Rasner gets the job done
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on May 04, 2008 
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Darrell Rasner was invited to spring training and given a locker in the same row as Mariano Rivera and Chien-Ming Wang.
But that was a mirage. Rasner has almost no chance of making the team. The Yankees were committed to Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy. Rasner, Jeff Karstens and Chase Wright were part of a group that had been passed by in favor of the former first-round picks.
But now Hughes is injured, Kennedy has been ineffective and Chamberlain is still limited to the bullpen. The Yankees needed Rasner today and he delivered, allowing two runs over six innings in an 8-2 thrashing of the Mariners.
The Yankees were 2-10 in the games Hughes and Kennedy pitched in. It was only one game, but Rasner gave them what they needed and will stay in the rotation.
Hold on tight, but Kei Igawa is going to get a chance, too. The $46 million Japanese bust will probably get a start next weekend in Detroit. He tuned up today by allowing four runs over seven innings against Durham. He walked four and struck out eight.
As for Kennedy, he said he was surprised by his demotion to Scranton. Then a few minutes later, he said this:
“I just feel like I was making progress. But I know that I don’t have as much confidence as I had last September.”
If a pitcher lacks confidence, he doesn’t belong in the rotation. The time away from New York should be good for IPK. For whatever reason, he lost the will to challenge hitters that he showed last season.
That’s three in a row for the Yankees. They get tomorrow off then the homestand continues with three games against Cleveland.
Igawa gave up 11 FO and 4 BB keep him away !
http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com.....8;c_id=nyy
man, I don’t envy Phil at all, but at least he’s not dwelling on the negative. It sucks, though, that he’s going to be away from the team for practically this whole 4 weeks, whatwith leaving the dugout after the 3rd inning. The camraderie of the clubhouse is what players often miss the most when they retire and it seems Phil doesn’t have that anymore. Poor kid.
I’m concerned about this rib injury – if a stress fracture occurs due to repeated pressure on the area and this is an uncommon injury for pitchers, then does this say that Phil is fragile? I’m wondering if his body just can’t stand the regular work of being a starting pitcher in professional baseball, particularly the majors.
Just my luck that I’ll be in the stands at Comerica on May 10th when Igawa pitches.
Maybe Steinbrenner needs to tell Kennedy to pitch how Moose has been pitching in his last 3 starts.
I’m definitely nervous about Igawa starting…who catches: Moeller or Molina? Probably Moeller…
Just my luck that I’ll be in the stands at Comerica on May 10th when Igawa pitches.
Bring a glove?
Hope Kennedy gets his confidence back. When he’s on, he’s awesome.
Igawa
Oy Vey
I think I’ll wait until after Igawa’s start to trash him. I know a lot of people think they’re clever or that maybe they’ll reverse jinx him, but he’s a Yankee and I want him to succeed. Because, ya know, when he’s good it’s good for us.
Good for Rasner. I was on the road when I heard about the 2-run dinger. Good to see them “hang” on to win. Which is better than what Gagne did. Another 2-run blown save. And now they’re knotted in the top of the 12th.
What will the Yankees (and us fans) do with ourselves on the off day?
“I’m definitely nervous about Igawa starting…who catches: Moeller or Molina?”
Most Igawa pitches don’t get caught anyway, so……
I just have to say – we were at the game today: the best baseball weather we have had in a loooooooooong time! And a great job by Rasner on top of it all!
Most Igawa pitches don’t get caught anyway, so……
So the Yankees should send out a pair of backstops and recruit the people in the stands.
Here’s to the hope that Igawa pitches like he did coming out of the pen for Karstens in Boston last year.
kei igawa will pitch 5 scoreless innings for us! Just like his last start from last year!
“I’m definitely nervous about Igawa starting…who catches: Moeller or Molina? Probably Moeller”…
Well, I am sure that plenty of fans in the upper deck will make catches.
At least KI looks great rockin those shades
“What will the Yankees (and us fans) do with ourselves on the off day?”
-Maybe Hank will talk to the press again and we can talk about that?
-Discuss Phil Hughes and his injury some more
-Talk about the weather?
Yes, Igawa is an easy target (see above), but of course I’ll be rooting for him. If I can bear to watch.
Igawa in Detroit? That has to be the worst possible matchup for him: lefty with gopherball problems against a team loaded with righthanded power (2nd highest OPS against lefties in the AL). Do they want him to fail?
If Igawa wins, I’ll buy him a pair of shades of his choice.
-Pine for Santana
-Debate whether or not Wang is an ace
-Talk about the Clemens scandal du jour
-Trash Igawa before he even hits the Bronx (not!)
Igawa scares me and I am not expecting much, but I will root for him and hope he does well.
-Have Steinbrenner hold a press conference where declares that he saved Moose’s season
-Hear more about how Giambi should be DFA’d
-Hear M&MD discuss why Joba needs to be in the rotation with Igawa coming up
-Fans try to guess Clemens’ latest fling
I forgot about Clemens.
Maybe tomorrow another one of his ladies will become known to the public.
Watch-it’ll be Suzyn Waldman!
S.A. Like all things Yankees, just prepare for the worst and hope for the best!
wish we had a double header…
Here’s to the hope that Igawa pitches like he did coming out of the pen for Karstens in Boston last year.”
Actually Igawa’s best MLB performance was at Yankee Stadium in April last year for their only win of the 3-Game series with The Red Sox. I had the pleasure to be in the stands cheering. He was “masterful” that day – changing speeds and keeping the ball down for the most part.
If he can keep his mechnics straight, he’s capable of 6 innings/2 runs…..but definitely not a sure thing!
Hahaha! Very true!
“What will the Yankees (and us fans) do with ourselves on the off day?â€
–Defend my thesis.
(Uh oh?)
IPK’s confidence, by his own admission, is wavering. The time away from the spotlight will do him a world of good. He didn’t just forget how to pitch. He’ll be back…and he’ll be fine.
Crawdaddie – are you sitting in the bleachers?? maybe you’ll get a Tiger home run ball
-Try to guess how Kim Jones is going to reword her questions for the next series
-Watch the baby Bombers in action
-Discuss how Carl Pavano is going to get injured again
-Rooting for the Sox to lose in Motown
we can talk about how high Igawa will attempt to throw his curveball…. i say at least belt
Yankees need Cano and Giambi to come alive
- listen to M&MD call Jorge Tabata’s name and a AA CF in trades again
- listen to McCutchen trade rumors, listen to Horne rumors
- find out that Pavano got hurt again
- hear how Giambi will turn it around
- the failed deal for Santana who can’t even go past the 6th inning
Wow Cy Young!! I can’t wait to see him pitch and mow down hitters.
What a great start prior to the bigs.
-listen to Met fans call into WFAN tomorrow and scream that Willie should be fired(they always seem to do that)
-ponder who would win in a fight between Hank and Hal(my money is on Hal..the quiet ones are dangerous)
-Cry about the Rangers loss
-check this blog numerous times throughout the day for any updates
-Work on my Josh Beckett voodoo doll
I didn’t realize the Tribe got swept by KC. That is a good thing!
Rebecca, rather than defend your thesis, just nail it to the door. It seemed to work for Martin Luther!
Pete,
I was pretty critical of some of your posts last week regarding Girardi. Just wanted to say that I thought your article about him was fantastic and gave a really good balanced view of his performance as well as some sage advice for how he could move forward. The blog posts the last few days have been top class as well.
Keep up the good work.
B
Hank Steinbrenner could completely take over the back pages of the tabloids with a DFA of Giambi.
In bold blaring print, HANK SEZ ” SEEN ENOUGH ” !!!
That would keep Fatso & Fruitloops busy for days.
I was ok until someone reminded me of the Rangers loss, thanks guys, I’ll be back later
The only real good that can come from Igawa starting is hopefully it will lead to the end of the Igawa Experiment.
-Discuss what happened to the best division in baseball-the (cough) AL Central
-Discuss that trade for Bronson Arroyo who had a great outing today.
B Arroyo (L, 1-4) 1.1 7 7 7 1 0 1
-Figure out how Micah Owings has a batting average just under the combined total of Giambi, Cano, and Duncan.
TKinDC: But Martin Luther’s wasn’t 60 pages long!
Though it is certainly an idea, and if I didn’t have friends showing up to see it it might be an interesting experiment to try.
Igawa can be moved to an NL club. His contract is very affordable especially as a LHP.
Padres inquired about him last trading deadline so maybe he has a decent start and we package Damon with him to SD.
Good Martin Luther reference there, TKinDC. When do the Yanks play an away series @ Wittenberg?
-Discuss who to root for, Mets or Dodgers for tomorrows game.
-Discuss how the D-backs can possibly be the best team in baseball?
The D-backs aren’t just the best team in baseball; they’re killing everyone.
“But Martin Luther’s wasn’t 60 pages long!”
Rebecca, you have one thesis, Martin Luther had 95 theses!
You have to defend your thesis in front of… a couple professors? TA’s? Martin Luther had to contend with the Diet of Worms!
Nonetheless, best of luck.
Not today they aren’t.
Is it possible IPK simply misremembered how to pitch and once he is reinformed he will be ok? Oh! hekk yes, S-can Damon, dude that makes sense.
Nick in SF: LMAO! Actually, it’s three professors, including the department chair (who I’ve never really met).
So it’ll feel like the Diet of Worms.
Only with less burning at the stakes and more burning of transcripts.
Nice outing by Rasner!
No BB’s!
Igawa….Nyoiks!
LET’S GO YANKS!
BTW. Anyone know any bars in the Bay Area that play Yankee games? (I’m in Foster City…and no one within 2 blocks will even discuss Yankee baseball with me)
“Good Martin Luther reference there, TKinDC. When do the Yanks play an away series @ Wittenberg?”
I think it is safe to say that if Martin Luther had taken a road trip to Rome, he would have gotten torched, then swept.
(Nothing like some medieval humor to prep Rebecca for her inquisition!)
Can anyone tell me with the off day and adding Igawa to the rotation who will pitch Friday, the opener in Detroit, I am thinking about getting tickets to the game. Thanks
Tuesday-Pettitte
Wednesday-Wang
Thursday-Mussina
Friday-Rasner
Saturday-Igawa
This is what I believe the roation will be.
Christa, I’m guessing that’s Rasner again.
“so maybe he has a decent start and we package Damon with him to SD.”
For whom praytell? And why would you want to trade the best player on the Yankees right now?
PLEASE tell us that you are not 100% sure, Pete, that we have to endure the pain of Igawa…it will NOT be pretty….Maybe we can win them all before he comes up and pitches, so as to soften the “hit” of him getting smacked around though !
Raz let me win on the game, I took the under on 4 runs.
He did as well as can be expected from someone not named Joba, Santana or C.C. He did better than expected, even though last year I think he pitched at 4.13 era…about there anyway.
People have said; If IPK, Phil can pitch at around 3.50/4.00 era. they would be happy. So we got better than 4.00 era. even though the guys name is not either one of those two gentlemen. I like it very much.
27/08.
Dude guys, my friend just found this on Wikipedia and I am very amused:
“The strike also led to an absurdity: Minnesota traded Dave Winfield to the Cleveland Indians for a player to be named later before the season was officially canceled, so no player was named. To settle the deal, the executives of the teams went to dinner, and Cleveland picked up the tab, meaning Winfield had been dealt for dinner”
“Dude guys, my friend just found this on Wikipedia….”
I think that “Dude guys” was also how Martin Luther began his presentation to the Diet of Worms. It might be a good way to begin your thesis defense.
Nick: But it’d be a step up from walking in there wearing my corset and wielding my sword.
Rasner did great today!
Last year Rasner, Karstens and Clippard stepped up and helped the Yanks. They were not as highly celebrated nor probably as talented as Kennedy or Hughes. They did however as Bill Raferty would say have “onions”. They didn’t pitch scared. Just went out w/confidence and did their job. Clippard has since been traded but the other two are still Yanks. Give them an opportunity. Let IK and PH build confidence in Scranton and bring up later in the year. Also, David Cone was saying how he talked to David Wells earlier this week and he wants to pitch. Please God No!!!
I don’t think there’s any chance of Wells. I think (hope) the Yankees learned their lesson with Clemens last year.
Raz was great today.
Yeah, I second that, Raz was excellent.
“For whom praytell? And why would you want to trade the best player on the Yankees right now?”
Prospects my friend.
Sell high on Damon as he is performing well with 26MM left on his deal.
Best player? Wang says hello…..
Well, it’s not quite equal to the Joba commercial, but they did a ketchup on Schilling’s sock commercial.
Damon is our best offensive player at the moment, though Melky’s still the best offensive player of the season.
Igawa didn’t really give up 4 runs. He gave up a 2-run dinger, but Justin Christian misjudged a fly ball for a “double.”
Gawd, I hate it that ML baseball doesn’t score mental errors.
Rebecca
August 31, 1994: Purchased by the Cleveland Indians from the Minnesota Twins.
October 17, 1994: Granted Free Agency.
April 5, 1995: Signed as a Free Agent with the Cleveland Indians.
jennifer-
Don’t think you will get many offers for Youkilis, you are better off dropping him & picking up someone else. Only the top notch players have any real trade value in the league we are in.
Pete, do you still think we should trade Matsui?
Buddy, do you want to pick him up, is that why you said that.
Wow I just looked at our schedule, we don’t go to LAA and Seattle till September.
Raz did well today, let’s hope he can do it again and again etc.. What are the thoughts of bringing Karstens up when he is off DL/rehab? (I think he is on DL and a Yankee) 27/08
The team doesn’t need Karstens AND Igawa.
Michael “If You See” Kay and Paulie were chewing on IPK’s alleged negative comments today during the play by play (or actually, instead of it).
Give the kid a break. If he made a negative comment, the last thing he needs is even more negativity on top of that. Let him go to Scranton and get his game together. Wouldn’t that be the best thing for him — and the team?
Kay is a bozo and a loudmouth. Why is he on the air?
The Magic Man Igawa will stun people. He’s that good.
jennifer-
no room on my roster for Youk, I have Berkman.
Good Job by the Ras man today…..Im happy for him,and that he stayed with the Yankees after being removed from the 40 Man this past winter.Very Nice guy as well….
HAPPY BIRTHDAY 34TH MIGUEL CAIRO!!!!!
Rasner, besides a couple of bad starts, has always looked solid and like he belongs in the bigs when we’ve put him out there. I was at the game today, and it was great to see him rise to the occassion. Having him continue to look this solid would be a godsend. It would allow us to give the kids the net it looks like they need, and stops us from having to look outside the organization.
WHY IS IGWA GOING TO PITCH OVER WHITE!!! SHOOT ME!!! What a shock another bad signing by Cashman that the Yankees cant get rid off.
If you have a problem and Kei Igawa is the answer, you’re asking a really, really stupid question.
And guess what? You’re going to see him in the rotation until Hughes comes back in 2 months (Who should also be in AAA). If Igawa pitches like he did last year, giving you a 6.25 ERA averaging 5 IP per start, the Yanks will tell you its still better than what Kennedy did. But Kennedy at least has an upside, Igawa’s upside is to be a bigger pile of garbage. Or maybe they’ll swing a deal for this year’s Kevin Brown. But you won’t see Kennedy back on this team until September at the earliest.
The Yanks stick with their youth movement for one month, and I have to watch Kei Igawa pitch until July. I want to puke.
Christa, if you’re still out there, my money is on Igawa pitching Friday. That way he’ll have one more turn and then his next time to start would be their next off day, giving them a chance to skip him.
I looked up where the Yanks were on May 4 last year. We were 12-15 and 6 1/2 games out.
I was encouraged about where we stand this year till I noticed the score of the May 4, 2007 game.
The Yanks scored 5 runs in the 1st inning but lost to the Mariners 15 -11. Igawa started the game, lasted 4 innings and gave up 8 runs on 9 hits ( 3 home runs).
I’m disapointed to hear that Igawa will once again be pitching for the Yanks. I was praying that we’d seen the last of him. It’s not hard to see Igawa duplicating the May 4 pitching line when he faces the Tigers this weekend. He’s certainly no upgrade over Kennedy.
Kj, I agree. While Stephen White ain’t the second coming, he would at least have a chance– and deserves the chance more than Igawa. All those righties are already salivating.
Steven White.. heck I’d pitch Betty White before I ever handed the ball to Kei Igawa.
The Yanks are on a nice roll, beating 3 good pitchers this weekend. All Kei Igawa can do is stir the pot bad.
I always liked Razzy but he has to be confident and get control over his pitches.
Looks like Igawa is getting back into his major league form by giving up 4 runs in the minors the same day he finds out he’s being promoted.
Woooooooooooooo. Tigers and Red Sox starting tomorrow. The two sports teams I hate the most. Always a win-win watching this matchup.
this should be stopped immediately, I mean how the hell does Kei Igawa get away w/ a GO/AO ratio of 2-11 and 4 BB…to be promoted to the ML level. If he had a GO/AO of 8-2 like he had a couple of starts ago I’d understand but what 2-11 tells me is the AAA hitters just missed hitting some long balls, he’s a guy that needs to keep the ball down and 2-11 is not that.
And while we’re w/ this HOW THE HELL IS CHASE WRIGHT AND DAN MCCUTCHEN STUCK IN AA while he’s up there
Nick in SF
May 4th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
“Dustin Pedroyer just struck out on a high pitch — he looked like a Keebler Elf trying to chop down a big tree.”
Hey Nick, would you remind all of us what Pedroia has for an average and what Cano has for an average. Oh wait….its Pedroia who is batting .314 and Cano is hitting a hefty .154 Must be humiliating for your second baseman to hitting less than half of what the “balding midget” is hitting right now.
carl you’ll be back when Pedroia drops to .280 and Cano hits .305 this season ?
Brandon,
Last year Cano hit .306 during the regular season and Pedroia hit .317
I will be a contrarian here and hope that Igawa has decent outings while he is up. That way we can get him traded. Best if it’s for a 1st baseman. I hope Cashman has a special speed dial for suckers.
“Brandon,
Last year Cano hit .306 during the regular season and Pedroia hit .317″
so you think Pedroia is going to average .317 in his career…interesting…you know Robi had a .342 AVG in his sophmore campaign..ok we’ll see.
What if the plan is to start Joba on Saturday, not Igawa?
Today, Farnsworth pitched the 8th and Mo the 9th. Why else would they do this with the off day tomorrow unless they have some other plans for Joba?
If he moves to the rotation now, and averages 5 innings per start that would give him about 130 innings the rest of the year, plus the 12 he’s pitched so far and he’s right about where you’d want him. If he pitches deeper into games, then you can skip him in the rotation a couple of times to keep his innings down. With a limit of about 100 pitches per start, I think it’s wishful thinking to expect much more than 5 innings per start (maybe 6 if he’s pitching very well).
Maybe they’ll start Joba on Saturday instead of Igawa.
Today, Farnsworth pitched the 8th and Mo the 9th. With the off day tomorrow, why would they do this if they didn’t want to give Joba the extra rest.
If he starts from here on out, and averages 5 innings per start, then he’d throw about 130 innings as a starter. Add his 12 innings so far and he’ll be close to his innings limit. If he pitches deeper into games, then you can skip him in the rotation when there’s an off day (or move him back to the pen when Hughes/Kennedy come back). Unless he’s pitching exceptionally well, I wouldn’t expect more than 5 innings per start average because he’ll be on a strict pitch limit.
why don’t they just make igawa a reliever? i remember he was pretty good the few times he came out of the pen it seems like over thinks his starts or something and does his crazy stubborn routine to prepare for them and then sucks.
Brandon,
I will be the first to admit that Cano is an excellent player and I am sure that he will end up with a far better average at the end of the year than he has now.
I just think it is comical when Yankee fans focus on Pedroia’s height, etc. when in reality he has been very good and won rookie of the year last year. He is a gutsy player and gives it all every game.
After reading this blog for a while, it makes one wonder what is a Yankee fan. Is it those who wear rose colored glasses, or those who honestly respond to Yankee efforts or is it those who relentlessly criticize everything and spout negativity. I thought about this for a moment and thought to myself, I know a true Yankee fan and his name is Todd Drew and all his cohorts in the Bronx who live and breathe Yankees and they do it with respect for the team and respect for the game.
So if you want to know what a true Yankee fan is then read Yankees for Justice. This is what it means to be a Yankee fan through and through.
http://yankeesforjustice.blogspot.com/index.html
Pedroia is a good player, but Cano is better. Even last year, Cano had a better OPS than Pedroia.
Besides, being a gutsy player doesn’t score any runs…
carl what I can’t stand about Pedroia is the fact that he whines too much other than that no one… well not no one but I’m not ripping him on his height, I will say this though, I don’t think he is a .317 or .300 hitter, he’s more of the .280 – .290 a little better OBP % than Robi has now.
In comparing Cano and Pedroia it is interesting that last year Pedroia had a horrific batting average for the month of so of the season.
It might have been even lower than Cano’s right now. All kinds of Sox fans were calling for Francona to replace Pedroia with Alex Cora. But Francona was patient with him and that patience paid off.
Cano has been outstanding in the past and there is no reason to believe that he will not return to that high level.
I have felt this way even last year but after the 5 games I have been to this year one thing is painfully clear to me.
Yes Jason and Robbie need to start hitting. Yes our starters need to go deeper into games, but that is not what really needs to change.
Jim Hall has to go!!!
Yes I know he is only keeping the seat warm for Bob SHeppard’s return but the guy but the guy is horrible.
Yesterday he could not pronouce Kenji Jojimah (sp??) or Bettincourts nam (I cant even spell his first name). Yes they are hard names so maybe I can forgive him even though it was the second day he had to do it. But WHY must he insist on having his voice be a replica of Bob. I have heard Bob Sheppard and believe me he is NO Bob Sheppard. YOu cannot tell me that this is how the guy normally speaks.
When Tino replaced Donnie, when Girardi replaced Torre, when Jason replaced Tino as much as we maybe wanted to have the older guy there in the end you have to expect the replacement to be himself and forge his own identity not to copy the one before him.
If it is not Sheppard’s voice it better not be Jim Hall’s voice I hear at the new stadium and if it is it better not be someone who has his own voice and doesnt try to be someone else
any body have tickets for yanks and mets on may 16th, i only need 1
OH MY DAILY REMINDER TO BRIAN AND YANKEES FO
get it right this time
“Cano has been outstanding in the past and there is no reason to believe that he will not return to that high level.”
he showed signs of centering the ball today in his swings, people need to remember this was the first week Robi and alot of Yankees could sleep in thier own beds, the comfort level will return w/ Robi.
Please don’t shoot the messenger, carl. The sight of Pedroyer swinging and missing at the high hard one was comical. Was the reference to the Keebler Elf trying to chop down a tree excessive? I think not. We’re all here to have fun, right?
Pedroyer made an outstanding play to preserve the tie in that game vs. the Blue Jays the other night, he seems to have a bright future in the game. I can’t help it if he and David Eckstein resembled a couple of ferrets when they stood next to each other.
oh and Carl you seem like a reasonable Red Sox fan (and that’s rare), so don’t take what Nick in SF saids so serious he’s our blog humor guy, he has a million of them.. you should have heard our Bullpen jokes
It’s all good Nick!!
If you guys ever need to make the second 1000 words of an essay or paper go by really fast, chart your progress in terms of corresponding historical events.
Like, at 1066 words, you’re at the Norman Conquest, at 1620 you’re at the Mayflower, etc.
Whitey Fraud….
Don’t even get me started on Michael Kay. I saw nothing wrong with what IPK said. I mean what would you say if you were getting demoted back down to AAA? First of all, Kay shouldn’t even talk, he can’t even commentate a game. I’ve seen him make wrong calls left & right.
Imagine what Sox fans say about the Yankees on their boards.
“Yankees Suck”
“Giambi Juice”
“Melky’s a 6th outfielder”
“Daisuke’s Kobe beef to Igawa’s ground chuck”
(See, Brandon, how clever I am to sneak that one in there?)
No one can beat our laptop jokes!
Igawa?
Well, I do love a good farce. The theme: the corruptions and arrogance and insular stupidities of power never cease.
Igawa?
Can you hear them laughing in Boston?
very clever mel
good to hear rasner did good. hope kennedy builds up some confidence in his abilities and I hope to see him back soon.
AL Pennant race is over,I declare the Yankees are the Winners.
from Alan Horne’s dad: “Alan will now throw his first BP on Monday….”
Chase Wright? I hope that guy never throws a pitch in a Yankee uniform ever again. He’s just like Kennedy this season, he is scared to throw over the plate. Showed it in both of his starts, the Cleveland win and the Boston loss.
“Chase Wright? I hope that guy never throws a pitch in a Yankee uniform ever again. He’s just like Kennedy this season, he is scared to throw over the plate. Showed it in both of his starts, the Cleveland win and the Boston loss.”
calm down he was overmatched and left out there to hang, Wright has improved btw, and yes I’d say he’s close to AAA, he has shown improvement in his arsenal.
Hi Amanda,di
Yep…Yankee Intelligentsia made the right move…Rasner pitches like this again and we’ll have something to talk about…
I really didn’t think Kennedy was ready anyway-did you?
“Wright has improved btw, and yes I’d say he’s close to AAA, he has shown improvement in his arsenal.”
Can you elaborate?
NYDN and Post are running late cover stories about the IPK/Hughes for Santana deal btw Mets and Yankees. Look for it around 5:30am. From the newsroom.
“Can you elaborate?”
sure in AA
he has a 4 – 1 record after 7 starts w/ a 2.95 ERA, in 07′ it was 3.62 after 10 games & he was 5 – 2
I’ll do the small sample size this season he’s averaged 6.0 IP per start so far. His GO/AO ratio is 59-39, that stat means he’s turning into a groundball lefty. His SO/BB is 27-9.
So out of the 134 outs Chase has gotten in AA 42% is via the groundball, 28% is via the flyball, 19 % via the strikeout. He has improved IMO.
and I had to redo it because I screwed up on my calculations*
in AA Chase has a 4 – 1 record after 7 starts w/ a 2.95 ERA, in 07′ it was 3.62 after 10 games & he was 5 – 2
I’ll do the small sample size this season he’s averaged 6.0 IP per start so far. His GO/AO ratio is 59-39, that stat means he’s turning into a groundball lefty. His SO/BB is 27-9.
So out of the 125 outs Chase has gotten in AA 47% is via the groundball, 31% is via the flyball, 22 % via the strikeout. He has improved IMO.
sorry I added the walks to the outs in my last post.
We are forced to live with Kei and Pavano to this day because of Cashman’s gigantic EGO. He had chances earlier to dump them, but was so sure they’d pan out. WRONG.
I’m about ready for a new GM. Let’s see what someone else could do with that kind of budget.
Good for Rasner- the difference in body language between he and IPK or Hughes when he gave up the homer to Beltre in the1st was huge. He just got the ball back and kept working fast and throwing strikes, no psychological collapse, no nibbling on corners. Maybe it is part of being 4 to 6 years older than the other two, maybe it is the prior experience, maybe he was just po’d at the front office for being given zero chance at the beginning of the year and playing with a chip on his shoulder, but whatever it was it worked.
As for Igawa, he gave up some runs tonight but from what I understand they had to leave him in his AAA start to eat innings because the pen was in bad shape in Scranton. What would be satisfactory from Igawa? Shoot, 5 innings and four runs would be a heck of a lot better than either IPK or Hughes not making it out of the second inning.
Amazing what three good starts will do for a club- the offense is getting its swagger and the pen is rested.
I have to say though I thought IPK had gotten his sea legs after the 2nd inning in his last start and they should have given him one more start.
“We are forced to live with Kei and Pavano to this day because of Cashman’s gigantic EGO. He had chances earlier to dump them, but was so sure they’d pan out. WRONG.”
Yes, the reason Pavanois still on the club is because of Cashman’s ego, not because he has been injured and nobody is going to trade to pay 12+ million a year for a player who isn’t going to through a pitch this year. Tell me, Mr. “If I had a $200 million payroll”, list the names of all the clubs who were beating down Cashmen’s door the past two years for Pavano…I will grow old and die before you can name one club that ever expressed interest in Pavano in 2007 or 2008. If you’d like to figure out how many clubs were after him when he was a FA, do a simple Google news search- this was a guy coming off a career year on a world series team.
As for Igawa, what, pray tell, would be the point in trading him now? The biggest part of the expense in getting him signed was the posting fee- so we trade him for a buket of balls and eat the posting fee? Or keep him in Scranton and, if he gets his act together or if (shock) he needs to get put in the rotation in an emergency the team has a left handed servicable #5 starter.
I am sure that if Hughes and IPK were working out forthe team Igawa would be traded, but why would you get rid of pitching in the off-season when you havetwo untested guys starting in the rotation? If this season, and last, have shown anything, you can’t have enough starters.
By the way, if you think other clubs would easily be able to fill the void of two starters, look around- Seattle, who has arguably one of the best rotations in baseball would plug the holes with Chow Sung Baek (who?) and R.A. Dickey (what?). I love the mentalityofthose who think it is possible to have an all star at every position and in every spot in the rotation or pen.
RustyJohn,
You can’t really argue with people who have an agenda (i.e. fire Cashman), but that was a good, rational post.
Roger Clemens…
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/.....id=3381677
RustyJ,
I guess you’re going to have to grow old sooner rather than later. If you’ll recall, the Rockies wanted Pavano in Nov 2006. Cashman also fielded calls about Pavano during spring training that next year because it looked like he was possibility going to pitch. But Cashman wanted to keep him, and shortly thereafter, well…you SHOULD know that part, at least.
Igawa is a bust. You move on. That doesn’t mean you have to have him pitch for your team in NYC. Keep him away from games that really matter until that miracle happens Cashman’s still waiting for. I’d really like to know if that guy who scouted Igawa still has a job with the Yanks.
We disagree on these points, obviously.
I’d also like to add that Cashman placing his season’s hopes on two rookies being concurrently successful was also ego-driven by his great “youngster’s plan”. One rookie — fine, but not two in one year. Give them an environment in which to succeed.
You don’t have to have an “all star” at every position to win. Duh. Heck, Yankees fans KNOW that to be true because George kept insisting on buying all those all-stars (past their prime, by the way) only to lose.
The mix has to be right, and Cashman didn’t get his recipe’s ingredients in the right balance this year.
Wow. Did a quick search and found even more teams wanting Pavano in spring 2007:
Pavano Trade Rumors Heat Up
5th March, 2007 – 5:10 pm
New York Post – There are voices within the organization that believe if Carl Pavano is healthy, he should be dealt. Seattle, Colorado and St. Louis were interested during the winter and the Braves, Mets and White Sox had scouts at yesterday’s game.
Pavano, who has given the Yankees 17 games (4-6; 4.77 ERA) for the $40 million they dumped on him following the 2004 season, has $22.95 million remaining on the contract. He earns $10 million this year, $11 million in 2008 and there is a $1.95 million option on a $15 million option the Yankees won’t pick up in 2009.
I find it interesting that Clemens would be willing to apologize and ‘fess up to adultery, but not steriod/HGH use. Perhaps he felt the evidence was overwhelming with the one and not necessarily the other?
Wow. What a fall. Very sad — especially in regards to his family — and most definitely something could have been prevented if he’d done the right thing long ago.
Mel,
I don’t want to fire Cashman per se, I just want some new blood in the organization. The change would do everyone — including Cashman — a lot of good, I believe. It will be be interesting to see if he re-ups again at year-end. I do get bent at some of his decisions, though.
Having an opinion about something doesn’t constitute an agenda. I think that’s what these blogs are about — sharing our opinions. If I had an agenda, I’d be talking to people who could actually take action. We’re fairly innocuous on this board. You post for fun like I do, don’t you?
Frankly, if Kennedy had said that his confidence had not taken a hit from his unsuccessful beginnings this season, I would think he had half a brain. He had zero wins and the same script each start. One bad inning mixed with some very good pitching. Trying to be too perfect. Certainly he had less confidence the day he was demoted to AAA than last season; last season he was racing through the system, culminating in some very good starts with the big league club in a tight pennant race. I imaging his head is swimming right now with what did he do differently.
After initially thinking he should get one more start, I can see the sense of sending him to Scranton to regroup. Out of the media capital of the world, where the scrutiny is relentless and your failures are magnified and your successes merely expected.
I did not take Kennedy’s statement to mean that he could not handle the pressure of the big city; I took it to mean that his confidence had waned because of his ineffectiveness. He didn’t pitch horribly. But he did not pitch well consistently. I think he’ll work it out and be just fine. He was not helped by the Yankees poor offensive start, and I’m sure when he returns, the spotlight will be a little less bright, the expectations a little more realistic and the Yankees no longer in need of a jump start. It will be a smoother transition.
And if it doesn’t happen until next season, which I doubt – because I can’t see Igawa staying around for more than a little while – then so be it. He will be better for it.
In the meantime, I am so glad that Rasner had a great start for the Yankees yesterday. The past 3 games, the Yankees were a different team than last week. And they didn’t face bad pitching, either. I only wish I had been able to catch more of the games on television. (Busy weekend for us here, catching bits of the game on radio, bits of the game on tv and no time to watch the WB Mason Encore
)
“I guess you’re going to have to grow old sooner rather than later. If you’ll recall, the Rockies wanted Pavano in Nov 2006. Cashman also fielded calls about Pavano during spring training that next year because it looked like he was possibility going to pitch. But Cashman wanted to keep him, and shortly thereafter, well…you SHOULD know that part, at least.”
Just a hint – there’s a big difference between ‘expressing interest’ and coming up with a legit trade offer.
NO ONE was going to take Pavano and his contract without seeing a couple of healthy starts, unless the Yankees gave him away and ate the bulk of his contract. As is, at least they get their insurance money back.
i was and i am still fine with the plan to use the kids. they have struggled more than expected, but it was clear all along that the yanks would also have to use thier pitching depth,and thats the point we’re at now. first up was rasner and he came through. we will see igawa and karstens step in and we will see kennedy and hughes return. did anybody really expect any different? ok, i thought one of kennedy/hughes would hold thier own, but moose is much better than expected. As long as they can stay within sight of the bosox by the all star break, the yankees will be fine and one of the young arms will step up and grab a rotation spot, then joba or phil will have the #5 spot. i’m fine with where the pitching is right now.
as for the roster….cash has thrown together a real mismatch there. this offense is overloaded with sluggers and has nobody to spark a rally or move runners when thats needed, its ‘everybody swing for the fences’ and most nights that will score enough runs. but even when they put runs up, the defense in horrible and there is no b/u 1B. all 3 catchers are slow as molases but there is no pinch-runner type. did cash think he was playing fantasy baseball? even if this team makes the playoffs, this offense will be totally shut down again and unable to produce runs or prevent the other team from producing runs in the clutch.
unless he can remake the team into a much more versitile one during this year, i think it’s time to let brian cashman go.
The only reason Carl is on the ‘roster’ at this point is so the Yankees can collect insurance. If they could outright release him and still collect, i’d venture to say they would.
I really wish Roger would just dig a hole can crawl in it. He better drop his law suit if he wants to keep the other skeltons in his closet. Someoen has it out for him and will continue to dig for more dirt.
the pavano question is pretty moot at this point. whether he had any trade value last spring doesnt add up to a hill of beans at this point. if he hadnt been injured and they kept him, he might have won 15 games, too but he hasnt been healthy since last april.
Pavano has thrown his last pitch as an active New York Yankee. Just a bad chapter in Yankee history. The team knows it and he knows it. He was overvalued when he was signed. With any luck, some team may take a flyer on him next spring with very guarded hopes.
“I don’t think there’s any chance of Wells. I think (hope) the Yankees learned their lesson with Clemens last year.”
That was an expensive mistake. Wells at 3 million + incentives.
Yankees have nothing to gain by parting ways with Pavano right now. He is getting paid either way and he doesn’t take up roster room as long as he’s on the DL.
Girardi said yesterdy there is a possibility he could be ready to pitch again in August/September.
Even if that means nothing more than eating innings to save someone elses arm, there’s no benefit to the Yankees to DFA him.
LOL at Bill Madden – the End of the Hughes and Kennedy Era!
http://www.nydailynews.com/spo.....tml?page=1
He’s a complete and utter clown……..as if these kids aren’t going to be up here again. Also, Kennedy was NEVER hyped as a #1. Madden seems almost to relish these kids’ troubles. I really dislike this guy almost as much as Lupica and that’s saying a lot.
Let’s not forget that many other teams wanted Pavano, and offered more money than the Yankees. The Yankees were unlucky when he chose us over them.
Brandon—1:34 am…
Thanks for the update on Chase. I didn’t know he had improved at all. It would be nice to have a serviceable Left handed starter in the rotation.
Two rookies in the rotation at the same time…not good right? Well, news flash…there would have been (still might) THREE, Joba, IPK, Phil. Everyone knows that three rookie starters is a big NO NO, so do I trash Cash? No? I would rather not have 2 rookies start, but where was anything better out there to be had…at a realistic price! 27/08
i like them bringing up rasner and igawa, it sends a clear signal to all thier aaa and aa starters that there are 2 rotation spots open for whomever is going to step up and take them. i hope they move right down to the next guy in line when they need another. we came into this season with the 5 spots essentially taken, now it’s open auditions and lets see who emerges. someone will sieze the opportunity.
David Wells was getting lit up in the NL last year. He’s not the answer.
Geez, Bill Madden ready to dig the graves of Hughes and Kennedy! lol
Nothing like a little over the top writing from the Daily News “baseball columnist”.
At this point, every win they get with unknown quantities in the 4th and 5th spots in the rotation, along with Arod and Posada out, you take and be very happy.
They are just going to have to battle through May and hope they are close by the time Arod and Posada back.
The rotation? It just puts more pressure on Wang, Moose and Pettitte. In Pettitte’s last 2 starts, he had 2 run leads in each and lost the games. He has to be better than that right now.
Considering everything that’s happened so far this year, the Yankees aren’t in bad shape.
They just need a little magic this month. A couple of guys have to step up and give them something in the 4th and 5th spots in the rotation and Arod and Posada can’t have any setbacks.
Betsy -
Thanks for the link. I wasn’t going to read it, but did anyway. What I don’t understand is the mean-spirited slant of the article. What purpose does that serve anyone, except Madden, who I hope will have to eat his words at some point, whether it be later this season or in the next season.
He makes it sound as if ONLY the Yankees were high on Hughes and Kennedy, when this is not the case; and Kennedy was never touted by anyone, including the Yankees, to be anywhere near an ace or #1 starter. What kills me is that if I hadn’t started reading this blog a year and a half ago, I would be taking articles like Madden’s to heart. There are a lot of Yankees fans out there who don’t follow the development of the youngsters who will read that kind of c-ap and think the Yankees were morons for bringing Hughes and Kennedy in.
My feeling is that Hughes was going to be in the starting rotation from the get-go, but that Kennedy was more questionable to start the season. I think if Karstens hadn’t been injured, or if Igawa had shown something, or if the season wasn’t jam-packed with games in April as it was (negating the need for a 5th starter), Kennedy would have started the year in AAA anyway. Listen, sometimes you roll the dice and everything comes up roses; sometimes not.
Hughes had a very nice first start for a no-decision. Kennedy had at least one game where run support would have given him a victory. I believe everything happens for a reason, obscure as that reason may seem. So, we’ll see how it goes from here.
Meantime, I’ll take those nasty articles with a grain of salt, realizing that those people who write them have some sort of agenda.
“What if the plan is to start Joba on Saturday, not Igawa?
Today, Farnsworth pitched the 8th and Mo the 9th. Why else would they do this with the off day tomorrow unless they have some other plans for Joba?”
No way, Joba is not stretched out. He can’t jump from pitching 1 inning every 3 days to being a starter within a week. If we are to see anyone from the BP start it would be Olendorf before Joba in the near future.
As someone who commented said, his buddy was Joe Torre. That is what his agenda is. He is digging the Yankees grave.
Jennifer -
But why? I don’t care if Joe Torre gave him a kidney. Why would someone almost actively root for the local team to do poorly? Why would anyone maliciously gloat over an unfortunate turn of events? Is this person so filled with hatred or does he suffer from some psychological inadequacy that he has to belittle others’ failings? Especially when those “others” are 20-some year old kids? I imagine he has no love lost for Brian Cashman or the Yankee brass, but I thought he was “in” with the Big Stein? I don’t know. It just disgusts me.
Pete!
Has it been 24 hours after your niece’s communion yet? We need your commentary on IPK, Rasner and Igawa.
Why does Lupica constantly write hateful articles on the Yankees? He never fails to mention the Yankees failures over the last 8 years, I only wonder how often he mentions the Mets failures over the last 22 years.
Last year, the Rockies rode two young pitchers (Morales and Jimenez) and a young closer (Corpas) to the World Series.
Today, Morales is back in the minors. Jimenez is ready to be sent back and Corpas lost his closers role. All due to ineffectiveness.
NOBODY would have predicted that after watching those 3 kids pitch last year.
It happens often with young pitchers. They have setbacks. It happened to Doc Halliday early in his career.
The key is to not give up on them. When you do, you end up having to pay stupid sums of money for the Carl Pavano’s, Matt Clement’s, and Carlos Silva’s of the world in free agency.
Developing your own players is not easy. However, in today’s baseball economic world, its a must to survive long term.
why would anyone read madden anyway. hes probably still carrying a grudge for something dallas green did 23 years ago or something. Guys like him and lupica and klapitch realize that pissing ppl off is a good way to get them to read thier columns. they have no news and thier opinions were set in stone 2 or 3 decades ago.
SJ44 -
I didn’t know that about the Rockies pitchers. That’s actually encouraging news in a backwards sort of way.
All being said, we have to be excited about Rasner. Our poor April was due largely in part to the ineffectiveness of Hughes and IPK. With IPK rightfully demoted (stop whining about you just starting to figure things out… no you weren’t) the Yankees now have a shot to stay in the game with Rasner. The #5 spot is where Cashman needs to get creative because Igawa is not going to work. We just might need to get some outside help (kick me… David Wells) if they are sticking to the Joba plan that they had in Spring Training. And it looks like they are.
Very satisfied with the Yankee offense these past few games… Melky has been HOTTTTTTT.
“The #5 spot is where Cashman needs to get creative because Igawa is not going to work. We just might need to get some outside help (kick me… David Wells)”
Agree Igawa won’t be the answer. But I’ll start Olendorf before I’d bring in David Wells.
we dont need outside help, give the young guys a chance. i would however change the approach with both hughes and kennedy. i would let it be known to them and anybody else, that the starts will now go to whomever earns them. you’ve got 9 guys after rasner in aa and aaa ball and they should let ipk, hughes and everybody else know that spots are available and every outing is a tryout for the mlb team. believe me, somebody we never talk about (steve white?) will step up and grab a rotation spot with both hands, if they know they really have a shot.
The Yankees will be extremely cautious in signing future free agents as the system flourishes with talent.
Short of Sabathia and Teixeira, this coming free agent class is a poor one.
Money coming off the books is not necessarily the reason to sign free agents without looking at the big picture.
In the grand scheme of things, a free agent will have to fit a need to be considered and not just a marquee name.
“this offense is overloaded with sluggers and has nobody to spark a rally or move runners when thats needed, its ‘everybody swing for the fences’ and most nights that will score enough runs.”
Damon, Melky, Jeter, and Cano are not “sluggers”. neither is Abreu. Jeter, Cano, Damon, and Abreu are all guys expected to hit for high averages. Matsui is a decent situational hitter.
i am not sure what you are talking about.
basically you are saying is “Giambi sucks, so i am going to pretend that he represents the entire lineup”
im talking about a team that NEVER manufactures runs, and doesnt come through in the clutch (nobody ever cuts down thier swing with 2 strikes, bunts or hits against the shift) exactly what has hampered this offense in the PS for years, the total inablility or unwillingness to move runners or sacrafice. the situational hitting on this team is nonexsistant.
in lieu of the current 1B problem, anyone take a look at Matt LaPorta in Milwaukee?I know he was a college bat and a first round pick, and I’m sure SJ44 can give us a little more info on the kid…
but he’s mashing at AA in their system, and he could be ready for MLB ABs, but they’ve got him blocked at every position he can play.
Gallardo just went down with a knee injury; how about moving a couple of arms and give the kid a shot to play 1B here?
What happens if Rasner pitches well (~ 4.00 ERA) all year, Hughes comes back solid, Kennedy ‘figures it out’, and Joba is converted to SP and is successful?
A lot of ifs, but could the Yankees have a -surplus- of pitching?
“im talking about a team that NEVER manufactures runs,”
right, and i am saying this isn’t true.
they manufactured several runs just this weekend.
they “manufactured” about 3 runs in a row in the last game against cleveland. just kept hitting grounders to 1B to score runs.
when they DON’T score runs in big spots, you tend to remember. but there are plenty of times they DO score those runs, we tend to forget them.
remember when Girardi bunted two times in a row in the opening series against Toronto? scored the run, went to Mo to close it out?
Starting Ohlendorf will work too. But what happens if he is effective and Joba starts transitioning into the rotation? We would have a logjam (which isn’t necessarily bad) in the starting rotation and nobody in the bullpen. You hate to have somebody start only to be demoted back to the bullpen. Especially after the abuse he has taken early on (from being overused).
But Ohlendorf could stick to the starting rotation for a month or two until Hughes gets back. Then when Hughes comes back he competes for a spot, Joba starts getting transitioned, and Ohlendorf can work his way into a 6th starter.
The Brewers aren’t trading LaPorta right now. They will hold onto him and see what develops. He’s at least a 1 to 2 years away from being ML ready.
Things change every year in your organization. You never know what happens. Perhaps Fielder suffers an injury. Or, they decide they don’t want to invest long term in him. You never what’s going to happen from year to year.
For the most part, teams stockpile and if they do trade them, its for a high impact player. Such as what the D’backs and A’s did last year with the Haren trade.
V – I was thinking the same thing. Could you imagine if they gave Ohlendorf a shot and he worked out as well?
I would imagine at this point, Rasner holds down the 4 spot and the 5th spot rotates until Hughes is ready to come back, or Joba is transitioned to the rotation (whichever comes first).
If Rasner and Joba are in the 4 and 5 spots by the end of June, and Hughes comes back in the beginning of July, i think you’d see Hughes slide into the rotation and Rasner transition into the bullpen.
I dont think we’ll see IPK back in NY before Hughes comes back, and I also dont think we’ll see him again this season unless there is an injury to another arm in the rotation.
i also wouldnt be surprised if IPK was in another organization come July 31st.
hmmmm
have you not watched the yankees in the last 3 PS’s?
“Gallardo just went down with a knee injury; how about moving a couple of arms and give the kid a shot to play 1B here?”
I am against anything that blocks Mark Teixiera from being a Yankee lol
“i also wouldnt be surprised if IPK was in another organization come July 31st.”
I would.
He’s in his second professional season. Second.
Very few pitchers are successful ML pitchers in their second season.
What would you get for him? A crappy middle reliever?
Ohlendorf is not going to be made into a starter. One of the reasons they made him into a relief pitcher is that he was more effective in short bursts than in starting games.
He’s not going to be changed back into a starter.
If you watch him pitch, you see how effective he is when he only has to work an inning. A guy like Ohlendorf is a future setup guy. Not a starter.
There is no trade market in baseball on May 5. Every team is still evaluating what they have, can they compete this season, etc.
Most teams in baseball need pitching right now. You just can’t just snap your fingers and find them. Its why teams are looking to develop from within. It gives them more options.
To solve your problems at this stage of the year, you first look from within.
The Yankees have Rasner, White, Igawa, McCutcheon and perhaps Chase Wright, as 4 options for 2 spots in the rotation.
I suspect they will look to those guys before entertaining any outside moves.
If they signed David Wells tomorrow (which they won’t), he won’t be ready to pitch in the majors for a month.
What do you do in the meantime? Precisely what they are doing now. Solving their problems from within.
That’s why its doubtful Wells is or will be a viable option.
I feel badly for Alan Horne. If he didn’t get hurt, he probably would be making his major league debut this weekend in Detroit.
The game is not always fair. Hopefully, he gets back soon.
V-
no; you’d package him as a centerpiece to a deal to bring in a solid piece to the 2008 puzzle, and maybe beyond.
IPK’s 6 starts and demotion doesnt do much to his overall value; teams still see he’s got MLB stuff, just that he needs to attack the K zone.
I heard reports that Horne is supposed to throw a BP today… guess that would put him on track to be back with Scranton in a couple weeks.
Is Darrel Rasner realted to west coast gangster rapper Rass Kass?
How about Kennedy for Votto?
“have you not watched the yankees in the last 3 PS’s?”
yes. there is no question they have struggled in the postseason. i am not going to argue that. for whatever reason, they haven’t got the job done.
but you are making sweeping generalizations. Jeter hit into a million double plays last postseason. are you saying that Jeter is a big slugger who doesn’t know how to change his approach and manufacture runs? that doesn’t pass the smell test.
you are saying the entire lineup is full of guys who always swing for the fences, and i pointed out that it isn’t true. Jeter, Melky, Damon, Abreu, Cano. that’s more than half of your line-up that can’t be called “sluggers”.
and you are applying their post-season struggles to the regular season, which is simply not true.
The only way Kennedy gets traded is if there is a major player on the market and that team sees him as a viable long term pitching option.
No such player has emerged at this time. Nor has Kennedy yet shown he can be a long term viable pitching option at the major league level.
Best case scenario for Kennedy is to go to AAA and put together 4 solid starts in a row. That gets him back into the mix in NY and also raises his value to other teams.
Right now, he has no value to anybody until he pitches better.
sj-
just drove through rush hour miami traffic on 95 on the way to the airport. i thought boston was bad, these people are crazy. no wonder you get cranky sometimes.
hmmmm
im a yankees fan. the post season is when it counts.
so they (finally) did a good job of scoring runners against a very overrated seattle team. i hope thats making you feel good about them. this team has had few problems during the RS., but the same themes keep coming up in the PS., and inopportune offense that cant manufacture runs when it counts.
Wang is Taiwan,
I’m sorry if you think I was singling you out as the only one with an agenda.
Your opinion mirrors that of 3 or 4 others that follow the pattern.
Working backwards it’s: Kids struggling means that plan’s not working. It’s all Cashman’s fault. Shampoo, rinse, repeat. Vehement argument=horse is dead, please remove from track (RIP Eight Belles).
The truth of the matter is we had from Day 1:
-bad weather
-key veteran pitcher starting season on the DL
-messed up rotation
-brutal schedule
-horrible weather
-young pitchers
-facing offfensive juggernauts for most of the first month
-little to none run support for young pitchers
-new manager
-injuries to key players, including but not limited to: Jeter, Posada, Rodriguez, Molina
-scribes with an agenda and sharpened swords, err, pens
-struggles of two key players: Cano & Giambi
The plan did not work. They gave it a month. Things are turning around now. What’s the cause? Removing two young, struggling pitchers, one of whom is coincidentally injured? So their removal’s going to make A-rod & Posada heal magically. Cano’s going to start hitting because he doesn’t feel pressured to support two young pitchers?
Try this one on for size. Let’s pretend that Pavano didn’t need to have surgery because he reached out to pay the tab at a gentlemen’s club. Let’s pretend that Moose didn’t looked cooked last year. Maybe, just maybe, Phil & Ian wouldn’t have had to been rushed to the majors years before their ETA.
So, I think it’s unfair to lay this at their feet, and by extension at Cashman’s feet. It was a perfect storm. Nothing more, nothing less.
At the end of last season, Phil & Ian were pitching better than Moose & Carl. They looked ready. Maybe if circumstances had been different, they would be. Maybe if they didn’t have the pressure to perform, be perfect because the offense chose to disappear on the days they pitched we wouldn’t be talking about all this.
All in all, life is good, the Yankees are good.
And you’re absolutely right, there’s nothing we can say or do to make this team perform. Which is why I wonder why people continuously complain about this team and focus on the bad when we should be supporting this motley crew we call the Yankees. Once again, not singling you out.
Randy,
Worst area in America for driving. Its not even close.
Boston used to have the Gold Medal.
South Florida in general, and Miami in particular, takes the cake.
Just a brutal, brutal place to get around in a car.
You feel like you have won something if somebody hasn’t slammed into you, or just missed you, during the course of a day.
“One rookie — fine, but not two in one year.”
Yeah, because it surely didn’t work out when those two rookies Cano and Wang were brought up the same year.
Unless they changed the rules overnight, the regular season does matter.
You have to get to the post-season before worrying about the post-season.
You can always judge the ages of Yankees fans on the blog. They believe the post-season is their birthright since they have never followed a Yankee team that has missed making the playoffs.
Its not easy to go to the playoffs every year. Its even tougher to win it.
Some things are in your control. Others (the midges for example) are not.
I wouldn’t be so flip about the regular season not meaning much.
Without playing well in it, you have no shot at post-season glory.
ray, i think that would be in reference to the rotation, not two rookies or more on the roster total.
sj your pontificating as usual is way wrong. and you are a blowhard. iv been throug the horace clark era, and sat in a very empty stadim many times in the dallas green/stump merill era. i also spent some of the merill era at heritage park in albany watching bernie williams, so you couldn be more wrong about me.
now tell me if there is anyone here who thinks this offense/defense is capable of making the WS. b/c i am quite confident this team will make the PS and i am equally confident that w/o major changes on the position players, this team will exit in the 1st round.
and by the way, blowhard, when the yankees have another horace clark era, i will still be sitting in the stadium rooting for them, which is more than i can say for at least 1/2 or yankees fans.
“Yeah, because it surely didn’t work out when those two rookies Cano and Wang were brought up the same year.”
No burden of expectation followed these guys up. Whatever they offered was gravy…….and the Yanks got a lot of gravy.
Still think Hughes will be terrific. Never thought Kennedy was more than a #4 type, so my expectations are lower than many I suppose, but this was a completely different situation than what Wang and Cano went thru.
The likely rotation when Hughes comes back is: Wang,Pettitte,Mussina,Joba,Hughes, I like that rotation but I don’t see Kennedy being in the rotation unless injury occurs or Mussina stinks it up. Hughes is going to be on a long leash so will Joba and of course Wang and Pettitte.
“now tell me if there is anyone here who thinks this offense/defense is capable of making the WS. b/c i am quite confident this team will make the PS and i am equally confident that w/o major changes on the position players, this team will exit in the 1st round.”
it all comes down to the starting pitching.
IF the yankees make the playoffs, they will go as far as their starters will take them.
i would sign up for a post-season berth and take my chances with our offense any day if i knew the starters were going to give us quality innings.
that doesn’t mean there doesn’t need to be a tweak or two, but it’s only May. sometimes you make adjustments during the year. this doesn’t constitute some sort of massive failure. sometimes you have to make a trade.
the Yankees were obviously trying to wring whatever was left out of Giambi that they could and it doesn’t look like it’s working. if he is still hitting like this in a few weeks, they are going to have to look elsewhere.
that’s how it works. sometimes you go and get a David Justice mid-season to make a line-up tweak.
but that doesn’t mean you tear down the entire roster.
if Cano was hitting like everyone knows he can, the offense would look fine.
Alan Horne clearly has more upside than Ian Kennedy but won’t get the chance for another month when he’s back in full form and has a few good AAA starts. Daniel McCutchen and David Robertson are others that could surpass Kennedy with good outings also at AAA.
This is the time for Ian Kennedy to gather himself and show that he’s still high in the echelon. His problem may be that he was thrown into the fire too soon and virtually handed a job out of spring training based on what he showed in September of 2007.
“so they (finally) did a good job of scoring runners against a very overrated seattle team.”
Their bats are indeed overrated. However did you see how low of an ERA Bedard, Hernandez and Silva had before they came into Yankee stadium?
Lets jump on the way-back machine…. the first game Melky played in CF was against the D-Rays (I can say the D again
). but anyway, sinking line-drive that he just missed, goes to the wall for an inside the park home run… no1′s thinking about that now.. give the 2 pitchers some time and we’ll forget all about their early struggles too
sj -
when you finally make it to the airport and into the rental car return, you do feel like you passed a finish line and got the checkered flag.
as far as two rookie pitchers in the rotation, it was a calculated gamble based what hughes and kennedy did at the end of last year. i personally like to have back up plans on my back up plans, but that’s an extra expense if you don’t need the back up.
i’m sure this is what cashman was thinking with pitchers like silva getting huge free agent contracts. i still think it would have been worth the expense to have signed a veteran pitcher. with the payroll, the yankees have, it’s like are in the position of driving a ferrari ,but not having enough cash left to have a spare tire .
i wouldn’t have done it the way cashman did it, but it’s at least understandable why he went with the two rookie starting pitchers.
get rid of betamit and ensberg, move one of the dh’s, (for bp help), bring up gardener and get a defensive 1b who can take over in late innings. then trade giambi if he ever rises to the level of having trade value.
“when the yankees have another horace clark era, i will still be sitting in the stadium rooting for them, ”
i won’t because the sooner you don’t support a bad team , the sooner they are forced to make changes. nothing makes management take notice like no money coming in.
However stupid this may sound… with Posada and A-Rod out you really can’t afford to sit Giambi, no matter how poorly he hits. The guy works his walks and is a power threat. You cant have the whole bottom of the order as backups.
I guess I missed something…. we did just sweep Seattle right??
this place is usually such a happy place after a win lol
I do agree that Betamit is a useless piece with AG on the roster, but who’s looking to trade on May 5th?
I don’t know about all of you but the organization’s decision to start Igawa dismays me greatly.
The Yankees have extended Igawa greater sufferance than any other pitcher in their organization. What distinguishes Igawa from Clippard, DeSalvo, or Wright, for example, apart from the money the Yankees paid the former? Certainly not performance.
2007
Igawa 67.7 IPs 6.25 ERA 1.67 WHIP
Clip/DeSalvo/Wright 64.7 IPs 6.39 ERA 1.79 WHIP
2008
Igawa (AAA) 3-3 39.2 IPs 3.86 ERA 1.13 WHIP
Wright (AA) 4-1 42.2 IPs 2.95 ERA 1.06 WHIP
How much worse could IPK have pitched than Igawa will anyway? At least, IPK would gain from the experience and as he communicated, his struggles didn’t seem to sap him of confidence.
Do the Yankees honestly believe Igawa will afford them a better chance to win games than IPK at his worst?
“Pavano has thrown his last pitch as an active New York Yankee”.
As repulsive as it sounds, don’t be shocked if Pavano gets a few starts in Late August for the Yankees. Even Girardi mused during his weekly Show with Kay that it would be nice to get some wins from Pavano in August and September.
I don’t support firing Cashman, but I do believe that it was a mistake to rely on two (and possibly three)relatively inexperienced rookies to become your 3rd and 4th starters, especially with the dropoff of Mussina’s performance in the past few years. And my position was not due to the current state of affairs, I mentioned it during the Winter of 2007 and Early 2008. An experienced No.3 or No. 4 starter was needed in order to contend with the Red Sox , not 3 rookies with less than 16 combined starts…unless you’ve committed to a rebuilding year.
JoeT: Don’t you know,, Yankee fans aren’t happy unless you go 162-0!
JMP,
All the namecalling and mispellings show me is that you are a moron.
If you want to debate baseball, fine. If you want to play the namecalling game, I’ll wait until you are out of your 5th grade class to do so.
“get rid of betamit and ensberg, move one of the dh’s, (for bp help), bring up gardener and get a defensive 1b who can take over in late innings. then trade giambi if he ever rises to the level of having trade value.”
and they might do this still.
it’s May.
it’s hard to argue that Cashman and Girardi haven’t been pro-active about weeding out underperformers (yes, Giambi has been given a long leash, i can’t argue that).
Kennedy? sent down.
Traber? sent down.
Hughes? was on his way down before he got hurt.
Betemit? when Jeter got hurt, they called up AG to play SS.
Cashman has already said that he thinks Gardner will be the one position player to make an impact on the 2008 team.
you guys seem to think that teams pick the perfect roster in ST and never make changes on the fly.
Alberto Gonzalez looks like he can hang on the major league level. was that known last year when they got Betemit? no. there was nothing in his minor league numbers to think that his bat was ready.
so now they have a potential chip to deal with in Betemit.
we’ll see what the roster looks like in July.
Kill-Schill,
It would’ve been cruel, counter-productive, and career-threatening to keep trotting Kennedy out there. He really did need to go down and figure out how to get it back. Because he did have it. Just way too much pressure, as I outlined beautifully in my 9:58 am post.
They really had to do it, before some deranged LoHud fan killed Kennedy.
Hey, Someone was telling me about a book that was advertised on the YES network. Supposedly its about Yankee Stadium. I was wondering if anyone knows the title of it. Unfortunately I’m in Florida still and don’t get YES.
mel: Deranged LoHud fan? *shudder*
Anyway, I’ve got to go defend my thesis now. Should be interesting. I wonder if I can figure out a way to mention baseball. Probably not.
“Do the Yankees honestly believe Igawa will afford them a better chance to win games than IPK at his worst?”
there are bigger things at stake there than 1-2 games in May.
Ian Kennedy is a prized property of the Yankees. they love his future. they think he has the potential to fill out their rotation for many years.
the Tigers right now are an offensive force. the odds that Kennedy gets shelled again are VERY high.
with his confidence already damaged, you want to protect him from getting shelled again.
Igawa will probably lose this game. the Yankees know this.
it’s not about winning this game. it’s about protecting Kennedy.
i can’t believe that people don’t see this.
not every issue is about Cashman’s ego, or Girardi’s attitude.
it’s about not letting your 23 pitcher get his head handed to him by the best offense in baseball.
you can ALWAYS mention baseball Rebecca…… good luck!!
“At least, IPK would gain from the experience and as he communicated, his struggles didn’t seem to sap him of confidence. ”
well, except for the part about him saying that it has hurt his confidence.
which is, you know, right at the top of this thread in Pete’s post.
I wouldn’t count Olendorf out for a temporary starter until hopefully we have more options by July. It’s not ideal of course, but to me it’s a better alternative than Kei Igawa. We have seen Olendorf pitch 3 innings every 2-3 days, that’s more than how much Hughes and IPK had pitched as starters.
Like I said, I know it’s not a long-term solution, but until Hughes is healthy, Joba is stretched out or IPK makes a dramatic comeback, we need a 5th starter for the next 4-10 games. If the alternatives are Kei Igawa who handed out 4 runs and 4 walks yesterday in AAA, David Wells who is Clemens 2.0, or Dan McCutcheon from AA who could be rushed too soon, then I’ll take Olendorf in the meantime.
Other guys like Stephen White sounds good right now because it’s a clean slate, he hasn’t started in the MLB. But who’s to say he won’t be another IPK? At least Olendorf has settled in the major league this season and has shown some success. I’m not saying Olendorf should make a permanent switch to SP, but to adamantly count him out as a short-term solution in favor for a bunch of prospects unproven in the MLB or for Kei Igawa is unfair.
ok so first i was a kid who’s never been around when the team sucked, which turned out to be as wrong as most of your posts. now its that im a moron b/c i misspelled something.
Good to see Rasner succeed considering the setback he had that kept him out of the rotation after performing fairly well last May. The problem the Yanks have is that their rotation lacks differentiation — 85-88 from Rasner and Moose, 87-90 from Pettitte, all depending upon location, not power.
It’s not even funny how Bill Madden’s column today is
1. overreactive
2. false
3. ridiculously stupid
but still w/ all that said the guys I feel bad for is Chase Wright, Alan Horne and Dan McCutchen to have to watch Kei Igawa’s one trick pony show in the ML based on his strikeout numbers. His K rates and numbers of strikes he’s thrown.
Kei Igawa has charted 637 pitches in AAA this season, 412 were for strikes and he has accomplished getting 117 outs yet only 39% of those outs were on the ground, 61% were in via the flyball. his last start was a GO/AO ratio of 2-11, he’s averaged 5.6 IP in AAA, this is not the obvious choice at all. Only in his last 4 starts has he averaged 6.0 IP per start but his 48 % GB to 52 % FB shows no improvement at all, Chase Wright in AA in his last 4 starts has averaged 6.3 IP w/ a GO/AO of 35-23 meaning 60% of his batted outs are on the ground to the infield and 40% are in the air. McCutchen in his last 4 starts has a 58% GB to 42% FB rate, he’s averaged 7.0 IP per start.
Lets review Igawa’s AAA season 65% of his pitches for strikes(watever), 61 % batted ball outs are in the air !, Wright 60 % batted ball outs are on the ground, McCutchen 52% on the ground.
HOW THE HELL DOES KEI IGAWA PASS THESE 2 WHO ARE CLEARLY THE BETTER CHOICE !!!
“HOW THE HELL DOES KEI IGAWA PASS THESE 2 WHO ARE CLEARLY THE BETTER CHOICE !!!
”
Because the Yankees are trying to extract some value from this guy to trade him.
Even if Igawa gets shelled there may be a strong reason to bring him up to the major league roster–to determine whether he belongs on the 40 or whether his presence is clogging up a space that could be better utilized by the McCutcheons of this world. If (which I hope, but I have little faith in) Igawa shows something in this start (and if he gets additional starts), they could use a left handed reliever when Hughes returns.
Brandon,
39% outs on the ground 61% in the air but what % come from strikeout?
“but still w/ all that said the guys I feel bad for is Chase Wright, Alan Horne and Dan McCutchen to have to watch Kei Igawa’s one trick pony show in the ML based on his strikeout numbers.”
Under usual circumstances I would agree with this.
I would not be very happy with Igawa getting the start.
But there’s a big outside factor here for that game – the Tiger’s offense.
The Tiger’s have woken up and that is a tremendous group of hitters.
Even if Alan Horne was completely healthy and pitching well in AAA I don’t think I’d want to call him up and have him fact that offense for his first pro game.
That goes doubly for McCutchen, White and Chase Wright.
This game and their need for a starter is very different because of the competition.
There isn’t any good solution here. But having Kennedy take that game if his confidence was already suffering would have been bad for Kennedy’s development.
The same goes for quality prospects like Horne and McCutchen – just not a good idea to have them make their debut’s against that team.
That game could be very ugly but Igawa might be the only option.
No, we “GET IT” It’s just that we disagree on how best to safeguard IPK’s psyche. A demotion can endanger any person’s confidence and self-esteem as much as failure.
It depends on the person’s temperament and constitution. Failure hasn’t seem to penetrate our President’s invincible ego, for example.
And while I hate to draw the comparison, IPK hardly sounded devastated to me by his trials. To the contrary, he seemed quite confident he’d overcome them, reminded me of Joba in this regard, in fact, than Hughes. IPK even told the press he knew he belonged in the majors and actually expressed exasperation with New York and the Yankees for their impatience.
Had he seemed dejected, I might have approved the decision to demote him.
Otherwise, I would have skipped him one turn, to prevent him from facing the best lineup in baseball, and started him again the next time through the rotation.
You see, WE GET IT! The problem is how much more beyond the Yankees’ disingenuous rationales for their decisions we apprehend.
Do you pro
“Brandon,
39% outs on the ground 61% in the air but what % come from strikeout?”
34%
“Under usual circumstances I would agree with this.
I would not be very happy with Igawa getting the start.
But there’s a big outside factor here for that game – the Tiger’s offense.
The Tiger’s have woken up and that is a tremendous group of hitters.
Even if Alan Horne was completely healthy and pitching well in AAA I don’t think I’d want to call him up and have him fact that offense for his first pro game.
That goes doubly for McCutchen, White and Chase Wright.
This game and their need for a starter is very different because of the competition.
There isn’t any good solution here. But having Kennedy take that game if his confidence was already suffering would have been bad for Kennedy’s development.
The same goes for quality prospects like Horne and McCutchen – just not a good idea to have them make their debut’s against that team.
That game could be very ugly but Igawa might be the only option.”
CB I feel bad for Horne because he is held back because of his injury, McCutchen because he’s stuck in AA and Wright for the same reason, but you can’t think that thier value will drop if they go against Det (Wright and McCutchen) to go against a dangerous Detroit team you need to give yourself a chance to win that game, Igawa doesn’t give you the best chance to win that game, he actually projects to getting his but handed to him. If they are looking for LHP to gain experience Chase Wright is the clear cut answer, as for McCutchen seeing how Detroit is RH dominant he would have the best chance of giving you legit innings. Kei Igawa’s 61% outs in the air vs bats that don’t miss in Sheffield,Cabrera and Ordonez ? do they actually think this is a logical choice ?
So 34% strikeout, and of the remaining 66%, 39% are on the ground, 61% are in the air?
Anyways, Igawa is a risky choice to start but there aren’t too many options available. Steven White has pitched well in AAA and I would definitely consider starting him but I guess Cashman wants to go with Igawa. McCutchen looks good but he’s still in AA theres no way I’d rush him up only to get destroyed by the Tigers. Wright is also in AA so thats a no-go. There is a very low percentage that any of these guys could come up and beat the tigers. I don’t know if Igawa’s chances are any better but might as well give him a chance. I’d rather him get beaten then one of the kids. Also who knows, he might surprise us.
“So 34% strikeout, and of the remaining 66%, 39% are on the ground, 61% are in the air?”
no you misread my post GO/AO 30-47 out of this Kei Igawa’s split is 61% FB to 39% GB. But what you asked was % of his outs, he has a total of 117 outs in AAA (strikeouts,FO,GO)
34% of those outs are via the strikeout, 26% GO, 40% FO.
“Anyways, Igawa is a risky choice to start but there aren’t too many options available. Steven White has pitched well in AAA and I would definitely consider starting him but I guess Cashman wants to go with Igawa. McCutchen looks good but he’s still in AA theres no way I’d rush him up only to get destroyed by the Tigers. Wright is also in AA so thats a no-go. There is a very low percentage that any of these guys could come up and beat the tigers. I don’t know if Igawa’s chances are any better but might as well give him a chance. I’d rather him get beaten then one of the kids. Also who knows, he might surprise us.”
White was never one of my choices, he makes absolutely no sense. Wright had a cup of coffee in the ML, I would think his improvement would get him a promotion, since he has improved, McCutchen is 25 in AA, he should have been in AAA, his numbers are better than Igawa’s and AA to AAA hitters really there isn’t a big difference there.
It’s not that starting Horne, McCutchen, etc would make their value drop – it would just be bad for their development because it could just become an overwhelming experience.
Remember Chase Wright’s first game in the majors last year against boston?
4 home runs later his confidence was shot for the year.
I wouldn’t necessarily want Horne or McCutchen to make that start because it could be a bad thing for them in the big picture.
You don’t want a rookie pitcher to make his first start against that offense.
It’s a long season. That detroit game is most likely going to be a loss no matter who they call up to make the start.
You just have to go into the gam and take a shot.
As it is there’s no way McCutchen or Wright can go from AA to facing the tigers and horne is hurt.
If they want to give Steve White a shot that’s fine – he’s 27 already and is only going to get a shot in this type of emergency start type situation.
But whether its igawa or white – it’s not a pretty picture.
The most noticeable roster tweaking by the Yankees will be done in mid to late July.
Rarely does a team white flag it’s season this soon. Teams know what they have and what direction they’re headed by late June and decisions are reached of which players are expendable and the players to shake out for financial or talent reasons based on what their minor leaue operations have been showing.
In the case of the Yankees, if Giambi is in the way of progress in July and the team is on top in the standings, Hank Steinbrenner may not want to chance any regression and pull the trigger to DFA Giambi when the remaining 1/3 of this year’s salary plus a $5M buyout will clear the air toward a successful season.
“LOL at Bill Madden – the End of the Hughes and Kennedy Era!”
You’re right, Betsy! Boy, folks will write anything if it will sell papers no matter its truth or intelligence.
CB Igawa won’t make it past the 4th inning, I understand the Wright arguement, remember the kid wasn’t polished at all, he was fastball, change up w/ less command, one start which lets be honest Torre just stood there and watched HR after HR instead of going to the BP, then he was never heard from again. I’m charting how it makes no sense for Igawa to make this start because the BP will most surely be overworked on this day, McCutchen again he should have been in AAA and a start vs that team could put him on the radar more than hurt his confidence, if his confidence gets hurt that quickly atleast you find out what he’s made of.
And I know either way not a pretty picture but against Detroit give me a SP that keeps the ball on the ground instead of in the air.
It’s pretty obvious that the Yankees didn’t have a whole lot of choice here, though I would be curious as to why they decided not to skip Kennedy’s spot this time through. Igawa is as good a choice as any. White hasn’t pitched any better than him at AAA and has no experience at the major league level. Wright might be a better choice, but he’s struggled every time he’s advanced past AA and it’s better to bring him up when he’s ready than to damage his confidence yet again. Look what happened last year — he was pitching even better than he is this year at AA, got bombed in the majors, got bombed at AAA, and had to be sent down to AA again,where he didn’t pitch all the well. McCutchen isn’t on the 40 man roster and the Yankees are having a hard enough time finding spots for all the guys they definitely need. They aren’t adding someone for a game or two, particularly someone that might not be able to really help for a while. That leaves Igawa.
I have great faith in the Yankees organization that they know what they’re doing. As I said, I’d love to hear the reasoning for not skipping over the empty spot in the rotation this time through, but I don’t doubt that, whether it’s the right decision or not, they didn’t just jump into it without thinking.
Promoting pitchers from within makes sense on SO many economic levels. I love it.
It’s so much more fun to go to AAA and AA games confident you’re seeing future Yankees — and that’s the affordable option for most families. Trenton and SWB are keeping the next generation of fans in the pipeline.
“White was never one of my choices, he makes absolutely no sense.”
Why? He’s pitching well in AAA, he’s as good a choice as any in this situation.
“As it is there’s no way McCutchen or Wright can go from AA to facing the tigers and horne is hurt.”
Exactly.
“But whether its igawa or white – it’s not a pretty picture.”
Thats how I feel, there is a very low chance that either one will be able to pitch a good ballgame and an equally low chance that Wright or McCutchen will pitch well vs the tigers. Might as well let Igawa take a beating instead of our prospects.
Very interesting article in Forbes on the “Business of Baseball.”
http://www.forbes.com/2008/04/....._land.html
I’m sure many of the well informed members of Pete’s LOHUD blog community knew all of this, but it surprised me to learn that the Yankees lost a ton of money last year (Over $47m). If the tables are clear, that includes all of their sources of revenue (DC made the most money).
Is there a real possibility that the financials associated with the Santana deal were far more important than advertised?
Also, there is a question in the whole Forbes presentation on the most valuable (dollar wise) pitchers in the MLB and Wang is not mentioned. Bad analysis, IMO. But the vote for which pitcher will win the most games in ’08 is currently going to “other.” LOL.
in any case I hope I can get rid of this fever in time so I can drink myself out during this start.
“the most valuable (dollar wise) pitchers in the MLB and Wang is not mentioned. Bad analysis, IMO.”
Good point, Back Bench. If that analysis came out before April 2008, then it’s pretty bad. If it just came out, it’s crazy. Wang should be seen as a top-5 value now.
I highly doubt the Yankees are in any sort of financial trouble. For both legal and financial reasons, they have multiple revenue structures.
While the actual franchise itself may have “technically” lost money, I highly doubt they are anywhere close to being “in the red”…actually, i’m sure the contrary is more than likely.
This being said, with Hal running the financial end of things, I think the Yankees will be more fiscally conservative and run the team more like a business.
ps…I think I read somewhere that the Yankees will project to actually make money from the A-Rod contract. This doesnt surprise me at all.
Ross is NOT a starting pitcher…
SJ44 good post, some want Ross to start; because he is the de facto long man in BP. He is long man because he is the only one that has been a starter. Without the long man Joe wanted, Ross is it. He is a one inning pitcher…and very good at it. As a 2/3 inning guy, pitches start sliding on him (little brake, slower speed etc.). He is the 7/8th inning type of guy, or men on base type, he gets the double play ball better then a lot of the other guys.
“As I said, I’d love to hear the reasoning for not skipping over the empty spot in the rotation this time through, but I don’t doubt that, whether it’s the right decision or not, they didn’t just jump into it without thinking”
because there IS no empty spot.
the Yankees have ONE off-day, that’s today. even if they skip a starter TODAY, they play 13 straight games after today.
there is no way to skip that #5 spot in the rotation for the Detroit series.
it would go: Pettitte, Wang (instead of Kennedy’s spot), Moose, Rasner, MYSTERY STARTER.
there is no way to skip that spot.
Wow, amazing- everyone wanted Pavano AND the Yankee rotation was so solid last year that he could have been traded…what was the problem last year? Oh, that’s right, the problem last year was starting pitching and if Pavano had been healthy we wouldn’t have had two months of chaos…but if you think it is best to speculate and dump starting pitching, then go ahead- trade all the “bums”, just remember that someone else needs to fill those spots- if it works out, you look like a genius, if it doesn’t you’re more worse off than before.
Amazing, the hindsight being 20/20 thing….
What teams are 1/2 the people on the board General managers of? Oh, that’s right, none of you- a bunch of George Costanza’s trying to trade Jim Leyritz and Bernie Williams for Barry Bonds
huh, i was assuming the series in Detroit was 4 games. i suppose the yankee could have used Kennedy on Thursday to miss Detroit.