Today in The Journal News
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Feb 22, 2009 
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Joe Girardi is taking a more personal approach to managing the Yankees this season.
This story checked in at roughly 1,100 words and it’s the kind of feature I hope to do more of this season. If anybody had what they think would be a good idea for a longer story, please send it along.
Jason Johnson was late to camp after contracting a rare eye cancer. This notebook also a few tidbits from yesterday’s workout.
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The Yankees always start later on Sundays. The team will be on the field around 11 or so.
Yankees will be on the MLB network tonight for the 30 teams in 30 days program they have running for spring training.
did any one see the Red Sox’s 30/30?
The greatest team of this decade. Winning 2 world series in (the bookend of) 4 years. Go Sox!
Good quote from Kevin Cash in the Boston Globe today. Talks about what a solid rotation the Yankees have and then ” ..but what people don’t know is that there are some pretty good young arms here too. Melancon has as good a stuff as you’ll ever see… but what stuff. This kid Andrew Brackman has a tremendous arm. When he figures it our, watch out. He can really throw. And the guys in here are great.”
Let’s hope Cash knows what he is talking about.
As to Joe taking a more personal approach – while he is not that volatile a guy (at least not in public) I see a lot of parallels to the issues Tom Coughlin faced with the Giants. To Couglin’s credit, he found a way to connect besides preaching the x’s and o’s. I feel pretty strong that Girardi can do that too.
Who give’s a rats ass about the sox?
Five iron do you have a link to that story?
Pete, hows about an interview with the Director of Player Development, Pat Roessler? I’ve read interviews with Damon Oppenheimer about scouting and what not, but, I’ve never read anything about how the Yankees develop the talent they draft. What exactly is the Yankees player developmental theory?
Carl,
You may be able to find it on Boston.com.
It was in today’s sports section in the notes section, Etc. column, number 6.
We haven’t heard much from Pete about Hughes and Melancon. But Brackman has been mentioned a few times.
Would love to get some info on how the younger guys look (Jackson, Montero etc).
I guess we will get a little more when the games start next week.
Thanks five iron found it
http://www.boston.com/sports/b.....ms/?page=5
Hey Pete: Excellent article. I enjoy those extended inside looks. Enables you to stretch and work out those writing skills, also[!].
A mellower Girardi is a good thing. I still think he will be an excellent manager.
Finished the Torre book – don’t see what the big deal is. Oh yeah – no baseball news other than the book made it a big deal. Still like Torre. Still loves me some Yankees.
Gonna be a fine entertaining season.
Since we are talking Brackman – what is his highest level this year – A, AA, AAA, majors. I think he makes it to AA, maybe with a breif cameo in AAA. No doubt the guy can throw, it is delivery, control, holding on runners etc.
Be conservative with Brackman. He’s comming off TJ surgery. Start him off in low A ball and move him up to Tampa after 10 or so starts. This year should be about building back arm strength and consistency. Plus, with Hughes, Aceves, et al., in AAA there is no reason to rush him through the system.
An idea for a long story would be A. Story about all the bounce back players (Posada,Swisher,Cano,etc…) the Yankees have and of course statistics about how often do these expectations work out. B. Story about long contracts and how they worked out in the past (first years, last years of contract,for the player and teams) and what to expect out of the long contracts signed this year. Have a great day. (added by Mobile using Mippin)
Great article Pete. It’s good to know that he’s growing and learning. I think having a thumbs up from Johnny D might be a really good sign of things to come. Hopefully Joe continues to grown and develop. I’m sure he will, he’s determined, and smart.
Having CC and Swisher in the clubhouse can’t hurt the morale either.
“Finished the Torre book – don’t see what the big deal is.”
Yeah, me too. The book – as opposed to the overheated nonsense surrounding the leaks – does not come really across as a breach of trust. When you read the book, you’ll see that the “A-Fraud” thing is not what it was made out to be at all.
What I actually found more damning of A-Rod was a story Torre related about the time that A-Rod let it be known to Yankee management that he didn’t feel accepted on the team. Torre heard about the complaint and decided to speak with Alex. To understand the story, it’s important to know that A-Rod had his own personal clubbie-valet who did everything for him. Torre suggested that if Alex wanted to feel more a part of the team, maybe Alex needed to go get a cup of coffee himself once in a while. A few days later, Alex is walking along with a cup of coffee, calls out to Torre something like: “Hey skip, I took your advice. I got
my own coffee, see?”
Obviously, Alex missed Torre’s point. It wasn’t about the cup of coffee, it was about Alex needing to be more of a regular part of the team if he wanted to feel accepted. Torre thought this was a perfect example of Alex just not “getting it.”
Really enjoyed your article on Girardi, Pete. Let’s hope the optimism carries over into the season, under the heat of battle, so to speak.
Only way I look at Arod now is, bottom line, he’s the best offensive 3B in MLB. Hopefully he’s not too much of a clubhouse prima donna/cancer/whatever – team vibe and prosperity shouldn’t be compromised by him. Hopefully.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/02.....htm?page=0
I enjoyed the Girardi article – he’ll be fine in the dugout, but let’s see how he handles the press this year!
I’d recoomend the longer articles as a weekly entry.