Lineup talk
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Feb 18, 2009 
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Pete what is the word on the street as to why Jorge got up and left?
Posada and Matsui will fill the lineup perfectly. I look forward to hearing just how medically sound they both are.
Well, if Matsui is back to health that’s one nasty 3,4,5.
Love it, real baseball talk.
1. JD
2. Jeter
3. Tex
4. Arod
5. matsui
6. posada
7. cano
8. nady/swisher
9. CF
I’d love to see Cano reemerge to take the 5 spot.
tex is gonna be a monster.
Pretty dumb, Joe. A-Rod is the team’s best hitter – he should be batting 3rd. He’s also faster than Tex – if he gets on first, he could steal 2nd and put himself into scoring position for Tex.
Has Jeter spoken yet by the way? Thanks!
I can see Tex 3rd for the L-R-L-R thing against a RHP but I think Alex with his speed should be third. Regardless of those two, a healthy Matsui hitting 5th would really be icing on the cake
repost:
Which guy called Jeter the Captain of Baseball?
That’s High Praise indeed. Sounds good to me.
Would other teams’ players agree?
Where does he plan to hit Jorge and Cano.
I’d rather have it the other way round.
ARod needs protection, not Teixeira.
Haha, real baseball news like this is much more enjoyable then steroid talk! The Yankee lineup is a fun topic to debate.
Hitting Tex in front of Arod is the right way to go.
A SH, between Jeter and Arod, balances out the middle of the lineup.
Pete: Are you posting the Jeter audio?
my line up, than back to work
Damon
Jeter
Mark
Arod
Matsui
Jorge
Cano
Nady/nick
Brett/Melky
“Meanwhile Jorge Posada was there when it started and left. Clearly he hates Alex.
(I’m kidding)”
Clearly sarcasm doesnt always register when written.
I’d like to see Nady/Swisher bat 6 and Jorge hit 8th, give him less at bats and keep him fresh. Remember when Scotty Bro hit 8th everyday and was like a second cleanup hitter?
Matsui is a great hitter – was one of the best before he DL’d it last year. Monster Lineup.
Who cares what Jeter said re: the ‘s’ fiasco – get over it awready fer chrissakes.
Whichever way you stack it, that’s an imposing line-up. If we can keep Jorge and Matsui healthy, that is.
That’s a sweet pic of Tex signing for the fans – I can’t express enough how impressed I am with this guy (and he looks great in pinstripes).
Re: the Brien Taylor discussion – the guy had a million dollar arm and a ten cent brain. Getting into a fight in a bar? If I recall correctly, his mother was a real problem as well. On Prime 9 recently, they had a show on What Might Have Beens. I taped it and haven’t watched it yet, but they had on their list:
Tony Conigliaro
Herb Score
J.R. Richard
Lyman Bostock
and a few others I can’t recall. It’s despicable how no one belived Richard was sick and the man almost died. I particularly recall this because my father met him once and I had an autographed picture of him…….
Injecting Tex into this lineup will – wait, that’s no good,
The addition of Tex into this lineup will be like a shot in the – grrr, that’s no good either.
This lineup will be a lot better with Tex!
Well, Jeter usually talks about everything and probably did today. I wasn’t looking for what he said about steroids or Alex specifically. I would like to hear what he said about our pick ups and the upcoming season. (If that doesn’t put you out.)
jeterfan2: except that’s not any question that the media will ask him…
I’m just hoping that Girardi doesn’t have to write out 162 different lineups.
lol@ nick!
we needle because we love!
John Henry’s whining about a salary cap again, for those that didn’t see this story already (http://tinyurl.com/cqzase).
I’m sorry for going back to this but talked to my mom today and of all that A-Rod said yesterday the thing that resonated with her was him saying he wished he went to college.
Started me thinking about Gerrit Cole. Both guys had Boras in their ear but one had a parent strong enough to pass on the instant payoff and did what they thought best for their kid.
Maybe it’s the mom in me talking but that made me sad.
The audio is up on wfan.com
Wrong move on the batting order by Girardi:
http://nybaseballdigest.com/?p=5962
JD
Jeter
Tex
Arod
Matsui
Posada
Nady
Cano
CF
“Matsui is the leading contender to hit fifth.”
Question mark at the #5? Sounds familiar.
1 Damon
2 Jeter
3 Tex
4 Arod
5 Complaint department
What else would Yankee fans talk about before the game gets underway?
“Boston Red Sox owner John Henry is renewing his call for a baseball salary cap.”
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/.....id=3916048
CKS2103-
one translation: henry has lost a fortune from his hedge fund business and is planning on running the red sox on the cheap.
Nick,
Poking Tex into the Yankees lineup is an easy pill to swallow.
Damon should bat second! How many times does it have to be pointed out that Jeter is a better lead off the game hitter then Damon? Also since Damon has not hit all the well the last 2 years against lefties batting him second allows for him to platoon with Swisher in left field. Damon last year against lefties .258 ba and the last 2 years 08 .710 ops and in 07 .705 ops.
Also does in not make more sense to have a left handed bat hitting second?
Damon
Jeter
Tex
Arod
Manny – oops I didn’t, sorry couldn’t resist
Posada
Cano
Swisher
Melky
RED SOX OWNERS ARE WHINERS JUST LIKE THEIR FANS!!!
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/.....id=3916048
Tex ain’t no tic-tac, that’s for sure.
I believe that some people get too carried away on LHP/RHP matchups in terms of the 2-3-4 hitters. With the caliber of hitters of Jeter, Arod, Tex – the LHP vs RHP doesn’t matter. With that in mind, Arod is the best hitter on the team who also happens to have great speed – he should be hitting third. It’s not that he needs protection at all, it’s just that he will get on base a lot and be in scoring position a lot for Tex. He can score from second on a single more times then Tex will.
OPS for 2008
Jeter vs L .822, vs R .750
Arod vs L .884, vs R .994 almost the opposite of what you would expect
Tex vs L .902, vs R .994
based on those numbers Tex and Alex are basically the same in terms of matchups. With that in mind I put Alex 3d and have speed in my top 3 hitters (plus 9 hitter if its Gardner) to give me offensive options (steal, hit + run) before the slower guys come up (Tex, Matsui, Posada)
the jeterian swing is perfectly suited to batting 2nd.
Pete Law, I like your idea about having a second cleanup hitter, but if you’re going to do that, then I think you’d have to follow that analogy the whole way…I mean that if you bat Jorge so late to be “cleanup number 2,” he’s gonna need some speed in front of him, which would mean somebody like Gardner would be hitting sometime before Jorge, which wouldn’t make sense. -And where would Matsui go?
Jorge is one of the team’s best hitters so you want him to get as many ABs as possible.
it wasn’t a bar fight with Tayolor
is Yogi at the workouts yet? always fun seeing him w/ the new guys
“Boston Red Sox owner John Henry is renewing his call for a baseball salary cap.”
Good luck with that when you go to MLBPA. Especially after leaking like the Iraqi navy when it comes to protecting confidential testing. Players will get their pound of flesh.
i do like arod’s speed in front of tex, but i’d start my lineup by putting arod wherever arod feels most comfortable. unless he wants to move up, i leave him in the #4 hole.
its not like he’s slouching as a clean-up hitter.
John Henry wants a salary cap.
He said NOTHING about a salary cap the night before he was going to “sign” Tex.
Now? He wants a salary cap.
Translation? That’s what happens when your hedge funds are down 60%, you lose your #1 off-season target to your main rival, and you are about to marry a woman 30 years younger than yourself.
When you factor in those three issues, he has to look to save money somewhere!
Younger Giants fans may not remember this guy, but former LB Brad Van Pelt died from a heart attack at 57 yo, CBSsportsline reports.
Tex in front of Alex is perfect. I should note, however, that Tex is notorious for slow starts so be prepared for him to stink up the joint…at least at first.
Now we have George Will with his sanctimonious swill on Kay’s show.
Geez, you would think this guy would stick to politics.
lets just hope bud doesnt start listening to these owners start pushing for another labor war. if they see the union as reeling from its part in ped’s and think they are going to win a strike/lockout, they had better think again. and again after that.
Henry is a fool. He only wants a salary cap because he is a failure as a businessman. I liked what Jeter said today, I have been very hard on him these past years because of his situation with A-Rod but he won a lot of points today with me.
1-4 with probably not be an issue. 5-8 will be interesting (assuming 9 is Melky or Gardner)
5 – Matsui L no speed, good patience and good power
6 – Posada S no speed, great patience and good power
7 – Cano L avg speed, no patience
8 – Nady R avg speed, no patience, good power
– Swisher S avg speed, great patience, good power
That’s a lot of options for different combinations for Joe G depending on the opponent any given day.
1. Johnny D
2. Jeter
3. Tex
4. ARod
5. Sushi
6. Posada
7. Cano
8. Nady/Swisher
9. Melky/Gardner
If Matsui’s legs are in good condition, that would work real well.
If Posada hasn’t lost anything and can have anything even close to his big ’07 season, that would work real well.
If Cano hits like a stud, like he should, that would work real well.
If so, and if he takes walks & raises his OBP, he could even move up in the order.
If all four happen, we’re in REAL good shape.
Lots of “IFs” from three guys who weren’t really there last year. That’s 1/3 of the lineup and it would go a LONG way towards pumping some life into the offense right there. I hope. Even if these three don’t have spectacular ‘career years’, it could be a real good season if they come through as well as they’re able to in a ‘normal’ season.
And I haven’t even begun to discuss Nady/Swisher and Melky/Gardner.
(Optimism sure is easy in spring training)
Some pictures from today:
http://www.daylife.com/topic/N.....os/today/1
I feel that by announcing that A-Rod will bat 4th, Joe is sending a msg to Alex early on, trying to Boli his morale and help him move on. oops..I meant boost his morale…boost!
Oh and, if I were the Steinbrenners I’d take the Yankees and go play in Japan. Im sick of how the Yankees are treated by the media and by baseball. Screw MLB and SI and all of these lowlives passing judgement on the Yanks.
Oh and Cashman needs to shut his little trap with this macho garbage regarding A-Rod. He can try to talk like Michael Corleone but he is and always will be Fredo. Stop flushing money down the toilet on garbage like Igawa and Pavano and Wright and Johnson and then you can talk ruthless about A-Rod. Sick of it. If A-Rod is an “asset” Cashman is a liability. And he better not blame the “Tampa Mafia” for all his mistakes, that’s bull.
Wang and Mo:
http://cache.daylife.com/image.....P/340x.jpg
Matsui and Posada in the lineup and on the basepaths together should be fun.
Jeter needs to give up all the first inning and other extraneous bunting, and take more walks.
“… That’s what happens when your hedge funds are down 60%, you lose your #1 off-season target to your main rival, and you are about to marry a woman 30 years younger than yourself.”
Henry’s pleading poverty? Maybe Henry should be talking to Pfizer about imposing a cap on the price of Viagra. If he only had a paltry $170 million to throw at Tex, maybe he can’t afford to pay for enough Viagra either. You know, considering his marital arrangement.
i like this lineup
damon
jeter
arod
tex
matsui
posada
nady
cano
melky
Sounds like all smart decisions on Girardi’s part. I wonder how quick he would be to switch the 3 and 4 spots around if Teix was hot and ARod was cold though?
At any rate I like Matsui hitting 5th, and that should be a walk in the park compared to Giambi…the difference between the 2 guys’ styles at the plate with men on base will be greatly appreciated by me.
BBB
February 18th, 2009 at 3:24 pm
Sounds like all smart decisions on Girardi’s part. I wonder how quick he would be to switch the 3 and 4 spots around if Teix was hot and ARod was cold though?
At any rate I like Matsui hitting 5th, and that should be a walk in the park compared to Giambi…the difference between the 2 guys’ styles at the plate with men on base will be greatly appreciated by me.
——–
Matsui can’t hit 5th against lefties because Arod will never see a strike. Posada needs to bat 5th against lefties. This is why I pined for Manny for 2 Months.
“Stop flushing money down the toilet on garbage like Igawa and Pavano and Wright and Johnson and then you can talk ruthless about A-Rod. ”
yes, this makes a lot of sense.
b/c he made a mistake on Pavano he’s not allowed to be disappointed in A-Rod for taking steroids.
you are a genius.
Henry may end up fire sailing the expensive players he has within a year or two. I’ve read he has gotten crushed in the markets. He made his fortune from identifying market inefficiencies. Now the market is applying the Chrysler building to his posterior. Easy come, easy go.
YankeeRay – good point. I’d like to see Nady figure much more prominently into the lineup vs lefties. He doesn’t get on base enough to hit 5th though, I’d hit Jorge 5th and him 6th, I think Nady is gonna take a ton of lefties deep so hopefully the guys in front of him get on, aka that Jorge will provide adequate protection to ARod.
Besides Teix’s other obvious advantages over Manny, I think we needed power from the left side with both Abreu and Giambi leaving.
He should pipe down because he aint nothing to write home about either is what Im saying Mr. duh. Cashman is a disappointment, A-Rod is a disappointment. They both made mistakes. Neither can complain about the other. It would be like me being disappointed in my father for cheating on my mother when I am never around at home for my wife and kid cause I am out drinking all the time.
But whatever maybe I have it all wrong, maybe Cashman the mistake maker deserves to feel let down by A-Rod enough to semi-humiliate him in pubic since he is so perfect all the time, who knows.
“Matsui can’t hit 5th against lefties because Arod will never see a strike. Posada needs to bat 5th against lefties. This is why I pined for Manny for 2 Months.”
Matsui’s average vs. lefties is the same as it is versus righthanders and he has a more than reasonable .360 OBP against the LHP’s. Manny’s a non-issue. He’s not coming here and quite honestly, I don’t think Cashman gave him a second’s thought. It’s about who the best guy for the job who is actually on the team. A healthy Matsui is that guy.
An argument could be made that Nady could hit 5th against tough lefties, but his presence won’t do a thing to improve the pitches Arod will see.
BBB:
Nady actually has a quite impressive .383 career OBP vs. lefties. It’s the .317 OBP against righties that kills his overall OBP.
BBB
February 18th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
YankeeRay – good point. I’d like to see Nady figure much more prominently into the lineup vs lefties. He doesn’t get on base enough to hit 5th though, I’d hit Jorge 5th and him 6th, I think Nady is gonna take a ton of lefties deep so hopefully the guys in front of him get on, aka that Jorge will provide adequate protection to ARod.
Besides Teix’s other obvious advantages over Manny, I think we needed power from the left side with both Abreu and Giambi leaving.
——
BBB, I wanted Manny after getting Tex
I hope Gardner hits well in ST and gets the cf job. He brings a lot of speed to the offense. The only thing I see Melky doing better in cf is throwing. He has a better arm than Brett.
I like the idea of having Tex bat 4th because of A-Rod’s speed, i think that is smarter than worying about L/R matchups. The best hitters in the Yankee lineup hit lefties and righties well. But i don’t think you can fault either strategy.
I think Matsui will be able to return to career norms once his legs are back up to strength. Posada’s 07 was a fluke contract year, i’m seeing more of a .270/25 HR kind of year from him. Cano and Melky are wildcards, but I think they will both take their preperations more seriously this season, and that should lead to a little more consistancy.
Personally, I like the idea of having Alex bat 3rd but Girardi has 162 games to play around with the lineup and see what works best. I’m more worried about April, specifically. Cano tends to dig himself in a hole, Melky (if he gets the CF job) tends to have slow starts, Tex usually has notoriously slow starts, Matsui may not be healthy for Opening Day, Posada may not be ready for full time duty Opening Day.. I don’t like the thought of the April lineup having 3-5 slow starters. I get the feeling we will be pitching our way to a few April wins without a ton of run support.
As crazy as it sounds i like Cano, A-rod, Tex 3,4,5 in the lineup. we need Cano to break out and this gives him and A-rod protection and has a nice balance with L,R,L,R,S in the top 5 spots. if not Cano should be in the 5th spot not Oldzilla.
Cano shouldn’t be anywhere NEAR the top of the order until he improves his pitch selection. That being said:
Dead-Arm Damon
Jeter
Teixeira
A-Rod
Matsui
Posada
Nady
Cano
Flight BG11/Melky
I’d bat A-Rod 3rd and Tex 4th. A-Rod could benefit from the protection Tex would provide — especially at the beginning of the season, when I am sure the pressure and focus on A-Rod is going to be pretty intense.
You could say the same thing if it was the other way around, Hman. Besides, A-Rod’s the better power hitter of the two and Tex shouldn’t have to worry about being that big power guy right off the bat (not that he CAN’T be that guy, but he’s better suited to fill the Bobby Abreu role in this lineup)
damon L
jeter R
tex S
arod R
deki L
po S
cano L
swish S
melky S
beautiful
Does no one agree that Nady should be batting 5th?
It may be sacrilegious, but if Jeter’s hitting continues to deteroiorate, he may not belong near the top of the order. I’d sugggest Damon leading off, followed by Teix and ARod. Teix and ARod have the best OBPs, so I think they should move up so as to get more at-bats.
Girardi screws all the lineups up, from when he started til now. Looks like that is not changing. Tex should hit 4th there is really no question
KO has it right. Batting Arod AFTER Tex will be a HUGE mistake. I think I understand WHY Girardi’s doing it — basically because in 2008 Arod hit better with runners on than Tex did.
However,
(1) that was NOT the case for the three years 2006-2008 combined.
(2) when the pressure is on, Arod can be counted on to wilt — the greater the pressure, the more likely he is to wilt.
3) except for his big 2007 year, Arod has been putrid in late inning pressure situations — especially with pressure on. Last year, for example, his OPS in late inning pressure situations with runners on was an ASTONISHINGLY bad .554.
INCREDIBLY stupid decision. I thought Girardi was smart. But between some of his bullpen moves in terms of leaving people in when they’re clearly out of gas and this, I’ve concluded that he’s clearly not. Very disappointing. The only upside is that between his stupidity, that of ownership for overpaying for Arod even after no one else was bidding for him, and our incredibly overrated “captain” who won’t even try to make Arod feel welcome on the team, it will be easier to finally give up my painful addiction of rooting for the Yankees. It’s become like rooting for an idiot Goliath.
Dave, Nady is better suited to hit 6th or 7th — he’s got good, not great, power and would benefit from not having the pressure to drive in every single run. He won’t repeat his 2008 OVERALL stats, but look for .275-.280 with 20 HR and 75-85 RBI.
As far as the Tex/A-Rod thing, why would you hit your best power hitter third? The #3 hitter generally doesn’t have to concern himself with big power numbers; the #4 hitter does. A-Rod, last I checked, has more power than Teixeira. Jay, you point out A-Rod’s stats in “pressure situations” — that doesn’t mean you change the lineup because a guy doesn’t come through in one AB outta four? Besides, how do you know whether Tex will come through? Could Tex be a great clean-up guy? Absolutely, but he’s not being brought in to be THE guy in the lineup. To me, Tex is better suited to fill Bobby’s role in the lineup than A-Rod is, so let Mark hit third and A-Rod stay fourth.
And how did Girardi screw last season’s lineup up? The injuries to Matsui and Posada left him with no threat behind A-Rod (Giambi, don’t forget, didn’t crack .250). You can’t say Girardi messed up the batting order when two key hitters were hurt and no one else hit behind A-Rod.
When the Yankees need defense in the outfield, Girardi brings in Bret Gardner. This tells me Gardner is a better outfielder than the players he is starting. Nick Swisher’s batting average is around 230…Gardner’s 290. I personally believe Gardner is an all around better player than Swisher. Why leave Gardner on the bench? He is perfect for leading off; he has something like 20 stolen bases. How many would he have if he played every game? How many has Swisher got? Girardi wants to win ball games with home runs. I wonder if he ever heard of small ball…