Why can’t the Yanks get players like that?
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- September
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Have you noticed what Brett Tomko is doing in Oakland? He blanked the Rangers last night, throwing nine scoreless innings and allowing five hits without a walk. Tomko is 4-1 with a 2.95 ERA in six starts for Oakland.
Yes, 4-1 with a 2.95 ERA. I’m not making that up.
The Yankees never quite got on the same page as Tomko. He was lights out in spring training as a starter then they sent him to Scranton as a short reliever. He was terrific in that role then they brought him to the majors as a long man and rarely used him.
In the big picture, it doesn’t really matter much. The Yankees are going to the playoffs anyway. But it does seem they acted a bit rashly with Tomko.
Meanwhile, the Yankees will send out Sergio Mitre and his 7.02 ERA to the mound tonight to face Roy Halladay. Joe Girardi loves him some “Serge” and he has had some decent moments as a Yankee. But maybe Tomko would have been a wiser choice.
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on Tuesday, September 15th, 2009 at 12:32 pm by Peter Abraham.
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Chad Jennings
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Really? Complaining about Brett Bombko? He had a 5.23 ERA in 20 innings with the yankees. He is having some success, but its september and he is on a team with no hopes or aspirations.
And he has far less ‘upside’ than Sergio Mitre
You can’t blame Girardi for that Pete, Cashman makes the roster moves. You also can’t assume that Tomko would have performed on the same level for a 1st placed teams vs. a last place team.
Mitre is serviceable as a #5, Tomko wouldn’t have made a difference when it’s all said and done, neither would have a roster spot in the post season anyways.
“Meanwhile, the Yankees will send out Sergio Mitre and his 7.02 ERA to the mound tonight to face Roy Halladay. Joe Girardi loves him some “Serge” and he has had some decent moments as a Yankee. But maybe Tomko would have been a wiser choice.”
Tomko is pitching for the “going nowhere” A’s. Who knows how he would have pitched on the big stage with us in games that mattered? Looking back never makes sense. Second guessing decisions that can’t be changed is pointless. What’s done is done. We’ve got bigger fish to fry.
Nice for Tomko. Otherwise, yawn. No guarantee he’s pitching these kinds of games for the Yankees despite his results in meaningless games for Oakland. Mitre, Tomko and Gaudin are all the same kind of pitcher: fringe major league regulars who could fit in either a bullpen or the back of a rotation. Tomko happens to be on a huge hot streak right now, whereas Mitre has been atrocious in a number of games, so this kind of thing gets discussed.
I knew it! As soon as I saw the link, I knew it was about Brett Tomko. Seems like he and Kurt Suzuki make a great battery.
Just kidding. They showed a nice picture of the two hugging after the game. BTW where was the game played?
Wah, wah to all the people who cry about Tomko. He hooked on as a reliever because he couldn’t start anywhere, right? Who knew that he’d be a good starter this season? He couldn’t even handle long relief. Or handle inherited runners.
I’m not a big Mitre or Gaudin fan. But we’re talking Tomko, Mitre, and Gaudin here. Last guy picked for a pickup game kind of thing.
I see it was in Arlington. Impressive.
The Power Serge!
The Sergen General!
It’s a shame John Sterling doesn’t spout such nicknames for the Yankee pitchers.
Anyway, there’s a team option for Mitre. They weren’t going to let him go after investing in his rehab. Moot point. And Gaudin came into the picture later. Who was Tomko released for?
And Tomko should be thankful to the Yankees, he got to go to the friendly confines of the Colliseum and resurrect his career as a starter.
Tomko pitched 20 innings for the Yankees. He didn’t really get a chance.
As I wrote in the post, it doesn’t really matter. I get that. But it does seem they acted a little too quickly on the guy, thats all.
Why do people get so angry? Relax.
Playing in Oakland…and playing in NY are completely different animals!
That’s all I’m going to say…
Didn’t see the new thread. Some thoughts on the MVP race –
I agree that Joe Mauer should be the MVP if the season were to end today.
But if you take the argument for why Mauer should win over Jeter to it’s logical conclusion, if you want to stick to those principles, the guy who is really getting the short end of the stick in the MVP conversation isn’t Mauer – it’s Zach Greinke.
If you want to make the purist argument for MVP based on the idea that MVP shouldn’t come from the team that wins but should go to the player who has contributed more to his particular team than any other (regardless of where that team is in the standings) then Greinke really might be the MVP.
Mauer is having a historic season – but that doesn’t change the fact that he was hurt for a month and contributed no value to his team during that stretch.
Given that and Greinke’s brilliance this year, I’d guess that Zach Greinke is very close to Mauer in contributing to his team winning and might be ahead of him by years end.
I’d have to do some research on it, but I think by the very argument that keeps being made for why Mauer should win – by those principles – Zach Greinke should actually be the MVP.
Can’t change the past. Good luck to Tomko. Go get em Mitre
m, Tomko was DFA’d to make room for Sergio Mitre ahead of the Sergen General’s first start in pinstripes.
Let tomko pitch great in oakland. Who cares. Sure things could have been handled differently. Does it really matter? Nobody could have predicted(even tomko), how well he would be performing out on the west coast.
Pete,
I might have missed you explaining this earlier, but why is Mitre pitching tonight instead of Gaudin? After his last start you’d think they’d throw him back out there.
But it does seem they acted a little too quickly on the guy
–
He has an entire baseball cards worth of stats that say he isn’t very good. He is also 36. I think their scouts and baseball guys probably said, you know what? Tomko’s probably not going to be our guy. He gives up too many fly balls in a stadium that isn’t good for that as a righty and we have a guy that is a groundball machine who is young and has an option.
I guess its semi-interesting that he is doing well in a pitcher’s park for a last place team, but any sort of hindsight analysis is kind of lame when you consider all the facts.
Andrew is right, I think.
It’s great for Brett Tomko, and he will probably get a contract for next year based on his recent performance (listen up, Mets).
But whether it’s Brett Tomko, Chad Gaudin, Sergio Mitre, or Paul Byrd, they are veteran ML pitchers trying to prolong their careers. Brett maybe a really decent guy (he is, from what I’ve read), but as a pitcher he is mediocre, as are the rest of this category – some hot streaks, some cold ones.
And, as Pete and others have said – at the major league level, talent trumps anything else.
I’m sorry if Tomko is an after-thought to me. But the Tomko we saw in New York is not the Tomko we see now. So this is second-guessing.
That’s why I asked what move was made when he was released. I don’t think it was for Mitre. Had to be someone else. So it wasn’t a choice of either/or.
So, yes Tomko wasn’t given much of a chance. But he wasn’t a starter with us. He was a reliever, and not a very good one from what I recall. I don’t think the Yankees looked at him and thought he’d be a good starter down the stretch. Especially since it would involve stretching him out.
Brett Tomko has pitched well over 36 innings in Oakland.
Brett Tomko has also pitched like crap over his previous 600 innings.
I’m not missing the guy. It’s not like the guy has tremendous upside.
And Pete just some hard stats for you on why Tomko is deceptive and why the Yankees probably didn’t care about releasing him:
K/9 5.18 , and he throws 94 with a curve?
HR/9 1.88 , hm thats the bombko I know!
BABIP .228, and he has been around .300 or more every other season? Sounds like correction waiting to happen
Andrew,
Thanks for that. So he was dfa’ed for mitre who had shown well as a starter in AAA, no? But the point remains that we needed a starter. And Tomko was not one. Were there any other relievers who had options that could’ve gone down instead? I recall it being kind of unexpected.
tentative 2010 schedule:
http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com.....amp;y=2010
west coast trip early
The Yanks don’t make too many mistakes…just look at what the likes of Farnsworth and Veras have done since they were released. But in Tomko’s case, I think they were a little hasty in pulling the trigger. He did really well in the Minors and I think he would have made a better fifth starter than either Mitre or Gaudin. Gaudin was good on his last outing and Mitre has had one or two reasonable starts, but in all honesty, can anyone see them pitching for the Yanks again next season?
Andrew made the point, but, I’ll provide the link:
07/21/09 New York Yankees designated RHP Brett Tomko for assignment.
07/21/09 New York Yankees signed OF Daniel Lopez.
07/21/09 New York Yankees called up RHP Sergio Mitre from Scranton-Wilkes Barre Yankees.
http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com.....eam_id=147
Tomko is still a terrible pitcher. Don’t be fooled by ERA Peter. It’s a deceiving stat. His batting average of balls in play is a mere .228, same as it was with the Yankees. He is still prone to the long ball as he always was. The main factor in his success would be moving to that pitcher’s park in Oakland and his increased strikeout to walk ratio.
bruceb,
The Yankees hold an option for Sergio Mitre. After investing in his rehab, I would imagine they pick it up. If only to give us depth all the way down to Scranton.
Gaudin was good on his last outing and Mitre has had one or two reasonable starts, but in all honesty, can anyone see them pitching for the Yanks again next season?
–
Mitre will be with the yankees next season, and Gaudin may too. Either in the BP or in the minors. Tomko was not going to factor in the yankees plans next season but strong young arms like Mitre and Gaudin most certainly will.
Gaudin is arbitration eligible 2010 and 2011, isn’t a free agent until 2012
Mitre has a 2010 club option
Come on Mitre… I’ll be cheering for you in the creature seats.
Oh my – we are getting worked up over Brett Tomko.
Every pitcher in the major leagues, at one time or another, usually has a Brett Tomko run in them. Doesn’t make them better than what they are though.
When judging Tomko, look at his history. His history more than suggests that the biggest mistake was signing Tomko in the first place.
m, I think around the time that Tomko got DFA’d the Yankees had just yo-yo’ed Albaladejo between NY and Scranton because the bullpen got burned out in Anaheim and they needed another reliever, who turned out to be Melancon. Then (I think, this may not be 100% accurate) they wanted to keep Melancon around but they needed a starter and Mitre had rehabbed and pitched well in Scranton, so Melancon pretty much took Tomko’s job as the mop-up/underused reliever in the bullpen.
Peter Abraham
September 15th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
Tomko pitched 20 innings for the Yankees. He didn’t really get a chance.
As I wrote in the post, it doesn’t really matter. I get that. But it does seem they acted a little too quickly on the guy, thats all.
Why do people get so angry? Relax.
—————————————
Pete, in case you don’t know, Tomko and Cody Ransom were the two biggest ‘whipping boys’ on this blog while they were with the Yankees. It seems like they always need someone on whom to take out their frustrations because the Yankees don’t win every game 15-0 and every once in awhile might make an error. I thought Tomko had good stuff and, since he’s been a serviceable major league pitcher for many years might be able to help but it didn’t work out. I’m pleased to see him do well in Oakland even though he’s pitching in ‘garbage time’ for them.
If Mitre and/or Gaudin are with the Yankees– they will either be in the pen or in the minors— Hughes is going to be starting
CC
Burnett
Pettitte/ Wang– I’m guessing Pettitte will sign for 1 year
Joba
Hughes
What about Brad Penny and John Smoltz? Released by the Red Sox, now pitching well in the National League. I guess the Red Sox aren’t infallable, either.
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/articl.....p;c_id=mlb
Why the heck do we always open or close at fenway???? And never at yankee stadium?!
I swear.
wang will not be in next years rotation. he is out until at least august, more likely all year.
so for depth, the yankees will have cc, aj, joba and phil. should get pettitte back one more year, and try for one or two cheaper veteran options. Depth cannot hurt.
We start and finish the regular season at Fenway? Eh
Jerkface September 15th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
Why the heck do we always open or close at fenway???? And never at yankee stadium?!
I swear.
*******
Another way to make the path to the playoffs more difficult for the Yankees. I swear. Is this set in stone?
Yankees open AND close at Fenway in 2010.
Tex’s friend do not forget that Ian Kennedy will be a part of that starting pitching depth next year. Health permitting and as long as he’s not traded, he should be one of the first guys recalled from Scranton to fill a void in the rotation should there be any injuries or Wang-like ineffectiveness.
Can’t believe we’re lamenting the release of Tomko? It must be a slow news day.
What’s next, a Darrell Rasner live from Japan update?
How’s Matty DeSalvo doing? Is he still “dreamy”?
Pete is 1000% correct.
Go read Mitres baseball card…he has sucked every single day of his baseball life [333% winning %?]…to give him a shot with a contract was inane, then to think he was worth a shot over Tomko…
please God, let us not waste more baseball time on Mitre next year…THIS is the kinda stuff that Cashman does to help us not win…
wait wait wait.
he rival Yankees and Red Sox start and finish a regular season against each other at Fenway Park for the first time since 1950 or one of those American or National League parks you’ve always wanted to cross off your list but haven’t made yet.
___
This is getting ridiculous and Cashman should really be trying to fight this. Boston seems to start AND end at home every year and the yankees seem to get neither one.
Yet the sox start AND end every year at home.
The scheduling always seems to favor boston over the yankees.
do you think the yankees will have more west coast trips than boston again also? or 2 series in anaheim to boston’s one series?
That article has to be the biggest load of garbage i’ve ever read.
Tex’s friend
They’ll probably give us 5 wc trips in Sept since we seemed to survive it this year.
Yanks open up 2010 season at fenway….play mets may 21-23 at citi….june 18,19,20 at yankee
per francesa
Not to sound too Pir-rone-y, but that ESPN.com front page is a bit of a joke. ESPN Chicago probably got a nice rollout, but 2 days in a row of blatant, unabashed all-Boston slurping for the World Wide Leader, in the name of their new affiliate site? Makes me scratch the head a bit.
… you know how some reporters talk about a coach or manager “losing” a player? I think they did that with Tomko. He was brought up, and – like Pete says – rarely used. After having such an effective start to the season, and even being sent down and still thriving… once he came up and wasn’t utilized at all, it’s hard to think that he stayed positive for that long. I don’t think I can blame him, if I was in his shoes.
Glad he’s doing well in Oakland. Wish he was doing it with pinstripes on. Ultimately… alas. Serge won’t be starting in a postseason series without a twitch of fear and nervous anticipation from me.
… any chance that Bronson Pinchot would do a short introducing him when he starts? That would be instant classic.
lets worry about next years schedule in February 2010…
The only two red sox series to be concerned with is the one in late sept… and a possible ALCS Match up…
Round 4 in the Heavy weight bout… yanks up 2-1 btw…
Yanks open up 2010 season at fenway….play mets may 21-23 at citi….june 18,19,20 at yankee
Mac, they also end the year at fenway too.
Anything to help Boston by stacking it against the yankees.
adam…what a post!! great job!!
Glad he’s doing well in Oakland. Wish he was doing it with pinstripes on. Ultimately… alas. Serge won’t be starting in a postseason series without a twitch of fear and nervous anticipation from me.
–
Tomko wouldn’t even be on our postseason roster.
What kind of interleague schedule is that?
Houston? Philadelphia? Dodgers? D’Backs?
Do they pick these names out of a hat?
scott…where did you see that and is that the yanks interleague sched for next year??
So.. we go to Arizona and Los Angeles, come home for 6 games, then go back out to Seattle and Oakland?
These schedules just get worse and worse.
Yankees FULL schedule:
http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com.....amp;y=2010
mitre sucks. he will always suck. unfortunately, I will have to witness him sucking live at the stadium, where there is no volumeknob to turn down
mitre, bruney and marte are my least favorite Yankees
Why are the Yankees @ the Dodgers when last time they played them was in LA? Aren’t they suppose to rotate?
They say AL East vs NL West BUT why are the Yankees playing the Phillies then? Time for interleague to go.
Just before we get too hyped up about Tomko last night, we have to remember that the A’s didnt score until the 6th inning, in which they scored 3. By then, Tomko had thrown 62 pitches, so he was at a decent pace. But, you have to assume that he would’ve been taken out if he was in New York as soon as the lead was obtained. So, he wouldn’t have gotten that shutout. The most pitches he threw in a game with us was 47 in Boston.
What I guess I’m trying to say is that we would’ve never gotten this performance out of Tomko here, period. Now this may be the fault of a bad plan for him from the get go, or maybe he really is riding extra motivation resulting from feeling slighted by the Yankees organization, but I don’t think there’s too much reason to be like “Oh man, we really blew it on this one.” The fact is, we have two guys that can spot start or pitch a couple innings out of the pen, both emerging after Tomko’s departure, and honestly, I’d rather have Sergio and Gaudin coming out of the pen for long relief than Tomko.
I was mostly just upset about losing a hot baseball wife when Tomko left, but then Gaudin brought in his girlfriend, and I’m not so sad anymore.
Thanks Mac D
thx yank…sept a full al east month
Well – this is a little freaking annoying
_____________________________________________________-
Yankees-Red Sox to open 2010 seasonComment Email Print Share Associated Press
NEW YORK — The New York Yankees will open and close the 2010 season against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, just the fifth time in 50 years the rivals both start and finish against each other.
Most openers are set for April 5, Major League Baseball said Tuesday, but it seems likely ESPN will shift the Yankees and Red Sox for the Sunday night game April 4. In the past 50 years, the Yankees also opened and closed against Boston in 1960, 1970, 1992 and 2005, according to STATS LLC. The only times they both started and finished in Boston were 1938 and 1950.
Other AL openers April 5 are: Cleveland at Chicago, Detroit at Kansas City, Minnesota at Los Angeles, Seattle at Oakland and Toronto at Texas. Baltimore starts at Tampa Bay the following day.
All NL teams are to open April 5: San Diego at Arizona, Chicago at Atlanta, St. Louis at Cincinnati, San Francisco at Houston, Colorado at Milwaukee, Florida at New York, Los Angeles at Pittsburgh and Philadelphia at Washington.
Outdoor baseball officially returns to Minneapolis on April 12 when the Minnesota Twins host Boston in the first game that counts at Target Field. Minnesota is to host St. Louis in exhibitions on April 2-3.
Other AL home openers include Cleveland at Detroit and Toronto at Baltimore (April 9); Texas at Cleveland, Oakland at Seattle and Chicago at Toronto (April 12); and Los Angeles at New York (April 13).
In the NL, remaining home openers have San Diego at Colorado, Los Angeles at Florida and Atlanta at San Francisco (April 9); Milwaukee at Chicago, Washington at Philadelphia, Houston at St. Louis and Atlanta at San Diego (April 12); and Arizona at Los Angeles (April 13).
The 14th season of interleague play starts with series from May 21-23 and continues with interleague games from June 11-27. Among the pairings are the Mets at Baltimore in a rematch of the 1969 World Series (June 11-13), Atlanta at Minnesota in a rematch of the 1991 World Series (June 11-13), the Yankees at Arizona in a rematch of the 2001 World Series (June 21-23), Cincinnati at Oakland in a rematch of the 1972 and 1990 World Series (June 21-23), Boston at Colorado in a rematch of the 2007 World Series (June 22-24) and Philadelphia at Toronto in a rematch of the 1993 World Series (June 25-27).
The Yankees and the Dodgers, who met in 10 World Series, play in Los Angeles from June 25-27.
The Los Angeles Angels host the All-Star game July 13.
the 6th starter is always a touchy subject every year.
pitchers like tomko don’t like just sitting on the sidelines waiting for injuries to happen, but that’s the role they are in because they haven’t been good enough in the past to have a spot in the rotation.
there’s rehab guys like smoltz and penny.
and mitre.
teams are trying to catch lightning in a bottle. oakland caught it , but for how long.
interestingly , boston seems to have lucked out with keeping buccholtz in the minors most of the year and then bringing him up fully ready to go 6 innings.
he’s been better than the yankees #3,4,and 5 for the past month.
Hello Yankee Fans!!
Lonn Trost here!!
Announcing Yankee fan appreciation day, Wednesday September 30th!!
Come see the Yankees battle the hard hitting Kansas City Royals.
Family affordable prices!!
Legends Seats–only $750
Field Level– a steal at $250!!
Cheap Beers–$8.00 and Hot Dogs–$5.00!!
Thanks for everyone’s support this season
Uncle Lonn
The Yanks lost all confidence in Tomko after he blew that Marlins game down in Miami in June. I say if that wouldn’t have happened, he might have had a chance. However, he looked pretty bad and cost the Yanks a win.
posted this earlier, but i’m looking forward to Mitre tonight. the guys has been a victim of terrible luck, especially at Rogers Centre.
His home ERA is 4.09
and that’s supposed to be the hitters ballpark.
Presumably Tomko would have pitched better for the Yankees if only the team had been smart enough to play half their games at the Oakland Coliseum, which not only lacks the short porch, but has a ludicrous amount of foul territory.
According to CBS Sports:
New York will give Sergio Mitre (3-2, 7.02) his ninth start of the season. Both of the right-hander’s losses have come against the Blue Jays, as he’s 0-2 with a 9.88 ERA in three outings versus Toronto in 2009. In his last start, Mitre surrendered a career-high 11 runs over 4 1-3 innings in a 14-8 loss in Toronto on Sept. 6.
Seems like Mitre vs Toronto isn’t a good matchup for the Yankees. Let’s hope the pattern changes and we get lucky tonight.
“Why can’t the Yanks get players like that?”
They DO get players like that.
Don’t you think that wherever “Pete Abraham, Any Other Team Edition” is right now, he’d be blogging, “Why can’t the So-And-So’s get a guy like Nick Swisher?”
Pete you stole my post! Everyone can check the timestamp as I posted about this exact subject hours before this thread existed on the helping kids thread! Pete- Only thing keeping me from taking you directly to court for plagiarism is a signed Derek Jeter baseball…OK a Joe Girardi baseball….OK a Yankee soup cup….GIVE ME SOMETHING FREE
Hope Mitre does well tonight…he should be okay as long as his sinker is working and he can keep the ball down…but if anyone wants to put money on him being a long-term prospect for the Yankees then they must have had a row with their wallet.
“Try to say Serge. It’s not so difficult. Surge? Sounds like a detergent.”
Oh well ,it’s just one of those baseball things. They should have given Tomko more of a shot, but look what we got from Aceves, who basically put him out of a job.
Sports Geek,
his numbers against Toronto are directly related to their pool table turf…
I wrote way back when they should use him or lose him. In retrospect they obviously should have kept Wang in Tampa and sent Tomko North with the big club. Tomko could not have possibly been worse than Wang and perhaps Wang never develops further injury issues.
IF IF IF IF IF IF IF
Pete — I think people run the risk of nit-picking when they question one move made by Cashman apart from the context of all the other moves he has made. In the case of Tomko, for better or worse, he is a veteran, and veterans don’t get the same chance to prove their upsides as rookies. While Tomko was here, it seemed that he’d be good for a few batters, but just about every inning he’d throw a fat pitch and it would land somewhere very far away, and that just kept happening. Also, given where Tomko was coming from, it wasn’t for the Yankees to set things up for his convenience, as they rightfully do for their stars and core players. It was for him to make the most of his opportunity, which he didn’t.
I suspect also that Tomko might have been more grateful to the Yanks for giving him a chance in the first place. Nick S. and Melky were originally destined for the bench and both took a positive attitude and played their way into the regular lineup.
good read: http://zellspinstripeblog.com/.....n-manager/
Mitre needs to be run out of town on a rail. Or at least attached to one of his fastballs and hit out of the park.