Today in The Journal News
-
- July
- 14
Joe Girardi said it was an important game. But the Yankees were in a hurry to get home yesterday and fell to the Blue Jays in another burst of mediocrity.
The Yankees paid tribute to Bobby Murcer. This notebook also has updates on the rotation for after the break, Jorge Posada, Hideki Matsui and Derek Jeter.
The Home Run Derby is tonight and Brian Heyman has a preview.
Jason Giambi took a pass on the Derby.
Jesus Montero was a hit in the Futures Game yesterday.The Yankees hope to see him back in the Bronx someday. Brian also has that story.
Rick Carpiniello learned that Mets prospect Fernando Martinez doesn’t lack confidence.
——————
The All-Star Game press conferences are today in Manhattan. Check back later for some updates.
Also, live blogging of the Home Run Derby tonight.
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on Monday, July 14th, 2008 at 8:19 am by Peter Abraham.
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Peter Abraham
Yanks are still in it, amazingly enough, and all they really need is to get players back, and have the players they have play like they can. No one has run away with anything and the Yanks are in a position to get guys back and make a run.
And have the players they have play like they can.
That’s the reason I don’t get into the “kill Cashman†drama. Nobody anywhere could have predicted that we’d have an offense that would sleep walk through the first half of the season. Or that we’d have the injuries that we do. Getting Santana wouldn’t have meant a hill of beans in all of the games where we just about scored a run.
This team has played a lot of games where it looked like it just didn’t care. Where they were sloppy and looked lethargic. We are 5 games out in the loss column. Can you think of 5 games where we should have won but didn’t? Where we gave the games away? It isn’t that the Yankees didn’t have the talent to get the job done. If Girardi has called 4 team meetings already or is it 5 you know there are at least that many times he felt they were sleeping on the job. How many more games could he have had team meetings but you just don’t do that every time you really need to or all you do is have team meetings with this team?
This team is its own worst enemy. It isn’t that they aren’t built to win. They just don’t look like they care enough on any consistent basis.
I can’t remember the last time I felt less passion about a Yankee team.
Is it too late to get Madonna to lip-synch the national anthem at the ASG?
Ah the mediocrity that is the 2008 Yankees. Sleepwalking through the season. If everyone is hoping for another 2007 second half run, I wouldn’t hold your breath. These guys show no signs of trying to break out of the funk other that spewing the now all too common “We stink” or “Sometimes they’re just better” crap. I wonder if Cash is leaning towards blowing it up rather than getting more help…? I mean Arod, Jeter, Posada, Giambi, and Abreu should be enough to score more than 3 runs a game… if they need someone else, then this team has bigger issues and a trade isn’t going to fix it.
so, i got an email from the Yankees letting me know that tickets were still available for the derby tonight, so i checked it out, searched for 2 tickets.
best available put me right behind home plate, loge level, 3rd row. pretty good. almost too good to pass up if it were reasonably priced.
unfortunately, i dont have an extra $1300 laying around to buy 2 tickets to the HR derby.
are they insane? thats just disgusting.
if they need someone else, then this team has bigger issues and a trade isn’t going to fix it.
Sunny that really sums it up. You need the whole team to play the way they can or you need the whole team to disappear. One bat or one superarm will just become washed out by a team of underperformers.
I’m all but ready to give up on hopes of making the playoffs this year. Getting Matsui and Damon back will obviously make a big difference, but there are just too many holes in the line-up and probably the back end of the rotation. (I don’t believe they’re getting Fuentes. The bull-pen is probably the only part of the team that doesn’t need help.)
As long as Posada and Jeter and Abreu are not hitting very well, and Cano and Cabrera or Gardner look as if they still belong in the minors, there are just too many holes in the line-up to expect the team will win 2/3 of their games for the rest of the season. The pitching has been good enough lately for that to happen if the hitting came around, but I don’t see any quick fixes for the hitting.
So I’ll get enjoyment anyway I can. The flicker of hope (which won’t quite go away until their mathematically eliminated) that they can get back into it. Watching the kids develop—Joba and Robertson and, I hope, Gardner. Hoping Cano can get it going. Rooting for Mo to have a sub 1.00 ERA. Watching A-Rod shoot for Mike Schmidt and beyond. Watching what might be the end of Andy, and of course what will definitely be the end of the stadium. Watching Torre’s legend grow with every game they lose.
turntwo, that is nothing. Some guy on my plane back from Toronto claimed that he spent 15 grand on tickets for the game.
I just took a quick look but it looks like there’s a common factor to all of our losses but one in the last 10 games. Posada behind the plate. And a common factor to all our wins in the last 10 games but one. Molina behind the plate. The other win was Moeller behind the plate.
Please note I believe that MLB sets all prices for all All Star festivities NOT The Yankees. So perhaps if I amwrong someone can correct me MLB is taking us all to the bank. Having been to an all star game before I will be very hapy to watch it on TV
In fairness two were shutouts so Posada stinking as a catcher right now wouldn’t have helped that. Maybe the other team would have just scored fewer runs.
Isn’t it about time for Jeter to step up and show his captaincy by being a leader ? This team is virtually voiceless. Jeter has been nonchalant for the last 2 seasons. No fire in his belly.
I think the problem with the Yankees’ offense is that each one of them are pressing. They are all trying to hit 10 run homeruns, instead of manufacturing runs. They are all trying way too hard to make something happen out there. Instead of working walks, we are chasing bad pitches and hoping we get a basehit out of it. Instead of a sac fly to the outfield, they are trying to send a sac fly to the stands. Fact of the matter is, this team has no idea what it is like right now to just play for the love of the game. I don’t think any one of them are having fun on the diamond, the one place where they should have it. I feel like they are trying too hard to have fun, which is only going to make you play more tight and over analyze everything that you do. This break is what they needed, BADLY. Maybe they’ll realize that this game isn’t about impressing people, its about getting paid millions to do what you love and have fun with… How nice of a job is that…
What the yankees need is a couple of players like Youkilis and Pedroia. Scrappers who never give away an at-bat. That’s why the fans voted for them even if they don’t have the aura of the other side of the ASG infield. Too many prima donnas on this team.
“Yanks are still in it, amazingly enough, and all they really need is to get players back, and have the players they have play like they can.”
Not to be a Negative Nancy but they really do have the majority of their starters out there. Pitching isn’t our problem, it’s the offense. We are missing Matsui and Damon and that is it. If Matsui comes back it will either knock out Posada or Giambi from the DH spot (since Posada hasn’t been doing a whole lot of catching lately) so there really won’t be much of an upgrade there. Damon could help, I guess. But that doesn’t really solve our bottomless pit of Melky and Molina. Not to mention GIDP-Jeter. We need to find ways to avoid Jeter from hurting us with his GIDP. In other words, Damon/Gardner need to steal more when Jeter is up to avoid having that guy at first. If Damon and Matsui come back, we make the choice of Melky or Gardner. I know who I’m picking.
The 2nd half of the season is on the offense. Pitching has been fine. If you thoughts Hughes-Kenneds-Joba would combine for one win as starters and the team would hit around 270 and score less than 3 runs in over 30 games you would think the season was lost and the team was 10 games under 500. Now the offense needs to carry them to the playoffs, they cannot look disinterested in a game as they did yesterday anymore. They all took in extra day for the all-star break. When they report Friday at 1pm for workout, they better be focused and ready to go. They have a 65 game window to make a run at this. anything less than 40-25 will not be good enough.
It would one thing if all this team needed was some rest, heal from injuries, and regroup to make a serious charge but this team is dangerously close to being mediocre. There are very few players willing to give themselves up for the sake of moving runners in scoring position. The fire is missing to give their all to pull a game out in the late innings. The 1st half has shown a lackluster team just content to show up and get a game over with. Only with the occasional blowout game do you see the dugout come alive. They’re not pulling for each other.
Tweaking the roster with a deal or two may help but the underlying factor has to be players feeling good about themselves. So far they don’t.
Jesus Montero will again be seen and appreciated at the Stadium. That’s the new Stadium I speak of and it should be some of 2010 and ready to emerge in 2011. Only injury can prevent it.
I searched for Home Run Derby tickets as well after getting that e-mail—the cheapest I found were Tier Reserved Section 12 Row U, which is all the way up and at an angle. $150 each, a little more reasonable than $800 each which is what Loge Box near home plate was running for.
Brutal, but somebody will pay it.
I got All Star tickets on Stubhub for cheaper than HR Derby tickets from yankees.com in the same section.
Early last week, I saw Field Championship tix to HR Derby, 2 connected, for $275 each, and didn’t pull the trigger fast enough
Random question, Pete, but could you answer a question for me?
Since the All-Star Game is at Yankee stadium tomorrow, how do all the beat writers/reporters share the space? Do you still have your normal spot, or is it an over-crowded mess of reporters from every baseball city?
No debate the offense is to blame for the mediocrity of late. The Yanks were 44-37 with 14 games to go before the break. they went 6-and-8 in those games, allowing just 51 runs (3.7/game). That should be good enough for a much better record.
Getting healthy will help, without a doubt but a legit RH hitter with some power is critical and I don’t mean Richie Sexson (although he’s worth a try as a backup/PH). Can’t wait for the teams out of it to start putting some players out there.
Abreu and Horne for Carlos Lee would make me happy, and Houston gets out from a long term contract.. or they keep Abreau and improve their LH/RH balance too.
Interesting tidbit from Sherman
“Officials attending the Future Games continue to insist Yankee GM Brian Cashman is sending out a vibe that he is uncertain if he is buying or selling at the deadline. If the Yanks decide to buy, officials say watch for them doing something with Pittsburgh for lefty reliever Damaso Marte and possibly Xavier Nady. The Pirates have been scouting the Yankee system and are known to like Ross Ohlendorf, among others. …”
While the idea of OhNolendorf being included in the same frame of mind as Damaso Marte and/OR Xavier Nady gets me all excited, I know they’ll have to include far far more to get the Pirates involved in serious discussion. They can’t like our pen’s home run specialist
thatmuch, can they? Or be that stupid? But if they do like him, how much more would we have to include?The idea that Cash is thinking about being a seller is even more interesting. Considering what we’ve been seeing on the field the past few months, I might be leaning in that direction.
http://blogs.nypost.com/sports/st/archives/2008/07/the_pitching_ma.html
The yankees have been shut out more times in the first half of this season than they have been in the past 8 seasons combined…..even though Giambi hit a meaningless solo home run in the 9th, I still consider yesterday a shut out.
But you have to cut the yankees some slack…this is one fierce offense the Jays had
Inglett CF
Eckstein DH
Overbay 1B
Barajas C
Mench RF
Rolen 3B
Lind LF
Scutaro 2B
McDonald SS
Burnett RHP
The 2008 Yankees just arent a very good team, Ive come to terms with that. Theyre not a bad team, but theyre not a good team…if that makes sense.
Mr. Jeter the mental midget says the Yankees have been playing well. How out of touch with reality is this fool If you think Choke Rod going through a divorce will not affect his work then you have never been through a divorce. This team is a mantal mess and Jeters comments only prove that. They need a good thrashing from the fans and media, then hours of deep therapy. What a bunch of weak minded fools. I think they need to give a test the way many corp jobs do to find out the menatl fabric prior to signing long term big contracts with pro athletes who have low motivation and low sports IQ. See Cano the idiot who can not even bunt. How sad this bunch of looooooosers
“While the idea of OhNolendorf being included in the same frame of mind as Damaso Marte and/OR Xavier Nady gets me all excited, I know they’ll have to include far far more to get the Pirates involved in serious discussion. They can’t like our pen’s home run specialist
thatmuch, can they? Or be that stupid? But if they do like him, how much more would we have to include?”Ohlendorf’s better than what he’s shown this year. Of course, you’re the brand of Yankees’ fan that ‘calls it as you see it’ and can close the book on a player’s career halfway through 1 season. I wish I had such foresight!
Im perfectly fine with being sellers. Does anyone honestly think this team will go anywhere in the playoffs?
Jayson Stark took a hatchet to A-Rod for not being in the Derby over at ESPN. Every decision A-Rod makes is the wrong decision. If he participated and lost in the first round there would be stories about how much of an embarrassment his showing was. I think he should make a decision in every situation from here on in, and then just do the opposite a la George Costanza. Like, when there’s a man on 2nd and nobody out he should decide in his mind pre-AB to strike out…maybe that will help him hit with RISP.
No they will be gone in the first round if they make it because there is PRESSURE. Since 2004 the year of the choke they have folded up under pressure instead of rising above it
Giambi, Petitte, Mussina and Farnsworth all have tremendous trade value right now. Id ask them to wiave their no trade clauses and trade every one of them.
X Nady?
not sure about that. hitting 321 in the weak NL, so the exchange rate makes him about a 290 hitter? he is having a pretty good season. I would take a shot if in fact Damon or Matsui is gone for the year but I don`t think Yanks will need him if they come back soon
“But you have to cut the yankees some slack…this is one fierce offense the Jays had”
thats all well and good, but its not the offense the Jays had that beat the yankees 2 out of 3, it was the pitching.
Too bad we have all those no trade contracts. It would be nice to just sell right now and come back raging next year. The team should be centered around Jeter and A Rod, and anyone else over 30 could then be shipped. When could then bring in Tex and CC next year, and plug the rest from the farm.
Well, now that I am awake from that dream I can hope for us to go on a tear so we can lose in the first round again.
Nady? Id like Nady IF Damon and Matsui were not coming back, otherwise I`d pass on him.
Regarding trading Giambi? why? Petitte?? as much as I would hate to see him go, his inconsistency make him expendable to me. Farnsworth? pitching well now but quite honestly, he should have been gone two years ago. Mussina? I`d keep him.
What do you expect to get for these big $$$ contracts?
“Giambi, Petitte, Mussina and Farnsworth all have tremendous trade value right now.”
i think SJ had this right, maybe a week or two ago. i forget what he said exactly, but it wasa three step process for Cashman, and one of the steps included the idea of bringing in the vets with the no-trade clauses in/around 7/25 (last week before deadline) if the team hadnt righted the ship by then. talk to them about giving them the option to waive their no-trades, or allow them to express where theyd be interested in going, or if they would be interested in playing out the season in a pennant race, or if they wanted to finish out there year in NY.
that way, you give Cashman a week to work the phones, figure out his real options, and try and do whats best for the team.
$1300 for 2 tickets to the HR derby? As in … $650 each? Thats just unbefreakinlievable.
If that’s the non-scalper price then the stadium should be nearly empty for what was a pretty boring event last year.
Someone told me prices for the concerts at Shea this week were $98 for the cheapest seats. Many of them were $250+ and many more were 3 or 4 times that or more.
In ‘81 saw the Rolling Stones, and my friends & I paid a scalper $30 each for our upper deck tickets, which was about double face value. I don’t remember exactly but front row seats from Ticketron (the Ticketmaster of the time) were somewhere in the $50-75 range. Yeah it was a long time ago and times have changed, but a gig like that was once something a high school kid could actually afford on a high school budget. Gone are those days … it’s really too bad.
If those are ‘ticker agency’ prices there has to be a way to stop it. Call me naive but that’s also scalping isn’t it? It’s one thing for a guy to score 50-100% over face value for a handful of tickets but its another thing to have a legit company buying sections upon sections and boosting prices by even more. As I remember a scalper had to skulk around hoping not to get caught. What gives with the legal scalping? Its way out of hand.
“Jayson Stark took a hatchet to A-Rod for not being in the Derby over at ESPN”
Jayson Stark seems to hate the Yankees. I really stopped reading his columns. He has quite a man crush on Curt Schilling though too.
“Giambi, Petitte, Mussina and Farnsworth all have tremendous trade value right now. Id ask them to wiave their no trade clauses and trade every one of them.”
Tremendous value???? These are expensive 2-3 month rentals. Plus what team will be willing to pay Giambi $5 million NOT to play for them in ‘09. Yankees would have to pony up a lot of cash to any prospect value for these guys.
Here’s a nice story about some hidden treasures in Yankee stadium:
http://www.nypost.com/seven/07142008/sports/hidden_treasures_of_161st_and_river_119780.htm
The Toronto announcers mentioned that the Yankees are significantly below their runs/game rate from last year and at this point will not come anywhere near last year’s mark for total runs scored.
USA Today has an article on the number of hr’s per game being down significantly from the 07 season (approx 1 hr per game) and asks the question if MLB’s focus on performance enhancements (PE’s) has had an effect.
This past season we were all in an uproar about the disproportionate attention the Yankees received in the press spotlight surrounding the Mitchell report. Could there in fact be more than a casual relationship between the greater awareness on the use of PEs and the number of shutouts we have seen this year, as noted earlier?
In other words, is this the real unvarnished Yankee offense?
I understand the panic around here. But it was the same at this time last year. People were throwing in the towel left and right…
They’re not looking great, but they’re still hanging in there. Let’s not lose hope just yet.
fredo…of course the yankees would have to eat some money, but who cares?...its only money and they yankees were paying them anyway. why ot try and get something we can use for the future for them? This team is not going anywhere, I know its hard for some to admit…it was hard for me, but Im no longer in denial…the 2008 yankees are just not a good team.
the worst thing we can do here is trade prospects for a veteran hitter. thats the precise opposite way the organization needs to go. if we’re going to trade it shouldve been for sabathia or harden. we need to sign both of those dudes after the season.
The Yankees aren’t going to turn into sellers while they’re only 5/6 games out…
“Let’s not lose hope just yet”
I agree that we still have a legitimate shot at making the playoffs, but then what? Lose in the first round again? Maybe with Joba in the rotation we can get some postseason dominance in the SP slot for the first time in a while, but I just think with the chips we have it is a long shot to win it all.
It would be nice to sell whatever we can and focus on next season. Even if we sell, there is still a chance that we make the playoffs this year. I think it will also send a message to the orginization that a new era is coming and anyone whose last name is not “Jeter”, “Rodriguez”, “Rivera” and “Posada” has a safe job.
Again, pipe dream b/c of the no trade contracts.
The worst thing we can do here is trade prospects for a veteran hitter/veteran pitcher. Thats the precise opposite way the organization needs to go.
There fixed.
I’d like to see the Yanks get Marte and Nady. I believe both players are under contract until after 2009. Nady could be our RF for 2009 when we set Bobb Abreu free.
bdog375-
Well sure, but in some ways it doesn’t make sense to be trading guys.. Some of the guys we let walk might bring back a draft pick or two. Why trade them now? We’re not going to get any blue-chippers for the guys who we could put on the block.
It’s not as though they haven’t been getting hits.. They’re 5th in the AL with a .266 Avg..
They just haven’t been driving them in.
But I really believe that pattern can change. Luck can start swinging in their direction.
I’d like to see the Yanks get Marte and Nady. I believe both players are under contract until after 2009. Nady could be our RF for 2009 when we set Bobb Abreu free.
Here we go again. This exactly the type of move we don’t need our GM to do.
“I’d like to see the Yanks get Marte and Nady. I believe both players are under contract until after 2009. Nady could be our RF for 2009 when we set Bobb Abreu free.
Here we go again. This exactly the type of move we don’t need our GM to do.”
its not a bad move, it just depends on the price.
DMan, I agree that there problem scoring runs has completely to do with the failures with RISP. I also think that if we do make the playoffs we are in a better position this year than last year b/c our pitching is much better (and we all know that in big games good pitching can shut down good hitting).
I suppose I am just venting frustration, but I would like to see a big move made. And I would like it more in the direction of shipping someone out than shipping someone in. I think Girardi is a pretty motivating person (not Herm Edwards motivating, but motivating none the less), and he cannot seem to get this team fired up except for he gets ejected. I think maybe the front office could get this team fired up by letting people know there jobs are not safe. Again, the problem is that there jobs are safe b/c they all have not trade clauses
I’m with DMan… five games from the playoffs is not time to sell., Ths team is right where they were last year at this time with a better pitching staff. I still think a deal or two owuld help shake things up and, ideally improve the lineup vs LHP and possibly improve the # 5 starter spot.
I’m not talking about future mortgaging deals, but strategic ones where you deal for guys that might have inflated contracts or impending free agency and moving the second tier of prospects
“five games from the playoffs is not time to sell., Ths team is right where they were last year at this time with a better pitching staff.”
while i agree that this is not the time to sell yet, its also not the same staff it was going into August and Sept that they had last year.
if nothing else, you seem to be missing one huge piece to the puzzle, and noone knows when, or if, he’ll be back this year.
were Cashman to see some life from the offense coming out of the break, he could make a deal to get us back to a better position than the same time as last year, but we’re not there right now.
“five games from the playoffs is not time to sell., Ths team is right where they were last year at this time with a better pitching staff”
Better pitching staff??? Really? No Wang. Mussina has faded in the 2nd half for the past 5 seasons running. Ponson and Rasner are still in the rotation. Pettitte is reliable, but has struggled with good lineups. Lot of youth and inconsistency in the pen (excluding the world’s greatest closer).
its not a bad move, it just depends on the price.
There is no indication or way that the Bucs sell low, the new GM use to be Mark Shapiro’s right hand man, he has stated since he got the job that this new regime will build from the bottom up and won’t be quick to undersell. Ex. (Oli Perez deal)
Granted Wang’s absence is a big difference, but Mussina and Pettite are pitching better than they did last year and Ponson is pitching better than Clemens was.. the bullpen has been good for long enough to convince me.
Last year they got great help from Chamberlain and Hughes, so the key to being better the “second half” is probably going to have to come from a starter.
Still I think the Yanks pitching is good enough to make a run.. if the get some runs to work with.
Has anyone thought of the potential of a 3-way trade where they move Abreu to a team looking for OF help (Arizona maybe, considering they’re missing Byrnes for the rest of the year?), then flip what they got for him to Pitt for Nady? I think Nady’s biggest assets are that he’s not left-handed, he can hit left-handed pitching, he’s hitting .333 with RISP and he can play both RF and 1B. For Arizona, Abreu is an immediate upgrade for their mostly-anemic lineup, and they can probably play Upton in LF.
Then again, Arizona could just trade for Nady straight-up and play him in left, considering their division is wide open and they are more willing to trade prospects (see: Dan Haren) than the Yankees, but…I mean, I can’t help but play armchair GM a little bit this time of year. And I agree with the sentiment that the Yanks shouldn’t give up a package of young talent for Nady, but I still think he could be helpful this year and next before his contract is up.
What happened to SJ44? Is he okay? I miss his analysis.
can’t even think of being a seller when you’re 5 games out at the break, have a rotation with 3 good starters, a well-performing bullpen, the names they do in their lineup.
and then you’ve got some possible starters in the minors, Rasner has been a decent 5th starter anyway.
and then, the Yankees battling a very good but not great Sox team and the Devil Rays for the division, plus you’ve got the Twinkies, A’s & Rangers as the teams ahead of the Yanks for the Wild Card. the biggest wild card competition may be the Tigers, and they are behind the Yankees.
yes, this team has been maddening to watch. it’s possible they won’t hit, and that is a key point. however, why the $#%$ does this translate into even the possibility of being sellers?
jeez, it’s the Yankees. it would royally tick me off if they just gave up on the season in July.
When is Hughes back? If it is mid-August, then I think the present starters (maybe with a bit of help from the minors) will be okay for the 2nd half.
I don’t have a problem with trading older players for younger players, as long as there is no drop off in production. This team seems to need a spark, and sometimes new blood can do that.
I don’t think Kennedy will help this year, but Hughes could be the key IF our offense returns to second half ‘07 form.
Hughes I think the target is September with him, unless he for some inexplicable and unforeseeable reason comes back faster than what all the signs are pointing to (it seems more likely something will go wrong and he won’t get back at all). Kennedy I think is destined for Scranton for the rest of the year, as well. His line hasn’t looked too good yesterday, or the start before. Seems like he’s still struggling with his command—bad sign for a control pitcher without great stuff.
how sad is it that the book on the Yankees hitters is to throw it hard, down the middle, and let them get themselves out. Has Girardi lost the team?
As said before, Xavier Nady bats righthanded, plays either corner OF position and 1st base. That warrants going after him.
DadinIowa said:
July 14th, 2008 at 11:54 am
“What happened to SJ44? Is he okay? I miss his analysis.”
Seconded, what happend to him?? Did the trolls and haters finally get to him?
I can’t see counting on Hughes’ return, and Kennedy was nothing special in SWB yesterday (5 IP, 4 ER).
I like Andrew’s idea for a three-way deal. Arizona not only needs an outfielder, they need a LH bat rather badly. Arizona has some nice prospects that could be kept for the future or spun into Nady or Bay or Carlos Lee…. no there’s no indication Lee is on the market, but it would make sense for Houston to lok to re-tool.. the assemblage they have right now isn’t going anywhere. they also love Ohlendorf so the deal wold have the potential to grow.
Nady??
Ah, lets not get to thinking that he is Carlos Beltran. Hes a very good player, but he is not a power hitter, and I think a corner outfielder needs to provide power. To me he may be a slight upgrade on Abreu, but Abreu has the stolen base intangible that Nady does not have.
Nady has youth, but Nady is still an NL outfielder on a bad team.
He has power, his SLG% has been higher than Abreu’s the last 2 years. The only advantage Abreu has over Nady is his patience. I don’t think it’s a matter of being in love with the guy and thinking he’s going to fix all the team’s problems, but I also don’t think you can write him off because he’s an NL outfielder on a bad team. I do believe that he would help change the way the lineup looks, and he’s the only offensive player that is available that could potentially help this year and next year without costing them a fortune in prospects and dollars. Still, I think he’ll be playing for someone else besides the Yankees on August 1 and we’ll still watch Bobby Abreu loaf around in RF every night.
Could there in fact be more than a casual relationship between the greater awareness on the use of PEs and the number of shutouts we have seen this year, as noted earlier?
If anything, I’m more inclined to think the crackdown on the stimulants is hurting the older teams more. You hear now how teams are consuming a lot more coffee to stay alert, etc. This may have more to do with it than the PE’s..
PeteAbe posted Jeter’s stats as leadoff hitter and it once again highlights how lackadaisical he seems to be approaching the game this year…1 BB in 6 games? Terrible, especially for a guy with no real pop. In yesterday’s game against Burnett in the 3rd (4th?) after the first two batters made quick outs (after the Jays had gone up 4-0), he swung at the first pitch and made an out, it was maddening. Does he not understand that with his popgun swing, working the pitcher, drawing walks, getting better pitches to hit is the right strategy, esp. with the team 4 runs behind? Even Cano is displaying better judgement now and appears to have somewhat righted himself. Forget all the ‘fiery leadership’ crap – all we can expect is that the Captain approach the game with more intelligence and a plan – I also wish he was getting the ASB off to recharge.
Abreu is another disappointment, look at his BB total vs. that of his last 10 years. In his case, I chalk it up to simple contract year push – looking to pile up the counting stats at the expense of OBP and pitches seen. I suspect he will bounce back and have a good year again next year for whoever signs him.
Cashman needs to have an intervention with both players quietly, because it does not seem that Girardi is talking about their crappy approaches.
MONTERO…today’s NY Post had a very uncomplimentary article that down-graded Montero, “He’s not a catcher…can’t throw, too big etc. etc.” Your paper pumped him up! Who were the two scouts that ripped him representing? Let’s see, my guesses would be:
1. The New England Hose tean &
2. The Mets
Even, these scouts can’t give a decent evaluation of any Yankee! More ant-Yankee bias wherever you turn!
There simply is no excuse for a team to be disinterested in the major leagues. Especially a $200 million team like the Yankees, yet it happens over and over again with this bunch of pathetic chumps. Girardi holds a meeting and rips them, and they play interested for one game, then it’s back to sleepwalking. Time to back up the truck and get rid of these bums. They are a disgrace to the Yankee uniform…