Looking for a catcher
Posted by: Chad Jennings - Posted in Misc on May 20, 2010 
Print This Post
| 
Email This Post
The Yankees need a catcher, but as much as fans surely want to see Jesus Montero or Austin Romine pushed to the big leagues, I’ll be surprised to see either of them in the Yankees clubhouse this afternoon.
The Yankees brought Chad Moeller back to the organization for exactly this situation: To play off the big league bench for a few weeks should anything happen to Francisco Cervelli or Jorge Posada.
Montero is still just 20 years old, and his numbers in Triple-A suggest there’s still some development to be done at that level. Never mind the fact that he was recently benched for not hustling. That sort of thing isn’t often rewarded with a call-up a few weeks later. Romine is a year older than Montero and he’s playing well in Double-A Trenton, but there’s an entire level between him and the big leagues. When Cervelli skipped Triple-A, it was largely because he was already on the 40-man.
“Cervi’s been playing well, and I foresee Cervi getting most of that time,” Girardi said last night.
That sounds like the Yankees are looking for a backup, and it would be hard to put either Montero or Romine on the bench right now, especially when there’s a bench player with 10 years of major league experience waiting in Triple-A.
So don’t put Montero on the bench. Let him DH and learn from Cervelli and get some face time with the team.
I agree with not bringing up Montero or Romine, but Moeller was hideous his last go-round……
Montero isn’t hitting well enough in AAA to be the DH.
The Yankees’ offense is ugly right now with the volume of injuries so I fail to support the logic behind calling up the guy who will contribute the least offensively just because he’s a 10-year vet. I accept that it will probably happen but don’t support it. They could use either Romine or Montero as a DH some, as well, to keep that whole “rotational” thing Girardi loves so much in place. See what they can contribute offensively, and catch them the one or two times a week Cervelli needs a blow.
But instead there will be another total black hole in the lineup with Moeller once or twice a week in Jorge’s absence. The only solace is that Swisher and Granderson will be back sooner rather than later.
The Yankees brought Chad Moeller back to the organization for exactly this situation: To play off the big league bench for a few weeks should anything happen to Francisco Cervelli or Jorge Posada.
___
This would be fine, IF Thames, Granderson, Swisher, etc… werent hurt also. That is a lot of thunder out of the lineup. Alex and Cano arent going to have 6 hits each night.
“So don’t put Montero on the bench. Let him DH and learn from Cervelli and get some face time with the team.”
He hasn’t earned it and obviously has some development, apparently as a player and a professional alike, ahead of him.
We’ll get some insight in about 15 minutes when Trenton’s game is scheduled to start.
Anyone know if Romine is in the lineup?
He hasn’t earned it and obviously has some development, apparently as a player and a professional alike, ahead of him.
___
Well sure, lets put moeller out there. Soon he will be batting cleanup at the rate we are headed.
Montero is batting .200 in AAA right now, there is little point in bringing him up to play once every 3 or 4 days.
Bringing up Montero makes no sense. He isn’t hitting right now, he is still learning to catch, The Yanks just disciplined him and won’t be likely to promote him now, and if he comes up he will end up a Super 2 and the Yanks would lose a cost-controlled year, which is a bad business move. He isn’t coming.
Romine might be promoted, but I don’t think so. The Yanks have hopes for him, and might be hoping to trade him when the time is right. Exposing him to ML pitching too soon has a large “fail” potential, and the Yanks are a conservative organization.
Moeller is the most likely suspect, is a known commodity and can be relied on to catch an OK game once in a while. My guess is Moeller.
I think it’ll be Moeller.
You have no idea if Montero would hit at the big league level.
Mark Melancon was supposed to be a shutdown relief with his impressive minor league stats.
How is that working out so far?
Montero is hitting under .240 in AAA and hasn’t shown he’s ready to hit at the big league level.
You can’t play both catchers (one behind the plate and one to DH) anyway. Its a horrendous use of your roster.
The Yankee offense has scored 20 runs the past 3 games.
Lastly, Montero is hitting .230 with a .304 OBP at Triple-A. Why would he all of a sudden break out as a DH in the big-leagues?
__
Tired of this argument.
The same reason Cervelli hit .190 in Trenton and .300 in the bigs.
moeller?
really?
seriously?
thats the bat?
seriously?
ok wait.
moeller
this isn’t my yankees
don’t do it.
i guarantee he ends up killing us in a big spot while hes up, i meana BIG spot.
I don’t think Romine would hit any better than Moeller. Someone mentioned that he was in a slump before – well, then that’s the same thing as Montero. Plus, AA pitching is not in the same league as MLB pitching. Romine could possibly do a good job defensively, but he really struggled in ST offensively – I just don’t think he’s ready. Moeller is a bad option as well, so go with the veteran.
“The Yankee offense has scored 20 runs the past 3 games.”
5 of those were in garbage time last night, and most of the rest were against very suspect Red Sox pitching.
yankees have scored yet, but you cannot count on cano, gardner and arod everyday..
Sorry that the idea of the bottom 4 in the lineup one day being Golson, Moeller, Winn, Pena does not appeal…
BloggingBombers Lastly, Montero is hitting .230 with a .304 OBP at Triple-A. Why would he all of a sudden break out as a DH in the big-leagues?
Romine is in Trenton’s lineup.
Romine is in the lineup.
“The Yankee offense has scored 20 runs the past 3 games.”
4 or fewer in 5 of their last 11 games though, and they lost all 5.
Wave Your Hat May 20th, 2010 at 10:56 am
“The Yankee offense has scored 20 runs the past 3 games.”
“5 of those were in garbage time last night, and most of the rest were against very suspect Red Sox pitching”
Then thank goodness the Yanks are off to Citifield this weekend. Except for Sunday, plenty of suspect pitching there.
You can’t compare Cervelli to Montero with regard to how they are hitting.
You get “tired” of the argument because it makes no sense.
Cervelli hit with zero power and has done a nice job filling in for Jorge. He’s not hitting a “strong” .300 if you know what I mean.
If you expect Montero to step up here and DH, and hit the way you think he will hit, you haven’t seen him hit in AAA so far this year.
He’s not ready to hit at this level. He’s DEFINITELY not ready to catch at this level.
At least Romine is ready defensively at this level. A big difference from where Montero is right now.
I’m not all that confident in our offense either, but I don’t think it’s fair to discredit the runs we scored because it came against bad pitching. I’m sure the Rays have torched their fair share of bad pitching – same with the Sox; the runs still count.
Totally understand that it won’t be Montero, and most likely not Romine either. I still believe that Montero at his current level of performance (i.e. scuffling at Scranton) would be better than what current Moeller looks like, across the board. The fact that he has experience and can call a good game does nothing to instill confidence. He is old for a C and without seeing him I don’t know that his D is light years above even Montero at this point. Ditto for Romine, basically. But I am content with the fact that it will be Moeller, just not looking forward to it.
“Sorry that the idea of the bottom 4 in the lineup one day being Golson, Moeller, Winn, Pena does not appeal…”
Well get used to it.
Good – and I’m not surprised.
Romine is in the lineup for Trenton this AM so the subject is moot.
It will be Moeller.
so romine is out. i can smell moeller coming a mile away. he’d be fine if posada was the only one injured, but we are short three homerun hitters. (Swish, Posada and Thames). This MAY be a frustrating couple weeks.
re: calling up a player and DL someone. When we did it earlier in the season it was a position player/pitcher swap. So it would seem the same/same rule we’re all thinking of only applies to post-season rosters.
Repost:
# m May 20th, 2010 at 10:56 am
Good morning, guys. Disappointed that last night wasn’t a bad dream.
1. GG-Alex isn’t the only one not pressing. You’re totally ignoring Cano, Gardner, and Cisco
2. upstate kate-I think we’ll be okay if they bring up one of the rookie catchers. I think we all (including the Yankees) believe Cervelli could do the job very well, but they can’t run him into the ground and we have to hedge for the inevitable potential injury.
3. SJ-You’re really doing a good job convincing me about Romine. my first thought re: a possible Jesus callup was that he’s so young. my second thought was it is a little too much, too soon with the benching last week.
4. Am supremely irritated with Thames. Just when I accepted him as a valuable member of the team, he not only flips his bat into the basebath, but he proceeds to run over it.
5. Doreen-admit it. Gardner’s growing on you!
“5 of those were in garbage time last night, and most of the rest were against very suspect Red Sox pitching.”
so which runs should count then? No such thing as garbage time in baseball, no clock to run out.
As for the pitching they faced, there aren’t a lot of great staffs in the league anyway.
Betsy-
I don’t discredit the runs, but I do discount them some when thinking about how the offense will perform in the future.
Largo – Yeah we have to get through one more day of Tampa. A win would be huge.
Then off to the Mets, Twins (who don’t scare me too, too much) and then a somewhat easier schedule.
BTW – Off to the Red Sox/Twins game tonight. Lester/Liriano should be a great matchup.
yea cause the yankees hit suspect pitching all the time.
Or not…
How often we see a guy with a blown up ERA hold the yankees completely silent.
Wave, against pitching like the Rays – I agree. Against other teams? I’m not sure. We can’t get our big guys going again – it’s not fair to ask the bottom of the order, guys who shouldn’t be playing every day, to hit above their heads.
Moeller was awful last time he was here; I wish we had a better option, but what decent C was going to sign just to hang out in AAA waiting for his chance?
“The Yankees brought Chad Moeller back to the organization for exactly this situation”
I don’t think that’s true. The situation they envisioned was solely an injury to one of their two catchers, not a lineup that has been reduced to a second rate offense.
The Twins are a very good team……….
““5 of those were in garbage time last night, and most of the rest were against very suspect Red Sox pitching””
Nothing suspect about Papelbon. Yankees are beating him up, but the rest of the AL hasn’t layed a finger on him.
“Wave Your Hat says:
May 20, 2010 at 11:01 am
Betsy-
I don’t discredit the runs, but I do discount them some when thinking about how the offense will perform in the future.”
The offense will likely be getting Swisher back in a couple of days and Granderson shortly after that.
All they have to do is tread water, hope they get quality starts and wait to regroup. I’ll worry about them not scoring runs when they stop scoring them.
Asking K.Long to work his magic on Moeller would be too much to ask for I suppose.
Just be glad it’s not Kevin Cash getting the call-up….why’d they ever sign that guy anyway?
“Nothing suspect about Papelbon. Yankees are beating him up, but the rest of the AL hasn’t layed a finger on him.”
That’s exactly why I only said “most” of the rest were scored against suspect Sox pitching. I was thinking about Papelbon.
Regardless of what roster moves are made, the bleeding needs to stop tonight. The Yankees are getting too close to the Blue Jays for comfort.
Last year the difference between the yankees offense in MLB and the #2 was the same as the difference between #2 and #30
Its a huge advantage that we are now going to be without.
raymagnetic-
I hope they get Swisher back soon, the mystery is beginning to worry me some.
“That’s exactly why I only said “most” of the rest were scored against suspect Sox pitching. I was thinking about Papelbon.”
Ah!
Reality check – leave Montero and Romine where they are for the entire 2010 season so that they can continue to devlop into productive major leaguers as they are NOT ready yet. Plus, there are many Chad Moeller types available as a temporary solution.
Austin Romine :
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.....pid=519222
At this point, we shouldn’t take any teams for granted (not that we should if the Yankees were at full strength anyway). We just have to hope our SP can be shutdown and give us innings……..
Chad Wrote:
“The Yankees brought Chad Moeller back to the organization for exactly this situation”
I wrote:
Why? Chad Moeller?
Cashman was smoking this offeseason.
Problem is Jorge isn’t the only one hurt. We don’t need dead weight on the bench aka Chad.
I doubt Romine or Montero are brought up. That being said, I can’t agree that Moeller is a solution, temporary or not. I just don’t get the argument that bringing up either guy would be sooo terrible to their development. At least if they were brought up, they would get a little big league experience and see what they need to work on in the minors to earn a more permanent call-up
so….is Romine in the starting lineup for Trenton?
I know it seems like we never score enough.
But if we don’t get back to pitching like we were in April it won’t really matter if the C is Posada, Mauer, or Moeller.
In unfortunate times like this, I’m glad Andy’s taking the ball.
I want it to be Romine he can be in the AM lineup and still be chosen, but yeh that would be my choice b/c we need to see how ML ready he can be, and he’s the best defensive catcher out of all the options between AAA/AA Moeller included.
A lineup with Jeter/Tex/A-rod and Cano should score runs albeit it’s a little (a lot) top heavy.
Jeter and Tex need to start hitting ASAP however.
Hopefully Swisher isn’t too rusty when he comes back, and hopefully the Yankees were being extra careful with him and he’s not injured,
This by-the-book BS is getting on my nerves. This organization is boring at times.
I agree with m
It’s not like the Rays are beating down everyone with their lineup. Only Crawford and Longoria I believe are actually hitting. They’re doing it with solid pitching (starting AND relief). While I don’t think the Yanks need to get starting pitching to the level they had for most of last month, they’re going to need the bullpen to settle down and hold leads.
http://fullcountpitch.com/2010.....wittering/
Good article about irrational yankee fans
Wave it seems like Swisher said most recently that each day his arm has felt better than the one before it. Which leads me to believe he is not far off at all. He said he didn’t aggravate it during the Boston game when he tried to warm up to potentially PH, but that it just still didn’t feel totally right. That to me sounds like it remains a one-day-at-a-time type thing. My guess is he definitely starts tomorrow night and Sunday night, and Saturday will be the uncertain game. But I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s good to go from the left side by then.
NYY626 May 20th, 2010 at 11:16 am
http://fullcountpitch.com/2010…..wittering/
Good article about irrational yankee fans
*********************
irrational Yankee fans??? Can’t be.
Thanks for the link-that’s a really good article.
“Cervelli hit with zero power and has done a nice job filling in for Jorge. He?s not hitting a ?strong? .300 if you know what I mean.”
Cervelli is not hitting homers, but he has 2 triples and 4 doubles in 67 AB’s which equates to an OPS of .928…that is excellent. One note though and this is what is hurting the Yankees is that they are very suspect against right handed pitchers without NJ, Granderson Swisher and Posada. Cervelli has an OPS of 1.245 against lefties (that is sick – but it is in less than 30 AB’s) and an OPS of .746 against righties.
I am in favor of letting Romine get a sniff of the big leagues…Moeller is an average defender who will give you an OPS of about .650. Let the young guy get his cup of coffee and let him play a little.
SJ44 May 20th, 2010 at 11:00 am
Romine is in the lineup for Trenton this AM so the subject is moot.
*************
Moot: A cows point.
It just never stops being funny
Wave it seems like Swisher said most recently that each day his arm has felt better than the one before
___
He has been saying that each day, except as soon as he tries to swing the bat, he says it is reaggrevated.
Andrew-
You are probably right, but I distrust lingering problems which have no apparent explanation.
Erica,
I thought it was a moo point!
Have Moeller catch Hughes.
He’s been the most consistent holding down the other team.
Then Moeller’s offense, theoretically, won’t be such an issue.
Mark in Tampa May 20th, 2010 at 11:21 am
Erica,
I thought it was a moo point!
***********
Yes. It was on friends, but the word “moot” always makes me think of the great Joey Tribbiani.
Joey: Its a cows point, moo, cause cows can’t speak!
Well at least we aren’t arguing whether Brett Gardner should be an every day player anymore…hopefully people learned their lesson about guys improving and also the importance of defense (see Thames)
I don’t think it’s as easy as plugging Moeller in with Hughes. I would think a veteran like Pettitte or CC would be caught by Moeller
I don’t think people realize how rare an offensive catcher is in this league (let alone who is good defensively)…
Erica – always OPPC – Sesame Street Mafia and GTLU supporter May 20th, 2010 at 11:20 am
SJ44 May 20th, 2010 at 11:00 am
Romine is in the lineup for Trenton this AM so the subject is moot.
*************
Moot: A cows point.
It just never stops being funny
********************
I agree.
A cow’s opinion is moo.
You really should watch the video
http://vids.myspace.com/index......D=10783207
Once you get past Jesse Jackson stiff acting, it’s pretty damn funny.
Plus, it has Julia Louis-Dreyfuss.
Why all the hatred for Moeller? I remember his last go around when the Yanks sent him back down, people were crying to get him back. I have to agree with Chad, Montero and Romine need playing time. They are not going to get that up in NY. It was the same thing with Cervelli last year when Molina got healthy. Folks wanted Molina DFA’ed but look at the long run. Moeller will handle himself nicely.
One other thing I would like to bring up. Our pitching staff isnt’ doing as well lately, obviously. Is this because Posada isn’t behind the plate? So, maybe a more veteran catcher will help the staff out?
No ac1, he said it was not reaggravated, just that it didn’t feel right yet when he tried to swing left-handed. Reaggravating implies that it is getting worse. From yesterday before the game, quotes that Marc Carig got.
“He felt it again on Tuesday night when he took practice swings as he prepared for a possible pinch-hit opportunity against the Red Sox. Swisher said he took the swings on his own, hoping to show Girardi he could be ready to hit.
“It wasn’t a pain thing but there’s still something,” Swisher said.”
It doesn’t sound like it is getting worse, just not fully healed yet.
http://www.nj.com/yankees/inde.....til_1.html
frankie d-
If that’s true, people definitely don’t realize how even more rare it is to have a backup offensive catcher
Since when do we expect offense out of the backup catcher? We’ve been lucky with Cervelli and to an extent Molina in 2007-08. Backup catchers are backups for a reason. they’re fine defensively and not that great with the bat. if you’re expecting tons of production from your BACKUP catcher, then i think you need a reality aadjustment.
Moeller is just fine with me. If cervelli gets hurt, then we have a problem.
Lets do a trending of blog posts to sway Yankees mgmt. All in favor of Romine RT this…
WE WANT AUSTIN! *clap clap, clap clap clap*
Jason, why not? I would think the opposite – let Cervelli catch the veterans.
Since when do we expect offense out of the backup catcher? We’ve been lucky with Cervelli and to an extent Molina in 2007-08. Backup catchers are backups for a reason. they’re fine defensively and not that great with the bat. if you’re expecting tons of production from your BACKUP catcher, then i think you need a reality aadjustment.
__
We don’t, except when half the team is hurt.
if swish, thames and granderson were in the lineup, moeller would be fine batting 9th. but with winn and whatever is in right this time, its different.
It’s just a thought, but it seems like Hughes has built a rapport with Cervelli. Maybe the vets would be less affected by changing catchers.
Asking K.Long to work his magic on Moeller would be too much to ask for I suppose
***************************
Why not ask the God of hitting coaches to work his majic on Jeter and Tex instead?
I don’t think its fair to call Cervelli a backup permanently. He was only in the minors just last year and who knows what his ceiling is or is not. However, Molina and Moeller they are major league backups and you can’t expect much from either, but I wouldn’t put Cervelli in the pure backup talk just yet.
Everyone sucks except SJ and CB
lol
easy reading for you then.
“I can ignore that. I can ignore that. Wait, is that the real SJ44? I’ll just ignore it to be safe.”
Wash.
Rinse.
Repeat.
m -
I am pleasantly surprised by the consistency of Gardner’s performance.
Jason, I actually don’t think so. I really preferred Phil with Posada…..I think if at all possible that Phil should be matched with a veteran catcher.
You can’t expect the back up catcher to step up and make a difference on a squad that’s missing Granderson/NJ/Posada/Swisher with a slumping Jeter/Tex.
Just shore up the position, bring up a real OF to catch the ball, and pitch like they’re capable of doing.
Pitching and defense wins games sounds stupid until you lose a lot of games because of your pitching and defense.
So with Thames not going on the DL, what are the Yanks going to do? If they call up Moeller for Posada they are still a player short. I think they only have two choices if they don’t DL Swisher, either to call up Moeller for Posada AND call up Golson/Huffman for a pitcher, or to skip the back-up catcher (!!) and call up Golson/huffman for Posada. My guess is they send down Logan or Melancon but we’ll see.
And if we’re going by chemistry and knowing the ML pitcher’s stuff, it makes more sense why’d it have to be Austin Romine, he worked w/ every SP and RP on this team since ST.
That said, I can see catching Cervelli this week against the Mets and giving Phil a chance to work with Moeller before getting into game situations……..
something tells me
‘Everyone sucks except SJ and CB’
‘Smarter Than You’
&
‘Patrick’
have very similar i.p. addresses.
Betsy-
That’s what I’m getting at…the quick shift to a new catcher. Sure, Hughes has pitched to both Posada and Cervelli. But if Moeller’s going to catch him, i agree that it’d be preferable if he got some work in on the side rather than just plugging him in there just because Phil has been one of the best starters.
Jason, ok – we’re on the same page now. Long term it should be Moeller (unless they just don’t click), but I definitely think Frankie should catch Phil this week.
Smarter Than You is actually 57′ Yanks, I don’t know how question moot guy can see IP addresses anyways.
I don’t think there is any chance Romine or Montero comes up. Let’s just hope Moeller will hit a little, but I wouldn’t count on it. Cervelli can’t catch every day.
Injuries are the reason I laugh whenever someone acts in the off-season the Yankees have a sure playoff locked up. Every year brings new challenges and no guarantees. It has been clear for a number of years the Yankees are short on position playing prospects. This year seems to be the year that hurts. Golson can’t hit, and neither can any other outfielder in the upper minors. They have no choice but to try to hang on, but the offense will struggle with this lower part of the order.
No thought of Chris Iannetta? The Rockies can’t expect a top-level prospect for him at this point, can they?
So let’s see… with the Yankee lineup up as currently constructed… they look an awful a lot like… um… the rest of the major leagues?
Yankee fans are indeed spoiled. Yes this is a bad set we’re in, but honestly, did everyone here really think the Yankees were going to play .714 ball the rest of the season with all the injuries they were piling up? Even if everyone stayed healthy, I doubt they’d avoid slumping. 120+ games to go. It’s May. Things will improve.
I thought maybe a youngster had a chance since it was said few times someone will get an “opportunity” to prove themselves in Posada’s absence.
Not looking forward to seeing Chad Moeller but it is what it is, I guess we have to accept him.
If it has to be Moeller, can we at least send down Boone Logan to balance out some of the deadweight on this team?
Worrying about whether Cervelli or Moeller catches Hughes isn’t quite as useless as rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic or spending an all-nighter studying for a correspondence course test the night before you went “over the top” in World War I, but it’s close.
You’re kidding yourself if you think Cervelli is even a true .800 OPS player. Sample size, folks. A guy who doesn’t hit home runs and doesn’t draw a ton of walks is not going to be a + position player.
Don’t know about anyone else, but when NYY lose I get all kinds of cr@p at work from haters and bandwagoners. Even the company’s owner, who is a NYY fan, asked me when are they going to win again! I feel like Girardi at his postgame PC! But that goes with the territory of being a NYY fan. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, everbody talks about them!
I am fine w/ whoever is decided for back up catcher, they most likely wont get much playing time anyway.
Hey Kelvin
how is the job going?
Wave your hat-
Yea, it’s pretty useless. But the point was to address the suggestion that Moeller catching Hughes (and Phil’s corresponding awesome-ness) would outweight Moeller’s lack of a bat.
Certainly can’t, didn’t mean to give any allusion that I could. Amateur level sleuthing, obviously.
Isn’t it just a little ironic that someone who claims to be
‘smarter than you’
doesn’t know where the apostrophe goes when shortening 1957?
You can spin Moeller being promoted any way you want, but the fact is he’s going to get an at bat where we’re going to need a hit and he’s not going to come through.
You can say that about any player, but most other players on this roster at least give you a chance of doing something productive with the bat.
Moeller gives you no chance. He’s the equivalent of sending a pitcher who doesn’t like hitting in to pitch.
Last time he was here, the game constantly found him in key moments.
The same way the game keeps finding Randy Winn right now in key moments.
The only thing we have to hope for is Cervelli plays every day and doesn’t wear down.
I remember all the people who wanted Molina to start here and as soon as he was the starting guy due to injury, he broke down fast.
Moeller will get time and he will disappoint. He doesn’t have the skills to help at this level, short of being able to squat and catch. I guess that’s the only skill they are going to be looking for.
On a roster this decimated you need to be more creative.
I’m not at all confident in Swisher coming back. If he’s been physically unable to help the past few days when you needed him the most, what makes you think he’ll be 100% without rust soon?
From what we hear about his injury and what we’re seeing in how Joe won’t use him, he’s not healthy.
Add Thames to this too and it’s a problem. Especially if we have to start a lineup with Winn and Golson and possibly Moeller behind the plate. That lineup is barely 6 deep since you’re counting on Pena or Miranda to be productive.
It’s time for Mark Texeira to start hitting. Enough already.
As for Jeter, I’m nervous. We’ve already begun to hear his hand/finger got hit by a pitch excuse/reason to explain his slump. Usually when we start hearing that, he doesn’t hit for awhile.
Arod, Gardner and Cano are going to have to carry this team unless Tex wakes up.
Did you ever think you’d see the day where you’d write “..Gardner..going to have to carry this team”?
Vazquez
Park
Robertson
Joba
Are more important than Chad Moeller. They need to get right.
upstate kate May 20th, 2010 at 11:47 am
I am fine w/ whoever is decided for back up catcher, they most likely wont get much playing time anyway.
*****************************
my thoughts exactly.
# Betsy – Hughes rules (Pleading the Fifth) May 20th, 2010 at 10:49 am
I agree with not bringing up Montero or Romine, but Moeller was hideous his last go-round……
===============================
The reason you get flack is your demonstrative adjectives, you as an English major should know the effect words have.
First of all he was not hideous, if he bats .000, that’s not what he’s here for, he’s insurance.
Second, he is here for one thing, to backup catch, meaning be an asset on defense.
If you meant he was hideous behind the plate, then I apologize.
on another note, please send down Logan and get another bench player up.
It’s going well Kate, appreciate you asking.
Basically I stand for dozen hours a day and get to meet media and fans, awesome gig. Best/fastest I can do since I graduated recently and don’t really have a defined career at this point.
Jason,
Nope. Never thought I’d even think Bret would be this good based on some of the geniuses in here who told us he didn’t belong in the majors.
We need him to create havoc/runs now more than ever.
Jason, actually that wasn’t my point. I prefer a veteran to catch young pitchers if at all possible…….
Arod, Gardner and Cano are going to have to carry this team unless Tex wakes up.
=====================================================
To jumpstart this team Gardner should be leading off.
Jeter will see more fastballs and be forced to take more pitches.
After all, wasn’t he batting in front of Jeter when he batted 9th?
GGBG 2nd in AL in SBs and Runs! I think top 10 in BA too!
I read it as ’57 feet’.
The question was what could be that long? A yacht? Ball of string unraveled?
Hard to say.
Watched bits & pieces of Idol. Who did Jeter say was going to make it to the Final 2? I love Crystal (meth). j/k. I love Crystal Bowersox. I hope she wins it all. Did the voters get it right with Lee? Casey was pretty good.
And did anyone watch Cougar Town? It was a sweet episode.
“Why not ask the God of hitting coaches to work his majic on Jeter and Tex instead?”
Slumps happen. Their bad timing needs work though.
G.Love,
I have to admit, I didn’t think he belonged in ’08. Thought he took so many pitched bc he just couldnt identify strikes, then always seems late on swings. This season tho, he’s taking pitches and working counts, then slapping the ball the other way (and even hitting for power on inside pitches). His speed has really been an asset, and he’s almost making up for the fact that Jeter hasn’t been hitting great in the leadoff spot
Moeller hit : .231 .311 .330 .640 for the yankees and
.258 .313 .438 .751 for the orioles
both are considerably better than Ramiro Pena, Randy WInn, and Derek JEter
and Betsy, I got your meaning. But I initially responded to a different post. But I completely agree with you on that one
Mick, I know that Moeller is not really even adequate offensively – but that that is not why he’s here……and I’m sort of fine with that because I did not in any way want Romine or Montero to be brought up. I wish we had better options, but as I said before, what half-way decent catcher would sign just to wait in AAA for a chance to play with the Yankees?
Please let it be Romine, I’d love to show off how we have 2 good young catchers in the subway series and Romine getting promoted over Jesus would be a wake up call to him.
Kelvin
hopefully you get to watch some of the game as well
Better than Jeter?? Blasphemy!
Derek Jeter currently hitting: .190 .264 .228 .492 in May
m May 20th, 2010 at 11:53 am
And did anyone watch Cougar Town? It was a sweet episode.
**********************
Not yet, but that and Modern Family are both on my DVR.
I thought about turning the game off and watching them, but decided not to. Now I’m kind of regretting that decision. LOL
Tex, Cano, Jeter, Alex – they need to carry us, but they are still just 4 players. Most of the lineup at this time is patched together; we’re going to have to just deal with that fact and lower our expectations for the offense.
Well, at least Jose Molina isn’t available.
Cervelli catching every day will be a problem. He’s been great and is a great backup, but anyone expecting him to keep the hitting up with more an more exposure is kidding themselves. Of course, I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t think I am.
Montero and Romine aren’t the answers yet.
Could be a rough month. Moeller is useless with a bat.
Two nights ago, on the telecast, it was mentioned that GGBG sees the most pitches per AB on the team. I thought that would be NJ. It is amazing to see GGBG work the count considering he has little or no power. You would think pitchers would just challenge him. Also amazing to see how well he hits with 2 strikes. He is among league leaders in that category too.
Speaking of the Subway Series. The stupidest thing those two apes in the espn booth said was that the Yankees might be playing flat because they’re looking ahead to the subway series. Buffoons. They hate the subway series, and were trying (in theory) to cut Tampa’s lead.
Haha yea but seriously, Jeter hasn’t been hitting the ball anywhere but to short…hopefully its not a situation like 08 where he got a little banged up and his offense slipped a bit. We’ll see how much of an issue the pinky is…
“As for Jeter, I’m nervous. We’ve already begun to hear his hand/finger got hit by a pitch excuse/reason to explain his slump. Usually when we start hearing that, he doesn’t hit for awhile.”
You haven’t heard them from Jeter.
He understands that if he takes the field, there are no excuses.
If he’s trying to be a hero and taking the field injured instead of getting healthy, shame on him.
Not hating on the alts, btw.
Just the overly-critical, mean-spirited ones.
It’s a blog, what’s so hard to understand that you’re not going to get treatises and laugh out loud jokes w/every comment???
Sure it sucks that Posada is out but they need a win tonight and need to play at least .500 ball until guys get healthy.
No Excuses!
Jeter, ARod, Tex, Cano, and one of the best group of starting pitchers in the league, not to mention the best closer are still on this team.
Winn needs to play with more intensity like Thames has shown.
Jeter needs to start kicking butts in the club house and start hitting the ball!
The Yankees still have more all stars of the field then most teams.
No whining people!
Get it done!
Kate,
Ironically enough, The Yankees have a TV in my work post so I watch it from there. lol
m -
I think the voters got it right with Lee. Casey has a good voice and is a good guitarist, but he showed the least development over the course of the season. Lee just has a certain something if you ask me, and I think he may win the whole thing. Crystal’s been my favorite from about the second week, but I think they’ve got the exact right two finalists and there’s no way the get it wrong next week no matter who wins.
Brandon, it’s not Romine; he’s playing in Trenton today.
Lee will win the whole thing.
He has an innocent quality and will get the little girl vote.
Plus if he sings Round Here by Adam Durtz of Counting Crows, he will walk off with the prize.
Chad, Sam –
In last nights game Michael Kay mentioned that Robi Cano was at the ballpark at 3:30 getting extra batting practice. Since you are at the ballpark early (I’m guessing) have you seen either Jeter or Tex at the ballpark early getting extra batting practice? If anyone on the team needs extra help it would be them two.
Moeller, or any other back up catcher, will play perhaps 1/4 of the games. All of you happy with Moeller remember your contentment when he comes to bat in critical times. Five or six bats cannot carry a team, but we will have Winn waiting to pinch hit for Moeller once Swisher comes back. Now, I feel better.
I am not suggesting there is a good solution out there, but to say having Moeller as a back up won’t hurt is just foolish. It will hurt just as having Winn and Pena bat in critical times hurts. I would have tried Romine for the reasons others have expressed. Since he is playing now, that is certainly off the board.
Yankee Trader — in the previous thread you discussed Tom Tresh and Bobby Murcer as being “hyped by the press to be the replacements for the great Mickey Mantle.”
Tresh wasn’t really Mantle’s replacement per se: he was a starter alongside Mantle in the outfield for three or four years. And from what I’ve seen and read he was an All-Star caliber player and possible Hall of Famer; the Red Sox reportedly were talking with the Yanks in ’66 about an even-up trade, Tresh for Carl Yastrzemski! Then Tom tore up his knee in ST 1967 and was never the same.
Bobby Murcer I remember rather better: he was my first “hero” in pinstripes. He was a good player, even if he didn’t live up to the hype, and he hustled. I cried the day he was traded to the Giants in ’74. It’s a measure of how highly he was regarded that he was traded even up for Bobby Bonds.
Although both didn’t live up to those lofty expectations, they both were terrific players on and off the field.
When is Posada due off the IR?
This crap is so frustrating.
Update: Rays send message to aging Yankees – ESPN
HEY ESPN….. Thames not old, Swisher not old, Granderson not old, Posada has an injury that has nothing to do with age…… They are injuries. They happen. Just this time all at once.
I really hate ESPN.
Forget Cougar town, GLEE’s power gay duet by Neil Patrick Harris and Will was ~amazing~
This isn’t the NFL.
i find it painful to question jeter, but he needs to do something soon. this isnt a case of hitting hard and not having luck. this is a case of grounding EVERYTHING to short and third.
I was depressed watching him ground to ss with the bases loaded.
ac1, don’t let it get to you. ESPN writes these headlines to make dedicated fans like yourself enraged enough to view and comment on the articles. If it read “Rays playing good baseball” only about 50% of Tampa’s 3,000 fans would read. It’s all about the page views…
Tresh was never considered a future HOFer.
Murcer resembled Mantle and was from OK.
The Yanks were always looking for a Mantle clone and always will as he was the prototype for a CF in NY.
CF and SS being the glory positions, at least in NY, and probably all of baseball.
Instead of stressing about the bottom order for next few weeks (aye, aye, aye!), just play a Fleetwood Mac c.d.
A Mac Attack is a cure-all.
Cano had been in a mini-funk (.246, .325 OBP over his last 18 games) heading into Tuesday, so I can see where he felt like he’d want to work on some stuff.
Joba_62 Summer cleaning! Any ideas for who/where would need clothes, and shoes? Make suggestions and let’s help!!
___
How bout you get to the gym and get into shape!!!!!
Jerkface May 20th, 2010 at 12:05 pm
Forget Cougar town, GLEE?s power gay duet by Neil Patrick Harris and Will was ~amazing~
*****************
Why can’t a person love both????????????????????????
A Few Things
Tex
He has started hitting…in the month of May he’s hitting .300+/5 hrs/ 20 rbis….
I agree with SJ and others that the Yanks is considering the next callups should consider offensive hflexibility as well as the other factors….
I’d prefer them call Russo up over Golson as he’s a much better hitter and can play around the field….His best position is 2B but he can spot fill in at 3B and has been playing almost everyday in the OF the last few weeks and I’m sure is at least better than Thames in LF pushing Winn over to right until Swish can play.
If the decision on the C promotion were mine I’d choose Romine over Moeller and Jesus right now for a few reasons….As SJ pointed out he’s more athletic than both of those guys,plays very good D and can pinch run off the bench for you too. If he plays well his trade value only increases heading into the trade deadline later in the year as well which could be a nice lil boon as well.
Ultimately this will show how much depth is in the system if we can sucessfully navigate these troubled waters over the next few weeks until we get our walking wounded back with more contributions from our young farm guys.
Melancon should stay up here and get regular work until Ace is ready to rejoin the team and Montero should continue to get the bulk of the DH ABs vs. RHP….those 2 will show up if given consistent PT.
Six stolen bases did send a message. So did there home runs. They came ready to play and will again tonight. They can see grabbing a five game lead. They look like a very good team with pitching that will be there all year. They will not regress like the Sox did last year.
New Post: Romine in Trenton’s lineup
new thread
Chad’ only had about 30 AB’s as Montero’s backup.
A few singles, a few doubles, a few K’s.
He’s at 24% lifetime caught stealing although he hasn’t caught anybody this season which is probably more on the pitching and he only caught 7% in 27 chances last year in Baltimore.
i find it painful to question jeter, but he needs to do something soon. this isnt a case of hitting hard and not having luck. this is a case of grounding EVERYTHING to short and third.
I was depressed watching him ground to ss with the bases loaded
************************************
I kind of disagree with this a_ssessment. He’s always grounded out alot (remember the “Captain GIDP” name people have given him here). Its the REALLY weak swings and misses he has had a tendency of lately that has got me thinking whats up with him – that and that he seems to be swinging at the first pitch alot lately – did you see the pitch he struck out on in the middle innings last night – OK so it was a nice breaking pitch but come on – he looked like an overmatched little leaguer out there
I think it was a very good move by Cashman to sign Moeller to a minor league deal.
You might be critical of Moeller’s offense, but who else were you going to get for a minor league deal? He’ll work out well in the short term.
I’m more concerned about the lack of production from Winn. He’s had a couple of nice at bats, but mostly he’s an automatic out. Even though Golson may not be fully MLB ready, I’d rather take my chances with him, at least he has upside. Winn is definitely on a major downslide in his career.
Thames has done well in the role he was brought in for: to hit lefties. Injuries have forced him to be an everyday player, which I don’t believe he is capable of at a high level.
We really miss Granderson.
We’ll be fine once guys get healthy. The Rays haven’t had their bad stretch either. every team hits a slump or rash of injuries.
test
test
sunny615 May 20th, 2010 at 11:41 am
So let?s see? with the Yankee lineup up as currently constructed? they look an awful a lot like? um? the rest of the major leagues?
Yankee fans are indeed spoiled. Yes this is a bad set we?re in, but honestly, did everyone here really think the Yankees were going to play .714 ball the rest of the season with all the injuries they were piling up? Even if everyone stayed healthy, I doubt they?d avoid slumping. 120+ games to go. It?s May. Things will improve.
************************************************************************
This.
test
test
test
Good article here about the prosects of Montero coming up:
http://blogs.thetimes-tribune.com/yankees/?p=4624
Ok, I agree, bring up Moeller. :/
goforit
I have seen too many young players pysche shattered by rushing them up.