The deal with the draft
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Jun 09, 2009 
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The annual amateur draft starts today at 6 p.m. from the studios of the MLB Network in New Jersey. Only 111 picks will be made today. The remainder will be made on Wednesday and Thursday as 50 rounds are completed.
That means the Yankees will pick twice today — 29th and 76th.
The Yankees lost their first-round pick (No. 25) to the Angels as compensation for Mark Teixeira. They also forfeited their second-round pick (No. 73) for CC Sabathia and their third round pick (No. 104) for A.J. Burnett.
But the Yankees gained the No. 29 pick in the draft as compensation for failing to sign first-round pick Gerrit Cole last season and No. 76 for failing to sign 2007 second-round pick Scott Bittle.
But here’s the twist: That compensation lasts only a year. If whatever reason the Yankees fail to sign their first two picks, they disappear.
That would seem to indicate the Yankees need to select players they know for sure they can sign. Does that necessarily indicate a college player? It could. But the Yankees have the means to make a high-ceiling high school talent an offer he can’t turn down.
The Yankees have been linked to Mississippi HS shortstop David Renfroe and Texas HS lefty Matt Purke. Georgia HS outfielder Donovan Tate is a candidate to fall in the draft because of signability concerns. The Yankees might jump on him much like they did with Cole last season. But given their lack of leverage, such a move could be a risk.
ESPN’s Keith Law, who knows of what he speaks, has the Yankees taking Texas HS outfielder Slade Heathcott. My guess: U. of Florida RHP Billy Bullock or another college pitcher. But if they went for a power hitter to fill an organizational need, that would make a lot of sense.
The other change is that the Yankees are operating under a more stringent budget than in previous years. Odds are they will spend more than most — if not all — teams. But there isn’t a blank check.
The MLB draft is unpredictable, as is the process of trying to determine which high school and college players can make it to the majors. For every Joba Chamberlain, there is a C.J. Henry or Eric Duncan. So enjoy the draft but don’t get too wrapped up in it. The results won’t be known for another two or three years.
Hopefully the Yankees will find a way to make their first-round pick available to the media today. If so, we’ll get you a full report later on.
I don’t get why you’d want Crawford over Manny.
Come to think of it, Crawford is actually better than your description of an ideal outfielder Brandon. A 270 hitter, but good D? Hmmm…Manny or that dude everybody wanted to get from the Pirates, Mclouth or something?
Saw Brandon’s answer on the previous thread.
imagine steven strasburg wakes up today and decides he much rather become a dentist
also carl crawford has a 2010 option that will be picked up by tampa
The Yankees have a budget, but if a player that is near the top of their draft board falls to them, I would think they’ll do whatever it takes to secure that player.
Wait, so how many full rounds will draft today? The first, sup round and 2nd?
IMO, CF and SS are the best athletes on the field, generally. If you draft an inordinate amount of those players, you can fill the other positions. Generally speaking, a good hitting SS can play 3B or 2B, but those positions can’t necessarily play short.
Same for CF and corner spots. If you can play center, you can play a corner, but many corner OFs don’t have the physical tools to play center.
The first three rounds today.
“also carl crawford has a 2010 option that will be picked up by tampa”
I know sad.
PH IS, It’s simple Crawford improves defense, has range, cuts the bases and is starting to becoming a dangerous table setter, Manny right now, no, Manny at 24, 25, 27, Yes. McLouth = Nick Swisher. Nothing overly special.
SJ,
Good luck to your nephew…and you! Who’s more nervous, you or your sister? Doesn’t look like he’ll fall to Boston, but if he does I know that’ll make your sister happy. And we all know that if mom’s not happy, nobody’s happy!
Thanks Cash
Brandon, I thought Mclouth played good defense.
But see, you’d take a young Manny (who still fielded badly) over Crawford because he was an incredible hitter.
Brandon, a run saved on defense is just as valuable as a run driven in. That’s what makes a guy like Crawford so good, and so valuable.
He’s a great defender and hits/gets on base enough to have value to a team.
By the time Crawford is available to us, he will be at or near the downside.
I would be trying to figure out a way to get Rios by the start of next season, if possible. He seems to be wearing thin in Toronto, a change of scenery could help him to take off.
“Brandon, I thought Mclouth played good defense.”
He doesn’t.
Young Manny actually could field. You don’t remember Cleveland Indians RF ? anyway Yes that player I’d take over Crawford…34, 36 yr. old..No just no, it’s dumb, it’s down right dangerous he gets hurt while someone else lands a healthy player. It’s not wise. It doesn’t matter both won’t happen.
Tom in N.J., a study was done and it was found that a great defender with no offense is worth only half as much as a great hitter with no defense. Great hitter over great defender, please. But both is nice.
Link?
McLouth is a bad CFer according to every defensive metric.
I’ve never really gotten into the draft, especially w/ the Yanks where we may never see them….I start following once they’re in the farm system to an extent…..
it’s a shame I already have real bad feelings about Wang Wednesday night, he just hasn’t been the same, I hope he can return to his former self but if not how many more starts does Girardi give him?
Ah, not a fair question. PEDs aside, manny’s no ordinary “incredible hitter”. He, Albert, & Alex are amongst the best RH hitters all time. (yes, I am painfully aware that they all have very muskular physiques)
sj,
good luck today. lohud is pulling for you. we can all dream that the yankees pick tony. can’t wait to read about your draft impressions.
m,
in all reality, if i went out and took steroids i probably still couldn’t hit a ball out of the infield. it looks like most major leaguers took roids. if they all did it, wither arod and manny had better chemists or they simply are better athletes. either way, they are once in a generation type hitters.
The draft doesn’t mean that the Yankees should ignore pitching or catching but looking up and down the organization, positional players will get the most attention, particularly outfielders with power and versatility.
This is MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo’s prediction for the Yanks first pick.
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/articl.....;fext=.jsp
“29. New York Yankees: Brett Jackson, OF, Cal-Berkeley
It’d be tempting to have the Yankees take a shot on Gibson, sort of like they did with Andrew Brackman a couple of years back. For now, we’ll stick with the toolsy college outfielder.”
Take it for what it is….somebody’s wild guesses.
Also, PH, you maybe missing the point here. Brandon and I am not advocating for an outfield of Endy Chavezes. We’re saying that plus defenders who hit between 60-70% of the Pat Burrells, Adam Dunns, Bobby Abreus, and Manny Ramerezes of the world have more value to a team because they create more runs overall-through both their hitting and defensive work then all offense and no-glove players.
Did a writer call Tex a boring interview, or did he say that would be his impression? Yikes.
Anyone who watches Tex play knows that Tex is not boring or bland. He may have mapped his life out to the last cent in his 401K, but the real Tex is the one you see on the field.
The one that points and hoots at mo after a big out in the 9th. The one that jaws at punks running inside the line. The one that won’t let pitchers like Padilla get away with their punk moves.
People talk about CC, Swish, and AJ affecting the clubhouse. But I feel that this team is taking Tex’s lead. (except Damon forgot to mention Tex in his postgame with Berman) I think the team gets their fighting spirit from Tex, and that’s why we’re seeing this team battle until the last out.
Oh yeah, his defense isn’t bad, either.
The Rays will pick up Carl Crawford’s 2010 option but when he’s on the open market in 2011 he’ll be high on any team’s list.
An ideal No. 2 hitter for the Yankees.
“The HS guys are pricing themselves out of the market. That’s affecting a lot of people right now.”
SJ,
This does seem to be the operating dynamic right now. Don’t know what going on there. They’re talented kids but not as talented as their reported asking prices. Everyone is Rick Porcello now?
Could be that these kids are trying to fall to larger market teams at the end of the draft. I almost get a sense that they’ve got deals in place and are making an effort to fall to those teams.
On the flip side this could be the agents trying to create a kind of fad that builds on Porcello’s success. They’re trying to package their players as kids deserving of huge money now because they can produce returns on the field within two years like Porcello has.
I don’t think that argument is going to work. Porcello was an tremendous prep prospect – way better than anyone available now.
Big risk. A number of kids could wind up passing on millions when they really wanted to go pro.
The other strange dynamic is whether or not Sheppers, Gibson, and Crow are really going to fall. Sheppers I can see. Same with Gibson (though that will be an extreme over reaction). But for Crow to fall is a head scratcher.
GB7,
Wait, did they make a hybrid out of Brett Gardner & Austin Jackson?
Tom in N.J., I see what you mean but MY point is that I’d rather have all bat than all glove.
m
June 9th, 2009 at 11:33 am
GB7,
Wait, did they make a hybrid out of Brett Gardner & Austin Jackson?
————————————————————
Either that or Brett Maverick and Michael Jackson.
“looking up and down the organization, positional players will get the most attention, particularly outfielders with power and versatility.”
True but the strength of this draft is by far it’s pitching. Coming into this year people were talking about this draft as being very weak.
That’s was only half true. The position player talent and depth is very limited.
But there’s a very nice set of pitchers.
The yankees needs are mismatched with the talent available.
I think this draft will be heavy in pitching again.
Draft the best player on the board, that’s all the Yanks need to do. If that’s another right-handed pitcher? Fine by me.
Boston Dirt Dogs summarizes the Sox fan mentality.
So much vitriol up there.
And so much hypocrisy.
CB & SJ,
Did you guys read the article on Ohlendorf on espn? His senior thesis was about the financial return on draft picks.
http://tinyurl.com/nhgoyb
We have enough pitching
Hughes, Joba, Kennedy, Kontos, McAllister, Betancs, Garcia, De La Rosa, Bleich, Marshall, Heredia, Banulous, Brackman, Nolesi, Mitchell etc.
We are drowning in pitching. How about drafting some good position players? Improve the defense, get younger, faster, reshape the core.
Tex has a 1000 vote lead over youk in the AS game. Mlb.com
God I hope Tex beats out Youk.
Wait, did they make a hybrid out of Brett Gardner & Austin Jackson?
——————————————————————————————
Either that or Brett Maverick and Michael Jackson.
Sounds like he can fire bullets and wears a white glove.
Wish we never traded Ohlendorf…
Glad we traded Ohlendorf…
Hope people watch Ohlendorf before they want to trade the likes of McAllister for Houston Street.
And McAllister has a higher upside than Ollie did.
“We are drowning in pitching. How about drafting some good position players? Improve the defense, get younger, faster, reshape the core.”
Nobody drafts for need in the MLB. If we have too much pitching we’ll trade it. Look at what Texas did with Edison Volquez.
Draft the best player on the board and trade for needs.
Cash traded Ohlendorf because he felt threatened. Definitely GM material. He makes Moose look like a remedial kid.
After getting burned last season, maybe they look at a college player?
This is a very good pitching draft class, but oi, we’re stuffed to the gills with pitching.
Patrick — I disagree. When the organization is hurting for position players (except catcher) it makes no sense to invest their only first day selections on more RHP… especially a guy like Bullock who is a two-pitch guy.
Heathcott is a good pick at # 76, not so good at # 29. I’d love to see Tim Wheeler slide to them. Otherwise Brett Jackson would be a good get.
You can never have too much pitching. You keep drafting high level arms and they either pitch for you or you trade them to fill a weakness.
That being said, you dont ignore the Longoria and Mauer’s of the world. But those types of hitters never fall to where the Yankees draft. Pitchers fall more frequently because of contract demands.
Why are you glad we traded Ohlendorf? Are you so excited with the return we got? We are now overpaying both Nady and Marte and they are both sitting on the DL. I’d rather have a young cost-controlled pitcher like Ohlendorf who has great stuff. He could have helped our bullpen a lot this year.
SJ44,
Is Tony going to be on the MLB Draft Show?
Thanks, and good luck today.
“Did you guys read the article on Ohlendorf on espn? His senior thesis was about the financial return on draft picks.”
m,
I remember hearing about his thesis from when he was traded to the yankees. Smart guy. He was an operations research major at Princeton.
He basically showed that despite all of the guys who never pan out in the draft the draft still produces outstanding financial returns for clubs that invest in it because when a pick does work out it produces massive returns.
Think about how many bad picks getting Derek Jeter alone in the draft erased? Same with Joba or Hughes.
It’s a bit like venture capital investing. Most investments don’t work out but the ones that do produces absurd returns.
86w,
It makes complete sense to draft the best player on the board. If the yanks find themselves with a huge pool of pitching prospects they can trade them away for hitters. Simple as that. No GM in baseball drafts for need, it’s an absurd idea. Unlike football, these guys take several years to reach the majors and most of them never even get that far. Just draft the best players and develop them, it’s as simple as that.
http://www.nj.com/yankees/inde.....to_th.html
AND so it begins.
Tampa sports radio talked about Carl Crawford being out at the 40/40 club in the City Sunday night w/ AROD, CC, MO, and Molina….maybe AROD is doing some recruiting? I would like to see Crawford in LF, Damon resigned as a DH/part time LF and just part ways w/ Godzilla
You can never have enough pitching. Pitching gets you anything you want in the trade market. If there is a stud pitcher at 29. Im all for it. There wont be 50 starters/10 men rotations in the minors. So we can use our strengths to fill some weaknesses. I just hope they dont end up empty handed like they did last year.
CB,
The article I linked said it’s so complicated that only a mathematician could decipher it. But yes, in layman’s terms that’s essentially what it was. He used Jason Giambi as an example, and his return was huge.
Some guy on the radio was saying that because football has a salary cap, and basketball has such a small roster in addition to the salary cap, franchises can be set back for years whiffing on busts with your top picks. But baseball is a whole different story. It was pretty interesting to hear.
And if you think about it, the 100′s of rounds allow you to find gems that can balance out the busts from the early rounds.
Speaking of Phil Hughes. Did anyone notice he had his cap to his eyes, Pettitte style and the eye of the tiger? He looked so intense that all that was missing was a fist pump. Im just glad he didnt pucker his lipps.
Not sure if the gun was accurate on espn, but they had him at 96.
I agree you don’t draft for MLB need, but you have to have balance in the organization. Teams don’t trade their best young position players very often so the idea you can acquire a top guy like an Andre Eithier (Or Austin Jackson) just doesn’t hold water.
When an organizaiton is loaded with pitching prospects and lacking in positional players they should emphasize acquiring more positional prospects. They made progress in that regard last year though none of those guys have shown much so far.
If there is a huge gap in the prospects on board when you pick then I agree you ignore positional needs and choose the talent. I would never advocate passing up on the # 10 guy on your board to take # 30 because he’s at a spot of need, but if you are sitting at 29 and the players you have ranked 27-31 are all on the board you should make filling a glaring need the tie-breaker.
espn’s gun is never accurate.
I’d rather the Yankees draft 10 pitchers with ace potential than 20 outfielders who have the potential to be average.
Think the Yankees couldn’t get a great outfielder or infielder for Hughes today if they wanted to trade for one?
Take the best player available when it’s your turn to pick and things will generally work out for the best.
“Cash traded Ohlendorf because he felt threatened. Definitely GM material. He makes Moose look like a remedial kid.”
LOL. Mussina wrote his senior thesis in one night. It was on the economics of signing out of high school versus signing out of college. He got a B.
S.O.S.
The Tampa and Yes gun had him at 95. So the ESPN gun might have been a tick fast. But Phil admitted he was a little stronger than usual because of the long layoff.
As tantalizing as it was to see him pitch last night, he needs to head back to AAA to get his innings up. But, at the very least, he’ll be back in the pen for the stretch run.
Trade Wang for Ryan Sweeney or Carlos Gonzalez
Problem solved. You have your COF for the next 10 yrs.
Pitching is always a commodity. If you develop enough, you can get anybody.
This link has most if not all players listed. some have videos, such as Brett Jackson and Tony Sanchez (listed as Jorge Sanchez, Catcher, Boston College).
Read/watch at your own risk.
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/.....&fv=J
“Trade Wang for Ryan Sweeney or Carlos Gonzalez
Problem solved. You have your COF for the next 10 yrs.
Pitching is always a commodity. If you develop enough, you can get anybody”
See now ppl are going to think this is me
Carlos Gonzalez/Houston Street, yes., Andrew Bailey/Ryan Sweeney yes, not alone.
Santos–
Ryan Sweeney hit .286 with 5 HR last year and Carlos Gonzalez his .242 with four HR and you’d trade Wang for one of them?
GB, I’m hearing people say Brett Jackson = bust, tell me what do you think about that kid. I’m not sure I’d go 1st rd. for him.
swings & misses,
haha. Didn’t know that. Wonder what moose is doing now?
I don’t know that we can draft an OF with power where we pick.
maybe pitching is the way to go, and then trade for OF help. All I know is that the heir apparent doesn’t have a ton of power, and that is something we’ll need down the line.
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/articl.....Id=rss_nyy
Melky wins PEPSI CLUTCH for May.
Lol at the Tampa call on Jeter’s homer. ” That’s a Joke. Really is. That’s just a joke. Little league ball park. Its a high cutter but still, that’s a pop fly.”
“No problem with that… I’m here to help the team win, not necessarily to be a specific pitcher,” he said. “It’s all good, what they do.
“I’m just looking to help us out, anyway I can. If that means pitching late in the game, or pitching at the start… whatever it is, I’ll be ready to do it.”
————-
These were Phils comments on his 7th innings yesterday. How can you not like a guy that does whatever the team wants and needs. No whinning, no Kennedy quotes. Just a perfect employee. To think he grew up a red sox fan. It looks like he will do anything to stay in the bigs.
Carl,
maybe it is a joke, but who’s laughing now? Jeter flirted about 5 times this week and if finally went out.
How many Sonnanstine fly balls died inside the park? It doesn’t play that small.
I think Slade Heathcott is the guy to get.
Carl, they can say what they want, just know that they lost and we won. And we don’t have cowbells either.
m
June 9th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
CB,
The article I linked said it’s so complicated that only a mathematician could decipher it. But yes, in layman’s terms that’s essentially what it was. He used Jason Giambi as an example, and his return was huge.
Some guy on the radio was saying that because football has a salary cap, and basketball has such a small roster in addition to the salary cap, franchises can be set back for years whiffing on busts with your top picks. But baseball is a whole different story. It was pretty interesting to hear.
And if you think about it, the 100’s of rounds allow you to find gems that can balance out the busts from the early rounds.
————————————————————
Yanks found a couple of bums in the later rounds that nobody ever heard of outside of their families..an outfielder with no speed that they tried making a first baseman out of….Mattingly, or something like that (19th round). Some south Texas cowboy type named Pettitte in the 22nd round. some of the unsigned high [icks that New York couldn’t sign loke Freddy Lynn, Mark Prior and Garrett Cole. They did allow themselves to be used by John Elway.
The only home run last night that was close to qualifying as a “joke” to me was Damon’s. It hung hp in the air for a long time and seemed like it would have been a fly out to the warning track in another stadium. Jeter’s ball was driven to right center, I believe it would have landed in the RF bleachers in the old stadium as well. To call it a “joke” is really over-doing it, and is a sign of people really easily buying in to the ubiquitous “launchpad/bandbox” rallying cry as an excuse for pitchers giving up home runs.
That was a HR. Get over it.
Well, looking at my last post, it seems that a good night’s sleep hasn’t improved my typing or spelling, so, I think I’ll just sit up all night and drink.
No draft talk here ?…laters.
Yeah it was a hr I just thought it was funny.
Brandon —-> Brandon 1 Cena 0
June 9th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
GB, I’m hearing people say Brett Jackson = bust, tell me what do you think about that kid. I’m not sure I’d go 1st rd. for him.
————————————————————
I don’t have an opinion, Brandon. I’ve only seen one college game.
Andrew
He did the same thing last year…I forgot against which team though.
GreenBeret7
June 9th, 2009 at 12:25 pm
“Well, looking at my last post, it seems that a good night’s sleep hasn’t improved my typing or spelling, so, I think I’ll just sit up all night and drink.”
Some things never change on this blog!!
Good afternoon GB. You ready for the big series? I hope the weather cooperates.
“Lol at the Tampa call on Jeter’s homer. ” That’s a Joke. Really is. That’s just a joke. Little league ball park. Its a high cutter but still, that’s a pop fly.” ”
Is that what they said?! It definitely seems like the park plays small at times, but not really lately. April was tough for the pitchers there.
If those guys were questioning Jeter’s HR, then they have obviously never been paying attention to the way he hits HRs. He either pulls balls right down the middle, or goes the other way with balls up/off the plate.
The announcers of a team that has a ground rule for balls hitting catwalks, lights or speakers are arguing over cheap plays at NYS..?
Jeter flirted about 5 times this week and if finally went out.
————–
Not sure about the flirt part. For us normal people, yes flirting is neccessary. For Mr. Maxim, the hardest part about his game is what name to pick out of a hat.
ray (sox fan)
June 9th, 2009 at 12:29 pm
GreenBeret7
June 9th, 2009 at 12:25 pm
“Well, looking at my last post, it seems that a good night’s sleep hasn’t improved my typing or spelling, so, I think I’ll just sit up all night and drink.”
Some things never change on this blog!!
Good afternoon GB. You ready for the big series? I hope the weather cooperates
————————————————————
Hey…good afternoon, Ray. How’s things going in the (sox fan) family household?
What big series are you referring to?
How about a whether report?
m & Carl -
An awful lot of fly balls last night that went nowhere. And Jeter’s, well, at first I thought it was park-assisted, but on second viewing via replay, it did seem like a line drive – a hard-hit one, at that.
The problem, or part of it, as I see it, is radio broadcasters saying things like the Tampa guys did last night. If you don’t have the visual, the listener is going to envision something completely different than the reality of what occurred. It was not an easy pop fly that “caught the wind.”
But let every team think that all they have to do is put the ball up in right field for a homerun – they’ll have an awful lot of bad swings trying to do it, and hopefully fail a lot more than they’ll succeed.
Mark Teixeira had it right. An awful lot of the homeruns hit were absolutely crushed and would be out in any park. I do believe there are some park-assisted shots. I believe in the wind tunnel or whatever you want to call it. I just don’t think it’s affecting as many balls as the media would have you believe. And it takes alot away the legit HRs and the hitters that hit them, on both teams. It also gives pitchers an awful lot more credit than they deserve – an awful lot of bad pitches being hit that far, dontcha think?
How about a whether report?
Whether it’s whether or weather makes no difference. Sounds the same to me.
Baseball is almost impossible to figure out who would do well on the big league level, Brett Jackson could be the next Joe Dimmaggio for all we know, or he could be, I don’t know, Shelley Duncan (assuming that it’s true that Duncan can’t hit a breaking ball).
Doreen you couldn’t have said it better.
I’m not a believer in the wind tunnel. Any stathead worth his salt would tel you that you need to wait three years before drawing any conclusions aabout the stadium.
Hey GB. The following is the weather or should I say “whether” forecast for the Boston area this evening.
Cloudy. A chance of showers with areas of drizzle. Areas of fog. Near steady temperature in the lower 50s. East winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40 percent.
Doreen
June 9th, 2009 at 12:33 pm
m & Carl –
An awful lot of fly balls last night that went nowhere. And Jeter’s, well, at first I thought it was park-assisted, but on second viewing via replay, it did seem like a line drive – a hard-hit one, at that.
The problem, or part of it, as I see it, is radio broadcasters saying things like the Tampa guys did last night. If you don’t have the visual, the listener is going to envision something completely different than the reality of what occurred. It was not an easy pop fly that “caught the wind.”
————————————————————
Joe maddon and the idiots in the Tampa broadcast booth as well as the other intelligent reporters need to explain Zobrist and Bartlett before yammering about Yankee Stadium.
Slade Heathcott I’d draft in the 1st rd., Brett Jackson I wouldn’t touch w/ a 10 ft. pole, Matt Purke is asking for Porcello $$$, he’ll be there in the compensation rd.
Weather.com says chance of rain at 7:00 30%. That sticks it in the midddle at 35, meaning we have a 65% chance of getting this game in on time.
If your home stadium is basically a tupperware container on steroids you’ve got no standing to criticize any other park. Damon’s pop fly was definitely a “New Stadium” special but the others were not.
Keep in mind Tampa Bay’s announcers on TV whine about umpire calls more than any other broadcasters in the game — and with MLB Extra innings I get to hear a lot of them. I thought adding Kevin Kennedy would help them, but he’s as whiney as the other guy (Dwaynbe Statts).
“Baseball is almost impossible to figure out who would do well on the big league level”
Albert Pujols was picked in about the 30th round, and Mike Piazza was one of the last picks by the Dodgers, and only was picked at all because Lasorda took him as a favor to Piazza’a dad.
ray (sox fan)
June 9th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
Hey GB. The following is the weather or should I say “whether” forecast for the Boston area this evening.
Cloudy. A chance of showers with areas of drizzle. Areas of fog. Near steady temperature in the lower 50s. East winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40 percent.
————————————————————
Which ever whether/weather you use, you’d better do some heavy duty praying for tonight. You guys will be crying in you Sam Adams before the week is over.
SJ wherever you are right now, man alive we are with you (and Tony) in spirit. It feels like he’s all of ours! Well I guess in a way he is.
You may have already answered this – or maybe someone else here knows the answer – but does Tony himself have a preference? Anyway, I can’t imagine what he and all of you have to be going through right now with nerves because I am nervous and I don’t even know him!
About the weather – it’s been raining all morning and our forecast in RI is for rain all day and then chance of rain tonight. I would figure Boston would be somewhat the same.
And how about this?
*Yanks leading in AL East, All-Star votes
Teixeira drives past Youkilis; Jeter remains in lead at short*
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/articl.....8;c_id=mlb
WOO HOO!!!
Piazza juiced anyway or he wouldn’t have been that great.
Kevin Kennedy started out OK(objective), but quickly caught Dwayne Statts’ excusitis.
That should be:
*Yanks leading in AL East, All-Star votes*
*Teixeira drives past Youkilis; Jeter remains in lead at short*
God I hope Tex beats out Youk.
Jeet will definitely win at shortstop.
“Piazza juiced anyway or he wouldn’t have been that great.”
He isn’t the only one, we don’t want to start going down that road again.
Mark in Tampa he absolutely wasn’t the only one. My thinking is Piazza will enter the HOF, it’s gonna get out that he juiced, and then it’ll be too late and the floodgates will be opened for all the juicers to get in.
Funny thing about the Rays TV crew. They always played up the excuse angle against the Yanks until last year. They thought(rightly so, I guess) that the Rays were the better team last year, and called the games more objectively.
This year they are back to their old excuse-making tricks. Apparently they realize that the Yankees are back and the Rays will have trouble keeping up this season.
Last year the Yankees actually didn’t have too much trouble beating the Rays.
Andrew
June 9th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
To call it a “joke” is really over-doing it, and is a sign of people really easily buying in to the ubiquitous “launchpad/bandbox” rallying cry as an excuse for pitchers giving up home runs.
That and I never realized that when the umps go over the ground rules at the beginning of the game, they tell the visiting manager that his players can’t shoot for the RF wall!!
Good News! Teixeira passed Youkillis for top leader in all-star game at first base.
How is Saltamacjoiuia and Veritek ahead of Posada for 2nd and 3rd?
For all you guys loving Heathcott are you aware he has had a torn ACL and creently has a bad shoulder? Haven’t the Yanks spent enough money and elite draft picks on guys with questionable health? Don’t need another Brackman or Bittle.
MY guess is they take a pitcher that slides because of signability issues. The corner OF prospects in this draft all come with questions as far as I’m concerned.
True, the Yanks played the Rays better than any other team, but their TV crew didn’t feel threatened by them, thus no excuses. I got the feeling last year that they felt like “we’re better than them anyway, it doesn’t matter that they just took two out of three.” This year they feel like they are going to need every strike call going their way just to hang in the game and in the race.
Yeah Mark, I agree.
Rays have second best run differential in the majors (plus 47) and are sub-500. That’s hard to do. 6-12 in one-run games.
“currently” has a bad shoulder
Can some of you name a situation where an icon signs with his last teams hated ones?
Farve to Vikes
Rice to Raiders
Clemens to Yanks
???
6-12 in 1 run games? Don’t follow the Rays much, but I’ll venture to say that the bullpen’s a factor for them.
There is a light drizzle here in Boston about 1-mile from Cess Pool Park
If the weather stays like this they will play
well the Rays TV crew forgot about the HR that Jeter hit at the Trop in April off Wheeler(I was at the game), that was hit exactly the same as last night’s HR….they are just jumping on the bandwagon of finding excuses for the Yankees success this year….hey if everyone hates you…you’re doing something right
Last year the Rays record was much better than the run differential would indicate and this year it’s not. The Yankees have pulled the opposite switcheroo this year.
I never noticed the Rays guys being less whiny last year. I’ll never forget a game the Yanks won big and they did a 7th inning recap highlights package and the first highlight was a boerdline pitch to Matsui that was called a ball.
They are worse than the Padres who complained about the pitch to Tino for two years.
No t.v. crew can be worse than the white sox crew. They seem like 2 exteme white sox fans in the booth calling a game. Very annoying. Makes you appreciate the dodgers announcer Scully.
So how long until Mike mentions Hughes to the pen.
I voted for Tex during the game last night 25 times.
1000 lead is not alot.
Only way Tex keeps that lead is if NYY fans continue to vote. I don’t put it past obsessive Sox fans to taking their voting of Youk to extreme levels.
The Rays should stop worrying about the Yankees and figure out how to right their own ship. That’s if they want respect and not be remembered as a one-hit wonder.
“Can some of you name a situation where an icon signs with his last teams hated ones?
Farve to Vikes
Rice to Raiders
Clemens to Yanks
???”
Babe Ruth to Yanks?
As well as anybody to Yanks. Probably the only team in sports where anyone who is not a fan of the team hates them. No middle ground, and that is a good thing, IMO.
Hunter Jones is in AAA, along with Bowden, who hasnt even pitched in the bigs yet….C’mon Mike, do some freaking homework,
Yanks must take 2 of 3.
Model franchise.. haha
I guess the Marlins should be up there too since they have won twice
Oh and the Cardinals cuz they have won and been to the World Series multiple times recently
Chris McKendry (ESPN Anchor)-”they got to fix that.” In reference to all the rightfield homeruns.
Why?, It’s not like the RF fence only helps the Yankees.
Glavine to the Mets?
The biggest reason the Yankees are 0-5 against the RS is because they’ve been atrocious with RISP. Not really because the RS pen is better. Although it will play a factor. Those 5 games could have gone either way.
Here is how they fix the HR issue
STOP LYING ABOUT THE WALLS BEING THE SAME DISTANCE SINCE THEY ARENT
and raise the walls to the height they were before
I never got what the problem was with the homers. Who cares?
Coach6423 –
Jones and Bowden BOTH have been up this year. They both blew through our lineup in Fenway earlier this year.
BREAKING NEWS: Big Papi dealing with factors never before seen in baseball:
“An athlete is the sum of his thoughts, his feelings, his actions and his sensations,” Murray said. “Big Papi has always been able to handle the noise, the distractions and the physical demands. But as his slump continues, he’s beginning to exacerbate the situation internally. His desire to help his team, to please the fans and to produce are causing him to overcompensate.
“At its most basic level, thought precedes action. Ortiz is hardwired to play at a very high level, he’s been successful his entire life. But now he’s confused, and this increases his distress. High intensity and high anxiety are the cruelest combination.”
This bit of genius brought to us by a Lesley Visser article. Apparently, no other ballplayer has had to deal with stress and anxiety during a slump.
I don’t think that’s why they lost to the Sox, they scored 11 runs one game but the pitching was awful, that’s why they lost. I don’t care what the RISP avg. was if they score 11 runs, that is NOT the offense’s fault.
“Farve to Vikes
Rice to Raiders
Clemens to Yanks
???”
How about Boggs to Yanks? Strawberry from LAD to SFG.
Melky Cabrera has been voted the Major League Baseball Clutch Performer of the Month for May, Presented by Pepsi.
We’re going to get Santana on Sunday. I’d like to win that game. Here’s hoping the Mets continue their trend and make a ton of errors behind Johan that day.
Vote for Tex everyone!
Not sure anyone else on our team really deserves it…
Jeter deserves to be an all star.
I don’t see the problem with playing in a bandbox
The other team has the same opportunities that we do
In a previous post, someone mentioned that Phil is not likely to improve his 3rd or 4th pitch? I don’t get that at all – he’s 22 and we want to relegate him to the pen permanently because we think he’s a 2 pitch pitcher? I’m not willing to concede anything with Phil at such a young age. I believe with hard work, you can do anything and Phil also has a lot of ability. I think he’s going to be a real stud – I believe continuing to refine his repertoire and improve that 3rd pitch will only help him achieve that status.
Brandon, I thought when AJ signed that he could help Phil – and I was right. That was nasty last night – loved it.
“anybody to Yanks. Probably the only team in sports where anyone who is not a fan of the team hates them.”
Oh I totally agree. Practically every team in the AL thinks of the Yankees as hated rivals. Every time some player from another market signs as an FA with the Yankees they get booed like crazy in their original city, and those fans are like, we know our team didn’t pony up the necessary $$$ but why couldn’t he have signed with anyone but the Yankees? It’s pretty amusing to read.
“Melky Cabrera has been voted the Major League Baseball Clutch Performer of the Month for May, Presented by Pepsi.”
YAHOO!!!!!!!!!!
What a wonderful turn around from last season.
I cant remember the last few years complaining about us playing in Arlingtons launching pad/band box in boston or Baltimore. I actually get excited when we go to there as i always think we’re going to be the ones to take advantage. Why cant other teams take advantage of our homerun derby stadium? Oh right its the Yankees = not fair/complaint department.
Blog Poster June 9th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
Coach6423 –
Jones and Bowden BOTH have been up this year. They both blew through our lineup in Fenway earlier this year.
—————–
Hunter Jones pitched 2/3rd of an inning against us. He has thrown a total of 9 innings in the big leagues to the tune of an 8.00 ERA. He is no great shakes, he pitched well for 2 batters against us.
Michael Bowden has pitched 5 innings this year. He did hold the Yankees for 2 innings. That is his only appearance for the Red Sox this year. He is in AAA.
I am not questioning whether or not they pitched well in that game, but let’s be honest, they are not helping the Boston bullpen.
edit to my post….
Bowden has 5 innings pitched in his career, only 2 this year, both of which came in that Sunday night game.
vin and mark,
Good choices. We can include Owens from SF to Dallas. Dionne as well.
I’m off to eat lunch guys.
Later.
edit further….
7 innings total….
Count the Anaheim Angels as a serious suitor for Colorado’s loskdown closer Houston Street….SJ, savior the events of today, and may all go as expected….Moore as done a great job with the Royals since he left Atlanta…
“Jeter deserves to be an all star.”
He does. He’s played at a high level. Also helps that SS is probably the AL’s thinnest position, with only an injured Bartlett representing anything close to competition for Jeter. Measure that against Cano, who is also putting together a pretty nice year, but faces competition from Aaron Hill, Brian Roberts, Pedroia, Kinsler, and even Asdrubal Cabrera.
“Vote for Tex everyone!
Not sure anyone else on our team really deserves it…”
Think a reasonable argument could be made that Johnny Damon deserves a serious look.
New post
Here’s one more repoty from MLB on Sanchez. I’ll leave it to SJ to comment on it’s accuracy. It comes with a 30 video.
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/.....nt=sanchez
Correction on the repoty.
***Here’s one more report***
Theres so much Yankee hatred around baseball that even the announcers of other teams can’t control their bias anymore. Always has to be an excuse when the Yanks are sucessful. if its not their large payroll advantage, its because their ballpark plays to their advantage. Yankee hatred around baseball is a ‘big joke’ Bunch of crybabies.
Good afternoon all
Anyone know the history of why MLB teams cannot trade draft picks like the other leagues allow?
Considering that the All-Star voting has become a popularity contest, generally speaking, and purists excepted, I think argument can be made that there are several Yankees who deserve consideration from their fans. Certainly Teixeira and Jeter, but also Cano and Damon, and a write-in for Cabrera. I think Posada, too.
If I was voting for players strictly on their numbers, I’m sure there are other players that are just as deserving, if not moreso.
But given the rah-rah-vote-for-your-teams-players stuff that goes on with other clubs, why not stuff the ballot box for our home team favorites?
I don’t have a problem with it being a popularity contest; not really. Though what ends up happening is that instead of people researching the other players and finding out what they’ve done this season, people just look for familiar names or the names of their own players. It also stinks that the ballot is made up long before anyone has any idea if the players listed should even be on it.
Ohlendorf is 5-5 with a 4.85 ERA. How many fans would put up with this kind of mediocrity. He’s a smart guy, no doubt about it, but that doesn’t translate to exceptional pitching talent. He could’ve played a role as a reliever with the Yanks possibly, but no more. And he had a shot at that last year with mixed results. He is right where he belongs. Starting for a bad team.
I think by now we all should have learned the Yankees are never working on a budget. That’s a joke. If they spent 400 million some odd dollars in the offseason, they sure as hell aren’t going to fret giving a few more millions to sign a couple draft picks. Give me a break.
All the sites seem to have Sanchez going to the Pirates for signability reasons.
Those of you who have strong opinions on who to pick versus someone else. Where do you get those views? I don’t feel like I have seen any of these guys enough to know anything. I have to trust reports (and many differ).
Those reports say that the offense is weak this year and pitching is strong.