One shot at 20
Posted by: Sam Borden - Posted in Misc on Oct 01, 2009 
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CC Sabathia won 19 games for the Indians but didn’t get a chance to go for 20; No. 19 came in Sabathia’s final start of the season.
This year, Sabathia is again at 19 wins and he’ll have one chance at winning his 20th tomorrow night in Tampa against the Rays. Not surprisingly, Sabathia didn’t seem particularly focused on whether he reaches the milestone or not.
“It’s not like a crazy goal or anything,” Sabathia said before yesterday’s game. “It’d be cool, I guess.”
The last Yankees pitcher to win 20 was Mike Mussina a year ago, and the last Yankee lefty was Andy Pettitte in 2003. Sabathia will be tuning up for the postseason tomorrow, but look for Joe Girardi to give him every opportunity to get the win. “If he’s got the lead, we’ll do whatever we can to preserve it,” Girardi said.
Sabathia is one of the few players I’d actually believe when he says he doesn’t care about personal accomplishments like that – he seems to be that genuinely laid-back – but deep down, you know it matters to him. Just not as much as winning his first World Series ring.
“It’s the same thing as the Cy Young — you don’t think about that type of stuff,” said Sabathia, who is certainly in the running for that award. “I never did coming up. I just wanted to come out and make it to the big leagues and be successful. I never thought about winning a Cy Young or winning 20 games. I always just wanted to win a championship.”
welcome Sam
It’s been so great having CC Sabathia as a New York Yankee. We’ve tried countless starting pitchers since after the 2003 season and none have obviously panned out. CC is a true ace, someone I actually trust heading into this post-season. Hopefully he gets to win that Championship
Hope that the Yankees score runs early for CC. I don’t think he’ll be in the game for more than 5 or 6 innings.
““It’s the same thing as the Cy Young — you don’t think about that type of stuff,” said Sabathia, who is certainly in the running for that award.”
I don’t know about that one, Sam. Sabathia shouldn’t even be considered, in my opinion. Just look at Zach Greinke’s numbers, they are overwhelmingly better than CC’s.
In fact, here is a funny quote by Ken Tremendous (former writer for FJM), “If Zack Greinke goes 4 innings in his next start, gives up 30 earned runs, & records negative 43 Ks, he’ll have the same stats as Sabathia.”
Sabathia is in the running for 3rd place, that’s about it.
Wow. Just had an ad pop up on this site:
“HGH Supplements – The new body building miracle.”
Really???????
20 would be nice but who cares really? As skip said the real prize is coming this month…The game 1 match up against Verlander should be a doozey!
bru
October 1st, 2009 at 9:30 am
roster prediction
posada
molina
tex
cano
jeter
arod
damon
melky
swish
matsui
gardner
guman
hinske
hairston
cc
burnett
pettitte
ace
mo
hughes
marte
coke
bruney
robertson
that is 24
do we go with pena/cervelli or joba/gaudin
What a pleasure it’s been watching CC pitch this year. If he’s got a nice lead, I’d expect him be lifted after the sixth so he can rest up for the ALDS. I think the rest is more important at this point, but I’d love to see him get 20 wins. As for the Cy Young, he’s probably the runner up.
Tomorrow Girardi should go with A-lineup for the first five innings to give CC a chance to win 20 games.
If he wins 20 games, he will be a serious candidate for Cy Young. Just because Grienke has better ERA, it is not automatic. Grienke may still win as every media guy says he should win. CC may end up second which is not shabby.
Nice roster, bru.
I think I’d go with Gaudin for that last spot you left off. I do like Cervelli, but I think Jorge/Molina are deep enough for a short series.
bru,
I like that roster. I’d go with Joba.
I am glad CC proved me wrong. I am one of the people that, after the Angels game pre-ASB, wrote that I believed CC may be an “ace,” but perhaps not an “Ace.” To that point in the season, I stand by what I said. However, since that point, he has been as dominant a pitcher as there’s been in baseball this season. And on top of that, a guy you really enjoy rooting for.
serious question- not being snarky. The Sox excuses for being swept by the Yankees and the Jays are that they are “resting their players” and “getting ready for the play-offs” (disregarding the fact that most regulars did play against the Yankees, and Girardi has been good about getting his players ready).
Isn’t it a disadvantage to be going into the play-offs on a losing streak? Wouldn’t it be better to go in feeling that you have been playing well? I understand that Halladay is a tough pitcher, but if the game is meaningless, why not have your “A” line-up in to at least face some quality pitching before the play-offs? Maybe they were too hung over from their celebration.
Gaudin who’s better against righty’s maybe a good match up against the Tigers. Something to consider.
upstate kate,
I kind of agree. Facing Halladay would be a great warm-up for the postseason, he’s the kind of quality pitching they will face in the playoffs. However, it was the day after they clinched and teams tend to rest all of their starters on that day.
tough call
ace can do what cg can,what can pena or cervelli do that hairston & molina cant?
if we take cg or joba it would be 11 pitchers ?
i think jg takes joba
On that list I take Cervelli over Guzman and Joba over Bruney. Cervelli can pinch run and be a defensive replacement. That way you can have Gaudin too.
Kate, I’d say the issue of an “A” lineup vs. a “B” lineup really depends on individual players. Some players (I’m mostly thinking catchers here) could use the rest. Others, perhaps, might prefer to keep playing in order to keep themselves sharp, especially if they’re on a hot streak and would like to maintain the focus.
As for going into the playoffs on a losing streak, well, one of our dynasty teams lost, what, 15 of their last 18? The fans/media went nuts, the team shrugged it off, and then won the WS. But I do see your point about going in on a positive note.
bru,
I agree with you. Ace will basically be the long man in the first round. If the Yankees need 2 long men they are toast anyways but Joba can pitch anywhere from 1-3 innings out of the pen if needed.
Pena and Cervelli seem redundant because the Yanks already have Hairston, Molina and Guzman.
Joba would probably be the last guy out of the pen but you never know, if called upon he could turn in a great performance.
It would be great for him to do it but the most important thing here is staying healthy and being ready to go for Wed when that win will be more important then any other. If the Yankees win the world series that will matter a lot more then any individual achievement so yes lets root for 20 but only if it is achievable without going crazy to get it. A thing about Joba is if you leave him off the roster that could hurt him mentally and I think he is fragile.
get a kick from the Joba talk.
the key to the yankees post-season is AJ Burnett. Their post-season fate rests on his arm.
Yeah, I understand that Patrick, and they probably weren’t going to win anyway. I would never take the Sox too lightly, but I think the Angels aren’t going to roll over for them this year.
the rs excuse for lester getting bombed is what when he has no hit stuff?
they also cant like the way their pitching is getting killed & beckets,wakes,lesters injuries
Unless there is something wrong with Posada or Molina, it’s a long shot they would carry three catchers.
They wouldn’t carry three catchers in the regular season but they are going to do it for the postseason?
Meh, I doubt that very much.
If Girardi needs to PR for Posada (or Molina), he’s got Gardner or Guzman for that.
upstate kate -
I have a hard time believing that the Red Sox don’t care if they win right now. If the Rangers had gotten hot, they still would not have clinched. They did have a great run a couple of weeks ago, where it seemed they couldn’t lose, but I don’t know how any team sells to itself, much less the fans, that it doesn’t matter if you don’t win as long as you’ve already made the playoffs (which at the point they were saying they were resting their players, they hadn’t quite done yet).
And another problem is that Beckett may have issues with his back, Wakefield is certainly a problem, Byrd is iffy, Buchholz is slightly better than iffy and Lester needs to be game-tested after getting hit near the knee the other night.
But all that being said, Boston is a formidable appointment, who has players who are playoff-tested, and who have shown they can get hot, especially at home.
I have mixed feelings about home field advantage in baseball.
What the Yankees have going for them is they’ve been a good road team all year. But so have the Angels.
Agreed on AJ being the wild card, we know what we will get from CC and AP, AJ is the one arm where we don’t know who we will see. If he is good AJ this could be a very quick series.
MikeBoston
the problem with 3 catchers is cervelli gets no ab,no experience & it takes maybe guman out & girrardi likes his speed
“the key to the yankees post-season is AJ Burnett. Their post-season fate rests on his arm.”
Yeah. Burnett is potential Game 5 starter, or Game 1 starter in the ALCS. For all the talk about Joba, he’s only potentially starting in two games this postseason. That’s only if the Yankees make it to the World Series, and that’s assuming he doesn’t completely crap the bed in his ALCS start. Depending how the rotation is set up and how many games they play, Burnett could possibly get two starts in every series.
The only reasoning I’ve heard for carrying Cervelli is that it allows Girardi to DH Posada and have Molina catch. Why would he want to do that? So Burnett can have his personal catcher? Not going to happen.
Anyways, I’d rather have Matsui DHing, even if Molina is catching and the Yanks are facing a lefty.
I’d go for the extra pitcher.
Upstake,
Those are just their lame excuses for getting it handed to them. They didnt rest many players in the Yankee Series, and even the same with Toronto except for yesterday, but Wakefield IS a starter and he got it handed to him while he was in there.
Sure we know the Sox have this annoying way of hanging around in the playoffs, but privately, they have to be embarrassed at how they have been embarrassed in the last 6 games.
girrardi will scrap gaudin for joba,carry 2 lefties wich he said he likes,robertson,bruney in
i dont see him going with 13 position players & 12 pitchers & i dont see gardner,guman,hairston,hinske being left off
Matsui is more a more dangerous hitter than Posada.
I’d rather have Matsui DH than Posada, especially at the Stadium.
In fact, Matsui is having the best season of any DH in the league.
I think it’s clear Joba will not be starting in the Division series so the question is do you trust him coming out of the pen with a tight lead?
Sam you’re doing really really good in the first few days. Im impressed.
Bru, I know Cervelli has no experience, but does Guzman (I hadn’t heard of him until last month)? There is something about Cervelli that I really like, he “has it” and like I said, unlike typical catchers the dude can run.
CC is “good people” in my book. Was happy to read that Girardi is going to try and get the win for him. I’m sure his teammates will be playing to win one for the big fellow, as well. He has been a treat to have on our team.
Go get’em CC.
This is not based on anything really but I feel that Joba is a big game pitcher. I think if he gets a start in the ALCS or world series, he will step up and do a good job.
Maybe this is stupid but I just feel like it will happen.
Jeers, no I don’t trust Chamberlain coming out of the pen with a tight lead. Many might disagree, but I guess I’ve lost faith in him at this point. The pen has been good enough to get us this far, so why inject a head case into it? At this point, I’m just hoping he has a disciplined off-season routine and comes back strong next season to fulfill his great potential.
I knew Sam would be great just due to the few times he filled in for Pete or posted comments. He’s very talented fellow and obviously a hard worker.
Thanks for making the playoffs come alive for us, Sam!
“I don’t know about that one, Sam. Sabathia shouldn’t even be considered, in my opinion. Just look at Zach Greinke’s numbers, they are overwhelmingly better than CC’s.
In fact, here is a funny quote by Ken Tremendous (former writer for FJM), “If Zack Greinke goes 4 innings in his next start, gives up 30 earned runs, & records negative 43 Ks, he’ll have the same stats as Sabathia.”
Sabathia is in the running for 3rd place, that’s about it.”
I have a feeling that CC pitching in the AL East is going to help him a lot more than you think it is.
Including his total domination against the Red Sox, JMO.
molina
posada
tex
cano
jeter
arod
damon
melky
swish
matsui
gardner
guman
hairston
hinske
cc
burnett
pettitte
ace
joba
hughes
mo
marte
coke
bruney
robertson
Patrick,
Last night WAS a big game — at least for Joba and he didn’t come through. I appreciate your sentiments, but I get the feeling that management isn’t on the same page with you right now. If Joba gets left off the post-season roster even for the first series, it’s going to be a shock to that young man’s system.
Honestly, for his long-term growth, I think he needs some quality time down in the minors again. Sometimes you’re just given too much too soon to handle if your maturity level is lacking.
I want Joba to succeed. I hope the Yanks figure out what’s going on with the kid for his sake. He looked so defeated last night.
“I have a feeling that CC pitching in the AL East is going to help him a lot more than you think it is.
Including his total domination against the Red Sox, JMO. ”
You are probably right, which is unfortunate. Not that I don’t enjoy your opinions, I just feel like Greinke should win in a landslide and it’d be a shame if he was robbed by Sabathia.
Greinke has been, by far, the most valuable pitcher in the game this year. In fact, he’s been one of the most valuable players period. He should not only win the Cy Young, he should be in the top 3 or 5 of MVP voting.
I think Cervelli only comes up because of how slow Posada and MOlina are. If you pinch run for them late in a game, you need to replace them. Cervelli would likely see late inning use.
“Last night WAS a big game — at least for Joba and he didn’t come through.”
You know what I mean. It wasn’t a big game. I feel that Joba will pitch well in big games. Again, I have nothing to back this up, it’s just an opinion.
Joba hasn’t been used out of the pen this year to my knowledge, I wouldn’t want him there in the play-offs. I would rather see him get a start in the ALCS w/ a very short leash. I agree w/ Patrick, Joba seems to focus better for the big games.
I’m looking at the game logs vs Detroit cause that looks like who we’ll be playing.
Not that it means much when the playoffs start but Burnett had a good start: 6innngs 6hits 3runs 5bb. Too many walks but he pitched well overall.
And CC has pitched well twice against them. Hughes was great against Detroit. They didn’t touch him really. And Joba pitched really well against them this year.
I would look to throw hard throwing righty’s at Detroit. Robertson Hughes Mo (of course) Burnett Gaudin Bruney, may play huge roles in beating Detroit.
Again not that it means a hill of beans once the playoffs start but it may give an idea of what to look for.
Wang is Taiwan,
The only person who thinks last night was a big night for Joba, is the media, and the fans. After Joba pitched very good against Boston, most fans anointed him the second coming again. Fans can;t keep flip flopping back and forth. You can’t like him one day, then not like him the next, it makes no sense.
The Tigers and Twins go at it early this afternoon. If the Tigers win, they clinch the AL Central.
Correct me if I’m wrong: Aren’t the Yankees required by MLB to let them know which division series they prefer within 1 hour of knowing who their opponent is? So, conceivably by 5pm today we’ll know the schedule, right?
MikeBoston
girrardi loves his speed & will go with him because he can
girrardi also said he likes 2 lefties going in
cervelli is not on the same planet as far as speed
also i just dont see cervelli catching over molina
now next yer is different
i go wit cervelli over molin
Doreen
The way RS fans and sports radio are talking up here, they are’nt a bit concerned about how they finished.
They have lots of examples of teams not finishing well that won the WS so they are confident.
They think the yankees have questions about all their pitching because none of them have done anything in the playoffs. I guess they are’nt familiar with Andy.
They also think the Yankees have a “slight” advantage on offense.
Since 04 they are very cocky and think they won’t lose.
Patrick,
Yes, you’re talking about the playoffs or meaningful RS matches, but management isn’t going to trust with you with the big moments when you haven’t eve passed your “audition” — if you know what I mean. Last night was part of his final audition and he dropped the ball.
I understand it’s a gut feeling with you. I get it. He has had some big games. They’re simply looking for consistency in order to justify giving him with a post-season start.
It will certainly be interesting to see what happens…
Darrin,
I don’t think you were listening to Girardi or Joba over the last few weeks (esp after the game) if you believe it was only important to the media. But then, as I said before, only time will tell what management decides.
We’ll have to agree to disagree on that point.
Coach,
I certainly didn’t “annoint” him as you say. One big game was not what was being asked of Joba. I haven’t flipped on Joba personally. Perhaps you have? I don’t remember reading your opinions on him.
I certainly wish Joba well, but not at the expense of our team winning the WS.
We shall see Bru, I do agree with you on next year, but for this post season I think skip has a very tough decision to make with keeping 3 catchers or not. Cervelli has by far exceeded expectations this year.
Wang IS Taiwan,
I hear what you’re saying and it’s impossible for me to argue a “gut feeling”. However, at this point, the Yankees have no choice but to pitch Joba in Game 4 of the ALCS (if they make it there). Would you rather have Gaudin? He’s just as hit or miss as Joba.
Kate:
Great thoughts there. I was thinking that if Tito is resting his players, he’s doing it wrong. You rest your players against the likes of Gaudin, not CC. You rest your players against the likes of Romero, not Halladay.
When you face the ace of a team, you should send your A++ lineup out there. It won’t guarantee you anything, but at least you’ll have some ammo.
So either Tito is truly doing a rope-a-dope, or he’s managing like a dope. A few more Texas wins and they’d be missin the playoffs. They’re on a 6 game losing streak. How does that weigh on a clubhouse going into the postseason? You can say it’s a new game in the post-season, everyone starts out 0-0. But it’s not always easy to flip on the switch like that, and what about the question marks about his pitching staff?
WWGD? What would Girardi do? I think he’d rest players, but give his team a decent chance to win each and every game.
Enjoy your the day in the Western hemisphere. For those of us in the East — have a good night! More typhoons are on the way, I’m afraid.
Wang is Taiwan,
Didn’t necessarily mean you flipped. I haven’t. The 4th starter is going to make 2 starts in the post season at most. The best chad gaudin can give us is 6 innings, even though he hasn’t reached that. The best Joba can give us is 8 innings of dominant ball. Either one will be on a short leash, as all starters are in the post season. I think the answer is an easy one.
I don’t know. I think fans were pleased with Joba’s outing against the Red Sox, but no one was annointing him anything. His season has been full of up and downs, you’d need him to string together 2 or 3 like that to say Joba’s “back”.
As for the CY Young? If Greinke wins his last start, he’ll have a very real chance.
Will the voters be intelligent enough to look past (potentially) 20 wins by CC? It’s always been the magic # before, but I don’t know if they had another candidate with a near sub-2.00 ERA before.
20 is very sexy, but I hope they’ll see what a great season Greinke’s had with a very unstable bullpen and crapphy lineup behind him.
i think the only decision is joba or gaudin
i dont see us carrying 3 catchers at the expense of hinske who has power,guman who is lightning fast or hairston who can play multiple positions
girrardi likes 2 lefties so coke & marte are in & i dont see bruney or robertson being left out
so
cc
burnett
pettitte
ace
mo
hughes
coke
marte
bruney
robertson
joba or gaudin
bru, I’d still go with Gaudin, and I agree with you that they won’t carry three catchers.
Joe Mauer tipping pitches against the Tigers. Boy was he blatant.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....r_embedded
MikeBoston
i would love cervelli on the ps roster but we have 25 spots & we cant take everybody
3 catchers is overkill especially in the 1st series,jg likes guman & gardner is in.
i cant see robertson,bruney,hinske,hairston being left out
9 regulars
posada
tex
cano
jeter
arod
damon
melky
swish
matsui
5 bench
gardner
molina
guman
hinske
hairston
11 spots left
cc
burnett
pettitte
ace
mo
hughes
bruney
robertson
marte
coke
1 spot left & i say its joba or gaudin
I have created a chart of Yankees HR’s by date through the season.
Check it out:
http://files.myopera.com/Sport.....9Sep30.png
I hope to update the chart each night.
(This is the first time I have posted a link to an image on LoHud Yankees blog. I hope it works out. Make sure you get the entire URL.)
Isn’t he just stealing signs?
What does that mean? If they have the lead, the Yankees are going to do what they can to preserve it? Is Joe going to push CC beyond 5 or 6 innings? Is he going to pitch Phil 2 innings? Put Mo in in the 8th? I want CC to get 20, but him getting 20 does not come ahead of the team’s title push. The game is not important at all in the scheme of things and Joe should not be pushing the pen beyond where they should be pushed.
Correct me if I’m wrong: Aren’t the Yankees required by MLB to let them know which division series they prefer within 1 hour of knowing who their opponent is?
****************
I read that as well. I see that Game 1 of the ALCS that starts on Wednesday (the longer series) is scheduled for 8:30 PM on TBS.
I see no useful purpose for Guzman, a minor leaguer who the Yankees picked up for nothing. It’s a joke that he would be on the roster. I would much rather see Pena on there…..
“Isn’t it a disadvantage to be going into the play-offs on a losing streak? Wouldn’t it be better to go in feeling that you have been playing well?”
No history to suggest this is true. Some to show that it doesn’t matter at all. To wit:
2000 Yankees: Finished the season losing 14 of 17 and their last 7. Gave up an average of just under 9 runs per game over that period. Their clinching game was a blowout loss to the then D-rays and they actually finished with the 5th best record in the AL. But that was good enough for them to go 11-5 when it mattered most and garnered #26.
2005 White Sox: Leading by 15 games heading into August, they went on to play .500 for two months and seeing their lead evaporate to 1.5 games, before clinching the last weekend of the season. They shredded everyone to the tune of 11-1 enroute the title.
2006 Cardinals: They were up 7 games with 11 to go on 9/20. On 9/28 that lead was down to a half game. They finally clinched on the 2nd to last day of the season and beat a Tigers team, which had lost it’s last 5 regular season games to turn an AL Central title into a Wild Card invite, in the WS.
“The only reasoning I’ve heard for carrying Cervelli is that it allows Girardi to DH Posada and have Molina catch. Why would he want to do that? So Burnett can have his personal catcher? Not going to happen.”
patrick-
first of all,agree on greinke. he’s had an almost historical year.
the one thing that has changed as far as carrying three catchers is that burnett is probably starting two games out of a possible five. that’s twice as much as in the regular season.
without getting into any reasons why burnett would pitch better with molina as the catcher but for argument sake assuming he does, could girardi make a decision that he’d like to have molina in there to win a short series?
if he did this, is it worth having cervelli on the roster so he can easily pinch hit for molina or pinch run and still have a catcher in reserve ?
i think it’s possible girardi could make this decision, but more likely he won’t.
… but this is girardi’s first playoffs as a manager, so he’s a post season rookie .
how he’ll manage in the playoffs may be different than the regular season.
i’m thinking he may be more active in making moves, using more small ball, and basically controlling the game more.
i definitely don’t think he’s just going to let the players play.
so i think it’s possible he could go with three catchers in keeping with the idea of making more moves in a game than he usually does.
*disclaimer
( i don’t think for a second that girardi any problem with jorge’s catching )
Betsy,
Joe isn’t going to use anyone outside of the way he usually does to get CC 20, calm down.
Coach, that’s true, but fans that all of a sudden thought Joba was going to be lights out in the post-season based on one start were silly. Why should 1 start wipe out all that he did previously? For myself, I was skeptical and I wanted to see him do it again. Well, he didn’t. Gaudin is no great shakes (I like him, but to a point only) and I don’t have great faith in him against playoff teams……….but given that we are between a rock and a hard place, I’ll take Gaudin, the rock.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.c.....index.html
Verducci’s appearance on Dan Patrick. Recap and audio. If you have time (and earphones at work), please listen to the audio. Verducci does a good job of explaining the evolution of mo’s (anything but flat) cutter.
i dont start joba over gaudin unless joba starts & is on a very short leash with gaudin relieving him
“Will the voters be intelligent enough to look past (potentially) 20 wins by CC? It’s always been the magic # before, but I don’t know if they had another candidate with a near sub-2.00 ERA before.”
In 1990, Clemens went 21-6 with a 1.93 ERA and lost the Cy Young to Bob Welsh who was 27-6 with a 2.95 ERA. The vote was fairly close, but I think the number 27 is what made the difference (since 1940, only 4 guys have topped 25 wins in the AL).
I think the writers are wise to Greinke. Aside from being ahead of Sabathia in just about every imaginable stat, 16-17 wins for a pretty brutal Royals team is more impressive than 20 for the very strong Yankees. Doesn’t in anyway diminish Sabathia’s season, which has been superb. He’s one of the three most valuable players on the team IMO.
If Gaudin had gone 6 innings once, i would not mind it at all. But he hasnt. For 2 starts max, you have to go with the guy who can be dominant. They will both be on a short leash regardless.
Coach, I’m calm – I just didn’t understand Joe’s comments.
I don’t want Guzman on the team, so I would take Cervelli. If Jose or Jorge get hurt, who’s your backup catcher – Hairston?
Gaudin, for me, should be a lock – I like him out of the pen for the ALDS. Granted, he’d probably be used in mop up time if a game gets out of hand so we can save Ace, but still….
On the 3 catchers thing, another thing to keep in mind is “how healthy is Jorge?”
Lingering neck issue (or “trap”?) and if his finger gets jammed in the playoffs, you need an extra catcher imo.
I’d rather leave off a pitcher in the 5 game series or Guzman and have backup catching.
CC is that rare superstar that actually seems like a good guy and genuine. All the best for him. I rather him lose the 20th game and be lights out in the playoffs though than the regular season 20 game winning cy young and, playoff choke he has been though.
Is there anything NOT to like about CC? As great as Tex has been, CC was the bigger signing. He completely legitimizes this team as a WS contender.
“I see no useful purpose for Guzman, a minor leaguer who the Yankees picked up for nothing. It’s a joke that he would be on the roster. I would much rather see Pena on there…..”
I agree. I don’t get the crush on this guy’s ability. I get he has great speed, but the past couple of games where he has had the chance to show us what he has to bring, he hasn’t been too successful, nor made smart decisions.
…And his hitting is damn sure nothing to brag about. For that matter, I rather put Pena who has some type of speed, hitting and plays great defense. Or another pitcher. Guzman will just be a waste.
I guess he’s cute though. *shrugs*
I can’t see the Yanks taking 11 pitchers if they take the stretched out series, they won’t use them. Also, with it looking like the Tigers and the Tigers being thin in the left handed hitting department, despite the Yanks’ probable inclination to take two left handed relievers I think Marte will get left out.
Bottom line, in the first series, I think Joba and Robertson are in, Marte, Bruney and Gaudin are out, Guzman and Pena are in and Cervelli is out.
Guzman is really useful. I think he’s in for sure.
He can steal a base, and possibly be a late inning defensive replacement in the OF. Much more useful than the 11th pitcher, whoever it is.
Wait, the argument against Gaudin over Joba is Gaudin hasn’t gone 6 innings?
I’d rather have less baserunners and runs given up than length. And Joba’s hardly given length this season either, even before they went to the abbreviated starts.
The best person for the job as the #4 is not in the position to give you more than 2-3 innings tops. Aceves would be your best bet for keeping runs off the board.
Here’s the Verducci article on Rivera…Touched by an Angel haha.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.c...../index.htm
While I dont like Guzman, He serves more purpose than carrying a 3rd catcher.
On the 3 catchers thing, another thing to keep in mind is “how healthy is Jorge?”
m-
and naturally if jorge’s neck is bothering him , girardi is going to want to keep that from the opposition.
girardi has complete info and we only have partial.
maybe i’ve missed it , but i haven’t really seen guzman do anything. asking him to do something he hasn’t done in the regular season seems odd.
I’ve never seen such excessive over the top outpouring of love for a 16-game winner in my life. Yes, Zac Grienke has had a superb year, and he would get my Cy Young vote but can we back off just a bit?
An historic season? Maybe in recent Kansas City Royals history, but Ron Guidry 1978 was an historic season. Pedro and Clemens have had historic seasons. A damn good year on a crummy team pitching in a lousy division in games that mean nothing — thus no added pressure is not historic.
MVP votes? C’mon Patrick that’s taking your man crush to the extreme.
Yankees reach one million registered users
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No way is Girardi going to put as many as 5 or 6 rookies on the post season roster. That would include Guzman, Cervelli, Pena, Aceves, and Robinson….and Hughes is basically a rookie.
That would include Guzman, Cervelli, Pena, Aceves, and ***Robertson***….and Hughes is basically a rookie.
If Joba is in, I think he should put an EXTREMELY short leash, and the first sign of him having a melt down, I think Gaudin should be used to relive him. I think he’s been pretty trustworthy since coming over. It also prevents using Aceves a billion times. So if Joba is in, I think Gaudin is in as well.
I’m pretty sure Coke is a lock, but at this point, Marte has delivered, and should be considered over him IMO.
Marte over Coke? Really? Based on what?
If Detroit wins I would not have two lefties in the pen because you only have one LH hitter (Granderson) worth matching up with.
I do hope Coke was taken to a fielding seminar yesterday. Those three plays in succession might be the worst since Chuck Knoblauch was melting down.
I see no reason other than psychological to have Joba on the ALDS roster. He won’t start and it’s dangerous to take such a valuable arm and ask him to relieve when he hasn’t done it all year.
Patrick – “Greinke has been, by far, the most valuable pitcher in the game this year. In fact, he’s been one of the most valuable players period. He should not only win the Cy Young, he should be in the top 3 or 5 of MVP voting.”
Great pitcher yes, most valuable? KC has accomplished nothing. Without Greinke, they still accomplish nothing. Explain this “value”.
Rishi, sorry to say this, but I don’t care how many have registered for the yankees.com website. That only matters to the Yankees business organization and the MLB business organization!!
Let’s instead talk about the players and the game. That’s what I’m a fan of.
Speaking of value, Mr. MVP, Joe Mauer, in a do-or-die series has managed to go 2 for 12, 1 RBI, 1 RS. I’m in awe, really…
Mauer did kind of mess in the bed, didn’t he?
Don’t think it will cost him too many votes, though.
Sabathia is rapidly becoming one of my favorite players. The team could not have chosen two better free agents to join the team in CC & Teixeira. I don’t think the Burnett deal will be worth it after 5 years but we’ll see.
yanks carry Joba, but he doesn’t pitch except in a mop up role. If they choose the playoff option of game 1 on 10/7 and game 2 on 10/8, CC can start games 1&4 petit starts game 2 Aj starts game 3. Series is over in 4 at worst. If not, you have everyone available if there’s a game 5.
I meant game 2 on 10/9 not 10/8 . Have a day off between games 1&2, then another day off before game 3. then one more before game 5. Everyone will be significantly rested. You might even have CC available for game 5. He’s pitched on 3 days rest for the second half of 2008.