Today in The Journal News
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Apr 14, 2009 
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Alex Rodriguez started the second phase of his rehab and said baseball is his priority now.
Chien-Ming Wang suffered the worst beating of his career as the Yankees were thumped by the Rays.
Lol at the picture. Hurry back maine.
Swisher is awesome. If anything it’ll get the players loosey goosey and I bet they’ll win tomorrow at a canter. Jorge needs to lighten up. The game was way beyond gone, if he wants to be pissed at someone go cry to Wang about it. Swisher is a breath of fresh air.
haha loosey goosey.
haha. I’ve seen more than one comment in a couple of places telling Jorge to worry about his game calling not what Swish does. Is it that bad?
Good thing Jorge wasn’t catching Posada. He’d probably call time and proceed to the mound to slap Swish upside the head.
Who knows what the lineup’s going to be like.
I think Molina will be behind the plate, Jorge to DH. If Tex is at 1B, Swish will be in RF. If Tex is out Swish at 1B, Nady in right. Gardner back in CF. Oh the permutations are making my head hurt.
Please feel good, Tex. AJ’s buddha, please be smiling.
I agree M. We need this one.
Pete, I’ve never wished hard on anyone before, but I seriously hope you lose your job. this A-rod garbage is out of hand. You are a petty, vindictive, and small human being. I’ve never seen such raging jealousy and pathetic imbecility in a sports journalist before. Fat man hates godlike athlete is not a new story, but you take it to ridiculous new heights.
JAZZ HANDS!
bye fjm ip address! we hardly knew you.
Jeez FJM need a hug?
FJM, Get a life. I hope you lose your boner for A-Rod. This is retarded, you hope Pete loses his job cause he comes up with a few wisecracks about A-Rod. Seriously. You need to stop kissing your A-Rod posters and grow up.
FJM-
Chill out man, Pete is doing his job just like he should if he is getting responses like that out of you, but you dont have to be an a-hole about it.
OK, we know Pete’s cracked some shots at A-Rod in the past, but you do realize this was an entirely benign update, right? I don’t know about you, but the rest of us kind of care that his rehab is going along smoothly.
Here’s what I’m wondering-Why do the Yankees play in the home openers for three teams, and all before they play their first home game; while the Rays only play a road home opener with one team, and the red sox play in a grand total of ZERO home openers on the road. Even the teams that will be out of it in May are jacked up for their opening series and often play their very best for those three games. I guess it is better than opening in Japan, though.
I’m glad I decided to switch off the game before the second inning last night. Oy. Not too much to say, except, Swisher had it right – it’s an “Etch-a-Sketch” game.
Speaking of Swisher, thanks to the person who posted the YouTube of his inning. While he did look to be enjoying the moment (and why not, it was absurd, wasn’t it?), he also was doing the job – he was smiling but not goofing off on the mound. It also looked like his fellow pitchers (the starters who were lined up in the dugout watching) were a little amused as well. And I think “amused” is the word. Nobody was laughing outright, and nobody appeared to think this was a “funny” moment. But it was amusing and it was absurd and the game was so out of hand as to be able to take that inning for what it was.
Jorge was right, too. I don’t think anyone was laughing about the outcome of the game or the way the game was played all night. It was horrendous. And you gotta love Jorge. If the last image of a game is the amusement over Swisher pitching, then I think it is not a bad idea for Jorge to remind everyone of WHY Swisher was in there in the first place. And wasn’t this what everyone missed about Jorge not being there last season? His gravitas?
This probably won’t be that last time the Yankees get blown out this season. Blowouts happen. And teams survive. And seasons survive.
Meantime, ya gotta love a guy like Swisher. You just have to. And about wanting the ball – he deserves it. You go through life once. You might as well enjoy the enjoyable moments.
no need to panic…..but one has to wonder if coke will be here all year….i believe he will be on the scranton shuttle soon…..ransom has the deer in the headlights look of a minor leaguer who is way over his head on the major league level….i think the yankees have to move berroa into the majors …he is a major leaguer…ransom is not…these moves will not win the pennant without tex and arod playing and wanger pitching well…but at what point do you put major leaguers on the major league roster…just too much dead wood on this team…the yankees always try to catch lightening in a bottle and it usually ends up bad
Um, what makes you think Berroa’s a “major leaguer” (as if that’s somehow determined by anything other than one’s presence on a twenty-five man roster)? He’s been sub-replacement level for the past three years, and excluding his undeserved ROY campaign, he’s sub-replacement for his entire career. The dude is the prototypical Quad-Aer.
Caption should read “Hey Pete, even though you hate on me every story/blog post, I love you thiiiiiiisss much!”
Ransom is surely not a major league player…..Berroa has played on the major league level and has had results..ransom is a career minor leaguer….that is the point…unless the yankees make a move to acquire bench strength which they seem not to have a desire to do, berroa is the closest infielder they have of major league ability..
I knew what Jorge’s reaction would be before Kim even asked a question. Jorge is no fun. Yes I missed his hard nosed attitude last year, but he needed to lighten up.
from swisher’s twitter
My arm is killing me! hahahahaha
I hope he is joking.
Peter, it seems every other post is you talking about how the fans are being idiots about Wang or that “Yankees Morality Police” is out or how Joba should be in the rotation blah blah blah
Why don’t you do your job and not try to correct others’ opinions?
the “look at me picture”.he looks like he’s doing a dance number on broadway.
There was a sighting of the non-Ace Ace last night
He started the game for the Yanks did anyone see him? He was only out there for a short period
Kudos to Girardi for blowing the sweep of KC and then not carrying a long man and blowing the bullpen for days
I would’ve logged onto the blog last night to check the carnage here but the thought of angry mobs with pitchforks and torches going out to lynch various under-performing Yankee players might have ruined my slumber later.
Anyone take a death toll of jumpers and hangers yet after seven games? I’ll also bet sales of hard liquor and Maalox have tripled in the past week in NY.
BTW, I just checked Chien Ming Wang on my rotisserie website. It says his ERA is 28.75 and his WHIP is 4.50.
My question is: has he really been that good? Thought it would’ve been higher.
http://i26.photobucket.com/alb.....ouch-1.jpg
It seems most people did not have a problem with Swish. He was having fun. Is there a crime in it? He certainly wasn’t happy they lost. But he was having fun with the situation at hand. It will be the morality police that will have a problem with hit. (or however you want to dub them)
And even the Rays fans didn’t have a problem with it.
“Alex Rodriguez started the second phase of his rehab…”
And pretty soon he’ll start the third phase of his rehab, doing incredibly stupid things to embarrass the franchise.
I don’t have a problem with Swisher at all, I have a problem with Joe’s decision to use him.
Jorge’s a very proud individual, and I’m sure he was pretty pissed that every pitch he called was getting drilled, so I can understand why he was in no mood to laugh. Some catchers take that kind of thing personally. That being said, I don’t think he should have called out Swish in public, but I don’t want him to lighten up. You need a hard nosed guy like that around to be the enforcer, it gives the team balance. Not everyone gets to be the class clown.
“It will be the morality police that will have a problem with hit. (or however you want to dub them)”
I can understand both sides of the issue. It’s a bit of a mockery of the game, which tends to incite some old school fans…..and Posada. It’s sort of humourous at the same time though. Only thing you worry about is him hurting his arm.
Chad Jennings on his blog thinks if there is a call up today it will probably be Steven Jackson or Clagget. Robertson pitched multiple innings just the other day and I didnt even realize that Meloncon was not on the 40 man roster so he is out as that would involve a 40 man move as would tomko.
I know thatthe team was high on Jackson from SPring so maybe that is the way they will go. I was surprised that Meoncon is not on the 40 man is that because he is not eligible for rule 5 yet thus they dont need to put him on there yet?
Posada shouldn’t blame himself for last night’s debacle. Next to the 19-0 drubbing at the hands of Cleveland on July 4th a few seasons back, that was the worst performance I’ve ever seen out of the Yankees pitching staff, and that includes Game 6 of the 2001 Series when Pettitte was tipping his pitches.
One thing is becoming pretty clear about Chien-Ming Wang. He is a one-pitch pitcher, like Mariano. Unlike Mo, however, Wang’s one pitch is inconsistent. If the sinker stays down, CMW is ace material. If it doesn’t, he has no other out pitch and he gets beat all over the yard like last night. Mo, on the other hand, can always rely on being able to spot the cutter, so he’s usually going to have success with it.
And when you soil the sheets to the tune of 10 runs in the first 2 innings against a pitcher like Kazmir, well, you might as well just surrender the yogurt, give Nick Swisher some innings, and try again the next day.
Swisher told Girardi he had pitched before (albeit in high school). He had an idea of what he was doing. He didn’t try to overpower hitters. He approached the situation well, I thought. After the game Girardi said he chose Swisher because he had an idea that he wouldn’t try to do too much by overthrowing, that he wouldn’t stress out, and therefore would be less likely to hurt himself. Ideal situation? Not at all. But it was what it was. And it’s done.
Jorge is NEVER going to lighten up after a loss.
Pauly- I don’t think Jorge called out Swisher in public. All he said was no one was laughing. If Jorge looked at the bench he would have seen Pena hiding his head (because he was laughing), and all the starting pitchers looking amused.
He was just very angry about the loss, I can’t blame him. But Swisher pitching added some levity to an otherwise awful game.
That picture of Alex is just funny.
So the game last night just sucked. I really hope Wang is okay and by that I mean more mentally. I’m sure he must be very upset at his performances, lord knows I am. But, I think he will get it together and we will be seeing old Wang soon enough. Well at least I hope.
Oh and I love Nick Swisher.
SA- If it isn’t raining at lunch I’m going to shoot over to Modells and get a swisher shirt!
Jennifer
you’re trading in your Cody Ransom shirt already???
lol
All pitchers do some long tossing before they start their bullpen warmups for the game. Shouldn’t the catcher (Posada or Molina) and Dave Eiland be able to detect if a pitcher is throwing well in the bullpen or will possibly have a difficult time in the early going with certain pitches ?
Wang for example was nowhere near the plate from the get-go.
“I didnt even realize that Meloncon was not on the 40 man roster so he is out as that would involve a 40 man move as would tomko.”
This is part of the reason why putting Ramiro Pena on the 40 man instead of Berroa wasn’t an insignificant decision.
Pena’s on the 40 man and you can cut him when Alex gets back. In turn that would have let them keep Giese and DFA Giese if they needed to get Melancon on the 40 man (or use Giese as a long man).
Pena has hardly played at all. But now he’s on the 40 man to stay. They aren’t going to DFA him.
The guy on the 40 man who is expendable long term is Ransom. But they seem to feel he is the backup infielder for this year.
Getting Melancon onto the 40 man roster without making a trade won’t be that direct a maneuver.
jennifer lol!-do they have Swisher stuff? I was quickly looking online and can’t find any Swisher/Yankees stuff.
Gary
Yes but it is not that easy. Many reasons why.
Teams have rotations and they can’t mess much with them. Just because someone is not warming up well (if that is even detected) they can’t just throw someone else in there at the last minute (usually).
Also, some pitchers don’t warm up well and some do.
The mound on the field and in the pen are always dissimilar.
Nerves also play a role in the live game – sometimes for the good and sometimes not.
Just how it is.
“Shouldn’t the catcher (Posada or Molina) and Dave Eiland be able to detect if a pitcher is throwing well in the bullpen or will possibly have a difficult time in the early going with certain pitches ?”
Lot of times, pitchers have good bullpen sessions then can’t get guys out and visa versa. It isn’t like Wang has a loaded arsenal from which to pitch. If his sinker isn’t sinking, he’s screwed. He’s not going to beat teams if he has to feature his secondary stuff. He went with the bread and butter and just didn’t have it. Next start is one in which he may thrive because it’s 1) at home and 2) against a non AL East team.
Gary:
That’s exactly what I was thinking. I was talking to my wife during warmups about what I noted above about Wang being a one-pitch pitcher who needs his sinker down, down, down, and if you see the ball up in the zone it means real trouble. You’d think that in the bullpen, Posada (who caught him in the pen as the starting catcher) would have noticed.
CMW’s current issues are more mental-mechanical than anything, he looked physically comfortable on the mound but his arm angles, as he said, were all off. Fortunately that can be corrected; time to see what the coaching staff is made of. However, I worry about the mental aspect; when he was removed with no one out in the second and had to sit there and watch Albaladejo get through the entire inning…he looked near tears and mentally exhausted.
I seem to remember during the post-game Girardi saying that Wang had both a good bullpen session mid-week and also pre-game, but that it did not translate into the game for whatever reason.
“Ransom is surely not a major league player…..Berroa has played on the major league level and has had results..ransom is a career minor leaguer….that is the point…unless the yankees make a move to acquire bench strength which they seem not to have a desire to do, berroa is the closest infielder they have of major league ability..”
Berroa’s “results” are sub-replacement level. By definition, that means that anything off the scrap heap is better than he is; he really shouldn’t even be on the top of the heap, rather further down. The only difference between Ransom and Berroa is Ransom’s employers realized he was AAAA material, while the Royals stupidly thought Berroa was a player.
I LOVE the personalities on this team – all of the new guys, not just Swish, have been a breath of fresh air. Jorge would say the same thing – he’s been quoted as saying the team is just having a lot more fun now. That’s different than getting your rear ends kicked from here to kingdom come and having a laugh about it. I don’t think he was upset at Nick – probably just embarrassed by a hideous game and it WAS a hideous game. How much do you want to bet that knee-jerk analysts will proclaim the Rays to be far superior to the Yanks based on one game and the fact that they are younger? The team looked down right dreadful yesterday – mostly due to Wang, but I caught the low-light of the pop fly falling between Cano and co. Ugh.
How many times more does wang have to be abused till you send him now?
Wang=Ankiel?
The Yanks need to put Wang on the d.l. (the old “sore hammy” always works), and send him back to the gurus in Tampa to get straightened out.
There is absolutely no sense in sending him back out there to get crucified when there is a plethora a viable alternatives in Scranton.
I hate to say, but he’s a guaranteed loss and bullpen wrecker at this point.
I can understand Posada being upset about losing like that, but dude – it’s April. There are over 150 games left. This kind of thing happens to all teams at some point. It’s not the end of the world.
If Posada is mad at Swisher for trying to find something fun in a horrible game, he is out of line. Perhaps Jorge should worry about his catching. The Rays were running on him like he was a treadmill.
Tough game last night…time to move on and play their faces off today. Love that Swish can find humor in that situation as it’s obviously there. That said, can’t fault Posada for not being amused as it must be miserable to play in and especially catch a game like that.
“The Rays were running on him like he was a treadmill.”
They really weren’t. They were running on Wang, who is not very fast to the plate.
“he looked physically comfortable on the mound but his arm angles, as he said, were all off. ”
Wang’s release point is completely a mess.
Wang’s release point is one foot less horizontal and around 6 inches higher vertically than it was last year when he was throwing well.
That’s not evenly remotely close to his proper release point. It’s not even an issue of making some minor adjustments. One foot off horizontally and 6 inches off vertically is enormous.
Wang is simply throwing out of the wrong arm slot. Until he regains that arm slot he’s going to continue to get pummeled because his ball is going to stay up in the zone.
“There is absolutely no sense in sending him back out there to get crucified when there is a plethora a viable alternatives in Scranton.”
Plethora? There aren’t two.
Give the guy a break. It’s two starts. Granted, it’s two bad starts, but it’s not enough to go on. If the Tribe thought like that, they’d have DL’d Sabathia after 2 starts last year. How’d Sabathia’s 2008 workout again?
Berroa won rookie of the year. He was a good player at one time. He just seems to have gotten lazy and stopped working hard. Sometimes a change of scenery is all a player needs.
Look at Nick Swisher. He was dreadful last year. Half of the Yankees bullpen is guys that were terrible somewhere else.
At this point, I’m willing to give Berroa a shot. Ransom may be a better utility infielder but Berroa is the better everyday player. By the 7th inning if we have a lead, you can put Pena in. But Ransom is killing us right now.
Steve B.:
True–but the Rays will run on anybody. That’s why it was imperative for Wang to pitch to Upton in the first at-bat of the game, instead of trying to make the perfect pitch, or else you end up walking him. Walking a batter like Upton or Jose Reyes, especially with nobody out, is suicide for a pitcher, because now you have to watch the guy on first instead of paying attention to the batter.
Better to let Upton beat you with the bat, right? Once Upton inevitably reached second and Wang tried to pick him off THREE TIMES at second and then STILL was victimized by a double steal (way to go Joe Maddon, step on the throat early), that’s when I started to throw things at the TV.
By the way…I’m going to get killed for this but I would drop Girardi in a New York minute if Joe Maddon wanted to manage this team.
Guy:
Lot of people or going to be walking Upton. Kid’s got a keen batting eye. Nearly 100 walks last year, I believe. He’s a .400 OBP player waiting to happen.
Agree on Maddon. He’s done a great job getting a young team to think and act like winners. Not an easy task.
Swisher = MVP
keep it up bro
Wang is coming off a very serious foot injury. And it was the all important plant foot. It may be taking him time to fully trust the foot which would cause the rest of his delivery, arm slot, etc…to be off.
Wang will be alright. You don’t give up on a guy who’s a proven winner because of 2 bad starts. It’s frustrating to watch and you work like heck to try to get him straightened out, but you don’t give up on the guy. This guy has won 19 games twice. By comparison, AJ & CC have won that many games a grand total of once combined in their careers.
My first thought after last nights debacle is why did Wang stay in past the 1st inning. The guy was throwing meatballs and getting drilled. Send Wang down to see what the problem is, bring up Hughes and give him a chance again. It’s time to see if Hughes is going to make it or not.
Wang and Molina / Eiland (bring back Guidry just for Wang) need to get together during Wang’s next scheduled start and correct his mechanics. Once that is done, he should be good to go for his next start.
Bring up Phil for the start. He’s better than a question marked Wang and he is waiting for his next chance to prove himself.
CB-
With an experienced pitcher, who speaks English, isn’t his arm angle something that should have been “cured” in spring training. If he can’t get it right in a side session this week, put him on the 15 day DL and let him work it out in Tampa
There’s some talk going around about the Ray’s having a superior team, so I combed over both rosters last night and this morning and the only player that I could come up with the Ray’s would want instead of the players they have is…Mo.
Positionally speaking the Ray’s clearly have the better players in CF and at DH. I would say the rest are a push (and I am allowing that we are comparing Arod to Evan, since he will be back soon and not Ransom).
Bench wise, it’s no contest. All of the Ray’s players have seen significant time filling in for Pena, Floyd, Bartlett, Crawford and they not only filled in defensively but also provided timely hitting that enabled the Ray’s to continue winning last year.
Bullpen wise I give the Yanks the edge because of Mo. Right now I am not sure that this years Ray’s bullpen is as good as last years.
Manager: I think the edge goes to Maddon for taking a perennial loser and coaching them to believe in themselves. And he does seem to make all the right moves.
Thoughts?
ps: I’m a huge fan of Nick Swisher. If he can put up decent stats for the season, say .260 / 25 / 90 or better, I say we sign him to an extension. He is just what this team needs. The fans already love him and his teammates do, too.
Sorry I left out starting pitching.
I believe the Yanks have a slight advantage for now but obviously the Rays have a bona-fide star in Price coming soon that they are managing his innings right now.
Starting pitching is the diciest part of the equation. If it is good you win, if it is marginal, winning can be a struggle.
“If he can put up decent stats for the season, say .260 / 25 / 90 or better, I say we sign him to an extension.”
No rush to do that. He’s already signed thru 2011.
Every player brings a different skill set to the team and Jorge’s set includes a passion and seriousness to the game. Swisher’s is his laid back approach and class clown element. All Jorge or Swisher would be bad but the balance of them is good.
That is a great picture of Alex because you know what he’s doing but the interpretations are endless. “Jazz Hands” was a good one. My first thought was “TA DA” like something re-appeared.
A-Rod better hurry back because my fantasy team is suffering.
So.. I need some advice.
I have Burnett and Garza on my fantasy team. Do I start one or both of them??
I have Lester, too, and he pitched horribly yesterday so I need to make up for it.
Just another handle. April 14th, 2009 at 9:50 am
There’s some talk going around about the Ray’s having a superior team, so I combed over both rosters last night and this morning and the only player that I could come up with the Ray’s would want instead of the players they have is…Mo.
Positionally speaking the Ray’s clearly have the better players in CF and at DH. I would say the rest are a push (and I am allowing that we are comparing Arod to Evan, since he will be back soon and not Ransom).
Bench wise, it’s no contest. All of the Ray’s players have seen significant time filling in for Pena, Floyd, Bartlett, Crawford and they not only filled in defensively but also provided timely hitting that enabled the Ray’s to continue winning last year.
Bullpen wise I give the Yanks the edge because of Mo. Right now I am not sure that this years Ray’s bullpen is as good as last years.
Manager: I think the edge goes to Maddon for taking a perennial loser and coaching them to believe in themselves. And he does seem to make all the right moves.
Thoughts?
Texiara, Cano, and Jeter are not pushes with Pena, Iwamura, and Jeter…not even close.
Bartlett, not jeter
Just finished the 1st half of Torre and Verducci’s book. Got it from the Library as I didn’t want to contribute any $ to both of them. Interestingly so far, it’s mostly David Cone’s insight on the Yankee years, with a few jabs at David Wells by Torre.
Now it’s starting to talk about A-Fraud. I thought the above picture, captured while he was probably doing conditioning exercises in the outfield, should be entitled ” Everyone, look at me, I haven’t changed a bit!”
Coach6423
Tex will most likely hit for a better average but I think Pena will hit for more power. Defensively I would take either one.
Raw skill wise Cano is the better player but he needs to show that his new attitude is here to stay. i.e. that he won’t take plays off during the game like last year.
Jeter of two years ago, sure but defensively I’ll take Bartlett and he’ll hit for a decent average albeit not much power. (I have had some serious man-love for Jeter over the years but his best days are behind him).
Cano is a better player than Iwamura….the hole robbie taking plays off thing is overplayed.
Bartlett may be closer in defense to Jeter, but he is a huge liability at the plate. I dont think Pena and Teix are ven close defensively.
I would venture that Tampa’s LF, and CF favor them, with right field being a push.
I will still take Posada over Navarro.
Now it’s starting to talk about A-Fraud. I thought the above picture, captured while he was probably doing conditioning exercises in the outfield, should be entitled ” Everyone, look at me, I haven’t changed a bit!”
_ _ _ _ _ _ _
Are we sure Arod is the one with the problems? He was doing exactly what he was suppose to be doing and people still have issues with it. ~Sigh
Definitely like Posada’s bat over Navarro but defensively he’s going to throw out more runners.
As we debate this it occurs to me that Tampa is just better defensively and that IMHO wins more games overall.
I believe that it is always pitching first, defense second and an adequate amount of timely hitting that wins the most games.
I think the Ray’s weaknesses are in the bullpen especially not having a stud closer. But other than that they seem pretty solid otherwise.
I think the Yankees weakness is the overall defense and the bench.
It should be an interesting year.
Maybe Guidry can give Wang some advice, he seemed to understand him best. Ever since Eiland has been tinkering with Wang he hasn’t been the same, mechanics or otherwise.
I haven’t given up on the Wanger, as Moose prooved to us, one doesn’t “forget” how to pitch.
A rod the new $5 footlong spokesman?
Maybe the Yankees should ask Mel Stottlemyre, the ol’ sinkerballer, if he has any thoughts on Wang.
Also, I never will understand Alex Rodriguez. During 2004-2008 the Yankees paid him over $120 million, plus another $32 million in 2009. But NOW he’s telling us that he’s making baseball his priority? Does this make sense to anyone?
It wasn’t that baseball wasn’t a priority, like someone said you don’t work as hard as he did regarding the game and not have it as a priority when did he not come to a game prepared? But its more that he is going to try to eliminate other distractions. (not really a hard concept to understand, many people revaulate where they are in life and make adjustments or changes if it isn’t where they want to be).