Notes from today’s workout
Posted by: Josh Thomson - Posted in Misc on Apr 12, 2010 
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Today’s workout at Yankee Stadium was optional, but the majority of players were here for one reason or another. I’d guess about half appeared to have actually worked out, while a few others came by dressed to the nines for tonight’s annual Homecoming Dinner.
Because I know you want to know, here are those seen in and around the clubhouse: C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Andy Pettitte, Javier Vasquez, Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain, Mariano Rivera, Damaso Marte, David Robertson, Chan Ho park, Mark Teixiera, Curtis Granderson, Brett Gardner, Francisco Cervelli, Nick Johnson, Randy Winn, Ramiro Pena, Marcus Thames, Alfredo Aceves. That’s 19 players. Not bad for “optional.”
Here’s a few tidbits to share:
• As I wrote earlier, the 2009 World Series rings will be given to players in a pregame ceremony, beginning at 12:30 tomorrow. According to the club, pictures of the ring will not be released prior to the ceremony.
• Joe Girardi said he talked to Lonn Trost about the rings but had no input on the design. (To the right is the 2000 ring.)
• He hasn’t told him yet (secret’s out, Joba!), but Chamberlain will wear his ring tomorrow before giving it to his father, Harlan, who was scheduled to land today and is expected for tomorrow’s game. “Without the opportunities my dad gave me as a kid I’d have never had that chance to win,” Chamberlain said.
• Sabathia said he wouldn’t wear his ring and had a funny (and truthful) line when asked why not: “It’s kind of corny I guess. Who wears a World Series ring?”
• After a cushy schedule last week, Girardi may juggle the lineup a bit this week. The Yankees play six games in a row. He certainly didn’t commit to anything, but he expected the need to rest some of the starters considering it’s so early.
• Up on the chalkboard in the press box are the lineups from Game 6 of the World Series. I’m not sure if they were never erased or not. It doesn’t look like it.
I think it’s more of a practical thing – that ring is heavy.
I think all the players really just wanted to see the stadium again after being away for so long…..
Betsy,
You are not giving the Rays front office enough credit. They have done a great job of drafting and developing their team and it is not solely because they pick at the top of the 1st round.
For example, Jennings was a 10th rounder, Wade Davis was a 3rd rounder, James Shields was in the 16th round.
They traded for Zobrist, Garza, and Barlett, and gave Pena a chance.
Classy move Joba.
I bet they’ll all look great for the dinner tonight!
That’s so sweet Joba’s going to give his ring to his dad.
Also, picking at the top of the 1st round does not guarantee success. They have done a great job of picking the right players.
So Jeter, Rodrigiez, Posada and Cano are too good to hang around with the rest of the team?
j/k: But, something will certainly be written in one of the rags about the 4 “prima donnas”.
“Teixeira to Honor Teenager?s Fatal Struggle With Cancer
By PATRICK BORZI
TAMPA, Fla. ? During his seven years in the major leagues, Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira has visited numerous children?s cancer wards and spoken to hundreds of patients. But perhaps none of those experiences touched him as much as the encounter he had in February with 19-year-old Brian Ernst.
Teixeira only met Ernst once, at Children?s Hospital in Atlanta, and talked to him one other time on the phone. Ernst, a promising high school pitcher from Oakwood, Ga., who died March 16 from a rare form of cancer, so impressed Teixeira with his sense of humor in the face of a terminal illness that Teixeira wrote Ernst?s first name and jersey number, 5, on the inside of his cap, where it remains.
Teixeira also plans to fly Ernst?s parents and his older brother, Brett, to New York for the Yankees? home opener on Tuesday.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04.....imessports
GREAT ARTICLE!!
GreenBeret7 April 12th, 2010 at 6:27 pm
So Jeter, Rodrigiez, Posada and Cano are too good to hang around with the rest of the team?
j/k: But, something will certainly be written in one of the rags about the 4 “prima donnas”.
*********************
LOL
You can add Swisher to the “prima donnas” list-I didn’t see his name up there
Trisha, I asked if anyone wanted to bet about Crawford staying with the Rays and you said yes, you would take the bet. I meant for stakes.
So if $50 is not to your liking, please propose some other stakes. More is ok, as is less, and I’m happy to build in provisions 1) if the Rays win the pennant and World Series and 2) if Crawford gets traded during the season.
Thanks for the link, Rishi! Good for Tex
GreenBeret7 April 12th, 2010 at 6:27 pm
So Jeter, Rodrigiez, Posada and Cano are too good to hang around with the rest of the team?
j/k: But, something will certainly be written in one of the rags about the 4 “prima donnas”.
*********************
LOL
You can add Swisher to the “prima donnas” list-I didn’t see his name up there
———————————————————————————————————————-
Rumor has it that Swisher was excused because he had to get Krusty The Klown’s costume back in time for tonight’s show.
trisha ? OPPC member who sees, hears, and knows all. 28 is on its way!!!!! April 12th, 2010 at 6:23 pm
Hello Trisha! I too have followed Crawford. I truly believe he speaks the truth of wanting to be a Ray, but it isn?t going to happen. Rays can?t get people to come to the games. Most folks don?t want to go over the bridge to St Pete and are staying away. Tampa owner said after last year?s disappointing fan attendance that he was going to lower payroll significantly in 2011 if not sooner.
Ray?s AAA & AA are loaded with prospects. Desmond Jennings could start now. I am sure Crawford won?t be a Ray after this year and perhaps even this year.
Is there press coverage of the Welcome Home Dinner?
Papi just got overpowered and swung wildly at an 89mph fastball over the inside half from Brian Duensing.
And on the next pitch he strikes out trying to check his swing on a slider that had mediocre tilt on it.
It’s just amazing. He couldn’t catch up to a middling inside fastball. And then because he’s trying to cheat on the fastball, he can’t hold up on a mediocre slider. A slider that was in the strike zone anyway so there was no reason to even check his swing.
SJ,
Do you know what the Rays were offering Crawford last year?
Is it bad of me to hope Ortiz hits just enough to begrudgingly keep his place in the lineup?
I love it when the writers are ready to jettison him out of town and he lucks into an rbi.
The worst thing for Boston would be that Ortiz is mediocre all season, but not rock bottom. If he’s just mediocre, they kind of have to keep trotting him out there. Rock bottom means they bench/dump him and get a real bat at DH.
And for the record, Boston writers and fans are vultures. The only player I can think of that we treated like they treat Ortiz right now was Pavano and maybe Igawa.
There’s never been a player who has won a title with NY that has been just loathed like Ortiz is in the press and in a lot of that fanbase right now.
Nick,
I’d like to think I’m not horning in on your action.
Its just that when you see a sure thing, and know its a sure thing, you gotta go for it! lol
I’ll split the winnings with you. I’m a charitable guy.
What does Tito see that is keeping Ortiz in the 5 hole? Is it just loyalty?
Also, for all the talk about how great a player Theo thinks Drew is you would think by now they would try him higher in the lineup than 7th.
Well, at least we know what Carl Pavano was supposed to be.
Some people can’t do it in NY, and that’s that.
G. Love, it never got that bad (because he never got that bad) but fans started to get pretty brutal towards Bernie Williams that last year.
Question…probably a very stupid one.Oh well here is goes:
Why do you get a ring for winning the world series?
LGY,
5/52 was their final offer. I think they were hoping he would take a hometown discount.
I think he was but not THAT much of one! lol
That’s why he’s gone at the end of the year. I think he will get the biggest contract of any of the FA position players.
JMO but, I think the Phillies will end up extending Jayson Werth.
Maybe, SJ, but you have actual information and insights which affect your opinion on this matter.
Trisha and I both have equal access to information in the public domain and either of us has any advantage over the other — or any informational advantage, at least.
But I’d be happy to accept a % of your winnings, if there are any, as a finder’s fee.
trisha,
Nice use of the lame link feature!
I still think Crawford’s a goner. He even made a comment about the Rays. Something about, “It must be nice to get paid” I can’t find the link right now, because I’m headed out. But not everyone wants to be a Ray for life.
Who wins the bet if Crawford opts for FA, but ends up signing with them anyway?
GreenBeret7 April 12th, 2010 at 6:34 pm
Rumor has it that Swisher was excused because he had to get Krusty The Klown’s costume back in time for tonight’s show.
*****************************
That would certainly be entertaining.
And NEITHER of us has any advantage, that is.
RayVT, I agreed with your thinking and also said I was happy that you followed his career and that you too know that guy has loved playing for the Rays, even when they were terrible, and always said he wanted to remain with the team.
********************
While I can’t prove it, I alway suspected that Ortiz was on the juice. You just don’t leave the Twins an average hitter, playing some of the time, and turn into superman with the Sux without getting a little help from Clarko Kent.
This year’s Scutaro, Beltre & Cameron is kind of looking like Smoltz, Penny & Lugo signings.
I guess Boston is either trying to protect whatever trade value Lowell might have left by not exposing him to ML pitchers very often.
Jason Kubel. First HR at the Target!
Tito is a real loyal guy. He’s like Torre with regard to the loyalty he shows to his veteran players. That’s why they love the guy.
He’s wearing 2 WS rings in large part to Ortiz’s contributions.
I think they are going to give him the month of April to see if he can get going.
If he can’t, I think the next step will be platooning him with Mike Lowell.
After that? Anybody’s guess.
“Well, at least we know what Carl Pavano was supposed to be.
Some people can?t do it in NY, and that?s that.”
Doreen, that is a huge amen!
m, I think that was actually a poor use of the ‘link?’ method, since there is obviously no link to private conversations SJ has had with the people involved.
But I can see how you would disagree.
trisha – OPPC member who sees, hears, and knows all. 28 is on its way!!!!! April 12th, 2010 at 6:42 pm
Ortiz said he did not know what was in those grow strong milkshakes. He juiced. Now he is unjuicing.
stuckey,
I do remember people getting frustrated with Bernie, but I don’t remember it being that brutal. I don’t think the talk ever was “Bernie has to go” at the fever pitch the Ortiz talk started the season with. I don’t even remember it being a daily sports radio topic.
Ortiz is being slaughtered by the home town press and media. Every story seems to begin and end with “is he done”.
It’s really quite amazing since this is a player who was chiefly responsible for 2 WS titles. I know he’s not home grown, but he was their Jeter for a large part of this decade.
I secretly think that everyone is Boston knows he used PED’s and just wants him to go away now.
The funny thing is, without PED’s, I don’t think the Boston Red Sox win any titles in 2004 and 2007. Without Ortiz and Manny at the “height” of their powers, those teams do nothing.
I have never and most likely will never see a 3-4 combo that changed the game like that all the time. They destroyed your pitching staff and your pitchers started to lose it knowing they were coming up in the order.
Ray,
Beltre and his .390 avg says hey!
I know, you meant the collective strategy. But it’s still WAY early.
“What does Tito see that is keeping Ortiz in the 5 hole? Is it just loyalty?”
What exactly is Tito supposed to do? Is the answer to play Mike Lowell – the guy the team was so desperate to jettision they were willing to swallow 9M? They guy who has been made persona non-grata by the franchise? That’s not an answer.
People keep laying this at Tito’s feet but it’s not on him.
The Ortiz situation is on Theo – not Tito.
It was Theo who decided to go with “run prevention.” And that’s great – but if that’s the case you really need to have a stick at DH.
And Theo decided to roll the dice with Ortiz – even to the point of wanting to dump Lowell and Keep Ortiz.
This is Theo’s brainchild – he’s left Tito with a horrible situation.
Does anyone remember the series when Kubel was new with the Twins where he hit a home run in every game against the Sux? We were saying that they were going to have to call him Uncle Jason.
A better use would be if I said “I’m just happy that the Yankees get to enjoy their home opener in first place!”
Then you could say ‘link?”
And then I would go look at the standings and see that the Blue Jays are 5-1 and alone in first place and I’d be embarrassed.
CB,
I did not mean they should bench Ortiz yet. I just meant solely in regard to batting him 5th.
I believe that’s the 17th homerun of the 2010 season for the Twins.
G. Love, mostly agreed, but as I say, Bernie Williams never got this brutal.
I suspect if he completely fell off a cliff offensively, along with having lost an obvious couple of steps in CF, it had the potential to get ugly.
Remember when Jeter got booed in April that one year?
Fans are fans.
“The funny thing is, without PED?s, I don?t think the Boston Red Sox win any titles in 2004 and 2007. Without Ortiz and Manny at the ?height? of their powers, those teams do nothing. ”
I think the same thing. You have to remember that other names were also mentioned in the juice mix, such as Trot Nixon and Jason Veritek.
And Nomar Garciaparra.
What’s fascinating about the Red Sox is if things go bad and Theo gets his way, they may release 24 million worth of salary in Lowell/Ortiz at some point this season.
They can never cry poor again.
ok, so let’s say it’s the middle of may, the red sox are a .500 club and boston media is going bonkers.
do they:
1. wait till next year
2. trade away young arms for a catcher
3. trade away young arms for a ss
4. trade away ellsbury and bucholz and others for a. gonzalez
Trisha, I haven’t seen your reply about the stakes of our Carl Crawford bet. If you would prefer not to bet after all, please let me know.
stuckey April 12th, 2010 at 6:46 pm
I hesitated to list Beltre! LOL! But I think he will not hit away from Fenway. He may to try & get a new FA contract, but he isn’t that good IMO.
“I did not mean they should bench Ortiz yet. I just meant solely in regard to batting him 5th.”
It’s a sticky situation though and it’s almost equivalent in a sense. Right now he just isn’t a major league hitter.
Dropping him in the order almost makes it more difficult for him to get back on track because the spot light will focus on him in an entirely new way.
And that will also then raise the question of who is supposed to hit 5th?
There really is no one in that line up suited to do it.
And the reason why, is that the line up and team were almost implicitly designed to have to have the DH bat 5th.
Beltre’s hot right now but he’s streaky and far from the ideal Boston 5th hitter.
And the entire situation speaks extremely poorly of JD Drew.
CB
One thing Theo forgot about in his run prevention theory is you need a good BP. And a catcher that can throw out runners.
Joe Maddon on the Yankees complaints about the Trop-
“We could just build it on Jeter’s property out there.”
When you have a 162 million dollar payroll and rabid fans and ownership, like the Red Sox do, jettisoning the season is not an option.
You do whatever you have to do to try and make the playoffs. That’s the world the Yankees live in and now its the world the Red Sox live in.
The problem is, their farm system is overhyped and really can’t fill the holes they need on the big club.
Also unfortunate, and this goes well beyond baseball, is Ryan Westmoreland’s situation because he would have been a valuable trade chip.
They have to hope this team comes together in Theo’s grand plan.
If not, and I said this in March so its not exactly breaking news, they are not a playoff team, IMO. Too many holes.
The NY media takes a backseat to no one in terms of how they treat players. I don’t know how Ortiz is being treated, but I have no respect for the NY media…
2004 Juicers IMO
Gabe Kapler
Kevin Millar
Bill Mueller
Trot Nixon
David Ortiz
Manny Ramirez
Pokey Reese
Jason Varitek
Keith Foulke
Mark Bellhorn
We will never know for sure who did “juice” and who didn’t. I don’t feel comfortable casting aspersions on the Red Sox or any other team. It’s a slippery slope.
LOL All I know is that Alex took the brunt for Manny and Ortiz and everyone else……….
“One thing Theo forgot about in his run prevention theory is you need a good BP. And a catcher that can throw out runners.”
There are certain instances where trying to quantify things requires simplifications and approximations that when faced with reality fall apart.
There’s no way to quantify catcher defense in a valid fashion. That let so many people discuss the boston defense as if it were uniformly elite.
The boston defense won’t even by the best in the division – the Rays will be.
And those quantifications, never accounted for catcher’s defense because there was no number to fit into that box.
And Martinez is just horrendous back there. As is Varitek.
And it’s great that they have an elite defensive 3b – but while Scutaro is an improvement on Nick Green, he’s not a good defensive player – never mind great and he’s a clear downgrade from Alex Gonzalez.
Tough to play run prevention when the catcher and shortstop are weak defensively.
And it’s really difficult to do if your bull pen is going to give up bullets all over the field on a regular basis.
Nick, for future reference if you bet with someone and you mean you want to bet for stakes, you make that part of your contract offer up front. Then if the person you’re offering it to accepts, you have a contract.
Personally since I don’t have a lot of time (figuratively) for all that betting stuff and see it as a waste of time and resources, I am not accepting your bet.
However, if you still want to make the bet and do it without anything for the stakes other than the sheer joy of winning the bet (the way I do things with my crowd when I do choose to make a bet) then feel free to ask again.
CB or SJ44
What’s Martinez worth as a catcher verses a DH/1B? In regards to his next contract.
speaking of Victor Martinez,
he’s in a bit of a slump to start the season.
He just hit into a critical double play to end the 8th inning. Sox had maybe their best chance to get back in the game against the Twins.
He’s surely going to produce over the course of the season but at .200, during a time that they absolutely depend on his bat in the 3-hole, it’s really hurting the team.
When an offense leans so heavily on a few bats (Pedroia, VMart, Youk) and one of them struggles…. and the pitching isn’t lights out, it’s not good.
They just don’t have the bats to pick up the offense when VMart or Youk aren’t hitting.
Doreen, since Senator Mitchell was somehow not able to find any rats to shred apart the Sux the way he was so ably to do with the Yankees, I somehow don’t mind sharing the wealth and speculating on who may have juiced.
CB April 12th, 2010 at 6:59 pm
I agree! In order to be a strong defense you have to be strog up the middle. That starts at Catcher. RSox are very weak here. 2B is good. SS is below average. CF is average IMO, because Cameron is not what he use to be and IMO will gradually decline this year.
I like RSox on corners 1B & 3B and even RF, but I think Ellsbury is not a LF.
Nick,
The beep beep you hear is the “Rhode Island Rooster” backing away from her original challenge.
Doreen – 2010 GTLU April 12th, 2010 at 6:56 pm
We will never know for sure who did ?juice? and who didn?t. I don?t feel comfortable casting aspersions on the Red Sox or any other team. It?s a slippery slope.
—————————————————————————————–
Unfairly we know some that did.
“What’s Martinez worth as a catcher verses a DH/1B? In regards to his next contract.”
—————–
Wow, I’ll let those 2 answer but it’s a huge difference.
VMart could probably find a club who still believes he’s a capable catcher and would give him a big contract, considering the scarcity at the position (and assuming he hits well this season)
If he is relegated to 1b duties, it’s a massive dropoff in contract value.
If he is strictly a DH, ouch! He’d be in big trouble.
Trisha
Yes. I remember that series of Kubel.
It was at the Twins, and around the same time when Wang went the complete game against the Nats, only to give up the walkoff HR to Zimmerman IIRC.
In re: to the Sox 2004 team, holy bugeez, their entire team was juiced, but not mentioned on the all unbiased
Mitchell Report.
Whew! Nixon, Mueller, Pokey, the guy who hit the disputed but correctly called opposite field HR in Game 6 ALCS, Millar, Tek, Pedro, the list goes on.
I hope nobody wonders why Tek attacked ARod earlier in the year….Dun Dun Dun!!! Roid Rage!!!
Well this game is officially boring. (And just as an aside, how bad did we all feel when Joe Nathan was down for the season. They haven’t missed a beat!)
I’ll go and check on my latest acquisition, Martin Prado.
In case it’s been forgotten, Mitchell was a director of sorts within the Sox organization
They took that off his Wikipedia page, that he was associated with the Sox organization.
I’ve been meaning to get into a Wikidispute over it.
“The problem is, their farm system is overhyped and really can’t fill the holes they need on the big club.”
Cafardo’s column this Sunday was interesting for a couple of reasons. The main point he was making is that you can’t count on the Sox getting Adrian Gonzalez because the pieces might not be there to make a deal that the Padres will like/ will be acceptable to theo.
He also had an interesting follow up on that leak about how the Sox tried to “trade” for Granderson:
“7. Curtis Granderson, CF, Yankees — The Sox kicked the tires on a deal for Granderson in the offseason as a possible replacement for Jason Bay, but the Yankees put together a package with Austin Jackson, Ian Kennedy, and Phil Coke in a three-way deal with Arizona and Detroit that the Sox couldn’t match, short of giving up Jacoby Ellsbury or Ryan Westmoreland.”
What’s really interesting here is that the Sox could not make a deal for Granderson without giving up talent from their 25 man roster. The pieces weren’t there at the upper minors to make a feasible deal. They either had to give up major pieces off the 25 man or the jewel of their system.
They didn’t have a Jackson or even a guy with Kennedy’s track record to make the deal.
http://www.boston.com/sports/b.....ez/?page=5
Francona is loyal to a fault with several of his players. This can easily come back to bite him if he sticks too long with certain players such as Ortiz.
Even if he heats up later in the season, if Boston doesn’t make it to the postseason it will be questioned all winter why Ortiz wasn’t benched earlier in the season in favor of a better bat.
The team doesn’t have the luxury of better flexability like the Yankees and Rays have.
“The Yankees love Carl Crawford and Carl Crawford knows it.”
Link?”
“When he is told that word has it the Yankees covet him, he seems unfazed. Maybe he’s heard this before, maybe he doesn’t care.”
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.c.....z0kvjn4TOf
Does anyone know if the MLB.com subscription is going to cover the ring ceremony at 12:30???
Only Keith Law & the ESPiN think that RSox have the talent to make those trades.
BD
That was what I thought and that is what Theo has to decide as far as what they offer.
““The funny thing is, without PED?s, I don?t think the Boston Red Sox win any titles in 2004 and 2007. Without Ortiz and Manny at the ?height? of their powers, those teams do nothing. ””
—————-
problem with that is that every other team had just as many juicers.
Of course if they didn’t juice but everybody else did, they’d have been at a ridiculous disadvantage….
Manny would have been a tremendous hitter on a level playing field (no PEDs). His hitting mechanics and batting eye are elite. Ortiz I’m not so sure about.
I think Martinez’s value plummets if he can’t catch.
Traditionally, DH’s don’t make huge dollars. They almost always top out at around 10-12, and that’s prior to the recession hitting.
If you look at some of the contracts signed for DH’s in the off-season, like Matsui, its in the 6-7 million dollar range.
If he could catch well enough to stay behind the plate (he is awful back there. Much worse than Jorge on Jorge’s worst days), he’s looking at 13-14 million a year.
He’s not a good first baseman and certainly wouldn’t approach Tex or Fielder money as a first baseman.
His value is as an everyday catcher.
I think the Red Sox are going to re-sign him and use him behind the plate.
If I’m right, they will bury themselves with that deal.
There just aren’t a lot of good catchers on the open market. That’s why they were praying Mauer hit free agency.
Seems to me that unless Theo has a trick up his sleeve, he has to re-sign Martinez and that may be a damned if you do damned if you don’t type of deal.
Trisha, thanks for the lecture on betting, stakes, and contracts, though it was unwarranted since I never suggested that we already had a contract.
I asked if anyone wanted to bet. You said yes. Then I moved on to proposing the stakes. That’s where you have stalled out. $50 was just my opening offer because I smelled a good payday.
I would be happy to bet for taffy or any other stakes, but you did not make a counter-offer.
I suggest, based on the fact that you have offered to send taffy to anyone who wins the Yankee win total guessing contest alone, that you do, in fact, have the time, both figuratively and literally, to pay off a losing wager.
And I also suggest, based on many comments that you have made, that you do have the resources to pay off a losing wager, though I won’t argue if you say that, while you could pay, you would consider it a misallocation of the resources you have, which seems to be your contention.
No offense, but simply being right about something and seeing you be wrong isn’t much an enticement to call a difference of opinion an actual bet.
Taffy, a chocolate bar, a postcard from Providence, anything all all would make it an actual bet with actual stakes. If you would still prefer not to bet, that’s fine. But I would like to back up the wager with something tangible.
Ortiz had more HRs/RBIs than Teixeria after June 1st las year.
He is far from washed up, he is still a dangerous hitter. Perhaps as he ages, he won’t get off to quick starts. But by September, his numbers will still be good.
How I love brand new screennames that all of a sudden show up with the sole intent of taking shots. Nothing screams “YES I’VE BEEN HERE BEFORE BUT DON’T HAVE THE BALLS TO LET YOU KNOW WHO I REALLY AM!” like that does.
I don’t like that they only show up when Nick and I have are having a dispute, but oh well…
“Vermont Vet” – You know the saying it’s better not to say anything and let them think you’re a fool than to open your mouth and prove it?” Well since money wasn’t mentioned in the bet, it doesn’t appear that I’m backing out of anything. I gave Nick the right to recast the bet. The rest is on him.
If Boston could have found a FA catcher with a fair bat and better than average defense, like John Buck or this coming year, AJ Pierzinski, Martinez would be at first and Youkilis at third.
Who’s the guy that hit the disputed but correctly called 3 run HR in game 6 ALCS 2004 for the Sox?
In another season, the guy played with us, and actually hit a HR in Oakland IIRC.
He was a utility guy.
Twinkies win!!
Joba will have other Yankee WS rings to keep or distribute.
As for Martinez, if he has been a about a 5 WAR player. That’s worth roughly $22-23m a year.
A catcher is worth +1 WAR, a 1B, -1.
So as a C he’s probably worth about $22m. As a 1B, something like 18m.
Mark Belhorn?
It may have looked like Ortiz caught up to that changeup, but he was actually still swinging at the prior pitch.
MaineYankee,
if someone pays VMart to be a catcher, I don’t there is a chance he stays in Boston.
The only caveat to that is if the Sox make the playoffs and do well in the playoffs with their current team.
Since many of us consider that unlikely, I just can’t see the Sox using the same recipe in 2011 (VMart behind the plate for a majority of the team’s games).
It’s funny because so many Sox fans laugh at Posada’s defensive ability and consider him one of the worst defensive catchers.
If VMart had Posada’s defensive ability, IMO, he’d be able to stay at catcher and they wouldn’t need to worry so much about that.
I’m just sayin’ I was floored when Andy Pettitte’s name was in the Mitchell report. So, you can’t know until you know.
I agree that the Yankees seemed to be a particular target; I will also agree that it really stinks that ARod took mega-grief while Ortiz and Manny somehow get a pass.
I still don’t feel comfortable pointing fingers. It’s a sad chapter in the history of baseball. I’ll leave it at that.
The Twins did their beautiful new stadium proud.
It must be nice to be able to build a stadium without having to please the ghosts of the past…
MARK BELLHORN!!!!!!
LOL
Thanks Tom.
Mark Bellhorn = STEROIDS!!!
“I don’t like that they only show up when Nick and I have are having a dispute, but oh well…”
Similary, I don’t like insinuations, however mild or masked, than I use sock puppets to take shots at you. Since it’s something that’s easily disproved, if you think that there is any chance at all that I have done so, go ahead and come out and say it out in the open so it can be dispatched.
If you haven’t heard — The Pulitzer Prizes were announced today :
The Washington Post won four Pulitzer Prizes, and The New York Times won three (including one by Tyler Kepner).
Read more here:
http://mediadecoder.blogs.nyti.....-three/?hp
“What’s Martinez worth as a catcher verses a DH/1B? In regards to his next contract.”
Maine,
He becomes a completely different player. He’s an plus hitting catcher. As a 1b he would have average. The average 1b is around an .870-.880 OPS player. Martinez’s career OPS is .836. He’s never had a year putting up an OPS better than .870.
Now over his career Martinez has demonstrated a significant split in production depending on position – he hits better when he’s playing 1b. So he’ll likely be around average for 1b.
But that’s a big drop off from how his bat plays at catcher. It’s just a complete difference in value.
In point of fact however, the different might be negligible in terms of value because Martinez is probably costing the Sox quite a bit behind the plate in terms of losing value defensively.
Their best team for 2010 would probably be to DH Martinez and upgrade catcher.
But they’ve been trying to upgrade the catcher spot for years and have been unable to do so.
“I suggest, based on the fact that you have offered to send taffy to anyone who wins the Yankee win total guessing contest alone, that you do, in fact, have the time, both figuratively and literally, to pay off a losing wager. ”
That’s not paying off a losing wager as it is a contest that potentially everyone could win if they all chose to predict the same number of wins. And you’re right that it’s a contest, not a bet.
I personally don’t believe in betting for any kind of gain. You are right that I do have the resources to pay off a losing wager, were I to be involved in one. In fact I just offered to give the RI SPCA $1000 to put in escrow as part of a reward that they are offering to anyone with information that will lead to the conviction of a person who killed a nesting swan. It’s all about where I choose to put my resources.
If you want a friendly bet, I’m all for it. I don’t need to be sent anything to prove to me that I won a bet.
Your choice.
Didn’t Ortiz have a rep. with him from MLB who basically discredited the steroid report saying there are not 103 names and some of them are erroneous, basically exonerating Ortiz from using steroids? Ortiz denied it and here is someone from the PA saying that the ‘list’ is inaccurate.
“But by September, his (Ortiz) numbers will still be good.”
——————–
I’m not so sure about that. It’s possible but if pitchers find a way to expose his weaknesses, he may be done.
Ortiz may start to lose some at bats by next month if he doesn’t recover some bat speed before then.
It’s not out of the realm of possibility that they find a delicate way to cut him by mid-season.
If he is not hitting, he is such a liability to the team because he can’t play the field – in the same way Marcus Thames would prove useless if he doesn’t hit lefties.
Though, the Yankees might not need to rely on their bench as much as the Red Sox will because of the relative strength of their starters.
On a team built around defense, it would be nice to have some pop on the bench if they’re down a run or two in the late innings.
I have to assume that Peter Gammons won the Pulitzer Prize in literature in the fiction category.
SJ44
I think your right as far as resigning him as a catcher because they need his bat. Also he probably would get a catcher contract from some team if not from the RS.
I believe that is someone who is extremely fond of you and not so fond of me.
No big deal, though I hate phony stuff and nothing smacks of phony as much as a person with a brand new screenname who professes to know all about the poster at whom he or she is taking shots. (Merna Loy)
YAWN,
ignore my posts
blah blah . . .anxiously awaiting your next lecture.
I do agree with you that “the eyes” is a better catcher than jorge; pitchers do seem to get into a better rhythm with him.
Marvin Benard admitted this weekend that he used steroids during his playing career.
Not all guys who used steroid became superstars.
California -
I couldn’t find what Ty Kepner won his Pulitzer for, do you know?
Also, how does one correctly pronounce Pulitzer? Is it Pew-itzer or Pu-litzer?
And, the drama, the musical “Next to Normal,” I have some of the music from this show and love it, but can’t bring myself to see a show with the theme it has.
“The NY media takes a backseat to no one in terms of how they treat players. I don’t know how Ortiz is being treated, but I have no respect for the NY media…”
No respect for Chad?
You’re posting on a blog run by a member of the NY media :rollseyes:
If another team believes VMart can play catcher over the length of his new deal, I just don’t see the Red Sox matching that deal. Whoever gives him a big deal is probably going to regret it.
Now that Mauer is signed, VMart and AJ Pierzynski are the only catchers that are considered decent hitters that will hit the free agent market over the next TWO off-seasons.
Certainly, if a team were to offer 4 or 5 years (which seems unlikely), I just can’t see the Sox matching that.
If the Sox do give him 4 years and pay him at a catcher’s price, it will be a good thing, IMO, for Yankee fans.
pat April 12th, 2010 at 7:21 pm
Marvin Benard admitted this weekend that he used steroids during his playing career.
Not all guys who used steroid became superstars.
—————————————————————————————–
No, but some that used became ML ballplayers.
Anyone know if the Twins batted in the bottom of the 9th and if so, why? Gameday shows the Twins in the bottom of the 9th, but I can’t figure out why
“I personally don’t believe in betting for any kind of gain.”
In this case, I think you don’t believe in betting for any kind of loss.
(just kidding!)
“I don’t need to be sent anything to prove to me that I won a bet.”
Nor do I; the payoff is not the proof that I won or lost a bet. Since the bet would be made here, in public, the result itself would be the proof. The payoff is the reward for having staked something or the punishment for having staked something and then lost. I am confident that you already know and understand that.
If you have some personal conviction against gambling, friendly or otherwise, no problem.
There is such a thing as a gentlemen’s bet, but that’s not what I had in mind. If that is the only think you had in mind when you said you would take the bet, for bragging rights for the winner or crow-eating for the loser, fair enough. But I’ve seen you be wrong enough before. I wanted money or taffy or something.
Rishi -
No.
Or maybe he doesn’t want to get into a tampering charge issue.
He and CC are tight and CC talks to him all the time about coming to the Yankees.
CC talked about this past weekend. I believe RAB may have something on it.
The two sides know where each other stands. That’s all I’m saying.
YankeesWFAN Whereabouts of the ball were sort of a mystery. Teixeira apparently held it all winter so he could give to Steinbrenners personally.
14 minutes ago via UberTwitter
YankeesWFAN Mark Teixeira presented Hal Steinbrenner with the ball from last out of 09 WS at annual Welcome Home Dinner tonite.
16 minutes ago via UberTwitter
BD
I’ve seen more than one list this spring that has Martinez as the second best catcher in the AL.
Thanks, Doreen
what a really cool thing for Tex to do! Thanks, Rishi.
Nice touch by Tex!
“I believe that is someone who is extremely fond of you and not so fond of me.”
The second half of that is obvious, but not the first part.
Montero hits a semi-line single to center when he broke his bat in half. He’s somewhat strong.
“that the Sox couldn’t match, short of giving up Jacoby Ellsbury or Ryan Westmoreland”
—————
I hear lots of mixed reviews on guys like Michael Bowden and Josh Reddick.
I would imagine those are 2 guys the Sox offered, perhaps with another B/C level prospect or two, for Granderson.
Depending on who you talk to, that’s a reasonable offer or that’s an insult.
Because of all the extra hype some Sox prospects get, it has become exceedingly difficult to evaluate them from a fan’s perspective.
I can’t imagine the Sox NOT going hard after Adrian Gonzalez this year. He would be a beast in Fenway.
Like Cafardo discusses, whether or not they can get that done will be interesting to see.
Doreen – 2010 GTLU April 12th, 2010 at 6:39 pm
Well, at least we know what Carl Pavano was supposed to be.
Some people can’t do it in NY, and that’s that.
**************
Carl Pavano is now one of Erica’s Avengers.
He knows he is expected to perform accordingly!!!!!
CR9 April 12th, 2010 at 6:43 pm
Jason Kubel. First HR at the Target!
***********
He’s one of Erica’s Avengers too!!!!
I brought him him from reserves yesterday because Carlos Lee does nothing but strike out right now. That move paid off in dividends today
Erica -
Maybe you should have adopted Pavano a few years ago!
BD, mixed reviews might be generous; I thought Bowden and Reddick were considered nothing more than a #4 starter at best and a 4th OF.
After Nick Cafardo’s hilariously biased evaluation of the Sox/Yankees prior to the season opener, I can’t take him seriously. I’m pretty sure the Tigers asked for Phil and Buchholz – that’s what I read at the time of the winter meetings. This was when the 3 way deal appeared dead.
“BD
I’ve seen more than one list this spring that has Martinez as the second best catcher in the AL.”
——————–
That’s not that unreasonable though I think that makes more sense from a fantasy baseball team perspective.
I also assume they are talking about 2010 only because a guy like Matt Wieters, who may outperform VMart this year anyway, would vault to 2nd on many lists.
Mauer, Posada, VMart, Suzuki, Wieters, and Napoli are all not too shabby with the bat.
If Posada keeps hitting like he’s been though, I think he’ll settle in as the 2nd best hitting and perhaps overall catcher in the AL…
and Yankee-haters will have to cross their fingers and pray that “next year he’ll finally slow down.”
Doreen – 2010 GTLU April 12th, 2010 at 7:35 pm
Erica -
Maybe you should have adopted Pavano a few years ago!
****************
This is my first time with fantasy baseball. I have never tried it before. I am pretty addicted right now
BD
I thought I heard some noise that Bowden may be a BP pitcher rather than a SP.
I saw Reddick in a few games and he looked decent. His bat may be what’s holding him back. Looked good in the OF.
“I would imagine those are 2 guys the Sox offered, perhaps with another B/C level prospect or two, for Granderson.
Depending on who you talk to, that’s a reasonable offer or that’s an insult.”
If it had been enough Curtis would have been playing for the Sox.
They desperately needed power this off season. He would have been a perfect fit.
They’ve evidently soured on Bowden – who was horrible last year. And Reddick isn’t likely to contribute in a big way this year given that they have Hermida.
Those two guys would not stop them from getting Granderson.
But he’s not on the Sox. He’s on the yanks. So whatever they offered either Dombrowski or Byrnes or both didn’t like the talent to make a three way start.
Remember – the critical part of getting that deal done in a practical fashion for the yanks was Arizona.
Detroit wanted a CF and a hard throwing arm they could slot into the rotation for 2010.
The D’Backs were willing to make Scherzer available for Jackson and another starter they could pencil into their rotation in 2010. That was Kennedy.
Both teams wanted a young cost controlled arm they could directly place into the rotation in 2010.
Who did the Sox have that fit that bill other than Buchholz? Not Bowden. Not Tazawa.
They didn’t have either piece needed to make the trade without raiding the 25 man roster – they didn’t have the Jackson piece or the Kennedy piece.
I have always thought that the boy Genius in Boston was over-rated.
We’re one more failed strategy into the proof.
LOL.
“BD, mixed reviews might be generous; I thought Bowden and Reddick were considered nothing more than a #4 starter at best and a 4th OF. ”
————
like I said, depends on who you talk to. Reddick was ranked higher than Austin Jackson (by 1 spot) on BA’s top 100 prospects list put out this February. Bowden has been on top 100 lists as well.
I realize BA is far from the be-all-end-all, but they are still respected (it seems) in the baseball community.
GM’s and scouts make up their own minds – and I’d guess Detroit’s GM disagreed that Reddick was on par with AJax.
We’ll find out if another GM actually likes those guys because I think the Sox will be pushing some of their B-level prospects hard at the trading deadline.
Despite a weak offense, if the Sox could somehow make the playoffs, a Lester/Beckett/Lackey trio is at least capable of winning games.
hey…any news on how Matsui’s getting the ring?
“I’m pretty sure the Tigers asked for Phil and Buchholz – that’s what I read at the time of the winter meetings. This was when the 3 way deal appeared dead.”
That’s actually when the 3 team deal was born.
The Tigers wanted a CF prospect and a power arm. They wanted Jackson and Hughes. The yanks said no.
Fortunately the D’Backs liked Kennedy and had a different take on their own player – Scherzer – than the Tigers did.
One of the real key things in that deal turned out to be how the two teams evalauted Max Scherzer.
The D’Backs thought he was either at high risk to get hurt or would wing up in the pen. The Tigers were willing to take that risk.
With the third team in the mix the Tigers could get what they wanted for Curtis – a power arm in Scherzer and a guy they could slot in in CF in 2010 in Jackson.
So our farm system has been killed by the Laws, Manuals, etc.. of the world, but yet we turned a couple of prospects into Curtis Granderson. How is it that the Sox lower level prospects are the bees’ knees, but our lower level prospects are not given the same respect?
“Remember – the critical part of getting that deal done in a practical fashion for the yanks was Arizona.”
————–
oh yes. And thankfully Arizona was ok with dealing Scherzer and Schlereth.
Time will tell if Arizona made a good deal there but I’m leaning towards no.
So far, I think Dombrowski and Cashman both have smiles on their faces about the deal.
LOL Jackson and Hughes? Well, it doesn’t hurt to ask.
The Tigers have a pretty good track record lately with pitchers; If I had to wager, I’d bet that they are right on Scherzer.
“There is such a thing as a gentlemen?s bet, but that?s not what I had in mind. If that is the only think you had in mind when you said you would take the bet, for bragging rights for the winner or crow-eating for the loser, fair enough. But I?ve seen you be wrong enough before. I wanted money or taffy or something. ”
Sure enough and you’ve seen me be right before, like when I was the only one who predicted the exact number of wins the Yankees would have last season. I got nothing for that but bragging rights for the winner and crow-eating for the losers, or something like that. But you’ll see lots of that because I’m not a fence rider. People who put themselves on the line will win and lose, since nobody’s right all the time. People who straddle the fence seldom eat crow because they don’t publicly guess at anything much. But then they miss out on the glory part of it also I guess.
In any event, the reason I didn’t get anything for winning last year was because I was the one who sponsored the contest!
If it’s a bet, for me it’s always a friendly bet.
JD Drew’s time with Boston has really been interesting. He is their highest paid position player and Theo seems to spend every telling the media how great he is. He always makes sure to point to his OBP, but who is Drew getting on base for? Beltre, Scutaro, and Ellsbury?
Yet, at the same time they have not really challenged him to be an integral part of the lineup. Going into this season with question marks surrounding their offense it would seem like a perfect time to put Drew in the 5-hole if the organization did indeed think so high of him.
I would love to hear what the Boston FO really thinks about Drew. Good thing I will only have to wait about a year and a half to start seeing some leeks bashing him on the way out the door.
Boston’s farm system is closer becoming the angels system, in which its full of highly touted prospects that the GM is afraid to trade and they end up busting out.
The Red Sox will be more aggressive than the Angels, but they really missed on trading guys like Ellsbury/Bowden/Whomever at their peak value.
Cashman has no qualms going for it.
Isn’t it odd we’ve not heard a peep about Banuelos? If it was appendicitis and he had an appendectomy, why the secrecy?
“So our farm system has been killed by the Laws, Manuals, etc.. of the world, but yet we turned a couple of prospects into Curtis Granderson.”
I don’t think anyone killed A-Jack and IPK. Much of the criticism relates to the lack of higher level depth of what remains.
“Time will tell if Arizona made a good deal there but I’m leaning towards no.”
It will be interesting to see.
It is quite possible that in that bizarre and terrible NL West that deal might work out well of for the D’Backs.
They basically traded velocity and power arms for guys who they felt had a higher probability of sticking in their rotation.
They placed a significant premium on having starting pitching. Detroit bet on upside and power.
Given Arizona’s huge financial problems it very well might turn out well for them in the context of their needs.
Even if Jackson and Kennedy are league average starters it might work out for them.
If they really did see Scherzer as a reliever – and they know him better than anyone – then two power relievers in Scherzer and Sclereth really aren’t going to help a team like Arizona as much as starting pitchers will.
Rishi April 12th, 2010 at 7:30 pm
YankeesWFAN Whereabouts of the ball were sort of a mystery. Teixeira apparently held it all winter so he could give to Steinbrenners personally.
14 minutes ago via UberTwitter
YankeesWFAN Mark Teixeira presented Hal Steinbrenner with the ball from last out of 09 WS at annual Welcome Home Dinner tonite.
**************************
That’s awesome! Good job by Tex
Dustin Moseley is not impressing the minor league hitters from Rochester. If it wasn’t for Montero calling for 4 strikeout pitches, he’d be in real trouble. 3 innings, 5 hits, 2-0 Rochester.
Betsy-
“Isn’t it odd we’ve not heard a peep about Banuelos? If it was appendicitis and he had an appendectomy, why the secrecy?”
I didn’t hear word about this. Please tell me what you have heard, or provide a link. Thanks.
“How is it that the Sox lower level prospects are the bees’ knees, but our lower level prospects are not given the same respect?”
———-
I can’t defend the Sox prospects too much, but they like to come up with their “untouchables” – in this case I imagine that is Buchholz, Kelly, and Westmoreland.
Austin Jackson was the Yanks 2nd best prospect but they were willing to deal him in order to get a star like Granderson in return.
The Sox, foolishly IMO, probably refused to deal one of these untouchables even for a proven player like CG. I’m not sure if the Sox themselves overvalue their prospects or if Detroit just really liked AJax and Arizona really like IPK.
It ended up being a somewhat complex trade with 3 teams and every team has their own preferences.
Only time will tell if some or any of the Sox guys warrant their high rankings.
Adrian Gonzalez can flat out hit. He can really square up the baseball.
And Dick Enberg just pulled a John Sterling calling a ball Gonzalez hit into the stands for a ground rule double a home run…
That was not pretty to listen to.
Why is Enberg doing the padres games?
“Why is Enberg doing the padres games?”
It’s a retirement job.
Betsy-
My sister had an appendectomy two years ago. Its not really a huge deal anymore. She was out of the hospital a day later and drinking at my cousin’s wedding after a week and a half
Golson singles to lead off the 3rd, Corona struck out again and Golson steals 2nd base off of Mike Maroth.
Gb-
Thanks for the updates. Hope you are well.
What’s this about Banuelos ? Is he injured ?
“I can’t defend the Sox prospects too much, but they like to come up with their “untouchables” – in this case I imagine that is Buchholz, Kelly, and Westmoreland.”
There have already been so many stories written about how Westmoreland and Kelly – A ball prospects – are “untouchable” and will not even be traded for Adrian Gonzalez.
There’s just no way the Padres can get those guys even for Gonzalez.
It’s really just wacky. They widely believe that not signing Mark Teixeira cost them a world series and they won’t trade A ball prospects for the one guy available who could give them what Tex might have?
I half hope Theo is really this impractical but I can’t see how this is even remotely true rather than the usual pre-trade posturing about “untouchables.”
Trisha, if you consider your prediction of 103 wins as opposed to 102 wins or 104 wins to be evidence of particular baseball insight, more power to you. But I take your bragging about that to be in good fun, so no worries.
I think you deserve a reward for winning the contest that you sponsored, since you offered a prize to other winners (didn’t someone else also guess 103 wins?). Send me your mailing address and I’ll send you a prize along the lines of the taffy you offered to send out (that is, edible, delicious, and inexpensive).
I agree, people that have more and stronger opinions are more likley to be proven right or wrong publically. I posit to you that it is the manner in which you express those opinions and the manner in which you sometimes charecterize the opinions of those who disagree with you that leads to a lot of the hostility and bad feelings you encounter here.
As for wagering, I have a different definition of being “in the arena” than you do. Oh well, no payoff for me.
If you don’t still have my email address from our previous correnspondance, you can reach me at sftweeindieguy at yahoo dot com.
Wow, Jurrjens just killed my fantasy team in a game that I thought was a lock for a quality start…. in a pitchers park against a weak offense.
Even SD’s pitcher has a couple RBI. Ouch.
CB-
I don’t think posturing will do any good because of the GM on the other end in any potential
trade for A-Gon. He knows Boston’s players and evaluations inside out. He isn’t going to be snookered.
“The Red Sox will be more aggressive than the Angels, but they really missed on trading guys like Ellsbury/Bowden/Whomever at their peak value.
Cashman has no qualms going for it.”
Somethings in baseball don’t ever change…. I think it was Branch Rickey who once said that the most important team you can ever scout is your own team That you have to honestly evaluate your own talent and know it much better than any other team does.
Not being able to do that certainly hurt the Angels for years.
After Russo walks, Nunez lines out to right and Golson moves to 3rd base. Miranda batting, grounds out to 2nd base, inning over.
I wish we had someone who could blog from the dinner. That would be great. Or even a live cam.
“I half hope Theo is really this impractical but I can’t see how this is even remotely true rather than the usual pre-trade posturing about “untouchables.””
—————
CB,
I have to believe it’s just their strategy. They can’t possibly be that dumb. Talk about how much you love something and nobody else can have it, that when you reluctantly give it up you hope it has some added value.
Sooner or later, if they haven’t already, other GM’s will grow tired of this.
If nothing else, it makes Sox fans feel better about their farm system.
Last season it was, “we didn’t need Teixeira because we have Lars Anderson” from many fans around here. They were duped by the “Sox hype machine” into believing that he was a can’t-miss prospect.
Even if he was a solid prospect, there just aren’t many can’t-miss guys.
and my friends think it’s only because I’m a Yanks fan that I tell them not to raise their kids as Sox fans…
Jason Heyward has a gun out in RF.
Jurrgens had poor command tonight. Couldn’t find the zone.
Getting very ugly for Atlanta.
GB7 may need to put his cleats on for the locals.
“Run Prevention”.
Who knew – ironically – that it would mean the Bosox bats?
Carl, I’ve blogged here from dinner before, isn’t that good enough??????
“Not being able to do that certainly hurt the Angels for years.”
———————
I’d be downright sick if I were an Angels fan and knew they could have had Roy Halladay… but the Halos didn’t want to part with Brandon Wood or Erick Aybar (and Joe Saunders).
sick.
for Trenton, DJ Mitchell isn’t getting scored on much, but, it’s not for lack of trying. 6 hits and a walk in three innings. 2-0 Akron.
“@GordonEdes that’s 3 SBs today, 12 out of 13 with Victor behind plate”
——————————————————————————————————–
It was nice of Cano to try and give Martinez some confidence.
Carl -
I ‘d give a bunch of stuff to be a fly on the wall there!
at least the Angels correctly evaluated Casey Kotchman when they sent him packing on the first plane to Atlanta, pretty much straight up, for Mark Teixeira
and then got 2 first round picks.
definite black mark in Atlanta Braves history….
Carl April 12th, 2010 at 8:04 pm
I wish we had someone who could blog from the dinner. That would be great. Or even a live cam.
***************************
I second this!!
Because Ortiz will never again be the slugger he once was. Good pitchers toy with him. Lefties dominate him. The Joe Maddon shift has tortured him. He misses Manny. He is at least 34 years old and hitters with his body type generally fade quickly in the mid 30s (Ortiz is untradeable, a 10-5 player, making $12 million in the final year of his contract).
There’s also speculation that he used performance-enhancing drugs. Last summer The New York Times revealed that Ortiz was among one of the 104 major leaguers who tested positive when all players submitted to drug testing in 2003. The Major League Players Association rushed to Ortiz’ defense and childish Sox owner John Henry stated, “David said he didn’t do it,” but the damage was done.
Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.c.....z0kvzX42Tt
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Wan’t it 4 stolen bases? I thought Span and Punto each had 2.
Texas should trade for Gonzalez. That’s a special bat. The damage he would do in Arlington would be monstrous.
Texas has more than enough pieces to do it. Nolan wants to win. They have a new owner.
Unfortunately, if their debt to value ration is in fact 105% as Forbes has it, shelling out a 180M deal might not be easy.
CB, that’s as bad as I’ve ever seen Jurrjens pitch. He had absolutely nothing. If the neighbors find out I’m a Yankee fan, I’m going to need to get out my blunderbuss and barricade the doors and windows.
I half hope Theo is really this impractical but I can’t see how this is even remotely true rather than the usual pre-trade posturing about “untouchables.”
……………………………..
CB -
What gets in the way is John Henry’s unwillingness to eat the contracts of [this] year for Lowell and Ortiz in order to get Adrian Gonzalez which will surely have to include Buchholz, Kelly and other prospects. With Wakefield’s back liable to act up at any time and the unsureness of Matsuzaka, it’s a real gamble.
Nick in SF April 12th, 2010 at 8:10 pm
Wan’t it 4 stolen bases? I thought Span and Punto each had 2.
—————————————————————
You’re right, Nick. I think that was probably tweeted earlier in the game.
Does anyone out there have any information on a potential injury, or problem with Banuelos ?
Thanks in advance.
“Why? Well, I think there are some pretty obvious reasons that come to mind. The Yankees and Red Sox are great offensive teams, and as such they tend to work pitchers, get a lot of men on base, force a lot of visits to the mound and pitching changes and such. They walk a lot. I don’t have foul ball data — I’m sure it’s out there to be found — but I would suspect that you see more foul balls at a Yankees-Red Sox game than anywhere else. And, let’s face it, you will pitch Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez and Kevin Youkilis and all these stars more carefully, nibble more, step off the mound more, try to make the perfect pitch more. I think a good part of the Yankees-Red Sox length-of-game issue tends to be the opposite of Joe West’s point — BECAUSE they’re such good teams they play longer games.”
Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.c.....z0kw0RjLDd
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“There’s also speculation that he used performance-enhancing drugs.”
Right, a year ago, he said he’d get back to the media on what exactly caused the “false positive.”
To this point he hasn’t, and the media has largely been silent.
Imagine if A-Rod had been as unforthcoming.
From what;s been written and said, Ryan is still really high on Chris davis at first. You have to wonder if Gonzales would resign with Texas after they had traded him once before.
Ahh, the AL West….
where the lowly A’s are 3 innings from a 6-2 start, and the mighty Angels and Mariners are 2-5 (Mariners being 3 innings from 2-6).
40% chance of shower from 6am to 5pm tomorrow. lets hope it holds up.
“Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.c…..z0kvzX42Tt”
What’s even worse about that article in SI ripping Ortiz is who wrote it – Dan Shaugnessy.
It’s that bad for Ortiz. It’s not enough for the local columnist to write article after article about how he’s washed up for the Boston Globe.
He has to take it national as well.
Nah I don’t need a prize. For me the reward is in the final product always.
What I would like to understand is whether the Braves are as bad as they look tonight or the Pads as good as they look. Good lord!
BJK: thanks. I used to have a problem with premature tweeting when I was a little younger.
“You have to wonder if Gonzales would resign with Texas after they had traded him once before.”
Daniels has publicly stated that trading gonzalez was the worst mistake of his career.
I’d think what ever team trades for him would try to get a window of negotiation. Don’t know if SD grants that.
Gonzalez would be a huge star in Texas.
“Texas should trade for Gonzalez. That’s a special bat. The damage he would do in Arlington would be monstrous.”
—————–
The way Nelson Cruz is hitting, they might not need it!
But yes, Adrian would be a monster at virtually every ballpark. In Arlington, he’d prob have a .500 OBP because you couldn’t risk giving him a pitch to hit.
And to guess the number right on the nose is still something to crow about. Just another nod to my perspicacity, right Doreen?
BD,
To be fair, Yankee fans overvalue their prospects as much as Red Sox fans do.
We have people on here not wanting to trade A Ball prospects for established major league.
It’s just the way some fans are with their excessive attachment to prospects.
The goal is to win at the major league level.
To do so, you wheel prospects for the Vazquez/ Granderson, etc types of the world.
You also self scout well enough to keep the right guys in your organization.
Nick in SF April 12th, 2010 at 8:19 pm
BJK: thanks. I used to have a problem with premature tweeting when I was a little younger.
————————————————————————————
So wait, the problem can get better? That’s a relief.
Fair enough, Trisha, but let the record reflect that I offered to send you a nice gift for winning the guessing contest (it was going to be excellent local chocolate, far better than Ghiradelli) and you declined.
Such is life.
there isn’t a sensible fan in Boston who doesn’t think Ortiz and Manny both used steroids.
typically, they’ll look downward, shrug, and say “yeah, they used… everybody did.”
Anybody who believes Ortiz’s baloney story is in the vast minority these days.
That’s why he just looks like more of a fool when he can’t admit it.
One possiblity is trading Gonzales to the Dodgers for James Loney and minor leaguers.
“We have people on here not wanting to trade A Ball prospects for established major league.”
That in and of itself proves nothing. Virtually every star in MLB was once in A ball, yet no one would seriously argue that each and everyone of them should ipso facto be traded for any established major leaguer.
I don’t have a link, MTU; Patrick from Pinstripes Plus mentioned that he heared Banuelos had a late night appendectomy, but after his one post about that, there’s been nothing.
Rich, shouldn’t evaluation of the farm system consist of the entire farm and not just AA and AAA? That still doesn’t explain why the Sox are considered to have a great farm system when their own best prospects are in the lower levels.
BD, if I’m Boston, I would not have traded Buchholz for Granderson either.
So that is what it takes to be ignored.
I get it now.
Just ask a simple question, and be polite.
Awesome.
I’ll have to remember that.
Nick in SF April 12th, 2010 at 8:22 pm
Fair enough, Trisha, but let the record reflect that I offered to send you a nice gift for winning the guessing contest (it was going to be excellent local chocolate, far better than Ghiradelli
************************
Nick, if Trisha doesn’t want the chocolate, I would gladly take it instead.
Gonzalez would be great in LA. What a huge star he would be there. An absolute hero.
Dodgers also have the pieces to put a deal together if they can lock Logan White away in a closet for a while.
I don’t think they’re going to do anything large however until that mess of a divorce and ownership issues are ironed out.
He’d be great for San Fran also.
Sorry Betsy-
Did not see your post before my joke. thanks.
Erica, it’s not – but it means about 4-5 weeks for an athlete. Still, if true, at least it’s not his arm.
(you’re free to change your mind, of course)
My wife has declared tonight a lohud Yankees blog free night for me…good discussion going on though….I snuck away and read through….shhhhh
SJ44,
very true (and fair).
I understand how exciting it can be to follow prospects when you hear about a guys potential and high ceiling.
Justin Smoak, who may very well be great, was “the next Teixeira” the day he was drafted.
Heck, Jose Tabata is the next Manny Ramirez.
As you know, the % of prospects who actually hit their ceiling is very low.
Excitement sells though.
Winfree and Montero sandwich walks around Weber;s strikeout. Web is showing why he’s a career minor leaguer at age 33.
CB, the Yankees scouted themselves before the playoffs. Ken Davidoff wrote about it and I thought it was a brilliant idea.
CB,
The guy is a beast at Petco.
Is there a team in the league Gonzalez wouldn’t be huge for?
I don’t know about perspicacity in this case, Trisha, but guessing the number of wins on the nose is something I’d definitely crow about.
Especially in light of all the bridge jumping at various points during last season.
We have had them on here.
There was a furor over the Yankees trading Arodys Vizcaino for Vazquez. A kid whose only experience was in short season A Ball.
We had people call him a “future ace”.
Nobody can make that call that early in a kids career.
Yet, people did that here and other blogs.
We see the same talk about Casey Kelly and, before his surgery, Westmoreland.
Prospects are chips to improve your parent club and nothing more.
The key is for GM’s to know which ones to keep, which ones to deal, and to NEVER fall in love with too many of them because it affects your thinking in a negative way.
Theo overvalues his system and that isn’t good for the Sox.
Betsy
“Rich, shouldn’t evaluation of the farm system consist of the entire farm and not just AA and AAA”
Yes, but it’s much harder to project lower level prospects (e.g., there are very few Montero-type talents). That is particularly true of pitchers since there is a much greater risk of injury. So it necessarily reduces the evaluation of a mL system if the lion’s share of an organization’s talent is below AA.
Nick in SF April 12th, 2010 at 8:22 pm
Fair enough, Trisha, but let the record reflect that I offered to send you a nice gift for winning the guessing contest (it was going to be excellent local chocolate, far better than Ghiradelli)
*************
Umm- can I have the chocolate????
What are the stakes?????????????
CB April 12th, 2010 at 8:25 pm
Gonzalez would be great in LA. What a huge star he would be there. An absolute hero.
Dodgers also have the pieces to put a deal together if they can lock Logan White away in a closet for a while.
I don’t think they’re going to do anything large however until that mess of a divorce and ownership issues are ironed out.
He’d be great for San Fran also.
———————————————————————————————————————-
Imagine what fine tuning Mattingly could do with Gonzales. Get him to a 40 homer .300+ average on a yearly basis
blake April 12th, 2010 at 8:26 pm
My wife has declared tonight a lohud Yankees blog free night for me…good discussion going on though….I snuck away and read through….shhhhh
************
At least she was kind enough to choose an off-night.
How long have you been married??? Is it too late to trade her in for someone who understands?
“You also self scout well enough to keep the right guys in your organization.”
—————-
good point.
speaking of that… I’m trying to think of the last prospect the Yankees traded away who became an all-star (or a very good all-star caliber guy).
Anybody?
Run prevention was all the rage this winter.
The Mariners had literally reinvented baseball this off season according to some.
The Mariners are 2-5 coming into today – last in the AL West.
They’ve scored 21 runs and allowed 35. And that includes a series playing the horrendous A’s.
Seventh inning of the game tonight – the M’s have done only allowed 2 runs to the A’s who they are playing again.
But there are two men on base. With two strikes, Ryan Rowland-Smith gets Gabe Gross to swing through a pitch but the awful Rob Johnson – one of the two terrible catcher the mavens of run prevention have on their roster – drops the ball tipped off the bat.
Gross then lines the next pitch out to LF. And who is playing for run prevention central?
That’s right – Milton Bradley.
The Bradley – Carlos Silva trade was lauded widely as a sign of Jack Z’s “genius.”
Little did people know that the M’s – who were building their team around run prevention – were planning on playing Bradley in the OF because they were giving the DH spot to Junior and… Mike Sweeney.
Gross lines the ball to LF – a simple single – and Bradely trips over his own feet, allowing the ball to roll to the wall. Both runners score.
in Scranton, 1 out, bases loaded on Curtis’ single. Golson follows with a line single to score a run. the good thing was that it was on a breaking pitch from an experienced ML left hander.
It’s just a matter of knowing which prospects are worth holding onto.
The Yankees have deemed Phil and Joba worth holding onto and the Sox have deemed Buchholz, Kelly and Westmoreland (poor guy). That’s their right and it doesn’t make them foolish for not trading them. It’s the idea that the middle guys, guys with definite talent but hardly can’t miss, are untouchable that’s wrong. It’s Cash and Theo’s jobs to know which of these players are going to be solid (if not better than that) major leaguers for them and which are expendable.
Nick, for future reference if you bet with someone and you mean you want to bet for stakes, you make that part of your contract offer up front. Then if the person you’re offering it to accepts, you have a contract.
Personally since I don’t have a lot of time (figuratively) for all that betting stuff and see it as a waste of time and resources, I am not accepting your bet.
However, if you still want to make the bet and do it without anything for the stakes other than the sheer joy of winning the bet (the way I do things with my crowd when I do choose to make a bet) then feel free to ask again.
———————————————————————————————-
See? Calculating and dishonest, and now a proven weasel. And I’m not Nick or anybody else, just keep wishing you would cut back on the drivel you post so I could read about the Yankees without having to scroll through so many paragraphs of nonsense.
If this blog had an ignore button I would never give you a second thought.
If anyone’s interested, the Moneyball movie is supposed to start filming in July.
http://popwatch.ew.com/2010/04.....long-last/
“There was a furor over the Yankees trading Arodys Vizcaino for Vazquez. A kid whose only experience was in short season A Ball.”
My only reservation with that trade is that Vazquez may only be a rental. So there are factors beyond the talent (or projected talent) for talent equation.
But I wouldn’t trade have traded Hughes when he was in A ball for Vazquez, nor Montero.
In case you missed it…CC on with Regis and Kelly this morning:
http://bventertainment.go.com/.....chive.html
Ouch. bad luck that Golson gets hit by a batted ball. Corona finally gets a hit and still makes an out.
CB,
I was literally just looking again at Seattle’s team and scratching my head over this Jack Z genius talk.
I don’t understand why they’d trade for Cliff Lee (not that it was a bad idea) but leave the offense as miserable as it is and not add a somewhat dependable arm to the rotation.
I am a huge fan of Franklin Gutierrez and Ichiro is great until proven otherwise, but that lineup has to be one of the worst in the majors, no?
The AL West is ripe for the picking this year and I thought “going for it” was a great idea.
But it seems to me they stopped halfway.
MTU, I didn’t see your joke……
Rishi, thanks for posting! Red Sox and Yankee fans both flipped the bird to Joe West, but unfortunately Selig doesn’t care.
Rich, that makes sense. Hopefully the Yankees farm system will have a good year; it sounds like we’ve got some kids to look out for that aren’t on BA’s radar.
We should note that it’s only 6 games into the season. The Ms will be better than this…………so will other teams that are struggling.
BD,
Mike Lowell. That’s it in the last 15 years.
The Yankees do a great job of internal scouting.
SJ44 April 12th, 2010 at 8:30 pm
We have had them on here.
There was a furor over the Yankees trading Arodys Vizcaino for Vazquez. A kid whose only experience was in short season A Ball.
——————————————————————————–
I think a lot of that furor wasn’t necessarily over trading away Vizcaino, but who he was traded for.
A lot of Yankee fans have violent reactions to the name “Javier Vazquez.” I think some fans would rather have traded Vizcaino, ranked our #2 prospect by many, for someone a bit less controversial.
Vazcaino is replacable, no matter how good he might be. He’s still 3-4 years away and NYY has pitchers just as good to replace him.
“Shame on Joe West for the comments he made last week about the Yankees and Red Sox taking too long to play nine innings. ?Pathetic and embarrassing,? is how the umpire characterized the pace of the games between the rivals, revealing just how out of touch he is with the modern game.
West, who?s been calling balls and strikes for parts of 34 years, comes from an era where hitters would swing at anything close. It was a man?s-man credo ? I can crush whatever comes my way, is what sluggers used to boast. Bad-ball hitters like Yogi Berra were singled out for a skill that was statistically counter-productive.
FOX SPORTS POLL
Are baseball games too slow? Yes, just move it along already No, working the count is good strategy
Today, with on-base percentage emphasized more than ever, hitters are working the count in order to see better pitches, while exhausting opposing hurlers in the process.
Old-timers like West obviously don?t have the patience for the mini-marathons. But real purists understand the value in waiting. And waiting.”
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/s.....discipline
Bob Klapish on Joe West…
I know – a lot of random articles tonigt — I had some time
“BD,
Mike Lowell. That’s it in the last 15 years.
The Yankees do a great job of internal scouting.”
—————
for a team that is notorious for trading away prospects for veterans, that is simply remarkable.
The Yankees wouldn’t have traded an A Ball Hughes for Vaz.
There are a lot of people in the organization who are as high on Jose A. Ramirez as they were on Viz.
When you have depth in the system, you can make these deals.
When Hughes was in A Ball, they didn’t have the depth in the pitching depth in the system they have now.
Erin, you are one of the most (if not THE most) genuinely positive posters on here; I have never seen you speak ill about anyone on here and you make this a friendlier place.
So I’d be happy to send you the chocolate as a prize-recipient proxy. Please email me at sftweeindieguy at yahoo dot com to discuss details. Just don’t tell commenter m, as she is pretty much convinced that I’m a stalker/potential killer just waiting for my chance to commit unspeakable mayhem.
And Erica, I’d be happy to send you chocolate too, but since you and Erin both seem to agree that you’re basically the same person, I think sending to one is pretty much the same as sending to both, no?
Poor Jeremy Gurthrie.
COME ON O’S!!!
Rishi, thanks! Now send this stuff to Bud!
Was A ball Phil considered to be hot property or did he really develop in AA?
FWIW,
I read that Atlanta Braves fans were not at all happy with the return they got for Vazquez.
The opportunity cost of NOT getting Vazquez could have been great.
If you consider the likely scenarios (considering the dearth of free agent pitching available this offseason for short-term deals), the Yanks would probably have Joba, Mitre, or Gaudin in the rotation.
If it’s Joba, their bullpen takes a big hit.
Vazquez, if he pitches well and eats his usual innings, could provide one of the biggest “value over alternative” upgrades of all offseason acquisitions.
Let’s hope anyway…
and I like SJ44′s Mike Lowell post. Makes me feel better about trading away prospects.
BD,
Jack Z has really made some nice moves and clearly the mess he inherited from Bavasi was monumental.
That said – I was a bit confused by what they were doing this off season.
Were they truly “going for it?” If they were it’s a very odd way to construct a team and I do wonder if Jack Z got blinded by numbers.
A number of teams have won in the past with defense being a big part of their game. But those teams had other dimensions. Most importantly, they could pitch. And they at least had a few sources of reliable offense/ power.
The M’s just can’t hit at all. They have guys who look like replacement level bats out there. Their catching situation – like the Sox – is horrendous.
The entire Griffey Junior situation was bizarre as was Mike Sweeney.
But then just as puzzling has been why would you shift Figgins position if you want to value defense? Why would you play Milton Bradley in the field where he will lose you games.
And the last thing about defense – it’s value and impact are highly contingent on pitching.
If you’re pitching lets up contact that results in chances that are more difficult than average your above average defenders get neutralized.
The M’s staff after the top two – or rather top 1 right now – is awful.
merna loy April 12th, 2010 at 8:35 pm
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
http://sports.espn.go.com/new-.....id=5079639
I know it’s Marchand, but I do love reading about these guys getting goosebumps
Wow at AJ’s arm – holy cow. Even his right arm is partially covered in tatoos……and his leg; he sort of looks like a lizard
trisha – OPPC member who sees, hears, and knows all. 28 is on its way!!!!! April 12th, 2010 at 8:43 pm
Poor Jeremy Gurthrie.
COME ON O’S!!!
*******************
You don’t want the O’s to win…. you just don’t want Matt Garza to win.
I am on to you
Vazquez is only “controversial” to childish Yankee fans still looking for a scapegoat for 2004.
BTW, Vizcaino was NOT the #2 prospect in the organization. If he was, he wouldn’t have been traded.
Internal team rankings of prospects differ greatly from the Baseball America’s of the world.
I dont know if someone has posted this already
but i saw this today and thought it was hilarious
Chan Ho Park explaining what he was sick with the other day….note Mo laughing the background
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GIEHPGj9sI
Actually both.
“Poor Jeremy Gurthrie.”
————
I swear I thought this guy was going to be a star during his first season in Baltimore.
That helps prove I’m no scout…. but he really did look nasty at times.
He could throw very hard and had great life on his fastball, but I guess he lost command of it quickly.
Nick in SF April 12th, 2010 at 8:43 pm
Erin, you are one of the most (if not THE most) genuinely positive posters on here; I have never seen you speak ill about anyone on here and you make this a friendlier place.
So I’d be happy to send you the chocolate as a prize-recipient proxy. Please email me at sftweeindieguy at yahoo dot com to discuss details. Just don’t tell commenter m, as she is pretty much convinced that I’m a stalker/potential killer just waiting for my chance to commit unspeakable mayhem.
And Erica, I’d be happy to send you chocolate too, but since you and Erin both seem to agree that you’re basically the same person, I think sending to one is pretty much the same as sending to both, no?
****************************
Erin may be my Chicago counterpart, and we may think (eerily) alike……
But when it comes to yummy chocolate we are definitely two different people
And since I’ve posted well of Jeremy Guthrie before you should have known that was definitely part of it!
trisha – OPPC member who sees, hears, and knows all. 28 is on its way!!!!! April 12th, 2010 at 8:48 pm
Actually both.
*****************
Garza earned me 30 points last week in one start vs Patrick.
I am kind of crushing on him right now
Betsy – I especially liked the last line: “A year ago, the Yankees were trying to put A-Rd back together. Now, they think he can fly.”
BD, I think it was still 1-1 going into the 6th so he obviously was having a good outing. A little more run support would certainly help him.
Javy is the scapegoat for 2004 and I have no idea why. I think fans sort of forget that it was a collective choke job. In any case, it’s been 6 years; people really need to move on already.
Rishi, break out the cliches, lol – talk about CORNY.
trisha – OPPC member who sees, hears, and knows all. 28 is on its way!!!!! April 12th, 2010 at 8:51 pm
BD, I think it was still 1-1 going into the 6th so he obviously was having a good outing. A little more run support would certainly help him.
**************
Umm- 3-1 TB
But your boy Zobrist got the last two RBIs so that should lessen the sting a little for you
Nick in SF….Beware of Ms. Erica, she’s a samckdown artist……..Trust me, for this I know first hand……
Trisha-
I lie. Zobrist only got one RBI
CB,
It really is odd.
I don’t even think they were that far off if they truly wanted to make a run at the AL West either.
I guess we’ll see.
Pat M, are you hitting me up for chocolate too??????????
Pat M. April 12th, 2010 at 8:54 pm
Nick in SF….Beware of Ms. Erica, she’s a samckdown artist……..Trust me, for this I know first hand……
****************
Who me??????????????
:insertcuteandloveablesmiley:
Erica, I’m well aware of the score. What does that have to do with my discussion with BD?
Smack down Artist…..Erica
“Javy is the scapegoat for 2004″
That will come as news to Alex.
ahhh, I forgot trisha and erica were playing each other.
who’d have thought Carl Pavano would be a major player???
lots of games left though.
Eduardo Nunez just made a veteran play on the bases. Led off with a line single and Miranda bounced a grounder to 2nd base. As the 2nd baseman tried to tag him to start an easy DP, Nunez flopped on the ground to make them bend over to tag him and then the throw was bounced to first and Miranda beat the rap. Winfree popped out and Weber lines out to center, now hitting .188
trisha – OPPC member who sees, hears, and knows all. 28 is on its way!!!!! April 12th, 2010 at 8:55 pm
Erica, I’m well aware of the score. What does that have to do with my discussion with BD?
****************
Cause you said it was 1-1 and it wasn’t. But the last two TB runs were scored in the 6th. So I get what you were saying now
BD they still have him in there. In the past that might have boded well for the O’s as they are legend for knowing how to score a lot of late-inning runs. I don’t know about their team this year though.
For you fantasy players out there. If you have a spot on your roster take a look at grabbing Carlos Santana. He is a catcher in the with the Indians and is tearing it up right now. Can’t see the Indians keeping him in AAA to long. Has 4 hr in 4 games. Kid is for real.
Pat, Alex and Javy are the Bobbsey Twins in that regard then, lol. The point is, all fans remember about Javy is game 7, as if he lost that series by himself. In any case, 6 years is a long time ago…
“…it’s been 6 years; people really need to move on already.”
I agree completely and I expect great things from Javy, but it’s easier for people to move on when the player who was moved on doesn’t move back in.
D (Boston Dave) – NJ walk tracker = 7 April 12th, 2010 at 8:57 pm
ahhh, I forgot trisha and erica were playing each other.
who’d have thought Carl Pavano would be a major player???
***********************
Never underestimate the powers of a guy in a one year incentive filled contract
GB, thanks for your updates!
SMALL WORLD FOR GRANDERSON, GIRARDI
Shortly after the Yankees traded for outfielder Curtis Granderson, manager Joe Girardi received a call from a woman who had babysat him when he was growing up in Peoria, IL.
The woman, Debbie Carr, told Girardi that she had been Granderson?s advisor at Thornton Fractional South H.S. in Lansing, Il. What?s more, her son, Jake, had played baseball at the same university as Granderson ? Illinois-Chicago.
What kind of report on Granderson did Carr give Girardi?
?I don?t know if anyone has ever had a bad report on Curtis,? Girardi says.
Granderson, too, noticed after the trade how his paths had crossed with Girardi. One night, he was eating at a restaurant in Chicago?s Little Italy and noticed a photo of Girardi on the wall in his Cubs uniform. Granderson asked if Girardi had eaten there often. The answer was yes.
?It?s amazing how once the trade happened I found out all about these connections,? Granderson says.
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/s.....ard-041210
Nick, but I’m
at fans who can’t accept that this is a different pitcher (actually, simply a healthier pitcher). Yankee fans are 
SJ44 April 12th, 2010 at 8:48 pm
Vazquez is only “controversial” to childish Yankee fans still looking for a scapegoat for 2004.
BTW, Vizcaino was NOT the #2 prospect in the organization. If he was, he wouldn’t have been traded.
Internal team rankings of prospects differ greatly from the Baseball America’s of the world.
———————————————————————————————-
I don’t disagree with you. I personally think the trade was a no-brainer. But having had this discussion with a couple of different fans, who do happen to live and breathe the Baseball Americas of the world, this is their qualm.
If Vizcaino is perceived as the #2 Yankee Prospect by some, or at least in the Top 5, I could understand being protective of your best bullets.
Going with defense first guys is particularly puzzling in the AL East.
The Yankees are a very complete team this year. They not only have a great lineup, but those guys that comprise that lineup make up a very good defense as well. Defense is not 50% of the equation. It is not even 33% when you count pitching as well. There are far more opportunities as a hitter or a pitcher to “use your value” than a guy who plays great defense.
Winning the AL East will be difficult for the Sox relying on Cameron and Beltre to be key parts of their lineup. The one defense-first guy the Yankees have in Gardner is hidden in the 9 hole. The Yankees have a team full of players that get it done offensively and save runs on defense. They also have a great staff and a SO staff to help mitigate any shortcomings they have defensively and lessen the importance on defense. Cameron and Beltre are very good on defense but they are not bridging the gap to the guys the Yankees have who are offense first but still good defensively.
It is all the more puzzling why the Red Sox did not go after Holliday. He is a guy that excels and would be a difference maker in the AL East. Complete player who brings great offense and defense to the table.
My pleasure, Betsy. I’ll sneak in the other three team updates in a few minutes.
For Trenton, DJ Mitchell had a tough night. 3.2 innings, 8 hits, 4 runs (all earned), 2 walks, 0 strikeouts. Trenton only has 3 hits, 2 by Davis adams and a homer by Luis Nunez.
Aww, poor DJ Mitchell……..hopefully he’ll do better the next time
Doreen,
You asked quite a while ago how you pronounced Pulizter (pul-itz-er) is right. I don’t think anyone answered this. I read the whole blog and didn’t find an answer. Hope that helps
GB7,
sounds like David Adams is having a fine start to the season.
I never considered him a guy with a shot at making the majors when they acquired him but maybe he could?
what do you think?
Does anyone know if the ‘firejackz.com’ domain name is available?
I see a future money-making opportunity.
Heredia had to pitch against Clearwater and his own defense. 3 errors.
4 innings, 5 hits, 4 runs, 1 earned run, 0 walks, 2 strikeouts.
almonte is 2-4 with 2 runs scored and a steal
Pirela is 2-4 and 1 rBI
Joseph is 1-4 with 2 RBI
abeita and Rye each have 1 hit
Story of a bunch of NPR guys eating KFC’s new Double Down sandwich
(Bacon and cheese sandwiched between two breaded pieces of boneless chicken)
http://www.npr.org/blogs/waitw.....038;f=1008
lol Nick – I suggest you grab that one asap
San Diego with more runs today than Seattle may score in all of April.
For Charleston, Kelvin Perez pitched 6.2 innings, 6 hits, 2 runs, 1 earned, 0 walks, 4 strikeouts.
Kruml has an RBI double
Higashioks has an RBI single
Paredes is 2-4 with a homer and a steal (also 2 errors)Grote and Zoilo almonte have single
In Scranton, they’re getting beat 5-1. Montero just lined out to right center gap.
Atlanta pitchers (Jurrjens and Reyes) have thrown 173 pitches through 6 2/3.
Joe West is not pleased.
Is pandalove.com free?
There’s a lot riding on that puppy, er…
“Montero just lined out to right center gap.”
—————–
is it possible to line out into a gap?
wouldn’t it not be a gap if so?
Giantsunder82.5.com is free and losing value by the day.
Imhighontimmy.com would also be a good one.
“Ariel Antigua is a five-year-old that plays baseball like a five-year-old Troy Tulowitzki. Unlike others his age, he hits from both sides of the plate, can hit an 85 MPH fastball and fields like a college guy.”
http://deadspin.com/5515545/me.....e+year+old
Nick, even better would be Timmyishigh.com
theteamhas500talentflipacoin.com was available last time I checked…
B. dave, Adams is a good hitter and should hit for a good average. a little power but mostly doubles and triples, steal some bases…A solid line drive hitter and a good fielding 2nd baseman.
Chan Ho Park answers his critics
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....I&
this video is out of control lolll really funny
woeuntothecriticstheyknownotofwhattheyspeak.com will host my CB shrine.
When can we sign that kid
BD (Boston Dave) – NJ walk tracker = 7 April 12th, 2010 at 9:24 pm
“Montero just lined out to right center gap.”
—————–
is it possible to line out into a gap?
wouldn’t it not be a gap if so?
———————————————————————————————————————-
Semantics. He shot one into the right center ally and it was flagged down. That’s what people will love about him. He’s a 20 year old with tremendous power, who doesn’t strike out and isn’t pull happy.
Corona just tripled in a a run and scored on Russo’s single for scranton. 5-3 in the bottom of the 6th.
I’m actually partial to the Giants as a franchise. I’ve always liked them. I think it’s the former NY roots.
But there’s only so much Sabean that’s good for the heart.
Did Panda eat Madison Bumgarner’s velocity?
SJ– “Prospects are chips to improve your parent club and nothing more”
Sorry but that’s the sort of thinking that led to a 15 year drought from 1981-96. Fred McGriff, Willie McGee, Doug Drabek and Jose Rijo would have made a nice dynasty cornerstone (though Rijo at least helped land Henderson). And what if we’d swapped out “chips” like Mo, Jeter and Pettitte?
You usually make great sense SJ, but that’s not one of your finer moments.
I like Dave Adams quite a bit and have been very encouraged by his progress.
He had one of the more under the radar seasons on any yankee prospect last year.
What he did in the FSL was impressive.
Forget Bumgarner; if the Giants need more pitching, Sabean will trade Jonathan Sanchez for two Jonathan Sanchez’s.
I regret that I don’t have time to take follow-up questions on this prediction.
haha that video is a riot, even mariano is laughing at chan ho haha
Wilson Ramos (Minny Soda Twins) is supposed to be a 40% success rate catcher on steals. scranton has 2 steals and none caught tonight.
I’ve read that the bloom is off Bumgardner’s rose..loss of velocity and command will do that to you.
CB April 12th, 2010 at 9:34 pm
I like Dave Adams quite a bit and have been very encouraged by his progress.
He had one of the more under the radar seasons on any yankee prospect last year.
What he did in the FSL was impressive.
———————————————————————————————————————-
He’ll never have Cano’s kind of power, but, he’s a very fundamentally sound player. a real scrapper with talent.
Gene Monahan will be at the opener tomorrow:
http://www.nypost.com/p/sports.....XGPCdHnU7M
“He’ll never have Cano’s kind of power, but, he’s a very fundamentally sound player. a real scrapper with talent.”
————
the next Pedroia?
That’s who prospects have been to the Yankees for the last 15 years and have produced 5 World Championships.
In the last 15 years, the only prospect they have traded who became a premier player was Mike Lowell. That’s just the facts.
It’s never been an all homegrown team nor ever will be.
They have done a great job keeping the right prospects and dealing others to upgrade the parent club.
That’s the role of prospects in this, and any good, organization.
“You usually make great sense SJ, but that’s not one of your finer moments.”
—————
viridana,
in SJ44′s defense, he did say that it’s very important to do self-scouting and that the Yanks would not have traded an A-ball Phil Hughes for that reason.
If SJ44 is correct in saying that Mike Lowell is really the only all-star caliber player the Yanks have traded away in the last 15 years, I think that speaks for itself.
I doubt SJ44 meant that you trade away all of your prospects – again, it goes back to scouting your own guys and making educated guesses on who to keep and who to trade away.
“In the last 15 years, the only prospect they have traded who became a premier player was Mike Lowell.”
You could argue that part of that equation is that for many of those years, and particularly the dark ages of the 15 years before that time frame, the Yanks didn’t have a lot of premier prospects to trade.
Hope they don’t look like this:
http://idn.efashionsolutions.c.....color_zoom
For scranton, Miranda strikes out, and Winfree legs out a double.
Weber walks.
Montero hits into an easy DP to 2nd.
One thing that I’ve noticed is that Golson plays a very shallow center field and he’s gotten burned three times, although all 3 were hit hard and on high liners.
Like any club, the Yankees need to know which kids are worth holding onto and which are expendable. They need to feed the beast; that is, they have to continue to win in order to satisfy the owners and the fanbase. In order to do that, they need to supply the major league club with talent that is ready to win. I like how the Yankees have gradually brought in young talent to mix with their veterans: Cervelli, Pena, Robertson (and that’s not counting Phil and Joba). They did refuse to trade Phil and/or Joba for Santana/Halladay, so the Yankees have got to be right on those kids……..even if Joba is “just” a reliever. The Sox have to be right on Buchholz, too.
BD (Boston Dave) – NJ walk tracker = 7 April 12th, 2010 at 9:43 pm
“He’ll never have Cano’s kind of power, but, he’s a very fundamentally sound player. a real scrapper with talent.”
————
the next Pedroia
———————————————————————————————————————-
No, not really. More like a younger version of Mark Ellis before the injuries, I’d say.
The Double Down sandwich just has to make the This is why you’re fat website. It just has to.
If sabean can trade one sanchez (and even one sanchez + one matsui) for two sanchez’s I’m going to send him some chocolate (worse than ghirardelli).
Happy anniversary to Fenway Park……….which coincidentally happened on the same day the Titanic was launched on its maiden voyage.
They resisted trading Bernie Williams, despite George wanting to trade him.
Stick wouldn’t trade Mariano for Felix Fermin.
They didn’t trade Andy Pettitte to the Phillies when George practically ordered it.
Cash has shown that he isn’t wedded to every prospect.
Some, like Hughes and Montero, he kept despite significant offers for both.
Others, like Jake Westbrook, Ajax, and Viz, were dealt for Justice, Vaz, and Granderson.
That’s not gutting the system. It’s using it like a big market team should.
CB, if the Giants end up with 82 wins or fewer, I will send you some chocolate (better than Ghiradelli and better than See’s) and it will be darker than the heart of the Man in Black.
And if the Astros finish with fewer than 74.5 wins, I will send you some milk chocolate even lighter than the joy in my heart.
“You could argue that part of that equation is that for many of those years, and particularly the dark ages of the 15 years before that time frame, the Yanks didn’t have a lot of premier prospects to trade.”
—————
without a doubt. best way to balance that is to make a list of the prospects that they did keep that turned into quality players.
Wang, Cano… Scott Proctor
I’m inclined to agree with SJ44, it seems the talent we’ve kept are allstars and hall of famers. The guys we trade are ted lilly, juan rivera, and crew.
“No, not really. More like a younger version of Mark Ellis before the injuries, I’d say.”
————–
I’d sign up for that.
Cash got lucky on Phil in that Bill Smith should have taken that offer. I still assume Hank ordered Cash to put Phil on the table….
Nobody in the system is going to win tonight. Bad fielding, very little hitting and spotty pitching, though it’s hard to consider Moseley as anything more that filler material in Scranton on a hope and a prayer.
Nick in SF,
I want in on the chocolate action.
If Chien Ming Wang has less than 7.5 wins?
Red Sox lost today and are 3 and 4, it’s early, they have good starting pitching but I don’t like their bullpen depth and their outfield can’t hit. Cameron is the most over rated player I’ve ever seen. He’s been a bad buy where ever he’s been and GM’s seem to love him. I think he stinks, poor ba, poor obp, and strikes out too much. I think he’ll mess up Ellsbury too. Hope they don’t make the playoffs.
Ed Wade loves him some Knipschildt
For Santana, that is.
Last year, in a CNNSI.com article on Phil and his success out of the pen, Cash said that he got only two calls from GMs asking about Phil because everyone knew that it would take a ton of talent to pry Phil from the Yankees.
Jeez, I should have bought a couple shares of the company before I started all this chocolate business.
So you want to take under 7.5 wins for CMW?
I need to think about that one.
Betsy – Hughes rules (pleading the Fifth) April 12th, 2010 at 9:56 pm
Happy anniversary to Fenway Park……….which coincidentally happened on the same day the Titanic was launched on its maiden voyage.
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More importantly than Fenway opened….Wrigley Field opened that day.
hard to believe that the yankees actually held the pink slip on Fenway and didn’t burn it down.
Wrigley and Fenway both opened on April 12th, 1912?
Nick in SF…..I do understand it’s the 2nd week of April, however I Do not see Houston turning things around…And the SF Giants came so close last season, they will not be denied in 2010…..So the bottom line for me is that both wagers are locks…….CB deserves at the least some chocolate come October for his tip on Houston
Taiwan demands toffee for all wagers pertaining to it’s national hero.
“So you want to take under 7.5 wins for CMW?
I need to think about that one.”
—————
hehe, sure – though i pulled that out of thin air. let me know the stakes
Oops, I made a mistake; Fenway opened on April 20th, 1912.
Over / under on Wang should be 5 considering he’s not due back until June
Pat M.,
Did you happen to see any of the highlights from Chapman’s AAA debut yesterday?
Some eye opening stuff there. The way he threw the ball…man.
Dave, are you a Seinfeld fan?
Nick,
sure – not a hardcore fan but I’ve seen enough of the episodes…. ?
Pat M,
if his O/U would have been, say, 11-12? and he misses 1/3 of the season (2 months of 6), I figured that puts him at about 8.
but like I said, I was just throwing it out there for kicks. my real betting days are behind me
There was an episode, very early in the series, in which Kramer says he’s going to build levels in his apartment and Jerry bets him that he won’t do it and gives him six months.
Later in the episode, Kramer says that the bet is off because he decided not to do it. Jerry argues that the bet was that the levels wouldn’t get built so he has won, but Kramer says no, since he changed his mind, there is no bet.
So, is part of the equation for you that Wang might not even pitch in 2010? I don’t really want to lock into either terms or stakes until we have a firmer idea that Wang will pitch at all this season and also a better idea of when his debut will be.
And I really want to be careful now that I know there’s a blog expert on wagering contract law who might be out to get me.
cb, pat m,
what do you think the yankees saw to stay away from chapman?
i cannot believe that the money was a problem, mechanics, make-up, transition to the majors?
They felt he wasn’t close to being ready for the majors and would have started him at A or AA ; Chapman wasn’t interested. Every team except a few (the Reds, A’s and Jays) passed on him, so this is not a Yankee thing.
Scranton ties up the game in the bottom of the 9th on a juan Miranda blast off of the billboards in right center.
I don’t believe in looking back in regret; I have absolutely no problem with the Yankees’ decision making process. If he’s really that good, they can sign him when he becomes a FA. In the meantime, he’s out of our hair and in the NL.
I notice no Posada, A-Rod and DJ. LOL
SPOILER ALERT
“24″ has finally lost me. They gave Jack another 10 minutes of happiness, and then killed off Renee. SICKENING!
Inning over when anthony Slama strikes out the side, but Nunez walk and Miranda’s homer ties it up. 10th inning coming up.
CR, I don’t care because I don’t watch it, but if you’re going to do that, you really need to put a lot more white space between the Spoiler Alert and the spoiler. If I were a viewer of 24, I’d be really ticked off at you…
That was not enough of a spoiler alert. Next time please mention what you’re spoiling.
Nick, I can’t tell if you’re joking, but I’m serious……….
I was not joking, the spoiler aleart was insufficient.
the Yankees should try to acquire Cody Ross to play leftfield.
Ok, good – I actually agree with you.
You ACTUALLY agree with me. Like you usually don’t????
(yes, I am joking)
CB & kd…..I was blown away with Chapman’s development…He looks so much more compact and much smoother in his delivery……Great arm, the question will be can he maintain and is he strong enough to be a starter……Make no mistake though, that’s one hell of an arm…..Lefty to boot…….
Melancon looks good tonight. 2 innings, 1 hit, 1 walk and 5 strikeouts.
Montero is leading off the bottom of the 10th. He needs to jack one out of the park. He just took a fould off of the top of his foot
He didn’t. short fly to right.
bottom of the 10th is over…1-2-3
Can you believe Sawyer will be the only survivor on Lost?
oh, and SPOILER ALERT!
Oh, thank goodness you were joking, Nick, because I couldn’t go to sleep knowing you were
Well, Montero didn’t hit a HR – I’m really
at him. He’s overrated.
Good night Yankee people
(And for the record books- I do not watch 24, but thay was DEFINITELY an insufficient spoiler alert. If you ruined one of my many other shows like that, we’d have issues right now)
night night!
nice, flim flam, THAT is how you do a spoiler alert.
Wow, Carl Crawford is a Yankee!
Oh, SPOILER ALERT!
yeah.
OMG, Ernie finally came out!
Oh, SPOILER ALERT.
SPOILER ALERT
The Yankees won the WS
The North won the Civil War
Oops, now I did not leave sufficient space. I apologize to those who were waiting for the results of last year’s WS or the Civil War.
Dow closes over 11,000 so no empty Legend Seats tomorrow!
I have the Civil War on dvr, but I guess I can delete it now.
Miranda has really cleaned up his defense in the last year or so. He’s more than passable. Certainly better than Giambi ever was.
Yeah, you can Nick…….on the other hand, you can relax instead of being all tense with worry as to who was going to win; that’s why I like watching replays of Yankee wins, lol.
Albaladejo is perfect in the 11th with 2 strikeouts. Strange night for the Yankee pitchers. 15 hits, 7 runs, 1 walk and 16 strikeouts.
Spoiler Alert
Betsy will be rooting for Phil Hughes on Thursday.
kd,
Doreen asked me a very similar question yesterday. The link below was my response on Chapman and why the yanks might not have pursued him.
He was just phenomenal all spring and yesterday.
That image of him striking out that hitter only to have his catcher bend over and start shaking his glove hand from pain after catching one of Chapman’s fastball’s was not something you forget.
http://yankees.lhblogs.com/201.....nt-1291098
Is Phil pitching Thursday? I had no idea………..I wanted to be surprised. Next time leave more white space between the Alert and the comment, Stuckey…..:)
Robbie Hammock with the walk off single to score Corona, who walks and was sacrificed to 2nd. Scranton wins 8-7. albaladejo with the win.
Oops, I meant
GB, thanks for the updates!
APRIL 12, 2010 Maddon to Yankees: Donations welcome
Rays manager Joe Maddon had an entertaining response to the Yankees’ rips of Tropicana Field: “Tell them we’re trying to get a new yard ourselves. If they want to contribute in any way, we’ll take it. We’re all for a new ballpark. We’re not trying to hide that. … We’ll take all kinds of donations; any major-league team that wants to contribute to the new ballpark, we’d be happy to accept.”
Several of the Yankees have homes in Tampa, and Maddon joked further, noting Derek Jeter’s new Davis Island mansion as a stadium site. “We could just build it on Jeter’s property out there.”
This blurb is from The Heater/Mark Topkin of the Saint Petersburg Times, and I got it from their website at 7:55 PM [Pacific] on APRIL 12, 2010
Um, Revenue Sharing?
One gets the sense Montero is just calibrating his swing. He’s only batting .250 but he’s hit in every game. I think he did that for a week at Trenton last week and then took off.
thanks a lot guys.
this blog community is really taking a turn for the better once the season started.
Chuck, that’s pretty funny, lol. Well, Jeter does want to be an owner…….eww, the idea of him owning the Rays or even the stadium they play in is not a nice thought.
kd, I was surprised that The Yanks didn’t ink him, or make a stronger run at Chapman……Friend of mine who has close contact in the Angels System, indicated that they wanted him , however they saw him as a reliever……..
Well, if they build the new place on his property, makes $en$e he would own the team, right? hahaha – Maddon doesn’t bother me with this; he HAD to say something.
SPOILER ALERT
Snape kills Dumbledore
:AroldisChapmanreplacesMarkPriorastheBigOnethatgotaway:
SPOILER ALERT
Rosebud is the sled.
SPOILER ALERT
Yankee fans will boo Javy if he struggles on Wednesday
Yankee fans will cry out for Joba in the rotation if Phil struggles Thursday
Yankee fans will just whine.
SPOILER ALERT
Soylent Green is people
Spoiler Alert
Bruce Willis is a ghost.
SPOILER ALERT
Tony and Angela are BOTH the bosses
I’m really at a loss why we didn’t pursue Chapman. It just still makes little sense to me.
Looking at the future of free agent starters in the coming years, there is more than a pressing need to grab talent like that when all it costs was dollars.
To be outbid by Cincy just feels wrong. Clearly, someone in the Yankees scouting hierarchy was gunshy or just plain wrong on this kid.
We heard reports that he’d be lucky to start at A, maybe AA. Yet, he’s in AAA and should be in the majors and will be shortly.
The Yankees usually spare no expense, but in this case, especially with the Gerit Cole blunder in the rear view mirror, we should have locked this guy up.
LH with that kind of stuff? It’s a no brainer.
I’d really love to know if the Yankees just got cheap in his situation or did they really blow it in their scouting of Chapman.
Granted, he’s done nothing in the majors yet, but I don’t think that will be the case for very long. Too bad that Dusty will most likely destroy his career.
My pleasure, Betsy. Montero had a rough night with foul tips off of his body and scrambling for Moseley’s pitches. He did impress my with catching 4 foul tip strike threes though. That’s a tough thing to do in one game. I imagine that he gets tomorrow off.
Hopefully, Eduardo Nunez will be fine, but, likely won’t play after trying to bunt and taking the pitch off of his finger.
Okay, okay
SPOILER ALERT
Rhett doesn’t give a damn.
Chuck58,
Pretty sure Maddon was just joking around.
It’s a shame that the new proposed stadium in Tampa got trashed, the mock-ups of the place looked gorgeous.
The Yankees didn’t do anything wrong with Cole………..and clearly every other team except the Reds found something in Chapman that they didn’t like. The Yankees liked him; I don’t get why they should have agreed to rush him to the majors when they thought he was still raw.
SPOILER ALERT
“HOW TO SERVE MAN” is a cookbook.
GB, you’ve seen Melky Mesa….
is he as fast as Brett Gardner, or just almost as fast?
Patrick April 12th, 2010 at 11:06 pm
SPOILER ALERT
Soylent Green is people
———————————————————————————————————————-
and one of those green wafers was Edward G. Robinson. Didn’t even look like him.
SPOILER ALERT
Tomorrow really IS another day And there is NO place like home
Oh, Patrick, I took it light-hearted. That’s why I didn’t mind so much. Place is pretty much a dive, too.
Bronx Jeers……..good one, lol. I LOVE that episode; in fact, I just love the Twilight Zone period.
No, Mesa isn’t as fast as Gardner, but, he’s faster than Austin Jackson by a step and a half.
“Friend of mine who has close contact in the Angels System, indicated that they wanted him , however they saw him as a reliever……..”
Pat M.,
I also couldn’t believe how much cleaner Chapman looked this spring. From the time people saw him at the WBC to now, he took that quantum leap young pitchers – the good ones – do. As you said he looks more compact and streamlined. Still has lots to prove but with regards to stamina – the kid hit 101 on his last pitch of the day.
That is about the easiest gas you’ll see anyone throw. He’s just got such great kinetics through his body and such long levers…
But when inking him to a contract I also agree that the key issue was whether teams could project him as a starter or reliever.
If you see him as a starter – you sign him. If you see him and think reliever then the price makes no sense.
Let’s hope Dusty doesn’t repeat the past with him.
SPOILER ALERT
You really will fall in love in a week on the Love Boat.
“I’d really love to know if the Yankees just got cheap in his situation or did they really blow it in their scouting of Chapman. ”
G, any sentence that begins “the Yankees got cheap” is off the rails from the start.
You’re assuming it was one or another – scouting or price tag. Perhaps it was both combined?
To get chafed when the Yankees simply don’t spend without limit is really ridiculous.
Let’s say that Mesa has a young Alfonso Soriano speed and as much power potential.
Melky2 is fast, then
Thanks, GB.
Like Patrick said, the new place in Tampa woulda been great for the Rays.
Stuck in Saint Pete….. sounds like a sappy movie title. Too bad for them.
Betsy,
Have you ever seen the one with Robert Redford?
“He did impress my with catching 4 foul tip strike threes though. That’s a tough thing to do in one game.”
That’s very good to hear. I was impressed by Montero’s hands during spring training. He doesn’t have bad hands at all. Much better than what I was expecting from reports.
He catches the ball well. Isn’t real loud back there. Catching foul tips is not easy and that’s the kind of thing that you really can’t teach. It random luck and hands.
Sori speed and equal power. Man….!!
Bronx Jeers, yes – and I like that one a lot. There are so many incredible episodes – I could go on and on. I adore A World of His Own, where a playwright brings creations to life (and there is a great twist at the end); Will the Real Martian Please Stand up, Third from the Sun, One Hundred Yards over the Rim (with Cliff Robertson), Time Enough at Last, Nick of Time (with William Shatner) – I know I’m missing a bunch.
Didn’t Montero break his finger last year on a foul tip?
Gosh, Betsy, I was thinking Love Boat… =: -0 hahaha!
Anyway, goodnight, everyone.
Chuck,
I think the stadium they were proposing was still in St. Pete but right on the water. It was supposedly going to be an open air stadium with this high tech fabric retractable roof thing. The drawings made it look very very cool.
I hope Tampa can figure out a way to get themselves a new stadium because that’s a great franchise right now and they deserve to play somewhere nice.
SPOILER ALERT
The walrus is Paul.
Night, Chuck!
SPOILER ALERT
Paul is not dead.
Oops. Sorry about the ‘inconsiderate’ spoiler alert.
Dont know how to put extra spaces after a sentence.
SPOILER ALERT
i can’t think of a clever spoiler
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04.....ref=sports
Ditto Rivera. “I don’t need to wear them,” he said. “I don’t need to bring that attention. They’re all in a safe place — not at home, in case you were wondering.”
**Mo’s the best, lol.
test
test1
Unfortunately, Mesa also has soriano’s concept of the strike zone. That’s what could hold him down, but an outstanding outfielder in all three spots and a really strong and accurate arm.
CR, no problem. I think you would just hit the space button or the enter bar…….
Ahh. You spoiled my spoiler alert.
You can only hit the enter button once…..like right now I’m going to hit enter 5 times and type test, and it will come out as only one enter
test3
“# Patrick April 12th, 2010 at 11:20 pm
Chuck,
I think the stadium they were proposing was still in St. Pete but right on the water. It was supposedly going to be an open air stadium with this high tech fabric retractable roof thing. The drawings made it look very very cool.
I hope Tampa can figure out a way to get themselves a new stadium because that’s a great franchise right now and they deserve to play somewhere nice.
”
If a new ballpark is built, it needs to be in Tampa/Hillsborough County. It has better financial/age demographics to support a franchise as young as the Rays. St. Petersburg is so far and in an odd locations for an area without mass transit, it doesn’t work there. Another option in my opinion would be to move the team to Orlando since they will have a commuter rail running by 2013 which would be great for getting people to the games. They already have the new Magic Arena opening next season, maybe they can steal the Rays. Probably a long shot though
CB, the main issue that Montero has is footwork, though, it’s getting much better. He can’t get down in a Tony Pena crouch, but, he’s like you said, a very quiet receiver. Not sure yet if he will cost pitchers the called low strikes because of his size, though. Could be an issue with sinker ballers, I’d think
SPOILER ALERT
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s
p
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I am your father
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END OF SPOILER ALERT
SPOILER ALERT
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Nick is in SF
GB7,
Slow feet at least you can work on and mostly affect one part of the game.
Bad hands are the big problem because then you really might need to move him off the position because he just can’t play there. Bad hands affect everything.
His feet and his pitch selectivity are the two things he needs to work on (defense much more obviously).
I do think he needs to work on selecting pitches some. With a kid that talented, he has the ability to put the barrel on the ball almost at will. He needs some work on waiting for the pitch that he can do maximum damage on. That’ll come with time. But it can be hard with kids who can get the barrell on the ball like he can. It’s just tough to distinguish – I can hit this pitch vs. I should hit this pitch.
Spoiler alert.
The excitement of a naked Halle Berry in Monsters Ball is totally ruined by simultaneous shots of a naked Bill Bob Thornton.
And Spoiler Alert.
The screen goes black.
Maybe Tony gets whacked…maybe he doesn’t.
Spoiler Alert.
The splendor on the grass doesn’t seem very splendorific in the modern era.
Nick
You use the ultimate spoiler alert when playing the photo caption game but not when you play spoiler alert?
And no, I don’t mean the lobster isn’t really red.
Spoiler alert.
The Yanks have played so good for so long that this guy hasn’t had to make an appearance.
http://wpcontent.answers.com/w.....ook_LF.jpg
I didn’t want to bring that up again, pat. I know you don’t like surprises.
CB, Montero diffinately has a Robinson Cano type of approach. He covers so much area at the plate that he can reach just off the plate, when he really shouldn’t. He has such a good reach and swing that he won’t strike out much, but, not walk much, either.
I’d like to see him lose another 10-15 pounds, mainly in the lower half, to take some stress off of his knees and feet. Perhaps some flexibility instructions.
Here is a spoiler for fans of L
ST, fans of blog favorite Hal Holbrook, or those who would engage in LoHud feuds:
http://www.losanjealous.com/nf.....#038;q=105
spoiler alert
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Nixon ordered the cover up and…
Another spoiler alert
*
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Deep Throat is the head of the FBI and a sexy 1970s movie on gargling.
Spoiler alert misinformation correction:
He was Deputy Director of the FBI, never its head.
omg 6 games in a row?!?!? madness
I have the Fox West (Angels) feed on tv. Guess they won’t be showing the ring ceremony, huh?
Yesnetwork.com will have it on the internet, Mel.
m, your name came up earlier but I can’t discuss the context without issuing another spoiler alert and that’s pretty played out.
Man this sucks for west coast viewers like myself. I really want to see the ring ceremony
MLBnetwork has the game today for those who have it.