Posada lets it fly
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Feb 11, 2009 
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Here we are at the minor-league complex watching Jorge Posada throw.
Head athletic trainer Gene Monahan is supervising and counting his tosses. Posada is in right field throwing from different distances.
I’m certainly no medical expert, but he is throwing pretty well and even coming out of a crouch. His rehab seems to be coming along.
Great news!
Keep the on-field observations coming! (Even if not all the news is great.)
Posada being able to catch 120 games may be the biggest key to success for the Yanks in 09. Jorge’s career OPS+ is twice that of Molina’s (124 OPS+ to 61 OPS+).
Hip Hip Jorge!
now THAT is exciting news! im trying to keep my expectaions down a bit, we finished 3rd last year and we’re better but you have to beat the devil rays and socks before you can say you’re the better team.
but damn, if posada is healthy and bats .275 with some power, this is one DAMN good looking team!
this could be a very good season…
Thanks for the tidbit on Jorge. Great news, I guess the real test is how he feels tomorrow? Or would he know if he had a problem right away?
Go get em Georgey!
Abreu is officially a member of the Angels now. Their corner OF defense is going to be pretty atrocious–Juan Rivera on one side, Bobby/Vlad on the other. I also question if their call of Abreu over Dunn is the right one, considering Bobby’s OBP has been declining for the last few years and defensively they might be a wash, plus Dunn offers so much more in the way of power. Then again, Dunn probably isn’t the Angels’ type of ballplayer or something along that line.
abreu just sign a 1 year deal about 5 million for the i would pay the angels. i would pay that price
Anyone hear Schilling before on WFAN with Boomer and Carton. He basically said that he felt bad for Alex and was suspicious of how Alex’s name got leaked. He wanted all of the names revealed. He also said that he never actually saw players injecting although he had his suspicions, and that if he actually saw anybody he would have given them up to Congress last year so as not to face perjury charges.
From Buster:
Unless the rules change, A-Rod is probably not going to get in to the Hall of Fame, writes Thom Loverro. Totally agree with him; I think there is a pretty solid core of voters who won’t vote for anyone connected to performance-enhancing drugs, and remember that all it takes is 25 percent of the voters, plus one, to prevent someone from getting into the Hall of Fame.
John Erardi talked to some Hall of Fame voters, in an unscientific poll, and came away believing that A-Rod’s chances for the Hall are bleak.
From the previous post:
“He is still scheduled to be honored by the University of Miami baseball program on Friday. Rodriguez donated the money needed to refurbish their stadium.”
One more piece of evidence in the Arod is a bad guy puzzle. He totally stiffed the other several hundred division 1 universities!
Mr Injury Pavano Posada catching one game is good news. Is the Fraud sorry he did it, or sorry he got caught? I couldn’t tell on the lame interview he gave Gammons. I could tell, once again, it is and always will be about the Fraud.
did anyone see the lawsuit against robert alomar
http://www.nydailynews.com/gos.....omar_.html
Rishi, I understand that point of view re: the hall. There are others that are saying he may have a chance because he has 9 more years on his contract and then a 5 year wait. In 14 years, opinions and the sportswriters voting will change. Also Alex has a chance to change perceptions over the next 9 years.
Arod’s HOF vote will be from 14-29 years from now. Many current voters will be retired/dead by then. There are certainly at least a few who will have a ballot at that time who aren’t even born yet.
I’m not really ‘going out on a limb’ by saying that the Yankees greatly increased their shot at a title this year, but as long as everyone stays healthy and does what they’re capable of, I can’t see what either team’s rotation/lineup would beat ours in a best of 5 or best of 7.
Can anybody think of a team that would beat the Yankees more often than not if you ran a World Series Diamond Mind simulation?
I’m sure the Hall of Fame polls conducted now about A-Rod, a player with 9 years left on his contract, will remain accurate when he’s eligible for induction in 15 years or so. And certainly those righteous gatekeepers of the Hall of Fame won’t have a change of heart re: the 2000s players and PEDs when it comes time to vote. After all, it’s called the Hall of Fame so it would make a ton of sense for an entire generation’s most famous players to be completely ignored because they were cheaters. Unlike, you know, every other generation’s players.
sounds good
The Hall of Fame conversation is the dumbest thing to come out of all this. Its 15-30 years away. How in the world can anybody intelligently comment on it?
Most of the current voters won’t even be voting for the 15 years Arod will be on the ballot.
Its a conversation that may make nice sports radio talk. However, its not rooted in logic right now.
It will be interesting to see the reaction to the Abreu signing by MLB analysts. I am sure that many of the anlysts who pointed to Abreu the Yankee as old, a liability, and a soft player; will now point to him as being the piece the Angels needed to become a championship team.
Brent VanLiew- boston and TB will have good rotations compared to ours…there are still question marks
Burnett’s injuries
Wang’s foot
Joba’s Health
what is Pettitte going to put up
and thats just the S pitching
it all depends on our pitching.can cc be diminant,burnett be good,wang,joba,pettitte,bullpen.
if our pitching is better than everybody else’s or as good we will be right there.
“Is the Fraud sorry he did it, or sorry he got caught? I couldn’t tell on the lame interview he gave Gammons. I could tell, once again, it is and always will be about the Fraud.”
I think it’s obvious that he’s sorry he got caught. If it was really eating away at him, why wouldn’t he come clean? The answer, of course, is that if possible, he was going to try and tip-toe around it the rest of his career and try to get away with it.
An apology doesn’t mean much when you’re caught red-handed 6 years later when you could have come clean at any moment during that time.
HIP HIP…. JORGE!
and here’s another intersting article..
http://www.ocregister.com/arti.....nned-never
Don’t want to drop the whole post in here…but keep in mind that Buster and Selena worked together and are friends…
Great news Pete.
Jorge is really important to the Yankees’ chances this year but I wouldn’t say the MOST important. The most important factor remains the health of the starting rotation.
and really – if Youk has his back (and David Wright according to Newsday) that has to say something
http://www.bostonherald.com/sp.....s_slugger/
Rishi,
I stopped reading when the author says, “Although playing within baseball’s rules, he did break the law.”
Steroids were banned in 1991 by MLB.
John,
No question marks about CC? Slow start due to heavy work load?
every team has question marks on paper.it is reality that counts.
becket,dice,wake,penney,smoltz,kashmir,etc… all have injury concerns.
if becket pitches great all year boston could be tough,if becket get’s hurt & dice stinks it could be a long year for boston.reality matters not speculation.
“I am sure that many of the anlysts who pointed to Abreu the Yankee as old, a liability, and a soft player; will now point to him as being the piece the Angels needed to become a championship team.”
They are lying to themselves if that’s what they say (and I understand that’s your point, definitely). Really what this means, and I know this has been covered in the past few months, but Cashman was right-on to not offer Bobby arbitration. Right now, Bobby at $16 million for one year would look like a disaster. Also, right now Raul Ibanez’s contract from the Phillies makes Ruben Amaro look like a bona fide crazy person for giving it to him. Bobby makes sense for the Angels because they needed to replace the production they lost from Teixeira, but he is not the OBP machine he used to be and the Angels are not really an OBP-friendly team in general. Scioisa wants his guys cutting and slashing, hitting and running and what not, so I don’t know how well Bobby will mesh with that philosophy. He improves their team, but I honestly don’t think the Angels are a lock for the AL West. Texas and Seattle are bad and not competing for the division, but Oakland could surpass or at least keep up with the Angels.
That’s by far the best news we’ve heard recently. Keep it coming Pete.
Brent VanLiew
Please don’t bother responding or acknowledging it. Every single day they pop by and post nonsense.
I’ curious how Jorge swings from the left side ..If there is any lingering effects from the proceedure, it’ll manifest itself during those swings…..A-Rod will have a sense of being reborn and freed from the demons that have been haunting him since he arrived in the Bronx…..I expect to see a much more relaxed # 13 as we’ll see Alex the ballplayer and not the mythical A-Rod…The club will prosper partially as a result…Besides this team is very balanced and talented………Time to play ball and move on from all constipating bs…..
m,
Yes, CC could be a question mark, but the smallest one in the rotation as of now in my mind
roberts is out hunting down guys who like strippers
duke, and now arod
Brent VanLiew- boston and TB will have good rotations compared to ours…there are still question marks
_____
Boston? Really?
You think our starting rotation is an injury risk?
Theirs is much worse.
Beckett’s back?
Smoltz?
Dice -K tired arm?
Penny?
Wakefield’s back?
Lester is the only healthy one of the 6, and even he has battled cancer.
Ill take ours.
John,
I know. I was just teasing. It irritates me how everyone assumes that AJ will be the first to hit the DL.
The truth is the injury bug is an equal opportunity pestilence.
Wang has the best chance to stay healthy. Slow and steady, just like the tortoise.
Hey Pete great news. The Yankees definitely need this fiery leader, Jeter is the captain but Posada is the real get in your face leader. Lets all keep our fingers crossed, Hip Hip Jorge and Lets go Yankees.
if the sox had our rotation and we had theirs you would be turning it the other way
Pettitte’s back?
Wang’s Foot?
Burnett’s everything?
Joba’s shoulder?
CC’s longevity?
On paper, we have a better rotation, but they are pretty close in reality
Guess nobody here wants to acknowledge their hero lied on national television AGAIN, but here’s the link anyway:
http://www.nydailynews.com/spo.....tml't
Big surprise that the police never heard of that ‘report’ that Rodriguez didn’t quite show to Gammons, never had any complaint about Roberts, never cited her for anything, and were never involved in anything but a query from a guard shack about whether Star Island is public (it is).
if jorge is healthy, then the offense can carry melky or gardner.
imagine if cc,burnett,wang are all in the cy running,joba gives us 140 great innings & pettitte is decent with a lights out pen, we could run away with it.
that is what i am hoping for.
and for TB, they could be just as good as us
Kazmir
Shields
Garza
Price
Sonanstein
That is a solid 5 man
Face it people, we are in a good division
John i disagree on paper they are even close to being the same. The sox list is things that have happened and continue to pop up multiple times.
Wang has a freak foot injury, Pettitte plays through most minor injuries and doesnt miss a lot of time. CC is still in his 20s. His longgevity wont be a questions for a few more years. I will give you Burnett and maybe Joba.
As for Posada. I think HE is the no doubt leader of this team. With everything else, i think losing him is what cost us the playoffs.
The day he went down for the season, we were 3 back of first place. After he left for the DL, we didnt get close.
i think alot of people here have just transformed thier dissappointment about arod into hatred for roberts.
he did admit that he tested positive didnt he?
“I think it’s obvious that he’s sorry he got caught. If it was really eating away at him, why wouldn’t he come clean? The answer, of course, is that if possible, he was going to try and tip-toe around it the rest of his career and try to get away with it.”
——-
Ah, just like most of Obama’s cabinet picks!
I worry about the lineup of Boston and the rotation of Tampa and the distractions for New York.
What I hope will happen is that Dice-K loses more than he wins. He was way too lucky the last 2 years.
Wow what a day
Robbie Alomar is ill, Brett Favre retires, Arod lies in a press conference.
http://www.boston.com/sports/b.....e_on_hate/
Alex got caught. He admited to it, move on. What’s the point about talking about Roberts, the HOF, and is he still doing it? He used PEDs he says he’s clean now, let’s talk about baseball.
Pete finally starts a thread about plain ‘ol baseball and some of you STILL have to talk about A-rod! Are your lives really that empty? Amazing…
I don’t think anyone doubts that the AL East is good, and you would be crazy to do so. But, keep in mind that the Rays were extremely lucky last year in the way of injuries. Their rotation was totally unscathed except for Kazmir missing some time at the start of the year. Their bullpen performed extremely well without a sure-fire dominant reliever, and their most effective guys stayed healthy all year. But they are pretty much in the same position as the Yankees: they need health to be on their side, because their depth in the rotation (Neimann, Hellickson) is young and inexperienced. They also need their bullpen to pitch pretty much as well as it did last year, which is not a guarantee because they didn’t bring in anyone new and the guys they are relying on (Balfour, Wheeler) pitched a lot of innings in ’08 and their performances could sag in ’09.
“still question marks
Burnett’s injuries
Wang’s foot
Joba’s Health
what is Pettitte going to put up”
Yeah, that’s kind of why I mentioned if there aren’t any debilitating injuries. That’s not really a way to look at a season since there are obviously going to be some injuries along the way, but that goes for all teams. Just because they’re the Yankees doesn’t mean they’re more injury-prone than other teams.
A healthy Yankees rotation beats any other team’s rotation, hands down, with the closest competition coming from Boston.. But their rotation has a lot of question marks as well (more so than the Yankees)…can Beckett return to form? Can Matsuzaka lower his PPG and BB totals?…are Brad Penny/John Smoltz going to return to form or even see regular action given their injuries? How about Wakefield?
I know you can’t depend on the inexperienced young guns (IPK and Hughes), but they seem to have really turned the corner, and that means that if a SP goes down, the WORST CASE SCENARIO is that Phil Hughes takes their spot until they’re healthy. That’s not bad at all considering last year they were handed the 4 and 5 spots before Spring Training even started.
In talking about the lineup, although 2008 was the year of the mediocre Yankee offense, that was due to an inexplicable dropoff of Melky Cabrera, Cano, and the injuries to Matsui and Posada. When you’re banking on the production from 4 out of 9 members of your team and they all but disappear at the plate, you’re obviously not going to do well.
This year, all of those players are back and are (hopefully) going to return to form. Tex is going to help the numbers of those before and after him in the lineup, and Swisher is going to be a HUGE help off the bench/spot starts. It’s arguable that if you go around the diamond and compare all Boston players to Yankee players, the majority of better players will be from NY.
(Posada over Varitek..even an injured Posada..A-Rod over Lowell, Jeter over Lowrie, Pedroia over Cano if Cano can’t rebound, Tex over Youkilis, Bay over Damon, Ellsbury over Melky, Nady over Drew)
My biased attitude towards all things “Yankee” might skew these results a bit, but I’m pumped for the 2009 season.
Dan Shaughnessy is now the voice of reason? A-rod has gone from being hated, to being sympathized. Crazy times.
Somebody on here posted an article where the author predicted Burnett to win the CY Young award. If that happens I think the Yankees win 96+ games. It’s very possible IMO.
The Yankees rotation has probably the highest upside with the biggest likelihood of reaching it in the division IMO. Lester went WAY over his innings limit so the Sox are going to either have to be careful with him or watch him spend some time on the DL. Dice-BB can not possibly be as lucky as he was last year. Wakefield is what he is, and their 5 spot is a potpourri. They’ll have a good rotation but the upside of CC–AJ–JC–CMW is incredible. All 4 could win 17-20 games.
“I’m certainly no medical expert, but he is throwing pretty well and even coming out of a crouch.”
hmmm I dunno, I’ll have to believe it when he’s throwing people out at second. I can’t even begin to count the number of times last season that you said he was throwing the ball in warmups and had some “zip” or “mustard” on it lol
Ham
“i think alot of people here have just transformed thier dissappointment about arod into hatred for roberts.
he did admit that he tested positive didnt he?”
Isn’t that the point, he admitted it. Over a hundred players in the year 2003 alone have not.
My Disappointment lies with the players, the Union, MLB, Pete, and society in general. Not just Arod.
Selena Roberts got the story right. Personally I despise anyone who tries to ruin others for her own personal gain. That seems to be what she is about, Finding dirt.
Tarheelyank- I agree. She’s much more than a jornalist here: she is financially invested in bringing A-rod down.
Plus, she is protecting the identities of four felons.
“There are certainly at least a few who will have a ballot at that time who aren’t even born yet.”
Nothing like the 20 year baseball writer who started at age 10…the doogie howser of baseball writers
Pete -
Good news about Posada. I guess it will be better news if he’s feeling good tomorrow, right?
Good Deal
the union should of destroyed the samples,they i believe were told that they could.
arod should be angry with the union & he probably is.it doesn’t change what he did but the evidence would be gone.
arod was told that the names would not be leaked,he couldn’t be punished & the names were sealed under a court order.does this order apply to the goverment,reporters or just the union & mlb,can selena roberts be forced to reveal her sources,can anybody be punished for leaking this & is the goverment immuned from punishment.
short version,was the goverment & or selena roberts bound by the court order?
I agree Posada is a huge key because of what he gives the lineup. I would be happy if he can play 108 games. Molina normally starts out hitting okay, but too many games wear on him and his bat slows down. Starting twice a week should be perfect for him and sometimes Jorge is a better option as a DH against lefty pitching than Matsui.
I’m curious to see how the Rays pitchers hold up. Garza went from 83 innings to 185 in one year. Sonnanstine from 131 to 193. Price threw 123 innings last year which is 23 more than Joba and they are the same age. Tampa’s top five guys made 153 starts last year… the chances of that happening again are slim and none.