Decisions, decisions, decisions
Posted by: Chad Jennings - Posted in Misc on Sep 09, 2010 
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While they’re trying to lock up the American League East, the Yankees have a little more three weeks to make some decisions about their postseason roster.
ROTATION
Big decision: Who else gets a start in the playoffs?
This is the most broad question the Yankees have to answer. CC Sabathia in Game 1, obviously. Andy Pettitte, assuming comes through his rehab start(s) as good as ever, takes Game 2 or 3. Another obvious choice. As it stands, I have to think A.J. Burnett and Phil Hughes are the top candidates to round out the postseason rotation. Burnett because Joe Girardi has shown no signs of turning away from him despite his inconsistencies. Hughes because he’s given the Yankees a strong first full season in the rotation, which outweighs some some shaky outings lately.
Smaller decisions
• How do the starters lineup after Sabathia? It might make sense to put a pitcher between the lefties Sabathia and Pettitte. Hughes has won more games at home, but he’s actually pitched better on the road.
• How much consideration does Ivan Nova get? If the Yankees based the rotation on each pitcher’s first six appearances of the season, Burnett and his 1.99 ERA would be lined up for Game 1. Nova’s positioning himself as a possible fill-in should Pettitte suffer a setback or either Burnett or Hughes suffer an epic slide in the final weeks. Despite the small sample size, I’d probably take Nova over Javier Vazquez or Dustin Moseley at this point.
LINEUP
Big decision: Is Brett Gardner still the No. 9 hitter?
It’s actually a stretch to consider this a decision. Girardi has given no indication that he’s planning to stray from Derek Jeter at the top of the lineup, which means it’s probably going to be Jeter and Nick Swisher batting 1-2 in the playoffs. Truth is, given the Yankees lineup, there aren’t many tough decisions as long as the regulars are in there.
Smaller decisions
• Does Marcus Thames get any DH consideration against right-handed pitchers? Lance Berkman has been pretty good lately, but we’ve seen Thames get impossibly hot against both lefties and righties.
• Is Austin Kearns an automatic starter against left-handers? Curtis Granderson has made some strides, and the Yankees outfield defense is best with Granderson and Gardner both in there.
• Is there any chance Jorge Posada catches A.J. Burnett? Not likely.
• Is there any reason to give Alex Rodriguez or Derek Jeter a day off? There should be enough off days in the postseason to let both play every day.
BULLPEN
Big decision: Who fills the back of the bullpen?
Five spots are locked up: Mariano Rivera, Kerry Wood, Joba Chamberlain, Dave Robertson and Boone Logan. That leaves Sergio Mitre, Chad Gaudin and the non-starters — let’s say Vazquez, Nova and Moseley — for two or three spots. Vazquez is probably in just because of who he is and how well he’s pitched in relief this season. If I had to take one more, I’d go with Mitre and leave Nova pitching in Tampa to stay stretched out in case the Yankees need another starter down the line. If there’s room for one more long man — an emergency guy at the very back of the bullpen — either Moseley or Gaudin would be fine in that role. They’ve both pitched well enough to earn it.
Smaller decisions
• Do the Yankees need a defined eighth-inning guy? If anyone has taken that job it’s Wood, but Girardi has been willing to mix-and-match with Wood, Chamberlain and Robertson, and the bullpen has never been better.
• Does someone take the Gaudin role? Last postseason, Girardi burned through relievers because he knew he always had Gaudin waiting to pitched until his arm fell off if necessary. There’s no shortage of guys who could fill that role this year.
• I have no reason to believe this would happen, but given the redundancy of three long relievers in the postseason, it would be interesting to see the Yankees find a way to get Royce Ring on the 40-man and give him a late audition as a second lefty. He could probably get through the same loophole that Freddy Guzman wiggled through last year.
BENCH
Big decision: Is there room for a fifth bench player?
If everyone is healthy, the Yankees should be able to carry a four-man bench and still have everything they need. That said: Alex Rodriguez, Nick Swisher and Jorge Posada have been banged up this season. If there are concerns about them being able to play consistently, the Yankees might have to carry a third catcher, second utility man or fifth outfielder. They might also choose to carry either Greg Golson or Eduardo Nunez primarily as a pinch runner. The Yankees can either carry an extra guy in the pen or on the bench. Either one is a luxury.
Smaller decisions
• If there’s room for only one, which utility infielder makes the roster? Ramiro Pena has the glove and the experience. Eduardo Nunez has the bat and might have more speed.
• Is there something about the individual matchup that affects the bench? It’s not impossible to envision a scenario in which an extra left-handed bat like Colin Curtis or Juan Miranda might make sense.
• If they do carry a pinch runner, is Golson or Nunez a better bet? Golson seems faster, but it was Nunez who led Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in steals.
Just saw this: It turns out Sidney Crosby is now the Pirates’ best hitter:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v.....r_embedded
gotta keep nova around. he’s good & tough. what did they think they were getting in berkman and kearns ?
The bullpen mix and match appears to be working, I wouldn’t change that.
I would have Posada catch every game he is physically able to. AJ is no better/no worse w/ Cervelli, and I would rather have Po in the line up.
I like Thames…just not in the field!!
No days off for regulars unless absolutely necessary, they can rest all winter.
Interesting post Chad. Here’s my preliminary guess at a postseason roster:
C – Posada, Cervelli
IF – Teixeira, Cano, Jeter, Rodriguez, Berkman, Pena, Nunez
OF – Swisher, Granderson, Gardner, Kearns, Thames
SP – Sabathia, Hughes, Pettitte, Burnett
RP – Rivera, Wood, Robertson, Chamberlain, Logan, Nova, Vazquez
My lineup vs righties:
Jeter SS
Swisher RF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Cano 2B
Posada C
Granderson CF
Berkman DH
Gardner LF
My lineup vs lefties:
Jeter SS
Swisher RF
Teixeira 1B
Rodriguez 3B
Cano 2B
Thames DH
Posada C
Kearns LF
Gardner CF
Jeter/A-rod/Posada start every game unless one gets injured.
Interestingly enough, Granderson has been hitting lefties better than righties since the all-star break.
I love Berkman at DH but you CANNOT deny Thames when a lefty is on the mound. And I don’t buy that Burnett needs a personal catcher. The Yanks won despite that poor decision last year, not because of it.
Interestingly enough, Granderson has been hitting lefties better than righties since the all-star break.
–
Kearns is still better vs lefties.
Very few left handed pitchers that I’d sit Granderson over Kearns for.
The Yanks won’t face your ordinary run of the mill lefties in the playoffs. We are talking Lee and Wilson, or Liriano, and Price.
Given that, I’d go with Kearns over Granderson in the playoffs vs lefties.
12 pitcher or 5th bench player? Maybe 12 pitchers, given the starters behind CC and hopefully Andy. I can’t see the 5th bench player getting much opportunity.
Cashman on 1050 ‘Jesus toast for Scranton now, infected contusion from a foul tip. Would have been the guy if Jorge’s injury was serious, now it’ll be Romine’
OT
The court in NY also has a decision to make, because didn’t you know that the Yankees aren’t really a New York team?
http://www.newyorkpost.com/p/n.....uUebkhb2YN
Bronx Jeers September 9th, 2010 at 2:19 pm
GB7,
It is insane.
To think that players often had jobs in the off-season selling cars and what-not.
Jeter’s selling his “sky-castle” for 20 mil and Maris and Mantle shared an apt. in the boondocks of Queens in 61?? (I know Mickey probably didn’t have to but he did)
You don’t even have to back that far to see what would be a chump change contract by today’s standards. Reggie Jackson? 6 yrs 3 mil total and that was a big deal in 77?
ARod’s making that in a month.
———————————————————————————————————————-
I remember the New Year’s Eve night when the world came to an end when GMs signed some right handed pitcher by the preposterous name of Catfish Hunter for $3.5 mil over 5 years. Imagine having some country yokel by the name “Catfish”, a hick, a rube, pitching in NY and for the Yankees?
I am a big Granderson fan but Kearns is without a doubt a better hitter versus left-handed pitchers. Don’t forget, he was really good for us before he hurt his hand.
In a playoff situation it’s time to face the facts and set up a straight platoon with Granderson and Kearns. Maybe change it if Grandy has particularly good numbers vs that day’s starter.
“Good point. Certainly none of the information you find on this blog would be agenda driven.”
——————————
Way to completely avoid the main point in favor of a snarky response. There are obviously bias issues on a Yankee blog regarding Yankee prospects, hence my choice of words. Better, but not perfect. There is also quite a bit of backlash regarding overhyping and prospect hugging on this blog as well, but that is a completely seperate issue from the one I addressed.
The main point was regarding Law. The Red Sox have had a disastrous season from a farm system perspective and the Yankees have had a great season. Can you even question who has a better system now? Yet, instead of directly answering the question like he always does he dances around the issue and gives some ridiculous response about depth regarding the Red Sox. Now today, he writes a whole article about Betances being far away from any frontline potential based on seeing him ONE time. And these are just examples from the just past 2 weeks.
Law has decided that a pitcher has poor command based on a single outing.
I could care less what Law thinks anymore, but if you are going to defend his objectivity you have to do a better job.
# Patrick September 9th, 2010 at 2:29 pm
I love Berkman at DH but you CANNOT deny Thames when a lefty is on the mound. And I don’t buy that Burnett needs a personal catcher. The Yanks won despite that poor decision last year, not because of it.
Thames will always replace Berkman with a lefty on the mound. Posada can’t catch Burnett this year. AJ is so wild this year it’s terrible. If AJ was the pitcher he was in game 2 of the world series last year, it wouldn’t be a problem.
@wallacematthews Cashman: everyone other than CC auditioning for postseason starting spot 12 minutes ago
RiverAveBlues Jesus Montero out for the rest of the AAA playoffs with a leg injury not considered to be serious. We can put talk of a callup to bed now.
1 minute ago via Echofon
Can we go back to having twitter updates when a new blog entry is posted? I’m having a hard time knowing when new posts go up
my gut feeling AJ is gonna step up. no more crappy outings & he’s gonna show some balls. it will be a pleasant surprise over the next 2 months
With Monetero out, I wonder if Rivera, Murphy, Gil, Sanchez or Abeita get the call-ups for a fill-in?
GB7- Mantle and Mays made $100,000 at their peak earning years. Most good starting pitchers who get 30 starts/season make that in a game and more. Mucho dinero more!!
Patrick-Like your choices. I too want the regulars in the lineup as much as possible, As far as the starting pitchers are concerned I’m waiting to see if Pettitte is able to dominate. Right now i like Nova over any of the rest, but he too has pitched as many innings as Hughes has this year. I would also like to see how Gardner does at the top of the lineup against the remaining tough-playoff-like-games the Yankees face thru October 3rd.
Carl,
Posada is arguably better at blocking the ball than Cervelli so I don’t see the issue.
And yes, Thames will most definitely replace Berkman with a lefty on the mound. No doubt about it.
Patrick, the ONLY left handed starters the Yanks will see prior to the WS are Lee, Wilson, Liriano and Price.
Granderson triple slash line vs each pitcher, career:
Lee: .300/.333/.425, 42 PAs
Liriano: .182/.250/.364, 25 PAs
Price: .100/.100/.100, 10 PAs
Wilson: .000/.000/.000, 7 PAs.
But so few PAs that I wouldn’t put too much stock in the career numbers. Just have to decide whether you think Curtis will hit really good LHP.
I couldn’t imagine what those guys were making working for Charlie O.
He probably charged them a “detergent tax” for any excessive grass stains they may have gotten on their uniforms.
To borrow a line from Rich in NJ, if Cervelli starts a playoff game “I’ll puke”
(As long as Jorge is healthy of course)
Just have to decide whether you think Curtis will hit really good LHP.
–
Today I’d have to say, no I don’t think he can. However, the Yanks are going to face the Rangers and Rays before the playoffs begin so I’d let Grandy start those games and see what he can do. If he has good at-bats vs those guys now it’d be a pretty strong argument to let him start every game in the playoffs.
Charlie O. was one of a kind. A lot of Charles Comiskey and Bill Veeck mixed together. One thing this is unmistakable…he knew baseball talent.
WYH-
Could you look up what A-Rods numbers are against those 4 lefties, because he’s hitting below .200 against lefty pitchers this year.
Cashman said….as i posted earlier ‘Romine would be the guy now’
One of those questions I do know the answer to…No, neither Jeter or Arod needs a day off in the playoffs.
To borrow a line from Rich in NJ, if Cervelli starts a playoff game “I’ll puke”
(As long as Jorge is healthy of course)
—
Seriously…
WYH-
I take that back. A-Rod now has his average at .206 against lefties this year.
Yankee Trader-
He has hit Price well this year, and hasn’t hit the other three. But no more than 7 PAs against any of them.
re: KLaw and where his any possible motivation for his scouting reports:
I wrote a comment questioning how he would write-up Betances, Banuelos and Brackman if they were Toronto or Boston prospects.
This was his reply:
“You know I’ve been accused of hating the Blue Jays all summer, right? Are you actually dumb enough to think I’m biased AGAINST the team for whom I grew up rooting?”
Turns out he grew up a Yankee fan. It probably would have been beneficial if I knew that before I gave him the ammunition to question my intelligence…lol.
Cashman did say that if Jorge was out long term, Romine would have been the callup.
It would have been Montero had he not suffered his leg infection.
Thankfully, Jorge didn’t suffer a concussion.
Speaking of decision, I wonder if Jeter will try hair plugs or a toupee when he finally goes bald in 5 years.
A lot of people simply shave their heads, like Ripken and Michael Jordon, but I don’t think Jeter will look good with a shaved coconut.
What a dilemma. If only stem cell research could solve the problem of our times.
Law also knows the only way to keep working for ESPN to to pump up the Red Sox farm system and only passing on back handed compliments to rivals. He might be dishonest, but he’s not stupid.
SJ, any idea of what caused the infection? Spike wound, staff infection from a slide? Romine sneaking into his room at night and cutting him with a rusty knife?
A long reliever will be needed when Burnett pitches. That’s covered with either Gaudin or Vazquez. A concern could be overusing Boone Logan with his being the only LH in the pen.
As Chad mentions, try to fit Royce Ring to take the place of Marte. If Logan is used as early as the 6th inning in a mix & match situation to hold a small lead, another LH would be necessary in the later innings.
The only problem I have with Keith’s analysis of Betances is, he made a long term projection based on seeing him only one time.
It’s impossible to take a long view on ANY player, especially a pitcher, you see only one time.
That’s the problem some Internet scouts made with Casey Kelly and Lars Anderson.
I’ve see Dellin Betances pitch 6 times. Four times two years ago and twice this year.
To say he doesn’t have top of the rotation upside is as inaccurate as saying Ramiro Pena is a power hitter, regardless of who says it.
Is he raw? Yes. Does he need work? Yes.
He is however, light years better than he was two years ago.
If anybody believes he doesn’t possess top of the rotation ability, they probably should refrain from offering scouting opinions because it’s not even remotely accurate at any level.
GB
B12 injections that missed the spot?
Chad great post. I love posts like these, but the part of either Jeter or Alex needing a day off better not even be a consideration for Joe. Absolutely they play all games.
Keith Law can’t be taken seriously.
Seven months ago, he ranked the Red Sox minor league system #2, ahead of the Rays of all teams, and then he Yankees at the bottom of the barrel at number #25.
I mean, com’n — when you rank the yanks 25th out of 30, you lose all credibility.
Betances certainly impressed yesterday.
GB,
He got hit by a pitch recently and it became infected.
Same thing happened to my nephew in HS.
They go in and clean out the wound area and he will be 100% in a month.
Unfortunately though, it ends his season.
B12 injections that missed the spot?
———————————–
UK- Are you saying that Montero got the leg infection from some accident with a used B-12 syringe that Nova left lying around? LOL
Keith gave this further follow-up (very insightful, imo):
“I try to evaluate critically, because I’m often asked to make fine distinctions between players. That comes off as ‘negative’ sometimes because I’m pointing out small flaws or drawbacks. I never said that Betances was terrible or even bad – just far less developed than I’d expected from his stat line. And I think that’s valuable information to pass along to readers. The evaluation wouldn’t change one bit if he was with a different club.
To be honest, I walked into that park lats night fired up to see two outstanding prospects. I was disappointed to see Betances come in below those high expectations, so I explained that, but it doesn’t mean he’s a zero, either.”
He reminds me of Pete Abe a little bit: if you put something out there, you better be prepared for his response. He engages the readers far more than most.
I think if the Yankees thought Royce Ring was an option, he would be up here getting an audition right now.
I can’t see a guy making the post-season roster who hasn’t pitched for them in a regular season game.
What kinda leg infection does Montero have – did he develop an abscess or a bad infected toe, etc?
When I heard “leg infection” I thought of Mickey Mantle in 1961
YT
just kidding
“I was disappointed to see Betances come in below those high expectations, so I explained that, but it doesn’t mean he’s a zero, either.”
————————————–
He didn’t explain that though. He said he is far away from any high end starter ceiling. He made a conclusive statement based on one start. His article does not match up with his response to you in anyway because he speaks in two very different manners.
Someone who is objective in their evaluation would have explained that it was only one start and while he didn’t live up to my expectations it is too difficult to draw conclusions based on one start. Or prefaced his article by saying this is an evaluation of just how he pitched last night. Something along those lines.
MLB writeup of Trenton and Betances’ win yesterday.
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.....;fext=.jsp
But……….
If Keith thought harder, he would realize, as in most cases, the stat line doesn’t tell the entire story.
Of course he’s less advanced/developed.
He spent the better part of two years either injured or rehabbing from injury.
That takes away valuable development time.
In other words, he’s basically a 20 year old experience-wise, pitching in AA.
Looking at it that way, he would probably be viewed/graded on a different scale.
My $.02……….
Keith had some scout friends contact him today to tell him is review of Betances was overly harsh.
He did something in those two emails response he barely does…..he backtracked a bit. lol
UK-
I knew that, at least I think i did.
SJ44 September 9th, 2010 at 3:15 pm
GB,
He got hit by a pitch recently and it became infected.
Same thing happened to my nephew in HS.
===================================
that’s fascinating.
How come we never see that in the big leagues, just considering alone all of foul balls players take off their legs. Paul O’Neill told a story earlier this year about how he got hit by a pitch on the foot and Jim Joyce said he was acting and refused to give him first base. In betwn innings O’Neill took off his shoe and it was bloody as the ball had took the nail off his big toe clean off.
Also, he should have said things like he “had” poor command, not “has” poor command.
He turned a scouting report of one start into a permanent state of who Bentances is and then backtracked in his email.
I thought the gist of Law’s article was that Betances is a good prospect but Drabek is better (duh, tell us something we don’t know Keith!). I guess it’s true that Betances needs to work on his control and secondary pitches but if you don’t see top of the rotation potential there, you’re insane.
*Betances*
Patrick
If you read Frankie P’s scouting report on Betances, it’s like the complete opposite.
UKYankee September 9th, 2010 at 2:36 pm
Cashman on 1050 ‘Jesus toast for Scranton now, infected contusion from a foul tip. Would have been the guy if Jorge’s injury was serious, now it’ll be Romine’
—
I’m happy that Cashman would have taken my advice and gone with Montero.
However, unhappy that is now impossible if Posada has problems (I know he has been cleared by the docs, but you never know).
And Posada should start all games in the postseason (if able). If AJ doesn’t like it, I’m sure Nova wouldn’t mind throwing to Posada.
Carl,
I did read Pilliere’s report on Betances.
• How do the starters lineup after Sabathia? It might make sense to put a pitcher between the lefties Sabathia and Pettitte.
——————————
Last night, bobby Valentine said Yankee Stadium configurations are greatly favor left handed pitching.
Go with two lefties to start off the series,
Roger Clemens: What a man, what a leader, what greatness. And his legal team: What a brilliant defensive strategy. Trash New York and the Yankees to avoid going to prison! I knew I loved the Roger for reason – and not just because he’s hot! The only thing his legal team now needs to do to ensure being prison-free is to restore his relationship with the Red Sox franchise.
Will we soon see Roger lunching with Larry Lucchino or John Henry? Or in the booth with Orsillo and the RemDawg?
“Last night, bobby Valentine said Yankee Stadium configurations are greatly favor left handed pitching.”
—————————
You needed Bobby Valentine to tell you that?
If Nova continues to pitch well, not putting him on the playoff roster would be beyond absurd.
yeah, much more disappointed in a pitcher with less experience but, at least two plus pitches and another two that are close. sorry, but, for being such an inferior pitcher, he blew them away. It was only pitch count that got Betances…not lack of control…but, a pretty good offensive team that fouled off pitches. His defense, including his own cost him at least an inning and 2/3rds. He’s a Single A pitcher outpitching the hottest AA pitcher on the planet. In other words, Law is another scirocco…a hot wind.
http://espn.go.com/espnradio/p.....ign=WEPNAM
Sounds like AJ will pitch ahead of Phil if both are in the rotation.
I normally like this guy, but Ruocco is really dead wrong about how AJ is pitching much better… It sounds like Eiland would lean towards starting AJ………..because he’s more capable of dominating in a start. I can’t disagree, but frankly, the odds of AJ dominating vs. him completely failing are not good wheras the chances of Phil dominating are slim to none, but he has a better chance of keeping the team in the game.
Haha GB7 I don’t share your low opinion of Law but I can’t deny that Klaw is wrong about Betances. Dellin is a stud
# LGY September 9th, 2010 at 3:47 pm
“Last night, bobby Valentine said Yankee Stadium configurations are greatly favor left handed pitching.”
—————————
You needed Bobby Valentine to tell you that?
—————————————————————–
No. It was for Chad, the author of this post, who thinks it’s a good idea to run a righty after CC in game #2.
once again, you make me giggle.
“Last night, bobby Valentine said Yankee Stadium configurations are greatly favor left handed pitching.”
Actually it depends on which direction they’re pointing the big wind tunnel machine that night.
For a pitcher with a less than good curveball, they sure as hell had a lot of trouble hitting it and his “low 90s fastball that only reached 96 MPH once”, especially since he has poor command. I’ll stand by my opinion of Law.
GB7,
Fair enough man, you’ve seen Betances more than Law so I think I’ll side with you on this one
Also I don’t think that “low 90′s” assertion by Law is correct. There are several other sources saying that Betances was sitting in the mid 90′s all night.
Nick Swisher likes hitting walk-off HRs on 09/08. He hit one yesterday, and here was the one he hit on 09/08/09:
http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play......id=6542395
“No. It was for Chad, the author of this post, who thinks it’s a good idea to run a righty after CC in game #2.”
———————————-
Looks like you have Keith Law disease with so much backtracking.
He had poor command and only walked 1. I wish AJ had that type of poor command
AJ is going to be the 4th starter, with a very very short leash. Javy/Nova will be by the red bat phone, waiting for that call…
I remember when people didn’t want Swish to become the starting right fielder. I always felt Swish was better than Nady.
Damn it Feels so good to be right.
Carl
Yes it does
Aero, maybe……………I like that Cash apparently (didn’t hear him) put everyone on notice (including Andy, though?). Ruocco was a Phil fan, but has lost faith. I won’t argue with him on that because he has been struggling, but putting AJ ahead of Phil based on him pitching somewhat better recently (huh?) and on their post-season results last year seems sort of silly. I wish I’d heard Eiland, though. I do think he and the Yankees have faith in AJ and that AJ is likely to start game 3.
Carl, were you fighting the good fight with Patrick and me back in ’09?
LGY, have another cup of dumb.
I think only one of Gaudin, Mitre and Mosely will make postseason roster. Pettitte will take one of there spots when he comes back. And they can take an extra bench player for the postseason. They will have Javy and Nova probably in the bullpen. That would make 3 long man in the pen. I would probably take Gaudin. He’s thrown 40.1 ip and has a 3.57 era. He has pitched well in both stints as a yankee.
I think none of Gaudin/Mitre/Moseley will make the postseason roster
It seems to me that Law makes a lot of player evaluations after seeing them one time. In fairness to him though, that’s his job..to write articles on prospects and given that he’s covering all of baseball it would be difficult for him to see every player multiple times. That said, I generally don’t put a lot of stock in anything he says.
hardwired7 September 9th, 2010 at 4:02 pm
Nick Swisher likes hitting walk-off HRs on 09/08. He hit one yesterday, and here was the one he hit on 09/08/09:
http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play&.....id=6542395
***********
I was at the game in 2009
He actually hit two homeruns that night
“LGY, have another cup of dumb.”
———————————-
Wouldn’t that just make me dumber? If I post dumb things that annoy you now why would you want me to post even dumber things?
No one wins that way!
It’s a pity that YES isn’t covering any of the MiLB post season games. David Phelps is a fun pitcher to watch. He doesn’t possess the pure stuff of others, but, it’s fun to watch him surgically remove the opposition’s ability to hit.
Can’t long men be used as short men? I do believe we have to have back up for our starting pitchers. They haven’t been very reliable for the most part so I take Nova, Vazquez and Gaudin, with Joba, DRob, Logan, Wood, and Mo. That is 12 pitchers, making room for 13 position players.
Did I forget a pitcher?
For example,
Robin: Have a cup of smart!
That way the whole board wins!
# Wave Your Hat September 9th, 2010 at 4:08 pm
Carl, were you fighting the good fight with Patrick and me back in ‘09?
Yep. I said we should trade high on Nady because he was a 265 hitter and regressing in NY. Then he got hurt lol
I think the extra long man, whoever he turns out to be, would be marginally more useful than the fifth bench player, although neither is likely to get in a game.
Whichever bullpenners are the hottest trains on the track at play-off time will be going, especially if the match up well with the other team.
Carl, it’s funny now but we were in the definite minority then.
Is there any concern that we now have just 1 long man?
If this is common knowledge already, I aplogize-I’m just catching up.
RiverAveBlues Jesus Montero out for the rest of the AAA playoffs with a leg injury not considered to be serious. We can put talk of a callup to bed now.
blake – you beat me to it.
That’s his (Law’s) job – to make pronouncements on minor league players. The catch is, it is physically impossible to see every team’s best prospects mulitple times. No way. So, he does the best he can (I assume), maybe seeing them once, and tries to generalize. Of course he’s going to be offbase on many of them. That’s the downside of trying to have an opinion on all of them. But, until his bosses start to care, and give him more resources (staff, who’s input he can rely on) he’s going to keep on doing the same thing, because that’s the only thing he can do.
In the end, the only thing that counts is how the player actually does, regardless of expert opinion. In that sense, baseball is more a meritocracy than many other gigs.
According to Bobby Valentine, you can now get to Yankee Stadium by subway.
Subway!
Is there any concern that we now have just 1 long man?
—
Do we ?
I thought we had 3 – Moseley, Mitre and Gaudin. Or do you mean in the playoffs? We would still have two if the team carries 11 pitchers and 3 if the team carries 12.
# Wave Your Hat September 9th, 2010 at 4:20 pm
Carl, it’s funny now but we were in the definite minority then.
Yep. People wanted to trade Swish. Then someone came up with this gem after Nady hurt his arm.
# Swisher Brandon (I LOVE ME SOME ME !) April 14th, 2009 at 10:36 pm
I’d trade IPK+Melky for Milledge right now sign me up.
Excuse me, one LOOGY
the thing w/Swisher is that he didn’t hit AT ALL last post-season, and the Yanks still won. if he’s still firing on all cylinders when October comes around this yr, the Yanks have another weapon in their lineup.
oh, and Erica, you were one lucky dog. I’ve never been there for a walk-off (hopefully someday…)
Is there any concern that we now have just 1 long man?
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Doubt it. Yanks can extend the bullpen with September call-ups. Less Urgency for a long man.
And as for the postseason… starters can become long men. Notable reference: Mike Mussina Game 7 2003 ALCS. Or Phil Hughes Game 3 2007 ALDS.
TylerKepner Yanks counter by claiming Jennifer Love Hewitt. (She’s Hank’s favorite actress) RT @mlbtraderumors Red Sox Claim Matt Fox #partyoffive
Patrick, sorry!
It’s just that we saw recently Joe bring in Logan relatively early in the game…………I don’t know if he can afford to do that in the playoffs now.
Cashman put Andy’s groin on notice.
Hard to believe the most important start of the year is happening tonight in Trenton, NJ.
Not since Washington crossed the Delaware has Trenton witnessed a more significant event.
There’s a rumor circulating that wilkin de la rosa has been released. Unconfirmed as yet.
I recall there being a bunch of Swish trader rumors that spring, with the Braves being interested in him, but I recall the Yanks loving his versatility; I never thought he’d be traded – and fortunately he wasn’t. Major kudos for working hard in the off-season to transform himself……………
Carl, LOL.
Speaking of IPK, have people noticed how well he has pitched this year? I’m real happy for him.
Betsy, Nick didn’t “transform himself” in the off-season, he was good in 2009 and 2010 both. However, working hard is always a good thing.
I think Swisher changed over this past offseason, and I believe he’s better now. That’s not to say he was really good in 2009 as well!
Betsy, I always thought that having a “second left-handed reliever” on the roster was unnecessary. It always bothers me in spring training when analysts talk about that “second lefty” job. It’s simply not a necessary thing to have on the team. Logan is enough IMO.
Speaking of IPK, have people noticed how well he has pitched this year? I’m real happy for him.
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For a 25 year old he has pitched pretty well. I, too, am glad to see him doing well.
The one drawback I noticed in his stat line is that he leads all of baseball in wild pitches. I thought that was AJ’s job.
An interesting article that I accidently ran across on GMS and the perfect baseball buiness model. Baseball would have been in a lot better shape years earlier if they had listened to GMs and turned that part over to him. SJ and CB may be especially interested in it.
http://articles.latimes.com/20.....s-20100714
Growing up I wanted to put in a claim for Halle Berry
# Wave Your Hat September 9th, 2010 at 4:29 pm
Carl, LOL.
Speaking of IPK, have people noticed how well he has pitched this year? I’m real happy for him.
Pitching in the NL West will be good for him. Big parks. No pressure.
People say the Yankees overrate their prospects, but if you look around the league, the ones we traded are doing well. It says a lot about Cashman and his team that draft and develop these guys.
You want an obscure Trenton pop culture reference? No problem.
Bob Mould, “Brasilia Crossed With Trenton”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llOksyhZ8Qg
Patrick, I was objecting to the criticism implicit in the phrase “transform himself”, although perhaps Betsy didn’t mean it in the way I took it.
I would agree that Nick “changed” his swing, and that he is having a better year this year than last (although not by as much as people seem to think, and not in the ways many people think).
According to Bobby Valentine, you can now get to Yankee Stadium by subway.
Subway!
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“Growing up I wanted to put in a claim for Halle Berry”
I guess you had to settle for David Justice.
Swisher is also in better shape this season. That combined with his swing changes have made him a better and more consistent player IMO.
Swish is more aggressive this year with 45 less walks and 21 more hits in the same amount of AB’s.
Nick in SF,
The subway is above ground near the Stadium, but in NY everything is called a subway, even when the train elevate.
With that new info, you can have Subway for dinner…lol
Yeah Wave I know what you were getting at. Lots of fans overrate BA and underrate OBP
Tar,
Good one.
I wouldn’t be so quick to say that Swisher is less patient this year over last year. It’s more that pitchers have better control. There’s no pitcher in baseball that has close to 100 walks allowed this year. The closest would be CJ wilson’s 81. It will have been a long time since that happened, if it does.
SAS September 9th, 2010 at 4:43 pm
Nick in SF,
The subway is above ground near the Stadium, but in NY everything is called a subway, even when the train elevate.
With that new info, you can have Subway for dinner…lol
**************
Where I grew up in Queens, the train was elevated.
We kind of just called it “the train”…. covered all bases
“I would agree that Nick “changed” his swing, and that he is having a better year this year than last (although not by as much as people seem to think, and not in the ways many people think).”
He’s going to top his career high for hits and average by a pretty good distance but his walks are way down. I like it. Always aggravated the hell out of me that he was almost too selective. Not unlike Giambi was for much of his time with the Yankees. A walk is NOT always as good as a hit. Seems to me Swisher has been less selective in what he will swing at, but not so much so that he’s giving away OBP (he’s right around his career number) or increasing strikeouts (again, close to his career numbers). And he’s producing more in the process. He was good last year, but 2010 has been the best season of his career, IMO.
We always called the elevated trains in Queens the “El”.
Swisher has hit 2nd a lot this year…he’s not getting walked in front of Tex and Arod. That could have something to do with his walks being down.
Wave, I just meant that he changed things to make himself a better player…..You’re right, he was always good.
Patrick, I’ll say that I would rather have a good righty than a poor lefty, so we should be ok with the guys we have in our pen because they are good, period. Still, it’s too bad about Marte.
Yogi Mantle September 9th, 2010 at 4:54 pm
We always called the elevated trains in Queens the “El”.
************
A lot of people did that too…
That justw asn’t a natural word to me
SAS,
You’re half right about the elevated subway at Yankee Stadium only because there is also the B & D trains which are subterranean while the 4 is elevated.
I always used to love coming out of the tunnel on the 4 train and seeing the Stadium come into view but that’s just not the same anymore.
“We always called the elevated trains in Queens the “El”.’
Yeah me too. Remember the RR?
Bill D-
I would agree with that with this reservation. Nick’s more aggressive approach hasn’t resulted in his extra base production going up proportionately to his batting average. The extra production has all been singles, while at the same time his BABiP has climbed from .272 last year to .337 this year (.285 is his career average BABiP).
Since his BABiP has climbed enormously, but his HR% and his extra base production has not gone up, I wonder whether he will maintain the increased BA. If he doesn’t, while still maintaining his increased aggressiveness, he will be an overall less valuable player.
I think the jury is still out on that.
Yeah it is too bad about Marte but not very surprising
Wave,
Good point, but you know where I land on this debate
I guess we’ll have to wait and see
Heading over to see my family now-
Hope everyone has a great night. Here’s hoping that Andy Pettitte dominates Trenton! Catch y’all later
The truly encouraging thing about Betances isn’t what he is right now – it’s where he’s come from to get to where he is.
It’s his rate of growth.
Betances only threw around 290 innings from 2006-2009. He was extremely raw to begin with. And even amongst those 290 innings – they were very choppy because he was injured several times.
His arm may not have been truly right since the end of his GCL season in 2006. I remember his first game at Staten Island. He had gained a great deal of muscle and came out throwing far slower and with much worse control than expected. Then he got shut down. Didn’t have surgery but he didn’t pitch. Then he continued to struggle with Charleston the next season.
The concern with him prior first and foremost wasn’t his command. It was his control.
What’s been great to see from him this year is that now that his elbow is right his control problems have largely evaporated. Sure he still likely has problems with his command – but his control has been very good.
For a tall pitcher that’s a huge hurdle to get over – never mind a tall pitcher coming off elbow surgery who hasn’t thrown many innings.
His off speed stuff is better now than it was before he got the surgery. He’s taken a huge step forward in terms of his stuff and arsenal while not throwing. I’m very surprised to see him regularly throwing 3 pitches in game action – even when promoted to AA he kept using three pitches. It’s not like he tried to stick to his best 1-2 pitches. That’s very good to see.
As he continues to throw and gets innings that nucleus of success is only likely to grow as long as he stays healthy. How he looks on any one night will likely vary. But this year we learned that he’s tolerated the surgery well, that he does have good control and that his stuff has great potential. Couple that with his tools and that’s a lot to be excited about.
jnorris427 De la has indeed be taken off the roster, in the words of pitching coach tommy phelps.
Back in the day, when I took the subway from Manhattan on the Lexington Avenue line…it was the subway because most of it was underground.
I can’t take a subway anymore so no problems.
I was sort of comparing it to other cities in the US that have names other names other than subway.
I guess it depended on where you lived.
Pitchers like Betances, Brackman, Noesi and Nova are why I was arguing this morning that the Yanks should at least consider dealing Hughes this off-season.
Also, while Law’s write up of Betances has gotten a lot of attention what Kevin Goldstein wrote about Betances has received much less attention.
Goldstein has raved about Betances several times this season and in Goldstein’s minor league wrap up of last night’s action, Betances led things off:
Dellin Betances, rhp, Yankees (Double-A Trenton): 5.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 K
I can’t remember a system having some many pitchers taking a big step forward in one season like this year’s Yankees crop, and Betances leads the charge. Finally healthy, the six-foot-eight righty as been nothing short of dominant, touching the mid-90s with his fastball and backing it up with a true plus curveball. If he can stay healthy, his ceiling is up there with nearly any pitching prospect around.
So there you go. From the scouting reports Goldstein is getting Betances is considered to have a true “plus” curve and has as high a ceiling as almost any prospect in the game.
http://www.baseballprospectus......leid=11958
You just can’t argue with Betances’ year. The results are outstanding, his SO/9 and his SO/BB ratios are phenomenal. If he progresses in 2011 like he did in 2010 he could be in the Yank rotation in 2012.
“I was sort of comparing it to other cities in the US that have names other names other than subway.”
First time I was in San Fran visiting a friend, he said “we’ll take BART” and I thought BART was a person.
“Pitchers like Betances, Brackman, Noesi and Nova are why I was arguing this morning that the Yanks should at least consider dealing Hughes this off-season.”
From a very calculated, rational point of view of maximizing organizational assets that makes sense in certain ways.
I remember you were willing to trade Joba for either Choo or Nelson Cruz I believe on similar lines of thinking (though that mostly had to do with Joba being a reliever). People didn’t like the idea then but most would jump at that deal now.
I personally wouldn’t trade Hughes in that way even now. Part of the reason why redistributing assets by trading Hughes is problematic is opportunity cost.
It’s just so hard to break prospects in on the Yankees given expectations and the demands to win everything now.
The Yankees look to have lived through a good portion of the likely “pain” and developmental cost already with Hughes over the past 3 years. To trade him now with to substitute a Betances in there would mean the Yankees would start back towards the beginning of that developmental cost cycle without fully reaping the benefits of the last two years they put into Hughes.
For some reason Baseball Reference only has this information dating back to 1988, but Brett Gardner’s 4.61 pitches per PA is the highest single season mark of any player in MLB from 1988-2010.
Law was judging Betances, it seems, on one start; how dumb is that?
By the way, Lee is going to be better just in time to face the Yankees, lol
I don’t get why we would want to trade Phil.
I admit to concerns about his secondary pitches; I also think being in the pen has hurt him to some degree in that he’s overly aggressive with his FB and lost the feel of his curve. That said, he still has a lot of talent………….We’ll have to see if he can become more of a pitcher than he is, but if he does, then the reward is likely to be very high. He is Cash’s pride and joy; if he wasn’t traded for Santana, he won’t be traded now.
pat, that’s a real pity about De La Rosa, whatever he was back in 2008, was stolen from him because of arm injuries. Threw in the mid-90s, outstanding slider and a knock ‘em in the dirt change-up. He had only be pitching for a half of a year in ’08, having moved from the outfield and still pretty young at 23.
Also, who’s to say Noesi and Nova have close to the potential Phil has? Let’s see Nova (and the others) go through a full major league season; they will have at the least the same type, if not worse, growing pains than Phil has had.
CB-
Yes, your point is well taken. At the end of the day I believe I would not trade Hughes either.
The scenario where trading Hughes, or at least considering it, makes some sense is if the Yanks sign Cliff Lee to a long term contract and Andy comes back.
In that situation, the Yanks would be committed long term to CC, AJ and Lee, with Andy taking up a remaining slot shot term. At the same time, Hughes salary would be increasing and he would be a free agent after 3 years.
Therefore, the Yanks would have 1 free starter slot in 2011, and 2 each in 2012 and 2013 (assuming Andy retires or is not re-signed after 2011). In that case, while having Hughes would be valuable, with the wealth of pitching prospects the Yanks have for 2012 and beyond, losing Hughes would perhaps not hurt as much as adding a good young player in the OF (where the Yanks’ are organizationally shallow) would help.
Perhaps that’s because I’m not a huge Granderson fan and wouldn’t mind getting a good young OF to replace him.
Boy though, if the Yankees did – even if it was rational (and I don’t agree that it is) – that would be depressing. Let’s just keep trading players because they are going to be more expensive? Phil had the bad luck to get injured two years in a row; had he not been, I suppose he would be more established at this point and we’d never think of trading him. If the Yankees have a surplus of pitching, then let’s trade that surplus.
GB
The timing is odd unless they want to add someone to the 40 man so they can call him up.
Might it be a temporary move to free up space now and he’s back with the Yankees?
Wave – I agree, it would depend on the return though.
Pretty good showdown at the Coor’s Corral just now. Gunslingers, Wild Al Chapman against Carlos “The Jackal”. Wild Al won the high noon shootout with a DP with 1 out and bases loaded.
pat September 9th, 2010 at 5:26 pm
GB
The timing is odd unless they want to add someone to the 40 man so they can call him up.
Might it be a temporary move to free up space now and he’s back with the Yankees?
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Perhaps making room for an emergency catcher in case he’s needed? Still hated to see De La Rosa moved, but, not surprised. His past 2 years has been filled with injuries and ineffectiveness.
Wave-
Your point touches on the larger distributional issues of talent assets in the organization. They are still heavily pitching weighted. Now overall that’s likely the orientation the Yankees want as it seems like every year – now matter how deep one thinks an rotation is every team could use pitching come September 1.
Just my sense – I don’t think the yankees will particularly mind paying Hughes and paying him well. They seem to view him as a foundational piece for the future. The Yankees are always going to payout a lot of money on salaries – the key is to make sure they pick the right guys to a lot those salary spots to. Hughes very much seems to be a guy that makes the investment worth it even as the dollars rise.
The other thing is that the yankees really have very few open spots on the starting roster now either due to talent or contracts.
What do they really need? As you mentioned an additional outfielder would be possible but that depends on ones take on granderson. DH is the other clear spot. But that seems to be where Montero is going to slot in at least in part.
Catcher is another I suppose but the Posada situation complicates that. I don’t know if they can really acquire another first string catcher of quality unless they are willing to tell that new player Posada is only going to catch 60 games or so. I also don’t know if trading assets of for a catcher makes any sense given how exorbitant the costs are likely to be and the in house talent.
Besides pitching they really only have those spots potentially open – DH, Catcher and an outfielder the team doesn’t need much. And between Montero and Granderson they have pieces that fill those openings to varying degrees.
From that point of view, keeping the in house depth in pitching may be the better use of resources. Though I do agree that decision really depends on one’s evaluations of Granderson (and Gardner I suppose).
GB – thanks for the link to the LATimes article on George. I”m not CB or SJ, but I enjoyed reading it.
My pleasure, Joe. I only put their names down because it was more of the business side and that’s a lot of their interest. Glad you enjoyed the link.
CB,
I do think they need another OF (young, cheap and good, please!), and DH may or may not be a need next year (depending on what they decide with Montero), but of course Hughes is good too.
But Hughes is not a risk-free proposition. While I think he will improve, it is not certain. He does have a 5.00+ ERA over his last 20 starts. Sometimes you should trade a year to early rather than a year too late, although I do admit you can end up with a lot of egg on your face that way.
My guess is they don’t trade him, or even shop him. But they might.
Have to go, it’s been fun.
mashmore98
Looks like the Yankees are claiming Padres LHP Steve Garrison and he’ll take Wilkin De La Rosa’s spot.
“For some reason Baseball Reference only has this information dating back to 1988, but Brett Gardner’s 4.61 pitches per PA is the highest single season mark of any player in MLB from 1988-2010″
Pretty impressive. That’s 18-23 pitches, depending on where he’s hitting in the lineup, which is about 1/5 of the garden variety starting pitcher’s pitch count.
Downside to that seems to be he is looking at too many strikes. He’s had roughly 840 strikes thrown to him this year and has looked at 48% of them. The MLB average is 28%. He’s fanned 87 times this year, 43% of those looking (MLB average is 25%).
Still, all and all he’s had a really solid first full season. He could probably afford to be a little more agressive. He’s had a MLB average line drive rate, and swings and misses strikes well below the MLB rate. Hopefully next season, he’s not watching as many good pitches go by.
WHOA!! A rookie, Chris Nelson for Colorado just gave them a 6-5 against Cincinnati lead in the bottom of the 8th inning with a straight steal of home as a pich runner in his 8th ML game. His first career steal.
GB7-
That article on George was interesting. I think it does a nice job of touching on some of the highly innovative and ground breaking business moves he made with the yankees.
Bud Selig had the chance to buy the yankees before George did, IIRC. Bud passed on the yankees because it was the 1970′s and he believed that New York’s time had already passed. That it was a city in decline. Instead Selig bought the Seattle Pilots and reformed them as the Milwaukee Brewers. George didn’t flinch from his belief in the value of the Yankees, it’s tradition and of NY.
That turned out to be a brilliant business move, of course and set the stage for everything else.
What I think that article doesn’t develop enough is that it discusses the business side quite separately from the sports side. I think what made George so successful in terms of business was his focus on winning. He ran the Yankees to win and seemed to believe that as long as the team won the business side would work.
Why did Addidas offer the yankees the ground breaking deal they did that the article touches on? It wasn’t just good business savvy – it was because it was the Yankees and they were winning. George understood that better than just about anyone.
In a sense, he didn’t sign the Addidas deal so that he could win more. He won knowing that if his team did things like the Addidas deal could be generated. But he never lost focus of what the core business was – and that was winning.
In this sense I think the article is off the mark some on what it characterizes as the yankee’s business model.
Eddie De Bartolo’s remarks about Steinbrenner turning the yankees into a the NY Yankees Corporation sets the tone for the piece and I think that’s off some. It equates entrepreneurship (which George had in spades) with corporate behavior and structure. Those two things are related but not the same.
The fact is the yankees weren’t run very much like a real corporation when George was in charge in many ways. Divisioning, lines of authority, etc. weren’t really part of the yankees structure. That’s something the team really started doing more of when he stepped aside.
The Yanks I think would love nothing more than for Nova to continue showing the stuff that he’s showing because he’s just increasing his trade value exponentially come this offseason.
I think that there is a much greater likelyhood that he would be traded than Hughes would as the feel that Phil’s ceiling is higher than Nova’s and rightly so. So they would look to capitalize on Nova’s trade value in that case as a better plan to maximize the organizations assets than a trade of Hughes who they feel with continued maturation and a tweak here and there he seems to be at least a solid #2 starter for a contending team.
I still feel that Nova seems to be at best a #4 type starter on a true contender but I’m sure other clubs will look at his build and stuff with the velo he’s shown and see him maybe as capable of pitching as a #2 or certainly #3 starter for them.
Bettances and Brackman both imo need a solid full season next year @ AA-AAA to really drill down the progress that they’ve shown in their games this year and I truly hope that they are not rushed next season and their developments stunted like what happened to Joba and to a lesser extent Phil.
Colorado could be pitching short, now. Aaron Cook is out with a broken leg after being hit by a line drive.
CB September 9th, 2010 at 5:56 pm
GB7-
That article on George was interesting. I think it does a nice job of touching on some of the highly innovative and ground breaking business moves he made with the yankees.
Bud Selig had the chance to buy the yankees before George did, IIRC. Bud passed on the yankees because it was the 1970’s and he believed that New York’s time had already passed. That it was a city in decline. Instead Selig bought the Seattle Pilots and reformed them as the Milwaukee Brewers. George didn’t flinch from his belief in the value of the Yankees, it’s tradition and of NY
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Glad you enjoyed the article, CB. A more indepth story would have been great, but, perhaps really suited for a Forune 500 article to really give it more space than a newspaper would allow.
If I remember,baseball was really upset about his marketing deals with beer, soft drinks and athletic equipment, because MLB didn’t list them as clients. I believe GMs also volunteered his services to make deals for MLB on TV/radio rights and even for other teams and Selig said he wasn’t interested. You’re correct that GMS’ interest was first of all winning. That included baseball and any deal he was involved in. Winning at anything was still winning.
“Colorado could be pitching short, now. Aaron Cook is out with a broken leg after being hit by a line drive”
Apparently Jeff Francis has been brought off the DL to replace him. Should the Rockies make the playoffs, and it could get interesting with their next 6 at home against Zona and San Diego, I don’t think Cook or Francis would figure into their 4 man rotation. Jiminez, Chacin, de la Rosa, and Hammell would seem the most likely starters.
just imagine being a fan of say, the rays. you have limited resources on the ml level. you built a team because your record was horrible and you could draft players like longoria and price. now you’re winning and some guys need to get paid. meaning they will go to teams like the yankees. and you won’t be able to draft superstars
now the yankees are paying attention to the farm and building a legitimate system. and they can outspend you for guys like sabathia.
great time to be a yankee fan.
Hughes has 3 things that he needs to work on in preparation for next season;
1) Conditioning- he needs to get his stamina up as it seems to me that right now he’s throwing with tired legs which is leading to sloppy mechanics and spotty command particularly of his fastball.
2) Diversify- he must commit himself to using his secondary pitches more and not be so fastball reliant. There is not much difference in velo between his 4 seamer and his cutter and while he’s got a nice cutter it aint Mo’s in terms of it’s movement making him easier for hitters to handle. Everything his pretty much 90-94 and on the same plane. Even when the hitter can’t square him up they can foul him off giving them another chance to square up his next pitch which is usually another 92mph fastball in a similar spot. It’s why he gets to 0-2, 1-2 and is not finishing hitters off. A hard curve or sharp slider in the dirt or the mysterious change up that he discovered this past offseason that seems more urban legend than anything else would do wonders for him in those spots.
3) Cut down on the homers in the BX….really 20 hrs allowed @ home vs. 3 on the road? He’s gotta learn how to pitch in his home park.
If he makes these adjustments he wins 20 games next year and is in the conversation for the 2011 Cy.
Carl September 9th, 2010 at 5:49 pm
mashmore98
Looks like the Yankees are claiming Padres LHP Steve Garrison and he?ll take Wilkin De La Rosa?s spot.
Kevin Towers, I presume.
Back to the Jeter leadoff discussion. I always thought you wanted a guy with a high OBP leading off. The longer they go with Jeter in the #1 or #2 hole, the fewer opportunities they will be creating to score runs. Seriously, he’s an ideal #9 hitter.
No one on the team has the cohones to drop him down, but I can see the decision to leave Jeter at #1 or #2 coming back to bite the Yanks in October.
Joe Girardi seems more of an experience / veteran type of manager. It’s likely why Ivan Nova will need to strongly pitch his way on the postseason roster.
Gone are the days when the Yankees thought nothing of giving high leverage World Series exposure to the likes of Bob Grim, Roland Sheldon, Ralph Terry, Jim Bouton, and others.