No word yet on A-Rod
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Mar 04, 2009 
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There is nothing to report as of yet on the condition of Alex Rodriguez. This could mean any one of a number of things:
· The team is trying to convince MLB to that he should not play in the WBC and there will be some resolution tomorrow.
· They’re trying to get their story straight, whatever it may be.
· The doctors are waiting for the results of tests.
· A herd of rabid Vail elk attacked A-Rod when he was on his way to see the doctor.
The Yankees are not saying anything. If anything develops tonight, I’ll provide an update. But the clubhouse opens to the media at 7:55 a.m. tomorrow and it’s time to get some sleep.
Gotta be the elk.
If any of those Vail elk were really fast would he want them leading off for his team too?
Maybe he could lay some Kabbalah on them and put ‘em to sleep
From the previous thread -
Mel, most of those Nets comments come from Brandon, who happens to be a Knicks fan LOL
I hope it turns out to be nothing. But it seems like it would need to be taken care of (i.e. removed) to get rid of the pain and stiffness.
I wonder why it wasn’t discovered over the winter? If it was a problem 6 months ago it should’ve been checked out.
If the doctor says not to do anything, I don’t see how they can hold him back from the classic. If the doctor recommends surgery, I think he needs to have it done ASAP.
I believe, unless it requires surgery, it won’t keep him out of anything.
The guy did hit an opposite-field double on the day it was discovered.
P.S. Not related to A-Rod AT ALL, but did anybody see the report they don’t test for HGH in WBC. What’s the point of blood tests? Are there other drugs more prominent than HGH that can only be detected via blood test?
“Carl Pavano Memorial Half Mound” – classic pete right there.
Milton bradley and his friends think he’s like Paul O’neill:
“People tell me Paul O’Neill was hustling, he was intense, he was fiery, a competitor. Whereas, early on in my career, I was [labeled as] volatile, angry, temperamental … [that] I had an attitude, was not coachable. … Everything that’s pretty much the antithesis of what I am.”
http://www.chicagotribune.com/.....9761.story
umm that would be a NO.
My only question is that if A-Rod has felt discomfort going back till last season, why did they wait till now to get him tested?
I would prefer one of two things regarding phil coke. In scenario one, geise sucks and coke goes into the pen as the long man/middle relief filling two roles with one roster spot. I think aceves needs to go back down to triple A just in case we have a very early injury from one of the top five starters. Hughes will not and should not be pitching in the majors in april. In scenario two, geise is decent and coke goes down to the triple A rotation for insurance reasons and waits for a call up for long relief or to start. This is obviously the most preferable scenario in my mind because this allows coke the ability to backup guys in the pen or in the rotation so he can cover for an injury to a player in either role. That is very valuable.
Furthermore, while coke may not be a fantastic starter, he may be better than aceves in the same role at the major league level and its nice to have options. I really would prefer not to see both geise and coke in the bullpen in april. Mainly, because it just takes away all of cokes versatility – he cant back up starters and he likely will never pitch in long relief and just be a one inning reliever of which we have about 20 arms already. To me, edwar being out just creates a possible in for mark melancon. I wouldnt mind seeing him up in april and if he clearly isnt ready, we send him back down. However, i THINK he is as ready as he will be in may or june.
Before today gardner was batting an absolutely ridiculous 417 500 1083 with the highest slugging percentage on the team in 10 at bats or more and 4th overall with 13 total bases in 12 at bats and 2 stolen bases, 0 strikeouts. Cano is actually doing better than that so far which is nice to see but he does tend to just collapse in april even after a big spring. I know these numbers are meaningless and spring has just begun but if someone asked me before the spring which two yankees would i want to see hit the best in spring,
I would have likely said gardner and cano as those are the only 2 in the lineup I actually have some concern. Obviously, guys like posada and matsui are concerns in terms of injury but not really in terms of being able to produce. Lastly, Melancon has 3 innings 2 hits 1 walk 0 ER and 3 Ks. If he continues that trend, why not bring him to the bronx right out of ST. I would consider it at least.
“Lastly, Melancon has 3 innings 2 hits 1 walk 0 ER and 3 Ks. If he continues that trend, why not bring him to the bronx right out of ST. I would consider it at least.”
The best part about Melancon’s game is that he works fast and throws strikes. This guy should make the team out of ST especially if he performs well and Edwar remains injured.
I hope Alex hits 45 hr 144 rbi this year and says nothing to the media. He has nothing to lose. What are the mediots going to do? Slander him in the paper? ***extreme sarcasm****
Edwar’s injury has opened the door for Melancon.
If it comes down to Albaladejo, Robertson, or Melancon for the last spot… I’ll take Melancon.
You figure that Veras and Coke will join Marte, Bruney, and MO in the pen. We’re going to take a long man too. So that leaves 1 spot.
Melancon is a manager’s dream… throws strikes, poised, works quickly, and doesn’t worry about strikeouts. He would rather you pound his hard sinker into the ground on the 1st pitch rather than striking you out.
“Melancon is a manager’s dream… throws strikes, poised, works quickly, and doesn’t worry about strikeouts. He would rather you pound his hard sinker into the ground on the 1st pitch rather than striking you out.”
He is very reliable and his stuff makes him perfect for heir apparent Mo.
JINT -
I dont understand that. iF Coke is already in the pen, why would we need another long man? He is the long man. We have five starting pitchers all of whom could pitch deep into a game any given start. There is no talentless starter here so why in the world would we need two long man in the pen this season? We didnt have two long man in the pen last season when all of pavano, hughes and kennedy were in the rotation and Moose was coming off of what most people thought was a career ending abysmal collapse.
But in 2009 with CC, wang, burnett, pettitte and joba we somehow need two long man. I dont get that. Coke has versatility – the yanks put him in the pen in april and by may, he is just another middle reliever. But he starts the year as a long man or starter in AAA and he can still fill in for a spot start, long relief, short relief, injury to anyone in the rotation or injury to anyone in the pen. Thas a valuable commodity and aceves is no sure thing as the major league level. The yanks originally said that they still wanted coke to prepare as a starter for ST while dealing with pettitte and in my mind, that should not have changed.
dave-I understand where your coming from but I think Girardi only wants Coke to go 2 innings tops.
dave – Girardi already said they would probably carry Coke AND another long man. Check the last post. They want Melancon for 1 batter to two innings. Check out Pete’s earlier post.
Girardi wants Coke as a multi-purpose reliever… lefty specialist, setup man, long man etc. Anything from 1 batter to two innings. He also said he likes having 2 lefties in the pen.
If melancon comes in the game early to face big league hitters some time soon, you know girardi and cash are thinking about bringing him to the bronx out of Tampa. For me, I like Mo, Marte, Melancon, Bruney, veras and either coke or geise. Ive said multiple times already, we only need one of coke/geise in this parade and i THINK it should be geise unless he has a terrible spring and coke should start in AAA. That leaves one more spot between albadejo and robertson I guess until edwar comes back.
Veras had 29 walks in 58 innings last year and bruney had 16 in 34. All of Mo, marte, melancon, coke and geise have solid to impeccable control. Robertson has been anything but a good control pitcher and albadejo has shown to have solid control in his minor league career so I would go with albadejo pending his ST results to counter the shakey control of veras and bruney at times. I actually like this mix the best even including edwar because edwar also has poor command while melancon has illustrated impeccable command.
No sense blowing up Coke’s arm by overusing him in long relief. Here’s a wild card for you for long man: KEI IGAWA. Their paying the guy 4 million dollars after all. In his only long relief appearance he did pretty good (remember that game against the sox). Maybe he puts too much pressure on him before he starts a game at the big league level. Plus if Igawa has soem sucess as a long man, we could MAYBE MAYBE have him spot start a few games when needed.
Bullpen:
Igawa(Long man)
Albaladejo(“Half a Long-man”)
Coke(Power Middle Reliever)
Edwar/Veras(Preferibly Edwar cuz he gives a different look)
Bruney(Power Set-up man)
Marte(Power Set-Up Man)
Rivera
9th Rivera
7th and 8th Bruney and Marte
6th and 7th Coke and Edwar
5th and 6th Albaladejo
4th and lower and blowouts Igawa
Mo – ninth
Marte/Bruney/Melancon – 8th
Albadejo/Veras – Middle relief
Geise or Coke – long man/spot starter
I like this bullpen the best as it really puts a premium on walks and will rack up a ton of strikeouts. When edwar comes back, we could swap him with whoever is struggling or just send edwar to AAA for a bit if the pen is dominating. If someone struggles early on, we could also swap that arm with Robertson or someone like Humberto Sanchez if need be.
You don’t use valuable arms like Coke’s in a long man role; that is for pitchers who are mediocre at best and who the team either just wants to eat up innings because the game is already lost or won. I thought the Yankees handled Ross Ohlendorf dreadfully last year – they can not make that mistake with Coke.
Melancon in the 8th? The kid hasn’t thrown one pitch in the major leagues…………
Marte has always had mediocre control in his career with the exception of 2007.
26 walks in 65 innings last year (10 walks in 18 innings with NYY)
31 walks in 58.1 innings in 06
33 walks in 45.1 innings in 05
Oh, I must have just glanced right over that part of the post where girardi said that. I completely disagree but whatever. I do like coke in the pen but how many options do the yanks even have as a second long reliever? Geise and Igawa. i guess aceves too but that would be idiotic. Frankly, I think cokes value is his versatility and he is completely stripped of that if he just pitches in middle relief. HOW LONG CAN HE PITCH IN MIDDLE RELIEF BEFORE HE CAN NO LONGER BE A STARTER IN 2009? And then, what is we have an early injury and aceves is called up and sucks. Wouldnt coke be a perfect second option to fill in as a starter early on before hughes is ready? Girardi is just not taking advantage of the versality coke adds to the team if he does that.
Betsy – One, I dont think Coke is some ridiculously superb arm. I think he is ok and fine for that role as he can fill other roles as well if need be like LOOGY or spot starter or middle relief. Two, obviously we wont have 3 setup men at any point. I just put those 3 up there as I think any one of the three of them will be a setup man at some point in 2009
‘From the previous thread –
Mel, most of those Nets comments come from Brandon, who happens to be a Knicks fan LOL’
Sad isn’t it ?
BTW Dwayne Wade is the MVP I don’t want to hear any but LeBron, Dwayne Wade is the MVP of the league, the Heat make the playoffs he might take them to the finals on his back.
Just take any mediocre arm to be the long man— Tomko, Giese, Aceves, Igawa, doesn’t matter.
The only time you need a long man is if
1. A starter leaves the game early and you need someone to eat innings
2. A starter can’t go at the last minute and the long man needs to start the game (a long man should be able to throw 100 pitches if needed, like a normal starter)
3. Long extra innings game when you have no pitchers left and you have to let the guy pitch as long as the game goes.
4. Game is one-sided and you need a guy to take one for the team.
So just throw one of the mediocre guys in the pen to fill these roles.
7*7
I thought marte had better control than that and didnt even bother looking up his stats as he is considered one of the better relievers. That is all the more reason to avoid relievers that struggle with their command. That is why I wouldnt even want edwar to make the pen out of ST unless he proves he can command his pitches consistently.
dave
Coke can fill the role as a 2nd long reliever (in an extra innings game or if he needs to go 3-4 innings if a starter gets hurt and Aceves/Giese gets hurt or something), but its not ideal. So he gives you flexibility there too. Thats why Girardi called him “half a long man”. In an emergency, he can fill that role.
Fronteir,
THat is my whole point. We have a good enough rotation that we really dont need to waste an april roster spot on a long man. Coke is much more than a long man but fills the long man role. That is why I dont like girardis whole plan to add coke and a long reliever. Its a waste of a spot that coke can fill while also filling other roles.
Cowboys release Terrell Owens
Any interest from the Giants?
Teams with starting rotations as deep as the yanks in april likely dont need a guy like igawa or tomko filling up a spot. its just pointless really. They will barely ever pitch.
Trade for Braylon Edwards or sign T.O. oh boy Jerry Reese has a tough decision here. It’s like X-Mas
Boldin, Edwards, T.O. …
Nick,
If we go to NY with the five we have now all healthy, how often will a guy like geise, igawa or tomko actually be pitching? Only in blowouts likely and unless the yanks are the ones getting blown out, the starter usually stays in for at least 6 when they are shutting down an offense. I just dont see any reason to waste one of seven spots on the guys above when coke can fill that role and more. Especially, because if we add coke and a long man, 2 of robertson/melancon/albadejo go to AAA. Those guys should all have a shot at the pen right now.
Alabaladejo has a pretty funk delivery too… I wouldn’t count on him to have great control at the ML level. It would probably be a smidge above Edwar/Veras/Robertson, but not much.
Melancon is the only guy in the pen (if he makes it) that can throw strikes consistently. Coke can as well.
Thats why Mark has to be a serious candidate for the pen. Manager’s HATE walks in the late innings.
T.O. will be fine for the Giants. He actually has a good coach who will descipline him.
He has leadership around him in guys like Pierce, Tuck, O’Hara, Jacobs etc.
And he’ll want to stick it to the Cowboys so he’ll play hard. On a 2 yr deal or something, I’d do it in a heartbeat.
Betsy -Coke was amazing last year in his 14 innings but check out his stats in the minors. The guy is hardly a prize arm. He was likely just on a lucky streak. Pitchers dont improve that dramatically from AAA to the majors without ever being highly touted prospects. It was just a fluke. Coke is the kind of arm that could take a long man role and fill the middle relief and lefty specialist position when need be.
‘T.O. will be fine for the Giants. He actually has a good coach who will descipline him.
He has leadership around him in guys like Pierce, Tuck, O’Hara, Jacobs etc.
And he’ll want to stick it to the Cowboys so he’ll play hard. On a 2 yr deal or something, I’d do it in a heartbeat.’
I really can’t argue there, but then you have Braylon who’s younger and cheaper and more upside too, then you have Boldin who also performed in the playoffs.
Anyone of these 3 paired up w/ Plax or whoever we deal Plax for is going to be a dangerous combo.
You have 3 guys who are locks for 200 innings barring freak injuries in Sabathia, Wang, and Pettitte. If AJ stays on the field, he’ll give you some length too. Joba is the only one who will have the strict limit and we’ll need the bullpen on days that he pitches. But Girardi knows he has Sabathia the next night and CC can go 9 innings if needed so he can use his good relievers to secure a game that Joba pitches and not have to worry about needing them the next night.
Wilson- this pen should try to start off as being the best command, biggest strike out guys they have and go from there. Thats really the point of the pen anyway – get ks in big spots and dont allow free passes. A hit here or there is not nearly as damaging if the walks are limited.
I will agree that Albadejo has a strange delivery but I dont think that impact his control. I know he didnt have great command in his very limited time in the majors but the sample size is too ridiculously small to extract that kind of conclusion. In the minors. albadejo had a control rating of 99 on baseball cube. That makes me think he actually does have pretty superb command/
Brandon – No doubt… I was speaking in the event we can’t trade for WR. Obviously we’d rather have a young stud like Boldin or Edwards, but if not, then TO ain’t a bad consolation prize.
Guard – how much can girardi actually limit jobas innings in a single game. He will keep a close eye on pitch count but if joba works efficiently, he could go 6 or 7 innings too on any given start. There is no reason to think a long man will be required because joba will only pitch 4 innings and be pulled. The yanks are building him up to be a starter and a stunt like that would actually be detrimental.
‘Obviously we’d rather have a young stud like Boldin or Edwards, but if not, then TO ain’t a bad consolation prize.’
This is like saying Kim Kardashian wouldn’t be a bad lay.
Srsly.
T.O./Plax
T.O./Boldin
T.O./Edwards
Edwards/Boldin
Edwards/Plax
Boldin/Plax
What combo would he choose for Eli.
Amazing athletic catches and route running
T.O./Edwards
Route running, solid hands
Boldin/T.O.
Boldin/Edwards
Playoff performers
T.O./Boldin
Plax/T.O.
Plax/Boldin
Speed
T.O./Boldin
Boldin/Edwards
Cowboys release Terrell Owens
Any interest from the Giants?
===============================
No thank you.
Romo and Witten must be giving each other high fives right now
T.O. would be GREAT on the Pats
Can you imagine Brady throwing to Moss, Owens, and Welker?
5,500 yards, 60 TDs.
I know it’s not possible cap-wise, but I’d love to see Reese trade for Chad Johnson, sign T.O., and retain Burress.
Eh T.O. drops as many as he catches and hes bad in the locker-room why would you Giants fan want to mess with chemistry. If anything get Boldin hes a gamer and he typically keeps his mouth shut.
As a Jets fan I’m glad the Favre experiment is over with and I’m anxious to see who impresses more in camp Clemens or Ratliff. I love our D and hopefully Ryan delivers with his promise for a power running game headed by Jones and Leon Washington.
Maybe the Jets will sign T.O. and Jeff Garcia and reunite the both of them LOL
I love Ratliff’s arm
I have a feeling the Cowboys cut T.O. when they did because there is a stud receiver taking his place.
If all this chatter about Braylon Edwards is on, I expect him or Boldin to be replacing T.O. in Dallas.
If I were the Giants, I wouldn’t touch T.O. w/a 10 foot pole. He’s a great player, no doubt about that…but he’s a diva and demands the ball and it causes problems on teams.
When you QB knows T.O. is going to be barking on the sideline because you’re making on field decisions to throw to other players in the heat of the moment, it’s a problem.
That said, I’m stunned the Cowboys gave up on him. It tells me that they have a plan B ready to pop.
I’d be shocked if the Giants had any interest in T.O.
T.O. would never go to the Jets.
They don’t have a high profile enough QB for him to sign there.
They don’t even know who their Q.B. is.
He’ll end up with the Raiders or on some team like the Pats or Skins where he’s going to try rehab his image and win a title.
He’s now at the stage where if a good team takes him on, the first sign of trouble he’ll be cut.
Personally, I think this is going to Romo’s most important year. If he spits the bit again w/o T.O. to blame as a distraction, the shine starts to fade on him a lot.
“I love Ratliff’s arm”
I do too. However he has never started a regular season game and KC has. We’ll find out in a couple of months I guess.
“T.O. would never go to the Jets.”
No one said they wanted him on the Jets. We just cut Coles for being a locker-room cancer why would we turn around and sign T.O.?
T.O. reunion with McNabb in Philly?
“T.O. reunion with McNabb in Philly?”
McNabb would never resign in Philly if TO cam back.
Dave said: “Coke was amazing last year in his 14 innings but check out his stats in the minors. The guy is hardly a prize arm. He was likely just on a lucky streak. Pitchers dont improve that dramatically from AAA to the majors without ever being highly touted prospects. It was just a fluke. Coke is the kind of arm that could take a long man role and fill the middle relief and lefty specialist position when need be.”
With all due respect, Dave, you need to brush up on some facts.
Firstly, those numbers in the minors that weren’t all that spectacular by Coke were tabulated mostly as a starter. Mariano Rivera was an average starter and wasn’t projected to be an impact major leaguer until he moved to the pen. Mariano was of very similar age to Coke, putting up very similar numbers at the same levels (AA, AAA). A change from starter to bullpen can often times make a star out of someone who wasn’t anything spectacular as a starter.
Even the numbers you knock him for, there’s signs of very good ability in there. Throughout the course of 2008 in the minors, he gave up less hits than innings pitched, struck out MORE than 9 batters per 9 innings, and had a 3:1 strike out to walk ratio. Those are all very key stats for a pitcher, and Coke excelled in all three of those categories (hits allowed, Ks/9, and K:BB ratio).
Not to mention at the young age that Coke is at (25), it’s not uncommon for pitchers to still be developing things with their mechanics. It’s very likely that at some point he adjusted something to modify his delivery or grip, resulting in a significant different.
He throws the ball well, he’s left handed, has an excellent slider, good change up, decent velocity fastball (especially when coming out of the pen), and perhaps his biggest asset is throwing strikes.
While it’s insane to expect him to match his numbers from last year (.68 WHIP, .61 ERA), as no reliever in the history of baseball has ever been that good, there are plenty of indications, INCLUDING his minor league numbers, that show he can be an incredibly servicable, if not well above average reliever for the Yankees in the future.
As a UK-based Cowboys fan, I found your blog on google and read a few of your other ‘boys posts. I just added you to my Google News Reader. Keep up the good work. Look forward to reading more from you in the future.