Today in The Journal News
-
- May
- 16
First off, cool illustration by Chris Brown of The Journal News. How talented is that guy? It’s for a story Sudden Sam Borden did on struggling first basemen Jason Giambi and Carlos Delgado as we head into the Subway Series.
The Yankees lost again in Tampa Bay as Scott Kazmir dominated them. Now comes Johan Santana.
Darrell Rasner had a bad experience against the Mets last season. This notebook also has news on a step forward for A-Rod.
The Mets had a no-hitter going for a while then lost to the Nationals. Billy Wagner then let a couple of teammates have it. Brian Heyman has that story.
Now that Joe Torre is in Los Angeles, Willie Randolph takes up the cause of complaining about the Subway Series. This Mets notebook also has news on Luis Castillo.
————
Mark Melancon made his AA debut last night: 2 2 1 1 0 4. Those last two numbers are the ones you want to see.
Our favorite Thunder blogger, Mike Ashmore, has the details and even some video.
I’m waiting on a 6 a.m. flight to New York. Check back later for the lineups and other Subway Series posts.
This entry was posted
on Friday, May 16th, 2008 at 5:01 am by Peter Abraham.
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LOL, nice illustration.
Anyway, if the Rockies would really do it, maybe Cash should try to trade for Holliday…
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/8143654/Rockies-could-be-in-market-to-trade-Holliday?CMP=OTC-K9B140813162&ATT=3498
Great graphic… looks like it was done in Illustrator.
Great illustration by Chris Brown. Too bad the subject matter isn’t a positive one.
And, another good article by Sam Borden. Thanks, Pete.
If they are rained out tonight, will they play a DH tomorrow? I don’t know which is worse - playing in awful weather or having to play two games in one day, when your bench is thin to begin with due to injury.
Baseball in New York is not too enouraging these days — in either league.
Man, the up-coming series looks like a battle of “who’s the worst scoring team”.
What a great illustration… Followed up by a great column by Sam Borden.
Lets hope for a NYY win this weekend over those LI rats…
Getting back to a topic from last night, I like the idea of attempting to acquire Matt Holliday from COL.
Forgot who it was, Brandon or SJ, one of the ‘I-know-alls’, but they said people pining for Holliday exemplefies a ‘quick fix’, in so many words. ‘Dumping prospects’ et al, etc.
I could not disagree more. Its not like Holliday is in his decline phase. Its not like giving up, say Kennedy, Tabata and another pitching prospect hurts this team THAT much.
Holliday has a gun for an arm, and he’s a right handed power hitter. Yeah, the NYY don’t need any of those.
But people complain he isn’t a leadoff guy. Well, dump Damon, trade for Holliday, and stick Jeter back in leadoff. Slap Abreu in the 2-hole.
I say this team needs energy and excitement. As Pete pointed out last night, this team looks very dull.
Some young energy would help, IMO.
Here’s hoping Giambi is traded/DFA’d over the weekend!
Jeter ss
Abreu rf
Holliday lf
A-Rod 3b
Posada c
Cano 2b
Matsui dh
?????? 1b
Cabrera CF
Best part of the news around the Yankees is Mark Melancon.
He continues to make his way through the system and that’s good news for Yankee fans.
The sooner he is ready, the sooner Joba gets in the rotation. That solves one problem.
Melancon is the guy the Yankees feel can be the 8th inning guy of the future. I think its a proper call on their part. He is a very talented young man.
Arod returning on Tuesday is a step toward solving the lack of offense problem. A BIG step. You don’t replace Arod’s production with the likes of Morgan Ensberg, Wilson Betemit and Alberto Gonzalez.
Giambi and Damon? They are on borrowed time. If they continue to struggle, I can’t see the Yankees staying with either guy through the entire season.
People trying to play with Giambi’s stats to “prove” he has been productive, need a reality check.
He has 13 hits all season. Six are against Paul Byrd and Mike Timlin. He has 7 hits against everybody else this year. That’s pathetic. Is that 21 million dollars (his 2008 salary) worth of “production”? I don’t think so.
At some point, both players have to produce on a consistent basis. If they can’t, the Yankees have no choice but to move in a different direction.
Buster Olney reported last night the Yankees internally have decided they want to trade Damon. That’s not shocking to me.
There will be teams interested in Damon. Most likely closer to the trade deadline. Its just a matter of agreeing to terms and getting Damon to agree to waiving his partial no trade clause.
Watching the way Damon is playing, it looks like he can’t wait to get out of NY. Perhaps he will get his wish sooner than later. For the sake of Damon and the Yankees, that move can’t happen soon enough.
When he was signed, he was signed to be the CF and was paid CF money. He couldn’t last 2 years in center and he had to be moved to left. Mainly because he couldn’t defend in center anymore. Not a good sign.
By moving to LF, that placed even more pressure on him being the tablesetter in the lineup. He has now shown he is no longer a tablesetter. Doesn’t take walks, low OBP, can’t hit on the road. All he tries to do now is hook pitches into the short porch in left. Precisely what you don’t want from your leadoff hitter.
For 3/4 of last year he was a non-factor offensively. He got hot the last 1/4 of the season.
So far this season, at the 1/4 pole mark, he has had one good week of hitting. That’s it, one week.
So for the last 1 1/4 seasons as a Yankee, he had to be moved out of CF (what he was being paid to play) and has had 1/4 of a season in which he produced offensively.
Completely unacceptable for a guy in Year 3 of a 4 year, 52 million dollar contract.
Watching the throw he made from LF yesterday was embarrassing. A 10 hopper from 100 feet in LF in which a catcher easily tagged up from third to score. You can’t play a guy in the OF who throws like that unless he hits .350. He ain’t hittin’ .350 this year.
Its time for the Yankees to move on from both Damon and Giambi. Its just a matter of when they can do it.
The sooner they can, the faster they can continue the retooling of the team.
They can retool on the fly and compete this year because the AL is down. To do so though, they are going to have to cut bait with two of the guys who are symbols of a past, failed way to do business.
Hopefully, that happens sooner than later. Its best for everybody involved.
Just because Ken Rosenthal thinks Matt Holliday could be on the market, doesn’t make it so.
He signed a 2 year extension with the Rockies in the off-season. They don’t have anybody in their system to replace him.
They have no reason to trade him now. They can keep him until the trade deadline next year and deal him. That is, if they don’t sign him to a new deal prior to that point.
They are a team that was in the World Series last year. I don’t see the logic from their end to start breaking up a young team like that by trading their best player.
Also, Kennedy, Tabata and another pitching prospect isn’t getting Matt Holliday.
Start with Joba, then go from there. The Rockies aren’t going to give him away for a kid who is winless with an over 8 ERA in the majors, a struggling AA OF, and another player.
You want Matt Holliday? Start with Cano and Joba or Hughes. That’s who the Rockies will want in return.
All star for all star or potential all star.
Its not going to be a fire sale for him.
“They can retool on the fly and compete this year because the AL is down. To do so though, they are going to have to cut bait with two of the guys who are symbols of a past, failed way to do business.”
i agree they can retool on the fly, but the best way to do this would be to get rid of the architect of the” failed way to do business”.
cashman really needs to be replaced or bumped up or aside. he’s good at telling a story, but he’s not good at delivering results. it’s very convenient to push off expectations to the future, but i simply don’t think he can cut it in the present. i don’t believe his “youth plan” will ever yield the results he promises.
i was wrong about mussina this year. maybe i’m wrong about cashman, but if i were in charge i’d replace him immediately as the gm.
“But people complain he isn’t a leadoff guy. Well, dump Damon, trade for Holliday, and stick Jeter back in leadoff. Slap Abreu in the 2-hole.”
I see your point and there’s nothing like a hot hitter to juice up a sagging offense.
But if you do what’s suggested above, you have a sub-optimal leadoff guy who doesn’t have the patience necessary to be in the no. 1 hole plus he has a healing quad muscle. Follow that up with moving your No. 3 hitter whose job is to tire pitchers out for A-Rod, into the 2 hole, affecting A-Rod’s likelihood to get a good pitch. Then, you hit Holliday 3d so you have 2 righties in a row. That’s not making one move, that’s making 4, and all 4 have to go well for it to work.
I can’t say it won’t work, but there’s no reason to think that’s a silver bullet. Who knows whether Holliday can handle NYC, let alone AL East pitching. It’s the Mark Tex deal from last year, except that Tex is a switch hitter and has hit well in both leagues. You’d be renting Holliday for 1 and a half years, give up three players including IPK and probably one of the next tier of starters plus Tabata and then have to face Boras in the walk year.
There would be nothing wrong with hearing about fueled rumors of Giambi close to being DFA’d or that Cashman is actively shopping Damon.
Even if this were to become a transitional year, both Giambi and Damon are in the way of progress.
There is no reason for the hierarchy to feel shamed for ever signing either player. Mistakes are made by every team including the Yankees.
Should this team start making strides soon with a surge forward, they will not be interested in seeing any wasted roster spots.
Doreen you here?
To answer your question from last night, the meet and greet is before the game.
I”d like to see Joe bump Damon from the lead off spot. He has become an automatic out, not good when you begin the game with one out!
Hi Jennifer -
I’m here, but it wasn’t me who asked about the meet and greet.
Randy,
The only problem with firing Cashman now is its tough to blame him for Giambi. He didn’t want to sign him.
Giambi’s contract and his play has hurt this team for years. Its killing them this year. That’s not on Cashman.
That contract precludes a lot of what they can do to retool the team. His presence on the roster takes up as much as three roster spots, eliminating roster flexibility.
That’s on George, who bid against himself on that deal, not Cashman.
The other problem with firing the GM in season is there is nobody to replace him. You end up weakening yourself in a year in which you don’t want that to happen.
If the Steinbrenners wish to replace Cashman, they can do so after the season when his contract expires.
Firing him now accomplishes nothing other than making him a scapegoat for deals in which he was not part of and they weaken their front office during the season.
Not the optimum solution to their problems.
…and if it’s true that hank hasn’t attended a game at yankee stadium yet this year, he really should step aside and let someone else who’s at least interested enough to show up for a game make decisions for the yankees.
Cabrera’s not much better in the lead-off spot, either.
I can’t fathom why Colorado would be shopping Matt Holliday around. And if they are, I can’t imagine such a deal occurring this early in the season.
Cashman, nor anyone else, could foresee the offense being this bad. There were many people at the start of the season saying the Yankees had the potential to score around 1,000 runs, just as they said last season. The same people who said Detroit would do the same.
Damon & Giambi both showed up in camp this year in good shape, healthy and ready to go. Giambi had a monster spring training (I know, spring numbers don’t count, but he was hitting the ball the other way, and he seemed really comfortable hitting and he was a lot more mobile in the field).
I don’t know where I’m going with this, except to say, no one, not a single person, can sit there and say that they knew without doubt that the Yankees would be having this much trouble at this point in the season. Almost nothing has gone as planned.
SJ- Don’t you think at a certain point you have to own up to your mistakes as an organization and just cut bait on guys who aren’t preforming? How many teams so far cut guys that were earning 10 million cause they coudn’t hack it this year.
Trade Damon, for what ever, and cut Jason, I doubt anyone would trade for Jason.
Cashman’s plan has yielded results.
Since May of 2005, when he was given complete control (3 full years), Wang, Cano, Cabrera, and Chamberlain have done pretty darn well as Yankees. Ohlendorf and Gonzalez have made meaningful contributions to the team. Veras and Ramirez have shown great improvement this year. We all see the potential with Hughes.
That’s not a bad haul for 3 years.
You have Gardner, Cox, Melancon and Robertson knocking on the door.
The Single A team in Charleston is loaded with prospects. AA has some guys who are showing signs of being in the mix.
Only Kennedy has been less than advertised.
His youth movement is fine and its working. It just doesn’t happen overnight. Its veterans who are past their prime that have failed him.
Given all that, they have made the playoffs every year. Not an easy task.
The veteran guys aren’t easy to move and that’s why they are eager to have all that money off the books after this season. It will give them the flexibility to do even more in the off-season.
Jennifer, hi that was me who asked. thanks!
Please tell us all about it after. Am curious to know if Moose is chatting…
i dont disagree that Holliday isnt just a quick fix, but has the potential to be a long-term solution in LF… however, like SJ said, it’s going to take a lot more than IPK and Tabata to get that deal done.
and, you’ve already got 2 LFs under contract this season, and thru next season. i would say sure, trade Damon, cut Giambi, let Matsui DH full time, move Jorge to 1B when he comes back, and then let Holliday play LF, but thats a pipe dream…
considering the players it would take, and the money the organization would have to eat, its just too expensive a move right now. thats fantasy baseball, not reality.
Right now Jason and Damon aren’t helping us, infact they are hurting us, like a ball and chain around our ankles. If this team is going to be mediocre I’d rather see us be mediocre with kids playing, than with guys on the downside of their careers.
DFA Giambi. Okay. Who plays 1st base? Ensberg? Betemit? Is either an upgrade offensively or defensively? Is eating 23 million too much to just make someone go away? Do you want to spend more money to bring someone else in to play 1st? Is there any option in the minors?
Many seem to think they know the answer (DFA him) but few seem to know the solution (then who?). Remember that real GM’s need both of those things in place, blog GM’s don’t.
Good article on Cashman/Hankenstein issues by Jon Heyman:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/jon_heyman/05/16/cashman/index.html
I think Cash is here to stay, but this piece doesn’t make it look too good.
The proress being made by Mark Melacon and J.B. Cox is slightly ahead of what was acticipated in the spring.
If they are joined by Alan Horne, David Robertson, Daniel McCutchen, and Brett Gardner, some or all of them can be factors in mid season and beyond.
All good signs they show can grease the skids of Giambi and Damon and have Cashman review what parts of the organization can be used to strengthen areas of need such as a 1st baseman and a corner outfielder.
Giambi has a no-trade clause and Cashman would have great difficulty ridding the team of him other than a straight DFA.
I’ll post pictures on a site and link them here. Mike should be in a great mood with how his year is going, maybe not so much with how the team is going.
ANyone have anything they;d like me to ask Mike.
the cartoonist & the writer must have been desperate to fill space, because comparing 2008 Giambi to 2008 Delgado is ludicrous.
Giambi has a .341 OBP & .438 slugging percentage - not that great for a 1b, but still, slightly above average for the AL.
Delgado is hitting like a really bad utility infielder - .302 OBP & .368 slugging percentage. that’s horrific.
i’m not saying Giambi is up to snuff - the expectation for him IMO should be around a .400 OBP & .500 slugging %. but comparing that to Delgado is apples to oranges.
Cashman lovers and haters - Jon Heyman has an article about the Hank/Cash relationship.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/jon_heyman/05/16/cashman/index.html
SI’s Jon Heyman has an article about Cash/Hank melodrama - I tried to paste the link but the filter wouldn’t allow it through.
“”The franchise is very fortunate to have the Steinbrenners directing it. The Steinbrenners inherited the need to win, and they commit to it financially, which is the biggest thing you could ask for,” Cashman said. “All I care about is what’s best for the franchise. If that includes me going forward, or doesn’t include me, that’s a decision to be made above me.””
Damon and Giambi = stripping the team of badly needed flexability.
Doreen,
You are absolutely correct re: the offense. NOBODY saw this coming. If they say they did, they are full of it.
Nobody saw this offense being this bad. Sure, Arod and Posada getting hurt has made a difference.
You don’t replace 75 HR’s and over 240 RBI in the lineup with Gonzalez, Moeller, Molina, Betemit, etc.
But, I defy anybody to tell me they KNEW Cano and Giambi would be under .200 into May. Damon would be a shell of his former self (accept for one good week) and they would hit under .200 w/RISP for a 25 game stretch.
When you are going to break in young pitchers, thinking you have an offense (after all, they did score 968 runs last year) to support them isn’t far fetched.
Unfortunately, it didn’t happen. So, its re-tooling time.
Jennifer,
To DFA Giambi today, they would have to eat about 20 million dollars right now. That’s not a GM decision. That’s an ownership decision. Cashman has no say in a decision like that. I have no idea how the Steinbrenners feel about eating that kind of money. I would guess they wouldn’t like it too much.
Damon? I think they would love to trade him. It takes the right deal, trade partner, and Damon agreeing to waive his partial no trade to make it happen.
Each step on that road could lead to a detour.
I don’t think Giambi or Damon will be with this team all season.
There is too much dead weight and too many issues surrounding both guys for me to believe they will be with the team all year.
I just don’t know what form (trade, DFA, etc) it will take for their departures.
Even if both guys suddenly got hot, all it really does is make them more attractive to other teams.
I doubt either guy is in the long range plan for the Yankees. That’s why I think both guys will be gone before season’s end.
A brief word on scouting and player development.
Its not an exact science and no organization bats 1.000 in their evaluation of players.
The Arizona Diamondbacks have the best young team in baseball. They may be the best team in baseball right now.
Their scouts, both on the road and advance guys, are among the best in the business.
Mike Rizzo, who has since left the D’backs, is considered to be the best in the biz.
When the Yankees have him their list of players to choose from when the Randy Johnson talks commenced, among the players on the list were Cano and Wang.
Rizzo laughed at the list and didn’t consider either guy high end prospects.
Now if a guy like Mike Rizzo can miss, anybody can miss.
My point is, there isn’t an organization in the game that hasn’t missed on players. The key is to have more hits than misses.
Since 2005, the Yankees have had more hits than misses. The problem is, the misses always are discussed more than the hits.
Jennifer,
Tell Moose there was a debate on Lohud the other day speculating on whether he does the NY Times crossword puzzles!:-)
SJ44 -
In your travels have you picked up anything about Jason Jones at Trenton - I just saw the blurb about his 2.2 ERA when I was looking through the SWB blog.
Since I haven’t heard word one of him until today I imagine that there isn’t much there there - but I would be happy to be wrong
Keys to Offensive Resurgance…
1) Return of A-Rod
2) Return of Posada
3) Shelley Duncan down. Brett Gardner up.
Everything we need to happen can happen with Gardner. The time is now.
I’d be shocked if Johnny and Giambi are still in the lineup by the AS break if they are playing the same way they are now. I expect they will have more patience with Cano.
I’m as intrigued as much as the next guy to see what Brett Gardner can do, but i find it hard to believe that a guy hitting .225 over the last week and a half in Scranton is the answer to an already struggling Yankees offense.
Turn Two,
Not only that, he strikes out more than he walks, and he’s 10/15 in stolen bases. He’s not the panacea many are hoping him to be. Yes, he’s faster than what’s out in left field right now, so he might get to more balls, maybe. But I don’t think he gets on base enough at AAA to think that he’d fill the lead-off needs of the parent club.
I don’t think that as of this minute that any replacement will be of significant improvement over Damon/Giambi. Unless you just want them out to get them out because you’re tired of them. But without viable replacements, it seems to me it’s just making moves to look like you’re doing something. (Just to make it clear, I’m not happy that Giambi and Damon are underperforming, and long-term, I think they’re done as Yankees.)
“Firing him now accomplishes nothing other than making him a scapegoat for deals in which he was not part of and they weaken their front office during the season.”
sj-
i think removing him from the gm position would send shock waves through the organization and tell everyone that no job is safe.
no one has had more of an effect on creating the present team than cashman. i’m personally just sick of the guy. i don’t believe a thing the guy says.
since there is little any gm can do on the trade market until right before the trading deadline, there’s plenty of time for anew gm to come up to speed. gene michael could step right in on an interim level without affecting his tee times that much( since there are no trades to make).
the yankees have people to handle the details of players going up and down. the yankees need someone to make some trades. cashman is not the man because he’s too in love with his minor league players. the yankees need someone more objective about the players value in the minor league system.
many on this blog think that baseball is a competition of general managers. i think it’s a competition of players on the field. . i think it’s a yankee gm responsibility to let the free market flow and let good players flow to new york. cashman is impeding that flow.
the yankees do not make money by not making the playoffs. cut giambi if necessary, but don’t shrink from spending money if it’s needed to get the yankees to the playoffs this year. if the payroll goes to 220 or 230 million, so what? the yankees will lose more if they don’t make the playoffs.
the first problem cashman has with his thinking is that he doesn’t want to go over a certain amount of payroll this year. hank encouraged signing santana so you know he didn’t care about increasing payroll. it’s cashman who doesn’t want to do it.
i believe he wants to prove he can do it with his younger cheaper youth plan for his own ego reasons. the yankees can’t afford such indulgences. they’ll lose probably 30- 50 million if they don’t make the playoffs.
the one move that would light a fire in the organization is moving cashman out of the gm role.
it’s the simplest way to get everyone in the yankee organization to wake up in the morning with a sense of urgency and start thinking of winning today. if the yankees play each day with an intense goal of winning today, the future will take care of itself.
cashman is not the pope . it’s not his job until he dies. he’s had it long enough.
“Everything we need to happen can happen with Gardner. The time is now.”
Seriously? That’s quite a statement.
I know he’s fast and can steal bases but you have to get on base before you can steal. He’s not known for his hitting numbers. Can he bunt fast enough to get on 1st?
did i miss something on Johnny Damon? why has everyone turned on Damon?
exactly ONE week ago, Damon was hitting .280/.372/.520 which is simply fantastic.
he has had a bad week ALONG WITH EVERYONE ELSE ON THE TEAM, but before this week, he was one of the best players on the team.
even after his bad week, he is hitting .255/.337/.456
according to ZR, Damon has been one of the best LF in baseball:
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/stats/fielding?groupId=9&sortColumn=zoneRating&sortOrder=true&split=83&qualified=null&season=2008&seasonType=2
of all the things wrong with this team, Damon is pretty low on the list.
he had a bad week, so now he should be dumped?
that doesn’t mean Cashman shouldn’t listen to offers and move him if he can get good value, but i can’t believe the sentiment that Damon is on “borrowed time” after having 6 sub-par games in which the entire team looked like dogcrap.
Damon has been much better than Jeter this season, maybe we should replace Jeter with Gonzalez?
Dee,
It’s fairly well-known that Moose DOES do the NY Times crossword puzzles. No need to speculate. It’s been in print several times in the past.
Gardner has gotten better with his walks. 29 SOs to 21 BBs. Thats not bad. Almost players strike out more than the walk. It is just how much more.
Almost all players is what I meant to say.
Wang is Taiwan,
You’re right, I think that silly debate was whether Moose is Mensa worthy:-)
Randy l -
It’s not true that no job is safe. Giambi has been safe for years because of his expensive contract. Players’ jobs are always safe because of their contracts. The only people whose jobs are not safe are the people who don’t actually play the game. Other people suffer for the lack of production of players who are hired to hit, field, pitch, and run.
I fair to understand hwo firing Cashman at this point in the season does anything but say that the organization has no patience with young prospects and is not willing to take calculated risks in the short-term to build a better organization, more self-sufficient, in the long-term.
when is the last time the Yankees were in LAST PLACE 42 games into the season ?
“Who knows whether Holliday can handle NYC,”
Who knows whether he wants to leave Colorado? If I’m him, I probably want to stay. To wit:
1265 Coors Plate Appearances = .364, 73 homers, 263 RBI and whopping 1.090 OPS
1260 PA’s everywhere else = .274, 36 homers, 154 RBI and a moderate .780 OPS
Dee,
Hmm…THAT I’ve never read or heard. I don’t think he’d want to be lumped in with that group of folks, though…he’s not one to join “clubs” — if you know what I mean. He likes his “loner” status.
Nice change to him this year, though, I must say. Seems a lot more wlling to be part of the clubhouse antics. About time. He’s got a great sense of humor.
I’m not very worried about last place today. They are 4.5 games behind 1st, and the teams are pretty much bunched together. It’s going to fluctuate a few times. I believe they will right this ship.
Wasn’t it Branch Rickey who said, “I’d rather trade a player a year too early than a year too late”? That describes what Boston did with Damon. The only part of their plan that didn’t pan out was thinking Crisp could step up.
If Buster Olney is correct, that the Yanks have decided to shop Damon, then I wonder what their LF plan is. I doubt they think Matsui can do the job on a longterm basis. Brett Gardner? Supposedly he’s slumping now in AAA. That means either they have a lot of faith in Brett, or think they can get back a better LF in trade for Damon…But then why would a trading partner make that deal? It starts to get complicated, as you can see.
I have come to the reluctant conclusion that Jason will not see the end of the year with the team - reluctant, because he seems like a likeable enough guy. But six weeks into the season and he shows no signs of coming out of it; unlike Cano who seems to be on a .300 clip now (4 for 4 the other night).
Great news about Mark Melancon - I think they’ll probably hold onto him, and deal somebody else. Mayber Cox, since I remember reading they were not happy with the way he got himself injured (bar fight?).
Well, back to work.
Oh yeah, I can’t imagine why Colorado would trade Holliday. Great for us if it happened, but doesn’t make sense at this time. What does Rosenthal know, or just making a story up?
“Rizzo laughed at the list and didn’t consider either guy high end prospects.”
Rizzo wasn’t alone. Nobody, apparently including the Yankees, thought Wang and Cano were high end prospects. Conversely, everyone thought Ben Grieve and Sean Burroughs were. A very inexact science, this whole prospect thing.
Melancon has a very unique pitching motion, doesn’t he?
i think ppl have been talking about moving damon or matsui (dealing from surplus) to make room for gardener and maybe pick up some pitching help. damon has had a good season so far, matsui is hitting for avg but no power and hes hitting into alot of dp’s. despite this, if the yankees want to make a trade to improve, damon and matsui are the logical pieces to move on a team with 4 OF and too many LH bats.
if you want to make any trade of significance, you have to be willing to part with talent to get talent. dealing an LH bat from the outfield for, say a RH 1B who can hold his own on defense would seems to be a move in the right direction, but matching up with a partner is always the problem. some ppl have no patience, as you say calling for damon’s head after a bad week, but moving a surplus part for a needed part still makes alot of sense.
From MLBtraderumors.com
“In Ken Rosenthal’s latest column, he sees Matt Holliday as a prime candidate to be traded this summer. Rosenthal notes that the Rockies are already ten games back and have very little chance of signing Holliday to an extension. Holliday is signed through ‘09 with $13MM due next season.
Previously, Rosenthal speculated that the Rockies might be willing to go to six years and $96MM to keep last year’s NL MVP runner-up. However, all we know of Holliday’s demands are that he wants more than a four-year deal. Rosenthal sees the Indians, Cardinals, Yankees, A’s, Tigers, Blue Jays, Mariners, and Mets as potential suitors. This should provide an interesting new storyline for July.”
“when is the last time the Yankees were in LAST PLACE 42 games into the season ?”
Think I heard that it was 1975.
Hmmm,
Aside from one hot week, Damon really hasn’t played well this year.
Can he turn it on? Perhaps but, he really isn’t the kind of leadoff hitter this team needs.
Unfortunately, he’s all they have right now and is a big part of the problem becuase when he doesn’t reach base, they don’t win games.
Randy,
The organization doesn’t need “shockwaves” sent through it.
Cashman has traded minor league players before and he will do so again.
The problem is, the game is going in a different direction. Teams are signing their younger players and you have to develop your own talent base.
You aren’t going to get fire sale players anymore and free agent lists are less and less appealing.
That means it makes more sense to develop from within, and keeping your own, than just dealing guys for the sake of dealing.
His minor league evaluations are not done alone. He has Stick, Mark Newman, Oppenheimer, Nardi Contreras and Billy Eppler (among others) involved in those discussions.
Who has he missed on? Ian Kennedy and Phil Hughes? Don’t you think its too early to say on that?
How about the Randy Johnson deal? He got Ohlendorf and Gonzalez out of that deal and both guys are contributors to the team. For a guy with a shot back.
That’s not bad.
His minor league evaluations aren’t the problem. The problem is, missing on major league evaluations of pitchers.
That’s hurt the Yankees more than anything that has happened with the young guys the past few years.
Doreen
The best leadoff man the Yanks have as of today in my opinion is Jeter. I believed he was a better leadoff man than Damon before we even signed him. My two cents.
Joe B, it was the mid seventies when they were in soul possession of last place. It was not a good year.
joe from li
why would you assume that a team that puts jason giambi out at 1b and doesnt have a glove man to spell him would have a problem with matsui in LF? hes got less range than damon, but he gets the ball back quicker. LF is the place you put a power bat who isnt a stellar outfielder. and you cant deny the yanks have a bunch of holes to fill.
Matsui is slugging right around his career average. He was never the power hit he was in Japan but that was to be expected. I wouldn’t say he is hitting with no power.
Doreen,
I’m not sure Gardner is ready now myself. Its why I said last night he needs a hot streak to give the Yankees something to think about.
What’s intriquing about him is he has something the Yankees don’t presently possess. Game changing speed.
If he hit .260, its the type of player he is when he reaches base.
Could he bat 9th with either Jeter or Melky leading off, giving the Yankees an interesting option in LF? Maybe.
I do think though he needs more AAA AB’s before we know for sure.
I hope he has a hot streak in him though. His wheels would be a welcome addition to this team. Especially if scoring runs is going to be a season long issue.
Actually he does the Usa Today puzzle more often than not.
for those of you who want certain players released or Cashman fired, answer this one question:
what would you have done with Mike Mussina this offseason?
i’d imagine that 90% of the people on this blog would answer “trade him for a box of baseballs” or “release him”
this is why Cashman’s job is so thankless.
keeping Mussina was a DECISION that had to be made. but the ACTION associated with that decision was to TAKE NO ACTION.
since it was a NO ACTION decision, he gets no credit for it nor is it ever discussed in the way a trade or other acquisition gets discussed.
yet Mussina looks like a #2/#3 starter right now and most of you people would have THROWN THAT AWAY for nothing.
so that is why most of the people here are full of crap.
if Moose were pitching poorly, it would be one more thing to complain about. but when the opposite occurs, it’s never cited as a positive.
if you told me before the season that Moose would be 6-3 with an ERA under 4 and the bullpen would have an ERA of 3.24(!), i would probably guess that the Yankees were in first place by 5 games.
i would say that in the offseason, almost everyone here agreed that the biggest issue with the team was the bullpen. most would have agreed that if the Yankees could take last year’s team and fix the bullpen, they would be an excellent team. we expected bumps and bruises with the rookie pitchers, but were relying on the depth in the minors to patch holes, which has also happened with guys like Rasner and more contributions expected later in the season.
but now that the team is playing poorly, mostly because of the OFFENSE, everyone wants to shift the goalposts because we have to always have someone to BLAME.
why can’t it simply be the players’ fault? guys like Cano and Jeter are underperforming their reasonable projections. they are getting nothing from 3B and C because they have 2 Hall of Fame talents on the DL. Abreu looks like crap without A-Rod hitting behind him.
how would the Red Sox look if you took away Manny and Youkilis? because that’s what the equivalent to removing A-Rod and Posada would be. i’ll answer that, not very good.
i just don’t think you fire the GM after 42 games with all the crap that has happened so far. the guy has been in the organization for over a decade and made the playoffs every single year of his tenure, he deserves to play out his contract and see how the rest of the season goes once everyone gets healthy.
“the first problem cashman has with his thinking is that he doesn’t want to go over a certain amount of payroll this year. hank encouraged signing santana so you know he didn’t care about increasing payroll. it’s cashman who doesn’t want to do it.”
You are missing the part that Hal plays. Hal did not want Santana. Hal cared about increasing payroll. Hank can not make -ANY- decisions without 100% agreement from Hal.
If Hal said ‘get Santana’, the deal would have been made.
In 6 years, I’ll bet the Yankees are happy they didn’t make that deal. See: Smoltz, Randy Johnson, etc. Trading blue chip prospects for proven aces doesn’t always work.
Hopefully Joe reads this blog and puts either Jeter or Melky leading off with Damon hitting 8th or something.
“How many teams so far cut guys that were earning 10 million cause they coudn’t hack it this year.”
Zero? Frank Thomas was making the most money, 8 mil I think. Cutting him however saved them 10 mil next year. 8 mil is a whole lot less than the 20 something mil the Yankees are going to lose when/if they cut Giambi.
“Doreen,
I’m not sure Gardner is ready now myself. Its why I said last night he needs a hot streak to give the Yankees something to think about.
What’s intriquing about him is he has something the Yankees don’t presently possess. Game changing speed.
If he hit .260, its the type of player he is when he reaches base.
Could he bat 9th with either Jeter or Melky leading off, giving the Yankees an interesting option in LF? Maybe.
I do think though he needs more AAA AB’s before we know for sure.
I hope he has a hot streak in him though. His wheels would be a welcome addition to this team. Especially if scoring runs is going to be a season long issue.”
I agree - the Yankees desparately need an Ellsbury type on the bases (granted, Gardner isn’t going to be remotely as good as Ellsbury).
FIRE KEVIN LONG
bring back Gary Dembo
mid 70’s? unless my memory’s going, we were in the WS in 76,77,78. we were, however the worst team in baseball, im not sure if it was 89 or 90 but it seemed like it lasted forever.
this year, however, we are MUCH closer to 1st place AND to the red sox than we were at the same time last season.
Hmmm and V,
Excellent points. Hank doesn’t operate the Yankees by himself. In fact, according to their partnership agreement, if he and Hal don’t both agree on something, it doesn’t get done.
Hal has no interest in taking the Yankee payroll to 230 million dollars. Neither does Hank. Both men want to lower it. Lower it more than a lot of fans think “low” is.
Hank wanted Santana. He also wanted a lower payroll because he’s sick of paying the money he has to pay to fund other teams operations.
Can’t have it both ways, which was explained to him numerous times by numerous people.
Frankly, Cashman hasn’t done anything to merit being fired.
I believe he will end up working out an extension with the Yankees.
Hal loves Cashman. That’s a big say in the matter.
No matter how much George bellows, Cashman is like a son to him. That always wins out in the end.
Also, NOBODY wants this job around baseball. Believe me, working for the Yankees is not high on people’s to do list around the game.
Its a tough, tough gig for reasons that go well beyond who to trade for and who to sign in free agency.
Cashman is doing a good job. He just can’t make old players young again.
Neither can any other GM.
“Aside from one hot week, Damon really hasn’t played well this year.”
this is just plain FALSE.
i’ll break the season into weeks for you:
week 1: .185/.241/.296
week 2: .217/.406/.435
week 3: .360/.429/.720
week 4: .348/.464/.522
week 5: .296/.321/.630
week 6: .125/.125/.125
i think people are VERY misinformed about Damon’s performance this season. he had a bad first week, then for 4 straight weeks, he had an OPS over .840.
in 40 games, he has 19 XBH’s, 5 SB’s, and 19 BB’s.
in contrast, Jeter has 9 XBH’s, 0 SB’s, and 6 BB’s.
multiply those numbers by 4 and you can see that Damon is on pace for an EXCELLENT season and Jeter is on pace for a TERRIBLE season.
yet everyone wants Damon gone after a bad week.
if that isn’t completely typical of this blog, i don’t know what is.
Melky isnt a leadoff hitter, and Jeter’s gotta do better than his current .340 OBP to be as good a leadoff hitter as he was a couple seasons ago.
The johnson trade was a great move by cash. Shef was even better because everyone knew the trade had to be made. Even if those players end up to be nothing, he controlled were shef went.
You cant blame cashman for everything. All GM’s make mistakes. Theo signed Julio Lugo. Mets traded Kazmir for Vic Zambrano. People alway point to Billy Beane as some genious, except he has the advantage of missing the playoffs and not having an owner threaten him with “force”
Matt Holiday is hitting 316, with the national league/American league exchange rate that translates to about 280-290 in the American league which is fine. Please stop bringing up AAA phenoms as potential help as if they were that good they`d be with the varsity right now. Just because someone does well at AAA that does not mean he will do well with the big team (see Ian Kennedy)
I will still beat the dead horse, how is the Yankees pitching and roster only about as good as everyone else despite having the most tools, $$$ and resources? That’s the thing I cant understand. They did nothing over the winter to improve the team, they could have traded Igawa to San Diego, but refused. They could have moved at least one UNPROVEN rookie starter and got a PROVEN starter. The excuse of budget is a joke as they have Pavano and countless others still being paid.
Petittie is struggling, Hughes was struggling, Kennedy is awful, Wang and Mussina are fine right now, but the pitching staff is not equipped to pitch in the AL east. They`d be fine in the NL, but this staff won`t cut it.
They were doomed going in to this season.
The record the Yankees had for 1975, when they were in soul possession of last place at this date in time, was 83-77. 14 games back of Boston.
So, yes, I would say that was a bad year. Wouldn’t you ham fighter?
Oops, my bad it was 12 games back of Boston. They finished 3rd.
For the second time in recent memory, I actually agree with Hmmmn, about Damon, that is.
Like everyone else, Damon’s pressing right now. I don’t know that his struggles have been any worse than every player up and down the lineup, however, Jeter excepted. When Damon says the offense begins with him, I take him at his word. In assuming responsibility for it, he puts more pressure on himself. I’m still hopeful that with A-Rod’s return and a break-out series, the lineup will relax and everyone will start hitting.
In any case, do the Yankees have a better alternative for the lead-off role. Melky Cabrera has yet to impress me in the position. As a lead-off hitter Melky is .250/.304/.350.
Notwithstanding his current flailings, I think Damon still has another .275/.365/.440 year in him. Whether to keep him in the off-seaon is another question entirely.
As for Giambi, I’d give him until the end of the month to turn things around. If he hasn’t started hitting by then, I’d like to see Girardi try Shelly Duncan as the every day 1B. Duncan might starting hitting with more at-bats.
Randy, I’m hardly enamored with Cashman either, but the reason I’ve never favored dismissing him is because the alternatives strike me as worse.
Who would you replace him with: Mark Newman? Damon Oppenheim? Oppenheim, whatever success he’s had with the draft, is still the guy who induced the Yankees to sign Tony Wommack and was one of the most prominent dolts in George’s Kitchen Cabinet.
I always think of Cashman as the anti-Ariel Sharon: wise on strategy (build from within, spend in the draft); deficient on tactics and execution.
“Frankly, Cashman hasn’t done anything to merit being fired.”
and
“Cashman is doing a good job. He just can’t make old players young again.”
think about what you just said. CASHMAN put this old team together. i dont know if thats enough to get him hired, but i also dont see that hes done enough to get a new contract.
and your analysis that nobody wants the yankees GM job is laughable!
“For the second time in recent memory, I actually agree with Hmmmn, about Damon, that is. ”
come on, we don’t want to make a habit of this
Well everybody on this blog thinks they know soooo much. Why don’t one of you guys try and get the job???
“think about what you just said. CASHMAN put this old team together. ”
if you read his earlier post, you’ll see where he explained how George was the one who got Giambi.
isn’t Giambi really the “crux” of the “old guy” problem.
because the other old guys like Mariano and Mussina certainly haven’t been problems.
i’d say the biggest problem on the entire team has been 25 year old Robinson Cano.
I have tickets to tonight’s game and I’m praying for a rain-out. Two lefties and John Maine is not a prescription to revive this offense.
If they rain-out this game they may schedule it as double-header in June. By then, A-Rod will have returned and perhaps, Posada.
“In 6 years, I’ll bet the Yankees are happy they didn’t make that deal. See: Smoltz, Randy Johnson, etc. Trading blue chip prospects for proven aces doesn’t always work.”
Smoltz for Doyle Alexander resulted in a World Series win for Detroit. Johnson was bad trade because he was 40 and had a bad back. Santana is a 29 year old lefty ace, not an over-the-hill former All-Star.
Matt Holiday is hitting 316, with the national league/American league exchange rate that translates to about 280-290 in the American league which is fine. Please stop bringing up AAA phenoms as potential help as if they were that good they`d be with the varsity right now. Just because someone does well at AAA that does not mean he will do well with the big team (see Ian Kennedy)
I will still beat the dead horse, how is the Yankees pitching and roster only about as good as everyone else despite having the most tools, $$$ and resources? That’s the thing I cant understand. They did nothing over the winter to improve the team, they could have traded Igawa to San Diego, but refused. They could have moved at least one UNPROVEN rookie starter and got a PROVEN starter. The excuse of budget is a joke as they have Pavano and countless others still being paid.
Petitte is struggling, Hughes was struggling, Kennedy is awful, Wang and Mussina are fine right now, but the pitching staff is not equipped to pitch in the AL east. They`d be fine in the NL, but this staff won`t cut it. Lets see what they do
SJ44 -
Regarding Gardner, I’m not saying he shouldn’t be considered; I’m just saying that a lot of times, when looking for ways to improve the Yankees, people have a tendency to paint the rosiest picture possible with replacement players. Wang and Cano (and even Joba) are really exceptions in that they exceeded original expectations; even Melky to a lesser extent. So, the Yankees have been extremely fortunate the last couple of seasons in finding diamonds in the rough in their own system, and that adds to the hopeful (wishful) thinking about Gardner’s abilities.
hmmm - how many games did Jeter miss this season? Not fair to compare his numbers with Damon’s either.
Match’em up with Melky, Abreu or Matsui - 3 guys with equal playing time.
People are down on Gardner for some reason. Doesn’t get on base enough? Doesn’t he have a career .380 OBP in the minors and is right at the number in AAA this year?
“the Yankees desperately need an Ellsbury type on the bases (granted Gardner isn’t going to be remotely as good as Ellsbury).”
Tell you the truth I haven’t been that impressed by Ellsbury.
I think he’ll be a nice player but certainly not a super star.
“Smoltz for Doyle Alexander resulted in a World Series win for Detroit. ”
well, aside from the fact that it didn’t result in a World Series win for Detroit, everything else about this sentence is true.
hmmm,
You’re 9:55AM post is Excellent!
“hmmm - how many games did Jeter miss this season? Not fair to compare his numbers with Damon’s either.”
actually, Damon and Jeter both have had 149 ABs.
they have the exact same # of AB’s, so i think it’s pretty fair.
a point
“The record the Yankees had for 1975, when they were in soul possession of last place at this date in time, was 83-77. ”
thats ALOT of games to play by may 16th. personally, i dont remember them finishing the entire schedule by mid may. i do, however remember going to opening day that year (i think that was the time chambliss hit a hr off the foul pole in lf to win it in the 9th, but i may be wrong.
in any case, 1975 was a very good year in my memory, the yankees were starting to put together a good team after 10 years of horror we now tend to refer to as the horace clark era. 1975 had chambliss, nettle, bonds, munson, pinella, guidry, and the feeling around ny was that they were coming back and that the new owner (some chubby loudmouth from cleveland of all places!) was intent on rebuildng yankee greatness.
I’m still hoping that the Yankees can somehow bring Nick Johnson back home. His stock is a bit low right now but at least he is a known quantity and quality and a real 1B. If they choose to DFA Giambi, Nick is the one that I want in pinstripes.
Holliday is a pipe dream imo, and I really don’t think he would be happy here.
Cashman didn’t put the team together by himself. That’s my point.
There have been decisions on guys on this team that had nothing to do with Cashman.
Every decision has ramifications. You commit this kind of money and length to a Giambi contract, it precludes you from doing other things.
You make several bad deals, it takes years to get out from under them.
Cashman wanted no part of Sheffield or Johnson. Got both, dealt with it, and moved them for (hopefully) better pieces.
The one public hit he is taking is choosing to keep the young kids over Santana. That’s an easy second guess based on 6 weeks of results. Or, is it?
In both forms of the team (the original deal of Hughes, Hilligoss, Cabrera, Marquez and the revised deal of Wang and Kennedy) were not deals that were favorable to the Yankees. Unless you want Damon as your starting CF and, counting the luxury tax hit, you would be playing Santana close to 30 million a year. That’s why they didn’t make the deal.
As far as you thinking my analysis of nobody wanting the Yankees GM job is “laughable”, that’s your take. How many people in baseball have you talked to in finding my take laughable.
I talk to people in baseball. Nobody of substance wants to work for Hank Steinbrenner and get themselves into the political mix that is the New York Yankees.
Sure, somebody would take the job. That’s not the point. The point is, its not going to be the Billy Beane’s of the world. They don’t want the grief.
Why do you think Cashman has so much respect from people in the industry? People who work 15 hours a day in their jobs? Its because they know how hard the gig is and they believe he is doing the job very well.
There are no in house candidates to take over for Cashman. Oppenheimer’s strength is the draft and evaluating amateur players. Stick is 70 and has no desire to take on the job again. Mark Newman is more of a player development guy than a GM.
The best thing for the Yankees to do is not only re-sign Cashman but fortify him with more support. Similar to the Cleveland, Arizona, and Boston business models for the GM position.
One point Randy has made recently that he is correct about. In many ways, the Yankees are run like a Mom and Pop company.
They have a lot of names on the corporate mailings. However, a lot of those folks have no real function within the organization.
If you really want to see better results on the baseball side, it takes more of a personnel build up.
For example, Cashman had to fight like hell to get the money to bring on some statistical analysis support staff.
IMO, that shouldn’t have been a fight. It should have been a no brainer.
That was only TWO years ago. ‘Ya think the Yankees were slow in realizing the need for that? If so, blame ownership, not the GM.
Cashman is not a war time consigliere.
Nick Johnson was just put on the DL with a wrist injury.
hmmm - thanks. good point. I rescind my challenge.
Kill-Schill(ing
Wouldn’t they just play a double header tomorrow at Yankee Stadium? Its suppose to sunny and in the 70s all day till like 11pm.
Nick Johnson is out for 6 weeks with a wrist injury. Placed on the DL yesterday.
KS,
Is that the plan (a June DH) if there is a rainout tonight?
Hope so, I’d be able to make that game! lol
For those interested, Jon Heyman has an excellent story on Cashman/Hank and the Yankees today.
I don’t know who his source was for the story but its accurate and it makes for a good read.
Its on www.si.com.
ham fighter, are you obtuse or just challenged with reading comprehension? Or is english a second or third language? Please. I was at a good number of games in 1975 myself. It was a crap year and it wasn’t at Yankee Stadium. It was a team in flux.
The point was that the last time that the Yankees were in last place at this point of the season they had a losing season all together.
“Tell you the truth I haven’t been that impressed by Ellsbury.
I think he’ll be a nice player but certainly not a super star.”
The Ellsbury-types that are viewed as superstars are few and far between (Ichiro may be about it). Looks like the kid can be an effective leadoff hitter, get on base 40% of the time, strikeout less than he walks, steal 40-45 bases and score 110-120 runs or so. No pop to speak of and he’s a good, but not great defensive outfielder, but I’d think the Yanks would be thrilled if some of their AA/AAA outfield prospects could perform at that level.
Laughable, I have been reading with interest this blog for quite sometime. Everyday somebody mentions a AAA player who should come up and help the yankees. Lately its been Gardner. Totally laughable. I just looked at the AAA batting stats. There are 3 differnt AAA leagues, lots of players. In SWB league Gardner is like 30-35th in hitting. So there are 30-35 hitting better. Some familiar names ahead of him are Andy Phillips 4th, and Kevin Thompson 10th. So, you want a guy who is not nearly performing as well as those two, and keep in mind there are 2 other leagues with players so what does Gardner project out to? 100th or so best perfromer in AAA right now? Leave him there, let him develop. Don`t think he can replace a major leaguer. Remember this, the Yankees best AAA player? well every team in 3 leagues has at least one player just as good.
sj44 your ‘fair and balanced’ review of cashman kinda left out some HORRIBLE pitcher moves besides randy johnson. igawa, pavano, brown, contreres.
bottom line is, cashman is the gm and he’s responsible for the team, no excuses. like i said above, it may not rise to the point where they fire him, but he certainly hasnt earned a new contract.
and if he goes, there will be a very long line of ppl hoping to take over.
one more thing: everyone here deifies Gene Michael and yearns for the days of his tenure instead of Cashman. Michael is mostly credited for being the architect of the dynasty team through building the farm system.
but here is ONE fact:
Gene Michael left Mariano Rivera exposed in the first expansion draft.
by nothing more than sheer luck, Rivera escaped being a Marlin or Rocky.
EVERY GM MAKES MISTAKES. NO ONE IS PERFECT.
every single move Michael made and all the great work he did would possibly have been for naught had the Marlins or Rockies taken Mariano. it’s possible they would have gotten another closer, but the 1996 Yankees would not have gotten to the World Series without Mariano.
what’s the difference between then and now? blogs like this.
Cashman would be KILLED, DESTROYED, VILLIFIED in today’s media if he made a mistake like leaving Rivera exposed.
yet it goes largely forgetten when we heap praise upon Stick Michael.
it’s very hard to do Cashman’s job under the microscope he works under.
just remember that. now pitching for the Florida Marlins, Mariano Rivera.
You can’t just look at stats to determine if a guy is ready to help your team.
You have to see them play.
Players have been recalled with gaudy minor league stats and have struggled greatly in the majors.
Others have been recalled with less than gaudy numbers but have found ways to help a team win games.
Personally, I like guys like Ellsbury. They are pests. The are tough outs, can disrupt on the bases, and do things to help their team win games.
One difference between the Yankees and Red Sox: The Red Sox have more pests in their lineup than the Yankees.
Guys like Ellsbury, Lugo, Pedroia, Youkilis. Taken individually, not great players. But, they are pests. They make pitchers work (which helps the rest of the lineup) are tough outs, and some use their speed to help their team win. That kind of flexibility keeps a team from having teamwide hitting slumps. Something that has now hurt the Yankees two years running.
Those guys make it tough on opposing teams. The Yankees currently lack those guys in their lineup. It hurts them.
Especially with the way the game seems to be trending these days. Its less brute force and more about doing the little things, making contact, using your athleticism, etc. to win games.
Nick Johnson? why cause hes home grown?
Heres something to look at
Nick Johnson
05- 15-74-.389
06-23-77- .290
07- inj all year
08-5-20-.220 inj again
Giambi
05-32-87-271
06-37-113-253
07-14-39-236
08-7-20-181
keep in mind that Johnson plays in a weaker league, so those numbers would be less if Johnson was in NY. I`ll keep Giambi
hmmm the fact is that no other gm thought mo was worth picking up. too bad for them. you cant knock stick for what might have happened, the fact is that he DID build a dynasty and speculating about the moves and non moves that got him there is very red soxish.
same for cash, hes a big boy, he doesnt need anybody explaining away what’s going on right now, which player was who’s fault. he is the g. m. and he answers for the results, no excuses.
I’m not sure you can adjust hitters stats the way you are suggesting when making the jumps between leagues.
Random question: The weather is supposed to be horrible all day; when do w2e know if they’re going to call the game or not?
I heard Michael Kaye speculating yesterday that if they rain-out tonight’s game, they’d repeat the convention of a few years ago and play one game in Shea and one game in the Bronx.
However, Bill has a good point. In the June series, the Saturday game is a 4:00pm Fox broadcast, making a Day-Nighter impossible. It would indeed make more sense to re-schedule the game tomorrow as a day-night double-header.
Randy Johnson? Wasn’t his call. That was George all the way.
Kevin Brown? Cashman’s call.
Igawa? Nobody knows whose call that way. At least nobody is confessing to it.
Contreras and Pavano? Everybody wanted those guys. Geez, Theo threw a chair through a window when he lost Contreras and the Red Sox offered more money than the Yankees for Pavano.
The line won’t be nearly as long as you think for the GM’s job. It wasn’t the last two times it was open. When Bob Watson took over and when Cashman took over for Watson.
The line will be even shorter this time. Not just because of what goes into the job but, the Yankees money really isn’t that big of an advantage these days.
Everybody has money and everybody is spending it now. That’s why you are seeing so many young players being signed by their present teams.
In fact in many ways, the Yankees money hurts them as much as it helps them. It provides a forum for waste if not handled properly and that hamstrings your roster.
Just because you are a Yankee fan, don’t think everybody wants to work for your team. That ain’t the case in baseball.
look at the history. Look at Eric Brynes and Demtri Young just two off the top of my head. Did nothing in the AL and made the all star team in the NL. Theres no secret that the AL is much tougher.
“Smoltz for Doyle Alexander resulted in a World Series win for Detroit. Johnson was bad trade because he was 40 and had a bad back. Santana is a 29 year old lefty ace, not an over-the-hill former All-Star.”
One World Series win vs. a Hall of Fame career.
Hmmm….. I think I’d rather have the HOF career of a Smoltz than a single World Series win. I’d rather be have a Braves (in the playoffs and out of the playoffs every year) team than a Marlins (win the World Series then suck) team any day of the week. The playoffs are a crap shoot - once in, anything can happen (2006 Cardinals).
And I was talking about the original Johnson trade (Expos —> Mariners).
“same for cash, hes a big boy, he doesnt need anybody explaining away what’s going on right now, which player was who’s fault. he is the g. m. and he answers for the results, no excuses.”
well, i disagree.
there has to be a more nuanced conversation when we are discussing the Steinbrenner Yankees.
Cashman had a 7 year deal for less money all worked out with Jeter until George nixed it. one year later they were forced to give him a 10 year deal for a lot more money.
we know for a fact that George insisted on Sheff, when Cashman was dealing with Vlad.
we know someone in the Tampa crew signed Tony Womack.
we know George went after Giambi himself.
all of these things need to be part of the conversation. they just do.
i can admit Cashman has made mistakes. why can’t others admit that George also interfered and created some of the mess?
it’s not all or nothing on either side.
Rebecca - probably not before 5pm.
sj i know you’re a smart guy, but your excuse-making for cash is ridiculous. cash works for steinbrenner who is a results guy. the gm is responsible. personally, i dont think things are near as bad as posters here would have ppl believe. i still think this team is going to the PS (but getting bounced in the 1st round again) . either way, cash is responsible for this team as it is. crying that the boss made him do something is very unnessesary and uncashmanlike. this is a bottom line buisness, stop making excuses.
“One World Series win vs. a Hall of Fame career.”
my point was that the Tigers did NOT win the World Series with Doyle Alexander.
that trade was in 1987. the Tigers lost to the Twins in the ALCS.
i am not sure where this narrative that the Tigers won the WS that year came from.
the Tigers haven’t won the WS since 1984.
“hmmm the fact is that no other gm thought mo was worth picking up. too bad for them. you cant knock stick for what might have happened, the fact is that he DID build a dynasty and speculating about the moves and non moves that got him there is very red soxish.
same for cash, hes a big boy, he doesnt need anybody explaining away what’s going on right now, which player was who’s fault. he is the g. m. and he answers for the results, no excuses.”
We get it, you don’t like Cashman.
The facts are, he’s a fine GM, and no one else would probably have done better during the end of the George Steinbrenner era.
Reading that SI article about Hank and Cashman it appears Hank knows little about baseball much like his father. The fact that he’s questioning why Hughes and Kennedy are struggling says it all. I mean anyone who watches baseball knows all young pitchers struggle. Of course two kids first/second year pitchers aren’t going to outperform a veteran like Santana.
And by the way Santana while good has not been dominate in the NL. Both Wang and John Maine have pitched much better then him. I know it’s early but his velocity has not been great either. It’s lower than I thought it was. That 3.10 era is 4.10 in the AL. And if I’m going to give away highly touted prospects I would expect better from “the best pitcher in baseball”.
Back to Hank I’m just happy Hal is there. He just seems to be a little more aware to what’s happening then Hank does.
“sj i know you’re a smart guy, but your excuse-making for cash is ridiculous. cash works for steinbrenner who is a results guy. the gm is responsible. personally, i dont think things are near as bad as posters here would have ppl believe. i still think this team is going to the PS (but getting bounced in the 1st round again) . either way, cash is responsible for this team as it is. crying that the boss made him do something is very unnessesary and uncashmanlike. this is a bottom line buisness, stop making excuses.”
Everyone, stop responding to this guy. Reasoning doesn’t work with his type.
Its not excuses, its a fact of life that comes with the job.
Hell, there are only 20+ GM’s in the Steinbrenner Era with the Yankees who can easily confirm what I am telling you about the job.
You don’t like Cashman? That’s your right.
But, you can’t ignore the fact that there are segments of the job that got laid on his feet that he had ZERO to do with the outcome.
The guy has a deal in place with Vlad Guerrero and Guerrero and his agent are in NYC ready to finish the deal.
George, who got turned off by Sheffield’s request for more money, stops negotiating with Sheffield. That opens the door for Cashman to do what he wants to do which is sign Vlad.
Instead, George changes his mind and signs Sheffield.
Now, tell me, how is that Cashman’s fault?
That’s just one example. I can cite others, such as Tony Womack.
Nobody is saying Cashman doesn’t make mistakes. However, his good has FAR outweighed his bad in the organization during his term as GM.
Its not excusemaking to explain to you some of the stuff that goes into his job. Now, if you want to reject the analysis and believe it all falls on Cashman win or lose, that’s your right.
Doesn’t make it correct but, its your right to feel that way.
Rebecca
WFAN and ESPN Radio are both likely to be doing their shows live from the Stadium. If you give a listen to either about 3, I bet they’ll give an update around that time on chance of getting the game in.
v
thats where you are wrong, i like cashman and i hope this team rallies and has a great year and he gets another extension. but i also realize that he’s made some bad moves and that the bottom line is this:
if the yankees miss the playoffs: hes gone
if they make playoffs and get bounced again in the 1st round: he’s gone
if they lose in the league series: could go either way but he probably comes back
if they make the WS, he’s in like flynn.
i hope he’s back cause i really like him, but he has to be accountable for this team and making excuses for him is bogus.
Yankees are and always will be a team that needs to win now. Thats the way it is, therefore you have to make certain moves that without question look like short term fixes but long term disasters. The $$$ the Yankees have can cover those long term disasters, but I dont think you can do both. You cant play the “farm game” and the $$$ game all the time
SJ great insight.
I am and was against the Santana deal, it was economic suicide and that matters for even the Yankees. The only way we can avoid future Giambi deals etc. is to be smart.
Santana is a very good pitcher but the deal would have been terrible for the Yanks and the Metz will regret his contract in about 3 yrs for 3 yrs. the guy will be making $20+ at the age of 33, 34,35, and 36. The Mets absolutely needed Santana, it was a good move for them. The Mets minor leagues are in shambles and they are muh much older then the Yanks..
I love Cashman. Most moron moves he was agains; sheff ove Vlad, Giambi, RJ, etc. Yeah Pavano he got wrong so did all baseball.
the are moving in the right direction we have 119 games to go. they get ri of almost all the dead weight contracts after this yr. things are getting better.
Yes the minor league talent is better on the bound then position players but mound talent is more tradeable. Tabata, Jakson, garnder are 3 legit OF prospects. Yes tabata and Jackson are a yr but probably 2 away..
they have alot of talent in the minors will be freeing themselves of $80 mill or so, have a new stadium so no luxury tax..
Hughes is GOING to be great, he will.. The lack of patience in Yankee Nation is staggering… We go thru this dance every year….
Matsui is a still a very good hitter and is not dead wieght.. The bad signing that continue to kill them is not Damon but Giambi, they have made so many moves because of his lack of range, lack of speed, injuries, and lack of prodcution.. HE is a wreck….
Thank god for Hal steinny he sounds like the prudent and smart one, who keeps his mouth shut and removes emotion from these business decisions… I can name 5 to 7 bad moves from every GM; theo, beane, Colletti, these moves are everywhere..
matt clement, renteria, jd drew, lugo, zito signing, andruw jones signing, the gagne trade end of last yr. etc…it is the little moves like Okajima that make the difference…
Cshman is a good GM looking out for the LONG TERM INTEREST OF THE YANKS..
“Nobody is saying Cashman doesn’t make mistakes. However, his good has FAR outweighed his bad in the organization during his term as GM.”
Think your view is a bit slanted SJ. I’m willing to go along with your analysis that he’s done more good than bad, but at the same time I give him ZERO credit for the championship years. He had little or nothing to do with building those teams, even as he was the GM. He had legit GM powers from about ‘05 to present and he’s done a good job.
There was a play, in 2007, where Bobby Abreu struck out, looking. However, Abreu had previously argued the strike before it and the umpire called him out on strike three, when the ball was about 12-15 inches off the plate.
Does anybody know the date on that? Or have a video on it? Some friends and I were talking about it…
“have a new stadium so no luxury tax..”
The stadium doesn’t reduce their luxury tax payment. It affects revenue sharing owed.
Giambi determined to break out of slump…
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/05/yankees_giambi_says_he_wears_g.html
The entire offense is pressing,no one seems able to take a pitch. with so much offense confined to the bench pressing is natural reaction. It is also failure waiting to happen. With Arod out Abreu has no protection at all, that will incidentally affect the pitches jeter will see. The answer for the top three is for arod to comeback and be some semblance of what he can be. Cano is killing the back half, right now he is not respected by opposing pitchers if and when he wakes up it will surely help the remainder in some positive ways.
I think everyone has gotten too worked up over Ian Kennedy. I don’t remember Cashman ever saying that Kennedy was an untouchable. Kennedy has very little value to the Yankees in the long term. He is projected to be a #4 - 5 starter at best, and the Yankees can afford to pick up a #5 starter for $7 - 10 million on the free agency market if they have a need for one down the line. They’d be better off developing Kennedy over the next couple of years, then trading him as a cost-controlled #5 starter for the next 4 years to a team in need of pitching (basically everyone). This is just one way that the Yankees should be taking advantage of their financial resources.
Don’t be so sure he is “gone” if they don’t make the playoffs.
Every single decisionmaker in the Yankee organization was told by Cashman (and others) this was a rebuilding year.
Even Hank knew it going into the season. Hence, his “This is the year to get us” speech he made at the end of ST.
Hank pops off and some may assume that’s “bad” for Cashman. But, that’s not necessarily true.
Ownership was briefed extensively on the positives and negatives of going in this direction.
If they don’t make the playoffs this year, yet show the kind of improvement (among the younger players especially) needed to have a brighter future, Cashman will be back.
That’s if he chooses to come back. He will have other options this off-season.
Hal loves the guy and Hal has a big stick in what’s going on.
They don’t work in a vaccuum. Just because they don’t make all their discussions public doesn’t mean they aren’t well versed in what’s happening.
Cashman has been waiting for 3 years to clear the books of the bad contracts that have dragged this team down this road. That will happen after this season.
If they can have another successful amateur draft, and sign a few more significant Latin American undrafted free agents (something the Yankees are commiting big dollars to), they are well positioned to have a very good off-season.
That’s the kind of long term planning GM’s do in their jobs.
Its as much a part of the position as fixing short term ills.
new post re: all star game…
SJ
Defense of Cashman you made some good points, however he has been AWFUL with pitchers. He took a boat load of awful NL pitchers not realizing how mediocre they would look in the NL
if you think cash comes back if they miss the playoffs, you are way off base. no ws in 7 years, 3 yrs getting bounced in the 1st round and then a missed playoff and you think he will be back? are you even from new york?
Stevie Wonder can see the declining skills of Giambi and Damon.
Expecting either to fill the loss of Alex and Jorge is ludicrous. They can’t, they haven’t, and they won’t. There just isn’t any resilience to tap from.
There is no doubt he has miscalculated with some pitching choices. No question about it.
The question is, do you fire him for that or do you bring in someone to assist him in evaluating pitching in a better way?
Ham fighter,
Ownership these days rarely think like emotional fans. They look at an entire body of work, then decide what’s best for the organization.
Its a business decision for them. Regardless of what’s said publicly.
There are teams that have gone a lot longer than 7 years without a championship whose GM’s aren’t fired.
There are also other teams that haven’t been to the post-season in years yet still keep their jobs.
The “are you from NY” stuff doesn’t fly. Especially when the ownership of this team is based in Tampa. I guess they “don’t get it” either because they aren’t from NY.
Cashman would have a choice of multiple jobs in baseball if he chose to comeback. If he was that bad, he wouldn’t have choices.
Giambi leads the team in homeruns. The