Coming Thursday: Live video chat
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Our next live video chat will be Thursday from Atlanta. We can talk about the Subway Series, the Braves series, A-Rod or whatever you would like.
Go to our Pro Talk Live page and get your questions answered.
I’m flexible in terms of a time. The chat can be any time from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Vote in the poll over to the right and we’ll go with the majority. Voting will end in a day or so.
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on Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009 at 7:00 am by Peter Abraham.
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Chad Jennings
Sam Borden
Josh Thomson
Mark Feinsand reported that CC did have treatment yesterday. So, did he or didn’t he? Inquiring minds want to know.
It’s kind of heartening to know that the Red Sox are going through a similar situation with Mike Lowell, vis-a-vis rest for a player after hip surgery, the player not wanting to rest, the manager saying he should have rested him anyway, and a resultant two-day respite. As I recall, Lowell started the season pretty well. I guess even athlete’s bodies can handle so much. And I guess most teams will err on the side of “the player knows his body best.”
I know it’s a fine line to walk – you need your best players to play to win. A player doesn’t want to be seen as a wimp or letting their teammates down. But in the long run, a day of rest is more beneficial to the team. Perhaps it’s difficult for players to be 100% honest because they are used to playing through discomfort most of the time and it’s difficult to draw a line between that and being ineffective because your body just can’t do it for a period of time.
In this case, with Alex, I think the Yankees should have been proactive and planned his rests regardless of what the schedule was or even whether they were winning or losing. They had Alex 5 or 6 days a week, which is certainly better than not having him at all.
But you can see the dilemma for a player: if he is too cautious, he will open himself up to the derision that Carl Pavano suffered for not playing through his injuries.
I suppose the larger question here is, has Alex compromised his body by using PEDs? Will he fully recover? Will he recover enough to be the force in the lineup the Yankees contracted for? And, I hate to say this, is there a lingering question now that he was, indeed, on PEDs for a more extended period of time, and we really don’t know what to expect going forward? I think this is a legitimate question, not an indictment or accusation.
For me, I hope he can regain the majority of the form he had when he first joined the Yankees. I think the lowered numbers have to do with the fact that his hip started to bother him late last season. I think that Alex should have had the hip examined immediately after the season ended. If the team knew his hip was problematic, they should have insisted on a thorough examination. And the Yankees have to adopt a new policy – never rely on a player’s assessment of his body’s condition. Both sides are guilty of negligence here.
IMO, based on some of these PED usage questions, Arod should’ve done the full surgery because even though he rushed back with an abreviated recovery time, few are giving him credit for coming back early from that injury. Lowell and Utley had 5-6 months of rehab and recovery time before they played real games while Arod can’t catch a break with certain fans and media types.
Golf is off limits. We can’t chat about that, ok?
what feels like crap right now is the yankees have lost 5 games to the red sox in 12 games while playing the nationals and marlins for the past 6 games and losing two series to these two teams.
this is just really unacceptable . they were in first place and cruising, and the wheels have come off. the worry is how deep this will go. maybe it’s the bad weather affecting both fans and player’s moods, but they need to snap out of this june funk and fast.
i don’t even want to think about sabathia having a problem. that would be over the top bad for this team at this moment in time.
I’m still disgusted with Girardi for his handling of Alex. I didn’t bother clicking on the link to Klapisch’s article because blaming Joe for Mo (huh?) and CC (triple huh?) is just asinine. I do think Bob is right, though – Joe is so desperate to win that he will do anything, even at the expense of the players’ health. That’s inexcusable. The fact that Joe completely ignored the doctors’ advice is inexcusable. I don’t trusth him more than I can throw him when it comes to injuries. Actually, the Yankees as a whole are untrustworthy. They let Damon just decide that he wasn’t going to get any tests on his shoulder, now they are not pushing CC because CC says he’s fine……..They didn’t give Marte enough rest/rehab in ST, obviously the Wang situtation. It’s just remarkable…….and again, it’s not just Joe, this is on Cash as well.
120+ pitches a start in april wasn’t normal for CC. Just keep that in mind. You can say he’s built like that but the fact remains that no other organization has pushed him quite like this before.
I just hope he doesn’t have a dead arm come october.
” I think that Alex should have had the hip examined immediately after the season ended. If the team knew his hip was problematic, they should have insisted on a thorough examination.”
doreen-
i think it’s become obvious that there’s nothing cutting edge about the yankees conditioning program. things break. they fix them.
considering how much they pay for salaries which means they have the most to lose, not being the leading team in baseball for injury prevention is really just dumb. if a last place team that has bad players loses a player, it’s cheap to get another bad player so you could understand them not doing everything possible to prevent injuries.
when sabathia or arod goes down, a huge amount of salary doesn’t get to the playing field. you’d think the yankees would invest more in protecting their investment and their advantage of better players over other teams.
on a larger level, it’s also becoming apparent that there’s no cutting edge master plan for team excellence in place by cashman. this team despite an infusion of high price free agents is still sputtering along.
cashman just has not produced much of a team for the money he has spent. his act is getting old again to me. joba is a problem with his velocity, wang is still not back, hughes is losing starter length . the bullpen is shaky.
losing amplifies problems, and maybe the yankees will snap out of this as fast as they got into it, or maybe cashman just mismanages problems like wang and arod into worse problems than they have to be and this mismanagement will slowly drag the team down and turn them into perpetual underachievers as long as cashman is in control.
right now it will take some steady winning for me to have optimism with this team.
Joe took CC out in the 2nd inning even though CC wanted to stay in. That’s not winning at the expense of his player’s health.
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Randy l -
It certainly seems like something could be done differently. They may not be pre-historical, but they it doesn’t appear they are cutting edge, either, with regard to how they deal with injuries. I would settle for pro-active rather than re-active, except where that’s just not possible.
I’m trying to stay positive. Hey, look at the Mets. They’re down to David Wright and a cast of others.
You’re right that losing amplifies the negative, winning disguises them. The truth of the condition of this team lies somewhere in the middle. I’m not ready to jump to conclusions, just yet.
I didn’t think the elementary school kids were out yet. I guess I was mistaken.
Pete, you need an option for like 8am or 5pm. Some people have jobs that dont let them watch videos at work.
The great thing about Nady is that he’s a very solid player. He’s also really clutch and will knock one out when you need it. I’d much rather have Nady up there getting important hits than Nick tacking on homeruns in blowouts. I’m not saying that’s what always happens, but Nick has been far from clutch (in my memory, at least).
Nady will give us a solid average hitter with the ability to walk and to hit a ball out occasionally. There’s no reason he can’t spell Damon in left from time to time, either. I know that makes our defense somewhat weaker, but it’s not by much. Damon’s bat has been a blessing this year, but his homeruns have sort of disappeared. One can only hope he starts hitting those NYS blasts once again soon.
“People try to read too much into everything,” Posada said. “True baseball fans, they understand.”
The game against the Marlins also set a foundation for the two veterans.
“Some guys take longer than others; Mike Mussina took me almost a whole year to get together with, but then we almost threw a perfect game together,” Posada said. “That last game, me and A.J. finally clicked.”
http://www.nydailynews.com/spo.....RfLR&D
cashman mismanaging just the arod and wang injuries alone could be causing the yankees to have lost 6-7 wins this year so far. since neither seems close to be back to peak form, cashman’s mismanagement of these respective injuries could cost the yankees 12-15 wins this year.
the yankees simply may not have enough money to overcome cashman’s handing of injuries.
cahman does not seem to handle some obvious crises well . in my small business, if i’m asleep at the wheel during this bad weather recession month of june,2009, i could go into a downward spiral that would affect the whole year. i have to change course on an almost weekly basis this year. we’re now getting slammed with a noreaster that never happens in june, but that’s the nature of business that things happen out of the ordinary.
if i lost some of my key assets the way cashman has lost wang and arod, i would have been scrambling to solve the problem. what does cashman do. he rushes wang from triple a where he was where he was supposed to be for his rehab and totally messes him up. he gets a break with arod that a special surgery allows him to not miss most of the year and then he doesn’t stop him from playing everyday for two months when his doctor wanted a day off a week.
what more could cashman do to sabotage this team ? if he was a red sox plant, maybe he could do more damage, but what he’s done so far with arod and wang would be hard to surpass.
I loved that article, Jennifer. Jorgie has a good head on his shoulders and there is nothing about him that I don’t like. He pays attention and like Jeter, he uses the criticism as a motivator without running from it. I know he has the respect of his teammates and they have his back, too. He’s the guy you want at the plate.
Nady’s return will be a plus, but I still have concerns about this lineup when Alex gets is obligatory night off. DeRosa would be a superb super utility guy, but there really isn’t a roster spot for him once Nady sends Berroa back to the retirement home. Pena once or twice a week isn’t fatal.
It’s so hard to know who to blame for which decisions in this organization because even with “total” control, Cashman did not have the final decision on manager, had to pleaed for the money to sign Teixiera and so on. I don’t blame him for the lack of position prospects in the organization because he has not has control of the draft long enough, but I am disappointed in their obsession with pitchers and catchers in recent years.
To me his biggest screw up that was clearly on him was choosing Kei Igawa over Ted Lilly. An unproven Japanese pitcher over a guy with proven success in the AL East in order to save some luxury tax $$$ was and remains a horrible decision. This year he got the big name FA and Swisher has proven to be a very good acquisition.
Here’s Pete in the article linked in the post: “Starting this week, Rodriguez will be held out once a week whether he likes the idea or not. Team officials lectured him on Friday about the need to be honest about his condition and readiness to play.”
********
from something that was posted last night.
Interesting the Miami Herald said that rumors were Joe was speaking sternly to Alex. I guess that is what the stern talking to was about.
86w183
you don’t have a problem with how cashman has mismanaged the arod and wang injuries ?
injuries happen, but how they’re managed is where a good gm comes in. right now , we are looking at the prospect of arod being an average player the rest of the year. if he was treated for hip injury last year when the team knew about it, he might be all the way back by now.
cashman consistently doesn’t deal with injuries in a timely fashion. posada earlier in the year was playing with a bad hamstring when he finally blew it out totally. that was equally dumb and cost the yankees some posada playing time.
cashman just does things the way run of the mill teams do things. he’s not awful. he’s just average. if fans want average, they have their man in cashman.
“…but I am disappointed in their obsession with pitchers and catchers in recent years”
Where the Yankees draft every year (late first round) the big hitting prospects just aren’t there. They go top ten top fifteen.
It’s rare that very talented position players fall that far. Unless the draft is very heavy on pitching or a kid has injury or off the field issues. Which is how the Yankees had a chance to draft Slade Heathcott.
They draft the pitchers because there are more injury concerns with them too. And the talented ones at times fall to where the Yankees select. This rarely happens with position players.
You have to scout well and get lucky if you’re the Yankees with where you draft when it comes to drafting talented position guys. Usually in the later rounds. Ex. Austin Jackson and 8th round pick.
There’s also IFA.
Girardi writes the lineup card every day and knew AR was supposed to get regular days off. Why weasel around looking to place responsibility for the failure to carry out the agreed plan for AR’s return on somebody else?
As for Girardi being tight and tense and worried, aren’t we all when we watch the team now? And our jobs are not on the line. And it wouldn’t be our second firing in a row. Of course the guy is anxious. He has reason to be. His honeymoon period is over and he’s facing a rough patch.
Here is where we see how he handles himself and his players in anxiety-producing situations, which are not scarce around the Yankees. If he can get a grip and pull the team together, good for him and hopefully he’ll have a long career here. If not, this is not the right place for him and we’ll wish him good luck in whatever he does next, and look further for a manager who functions well in the heat of our very hot kitchen.
If you can get a DeRosa caliber player cheap, there is always a roster spot.
DeRosa would be a great player to pick up, but the more and more he hits in Cleveland, the higher his price tag will be come July. Shapiro has always gotten good returns in trades so I don’t really like the idea of giving up a good haul of prospects for someone who is not going to get guaranteed every-day playing time. That said his versatility and bat would be welcome, but I also don’t believe that the Yankees would properly deploy him. They could use him to rest Al 1-2 times a week, sub him for Damon against a tough lefty, maybe even for Cano in a similar scenario.
Knowing this team, they would say he is a naturally great right fielder and play him there once a week, or use him as a pinch hitter.
“I’d much rather have Nady up there getting important hits than Nick tacking on homeruns in blowouts.”
Of Nick’s 12 home runs, 7 have come when the game was tied or the Yanks were up or down by only 1 run. That’s a very high percentage of important home runs.
Only 3 of his 12 HR’s have been hit in blowouts.
People don’t like Nick but try to be fair, or at least accurate, when you comment.
DeRosa won’t come cheap. Plus, Cashman thinks that he can fill our voids from within. I doubt he makes a move to get DeRosa.
Randy 1 — I don’t think there’s a General Manager in the history of sports who has made injury rehab decisions. He follows the advice of the doctors and trainers in laying out the plans for the athlete. I’ll blame him for personnel screwups and I have, but I don’t think he plays Doctor and determines on is own how to handle such things.
If I’m wrong and he’s overruling medical advice I’d fire his butt on the spot.
“DeRosa won’t come cheap. Plus, Cashman thinks that he can fill our voids from within. I doubt he makes a move to get DeRosa.”
There’s no “within” to play third base when ARod sits. DeRosa would help a lot, there.
That’s fine Trevor, but explain to me why you would use a second round pick on catcher when it’s the strongest position in the organization and then (apparently) make your biggest international FA signee another catcher?
When they chose JC Murphy I would have preferred they take Louisville 3B Chris Dominguez or LSU’s DJ LeMahieu (a 6′4″ infielder who is likely to be a corner OF) or Evan Chambers (a JUCO OF who has Carl carford type potential).
If Nady replaces Berroa there is no way to fit in DeRosa without going to 11 pitchers. I’m not opposed to that, but I think the organization is.
Anyone have a guess as to what it would take to get ReRosa?
“…but explain to me why you would use a second round pick on catcher when it’s the strongest position in the organization and then (apparently) make your biggest international FA signee another catcher?”
It does seem like they have become obsessed with catchers.
I know Posada is near the end but…I don’t know why so many catchers.
But I’m sure some these C prospects will be either traded down the road or moved to other positions. Others will fizzle out.
A couple mid level prospects. He is on a 1 yr deal I believe.
“There’s no “within” to play third base when ARod sits. DeRosa would help a lot, there.”
I’m afraid that they would be content with either Berroa or Ransom handling 3B when Alex sits. We’ve seen that already this year. They are not going to sell the farm to get DeRosa so that he can play once a week.
Catching prospects are coveted and can bring huge talent in return if the organization is willing to part with them. The yankees stock pitchers and catchers because those get big returns and are always positions of need.
Now once they get all these catchers really moving (so we have guys in AAA, AA, and A) then we can see just what their plan is and if they’ll trade some of these guys.
DeRosa is in the last year of his deal but he is still making $5.5 million, which isn’t a huge contract or qualify as a salary dump for even a mid-market team like the Indians–they would want more than a couple of mid-level prospects for him. I assume Shapiro is talking Zach McAllister, Romine, something like that. Perhaps the Yankees will just sign him in the winter of 2009 and save the minor league talent.
That article on Posada in the Daily News shows you exactly what it takes to be a superstar in NY. Posada answered all the questions in perfect textbook fashion fed nothing to the naysayers that could even be slightly considered controversial. He made it seem so simple but it’s amazing how many professional athletes botch up their opportunity to defend themselves in the media by letting ego and thin skin get in the way. Kudos Jorge, though I still think that Cervelli should be catching 1/3 of the time or at least until he becomes a Molina-like liability at the plate.
If ARod is sitting once a week, any one of Berroa, Pena or Ransom is fine. It’s only when he’s out for an extended period that any of those becomes a liability. But that’s true of most utility players. But as long as ARod is healing, they’re going to need to infield guys. One to spell ARod and one “just in case” guy.
“I don’t think there’s a General Manager in the history of sports who has made injury rehab decisions. He follows the advice of the doctors and trainers in laying out the plans for the athlete.”
86w183-
i couldn’t disagree more. even private individuals don’t let doctors dictate treatment to them . doctors give options . different doctors give different options. patients make the final choices unless they are mentally incapable of making them.
that actually opens up an avenue of possibility. could we fans sue to have cashman ruled mentally deficient and let a court appointed authority make medical and rehab decisions? it might be a big improvement.
you know like making the decision to rest arod once a week as his doctor said to do. if that isn’t a case of cashman going against the medical advice, i don’t know what is.
gm’s after getting medical advice make decisions all the time with the final decision being the players. so i guess you could blame the players too, but cashman is really bad on making decisions on rehab and prehab .
it’s really time for fresh blood in the yankee system as far as conditioing. take this area away from cashman.
You can always trade players. The catcher position is one of the weakest positions in the major leagues.
If a few of the catchers turn out to be as good as advertised they’ll be able to trade a couple of them to fill other needs in the organization.
I’d rather the team draft 3 catchers who have the potential to be superstars than 3 players who have the potential to be average simply to fill a need on the team.
Right now none of the catchers are even close to the majors so it’s pretty much a moot point in my opinion.
** two infield guys.
” I assume Shapiro is talking Zach McAllister, Romine, something like that. ”
I don’t think he’s asking for a potential number 3 starter or a starting catcher prospct for a utility guy in the last year of his contract.
“Catching prospects are coveted and can bring huge talent in return if the organization is willing to part with them.”
Examples???
All the rumors have been that cleveland is looking for a haul on DeRosa, and that Qualls and Valverde also have high price tags. Not sure why Qualls has such a high tag.
Steve B June 23rd, 2009 at 10:05 am
“Catching prospects are coveted and can bring huge talent in return if the organization is willing to part with them.”
Examples???
Jared Saltalamachia…meet Mark Texiara.
“Not sure why Qualls has such a high tag.”
Because relief help is in pretty high demand?
We’ve seen how hard it can be to trade “prospects” for needs. I guess my attitude is focused on self sufficiency. If I have three or four young catchers in my organization that I feel good about and at most two outfielders I’m gonna draft me some outfielders, not rely on someone else to develop an outfielder they will trade me for one of my cvatchers a few years from now. The guys I mentioned were all drafted within the next five or six picks. I’m not advocating skipping down several rounds to pick a different positional guy, just a few spots.
Randy 1 — So the player says he’s ready, the trainer says he’s ready, Giardi puts him in the lineup and it’s Cashman’s fault? Your logic is somewhat astounding.
“I don’t think he’s asking for a potential number 3 starter or a starting catcher prospct for a utility guy in the last year of his contract.”
Why wouldn’t he? It’s not like these are the Yankees’ only prospects that fit those descriptions, he is going to try and exploit the surplus at both SP and C in their system. That said I doubt Cashman wants to give up much to get him considering the last part of your sentence about him being a utility guy in his walk year and all. Still, I doubt the asking price is pennies.
“Catching prospects are coveted and can bring huge talent in return if the organization is willing to part with them.”
Examples???
———
Everyone trying to trade for Saltalamacchia, Teagarden, Matt Clement.
These catchers are also potential bats and some are quite likely to be moved to positions of need, such as Romine to a corner outfield spot. Not all will make it and not all of the pitchers are going to make it. I’d guess that only one out of four or five of drafted pitchers will even see the major leagues.
“There’s no “within” to play third base when ARod sits. DeRosa would help a lot, there.”
No offense but I don’t want DeRosa. There is no need for him at 3B, I say give El Nino his ABs and let him defend the corner and SS and 2B when he is called upon to do so. Trading away talent for a 1yr guy in DeRosa is not something I’m high on.
“Not sure why Qualls has such a high tag.”
Because relief help is in pretty high demand?
—-
Qualls does not have the ‘closer’ tag on him which artificially increases a player’s price. Not to mention he is not an elite talent and currently sports a 4.39 ERA.
Relief help being in high demand or not does not mean a GM should have prohibitively high trade demands for a middle reliever, the most volatile of MLB commodities.
Qualls has also had forearm pain that he’s pitched through all year, the guy is draped in a red flag for any team interested in acquiring him, and I can only hope it’s not the Yankees.
Actually I was incorrect about that, that must be why the price is so high. Qualls is the D-backs closer now?
I would name all of my relievers closer if it increased their value this much.
“Jared Saltalamachia…meet Mark Texiara.”
That was Harrison, Saltlamacchia, Andrus and Feliz.
Be like the Yankees trading IPK, Romine, McAllister and their best middle infield prospect.
Texas did all they could to move one of their catching prospects over the offseason and could not get what they felt they needed.
Certainly if a Austin Romine was part of a package like that, then a high end player would come back in return. By himself? Not so much.
I don’t know why everybody just talks about DeRosa. I know he can play multiple positions. But there are other players out there. The Yanks should have gone after Brandon Inge who was begging to get traded from the Tigers. He can play third and be a back-up catcher.
Can anybody think of other options besides DeRosa, somebody who can play third and one or two more positions?
“Actually I was incorrect about that, that must be why the price is so high. Qualls is the D-backs closer now?”
He’s been their closer all season.
I wouldn’t pay big for him, but I feel like the Yankees can solve any bullpen issues, real or imagined, from within.
The problem with Brandon Inge, is the Tigers didn’t want to trade him. He isn’t on a 1 yr deal. Is younger, and would have cost a crap ton more than DeRosa. DeRosa would upgrade our bench significantly, he can play every position on the field except 1 and 2.
“Everyone trying to trade for Saltalamacchia, Teagarden, Matt Clement.”
Yet none of them were moved.
Tigers wanted alot for Inge, they weren’t just giving him away. If DeRosa is the plan we are already off to a bad start. They need some relief help and OF defense and unless the price is decent I wouldn’t and I hope Cashman doesn’t either.
Just let Ramiro Pena play the part time role he has a decent bat and can do some things when given PT.
“Can anybody think of other options besides DeRosa, somebody who can play third and one or two more positions?”
Blalock….maybe. Teahen.
If we got DeRosa he would play a lot more than once a week.
He’d play once a week for ARod. He’d be an enormous offensive upgrade over Pena, Berroa or Ransom.
He’d play once a week for Damon, who has been missing games in LF.
He’d play once a week or so for Swisher.
He could occasionally spell Cano and Jeter (while he hasn’t played SS this year, he has played 30+ games at each of SS and 2B in 2008 and 2007).
We’d send down Pena (if Nady was already up for Berroa) or Berroa if Nady can’t play.
He’d be worth it this year. I’d explore the trade, at least, if I were Cashman.
Blalock can only “play” the field, he is another DH type who is useless against lefties and basically only hits for power. Teahen is intriguing, solid and versatile player but the price tag would probably be too high since he seems like someone the Royals want to keep around as they build, and I believe he is still under their arbitration control next year (but might be wrong). Still he would be a great pick-up because he can play the corner OF spots well and also can play 3rd.
“If we got DeRosa he would play a lot more than once a week.”
You can’t guarantee that. The infield players other than Al will get 1 day off per week and then it moves up to once every 10 days. Other than RF which if healthy Nady takes over, I don’t see a spot for DeRosa. There is no need to morgage anything in the farm for this player. I’d be ROYALLY pissed if Z-Mac or Austin Romine become FT players in the ML level. This is not a need.
An ageing team doesn’t need to age anymore. We actually need to find a way to unload Matsui or Nady for BP or young talent. Other wise this team will continue getting old infront of our very own eyes.
“We actually need to find a way to unload Matsui or Nady for BP or young talent”
The only way to unload Matsui is having his contract run out. Nobody’s trading for him. Nady? Who knows? Can he play the field? Tough spot for the Yankees because they’d have to play Nady at the expense of someone else in order to build his value. Seems like Cashman is against the idea of moving one of the extra OF’s anyway.
I think how and if Nady comes back will dictate how Cashman approaches acquiring a bat. He would probably look to be more stingy with prospects if X can actually play the field efficiently and regains his swing relatively quickly. However, if he’s in pain and has a sub-Damon throwing arm in right, Cash has to be aggressive in looking for another corner OFer.
High level prospect trades don’t happen very often. That’s my point. Overloading at catcher (or any other position) does not make sense no matter how you look at it.
I wanted Inge in the off-season when Detroit DID want to move him. Now the guy is having a helluva year and the Tigers are in the first place and he’s not going anywhere.
Can’t think of anyone quite like DeRosa out there right now but I’m looking. Bill Hall maybe? Ronnie Belliard used to be that kind of guy but he’s having a miserable year.
We had 0 need for Inge in the offseason.
I agree they shouldn’t give up “A-List” prospects for DeRosa… but who knows what the price is? If he can be had for Kontos and Russo for example you do it. If the price is McAllister or Romine no way.
It wouldn’t hurt Pena to be in Scanton playing every day the second half of the season, but my guess is that DeRosa stays in Cleveland and Pean stays in the Bronx and that’s okay. Nady for Berroa is enough improvement for me.
If Wang settles in I think Hughes will stay in the pen the rest of the way joining Bruney as part of the bridge to Mariano… that’s pretty strong.
The Yankees made progress towards getting younger and more athletic last off-season swapping Mussina/Pavano for Burnett and Sabathia plus Giambi for Teixiera. That progress will continue next year with an aging group of FA in Damon, Matsui, Nady, Pettite and Molina most of whom will not return. That’s more than $ 40 Million right there.
Coach 6423 —
Zero need for Inge in the off-season? The Yanks had a number one catcher coming off surgery and a backup who was proven to be incapable of playing every day plus absolutely no backup who could play 3B.
Good point.