burden the franchise with more bad contracts, work in younger players, and win at the same time.
After this year, just about every bad Yankee contract is off the books. Giambi, Mussina, Farnworth, Pavano, and most likely Damon. That’s almost 60 million off the books.
That will give them the chance to better construct the team.
Its tough to do it when you are saddled with that kind of money on the books.
NFL player possibly a criminal? Who’d have thought?
SJ…who saddled them with those contracts?
Plus I don’t consider Mussina’s a bad contract. He’s been good for the Yankees for the most part.
Wang will shut down seattle to 1 or 2 through 7….the offense will step up and give him 6 runs…beautiful!
If the offense had performed how it was supposed, the kids would have probably won 4 or 5 instead of losing 7 like Cashman was expecting. a couple of blowouts early on would have allowed Franchise and IPK to have settled in without the massive pressure. Instead they get on the mound…no one can catch…no one can throw and they definately won’t be hitting…..just bitching about the cold!
Bedard is a tough lefty, but i like this lineup.
The Wanger will win # 6 Mo will get the save
Mussina was not a bad signing till last year.
SJ…who saddled them with those contracts?
Plus I don’t consider Mussina’s a bad contract. He’s been good for the Yankees for the most part.
Whats the point in assigning blame at this point. Tee Yankee brass have realized they screwed up in the past and are trying to fix the problems while still making the postseason.
Moose.. his first contract was ok, this one not so much. He signed a 2 year deal 23 million in November 2006. Last year (first year of the new deal) was not worth 11.5 mil. We’ll see how he does this year.
S.A.
Yeah, I’m not feeling non-buyer’s remorse, either. I think we’d be awfully flaky and lacking in vision if we reversed course and turned our backs on a studly 21-year old after 4 starts.
Damon is hurt ?? since when ??
only discovering Baseball and the Yanks in ‘02, I don’t have the same long established ideas and emotional relationships with players. Moose has been my favourite starter for 4yrs and never seemed to get the credit it looked to me that he deserved (that “not a true Yankee” Crap) last year he completely changed…i was nervous every time he pitched…always whining at umpires and sulking after poor defense (Arod). He looks to be acting much more like himself so far this season….without the fastball. lets hope he keps it up!!
Giambi wasn’t Cashman’s contract. That was all George. George is the guy that bid against himself in that contract.
Cashman had nothing to do with that one.
You can make an argument that the Giambi contract has done more damage to the Yankees than any contract they have done for a free agent. From a franchise embarrassment standpoint (steroids), a money standpoint, contract length standpoint, and roster management standpoint, that has been a nightmare contract and Cashman wasn’t the guy who did the deal.
I agree on Mike Mussina. I’m not a huge fan of his pitching style. But I will say, he has more than done his job in the two contracts he has signed with the Yankees. That was a solid signing.
Cashman wanted Vlad Guerrero. George wanted Sheffield. Cashman had Vlad in NYC, ready to sign a deal, when Sheffield wigged out on George (they were negotiating exclusively with each other) and wanted more money. Cashman tried his best to get George to move away from Sheffield and sign Vlad. George refused. Turns out, if they listened to Cashman, they would have been much better off.
Pavano? No question, he takes the hit on that.
Let’s remember though, everybody wanted Carl Pavano. Detroit and Seattle both offered more money. Curt Schilling personally recruited Pavano for the Red Sox. After losing Pavano, the Red Sox wasted 21 million on Matt Clement. Even Theo can make mistakes.
Farnsworth? No question, that was Cashman. But, he learned his lesson about bullpens after that. You can’t buy them. You build them in a different fashion.
Now, folks kill him for not making the same mistake again. They are mad he didn’t buy another bullpen. He signed Hawkins to a one year deal, rather than blowing 19 million on Scott Linebrink or 8 million on Dotel or Vizcaino.
By mid-season, several of the really good young bullpen arms will be ready to contribute to the Yankees. By not saddling the team with bullpen guys with bad contracts, they will be able to make that transition.
Like I said, he’s not perfect. He has made mistakes. But, he isn’t to blame for everything.
It was Cashman who came up with the idea to put Chamberlain in the bullpen last year. That saved the season.
It was Cashman who didn’t give up on Melky Cabrera, which saved them in 2006, and who pushed Cano and Wang onto the team in 2005. He was the guy who did the Small and Chacon deals. Those moves saved those seasons.
When you evaluate a guy, you have to look at the entire picture. Not just the deals you don’t like.
I don’t agree with everything he does. Overall though, given what he has to deal with in the job, and what he has in the pipeline now, he has done more good than bad.
Its not the Yankees, nor their fans, God given right to win the World Series every year OR go to the playoffs.
Its damn tough to do. Especially in the way the financial structure of the game is these days.
A very telling statistic about Giambi during last nights game:
Last year the Yankees were 42-41 or close to that WITH Giambi in the lineup. And something like 55-21 WITHOUT him in there.
Based on his performance this year at the plate and defensively he’s gotten worse than before (if that was even possible), I’m not sure why Ensberg and/or Duncan are not being played every night at this point.
Not to mention that you get to have a righty THREAT instead of a lefty OUT.
I don’t really see any positive that Giambi brings to this team ASIDE from a power threat off the bench as a pinch hitter.
Damon’s been hurt a while I think
now who can pitch the third game with Seattle?
I wouldn’t trade Phil Hughes EVEN UP for Johan right now. Hughes is 21 years old; let’s see what he’s giving us in five years and what Santana’s giving the Mets, because Hughes will be all of 25 by then.
Hughes – and this entire new philosophy of Cashman’s – is about the long-term investment; we’re building something, here. And since I’ve seen Hughes pitch quite a bit, before he was called up, I have enough information to have the confidence that he’ll be fine.
I’ll admit that sometimes I wish the Yankees were a small market team, so that every radio talk show idiot wasn’t weighing in about our young pitchers. It’d just be nice, if people intent on opening their mouths, had something informed to say, instead of regurgitating the same old hot air.
Rebecca, your professor story brought up a funny memory. I was reading an SI article about steroids and they brought up this old English bodybuilder who’s exiled from the states for being a major distributor. The writer asked him about the Mitchell Report. He said, “The guy who brought peace to Ireland?”
I’m cracking up in the ortho’s office and people are looking at me like I’m a loon. I am, but that’s besides the point.
If Damon is hurt, let’s DL him and bring up Gardner.
SJ,
I’m not saying that Hughes was overhyped and we should have dumped him. I saw him pitch lights out in the ALDS last year and believed some of the hype, but I still would have dealt him for Johan or Haren. But let’s forget about that.
However, I thought Joba was the #1 pitching prosepct in all of baseball above Hughes this off season, no?
Anyway, I think that the overhyped guys were the Horne’s and Marquez and Kennedy (to an extent) who were at the peaks of their value this off season.
They could have been dealt for players who could have helped at the major league level.
I remember reading how Beane especially was hot on Horne and Gardner and if the Yanks were willing to deal them he was interested. Could that have at least gotten the door opened on Haren? We’ll never know. Add Kennedy to Horne and Gardner and maybe Beane starts to really talk to us about a young accomplished starter.
And please don’t tell me he couldn’t deal Pavano before last season.
Colorado, St. Louis and Seattle were interested in the guy when he was “healthy” in spring training last season.
I’m not pulling that out of thin air, unless all the major media outlets pulled it out of thin air who reported on it. It was a story for awhile there and Cashman shut it down thinking Carl was healthy and ready to contribute.
I’m also not pulling out of thin air the Igawa debacle and how he could have gotten out from under him by letting SD claim him.
I also remember Cashman and Torre poo-poo’ing Ted Lilly (Torre didn’t like him) and essentially spending the same amount of money on Igawa who is in triple A right now.
As for going away if they make the playoffs? Eat me raymagnetic. I’m a fan of the team. I’m allowed to be upset when I see the organization make mistakes. That’s part of being a fan.
You don’t like it? You go away you little snot.
I have never booed a Yankee player in my life. My family has had season tickets for years now. Back into the 80’s.
I want the team to win because I love guys like Mo, Jeter, Posada, Arod and I want them to be given the chance to make up for the bad taste 2004 left in all of our mouths.
Cashman did not give them the best chance to do so out of the gate this off season. He did a bad job in my opinion.
Can he fix it? Yes. Will he fix it? We’ll see.
It’s just hard to hear about all these wonderful prospects who are going to be gangbusters in NY who are 3 years away.
As a fan, I want this season to mean something and see the team win.
This is a NY Yankee Blog. Not a Scranton/Trenton/Tampa blog. We’re in here to talk about the major league team. That’s what Pete reports on.
I like to read about the minor leaguers, but I also don’t believe that each and every one of them is a gum drop from the Gods of baseball.
G Love,
Interest and doing a deal are two different animals. Every team has interest in players. Unless you see the deal, you don’t if that interest is actual or fantasy.
You know the old saying, the devil is in the details.
When you look at what Beane got for Haren, there is no way the Yankees could have matched that prospect for prospect.
Being garbage for years helped the D’Backs. It enabled them to stockpile a lot of prospects and, to their credit, they used a bunch to get Haren.
That would have been a tough deal to pull off.
When you look at what Bill Smith did, he had no interest in trading Santana to either the Yankees or Red Sox unless one of those teams overpaid for him. That’s why both teams passed on him.
BTW, the Yankees called up Veras to take Hughes’spot on the roster today.
“So Bedard is good for at least 7 IP 1 ER against this lineup.”
If we’re lucky.
God damn I wish Giambi would get hurt.
Hey Veras is on the roster for tonight? I hadn’t heard that but I’m glad because Mo says nothing but big things about him.
Good, I like Veras.
And I do understand that AZ opened the vault for Haren. But I still think would have liked to know my GM went as far in on a pitcher of that caliber as could have.
As for Johan, I still think Cashman never wanted to make that deal and acted accordingly until prompted by Hank to get it done. It was his fault as much as Smith’s (and Theo’s) fault for how that turned out.
I don’t want him fired, but I want him to fix the mess he created. He’s got too much talent on this roster and in the minors for this to really be a rebuilding year.
So you guys think we’re going to lose tonight? Why bother watching?
Also, this offseason, Hughes wasn’t counted as a prospect.
I think all the blow is catching up to Giambi. Man that guy could party.
I just want to write Cy Wang
Please let’s hit Bedard tonight!!
Juan Miranda is on the DL, “shoulder” … lets be honest Juan Miranda DL’d (Wilson Betemit)
I still think about the dice-k and Santana stuff last season. If we got one of them, we could be a champion team. Now as Josh Backet back in shape and Clay pitch better than both Houghes and Ian, Boston is a tough rival to defeat this season.
How do you know he didn’t go the distance to try and get Haren? If you can’t match up, you can’t match up.
There are a lot of names on the roster. But, let’s be honest, there isn’t a lot of “talent” on the roster.
Giambi, Damon, and Mussina are names. Their games are not nearly as good as they used to be. You can say the same for Andy in some regard.
Not a lot of guys on the roster have their best baseball in front of them right now.
It also doesn’t help that the kid pitchers started poorly and Cano is hitting .150. Cano is killing them right now because they need him to step up with Arod and Posada out.
20% of the Opening Day Roster is on the DL.
The fact is, they are rebuilding/reloading, whatever you want to call it.
They are doing it because so many guys on the team are on the back 9 (some on the 18th hole) of their respective careers.
The difference is, Yankees fans don’t want to hear it. They just want to win.
So does Cashman. But, to win, some things have to break right (like good health) and right now, that’s not happening.
Fortunately, there is still a long way to go in the season.
Francis, is that Hugh (you)?
Did Hank take it upon himself to inquire about Santana? Because I don’t think Cashman would have put Hughes on the table to begin with.
I’m going to the game today. Wish me luck. I’m wearing my #34 jersey tonight. It’s a good thing people in my section are nice (and hopefully rational) people. And just in case, I already warned my friends to protect me.
Im out of here, have a good weekend all…hopefully we can get a couple of wins between now and Monday…its not going to be easy. hang out with you your wang out…stay cool, breeze
This is weird, I just saw Veras pitch last Sunday. I am very amused by this.
Mel, we watch because we hope. And because you never know when you’re going to see something historic!
Claggett’s been promoted to Trenton
SJ44 (4:55) good show.
I know that one can get tired of seeing a short; good show or your nuts. But I can’t improve on it, so be it. 27/08.
Haren’s caliber? Let’s not mix up Haren and Santana.
Haren is a nice pitcher, but not an ace. He benefited greatly from good defense and a large pitcher friendly ballpark. After the All-Star break, he had a 4.11, and a 4.39 in the final three months. He gives up a lot of home runs, just like Santana. He did not pitch in Fenway last year, but in 2006 he had an era of 9.00 in his one start. Haren’s value came from his low cost contract, not from being an ace. He is a good pitcher, but he is in an area just below Wang in terms of stuff.
Haren is doing well this year in a hitter friendly park, but is facing weaker lineups that are not familiar with him yet. He will do as he has done in the past: thrive early in the season, then be a good innings eater in the second half.
“Reading comprehension is a good thing! A good thing you do not possess!”
“Tee (The) Yankee brass have (has) realized (that) they screwed up in the past and are trying to fix the problems while still making the postseason.”
Grow up and keep it to baseball.
SJ,
I recall Cashman saying from the get go he was not interested in Haren because he knew Beane was going to ask him to back up the prospect truck.
And yes, I agree that a lot of the “talent” on the roster is at the 18th with only a putter left in the bag at the tee, but I still think with Jeter, Arod, Abreu, Cano, Melky, Posada, Wang, Pettitte, Joba and Mo there’s enough a core to get this team to the promised land.
To me, it seems, the Red Sox and the Angels have been doing it with far less than that.
Now that Arod and Posada are on the DL, it hurts, but I think we still have enough talent to weather it.
However, if the pitching staff can’t perform, it’s a moot point.
And yes, I expect the team to win every year. I’d hazard to guess most fans expect their team to win every year otherwise what’s the point?
I don’t know what it’s like to be a fan and say on opening day, “well, we’re gonna suck this year, but in 3 years watch out!”.
Brandon what do you prefer an overrated pitcher on your that will never amount to nothing who has allowed 800 walks this year or 7 homeruns?. Piece of crap.
Given a choice of which hurts this team the most, Jorge being out for a spell or Giambi clogging up a roster spot, it’s the Giambi choice …….. hands down.
When Jorge returns, he can make an impact. Giambi does nothing but hurt this team.
SJ, you’re a fairly knowledgeable guy, but I do have a problem at times with your preachy nature.
You’re coming off more as a Cashman apologist than anything. I’m quite aware that an individual needs to look at the whole picture not the just the deals they like. I’m also quite aware that it’s not a God given right to even make the playoffs…I’m nearly as old as you and was born in Bronx. I’m seen my fair share of misguided deals.
If Cashman didn’t have the amount of money he does at his disposal he would be regarded as a far worse GM than he is. His evaluating abilities, especially when it comes to pitching (and I’m not talking about the kids) are off. The problem is we can’t really compare him to anyone. There’s no other GM who has the resources at their disposal that he does. So essentially he’s in a bit of a vacuum. Now if there was a way to put a guy like Billy Beane in a similar situation, then we could have an honest comparison.
So Cashman has to be judged in a whole different light…perhaps a little harsher, but so be it. I’d be fine if the Yankees were losing but at least had a functional team on the field. A real first baseman, a flexible bench, some team defense. But this is just not the case. How do you have a team with the resources the Yankees have and not have a first baseman. Absurd.
I think Cashman should have traded Hughes for Santana. I said that then and still believe that now. Hughes was/is a great prospect. Whether he was #1 is certainly debatable, but that’s neither here nor there. I disagree with SJ44 that its a simple as saying you don’t trade a #1 pitching prospect. Teams with the #1 pitching prospect haven’t too often been in a position to acquire and sign to a long term contract the best starter in the majors under the age of 30. So saying how often that’s happened or hasn’t happened isn’t very useful. That said, I think Hughes is gonna turn out to be a good pitcher. Its just gonna take some time. People here (including ones who said at the time that they wouldn’t have done the deal) are too impatient. No one would have argued against trading hughes for santana if the time horizon was only a month. I also think a lot of my rationale for wanting Cashman to do the deal isn’t really there anymore. I doubted whether Wang was a true ace and thought they needed one. Wang certainly looks like one now. Outside of acquiring Santana, I can’t think of a move that I’d have wanted Cashman to make. I think that Miguel Cabrera deal could end looking as bad as the Giambi signing or perhaps worse down the road given that Detroit gave up big time prospects in addition to cash. I don’t think Haren is going to turn out to be a better pitcher in the long run than Hughes, and I pretty sure that it would have taken Hughes to get Haren. Bedard wasn’t going to the Yankees and I think the Orioles might have sold “high” on Bedard. He’s got great stuff but I have doubts on whether he’s going to have a long and healthy pitching career. Damon’s been one of the better Yankee hitters this year injured or not so I don’t know where we’d be if Cashman had traded him for prospects. Giambi was and is virtually untradeable. I also disagree with everyone who wants Giambi DFA’d or benched. I think Giradi should keep throwing him out at 1B. I really don’t see much to lose by giving him another month. He’s either going to find his stroke and become a much more valuable offensive player than Duncan or Ensberg or break down physically and give one of them a shot anyway. Its not like Duncan or Ensberg are that good options anyway. I heard the rumors that there were teams interested in Pavano last year too. But I tend to think that means a few teams would have taken him if NY was willing to eat his salary and take next to nothing back for him. You can bitch and moan because the yankee machine isn’t firing on all cylinders but frankly I’m encouraged by what i see. Wang looks like a true ace, the bullpen looks stronger and deeper than it has in years, and we are still in the thick of the race despite getting nothing from the #4 and #5 starters, while suffering through big injuries and slumps. The one thing we ought to be confident in is that we will play much better than we are down the road. There are too many good players on the team for that not to happen and the organization is too dedicated to fielding a winning team. Does anyone really think Cano isn’t going to turn things around? Hell even Jeter stinks right now. Last time I looked he had a lower OBP and OPS than Giambi. They’ll turn it around. We just need to be a little more patient.
G.love mad respect for you. I think you are the only smart Yankee fan on this blog, the brandon’s, sj’s don’t know crap history is history but please stop comparing Hughe to clement and other greats.
Is true, Clements, Martinez,Johan had bad first years but they still threw over 95 consistently. Look it up.
Hughe on the other hand looks to shaky. The Yankee have a history of overrating young players. What was the name of that kid that play football and every yankee fan was saying he was the next Ted Williams?…I can’t remember his name but I know he sucked and now he’s playing football.
Please Yankee fans open your eyes. Supporting your team doesn’t mean you can’t see what’s right in front of you.
Do the baseball-reference links work for anyone? They don’t for me. I have to manually set the filter to Mariners Vs. Yankees.
G. Love, appparenty you’re not a Nets or Jets fan…
Btw, what., it’s CLEMENS, not CLEMENT. Matt Clement is the Red Sox’ version of Pavano.
This is going to be a great game.
—— LATEST NEWS ——
mlb.com reports that Doctors found Hughes Eyes “slightly nearsighted” and he’ll need to wear glasses when he returns.
I just had this thought…We got Pavano…the Sox got Beckett
We got Johnson…they got Schilling…
We got Igawa…they got Dice-K and Okijima…
Why have we been getting the short end of the deal?
Listen I use to think sj44 was a knowledgeable guy but he has really let me down lately. Sj my father was a scout for 30 years I’ve been around baseball for my entire life. Trust me you are wrong 80% of the things you say.
You seek information from sites. IS good but is not always accurate.
So here is my point Hughe is consider to be a great pitcher but I think otherwise.
Look at all the great pitchers they have a great second pitch and please don’t say a curve ball there is a reason why pitcher rarely have above average curveball anymore. They don’t even try to throw because they’re easy to hang and you know the rest.
All the great pitcher at least today in age, have a great change up, slider, sinker and then complemented with a good fastball. Hughe has the fast but so does like 80 other guys I know. Who easy throw harder than him.
Learning a change up etc…..is not easy to do if hughe doesnt stop throwing curves he will never be a great pitcher.
Or not a fan of just about any other team there is….except maybe US Basketball (albeit faltering lately) or US Women’s Softball
Hughes is throwing 93-94 again, was doing it in the last three games or so. Santana’s fastball is 94. Santana’s out pitch is his changeup, not his fastball. Santana spent years in the bullpen getting himself straightened out. Santana really turned the corner in 2004 when his control improved dramatically, so he no longer just had to rely on simply changing speeds. He was never highly touted. Santana was a Rule V pick, but the Twins took a chance on him, worked with him in the bullpen, and now he’s an ace. Hughes is much further along now than Santana at a comparable age. Again, Hughes is not being overrated, he has good stuff comparable to a lot of other pitchers in baseball. The Yankees were not the only team scouting him.
Brian cashman—Santana is a lefty you dummy..a lefty throwing 94 is compare to a righty throwing 98mph. Obvious you do not know baseball.
THANK YOU, PETE….for the update. Let’s see if we can string together some WINS starting with tonight !
What – I can agree with parts of that, I’d write more but I’m using my phone. Yeah, a lot of the better pitchers throw sliders/sinkers etc. but you can’t say a plus curveball (which Hughes has) isn’t a great pitch and he’ll get an awful lot of big league hitters out with it
And SJ is one of the top 2 or 3 posters on here (at least)
Just updated with some medical info and other things.
Also, while some nitwits have claimed I’m making up the story of Girardi having issues with the media, Girardi himself has requested meetings with the beat writers because he realizes he has gone down the wrong path with us. I’m not going to talk about of school about what is being discussed. But I will say I give the guy credit for being proactive about the situation and taking steps to improve it. As I have said right along, he is a smart guy.
Of course, don’t let this change anybody’s mind that I have an agenda against him. That makes for better nonsensical columns and comments.
You would think an eye exam would be part of the physical given in ST, would you not?
Please…..HugheS with an ess (S) we don’t leave it off for savings
Girardi deseverves the benefit of the doubt, which Pete will, being a professional, grant him.
Posada’s injury sound like the one Wang had in his rookie season(2005). For the record, Wang ended up in the DL for two months.
bobby’s back!
Now that we know Hughes is nearsighted (how do you get to the big leagues w/o that being discovered??), maybe we can sign Willie Mays Hayes and call up Jake Taylor to catch !!
JoeT YANKEES LETS GO CY WANG-”but you can’t say a plus curveball (which Hughes has) isn’t a great pitch and he’ll get an awful lot of big league hitters out with it”
your right about that I do not disagree. He can be dominant at some point with better control. But my point is he will have to develop another pitch in order to live up to be “The “franchise”. I just can’t remember a cy young pitcher or at least an above average pitcher who only threw fastball and curve. Its just rare. I’m not saying he will be as bad as he is now, well am hoping he won’t. But he needs a third pitch.
so…
what are we all gonna be drinking tonight for the game..
Watching this team will drive a person to drink.
Thanks for the updates Peter.
Peter,
It’s funny…I felt he had issues with the media the first few times I watched the post-game…I thought it was pretty obvious actually…
That seemed unnecessarily harsh. I’m not sure there is a man alive who doesn’t know Santana is a lefty. But it still took him time to become an ace with his fastball/changeup combination.
S.A.-
Pepto Bismol
Phil, welcome to the world of eye-glass wearers!
Can we check Cano’s eyes?
PTI teased that Hughes injured himself coughing. But what do they know?
No wonder Hughes squints on the mound. He’s nearsighted! Daniel Cabrera had similar problems and was a different pitcher after they fixed it.
Why glasses? Contact lenses would be better for a pitcher. The peripherals are much better.
Mel
astigmatism one possible answer.
are you saying that the current daniel cabrera (9-18, 5.50era last year) is the different one?
lets hope that doesnt happen to hughes.
jimmy,
They have lenses for that, too. They’re expensive, but I think the Yankees can afford it!
G.Love -
I know I’m late to the party here (had to cook, serve and clean up after dinner), but, if Minnesota would have taken him, Kennedy would have been on the Twins right now. He was not untouchable. He was tradeable. As I saw it, though, teams did not want only Kennedy, but quite a few other of the Yankees prospects, including Hughes. I am of the opinion that the Yankees should not have, and glad that they did not, given up both of them. But Kennedy was not untouchable. Even Hughes was briefly offered for Santana in a package not including Kennedy, but the Twins got very greedy and got nothing.
I still remember when I first got my glasses (I’m near-sighted too).
It was like a whole new world…
yeah guys like bill love to trade youg studs for older guys but complain in yr. 3 how did the team make this trade when they have 4 yrs left on a joke contract like the contracts with; giambi, damon, etc.
everyone is an expert trading players they have never seen for sure things.
name 3 big pitching FA’s or trades that have worked out for the team doing it when they got a pitcher at 27 yrs or older?
Shilling had a 3 yr contract BTW so do not throw him in and they basicallly got him for free…
you will be searching all day for these good moves, they do not exist in this pro baseball maybe in 1960 but nowadays they do not exist……
Brian Cashman is watching-
It has been proven that you can “become” an ace “with his” fastball/changeup combination(Johan). My concern is that it hasn’t been proven that anyone can become an ace with a fastball/curve combination that Hughe posses.
PS- I know you know Santana is a lefty, but scout and hitters know a ball coming from the hands of a lefty is harder to read therefore, you can’t compare hughe 94 to santana 94. Because Santana has a large edge on hughe. Just look around and tell me how many lefty starter you see around the majors throwing 94+….won’t find many so that says alot. but,righties, you finds tons even out of baseball.
By the way I didn’t mean to offend you in any way.
stuart:
catfish hunter
jimmy key
david cone
roger clemens
(sorry that was 4)
david wells?
JMO,
Never mind. He still walks a lot of guys.
hmmm has made this point before but it bears repeating: We do not know what the proposed terms for a Santana deal actually were.
A lot of debate these days seems based on the presumption that the Twins would have accepted Hughes and perhaps some mid-level prospects for Santana. That seems absurd considering what the Mets eventually gave up for him.
Nearly every rumor about a Santana trade involved Melky going to Minnesota. Melky is one of the few members of the Yankees’ youth movement who is actually showing improvement. He could be a real asset to the team for years to come and we have no replacement for him save the breaking-down Damon. So if the Yankees move Melky as part of a Santana deal, we fill one gap only to create another.
Of course, if Melky had a slow start this year, people would just say “We should have traded Hughes and Melky for Santana and found someone else to play center.” It’s always that easy.
As for finding a 1B to replace Giambi, I really don’t think Cashman believes Giambi *should* be at first. The market for first basemen just plain sucks. Cashman tried to find cost-efficient replacements for Giambi (Wilson, Phillips, Mientkiewicz) and they were all terrible. Once he goes through the available options there’s nothing left to do but wait for someone to become available, and it’s too early for that.
Besides, the Yankees need to position themselves to make a run at Teixeira. Locking up some mediocrity at first prevents them from doing that.
And Mr. Exceptional, to say Cashman screwed up by failing to give the team a “flexible bench” doesn’t make sense. The bench is one of the team’s biggest strengths. The problem is the bench players have to play every day because so many starters are injured.
Mel, he probably likes the Edwar look.
i wanted the Yankees to contend this year so bad(in the beginning of the year I mean).
when I originally got glasses they were just to help me driving, and then I couldn’t see the blackboard in class, so now I wear them nearly all the time, but I don’t admit it.
I don’t wear contacts cos I don’t like the idea of sticking something in my eye. But I think i’ll eventually investigate Lasik. My mother ha it and it seemed to work.
Tonight, however, is just celebrating the grad school admission. Can leave the eyesight for another day.
Join the four-eyes club, Phil!
I think this is as good a time as any to suggest to Phil that he flip Nardi and Eiland off and go back to his old, NATURAL, mechanics. Well, obviously not flip them off, but you get the point.
“The bench is one of the team’s biggest strengths.”
ok
JMO as I said catfish hunters was in the 70′ he only won 2 cy youngs before he came to NY and by the end of his deal he stunk, jimmy key good pitcher ace no friggin way, cone same as key, and teams back then needed $$$$$$, today trades are not to get money, ame on clemens and wells and BTW clemens was like 36 when he came over here.
JMO you just provedd my point, there are no pitcher trades worth making in which the yanks would trade like 4 or 5 guys… look haren cost AZ 3 or 4 guys I think Eveland and others and he is valauble because the haren contract is like $6 mill a yr. a steal..
santana would have been a stupid trade and always will be a stupid trade regardless of the results, get back to me on this one in 4 yrs when santana still has $60 mill left on his deal.
Yankee fans are morons….
despite of all the injuries and inconsistent pitching….I still can’t believe we’re only 3 games back.
GO YANKS!
Congrats on grad school admission Rebecca!
I wanna get Lasik, but I need to my eyes to stabilize a bit more..I also need to save up the money for Lasik.
I have contacts now..very easy.
i was just answering the question you posed:
“name 3 big pitching FA’s or trades that have worked out for the team doing it when they got a pitcher at 27 yrs or older?
add kevin brown (marlins), kevin brown (padres), rick sutcliffe (cubs) randy johnson (mariners) randy johnson (dbacks) k schilling (dbacks)
Well, well, well. Phil is nearsighted! I remember before I got eyeglasses years ago, I used to squint or create tears and that would help me see. It helped for a long time – a year? 6 months? I don’t remember, but quite a while, until it didn’t help anymore. I remember first putting on eyeglasses and saying, “Oh, THAT’S what that looks like!”
So another silver lining in Phil going to the DL is that it will give him time to adapt to contact lenses (I assume that’s what he’ll wear).
I hope Kennedy can get enough worked on between now and that second scheduled start to actually make that start. He’ll have ample time to go over the tapes and work on anything that needs it. Plus, time out to regroup. Not a bad thing.
I guess it’s good news that Jorge is not in immediate need of surgery, but it sounds like when he comes back, there’s going to be a lot of testing of his arm.
I hope Veras does a good job while he’s up here.
I knew Joe Girardi was smarter than he has been letting on. Let’s hope for a detente and a new beginning.
Glad to hear detente could be at hand, Pete. In the words of a great philosopher, “If I can change, and yous can change — we all can change!” Then he started blathering about that annoying Adrian and his kid staying up past bedtime, but he had a point.
stuart—If this statistics are so true they why would the mets invest so much money in him. Or why is free agency still around..
Look is easy to discuss a topic when everyone just brings up all the negative. Investigate and compare the deal that have worked out with the deals that have gone wrong. And you will see that the deals that have worked out have a higher percentage.
You have to stop blaming these signings. They’re not the ones who are at fault is the team for not being able to evaluate them and pick the right ones.
Why signed Giamby and Manny?….gary sheffield and Vladimir Guerrero….and so on.
The yankees are pretty dumb when signing players and they have done yet another dumb decision by not trading for santana.
I’m not trying to denigrate Santana in anyway. A left handed pitcher has an advantage over a right handed pitcher in that his pitch will naturally bare in on a right handed hitter coming off the first base side of the mound, plus left handed pitcher “hides” the ball differently which prevents a hitter from having a good look. All I wanted to say was that it took Santana some time to harness the fastball changeup combination. Hughes can throw hard (certainly as hard a Wang), though he seems to be shying away from the slider that made him the darling of the Yankees. All I wanted to say was give Hughes some time.
And please dont say that manny is dumb yayayayaya….Giamby is the greatest guy but he sucks.
Jeremy,
Are you kidding me. The team had 3 catchers on it for a brief time. There’s no real first baseman, no one with speed off the bench, no defensive replacements. You’re not going to pinch hit for anyone in the regular lineup so at least put some good moveable parts on the bench. The Yankees went into the season with Molina (love him), Ensberg(3B), Betemit (3B), Duncan (1B-OF)…that’s not flexible.
Guys – If you want a metaphor for the Yanks this season, think of Bobby Murcer. He has a rotten disease. Yet he has gone about taking care of things in a very courageous way. I just saw him on YES. He could have folded it up and gone the negative route. But he didn’t. He’s seeing it through with courage.
If he can do it with what he’s facing, why can’t we root and look at the positives with a baseball team?
correction, randy johnson was 26 when the mariners got him. sorry
Eiland just said that IPK “got into patterns” with tigers hitters.
Translation: Moeller effed up
Rebecca -
I was MIA all day — where were you accepted? Fordham? I a so excited and happy for you. Congratulations!!!!!!!!!! I hope you’re planning a fun summer for yourself.
My eyes are soooooooo bad. Started out with nearsightedness. Then the astigmatism came along. The nearsightedness abated, but the astigamatism still worsens each year. Some dumb eye doctor told me that because my nearsightedness was so bad, I probably would not suffer from the farsightedness related to aging eyes. HAHAHAHAHAHA! Wrong. Like the dentist who told me I didn’t have wisdom teeth (HAHAHAHAHA). So now I have three maladies in my eyes, lasik is not an option, and oh, a fourth malady has been added — I am now on my third trial pair of contact lenses (which I’ve worn without a problem for many, many years), because of dry eye.
So, good luck to Phil!!!
brian cashman–Hughe is great and probability tells me he might be great. My point is the Yankees should have gotten Santana by trading for him. I don’t necessarily mean they should had to give up hughe to do so.
Joe from Long Island -
Isn’t that the truth? Bobby Murcer is an inspiration, and I’m not being corny. I’m so glad he’s back.
Let me confess that I have a habit of glazing over at any posts here that don’t seem to end, so I likely miss out on some nuggets. But I do read the beginnings of the very long ones to try to get a sense of at least where the poster may be coming from. It also amazes me that anyone can have that much to that they never have any condensed posts! Not one!!
Anyway:
“I still think about the dice-k and Santana stuff last season. If we got one of them, we could be a champion team.”
About Dice-K. Who knows what we would have gotten with Dice-K. We can’t know. But the fact remains we didn’t get him. I applauded Cashman for holding the financial line on that one. Talk about criticism if we had ever matched the Sux’ bidding fee – plus I don’t think anyone’s worth that kind of bidding fee.
About Santana. Who knows how Santana would be pitching right now if he was with the Yanks. But above and beyond that, one thing that has always made me shudder is how teams automatically scored on Bernie and on Damon. You don’t have a championship team when everyone who makes it to second base scores on a hit to center!
Santana = no Melky.
I don’t think so. Best trade Cashman ever made was the one he didn’t make for Santana.
JMO you are wrong Jimmy Key was in his mid 30 when the Yanks got him..
JMO you are mistaken again Randy Johnson was a trade from Montreal when he was young and fairli innefective to Seattle. Houston tried a Yankee on the big unit and traded carlos guillen, freddy garcia, and others for a 2 month rental.. you are just wrong signing old pitchers for long contract never work out.
the yanks signed a 32 Moose for 7 yrs and it was a decent contract and he was a ace stud when they got him.
I remember when I got glasses – I actually blamed the NY Times for making the print smaller, but it was my eyes!
Congratulations again Rebecca.
Just about ready for the game to start – Let’s go Yankees!
Nearsighted! Ha – that’s the problem. Boy that is good medical team down there. I broke a rib once and thought it was from skiing, maybe it was my eyesight.
Cash I’d watching – I’m with you, but Hughes cannot throw as hard as Cy Wang…. Wang can pop upper 90s when he let’s a fastball go
Joe from Long Island – perfect post!
Fran, wherever you are. I predict we win tonight. I don’t think the Ms are going to be that formidible at bat. I don’t predict that Yankees bats will all break out tonight so I don’t think this is going to be a high-scoring game for the Yanks.
Anyway, GO YANKS!
the mets did the santan trade becuase they had no choice…
without santana who is a very good pitcher they stink, they gave up far less then the yanks would have given up and there payroll is $70 mill or so less then the Yanks…
they are trying to do a george steinbrenner and those moves NEVER work out…
George; gimbi, sheff, a 40 yr old unit, etc…..
they are never good moves……
brian cashman–Hughe is great and probability tells me he might be great. My point is the Yankees should have gotten Santana by trading for him. I don’t necessarily mean they should had to give up hughe to do so.
you know is crazy that hughe control was good last year and he was in Yankees fans great in my eyes overrated.
And so much is made up of santana giving so many home runs. But Hughe gave up 8 homeruns last year in 72 innings thats a lot.
He has giving up 2 this year in 22 innings but he has 24 walks so imagine if he would had great control.
Bobby Murcer is back in the booth, and that’s all that matters.
Couple of challenges:
1) What are the win/loss records for each starting catcher this season?
2) Who wins the series between the leaders of the division, the Sox & the Rays?
stuart—they’re not good moves when the Yankees make them. Why does it always seem to workout for boston.
Maybe because they’re team is run better….just maybe….watta ya think there buddy?
stuart–relax you know nothing about this. let the real knowledgeable people speak. You can talk when brandon and sj get here.
Has anyone thought that the poor eyesight may have led to bad body mechanics? If you are not seeing the signs/target you can throw your whole body off over compensating for it. Good luck Phil-glasses are sexy too!Tell us how you feel on your blog.
Sorry, that’s Yankee starting catchers.
And who’s this Hughe person?
“The team had 3 catchers on it for a brief time.”
Which is certainly crazy, but also purely a byproduct of Posada’s injury and uncertain status, not because Cashman screwed up building the team.
You say you love Molina, so that’s good. No one even remembers who Cashman traded for Molina.
Betemit can play multiple infield positions, not just third. Gonzalez essentially provides the same flexibility.
First base remains a glaring weakness and Duncan doesn’t fix it. But aside from a better defender at first, what other moveable parts do we need?
P.S. All posters here who were so indignant about Stewart and so dismissive of him, it pays to know what you’re talking about. Looks like it was Hughes inability to see that screwed them up, not Stewart’s inability to catch!
Amazing how quickly people knee jerk to the wrong conclusion but do it with the vehemence and self righteousness of someone who is absolutely correct!
We have wild cards other teams don’t. We will probably look very different after the All-Star break, and that is by design. The Yankees know what they are doing.
bodhisattva-’The Yankees know what they are doing.’
Yeah yankees sure do…have a great game people. Enjoy yet another yankees lost good night.
Trisha –
I’ll agree that some of the criticism was of Stewart was over the top, but not all of it; plus, he was the new variable – it’s understandable that people would think it was his problem.
Santana is a great pitcher, an asset to any team, so I would never disagree with that statement. If it was possible, NY would certainly pull the trigger, but there might be alternatives coming in the future.
Trisha – I am with you, The M’s do not have a potent offense. Let’s think positive. The Yanks wil win tonight.
“name 3 big pitching FA’s or trades that have worked out for the team doing it when they got a pitcher at 27 yrs or older?
am i reading this wrong?
i named 10, 9 who pitched thier teams into the WS. id say that’s ‘working out’
The Bleacher creatures just included Bobby Murcer in their roll call. Kay told him to wave; he did.
Rebecca,
If you get Lasik, don’t climb Mt. Everest. The altitude will affect your vision.
Also, what are you going to be studying in graduate school?
Kim Jones: “Phil Hughes said, with my new glasses, I’ll look like I went to college after all.”
Phil is hilarious. Didn’t he just say last week that he has 20/20 vision? And how do you fracture a rib without knowing?
To the poster earlier who said the stadium was dead last night and questioned our loyalty…It didn’t quiet down until after the 7th and the fans really tried to get into it even though the team was looking really sleepy. For me who also went to the tuesday game, last night was the 3rd time in 48 hours when I saw the bases loaded, we were on our feet, we cheered our hearts out in the rain and cold, and they couldn’t drive in a run. It gets pretty deflating for even the most loyal fans.
A 1-2-3 inning with only nine pitches!!! Go Wanger!!!
Santana is only one pitcher just like Chien-Ming Wang he cannot pitch everyday.
Were gonna have to get a full rotation of starters to be reliable.
I’m a Yankee fan who lives in Seattle. The Mariners have no offense and the once strong bullpen has crashed, especially JJ Putz. But, they do have good starting pitching. Mariner fans are just as frustrated as Yankee fans this year.
I think JMO has already done a good job giving examples in reponse to stuart’s question. I’ll just add that I think if there’s anything we should have learned out of the last couple of years its that a team built around offense and a deep rotation without studs at the front of it is a recipe for regular season success not post season success. I questioned whether we had any really dominant starters and whether we would get far in the playoffs without adding one. I think Hughes is going to be a quality starter but the chance that he’s going to be better than Santana over the next five years I’d say is pretty slim.
And the reason why none of us can think of tons of dominant starters that have been traded or signed as free agents is because they rarely become available. These are the guys teams build around. There were alot of people on the board who advocated not trading Hughes and others for Santana because they wanted to wait to go after him as a free agent. I felt pretty confident that the only way that Johan was going to be available was through trade. Someone was going to trade for him and sign him long term. Yeah, CC Sabathia might become available next year. But I’d much rather have Santana than Sabathia. As good as Sabathia is now, I’m not too comfortable that you wouldn’t regret that signing in the back years of the contract.
I’m completely against trading top prospects for fading stars but 29 isn’t old. Some people forget that you have the farm system not just to develop players who play for you but as chips to improve your team through trades. And if you wouldn’t trade Hughes for one of the top five (if not the best) starter in baseball who would you trade him for? The answer shouldn’t be nobody. Its possible to fall too much in love with your prospects and I think Cashman did.
Ok, I’m off my soapbox as Pete would surely tell us to get over the fact that Santana wasn’t acquired. I get it. I’m just answering the question.
9 pitch 1st inning for Wang. I’ll take it
Can the bats do something here. please?
Little Chip,
I was in Seattle recently. I ate at the Flying Fish, do you know that place?
Dee -
As far as he believed, he DID have 20/20 vision last week!!!
I know from experience how easy it is to delude yourself that it’s the lighting, you’re tired, your allergies, whatever.
what.
I’m curious to know if English is your native language?
Clay,
Was it at Pike’s Place Market? If so, yes!!
Doreen, Hughes was stinking out the joint. People should have stopped and thought that maybe Stewart could have been nervous being at the Stadium the first time, or more likely, that Hughes was out of control. Why trash someone new without really knowing what he’s all about?
I find the hideous indignation that goes on here at times really pathetic. I mean are you (meaning those people) really that out of control emotionally that every freakin play that is less than perfect is grounds for you to almost need to be put on prozac? Grow up! is what I want to say.
I went to Pike’s Place too, the Flying Fish was somewhere else though. It was fairly close to the needle.
Let’s go Duncan ! you can do it !
I can relate to Phil needing glasses, I was 19 when I found out I was nearsighted. Motor Vehicles told me after too many car accidents. I blamed my eyesight too, but it was really just typical teenaged aggressive driving. I went right for contacts, glasses were not for me. Wore them for 18 years until this past Dec when I had Lasik. I was driving lens free later that night and had 20/15 vision by the next day. I highly recommend it.
Is the Flying Fish a restaurant or is it a fish market where they throw the fish around? We went to Pike’s Place Market when we visited Seattle. Also saw a Mariners game – great stadium. Love Seattle. The flowers at the market were incredible!
I hope Shelley will capitalize on the situation right now…
Doreen – It’s the fish market. By the way I loved Seattle as well.
Doreen,
No, it’s not in the market. I took a tour of Safeco, but the Mariners were away. It must have been cool to see a game there.
Bedard is very aggressive today – only 3 balls out of the eighteen pitches now… Yeah, Yankee score!!!
Clay -
It was fantastic! Plus, my husband almost caught a homerun ball and we got to boo Jeff Nelson (and I never boo anyone, but it seemed okay at the time!)
and now for the Giambi Haters to either hate some more OR eat some crow….I am for the latter, ALL !
Safeco Field is a great place to watch a game. We went to Yankee Stadium last year (saw Ian Kennedy’s first game) and I can see why they are building the new stadium. It was a fantastic experience and my son got autographs from several players. Unforgettable for all of us!
OKAY LET’S HEAR IT FROM THE GIAMBI HATERS!
Hurray Hideki!
OK…i’ll keep quiet for a bit….sorry….
well at least we know the first inning rally still works
Three singles one run–That’s not very efficient.
Shelley is going bald!
Cy Wang tonight anyone?
before anybody gets all indignant on me i was against the santana trade all the way and still am. i was just answering a trivia question.
Don Vito -
Giambi has at least been hitting the ball. Which is why, of course, he’s in the lineup tonight. That and his OBP against Bedard. Sometimes ya gotta connect the dots for people who can’t see straight.
He he he
Giambi = Automatic Out
GIAMBI SUCKS!! How long do we have to see him hit into shifts. ENOUGH ALREADY!! Pinch hitter. No more than that.
Even Torre, a known veteran-lover, would have had Giambi’s butt on that bench long ago at this rate.
trisha – I’ve got your back too Joe.
Jason is well liked and every fan (Yankee) roots for him. It is his results that are in question, consistent implacable, unrelenting, failure to produce.Not to mention 22million
Doreen & Little Chip,
Seattle has a coffee place on every corner. LOL
Don Vito – I wasn’t telling you to be quiet. I hope you didn’t mean me! I thought you were saying the same thing I was!
Score?
My daughter is watching Dora the Explorer.
Clay -
They do!!!!
And we drink Seattle’s Best at home.
1-0 Yanks
1-0, Clay. Matsui singled in Jeter. (Jeter on on an error, Abreu singled)
Clay,
Yes, it’s true about all the coffee. I don’t drink it, however. Did you think people in Seattle are friendly?
giambi is not a good enough hitter to not take advanage of the shift with risp. thats what gets me hot about him. if he was still the stud hitter he once was, they wouldnt have had to go get shef and arod. he’s a #7 hitter who cant play defense.
VRSCE – I was actually doing a little tongue-in-cheek there, following up on a post I had written about the angry parrot bar posters who bitch about everything and anything! So I thought it was a good time to do a parody on it since it was the first “not perfect” Yankee play tonight. And predictably, there were people right there!
If Wang keeps this up, the stock market is going to open low this morning (it’s morning here in Asia).
wild thing phil!
Haha, stupid question but honestly, I don’t even know- is Seattle’s bullpen really good? well, besides JJ Putz, i’m guessing
woo hoo
Holy crap-oly!
Lord are we lucky to have CM pitching the way he is.
CY WANG!
Hopefully Wanger is stablizing… It is good to see two Ks but he threw quite a few balls…
Another three innings of this and the he is not an Ace debate will start up.
He is an ACE.
At this rate, Giambi doesn’t even have to bother stepping up at the plate. They can just punch him out while he’s got his can on the bench.
Pete,
Ichiro is beloved here in Seattle. He raised the 12th man flag at a Seahawks game last year and the place went wilder than usual (which is very loud).
BU12 -
Good question. I remember that last year they were considered filthy, they were that good, and that automatic. It seems that some have come down to earth. Don’t know how they’re really assessed this season thus far.
more runs boys
ok…wouldn’t it be a hoot if the team that was batting began to chant in unison “pitcher’s got a rubber arm”…..10 year olds playing little league…priceless…..
Good Ensberg!!!
ha thanks, but yeah, that’s why i’m asking. I just know Berdard is pretty damn good.
Ensberg = Goose
BU12
Mariners bullpen is not good this year, not even Putz. They have blown many games for a very good starting staff. Last night’s game in Cleveland was a disaster from the bullpen.
Little Chip, with the same elemental situation, would Safeco have the roof closed?
I don’t know if anyone brought this up yet, but do you guys think we should take a chance on Turnbow? My gut feeling says no. If he can’t pitch in the NL, he sure as hell can’t pitch in the AL.
Laura I believe it was
trisha,
They usually close it if it even looks like rain (which is often here). Once it is closed, they don’t reopen it.
Oh, okay Trisha. Sorry I came late to the discussion.
it seems Wang’s stuff is not as good as the last time out at CLE. Bedard is a little unlucky in my opinion. It also seems UMP didn’t call a lot of close strikes for both pitchers.
Phil Hughes is just now finding out he’s nearsighted?
Listen, if I come to this site next Tuesday, and find out Phil Hughes is in fact female, I’m giving up on this site, and this sport.
Ha! How do you go 20 years and not know you are nearsighted?
Laptop Thief is pitching a perfect game so far.
Yo
I have PVRed the game and I’m 40 minutes behind ( pizza delivery; I waited) My thoughts …..M Kay is a tool …B mer has brought bad( what a Joke) weather, bleacher ceatures and every one else doesn’t think so…yankees win
I started wearing glasses when I was 11 – my whole family wears them, but I got stuck with the worst. I’m used to them – I kind of like them, although I wish I had normal vision. I refuse to get laser surgery like my sister had – I don’t hate my glasses and I’m not risking my eyesight for anything. Besides…….glasses make people look smarter and prettier, and I stand by that!
Phil IS hilarious, intentionally or not – I’m glad to see that he’s not moping around. I suggest that Phil tell Nardi and Eiland that he’s going back to his natural delivery period…..end of story.
Laura -
I believe it was pretty well disected this afternoon – or this morning. I didn’t really read any of it since I know it isn’t going to be happening, and if it were it wouldn’t be any time soon.
The reason I say that is because I had already heard Cashman say that we were definitely not going out of the system and would use pitchers from AAA. Well I heard him again this afternoon, asked the same question again in light of Kennedy. His answer was basically the same. He said they would be evaluating what they intended to do about Kennedy and if they did decide they needed to do anything about removing him from the rotation, they would be going inside the system to find pitching. He then said if they found that wasn’t working, they would see what else they felt they needed to do.
So I can say we are at least two iterations away from even thinking about it.
Double Play ?
YF in Boston -
The body is constantly changing, and the human male does continues to develop into his 20s. It’s really not that odd. Although in light of all that’s happened this week, it is funny.
Let’s Go Yanks!!!!!!!!
Goodbye! Wilson,
Gonzo will take it from here.
Plus Bobby M doesn’t look so well..,,
Good thing Cashman did not trade Melky LOL
Cano better watch out or AG is gonna play more often.
Melky delivers again.
Let’s make this 3-0 lead stand up!!
bottom of the order takes advantage of bad defense! nice work, dont see the yanks capitalizing like this too much so far this year!
3-0 Yanks. Go figure – they never hit Bedard well and it is already 3-0 in the 2nd inning.
Laura, sorry, I should have mentioned that my first post someone posted but I hadn’t finished! I didn’t mean to be that abrupt without giving you more info.
Great job, Melky. And you take away the double play. J/K
somehow posted, not someone posted
pretty slick scoop from Beltrain there…I used to play like that….ahem…
Felix -
Bobby definitely looks older, but he looks good. Still has a smile in his eyes.
With the way those two have been pitching, what the hell are they smiling about?
Thanks for the info, Trisha.
Well yeah, Laura, I kind of thought the same thing. But actually that’s good since it doesn’t seem that the booing or their upcoming sayonaras are having a deleterious affect!
I don’t mind the smiling, but how the hell did Phil Hughes get so much wrinkles for a 21 year old? Sunscreen Phil!
Laura,
You’re right, they should be moping around the dugout with their heads hung in shame! Idiot.
Laura -
It wouldn’t help for them to be sitting there sulking. Plus, it’s always better to move forward. And, they’re on the Yankees, what’s not to smile about.
*****LATE BREAKING NEWS *****
The NY Yankess are not expected to score another run this game.
*****THAT IS All*****
A 3-0 Yankee lead isn’t something to smile about?
Paul -
You know, I really wouldn’t mind a nice fast game with a 3-0 score.
Doesn’t everyone smile when the Wanger’s on the mound?
mel, YES!
Wow – Tulowitzki is out till at least the All Star break with a tear in his quad. Not a good year for injuries at all.
Yes mel
oh no not 2 days in a row! come on Wang shake it off.
ouch-oh well, who cares much about their bullpen anymore if their defense so far is not too hot for 3 innings.
and berdard hasn’t seemed like the torment he usually is against the yankees.
geO – good try but it isn’t going to work. Wang will be fine.
cy young award winner in progress….
im calm.
let’s get the W!
Time to get some more runs boys
“elemental situation”
“deleterious affect”
‘hideous indignation”
JEEPERS…Don’t make me get my thesaurus!
last year it was hamstring injuries everywhere, this year it’s quads
Why is Michael Kay such an idiot? “Batters have a higher avg. against Wang with a 0-1 count than with a 1-0 count.”
Yeah, maybe after 6 starts this year. I’ll cut off my ear if it’s true for his career.
Maybe Wang should just start each hitter with an intentional ball. Then he’ll be even better than he is now!
“With the way those two have been pitching, what the hell are they smiling about?”
Would you rather see them sitting there having a nervous breakdown and crying?
JMO – Bedard’s a decent choice for Cy Young, but he’ll have to stay healthy…
O/T, but who’s lying? Marvin Harrison or Dwayne Wade?
I agree, Pete. The money has gone to Cano’s head. What a loser.
BOS is in a rain delay.
Guess who will get hurt tonight.
Glad to see that somebody admits to the problem with Hughes mechanics. Per Pete’s update. (Well not really glad per se but at least I know there is a tangible problem.) Now maybe they can get him back to being the #1 prospect in baseball. And nearsighted, he sure has had a vast array of physical ailments over his short career.
Paul –
I majored in journalism. I never bother posting on stats blogs!
woo hoo thank you winds..catcher dropped the ball…and he got an error????
Everyone, I don’t think Laura’s comment was meant to be as heavy-handed as you reacted to it. So let’s cut her some slack.
Thanks.
Well, he’s got to get on base somehow.
well…that’s one way for Giambi to get on base
that’s one way to get Giambi on base
That’s it Giambi you can’t hit so he might as well stick his arm over the plate and get hit.
Thanks, Trisha.
Come on Atlanta Hawks! Force a game 7!
Double play?
Lay it on us, Trish! My daughter’s a writer too!
JG pulls a Rudy Stein
Come on, Jose. Get that doubles swing back.
Anyone know who has tomorrow’s FOX game of the week?
Molina has been spending too much time with Cano. He’s caught the dreaded disease NOHITSITIS.
Doreen
Yes he’s eyes look stong but he has something they call cancer face…I hope I’m wrong or at least I wished I’m…
The crux of the biscuit is the apostrophe
Clay//Joe: I know this is late, but medieval history.
Mets vs. Diamondbacks tomorrow @3:30pm on Fox
Paul -
What????
hehe…Frank Zappa lyrics…now he was a writer
Who has more losses: Tigers or Yankees?
SA, thanks. So I have no television tomorrow. Damn! I would have loved to be able to watch the new and improved Moose pitch against their phenom.
Chad Cordero’s on the DL, too.
Come on Igawang, get it together!
I obviously blinked. Was there a double hit? If so, where? Or was it a single/walk with a sacrifice?
Trish…is YES available to you?
do u have cable or dish?
trisha-it was a double to LF
Another good inning by Wang. No surprise there.
If they could all pitch like Wang this year…
Paul I have YES. I have cable and satellite but can only get YES with satellite. However, I am out of market so am blacked out of all FOX games of the week that the Yanks are not playing.
Paul
I suggest you stick closer to church-oriented social activities.
Wang just has a way to get out of trouble.
The Yankees need some spiritual support!
S.A. – Thanks, again!
Destiny I was watching Wang and thinking to myself, imagine if we had an entire rotation of Wangs (if you know what I mean). Glory be.
S.A. – Thanks, again!
Destiny I was watching Wang and thinking to myself, imagine if we had an entire rotation of Wangs (if you know what I mean). Glory be.
I’m looking forward to another “Wang is not a real ace” debate here, b/c that means he’s had another great game:-)
are you the good doctor?
trisha-That would be wonderful!
Didn’t somebody say to watch out for Seattle’s defense? Is 4 errors what they were talking about?
no problem trisha
Wang=stud
He really is one of my favorite Yankees
Back to work bats
Guess lohud thought that was a special post. I didn’t post it twice!
I said that backwards, Paul. I am blacked out of all Yankee games on Saturday unless they are either after 7 at night, or they are the FOX games of the week.
just got tickets for the Sunday game. Too bad its not Hughes, i’ve been wanting to see him for a while. but question- does anyone know when the Yankees take BP or warm ups on early Sunday games- would really love to go, haven’t been inside the stadium in a while?
Five Wangs? That team would fit like a glove.
Central Scrutinizer- come back
Shirley, we’ve kind of been there before, haven’t we, though pretty well in the past. Maybe not totally there but remember when we had Cone, Wells, Pettitte, and Duque?
SMOKE!
Great outing so far by Wang
BU, I think that the Stadium is open for business 1 and 1/2 hours prior to game time.
I’ll check on that for you.
They’re doing the wave at Yankee Stadium – OH NO!!!!!!
tigers just had the bases loaded with no outs on el duque’s brother and scored none.
BU – two hours before.
YOU GO LIVAN!
Up yours Tigers.
I think i’m going to puke.
oh man not this injury c-ap again
no wave
No!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Not Wang too
Oh No
Why doesn’t he just have his nails removed and put duct tape over the ends of his fingers?
I think I’m going to cry.
Nice recovery by Wang. Hopefully it is the nail and nothing more.
Trisha -we are half way there.
Yeah, Wang was calling Molina to the mound and a bunch of people in the stands were again mindlessly doing a wave. This is the NY Yankees. No Wave!
What happened?
What happened to Wang? Looks like he hurt his thumb.
take wang out!
At least Wang can get the win if they stop him here.
Wow, par for the course. Unbelievable. If Wang goes down then this team has little to no chance. It just seemed a matter of time until he got hurt the way things have been going.
Pete? What’s up with Wanger?
lol the wave looks so.. cheesy. And it looked more like his thumb than his finger nail.
Hope Wang is fine. We can’t afford to lose him now.
thanks.
and hopefully Wang is ok- please be ok-
I am pleased he can get the win. However I would give up the game just to know he’s alright.
we need more runs. Stat
I hate to say it, but I’m starting to think Shelley is a AAAA player.
That was fast, is Wang coming back out?
Two questions:
1) Pete, can you clarify the following: “There does seem to be a little concern about his labrum, too.” What concern? Tendinitus or a partial tear? There’s a big difference between rotator cuff tendinitus and a labrum tear or strain.
2) Am I the only one disturbed by how Murcer sounds in the broadcast tonight? He seems to have difficulty speaking. Is it exhaustion or has the tumor encroached on the speech hemisphere? I hope he’s okay. I never cared for him as an announcer but as a baseball player and a man, few rival him.
Phew!
I have to say that if Wang had sustained an injury my heart would have broken for him first, and then I would have been worried about us. If anyone deserves to keep on sailing it’s Wang. He is such a good guy and he always flys under the radar. That kind of makes him pretty much unsung, even when he is phenomenal.
UPDATE, 8:35 p.m.: It’s going to take somebody really smacking one to hit the ball out tonight. The wind is blowing straight in.
Meanwhile, I made a little semi-witty remark during Girardi’s pre-game press conference and Anthony McCarron of the News stole it for their blog. But at least he credited me.
.
and Pete,,I would be the 2nd person on the planet that also thinks of Murcer as a Cub
Pete, I actually laughed out loud on that one! VERY funny.
The wanger could use a break there and our offense went down a quick 1-2-3.
Doreen, at the tuesday game some people in my section were trying to start a wave, I stared that crap down with the evilest glare.
Joe’s Garage….never had that album…
Had a mini heart attack before about Wang.
phew!
Good one Pete, yeah I had no idea Murcer was ever on the Cubs. I know he got traded once for Bobby Bonds to SF, but not Chicago.
Pete, I hate to say it because you are the number one source for Yankees news. Although it has gone to your head, and you’ve finally pissed off the rest of blog nation, just keep working hard. But I would just tone it down a bit, because we are Yankees fans and we will change on you quick…
Please leave Peter alone. He does a great job
Anyone else notice how chirpy Paul O’Neill’s become since he turned into a cult hero? I remember Paul as being rather quiet in the booth in prior seasons where Kay would have to draw him out.
Oh well.
I thought O’Neill was always a little goofy in the booth, not quiet.
hey at least at this rate we’ll get to see the Joba/Mo 1-2 punch the way it’s meant to be for the first time in about a week lol
OK. Wang gave up a run but the Yanks still have a 2 run lead after 5 1/2 and a rested Joba and Mo in the bullpen tonight.
I thought he was nondescript. Yeah maybe a little goofy. But certainly not as effusive as he is now.
Fran – this game is ours.
Just have to admit Ichiro is good.
Cripes, Sux still in a rain delay. I wonder if they are going to end up calling the game.
Wang’s pitching very well. When he falls behind he fights right back into a good count and he’s striking hitters out. Hope he can go 7 with that possible thumb problem.
Wow… Ichiro stole 2 bases and scores on a groundball.
Where’s our Ichiro =(
It might be because now he’s the “second guy” in the booth behind Kay instead of the “third guy.” A promotion? I’m guessing here. I don’t think it’s got anything to do with the Hawkins stuff.
If Murcer had any guts he would go after o’Neill hard on the Hawkins/#21 stuff.
Just kidding. I love Bobby Murcer.
feel the breeze!
maybe one day hank stienbreinner will create a robot pitcher and solve all the yankee troubles.
FARNSWORTH ALERT
Why is farnsworth warming up???
Wang can go for another inning!
Go to this website and click on picture #2. Tell me that doesn’t look like a lineup of thugs with a few of Snow White’s dwarfs thrown in for good measure!
http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=bos
good – I want to see Farnsy in a close game… he’s pitching well enough that he earned the 7th inning
No, not Farnsworth, please.
No Farnsworth please! We need a win and Wang deserves to go 6-0.
Joba for 2!
Can’t let this get away
Farnsworth is going to pitch the seventh inning? That’s scary!
Oh no. Krazy Kyle.
I’m actually scared
Trisha – hilarious
ahhh c-ap
Wang’s done for the day
dang!
The Red Sox look like the cast of Prison Break season 12.
Minky will be on the Arod Yesterdays show!
I am not afraid for Farnsworth to come in. I think he has been pretty great. But that said, if it is helpful for Wang to stop at this point, then I’m all for it. It doesn’t matter to me who comes in for him, meaning it isn’t that I am pushing for Farnsworth. I just don’t want to do anything to cause Wang any kind of unnecessary stress on that hand/thumb/finger. If he can come in without it bothering him at all…
Oops. It is what it is.
Rolling the dice with Farnsworth I see. Hope it works.
I think aliens came down and replaced Farnsworth with a good pitcher. That’s the only way I can explain it.
Wang looks good tonight. thank goodness.
But I seriously do not think this team is capable to score more than 3 runs. They cannot hit for crap. What the hell.
sometimes you need to roll a hard six
Pepper, to their credit, it is Bedard who’s no slouch.
Im actually happy to see Farnesworth in here. Hes pitching pretty well right now, and we need to use him. Better to see earlier in the year what he does in close games.
Look at the number of you who trashed Farnsworth before he even threw a pitch. Joe T I’m with you.
And P.S. I’m saying this before the inning is even over.
Just ridiculous.
Has Hank decided to pay the offense only two innings a game that we haven’t heard about??
Yes Trisha, that Socks group looks like mugshots from Rikers. Only the serial numbers and jumpsuits are missing.
Wow Krazy Kyle. One more out please!
Then it’s Joba-Mo-Win.
Does anyone know why Girardi feels compelled to play Giambi? Seriously, he is just a healthy version of Pavano which is really just a wasted roster spot.
When Farns comes in I can hear the voice of Glinda the Good Witch asking “Are you a good Kyle or a bad Kyle?”
http://www.kansasoz.com/infoglenda.jpg
A new and improved Farnsworth…
UGH Farnsy hurt?
I’m sorry but I have to say this. Kyle Farnsworth just made all of you whiners look like fools.
Good on you Kyle.
I guess it’s time for me to put Kyle back in my tagline.
Trisha- I may have to join your Kyle Farnsworth fan club!!
Pepper, try getting a hit on Bedard. We only got 1 earned on him, and 3 hits, his defense just blows, so we got 2 runs.
And how many of you were trashing Farnesworth before the inning?
good Kyle
It’s like Kyle upgraded or something.
just to reiterate:
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:06 pm
good – I want to see Farnsy in a close game… he’s pitching well enough that he earned the 7th inning
Glinda is hot
Who’s this guy who looks krazy and wears 48?
Jeff in NJ
LOL re aliens
Great job by Kyle
I like that Giradi put him in in such a tight spot, will boost his confidence.
Call me crazy, but I really like him as a 7th inning guy, even in a really close game.
Professor Farnsworth
Good job today with the impressive 7th inning
my apology for the lack of faith before you came in today
hope you’d keep up the great work and connect us more to joba and mo in the future
We got our 7th inning guy. In general the back of our bullpen has outstanding. The middle guys can get it together too. It’s “just” the 4th and 5th starters and our offense that stink.
Off topic, I’ll be at the game tomorrow. I can’t wait.
Can we finally show a little love for Farnsworth?
That was an impressive inning by Farnsworth. I guess I was overreacted. Is Wang really ok? Why did not he pitch in the seventh inning?
Krazy Kyle will probably always scare me no matter what.
Just when ya think it’s safe to trust him..he implodes..
However-Great job by him just now.
But honestly, I will probably close my eyes in fear as usual when he is in the game.
Hey Trisha good for you, and good for kyle farnsworth. He is still a mirage!
Insurance runs PLEEEEEZE …. and several of them.
Now hear this!
Maybe it’s about time you believe in Joe Girardi. He had faith he could turn things around with Kyle. It was a matter of showing confidence in him. We all know Kyle is a headcase. But the most astute of us also know Kyle has great stuff!
Now say you’re sorry to Kyle right this minute!!! And stop bitching about him every time he’s up in the pen. Have you no eyes?????
Thank you, thank you.
If Kyle really has it turned around Joe should be proclaimed a miracle worker.
shirley, Wang out for the 7th, precautionary action, something with his fingernail or thumb. doesn’t appear major.
All the Giamby bashers out there – you want him to be a full time LH Pinch – hitter? Fine, but you need to wait until Arod and Posada are back.
Unfortunately, we need him, now. Unless you want to rotate Matsui and Damon through DH, and keep Duncan at first.
***Breaking News**** Farnsworth traded to Pink Sox for Wakefield
I think i’m going to pick up Farnsy for my fantasy team…. I had Brunney, so why doesn’t Krazy Kyle deserve a spot??
that’s how deep the love for 48 goes lol (yes, fantasy love is deep love… don’t question my methods)
I’ll wait for Farnsy to pitch back 2 back games without giving up a run before I cast my vote. The thing with Farns has always been that he can’t pitch well back 2 back.
Steve – I’m MORE then happy with Duncan at first everyday…. rotating Matsui and Damon at DH sounds good to me
Trisha-
I believe in Girardi when it comes to the bullpen, but when it comes to the lineups and defensive alignments, thats where I dont believ in him. Sorry, but some of his lineups ahave just been terrible, and when he put Duncan at 1st ans Ensberg at DH that one time, that just gave me a total loss of fiath in Joe when it comes to the rest of the duties. But hes been doing a very good job when it comes to the bullpen and managing the pitching staff. Now, It is my hope that Girardi will get better with the lineups and defenses though as the season ages, because we are going to need some stability in order for us to succeed.
Pepper,
Right now, how would you make out the lineup?
You think Joe Girardi wants to keep playing Giambi?
What are his options?
Look at his bench tonight. Chad Moeller? Can’t use your second catcher as the DH.
Cano? He’s been as bad as Giambi.
Damon? He’s hurt and is not swinging the bat well.
He has no choice but to play him because of the injuries.
It will be interesting to see what happens when Betemit is ready to retur. Perhaps Giambi will get “hurt” and take a trip to the DL. I don’t think they want to send Gonzalez down so there will be a roster issue coming up.
Also, Eric Bedard is no slouch. He has shutdown the Yankees when they were a 968 run offense and fully healthy.
This is no longer a 968 run offense due to the injuries and ineffectiveness.
Personally, I think the whole Giambi situation has one month to go. If by June 1, he’s still lost, they are going to have to make a decision on what to do with him.
I don’t know much but I do know the Yankees aren’t going to play him all season if this keeps up.
Right now, they have no choice because of the injuries.
Tonight, its not been pretty so far but, they have a 2 run lead going into the 8th inning.
Can’t ask for much more than that.
Thank God we got those runs when we did because the offense has left the building.
When does BeteStrikeOut come off the DL? They should DFA him immediately or try to find someone to take him off our hands.
Farnsworth has pitched much better so far this year.
Does he still have brain dead moments? Yes.
But, if you look at his work in close games, he’s done a nice job.
He’s also taken the ball when he’s not been 100%. Something he didn’t do too much under Torre.
That’s a big inning he threw tonight because you don’t want to over do it with Wang if he has a blister.
It’s Joba Time!
Fran, I think you absolutely should join. I promise you that you won’t be disappointed.
Gang, I told you that my philosophy is that if someone has the stuff and it isn’t working, you need to go back to the drawing board and see what it is going to take to have it work. It’s one thing if a player does not have talent. It’s quite another if the player has a ton of talent but isn’t finding a way to have that translate!
That said, you might also remember that I believe in Kei Igawa also. I am a very patient person. But I know filthy pitching when I see it!
(I can also understand why people who are more skitterish than I might get nervous with Kyle and certainly with Igawa. But I say you have to let what you are seeing guide what you are feeling. This is the Kyle we traded for.)
SJ44 – you really think they’re going to wait till June 1 -with Jason? I’m thinking Mid-May – and I’m no Jason-basher. It’s sad, in a way, but it is what it is.
Kyle is gonna have to do more to earn my trust. A lot more.
I don’t wanna have this intense feeling of dread when he comes in a game. I don’t like having it. But it is there.
But good job Krazy tonight. Thumbs up from me
joba time!
nice catch Bobby “The Wall” AhBooHoo!l
96 mph sweet
If Torre was managing, Wang would have been out for the 7th…. Then…if Wang really was hurt, he probably gives up a couple hits. Torre brings in Joba and he goes 2 innings.
Hopefully Giradi’s reliance to use Krazy Kyle keeps Wang n’ Joba healthy.
That is one pesky hitter…..wish we had him on our side….
Achoo-eroo is pretty good
Ichiro must really like Seattle to sign that new long contract…
Colin….. perfect
I maybe the only one who thinks this, but when Betemit comes off the DL, I think the Yankees should use him either at DH or 3rd. The guy can hit. We know that. The reason why he didnt really play alot earlier in the year is because Girardi, for some reason, doesnt like him. Girardi doesnt really play anyone he doesnt like. But Girardi is going to need to get over it, because we need all the offensive power we can get, and at least Betemit can also get hits.
pesky and fast…real fast….
I’m very glad that Kyle got a 1-2-3 inning. But I think some of you are showing the symptoms of Battered-Kyle-Fan-Syndrome.
Wonder if Ichirco has ever been gunned down stealing. I’d love to see that happen, just because…
Let’s go Joba!!!!
I hope Michael Kay didn’t just jinx him…
Another strong inning by Joba. 3 more outs to go to snap the 3 game loosing streak and start a winning streak.
Yeah Joba! Job done.
Formula close to complete….Mo-Win
Wang 6-0, 3.00 ERA
he went a long time last year before getting caught, dare I say it was aginst us if I remember correctly
Carlos Gomez just hit in the head with a throw to 2nd. Still down
Rubin not sure whatyou were watching or who you were watching but Wilson Betemit has been pretty bad this year cant hit from the right side for you know what. He is batting .154 1 RBI and 7 strike outs
Rubin, I believe in Betemit also. I think a lot of posters got on him in the let’s dump Matsui/Damon/Cano/Giambi/Abreu era and Betemit went on the DL before he got off the SL.
Nick SF, I’ve been a Kyle supporter from the get go. It’s not fair for you to get down on him for not having 1-2-3 innings every time he pitches. Why don’t you show me the adonis who does?
in Det-Min game, still down.
no hitter since the 2nd inning???
EY,
Joba = Job Done!
Good T-shirt…
there we go…no to get thge run back..
can we get another run? or is that not possible with this team.
Joe from LI,
If Posada and Arod weren’t hurt, I think the timetable would be sooner.
With those guys out, it may be tougher.
Its going to be interesting to see what happens when Betemit is ready.
Betemit and Duncan could be a nice platoon at first.
Its clear Girardi likes Gonzalez. What’s not to like? The kid has been very solid since his callup.
I also think Ensberg has done a nice job as a Yankee.
I understand the money implications and its a significant part of this.
That said, I don’t see how this guy lasts the season as a Yankee looking as he does at the plate.
He’s just done. We can micromanage the stats all we want but his game is just done.
What he was as a hitter to what he is today? Its like taking a former MVP and replacing him with a weekend warrior from the amateur ranks.
He looks that lost.
The lineup would also be a lot better if Cano was hitting.
The difference is, Cano is 25 and will eventually hit.
Giambi is 37 and we can’t make that guarantee.
Especially since August 1 of last year, only Gary Sheffield has a worse batting average among regular players in the AL.
Gomez carted off, watch baseball tonight for that highlight, it was nasty.
Thankfully Gomez was up and responsive when they took him off the field.
It’s about time the offense erupts…I gotta feeling the time is now!
SJ
I think his option lies in a better defensive LF from Scranton until another option opens up in the trade market. I don’t know the farm system that well so this may be an pointless comment. But if you can get a LF that can play the field, their defense would be worth more than waiting on Giambi to find a groove. Plus it would give Damon and Matsui some days off, which their old butts need.
who was the yankee announcer that would leave the booth in the 8th inning for a cup of coffee and not come back?
Trisha, is there was such a thing as a pitcher who gets 1-2-3 innings every time he steps on the mound, certain folks on this board would be clamoring for him to be the new setup man. Because your best pitcher needs to set up.
It’s perfectly fair to be down on Kyle, he’s been a train wreck as a Yankee and he would have been gone a while ago if his contract wasn’t so out of whack with his performance. However, he has looked better SOMETIMES this season and of course I root for him to succeed. I’d be overjoyed if he ended up being a solid bullpen asset over the course of the season. Until it happens, color me skeptical.
kay uses that line all the time, about the long name on the jersey
Matsui needs to teach Giambi how to go to left like that.
i think #42 is as close to 1-2-3 as we’ll ever get.
Paul,
That was Rizzuto I think
Paul -
Phil Rizzuto, but i think it was even earlier than the 8th!
‘T was an odd evening at the Stadium, and it seems like it should be a full moon. Kyle Farnsworth was given a standing ovation.
This is kewl.
why am I not surprised at the big wiff with 2 guys on base?
Scorpio, you are right. And we all know there is only one #42.
Looks like Sux game is under way.
Here’s a link to that story Paul
http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman2/publish/Sports_TV_52/Remembering_baseball_s_Phil_Rizzuto_printer.asp
3 ducks on the pond….
Just turned on the game. Is that Bobby Murcer in the booth????????????
One thing we can all agree on, that Mohegan Sun commercial is just about the worst thing ever. Come back, Guiseppe Franco, all is forgiven!
Wonder what #42 would have been like as a starter…
You don’t need to wonder, Dynasty is Destiny, they still have the records from those halcyon days. And Mo has commented on it many times.
Paul,
Tried to post a link to that story, but it hasn’t shown up yet. Here’s a passage from Mercer’s recount of it.
medialifemagazine.com
Sports TV
Remembering baseball’s Phil Rizzuto
By Diego Vasquez
Aug 15, 2007 – 1:01:03 AM
Here’s a sample of what’s being written about Rizzuto today:
Neil Best, Newsday
“Bobby Murcer recalled a game early in his TV career when Rizzuto abandoned him in the booth.
“‘He asked me if I wanted a cup of coffee,’ Murcer said. ‘He got up in between innings to get the coffee and he never came back! I’d never done play-by-play before, and there were about three innings left. The next day he shows up with a cup of coffee and he says, ‘Here’s your coffee.’”
Pepper,
I’m also a Brett Gardner fan. The problem is, there is no place for him on the roster right now. I’d love for him to be on the roster but, unfortunately, it can’t happen right now.
Its why I believe the Yankees start 2009 +10 in the win column when Giambi is no longer on the team.
His presence on the roster basically kills you in 3 different ways.
You lose the option of having a kid like Gardner on the bench.
You need another first baseman to make up for his awful defensive play.
He takes up a DH spot (his only position) from a guy who can hit.
Its one of those things where they are stuck because of a bad contract from being able to make the roster more flexible.
I GOT BLISTERS ON MY FINGERS!
Meanwhile, Morgan Ensberg, it’s time to break this game open.
“Phil Rizzuto, but i think it was even earlier than the 8th!
”
Hey you Huckleberry – that traffic on the GWB is a nightmare!
Nick in SF –
So right! It’s bad enough when they use the songs as they’re written. When they change the words up like that it’s much worse!
“It’s perfectly fair to be down on Kyle, he’s been a train wreck as a Yankee and he would have been gone a while ago if his contract wasn’t so out of whack with his performance.”
Nick I have already said I can understand poster nervousness but at this point I think it is more a knee jerk reaction than a reaction based in reality. He has been a good pitcher this season.
Hurray!
A Berg
Yeah!!!!!
YES!!!!!!! The bases loaded, zero runs curse has been broken!
there goes the save opportunity again. darn.
Whoopdeedoo!!!!!!
Yeah! Insurance run!
Scoring with RISP, what an innovation.
Todd, it is Bobby in the booth!
Two good pieces of hitting by Ensberg and Molina.
That’s what they are going to have to do the next month to generate offense. Great to see.
amazing, runs scored after the 6th inning!
Alex who?!
Got Hose a and Jose B warming up in the pen
Thank you Bobby Murcer!
He brought good luck back to the Yanks!
nice insurance runs, hey, we actually scored in the 8th inning
only no save for Mo now. We Yankee fans are never completely satisifed are we
SJ44, if Giambi hits like Giambi can hit, then Giambi can hit. Gardner’s a nice young player, but Giambi is on another level as a hitter. Sure, it takes away flexibility, but a hot-hitting Giambi adds so much to this lineup. Of course, if he’s not hitting well, then he does hurt the team.
Veras to start the ninth, that’s good. If he gets 2 on it’s a save situation for Mo.
Who’s pitching in the 9th?
Like I said, I’ll be delighted if Kyle has a solid season, but he’s had his troubles this year too. But as long as he can keep it together, shine on you Krazy Kyle.
Jeff NJ -
Kind of weird, isn’t it? You want them to score in that situation, because they haven’t in soooo long, but yet, it’s not a save situation. And now, you want it to stay that way! Weird game, baseball.
The Chucky Doll is on the mound in craptown. Guard your laptops!
great to see some more runs scored.
Let’s go Hawks! Come on!
Doreen, I admit it, I have Mo on my fantasy team and wanted the save. they went to Mo anyway, oh well.
It’s Mo!
strike out!
Huh, Mo in for a non-save situation. Probably because he was already warming up and needed to get some work in.
Nick in SF – I judge a body of work, not an individual outing. So you won’t catch me worrying or freaking out. Just not in my nature.
So far this season Kyle’s body of work has been extremely encouraging.
I am not asking people who still feel worried not to worry. I’m just asking people not to trash him the minute he’s up in the pen because frankly at this point it makes you all look nuttier than Kyle!
‘Roid head
Mo hasn’t pitched in a while. he needs some work.
Nick in SF,
I don’t mean way back then…I mean what if he had continued as a starter, been allowed to develop…never gone the path of closer in other words…
Mo just looks so much more composed and precise this year. Know he will hit a few bumps but man, if this team had any offense, with Mo in the 9th. many many more wins.
His pitches have more life to them than last year.
F0-8…2 down
Mo! Mo! Mo! Mo!
Mo’s having a monster year this year. A monster year after a huge contract: what an innovation. Yankees best signing in the offseason.
Game.
We dood it fran!
win
Trisha – good prediction! I think the Yankees will win tomorrow too, don’t you?
Mo is such a treasure to watch.
MOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMO!!!!!!!
Dynasty, the answer to your question is that Joba will be moving into the rotation later this season.
Great game Wang —> Joba —> Mo!
Nice win!
WANG IS NOT AN ACE!
The blueprint for a beauty of a game.
AND IT ALL STARTS – AND ENDS – WITH PITCHING!
ahhhh…. doesn’t everyone feel better now?? lol
6-0 Wanger!
Fran – yes I believe we are going to win tomorrow. Something tells me Hernandez is going to be a lot more challenging than Bedard was. So I think we are going to need a few lucky blasts rather than a lot of small ball runs!
GO MOOSE!
Yes, I feel so good I’m going to watch the postgame interviews!
Wang 6-0. Beautiful.
JoeT, this is certainly a kinder gentler place when the Yankees are winning!
Wang is an ACE.
6-0
Great win.
If you look at the bullpen as a whole this year, its MUCH better than last year.
The only time its faltered is when they overwork or stretch out the 6th inning and 7th inning guys.
Its why starting pitching is SO important.
They have got to get some stability in the back end of the rotation.
If they do, they can survive the lack of offense.
In the last week alone, they have lost 4 games in which they have had 2 run or larger run leads.
When you are scuffling, that can’t happen.
Hopefully Rasner and whomever they pitch on the 10th can pick up the slack.
that’s 6 – 0 for Wang… Joba in that 8th inning showed why SP is more valuable, minimizing that AB for Ichiro and the the rest. Wang was special tonight again 6 – 0…
And I will do something I haven’t done in at least three games – watch Baseball Tonight!
6-0 3.00 ERA for Cy Wang.
He’s stopped two 3-game losing streaks so far.
Ching Chow Mein was the player of the game and gets to be interviewed by Smilimg Kim…
Nick in SF,
Looks like there’s no choice if they can’t get anything from Hughes/Kennedy…but, if Rasner turns out to be something, and Moose, Pettite and Wang pitch well, I bet it won’t happen this season…but we’ll see….
Wang 6-0 with a 3.00 ERA. And hes a true stopper.
Yankees will go to arbitration with Wang next year and settle at 5M/year the most
bet the media will get some nice answers to their questions in the post game today
glad Giradi stuck with Ensberg instead of bringing in Cano to pinch hit. Maybe it’ll be a point well taken with Cano, that in a crucial situation he’d rather have Ensberg than him even though he was 0-3 already.
I think if Cano will gt it together, the offensive tempo will def. pick up. Too mnay automatic outs at the bottom of the order with him not hitting, which also results in less RBI opportunities for the top of the order. I think he’s key to the offense turning it around.
You know, the Yanks are on the hook for Jason’s money, regardless of whether he’s on the roster or not. If they replace him with Brett Gardner, for example, it’s not a lot of money more. If Jason doesn’t get it together in a couple of more weeks, and Brett, for example, plays well in SWB, and the Yanks see a possible playoff berth at stake, then I could see them saying goodbye to the big guy. It would be a jolt, but I could see it happening.
Not a good way to go out for Jason, but he will have that money to keep him warm. More than can be said for a lot of people.
Kyle hit 97 on the gun.
That is just so good!
SJ – very good point about the ‘pen. It is much better this year. Just have to use it properly, and that starts with starting pitching.
Wang has been unbelievable – he truly is pitching like an ace. After all of the BAD news recently, I feel a little better after tonight (not totally better as I’m still upset about Phil). Kyle was flat out nasty tonight – did I see a cutter there at one point? As for Mo – I would suggest not going to the bathroom when he’s on the mound; he has incredibly efficient this year. He’s just the greatest reliever ever, no doubt about it. I feel lucky to have witnessed the career of a special pitcher and a special person.
Wang is really, really good!
”’glad Giradi stuck with Ensberg instead of bringing in Cano to pinch hit. ”
That is absolutely right …
this is like the yr. Guidry won 25 and the Yanks beat Boston in the playoff.. Wang carrying the team, a bunch of commotion and problems ealry in the season….
good news 1 day closer to Arod coming off the DL…
com’on BIBBY !
Ball Game Over! YANKEES WIN! THAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA YANNNNNNNKEEEESSS WINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!
Dynasty, that’s a bet you’d lose. There is a quasi-legitimate debate about whether Joba SHOULD move into the rotation this season, but I don’t think there’s much mystery that he will.
Wang on his way to winning 20 games.
If you saw Cano on the bench when Ensberg went up, you could tell he wasn’t very happy.
That’s probably exactly what Robby needs to wake up.
Wang is without question the ace of this staff right now-in fact he’s one of the best pitchers in baseball right now!
Go Wang! Go Yanks!
Dynasty –
Absolutely, unequivocally right on the money.
Wang is the staff ace. Wang, if he remains consistent, is without question an ace, at least my definition of an ace.
Wang-Jo-Mo
We’re back to 7 inning games.
Let’s just have the Rays beat the Sox and we’ll call it a day.
Nick in SF,
Regardless…if they don’t start the transition in earnest, there’s virtually no chance we’ll see him as a starter this season…
Time is of the essence….
snack time and bed time
tata yankee fans
Wakefield in pinstripes?
Nick in SF,
Do you think they’ll stretch him out up here or send him to AAA to make the transition?
Wang is the 1st AL pitcher to get 6 wins. Yeah!!
Anyone remember when he got his 6th last year? I think he’ll cross the 20 win barrier this year, barring injury.
they’ll send him down and stretch him out
Wang is a lesson for Hughes.
After last season, Wang heard everything.
“He’s not an ace”. “He cost them the season”. “He will never be an ace”, etc.
Then, he loses in arbitration. Never a nice process.
Instead of getting down on himself, he spent the spring working on his other pitches. His ERA was 8 and faced more questions.
Today? You could make the argument he is the best starting pitcher in the AL so far this year.
The lesson for Hughes is everybody who has ever played this game has failed. Some on the biggest stage.
How you rebound from it determines your career.
Its why its WAY too early to give up on Hughes. He’s only 21.
He can come back by the 4th of July and have a very big impact on the season.
Its more than just getting his eyes and rib right. Its getting his head right.
If he does, the Yankees have a star because that kid can pitch and you don’t lose it that fast in your career.
If Farnsworth keeps pitching like this, it makes moving Joba to the rotation much easier. I think Cashman will find a way to transition Joba while staying with the big club.
Trisha,
Where do you stand on the Joba should start/relieve argument? And why?
Minny leading the Tigers 6-1.
Chucky doll in a jam again. Same as before. 2 on, 2 out. At some point this will have to catch up to him.
Just not this inning…
You what’s even more impressive about Wang’s 6-0 is that he’s faced the many opposing teams’ ace while getting it.
Halladay, Sabathia, Bedard…
The Blogfather’s blog has nearly 600 comments during the game. Over at the Daily News blog, they had ZERO comments. Pretty impressive Pete. Even with guest blogger Anthony McCarron sitting in for Mark Feinsand, they couldn’t generate much offense either….
Santana ERA 3.12 SO 39
so what that he gave up 2 solo hr’s the other day. those were the only runs he gave up.
I am not going to compare hughes/kennedy to santana. that is as assinine as Brandon saying “Santana 7 HR”
Johan is doing very well.
I never say anything positive? Uhm, thankfully we have the Wang! Man.
Dynasty, did you follow this blog much over the winter? I swear, all the issues related to the Joba Question were discussed over and over.
The Yankees won’t say what the exact number is, but Joba has an innings cap in the neighborhood of 140 this year. So the calculation is when to move him into the rotation to get close to that number but leaving some over for the postseason. If the Yanks were to panic right now they’ve move him into the rotation ASAP, but thus far they’re sticking to the plan.
So there’s no rush, they don’t need to “start the transition in earnest” right now, it’s all on schedule. I’m sorry, I can’t take your “virtually no chance we’ll see him as a starter this season” seriously.
SJ44,
Agree completely…it’s just ludicrous to even talk about giving up on a 21 year old who’s been so highly touted, regardless of his performance this season…
He’ll continue to mature, to learn how to pitch…he just has to get the chance…
Dynasty, I hate to throw it back on the Yankees and say something as weak as I don’t think about it beyond whatever they do, but that’s pretty much it.
That said, if I were managing the Yankees and someone asked me what I would want to do in the here and now, this season only, I would say keep him in the pen.
I am someone who has seen too many wins blown by bullpens. I don’t think you can ever overstate the importance of an automatic 8 to 9.
I’d keep him in the pen for now.
So Girardi said it wasn’t Wang’s fingernail, he had a cramp in his hand.
what I do
Glad to have Bobby Murcer back in the fold and bringing us some good luck vibes …Welcome Home Bobby !!!
Another terrific game by Wanger…the ACE…he’s even getting the K’s this year…he has 32 as of tonight. Farnsworth looking good out there. He actually looked like he had faith in himself with each pitch and the fans gave him a nice ovation after he pitched. Imagine a trustworthy Farnsworth to Joba to Mo..I feel sorry for the rest of the league if we have a lead after 6 …
Some positive signs tonight …
Go Yankees 2008 !!!!
Guys, what’s the score? game recap right quick, please?
90-92 Hawks
Nick in SF,
No, I just discovered this blog about a month or so ago…but I’ll look at the archives when I get the chance…
SJ44:
unbelievable. I actually like what you said. Someone tell Giambi to take one for the gipper and just retire.
I can’t wait for Speedy B. Gardner. He is a lot of fun to watch, should’ve saw ‘em in Sarasota this year.
OT – Jete Mo and Arod have taped a segment to be on Good Morning America Monday for auctioning off pink bats ahead of Mothers Day for Breast Cancer Awareness
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080502&content_id=2625846&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb
Oh, we won already?
“Someone tell Giambi to take one for the gipper and just retire.”
Would you retire if you where owed 23 million?
Dynasty, I think you would go out of your head with boredom pouring over the archives from the off-season. Though it all seemed to exciting at the time!
Re: whether they’ll send Joba down or figure out some plan to stretch him out on the big club, I have no clue, so I won’t venture a guess. If there’s some logical way to do it and keep him with the Yanks, yay. But more important is to do it right. Can’t wait to see.
Think about this. Wang didn’t get his 6th win last year until Jun 12. He was 6-4 after 10 games.
YEH BABY !!!!
trisha,
Yes, I’d rather have him in the pen too but mainly because I know what he can do there-he’s already doing it…and yes, the importance of a lights out bullpen can not be overstated…
However, we clearly can’t be competitive if every starter that goes out there gives up a ton of runs…it’ll be interesting to see what Girardi will do…
So we don’t have Santana but we do have Wang …6-0, 3.00 ERA and 32 K’s (he’s not even a strikeout pitcher). I’m very happy with the Wanger …I hope he finally gets his 20 win season this year. He deserves it….
Hopefully in a year or two we will have Wang, Joba and Hughes in the starting rotation which looks pretty darn good to me …
I’m also loving that “OLD” man …Mo. He is just AMAZING !!!
Go Yankees 2008 !!!
Yankees Record When Wang Starts: 7-0
Yankees Record For All Others: 8-16
PAUL PIERCE IS OUT !
my god get that ball to Bibby
holy crap this Celtic/Hawks game is great
Could I say: “Go! Go! New York Wankees!”
Cheers from Taiwan,R.O.C.
CUT JASON GIAMBI. 2ND WORST SIGNING IN THE LAST 30 YEARS NEXT TO PAVANO. anyone is better than him. anyone else who you bring up will at least not have a ridiculous shift on them to significantly hurt their chances of getting a hit. He really is so bad
Good point by SJ comparing Phil’s troubles to what Wang went tnrough in the postseason against Cleveland. Phil needs to keep his head up, get healed, and do his rehab. Then come back early July and perform like he is capable of.
Last note before I turn in…Bobby sounded real tired towards the end of the game. I hope that’s all it is.
I’m going to the game tomorrow, hoping for good weather and a Bobby Murcer curtain call. And a Yankee win, of course.
Hey TaiWang, good to see you here. Where in Taiwan do you live? I visited your beautiful island last October.
Dynasty, I am hoping that Wang/Mussina/Pettitte shapes up to be pretty automatic. That leaves the 4 and 5. So now we’re into AAA auditions. I actually find that very exciting because I know that we have a chance to win a game. We might stumble upon a perfect combination. That’s what the farm system is for. So let’s check it out. If we can fine-tune something while we’re waiting for the H-K combo to get straight, then it totally removes the need for Joba to be thought of as anywhere but in the bullpen.
That’s my vote. I’m psyched that we’re getting Rasner for Sunday. Hell at this point if we get an AAA pitcher who goes 5 innings I’ll be ready to declare the experiment a success!
Bibby is choking out there, he needs to find playoff Bibby Mr. Clutch
hold up… testing
Gonna go pick up dinner. It’s tough when the baseball season runs your life!
Later all.
JOE JOHNSONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN !!!!
5 point game
Trisha,
Yeah, Rasner’s stats were impressive…let’s see if it’ll translate to some quality starts up here…
GO YANKS!
SJ44, great post, I couldn’t agree more. Forutnately, I don’t think Phil (unlike Ian, it appears) pays much attention to what anyone is saying about him. He’s said several times before that the pressure he feels is self-imposed – he doesn’t feel the pressure from outside influences. I can certainly believe that. Imagine the expectations he’s had for himself since he was in high school, maybe even earlier. Imagine now the he feels that he’s letting himself down, but more importantly, his teammates. Who wants to feel that way? Then, the more you try, the more forced things become…….It’s easy for veterans to succumb sometimes, nevermind a 21 year old.
Overall, Phil has exceptional make up and composure and I am not worried in the least about his head. I think he knows he belongs in the big leagues, but of course when you are getting hammered (and remember that he’s always dominated up until this point), it’s easy to for get that. The kid has presence – it’s obvious. It was obvious last year – that quality doesn’t just disappear. Well, clearly he’s had vision issues and now this rib injury…..in addition to goofy mechanics. What he needs to do now is just get back to his natural delivery (once he recovers, of course) and things will flow. I just believe that Phil is one of those special kids – maybe not as overpowering as Joba in stuff and personality, but truthfully – I prefer that. I just have a feeling that once he recovers, Phil – Edwar-type glasses and all – is going to be just fine.
Brandon (and everyone), why send Joba down when it’s time to stretch him out?
Watching Joba already learning on the fly (using all his pitches even in 1-inning stints) leads me to believe that if his MLB appearances go from 2 to 3 to 4 to 5 innings he’ll likely be more effective than whoever would replace him on the roster.
What’s the argument for sending him down and thus reducing his MLB inning this year?
hit your FTs send it to game 7 JOE !
1 more!
I am so happy NYY win this night …
Wang is not bad …
Keep going ..
Don’t let Taiwanese and Yankees fan down …
Do your best to help Yankees win …
Fans from Taiwan … Tim
“Watching Joba already learning on the fly (using all his pitches even in 1-inning stints) leads me to believe that if his MLB appearances go from 2 to 3 to 4 to 5 innings he’ll likely be more effective than whoever would replace him on the roster.”
ask me this later not now
I’ve posted this many a time, but just in case a few of you visitors from Taiwan haven’t seen it, here’s a photoset of Wang-related pictures from my October Taiwan trip:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/92472245@N00/sets/72157603451651434/
jesus christ..
SEVEN !!!
SEVEN !!!
SEVEN !!!
SEVEN !!!
SEVEN !!!
SEVEN !!!
SEVEN !!!
The Blogfather…
I love it! What a nickname.
What a game by the Wanger. I bet the Taiwan stock market soars Monday.
RAY ALLEN = RAYROD!!!!!
Hahahahahaha!
Nice job Celtics!
Nick, awesome pictures, thanks for posting.
anyone else having problems having posts with links in them appearing? Two today I’ve posted still haven’t shown up
Nick in SF,
You picked a great time to visit Taiwan. Weather’s just cooling down and it’s not raining as much as it does during the spring. Your photos are great.
Yeah, it was great in October. It was still a little warm when I first arrived, but most of the time it was fantastic. Taiwan visitors, feel free to contact me through that photo page if you’d like a link to a larger photo album detailing my whole trip.
Great game for the Yanks. Offense once again not much and owes to the lead gloves of the M’s, but great pitching.
Was watching the gang activity in Atlanta. That shot by Joe Johnson was tough. The Hawks are still going to get waxed in Boston on Sunday but they’ve had a nice series. That’s a team to be reckoned with down the road.
Chris Paul robbed of the NBA MVP, Kobe wins it in 2008
Soooo happy that the Yankees win, and Wang get his 6th
win.I find comments are far more positive and constructive
here than those on Yankees official site’s message board.
Melky is amazing this season . Maybe the trade issue dose
some influence.His batting and offense are impressive,
and I hope I can see him playing in all star game this year!
I also notice that Wang becomes more aggressive .
Thouth he seldom shoes his emotion , I can feel his eager to win is stronger than last few years.
(I am an exchange student recently learning English in the U.S,forgive me for making a lot grammatical mistakes ….)
Elsa, your English is not bad…
Hi Nick in SF
Welcome to visit Taiwan …
Taiwan is a beautiful island
Did you take high speed rail…
it’s cool …. I am the high speed driver ..I also like Wang and Yankees…
Hope next time ,you can visit Taiwan again and take high speed rail if you never try before ….
http://www.thsrc.com.tw
Hi Nick in SF
It’s my MSN
enkidu0830@hotmail.com
If you would like to learn more information of Taiwan ,maybe I can help you…^_^
Maybe we can also discuss of Wang during the ball game …I am always on line …
Hello Nick in SF
I have checked your photos …^_^
That’s right …Most of Taiwanese are crazy for Wang
Wang is really our proud …everytime he win the game ..next morning ,it must be the headline of the newspaper and add the big photo
Now MLB and Yankees are popular in Taiwan ,wherever in the big city or the small town …
this is the phenomenon in past three years …
Hope Wang can keep his arm good and all healthy.