Here’s the pitch …
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Aug 24, 2009 
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The Yankees have three special guests tossing out first pitches this week:
Tuesday: U.S. Open golf champion Lucas Glover, who’s actually a Yankees fan.
Thursday: Tennis star Andy Roddick.
Friday: Tennis star Serena Williams.
————
Of more interest is that Francisco Cervelli played for the Gulf Coast League team today in Florida. He’s rehabbing an injury and the Yankees hope to get him ready for a September call-up. That will be welcome news to cougars in the metropolitan area.
Slade Heathcott (1 for 3) made his pro debut today. J.R. Murphy was 2 for 4 today and is 6 of 15 in four games. Clearly he’s the next Johnny Bench.
We couldn’t get any of the countless folks who have beaten Andy Roddick?
Pete,
Any idea if Roger Federer will throw out the first pitch??
phil, LOL…
Aw, no low blows on Roddick, guys. He’s the last U.S. men’s champion in a tennis major–back in the days before Federer started hogging all the major tournaments.
I love this time: Baseball pennant fever and the U.S. Open. Woohoo!
What happened to getting hot girls to throw out the first pitch like the dodgers do?
Maybe arod can throw it out to THE ARod!
Andy! I don’t care what people think about Roddick. I love the guy.
DT,
LOL @ your confetti joke. “Look at all the beautiful children”.
Weird stats: Philly’s only 3 games over .500 at home. Detroit is 20 games over at home.
Pete, do you know how the rotation stacks up over the next 5 games? Are they going to pitch Mitre and Gaudin again and give the main 3 an extra days rest?
you gotta have faith (aceves, you da man!) August 24th, 2009 at 4:00 pm
boo i hate days off booooooo
================
best post of the day.
wow, I didn’t even know Frankie was hurt……..
Lee is 5-0 with a 0.68 ERA after his start against the Mets today.
The Yankees.com rotation has the next 4 games as
Chamberlain vs. Millwood
Pettitte vs. Holland
Burnett vs. Nippert
Mitre vs. Burhlee
ya, what happened to cisco kid rehab?
Is he hunted by cougars?
That’s funny, Clark. I thought it had already been announced that Mitre would pitch Tuesday and Joba on Wednesday. Maybe they changed it because Mitre pitched in relief the other day.
I just checked ESPN and they dont show Mitre pitching at all this week. They have Joba, Andy, AJ, CC & Gaudin.
Hopefully Pete can clear it up.
“Mitre vs. Burhlee”
It’s a good thing we usually smoke Buerhle because God knows what we are going to get from Mitre.
Wow, Lee is pitching great…why can’t we have an ace like that???
just kidding, I like our pitching staff
millwood, holland, nippert have all been throwing well. never heard of the last one. who’s mitre?
Copied from the last thread:
I have a question about the Wang situation:
If the Yankees non-tender him then he becomes a free agaent and can sign anywhere else…but do the Yankees receive compensation (draft picks) from the team that signs him?
Dustin Nippert at one point was a big prospect with Arizona–seems to have found his game in Texas. Texas is a good team but the Yankees will be expecting to win 2 out of 3. Since Chamberlain and Pettitte are apparently huge question marks, I can assume that the Yankees will be lucky to win 2 games.
Yankees are not non-tendering their Wang.
Love that Joe Torre–odds on which LAD reliever has their arm fall off first?
It seems like the Yankees draw Millwood every time that they face the Rangers. Kind of a good thing to miss Feldman, but of course you can’t get too caught up in matchups.
I don’t like Andy Murray, but he may have been another decent choice to throw out the first pitch. Hard courts are his favorite surface and he’s my third favorite for next week, behind Fed and Roddick.
The Yankees will most likely non-tender him. Better to get prepared for it now rather than be shocked later.
No draft pick compensation when you non-tender a player.
The Mets are truly jinxed!!! Their manager just announced that Johan Santana will miss his start tomorrow and go see Dr. Altcheck because of pain in his pitching arm.
Cervelli isn’t hitting well and his defense has been terrible in the few games in Tampa. Oddly, he’s been more productive in the majors than he has been in the minors this year.
Well one of Mitre/Gaudin will start Friday I guess.
We know the Texas series starters.
The Yankees will most likely non-tender him. Better to get prepared for it now rather than be shocked later.
No draft pick compensation when you non-tender a player.
——————————————————-
SJ,
Thanks for the reply to my question.
Cougars? Did he hook up with an old lady or something? I’m confused. It seems like there’s a good backstory there somewhere that is not being explained.
Thanks for the updates, Pete. Heathcott must be thrilled to be making his debut. It’s so strange following a top draft pick that’s NOT a pitcher.
“The Mets are truly jinxed!!! Their manager just announced that Johan Santana will miss his start tomorrow and go see Dr. Altcheck because of pain in his pitching arm.”
This is fake, right? No way can that be real. Also, if it’s real, I hope all those winter 2007 complaints about not trading for Johan can finally be put to rest.
Laura,
Consolation prize is that we do face Contreras and Freddy Garcia this weekend, against Pettitte/CC.
Johan Santana not making his start tomorrow. He’s got discomfort in his left elbow and will be seeing Dr. Alchek…I think he was feeling this since the ASB, but 1050 isn’t coming in very well and I couldn’t be sure that’s what I heard correctly.
The Santanta to the Yankees non-trade is looking more fortuitous every day.
Geez, Andrew…is it really necessary to be saracastic? WE disagree about NEXT year and you can’t drop it already?
You know who would be the perfect fit?
Jim Thome. Big lefty bat who will hit like 50 HRs in this park. Fills Matsui’s spot as the DH and we upgrade our offense.
I’m interested in why they would non-tender Wang, given the history of taking Octavio Dotel as well as Humberto Sanchez, and nursing both through TJ procedures.
In arb he should get that much,, correct? No more than $4-5 million, based on his 09 stats? Isn’t the upside worth the risk? If he bombs in 10, you go for Halliday. If not, you have him.
I’m curious as to the counterpoint to this.
GB, that’s very disappointing. Maybe we should not be marking Cervelli in as the backup next year, huh?
“The Yankees will most likely non-tender him. Better to get prepared for it now rather than be shocked later.”
SJ44, I refuse to believe that the Yankees would be that heartless after everything that Wang has gone through. I know that this is a business, but it would be cruel to do that to him.
LOL so true… will Andy or Joba even record an out this week? They do suck, after all…
Bet ya Serena has more heat than CC.
“Consolation prize is that we do face Contreras and Freddy Garcia this weekend, against Pettitte/CC.”
Good. We need to give them some payback from that fiasco of a series here in Chicago.
Yanks caught another break in missing Scott Feldman of Texas. He’s probably been their best pitcher this year. I believe Millwood is going to be missing, too.
Francessa comes on after the Mets postgame, FYI
Should have some warm and fuzzy thoughts on the weekend (except for Saturday lol)
Johan Santana discomfort in left elbow will miss next start.
Ok, whoever has that voodoo doll enough IT’S NOT FUNNY!
“Cougars? Did he hook up with an old lady or something? I’m confused. It seems like there’s a good backstory there somewhere that is not being explained.”
Cervelli’s quite popular with some of the ladies in here although I can’t be positive if their age qualifies them for actual cougar status.
“Jim Thome. Big lefty bat who will hit like 50 HRs in this park. Fills Matsui’s spot as the DH and we upgrade our offense.”
If we aren’t keeping Matsui, we most certainly don’t need Thome. He can’t play the field either. We might as well keep Godzilla.
Feldman pitched well against us in the stadium earlier this year.. 7 IP, 2 runs I think
Rooting hard for the Rockies
Being 15.5 games out and then overtaking the Dodgers would be epic.
Hey come on, sarcasm is great. No personal offense intended betsy
“Ok, whoever has that voodoo doll enough IT’S NOT FUNNY!”
Tell me about it. At first, maybe you took some joy in the Mets doing so poorly. Now, you’d have to be a heartless bastard to be enjoying their situation. Not sure who in that organization pissed off God, but they need to apologize and pray for forgiveness….and do it soon.
With the negative posts that are here when the Yankees lose, imagine what this place would be like if they had all the problems the Mets are having.
“Jim Thome. Big lefty bat who will hit like 50 HRs in this park. Fills Matsui’s spot as the DH and we upgrade our offense.”
Thome is an interesting idea but 2 reasons maybe not:
1. He’s a DH only and the Yanks seem to want someone who can play the field as well.
2. He’s basically a better Nick Swisher at the plate – he has a high OBP, good power, low BA, high KO rate. I’d like to see someone who puts the ball in play more personally (although I like Nick).
GB7
Wasn’t Cervelli hitting something like .190 in AA when we originally brought him up?
Go figure.
Can’t believe the Santana elbow injury. Unreal that literally every big-name Met outside of K-Rod has been hurt this year. If I’m K-Rod I am wrapping myself in a bubble for the rest of the year.
Anyone know what Injury Frankie C had? I forgot and cant find the info anywhere?
Francessa on now
Johan Santana will see Dr. Altcheck b/c of elbow problems.
2009 Mets, ladies and gentlemen
I’m a little comfused as to why Betsy is getting drilled today……..The Yanks do have rotation concerns come 2010……Wang will be on the mend, Pettite is a qustion mark, Kennedy may or may not be ready…..So that leaves Aceves, Miltre…….Matsui and his 25 longballs will be gone ( maybe in Seattle ), and does anyone really believe Johnny Damon will hit another 25 homers and have the same season, or will he have more frequent day to day status situations in 2010…..Cashamn will continue to rework the club in order to get more youthful and atheletic…..Yeah 2009 looks good, but I wouldn’t count on the roster to look the same come 2010…..I can see at least a 20 % turn over
Red Sox have a tough series coming up against the Jays–Romero and Halliday. The WC is going to be very interesting.
“Cervelli’s quite popular with some of the ladies in here although I can’t be positive if their age qualifies them for actual cougar status.”
I’m too young to be a cougar, but I think I qualify for snow leopard status (which comes out this Friday BTW).
Yes, I know. That was a shameless Apple plug. So sue me.
Andrew, I love sarcasm, lol…..really, I use it all the time. I’m just a bit sensitive right now……..
Its not a question of being cruel. Its the business reality of today’s baseball.
What the Yankees did in the past business-wise is not relevent for several reasons…
1. They are paying significant debt service on a new stadium. That’s a billion dollar debt that has to be paid and that impacts decisionmaking.
2. Baseball economics have changed. Sponsorship and ticket sales are down industry-wide. Teams are making more and more of an investment in younger players with the hopes that you can fill holes for 400K that used to cost 5 million on your big league roster.
3. Humberto Sanchez was never making this kind of money so comparing Wang’s situation to his is not relevent. The Dotel experiment failed and is one reason why the Yankees won’t tie up that kind of money in a rehab project.
Arbitration is not just a stats argument. By rules in the CBA, Wang cannot take more than (IIRC) a 20% paycut. Concievably, he could go to arbiration and actually get a raise from this season. Its happened in the past.
The rehab timeframe for his surgery is 6-10 months, with it being closer to 10 months than 6 months.
Given that timeframe, which takes them into the 2010 regular season, it makes zero fiscal sense to not non-tender him, given the current marketplace.
If he is interested in returning, they can work out a smaller deal with incentives.
Personally, I think he is looking for a fresh start elsewhere and the Yankees are uninterested in paying him 5 million dollars to rehab.
You can’t keep going back to past arguments of, “they did it before” because, in most of those cases, they were the wrong move.
Teams that don’t learn from past mistakes never get better.
Look at how the Yankees have operated the last few years under Hal and Cash. They aren’t wasting money on anybody anymore. Those days are gone.
Johan needs surgery rumor is out for the season.
Andrew
August 24th, 2009 at 4:47 pm
Can’t believe the Santana elbow injury. Unreal that literally every big-name Met outside of K-Rod has been hurt this year. If I’m K-Rod I am wrapping myself in a bubble for the rest of the year.
—————————————————-
Maybe he ought to just say see ya next spring.
“patrick-
i think you forgot the “c” in “rap”.
i’m very happy with the team and the way the season is going , but it was a shame to burn wang the way they did. i see it as sheer negligence on the yankees part. ”
Nah, don’t sell yourself short, you have good insight when it comes to Wang. The only problem is, we’ve all heard it a thousand times by now
I agree, there has been some negligence when it comes to Wang this year. The Yanks did a poor job of rehabbing his foot/ankle. They also called him back too soon. It also probably didn’t help spending a few weeks in the bullpen.
I’m not convinced the shoulder issue is the team’s fault but I just don’t have the medical background to say so for sure.
Whatever, we’ve rehashed this issue thousands of times on the blog. I hope Wang returns to the Yankees because I love watching him pitch and I think he can still be a winning pitcher. If he doesn’t come back I understand why not but it will probably be a mistake.
Quietly, Swisher has had a very underrated year
25 doubles, 20 HRs, on pace for close to 100 RBIs and a .370 OBP.
Not bad.
Oh man if that’s true about Santana..just shut him down as a precaution for the rest of the year, what’s the point in fooling around?
What was that about “sometimes the best trades are the ones you don’t make”?
Cash had it right – you don’t give up big $$$ AND 3-4 blue chip prospects for one guy, especially a pitcher. It’s too high a price.
“Ok, whoever has that voodoo doll enough IT’S NOT FUNNY!”
I think I say this after something else bad happens to the Mets, but nothing good is going to come to them until they do good by Willie Randolph.
You don’t fire someone who’s as good as a person as Willie is and expect to have good karma, cause that ain’t happening lol.
If the Wilpon’s really want to change their karma they must fire Omar and his chronies in such an embarassing fashion that people will be feeling sorry for their mama’s lol. JMO
Pat M
Convince Pettitte to come back for one more year and you have Joba, Hughes, Pettitte, AJ, and CC. This is a rotation that I would take any day. Maybe they use Wang in relief until they figure out what he has left post surgery–I think they keep him, by the way.
Matsui is gone, Damon may sign for a 2 year incentive laden contract. The rest of the guys stay on.
Middle relief is always a crapshoot. The only issues for the postseason are replacing Matsui’s production (preferably with a younger LF) and decideing whether to non-tender Wang.
Pat M-
20% turnover isn’t that much turnover – 5 guys, right?
Molina, Gaudin, Hinske, Hairston, Mitre, Bruney, Damon, Matsui, Pettitte seem the likely list to choose from.
They can’t do better than Andy for the money, assuming he’ll take another home town discount. Damon looks like he’s coming back. I don’t see much turnover, myself.
If memory serves me, didn’t he get a concussion? Frankie that is. Don’t quote me cause I am not sure.
SJ–all great points.
Wang had his surgery already, so he should be ready by spring, correct? When is the non-tender deadline?
I agree that maybe they can work out a deal for smaller $$$$ that avoids the non-tender. This may be the best for both sides.
If Wang does come back, you have a front line starter (worth $13-15 million) for $5-6 million for a few years left of his arb. Is that worth the risk?
“I’m too young to be a cougar, but I think I qualify for snow leopard status (which comes out this Friday BTW).
Yes, I know. That was a shameless Apple plug. So sue me.”
Are you trying to say that you’re interested in Cervelli’s hard drive ?
What’s with the cougar reference Pete? Never could get the “age requirement” straight, is it 35? 40?
Perhaps Cervelli threw his back out?
“Personally, I think he is looking for a fresh start elsewhere and the Yankees are uninterested in paying him 5 million dollars to rehab.”
What makes you think that? He’s always seemed happy to be a Yankee. Who wouldn’t be? Isn’t Joba his best friend?
Willie should send Omar a thank you card.
SJ
A last point. You really think Wang wants a fresh start elsewhere? He seems to love NY…
He had the surgery but, its the rehab that’s time consuming.
Its also his second major shoulder surgery in his career. That’s usually a death knell for pitchers.
Its highly doubtful the “old Wang” will be back next year. Making a 5 million dollar investment with him unlikely.
Its a shame at what happened to the guy. Unfortunately, it has happened and you have to deal with the fallout.
The fallout being that its not good business to pay a guy 5 million dollars who probably can’t pitch until next July in a major league game.
“Are you trying to say that you’re interested in Cervelli’s hard drive ?”
Maybe Pete can weigh in on Wang. He did write the book on him, after all…
If I had to put money down, I’d say the Yankees don’t non-tender Wang.
“The Yanks do have rotation concerns come 2010……Wang will be on the mend, Pettite is a qustion mark, Kennedy may or may not be ready…..So that leaves Aceves, Miltre”
Again, it’s about perspective.
EVERY team has rotation concerns EVERY year. Is Pettitte a “question mark”. Yeah, okay, but he’s LESS of a question mark that MOST team have.
There are few if any rotations in baseball that are going to throw out 5 solid guys every 5th day who are going to pitch well into the 6th inning.
Next year Boston has the suddenly ineffective Beckett, Lester and who? Is Pettitte any more of a question mark than Wakefield?
No one is saying that Yankees won’t have question marks.
OK, then if Wang is gone, you try to convince Pettitte to stay and go for Roy Halliday big time in 2011?
Friday: Tennis star Serena Williams
yum.
I don’t believe he’s happy with the way he has been treated in NY.
The arbitration thing was tough on him. Made tougher by his agents complete lack of preparation but, that’s a seperate issue.
I heard, and perhaps Randy can verify, Wang was really hurt by what was said about him in the arbitration hearing.
Some guys, like Jeter and Mo for example, understand its a rough process and deal with the negativity hurled their way by the team. I understand Wang was really hurt by it.
Couple that with the botched rehab on his foot, and I think he is looking for a fresh start somewhere.
Perhaps he and the Yankees conduct peace talks in the off-season and after he is non-tendered, they work something out.
At this point though, I would be shocked if he isn’t non-tendered. When that happens, I think he will see it as a “last straw” with the Yankees and move on.
“They can’t do better than Andy for the money, assuming he’ll take another home town discount”
Wasn’t a hometown discount as much as it was a “sing for your supper” contract. He’s going to make $10.5M minimum this year and probably $11.25M (he’ll likely miss on getting to 210 innings and the corresponding $750,000.00, but will satisfy all other incentives).
wow quiet day in Yankee Universe…i hate not having a game
Tossing around numbers like $5MM for Wang is Yankee thinking from the 2002-2008 period. IMO, those days are over.
I suspect there’s no room in the Yankee budget to give Wang that kind of contract, even if they wanted to. It would come at the expense of another starter or an offensive player, which the Yanks can’t afford to do, IMO.
Krod had back spasms during their series in Fenway Park. That’s why Putz had to close the game where Santos hit the go-ahead HR off Papelbon.
“Wasn’t a hometown discount as much as it was a “sing for your supper” contract. He’s going to make $10.5M minimum this year and probably $11.25M (he’ll likely miss on getting to 210 innings and the corresponding $750,000.00, but will satisfy all other incentives).”
I say poTAYto, you say poTAHto…
If Wang wants to come back, then let him rehab on his own and when he is healthy, he can sign a minor league deal with us and go to Scranton.
“I heard, and perhaps Randy can verify, Wang was really hurt by what was said about him in the arbitration hearing.”
I wish the transcript from the hearing was made public record. I’d be curious to hear what was said that hurt his feelings so much. I guess I’m surprised that he doesn’t understand that the Yankees are a corporation, who like every other corporation in the world, is looking to pay their employees the least amount of money that they can. He’s a big boy; he should have known better. Maybe it’s the language thing.
“Friday: Tennis star Serena Williams
yum.”
I see that vinny is a fan of Serena’s assets.
Laura,
It’s a cultural thing, I think. Most Asians aren’t blunt, and aren’t expected to hear such criticisms. Even if it is part of the “process”.
Not going to find many better starts than Andy on the trade market.
You almost have to bring him back. Who is our #5 starter if he doesn’t come back? Kennedy? Gaudin?
Hal is not going to touch the free agent market (Lackey, Brett Myers etc.), and the options are mostly underwhelming anyway.
Glover is a Clemson grad. He’s on billboards and little ads all over here (Clemson Campus). I suppose this means we’re very proud of him.
“It’s a cultural thing, I think. Most Asians aren’t blunt, and aren’t expected to hear such criticisms. Even if it is part of the “process”.”
The whole thing is very unfortunate. I really like Wang. He seems like a good kid. He has just hit a rough patch these last two years. Hopefully, his future will be brighter.
“Johan needs surgery rumor is out for the season.”
During the whole controversy about whether the yankees should trade for Santana it was said over and over again by people who were pushing for the trade was that the yankees needed to get Santana because he was an “ace” and he was a “veteran.”
It was argued again and again that Santana was a sure thing. While Phil Hughes was a complete unknown.
You had no idea what you were going to get from Hughes.
But Santana was a given. No questions asked. He was a definite.
The young players – they were pure risk.
And there was the usual yankee fan dismissive attitude that any one who didn’t think the deal was a good idea was just becoming overly infatuated with “prospects.”
At the time many people who were weary of the trade brought up the fact that Santana’s stuff was down and that was a real concern.
Didn’t matter. Santana was a veteran and an “ace” and therefore was a given.
All the risk was with Hughes and Kennedy, etc.
What a disaster trading for Santana would have been.
In his last start Santana’s fastball was barely breaking 90mph. His average velocity was 88 with a max of 91.
Last night CC’s average velocity was a hair over 95mph and his max was 98 mph.
CC hit 98 on the 112th pitch he threw, IIRC.
And we’ve all seen what Hughes has become – once again last night he was dominant.
Right now you wouldn’t even think of trading Hughes one up for Santana.
But over and over we keep hearing these cliched arguments in which people assume that veterans are a given and prospects are pure risk.
We heard this same tired argument over Jarrod Washburn at the trade deadline.
Who knows what Austin Jackson will become, etc. etc. Washburn is a veteran.
Not trading for Santana was the foundational move for the team we’re watching on the field right now and the one we’ll be watching for the next several years.
Turned out Santana was the risky one.
It was pretty bush for them to chew Wang out in arbitration.
The guy just won 19 games, pitched well against Detroit in the playoffs, and was a young ace.
Rather than giving him an extra 450K, they went to arbitration and had to point out his flaws to his face. They spent 450K on Russ Ortiz. Was it really worth it?
CB,
There were quite a few people who questioned whether or not Santana was a smart move at the time because he lost a few ticks and was giving up a copious amount of homeruns.
Santana would’ve been a good pickup imo (not in hindsight, but at the time), but I was really stuck on the talent that would’ve gone to the Twins.
CB
I think if we could revisit all the proposals that were made here from last winter to the trade deadline, we would be some glad Cashman wasn’t doing those deals.
Cougars? Did he hook up with an old lady or something? I’m confused. It seems like there’s a good backstory there somewhere that is not being explained.
—————————–
It seems that the ladies of lohud…are the cougars pete is refering to…
I honestly think that the yankees might spend a little bit more money AGAIN this year..AND i think it’s going to be on pitching rather than hitting (OF). except resigning Damon..
I think the Yankees will try to lure and sign Lackey or Rich Hardnen, sign Wang to a AAA contract with a big increase once he gets to the majors and production incentives, and I think the will make a big splash and sign Chapman.
BUT, i DONT think they will sign any hitters, such as: Bay,Holliday, etc…they have swisher,a RESIGNED Damon,Melky,Gardner, and AJAX on the way, they dont need to spend a ton of Money on a Holliday or Bay for hitting, the yankees have enough hitting. If they want more production from an OF they can bring up the Power of SHELLEY!!!!!
Fri Aug 28 Buehrle vs Mitre,at Yankee stadium what’s wrong with this picture? Uhm…..
m,
I agree. It’s very ironic that so many yankee fans are enamored with Hughes now but couldn’t wait to get rid of him two years ago.
Cashman was excoriated for that by fans and the media because he was “falling in love” with his prospects.
That trade would have been an utter disaster, especially if there’s anything wrong with his elbow.
To give up talent and that much money for a guy whose stuff might be deteriorating was a huge risk and a risk not fully understood by those who thought it was a slam dunk you have to make it move.
It wasn’t an easy call on whether to go through with the deal or not. Both sides had good points.
But all too often people make veterans out to be almost no risk and prospects all risk.
Every ball player has risks. That’s just the way it goes.
They didn’t spend 450K on Russ Ortiz. He was a Yankee for a couple of weeks and his contract was prorated for the time he was in the organization.
Arbitration is what it is. Its not about being “nice”. Its about winning your case.
That’s the business side of the game.
jake [bring back shelley]
Shelly could join his brother after the season. DFA
Nothing against Shelly just being realistic.
Why are the Yankees starting Mitre against the White Sox? Start him against the Rangers, along with Joba and Gaudin. If they’re going to give themselves a disadvantge in the game, then do it against Texas.
ANDY RODDICK!!! Love him. He showed so much grit in that Wimbeldon, my heart broke for him when he lost. I hate Federer. He’s like the Yankees of tennis, but NOT in a good way hahaha.
What makes Pete think any of the females who post on here are cougars?