Sheppard hopes for July 1 return
-
- May
- 29
Received an e-mail this morning from Mike Hayes, who conducted an interview with Bob Sheppard for his web site, Busted Halo.
Check out the interview here. Mr. Sheppard, 97, is hoping to return in July and announce the All-Star Game.
His long-term goal is to do the first game at the new Stadium.
Yankee Stadium really hasn’t been the same without him. Here’s hoping he gets well soon and gets back to the press box.
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Amen.
Great Post again, Pete. This is great !
i hope when i’m 97 i have “long-term goals”. on second thought, maybe not.
Why don’t the Yankees use technology to have Sheppard do the games? Right now, it would be easy, as they have recordings of him announcing almost every player. When new players come up, they can use software to re-create his voice. Beats what they currently have.
We can rebuild him. We have the technology.
haha jerkface. i wish i was going to the all-star game!! Actually maybe not with 5 red sux starters at the moment..
I certainly hope Bob gets better and returns soon. The stadium certainly does not have its same feel without him and I dread the day when he dies as that will be a very sad day for the Yankee family and Yankee fans as he has been the staple of that Stadium for many years.
Good luck to him.
Even if Bob Sheppard announced the Opening Day lineups at the new Stadium then retired, he would put his stamp on the audio system forever…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Sheppard
http://www.nypost.com/seven/05282008/news/regionalnews/yanks_played_dirty__hr_fan_112831.htm
Does this guy take people for fools?
White Sox December 3: Acquired outfielder Carlos Quentin from the Arizona Diamondbacks for first baseman Chris Carter
.296 14 47 .402 .587
nice trade for the white sox
how did they do that? are trades still legal?
Yankees relievers hold meeting
by Ed Price
May 28, 2008, 6:05 PM
The struggling Yankees bullpen met as a group before batting practice, apparently at the behest of closer Mariano Rivera.
Manager Joe Girardi, who lent his office at Camden Yards to the pitchers, deferred comment to Rivera.
“He’s always a great leader,” Girardi said.
Asked about the session, which lasted at least 25 minutes, Rivera at first played coy. Then he acknowledged the meeting, saying only, “That’s our thing.”
Yankees relievers allowed 11 runs in 9 1/3 innings in the first two games of the series. Kyle Farnsworth, LaTroy Hawkins, Jose Veras and Ross Ohlendorf all have an ERA of 4.50 or higher.
Carlos Quentin 2007:
.214 .298 .349 in a significant number of ABs
Thats also an offseason trade, not sure how many people.
Didn’t finish, Not sure how many people are going to be trading us impact players without it costing a ton.
I met the caveman last night….
http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/5205/cavemanzi8.jpg
Does anyone else think its annoying how Jim Hall tries to sound like Bob Shepard?
Some thoughts -
1. Nice win last night, though any win is nice.
2. Interesting, that piece by Ed Price, referenced by Jennifer at 8:39, above. Mo really seems to be the respected man out there in the pen, and was possibly doing some group therapy for a group of relievers that is having a rough patch. I still think (hope?) that Kyle’s and LaTroy’s days in pinstripes is numbered, but they’re still on the team and we need them to contribute. Veras and Ollie also have good futures, potentially, and need to get straightened out a bit.
3. Also interesting is the bit in Newsday’s story this morning that implies that even Cash is perplexed as to why Britton hasn’t pitched more. This may change.
4. I will come out and say that I was mistaken about Jason Giambi being washed up as a hitter. Thank goodness, I was wrong. I don’t know how things will continue, obviously, but as a fan, I’m happy that the professionals know more about this than I do.
Not only an off-season trade but one in which you have to give credit to scouting.
Most people in AZ felt Quentin was underachieving. Perhaps he was.
But, that’s where scouting comes in. If you have good scouting, and you listen to your scouts (also VERY important), you have a chance to pull off good deals.
Also, teams that deal can’t be looking to screw the other team.
Chris Carter is a very nice prospect. That’s a deal that can help both teams.
Kenny Williams also traded for Nick Swisher and used Gio Hernandez (his best pitching prospect and a lefty to boot) as bait.
That one that doesn’t look so great right now but, it shows a willingness to deal.
Too many GM’s today are just looking to screw the other guy rather than make deals.
Asking for Austin Jackson or Jose Tabata, as well as others, for Damaso Marte is just dumb. You don’t make deals, your team suffers, and you end up on the unemployment line.
Or, in the case of Jim Bowden in Washington, you are just like at by your peers.
Sort of like Steve Phillips is today.
**laughed at** by your peers.
I need an edit button! lol
“Too many GM’s today are just looking to screw the other guy rather than make deals.”
Totally agreed.
And most fans are surprised that their GM can’t screw the other teams.
Though, I was -very- P/o’ed when Cashman dealt Haren+Barton+Calero for Mulder. Blegh.
LOL, not Cashman, Jocketty.
Too early in the morning
how about this offseason we find a good fielding/decent hitting first baseman who costs less than $10M and sign giambi to be the dh for say 2yrs, $12M?
as long as we have a real 1Bman and someone who can dh from the right side, we could avoid signing a $100M+ contract and use giambi the way he should be used, as a DH.
iv been critical of giambi’s defense and his unwillingness to hit against the shift, but using him this way and having another alternative at dh for when he slumps could be the way to avoid signing another mega contract that they will regret later.
and lets face it, giambi is very popular in the clubhouse and keeps the team loose.
hughes and kennedy 15 starts
three yankee wins
3 starts of 6 innings
livan hernandez 10 starts
7 twin victories
8 starts of 6 innings
the innings is what’s most important because of what it does for the bull pen.
Interesting article about Willie and Omar (including the fact that Araton basically calls out Ian O’Connor for the whole ‘race’ thing saying that he highly doubts Willie was venting and that he may have thought of Ian more as a friend…which he was not):
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/27/sports/baseball/27araton.html?ref=baseball
willie has been one of my favorite ny sports people for 30+ years, but if he thought that a journalist who had a running recorder going was just chatting as a friend, then that brings into question his ablility to deal with the ny media. so does his assertion, which he later appologized for, that sny was showing him in a bad light, as well as his belief that isiah and herm got treated lousy b/c they’re black.
dealing with the ny media is one of the biggest aspects of the manager’s job here, and unfortunatly, willie is failing at it.
im hoping that the mets rally just enough to keep willie’s job, b/c i think he can be a good manager, but when you combine these serious misjudgements with the collapse and add in this year’s listless play and clubhouse timult, it reflects very badly on willie.
Livan Hernandez 85 ERA+ , 1.5 WHIP 9 HR allowed 24 K’s in 76 IP
Randy what exactly is your point with all these things you are posting??
“Randy what exactly is your point with all these things you are posting??”
He feels that Cashman should have signed Livan Hernandez as a back up plan.
I keep trying to explain to him that one of Cashman’s backup plans (Rasner) is pitching much better than Livan for millions dollars less.
Randy,
Here’s the problem.
In the off-season, if you believe Hughes and Kennedy are ready (which the Yankees believed) then signing a guy like Livan Hernandez for 5 million dollars isn’t feasible.
Mainly because, if you sign him for that kind of money, he’s not a 6th starter, he’s in the rotation.
That means either Hughes or Kennedy end up in AAA. That’s not what they wanted. In hindsight, one can argue they misread their readiness to be contributors at the major league level. But, at the time you are making the decisions (the winter), you had Kennedy pitching well in September and Hughes, not only was 3-0 in September, but got their only post-season win.
That’s the economic reality of baseball. Even with the Yankees. Teams don’t have 5 million dollar pitchers in reserve.
Guys like Karstens and Rasner were their early fallback guys in case one of the kids struggled early. Joba was always going to be in the plans for joining the rotation by Mid-June or July.
Joba is the ideal fallback guy.
Who would you rather have in the rotation right now, Livan Hernandez at 5 million dollars or Joba Chamberlain at 500K?
I don’t disagree with the concept of having a veteran in waiting. Just not at 5 million dollars because that makes him a starter in the rotation right out of the gate.
One last point to the Mike Francesa fans who believe him when they say they “lost the game the other night because Joba wasn’t in the bullpen”.
Tuesday night was the first game the Yankees lost when they had 2 4 run leads in a game since 1939.
Forget Joba not being in the bullpen for the loss. If he was the starter the other night, that’s an 8-0 game after 4 and they coast to a win.
The lost the game because Joba was not STARTING.
Something that guys like Francesa aren’t able to comprehend.
I don’t know why Cashman didn’t sign 10 back up plans for the back up plan to the original back up plans! WHAT IF SOMETHING GOES WRONG?!?!?!
No offense, Randy, because I really don’t mean to single you out, but when people pine on these boards for the Yanks to acquire mediocre starters to “eat innings,” all I can think of is that these “innings eaters” are the types to get lit up in big games against good lineups (like the Red Sox). So, if we did sign a guy like that, the second time (I’m giving posters the benefit of the doubt that they’d let one bad start go) the Hernandez/Loshe type guy got bombed in a big game, the boards would be flooded with “DFA the guy” posts.
The bottom line is, you want good starters. Either you konw they’re good (Wang, Pettitte) or you hope they’ll be good (Hughes, Kennedy). That’s fine. But I don’t think a contending team needs to be bringing in pitchers they know aren’t good, just to “eat innings.” Sure, it may buy you a win here and there agains the Royals and Orioles of the world, but it also keeps you from knowing what you have in the kids.
That’s just my view on pitching. I’d rather take some lumps with a young guy who might be good rather than turn over a valuable roster spot to someone I know is barely average.
I’m not African American.
Here’s the problem I have with white columnists ripping Willie Randolph.
They have no idea what’s its like to be African American.
They also have no idea what’s its like to be African American in a sport in which they are the CLEAR minority.
On the field, in the front office and in ownership.
So, if Willie feels that way, how can you rip him?
Were these columnists ever exposed to the stuff Willie has been exposed to in his over 30 years in the game? No.
Instead of just circling the wagons in an attempt to protect their own in the media, or commenting on issues they have never faced in their own lives (racism) perhaps they should just try and see things threw Willie’s eyes.
Doesn’t make Willie right or wrong in what he said. Just take a step back and see how Willie may view certain things.
IMO, it would give them a better perspective of where Willie was coming from with his remarks.
I get the feeling behind calling for the Yankees to go sign random people and make trades and such…
When things aren’t clicking, almost every other options sounds like it would be better.
Truth is though, it ussualy isn’t.
The Yankees are a good team, with the ability to win a lot of games.
There are a few minor changes that should happen in the bullpen, but overall this is a very strong team.
sj
it was unreasonalbe to expect that both kennedy and hughes were both going to be effective AND that pettitte and moose and wang were all going to be healthy and effectvie all season AND that rasner and karstens were going to be healthy and effective enough to fill the rest of the gaps.
thats some very high expectations.
remember when SI had the picture of the 6 starters on the preseason cover a few years ago and they basically ended up desparate for pitching by the asb? i do, and i expect that cash does too.
it may be a rebuilding year but that doesnt excuse the way cash left this roster high and dry for this season.
see raymagnetic, i dont just post that on days after a loss.
Wow, what a great interview. It really brought a smile to my face
Thanks for letting us know about it Pete.
I hear what you’re saying ham_fighter but…
Cashman planned to have Wang, Pettitte, Moose, Kennedy and Hughes as the starting 5.
Then had 2 backups ready in Karstens and Rasner.
Signed 31 year old Dan Giese to pitch in AAA.
And knew that he planned to have Joba in the rotation by July.
To me, thats being prepared. 5 starters and ready backups, with Joba coming a few months into the season…
I don’t think he really left the team high in dry in that department…
raymagnetic/jerkface-
just putting out some different scenarios of ways to build teams.
there are other low cost ways to get wins than just going with home grown. pettitte if he gets 17 wins will be paid about 1 million per win. hernandez even if he doesn’t pitch another inning will be less than a million per win.
rasner is 27 years old. he’s a seasoned pro who paid his dues. what’s not to like about rasner? he’s not home grown either. nice acquisition.
the yankees seem like they went from one extreme to another where they don’t use all the options open to them that other teams use.
and it’s hurting them.
I think “innings eater” is one of the most overused/misused phrases out there. Kei Igawa is an innings eater. They won’t be very good innings, but he’ll take the ball. However, if you’re talking about being a contending club, then the quality of those innings does matter. As we’ve seen, being down 4-5-6 runs in the middle of the game isn’t fun. Wang, Pettitte, Santana (not to start that discussion again, just making a point here) - those are the types of “innings eaters” that make a difference.
Anybody who doesn’t think ESPN has an Anti-Yankee slant, needs to explain the following to me:
Their SportsNation Poll of the Day….
Who will be the first manager fired? The choices:
John McLaren-Seattle
Ned Yost-Milwaukee
Willie Randolph-Mets
Joe Girardi-Yankees
Now tell me, how in the world is Joe Girardi on that list?
I guess being 3 games behind the Red Sox in the loss column in MAY is a fireable offense to the boys in Bristol?
How ’bout Jim Leyland? He doesn’t make the list? The Tigers are in even worse shape than the Yankees.
I don’t think Leyland should be on the list but, you get my point.
ESPN has become joke. Its like a bad Saturday Night Live sketch.
That’s embarrassing to have that poll online today. Especially when all the Red Sox fans will vote for Girardi and it will be a topic of the day on Sportscenter.
They should just all wear Red Sox uniforms instead of suits and be done with it. It would be their first step back to reality in 10 years.
“there are other low cost ways to get wins than just going with home grown. pettitte if he gets 17 wins will be paid about 1 million per win. hernandez even if he doesn’t pitch another inning will be less than a million per win.”
You don’t evaluate the success of a pitcher by the number of wins he gets.
You don’t.
Pitcher X pitches 8 innings of 1 run ball in 20 straight starts, and gets 5 wins out of it. Pitcher Y pitches 5 innings of 4 run ball in 20 straight starts and gets 10 wins out of it. Who is worth more per start?
$s per win is a ridiculous way to look at things.
SJ44,
Your post on Willie Randolph was your best ever. And that’s saying something.
ESPN isn’t interested in objectivity, they’re interested in creating a stir, a buzz, to always be the center of attention in the sports world. And, as we’ve just seen again, they’re good at it.
Getting the juices flowing, much like talk radio, is the priority.
Take it for what it’s worth.
Ham_Fighter:
If you go into a season expecting Starts 1-7 to all suck or get hurt, well… I don’t know what to tell you. No GM goes into a season believing that. No one plans for that.
Thats what the minor league system is for.
Here’s a link to MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo top 30 picks mock draft:
MLB.com’s top 30 mock draft link
Mayo sees the Rangers at #11 and the Yankees at #28 as possibilities for Boras advisee Gerrit Cole. MiLB.com has compared Cole to Kyle Farnsworth. Baseball America suggested Cole could slip to the Cubs at #19 or the D’Backs at #26.
Is this a good pick? According to MiLB scouts, Cole projects as another Farnsowrth… Is that good or bad?
SJ,
So, so true (about the Sox bias at ESPN). Their “personalities” regularly admit to hating the Yanks. Gammons is a Boston guy, Olney’s from New Hampshire. It’s terrible. I like them, don’t get me wrong, but they are clearly anti-Yankees in the their comments.
SJ
I have to admit as a Sox fan that ESPN seems to have a Sox bias.
Actually I think we all have certain lenses that color our perspectives.
I always enjoy your posts, and at the same time I think you have your own biases.
When the Sox acquired Colon you made a big deal about how his fast ball was in the low 80’s and your words were that it “would be a miracle” if he had 4 quality starts this year.
Right now his fast ball is topping over 96 mph and his ERA is 2.25 and has won both of his starts. Granted he had has not reached his four quality starts yet, but I would be willing to be he exceeds that number this year.
Seriously.
Joe Girardi, year one in a three year deal, with a .500 record.
How about Leyland, Bud Black, Bruce Bocchi, Ron Washington, Trey Hillman, Eric Wedge, or Joe Torre?
I wish ESPN didn’t have a monopoly. Could they find worse analysts for BBTN? Steve Phillips, John Kruck, Eric Young? Really?
The best guy they had was Harold Reynolds and they ran him up a pole. Dont even get me started on Peter Gammons. He reports from the Cape on all things Red Sox.
Pete,
When Mr. Sheppard returns, do you think he would do an interview for the blog? That’s one guy who could provide some fantastic stories. You don’t even have to ask him a question, just let him talk.
Yes, Colon has gotten his velocity back to the 90’s.
He’s also faced the Royals and Mariners, currently the two worst teams in the AL, in his starts.
He’s throwing mostly fastballs in both his starts.
Perhaps the Red Sox found a “gem”.
Or, perhaps he’s just beating poor teams right now.
Let’s see how it plays out over time. Especially if his role increases when they put Dice-K on the DL.
I’m listening to ESPN2 First Take Show and they just had a tease for an upcoming segment that said Derek Jeter is known for being one of the worst rated defensive shortstop. Stay tuned to find out what the NY Yankees are doing to address that?
Any guesses on what the answer is before they air it?
Peter Gammons, ESPN’s lead baseball analyst, was in the running for President of Red Sox Nation. No bias! We swear!
Any chance the Yankees can trade with Atlanta for Mike Gonzales?
He supposedly returns to the club at the end of the week.
And, William Buckner, don’t forget Joe Morgan, who manages to be not only the worst baseball analyst in baseball history, but also a notorious Yankee hater.
SJ44,
I have a question for you: Do you think the Yankees view Humberto Sanchez strictly as a reliever now or could he compete for a spot in the rotation down the road?
So, I just came in from my car, where I was listening to the replay of XM’s morning baseball program with Mark Patrick & Buck Martinez, and they’re discussing the Yankees.
Patrick asks Martinez if he has a feel for the Yankees this season. And then the discussion takes off to say that “no, because this isn’t the Yankees,” and proof of that last night when they took Pettitte out of the game under vaguely strange circumstances, so they could stretch Joba out, and then they began to speculate that perhaps there is unrest and unhappiness in the Yankees clubhouse because everything is centering around Joba Chamberlain and perhaps not everyone is on board with this, and clearly Andy Pettitte was not happy about it, and wasn’t it interesting how all the infielders gathered around Pettitte when Girardi came to take him out and how Robinson Cano snuck a peak at Pettitte’s face to see his reaction to being taken out.
Whew. So, obviously, I’m not in the clubhouse, so I’ll ask Pete, do you think there’s unrest and unhappiness in the Yankees clubhouse because of Joba? I would certainly agree that Pettitte didn’t want to leave the game last night when he did, that he wanted to complete the inning. But he only got cut off, arguably, by one out, and Joba did not pitch 4 innings, just an inning and a half, and the game pretty much went on like a regular Pettitte-to-Joba-to-Mo game.
Anyone have any thoughts about this new wrinkle? And are people (general media) just in seventh heaven because the Yankees are a great team to beat when they’re “down?”
I always doubted Ian O`Conners credability since he was fired for plagarizing (sorry about misspell) so he he got his “big” story at Willies expense.
Nick Swisher is an average player no more than that. Regarding Livan, yes, agree he`d get bashed by better lineups but, he`d beat the average to weaker teams and take pressure off the pen as Kennedy couldnt give us innings against weak teams. Yankees scouting of other major league players is not so hot, when was the last time they picked someone up that was not an obvious star that worked out? Betitmet? only one I could think of was Molina. Joba should have finished the game last night seeing that Mo pitched two innings the night before. Does Cashman stand pat with this starting pitching and pen?
I believe Joe said Andy was coming out before Mora (regardless of the situation) because he’s had a lot of success against him. Might just be a little bit of “pot stirring” going on.
Andy also said he would have fought Joba if the thought they were taking him out to get Joba his pitches in (he was joking, but you get the drift).
Finally, if the priority had been Joba, Mo would not have been in there to close the game (esp with the “he pitched two innings last night” excuse waiting in the wings).
Pettitte has nothing to say. First of all going into last night he is not even a .500 pitcher. Second, it was the 7th inning so it was time to pull him anyway. I`m all for showing respect but they cant worry about that when they are in last place. They need to get joba ready and thats that. maybe if Petitte wasnt in Washington during spring training he`d be ready? whose fault was that?
Doreen, it was a one run game at the time, and Mora, who had beaten Andy silly thus far in the game, including a 2-run HR, was due up. Despite the thoughts that they were going to stretch out Joba, it looked like what they had always done. And many times, the infielders will gather around the mound during a pitching change. I didn’t take anything away from it.
Oh, and Andy’s post-game interview seemed like he was kidding about fighting Joba.
“Yankees scouting of other major league players is not so hot, when was the last time they picked someone up that was not an obvious star that worked out? Betitmet?”
Um, this is uncommon for -any- team.
You can’t, in general, rip off your competitors -unless- they’re looking strictly for salary relief.
Chacon? Rasner? Molina?
“Why don’t the Yankees use technology to have Sheppard do the games? Right now, it would be easy, as they have recordings of him announcing almost every player. When new players come up, they can use software to re-create his voice. Beats what they currently have.”
Might as well take in-game commentary from Xbox 360 MLB 2k8. This way we can have the simulated voice of Bob Sheppard announcing the players, a video game announcer going play-by-play, and Kate Smith’s recording of the national anthem. Who needs a human element?
i like having a pitcher who has a rubber arm and can be counted on for 6 innings almost every time out. even if that pitcher has a 5.5 era average he has value to the team because he doesn’t over expose the bad middle relief most teams have.
it’s likely that a team that has this kind of pitcher will win more games than they lose when he pitches.
winning baseball is not just how good your good guys are; it’s also how not so bad that your bad guys are.
“Chacon? Rasner? Molina?”
Only one I’ll respond to is Molina - looks like a salary dump. The Angels had Napoli, Molina, and Mathis. They didn’t need three catchers. Also, Molina was half a season away from free agency. :shrug:
“i like having a pitcher who has a rubber arm and can be counted on for 6 innings almost every time out. even if that pitcher has a 5.5 era average he has value to the team because he doesn’t over expose the bad middle relief most teams have.
it’s likely that a team that has this kind of pitcher will win more games than they lose when he pitches.
winning baseball is not just how good your good guys are; it’s also how not so bad that your bad guys are.”
Don’t you think Rasner supplies that (or better) at less of a cost than Livan?
The yankees score 4.5 runs a game, if we have a pitcher ‘eating up innings’ to a 5.5 era we will lose every game.
Winning teams don’t have ‘rubber armed inning eaters who suck at baseball’ in their rotation
SJ,
Earlier you wrote “So, if Willie feels that way, how can you rip him?”
I haven’t seen this sentiment expressed in many places, but I applaude you for saying it. I am not African-American either, but I have been thinking along the same lines…although I do believe Willie probably should have used better judgement.
is anyone else queasy about the way the yankees are preparing joba for the starting rotation?
it seems a bit random and rushed.
why not treat it like rehabbing an injury and take a little longer than is thought necessary?
because of the criticalness of joba succeeding ( the yankee season depends on it), why not take a little longer and get it right?
Right now, the Yankees view Sanchez as a power reliever.
How he looks when he returns could change those plans.
As of right now, they view Sanchez as a power reliever and Andrew Brackman as a starter. I have a feeling those projections are accurate based on what I have seen from both guys.
Doreen,
Check out Andy’s post-game interview on yesnetwork.com.
He was joking around about it.
Buck Martinez is another guy not around the team who wants to inject opinion into his comments.
Anybody watch the game on MASN last night?
While Joba was pitching, Gary Thorne was doing a running commentary about how “bad” and “uncomfortable” he looked out there.
All the while, he was mowing down Orioles hitters.
Comedy at its finest.
I hope Joba continues to look that “bad” and “uncomfortable” when he goes into the rotation.
How is a stepped progression of pitch counts random?
“Don’t you think Rasner supplies that (or better) at less of a cost than Livan?”
i like both options. i like rasner’s cost and effectiveness, but he hasn’t given the innings yet, though this year he might. hernandez is more than likely going to give the innings this year like he has done consistently in the past.
IF Joba is ready to throw 70 pitches right now, he’s ready to be a starter. Perhaps, they can wait another turn if they want.
He’s not going to throw 70 pitches out of the bullpen in any game.
He could concievably start, throw 5 innings, and turn it over to the ‘pen in his first start.
That would be better than an Ian Kennedy start this season.
I think a lot will depend on how he feels the next day or two.
The Dodgers did the same thing with Billingsley last year when they stretched him out during the season.
Looking at his stuff in his last 7-8 pitches, he’s pretty close. He was nasty last night.
For Joba to reach his innings limit he had to be starting and the process had to begin in May.
I don’t understand what is so hard about this. Is it because everyone is attached to him as a setup man that they look for any reason to criticize the plan that was in place this season?
he was eventually going to become a starter, how did you expect it to happen?
“Sorry everyone, Joba is going away for 3 months into his crysalis but when he comes back he will be a beautiful ace butterfly”????
he was eventually going to pitch to a higher pitch count, then when he got strong enough to hit 70, he would start beginning the game.
He already stretched out once in Spring. This isnt complicated.
If I may add to SJ44’s comments, it’s important to bear in mind that the Yankees DID have pitching depth, both in the MLB roster and in the minors.
But there’s only so much depth you can have when you:
a) Lose Hughes and Kennedy (who were both ineffective); and,
b) You lose Karstens AND Horne in the minors (people seem to forget about Horne, who almost certainly would have been up before Igawa - Heck, if he were around and pitching as he was before his injury, Joba’s conversion would have probably waited an extra month, as Horne would have been called up);
c) You lose Bruney AND Albaladejo in the pen.
That’s 6 arms that the Yankees have lost, and they’re still in it.
OTOH, Horne is ALMOST back and Karstens is starting to come back (though I think that he’s a long man at best). Robertson has started pitching in AAA, and Melancon and Cox are getting in their innings.
On the hitting front, Matsui, Giambi and Damon are hitting (SJ44, check RLYW - they refer to BP’s numbers, where you can see that Giambi is the second most valuable 1B in the AL, after Youkilis). Maybe Melky will get on a good streak again, and Cano hasn’t been too terrible of late.
Posada will be back soon, and A-Rod is bound to go on a tear any day now.
Really, if the Yankees had won Tuesday’s game (and Wednesday’s outcome had been the same as it was), Yankee fans would be thrilled at how the team is back, after having won 6 out of 7.
Let’s not lose perspective - things are looking up.
Randy:
Why are you obsessed with innings? Especially BAD innings? No one wants 5 era innings.
Rasner is averaging just over 6 innings a start. At a better ERA, with a better WHIP with a better everything than livan.
randy, I’m not so sure it’s random. I think it is more difficult to do it now, rather than ST, when the games don’t count. But, as Joe G. said the other day, Joba is one of the best pitchers they have, and their rationale is they’d rather have him pitch good innings and contribute to wins on the major league level than at SWB.
So he starts, maybe Monday, goes 5, then Britton for 2, Edwar, maybe, for 2 (he’s done that this year); and Joba’s next start he’s good for 6-7, which is what the other starters have done, and in some cases, better than others starters.
I think flexibility is the key, based on progress achieved, rather than anything in stone.
“Any chance the Yankees can trade with Atlanta for Mike Gonzales?
He supposedly returns to the club at the end of the week.”
no chance whatsoever, the small chance is would you trade Ian Kennedy since the Braves want SP, but I doubt they let Mike Gonzalez go w/ him , Stockman in the 2nd half Boyer, Soriano and Acosta they have a lights out BP after the 5th inning if a starter struggles.
It does seem a little strange to me how quickly the transition from one-plus inning reliever to 70-75 pitch starter is going. I guess all that time starting in the minors and Nebraska helps, but I would not be opposed to stretching it out a little longer - maybe 2 or 3 appearances at each step along the way, just to be safe.
Of course, now that Kennedy’s on the DL, its tempting to rush it. Hopefully the other 4 starters can have some good outings so the bullpen’s not gassed when they have to pull Joba due to pitch counts.
Thanks for the input, guys. I myself thought they (Patrick & Martinez) were being ridiculous and looking for trouble; I did listen to Andy last night and I agree, I thought he was 85-90% joking with a slight side of seriousness to his comments. And so far as I can tell, they (the Yankees) haven’t really stepped on anyone’s toes regarding Joba. And I would go so far as to say that if Joba is going to stabilize the rotation (eventually, but sooner rather than later), then I’d have to think most of the players are going to be behind that move.
The problem I have with all these talk-show types, even ones I generally respect, is that they are NOT there and they do put their own fingerprints on a situation that may or may not exist. And people who perhaps did not hear Andy Pettitte’s comments and see his face while he was making them will believe Buck Martinez when he says Pettitte didn’t like it one bit, “I don’t care what he said after the game.” (The fact is Andy Pettitte never likes to come out of a game, period.)
The MASN announcers, especially Thorne, are horrible. He said Cano was a switch hitter a few times and the Yankees moved Joba to the rotation because Hank said so. He is horrible and I have to watch them whenever the Yankees are in town because I don’t get the YES broadcast here when they play.
Stormrider the reason it seems so fast is because Joba hasn’t gone anywhere, really if he were sent down to the minors he’d already have a 6 IP outing, but up here so far the most we’ve seen is 2.1 IP, I said last night I was surprised he should ATLEAST been up to 3.1 IP by now but during a Pettitte start that wasn’t going to happen which is weird because they must have done it to push Andy past the 5th inning and he did just that.
Christian Garcia in Tampa made his debut about 2 weeks ago, his first outing was 4.2 IP then he wa pushed to 6 IP in Tampa A, so it really is going slower for Joba we’re just not supposed to see it, but we are.
Jerkface has it spot on. Some folks just want to create drama where there is none. Joba was slated to be a starter since the spring. Even when Hank went on his tirade, Cashman reaffirmed “the Joba plan” and this was back when IPK & Hughes weren’t even on the DL.
What’s wrong with the way they are stretching him out? We get a good arm out of the pen and he gets his work in. Win-win situation.
Vescey from the NYTimes implied that Joba’s push to be a starter was in response to Lester throwing a no-hitter. I couldn’t believe that was in print. What baffoons there are in sports journalism.
“The process has started…” The process was decided last year. Please, on this issue give Cashman some credit.
Some nice prospects pitching for the Yankees tonight on the farm:
Mcutcheon in AAA (against Justin Masterson)
Kontos in AA - who has been much better his last several starts
Heredia in Charelston in his second start after coming back from an injury.
Any word on when Humberto Sanchez will be back pitching in games. He has got to be pretty close if he hasn’t suffered any setbacks.
“Any word on when Humberto Sanchez will be back pitching in games. He has got to be pretty close if he hasn’t suffered any setbacks.”
June 10th for the GCL Yankees
SJ, Patrick Teale last night said on The Gordon Damer Show expect Christian Garcia to make his ML debut this year and get added to the 40 man roster next season, what are your thoughts on that ?
wow - i wish i was up earlier today - i would LOVE to get in on the “ESPN is on the red sox ‘package’” discussion. It’s really not even just the red sox, it’s every Boston/New England team…. maybe it has something to do with the fact that there are no more “yankee haters” out there, they all claim to be “red sox fans” now… Don’t get me wrong, obviously the red sox have a huge following of die-hard fans - but the amount of people who just claim to be fans now is ridiculous and then on top of that we have to turn on the TV to listen about how wonderful the Sox are on ESPN.
Love those off days…
Anyone going to any of the games in Minnesota this weekend?
Why in the GCL?
He will probably not be long there as he has shown success at AAA. Will he just build innings and then leap through the system?
Hard to beleive the draft is almost here along with the short season leagues and international free agency period. Hopefully there are a bunch more prospects to start following.
Brandon I have heard Garcia has been mentioned for a late season call-up (I have already stated I think he will be added bullpen relief a la Joba this year).
He has to be protected. If he is healthy at the end of this season he has to go on the 40 man. He probably has the highest upside (and is the closets) of anyone in the system not named Joba.
Thorne is a blow hard. Evident in how he put his foot in his mouth last yr with his comments re Schilling and Doug Mirabelli.
Whenever a New England fan starts going off on the Yanks. All I say is: how does “18-1″ feel? Or even better, “18-1*”.
Usually that shuts them up for awhile. Just passing on helpful tips to fellow Yankee fans.
If given truth serum, I would guess starters might be the least on board with Joba joining the rotation. Joba and Mo give them the best chance to leave a game with a win and not have it blown for them.
Thorne has great pipes, but no brain. He was talking about how Joba was a panic move orchestrated by Hank. He said the Yankees had no intention of ever making Joba a starter this year. HUH? Hello, innings limit Gary. Some people in the media, be it actual news, or sports, are truly retarded. When I was a kid I used to think people in the news knew it all, and were smart. Now that I’m older (33), I realize more and more that some people who are being paid to know things, don’t.
Eh, I think some people in here are just generally concerned about Joba because he hasn’t really LOOKED like he has been stretched out. He went 1 and a third innings last night which seems like a step back.
But when you consider the pitches he threw to get those guys out, then the bullpen pitches (which we don’t see on TV) then it was actually an increase.
What the Yanks are doing, which is smart, is not exposing Joba to major league hitters in his last increase of 10-20 pitches. This keeps him from overthrowing to get hitters out and exposing his arm to unnecessary strain.
Scorpio - you usually don’t even have to go that far - i ask their “fans” who the right fielder is and a lot of them have to make a random guess… pick any position really.. shortstop, right field, second base… a lot really don’t have a clue. I met this one guy decked out in red sox gear - hat, jersey, one of those bracelets, and I asked him what position Manny played and he said shortstop
Jason , Patrick Teale said the same thing , his upside is too high to let go on Rule IV he said he expects him to be in the majors some point this season, I think that must mean his fastball is getting back to what it was. Man that would be sick if Christian blasts through this system this season. He was rated higher than Hughes on his stuff alone and is 3rd best to Joba and Brackman.
“Whenever a New England fan starts going off on the Yanks. All I say is: how does “18-1″ feel? Or even better, “18-1*”.”
Or you can cite the South Park Episode where “Cartimenez” gives a speech about how Bill Beeeeeeelichek cheated and no one cared.
“In fact, the only time he didn’t cheat, he lost”
18-1
thanks Russell for the sweet memories
I can’t wait until the Giants Road to the Super Bowl DVD comes out next week
I have to believe he is a bit closer than Brackman. Garcia is probably more polished and has more plus plus pitches. He does not have the super-dominant fastball that Brackman has.
Can you imagine in two years Wang, Joba, Garcia, Brackman, Hughes. In relief Robertson, Ramirez, Sanchez, Cox, Melancon, Rivera. WOW!!
This is not completely out there.
“Why are you obsessed with innings? Especially BAD innings? No one wants 5 era innings.”
i’m also obsessed with pitch count ,but that’s another discussion.
5.00 era inning are very useful when they replace 7.5 era innings for example.
i like both. it’s not an either/ or with a veteran innings eater like hernandez vs. rasner. i’m with you on rasner. i like how he was developed and emerged by competing and winning in the minor leagues and then the major leagues. he was promised nothing beyond one start at a time.
innings and pitch count are two sides of a coin. on offense, you’re trying to wear out the other pitcher by taking a lot of pitches or making him throw a lot of pitches.
on defense, you’re trying to get the other team out with as few pitches as possible and have your pitcher get in as many innings as possible.
it’s the game within the game. the yankees made an art of it against pedro in his prime.
Joe T:
Sounds like you spoke with some “pink hats”. Not knowing what position Manny plays? that’s beyond bandwagon!
Russell NY:
“In fact, the only time he didn’t cheat, he lost”
That’s priceless, I’m going to use that one next time.
Eh, I don’t know if not exposing Joba to major league hitting is for the best IMHO… I think that he’d be better able to make adjustments if he were to throw his pitches and see how they’re hitting against him and how effective they are. Again, just my opinion. I’m very excited to see him in his first start - Hopefully I’ll be able to catch it on MLB tv since I’ll be traveling for work.
Where’s a good site to look at stats for minor leaguers? I’m really trying to keep up with Cox and Melancon. Are either of them on any sort of innings limit, or will they be able to pitch all day and all night when they show up?
Also it is Bill Belicheat and Shady Brady
http://www.ryanparkersongs.com/search/label/bill%20belichick
Great Song
Bryan, I got the Giants Super Bowl DVD in late Feb. Which one are you talking about?
“Where’s a good site to look at stats for minor leaguers? I’m really trying to keep up with Cox and Melancon. Are either of them on any sort of innings limit, or will they be able to pitch all day and all night when they show up?”
milb.com
Yankeesprospects.com
ProSportsDaily.com (they have a thread of day to day details)
Nomaas.org
I would also suggest pinstripesplus.com. A pay site but great in articles and interviews with the players and coaches and you have posts by people in the know about some players.
The one with all the complete playoff games telecasts
It has all 4 playoff games and the last game of the year against the Patriots on it in their entirety
28.99 on Amazon
From the Star Ledger:
A bone scan yesterday on Phil Hughes’ right-rib stress fracture showed it had not healed. He will undergo another scan next week, and if he has healed, he will be cleared to begin throwing. …
Get will Phil!
Argh!
**will=well
Pinstripesplus is the best one since they have actual evaluators and in the organization in depth reports, but be prepared for registration $$$$
Stormrider - “Eh, I don’t know if not exposing Joba to major league hitting is for the best IMHO… I think that he’d be better able to make adjustments if he were to throw his pitches and see how they’re hitting against him and how effective they are.”
Not sure if this is in response to what I said earlier. But what I meant was that when you extend your ace pitcher from bullpen to starter as quickly as the Yanks are, it is a good move to have him finish his last few pitches in the bullpen where he can put his own strain on his arm, rather than have the required strain to finish off his pitch count and get the major league hitters out.
Bryon-That DVD set is cheaper from FYE by a couple of bucks. Can’t wait to get it!
“The one with all the complete playoff games telecasts
It has all 4 playoff games and the last game of the year against the Patriots on it in their entirety
28.99 on Amazon”
Sweet, I’m preordering it tonight.
I had a flight last week, and had downloaded the NFL Network replay of the Super Bowl on my iPod, was awesome to watch (only an hour long, they skip ‘boring’ plays, skip all timeouts, time in between plays, etc.).
here is the Amazon link:
http://www.amazon.com/NFL-New-York-Giants-Super/dp/B0015NQEMY/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1212077075&sr=8-2
Bryan - absolutely amazing find with that video
Here’s another song on that same page (Ryan Parker) about the Yankees… not as funny but might be worth a look
http://www.ryanparkersongs.com/2008/03/yankees-win.html
randy: It goes back to what SJ said already; if you’re gonna sign a veteran innings eater for a few million bucks, he’s definitely going to be in the rotation. And if the plan going into the offseason was, ‘we already have a set rotation’, nobody’s gonna sign to be a backup unless no team wants him (and evidently the Twins wanted him, as Livan was their opening day starter).
JR,
I saw that on Giambi. There is no doubt he has turned it around offensively. If he was the DH, I’d be more than happy with his contributions.
I just don’t like him at first. He’s a liability defensively.
Of course, if he can continue to hit like this, you live with it.
I certainly hope he does because the team really needs him.
Arod can’t be the lone HR and RBI threat on a consistent basis in the lineup. Other guys have to contribute.
While we discuss pitching a lot, its the offense that has been the biggest letdown for the part 1/3 of this season.
Taking out the 6 Seattle games, they are averaging less than 4 runs a game this season. Not good enough for this team to be successful.
If they can get back to hitting the way they were projected this season, along with adding Joba to the rotation, it will have the look of a much better ballclub.
If those two things occur, the bullpen needs to hang on for another 4-6 weeks. At that time, Melancon, Cox and perhaps Horne could be ready to contribute if needed.
Brandon,
I don’t see any way they add Garcia to the major league club this year. I can see him being added to the 40 man roster. They have some guys on the 40 man they can remove. Like Chris Stewart for example.
If you look at realistic options, one would think Patterson (who is on the 40 man), Horne, Melancon, Cox, and possibly McCutchen and Robertson are ahead of Garcia on the list.
If Humberto Sanchez, whom I’ve heard will be pitching in Tampa (A ball) by Mid-June can make it back by August, he will be in the mix.
So, since it’s that magical day when there is no game, I thought I’d look at the series this weekend in Minnesota.
Friday, May 30: Mussina vs. Perkins
Saturday, May 31: TBA? vs. Bonser
Sunday, June 1: Rasner vs. Blackburn
Monday, June 2: Joba? vs. Hernandez
I figured Saturday would be the Wanger, but on MLB.com it is a TBA. I didn’t know if something went wrong with him to miss a start or what…
Monday is the day that the Yankees have to figure out what to do. Give Joba his first start in the Majors, or call on someone else to give it a go while continuing Joba’s stretching process.
Looks to be a good series though, with the Twins starters at 14-12 and the Yankees starters at 16-7 (not including Joba’s relief record).
that’s why I asked SJ, because last night Gordon Damer of ESPN overnight NY radio had Patrick Teale on his show and he said Christian is a guy to keep your eye on he can fast track this season and be added to the 40 man to protect him from the Rule 5 draft.
What if they decide to go with Joba on Saturday for his first start? I know he threw like 55 pitches last night, but would a 3 day rest, 70 pitches or so, followed by regular 5 day rotation rest be a good way to go? They could push Wang back to Sunday and give that calf some extra rest, then Rasner and Pettitte (in whichever order they choose) on Monday and Tuesday.
no chance if he starts it’s on Monday or Tuesday
MLB.COM
Melancon:
http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?n=Mark%20Melancon&pos=P&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=453343
Cox:
http://scrantonwilkesbarre.yankees.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?n=J.B.%20Cox&pos=P&sid=t531&t=p_pbp&pid=460079
LOL I guess I’m just anxious to see what he’s got!
They won’t push Joba to Saturday. That’s too quick and that’s how guys get hurt.
It wouldn’t shock me if they don’t start him on Tuesday. Although, I have a feeling he’s going to start on Tuesday.
I think Pettitte will go on Monday.
Right now, Joba Chamberlain is the “franchise” in the sense that how he develops determines the fate of quite a few people with the Yankees. Nobody is going to do anything that would even remotely risk hurting that kid.
“Monday is the day that the Yankees have to figure out what to do. Give Joba his first start in the Majors, or call on someone else to give it a go while continuing Joba’s stretching process.”
I think you have to give it to him on Monday. Less pressure for his first start, especially since it’s unlikely he goes 5+.
All told, this series looks good. Perkins has been excellent this year (grabbed him for my fantasy team ;-)) - he’s a former solid prospect with an injury history. Blackburn’s also been good lately. Hernandez is the innings eater who the Yankees should pwn (like they did Carlos Silva earlier in the year). Bonser has been absolute garbage lately.
Best wishes to Mr. Sheppard.
I wish Matsui can be the All-Star Game DH starter. The game is at our house and he’s leading the AL in batting average (.330 vs. Ortiz .249), and more important, it would be great to see our very own Godzilla knock down Ortiz in the voting. It is highly unlikely I know, but everyone please vote and vote often (up to 25 times).
Beside Alex, I think Matsui is the most deserving of all our position players to start at the ASG this year. PLEASE CAST YOUR VOTES AND TELL ALL YANKEE FANS YOU KNOW TO DO THE SAME!!!
I was just looking ahead at the schedule a little bit to see who was playing who in the next week. Yanks at Twins and home with Jays. Red Sox at O’s and home with Rays. Rays home with White Sox and at Red Sox.
IF the Yanks can turn it on the next 7 days, there is ground that can be made up just in having everyone else beat up on each other in the division.
SJ I’m going to give you 4 more good names right now that no one is talking about and could shore up the bench defensively and offensively
Ty Wigginton
Jerry Hairston Jr.
Ryan Freel
Jeff Keppinger
what are your thoughts on them and yes I checked the numbers and TPA
Jerry Hairston Jr is a dog. Never liked his game and guys around the game think he is a baby. Not a great guy in the clubhouse and has limited ability.
Wiggington is a guy I have always liked. He’s good in the clubhouse, a solid ML player. Unfortunately, he’s playing with a bad shoulder right now and I’d stay away from him for that reason. Some thought he may need surgery on it at some point this season.
Keppinger? Ok, not great. Has a chronic knee problem and I think they have parts in AAA (Lane, Gonzalez, Castro) who are better options.
Love Ryan Freel. Would LOVE to see the Yankees get a guy like that. He possesses one trait missing with this team right now. Down and dirty grit. Tough guy in a little man’s body. Can play both the infield and outfield. Important because that kind of flexibility eases the roster issues currently facing the Yankees.
I don’t know if the Reds would move him or what they would want in return. Of the guys on your list, that’s the guy I would look to get if the price was fair.
With Joba hopefully getting his first start next week the yanks really need some kine of plan on what to do with respect to a long man.
Joba will be on a strict pitch count. Should he tire or use up his pitches quickly they need to have a viable plan in place.
That could be Britton for two innings I suppose. I just think they’ll need a guy out of the pen who can throw multiple innings should Joba’s start go short and I don’t think that should be Ohlendorf at this point.
Joba threw a few fastball’s at 92-93 mph which I’m pretty sure were two seamers. I can’t recall him throwing many two seamers before (didn’t throw them much in the minors either). Perhaps they were 4 seamers he didn’t throw quite as hard. But I do like the idea of him mixing in two seamers - it’s another look and will help him get quicker outs.
Giambi’s hitting last night was particularly impressive because Gutherie was really throwing hard last night and doing so with good location. He was throwing very well and Giambi still generated the bat speed needed to get around on Gutherie.
If Chamberlain goes MONDAY, his Yankee Stadium debut will be SAT JUNE 7th vs the Royals.
The Stadium WILL be buzzing that day for sure….
“A bone scan yesterday on Phil Hughes’ right-rib stress fracture showed it had not healed. He will undergo another scan next week, and if he has healed, he will be cleared to begin throwing.”
I’m a Phil Hughes fan, but so far in his career he’s less durable than Bob Sheppard.
Freel is obtainable, because they dont have a position for him anymore. With Encarnacion at 3B, Phillips at 2B, and Jay Bruce now up in the OF/CF, his most natural positions are taken care of.
Freel for a package of a couple minor leaguers seems about right. he’s not an All star, so you dont have to worry about MLB roster-type guys, unless you want to swap like an Alberto Gonzalez-type player who can take advantage of a small-ball type game in the NL.
Pete has stripper ads on his blog!
Gee, I though this was a family newspaper.
SJ, Do you know what is going on with Juan Rivera? Is he finally healthy?
In terms of long man isnt Karstens sue back soon and if so isnt he the guy you would think would be the long guy.he certainly was the person for that role until he got hurt.
Clay, wrong comparison. Bob Sheppard is like 192 years old and he’s been working for 189 years of his life. That may be the most durable person ever.
The truly amazing thing about Phil’s injury at this point is that it is still at the point where he cant do anything. I thought by now there would be some healing going on and I am not doctor but what it shows me is that he had to have been pitching with this and not really knowing it. Or he has a really high pain tolerance.
blargh-
the next time the yankees want to throw two young rookies into the rotation, they can go by what happened this time and feed that into the decision for next time.
the yankees could be facing a similar decision next winter for their #4 and#5 spots depending what happens with mussina and pettitte. i think it’s better to go with one proven veteran inning eater for one spot( even at a 5.5 era and let the other rookies compete for the other spot rather than giving a rookie the job for both spots the way the yankees did this year with hughes and kennedy.
i don’t care how good they are in the minors, they have to prove it with wins at the mlb level.
I would DFA Hawkins, move Ohlendorf into the shorter role that he was supposed to be doing and make Karstens the long man. That is if he can throw 50 pitches without getting hurt…
Karstens got lit up in his first two AAA starts back, though. He may not be ready.
SJ, I just looked at Freel’s numbers, and he has been shockingly consistent. From 2004 to 2006, in close to full seasons, his BA was between .271 and .277 each year, and his OBP was between .363 and .375 each year. He only played in 75 games last year, with his BA falling to .245, but it’s like he’s making up for it this year, going .319/.364.
The Yanks could totally use a guy like that.
It would be a tall order for Karstens to be much worse in a mop up role than what Hawkins has done.
Randy:
How do you think the Yankees are going to justify having a guy with a 5.5 ERA in the rotation ON PURPOSE?
I think Britton is going to be the long guy. He can pitch multiple innings. Karstens has not been good in AAA while rehabbing.
They aren’t DFA’ing Hawkins this early in the season.
Ohlendorf? While he may not be a long man, working a second inning is not why he imploded the other night. He only threw 5 pitches in his first inning.
He imploded because he pitched poorly. He couldn’t keep his sinker down in the zone and paid the price.
Gotta pitch much better than he has in recent outings before he’s given a more prominent bullpen role.
They aren’t going to go to an all rookie bullpen in front of Farnsworth and Rivera this soon. If they did, you would have a revolt among the veteran players.
Hawkins just has to pitch better. If he doesn’t, he is probably gone by the trade deadline.
Just not getting released this soon, IMO.
Juan Rivera is a shell of what he was. That leg injury really messed him up.
He’s on the Angels roster but not playing much right now.
i didn’t think it would happen , but the yankees are 4 1/2 games behind the red sox with only three days remaining in may and have a shot at keeping within 5 games of them on june 1.
that’s pretty good considering how many things were going right for the red sox and how many things were going wrong for the yankees.
randy: That’s the situation that got me thinking about somebody like Jon Garland.
If he can be gotten for a few years/10-12 mil a year, I’d try to get him as a 3rd slot depth type. If the farm system does better than him, fantastic, Garland can be traded as such a contract isn’t gonna kill a team. On the other hand, the contract I’m thinking of could be too low for him.
SJ mentioned Byrd yesterday; him or someone like him sounds like a good plugin for a year, or two.
(well, a combination of that situation and that looking over the dynasty years, the rotation had some freaking solid depth)
Call up Igawa or Karstens or someone who can throw multiple innings. I have no problem with Joba making the start, the way things shape up right now, we need him to. But have someone other than Ohlendorf ready to go multiple innings. Maybe Britton can go 2, but no more than that likely. I wouldn’t expect Joba to go more than 4. He might go 5, but that’s doubtful.
“How do you think the Yankees are going to justify having a guy with a 5.5 ERA in the rotation ON PURPOSE?”
cb had some interesting stats a few weeks ago on playoff teams the last few years . i think ,if i remember right, the average 5th starter had about a 5.5 era.
i would take it right now if the yankees 5th starter averaged 6 innings a start with a 5.5 era for the rest of the season.
3 in the loss column.
Amazing when you think about it.
Tells me two things:
1. The season is REALLY long. I’m as guilty as anyone of forgetting that fact.
2. The Red Sox either better start winning on the road or hope they win 65 home games this year. Hard to believe a team with that much talent, that is also relatively healthy, are only 11-19 on the road.
Joba, Wang, Pettitte, Moose, Rasner.
I’m salivating.
Damon, Jeter, Abreu, A-Rod, Matsui, Posada, Giambi, Cano, Melky.
Just creamed myself.
Mets blowing a 7 game lead.
Priceless.
“The Red Sox either better start winning on the road or hope they win 65 home games this year. Hard to believe a team with that much talent, that is also relatively healthy, are only 11-19 on the road.”
Bill Beeelichek helps them at home by tipping pitches for the Red Sox.
“SJ, I just looked at Freel’s numbers, and he has been shockingly consistent. From 2004 to 2006, in close to full seasons, his BA was between .271 and .277 each year, and his OBP was between .363 and .375 each year. He only played in 75 games last year, with his BA falling to .245, but it’s like he’s making up for it this year, going .319/.364″
Doesn’t Freel own summer property on the DL??? Maybe not the high rent area, like Pavano’s, and he doesn’t live there year round, but seems to me he’s been pretty fragile.
“Doesn’t Freel own summer property on the DL??? Maybe not the high rent area, like Pavano’s, and he doesn’t live there year round, but seems to me he’s been pretty fragile.”
I don’t think it’s fragility. If Abreu dove for balls and ran into walls like Freel, he’d be hurt every year also.
Randy,
True but, not at 5 million a season.
They can get those numbers from guys like Rasner and Chamberlain.
The Twins didn’t pay Livan 5 million to be a 5th starter. They paid him to be a #2 or #3 starter. Because of Bosner’s ineffectiveness and Liriano not pitching well post-surgery, he’s the ace of that staff.
Look around the league. I don’t see any teams paying that kind of cash for a 5th starter.
If things break right, and the Yankees are within 5 games of a playoff spot by the All Star Break (not unreasonable, IMO), their pitching staff could consist of:
Starters: Wang, Pettitte, Chamberlain, Mussina, Rasner.
Bullpen: Britton or Karstens (as the long guy), Ramirez, Veras, Hawkins/Ohlendorf/Cox (one of those three, IMO), Melancon, Farnsworth and Rivera.
Phil Hughes could be in the mix and Humberto Sanchez may be available for relief work in August. Who knows, perhaps even Bruney or Albie could be back by August, adding further depth at a time when other teams bullpens begin to wear down.
If it breaks that way, that ain’t bad. You have a good balance of vets and kids, hard throwers and tricky guys, and good balance throughout the staff.
Obviously, things have to break right for it to happen. However, its not impossible.
If it does, and they start hitting, that’s a good enough pitching staff to make the playoffs this year in the AL.
Frequent Flyer miles on the DL could just make Freel easier to obtain.
Granted, Freel only played 75 games last year, but the three years before that were 132, 105, 143. And he’s played 43 this year. Not bad.
Pete - I’m dissapointed that your blog has taken up adult advertising. I was a loyal reader and my son too. But when I saw today that you are using adult advertisements prominently on your website, I have to say goodbye. I have a 9-year old, who comes to your site often since he too is a big yankee fan and this is not the stuff I want to expose him too.
Sooner or later I’m sure they learn. But I didn’t feel adult advertisements had a place on a ‘family’ site like this.
Anyway, I know this is not your fault but that of the advertisers of your paper.
I think you do a good job and keep up the good work. But I can’t continue to support.
Sincerely,
Al
Over the past 5 seasons, the average #5 starter in the AL has an ERA of 6.13. For teams that make the playoffs their average #5 ERA is 5.63.
That said, with an average (especially an average with a small number of observations - such as the average ERA for #5 starters of teams that make the playoffs) there are going to be guys with ERA’s lower than 6.1 and those that are higher.
In particular, there are going to be teams that are just hopelessly bad and their #5 starter may average an ERA of like 10 or so.
So while that’s an average I wouldn’t shoot to have a guy I know is going to have an ERA of 5.6 as my #5 starter.
You hope to be on the side of the average that is better than 5.6 rather than at or worse than that figure.
That said, the Sox #5 starters were right around 5.6 last year I believe.
blargh-
so garland is a free agent next year? interesting. a lot could happen between now and then of course. if he has a good year his price would go way up from 12 million. but yeah, he looks like a good #3.
it’s not too soon to be thinking about the staff for next year and the way it should be put together. watching what happens this year should be fed into the process. ideas that don’t work should be re-examined. ideas that work should be continued.
Freel is a sparkplug, and he’d be perfect for this bench. he’s like a poor man’s chone figgins.
What is it with fatcessa and Bronson Arroyo?
Randy:
Pitching can be uneven, but no one goes out onto the market looking to sign a Kei igawa to suck it up in the 5th spot. The average 5th spot era is pretty bad, so I’m sure it isn’t great even on a playoff team. However, I don’t want the Yankees to go looking for a horrible starter.
You need to get off this ‘innings eater no matter the cost’ thing. You’re not a GM, so its not worrying to me, but I just find it peculiar that you seem to want Cashman to find a crappy pitcher just because he can suck for more innings.
Wang, Moose, Pettitte, Joba, Rasner : If all of these boys play to how they should be pitching, with Moose being somewhere inbetween his shelling and dominance, we won’t have a 5th starter with a 5.5 era.
Hell, I bet Hughes throws up a nice ERA once he gets back.
Al — just install AdBlock. Poof, no more ads for anything.
I didn’t even notice the ad until people wrote about it.
It’s also a pretty sedate ad.
And, don’t a lot of newspapers advertise for places like that in their sports sections?
“What is it with fatcessa and Bronson Arroyo?”
because he’s clueless.
From Jayson Stark:
• The Kei Market: Kei Igawa isn’t quite as buried on that Yankees’ depth chart as Carl Pavano, but it’s close. And he’s already homesick. We’ve heard from two different baseball men recently that Igawa asked the Yankees over the winter if there was any way he could return to Japan. The Yankees quietly explored their options, got nowhere and gave up. They’re still on the hook for nearly $11 million to Igawa through the 2010 season.
Who is this idiot saying moving joba to the starting rotation is the worst move they’ve ever made?
“What is it with fatcessa and Bronson Arroyo?”
“because he’s clueless.”
Ding Ding! We have a winner!
Thanks SJ I just want to add a few things…
Ty Wiggington (UTY) 23 ABs vs LHP .348/.423/.522
Jerry Hairston Jr. (UTY) 25 ABs vs LHP .440/.483/.600
Ryan Freel (UTY) 58 ABs vs LHP .362/.413/.466
Jeff Keppinger (inf) 37 ABs vs LHP .459/.565/.676
they all really have shown they can handle the bat in good situations.
jennifer-I know. That guy has no clue.
Oh joy..”now there is an enormous void”
Trade Kei Igawa to Japan for the rights to negotiate with Yu Darvish and pay his entire salary
It’s somehow come to be accepted wisdom that the yankees were using two rookies in their starting rotation without any backup plan.
This same line is repeated again and again in the media.
But it’s just not true.
What is true is that the yankees did not sign mediocre to bad veteran free agents pitchers to be the backup plan.
But just because you’re not signing free agents doesn’t mean that you have no backup plan.
The yankee backup plan for the starting rotation just happened to be a plan that drew on internal resources rather than external resources.
What they’ve done with the staff is actually quite remarkable in terms of a backup plan.
They were able to replace Hughes and Kennedy with Rasner and Joba.
On top of that, they lost Bruney and Albaladejo and were able to replace them with Ramirez and Britton.
Very, very few teams would be able to have the kind of depth needed to replace that many pitchers on the staff.
The yankees did have a backup plan - it was probability.
They’ve amassed enough decent to talented arms to know that if Hughes or Kennedy (or even both) failed they’d have alternatives.
Rasner has pitched orders of magnitude better than almost any veteran free agent they could have gotten as a “backup” especially when you factor in how much his salary.
They may not have specifically known Rasner would be the one to help. But when you have 7-8 guys who can help in the bullpen or starting staff (one of who is Joba) its not unreasonable to assume that at least one or two will produce.
Rasner and Ramirez have been terrific. They’ve been the guys who have emerged so far.
That’s quite a back up plan. I’m not sure if any other team in the majors has added a starter and reliever after the season started who have pitched as well.