The Angels are the team to beat (duh)
-
- July
- 31
Take a good look at the Los Angeles Angels this weekend. If the Yankees are to return to the World Series this season, that’s the team they’ll have to get through.
The Angels were 19-6 in July, averaging 6.4 runs. They have won four straight, outscoring the Red Sox and Yankees 34-15. Now 68-40, they are clearly the best team in baseball and have the best manager in Mike Scioscia.
“I think we pressured these guys all night and that’s what we need to do,” he said tonight. “When you’re playing teams with the offenses we’ve been playing, the Red Sox and the Yankees, you need to keep going. We did a lot of good things on the bases and a lot of good things at the plate.”
Now they get Sidney Ponson tomorrow. Yikes. His last two games against them: 8.1 innings, 15 hits, 11 runs.
————
A couple of things you may be interested in:
* Jose Molina will continue to catch Mike Mussina.
* Loyal blog reader Shelley Duncan has started playing again down in Tampa as he recovers from his shoulder injury. He’ll be getting in games again soon.
* Phil Hughes was activated off the DL on Tuesday and optioned to Charleston. He’ll pitch again on Saturday.
* I can’t imagine there’s much point in keeping Chris Britton here tomorrow after letting him throw 53 pitches tonight.
* The Alberto Gonzalez move cleared a 40-man roster spot and removed a player who was blocking AA infielder Ramiro Pena. The Yankees like him a lot. If they suddenly need an infielder, it’ll be Cody Ransom. Jhonny Nunez will be assigned to Trenton and tried as a starter. He’s 22.
* Don’t look now, but Kei Igawa has pitched well for Scranton in his recent starts. Figures, just when they took him off the roster. Chad Jennings reports that he has dropped his arm slot and it gives him more velocity and movement.
This entry was posted
on Thursday, July 31st, 2008 at 11:32 pm by Peter Abraham.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Print This Post
| 
Email This Post
Peter Abraham
Why do they even have postgame shows after losses?
Nobody ever says anything worth anyway, just cap-tipping.
Angels have the best starters.
Yanks? Not so much
can we really afford to give up the game tomorrow by starting ponson? might as well just go to IPK. he is going to be here eventually, why delay the inevitable?
“Why do they even have postgame shows after losses?
Nobody ever says anything worth anyway, just cap-tipping.”
Because professionals are going to panic and name call and throw opponents and teammates and coaches under the bus??? Are you out of your mind?
What is with some of you?
Both of the 3-run hr’s Andy gave up came with 2 out. Did anyone notice if the missed chances to catch the runner(s) stealing came before one or both of the hr’s?
Suddenly, we have one of the worst bull-pens…
Oh god.. If their going to try and fix the rotation with Kennedy.. then why bother picking up Nady, Marte or Irod. What’s the point?
Stop saying bring up IPK. Didn’t you see enough of his act this season? He’s a nibbler without good stuff and no heart. Terrible mix.
WInning starts and ends with GOOD PITCHING. What are we going to do if Andy & Mike start to suck?
I guess people forgot how horrible he was this year. They say he was “rushed”.. well bringing him up again in the same year is still rushing him.
Blah. Maybe the Yankees were hungover from drinking too much after learning of Manny’s move.
Pete, do you like torturing us ? Please, no more updates on Igawa. Do you really think there is ANY real Yankees’ fan that wants to see that slob come up and sport another double digit ERA when we are trying to make the playoffs, go on a run and win a World Series ?
These deadline moves were pointless without getting a middle of the rotation starter.
The system is loaded from all I hear from you people. Why not use it? If they are all as good as Kennedy then we should trade them now.
stf…. lose.
Seattle, meet Igawa.
Igawa, meet Seattle.
Hello Wash!
9 more games against the Angels. Yankees are screwed. If they win 3 of those 9 games they’ll be lucky.
Pete I don’t trust Igawa as far as I can throw him, new arm slot that added velocity and movement …NO I DON’T CARE IF HE THROWS 96 mph JUST NO
Tampa and LAA win ball games the way NYY did in ‘96 thru 2000. Very good defence, pitching and hitting. By hitting, I don’t mean the HR ball, I mean everyone hitting .280 to .317 and RISP.
No big star, just everyone being good at their job. How many times have you heard; Speed kills…well how many times must we get beaten (by LAA/TB) like a redheaded stepchild before it gets through to the Yanks and fans. You live by the big bat…you die by the faster bat!
We now are getting the pitching in order. I think this winter we need to get some (one/two) younger ball players that can play like TBs’ OF. We don’t need guys that hit 30/40 HR’s/BA.260. We need guys that hit .290/.320 and RISP hitters…guys that have speed and good defence. Radical I know but, get rid of Matsui, Bobby, Jason and replace them with very good all round ball players. We would still have A-Rod, Jeter, Jorge, Nage…so, even if they dig into the AAA teams around MLB, there has to be 2-3 guys we could use. If Brett could replacte his numbers; .287BA, .410OBP, .423Slg. he would be the perfect fit. Hell, we started this year out with two rookie starting pitches, didn’t pan out…didn’t kill us either, did it? 27/08?
Hippy,
IPK has been hitting 93 and has his change back, with his curve coming down in triple a, including in his one hitter. He can get big leaguers out like he did last year.
Everyone else,
The Angels are peaking now.
The Mussina mirage was bound to hit a bump in the road. If he’s not good we are totally screwed.
New blogger, but thought I might add some insight…
1) Chris Britton isn’t that good. I would have rather had Giese come out and pitch…
that and
2) Horrible play by home plate umpire calling IROD out!
Those two things if done differently might have changed the outcome of this came.
We had the momentum to at least keep the game close.
I also think Kennedy should pitch tomorrow and not Ponson. What is Cash waiting for? He is horrible and only got lucky his first couple outings. Kennedy needs to learn to pitch big games and what better way to start then by making him pitch to the best team in Baseball?
Now they get Sidney Ponson tomorrow. Yikes. His last two games against them: 8.1 innings, 15 hits, 11 runs.
the Yanks have to play better D than tonight to match up with the Angels.
tonite the D was huge – in a way, if the Yanks played D the way Figgins did tonight, they probably give up much less than 12 runs and then it’s a ballgame.
Sure, Phil. I got this bridge in Brooklyn to sell you if you believe that.
IPK is a 2009 pitcher. He’s obviously not ready. Minor league numbers and stats mean nothing. He’s not ready for NY. Not ready for a pennant race. If we are looking to win a title we shouldn’t be going down that road.
IPk would be here if they thought he could handle it. Maybe if he learns not to nibble and attack. Who knows.
I love Rafael Chaves I trust him w/ fixing Kennedy, but I sure as hell won’t w/ Igawa, I’m sorry I just can’t.. I can’t !
Any guesses on how many runs Sidney Ponson coughs up tomorrow? I’m going with 7 runs in 2 plus innings.
Blaming the mop up man?
Uggggh
Blaming calls by the ump down 6 runs?
Double uggh
I actually want them to bring up IPK, so when he gets smacked around and knocked out by the 3rd inning with 100 pitches all of you will stop squealing “Bring up Kennedy!”.
The guy is still nibbling at AAA. The fact is there are no good hitters in AAA so anyone who can throw a breaking ball or a changeup gets people out. Yet he still is throwing tons of pitches against undisciplined hitters and getting his pitch counts high early.
Up here, it’s very different. He won’t last 4 innings with the stuff he showed earlier this season. What makes any of you think he’s all of sudden going to turn into a 6 inning quality starter up here when he can’t do that at AAA?
I saw more than enough from Kennedy and Igawa this year.
They are national league pitchers.
We are in a tight race with TB and Bos and we are going with two from Ponson, Rasner, Kennedy, and Igawa?
Why not just have them all and ask them all to go 3 innings tops.
thats why they should of traded for harden look at what he did today
Good thing they didn’t trade Hughes and Kennedy for the games best left handed starter in his 20’s.
If Ponson gives up seven runs in two innings tomorrow, I’ll consider ourselves lucky.
If there is any Yankee fan left thinking that we can make it to the WS just has to take a look at today’s game. NO CHANCE!!!
Yankees looked like a legitimate fourth place team with crappy starting pitching, mediocre at-bats and lackadaisical attitude towards the game. Let’s rebuild a winning machine for ‘09, and just start ditching the dead weight and staff with eager young talent
Harden made way too much sense.
Kennedy and Melky get that done.
This system can’t afford to give up a 5th starter and a 4th OF’er?
And no one wants to hear “Harden is injury prone”
What pitcher isn’t!
How’s Hughes been??
We can’t beat Baltimore at home and we are going to beat LA?
I’m not blaming Britton. He came in the game already down by a lot. Bring in Giese make him go an inning and then have Britton pitch the rest. Even then, his stuff wasn’t great. I just think Girardi could have put someone else in.
And the umpire did make a horrible call. We would have been down 5 runs with 2 men on and no outs. We could have brought it within 3 or less and had all the momentum.
I’m just saying this game could have been a whole lot different.
The Angels are good and if we want to beat them we have to play like them and bring our best every night. Britton is not our best…
Hippy,
Listen to the games he pitches, not the voices in your head that assure you that you can learn more from small samples than you can from a complete body of dominant work.
so you rather have ipk or kennedy
I predict tomorrow a win in which the score will be 3-2 or 2-1.
Don’t be too sure about Yanks in ‘09.
The offense isn’t getting any younger or better. You know. The offense that hasn’t hit worth a lick in 08.
or harden
“IPK has been hitting 93 and has his change back, with his curve coming down in triple a, including in his one hitter. He can get big leaguers out like he did last year.”
Last year? He pitched 3 games!!!!!!!!! 3!!!!!!
How about this year?
He’s not ready for the big leagues.
Phil I respect the fact that you think Kennedy will be a great pitcher.
You obviously didn’t watch any games he actually pitched this year. You obviously didn’t notice his stuff was average at best. You obviously didn’t notice that he never attacked the zone. You obviously didn’t notice that he couldn’t pitch on the big stage at this point.
But by all means bring him up in the heat of a race and let the dogs feast on him.
We should have traded Iagwa to a NL team. Wasn’t Florida interested in him?
Igawa dominates AAA.
Anyone want him up here???
With Joba, Hughes, Wang, probably Sabathia, Brackman, Cole, all high end pitchers we don’t need Kennedy.
He was prime trade bait while his value was sky high.
Cash$ missed the boat.
Time to go to bed and dream of what it USED to be to be a Yankee fan and not an entitled snot nosed kid wannabe.
Some of you guys really suck!
Yankees rule
Saw Igawa in Scranton; he pitched quite well. It’s apparently his level, and he should stay there.
Harden striking out 10 a game. We could use that instead of Ponson not missing one bat.
sabathia aint comming to the yanks
How nice that Igawa is doing well in AAA.
Let him stay there.
Forever
Cash whatever you do say no to Kei Igawa I don’t care if he only allowed 1 hit and is picking up velocity say NO !
But I’d ask the blog who strikes less fear in you
Rasner, Ponson or Igawa ?
“Time to go to bed and dream of what it USED to be to be a Yankee fan and not an entitled snot nosed kid wannabe.”
Go back to the Stump Merril years and reminisce. We are entitled. We should have the best team in baseball. We have the most resources and the best front office. We shouldn’t be playing like dogs.
hippy, some people think kennedy was pitching hurt this year. did you see any games he pitched last year? if nothing else he has potential.
also, getting blown out one game doesn’t mean we have NO CHANCE at going to the world series. we are 1.5 out in the wc with 54 games left. as we have seen in years past, the playoffs are highly unpredictable and in oct our rotation could be joba, wang, moose, pettite.
also our bullpen isn’t suddenly awful. marte had a bad outing, and we threw britton tonight. outside of that it was moose, pettite, and sidney getting rocked along with poor defense that is most responsible for the big let down the past several days
Nothing that happened today matters as much as MANNY RAMIREZ GOING TO THE NL!!
I know I’m late to the party, but still, I’m thrilled.
I don’t think he’ll be a great pitcher. I think he can be an effective pitcher in the majors. He went through the system from A ball to the majors last year, then came up and pitched three good games, before getting injured. He was a #1 draft choice cause he had been dominant in college and for team USA. When they sent him down earlier this year he answered with more dominance. When they rushed him back he hurt his trap again. Now he’s healthy, and dealing AAA. Pitchers often turn seasons around and there is more evidence of him being very good in his college and pro career than there is of him not being good. Since he wasn’t traded, he’ll get another look this year and he’ll probably succeed.
Come on with the IPK stuff. Yes he might be a bonafide MLB starter in the future but not tomorrow. What after all he has been through now he’s supposed to save the season. No starter is going to come up and save the season at this point. Wang was the season but he’s gone now. End of story. Even Washbburn, Aroyyo, Grienke may have not made a differnece. This rotation was decided on a long time ago. It was a risk then and it just didn’t pan out after Wang got hurt. Somebody said it last thread. Wang’s injury was a near knockout punch. They may show signs of getting off the canvas at points but it may have been too much. Hopefully these last starts by Moose and Pettite were hiccups and not 3 start long slumps. If so we are probably toast. The rays are young and should show signs of endurance and maybe the Sox get rejuvenated after ridding themselves of their cancer. Its a real shame but if our starters don’t start showing signs of brilliance (Joba Withstanding) we could see the last game played at the Stadium on Sep 21.
Fells Pt
August 1st, 2008 at 12:01 am
“Time to go to bed and dream of what it USED to be to be a Yankee fan and not an entitled snot nosed kid wannabe.â€
Go back to the Stump Merril years and reminisce. We are entitled. We should have the best team in baseball. We have the most resources and the best front office. We shouldn’t be playing like dogs.
“Nuff said”
They should go with IPK over Ponson because a) he can’t do much worse than Fat Sidney and b) this team isn’t going anywhere next year, might as well develop Kennedy some more so he’s better prepared for next year.
Hopefully Abreu and Giambi will both be gone and the Yankees can start re tooling a bit in 2009. Face it folks 2008 was always going to be a transitional year. Nady wasn’t just a pick up for 2008, that’s the starting right fielder in 2009 or possibly even part time first baseman.
By the way, Kennedy was Minor League pitcher of the year 2008……
There is no right choice for tomorrow. All of the choices are terrible.
Washburn would have been the best choice. And every bad Rasner/Ponson start is only going to raise not only his price, but the price of every other pitcher too.
However, it appears worse than it is because Mussina/Pettitte had their worst outings of the season this past week, if they did their job, we would probably perceive this differently.
Harden is a very big injury risk even great then most pitchers….
evaluate the trade after 30 starts for Harden not 5.
Hippy Hughes gets hurt tripping while rehabbing harden hurts his elbow and shoulder…..
whoever said get rid of abreu, giambi, and matsui for next year is not crazy at all.. god forbid the yanks get more athletic that is a legit concept…they can get rid of giambi and abreu easily and matsui will have 1 yr. left on his contract so he will be tradeable…
Or they can keep matsui play him at DH all yr. Damon is in LF, and worry about CF, RF, and 1B, that would be fine with me..They will save $58 mill by simply not signing moose, pavano abreu, and giambi..
I am all for that strategy and I assume Cashman wants to move in that direction…
Pettitte had a worse start KC, 10 runs at the stadium and a granny to Guillen….
Washbum drive the price up??/What the hell are you talking about.. There is a g guy named Wang who is coming back for sure next year and Hughes… Washbums value is not going up, watch……
“Hopefully these last starts by Moose and Pettite were hiccups and not 3 start long slumps. If so we are probably toast.”
Hopefully the former and not the latter, but as of now anyone looking at the Yankees starters would have to realistically say we have one penciled in “W” (Joba), two penciled in “L’s” (Ponson and Rasner), and two “?’s” written in ink. You can hope for the outcomes to be better, but that doesn’t sound like a playoff team IMO.
Of course the Rays and RS could collapse and hand the division to us, but……
“By the way, Kennedy was Minor League pitcher of the year
2008……”
That was last year. Come on the guy has barely pitched this year. He was hurt remember?
I wouldn’t hoist the white flag yet. Melky had a good game and don’t discount Pudge. He’s a fiery little guy and I think he’ll be in Cano’s and Melky’s faces in a few games if they continue doing el stupidos. Nady has shown RH power in Yankee Stadium. All is not lost, even if we get smoked by the Angels, this time, who really are an excellent team.
not sure if id like a resign abreu to permanant dh and play field every blue and trade matsui, or keep matsui dh and let abreu go. Cant deny abreu has nasty dh numbers.
i definitely resign Abreu… love him
Bronx Jeers these guys have the patience of my dog.. Kennedy is done he is 23.. these are the same bozos that though Hansen was the next MO…they are experts at everything from monday morning quarterbacking to flipping hamburgers at the local fast food restaurant..
yeah and Abreu has a large sample size as a DH.. I think it is like 60 AB’s in a career of over 6000 AB’s…
I know one thing on Abreu his fielding is worse then I expected…….
id go abreu, matsui seems to get hurt more plus i dont see him stealing any bases
I dont think the Yankees are holding back on bringing up IPK because they dont think he can handle MLB hitters, I think its more like let him get his confidence and command back up to last years level and then call him up. He can definitely do what Ponson does right now IMO.
PJH I agree. It sounds like IPK is still doing the nibbling thing and that will not work in the Bronx…
thats why a dh doesnt field
, anyways his average w. RISP are awesome
“Of course the Rays and RS could collapse and hand the division to us, but……”
Truer words have never been spoken but they can’t really rely on that anymore. The Boston front 3 is real good. The Rays have overachieved but then again they are young and could just outlast our veterans. The Al east is hostile and the Yanks may not have the goods to last. the talent is there (offense) but up to this point, they haven’t been the difference. It’s lame i know but this is what they’ve shown so far.
“Harden made way too much sense.
Kennedy and Melky get that done.
This system can’t afford to give up a 5th starter and a 4th OF’er?
And no one wants to hear “Harden is injury proneâ€
What pitcher isn’t!
How’s Hughes been??”
You fail.
IPK can’t pitch tomorrow, he’s not on proper rest. He could pitch Sunday instead of Rasner.
Yeah. Give up on IPK like we did with Lilly and Westbrook. Was a rebuilding year to. Begin with. Stand up to the challenge. It’s not about how hard you can hit, but how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward.
Regarding IPK, watching him in person earlier this season was disturbing. When he gave up a hit (when the TV cameras were correctly following the action and not showing Ian’s actions and body language), he seemed truly lost. Instead of any sense of something going wrong, he had an Alfred E Newman look about him.
IMO, he does not have the killer instinct you see every outing with Joba, Beckett and Andy. This is not something you can teach. Its either part of his makeup or not, and IPK does not have it. This is ‘AAAA’ material, I’m afraid.
Does Ponson make it out of the 2nd inning tomorrow?
al Roker
You know the Yanks could have signed a guy like Lilly or a Gil Meche last year instead of drinking the Japanese Kool Aid (Igawa) like they did after the Sox won the Dice-K sweepstakes and we may be in better shape. 50 mil is 50 mil anyway you look at it. They get screwed with the luxury tax but they put themselves in that spot with those big long contracts. Giambi, Pavano etc. Sometimes I think Cash got real gun shy and afraid to make the same mistakes he made with Pavano and Wright. Those moves were bad for what they were and they were bad for what they prevented us from doing.
Does anyone know what Phil Hughes’ velocity was at in his rehab start? Prior to his hamstring injury, Im pretty sure he was hitting 93-94 consistently and sometimes touched 95-96. After he came back, he was at 89-91, touching 92-93. There has to be something to it. Is it that he is holding back for fear of re-aggravating his hammy/ankle injuries? Or an unknown arm injury of some kind? There has to be a reason for loss of velocity, I hope he can regain it.
Hughes was hitting 93 mph in Charleston from what I heard.
Would you guys trade for Pedro if the Mets put him on waivers?
Hughes was consistenly in the 92-93 mph hit 94 a couple of times
I like Jeter,but his lack of hits have really hurt the team. He hits into a double plays,forceout,or strikes out looking.0 and 5 is ridculous!!!!
Alex has family problems and mentally is elsewhere,you can NEVER depend on him in a clutch,ever.
The Angeles are solid from top to bottom.
Backbench- Your post about IPK is much about nothing. Its all about his confidence level. When he came up last year he was confident in his ability, with pin point control and nasty changeups and curveballs. Over the off season that pin point control was missing and so was the bite on his off speed pitches. He got hit around pretty hard and was a bit gun shy after that. If he can get his command of his fastball and bite on the curve and change, it will create confidence. This guy is cocky as hell when he has confidence in his ability. He no doubt has a killer instinct, as long as he has that confidence in his ability.
wow, the Giants 1st pre-season game is a week from tonight.
Flew by so fast.
His last fastballs were 94 ….His curve is the pitch he needs to rediscover with command…..You can only wonder where he’d be right about had he not pulled up lame on that Txas night as he was tossing a no-no…
Would you guys trade for Pedro if the Mets put him on waivers?
hell no….
Hughes consistently at 93 in his first rehab start is encouraging. One would assume he will only increase on that number and consistently hit 93-94 and touch on that 95-96 number he had going when he came up last year. Is there a number of starts the Yankees are looking at for him to pitch in the minors before he comes up or are they just going to see how he does and go from there?
Ed – you answered that question ???
Baseball prospectus has us as a third place team but I wonder if that changes with Manny out of the picture.
But if we do get into the Playoffs, a Huge if, the Angels are going to beat us. For some reason the Yankees could never beat the Angels when they stunk. Are we cursed when it comes to the Anaheim Rally Monkeys?
Ponson has not faced the LAA this season,
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/gamelog?statsId=5984
But he sure gets run support. Maybe we win 23 to 14 or something outrageous tomorrow. Something about hope in one hand and ……
Pedro seems to be toast. Too bad. I genuinely feel for him with him losing his father last week. As much as I want the Met’s to fail (childhood issues), I always wanted to see him succeed there. i really miss that rivalry we had with him. i was hoping the Yanks had signed him a la Damon when he was a FA but I’m certainly glad they didn’t.
I am hoping that we can pull a wabbit outta our hat manana !
Ed – you answered that question ???
surpising yes, i did. i was bored, it was my first reaction.
Bad loss. Personally, I would’ve started Molina tonight, just so Pudge can learn the pitchers. Then we got Santana tomorrow, and he’s tough. Just like Joe said, let’s win series.
Pedro seems to be toast. Too bad. I genuinely feel for him with him losing his father last week. As much as I want the Met’s to fail (childhood issues), I always wanted to see him succeed there. i really miss that rivalry we had with him. i was hoping the Yanks had signed him a la Damon when he was a FA but I’m certainly glad they didn’t.
Pedro had been exposed. he also pulled a “Pavano” on the mets a couple of time.
Also >anny better not ev-ah be in a yankess uniform.Scott messed up his head like Arod last year.
It does look like our pass on Santanna was misguided.
Ponson will obviously get shelled tomorrow. It will be his last game ever as a Yankee. Alfredo Aceves will get his spot in the rotation. He is still coming off an injury, but after the beating Ponson will get the Yanks will realize they can’t throw away games anymore.
A 200 million plus payroll and we’re seeing if Sidney Ponson can help get to the post season. He was a has been two years ago when he first stunk up a Yankee uniform.
Bobby…since hindsight is 20/20, I would agree with you…but I bet both you and I would not be saying that if we WON the game, like 6-3, right ?
And as soon as Igawa toes a big league rubber again, he’ll suddenly forget that new arm slot and get destroyed again. He can dominate all he wants in the minors and get dealt in the off-season, or next month if possible.
I guess we’ve got to wait until Saturday to try and start winning again.
All night I just keep shaking my head that they are sending Poson out there tomorrow night. They might as well forfeit and not risk hurting anyone at least.
It’s going to be one of those UGLY games. You know the kind I’m talking about. A humiliating 18-2 loss or soemthing.
Book it.
“I would’ve started Molina tonight, just so Pudge can learn the pitchers.
Absolutely correct. Pudge had to go back to detroit to get his stuff, arrange for his family to come to NY, catch a flight first thing in the AM and arrives to play on a new team in a tough game at 8AM today. How the h… did Girardi expect this guy to perform against a very, very good team that loves to run.
This loss was very much on Girardi. He just can’t help himself when Cashman gives him a new toy.
Jose starts the game and no LAAs steal second, the 3rd out is recorded and Andy gets out of the inning down no more than 3. Pete is right about Girardi, but for different reasons.
I see Minn. is about to call up Liriano.
How much you want to bet they do it just when the Yanks get there next week?
“A 200 million plus payroll and we’re seeing if Sidney Ponson can help get to the post season.”
I think that pretty much sums it up right there. Not too sure we’ll see Aceves get a start though. Jobas come around about once a decade so I doubt lightning will strike 2X in 2 years. Has he pitched 1 inning in the majors?
Art- If Joba continues to improve and starts dominate, we get an effective pitcher back in either Hughes, Kennedy or Pavano (I know, flame me all you want but I could totally see him coming back and shutting teams down ala 7 inning 2 run game against Minnesota the start before he strained his butt)this team will be completely different. Especially if you get Wang back 100%, and Im confident we have a decent to good chance at that. Think about this.
Joba vs Lackey
Wang vs Garland
Pettitte vs Santana
Moose vs Weaver
Joba can easily stick with Lackey.
If Wang is Wang, thats a win.
For Andy, look at his start against Sabathia in last years ALDS. This guy is a Playoff pitcher
I dont 100% trust Moose, but Weaver is hittable.
By then, who knows where the Yankee lineup is? Damon will be back in form. Jeter is a playoff freak. Abreu is solid. A-Rod is shaky. Giambi will be fine. Nady will be acclimated to the team. Pudge is pretty clutch. Melky is Melky.
Our lineup trumps theirs.
Our bullpen: Mariano Rivera. Thats all you need to know.
A Manny-less Sox team doesn’t scare me. The Rays are gonna free fall. The central is weak. To get to the World Series
we probably have to get through the Angels. I think we can.
If we had a healthy Wang and Hughes, man we would be so dangerous.
Too bad Cashman couldn’t do some stealth magic before the deadline on a starting pitcher. That would have really done wonders provided it wasn’t some incarnation of Ponson.
Its going to be strange (in a nice way) seeing the Yankees face the Red Sox and not see Manny in the lineup anymore.
A SIGHT YANKEES FANS HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR
I just read Gammons’ hit piece on Manny. Boy, it sure didn’t take long for Peter Gammons to turn on Manny.
Earlier he was going on and on about how this trade of Manny would never happen, the deal was dead. He was one to defend Manny. Now that Manny is gone Peter is beside himself with his hatred.
How is he still employed with such over the top bias? Oh, right, he is on the “nations” other network. Can they revoke his HOF status? They should.
Yankees react to Manny news…
“Nothing surprises me about Boston,” said Johnny Damon, who left the Sox after the 2005 season when their contract offer to him was $12 million less than the Yankees’. “Not too many players leave there happy. It’s been very well documented over the years, I think back to Mike Greenwell and (Roger) Clemens, Mo Vaughn and Nomar (Garciaparra). It goes on and on.
“When they’re ready to get rid of a player, they do it.”
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/2008/07/31/2008-07-31_up_in_bronx_locals_wont_miss_manny_ramir-1.html
Wang is using crutches right now. Think about it. If you heard a pitcher was on crutches on Feb 1, do you really think they’ll be ready for opening day? Some are expecting Wang back in Sep! Crazy! He’s 2-3 weeks away from planting his foot at all. Wang is done for 2008. Hughes and Pavano are about 3-4 weeks away from AAA. IPK is the closest guy and again, you can’t ask him to rescue our season. I hope I’m wrong but it doesn’t look like the answer is coming from within. There is no savior. We are sort of screwed with the rotation but again, that was decided a long time ago.
Of course Gammons speaks bad of Manny,his team has a big hole now.
Brandon (Jetes GIDP count: *18) (Arod .323 AVG can’t buy a hit w/ RISP) (X-factor my ***)
great video.
I love the way he leaves his bats behind. Sort of allegorical don’t you think?
I love the way he leaves his bats behind. Sort of allegorical don’t you think?
Yup. As soon as those bats fell he didn’t want to risk anything of bad luck so he left them behind.
Truely I am elated that he is gone.
The BEST Yankee blog on the internet…hand’s down…along with all the great Yankee fans that participate here. It is hard to say that the Angels are not the best team in baseball. I dunno about you…but if you have HD…you could see it on Andy’s face that he didn’t have it tonight…hard to say why…and i don’t want to hear any crap about I-Rod catching him…he’s a vet…no excuses for Pettitte…just a very poor game pitched….period. it is great to see Manny boosted to the National League. Joe Torre will welcome him with open arms…(Good luck Joe) Manny is still running his mouth out in LA! What, he didn’t think they would do it? Get ready Manny…your career is almost over…the easiest thing to do in baseball is to give it your all…you have never done that…money, money, money. Scott Boras wanted those options removed…because he could make no monies on them…that is what SEALED THE DEAL! Yankees will be there…they’d better be…it’s been far too long since we have had a title. I’ve lived through the lean times in the 60’s…Nuff said!
A bunch of minor trades can still be made for the next month. Nobody will claim Wash, if the Yanks want him, they will get the true salary dump they wanted.
A Dodgers-Mets NLDS would be fun… Manny back in NY.
This was Bad Andy as he was before he went to Houston – he has these games
Mussina had his bad Moose day against the Orioles
This is why the trade for Washburn was needed – or IPK and Hughes to be be iserted and better than Ponson and Rasner
Rasner and Ponson are INCABLE of beating decent hitting teams
You can’t have the 4 and 5 guys be slugs when – or in Rasner’s case — an able #4 against weak teams — when your top 2 guys can’t be relied upon to at least keep you in the game
Andy and Moose have to pitch .700 ball – that is the Yankees win 70% of the games they start — or the 4 and 5 guys have to pck up the bad ones
Rasner and Ponson are incapable against decent teams – the kinds the Yankees face between now and October
so much for playing chicken with Seattle over a player like Gardner and a few million — they get it back in a minute by getting to meaningful September games
If IPk and Hughes are not here within 2 weeks the Yankees are toast and it didn’t need to be this way
IPK and Hughes are now not experiments they are necessities
If we fail with them at least we will be on a path to 2009 and have an idea of what chnages must be made over the winter
Brandon (Jetes GIDP count: *18) (Arod .323 AVG can’t buy a hit w/ RISP) (X-factor my ***)
“Truely I am elated that he is gone.”
Yeah it’s a good thing but i really feel like we’ve witnessed the end of an era.
Who knows, maybe many years from now we will be watching the highlights of his HOF induction speech on ESPN like we did with Goose last weekend and we’ll say to ourselves ” We really brought out the best in that guy. Those were some fun years.”
I don’t want to get all sappy but in times like today we should reflect on the big picture of baseball and on how we all have been privileged to get to see these great players day in and day out. Others have not been so lucky.
Anyway I’m hoping that Sir Sid is currently as drunk as a monkey and pulls off some David Wells magic a la 1998 (or at least 6 inn. 3 runs ) and we even this series.
FACT – we are not getting to October riding Ponson and Rasner –
So you must do something different
The reason you bring up IPK is to see if you get something better than Ponson because Ponson showed at Balt waht he is — if you did not know it before shmae on you
– he has NO CHANCE against the Angels — and we lewarn nothing just another wasted start — another game thrown away
– maybe IPK has learned something — maybe he can understands what it was to have a Yankee uniform and lose it – maybe Pudge communicates better than Jorge and Molina —
we are not getting to October riding Ponson and Rasner —
So — if there is a better choice in the minors than IPK than pick tht guy
– heck audition them all — PONSON is a wasted start every time out – Sr Elizabeth can beat the teams he is capable of going 5 innings against and nearly the same is true of Rasner. You might as well trot the little Sisters of the Poor out there one at a time — they will give equal or better results than Ponson
Maybe Ponson won’t pitch tomorrow and someone is called up.
Ponson can’t do any worst than what Andy did today. The man simply didn’t have it.
“Take a good look at the Los Angeles Angels this weekend. If the Yankees are to return to the World Series this season, that’s the team they’ll have to get through.”
I think it is safe to say that any of Boston, Tampa, and Los Angeles will be a difficult team to play in October. I think Tampa is especially dangerous in a short series due to the top 3 of Kazmir/Shields/Garza combined with their solid bullpen. The Angels top 3 doesn’t impress me as much.
Even Chicago could cause headaches since their bats could give the Yankee mediocre pitchers some nightmares. So let’s hope Minnesota sneaks in and we meet up with them somewhere down the line, like the ALCS.
Our Top 4
Joba Andy Mussina Hughes
We out…..
Report: Twins set to release Livan
The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that there are “strong indications” that Livan Hernandez will be let to go open up a spot in Minnesota’s rotation for Francisco Liriano.
Common sense prevails. Time will tell if waiting the extra month wiil end up costing the Twins a spot in the postseason.
Aug. 1 – 12:50 am et Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune
————————————————
I wouldn’t mind signing Livan on the cheap for the bottom of our rotation.
Livan Hernandez is definitely not the answer for the Yanks.
He’s given up 199 hits and 29 walks in 139.2 IP – which computes to a 1.63 WHIP.
That very Ponson-esque – who has given up 109 hits and 28 walks in 82.1 IP and computes to a 1.66 WHIP.
No thanks. I trust Darrell Rasner and Ian Kennedy more than that.
Yeah I agree, Livan is comparable to Ponson at this point. About time they called up Liriano.
Tank said at 12:10 am: “There is no right choice for tomorrow. All of the choices are terrible. Washburn would have been the best choice. And every bad Rasner/Ponson start is only going to raise not only his price, but the price of every other pitcher too.”
It was only a couple of days ago that most of the comments here featured “Washburn is only a back-of-the-rotation pitcher, we don’t want him” or “the M’s should thank the Yankees for taking Washburn and his salary off their hands, and they should take that B- prospect while the offer is still good”.
Obviously the M’s didn’t share that opinion, but I’m sure they would agree with your point about Washburn and other available pitchers costing more between now and August 31st.