Today in The Journal News
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Jul 03, 2008 
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Hank made some noise and the Yankees clobbered the Rangers. If only it were that easy. Brian Heyman has the story.
Sidney Ponson gave up seven runs. But Joe Girardi says his spot in the rotation is safe. This notebook also has updates on Bret Gardner, Hideki Matsui, Shelley Duncan and some signings.
————
Sir Sidney is 5-1, true enough. But here is what he has done in his last eight games:
46.1 innings
65 hits (5 HR)
19 walks
28 ER
A 1.81 WHIP is not going to get it done for very long. Opponents have hit .334 against Ponson since May 11. The Yankees are kidding themselves if they think this guy can stay in the rotation.
We might as well go with Karstens or McCutchen or some other rookie over Ponson. He’s nothing special. Ponson. That makes me sick. Hopefully Cashman can figure out what to do with this rotation going forward b/c Wang should not pitch until next season with that foot injury.
Pete,
You know that Cashman and Girardi know they’re only buying some time with Ponson and then they’ll buy some more with either Karstens then perhaps with Kennedy until they can possibly make a trade if all others fail to stop the bleeding.
Sidney was lucky the first game in getting the win. Last night he was good then suddenly became terrible.
What’s baffling to me is he has good enough to win stuff. Last night he gave up a couple of doubles on what looked like pretty good pitches. But this kind of stuff happens to him all the time. Strange.
I said this before but I agree with Pete. He will not last the season in the rotation.
And some guys are kidding themselves if they think Karstens could be any good at the major league level…
i think it was pointed out at RAB that because of the off day monday, it would be expected to skip Ponson’s start next time thru, which would then buy McCutcheon and Karstens at least one more start in Scranton before the 5th starter is needed again on Saturday, 7/12 against Toronto.
if Karstens does again what he did last night in his next start, you cant give Ponson another start, unless Karstens winds up taking Darrel Rasner’s spot instead.
i think Chad Jennings was reporting that IPK was due to report in Scranton today. He’ll prob be making his next Brnx appearance soon after the AS break, especially if Cashman continues to refuse to import an real-life major leauge quality pitcher.
“And some guys are kidding themselves if they think Karstens could be any good at the major league level…”
its not about being good for Karstens. it’s about being better than Ponson (or Rasner for that matter).
Karstens is possibly better than Ponson. He ain’t better than Rasner.
TurnTwo: we need to right the development ship and keep IPK in AAA, even if it means starting Kim Jones out there.
how has anyone NOT called the FBI in the last 24 hours and asked for an investigation as to whether Ron Washington bet against his team last night. he GAVE us that game last night. the sight of that poor kid out there after his first major league pitch was a strike was priceless. you’re up 7-6, you’ve got Abreu, A-Rod, and Giambi to face, and you bring in the most starstruck rookie i’ve ever seen to make his first appearance? you oractically threw that game.
nice offensive performance, Yanks. i’ve seen this movie before, though. it was called “the 2007 New York Yankees.” spread the runs out a little next time!
i meant “you practically threw that game”
“we need to right the development ship and keep IPK in AAA, even if it means starting Kim Jones out there.”
i dont disagree with you, but you need MLB pitchers to start games… and if Rasner continues to be ineffective, and Karstens takes Ponson’s spot, and he’s bad, then who else do the yankees honestly have left as a real option?
this team isnt going anywhere unless it can find two pitchers to fill the 4th and 5th spots in the rotation, and like now.
If Ponson makes another start, Cashman has to bring up Karstens to shadow Ponson (unless Giese is fresh from not pitching in recent games).
Otherwise, another Ponson implosion would blow up the pen (though admittedly, Ponson blew up in the 6th inning yesterday – but I’m concerned about him blowing up in the 1st or 2nd).
Peter,
Do you think that with the upcoming day off, that the Yankees will keep their top starting 4 on regular rest and only pitch the # 5 starter one more time before the break ?
If they do that, then we match up Andy against Kazmir and Andy gets 3 starts before the break and Ponson ( or whoever ) gets the ball only one more time. If they keep each starter “in order” then we get to see….UGH..Ponson ( or whoever ) agains Kazmir and Andy only 2 more times and Ponson ( or whoever ) 2 more times. It seams that the answer is pretty obvious, so I fully expect Joe ” George Costanza ” Girardi to do the opposite.
Why do we call Girardi “George Castanza”? I know who Castanza is.
Don Vito -
But opposite George’s decisions always worked out; I’m assuming you don’t think Joe’s decisions do.
Don’t you love how all these ‘newspapers’ run with information from some bogus website. How many of you ever heard of perezhilton before yesterday?
Also the post being the crack head paper that they are, ran with c-rod as their headline. Never mind some terrorist was going out in Israel killing people. Or better yet the hostages that were held for 5 years by Colombian guerrillas, that were finally released. Good to see their prorities are in order. They should change their paper to the NY Rag.
Looks like Jeter and A-Rod can be boys again
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/.....id=3471831
I always believed the rift occurred cuz A-Rod got married and his wife probably didn’t like him partying it up with Jeter and all his lady friends
Also I live in Boston and was working on this morning and on the local morning news the tool of a sports reporter was doing a piece on A-Rod, Madonna, Cynthia Rodriguez, and Lenny Kravitz
He said “Cynthia Rodriguez has dated the most overrated player in baseball and now she is dating the most overrated musician”
I just had to laugh since they are so concerned about the Yankees even after being swept by the Rays
Gotta love the best setup man in the AL blowing another one
Jennifer -
I’m with you. These other papers are merely reporting the report. With everything going on in the nation and the world, I’m having trouble believing that the most compelling story of the day is ARod’s marriage.
working out*
See this is why you shouldn’t believe what you read. The photo was of him by an elevator witht eh stripper, not entering a strip club. Also c-rod packed her bags to meet alex in boston. Way to twist the story daily news.
“He said “Cynthia Rodriguez has dated the most overrated player in baseball and now she is dating the most overrated musicianâ€
ha!! no matter whether you’re a yankees or saux fan, thats pretty funny. nice job by that reporter.
Also doesn’t anyone really care what Alex does off the field? As long as it isn’t illegal? As long as he hits homeruns on the field, he can hit a homerun every night in bed with anything with two legs. I could care less.
The radio guys on weei should be more concerned about being swept by the first place rays. not the comings and goings of Cynthia.
“He said “Cynthia Rodriguez has dated the most overrated player in baseball and now she is dating the most overrated musician—
I didn’t know Cynthia dated Jason Varitek…
If Washington “threw the game” sending a rookie out there then Girardi tried to “throw the game” by sending Ponson out in the sixth after a long layoff and left him out there to give up four runs in four batters.
Texas’ staff was tired and the Yankees had all of four hits in the first six innings. Why would anyone be concerned about them lighting up a reliever at that point?
Why is it that there are some people that must denigrate every accomplishment anyone manages rather than give them credit? The Yankees didn’t put together a great inning, Texas blew the game. The Rangers didn’t pitch well the last two days, the Yankees offense sucked. I suppose Gardner didn’t get his first career hit, Texas was throwing the game by not having the right fielder playing more shallow.
It’s pretty lame.
Karstens is not the answer. Ponson is not the answer. Rasner is not the answer. I’m hoping that my assumption here is correct in that Cashman is using bandaids right now to “lessen the blow” of the loss of Wang to keep other teams from asking for the moon for mediocre pitching and Cash is hoping that he gets lightning in a bottle once again (a la 2005) and then just take an overpaid pitcher for money (a la Abreu) and maybe even get an overpaid CF too. He’s always been great at keeping things close to the vest and not overpaying (in terms of prospects) to get a deal done.
Lenny Kravitz lives half a block from me and I always see him with very young giraffe model types. This Cynthia Rodriguez thing is surprising to me.
I wish the team could spread around the runs and have enough left for this weekend. The Beckett-Rasner matchup is the wild card to me. I’m hoping the fear of being sent back down will compel Rasner to pitch lights out and put the former ace and forever white trash Beckett in his place.
The other 3 games I think we have a good shot at winning…even matchups or we have the pitching advantage. Moose is due for a win especially against guys half his age he’s always super feisty:-). The enigma would be the offense.
Go Yanks go!!!
Have you seen Lenny in the last 4 days?
The sad thing is – had this offense been on the past two nights – we’d have been looking at a sweep at probably within reach of second place.
I think you mean Vari-C the guy who looks like he took a dump in his pants when he runs to first
Boston fans should also be nervous because if they lose Manny and Vari-C continues to be in the decline they are in HUGE trouble especially if Ortiz isn’t the same
For all Manny’s problems the Red Sox have ZERO options to replace his production in the lineup if he isn’t back next year
Ponson is pitching on the edge…never know when he might just implode.
Maybe we will be saying hello to Karstens soon…oy
I’m not as down on Ponson as some of you are. Yeah, the walks are too much; he tends to get a bit fine at times, asking for his opponent to help him out. But what I’ve noticed is VERY FEW of his hits are ‘hard hit’. Just watch the games – bloops and infield grounders and weak grounders through the holes and soft liners are we seeing? I mean, when someone’s getting a LOT of double play balls, they must be doing -something- right.
His pitches have some nice sink on them right now, and he throws plenty hard. Of course, as long as he keeps walking ~6/9 like the past few games, he’s gonna get demolished when he tires (like the 6th inning last night). Those HR pitches were left too high over the plate.
“The sad thing is – had this offense been on the past two nights – we’d have been looking at a sweep at probably within reach of second place.”
thats what the focus should be right now… wild card. and they are well within reach of the Saux.
if they can take 3 of 4 at home, like a good team should do at this point, they can get it to 2 games back of boston, right?
We might be seeing Kennedy soon. He is supposed to pitch in the next day or so. I think if he pitches well, they’ll have him make one more start and if he does well he’ll be back.
Gammons said Hansen is the best set-up man in baseball. Of course anybody connected with “his” Socks are the best in baseball in his delusional eyes.
Jennifer, no I haven’t:-) It’s not like I see him daily, I’ve seen him maybe 5-6 times a year, he likes to hang out at this small italian bar in the hood and I’ve been told me he’s there to watch soccer (I know nothing about soccer so I’m just going by hearsay). I’ve seen him with his daughter and other girls I’ve seen him with look same age as his daughter.
He allowed a ton of baserunners on the Rangers and he’s doing the same thing for the Yankees. For any pitcher like that, it’s only a matter of time until opposing teams run up the score against him.
The team will say Ponson’s spot is safe up to the moment that they replace him with a minor leaguer. Why wouldn’t it?
I can see the Yankees trying Ponson for a while longer. I don’t think he has a long leash, but there aren’t a lot of pitchers just hanging around waiting to be called to the Yankees.
Interesting that Bucholz might be called up. He had a bit of a rough time after the league saw more of him.
I forgot about Kennedy.
I don’t think the Yankees are gonna rush him back here so soon. I would think they want him to spend some more time in the minors before bringing him back up. If they bring him back up….
Eh who know..
- bronxbomber
How dare you say that about Varitek… don’t you know about all his intangibles!!!!
He is the best signal caller in the game and without him Schilling, Pedro, and Beckett would be has beens
“Interesting that Bucholz might be called up. He had a bit of a rough time after the league saw more of him.”
i think he’ll be better next time thru the league… i dont think he was fully ready yet.
where this makes boston a better team is if Bucholtz can slide back into the rotation, they can settle Masterson into the bullpen, and they upgrade both in one move.
**who knows…forgot the “s”
Face it, with the Red Sox, its all about getting their fans to think of other things. Same as with the Manny throwing McCormick incident. What got all the air time wasn’t Manny, it was the RS needing more security because they got threats against their plays. All teams get these threats, it really isn’t new, but they put it out there to deflect the story from a big concern about Manny.
“He allowed a ton of baserunners on the Rangers and he’s doing the same thing for the Yankees. For any pitcher like that, it’s only a matter of time until opposing teams run up the score against him.”
Like Dice-K?
I was saying yesterday how Ponson was lucky to escape the Mets game with no runs. The Rangers are a better hitting team and they certainly made him pay for his mistakes. I’d give him one more shot to pitch well.
Karstens is earning himself a shot. Might as well bring him up and try to get a few good starts out of him before he falls back to earth.
Its too bad Horne has been injured and inconsistent, he has the skill to be a fixture in the rotation (unlike guys like Rasner, Karstens, etc). McCutchen isn’t ready yet, Aceves is injured. I’d like to get Kennedy at least two starts in AAA.
I think the Yanks will have to survive with Karstens and Rasner for the rest of this month. I am hopeful that Cashman makes a deal for a pitcher. If we have 4 guys that can go out there and pitch well the fifth spot can be pieced together by guys like Karstens/Rasner. Then when some guys get healthy (Horne, Aceves, Hughes) they can take over the fifth spot.
The key is that Cash HAS to make a trade for a starting pitcher.
TurnTwo, Bucholz’ problem is that he has to pitch backwards and throw his curves first. His fastball is hitable if the batters have a good idea its coming. He starts throwing it first and it gets hit, he goes with his curve ball first and batters sit on it.
I think he can get better, maybe he is giving off tells to the batters on what pitch is coming.
I thought I had read that his mechanics were being worked on though, something about it being too over the top which is great for the curve but kills the fastball.
From what I read, the Aceves groin strain wasn’t that bad, he was put on the 7 day DL, so he could be back fairly quick.
not for nothing but i dont think yankees fans should have much to say about the saux just yet.
“They get swept by the first place Rays.”
and the yankees almost got swept by the Rangers, while scoring minimal runs against maybe the worst pitching staff in the league over the first two games. at least the saux got swept by the best team in baseball, in their home park.
“Tek is declining like the Titanic.”
right now, jorge isnt really the everyday catcher anymore, at least this year. and when he is, he’s got a lollipop arm. molina is the everyday catcher, and he’s got a worse bat than ‘Tek.
“Manny is hitting .181 in his last 38 plate appearances. And beating up every male member of Red Sox County one at a time.”
he’s still manny, and he still KILLS Yankees pitching. lets just hope he doesnt wake up til Monday.
“JD Drew is back to being JD Drew.”
he’s still an All Star, and id rather have him in RF than Bobby right about now.
“Jacoby is barely hitting over .270.”
our CF’s are a combined like 1-30 the past handful of games. lets not start hitting Ellsbury just yet.
“The rotation after Beckett (who looks more like 2006 Beckett than 2007 Beckett) is in shambles.”
seriously, considering the state of the Yankees rotation, not a single yankees fan should think about bashing the saux rotation any time soon.
http://www.nydailynews.com/spo.....t_for.html
Yeah but he’ll need a few starts in AAA minimum before he gets a callup. By then it will be mid to late July. If he could come up by late July and be a consistent fifth starter I’d be very pleased.
It isn’t looking too good for Horne right now and who knows when Hughes will be ready (september 1?). If I were Cashman I’d make a trade for a SP then have either Kennedy or Aceves will fill the fifth spot with Rasner, Giese or Karstens in the bullpen.
Molina is the everyday catcher? Are you retarded?
Jennifer, in reading that article, it almost seems that McNamee’s lawyer is throwing too much out there in the hopes of getting the case dismissed. Too much of this has been done in the court of public opinion. McNamee’s lawyer is looking to create pressure from the players to get Clemens to back off as well.
Molina has started 7 out of 28 games since june 1. He’s some everyday catcher.
Cynthia’s banging Peter Gammons? my gawd!
We may not have a chance, even with “MLB-ready starters” manning the 4th and 5th spots. It should be becoming increasingly obvious that is more of a transition team than many thought it was…
…well, from Hank’s comments, I think Cashman may have the offensive problems all along.
Gardner > Ellsbury. Lets just get that out of the way
” Doreen
July 3rd, 2008 at 8:26 am
Don Vito -
But opposite George’s decisions always worked out; I’m assuming you don’t think Joe’s decisions do. ”
.
Yes…My logic is in error. My point being that I will NOT be surprised if Girardi decides pitching his best starter ( Andy, IMHO ) 3 times before the break is NOT as good as finding a way to pitch the Dough Boy or some other #5 starter SLUG twice in that same time period. After enduring his “decisions” for 1/2 a season….NOTHING he does will surprise me anymore…
After winning 1 of 3 to Texas and not hitting for another long spell (until last night), I’d worry less about Boston and more about the Yankees.
We will find out if there is something to brag about with this team after the next 6 games.
When you are in 3rd place and have the teams ahead of you at home for 6 games, anything less than 4-2 is unacceptable.
Take a good look at the Yankees July schedule. Mostly home games. If they can’t make a big push now, its uphill for them the rest of the year.
The Sox are home for 16 games in September and the Rays are home for 10. The Yankees September schedule is more difficult than either team.
This is moving time for the Yankees. Let’s see if they have it in them.
Good call SJ44 – HUGE 6 games coming up here – need at least 4 wins, 6 would be fine though
I’m going away today so I probably won’t be on here much over the next week so go Yankees and see everyone when I get back
“I’d worry less about Boston and more about the Yankees.”
always sound advice, no matter what time of year it is.
Is Jorge going to catch for a third game in a row? Andy’s good stretch has been with Jorge behind the plate. Will Joe push for a third game, and rest him tomorrow?
Maybe Girardi will put Melky behind the plate and Jorge out in center field, just to be creative.
“Is Jorge going to catch for a third game in a row? Andy’s good stretch has been with Jorge behind the plate. Will Joe push for a third game, and rest him tomorrow?”
Andy’s good stretch has been more about the crap lineups he’s faced than his catcher, but I’d guess he’s out there tonite.
TIMLIN ACTIVATED!!!!
“If Washington “threw the game†sending a rookie out there”
Texas pitching coach was on the radio yesterday afternoon and he said he wished that 3 of their young starters had lined up to pitch in Yankee Stadium. Said that a large hostile crowd is a learning experience that they need in order to be successful in the majors and develop into pitchers that are capable of helping get a team to the postseason.
Sort of a trial by fire if you will.
“TIMLIN ACTIVATED!!!!”
Best news I’ve heard so far.
“The Sox are home for 16 games in September and the Rays are home for 10. The Yankees September schedule is more difficult than either team.”
Big series. Sox are down. Yanks have to kick ‘em while they’re there. Offense is in a major funk. Wakefield, for example, has pitched 50 innings over his last 7 starts with an ERA of 1.98. His record over those 7 starts is 2-3. Drew picked up Ortiz’s slack for awhile but he’s slowed a little bit. Ellsbury hasn’t been the same since that wrist injury. Manny has struggled immensely (on and off the field apparently) and Varitek is swinging as though he’s lost vision….in both eyes. Yanks should get three here.
“Yanks should get three here.”
DAMN DAMN DAMN DAMN DAMN WHY DO WE DO THIS! I called it the last few times and I’m going to call it this time. Now we are going to lose today’s game.
breaking newws
Jason Giambi was spotted dancing the jig.
Just put on WFAN to hear Joe rant about the Mets and someone else is filling in for him. The guy just said the Mets bullpen is terrible but the Yankees isn’t good either.
For all the talk about how Joba to the rotation would kill the Yankees pen, the guys out there now have stepped up pretty big and aren’t getting enough love for it.
Sidney Ponson gave up seven runs. But Joe Girardi says his spot in the rotation is safe.
There was a rconn23 sighting this morning jumping off the George Washington Bridge. Ha ha ha ha!
Some things really aren’t brain surgery. Figuring out that Ponson would get at least one more start is one of them.
Life is better when you can figure out what’s predictable instead of what you want. When the two aren’t the same thing that is!
Anyway my worry today isn’t the Red Sox. It’s what happens the day after the offense shoots its wad in a huge way. I always hate piling on runs after a certain point only since it seems the team is winded for a bit after that.
Here’s something I can’t figure out. When in hell is Moeller on the team if Girardi doesn’t put him in games? I hope he’s saving him for the Rays series. Jorge canNOT throw out runners. We all know the Rays run like the wind.
THis kid David Robertson could be Big from our Bullpen this week lets see if he step it up a notch
When will frail Phil be back?
Timlin activated ?
Stache just grew another whisker
THis kid David Robertson could be Big from our Bullpen this week lets see if he step it up a notch
It’s funny because he reminds me of Jared Burton from the Reds
“young giraffe model types.”
This is a great mental picture.
Is anybody else scared about having Jorge behind the plate during our games against the Rays. I’m pretty sure the third base coach is just going to scream “Steal On This Pitch!!” over to first, that’s their steal signal cause i don’t know what we are going to do about it with all that speed and lolliarm behind the plate.
wow im surpised that friday’s game is a day game
Moeller is just taking up space if he’s never used. JD Closser has looked good as of late for SWB.
If melky doesnt show he can hit once matsui comes bak he mite be traded or sent down
“Andy’s good stretch has been more about the crap lineups he’s faced than his catcher, but I’d guess he’s out there tonite.”
He didn’t exactly lay the smackdown on the Royals. Could part of his good stretch actually be that he was like umm pitching better?
One of them papers (Daily News I think) posted this little stat sheet of Sawx and Yank stats so far this season – you’ll have to click to zoom button to be able to read it.
http://picasaweb.google.com/su.....5827467090
Closser is showing some pop but IDK about his defense
.986 FPCT, 6.80 RFg, 6 of 29 CS (21 %) That’s terrible
“Is anybody else scared about having Jorge behind the plate during our games against the Rays.”
I’m not worried. Andy will probably pitch one of those games. That’s the game Jorge can be behind the plate.
Posada Will be Starting today im petty sure Giardi Likes the chemistry between them
“If melky doesnt show he can hit once matsui comes bak he mite be traded or sent down”
Matsui still hasn’t been cleared to start taking BP let alone playing the outfield and Damon always seems to have a little flair up that could use a day off. Might be good to have an extra OF close by.
Meanwhile no one gives him more heat then Pete, but Edwar Ramirez has been a rock for us more times than not.
2-0, 3.10 ERA, 31 K’s, 14 BB
10 ER in 29 IP
Is Posada’s arm actually looking bad, or is all this crankiness based on teams that were running wild on Joba? A lot of bases are stolen on the pitcher. Joba is quite vulnerable to the SB.
Star Ledger had a mildly amusing article about the length of Yanks/Red Sox games and how much over average time almost every single game is.
http://www.nj.com/yankees/inde.....in_th.html
Great title for the article, too.
whozat -
Right now, I think it’s a (volatile) combination of Jorge’s diminished throwing abilities and the pitchers being slowish to the plate.
Well, whozat, Girardi’s keeping three catchers, so I think Posada just might have some arm trouble. It looks like we might need a new center fielder next year, what with Jeter in left and Posada in right, and Melky… ???
(I admit that this is just big mouth speculation, but it’s better than the tales of Madonna, the third baseman, and Lenny Kravitz.)
It took the Yankees a while to really believe Robertson was as good as advertised. After the Cape, he really stepped it up. I like his game more than Cox but both will be tough once he’s ready.
whozat
Probably a combination but Girardi said something yesterday about Jorge working on a mechanical adjustment to get quicker throws to the base. He made it sound like trying to adjust arm angle to get more velocity.
What if Kennedy puts up two straight starts similar to what he did in his only other (full) start at Scranton this year, and Ponson and Rasner continue to pitch as they have (shakily, at best)?
I feel like they’ll go back to IPK, regardless of what Jeff Karstens is doing, unless they’ve totally lost the faith. Girardi took a similar stance about “earning his way back” the first time they demoted him when he wasn’t hurt, and they promptly brought him back to the bigs after 1 outing at Scranton, so I don’t think his bluster means their opinion has changed. But, I’m also not a mind reader.
Then again, if he doesn’t perform at Scranton it’s a moot point, but it seems like he’s got the whole “get people out in the minor leagues” formula figured out. The majors is the hard part, clearly, and it’s probably a scary proposition to try and get him to make “the leap” while still fighting for playoff positioning.
Nice of the Daily News to continue to allow itself to be used as the pimp for Emery and Camp McNamee. Emery files another motion and the Daily News reports it as a problem for Pettitte and the Yankees. Um, not.
Remember how Emery was beating the drum to have Rusty Hardin removed as Clemens’ attorney? Big news in the Daily News. Guess what… Emery lost that motion. Probably the same result here. I noticed it had been quiet on the defamation trial front for a while so it’s not a complete surprise. You have to keep your name in the papers I guess.
If this new motion results in a hearing (doubtful) it might mean that Pettite could be called as a witness. But Pettitte has given numerous hours of deposition testimony to date so the answer may well be in there and in assorted other places making new testimony, let alone a hearing, unnecessary. The facts in dispute seem pretty narrow so assuming any new testimony is called for by the judge, the testimony should last a few hours at most. Assuming Pettitte is even needed, the court will most likely arrange to take Pettitte’s testimony on a off day.
Emery is just doing his job, but the Daily News is really allowing itself to be used by him to the point of a complete loss of objectivity on the story. No surprise there I guess.
JB finally topped out at 91 in his last SWB outing, he is slowly getting back to normal. I’ve been watching Robertson for some time now, he’s going to have to breakout his best cutter vs Manny & Lowell this week, we’ll find out if he’s a player after this week.
why would the all-star selection show be in the middle of half of the league’s games?? do they not want anyone to watch??
Robertson is a pretty gutsy kid. Still remember watching him on the Cape when Josh Fields was given the spotlight and Robertson stole the show after setting up for him for the summer. He made himself some nice bank:)
ARod is studying Kabbalah with Madonna? Now I’ve heard everything.
Send him to Williamsburg!
Cynthia and Alex deserve each other.
does anybody think that this is true or like me thats all tabloid rumers!
The sky is blue again ?
murphy
When I read that article this morning, first thing I thought was Emery’s comments were directed at the Yankees and the fans. It was like he was saying we’re going to disrupt your season if Roger doesn’t make this go away but we’re also open to changing venue to NY so it will be less disruptive. Pandering at its best.
not trying to go far off topic but i hope we don’t demote Gardner.. seeing the standing O last night after that hit and then easily take 2nd and then seemingly walk to third.. yes I realize it was a foul ball… just gave me that shot of adrenaline that I feel like the Yankees haven’t had.. yes I realize that he may not project as well as AJAX, but we need to leave Gardner up for the rest of the season… He has the energy to change games.. and in his 1-10 career i still have yet to be truly dissatisfied with an AB. He works pitchers so much better then Melky ever has… I just hope I am not the only one who sees it like this.
ARod is studying Kabbalah with Madonna.
if this is true than he needs a big doctor!
Funny quote from the Bronx Bombers blog:
That seventh inning was decisive, a nine-run explosion made possible by Texas’s poor bullpen and exacerbated by Ron Washington’s curious management choices. While Edwar Ramirez had taken over for Ponson and pitched two shutdown innings, the unfortunate Warner Madrigal (not a typo) made his first-ever appearance for the Rangers in this tense one-run game and left, many batters later, with an ERA of 162.00.
————–
Of all the great (and not so great) moments in the game, I do feel a bit of sympathy towards Warner Madrigal. That is not where you want to debut a pitcher.
yes I realize that he may not project as well as AJAX, but we need to leave Gardner up for the rest of the season
Who said he’s going anywhere, he’s up here to play, Melky has underachieved, it’s a long road right now, but a Brett getting his first career basehit w/ RISP doesn’t hurt either.
“This is moving time for the Yankees. Let’s see if they have it in them.”
intensity and focus has been a problem. the team has looked like it’s sleep walking most of the year.
the red sox seem to bring out the best in the yankees so, this series is probably the best way to get their attention.
if this doesn’t get their attention and their intensity level doesn’t go up, it’s time to start benching, firing, and releasing people until the ones that are left are taking their jobs seriously .
this is from cashman to girardi to every player on down to the batboy.
On the bright side, all Warner Madrigal has to do in his next appearance is get a guy out and that number drops … considering it has no where to go but down, but in Warner’s case, that’s his silver lining… such as it is.
lets start with firing those damn batboys
“Everybody knows that they’re having problems with their pitching but, I don’t know dude, they know how to figure it out. I keep on saying that every year, they know how to figure things out.” David Ortiz, todays Boston Herald.
Curious that the Angels were upset when they lost Warner the Clown to the Rangers. Apparently they saw something in him too.
I don’t know about you guys, but I think it’s more than a coincidence that Brett Gardner starts in CF and the Yankees score 18 runs. I mean he just brings an aura. His scrappiness and hustle are a thing of beauty!
I think Girardi should have Jeter and Cano and Melky follow Gardner around all day. Maybe some of that aura will rub off on them, and there routine ground outs to the infield will look as good as Gardner’s.
Where can I buy a Gardner jersey?
Chris maybe it had to do more w/ the A ball pitcher that was fed to the dogs ?
“why would the all-star selection show be in the middle of half of the league’s games?? do they not want anyone to watch??”
Maybe they know nobody does watch. A selection show to see who participates in an exhibition game??? Who cares?
TurnTwo,
Varitek? A better bat than Posada? No one in this world would consider that an even remotely credible stance. If you think this in earnest, you need an education in hitting. Posada is a real hitter. Varitek is not. Even as Posada declines overall, his hitting doesn’t, if anything, it improves. Offensively, there is no comparison. Sorry.
^^^ Something that has struck me lately, and I’m really not trying to be condescending here, but people seem to have trouble understanding what separates a very talented hitter to a more yeoman one.
I mean, how many times have I read here, from posters who on other topics seem to know what they’re talking about, that Melky and Cano are in the same boat, offensively? I mean, I know there are sharp people who get the huge gap there, because I’ve seen them, but there are far more posts that lump them together.
One word: scary.
Varitek a better bat than Posada….
Makes you shake your head in disbelief.
“I don’t know about you guys, but I think it’s more than a coincidence that Brett Gardner starts in CF and the Yankees score 18 runs. I mean he just brings an aura. His scrappiness and hustle are a thing of beauty!”
Seriously??? He was in the lineup when they scored 3 runs in 18 innings too.
I’m concerned about Tuesday’s match up. If we leave Ponson in, it’s Ponson against Kazmir for Tuesday’s Yankees-Rays game. That looks to be suicide.
pat:
Seems to me, (and I say this of course without knowing the evidence other than what I’ve read), that McNamee has a decent shot at prevailing on the defamation suit or at least avoiding big damages – assuming Emery is right so far in all of his allegations in the media. Thus, you would think that with the meter running on his fee, and a supposedly indigent client, Emery would be taking fewer side trips and get to the trial, his client’s day in court.
Who said Varitek had a better bat than Posada? I thought TurnTwo was comparing Varitek to Molina. I must have missed something.
Ponson is not a good match for the Rays. He’s on borrowed time. The Rays bats are much more lively than the Mess.
Turn Two said this:
“Tek is declining like the Titanic.â€
right now, jorge isnt really the everyday catcher anymore, at least this year. and when he is, he’s got a lollipop arm. molina is the everyday catcher, and he’s got a worse bat than ‘Tek.
——————-
Molina’s bat is worse than Tek. Not Posada.
Why wouldn’t the Yanks just skip Ponson’s spot in the rotation with the day off coming up?
Altho – I would disagree with TT on the Posada not an everyday anymore – after the winter and his shoulder heals properly, his arm will be fine. I don’t think it’ll be Damon/noodle – ish.
“Is Posada’s arm actually looking bad, or is all this crankiness based on teams that were running wild on Joba? A lot of bases are stolen on the pitcher. Joba is quite vulnerable to the SB.”
The former.
35 guys have tried to steal on Posada. 29 have made it. By comparison, 44 have tried to steal on Molina and only 25 were safe. Moeller has even chipped in tossing out 7 of 19.
That disparity can’t be laid on the pitchers.
They should – but that will be Girardi’s call. And hopefully he makes the right one and pitch Pettitte instead.
After this week I don’t have much faith in Girardi making the right call. Torre may have made bad decisions but at least he had some instincts.
Posada is the Yanks’ everday catcher, whether or not he can throw anybody out. We don’t have a choice. There’s no point in worrying about it. Molina is not an everyday option, IMO.
Some of tho – is on the pitcher – pitching through the stretch with men on, time for delivery, keeping the runner closer to the bag… they have to do their job as well, but yes, probably 85% of it is on the catcher.
Sad day indeed when Yankee fans are actually pining for Torre over Girardi…
how fickle fandom is when the team struggles… eh?
I didn’t want Ponson in the first place. The way I see it, I was wrong once and right once, but no harm done since the Yanks won both. The Yanks should quit with Ponson while they are ahead, skip his spot next time and try someone else the next time Ponson’s spot has to pitch.
“Some of tho – is on the pitcher – pitching through the stretch with men on, time for delivery, keeping the runner closer to the bag… they have to do their job as well, but yes, probably 85% of it is on the catcher.”
It’s less than 85%. Probably a lot less, but these guys are all catching the same staff and the disparity is rather obvious.
Sorry, read Turn Two’s post wrong. My bad. But my faith has been restored.
I don’t mind Girardi and have supported him but he made horrid decisions this week. Sometimes he’s got throw that stats out the window. I can see it now Fat Sid has been stellar in his career on July 8 so he will not get skipped against the Rays.
not caught up on these comments, but i recently read some encouraging news on Joe Buck and that he doesn’t like baseball and finds it boring, according to recent comments.
Fox would be wise to fire him (for this in addition to being a horrible broadcaster), or at least keep him from covering baseball games.
here’s hoping he’s not in the booth for Saturday’s game!
“Molina is the everyday catcher? Are you retarded?”
no Keith, im not retarded. i watch the games. while Jorge starts the majority of these games, he shouldnt. his inability to throw to 2B is embarrasing. its just my opinion, especially with Matsui on the DL, that Molina is your everyday catcher, and Jorge is the DH. at least thats the way it should be.
“Varitek? A better bat than Posada? No one in this world would consider that an even remotely credible stance. If you think this in earnest, you need an education in hitting. Posada is a real hitter. Varitek is not. Even as Posada declines overall, his hitting doesn’t, if anything, it improves. Offensively, there is no comparison. Sorry.”
you didnt read what i typed. thats fine.
i said Molina has a worse bat than Tek, considering its looking like he’s going to be getting more starts behind the plate.
Jorge is obviously better than Tek, but i dont see how Jorge is going to last the rest of the season behind the plate.
no matter how good his bat is for a catcher, when he becomes the defensive liability that he is becoming on an everyday basis, Girardi wont be able to keep him there.
“Sorry, read Turn Two’s post wrong. My bad. But my faith has been restored.”
thats cool, no big deal. i do the same thing on occasion.
“Altho – I would disagree with TT on the Posada not an everyday anymore – after the winter and his shoulder heals properly, his arm will be fine. I don’t think it’ll be Damon/noodle – ish.”
i agree, sunny. thats why i said at the end of my statement, at least not this year.
he’ll have surgery after the season, and be able to rehab it. he should be fine come spring 2009, or we better hope so, anyway.
Geez Pete,
Edwar pitches well so you have to pick on Ponson instead? I’m no big fan of Ponson and he pitched awful last night. But you’re skewing the numbers by including a sample size of 8 games with yesterday’s awful start. 40% of his homeruns and 25% of the earned runs allowed during that period were in yesterday’s game. His ERA for that 8 game period is 5.47 but 4.59 for the first 7 games. Yesterday’s game lifted it nearly a whole run.
I’m not going to argue that 4.6 is a good ERA but this is a #4 or #5 starter that we are talking about. Hard Ball Times had an article a couple of years ago about the varying stats by place in the rotation. They found that the MLB average ERA for a #4 was 5.10 and the MLB average for a #5 was 6.24. For those interested, the article is here:
http://www.hardballtimes.com/m.....4-starter/
We’ve been spoiled over the years by having very deep rotations. Ponson isn’t good, but he is serviceable and likely a better option than Karstens or Igawa. Maybe McCutchen would be better but I wouldn’t be ready to yank Ponson based on 1 start against one of the better offensive teams in the league.
BG good post. Rasner had several bad starts in a row and he is still in the rotation. You don’t dump Ponson after one. We won the game. It was Texas, his old team. He said that didn’t affect him. Maybe it didn’t maybe it did. If would make him pretty human if it did.
Let’s see what else he has. If it works it’s been a cheap fix. If it doesn’t he already helped us out. Win win.