Day off for Granderson
Posted by: Chad Jennings - Posted in Misc on Aug 28, 2010 
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Good lineup considering their current available players.
This is a winning lineup. Of course—– CC is pitching!!!!
I wish Gardy was leading off. I like having swish deeper down in lineup.
It’s not enough to win the World Series anymore, the Yankees apparently have to clinch the Division by the end of August or the season’s a failure. Turn the page. New night, new game. What’s everybody complaining about? It’s turning into a great pennant race.
The Yankees have their destiny in their own hands, playing Tampa and Boston enough times down the stretch to determine their own fate. Can’t sanely ask for anything more.
Betsy, my point is that it’s not always healthy to be focused on imperfections…..Objectivity is the key to decision making………Randy, great story…..Boyer was from an era that is sorely needed to some extent today…….Even the old school guys, Torre, Pinella, Cox have soften over the years……Cox used to be a fiery hard as nails crusty dude even back in 1971…….Torre got screwed by Kevin Brown in Game 7 2204, when he looked him in the eye and asked him straight up about being able to go that night…..I’ve always thought that Torre lost a bit of himself because of Brown’s failure to be honest with him…….It came out a little in his book
repost
there’s a lot more to pitching than statistics. Phil Hughes has kept the Yankees in virtually every game he’s started this year. The game against the Jays was only the 3rd time all season he put the team in a hole. The Yankees usually find a way to win games that they keep close, that’s the hallmark of a veteran team like this. Hughes has done an excellent job in giving them a chance to win.
AJ has been awful this year at doing that, as has Vazquez. We all agree on that. It’s up to the rotation to keep the games close when they don’t have their good stuff and we’ll be looking at home field advantage for the post season. Putting Vazquez back in the rotation doesn’t make much sense, he just had one game where he pitched well and that was after the Jays had a big lead and might have let up a little, just like the Sox probably did last night when Mitre was in the game-I didn’t see Mitre pitching great baseball, he was throwing strikes and they were making outs in meaningless innings.
The key to all this is for Andy to come back healthy by mid-September. If he’s OK they’ll be very tough in the playoffs. If not, and if AJ continues to pitch as badly as he has since the end of July there won’t be a #28 coming this year.
randy – Hi, hope business is going well for you.
I remember last off season, when we had a little discussion of keeping Molina, and Cervelli in AAA, exactly as you referred to in the last thread. I guess eithersomeone was really disenchanted with Molina (he was pretty much an automatic out last year), or very high on Cervelli. I think Cervelli will be a fine ML backup catcher, but we are seeing the price of inexperience.
You’re right, this is time for a gut check. I’m not even going to begin to guess who might be lacking here, but I bet Joe Girardi (seems very old school, if you ask me) knows his team. This is the time of the year to step up and be counted.
randy l. wrote:
“the yankees have too many players floating around just being there.
they need to find out who wants to play when it counts.”
I agree. The public execution of a slacker or an idiot often sharpens everyone else’s focus. The only problem I see is the relative lack of quality reinforcements to replace those who are hanged.
Of course, this all looks a little less bleak if A-Rod is back in the lineup giving it length and threat again. Also getting Pettitte back on the hill goes a long way to soothe frazzled nerves in Yankee Universe. Meanwhile, it’s time to ManUp!
Agreed tabbert esp without alex in there
Lineup is too top heavy, not saying it will fail this night but in the long run that lineup is too top heavy
m…..are you in Williamsport Pa. for the LL game ????
How much longer is Arod supposed to be out?
The lineup is good in the fact that it has 8 major league hitters in the lineup that can all make the opposing team pay. However, i don’t understand having a guy like gardy batting 8th in front of pena. Nothing against pena, he is there for his glove and has done a great job. However, gardy is not a 8th hole type hitter.. he is a 9th hole guy or a leadoff guy. What good is gardy on base if a guy like pena is hitting behind him? I would like to see a more like this:
Gardy
Jeter
Tex
Cano
Thames
Swisher
posada
kearns
Pena
IMO, this makes the lineup much more circular and puts a bunch of bats capable of sending it out of the park at anytime deep in the lineup. This way, if pena gets on base.. he has decent speed and a guy like gardy can then come up and try to slap a bunt down for a hit and at worst get pena in scoring position.
comet August 28th, 2010 at 3:50 pm
Randy I is right on with his criticism of the Molina move. CB has made similar criticism in regard to not having an experienced backup. The Yankees got cheap last winter and now we are seeing the results. I have no idea how good Dave Eiland is or isn’t but he hasn’t been able to get through to Burnett or Chamberlain. He’s had some success with Vasquez but we don’t know if Vasquez is hurt or not. As for Burnett no-one has been able to get through to him so is it fair to judge Eiland in regards to either Javy or AJ?
As for not worrying about Boston: If the Yankees were five back in the loss column and the two division leaders were playing like they have , don’t you think most us would be thinking that the impossible was possible. After all we’ve seen it before.
This team has problems both with the starting pitching and the offence which is very inconsistent. Will they make the playoffs? Almost certainly. Will they win the division? Maybe. Could the worst happen? Yes. Let’s be honest.
joe from long island and murphydog-
as two professionals who have managed people under you ,you know from experience that you sometimes keep people around longer than you should because you think you need them , but when they are finally gone it’s like a breath of fresh air. you exhale and dig down and get things going.
the way i see the yankees right have too many players who are there to cover up for another player’s weakness. i’d like to see girardi go with a core group of players for a bit and sit the others on the sidelines to see what the yankees actually have as a core.
the influx of players on the first just adds to the confusion. i would definitely give cervelli a breather and have moeller be the back up for a while.
i’d have burnett pitch to posada . period.
screw the babying.
i’d also play granderson all the time and tell him to start hitting lefties or else sayonara.
i would stop massaging problems and instead attack problems.
if it meant waking a few people up and upsetting them – good.
Randy I…..Due to the injuries, do you think Giradi is managing defensively ??? I do think you’re on the money about how he should change his approach to the pitchers though…..Don’t get the job done, you go to the back of the line…..
I agree with randy l. Too many moving targets with this team. Let a few guys establish roles. Berkman needs to play everyday for a few weeks. jeter needs a day off.
Pat M. August 28th, 2010 at 4:59 pm
Randy I…..Due to the injuries, do you think Giradi is managing defensively ??? I do think you’re on the money about how he should change his approach to the pitchers though…..Don’t get the job done, you go to the back of the line…..
—
He just did that with Javy. And it sounds like he may do that with AJ.
Turns out David Adams does have a fracture, not a sprain as originally thought. He will miss the rest of the season.
Those of you not impressed with the job Phil Hughes has done thus far for the Yankees, need to compare the stats of all the Yankees starters.
http://www.baseball-reference......2010.shtml
Phil has done a great job, and if Andy was still pitching, Phil would be a solid #3, but, since Andy is out, Phil is the #2 pitcher, and the vast majority of his starts has given the Yankees a good chance to win. In fact, Phil would have 2 or 3 more wins, had the offense scored more than 3 runs. I feel the pitchers, up until lately, have been carrying the team this season. Again, look closely at the pitching stats, before making claims Phil has not been an good pitcher this year. To get back to where this team needs to be, the offense needs to show up more consistently. IMO
“LGY….You may have made the post of the day regarding pitching matchups come October……”
Pat M, I’m with you.
We’ll sit back and enjoy the show, bumps notwithstanding.
Thank you for the kind responses Pat M and Trisha
Pat M, I can’t argue with you there….My overall point was that it’s unfair that Phil has to take on the burden of a #2 starter when he’s just a kid.
I thought that the first real significant dent in the club’s armour was when Aceves went down…….
That really hurt, Pat – but fortunately the pen has been outstanding for awhile now. I wish he would have the surgery already as I think he’s just putting off the inevitable.
AJ, Javy, Mitre, Gaudin, sheesh. Such choices. Does everyone now understand why Cashman wanted to get Lee? And some thought we were just being greedy.
i know it seems tough right now… just think how tough it’s going to be for that seattle gm when montero’s ripping up the majors and smoak is hitting .250.
“Due to the injuries, do you think Giradi is managing defensively ??? ”
i think because he’s a smart rational guy with a huge amount of experience that he sees a lot of possibilities. the problem is that he seems to be trying all of them.
players need to be made aware try outs are going on. and some players are going to be eliminated.
i’d go after granderson if i were girardi and push his buttons and challenge him to be the player that he was and the yankees expected.
you can’t make all these guys comfortable with their little roles and have a team that has an edge.
i don’t want a player on the team like berkman who’s content to sit , wait for a chance, and just happy to to be there.. i want him screaming for playing time.
i don’t remember swisher laying in the weeds being happy doing nothing. the guy wanted on the field. that’s the kind of payer the yankees need. there are too many guys happy just to be there.
Betsy, his loss ( Aceves ) has had more of an impact on the rotation than the pen in the long run……
Pat M. August 28th, 2010 at 5:23 pm
I thought that the first real significant dent in the club’s armour was when Aceves went down…….
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I’ll agree to a point, because the pen was having a great deal of trouble finding itself, and being the weak link. Today, that is not the point any longer, the pen has been a bright spot.
The offense has been down, more and more each month. all the top 5 have been having seasons below their career averages. Yes, Cano had a hot start, but has fallen off each month, Tex has brought up his numbers, A-Rod, although his BA is way off, his RBI’s are good, Jeter is not having a good season, hits into too many DP’s, and swings at too many first pitches to be a #1 hitter, Posada is battling injury, but, when healthy has been productive. This is a team problem, not an individual player problem, and unless this team starts playing to their potential, they will not be successful, IMO.
Lilly has been placed on waivers today according to FoxSports. I’d consider him if he were actually able to clear all the way to the Yankees, but I doubt that LA really would want to trade him.
Pat M, do you think he would have been replaced Andy had he been healthy? I wonder – remember he had issues after his start in Minnesota last year.
Betsy August 28th, 2010 at 5:32 pm
That really hurt, Pat – but fortunately the pen has been outstanding for awhile now. I wish he would have the surgery already as I think he’s just putting off the inevitable.
***************************************************
Whether or not Alfredo has surgery is the team’s call, not his. He wants to pitch again this season, and the PT he’s gotten has helped quite a bit. Do not be surprised to see Alfredo back on the mound for the Yankees this season. It’s just a matter of his having enough time to get the innings in he needs to get ready for his return.
as many negative things that have been talked about lately one huge positive has flown under the radar. We are getting a huge 10 game home stand, setpember 1st call ups, and all berkamn and arod will coming back. We really could not have asked for better timing… we can get healthy, add depth, and start to catch fire on home. I really think that the home stand is going to turn this team around and propel us into a really strong finish.
Big Al, I’m thinking of next year and the future………….I’m glad Ace is feeling better, but I expect his back to be an ongoing issue if he doesn’t eventually have the surgery
Tin Cup….Real good point, especially since you placed names on the players as well and as to why……Berkman I think is going to come up big…..Tough transition for him coming over from being the clubhouse leader and his clubs best player to getting off to a slow start and getting dinged up……May not be in his DNA to make waves so quickly, unlike Reginald M. Jackson……..Granderson has been a let down for me, as I was all over the marketing for him here when his name first came up about being shopped around……He’s made the outfield one of the better outfields in the game, especially when you consider how bad the outfield was last season…….I expected .280 30 dingers and 100 plus runs scored…Throw in 35 sb’s……
I think Berkman will contribute as well………
Betsy – You are most likely correct, time will tell. Right now he’s like a raging bull waiting to get out of the stall. He wants to come back and help his team so bad, I hope he gets the chance. Believe me, no one wants Alfredo to succeed more than Alfredo. He feels he’s let his teammates down, and wants nothing more than help contribute to the teams success.
Betsy, irrespective of what happens the balance of this season, I think next year we’re going to see a pitching revamp. Don’t expect to see Mosley, Gaudin, Javy, or Mitre.
Hopefully IF they’re able to acquire Lee, AJ becomes the #4 starter (CC, Lee, Andy, AJ and Hughes). But the bullpen will be remade with the exception of Rivera, Robertson, Chamberalin, and possibly Logan.
Pat M. – I’ll take your Granderson numbers – From your mouth to God’s ear, perhaps next year.
pat m -
what i’m basically saying is less is more.
get rid of the confusion and play fewer players .
girardi is almost too smart for his own good.
girardi needs to stop trying to think his way to winning and create some edge on the team.
it’s a dull complacent team that doesn’t get upset even when they aren’t good.
and that’s been for over a month.
Later folks – need to BBQ dinner before game time.
Al, teams can’t tell players when to have or not have surgery
LGY, as Pat M pointed out, you hit it square on. Baseball is definitely not a game for the impatient and Yankee baseball especially is not a game for the squeamish. You have a manager who has managed two teams, was voted manager of the year for a team with a losing record, and in his second year as Yankee manager won a world series. He missed the playoffs in his first year – and not by that much – basically because the Yankees set the record that year for starting pitchers and two of the starting rotation “doublehandedly” handed the Yankees ten losses in a very short period of time. It’s amazing that Girardi got the Yankees as far as he did.
Girardi knows how to manage and how to handle his guys. And they respect him. As I remember he managed to his first world series with a team that was missing two of its best hitters for a goodly period of time and whose bullpen resembled a hospital ward for much of the season!
Joe Girardi doesn’t need to be told how to manage, nor do the players need to be told how to play. The closer you get to the end of the season, the more aches and pains are going to show up. More games will be lost. But in the end the best teams are the ones who will be left standing.
Yesterday Peter Gammons said that hands down that was the Yankees and the Rays.
I’m totally down with that.
This isn’t their first rodeo, cowboys. Rest your spurs and trust that it’s going to come together because that’s the Yankee way, even if it means renting a few players if they deem that a necessity.
“Hopefully IF they’re able to acquire Lee, AJ becomes the #4 starter (CC, Lee, Andy, AJ and Hughes).”
————————————
AJ should be the 5th starter on that list of pitchers.
Question:
Is there a team in baseball that would take AJ? If so, how much of his salary would we have to eat?
Betsy – Technically you may be right, but, when your GM states, This is the path we want you to take, and strongly suggests this is best for you and the team, you go along. If you are a star player, with a good contract that’s one thing, but, when you are at the bottom of the food chain, that’s quite another thing.
Remember, this is the last year of his contract! He’ll do as he’s told …………..
Got to go, catch you later.
AL, I was not aware that Cash did that……
“Remember, this is the last year of his contract! He’ll do as he’s told …………..”
—————————————-
Ace is still under team control for 5 more years after this season. Unless this back thing is career ending for some reason the Yankees will re-up him for the standard 400K+
LGY, philosophically I agree with you, but I don’t think that the $82.5 million pitcher will be the #5 starter.
after tonight, 33 games left. Yanks will play 7 games vs. TB and 6 games vs. Sux.
if tonight Sux wins again and CC manages to lose, Sux is only 3 games behind.
Sux is buried? my axx.
ooops.
SAS
Most of it if not all, plus we have to find someone willing to do so
I just don’t get still people think 2-2 split is a victory.
When you have the opportunity for kill, go for it!
LGY…..Considering how the staff / rotation has been shaky in conjunction with the fact that a Cy Young type starter is on the market, it almost mandates that Cliff Lee is the # 1 priority this off season………Ten you still have an issue concerning the inevitable retirement of Andy Pettite……
Pat M.
I hope Andy will give the Yankees another year, and that this injury doesn’t make him question himself.
“after tonight, 33 games left. Yanks will play 7 games vs. TB and 6 games vs. Sux.
if tonight Sux wins again and CC manages to lose, Sux is only 3 games behind.
Sux is buried? my axx.
ooops.”
first of all… learn english.
second… they’ll be 4 back in the loss column.
It appears that Minnesota and boston would probably claim Lilly before the Yankees could.
Pat,
I’m not that concerned with andy’s retirement. Remember that the three B’s are just around the corner, at least one of them is going to pan out
Luis, that’s not for another 2 years or so…………
“if tonight Sux wins again and CC manages to lose, Sux is only 3 games behind.
Sux is buried? my axx.
ooops”
Yeah, because we all know that Beckett, Lackey, and Wakefield are such a potent part of the Sux rotation that being 4 games behind in the loss column will be simple for them to make up.
And of course, without Pedroia, Ellsbury, Cameron, and Youkilis for the rest of the year, the offense will continue to burn up the field and get the job done.
Remember what happens to teams who are playing over their heads because they are busting it to make up for injuries. Unless the injured players return (they’re not) at some point it falls apart like a house of cards.
I respect you thinking they’re aren’t buried. My perspective is that a few nights out of the grave does not a resurrection make.
“second… they’ll be 4 back in the loss column”
Thanks, the Kiid! Keep this place honest.
Later y’all!
luis…..Just saying life in 2011 with no Pettite and no Lee doesn’t exactly look real appetizing nor appealing…….Not a real topic until November / December
Betsy,
Hi, yes probably you are right, but i think Nova can hold the fort next season and brackman should be ready mid season. Plus i think the development of banuelos is going to be faster than people think
2011 discussions in depth are a ways away. But we’ve got to right the starting rotation quickly or the post-season could be a short one. Girardi has proven that he can handle a pitching staff, so I’m confident he’ll continue to modifiy his plans accordingly.
Pat,
I’m asuming that Lee is our first signing priority in the off season
“Joe Girardi doesn’t need to be told how to manage, nor do the players need to be told how to play. ”
yeah good idea. players should do what they want out there on the field.
that works every time.
for example, if eiland isn’t telling burnett how to pitch when he visits the mound, what exactly do you think he’s doing out there when he’s talking to burnett?
for example, if eiland isn’t telling burnett how to pitch when he visits the mound, what exactly do you think he’s doing out there when he’s talking to burnett?
——————
Maybe they are discussing the Senior Prom for Seniors idea? lol.
AJ has been awful in many starts this season but has also been lights out, that’s an indication he’s capable to turning it around. That’a also no guarantee but many pitchers slump, Tim Lincecum has been almost as bad as AJ since the ASB and he’s a 2 time Cy Young winner.
If AJ had lost 5 mph on his fastball it would be over for him since he’ll never be able to adjust like Mussina and Pettitte have with pinpoint control but he should be able to figure out a way to be at least decent (3-4 runs in 6 innings) when he doesn’t have it. If he would just make that adjustment he’d be fine and probably win 15 games a year for the rest of his contract. Maybe it’s using the 2 seam fastball more often instead of the 4 seamer, maybe it’s changing speeds more often. And being able to throw his breaking ball for the occasional strike, of course, would really help.
“Maybe they are discussing the Senior Prom for Seniors idea? ”
i thought only GB7 thought that was a good idea.
aj burnett has 3 years left on his contract.i believe the yankees will eat some of the money and trade him this off season.