Today in The Journal News
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Jul 30, 2008 
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The Yankees don’t have many home games left and they gave one away last night. The Orioles won 7-6.
Brian Cashman does not expect a trade today or tomorrow. This notebook also has updates on Chien-Ming Wang, Johnny Damon, Phil Hughes, Carl Pavano, Eric Milton and Andrew Brackman.
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The Yankees will try and avoid a sweep today with Joba Chamberlain facing Dennis Sarfate. The Yankees are 4-7 against the Orioles, getting outscored 66-45.
Well, at least the prospect of having Wang, Hughes and IPK (who pitched another 1 ER game tonight) contributing in a month or so sheds some sunlight on September. Though with Wang, who knows how soon we’ll see him…
I don’t see why IPK isn’t close to a call-up, as he hasn’t given up more than 1 ER in a few games at AAA now. Can’t be any worse than Rasner or Poundson
If Hughes can duplicate what he did to close out last season, that could be a real boost too…
if cashman does make a trade before the deadline, as i expect him to, does that make him a “liar”?
Hmmmm…can’t beat Baltimore. Hmmmm…10 games left against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
Hmmm…
Joba the stopper will put the Yanksters back on the road to respectability and save the Neurotic Yankster fans from undue suffering.
You guys should NOT count on Wang. There is very little chance he can pitch this year. Hughes MAY be good for a few Wins, but he has been on the shelf quite a while. It is up to IPK and the rest of our uninjured staff.
This team is not winning the AL East and will have fight for the WC with Boston and/or Minn. With almost all their home games done and 10 games vs. the Angels, 6 vs. the Red Sox and 6 vs. the Rays they will be lucky to win the WC. They have made their bed and will go down in flames. Jeckyl and Hyde teams rarely win post-season spots.
I was also never on the A-Rod bandwagon but learned to appreciate him. He sucks and is just a numbers pumper. Wish he would stayed opted out.
Chet
The Yankees should bring Kennedy back and forget about Washburn. Who needs another fat contract? They have enough of them laying around producing little or nothing.
Yankees had some good hacks against Daniel Cabrera last night but they were right at the 3rd baseman/outfielders. What is really killing this team is Melky Cabrera, and backup Wilson Betemit. Nady should be in the lineup and Damon should be moved back to center with Melky as the 4th outfielder. Enough is enough, Melky needs to sit because he sucks.
Damon, Jeter, Abreu, A-Rod, Cano, Nady, Giambi needs to be the start of the lineup. Giambi needs to be pushed down while he isn’t doing crap. Here’s praying Matsui comes back to somewhat be a DH cause the lineup really misses him and Posada.
I’m for Kennedy replacing Ponson in the rotation and DFA big Sid. Don’t understand how that game ends without Sexson swinning the bat. Why on earth do you bring him in and have him watch while Betemit, truly brutal vs LHP makes the game ending out. No reason to have Sexson on the roster if you don’t use him there… bad move Joe!
Hughes might help, but I’d be shocked to get anything out of Wang or Pavano.
We made a huge mistake not going harder after Tex, don’t try to attack me, and give me all that crap about prospects.
Why the line-up change?? X-man should have been in the line-up. I don’t understand…
There are 28mill reason’s A-rod should hit better, he’s great with no one on base or there’s no pressure. 2nd and 3rd, WHIFF…………..
Don’t blame just Melky (400,000.00), what about all the Millionaire’s in the line-up………..
I love the Yanks, but things are looking grim, especially if we can’t beat Baltimore at home……
86
Hughes I suspect would go into the pen first, unless they leave him in the minors working his way up to AAA, until he show’s he can be a starter again.
Kennedy should be ready.
Need to trade for a starter, and it would be really nice to find a Mark DeRosa type of player, who can fill in at many positions and actually hit, and finally get rid of Betemit.
Another bad move was having Rasner start the 7th inning, at some 95-96 pitches.
Question: I know we have a plan for use of the bullpen and for the most part, until the recent 3 game losing streak it’s worded.
What is our nightly hitting plan. Do the players spend enough time before the game studying these pitchers on film, tabulated data, what? Or do they just arrive minutes before they need to and go in the batting cage?
Even with all the injuries, we have enough hitting that should produce.
Yup Chet, it’s amazing how ARod can have an OPS of .950 and hit 40 HRs/yr without ANY of those runs being important. We all know that scoring and driving in runs in the first 6 innings don’t count. It is ONLY close/situations that define a player. Well, not for Jeter or anyone else… just ARod.
Rick, I don’t know if I am for Washburn, but the one thing the Yankees can afford is MONEY… especially if it’s only for one year. They spent $18m for 4 months of Clemens last year. IF Washburn makes us better (and I don’t know if he does) then the money is well spent.
Russ, if you sit Melky and play Nady, JD and Bobby in the OF, and Jason at 1st, who is our DH? Betemit? Sexson? Meanwhile, you have DRASTICALLY downgraded TWO outfiled positions defensively… so you can have Betemit’s bat instead of Melky’s? If we had Bonds or another impact bat to DH, or play 1st and let Giambi DH, then it might make sense. But as bad as Melky’s bat is, we don’t have any to replace him that are much better… no enough so to lose his glove and arm.
People might hate Bonds, but the SECOND Matsui went down, Cashman should have gotten Bonds. JD’s injury only amplified that. The Yanks were so desparate for a bat, that they delayed needed surgery on 2 players (Mats and Po), because a cripple might be better then what we had.
Not signing Bonds EARLIER in the year (pre ASB), from a winning baseball perspective, was a huge mistake. We had holes in our team BEFORE we got hit with massive injuries. If not for Moose, to some extent Giambi, and our miracle BP, we would not even be close.
Bonds may be a cheater (like about 1,000 other players over then last decade), but he respects the game and works like a bastard to be great. Manny is a total a**hole, sh*ts on the game and his teammates, but continues to play. Why? Because the Sox WANT TO WIN, so they put up with Manny. Manny is a clown who dogs plays and sits out games, actualy contributing to team loses. You guys think Bonds, one of hundreds of ‘cheaters’ is worse then one-of-a-kind a**hole like Manny?
How can anyone say Bonds “respects the game” with a straight face ? The guy blatantly cheated for years, did more steroids than the country of Denmark, and otherwise was a complete jerk that screamed racism if his eggs were runny in the morning, but he “respects the game”? Come on!!
If Kennedy was lined up with Ponson, he’d be starting this week. But he’s not, so barring any major shift with the Washburn acquisition, I guess Ponson will make his start on Friday as sched, which is bad news.
I dont know why Girardi would let Rasner start the 7th inning.
I dont know why Sexson wouldnt be up in the 9th instead of Betemit, unless there were issues with the defensive alignment in the event of a tie game, which admittedly i didnt really check. but i cant understand how you can leave the game in Betemit’s hands.
I do know that i want to avoid getting too negative, because this team has never been as good as their 8+ game winning streaks, and they arent as bad as theyve looked against teams like the Orioles, Royals, etc.
Going into the series with the Angels this weekend, I was hoping out of the 12 games coming out of the break, they’d win 9, and if Joba can get it done today, they’ll have accomplished it.
It sucks that they are losing games when the Saux are losing, bc it seems like they arent taking advantage of an opportunity to gain ground, or maybe even take over the WC lead, but they also arent losing any ground either.
keep the faith…
Schedule:
Halo’s- 10 games 6 on the road.
Tor- 9 games
Boston- 9 games
Tampa- 6 games
Balt- 6 games
Minn- 3 games
Whitesox- 4 games…
That’s 47 games against winning teams and 1 Baltimore that we struggle with..
Rasner had another decent outing minus the run support he rarely gets. He deserves at least another chance with Ponson the one to go.
ARod 2008 w/runners on: .288 .394 .513 .907
ARod 2005-2007 w/runners on: .309 .419 .603 1.022
Aside from driving runners in, scoring runs is also important
ARod 2005-2007 runs scored: 127/yr
ARod 2008 Rus Scored: 63, LEADS the team.
Between RS and RBI, ARod has 126 of the teams 497 runs scored, so he has been directly involved in slightly over 25% of team runs.
But yes, I know, these were ALL unimportant runs.
“Boston- 9 games”
You sure it’s 9 games. Haven’t they played 12 games already?
The Yankees can’t possibly be paying attention to scouting reports. Millar and Huff have had their way with Yankee pitching both with the Orioles and other teams they played for.
All hitters have a weakness. It should have been found out long ago.
Turn Two -
After the game, Girardi said if he replaced Betemit with Sexson and they tied the game to go to extras, they would have been short players. Alex would move to 3rd base and they would lose the DH in the lineup. In addition, he said he preferred to stick with the guy who had been up a couple of times than go to a pinch hitter (a guy not used to pinch hitting at that). Paul O’Neill in the booth after the game (and before Girardi’s post-game) said the same thing, and said he would have stuck with Betemit in that situation as well.
As for Rasner starting the 7th inning, Girardi said the bullpen was a littled taxed from the previous 2 games and Rasner had had success with the first two hitters that were due up. The first guy got a hit, but the second guy was just grazed by a pitch. He said Marte was coming in either way to face the lefty.
Frankly, even if Rasner did put two guys on to start the 7th, Marte did not do his job. He gave up 3 consecutive hits, no?
And as far as the bottom of the 9th, how can you get on Betemit (who is not a great player) and not ARod, who should be better in those situations? Also, Cano struck out on 3 pitches.
And in the prior inning, Xavier Nady struck out looking as a pinch hitter.
A lot of things went wrong last night.
To blame Betemit and Melky, who are really not the guys who are expected to step up is kind of silly.
As Pete said in his post-game post, there was ample “blame” to go around.
That being said, they hit into a lot of bad luck early in the game. Balls hit hard right at the fielders. And Melky hit a line drive to center with men on base that the center fielder leaped to catch. He just missed being a “hero.”
They really need to step up their game as a team. The Orioles are simply the team that has their number this season (and last), for whatever reason.
OldYanksFan:
He’s in the 4 hole in the line-up for a reason, in the 8th inning last night that at bat with runner’s on 2nd and 3rd was pitiful..He should be leading all these catagories, he’s the clean-up hitter….If he hit in pressure spots, those number’s would be much higher.
Sorry even worse it was the 9th…
I just hope they win a game so the quality of some of the posts, especially in the game thread, will rise again.
The most insane, nonsensical gibberish that has ever been written on this blog has appeared the last two games. Given what usually is written here after Yankee losses, that’s saying something.
I don’t know if its from trolls or some Yankee fans are actually this stupid but, its embarrassing to read the nonsense spewed on here the past two days.
I also don’t want to hear the, “we can write whatever we want to write” nonsense either.
Technically, that’s correct. However, its not a steam of consciousness blog for some of you to deal with your assorted mental illnesses. Also, why would some folks want to write something that shows others just how stupid they are?
Really folks, take a deep breath and think a little before you write something. Its one thing to want to spur conversation. That’s highly encouraged here. Its another to be moronic. That’s not encouraged.
Go for the former and try to avoid the latter.
Every team has a team during the course of a season they just can’t beat. Unfortunately for the Yankees, its the Orioles this year.
For whatever reason, they just can’t beat this team.
Hopefully, Joba can put the brakes on the losing streak today.
“How can anyone say Bonds “respects the game†with a straight face ? The guy blatantly cheated for years”
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You don’t get it. Giambi and maybe 25% of all players in MLB used PEDS. KNOWN cheaters like Whitey Ford, Gaylord Perry, and a bunch of other ‘great players’. Willie Mays lived on uppers. Although they ALL did uppers/greenies… just as illegal as steroids.
Hanging Bonds for doing PEDS is like going to an Interstate Highway and hanging ONE GUY for speeding. Be as ‘holier-then-thou’ as you like, but the FACTS ARE that between PEDS, uppers, doctoring the ball, stealing signs and a vast array of institutionalized cheating, there might not be 5% of players who are clean.
And what about Selig, Fehr, all the owners, managers and trainers who knew about this for over a decade and did nothing? Why aren’t you calling them out?
Tell me, over 100 players have been named for doing PEDS. Can you name 10 of them? Or only Bonds?
Fredo Corleone:
Sorry it’s 6 against Boston not 9..
OldYanksFan:
Some A-Rod BA stats:
None On, 1/2 outs: .409
None On: .356
None On, no outs: .292
Runners On: .288
Scoring Position: .253
Scoring Pos, 2 outs: .233
Bases Loaded: .167
Alex is a numbers-pumper and has no situational hitting sense.
Let’s go back to 2004 ALCS when lead-off hitter (Kenny Lofton?) starts the 8th with a double. Yanks lead by 1-run and hold a 3-0 series lead. One more run and Mo can close this out. Derek bunts him over to 3rd. Sox pull in-field in and all Alex needs to do is hit a fly ball or ground ball somewhere forcing them to make the play. Do you remember what he did— STRIKE OUT!!!!!
2005 ALDS – game 5. Yanks down by one-run in Game 5 vs. Angels. 9th inn. Derek leads off with a single. Alex hits into DP. These type of high profile AB’s convince me (a fan who has been watching baseball for over 40 years) that he is so over rated and can put up big numbers is low pressure situations.
Chet
If we have to have just 2 PED players, I say cut Giambi and give me Bonds.
To win 8 straight and lay an egg in the last game at Boston, totally fine. Anyone that is upset with that is really not thinking straight. But to come home and go right back to finding ways to lose games, especially against a very poor Baltimore team, shows that this team RIGHT NOW, if they were in the playoffs, would not make it out of the first round. The Yankees have a good portion of the season to come together AS A TEAM and play well, but so far, they are just hot and cold.
“I dont know why Girardi would let Rasner start the 7th inning.”
Perhaps for a couple reasons:
1) Lot of pen use the night before in Mussina’s start
2) Rasner was pretty much crusing. After starting the 4th allowing a homer and a double, Rasner got 9 outs over the next 10 batters.
3) He had a FOUR pitch 6th inning.
SJ44:
I agree SJ, please stop posting.
I always love how the stat crowd reaches conclusions by cherrypicking their stats.
How were his numbers in clutch situations last year?
I really love the cherrypicking of playoff stats.
How were Jeter’s numbers in the ’05 ALDS against the Angels? How about that DP he hit into vs. the Indians in the ALDS last year, pretty much ending their season?
You can cherrypick stat lines on every player in baseball.
Unfortunately, as is almost universally the case here, its just another example of the stat crowd misapplying statistical analysis.
Especially when you conveinently leave out the stats that can’t bolster their argument.
Arod has “no situational hitting sense”? Too funny.
The entire team hasn’t hit with RISP this year. Giambi is still under .200. Jeter hits into a load of DP’s, Cano spent 3 months barely over .200, etc.
Take Arod off this roster and tell me where the offense is coming from?
He’s one guy. He’s not Superman.
If you are going to give up 7-9 runs a game to a team as bad as the Orioles, its pretty tough to blame Arod for the losses.
Sorry little 10 year old Timmy, no can do.
Somebody has to balance out the nonsenical drivel you put on here on a daily basis.
You are stuck with me. Deal with it.
Over the course of a season EVERY team has giveaway games but at this time of year and in a pennant race, those types of games become crucial and hurt twice as much.
There is no more margin of error to let those types of games happen any longer.
The Yankees blew 2 opportunities in 2 days to gain in the standings and with the tough Angels soon to arrive, it only gets tougher.
“1) Lot of pen use the night before in Mussina’s start
2) Rasner was pretty much crusing. After starting the 4th allowing a homer and a double, Rasner got 9 outs over the next 10 batters.
3) He had a FOUR pitch 6th inning.”
so be glad you got what you did from him. Rasner did his job. 2 runs thru 6 innings. youve got the top of the lineup coming up in the 7th, why take a chance?
SJ44 -
The game threads are atrocious. I am generally a sporadic game-time poster, but I do (usually) like to follow the game while reading the posts. One thing I’ve noticed is that the regulars who I count on for lucid commentary have left, or decide to leave, because it’s difficult to weed through the other stuff. And if you try to introduce an actual “topic” it is ignored in favor of outrageous hyperbole of the negative variety. Actually, I don’t recognize half the screen names during the games anymore. It’s a shame, really.
(And by negative, I mean nasty – saying someone had a poor at bat is one thing, but going to to say because of said poor at bat the person is a waste of life is quite another, and that’s what we’re dealing with at game time.)
SJ44:
Sorry little 10 year old Timmy, no can do.
Somebody has to balance out the nonsenical drivel you put on here on a daily basis.
You are stuck with me. Deal with it.
I wish I was 10 again, nonsenical drivel…LOL please read your post, it’s comical…
“so be glad you got what you did from him. Rasner did his job. 2 runs thru 6 innings. youve got the top of the lineup coming up in the 7th, why take a chance?”
I can see the argument both ways. The 4 pitch inning is probably what netted him the opportunity to start the 7th. He was going pretty strong at that point. Can’t unring that bell now though, can we?
SJ44, Doreen… yeah, i think we said this yesterday, too.
it’s come down to simply skimming thru the comments to find posts from people you recognize and respect, even when you disagree with them, and pass over comments from most others who you dotn know, or know comonly dont add anything to the general conversation.
“I can see the argument both ways. The 4 pitch inning is probably what netted him the opportunity to start the 7th. He was going pretty strong at that point. Can’t unring that bell now though, can we?”
yeah, its the perfect example of monday morning quarterbacking.
thats why i said, stuff happens, and i’m going to avoid getting to down on last night’s game.
if Joba does what the yankees need him to do today, the yankees will have won 9 out of 12 coming out of the break, which is what i was hoping for them to be able to do.
So the Halo/Yanks pitching matchups….as it stands now:
Pettitte/Garland
Sir Sid/Santana
Mussina/Weaver
Rasner/Lackey
Looks like splitsville to me.
i stopped following the posts during the game, they have gotten ridiculous. i enjoyed watching last night’s game alot more without it, which is very sad.
that being said, i have no desire to read everybody’s critique of the quality of other people’s posts. the arguing and calling each other 10 yr olds is just as bad as the negativity in the game threads, imo.
SJ44-
I never mentioned Jeter in my post and am not comparing Alex to him so don’t bring that up.
Situational hitting is accurate. Alex looked like he wanted to end the game in the 9th instead of realizing the bases were leaded and there were no outs. He needed to put ball into play and not swing for the fence at that point.
Also nobody is cherry picking stats. The stats don’t lie and ‘they are what they are”.
I am not the first or the last person to bring up Alex’s hitting in the clutch. This is an issue because he is the clean-up hitter on the and comes up in too many game swinging situations. The “NUMBERS” show what he has done in those AB’s.
Chet
totally agree w/SJ44, the application of stats regarding A-Rod’s supposed lack of clutchness is silly. but i don’t think you can attribute that to the serious stat people. stat analysts typically denigrate the supposed ‘clutch’ stats, because for the vast majority of players, that levels out over multiple seasons. which means that 1 season is too small a sample to make much of.
rather, that mostly comes from reporters and other observers who’ve obviously never studied basic statistics.
So in A-Rod’s case, if you base your judgement on these stats, last year he was clutch but this year he has somehow lost that quality. can’t take that seriously.
Not to mention, if the bullpen does what it had been doing, perhaps no more runs score, or at least certainly not the 2 inherited runners PLUS 2 more!
SJ44 -
I like ARod and his homerun earlier in the game cut the Orioles’ lead in half. I am not the type who believes that early runs are not valuable. I don’t think there are any useless runs at all. And last year Alex was a monster at the plate in all situations. This year, however (and I understand he’s not the only one by any means), he seems to have fallen back on the “I’ve got to end this now” mentality that ends up with him doing nothing in a quite a few big situations. I think that has to do with the overall lack of hits with RISP by almost everyone on this team, and he sees it as his responsibility to win the game with the big swing. He tries to do too much. And he’s right – he was signed to get a lot of hits and win a lot of games for the Yankees. But I so much prefer when he gets a solid single or double, just trying to drive the ball. And earlier in games that is usually what he does. The later the game gets, he just wants to drive the ball OUT.
At least that’s how it looks.
SJ44 for all his rants and raves is missing the point. The Yankees are not just struggling with Baltimore. If you look at the teams currently in last place that they have played this year they have a 17 and 13 record. If you throw in Kansas City and the Pirates they are just about playing .500 against these second division teams. As a Yankee fan you are pissed off when they lose to these teams since in the past these were no brainers. These are the teams that could put us into first place. Youexpect tough series against the Red Sox and Angles but the second division teams should be wins. Like 6 and 0 against Seattle is where we need to be when playing these bums
This blog is funny, some fans think they are the only people who can have an opinion on the yanks.
“The stats don’t lie and ‘they are what they areâ€.”
Maybe stats don’t lie, but they surely can be manipulated to support an argument (both sides of an argument, in fact). Lot of picking and choosing goes on around here when it comes to stats.
I have to say that that lose was one of the most disappointing and frustrating L’s of the season. Everything that could have possibly gone wrong, did. One person I find hard to blame is Nady. The guy is pinch hitting against a solid reliever (Johnson) and on a 3-2 pitch, when all the guy has seen are FBs sitting at 93-95, gets a hook placed perfectly on the outside corner. Can’t really do too much about that. If 2 things really stick out to me this game, it was the 0-2 pitch by Marte and the cutter inside by Rivera (no, I’m not solely blaming them, just stating what stands out to me the most). You can’t throw a pitch that fat 0-2 to a man who is having a monster season. Rivera threw the same pitch to Huff that he put in the upper deck on the first pitch, why? You would really think that they would change that location up a bit, especially after he put a swing on like that. Just a frustrating game all around to watch, and soak in after it was all said and done. But whatever… Today is a new day with Joba “ace in the making” Chamberlain. Lets take this one, move on from last night and get ready to play some serious baseball against the Halos this weekend.
Nothing wrong with starting Rasner in the 7th for me, it was just to face two batters and he had thrown four straight scoreless innings including the mentioned 4-pitch sixth.
But the excuses for letting Betemit hit in the 9th make Girardi and O’Neill sound like complete idiots. Your team stinks against LH pitching. You acquire a veteran RH hitter specifically because he has very good numbers versus LH pitching and you allow that hitter to watch as a .229 hitter vs LHP strikes out with the tying run on second.
That makes YOU an idiot, Joe.
Hiding behind losing the DH in extra innings just compounds the stupidity. It’s like saying, “I’d rather lose in nine innings than have a tougher time winning in ten or more”.
People criticizing this decision aren’t “blaming” Betemit and Melky for the loss, nor are we giving A-Rod a hall pass for his awful season with RISP. But claiming A-Road NEVER delivers clutch hits is beyond foolish.
This is a team sport, there is pleanty of players not performing.
Let me put it like this, if we get to the play-offs. I wouldn’t want everything resting on his bat with RISP.IMO
Paulie:
We don’t have many games left against teams that we “should beat outright”.
Chet… about the LEAST VALID way of proving a point with stats is to cherry pick data and to use small sample size.
I posted RS and BA/OBP/SLG/OPS for a FOUR year period.
You post BA ONLY for 3/4 of a year.
Then you pick 2 or 3 games over a 13 YEAR CAREER to prove your point?
You don’t think I could copy what you posted and simply pick my year to ‘prove’ that Willie, Mickey, Bonds, Albert, Williams or just about any great player is REALLY A CHOKER?
Can I find a few WS games where Mantle went 0-5 w/3 Ks to PROVE Mantle sucked?
Hows this:
Some A-Rod BA stats:**
None On, 1/2 outs: .767 OPS
None On: .956
None On, no outs: 1.106 OPS
Runners On: 1.162 OPS
Scoring Position: 1.138 OPS
Scoring Pos, 2 outs: 1.224 OPS
Bases Loaded: 1.730 OPS
(** 2007, NY Yankees)
DUDE! A 1.730 OPS with the based loaded!
He must be better then 2 Babe Ruths!
2000 PS: .371 .421 .600 1.021
2004 PS: .320 .414 .600 1.014
Check out those numbers Dude! LOOK!
They prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that:
1) ARod is not a great player… He is SUPERMAN!
2) ARod is the clutiest McClutchster in all of Clutchy MLB
3) ARod is a God in the Post Season
How about this?
2008 bases loaded: .167 .222 .333 .555
Must be the UNclutiest McUnClutchster in all of Clutchy MLB
I guess St.Louis should just DFA ALBERT PUJOLS
Hey… here’a a guy with a .935 OPS this year… but
2008 bases loaded: .222 .222 .222 .444
Wow! This McUnClutchster is WORST THEN AROD!
I guess Philadelphia should just DFA CHASE UTLEY
And lastly, what makes you think that getting on base so someone else on the team can drive you in, is not a good thing? Because he bats cleanup? So if he were leading off he would be great?
Yesterday, ARod went 2 for 3, was on base 3 times (1 BB), 1 RBI (HR) and 2 RS. His line was: .667 .750 1.250 2.000 and directly contributed to 3 of our 6 runs. Are you aware that there are 24 other guys on the team?
Really. Do you know anything about statistical analysis?
i agree with last night was very fustrating.
9th- Cano and Betemit at bats were pitiful as well.
“SJ44 -
The game threads are atrocious. I am generally a sporadic game-time poster, but I do (usually) like to follow the game while reading the posts. One thing I’ve noticed is that the regulars who I count on for lucid commentary have left, or decide to leave, because it’s difficult to weed through the other stuff. And if you try to introduce an actual “topic†it is ignored in favor of outrageous hyperbole of the negative variety. Actually, I don’t recognize half the screen names during the games anymore. It’s a shame, really.
(And by negative, I mean nasty – saying someone had a poor at bat is one thing, but going to to say because of said poor at bat the person is a waste of life is quite another, and that’s what we’re dealing with at game time.)”
Unfortunately, Doreen, and SJ44, the problem is most likely a handful of idiot trolls who enjoy making things worse for everybody.
It’s VERY clear that 75% of the names that appear during losses are ‘one post names’, as in, one idiot consistently changing his name to be annoying.
Until Pete does something about this (banning said imbecile, or instituting some form of login), NOTHING will change.
screw all the stats, arod is not coming through in the clutch this year and everyone knows it. that doesnt mean he’s not gonna turn it around the rest of the year, but it is still a valid point.
Thoughts on last night. Rasner? well, I know he didnt give up a ton of runs but he walked the tight rope. Every out was a hard hit bullet. I don`t think he is the answer. He is like Ponson without as many walks.
Lots of people talking about moving Giambi next year, well, again last night despite being in a slump, he comes through in a big spot, (unlike our statistically best player who does not)Giambi cannot run, is an average to below average glove, cannot throw, but he is probably the best in the clutch (outside of Matsui) thats on this team.
Sexson? What is it with Girardi/Cashman/Betemit?? This guy was a sub on an average NL team, Sexson was brought here because???? he hits leftys, so….
Also think Girardi got back to his old ways of leaving the starter in too long. He got 6 good innings out of Rasner, he is not Andy Petitte, take him out in the 7th. The bullpen has been strong, let them handle the 7, 8, 9th innings.
With Boston losing back to back nights to (a quality team) and the Yankees losing to a bottom feeder, it was a blown opportunity to pick up two games.
Hopefully they can get a W today, and at least get a split over the weekend
OldYanksFan-
Thanks for the info.
Yes I do understand and all the points you make are totally valid. I agree that anyone can use numbers to show whatever their agenda is. I do think that you have to look at stats year by year and a 4 year sample can be looked upon as invalid for the here and now.
Maybe my use of the stats I chose was misguided but I am a true believer in situational hitting and Alex was wrong for swinging for the fences in the 9th.
Humbled.
Chet
OldYanksFan:
I respect your opinion but why did you leave out the post season stats, for 2005, 2006, 2007.
This team misses and needs Hideki Matsui!! (I can’t believe I am saying that.) I was one who thought he should have been traded for pitching in the off season.
Chet
“screw all the stats, arod is not coming through in the clutch this year and everyone knows it. that doesnt mean he’s not gonna turn it around the rest of the year, but it is still a valid point.”
Doesn’t mean he’s alone either. Lot of the team has struggled in certain situations. For all the whining that goes on about this team in the clutch, it’s intersting that the Yankees record in 1 run games is among the best in the majors.
Have to disagree with Pete on “enough blame to go around.”
The only player to point the finger at is Marte. Brought back memories of Grahaem Lloyd.
Ras did his good, 6 inn 2 runs, in the 7th even if Marte allowed one runner to score he would have done his job.
That said, I take a lot of positives from last nights game. One, a month ago they would have folded at the O’s lead. Two, Ras did the job of a 4th or 5th starter. Finally, I’m pleased with the state of the roster. The Christian pinch run and steal was perfect use of the bench. Unfortunately the results weren’t quite there.
Still two months to go and they are still in the race – many on this blog did not think that would be the case in May/June.
Fredo Corleone:
I found that to be very interesting…
I have had the Arod argument with so many people that I chalk it up to difference of opinion. He produces numbers so he can be defended very easily. My eyes (an in my subjective opinion) he is over rated and not a clutch player. I hope to be proven wrong and shown I am foolish about him everyday.
Chet
got to get to work….
Chet:
I totally agree with you, and I felt the same way in the off season. Glad we still have Hideki, I hope he can come back this year.
“I have had the Arod argument with so many people that I chalk it up to difference of opinion. He produces numbers so he can be defended very easily. My eyes (an in my subjective opinion) he is over rated and not a clutch player. I hope to be proven wrong and shown I am foolish about him everyday.
Chet”
If ARod is overrated, then so are Pujols and Utley and a host of other superstars.
YOU CAN NOT TAKE ONE AT BAT, or even A HANDFUL OF AT BATS, and ‘prove’ that someone is ‘unclutch’. It doesn’t work.
Chet, your bias against him doesn’t help. When you don’t like someone you focus only on the negative about them.
You do that with A-Rod, I do that with Girardi. I really can’t stand Girardi.
Wanna know what’s funny?
ARod had the highest WPA of all Yankees last night:
http://www.fangraphs.com/wins......eason=2008
well lets look at this arod stat: 0 as in 0 rings. this is his 5th year here and his 13th in the majors. he has been called the best player in the game for about 8 years or so. he is on the team with the biggest payroll, a team which always makes the playoffs. and he has 0 rings. he will never validate his ‘best player’ title without a ring. whether that’s his fault or the fault of those around him its a fact. the greatest players win championships or they are dissapointments.
I guess the thing about A-rod, he is great and you expect him to deliver when the game is on the line. I know he probably does some times, but the one”s he doesn’t stands out. IMO
But A-Rod is Yanks best player anyway, no doubt. So, stop whining.
Yeah, right Crappy…
The sensible posters and the “fair weather” posters separate themselves during games.
The negative posts are generally the same posters and deciphered from the very first sentence and the easy approach is just to move on to one that makes sense.
During a well played game, the negative posters have a way of coming out of the woodwork and no Yankee can do no wrong.
They give themselves away.
There is a vast difference between constructive criticism and clear cut trashing.
Timothy, the reason they stand out is because so much is riding on those times. Emotion plays a big role in your bias against him.
Think another way, A-Rod’s home run to score the first run is what got some of the others to start producing. Can’t have it both ways, even though we may want to.
it looks like ian kennedy is going to get a chance to be the trade deadline pickup to bolster the back end of the rotation. i think he’s gonna get brought back up in the next week to 10 days and see if he can help. its been a tremendously disappointing season for the guy but i think he’s going to get his chance at redemption. I’m really rooting for the guy to come all the way back to last year’s form. we need him to and we have seen him do it before. I’m thinking he’s gonna be a big contributor down the stretch.
Ok if the Yanks learned anything last night it is that:
1. Aubrey Huff like inside pitches, especially sliders. Please start pitching him on the outside of the plate!
2. Kevin Millar hits everything you throw inside. Please start pitching him on the outside of the plate!
3. Betemit still can’t hit right-handed. Do not put him in crucial situations where he hits right-handed. Yes I know, he had a game winning hit that way this year already but it was a fluke.
4. Take what you can get from Rasner. 6 innings 90-some pitches is good. Get the bullpen in there and take it home.
Sure this is Wednesday morning quarterbacking, but my point is for Girardi tolearn from these experiences and don’t repeat them.
“Sure this is Wednesday morning quarterbacking, but my point is for Girardi tolearn from these experiences and don’t repeat them.”
Something else should learn – Marte and Mariano both suck. Don’t use them at all.
See? That’s how easy it is to take a sample size of 1 game and project it into a truism.
It makes you look stupid.
Not to make excuses but heres a thought. I think the league, the American League, and the Yankee opponents are much better than we want to believe. Its not a case where the Yankees have ALL the elite players and nobody else has anything.
Therefore its hard to go out and win consistently against anyone in the league. Yesterday Huff a pretty solid hitter homers off Rivera, Marte, who is a great lefty reliever got rocked. The weakest pitcher the Yankees used yesterday pitched the best, and he pitched 6 innings while Rivera and Marte, much better than Rasner only pitched one inning.
It might be one of those years where the Yankees win 3 or 4 then lose 2 or 3 and hang around but do not pull away.
It doesn’t really matter whether A-Rod is clutch at this point. He’s irreplaceable. There’s simply no one else they could possibly put in there instead of him, either on the team or attainable from another team, who would help the team more than he does. People can complain all you want about him, but he’s going to be there for the next decade, so people might as well start appreciating him for what he does.
I’m relatively new to this blog (and blogs in general) but love it. I know no one cares, but we never get rehabbers in Charleston, that is why I was so eagerly commenting on my blackberry last night.
Believe it or not Pavano looked sharp – against Single A batters, but we know how that story ends. Phil’s hits were on hanging breaking balls, but the right fielder, Krum, is definitely not afraid of the wall. Too bad he’s the ninth batter on a single a team…
Good point.
Oh yeah, I asked Pavano for that 40 million back, but he was a jerk about it
DLev
you are right, for now we have to root for alex to put it together and bring home some championships. i didn’t want him signed in the 1st place and i certainly didnt want him resigned after his opt-out, but thats all water under the bridge at this point. i dont like the guy but i always root for him as my team’s fortunes rest very heavily on his shoulders. whats done is done and this is the 1st time since opening day that i have made any complaint about him. and even still i allow for and hope fervently that he will become the guy who leads us to the WS.
i just dont like all the ppl on here throwing out his great #’s and say that nobody can criticize him. btw, i put no blame for last night’s loss on him, he was on base all night.
“I’m really rooting for the guy to come all the way back to last year’s form.”
Need to keep in mind, a couple of last year’s starts were semi-garbage starts against weak offenses. I think we’ll find that the truth about IPK is somewhere in between his effort from last year and what he did to start this year (read: a 4.50 or so ERA type who can eat some innings)
So much attention given to Arod but how can we honestly put the blame on him for this season. Last night he hit a homer and stole a run when Meacham had him holding at 3rd. Take away his contributions and we dont even have the chance to come back. Obviously he doesn’t come through enough in clutch situations but he’s been our best offensive player since the day he got here.
This season he leads the team in:
AVG 325
SLG 602
OBP 409
HR 22
SB 15
TB 192
R 63
and he’s having an off year and he’s missed 17 games.
fredo, you are right ian wasnt a champ every outing last year but we just need a back of the rotation guy who’s better then raz/ponson and i think he can be the guy.
Old Yanks Fan,
Actually you are wrong and you don’t get it. Here’s a thought exercise for you. If 90% of men cheat on their wife, does that make it okay because “everyone is doing it” ? Of course not. Should we look the other way and say they “respect their wife” because they only cheat on her, everyone else is doing it, and hey it’s not like they beat her up too, because that would be offensive, right? Of course, if 90% of men cheated on their wives and 90% beat their wives too, that would probably be okay in your world because everyone is doing it. Bonds is a dirtbag, as is Giambi, but at least Giambi had the class to apologize. I have no idea or proof whether 25% of plyaers use PEDs, if Whitey Ford cheated, etc. and I am guessing you don’t either. Of course, that is not the point. If Whitey Ford cheated, then he did not respect the game regardless of whether “everyone else was doing it”. I still believe in integrity, pride, and self-respect. You must be the OTHER guy.
say whay you say, but you get sexson and nady and nady one day after a homer sits/sexon not even used if cashman gets these guy and Giaradi dont use them whos fault, Why are you constantly playing Giambi, benemit, and damon, damon should dh, sexson ay first and nady left field, rivera should only be used in save situations, cmon Giradi what are you thinking, Now cashman said no more trade moves sounds like he is giving up on this year, I not negative here folks, look at your yankees,Yes there are sound bright spots and some good signs, but too many mistakes, this is what is going to cost them a chance at the wild card. you watch!
I don’t think A-Rod is the best hitter but I do think he is the best player. Big difference. Is he the guy I want up if the Yanks need to scratch a run across- no. Is he the guy I want up if the Yanks need a 3 run HR-yup.
Last night he hit a HR to give fans a little hope and the Yanks on the board. He made a great baserunning decision to score a second one. Those are things great players do. Those things only partially show up in stats. I also appreciated that in Boston and last night he didn’t whine about being a pinata in the same way that whenever Jeter is hurt he always says he is fine.
Yankees fans have watched Mo close out games for many years now. How many times have you seen him get beat in the 9th inning by bloops rather than a blast? Lots. A-Rod is a blast hitter. IMO, expecting him to be anything else is like expecting Melky to hit 40 HRs. Could happen but not likely. That’s just not their game and where their strength lies.
Appreciate what he contribute to the team and stop expecting him to be the team.
The Arod thing is strange. Fans and people expect him to be what he is, the best player in baseball. Therefore they expect him to “win” games when he is up in spots when the game is on the line. For years we were treated to the Sprotscenter highlights of Manny and Papi getting the big hits in Red Sox wins. It always seems that when Boston wins those guys were right in the middle of it. Many times fans see Arod hitting a first inning homer, then whiffing or popping up in the 8th or 9th in a tie game.
Guys like Manny, Papi, Matsui, Giambi, Jeter, etc seem to excell in clutch situations. Arod is not great in those situations, hes not bad but hes not great. He does alot of other things that help teams win. Any success the Yanks have will be tied to what he does. Hey, Mantle, Mattingly, Winfield were all considered the best on the team and they also were scrutinized in big spots
SJ44, I do not know why you bother. People chose to be ignorant, do not even bother.
Doreen – if Alex has fallen back into the “end the game now” mentality, what is DJ’s mindset/mentality for GIDP so often this year? According to some of you it must be assumed that Betemit’s mindset was – “I am not being paid 28 million” so failure is acceptable…right?
For anyone to even pick on Alex, when he was not the last out, when others had chances to score runs through out the entire game, is stupidity in the highest order. Rubbish.
Bronx Jeers -
I had forgotten about that extra run! That was such a good play by ARod.
there are twenty five men on this team it is not all alex guys, The yankees are not hungry enought and Giaradi makes too many mistakes it will cost them
Callie -
I’m not picking on ARod. And how I wish I knew why DJ is hitting into a mess of doubleplays. I suppose we are all guilty of looking for easy answers. I fully appreciate ARod’s contributions to a game – all aspects of the game, not just 8th or 9th inning heroics. And I’m trying to put words to describe what I see; I have no idea what ARod’s actually thinking. I guess starting my commentary by saying that I like ARod was not enough of a disclaimer before I voiced my disappointment with the way things worked out last night.
Bad post. yes, 25 guys, but some (Arod) get many more chances than most to come up big. Too whom much is given much is expected. He is the best player in the game, be that player. Do things that win games be a game changer and a difference maker. Being superhuman when the game is out of reach or already decided is not a valuable thing. Your best player, or the best player in the league should be doing things that win games, and should figure in the outcome of your wins. He should not be a minor contributor to the games you win.
Doreen –
Did not mean to sound like I was picking on you. Just the one sentence.
If I had directed any of my thoughts towards Chet, my post would not have come up. Just trying to be civil, so I picked a comment that did not make me sound like a cast member of Deadwood.
Chet and now 25 guys???? Doreen.
For whatever reason Arod is less successful than some in clutch situations. He still is the top guy in baseball and still is needed and key to the Yankees winning. Its probably mental and its something I`m sure he wishes he was better at. It is what it is. Still doesnt diminish what he does for the team.
I for one if I had one guy to pick in a key at bat I would go in this order
Matsui
Giambi
Damon
Jeter
Abreu
Cano
Callie -
Understood. Sometimes, it’s difficult to be clear in posting – no tone of voice, and I’m at a severe disadvantage in not being able to talk with my hands!
To me not one position player on this team can be considered to be having a “good” year. The weakest positions in terms of productivity are CF, C, 2B and SS. It’s funny we talk soooooo much about ARod and Melky we ignore the fact that Mr. Jeter is having a career worst season. His final 46 games are as important as anyone else’s on this team.
“Sprotscenter highlights of Manny and Papi getting the big hits in Red Sox wins. It always seems that when Boston wins those guys were right in the middle of it.”
Sometimes perception is not reality.
Close and Late- last 3 full seasons
Manny .240
A-Rod .294
Papi .308
I must say that I am LMAO at OldYanksFans 9:10AM Post.
“Do things that win games be a game changer and a difference maker.”
What could have been the difference maker in last nights game was A-Rod’s HR and the hit by pitch. Getting Cabrera thrown out of the game was the best way for the Yanks to have a chance to get back in it. If A-Rod hadn’t hit the HR, the umpire wouldn’t have thrown Cabrera out for hitting him.
Sometimes its the little things that make the biggest difference.
I would exchange the early home run for a ball put in play in the 9th inning as opposed to a K
“I would exchange the early home run for a ball put in play in the 9th inning as opposed to a K”
Then they would have lost by 2 with A-Rod on 2nd and Giambi on 1st.
nah, you never know what happens after that
FWIW, I’m counting on Hughes for this year.
“I respect your opinion but why did you leave out the post season stats, for 2005, 2006, 2007.”
———————————————————–
Because my post was an example of cherry-picking stats:
A summary of ARod’s PS stats, covering 12 years, in 147 ABs is:
.279 .373 .483 .856
These numbers are somewhat lower then ARods career stats:
.307 .390 .579 .969
Of course, PS numbers are unually against some of the best pitching, and a 4 man, and sometimes a 3 man rotation… as opposed to a 5 man rotation.
147 Abs is also about 25% of one season.
So looking at this small sample size, I would say ARod has underperformed a bit in the PS.
Do I think ARod gets ‘tight’ in the clutch? Yeah, a little. No more then many players, but there as some guys who are build better for the clutch. Of course, ARod has another 9 years to work his stats, so we’ll talk again in 2017.
Willie Mays:
22 Career .302 .384 .557 .941
PS 89 ABs .247 .323 .337 .660
Never heard people refer to Willie as a choker. You?
“(ARod) has 0 rings. he will never validate his ‘best player’”
———————————————————-
Yeah… 2 really crappy players without rings that come to mind. Don Mattingly and Barry Bonds. Pretty dopey argument guy… you’re really stretching it.