Today on in The Journal News
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Apr 28, 2009 
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CC Sabathia was good but Justin Verlander was much better as the Tigers beat the Yankees last night.
————
Phil Hughes will be on the mound tonight, looking to win a big-league game for the first time since Sept. 27, 2007.
For obvious reasons, the Yankees need Hughes to be good. But beyond stopping a losing streak, they also need a solid starter to join the rotation until Chien-Ming Wang is ready. I predicted several times during spring training that Hughes would play a significant role with the team. Here’s his chance.
Hughes is 5-7, 5.15 in his career and he’s much better than that. Now would be the time to show it.
Someone needs to stop the bleeding. Hope Phil can do it. Go Yanks!
He’s got to do well, or we may see the latest iteration of Sidney Ponson: Brett Tomko, in the rotation. Speaking of which, when are we finally going to get a long reliever?
I’m a big believer in Phil and I’ve rooted for him even through the rough patches last year. I agree with Pete in that I think he has tremendous potential. Does anyone else think that the turning point was when Phil hurt himself throwing that no-hitter in Texas? Seems like he was never quite that good again since that injury.
Hughesie!
I’m looking forward to watching Phil pitch tonight. Hope he does well and we win the game.
Feels like forever since we last won a game
Does he have change up yet? Hopefully someone taught the kid how to throw a change up. I believe that’s a key to his success. He’s not going to get by with just a curve and FB. That and his FB command needs to be there if he’s going to have any kind of success in the majors.
JRB -
fast post and then out.
I agree with you about Phi in everything you said including the Texas turning point.
That said, I have never stopped believing he would eventually be in the big dance and at some point, the head dancer for us.
Later
Like I said, this team has some serious issues. The maddening part is that most of them are what should be non-issue issues. Dogging it. Mentality. Tip the Cap crap. I’m tired of this team always slogging it for the first 2 months of the season and playing catchup hoping for a summer swoon from the div leaders every single year. It’s becoming an annual event. I hate to say it, but it’s time to find some young, fresh position players instead of older name players. How to go about doing that… who knows? Oddly, Cashman doesn’t seem to… sigh.
SJ44 says:
“That’s why, contrary to popular belief, I don’t see this huge change when Arod comes back. Will the offense be better? Marginally.”
SJ44,
For someone who supposedly knows the game you are really embarassing yourself these past couple of days.
Replacing Ramiro Pena, with a HOF hitter, and one of the top 3 hitters in the league is only going to improve the offense marginally? Wow, just wow.
I can’t believe you could type something like that with a straight face.
That’s like saying Darrel Rasner is only a marginally worse pitcher than CC Sabathia.
Pete,
Don’t forget he got the only win in the 2007 postseason in relief of Clemens.
http://www.baseball-reference......0070.shtml
Regardless, now is the time for him to show what he can really do.
raymagnetic -
I agree with you but don’t knock Rasner — I always rooted for him to do well! Anyone know how he’s doing in Japan?
What year was it that Cash demanded full authority? Can he still duck blame for putting together this high-priced, highly-flawed roster?
Can the GM be sent to AAA?
He seems to be able to put together a pretty decent AAA squad. Major league roster? Not so much.
i think cc turned a corner last night.
tex’s friend -
I agree, the 0 walks were really key in helping keep his pitch count down. He only had those 2 or 3 mistake pitches he would like to have back. But other than that it was really a great outing.
Where are these young fresh position players that are lying around just waiting for a call from the NY Yankees? Other teams are not so willing to give the Yankees theirs.
There is going to be a need for patience as far as position players the Yankees may have right now in the lower levels of the system.
But where are these players the Yankees missed?
It is important Phil Hughes acts like the pitcher he is in AAA, where he is practically an ace and dominating. If he blows like he did last year, who will the Yankees turn to?
Ian Kennedy? Alfredo Aceves? Jason Johnson? Kei Igawa?
How easy it is to forget, Phil’s only 22 years old. He’s two months younger than me!
Thank you for being the voice of reason Rebecca! I’m also 22 and I’m pretty sure if I was pitching for the Yankees at this age I would be nervous too!
“Thank you for being the voice of reason Rebecca! I’m also 22 and I’m pretty sure if I was pitching for the Yankees at this age I would be nervous too!”
==========================
Just give Phil a Xanax and send him out there.
Go get him kid!
Yes, there is a lack of position player prospects on the Yankees. I mean, the SWB Yankees may look good, but look at all the AAAA(quad-A, great in AAA, suck in the Show.) talent.
I mean, Todd Linden? John Rodriguez? Shelley Duncan? Eric Duncan? Kevin Cash?
The only prospects on the team are the starting pitching(Hughes, Kennedy, Aceves) relief pitching (Cox, Kroenke, Valdez) OF Austin Jackson and maybe IF Luis Nunez. Outside of those, none of the position players in AAA is even close or deserves to be in the majors.
raymagnetic
I hear what you’re saying but I understand SJ44′s point as well.
Until Alex comes back, no one will know how effective he can be and he’s still 1 of 9 bats.
However, he does lengthen the line-up, give them a right handed power threat and hopefully allow other guys to see better pitches.
He’s going to be part of the solution but not a panacea.
“But where are these players the Yankees missed…?”
They’re hard to spot because they run really, really fast, but I think a few are at UCLA, Pawtucket, and for the next two day, Cleveland.
One will be on the mound in Detroit tonite. Looking forward to that!
Ray,
Here is what I mean by saying the offense will be marginally better when Arod returns.
If the the rest of the lineup is not hitting, teams will just pitch around him. He’s not going to solve the offensive problems of this team all by himself.
If the other guys don’t step up, he’s not going to get pitches to hit.
Also, let’s remember, he’s coming off serious hip surgery. We have no idea how he is going to be.
OBVIOUSLY, we hope he’s a dominant player. But, what if he isn’t? Or, what if he is slow out of the gate?
If either of those two situations occur, and the other guys in the lineup still fail to hit with RISP, the offense is marginally better.
He was in the lineup for most of last year and they didn’t hit with RISP until they were out of the race in September.
Its not about replacing Ramiro Pena. Its about how the other guys do, in addition to Arod being back.
The rest of the guys have to hit. If they don’t, regardless of what Arod does, the offense isn’t going to be a factor with this team.
That’s the unique thing about baseball. Its not a one man game.
As great a player as Arod is, he can’t carry the load all by himself.
“But where are these players the Yankees missed?”
I’m not quite sure what you are referring to, Doreen, but right now the Yankees have 5 starters, 8 relievers and 3 bench players, one of whom is a catcher who hits poorly, one of whom is a CF who hits poorly, and one of whom is an infielder who both hits and fields poorly. I’ve never been a GM, or even played one on TV, but IMO that’s just poor roster management which will cost us wins.
Clearly, there are no undiscovered rookie of the year candidates waiting in AAA to be called up by the Yanks, assuming Austin Jackson isn’t quite ready yet.
But they do have John Rodriguez, who has been a major leaguer and can hit better than anyone on our bench, and he makes a lot more sense to me than an eighth reliever.
Presumably, the Yanks haven’t called Rodriguez up because he isn’t on the 40 man roster and it would create roster management problems.
But why isn’t he on the 40 man? Because we have 25 pitchers on it, that’s why. That doesn’t leave a lot of room for offensive help, does it? Why such a pitcher heavy 40 man in the first place? Were the Yanks assuming no position player in the majors would ever get hurt?
For years the Yanks just haven’t cared about their bench. I thought this year was going to be different, but now I wonder.
Looking forward to sitting behind the visiting dugout tonight… hope the rain clears & that Hughes will pitch a gem. Gonna be chilly here, though… forecast is 50 degrees, with dampness in the air.
Since it’s semi-related, why the Yanks should wait on AJax
http://www.puristbleedspinstri.....ember.html
bodhisattva
April 28th, 2009 at 11:02 am
Meanwhile, I am amused at all the Negative Nellies here.
Did you really think we were going to play small ball this year?
We are going to rely on starting pitching, OPS, and our BP. That’s how the team was constructed and no one was moaning about that a couple of weeks ago. This is news?
Believe or not, teams win this way. We’re not, nor WERE we, in a position to turn into the Rays.
Say whatever floats your boat, but opposing pitchers are not going to have a picnic with the middle of our order when it’s
Tex
ARod
Cano
You might take some solace in the way CC threw last night; might get excited by the fact that our BP just added a jewel in Melancon – anyone who says that’s a premature judgment has not seen this kid live much.
And I don’t know who the 3-4 automatic outs will be once ARod is restored. Cabrera/Gardner? They won’t BOTH play when Alex is in there. Even if Molina is giving Jorge a breather, I count two autos.
Who else would qualify as an “automatic out”?
Jeter
Damon
Tex
ARod
Cano
Posada
Matsui
Swisher
Cabrera/Gardner
We are going to be in the race all year.
Lovers of Boston apparently choose to ignore the imminent declines of Ortiz & Varitek and the fragility of Lowell. That won’t get better as the year wears on.
Jason Bay is a nice player, but he’s not Manny; you don’t lose Manny and actually get better for it.
This is the first entire season they face in a long time without the Great Redeemer’s bat at cleanup to bail out and erase bad outings by their starters.
If you think Ellsbury is going to be a world beater leadoff man every night, you don’t know much about him. He’s a better player than Gardner, but this guy goes through “Gardner-like” stretches trying to get on base.
It’s clear though, that Red Sox paranoia is in full-swing here. The people prone to this over rate them and undermine us.
The bench and the 40 man roster is a legitimate issue for criticism.
Wave is right. John Rodriquez is a good hitter. Certainly a MUCH better bench option than they have right now.
He’s not on the 40 man roster because of poor roster management.
Instead, they are playing an injured Johnny Damon everyday.
That makes no sense to me.
An bad offense, especially with RISP, now has a guy playing with a bad shoulder everyday. He’s doing so because Matsui can’t play the OF anymore and they can’t afford to have Gardner and Cabrera in the lineup everyday due to their offensive deficiencies. How does that help the team?
For the last 3 years, this team has played shorthanded for large chunks of their season because of poor roster management. They are doing it again.
It seems they just don’t learn from their mistakes.
SJ, you LOVED this team at the end of spring training. You said this team is different than last year, the new players were making a difference, Girardi had changed, etc, etc. That was right after the team reeled off a bunch of wins in meaningless spring training.
Now they lose 4 straight and get swept by Boston and the ship is sinking. It’s only 4/28, what gives?
Let me make this prediction. The Yanks will get hot in June, go 15-5 or somethig along those lines and you’ll be saying this team has refound it’s swagger, the new players are making a difference, the rotation has turned it around and the bullpen has straightened out. Arod has helped, too. I guarantee it.
You have more knowledge about baseball than most people on here and I enjoy your behind the scenes insight, but sometimes your Captain Obvious with your posts.
Wave
The number of not major league ready pitchers on the 40 man is amazing.
Growing pitching is a valuable thing but there has to be an evaluation problem in not cutting some of them loose though. Not everyone is going to make it to the Bronx and they need to start turning those spots into something more useful.
Anyone know Edwin Jackson’s numbers against the Yanks?
Seems he’s been Daniel Cabrera-esque against us in the past.
Potential to shut us down, maybe be a bit wild?
Another hard-thrower. Might be tough for Hughes tonight.
can we get a nady update?
SJ44,
How could this 40 man roster issue have been better managed, in your opinion?
Wave Your Hat
April 28th, 2009 at 11:03 am
For years the Yanks just haven’t cared about their bench. I thought this year was going to be different, but now I wonder.
====================
This is one thing I agree with here. Our bench stunk last year, too. Who’s idea was it to labor so long w/Morgan Ensberg, for instance? What a travesty that was.
It’s a major PITY that Miranda doesn’t have a position to play – he’s the bat I’d want off the bench and as an occasional DH. I don’t like using developing players as PH, because it gets them out of rhythm and short-circuits their development, but this guy is now punishing lefties as well as righties and just has the look of a marksman ready to roll.
What’s more, he’s tailor made for the Stadium.
any news on AROD, pete? How is your May 1st prediction looking…i hope you are on track with that because I am going to the game May 2nd!
WYH -
What I’m referring to is people who clamor for young, fresh position players as if they were just hanging around waiting for the opportunity to play for the Yankees.
I’m not denying that the bench at this snapshot in time is not particularly good. I raised my eyebrows when the signed Berroa.
I think what’s going to have to happen is the Yankees are going to have to overpay bench players. I don’t blame them for not wanting to do that. But it’s undeniable that the way the Yankees are constructed, it’s a sure bet that when everything is going well, bench or utility players aren’t going to see a lot of playing time. So those players who would seem to be great for the Yankees to have choose to play elsewhere, where there may be more opportunity to pay regularly.
And then you’re faced with players who are coming here only for the money, and don’t we not like that? I thought that was a firmly established thing among many Yankees fans.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that it’s not an easy thing to fix. And I want to know, from those clamoring for better, younger, fresher, who and from where?
“Replacing Ramiro Pena, with a HOF hitter, and one of the top 3 hitters in the league is only going to improve the offense marginally? Wow, just wow. That’s like saying Darrel Rasner is only a marginally worse pitcher than CC Sabathia.”
Sorry, but I agree with SJ. Inserting one hitter into a 9 man lineup that is otherwise not doing so well will improve that lineup’s performance only marginally. And no it is not analogous to replacing a AAAA pitcher like Rasner with a former Cy Young winner.
1) The pitching analogy is false, IMO. Joba really replaced Rasner (or any of the other bums of the month). CC replaced Wang as ACE and moved him down; AJ replaced Moose; Pettite is still Pettitte, etc.
2) A-Rod can only be up one time through the lineup, maybe four times a game generally.
3) If the rest of the lineup is not hitting with RISP, inserting A-Rod only improves offensive output marginally (he’s only one out of 9 hitters). If men aren’t on base when A-Rod gets up, he’s not such a threat b/c nobody is really afraid of the solo HR in most cases. It may improve the pitch selection of the hitter in front of him, thus improving that hitter’s chances, but again as to the overall lineup, that improves things only marginally
4) We don’t know what kind of shape A-Rod will be in when he returns, but you should assume that his timing and strength may well be off for a while, plus is he really going to try to stretch a single into a double or a double into a triple with that tender hip. I don’t expect him to be too “base aggressive.”
5) IMO, if it’s illogical to blame A-Rod when the rest of the team falters offensively, it’s also illogical to credit him (or burden him) with turning around the offense just by showing up.
SJ….with Nady/Gardner/Swisher/Melky/Damon/Matsui pm the 40 man, and having to Pena/Berroa/Ransom on the 40 man due to an injured Arod, how could the 40 man be better planned???
INTERIOR: Trainer’s Room.
ALEX RODRIGUEZ lies on a table, his legs and arms strapped in. There is a bowl of shrimp in the corner of the room.
Randy Levine: Alex…Alex, can you hear me?
ALEX RODRIGUEZ: Yes, my master.
ALEX pauses.
ALEX: Where is my team…are they safe? Are they alright?
RANDY: It seems that due to your injury and absence, they suck.
ALEX RODRIGUEZ looks down on the ground. He closes his eyes tightly, as if in incredible pain. He turns red.
LONN TROST enters the trainer’s wearing a large diaper and a Yankees tie. He does a somersault, reclines in the corner and begins eating the bowl of shrimp with his bare hands.
ALEX: (agitated) NO…that CAN’T be…Cody Ransom can jump on a 60 inch box…Brett Gardner wears Pumas and he’s fast…they were going to be good. I felt it…
ALEX pulls away from the table. With sheer strength he breaks the belts tying him to the table. LEVINE gleefully looks on. Through Kabbala and osmosis, he lifts the bowl of shrimp away from Trost and sends it to Nick Swisher who says, “Shrimp, dawg! I can be happy even when things are bad! Hang 10 dude.” He eats the shrimp.
ALEX pulls his second leg away from the table. He makes TROST’S head look like a jeep.
LEVINE cackles.
RANDY: Goooood! Goood!!!
ALEX exclaims in pain: MOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
pat
April 28th, 2009 at 11:13 am
Wave
The number of not major league ready pitchers on the 40 man is amazing.
Growing pitching is a valuable thing but there has to be an evaluation problem in not cutting some of them loose though. Not everyone is going to make it to the Bronx and they need to start turning those spots into something more useful.
=====================================================
Why? You see how fragile pitching is. I wouldn’t move any of our high-end young pitchers at this point. In order to get a difference maker positional player, you’d have to give up way too much. Other teams aren’t sitting around wondering how they can help the Yankees.
ARod comes back, AJax takes over CF next year…we’ll survive.
SJ: I think you need to stop posting after losses. You’re one of the smartest guys on here but these posts reek of ledge jumping.
The Yankees constructed the roster the best way they saw fit at the time. Guarantee you if Nady and A-Rod are healthy, it’s not an issue. Not even a little bit.
Sorry, SJ., Was interrupted when writing my response and dind’t see you check in before i hit “send.” As usual, no need to speak for you, my friend. You do well enough on your own
What is wrong with the Yankees? They have lost 4 straight, but they had the first two games of the Boston series won. Mo blows a save, that will rarely happen again. The Sat. game exposed the holes in their pen, and they lost that game because of their deficiencies, but they will still win that game 95% of the time, up 6-0 with Burnett on the mound. They would be tied with the sox if they had won those games. The sox have won 12? straight, and they will swoon in June as usual.
The thing to worry about with this team is that we have seen this movie before, just with different actors. No hits with RISP, if they don’t score in the first inning they won’t score much at all, and aces who pitch like garbage. I think that the pitchers will turn it around, but there is little faith, at least on my part, that they can score in any way besides a home run. That has to change.
Pete… Why are you being so negative lately man?
By the way -
I do agree that there need to be some adjustments on the 40-man. They are going to have to try and make some decisions about who they’re going to keep and develop and who is expendable. And fans have to be ready to deal with the fact that it’s an inexact science and the player who looks least promising now may end up a star somewhere else.
Or it could be that right now they’re not finding good matches for deals.
They do need better hitting off the bench. No doubt about it.
And Damon’s shoulder problems rearing it’s ugly ahead – AGAIN- severely handicaps this team. He can’t swing a bat and he can throw even less. I don’t get how he is allowed to decide he wants to play like that. Seriously. It hurts the team. And yet, I’m sure that among his peers its a badge of honor to play hurt.
I’m not in denial about the overall state of the team on this particular date. I think I just might have a different perspective on things.
I just saw the Posada replay. To me, it did not look like there was lack of effort – it did look like he can’t run. But then, didn’t we know that about him?
Doreen-
Although I would in fact like younger talented position players, I haven’t been leading the charge on that, because I don’t think they are available right now.
They aren’t in the high levels of our minor leagues, because for years the Yanks drafted very poorly, and then (IMO) went overboard drafting pitchers.
I did make a specific suggestion, which was to call up John Rodriguez, even at the cost of releasing one of the 6 or so not-ready-for-prime-time pitchers on the 40 man roster.
Last night, in a 2 run game, Pena had to bat in the ninth because there was no one better. Pena did have 2 hits last night, but that will be uncommon. There are going to be times when the tying or go ahead run is on base, and we are going to have to bat Pena, or Molina, or Berroa, because there’s no one better, and it is going to cost us.
Consider the other night, with Molina catching and Jorge DH’ing. No way you can pinch hit for Molina. That’s a terrible situation, a loss waiting to happen. Do you think the Red Sox would ever find themselves in a bind like that? I don’t.
I have to say, and I think I did the other day, that I am also of the mind that we shouldn’t place too many expectations on what ARod is going to be able to do when he gets back. Yes, in theory, his bat will extend the lineup, and in theory, it affects the way the entire team gets pitched to. But we do not know if he’s going to be able to hit well right off the bat, AND we also don’t know how he’s going to field – I don’t expect him to be his old self right away. Even with minor league games under his belt, there is going to be a settling in time.
And then there’s the concern – will he be able to slide. I doubt he’ll be stealing a lot of bases.
It’s not a done deal that once ARod gets back all our troubles will go away. But, it should be a start.
Sidious,
Delightfully bizarre.
A big part of the poor roster management is the result of a draft day obsession with RHP prospects. That has created the talent logjam that can only be broken up in two ways. Either the Yanks have to release B-level (at best) prospects in their mid twenties (Jackson, Clagett, Hacker) or make a four arms for one player trad with a package that includes guys like Veras (29) and Ramirez (28).
What the Yankees have not done is choose among their RHP prospects andmove them for positional players. There are better position prospects coming, but Pena and JAckson are it for 2010.
Cashman does control the draft now, but he’s never had full control of the MLB roster as evidenced by the fourth year for Jorge and taking Alex back.
It has nothing to do with posting after losses.
Every team has injuries. So, the idea that injuries limit the Yankees options is kind of a false argument.
Their options are limited because they have not done a good job managing their 40 man roster and not addressing the bench more aggressively in the off-season.
That’s why guys like Ransom, and Berroa take up space on the roster and Damon now has to play hurt.
It’s poor roster management.
It’s not being negative. It’s reality.
Although I am not generally a huge believer in the “protection in the lineup” theory, I do believe in it when it comes to ARod.
His mere presence in the lineup will have a huge, positive impact not just on how Teixeira is pitched to but also Damon and Jeter. I believe and hope it will have ripple effects down the lineup as well.
Isn’t it only poor roster management because it turns out Melky still sucks and Gardner looks to always suck?
If Damon is hurt we are supposed to be able to plug Melky in there. You can’t say the 40 man roster management is poor when we have 6 OFers on there. We have a couple of backup starting pitchers, and a bunch of relief prospects.
The biggest issue is our lack of players on the 40 that can play the infield but that is more a testemant to our poor position depth in the minors and our super star power in the majors.
You guys are being ridiculous. SJ44 tell me how you have the 40 man.
Doreen
April 28th, 2009 at 11:28 am
I have to say, and I think I did the other day, that I am also of the mind that we shouldn’t place too many expectations on what ARod is going to be able to do when he gets back. Yes, in theory, his bat will extend the lineup, and in theory, it affects the way the entire team gets pitched to. But we do not know if he’s going to be able to hit well right off the bat, AND we also don’t know how he’s going to field – I don’t expect him to be his old self right away. Even with minor league games under his belt, there is going to be a settling in time.
And then there’s the concern – will he be able to slide. I doubt he’ll be stealing a lot of bases.
It’s not a done deal that once ARod gets back all our troubles will go away. But, it should be a start.
===============
Yes, he’ll need some time but it’s also probable that Teix’s bat wakes up by then, the pitching picks up, the BP becomes more settled, etc. ARod will not be returning to this weekend’s team, per se.
So if Teix is hitting, that’s your No. 3 guy already starting to roll. I see no reason for Robi to slow down much, so you’ve got two guys gelling.
I think the Boston weekend took a toll, because the games were so long and so demoralizing. We’re in hangover mode, but that effect will wear off soon.
WYH -
My original post was in response to someone not you.
Bench is definitely compromised right now. But last night, I don’t think they would pinch hit for Pena anyway, because of his defensive value right now.
I don’t know if the Red Sox would ever find themselves in the situation the Yankees did the other night. It would depend on how compromised their bench got at any particular point. I don’t necessarily believe that the Red Sox will always be able to make exactly the right move. I think the Red Sox are a very good team and they have filled in holes admirably so far. But, for instance, I don’t think anyone expected Nick Green to do what he’s done, and even Jason Bay has been a much stronger asset to them than a lot of people thought he’d be (I’m not saying Bay’s not good, just better than expected). And they’ve made their share of mistakes.
Perhaps the Yankees do make a move to improve the bench once they see how Hughes does.
“But why isn’t he on the 40 man? Because we have 25 pitchers on it, that’s why. That doesn’t leave a lot of room for offensive help, does it? Why such a pitcher heavy 40 man in the first place? Were the Yanks assuming no position player in the majors would ever get hurt?”
Those pitchers are on the 40 to be protected from the Rule V draft. If the Yankees didn’t protect one of them, he was selected in the Rule V, and 5 years down the line was Johan Santana, I’m sure you’d be complaining up a storm.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see another trade this season (such as the Ohlendorf+Karstens+McCutchen) to clear out some of the lower-ceiling guys. Two of those three are starting pitchers for the Pirates ALREADY, and none were going to be more than filler for the Yankees.
The Yankees have some good positional talent, but it’s at single-A, and years away from mattering. It takes a long time to stock up on minor league talent when it’s ignored for a decade.
I would like to see Berroa released and John Rodriguez in his place, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that happened when ARod is back.
Sj44:
Also what the heck the bench going into the season included Swisher, Melky, Molina, and Pena. Ransom hit .300 last season in his call up with a couple of HRs, so presumably he would have become the backup once A-rod got back.
Making our bench Swisher, Melky, Molina, Pena. That is a nice bench.
It just so happens through circumstance that it isnt working out, but its not like there were many options. We could sign Grudzalanek or went after Nomar, but then if those players sucked or got hurt we’d be back to all the complaining.
The Red Sox bench includes a shelly duncan type, an outfielder that can’t hit, a backup catcher that doesn’t really hit, and a third baseman who can’t hit.
Their bench is not good. They just don’t have their position players completely crapping the bed where they require their bench to produce.
Why do the Yankees not make minor league trades? If they can’t fill their position player needs from the draft because they’re focusing on pitching or because the better position players go early, why can’t they trade excess pitching prospects for same level position players?
SJ44 – if Nick Green had sucked, instead of hitting well, in Lugo+Lowrie’s absence, would you say the Red Sox have bad roster management?
Vice versa, if Ransom had hit even .250, we’d be fine. Ditto Gardner and Melky.
Sometimes, the best laid plans are useless if you get unexpected injuries (ARod+Nady) and underperforming players (Ransom+Melky+Gardner). Hindsight is 20/20, and you seem to have the best eyes of everyone.
“The biggest issue is our lack of players on the 40 that can play the infield but that is more a testemant to our poor position depth in the minors and our super star power in the majors.”
This is cutting the Yanks too much slack.
On the 40 man roster right now, WE HAVE FOUR OUFIELDERS who are not on the disabled list. FOUR. They are all in the majors. Nady is hurt and Matsui can’t play in the field.
Plus, Cabrera and Gardner duplicate each other. They are essentially weak hitting fourth outfielders.
Sure, it looked better with Nady healthy. But the Yanks knew Damon was gimpy, and still made no provision for an outfielder getting hurt.
Plus, we have no middle infielders/third basemen who can hit other than ARod, Cano and Jeter. There was never any backup on the 40 man.
It’s all pitching, and it’s more than can be used. SJ44 didn’t create that situation, so don’t blame him.
“Why do the Yankees not make minor league trades? If they can’t fill their position player needs from the draft because they’re focusing on pitching or because the better position players go early, why can’t they trade excess pitching prospects for same level position players?”
I don’t think minor league trades for real future ML talent are common. AAA filler for AAA filler (I need a catcher, you need a shortstop), sure, but not actual future ML talent.
Jerkface
April 28th, 2009 at 11:35 am
….
The biggest issue is our lack of players on the 40 that can play the infield but that is more a testemant to our poor position depth in the minors and our super star power in the majors.
====================
Right, and that’s something we’ve known and that we have to live with until that class of players – Sosa, Urena, Almonte, De Leon (all OFers) – come of age. Those guys are still several years away. Our other guys closer to being ready are unfortunately at 1st and 3rd.
If we can build in a new young position player a year, with our resources and pitching depth at all levels, that ought to work out. Next year, we add AJax, upgrading our OF considerably with the one move.
Jerkface -
Not to mention, the Red Sox have not had COMPARABLE injuries to the Yankees thus far.
I am willing to say, after five years of deliberation that Theo Epstein has done a far far better job than Brian Cashman.
It pains me to say this as a Yankee fan. It is no small task.
Now should he be replaced? I have no idea who would be better. But these guys are not playing to their potential and the management of the roster has been horrendous.
It’s a shame.
Yeah… A-Rod is going to help Posada, Matsui, Cano, Swisher, Gardner etc. hit better with RISP.
The issue isin’t getting men on base. It’s driving them in. Getting big hits. A-Rod was in the lineup last year and they were dreadful in the clutch.
And this is all a moot point if the pitching/bullpen doesn’t sort itself out anyway. THAT is what we were supposed to win with this year, not a 900 run offense. The pitching was supposed to carry us early in the season because we don’t have the horses to win shootouts. The pitching has killed us. Dead last in starters ERA, 28th in bullpen ERA (and yes, even if you subtract Wang’s starts, we are in the bottom 5 in MLB).
“If the Yankees didn’t protect one of them, he was selected in the Rule V, and 5 years down the line was Johan Santana, I’m sure you’d be complaining up a storm.”
I try not to second guess like that, it isn’t fair. If you find a post where I actually did something like that, feel free to call me out.
Wave Your Hat – pick a team that has a ‘better’ 40 than the Yankees. Tell me who’s on their 40, that you’d rather have.
Like I said above, I wouldn’t be surprised to see John Rodriguez replace Berroa at some point, with Pena being the utility infielder.
V –
It’s too bad.
Also, Alex’ impact will likely be a tremendousplus, not a marginal impact. Unless, that is you consider a run a game as marginal impact.
One way I like to measure productivity is R + RBI – HR. I subtract HR because it eliminates double dipping since a HR is BOTH a Run and an RBI.
For his career Alex produces 1.3 runs per game. Cody ransom produces 0.4 runs per game. That’s significant, not marginal. It’s far from a perfect stat, but it’s useful.
A more accurate one might be R + RBI divided by 2, divided by games played. For Alex, his career productivity would be 0.79 Runs per game and he’s replacing Ransom who by that calculation produces 0.2.
Basically replacing Ransom with Alex should be worth between .5 and 1.0 runs a game.
With Nady out and with Damon already banged up (he never seems to heal during the season once injured), the Yankees need to get an OF.
There is no if. They need one. I’m not even talking CF. They need a healthy productive OF.
Damon will be a shell of himself for the rest of the season now that he’s already banged up.
He refuses to go on the DL for pride reasons and I agree completely with Doreen on why does Damon get to tell the team his medical condition and whether he’ll get tested or not?
It’s ludicrous and it’s complete inmates running the asylum.
I feel bad for Cashman because I think he did a good job assembling the team this year. Outside of not getting an actual 3b (like a Mike Lamb) to replace Arod for the injury period I have no complaints about the major league roster.
But now that plan has problems.
Nady is out and probably not capable of playing in the field when he returns.
Matsui can’t play the field.
Damon is banged up and will not produce at his usual level and refuse a DL trip.
CF looks to be the problem everyone was predicting from day one.
His 3rd Ace turned into a pumpkin overnight in Wang.
And now his legit 8th inning guy has elbow problems.
It’s a lot of problems and he needs to address them. The worst flaw this organization has had in years past is waiting for cavalry to arrive.
Arod is coming, but we have no idea how long he can play with hip or how effective. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that he shuts it down a few months after he returns due to pain.
I’m not saying trade the farm, but he has to make some smart deals and get some positional depth on this team. Not stars, just players. Players who play hard and are looking for opportunity. Not retread vets at the end of the line.
Don’t know where he’s going to find them, but I hope he’s not sitting on his hands waiting for Arod and Nady and Wang to return and save the day.
If Damon is hurt and can only play at 60% they need to DL him.
The Nats have a plethora of OF’ers and need pitching. I would get on the phone with Rizzo and try to make a deal. There is definitely a deal to be made with them whether it’s for Willingham, Milledge or Kearns for some pitching.
I’d also see what it would take get Crisp from KC.
I don’t think finding an OF is a panic move. Waiting till July and the trade deadline is the wrong thing to do this year.
I also agree that Miranda needs to be brought up to give us a legitimate bench bat. Not to mention if he hits he might even be a better DH option down the road on this team.
Wave: Technically Matsui is an outfielder, they just did not want him to try and field before June.
Swisher, Nady, Damon, Gardner, Cabrera should be enough. We don’t need 100 flippin outfielders on the 40!
We had Pena and Ransom and Miranda as backups on the 40 for the infield. We don’t have position prospects who can hit so that isn’t a 40 man issue thats a prospect issue.
Clark – if you watched teh Sunday night game on ESPN you would have seen that the yanks averaged over 1 run per game more with Arod in the lineup than with him not in the lineup. Thats a pretty significant increase. Getting Arod back will be a huge help although we should be able to score more than we are currently doing.
“Yeah… A-Rod is going to help Posada, Matsui, Cano, Swisher, Gardner etc. hit better with RISP.
The issue isin’t getting men on base. It’s driving them in. Getting big hits. A-Rod was in the lineup last year and they were dreadful in the clutch.”
I’d rather have 100 guys on base and only knock 10 of them in than have 8 guys on base and knock all of them in. Period.
The Yankees were #2 in the MAJORS hitting with RISP in 2007. How’d that work out?
The Rays were WORST in the AL last year.
The Rays were MUCH better than the Phillies in the World Series with RISP. The Phillies had a lot more opportunities, however.
I’ve rather been ejoying this “other” side of SJ44 over the last 24 hours. At first I really believed it was an imposter.
We could use more thoughtful criticism such as this. Obviously the team has flaws beyond just “sucking”. SJ44 is providing us with the how & why.
Clark-
I haven’t broken down our hitting with RISP into individual players, but our team RISP must include a lot of times with runners in scoring position with Gardner, Ransom, Pena or Molina coming to the plate.
I don’t want to be unfair to them, but I suspect they have a lot to do with the low team production with RISP.
Verdict,
Nobody will even debate that. Comparing Theo Epstein to Cashman or the Yankees to the Sox is like comparing night and day. This series was no further evidence.
And their roster isin’t even the same. Manny is gone. Schilling is gone. Damon is gone. Ortiz is a shell of himself. Yet they are even stronger. It’s the culture they have developed. They are the top dogs, yet we’re the ones who play like we’re tight and must win all the time. They just have fun and win.
It’s asking a lot for Phil to hold down the Tigers. He shouldn’t be here – and when he bombs, the chants of “he sucks” and “he’s overrated” will start all over again. If he was called up later in the year, I would have a much better feeling about this. I think he’s a special kid and is going to be an excellent pitcher, but this is a tough, tough spot.
V-
The Yanks have a great 25 man roster.
The next 15? My guess is there are many teams who can compete with them.
“The Nats have a plethora of OF’ers and need pitching. I would get on the phone with Rizzo and try to make a deal. There is definitely a deal to be made with them whether it’s for Willingham, Milledge or Kearns for some pitching.
I’d also see what it would take get Crisp from KC. ”
Willingham, Milledge, and Kearns would not be significant upgrades over John Rodriguez.
KC is competing – I doubt they trade Crisp.
It’s kind of interesting how events can re-color what a team (and it’s fans) might be willing to deal with. In particular, two week ago, there was a short discussion about Milledge. Generally, I wouldn’t go near the guy. Now? Hmmm…….
i question Coco Crisp (what a name!), because he didn’t work out too well for the Red Sox, and I wonder if he’d be that much of an upgrade over Melky Cabrera.
But you can always find reasons not to do things.
I know things don’t look so up right now, but this is the 6th year in a row they have struggled early, and most of the other times it ended up ok–
last year were 5 games under .500 and still won 89 games
2 yrs ago were 8 games under .500 and won 94
3 yrs ago were 10-9 at this point and won 97
4 yrs ago were 8 games under .500 and won 95
5 yrs ago were 9-11 and won 101
Trade Austin Jackson straight up for Cameron. The way these prospects are can’t miss I can’t wait to jettison them. Enough with the farm stuff. What are you guys, agrarian vegetarians?
“And their roster isin’t even the same. Manny is gone. Schilling is gone. Damon is gone. Ortiz is a shell of himself. Yet they are even stronger. It’s the culture they have developed. They are the top dogs, yet we’re the ones who play like we’re tight and must win all the time. They just have fun and win.”
Is this ‘culture’ the reason that Bay and Youkilis are on fire? Or the reason that Nick Green is hitting .300+?
Will this ‘culture’ make sure Ws keep coming when Youkilis and Bay go into slumps, or when their replacement parts pull a Cody Ransom?
Go to a Red Sox blog and worship them.
Most AL benches aren’t good. Guys who can play, want to; so signing on to back up a guy who historically plays 150 games a year is a tough sell.
I thought if Girardi had been able to rotate ABs for the OF this year, it could have made players more receptive to the Yankees in the future.
Having a DH in the future who can field a position could also help lengthen the bench.
I left YES on in the background after the Yankees Encore. It’s something on running. can someone tell me why these people who run, who are undoubtedly healthy people, just don’t look healthy??? In fact, many of them (the women) look nutritionally deprived.
I’m more concerned about the run support he won’t get than his performance tonight.
Reading this thread… some people are going to be greatly disappointed when A-Rod comes back and doesn’t instantly send us on a 15 game win streak and solve all of our problems.
Poor guy, he is in a no win situation. The fans are expecting him to be superman and carry us like 07.
V
April 28th, 2009 at 11:46 am
“Yeah… A-Rod is going to help Posada, Matsui, Cano, Swisher, Gardner etc. hit better with RISP.
The issue isin’t getting men on base. It’s driving them in. Getting big hits. A-Rod was in the lineup last year and they were dreadful in the clutch.”
I’d rather have 100 guys on base and only knock 10 of them in than have 8 guys on base and knock all of them in. Period.
The Yankees were #2 in the MAJORS hitting with RISP in 2007. How’d that work out?
The Rays were WORST in the AL last year.
The Rays were MUCH better than the Phillies in the World Series with RISP. The Phillies had a lot more opportunities, however.
==========================
Better pitching will give us more opportunities to score runs. That’s the way it works. Pitching – hitting are symbiotic. The likelihood is, our pitching will keep us in more games, and for a longer period of time.
The teams in the 90s always had me screaming “Why can’t we drive guys in?” – We eventually did, because the pitching gave us more opportunities.
The last few years, we have had mediocre pitching. ARod’s “unclutchness” is more a product of that than anything else, and having Jason as protection is also a contributing joke.
Baseball is a game of percentages. The pitching will pick up, the hitting will follow. As a result, the hitters knowing we have the pitching, they’ll keep things going if the pitching hiccups.
What happened between the point the Yankees were 4-4 and Red Sox were 2-6? Or when both were 9-6?
4 games is really the difference between ‘things will be OK’ to zOMG the Red Sox are going to win 120 and we’re only going to win 80 zOMG??!
pat -
Good point about Girardi being able to rotate the backups, and that being attractive to prospective utility/bench guys. I think he would have done a good job of it, but he no longer has pieces to move around.
Whose to say that A-Rod is going to be 100% healthy?
Whose to say he is even going to be the same hitter he was and not going to be hesitant?
Whose to say he doesn’t start off slow, get booed, and go into a shell like in 06?
As Pete said, he is a 33 yr old former steroid user coming off surgery. There is no guarantee of anything.
what we really need, the guy who could really help us, is clay bellinger:). What ever happened to that guy, anyway?
Bronx Jeers
April 28th, 2009 at 11:46 am
I’ve rather been ejoying this “other” side of SJ44 over the last 24 hours. At first I really believed it was an imposter.
We could use more thoughtful criticism such as this. Obviously the team has flaws beyond just “sucking”. SJ44 is providing us with the how & why.
SJ always does this during/after a bad streak. Nothing new and not much insight to me. If he would’ve said this start was going to happen 3 weeks ago then I’d be more impressed. But he didn’t, he said this team was different than last year and would play differently.
Doreen CoCo’s full name is Covelli. CoCo is funnier but that’s not his Christian name. (if you get what I mean by that phrase.)
SJ, you make a lot of good points, but did you think these were going to be issues in ST? Either we all overrated this team or the team is severely underperforming….It would be nice if the SP snapped into shape as well.
Doreen, I think the Yankees should insist that Damon be examined. If he’s really hurt, then all he’s going to do by playing is aggravating it – and maybe that will lead to something really serious. I don’t understand why the Yankees are taking this so lightly or why they are letting the player determine their course of action
And often, the hitting ain’t the problem. They’ve been held to under 4 runs, what, 3 times? They put an 8 spot on Beckett, for crying out loud. Decent pitching (namely, league average instead of Wang) is the difference between 9-10 and 14-5 at this point.
If you guys think Sabathia will end the year with a 4.73 ERA instead of a 3.2-3.4, Burnett will end up with a 5.5 instead of a 3.5-4, Joba will end up with a 1.80 WHIP, and our #5 pitcher will have a 34.50 ERA, then yeah, things don’t look good in the long run.
However, let those pitchers improve to their career norms, and things look OK.
Kennedy or Aceves have no shot against the Tigers.
Hughes atleast gives us a prayer. He must have his FB command tonight. Tigers hitters have sick career numbers against him (SSS and all).
V,
If you can’t see that the Red Sox are a better franchise than the Yankees now, you’re just kidding yourself.
Jeers,
Agree. This version of SJ is awesome. It’s funny watching people try and grasp and straws to disprove his points, when he is 100% right. No sugarcoating.
These are the same people who probably thought we were still in a pennant race in September last year.
bomber 99,
I agree with you completely.
Arod at this point is a wild card.
None of us know he’s going to play a full season or even be effective once the rigors of playing every day and the abuse he’s going to get from the release of the tell all book.
Personally, I’m more concerned that he’s going to have pain once he starts playing at full speed and fielding.
It may turn out that he can only DH if fielding causes pain in his hop. What then? Obviously, he gets to DH so then we’ll need a 3b.
We’re not getting a 100% Arod back. We’re getting an Arod that according to all accounts needs major hip surgery soon.
I hope he comes back strong and plays like himself, but I won’t be shocked to see him have problems.
He’s going to need to be mentally and physically stronger this season…are all of you sure you can count on him for that?
Francis, go back to Boston. Come back at the end of the year, when your boys are looking up at the Yankees.
What is the weather forecast for tonight? Is a rainout a possibility?
On an optimistic note: In a few months from now, we could have six starters who are all pretty unhittable on their best days– let CC find his groove, AJ blow people away, Andy finesse his way through lineups, Wang rediscover how to baffle everyone, and Joba and Phil blow people away. I know that that’s VERY optimistic, but it is only April. The bullpen– who knows, maybe with Mo and a healthy Bruney, plus Coke, Melancon, and Albie, they could be solid. Veras and Ramirez are never going to be more than back-end guys, and I’d rather have Robertson and Aceves (or even Tomko, for long relief). This is no time to lose hope!
Rob NY -
Yep. Gotcha. Wonder who started calling him Coco? Grandma, maybe?
G Love
“We’re getting an Arod that according to all accounts needs major hip surgery soon.”
That’s not true. The doctor said it’s 50/50 he needs an additional surgery this off season. He had 3 of the 4 hip issues already addressed and a new surgery would be less extensive than this one.
Sign Mark Grudzielanek to replace Angel Berroa and release Berroa. Sign Frank Catalanotto to replace Stephen Jackson on the 25-man. Decide between Jackson, Clagett and Hacker who to trade or release to make room on the 40-man.
Rodriguez up and Damon and his balky shoulder to the DL.
Those moves would be cheap, easy and make this is a better ballclub.
V
April 28th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
Francis, go back to Boston. Come back at the end of the year, when your boys are looking up at the Yankees.
=============
Just a thought on Phil Hughes starting tonight. I have been following him at AAA and I still don’t think he’s ready. He has a straight fastball in the low 90′s that is pretty easy to hit and his curveball is hit and miss. If he cannot get the curve over for strikes, he will be in big trouble again as the hitters will sit on that easy to hit fastball. I am rooting for him, but I have my doubts that he is ML ready right now.
Who’s.
I am somewhat confused by all of this complaining about the 40 man roster issue. Other than Berroa which they just brought up can who else would you take off the 40 man roster? I guess you could argue that they put Brackman on there too early but would he have signed if they hadnt?? Most of hte roster space is used for pitchers and as we have seen you can never have too many of those. I would just be interested to see where you see the mistakes and who you would take off.
Alfredo Aceves
Jonathan Albaladejo
Andrew Brackman
Brian Bruney
A.J. Burnett
Joba Chamberlain
Anthony Claggett
Phil Coke
Wilkin De La Rosa
Michael Dunn
Christian Garcia
Eric Hacker
Phil Hughes
Steven Jackson
31 Ian Kennedy
Damaso Marte
Mark Melancon
Andy Pettitte
Edwar Ramirez
Mariano Rivera
David Robertson
CC Sabathia
Jose Veras
40 Chien-Ming Wang R/R 6-3 230 03/31/80
Catchers
Francisco Cervelli R/R 6-1 210 03/06/86
Jose Molina R/R 6-2 235 06/03/75
Jorge Posada S/R 6-2 215 08/17/71
Infielders
Angel Berroa
Robinson Cano
Derek Jeter
Juan Miranda
Ramiro Pena
Alex Rodriguez
Mark Teixeira
Outfielders
Melky Cabrera
Johnny Damon
Brett Gardner
Xavier Nady
Nick Swisher
Designated Hitters
Hideki Matsui L/R 6-2 210 06/12/74
any way we can get rid of Marte?
There can no longer by a question of Damon and Matsui returning next season as their contracts run out. Nagging injuries and age have made them high priced liabilities.
gayle
April 28th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
I am somewhat confused by all of this complaining about the 40 man roster issue. Other than Berroa which they just brought up can who else would you take off the 40 man roster? I guess you could argue that they put Brackman on there too early but would he have signed if they hadnt?? Most of hte roster space is used for pitchers and as we have seen you can never have too many of those. I would just be interested to see where you see the mistakes and who you would take off.
————————————————————
as great a potential arm as he has, he’s never hea;thy, I’d remove Christian Garcia and the other is Cervelli. NYY already has a Cervelli type hitter in the majors, and Cervelli’s defense isn’t that special.
It’s really amazing how all of a sudden the Red Sox are the model franchise for everyone to emulate. Last time i checked they lost to the Rays last year in the playoffs and have won one division title in about 15 years. You would think they have dominated the Yankees these last few years and are this unbeatable juggernaut. Give me a freakin break. It’s almost embarrassing the way Yankee fans bow to these guys.
Sign Mark Grudzielanek to replace Angel Berroa and release Berroa.
………………………..
Sorry 86w183 but Mark Grudzielanek didn’t even have spring training with anybody this year. At his age he’ll need at least 2 weeks to round into baseball condition.
“Just a thought on Phil Hughes starting tonight. I have been following him at AAA and I still don’t think he’s ready. He has a straight fastball in the low 90’s that is pretty easy to hit and his curveball is hit and miss. If he cannot get the curve over for strikes, he will be in big trouble again as the hitters will sit on that easy to hit fastball. I am rooting for him, but I have my doubts that he is ML ready right now.”
======================================
Phil is capable of getting his fastball up there in the 94-95 range pretty consistently, but his command begins to suffer. A low 90′s fastball (91-93) is plenty good to have success. Hopefully he’s refined his secondary pitches enough to be able to throw them consistently for strikes. I really hope he takes advantage of this opportunity.
Why doesn’t Cashman ever make trades that are bold and daring. He always seems to be conservative and close to the vest. Seems like most of his trades are because the other team needs to dump salary. If this organization is so top heavy in pitching prospects wouldn’t it behoove Cashman to balance it out and trade some of it to organizations that are top heavy in position players? I’d be willing to trade Kennedy, Aceves, Brackman etc for a young position player of similar potential from another team.
WES —-
You sign him to a minor league deal and make the switch when he’s ready. I didn’t figure either he or Catalanotto could come in and play tonight. Ray Durham, if he’s still unsigned would be another possibility.
I’m sure those guys are working out every day, taking BP at a local high school or college in their area so they can be ready quickly. They’re probably not sitting around eating twinkies and downloading porn, but you never know.
Tex is hurt too. who knows what happens with him, but he is definitley a lot worse RISP hitter than at any other time in his career. I dont think the answer lies in Scranton – its in the clubhouse already. Guys have to play to a higher level of production.
Name position prospects the Yanks have besides Austin Jackson.
Damon, Matsui, Swisher are terrible outfielders. Playing Melky and Gardner in the outfield at the same time also isn’t a good sign. Melky swinging for the fences and Gardner swinging and missing.
Posada does not dog it. He is old and runs like he is going uphill. Molina runs the same way but he looks like he’s in mud. They are terribly slow.
Tex and CC are slow starters. That’s an excuse? The same thing was said about Cano but he started fast this year.
Calling up Hughes is a good move. Hopefully he will have a good outing and the bullpen will not blow it. Hughes has big league experience. Please no Ian Kennedy.
Get a long man for the bullpen.
Cashman has made some bad moves regarding pitching through the years. His worst one was not getting J. Santana. He is an Ace. A guy who can pitch a shutout or give up 1 run.
Explain to me why Hughes has a better shot than Kennedy? It looks like they’re both pitching lights out with Kennedy having the slight edge.
Hughes
ERA GS IP H R ER HR BB SO WHIP
1.86 3 19.1 17 4 4 2 7 19 1.03
Kennedy
ERA GS IP H R ER HR BB SO WHIP
1.59 4 22.2 18 5 4 0 7 25 1.10
A couple of quick points:
SJ44 is right to caution that we don’t know whether A-Rod will be the same player after hip surgery that he was pre-hip surgery. We’ll have to wait and see. Still, if he is close to the same, he won’t be a marginal improvement. He’ll be a major one. Yes, all the others need to hit as well but having Tex and A-Rod back to back makes it hard to pitch around both of them. A-Rod also helps to stregthen the pathetic 7-8-9 we were throwing out there semi-regularly. How many threats have been killed by having Melky/Gardner, Molina and Ransom/Berroa/Pena come up and not deliver anything? You’re still going to have at least one of them in the lineup but 3 or 4 of them were tough to watch.
Yes it would be nice to have a better bench. If not for the injuries, you’d be looking at a bench of Swisher, Melky, Molina, Ransom or whoever they were subbing for on a particular day. That’s not bad. If you look back on the best yankee teams of the last ten years, you will see a lot of Clay Bellinger, Jose Vizcaino, Luis Soho, Gerald Williams type players. Its the age and fragility of our starters that is the main problem here, not our bench. Its even more worrisome that our first big injury was to Nady and not Matsui or Damon because I’m more worried about a 2nd big injury which would be even harder to take given our weakened bench options.
For all of these issues, the slow start hasn’t been caused by our offense. Its been caused by poor pitching. That will turn around. CC looked better last night. Whatever Hughes gives us, it will be a lot more than Wang has. I still believe in Joba. Pettite has been much better than a lot of us probably feared given his 2nd half last year. Our bullpen will pitch better when better rested. We have enough offense to win a lot of 4-3 games. We just don’t have the offense for the slugfests we’ve found ourselves in. The pitching will right itself though. When it does, perhaps we can strengthen the bench by carrying less relievers. If CC, Pettite and Burnett can give us 7-8 innings consistently (which I’d still argue that eventually they will) and we don’t have anyone regularly being rocked early like Wang, we really shouldn’t need the 7-8 man bullpens that were necessary when Ponson was one of the better starters.
If you worry about anything, worry about the on-going health of Matsui, Damon, Posada and A-Rod. And even then, if Matsui or Posada go down again I think you’d see them pick someone up. For all this team’s flaws, I think this is our best chance at a world championship in years. It all starts with pitching and this is our best pitching staff in a long time (current performance to date notwithstanding).