Rivera in center field? “I want to do it right,” he says
Posted by: Chad Jennings - Posted in Misc on Feb 21, 2012 
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Another spring training that just might be Mariano Rivera’s last, and whenever Rivera talks about the possibility of retirement, he inevitably talks about the possibility of playing center field.
“Well, you know what, I want to,” Rivera said. “I want to talk to that man over there (pointing to Joe Giradi’s office). I want to. I’d love to. But, again, it’s not something I look at as a joke. I want to do it right. Hopefully. If not, I’m okay.”
Girardi is, of course, a little worried about his closer being hurt while patrolling the outfield in the ninth inning of a meaningless game, but someone brought up the fact that the bullpen is just a short jog from center field.
Rivera could take matters into his own hands.
“What if he was to run out there and say (to Curtis Granderson), ‘You’re out,’” Girardi said. “What are you going to say to him?”
Girardi said Jorge Posada was in his ear for several innings about playing second base in a game, and Girardi finally let it happen. There’s no doubt that putting Rivera in center field would be a senseless risk, but that’s someone else’s problem. I’d love to see it!. Keep Gardner in left, move Granderson to right, and tell Rivera not to chase anything more than 40 feet in any direction.
Associated Press photo
CF can be an incentive if he signs a 3yr deal.
luis February 21st, 2012 at 10:08 pm
Yankeefem,
Again thank you, i’ve been in and out,so i haven’t have the time to read most of the postings, that’s why i am little lost. I guess i am going to root real hard for Campos to make it to the big club as a consolation for losing The Jesus.
JAP,
I know exactly how you feel. And i think you are right, with Cano we got lucky. I don’t think Nunez can be the bat to accompany Cano, but i do think he can be a very fun player to watch in the top of the order in the not so distant future. I think the only bat that can complement and protect Cano is Sanchez but he is too far away from the Big leagues right now, and when he is ready probably Cano will have one or two great seasons left on him ( He is 30 already ), that’s why i think it was crazy to trade Montero ( putting aside my obvious biased toward the issue ).
On top of that, i am not as optimistic as you are on Arod and Jeter. They will be very productive players, but i don’t think they will be able to bring back their former numbers. That’s why i said at some point that they will have to trade the B’s to get an impact bat, i hope i’m wrong on this issue but age is not on their side anymore.
Pat M. February 21st, 2012 at 10:12 pm
jacksquat…..I wonder how many of those E-Nunez were throwing errors ???? His footwork is bad and seems to always out of sync…..But he has a nice stick and with better balance he’ll be an improved infielder
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Foot work can be teached, the stick on the other hand you either have or you don’t. that’s why i think Nunez is going to be fine in time.
Nunez only had 10 errors in 410 chances at SS in 2010 in the minors. I think his main problems were lack of regular playing time and probably pressing/nerves. That and he never had much experience at 3B and 2B in the minors.
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They should not have brought him up out of spring last year. He hardly got any playing time. They could have easily brought him up once Jeter went down and he would have been better prepared. He did fine in 2010 with lots of playing time.
I’d play Rivera in the OF over Ibanez.
I don’t know exactly how many were throwing errors, but there were several. He has a nice arm, but at times he seemed to get discombobulated.
Best Defensive Infielder Eduardo Nunez
http://www.baseballamerica.com.....10907.html
luis February 21st, 2012 at 10:29 pm
Odds,
the older you get, the faster it goes….my oldest daughter is 21, it seems like yesterday that she was born.
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That’s the truth the older you get the faster it goes. It’s like the yrs overlap
I’d like to see Mo get his chance in centerfield… as long as he understands that he’s not to take any foolish chances out there…
It’s nice to see the team finally set to go for the season! I liked the Ibanez and Chavez signings. I think Cash did a fine job during this offseason (although I still disagree with trading Montero)
Hi Ghost,
Let’s just root for Pineda to become the ace he has the potential to be, anything we say of the Montero trade is water under the bridge by now, so let’s move on.
re-post
yankeefeminista February 21st, 2012 at 10:37 pm
Pat M., I believe a good number of Nunez’s errors were throwing errors.
Trisha, thought you would appreciate this post, which I “borrowed” off of nyyfans forum for you(unless of course you were actually the author of this post ):
“For good entertainment, tune into WEEI to listen to the hosts and fans whining about receiving Carpenter as compensation instead of a top 3 prospect/Garza/Castro.”
Well guys…..not much action tonight, so i bid you a good night to everyone
‘Night, luis.
AP,
I know exactly how you feel. And i think you are right, with Cano we got lucky. I don’t think Nunez can be the bat to accompany Cano, but i do think he can be a very fun player to watch in the top of the order in the not so distant future. I think the only bat that can complement and protect Cano is Sanchez but he is too far away from the Big leagues right now, and when he is ready probably Cano will have one or two great seasons left on him ( He is 30 already ), that’s why i think it was crazy to trade Montero ( putting aside my obvious biased toward the issue ).
On top of that, i am not as optimistic as you are on Arod and Jeter. They will be very productive players, but i don’t think they will be able to bring back their former numbers. That’s why i said at some point that they will have to trade the B’s to get an impact bat, i hope i’m wrong on this issue but age is not on their side anymore.
///
Hi again luis.
No, Nunez isn’t going to replace Montero (lol). I just meant it gives us another live, young bat. We’re lacking in those. He can hit, too. I tell you, I do not like the loose lips crap that is going on, and I wonder if the writing isn’t on the wall about Sanchez. How many stories am I going to hear about his “work ethic”?
Can’t they just shut their mouths and take care of business with these TEENAGERS behind closed doors?? Hopefully, with the easiness of Cano’s swing -and virtually everything else he effortlessly achieves – he will be “young” for a long time.
I actually am more confident about Jeter’s season than Alex’s – because of the hip and the knee. In both, age is a concern. The “support” guys are limited hitters.
yankeefeminista February 21st, 2012 at 10:59 pm
re-post
yankeefeminista February 21st, 2012 at 10:37 pm
Pat M., I believe a good number of Nunez’s errors were throwing errors.
Trisha, thought you would appreciate this post, which I “borrowed” off of nyyfans forum for you(unless of course you were actually the author of this post ):
“For good entertainment, tune into WEEI to listen to the hosts and fans whining about receiving Carpenter as compensation instead of a top 3 prospect/Garza/Castro.”
————————————————————————————————————————-
And they say the Red Sox fans have no sense of humor.
Night, luis! I’m turning in, myself. Glad you made it home safe and dropped in to say hello.
Will the Phillies-TV (channels CSN and TCN) ST games be shown on mlb-tv online?
Watching Yankees Daily; C and Russell look like they are in great shape. Love all these pitching clips of Pineda and Kuroda.
Pruf, I am hoping we get Greg Bird in SI!
How depressing have things become that Joel Sherman gets what escaped Cashman?
Yeah, YF, Bird’s an exciting C with a left-handed swing.
C looks chiseled. I hope he’s not lost too much weight. He might not be naturally able to stay at the new weight. He looks a little dried out. Don’t want him doing diuretics to keep the weight down. No reason to risk his health over a few pounds.
It would be tough to beat the drama surrounding save # 500 but playing CF definitely shows promise.
Show of hands, who’s depressed?
[hands in his pocket]
“How depressing have things become that Joel Sherman gets what escaped Cashman?”
The thing about Montero’s departure putting more pressure on A-Rod to be A-Rod? And that will be every year until another impact bat arrives.
It’s suboptimal, but baseball isn’t real life, so whatever. I’m resigned to the fact that their payroll will erase many of their misjudgments.
Watch for Andruw Jones to have a big impact this season and take playing time and ab’s from Gardner…….He’s going to come up huge for The Bombers in 2012……
IMO, down the road, Cashman thinks he can acquire an impact bat. He made a gamble, we’ll see if it pays off or not.
Watch for Andruw Jones to have a big impact this season and take playing time and ab’s from Gardner…….He’s going to come up huge for The Bombers in 2012……
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We don’t have a DH, he should just get his PA there and take them away from Ibanez.
There’s pressure on A-rod because his name is A-rod. He’s getting paid to be the man. With or without Montero on the team.
Cano can be his Robin. Or A-rod can be his sidekick. Doesn’t matter.
I’ll take 2 batmans please. Batmen.
Fast drive-by to say Eric Chavez – YAY!!!!
Garcia re-signed as rotational insurance. Check.
Low cost options invited to ST for LHRP role. Check.
2 Young RHSP power arms acquired via trade for Montero (ouch!).
Underperforming Burnett traded for payroll relief and two warm bodies (to the Pirates!). Check
Ibanez signed as DH. Check.
Chavez re-signed as 3B/1B backup. Check.
Pretty decent off-season accomplishments by Cashman. Really sorry to see Montero go, but he was clearly trade bait for a couple years now.
…but I get the feeling that Cashman’s not done.
What’s Teixeira getting paid to be?
Tex stars as the invisible man
I guarantee if Mo plays CF the first hit will make him lay his body out for a catch ..
Fast drive-by to say Eric Chavez – YAY!!!!
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But of course you would. It’s always easy to root for the guy who spends the majority of his time in the trainers room, on the DL and or in the hospital.
There’s pressure on A-rod because his name is A-rod. He’s getting paid to be the man.
——————–
He shouldn’t be worried about being ‘the man’, but remaining healthy and trying to give the Yankees 130 + games this year. He is old and rolling down hill fast on the backside of his career in a ridiculous contract for 6 more years……………ugh !
chavez is in! the gang’s all here! bring on those red socks!
chavez is in!
————-
In the Doc’s office ? Already ? Oh, must be for his physical.
i should say, bring on the rays!
well, it’s 8 o’clock and we haven’t even started discussing the trade yet…
i can’t believe they brought in a pitcher with a losing record for one of our best hitters…
…sorry i was rehashing the trade of cedric durst for red ruffing there.
never too late to rehash a trade that went down a long time ago…
“chavez is in! the gang’s all here! bring on those red socks!”
you call that an opening morning post.
here’s how to wake people up:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkpTsadNiKM
see, here’s the problem. lefties. teixeira was totally relaxed in there with pineda. he was seeing the ball very well because ,well ,he was only looking at two pitches. he had a quick two strikes on him and just watched balls out of the zone until on the 7th or eight pitch and whammo :
upper decker.
i will say that pineda in in good position to watch balls fly out in right field; he’s already falling in that direction. this should ease the whiplash on his neck in that direction with the short porch.
… and is it me or did pineda look a little bored out there on the mound? he was a little disinterested looking. i guess he didn’t like having to throw all those pitches that couldn’t put away teixeira.
… and was it righties or lefties that teixeira had trouble with last summer?
never too late to rehash a trade that went down a long time ago
==============================
Jay Buhner for Ken Phelps?
and is it me or did pineda look a little bored out there on the mound?
==============================
I’m afraid, Randy, that it’s you.
randy i liked that video! tex hitting a homer is always nice. seeing him make terrible contact on the other pitches he swung at was good, too.
pineda does kinda look like he’s warming up out there, stepping around and rotating his shoulders like he just picked up the ball for the first time.
he got over it…lets hope we see alot more of tex knocking them out…
i like this one better:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=np913LbYx2c
a couple of really filthy sliders in there…
dog, t-bone just killed us from then on, and he was one of my favorite yankees before he was moved. oh well, (^%$ happens…
One must be selective in the videos watched since we don’t want to see Pineda pitching well. It ruins the argument. Me, I’ll watch his 173 disinterested strike outs.
“seeing him make terrible contact on the other pitches he swung at was good, too.”
Ys Guy-
anyone who nows baseball knows that a straight back foul ball is a warning the hitter is on the pitcher.
teixeira owed pineda that day.
he was like 2-3.
there were a lot of stolen bases and 5 walks too.
and this was at safeco.
i will give you that pineda covers first base extremely well; of course, he’s already half way there with the way he falls over in that direction.
and where’s the thanks from rescuing you after your three attempts to start morning conversation and only ruby numbnuts would talk with you ?
i’ll tell you,some people just are ungrateful
this one’s pretty good, too. it hurts my back to see some of these hacks!
oops…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laHEDLQsbmM
” like this one better:”
y’s guy-
only an idiot would post a video game to back up an argument
your “video” was from MLB 11 The Show – Michael Pineda Strikeout Reel (7 K’s)
that’s ok , i did the same thing last night
dog, t-bone just killed us from then on, and he was one of my favorite yankees before he was moved. oh well, (^%$ happens…
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He had himself a nice career when all was said and done. 300+ homers, OPS+ of 124. Not bad.
how did i get off your ‘no response’ list i was on yesterday?
and there used to be a good morning conversation on here but i think ‘trade fatigue’ has really killed it. this is the unhappiest i’ve seen this blog the first week of ST in the 5 years i’ve been coming here, but i refuse to give in.
its a great day, yankees are in camp, games are a week away and you’re not going to harsh my buzz!
Let’s Go Yankees!
Sox should have taken Eric Engelman as Theo compensation.
http://www.news-press.com/arti.....dyssey=tab|topnews|text|Home
The thing I notice from Ys link is how consistent the delivery is…yes he falls off to 1B but he repeats very well and the stuff is flat out electric……nasty nasty sliders …..throws downhill big time.
this trade has consumed you randy, you really need to take a step back. in all the time i’ve been coming here, you’ve never posted anywhere near as often as you are now and every single post is the same thing over and over. chill dude, everybody knows you hate this trade and there will be plenty of time for ‘i told you so’s’ down the road if you’re right. can’t you just step back and enjoy that ST has begun and the Yankees look good and everybody’s healthy and spring is coming soon?
really, give people a chance to breathe…
“how did i get off your ‘no response’ list i was on yesterday?”
i felt sorry for you having only ruby wednesday to talk to.
you were never on my “go f yourself” list .
you actually talk baseball misguided as you are.
but no worries, i’ll have you up to speed by the time the season starts.
Martin indicated yesterday that Pineda’s CU was really good when he stayed on fop of if…..which is typical because guys tend to try to make change ups move by putting spin and getting on the side of the ball vs just letting the grip do it……
I threw a circle and used to do the same thing…..and it flattened out and spun sideways when I wasn’t on top……its a fixable problem…..
randy as always we disagree, and as always (outside of the trade) i look forward to your comments and insight, i have always valued your opinion.
“this trade has consumed you randy, you really need to take a step back.”
i have the ability to hyper focus when i get interested in something .
it comes in handy in learning new things.
i’ m learning a lot about pineda. think of it as a crashcourse in all things pineda.
i would have thought it would be a relief from taking about louise and brian.
you have to admit if it wasn’t for me you wouldn’t be looking up you tube videos the way you just did this morning.
i’m what’s called a catalyst:
“A catalyst is the calm voice urging moderation in a dispute. They will try to get the sides to work together in a dispute, before it gets out of hand.”
maybe not
Ys Guy February 22nd, 2012 at 8:40 am
randy as always we disagree, and as always (outside of the trade) i look forward to your comments and insight, i have always valued your opinion.
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It’s too early in the morning to be drinking.
:
I also think its probably unreasonable to expect a 6’8″ 22 year old to have a flawless delivery…..the fact that he repeats what he does so well at such a young age and being that tall is very good…..he can refine things as he matures…..he stays closed pretty well from what I’ve seen also which is another important thing to me for command and injury prevention…..
“you have to admit if it wasn’t for me you wouldn’t be looking up you tube videos the way you just did this morning.”
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this is very true, although i did look up some video of him right after i heard of the trade.
but i’m pretty burned out on pineda for now. when he gets on the mound in front of live hitting, i’ll be alot more interested but for now, its just nice to know the team is in camp and Spring is in the air.
“It’s too early in the morning to be drinking.”
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fat tuesday lasts until you pass out….
Just watched Bob Gibson video. He fall much further towards first than Pineda. Imagine, hard throwers falling off to one side.
Randy,
Have you seen Betances pitch much? Would you rather have the pitches he has with the command issues……or the pitches Pineda has with his control/command?
austin:
http://addins.whig.com/blogs/u.....son_68.jpg
now THAT’S falling off…
catalyst
2. something that causes activity between two or more persons or forces without itself being affected
“Pineda’s CU was really good when he stayed on fop of if…..which is typical because guys tend to try to make change ups move by putting spin and getting on the side of the ball vs just letting the grip do it……”
blake-
a few years ago i was asking neil allen in rays minor league camp how wang could mix some other pitches in with the sinker without crewing up the motion for the sinker.
he said all wang had to do was “pull the shade” with different grips.
he said to throw a slider he just need to use the same arm motion with a slider grip and pull straight down the same as the sinker.
now i know some pitching coaches do it differently, but allen’s way seems very easy to learn different pitches and there is no turning of the wrist or elbow on release which obviously should help with preventing injuries.
it will be interesting to find out which change up they are working on with pineda and how they are having him release it.
i also do not understand why a two seam fast ball wouldn’t be a good pitch for him. it would be extremely helpful against lefties and also righties who cheat in on his slider.
as a catcher, i know i’d want to have that two seamer to go to away with a tough lefty who was trying to pull the ball.
“Just watched Bob Gibson video. He fall much further towards first than Pineda. Imagine, hard throwers falling off to one side.”
Yup….he did…..I think as with hitting …..its much more important where you are at the impact/release point….than it is what happens afterwards.
i also do not understand why a two seam fast ball wouldn’t be a good pitch for him.”
It would be….for sure
“but i’m pretty burned out on pineda for now. when he gets on the mound in front of live hitting, i’ll be alot more interested but for now, its just nice to know the team is in camp and Spring is in the air.”
y’s guy-
i can tell i’m wearing you out. if you’re going to keep up with me ,you need more antioxidants and vitamin d.
i’m with you about spring being being in the air. matter of fact , i got tired of the snow here in maine and i decided to fly to florida today. i’m sitting here right now at the portland airport waiting for departure .
but don’t worry, i’ll have plenty of time to piss people … i mean enlighten people on the blog about pineda .
…actually i should visit tampa and really cause some trouble
randy, enjoy your trip, my bro and i trekked down to ocean city last week and got in 3 rounds of golf in the sunshine and it did wonders for my attitude (though, not my game…) hope it works on you, too…
thanks
can’t beat florida golf in february