Holiday shopping
The holiday season is upon us, but the Yankees haven’t finished all of their shopping just yet. While Andy Pettitte was the big gift for the upcoming season, the Yanks are still in the market for a first baseman, a utility infielder and possibly a fifth outfielder and another reliever. They also must come to terms with Kei Igawa, who has until Dec. 28 to sign with the Yankees before he must return to Japan for another year.
First base: Andy Phillips and Josh Phelps are the internal candidates as of now. If Phillips is given a shot, I think he could do a tremendous job. Phelps was taken in the Rule 5 draft, and while he was a nice prospect with Toronto a few years back, I’d be surprised if he made a push for the job in New York.
Doug Mientkiewicz’s name keeps popping up, and I think this would be a good move for the Yankees. He might not be an All-Star hitter, but he can hold his own well enough to get the job done in the No. 9 spot in the lineup. His glove is among the best in baseball, and with Chien-Ming Wang and Pettitte in the rotation, defense is going to be even more important for the 2007 Yankees.
Utility infielder: I’m a bit surprised that the Yankees haven’t signed Miguel Cairo yet, and it still could happen before Christmas. But don’t be surprised to see New York go in another direction. If they liked Cairo as much as it seemed they did, why is he still unsigned?
Nick Green is still looking for a job, and the Yankees liked him during his brief stay in New York last season. Marcus Giles was non-tendered, but I don’t think he’s going to sign a deal to be a backup player anywhere. Jose Vizcaino and Chris Woodward are also on the market. The best bet is that either Cairo or Green will return next year.
Fifth outfielder: The first four spots are solidified with Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui, Bobby Abreu and Melky Cabrera. That doesn’t leave much playing time for the fifth guy, who may or may not be Bernie Williams.
I think Bernie should retire. I’d hate to see him come back, only to be designated for assignment in May or June when the Yankees need to make room on the roster for another pitcher or something. Even if Bernie comes back, how much playing time will he actually get? Not much. Ride off into the sunset, let the Yankees hang No. 51 in Monument Park and enjoy your second career as a musician.
Kevin Thompson would be the leading candidate to serve as the fifth outfielder if Williams does not return. He can play all three positions and can be a pinch-runner off the bench.
Reliever: I still think there’s a chance that Ron Villone returns for another year in the Bronx, but if he doesn’t, there are several internal candidates that can fill the final spot in the bullpen. With Mariano Rivera, Kyle Farnsworth, Scott Proctor, Brian Bruney and Mike Myers in the pen right now, they could use another southpaw who was more than a specialist like Myers.
If the Yanks are looking for a lefty, Ray King and Scott Schoeneweis seem like the best options on the market. If they want another righty, Chris Reitsma would be an intriguing option.
Mark it Down 
With the projected glut of young pitching at AAA next season, I think the Yanks should do away with having a 5th outfielder altogether. Like people have said in the past, Melky is going to get as much playing time as Torre can give him. I think Thompson is great as a 5th man, but this season just doesn’t quite work out for him. I really hope he’s back in 2008 though.
This assumes the outfield stays healthy and Melky stays productive, of course. Otherwise the 5th man comes in handy. But that 5th man shouldn’t be Bernie. I think a lot of us agree there.
It’s sad, but true. I think that Kevin Thompson should be the 5th outfielder. Not Bernie.
I wouldn’t try to get Chris Reitsma. No Mark. It’s not an intriguing option, as you said. To me, we’re talking about a no-sense acquisition. NL pitcher with 4.58 ERA lifetime. Can you imagine how he’d make it in AL? Last year? 1-2, 8.68 ERA. Injured. With all the kids we have, I frankly see no need at all to bring Reitsma to the Yankees. As I said, Mark, NO SENSE.
I don’t like the thought of Chris Reitsma in a yankee uniform.
I agree too. Thanks for the thread mark
Thanks for the new thread, my head was starting to hurt trying to sift through everything from last night….i agree that reitsma seems a wrong fit with the yankees. i dont really see much coming to fruition on the market for a lefty (im not looking to spawn the Mike Gonzalez debate again). i still invision a rotation of Wang, Moose, Pettitte, Johnson, and Rasner/Karstens (At least to start the year, sorry Povano) and putting Igawa in the pen. 3 lefties in the rotation would be nice but an extra lefty in the pen is more of a necessity…
There’s no way Pavano or Igawa is taking a backseat to the rookies. Realistically, I just don’t see that happening. Pavano or Igawa is going to the bullpen because of the other’s presence in the rotation, not because of the kids. They’ll have to wait in AAA for their time to come.
what abt a guy like eddie guardado? or are we anti-reconstructed-arm guys after Dotel??
Agree, Swo. I think Pavano or Igawa will be the number 5. If a miracle occurs, and Pavano is healthy, I should put him in the rotation and have Igawa as a long releiver. Another left arm in the pen. And with two lefties in the rotation, it’s enough. If RJ struggles (let’s don’t forget he’ll be coming from a surgery), then Igawa would take his spot, and we call up a kid from Scranton.
Ugh… Bernie. I love him. i really do. i said before that he represents everything that is good about the Yankees. But I can’t help but agree, he should retire. He could still be a great mentor to the team, a la Reggie Jackson, but I just don’t see how he is going to get much playing time. Sure, he’s still got some fire in the bat, but we all know is arm isn’t that great. I love him so much, and it pains me to say this, but I think it would be worse to see him in a different uniform OR sent off to assignment as Mark said. I can’t wait until #51 is hanging up there!!!
Hi Kat. How is ballet?
Ballet? Haven’t been to my ballet class in a few weeks due to work, and now they are on Christmas break. Ask me again in January. 🙂
Wait, I thought your name was Karl.
I can understand Bernie wouldn’t come back next season. As I said before, sad but true. What I don’t understand is why we haven’t reached an agreement with Migual Cairo
i too am kinda shocked abt cairo, he is so versitle, and he wants to be here!
I know. We have to make a deal with Cairo. I have always liked him. He is a good backup infielder. He plays hard, hustles and does a good job. I know Cash will get the job done.
I feel bad for Bernie. I don’t want to see him go but I think that is what is best for him. I am going to miss a lot him but I just don’t see how he’ll get enough playing time.I can’t imagine him in another uni, so I think he should just retire.
Haw about the dating service yesterday, Elizabeth?
lol It was fun, Jorge.
That is not why I started posting here, but I hope we can still, occasionally, continue to have a “dating service”, you know, for fun.
Me dijiste que eres dominicana, verdad? Hablas 100% español?
i would love to see bernie back but i dont see it as a viable option….depressing….
so whats with the rumor abt yanks pursuing piniero??
Si, soy dominicana.
Espanol fue mi primer idioma.
How do you put the accent (or whatever its called) over the n?
I agree with a lot of what Mark said. I read today that
a) Yanks might sign Mr. Alphabet (Doug M.) to a 1-year deal if they like what they see medically from his back. He’d hit 8th or 9th, not much power, but .275, and comes recommended by Damon for his glove. Wang and Andy could use the D. Phelps and Phillips could then battle for who plays 1b against lefties, and Doug M. would be their def. replacement if needed. With this lineup, Doug M. (easier than typing his name) just needs to play D, hit .275 and do the little things like move runners up and get them in. Plus, maybe he can help clear A-Rod’s head. He and Alex were high school teammates and played football together, too. (Cue up James Taylor–“You’ve Got a Friend”)
b) also read where Tellum says that there is good progress in Igawa talks, but don’t expect a deal to be done this week.
c) ESPN not letting their announcers talk to WFAN–just ESPN Radio.
d)Sweeny Murti may be leaving NY for Philly
Thompson is going to need playing time somewhere. He’s 27.
I’d like Miggy back too. Esp. if they go with 13 pitchers. Then they definitely would need versatility as there won’t be much of a bench.
Good comment at 12:54 by Swo. Eventually, the $$ will talk as far as roles. Sad, but true.
Guardado’s career may be over. No. He will miss all of 2007 with his injury.
Where did you read it, Mikee? I haven’t heard about that rumor
Yeah, I heard that rumor about Piniero, too. I would really want to know the truth to that.
I had to pickup my nephew today. Usually my mom watches him after school is over, but she had a doctor’s appt. today. So I picked up the little guy and took him out to eat. Now I have to catch up on stuff.
didnt realize guardado was THAT hurt, i knew he was gonna miss a part of the year, but also thought, “hes a lefty and not under contract, he might do an incentive laden….” but i guess it was all for not….still just tryin to think outside the box….
i think i read it on mlb.com first, but espn has also mentioned the piniero rumor
haha and id idnt even create it….can i tell u there is a lot of making out in my room right now…welcome to college.
Posted by: yankeevmm@yahoo.com | December 14, 2006 10:12 PM
Vince, you’re cheating on me?
That is not right.
tears 😦
Here is a letter to the editor in my local paper today:
The San Francisco Giants just signed Barry Bonds to a one-year contract for $16 million. It’s time for the Giants to get to the World Series and get Barry a ring for his dedication! The Giants have not won a World Series since 1962. Giants fans are running out of patience.
Michael A. Pelko
Allentown, PA
I had to respond with this:
Michael, you need to study the history of the NY/SF Giants a little bit better. The Giants have never won a World Series while in San Francisco. Their last World Series title came in 1954 when they were in New York.
The 1962 World Series was won by the New York Yankees, who defeated the Giants in seven games.
Game 7, bottom of the 9th, Matty Alou on 3rd, Willie Mays on 2nd, 2 out, Yanks up 1-0 …. and Willie McCovey’s smash off of Ralph Terry goes directly to 2b Bobby Richardson for the last out.
i thought you were hookin up with the poser army iraq guy last night??
Which rumor, Jorge? A, B, C and D were in today’s NY Post.
Oops. Wrong one. Never mind, Jorge…thought you were talkin’ to me. Got confused and didn’t see the TWO e’s. LOL
You talkin’ to me? (DeNiro in Taxi Driver…LOL).
Ha ha. I think that any Army guy who describes himself as “cute” probably is a don’t ask/don’t tell person. Handsome, attractive, ok, but “cute”?
…and giving away a military e-mail address over a blog? I don’t think so.
No Mikee, Vince is my main squeeze. lol
That “cute single soldier” is not for me.
I know. That was dumb.
I’m out for now.
Got some stuff to do. But I should be done by around 4.
when did this turn into a dating chat room? weird.
i’d love to see the yankees get gonzalez (and, subsequently, keep him from boston) and pick up mantktktiecktciewktiecz. i also think phillips would do a fine job at 1B if given the opportunity.
boston picked up donnelly from the angels today. the guy’s 35 but he was lights out after the all-star break last season. i wonder if they’ll try him as closer or go hard after gonzalez and use him in a setup role.
Kasey, Donnelly will be the main set-up man. Now Theo will turn his attention to acquiring a closer. I’m hoping it’s Mike Gonzalez. Donnelly is one of the top set-up men in baseball. I like the deal, especially since all they had to surrender was a mid-level prospect.
Jeff
http://www.bosoxbanter.mlblogs.com
Most starts since 2001 (208), 3rd in most innings w/1337 since 2001, age 28, 14/15 mill a year for 5/6 years…right, Zito, should have signed him over Igawa and Pettitte….and I forgot, a career era of 3.60…..again, just my opinion, we shall see in 2007 if it comes back to haunt the Yankees.
I saw an interview with Sosa on TV yesterday. That weight loss program he is on is working wonders (wink wink).
Even funnier than Sosa wanting to come back is when I read that Juan Gonzalez wants to come back.
Boston gets Brendan Donnelley in trade w/Angels today.
Cubs spend more—get Ward as backup 1b.
Russ…are you forgetting the $1.40 to the dollar the Yanks have right now regarding F.A’s? Boras wants $102 mil for six years of Zito. $17 million a year. That is $142.8 million for six years in Yankee economics because of the revenue sharing.
…which is one reason why the Yanks have NO interest in Zito.
Well, Jeff agrees with me on Gonzalez’—only he wants him on his team.
Zito has also struggled with the American League East. The Yankees play just under 50% of their games against those teams.
I am not sure he would be worth the cost and a long term contract.
I think the Red Sox should sign Zito. Boras should get him a staff also.
Daisy Mat appears to be getting as part of his contract…
<> free housing in Boston,
<> 80-90 plane trips to Japan
<> a personal assistant
<> a personal translator
<> a personal massage therapist
<> a person physical therapist.
Not bad.
Wait til Manny hears.
This will be fun!
Why not Ray Durham? He can play second and the outfield, and probably third in a pinch.
He hit 26 home runs last year.
He switch hits, I believe.
He’s a proven Veteran. TM.
The Yankees seem to have 4 excellent outfielders and a 2nd baseman who led the majors in RBI after returning from the DL.
Durham has played 1624 career games at 2B, 53 at DH, 1 at CF. He is 35 and slightly below league average as a fielder.
How would he fit into the Yankee plans?
If the Yankees did not have Giambi as DH, I think Durham would be a good choice to consider as a switchhitter. He had a terrific hitting year last year, his best so far.
Ray Durham makes absolutely no sense to me. I don’t think we need another outfielder. What we need is a first baseman.
I still like Giambi as our DH.
giambi isnt going anywhere….i will agree he isnt fun to have in the field, but why such disdain over having him as a DH? he is still a tough out and he takes a lot of pitches….who else would provide his kind of production? 1st base aside, cuz he aint playin the field much next year (at least i hope not) who would provide a better option that is realistically available….totally discounting the no-trade clause in his contract??
exactly, mikee
where is everybody? this post is dead. i’ll be back later tonight.
yeh…see ya tomorrow….chowdah!!
Why not Ray Durham? Do you do your homework? He re-signed with SF.
ha ha, Mike. I did not check his status as I was running out; I gave the poster the benefit of the doubt that he or she would recommend someone who was actually on the market and not one who already signed with a club.
No troublej….LOL. I was referring to the original post. It does get a little frustrating when someone recommends a F.A. who has already signed with someone.
Wonder if “Torii” also went on the Cubs blog and criticized their spending? Probably not.
He says go Red Sox? Hello. Has he noticed the spending they’ve done?
No. This idiot just comes here and blasts us.
**trouble**
Sox signed J.C. Romero today as well. He has been a decent set-up man, though last season he struggled. He did limit lefties to a .214 average. He will have to have a strong spring training to make the team.
Jeff
http://www.bosoxbanter.mlblogs.com
JC Romero, 1-2, 6.70 ERA
Sox should make him a starter!
Mike, didn’t the Yanks get a series winning HR against him when he pitched for the Twins?
Now Brendan Donnelly is a quite good pitcher I think.
He is 34 and only had 5 major league seasons.
I think he is a strong pickup for the Sox.
Romero has the same birthday as me. Years later than me, though.
As for Donnelly his transactions seem to have more travel stops than Lewis and Clark.
Transactions
June 1, 1992: Drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 27th round of the 1992 amateur draft. Player signed June 9, 1992.
April 16, 1993: Released by the Chicago White Sox.
June 16, 1993: Signed as a Free Agent with the Chicago Cubs.
March 29, 1994: Released by the Chicago Cubs.
March 4, 1995: Signed as a Free Agent with the Cincinnati Reds.
October 16, 1998: Granted Free Agency.
March 15, 1999: Signed as a Free Agent with the Cincinnati Reds.
April 3, 1999: Released by the Cincinnati Reds.
May 15, 1999: Purchased by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays from the Nashua (Atlantic).
August 12, 1999: Released by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
August 18, 1999: Signed as a Free Agent with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
August 25, 1999: Released by the Pittsburgh Pirates.
August 26, 1999: Signed as a Free Agent with the Toronto Blue Jays.
July 28, 2000: Released by the Toronto Blue Jays.
August 10, 2000: Signed as a Free Agent with the Chicago Cubs.
October 15, 2000: Granted Free Agency.
January 20, 2001: Signed as a Free Agent with the Anaheim Angels.
Is there anybody the Red Sox haven’t signed for 2007? Gees, I guess they are trying to win 19 championships to try and catch us next year…..
I think you are thinking of Game 2 of the 2004 ALDS, Paul.
I looked it up. The Twins had a 6-5 lead going into the bottom of the 12th. They had already won game 1. The Yanks rallied off of Joe Nathan to win the game. Romero relieved Nathan in a near impossible spot. The Yanks had already tied it, the bases were loaded and there was only one out. Matsui hit a fly ball to right (NOT deep) but Jeter was on 3rd. He risked the throw by Jacque Jones and beat it to win the game.
In the next game, Romero walked a batter who came around to score.
I think you are remembering Game 2.
OMG
I remember that game. I was at the edge of my seat for the entire game. I loved the way Jeter slid home.
they got donnelly and romero on the same day? that’s ridiculous. theo’s a man on a mission this winter. somebody must have told him his job was on the line this season.
too bad he’s doing all that work for nothing since his team is still gonna come in second 🙂
Donnelly and Romero both have cost-effective contracts. Donnelly is a very solid addition. Romero is usually an effective reliever, with the exception of last season. Not sure what happened there. He’s worth bringing in for a look at spring training.
Jeff
http://www.bosoxbanter.mlblogs.com
Donnelly scares me. Yeah, it’s possible the Yankees can get to him. But he is definitely a tough reliever.
Bagwell hung it up. I think that’s the right decision. He may have some left in the tank, but there is no reason to hang on forever. I think it was the right time. Take note, Bernie. I love ya man, but it’s time to go.
I agree with you Rob. Bernie is an all time great, but it is time.
Thank you, Mike, for those details. I seemed to remember liking to see Romero pitch against the Yankees.
My memory was foggy. Thanks for helping to remember that game!
Well, I think we have to recvognize that this time Epstein did a good job, acquiring Donnelly. He is a very good set up man. A lifetime 23-8, 2.87 ERA, 295 K’s in 295 innings pitched.
On the other side, for those who are worried (I have to include myself) about the NYY back up catcher, there’s an article from Kristen Zimmerman. Take a look:
http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061215&content_id=1761880&vkey=news_nyy&fext=.jsp&c_id=nyy
We know all about the Angels’ ‘pen (and Donnelly) lately, Jeff. They are our nemesis. We always have trouble against them.
Got to wonder if this raises the ante for both teams regarding Gonzalez.
Heading out for a while.
Happy Troll-less blogging!
The Red Sox just acquired Johan Santana from the Twins…this just in……..http://19championshipsbehindtheyankees.com//mlb.//article.jsp?ymd+desperate.com………
Where is everyone?
C’mon guys, I want to talk….about anything.
Russ, I see you have reverted to your time capsule that transports you back into yesteryear, where you seemingly always reside. We all know the Yankees have won more titles than the Red Sox. That has nothing to do with here and now.
Of course the Sox are going to make a lot of moves after the season they had. They have made some excellent signings, and they have also taken some risks – which is what you have to do when you have a need to fill holes and your minor leaguers are not ready. The Yankees would do the same. Instead of griping about the Sox acquisitions, why don’t you offer a valid opinion on what the Yankees should do. The Red Sox are much deeper than they were in 2006. I’m sure the Yankees will make more moves to bolster their rotation and bullpen. What do you think they should do, or is yesteryear all you can think of?
Jeff
http://www.bosoxbanter.mlblogs.com
Yikes! I go away for a day and find about 700 posts in the meantime. Ah, the drama of blogging. I skimmed most of it and hope I did not miss anything important. There was a lot of **** to weed through.
Anyway, on the Red Sox’s latest actions…Donnelly is a decent pickup, though he had a bit of a down year last year (by his standards) and is not getting any younger. JC Romero, on the other hand, is not a smart move. He played here in Minn before becoming an Angel, and he was absolutely HATED. The fans practically ran him out of town, and Twins fans are usually very accepting of (or ignorant regarding) their players’ flaws. He allowed heaps of inherited runners to score at key points, even when his stats looked good. I’m glad to see Boston get him.
Also, my HS hockey team lost 2-1 Thursday night, which was not fun. But they did look much better as the game went on, scored and with about 2 minutes left, sending 2,000 fans crazy. Then there was a huge fight with 30 seconds left…hockey can’t get much better than that. Fortunately, it’s still early in the season, and this can be inspiration next time Duluth East plays Cloquet (Feb 6! 54 days away!)
hey there fellow yanks fans! got some stuff on my mind and need some help.
1. So is the WBC a done deal or is it once a century??
2.Has Dice-*** pitched against any MLB players, because for someone soooooooo great and the next Cy Young atlease Igawa has pitched against some MLB talent and went 7IP 2ERA.
3. Andy Pettitte shirts and jersey comes out this week, number 46 i’m guessing?
4.Who else is excited that the RS can’t cry anymore because they don’t have money!
-I think its sad because I really feel bad for the RS and the fans. They love crying about the big bad yankees and all their money and now they have nothing! The RS have turned into the Yankees of the last 5 years, buying players, taking big money chances, and breaking up a unified team. So good luck RS because we have realized that is the wrong way to build a team and are taking the young, less crazy amount of money, and team unity- so lets go Yankees 2007!
Oh God.
Um…Matsuzaka pitched in the WBC…which featured MLB players…
Yes, #46. Since Guiel was non-tendered, Pettitte has no trouble getting his number back.
It looks like Mike Gonzalez will be in the middle of a tug of war.
Jays lock up Vernon Wells.
At $18 mil a yr. for 7 years.
$126 mil.
lol liz don’t worry we’re safe.
hey guys, my flight was delayed 2 hours so I was in airports essentially for 6 hours today…got in around midnight just finished unpacking.
Jeff, donnelly was never a setup man so it is not fair to say he will be a good one…Great pickup though, he should be solid, probably automatically your 2nd best reliever at the moment.
Wasn’t romero one of the steroid positive guys? Or was that another twins reliever? Could have been juan rincon. If it was romero that would explain his off year but now i’m thinking it is rincon.
It was Rincon Vince.
Latest I hear is that the Gonzalez’ rumors are heating up. Yanks don’t want to give Proctor and Melky in a 3-way with the Braves. However (and it’s a BIG however), if the two teams wanted to bypass the Braves, a Melky for Gonzalez deal could be done NOW. Much as I’d like Gonzalez (and Yanks could then spin Farnsworth for other needs?) I’d hate to give up Melky. Giving up Melky would be Bernie’s ticket (only ticket?) back.
The Pirates would then have to make their own deal with the Braves, spinning off Melky and someone else if they want Adam LaRoche.
Stay tuned.
Oh yeah, looks like the Yanks will be talking to the “Eye Chart” soon. They are checking into his medical records and could be offering a one-year deal. Since whoever plays 1b would bat 8th or 9th anyway, Doug M. would get most of the playing time, hope to hit .270-8-50 or so in that spot and give great D, esp. for the ground ball pitchers like a Wang and Pettitte. Figure then on Phelps and Phillips to battle it out in ST for the righty half of the platoon 1b. Since Phillips is better defensively and can play other positions, I would give him the edge for now. Either way, they would start vs. lefty pitching, and Eye Chart could come in as a late inning def. replacement in those occurences. Eye Chart (easier than spelling Mientkiewicz) made $1.85 mil last year.
Trading away Melky for a NL pitcher, or for anything, is a critical mistake.
The kid hustled every day and became one of the most popular Yankee players. He made being a fan so great. Even despite the overpaid underperforming media hype darlings (Johnson, Arod, etc.).
I agree. Melky shouldn’t get traded. I like him and I don’t want to see him go. He did all that we asked him to do, and excelled at it. He’s still young and will only get better. He deserves to stay in Yankee uniform.
BTW
lol I hope so, Vince
As everyone has pointed out, there is a lot of congestion in our pitching situation … both starting and relief. We need a left-hander in the bullpen who is not a specialist … to keep Melky (as Cano’s bff) we must put Igawa in there. But, he probably wants to try his hand at losing 10 – 12 games for us. So, the Pirates have two excellent pitchers waiting for us to pick one of them up. We have a glut of right-handed relievers. I don’t know why we got Britton; he seems like another Farnsworth. If we trade Proctor, we are on crack! Our over-abundance of capable starters (read: Pavano, Karstens, Rasner) should make for an interesting spring. Pavano may just surprise everybody … or increase his worth at camp. Finally, we should thank our lucky stars Pettitte came back; he’s good for the Yankee history, great for the rotation, and fantastic for the post-season!
It would be a mistake if we trade Melky. Young. Healthy. Capable. Loved by fans. Home made. I don’t think Brian Cashman would make such a silly trade.
Everybody is so quick to forget about Giambi. He CAN play first base, too. He’s better offensively, when also in the field. Do we really want to take a .280/40/120 hitter (in a full season) and watch him struggle at .240/30/85? While I was on the Hillenbrand bandwagon, I withdraw to watch the battle between Phelps and Phillips. As for a back-up infielder, look into David Bell. Oh … and Toby Hall should be happy to come to the Yankees to serve as a back-up … although I wish Posada would play forever, I believe his back-up will get increased playing time in the next 2 years.
Ross, this has been written about for WEEKS now. Giambi is moving to full-time DH. The Yanks plan to see him at 1b about as much as the Red Sox plan to see Ortiz at 1b. Quite simply, Giambi can’t play 1b anymore.
BTW, Giambi hit .253 last year. His wrist injury was fielding-related. Hopefully DHing would keep him healthy.
I have no interest in David Bell and I don’t think the Yanks have any in him either.
I’d be happy w/Toby Hall, but I don’t think he would sign anywhere to be a backup.
according to the reports that I am sure Mike also read and reported on, this melky for gonzalez straight up deal seems very serious…..it appears laroche has no chance of being traded now and the yankees have the upper hand on the sox because the sox, in typical sox fashion, demand a player in addition to gonzalez for crisp. The Yankees, apparently and allegedly learning nothing of last season, feel they have 3 all star outfielders, and consider melky expendable but refuse proctor in a deal.
Hey guys. I have a few things I want to say about the blog in general but I’ll save that for another post. Right now I’ll address Mark’s blog entry.
Okiedokie I am SO in favor of signing Doug M. I can’t even describe it. His defense is drool-worthy–way better than Phillips’– and that is what I’m really looking for from the 1b position. His bat is of secondary importance. As long as he’s a contact hitter rather than a strikeout guy like Sexson or Hillenbrand, I’m happy. Plus, he reminds me of Jaret Wright in that he is a true battler. It’s always nice to have a guy like that. I hear Damon’s really been talking him up in NY–thank you Johnny, I hope the Powers That Be listen!
If Nick Green is resigned over Miguel Cairo I will be EXTREMELY puzzled. That’s basically all I have to say about that one!
I also would prefer Villone’s return over either Schowenweis or King. Mike Myers annoys me. I’m sure I’ll change my mind when he gets his first 2007 K of Big Fatty, but sometimes I feel like he’s just taking up a roster spot. I DEFINITELY think the Yanks must carry an extra P as long as Myers is on the team. Which regretably, likely leaves no spot for Bernie. If Melky is traded, I will have to hurt someone!!!!! Why on Gods good green earth would they consider Melky more expendable than Proctor? Are they on crack?!
I don’t think that Cash will sign Green over Cairo. I see no sense in that whatsoever.
I really don’t want to see the Yankees trade Melky. Even though we’re trying to bolster our pitching staff, getting rid of Melky is not the answer but neither is getting rid of Proctor. If that is what it’ll take to get Gonzalez, as much as I like him, I’d be happier without him.
Melky deserves better than a future on the Pirates.
I have read reports this morning that Cashman is going to deal Melky Cabrera to Pittsburgh for Mike Gonzalez. It would be foolish to trade Melky when Abreu is in the final year of his contract AND the fact that Gonzalez has had control problems off and on over the last two seasons. The Pirates always want a King’s ransom in return for mediocre talent at best, and I feel this is just another example. If the Yankees need another lefty in the pen, fill from within or go the free agent route.
OK, now about the whole blog turning into a dating service thing. I definitely don’t like that either. I don’t like the idea of teenagers posting links to pics of themselves or to their personal websites because you never know what psycho trolls will click on that link, like for example that cutesoldier **** from the other day. If anyone here wants to communicate with anyone here on myspace or whatever like that, that’s cool, but don’t post stuff on the blog, just email each other! Much safer that way.
Also, as someone else had said, it turns my stomach to no end that some troll would disrespect the troops by pretending to be a solider when it obviously isn’t one. As soon as that **** said in his first post that “Iraq is quiet today” I knew it was BS. I hope with every fiber of my being that this troll has been banned cause I just can’t stomach that ****.
Also, I had to sign off the other night because I was disgusted by S*x fans coming on here and talking about the Yankees are bad for baseball, the Yankees have an unfair advantage etc. If they wanna come on here and talk about how each team stacks up against each other that is fine, but I wish the whining about unfair advantages would be left at the door. This is a YANKEES blog and those kind of inflammatory comments are only going to cause arguing as they did the other day. And, there are 2 things in life that I just won’t do:
1) Wear white after Labor Day
2) Argue on the Internet
I come here to take away from the stressors of everyday life, not add to them. My motto is: “arguing on the Internet is like running in the Special Olympics. Even if you win, you’re still retarded.” (no offense to disabled people meant.)
So I think us Yankee fans should all unite and refuse to argue on the Internet! When we see inflammatory posts we should just all vow to ignore them. Getting all fired up over this stuff does not add to ANYONE’S experience here in the slightest.
So, that’s my rant. I know that in the grand scheme of things, one poster’s opinion does not matter all that much, but I feel better for having said my piece.
” don’t think that Cash will sign Green over Cairo. I see no sense in that whatsoever.”
For real, that would be downright insanity! Green has nowhere NEAR the versatility in the infield (to play all the different positions) that Cairo does, plus Green strikes out a lot, whereas Cairo is a contact hitter that can at least give us a productive out if he can’t get a hit. Miguel Cairo for President! 😀
Gina, I respect your opinions and I know where you’re coming from. You’re here to talk baseball, not to hear people trying to “hook up”
That being said, I did not post up pictures of myself (if you were referring to me). That imitation soldier posted up a picture of himself because he felt like doing so. I made it extremely clear that I don’t want to give any personal imformation of mine.
Hey Elizabeth 🙂 Just to clarify.. it really does not bother me that people flirt on here at all. That really is harmless IMO. I’m a Gemini and thus a big flirt as well and if there was a hot guy on here in his upper 20s I might be doing it too. LOL. As long as flirting does not inhibit the rest of us from talking baseball–which it hasn’t so far–then I’m fine with that.
What does bother me is the pics. I knew that cutesolider put up a “so-called” pic of himself but didn’t know if anyone else did. I am glad to hear that no one else did. Also I know you guys were talking about myspace and facebook and so I wasn’t sure if anyone had posted a link to their myspace or Facebook. If no one did, I am very glad about that.
You seem like a really nice girl and my comments are mostly lookin out for you! Simply because I was a 16 year old girl myself, not *so* terribly long ago, and I know that there are soooo many sketchy guys out there looking to take advantage of a nice 16 year old girl. Vince and Alex are one thing because the rest of us can vouch for them being sane and being nice guys who really are who they say they are. But when a random person like the cutesoldier idiot comes and starts giving you links to his picture and stuff I think the best thing for you to do is ignore him. He is quite probably up to no good!
Just lookin out for you guys 🙂
Jesus, I just sounded like my mother in that last post! lol.
Thanks, Gina!
It’s nice to have someone looking out for you. But I did notice that Vince and Alex and a few others were nice people (I’ve been reading these posts for a minute). Thats why I took the time to acknowledge them and start posting here. And let me mention, I love posting here. This blog is filled, for the most part, with intelligent people that know what they’re talking about, and in the short period of time that I’ve been posting here, I’ve learned quite a bit. I really like sharing my baseball-related opinions and hearing those of others. I find it fun, especially with a little flirting in between lol.
And thank you for noticing that I’m a nice girl. I really am.
you sounded like my mom, too
Just to comment on night train…
I have written and commented many times that at present, there are no lefties within.
No confidence in Henn. Chase Wright a few years away if he even makes it. Hence the Igawa pickup.
That is an area that needs work. Developing lefties.
My 9-yr-old son was looking through his Baseball Encyclopedia (bringing him right, eh Mike?). He comes across this player:
http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/stats/historical/individual_stats_player.jsp?c_id=mlb&playerID=122925&HS=True
He took one look at his stat line and said, “What a surprise, he wasn’t very good.”
I think the majority of us pushed for him to post a pic because many expected him not to because we know he is not actually a solider…but he happened to get lucky and have a pic of a 16 year old soldier…which is scary in itself.
Atta boy.
That’s a good one.
Jeff, what are you talking about? Reading between the lines, a couple of years ago, John Henry was quoted as saying “there ought to be a limit of 120 million on payroll”. And of course, that is where your beloved Red Sox were. And of course that is when he was calling the Yankees, “the Evil Empire”. Now it seems that Mr Cheap Henry can spend this year to try and “catch up” with the Yankee organization and call it “ok”. Which is fine by me. But please, it is like calling the kettle black, Mr. Henry and Boston fans as we were sick and tired of hearing of Henry’s and Theo’s cries for the past years of how much the Yankees have spent. So please Henry and Theo, clam up about how the Yankees have spent over the years. It just gets old after awhile and now since Boston is spending hundreds of millions this year, all is ok? Obvisously Boston is spending to catch up to the Yankees greatness, or maybe that is not obvious? Maybe I am wrong? I just get sick of Henry and Theo crying poor “us” in the past all the time…….
And not a very “cute” single soldier, either.
lol ouch.
lol I hope you don’t look like him
lol Not a chance, i’m a tad older looking than 16, whether holding an AK 47 or not….Seems to be another boring uneventful day in baseball world….Can wang take the mound already?
haha
Days like these are why I hate the offseason. I really can’t wait ’till march.
Russ, I’m not sure where that rant came from. What I said in the last post is that you frequently talk about yesteryear related to the Yankees and Red Sox when we’re talking about here and now.
I haven’t heard Henry, Theo or anyone say anything about payroll and spending since last season. Obviously, the financial landscape has abruptly changed. No longer are the Yankees the only team signing players to exhorbitant salaries. Small market teams are flush with revenue sharing cash, and they are spending it. Perhaps spurred by the disappointment of 2006, Henry is giving Theo the money to upgrade the lineup, rotation and bullpen. It is good for baseball when all teams are spending, rather than one.
The philosophy for Theo and Henry is to build a strong farm system so they can promote from within (which will start happening when a bulk of the players are ready in 2008 and 2009), and acquire veterans who are approaching their prime, or are in their prime, through trades and free agent acquisitions. Sometimes, they will deviate from that to fill a certain need – such as trading for Brendan Donnelly to provide depth in the bullpen.
As for 2007, the Sox need to fill holes through trades and free agent signings, even if they have to overpay to fill a hole short-term.
In your original post, you said the Sox were trying to catch up to the Yankees titles all at once, which made no sense at all. Like I said, when you have a bad season as the Sox did in 2006, and you are expected to win, you make the necessary changes for the next season. That has nothing to do with “catching the Yankees.”
Often, when you post, all you do is write derogatory remarks about the Red Sox, with no valid point attached. Everyone on this blog who knows me knows that I don’t litter this blog with insults or derogatory remarks about the Yankees. I make opinions and points about the game itself, and what the Sox and the Yankees are doing.
This blog, Ian’s blog and my blog (the three blogs in which I most participate) are supposed to be forums for intelligent conversation and debate about baseball. It seems that you and Haggard are the ones who deviate from that perspective.
Jeff
http://www.bosoxbanter.mlblogs.com
lol Don’t forget all the sox fans whom do the same exact thing…then of course the twins fans, but are they really human in the first place?
Vince, I don’t know of any Sox fan who is a regular that posts derogatory remarks on this blog about the Yankees (other than the troll). Sure, there are debates, but they are opinions and not mindless and immature posts like “Yankees su$ck” or something similar. For the most part, Yankees fans who are regulars on these blogs that post on Ian’s blog and my blog stick to opinions and not derogatory remarks, with the exception of Russ and Haggard.
lol yes jeff, besides the troll no out of the closet sox fans do really post here…then again russ never really posts on the sox blog unless he is coaxed into it….the point is, nobody should share mindless dribble on any blog about any team unless it warrants grounds first.
Of course friendly knocking is always acceptable, esp if it is so clearly a joke….That is an irreplaceable element of the rivalry.
a24 (not sure what your name is), we who are regulars are baseball fans. And the Red Sox and Yankees have what I think is the greatest rivalry in all of sports. That is why regulars like me post on this blog, and Yankees regulars post on the Sox blog and my BoSox Banter blog. It is rare (with the exception of the trolls I mentioned in the previous message) that Sox regulars and Yankees regulars resort to derogatory remarks. That is because we are true and intelligent baseball fans. That said, the passion that Yankees and BoSox fans have for their teams is a main reason Vince and I are planning to introduce a blog site that is about all things Red Sox and Yankees. It will debut sometime early 2007. It’s in the early planning stages now. On that site, we can prevent trolls from posting once since we can ban their IP address.
Yeah, nothing wrong with jokes.
Make sure to inform all of us when its done. I will most definately want to be a part of it.
ugh will strahan ever freaken return?
/has anybody ever heard the song “tie me kangaroo down”. It is an australian song.
Everybody will be informed of something so awesome.
Vince, with the Giants wilting, maybe it’s time you started focusing on spring training and Quinnipiac hockey! I’m in the same boat with the Steelers and Celtics, though Ohio State is pretty tough in hoops this year.
haha hey we beat the panthers for the first time ever last week, sadly in the nfc, there is still hope I at least get to see a 17th game this season. We are in the 5 seed. Steelers win tomorrow, I almost guarantee it. The celtics are in the same boat as the giants, terrible performance yet right at the top. I will be so upset if OSU takes two titles this year…..
haha thanks for mentioning QU hockey, I finally bought a shirt, those guys play with heart and are fun to watch. With TD BankNorth arena (also happens to be the bank I work for) set to open when we come back to school, the games should be extremely fun….QU has never lost an inconference game at home for 1.5 years now and has one of the most underrated home ice advantages in hockey….Swo might be able to lend an opinion to that…That is the number one thing I am looking forward to second semester…also to see if we can finish in the top 20. By senior year I would be thrilled if we were a top 10 team but that might be a stretch.
the arena was 150 million to make….it has a jump scoreboard and is state of the art….if anybody knew what the northford ice pavillion **** hole is they play in now, you would be thrilled they are moving to something state of the art too.
Ohio State just routed Cincinnati, 72-50. They were deep without greg Oden. Now that he is playing, they look very tough to beat. I almost wish the Celtics would get the first pick in the draft so they could select Oden.
I’m not a big fan of hockey. Growing up near Cincinnati, there was only minor league hockey. It is a little more popular now that the Columbus Blue Jackets are there, but I just can’t get into it. Here in Orlando, hockey is invisible, even with the minor league team they have. I can’t even think of the team’s name.
Just read on MLB Trade Rumors where Newsday is reporting a potential three-team trade that would send Mike Gonzalez to the Yankees, Melky Cabrera to the Braves and Adam LaRoche to the Pirates. Gonzalez would be a good fit. Losing Cabrera would be tough to swallow, I would think. If that happens, then the Sox would likely turn their attention to acquiring Chad Cordero from the Nationals, which would likely cost them Wily Mo Pena (one of my favorite Sox players) and a prospect like Edgar Martinez.
haha and the panthers are no joy anywhere either….everything around here is dolphins and heat….thank you jeffrey loria.
yeah OSU looks legit in football and basketball, is Oden going to be a year and out guy? Maybe the knicks can get him and he can finally be the big man they have needed since ewing left.
I will actually be in orlando for new years, my parents are borrowing a friend’s time share.
yeah Jeff we have been discussing that here for a few days now….Melky is very very popular for a one year yankee player and many are against giving him up….Gonzalez would have to be lights out to justify that trade. Personally I don’t think bernie is even a mediocre defender anymore, and melky is prob even better than abreu defensively…the yankees think he is expendable because we have three elite outfielders, but one just missed a season, one has no arm and one has a year left on his contract and is expensive….with tabada alongside him, he and melky could be corner outfielders for the next 15 years as yankees, I don’t know if having a pitcher in the bullpen for 10 or so necessarily justifies that.
I would hate to lose Melky.
the flipside is melky had little power last season and it could have been a chacon, small type of year, he could be the next angel berroa. I happen to love the energy and passion he brought to us last year and with cano, watching the division winning celebration, it was evident this was not the same businesslike yankee team we have been used to for the last decade, this team started to show some heart, passion, and energy, and I think guys like melky are a big reason for it. If we could give up thompson, I would be much more comfortable, at least he isn’t 6 years younger than gonzalez.
Melky is the future CF, he’s basically Bernie Williams minus 16 years and plus more talent as well as ability.
Melky won’t scare anybody in the late innings like most of our outfielders of recent memory have, but he could be the yankee version of trot nixon…or bernie williams, if he stayed. I just think we don’t know exactly what we have yet and though I’d love to have gonzalez and then trade farnsy for something, I don’t see why we can’t give up two or three lesser prospects instead of a guy who was among leaders in outfield assists even without playing in april
…and I don’t think Melky could go without Cano following.
If the Yankees trade Melky, it would be a big mistake. I agree with Vince, if we could use Thompson in the deal instead, it would be a lot better. Only problem with that is I don’t think the Pirates will go for that.
oh no alex
don’t even say that. i can’t imagine this team without cano.
I know its premature to say this but, Cano is a future HOF. I don’t think the Yankees are that dumb to let him go. He’s a star.
The pirates may be using the same weak tactics they used for craig wilson….demanding something ridiculous until they realize they are talking out of their *** and then make something more reasonable, that is what I am hoping for at least. I’d give farnsy for gonzalez straight up to be honest but they need an outfielder. Maybe thompson and clippard? with hughes, sanchez and guys like kennedy and chamberlain who seem to have higher ceilings, and with clippard coming off the AA season he had, maybe his value is the highest it could be for him as a prospect…would a deal like that work and would that have more support?
The Yankees would have traded cano already, he is untouchable after he proved 2005 was not a fluke. He may be upset for awhile but he’s not going anywhere…melky was not tradable at the deadline because A: we got abreu and B: we needed him down the stretch.
People fear the middle of our infield and rightfully so.
I know, I never said they would trade Cano I’m just saying that him and Melky are that inseparable.
Vince, what does Andrew’s facebook main pic look like?
that is true, though
Robbie will be a yankee his entire career (I hope)
i don’t know i didn’t know he made one yet and I can’t find him.
is that “erin” the “erin” she looks like a showgirl in that pic….I see you took a page out of my book with your marital status!
all right guys, i’m gonna go test my back and work out, i’ll be back before 8 sometime, tty all later.
It is good for baseball when all teams are spending, rather than one. By Jeff.
Agreed, Jeff. The only thing Yankee fans don’t like is when the only team criticized for spending is the Yankees. The Yankees spend, all they get is criticism. Other teams spend (like the Cubs this offseason)—not a peep.
When the Yanks gave Jeter his deal, criticism. The Jays lock up Vernon Wells? Nada. Same for the Cubs with Ramirez.
The double standard is what we don’t like, not the fact some others are finally spending.
Gee, I take a nap, miss a lot.
A prospect named Edgar Martinez. Gee, I hope that doesn’t pan out. Just what Yankee fans need. ANOTHER Yankee killer named Edgar Martinez. LOL
Yes, Vince. I’d be more apt to deal Thompson and Farnsworth for Gonzalez or one of our surplus pitching depth myself.
Heaven for us stats people! I didn’t notice this before, but baseballreference.com now has SPLITS! Which means we can check out certain players stats right down to vs. lefties/righties, home/away, etc.
An example would be Andy Pettitte. Career 13-5 vs. Boston, 20-5 vs. Baltimore, 11-1 vs. Tampa Bay and 15-7 vs. Toronto.
….Get the feeling he enjoys pitching in the AL east? My lord.
What is really great, for all the arguments we had over say, A-Rod in the clutch, now you can LOOK IT UP. For example, Torre may want to bat Alex 4th, between Giambi and Abreu, but go here for last year’s splits, and you see Alex did better in the FIVE spot.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/bsplit.cgi?n1=rodrial01&year=2006
s
The s at the end is an error, of course. Just click on the link.
Only thing is, for in-season, you’d probably have to go to ESPN for their splits. But still…
Giambi better in the 5 spot, too. Interesting stuff, and an example of what Torre pores over each day.
Nah Vince, it’s a different erin, I already went out with the one in the pic.
boston made some moves today
ESPN is reporting that the Igawa deal should be completed within days, maybe as early as tomorrow.
$20 mil over 5 years. $4 mil/yr.
With the $26 mil posting, that works out to $46 mil for 5 years. $9.2 mil/yr.
ESPN also is picking up on the 3-way trade rumor.
Jeff, it is not a rant, it is a fact my friend. Theo and cheap Henry are trying to catch up to the Yankees by spending this year which is fine. But don’t gripe over the past years of the Yankees spending when your team has one one title. Just doesn’t make sense. If the Yankees would have bid $60 million for Daisy Duke, Red Sox Nation would have called us the “Evil Empire II” and whatever else…bla…bla…bla….just get sick of Sox fans crying poor about the Yankee spending when there is no basis for it…
Sox Nation blew a fuse when we got Abreu in the middle of the season because of the money factor….now that you spend $100 on Daisy Duke….all is right with the world…guess it just depends on how much the Red Sox organization wants to spend on players justifies on how right MLB should be run….
interesting: a rod batted well over 300 in innings 5-8, 100 in the 9th, but .429 in extra innings…..weird.
Try yesterday.
http://redsox.bostonherald.com/redSox/view.bg?articleid=172329
interesting how the sox cover this one up…..I thought for a deal to be complete a player HAS to pass the physical?
or is that only in trades?
Melky for Gonzalez would be a great trade for the Yankees. What do all World Series teams have in common? A great deep bullpen. St. Louis’s pen was lights out in the post season. The Tigers’ pen got them to the World Series. Getting Gonzalez would give the Yankees the best righty/lefty setup combo in the game to go along with the best closer. I have followed the Padres very closely for the last decade and although they have fielded garbage teams the last few years, they have managed to win their division twice. How? They always have a great bullpen. Bruney/Myers/Gonzalez/Procter and Mo would form the best pen in the game to go along with the best offense in the game. Everyone fell in love with Melky including myself last year because of the energy he brought to the team. However, he’s not going to be a star. The best you can hope for from Melky is .800 OPS with good defense. Sure it would be nice to hang onto him, but there is a point in time when you have to acknowledge that a lights out setup man who may finally solve our Papi problems is more important than a 4th outfielder. Some might cite the neccesity of having a good 4th outfielder with the injuries the Yanks suffered last season, but that was an abnormality. One of our outfielders will most likely get injured this season, but not for the entire year. Thompson is a perfectly adequate fill in. Meanwhile, Gonzalez will save the wear and tear on the rest of the bullpen. By playoff time last season, Mo was the only reliable reliever because Procter and Villone were burned out. The year before, it was Gordon who was burned out. Some of this has to do with horrible starting pitching, but Gonzalez would help keep the pen fresh for playoff time.
Lovely brawl at the Garden tonight
And on a brighter note than last week…TOUCHDOWN COWBOYS!!!
I agree Vince…I thought so too…what is up with that?
Good night if Cowboys can hold on, they will hold tiebreaker over the Falcons and Panthers…..hope the Giants and Eagles tie tomorrow….:)
The..The…The Cowboys Win!!! After a horrible outing last week, good win tonight. Need to win those last two games possibly to get a first round bye in the playoffs. Good game ‘Boys!!! Come on Eagles and Giants….either a tie or Eagles win tomorrow……take care…have a good night all!!!! (I prefer a tie)>
jonathan u bring up some good points, but there are a few question marks.
1. the offense has also fallen apart over the last couple of years (since game 3 of the 2004 alcs), a 4th outfielder that should be starting can produce three livelier bats come playoff time. I am by no means saying it will work, or that those three are the culprits in the playoffs, but it is a possibility.
2. we don’t know if gonzalez will be lights out. He has never been in a big spot in his entire career in pittsburgh, and nobody is a guarantee to solve ortiz, though it is possible.
3. what happens in 2008? Wells is signed, tabada is too young. In 2008 abreu needs a new contract and damon and matsui will both be turning 36, who is available in free agency, and how much will abreu want?
btw this is effectively the end of my line as a Knicks fan. That brawl was degrading. This was a team that should have been champs in 94 and could have been in 98. Their coach is a disgrace, their front office is inept, their players are heartless, they have no big man, they have no fans, they get boo’d at home, and everyone hates everybody. That is no longer a franchise, no longer something to enjoy, and no longer has role models. Living near Miami (closer to miami then I was to MSG when I lived in NJ and was born in NY) I see a team that has already won and it took them one attempt. They have a few role models, including guys I used to hate (mourning, shaq)
They have Riley, who is the symbol to me of when I used to adore the knicks, they have a strong, passionate fan base, they have a nice arena and even have a young superstar who has taken the game to another level (wade). They are my new NBA team, the Knicks are can no longer be tolerated for myself. I would rather be called a frontrunner than called a Knicks fan.
As for Anthony, that is why he is not at the level of James, Wade, or even Duncan or Novwitski (sp)….he is a punk, with a bad attitude. Yes he has NBA talent but it takes more than that to be elite. Rumor also has it he is a huge pothead in the off season. I never liked the guy, not even in college and I still don’t. Guys like him and Iverson are why people have stopped caring about nba players on a personal level and why the NBA needs a tyrant like Stern to whip it into anything resembling self respect again. You can take the man out of the ghetto but you cannot take the ghetto out of the man.
There really is no good excuse for an NBA brawl. At least in baseball there is something in play that if thrown at somebodies head can seriously injure them. I mean, I can see why in baseball emotions can get to that sort of level, and add bats and what not to the equation and it is understandable to some degree…..but the NBA, there is nothing life threatening, they are simply, punks.
I don’t know someone grabbing me by the neck from behind just to prevent me from making a layout (in a blow out game) would have me just a tiny bit upset and I can see how that can lead to something. Its not much different than a ball being thrown at you.
The brawl shouldn’t have started and it should have been over with the flagrant foul call….but as in baseball things don’t always happen that way. The players will get their dues.
Something for the Cairo-bashers.
Miggy hit .239 last year.
With RISP… he hit .328.
Talk about making your hits count.
Rarely in baseball is there a chain reaction. Usually the pitcher and the batter (in most cases) get pissed for something and one charges the other and then both benches and sometimes bullpens clear and they break it up….only in few cases (yankees sox in 04 or royals whitesox) does another guy fight the original guy and then someone else fight that guy and so on…..it just seems to me in the nba there are 6 or 7 different fights per brawl. And I don’t care what you do to **** someone off in basketball, it is not the same effect as a 95 mph fastball in your grill. or the threat of a bat hitting you. lol give the NBA players weapons as part of their game and see how much more gruesome their brawls would get, and already their brawls are on the same level or worse than that of baseball.
Basketball ***** anyway…
but you’re saying its okay (or you understand) why there are brawls in baseball but not basketball? I can understand both grabbing somone from the neck (and behind) can be a dangerous thing and can lead to serious injury. I played basketball in high school and seen a couple of head injuries because of fouls its not pretty.
I think you’re misunderstanding or maybe I wasn’t clear. It is not so much I can’t understand a basketball brawl, it is more that I guess I can’t understand them this often…..I think it is more a reflection of the types of athletes in the NBA then the actions (such as throwing ice on somebody) that “warrant” a brawl. Whereas in baseball, it is completely based on actions if not because of the higher potential of physical harm, than the fear of it.
Maybe the seem more often, in my mind maybe the bigger brawls such as this one and at the Palace seem to happen once every other yr, but there have always been fights in the NBA whether they were Barkley and Laimbeer in the 80’s..Shaq and Ostertag..Childs and Kobe..Jordan and Reggie..etc. Fights have always been there. Nothing warrants a brawl but you take emotions,heat of the moment, competition and frustration into a part of it all
Vince (i think that’s your name)-
There is no guarantee that Gonzalez will be lights out, but it’s harder to find reliable setup men than it is to find players of Cabrera’s ability. I watched Gonzalez pitch in person last year in good seats, and his stuff was electric. He throws low to mid nineties with a nice breaking ball. Those kinds of pitchers are hard to find. I think it’s time we start looking for someone to step into Rivera’s role in a few years. Procter and Farnsworth are nice pitchers, but they aren’t closer material. As for Abreu’s contract expiring—Andruw Jones will hit the market after this season. The expiring contracts of Posada,Abreu, and RJ will take 41 million (even more including luxury tax) off the books in 2007. Pavano, Mussina, and Giambi are gone after 2008 (about 40 million as well). Maybe the Yankees use that money on Andruw Jones (hopefully they wont because he is on his way to becoming a full time DH) or maybe they get a stopgap veteran to buy time for Tabata. My point is, the Yankees are going to have options after this season. Gonzalez will help the Yanks more in 2007 than Cabrera will.
If those are indeed the facts facing the situation than I continue to lean towards a gonzalez trade, just no proctor, that is counter productive. As it stands i remain at around 60-40 in favor of Gonzalez.
I also know Brentcox is the guy I have heard the most as future Rivera replacement but he is even less proven than gonzalez is. And yes, my name is Vince. Hopefully you will post here on a more regular basis, though aren’t you a sox fan if I remember correctly?
Oh and is Gonzalez injury proned, I also think I heard that floating around.
lol can you imagine proctor/bruney in the 7th and farnsy/gonzalez in the 8th to bridge to mo? that is raunchy. Add myers and either karstens or rasner or Igawa or one of the other starters and we do indeed probably have the best bullpen in baseball with the tigers, mets and angels losing some arms.
I cannot agree more with Bernie retiring. He has had a wonderful career with the Yankees, especially last year in a reserve role that equalled many starters -statistically. Not many players these days spend an entire career with one team; caps off to a great career Bernie, let the team, the city of New York, and all of MLB honor you.
I understand that pitching is still a major concern for the Yankees. There are still questions at the starting roll, definitely at middle relief, and if Rivera gets hurt or struggles -which I hope will not happen- then I dare not imagine the possibilities. But I have a feeling that trading Melky will be a big mistake. The Sheffield trade for minor league prospects seem to indicate a turn to the farm system, will these guys in turn be traded later for big name stars? Our WS run was truly built around a lot of players from the farm system. While it is true that we indeed obtained some players from other teams, I still remember that Pettite, Posada, Jeter, Williams, and Rivera were all present during that era. We now have a lot of promise in players like Cano and Cabrera; Hughes appears to be on the horizon quite soon as well. Someone once said on another blog: “We need Lego pieces that fit together, not gems that shine on their own.” Best of luck in 07!
couple of thoughts.
about trading melky. i may be mistaken by thinking he is one of the players that were deemed “untouchable” last season (maybe he was by the fans but im talking about by cashman), but if so then what about last year made him untouchable as opposed to this year? There’s no more Bubba, no more Sheffield, and there may be no more Bernie either, so after a season in which 2 starting outfielders went down for most of the year, why all of the sudden has melky become expendable? I understand that the Yankees need relief help, but there are more answers than trading Melky to get Gonzalez. It’s just frustrating that after he had his emergence and became a big fan favorite, now he can be traded. i know it’s all about how you need talent to get talent, and because of his emergence and his popularity he can get a much bigger return than if he were traded last offseason, but still…just don’t wanna see him go. ESPECIALLY since Gonzalez was hurt. I would be handling these rumors a lot better if not for the fact that Gonzalez was hurt at the end of the season…
And about Basketbrawl. I think it’s seen as so much worse in Basketball than in Baseball because in Basketball, it seems to be caused deliberatley by personal feelings and opinions whereas in baseball it’s usually the result of incidents of the game, like being hit by a pitch.
Basketball **** anyway…
Posted by: marksman@ny-yankees.net | December 17, 2006 12:27 AM
Well said.
Basketball **** anyway…
Posted by: marksman@ny-yankees.net | December 17, 2006 12:27 AM
Well said.
Posted by: btide21@aim.com | December 17, 2006 10:26 AM
yes it does
college BB is still good, but yeah NBA does ****.
…melky was not untouchable last year, there were actually numerous trade rumors surrounding him, particularly to the marlins, but nothing good enough to let him go….If he was actually untouchable whereas the rumors were all just circulated from other teams, it was because that was before we had abreu and a healthy matsui, plus damon was on and off injured all year, it makes perfect sense cabrera was more untouchable last year than this year.
Vince-
Definitely not a Sox fan. I’m just a pessimistic Yankee fan.
There is not way the Yankees are going to give up Cabrera and Proctor for Gonzalez. Cabrera is already a hefty price. ESPN.com reports that the Yankees could pull the trigger on the deal any time, but that they might be concerned about Gonzalez’s elbow tendinitis. Buster Olney reported that the Pirates wanted a prospect along with LaRoche. So while these reports are conflicting, it seems like a deal is imminent. It looks like a good deal for each side. Could this signal the end of the Andruw Jones era in Atlanta? The Braves already have Langerhans and Francoeur in LF/RF, meaning Melky will be the #4 guy this year unless Jones is traded. It could be an interesting situation to monitor. Personally, I’m not much of an Andruw Jones guy. He doesn’t draw many walks, and a good portion of his value lies within his great defense. I have doubts about whether his body will allow him to play Gold Glove D for the next 5 years.
If we do get this deal done, a pen with Bruney,Farnsworth, Procter, Gonzalez, Myers and Mo sounds far more delicious than the days of Tanyon Sturtze trying to bridge the gap to Rivera.
Apparently the Jays are putting Rios on the block for a #4 starter. I can’t see why they would do this. The Jays had a #4 starter in Dave Bush last season, but they traded him for Lyle Overbay, who is clearly a worse player than Rios. Rios is a young player who was on pace to hit about 30 homers last year before he got a staph infection. He also has a cannon for an arm in RF. Good riddance Alex. Go beat up on some other division.
Vince, I love your post about the Heat (and the NBA in general) at 11:21 yesterday. Made me smile. In addition to Wade, Shaq and ‘Zo, another crucial player and fantastic human being that the Heat have is Udonis Haslem. He was born and raised in Miami, went to I think UF or FIU (?)..he goes back to his old high school all the time and hangs out with the kids..he just owns. And his D on Nowitzski is a big reason why the Heat won the title!
And I completely agree Carmelo is a punk and bad for the image of the NBA. Not only is he a total pothead (he was arrested w/a large amount of pot at an airport a few years ago) but he also appeared in an underground DVD called “Stop Snitching” and was shown laughing in the background as a man warned that any citizen who assisted the police in solving local crimes would be shot in the head. Nice, huh? And SO true that it’s people like him that have caused Stern to enact all his fascist rules i.e. the bordering-on-racist dress code.
Two things I have to disagree on tho: Nowitzski and Iverson. Nowitzski, I wouldn’t place in the elite category till he proves he can deliver under pressure. NBA is so much about having that winning will (ala D Wade) during crunch time and Dirk all but disappeared during the Finals. I’ve never even seen Vince Carter look that paralyzed!
And about A.I., I know he can come off as an a** but deep down he is a decent guy, IMO. Earlier this year, he paid for the funeral of a boy that was killed b/c he wouldn’t give up his Iverson jersey when he was being robbed. A.I. is a testament to what you said, “you can take a guy out of the ghetto but can’t take the ghetto out of the guy.” He has f***ed up qualities ingrained in him but deep down I believe he has a good heart and he does the best he can. Then on top of that he is amazingly talented too. 🙂 I am missing him in Philly so bad already!
Anyone have an idea as to when Clippard will be promoted? He’s a hard thrower with a herky jerky motion, which might make him best suited for the bullpen. I guess you can also add Britton into the mix in the Yankee bullpen. If Britton and Bruney pitch well, New York have a top 5 bullpen in baseball. Even if Chris and Brian flounder, the Yanks will still be in better shape than the Blue Jays, Sox, O’s and Rays. As for Cox, I think the Yankees are planning on giving him some more time in the minors. With the talent the Yanks have in the pen already, they shouldn’t rush him.
I’m also wondering how Eric Duncan is doing. Is he still a top teir prospect? Maybe Cashman should trade him before his value goes down even more.
As for their 1st base problems, I’m all in favor of giving the starting job to Phillips and giving some atbats to Doug M. I heard some rumors about a possible Pavano for Sexon deal, and although that would be desirable, Phillips can probably hit .250 with 20 homers in the #8 or #9 spot. At least Giambi wont be playing 1st.
Heh sorry to go on about the NBA for those of you who hate it. I luuurve it tho!
Know what else I luurve is the stat Mike posted about Cairo batting .328 with RISP. HA!! Take that haters! Now I’m almost looking forward to the next time he gets bashed on Pete’s blog, only of course I know that if I post that stat they will just ignore it like always…
If Melky is traded for a broken down NL pitcher it will likely be one of the worst Yankee trades of this decade.
Trading a potential 5-tool player after his rookie year? Moronic.
Fans all excited about this trade? I hope their Red Sox jerseys catch on fire.
Jonathan, I could be wrong but I think I heard that Clippard would almost definitely spend all of 2007 in AAA. Personally I was hoping he would be able to start in the majors…do the Yanks think there’s any chance of that?
Paul, how serious does it seem that they are about doing that trade? I’ve been reading rumors, but I’ve mostly ignored them since, as you said…it would be COMPLETE stupidity to trade Melky!!
Gina, I have lost interest in the NBA mostly because of scummy players like that Iverson tool.
The ghetto image proferred in the NBA, rap music, and in allegedly popular culture mystifies me where bad is good, pimp is good, thug is good. I don’t get it. The destruction of people is celebrated.
It seems to be a trend and most trends eventually fade but a generation of minds have been twisted by this abominable concept. Maybe I will never understand it.
No idea how real it is, Gina.
The lemmings are lining up behind it. As they have become so demanding in this 24 hour news world they want trades every week, every day if possible.
Bloggers are screaming for Cashman’s head because he let some free agents get away even though the Yankees had no place for nor interest in them.
Pete instituted a new registration system on his blog but it is clear the troll already figued it out.
The bizarre capitalization and broken English continues:
PhilHughes97mph said…
I agree The Yankees needs bullpen help. Make it Happen ,Cashmoney…
12:47 PM, December 17, 2006
Paul, I think no matter what Pete, Mark, Ian, or anyone else do, there will always be people with nothing better to do than to post insignificant remarks that give all other baseball fans a bad name. (wow, that was run-on sentence)
Yeah, I had about 33 spams in the last 24 hours.
Show scheduled (with a guest on) to be on 6-7. I don’t know if live or prerecorded.
Mike, maybe a doctor could help? Or a chiropractor?
Paul-
Melky is not a 5 tool player. He is good at a little bit of everything, but not great. He will hit for a good average (.260-.300) with decent power (10-15 homers) and put up some solid OPS’s (.750-.850), but by no means is he going to be a superstar. His defense is solid, but he’s never going to win any gold gloves. He might steal 10-20 bags, but he’s not Ricky Henderson. Melky is an asset, no doubt, but it’s not like we’re giving up a budding superstar. I do think the Yankees should explore some other relief pitcher options before they deal Melky (Pavano for JJ Putz?). The Braves landed Rafael Soriano for a mediocre SP, Horacio Ramirez, so it might not be neccessary to deal Melky to get a good reliever. However, I think this is a sensible trade for all the clubs involved.
So far the Patriots are trying to make a statement after last week’s debacle. Pats lead Houston 17-0 in the 1Q.
Jonathan, try reading what I wrote again.
I said POTENTIAL 5-tool player. He was a ROOKIE. That means he has not played for 10 years yet. Not even 5 years. Geez.
He does not have to be Ricky Henderson. Nor hit 50 HRs.
A 5-tool player means he is good at a lot of things not just one.
Mattingly believes he will hit for power int he future.
Why is it some people are able to look at a rookie year and decide he is not a Hall of Famer?
But I think time will tell but seeing flashes of brilliance in the field and watching him improve exponentially has convinced me of his potential.
Again, he was a rookie. He did not even play a full season.
What is it with impatient Yankee fans?
Mike, I misread. You wrote SPAMS and I read spasms, thinking of your back. Never mind. I am having PMS (Pre Melkytrade Stress).
I agree, Atlanta gave up nothing for Soriano.
Here’s a creative idea:
Why don’t we take RJ out of the rotation and make him our left handed setup man. He is a 2 pitch pitcher and if he only has to pitch an inning or two, he will be able to get his fastball up into the mid 90’s. Pavano would take his spot in the rotation. Obviously none of us are big Pavano fans and with good reason, but we haven’t really seen what he can do. I’m figuring he can at least give us Randy like production. If he breaks down, Randy can be re-inserted into the rotation. This move makes some sense to me. What do you all think?
The show is being pre-recorded for tonight due to the Giants-Eagles game tonight.
I see Toby Hall went to the White Sox.
I guess I am a little impatient, but I just see what’s wrong with trading a solid player for a potential closer. I do have to admit, I have become a little less enthused about the Melky deal in the past 24 hours, but I am still in favor of it. I’d really like to see them try Damon, Matsui or Abreu at 1st so they could play Melky everyday in the OF.
Jonathan, I suggested converting RJ into a reliever this summer. Mark pointed out, possibly correctly, that the Yankees would not pay $16 million a year for a set up guy.
Well, if Pavano is left out of the rotation, they’ll be paying 10 million for a long man. They should just bite the bullet and find a way to best utilize Randy’s abilities.
By converting Randy to a reliever, the Yanks could keep Melky and spell Gonzalez with RJ.
If Andrew listens to the pre-recorded show, there will be the necessary dig at you know who about 40-45 minutes into the show.
1 hour pre-recorded show tonight, from 6 to 7.
Heading out for a while, then dinner and some laundry. Catch you later.
LOL Paul it’s all good, I like Iverson enough for the both of us 😀 Ya know he may be headed over to the Celtics… for your sake I hope he isn’t, yet then on the other hand I’d love to see him help restore the Celtics to their former glory. *ducks.*
As far as the whole hiphop “thug” culture thing, I hear you on that. Having grown up to that stuff, there are some aspects of it I appreciate, then others that even I shake my head at. I do think that the trend is dying out tho. Most popular rappers today talk about nonsense, not about serious stuff the way older rappers did, so it is becoming less and less culturally relevant. It seems like in modern music as a whole, nobody really has much to say nowadays, including rock bands, which makes me sad. But music (and its corresponding culture) is cyclical so hopefully we’ll get something good again soon!
I’ve got to weigh in on the Bernie Williams issue. Everyone’s talking about how Bernie shouldn’t be the 5th outfielder because he can’t play the outfield anymore. But the 5th outfielder won’t play the outfield except in an emergency. I see Bernie’s potential role on the team is the PH/occasional DH that Joe loves to have on his bench. Ruben Sierra, David Justice, Jose Canseco and Daryl Strawberry have filled the role over the last few years.
He’s a proven veteran, switch hitter, and still capable of the big hit as he showed last year. He also hit .323 against lefties as opposed to Giambi’s .213.
And let me also add that I am glad baseball has not taken a turn towards the “thugged out.” If baseball even has a ‘token player’ that is beloved in the hiphop world, ARod is that player, and he is hardly a ‘gangsta’ so I guess that means America’s Pastime is doing pretty well! 🙂
I think you make a good point, Andy, about Bernie still being quite adequate with the bat. But I’d still have two concerns with him coming back to fill that PH/occasional DH role:
1) Joe’s love for veterans and especially his loyalty to Bernie might cause him to play Bernie in the OF when Melky should be playing
2) If we gave him a roster spot, we might not be able to carry that extra pitcher, and I am in the camp that thinks as long as Myers is on the roster we need to carry an extra P.
I love Bernie. I just want him to do what is best for his career and what enables him to go out with his head held the highest. When I think back to the last game of the season, with him managing and getting the PH hit in the 9th, I almost can’t think of a way for him to go out that would be more befitting of all he’s meant to us. Long live King Bernabe!
Swear to god if the giants aren’t on in florida I’m gonna smack something.
thank god, channel 11, thank you transplanted new yorker population!!…hey guys, just got back from a picnic, it was so hot i had to drink 3 waters, but I was told I was young, good looking and solid so that was cool.
40-7 Patriots win. Yaaaay!
And half the team did not play because of injuries.
Andy….
I so like Bernie, I hate to be writing to disagree. But he just does not have it other than hitting against LHP. Yet his PH numbers were not even good.
If the Yanks could somehow move Giambi I would take Bernie in a moment as one of the DHs. Maybe Bernie and Matsui would staff that position. But in the field, Bernie is just not what he once was and had become for some time now a liability.
I would rather remember Bernie for his greatness than for his fumbles.
Vince, you were picnicing again at the school for the blind?
heh heh
lol ohhh jeez, no actually it was mostly with people your age.
So actually, yeah that might be the age when they start to lose their senses, right?
5th of are usually used a lot as pinch runners (as a utility inf. would be in Cairo). Bernie doesn’t steal anymore. Right now, Thompson is more valuable as a backup than Bernie.
Gina is absolutely right. Which is one reason I HATE specialists. Pitchers who give you 45 games but only 33 innings don’t help you. You need innings-eaters. These “specialists” REALLY kill you if you have pitchers like Wright who only know the “joy of six” and don’t realize that “heaven is seven”!
Grrr I’m jealous of you picnic-goers and football-watchers, I have to leave shortly to go cover a community meeting for work so I haven’t watched football all day, knowing that I’ll get s.ucked in and not want to leave. I’m off shortly so have fun not working today everybody! (grrrr LOL)
As we know, down in Australia, what’s December here, is June there.
I found this Australian Jingle Bells.
All together now…
Dashing through the bush
In a rusty Holden Ute
Kicking up the dust
Esky in the boot
Kelpie by my side
Singing Christmas songs
It’s summer time and I am in
My singlet, shorts & thongs
CHORUS:
oh jingle bells, jingle bells,
jingle all the way
Christmas in Australia
on a scorching summer’s day
jingle bells, jingle bells
christmas time is beaut
oh what fun it is to ride
in a rusty Holden ute
Engine’s getting hot
Dodge the kangaroos
Swaggy climbs aboard
He is welcome too
All the family is there
Sitting by the pool
Christmas day, the Aussie way
By the barbecue!
CHORUS
Come the afternoon
Grandpa has a doze
The kids and uncle Bruce
Are swimming in their clothes
The time comes round to go
We take a family snap
Then pack the car and all shoot through
Before the washing up
Gee, I hope Angel appreciates it… 🙂
lol what’s december here is june up north too…so weird seeing a girl wear a santa hat and shorts. While we’re on the topic of australian songs, this is the song that got me through finals:
There’s an old Australian stockman, lying, dying,
and he gets himself up on one elbow,
and he turns to his mates,
who are gathered ’round him and he says:
Watch me wallabys feed mate.
Watch me wallabys feed.
They’re a dangerous breed mate.
So watch me wallabys feed.
Altogether now!
Tie me kangaroo down sport,
tie me kangaroo down.
Tie me kangaroo down sport,
tie me kangaroo down.
Keep me cockatoo cool, Curl,
keep me cockatoo cool.
Don’t go acting the fool, Curl,
just keep me cockatoo cool.
Altogether now!
Take me koala back, Jack,
take me koala back.
He lives somewhere out on the track, Mac,
so take me koala back.
Altogether now!
Let me Abos go loose, Lou, *
let me Abos go loose.
They’re of no further use, Lou,
so let me Abos go loose.
Altogether now!
Mind me platypus duck, Bill,
mind me platypus duck.
Don’t let him go running amok, Bill,
mind me platypus duck.
Altogether now!
Play your digeridoo, Blue,
play your digeridoo.
Keep playing ’til I shoot thro’ Blue,
play your digerydoo.
Altogether now!
Tan me hide when I’m dead, Fred,
tan me hide when I’m dead.
So we tanned his hide when he died Clyde,
(Spoken) And that’s it hanging on the shed.
Altogether now!
Our guest tonight wasn’t bad. I hope we have him on again sometime. A student at Providence. Hope you give a listen at 6.
I don’t know yet what our show’s schedule will be for the next two Sundays–the 24th and 31st. When I know, I will let you know.
Thanks to those of you who listen to our show. Much appreciated.
ROLF HARRIS! a top 10 hit from 1963!!
hahaha wow I’m impressed, that’s a song my dad played for me once and I thought it was funny….then I learned it helps me write on loop for some reason.
I used to sing it in kindergarten.
Giants scored already.
I just read on mlb.com that the YANKS are talking of trading Melky for a set up man Gonzalez,
they have got to be out of their
minds, He certainly has more value than that, I for one think he should stay. Whats your take.
G men look good today.
…so does garcia.
i dont know what my
take is but i sure know that the way you type Really pisses me off.
hahahhaahha. Andrew!
Yikes, another one headed
to Andrew’s Trunk.
Highlights from tonight’s pre-recorded show.
Uncle Joe’s take on trading Melky and the spending of Boston.
Our guest commentating on Yankee prospects like Clippard and Betances.
mike u said 6-7?
Mike is this the guest with the obscene last name?
Mike, if Joe expounds on wanting to trade Melky, tell me now so I will not listen and feel the need to rip out his throat and feed his entrails to the great white sharks of the South Pacific.
Grrr, I hate proxy errors.
Way too many errors. Reminds me of a 3B player.
That was a cheap shot.
Yes, but he really did do a nice job. A student at Providence.
No, Joe HATES the idea of trading Melky.
Yes, one hour, 6 to 7.
I’ll let you know when my new column is up. Probably on Wed. or Thurs. Hope you all like it.
Where did everybody go?
I’m right here, just waiting for conversation.
So what you wanna talk about?
I just got home from buying my iPod. I see you went to a picnic today. How was the food?
awesome, it was like a carnival, sausages, hotdogs, funnel cake, burgers, beer, gyro’s and something i can’t remember, do u have a screename, I don’t want to clog the comment section with a personal conversation….gina might assassinate me.
No I don’t, sorry.
I know what you’re gonna say: some kind of junior you are. So don’t say it. I don’t think Gina would mind, as long as we don’t flirt. lol
lol how is it humanly possible you have no screename, no facebook, no myspace, and yet you have an email address?…do you go to school in brooklyn?
Just read that the Yanks are thinking about trading Melky for Gonzalez from Pittsburgh. Are they nuts?
oh BTW, those foods sound good. you got me hungry.
Is that your actual email address?
haha yeah i had two hotdogs and a burger, they had ice cream but i don’t like ice cream bars.
Vince, I first heard that song on a Brothers Four album my parents had, in about 1962. It was one of my childhood favorites too.
lol really? Funny how some songs have such longetivity (is that a word?)….wait, how old are you, I thought you were under 40 for some reason.
The classics never die.
I guess it is cuz I don’t. I don’t have a facebook (but I can make one just for you people), not interested in myspace and navypinstripes is not my email address. And I do go to school in brooklyn.
Everybody thinks that. It must be my boyish charm and youthful good looks.
Oh, wait, you guys have never seen me….
lol make a facebook! we can even all help design it.
how old are you?
ok, but does it have to be today?
lol I can’t help but think with this large community we have developed on this blog really over the past 5 or 6 months, one of us has to be insane and nobody knows it yet…just an odd vibe I have.
haha yes it is clearly the boyish charm.
lol yes, today, it is the only way we can all actually get to know each other.
FACEBOOK IS THE DEVIL!
I like to think of my age as 9 in Yankee years. That’s how many WS the Yankees have won in my lifetime.
Andrew, you’re so silly….Just because you tend to check it 10 times a day at a minimum and it can litterally ruin relationships, how could yo uconsider it evil? It is fun, useful and can even sadly, hook people up…oh and it is so much easier to get to know people.
dammit, I’m 4, it is 1991 all over again.
but I don’t want it to be today, I don’t have the energy.
facebook is the devil? what am I getting myself into?
Yeah, but 30 years from now you’ll appreciate it.
Yup, 9 Yankee championships in my lifetime too. (Wonder if it is the same 9 Andy has seen?)
I’m four, too
Oh thanks, Paul, now they’ll think I’m old.
30 years from now I will need to clean my refrigerator again.
Andy, it is the boyish smile.
Or gas.
Our resident troll must be pissed. I’ve trashed about 40 pieces of spam **** since last night. F him.
I love how Andrew comes in with the random outburst.
Seen 6 titles, alive for 7.
You only get 30 years out of a fridge cleaning?
hey alex!!
http://www.nypost.com/seven/12172006/sports/yankees/johnson__yanks_deny_trade_talk_yankees_george_king.htm
One can only wish!
haha andrew is a sniper, look at the email address.
lol get the energy! You can do it! I have faith in ya!
Vince, I changed my high school just for you.
Steelers fan, but really impressed by how Vince Young is coming around.
Hey Liz hows it goin.
**** right! I have pioneering faceook clearly….ohhh look at alex’s wife? she is bangin!…and older…you must be a highly touted pitcher to be getting a trophy wife already.
(starts praying it is not somehow his sister)
I’m fine, you?
lol, Vince from where?
For those of you tuning in in just a few minutes, enjoy the show. It’s pre-recorded, but feel free to e-mail your thoughts and opinions to Ty and Joe.
Young is progressing extremely quickly, he looks more complete than vick on a crappier team in his rookie season…It is like he is performing at his rose bowl status already.
Haha I’m alright Liz, just got in from a round of golf…And Vince, she’s actually younger than me by a year, and no, she’s not my sister haha.
a higher power? If your religous, than god, if your a giants fan then this current drive, if your neither than peer pressure? Just do it! Nike says so.
I’ll be back in a bit.
how is she class of ’10 if she’s younger………oh wait, wait a minute, she’s still in hs isn’t she?
sooooooooooooooooooo young.
Vince, you’re really gonna make me do it. I know that if I try to, I’m gonna end up writing my own name rong, I’m that tired.
See I even wrote rong, wrong.
but then you caught yourself so you’re still with it…you don’t have to go crazy, just do the basics….find a core of friends so u don’t look like a loser, add a pic, add ur school and add some interests u can change it up later
That’s the thing. I don’t know any people (besides a few of you) with facebook. They’re all too busy with myspace.
or at least that i know of, i haven’t asked my friends
see that, u know a few already, ur set, now go start it up!
vince (when you say it, drag your name, i’m whining)
Ha ha, Mike, Joe sounds just like me ranting about the lemmings who want to trade melky.
Whenever I hear Joe, always seems to be angry.
Oh and I’m used to butting in randomly during a conversation.
hahahha do it!!!! you can do it!
Mike is going off right now, it’s awesome.
Vince why don’t we just make a chatroom on AIM or something? Assuming most people here use it?
I’d like that better.
works for me. PLAXICO BABY!! here we come!
liz, wouldn’t you still need to make a screenname for that?
yeah, but i wouldn’t have to do it today.
or would i?
lol lazy.
If the chatroom was today, you would need a sn today…a screename is a basic unit of life for people below the age of 21 haha….that will improve your life and friends I promise.
I’d make a screen name for it too.
Err wait…
lol I’m just lazy today. I woke up early to finish my homework and I didn’t sleep well last night.
I’m 70-30 in favor of keeping Melky right now.
and i’d get to know you people better. i’d like that.
not enough saying goodnight to me obviously.
See, so make a sn. That honestly takes 5 seconds.
i’m 100 for keeping melky. giving him up is not the way to make this team better (maybe i’m a little biased because i like him so much)
I am 267 to negative 40 for trading Melky.
i’m on it
garcia is lucky demps didn’t rip his freaken arm off on that play.
FUMBLE!!!!!!
The key to this bullpen is going to be Bruney. If he is anything like what he showed last year, he takes relief off proctor and farnsy, and they both improve. Add an arm from the rotation to the bullpen and your completely set.
No way this is not a fumble, eagles will regret losing that timeout when they are reeling with little time left.
Yeah, you’re set until Proctor’s arm falls off.
Thank you! I have been asking about clippard this whole time.
That’s what im saying, with bruney solid, proctor’s arm won’t have to unless torre is retarded.
…why are they on Myspace?
I hate this jessica simpson commercial more than anything…first of all she is a southernor with a terrible southern accent which makes no sense, 2nd of all by knocking the guy on his back and stepping on him, now he can see clearly up her ****** skirt and accomplish what he probably set out to do in the first place, so she accomplished nothing.
third of all, her ship has sailed, you had your dumb reality show now get out of the spotlight, you have no more singing career and your ditsy charades are boring and overdone.
She’s still hot, Vince.
from the neck down.
lol jessica simpson is a blonde, what do you expect?(no offense to any blondes on this blog)
i have a question
how do i delete my old aim account/screen name and make my new one pop up when i turn on my computer?
i’ve had the old one on forever and only my cousin used it, but now she has her own computer so she doesn’t need it anymore.
when the aim screen comes up, select ur new sn and the option in the corner saying “log me on when the computer starts up” or whatever.
I forget how to delete a sn, let me try to figure it out.
thanks
I really don’t remember how to delete screenames, only adding them.
I expect a woman to know better than to say something cliched like that.
No offense.
its ok, i think i figured it out
Doing some research I found out at this time you cannot delete old screenames from your account with AIM…though you can just delete them from the startup screen so urs appears first.
There’s the angel I’ve missed….how have you been, you missed our australian song memory time!
ok, i’m all set
you people will be my first buddies
feel free to IM me!
Make a chatroom.
this is my lack of computer expertise again but how do i do that again?
thanks andrew
YES THERE’S THE PAVANO BASH!
AIM –> Chat –> Buddy Chat
screen names?
yankeevmm
navypinstripes2
lol I give it away every weekend on the radio so I have no issues giving it out here either.
the giants need to learn how to qb sneak, this is ridiculous.
AIM, unlike email has privacy settings do I don’t care either.
Thank you brandon bulldozer jacobs!
andrew, that’s the one i wanted to use and it said it was already taken. 😦
mine is navystripes1210
Good point.
what an odd coincidance.
i know
Oh dear.
has opening day starter been announced?
i don’t think so
guys, can we leave the chat for another day? i’m gonna be logging off
where is this chat room, i have received nothing yet!
i didn’t make it yet
What a familiar trend. Giants score, promptly give up another touchdown in the last few minutes.
Game over.
well guys, i’m out for now
good night
i’m gonna go watch that nyg/phi game
no use liz, it’s over. Perhaps you should take a nap lol.
i’m still here
vince, i noticed and i don’t take naps lol
btw
i liked your poems/raps or whatever it was (on AIM)
and andrew, i agree with your comment (bros before hoes)lol
lol ludacris lyrics? Thanks, I like him too.
that was luda?
yup.
ok, now i’m really logging off
‘night
Vince, you didn’t play that too well:
i’m still here
vince, i noticed and i don’t take naps lol
btw
i liked your poems/raps or whatever it was (on AIM)
and andrew, i agree with your comment (bros before hoes)lol
Posted by: navypinstripes@aol.com | December 17, 2006 07:20 PM
lol ludacris lyrics? Thanks, I like him too.
Posted by: yankeevmm@yahoo.com | December 17, 2006 07:20 PM
This is what you shoulda said:
lol oh thanks it just comes to me, I guess I’ve got some talent…want to hear the whole thing?
Posted by: yankeevmm@yahoo.com | December 17, 2006 07:20 PM
haha try that next time.
I missed the Pavano dig….I have been on the phone with a client for about 1 hour.
It was a good show up to that point. And I agreed with Joe about the utter stupidity of trading Melky.
Paul, it involved a giant comet falling on top of Pavano.
That could happen.
There are 3 best known mythical creatures:
1. unicorns
2. cyclops
2. healthy Carl Pavano
what about bigfoot?
He did not make the top 3.
4. Loch Ness Monster
5. Bigfoot
Tomlinson’s something else, and right now SD has to be considered a favorite to win the whole thing.
…unless of course, Schottenheimer sticks to his pattern of bleepin’ it up.
SD is nasty.
haha Alex i’m way too talented to take other people’s credit, obviously.
I am a Yankees fan in Taiwan. Since we have Chien-Ming Wang joined Yankees, I love Yankees more. But I think Yankees can’t trade Melky. That will be the one of the biggest mistakes like Wright and Pavano. He is young, speedy, and had proved that he can be the one of the best defence outfielder in Majors with his strong arm. And everybody loves him, no matter in NY or Taiwan. Since Abreu’s contract will be out in next year, he can be the one like Bernie( he is switch hitter, too) to help us more World Champion. I do beleive in that. Don’t trade him…..
I agree damartinw.
as much as i would love for Melky to have the oppertunity to be a starter, i really would hate to lose such a talent, he was thought to be the future outfielder and showed such promise last year!! and besides, last year proved, injuries happen….with melky we dont lose much deffensively/offensively
I’m so divided about Melky Cabrera. I want him to stay for sure, but to not have a starting job until 2009 is troubling. However, he may be the best defensive outfielder on the Yankees. I would say that him and Damon are on par in terms of covering ground and sacrificing the body to make plays, but Melky has a better arm than Damon, which to me is invaluable. He’s a switch hitting 22 year old kid, who batted .280 in the majors. This isn’t that impressive when compared to other players, but is very impressive when you consider that it was his first real year, and he’ll probably get better. He probably won’t give many homeruns in his career, but I think he’ll bat for average in the future. Having such a solid backup outfielder only helps the team, and we’ll need his services when Damon’s 5,000 injuries finally force him to sit out a game or two.
Getting a great young lefty closer would really solidify the bullpen, and provide a backup for Mariano. This kid seems to be the real deal. So I’m torn as to what I would want to see happen. My gut tells me to stay with Melky. If only we could trade someone else for the pitcher.
In an unrelated topic, I’m happy that the Yankees may consider Nick Green over Miguel Cairo. I know that the lashback will be severe on this blog since everyone loves Miguel Cairo, and honestly I mean no disrespect to you all. I just really dislike Miguel Cairo. He was overpaid for what he did, and of course, Nick Green is my homey.
Getting a great young lefty closer would be do a lot to solidify the ‘pen, but here is another thing to consider, gonzalez had tendinitis in his pitching elbow and sat out the last month of the season….yes he had decent numbers, but his velocity was way down in bullpen sessions through september and that is why he didnt pitch at all, for a power pitcher to not have his velocity is a tad nerve racking if we are putting up such a special young player as melky…
side note, i am a miggy supporter, he is better then nick green (no offence to nick) and he does the little things that are soo important (hustles, lays down bunts, quality defense, and great attitude). i would be very sad to see him go!
Cairo is better than Nick Green.
End of conversation.
Cairo is better, not $1 million better, especially not for a .239 hitter. And yes, he does do the small things, but there are better utility players out there to be sure. Nick Green isn’t one of them, but there are more out there.
So, Joe’s with must of us. For what I have read over here, I understand he doesn’t want Melky to be traded. What did he say exactly? And what were his oppinions about the Flops spending?
I still have a lot of faith in Brian Cashman. I really don’t believe he will commit a mistake like that. Melky won’t go. At least, not for González.
Falejandro, as Mike posted earlier in the comments section, Cairo hit .328 with RISP (and .375 with the bases loaded.) Nick Green hit .200 with RISP. Cairo hit .500 as a PH where Green hit .000. By what logic is Green better? And what did Miguel Cairo do to make you dislike him so much? Did he date your ex girlfriend or something cause that’s the only reason I can see to have so much dislike for him. 😀 What is it exactly that’s so loathsome about him? Is it his hustle? His great attitude? His willingness to do whatever the Yankees need to help them win? Is that stuff somehow offensive?
Last but not least, which utility players that are “out there” are better than Cairo, and what makes them better? All the Cairo haters always say “there are better utility men out there” but I’ve NEVER heard anybody actually name one who is better (or even one who is worse.) Will you break this cycle and not only suggest a replacement, but tell us with stats why he is better than Miggy?
Until that happens, it’s official: Miguel Cairo is officially taking over Nick Green’s title of God. 😀
Signed,
Miguel Cairo Appreciation Society, President.
must = most. Sooooooo sorry
Hey Jorge. I am too disgusted by the Melky trade rumors to even entertain the fact that they might be real. I mean why would they make such a STUPID trade? This would be the worst one ever. I swear if it happens you guys will see me on the evening news getting arrested for chaining myself to Cashman’s desk and chanting: “**** no! Melk won’t go!”
(LOL, just kidding about the chaining myself to his desk part. But I am working overtime here wrinkling my nose in hopes that this won’t happen!)
Hey Gina!!!!! How are you? Yesterday night, I was watching Nick at Nite, and then, WOOOOOWWWWWW!!!!! “Coming up next….. Bewitched”. So, you took me to bed last night 😉
I’m good, can’t complain! Defending Miguel Cairo (as I just did above) always puts me in a great mood…now I will bask all day in the glow of Miggy’s wonderfulness 🙂 How are you?
I’m jealous you got to see Bewitched on Nick at Nite! Every time I turn it on it is always a rerun of Full House
Absolutelly agree. M&M (Melky and Miggy) should be part of the Yankees next season. We NEED both of them. There are few players with their heart and attitude.
On another side, my dear Gina. Did you heard that a NFL team called the CowBOYS are in the postseason? And this postseason will be ROMO-TIME!!!!!!!!!
Yesterday I got “The Monsters”, then “I dream of Jenny” and then “Bewitched” (Or shoiuld I say “YOU”??????)
was just reading the mailbag, why are there so many ppl who cant seem to grasp that Pettitte was a GREAT pick-up?? who are these ppl?? why have they been cursed with only half a brain???
I posted this analysis on Pete’s blog the other day.
Runners in scoring position
Melky .305
Damon .260
Matsui .279 (only 43 AB)
Abreu .327
Batting with bases loaded
Melky .450
Damon .478
Matsui .125 (only 8 AB)
Abreu .417
I think the 4 players make an excellent outfield.
While I am at it…
Miguel Cairo
runners in scoring position .328
bases loaded .375
What more can one want from a utility player?
Now I see the Miggy numbers were posted above.
The Newsday blog has turned into a home for the troll of many identities and lemmings who want to trade Melky and any other player not a superstar. A lot of this is egged on by the troll of many names.
Now anyone who disagrees it claims is me. It has pulled the same **** on Pete’s blog claiming others were me but Pete deleted those. But it did register but is not yet using hundreds of names on Pete’s blog. What is amazing is the thing’s dedication to disrupting Yankee fandom.
LOL Jorge I did not hear anything about the CowBOYS making playoffs, but I did hear about the Cowgirls doing so! hehehe 😀
As far as my Giants I am just hoping that Tiki Barber reconsiders retirement and Tom Coughlin gets fired. Just lookin toward next season now.
Now I guess I will focus my energies on rooting for my No. 2 team, Daaaaa Bears! Who the Cowboys will NOT beat in the playoffs! 🙂
a24diun,
First, I never said Nick Green was better than Miguel Cairo, in fact I specifically remember saying Miguel Cairo was better than Green. What I said was that I didn’t think he was worth the money or the hype for that matter.
Second, I had previously mentioned better utility players in another post but clearly you didn’t see that one. I’ll recap:
Alex Cintron
Jose Valentin
Marco Scutaro
Craig Counsell
Ryan Theriot
Rich Aurilia
Willie Bloomquist
Nick Punto
The fact is that there are a lot of talented utility players out there. Miguel Cairo seems to be the best to us because we don’t get to see that many others play. He’s not bad, I just don’t think he’s worth being built up as one of the greatest utility players.
To be honest, I don’t know why I dislike Miguel Cairo. Maybe the game against Wakefield where he struck out 4 times in 4 at bats left a bad taste in my mouth, or maybe it was the fact that when he was given regular playing time in June he batted .183, or perhaps its the fact that he left the Yankees for more money in 2005 and then returned when the Mets realized he wasn’t worth it. Hustle, attitude, and a “do it for the team” mentality is good, no doubt, but you act like he’s the only one to bring those qualities. Its funny, people get so offended when I say I don’t like their guy. What does it really matter to all of you? I didn’t even say he was bad, I just said I didn’t like him, and people act like I insulted their God.
Lastly a24diun, did you ever consider just asking me for my opinion instead of getting smart with me in your post? It’s really not necessary. I’m more than willing to talk sports with anybody, but when you start being condescending it jades the conversation.
Guys, I think we should pick a date and declare it the official Miguel Cairo Appreciation Day. Maybe his birthday or the day he (hopefully!!) gets re-signed..what do you think?
Oh, and on another note, looks like the Jays will have a press conference today to announce Vernon Wells’ contract extension. *sniffles* Ohhh Vernon why hath thou forsaken me? 😦 *hoping his contract doesn’t have a no-trade*
Falejandro:
I apologize if my post had a snarky tone or whatever, it’s just that sometimes I get sooo sick of defending M.M.M. — My Man Miggy. It gets frustrating for me because me and others post his great stats with runners on or in pressure situations and people who don’t like him STILL insist that he is no good. I just will never understand how .375 with bases loaded or .500 as a PH could possibly equal out to no good! We obviously have different memories of when Cano was injured and Cairo played 2b everyday because I remember him doing a great job for us. Maybe one of the reasons his average was low was b/c he was often bunting to move the runner over. His skill at doing that IMO means that he fits in PERFECTLY to the kind of baseball that the Yanks play. Matter of fact, when he was playing everyday, is the same time that the Yankees really started kicking butt to move into 1st place isn’t it?
You seem very unsatisfied with Miggy’s performance as an everyday 2b so I guess I would have to ask you, in what was was said performance detrimental to the team?
I seem to remember ARod having a stretch this season where he K’d something like 15 times in 20 ABs. Does he then leave a bad taste in your mouth too? Not trying to be obnoxious, just wondering.
Also, I remember that you acknowledged Cairo was better than Green, but then you also said you’d rather see Green re-signed over Cairo. If you admit that Cairo is better… why take Green over him?
Also none of us know what went on behind the scenes. How do you know that Cairo wasn’t lowballed or ignored or undervalued by the front office the way Pettitte was in 2003?
I do appreciate that you at least provided a list of other utility players. If you posted that list before and I missed it I apologize. Without looking up those guys’ stats (I’ll try to do that when I have more time) I don’t know if they are better than Cairo or not but even without knowing that my question is, are any of those guys that you listed available? And can they play all the IF positions adequately like Miggy can? The one that I know a little about is Craig Counsell who was my fantasy utility man, and he didn’t do much for my team. I should have drafted the almighty Miguel Cairo instead! 😀
Falejandro, you list names ALREADY signed by other teams. You need to update who is actually still available as a free agent. In other words, do some homework. Aurilia is back with the Giants. Valentin is back with the Mets. Counsell signed with the Brewers
Ones that are available, and who I do NOT think are an upgrade on Cairo (33 next year) are:
Jose Vizcaino (39 next year)
Chris Gomez (36 next year)
I have NO interest in Tomas Perez or Lou Merloni.
Tony Womack (we don’t really need to go there, do we?)
I am not interested in David Bell.
I don’t think Chris Woodward is an upgrade.
I don’t want Jose Hernandez’ many strikeouts.
Not interested in Manny Alexander or Damian Jackson.
We are looking for someone who can fill in at 2b, 3b, and ss.
D’Angelo Jiminez at 29 may be worth bringing back, but he hasn’t done anything in two years. At least he has some speed.
Tony Graffanino is available, but doesn’t give us the speed (steals or pinch running ability) that Cairo does.
As for Cintron ($1.6 mil last year) and some others, who would you trade for him? They are not free agents, and outside of Cintron, I’m not impressed by the rest.
Paul, some people really need a life. They are really wasting the one and only they’ve been given.
True, Mike.
Baseball is fun to me and this is the first off season I have really been this locked in with all the blogs out there and it is great.
Our time on the blogs is fun. What is amazing is that the thing/troll dedicates so much time and effort to thwarting that fun. Who know why?
Wikipedia…do a search…”list of major league free agents” . Last update two days ago.
We should give the troll the insignificant importance it has. We should keep enjoying this sites, ignoring it, talking about we like, baseball, and what we love, The New York Yankees.
So, mis grandes amigos Paul and Mike, any recent news about Igawa? I read that an agreement is really close.
Nothing yet, Jorge. Any day now. 5 years, $20 million.
Deadline is Dec. 28th. Am I right? One of the most important days in Yankee history
i thought i heard it was expected next sunday (12/24) and that they were trying to the physicals for both Igawa and Pettitte done before the holiday
*trying to GET (helpsto have all the words
*(helps to have all the words)
at this point im done trying to correct all my typos…i make too many to try to correct them all the time
Dec. 28th.
Yes, it IS one of the most important dates in Yankee history…
because it’s my birthday!!!
LOL
Exactly, Mike. Dec. 28th, the day one of the top 10 Yankee Fan ever was born
Thanks, Mikee. So we’ll have a great Chistmas gift
Guys I didn’t list utility players that were available, that wasn’t what I was asked to do. I was asked to name utility players who I felt were better than Cairo. So Yankeefan1, I know they are already signed, but that was never apart of the argument.
The reason I said I’d take Green over Cairo is because I feel Cairo was overpaid, and wouldn’t mind having a cheaper utility guy.
And yes, ARod left a foul taste at many points this season. But honestly who can say they weren’t upset with him at all last season? His end numbers were pretty good, but I saw him not perform in too many big spots, and his defense and his propensity to hit into DP’s was alarming. My concerns with ARod are very intense, my concerns with Cairo aren’t nearly as much.
And what about Doug Mientwséykdgrqbdcslñmnpytwrqkñótzkállqwrtsfí? Is he going to be our 1B?
Maybe we should make Dec. 28th Miguel Cairo Appreciation Day in honor of Mike’s birthday since he too is a card-carrying member of the Miguel Cairo Appreciation Society! Dec. 28th is also my dog Thousand’s birthday, and he looooves Miggy as well. 🙂
Me and my boyfriend have already declared June 6th as National Melky Cabrera Appreciation Day–that was the day where he robbed Manny. We have to remember to celebrate this next June 6th!
Hopefully not, Jorge.
Personally I am happy with Phillips there or maybe a Phillips-Phelps tandem.
a24diun,
You see, as Yankee fans, we can all agree on one thing, and that’s that any time the Red Sox are made to suffer its cause for celebration. I’m fully with you on the Melky Cabrera Appreciation Day.
I have read a multitude of reports that paint the picture of Mientwséy3kdgrqbdc54slñmnpytwrqkñótzkállqwrtsfí3uih4gt1u63u6 in a yankee uniform but probably not going to happen before the holiday break (is there really a break for ppl who work?? someone needs to let my office know if there is)
Falejandro, I didn’t mean to offend, but I would suggest some things.
1) If you want to replace someone, fine, but give who you would replace him with. Then we could discuss that replacement’s merits/demerits.
2) Don’t give names of free agents who have signed elsewhere. If you give names for someone on a specific team who is not a free agent, then suggest who you would give up for said player.
It really makes no sense to just throw names out there if you aren’t able to get said name. That is a waste of time and discussion. List who you would give up to get that person.
One thing that Cairo (and a Kevin Thompson, should he make the team as a backup OF) gives us that say, an Enrique Wilson didn’t was the ability to come off of the bench and pinch run for a Giambi or Posada if we need that in a late, close game. The ability to steal second when everyone in the park knows you must steal that base. Green doesn’t give that. A lot don’t.
As for the “eye chart”, nothing new to report.
Seems like the theory is mientoialnsdoiqhg948y569q48y3hui1bt3ju61uiy/Phillips as l/r a tandem.
I think they may sign eye-chart to a one-year deal and then platoon him with the Phelps/Phillips winner.
“eye chart” ???
…and as for Miranda, we’ll have to see what his spring training is like.
Mike and Paul. I’ve just sended both of you an e-mail. Check it out
That’s his nickname. It’s even on baseballreference.com like that.
ahhh meiherqtbkjgb35i26ghp2gbtjhbb jash8ao2b6501y66jvkhl5138yqihef – the guy who stole the ball from the Sox (another plus as far as i am concerned)
Yankeefan1,
No offense taken. I just want to make it clear that the argument was never who would make a better replacement, or whose better on the free agent market, the argument was always who is better period. Is there anyone better on the free agent market? Right now no, though I wish we had gotten Rich Aurilia when he was available.
And don’t forget the cuban prospect who’ll also be competing for the first base job. I already forgot his name, and don’t feel like looking it up, but he’ll be there too.
You’re right, Mike. I forgot Miranda. Well, Phillips, Phelps, Miranda, Alphabet-man. 1B will be OK
Nothing yet, Jorge. Looking forward to it. It’ll be one of the few pieces of e-mail that didn’t go right into the trash today!
Great minds think alike d:>
This Pettitte thing sure seems like 2003 in reverse.
Posted by: ataustin@aol.com | December 9, 2006 03:22 PM
“The whole situation reminds me of when the Yankees let him go (in 2003), they were worried about his elbow. And now he left (Houston) to go back (to then Yankees) because (the Astros) are kind of worried about him.”
quote from Roger Clemens in 12/18 article on MLB.com
Now if I could just channel his arm….
Juan Miguel Miranda.
Speaking of utility infielders,
Chris Gomez re-signed with the Orioles.
Yay for June 6th as Melky Appreciation Day! I think November 1st should be Jeter Appreciation Day. 😀
OK someone has GOT to explain to me how Doug Mintchocolatechip’s nickname is “Eye Chart”! Since I cannot possibly envision any circumstances which might have caused him to be christened that.
Actually, scratch that November 1st thing…every day is Jeter Appreciation Day.
He has such awesome vision that he never makes an error? I don’t know…or the random E’s in his name? Speaking of E’s, I’m on a downloading Eazy E binge right now.
Gina, have you ever seen an eye chart? It looks like a bunch of random letters, pretty much like Doug M.’s name. But the mintchoclatechip was the best yet!
http://www.i-see.org/snellen.gif
hahaha oh that makes more ************* that’s something i would come up with.
LOL the random letters on an eye chart thing didn’t even occur to me! I was thinking in terms of his baseball skills. But I think I prefer to call him Mintchocolatechip, cause that just evokes more pleasant images than a doctor trying to determine if I might need glasses.
Vince if you’re on a downloading rap spree may I recommend “G-Code” by the Geto Boys? It actually came out in 2005 but is far and away my favorite rap song I heard this year.
really? I’ll give it a try. Thanks!
Anytime, hope you like it!
anyhoo guys, I have a question. This is embarrassing cause it proves my technological retardation, but I am having trouble registering for Pete’s blog! All was well until I got to the second step about providing my blog address–I don’t have one! I tried entering http://www.idontblog.com – no dice. Tried just entering my screenname (mmm)-no dice. Tried leaving it blank, no dice there either. Does anyone know how I can get past this annoying step 2?
kk im out!! talk tomorrow, but i get out a little early today….chowdah!!
good choice….now I like three of their songs
I got to that step too, Gina, and just ignored it. I was still able to get on. I don’t have a blog address either.
Hmmm for some reason it won’t let me skip Step 2 at all. But I tried again to enter idontblog.com as my blog address and this time it worked!
This will also likely be my last or one of my last posts using the a24diun address on here. I’ve finally created the new address I planned on a few weeks ago and will now try to register it as my mlb.com account email.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AhItFESvNXYCEkDP7yVGyW45nYcB?slug=sk-carmelo121806&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
Steve Kerr is about three days too late, I already voiced the same opinion on this very blog. My favorite line: “We know Melo is a phenomenal player – there’s no doubting that. But can he be the megastar the league prides itself on? Not just a physical talent, but a Dwyane Wade, Michael Jordan type? The kind that David Stern can point to and say, “That’s our guy,” and sell him to the public?”
Read Mark’s mailbag. Interesting.
One thing I didn’t see addressed was the ballpark differential regarding Pettitte. Yes, he’s coming back to the AL from the NL, but he is also coming back to a much friendlier ballpark for lefty pitchers than MinuteMaid is.
Jorge, that was funny. Thanks.
and once again everybody ignores his 2005 season, where his era was in the 2’s in over 200 innings…if you’re going to say he was mediocre in the NL because of 2006, you have to eat your words looking at 2005.
Hey guys, guess who! Yay for a new email address to which spam can be diverted.
I really liked all of Mark’s mailbag points about Pettitte, as well as his debunking of the myth that even still today Giambi hits better when he plays 1st than when he DHs. I was one of the people who worried that Giambi’s numbers would decrease as a full-time DH b/c in 05 all we heard about was how his avg was .100 higher when he played 1st. It never even occurred to me that his poor DH numbers may have come when he was banged up and DHing in Oakland, so thanks for pointing that out Mark. Big load off my mind!
lol wow…moose4prez.
I’m a bit surprised my AIM hasn’t been attacked by spam yet.
LOL Vince I tried just plain “moose4prez” and Yahoo said it was already taken so I had to add the 35 at the end. It has absolutely made my entire week that it occurred to ANOTHER Yahoo user that Mike Mussina should clearly be President of the United States when he retires. Actually, he and Pettitte will both be off the books at the same time if Andy exercises his option, so…
Moose/Pettitte 2008?
(Andrew Goes to) **** Week begins. First up, a biology project due Wednesday, mixed in with a biology test, a stat test, 28 one-paragraph+ response questions for bio, and a Spanish debate tomorrow.
lol funnnnn.
moose is still on the books in ’08 as part of his 2 year deal.
Moose is a little young for President. Even JFK was 44 when he was elected.
Actually, Gina, the first moose4prez name was taken by an over-enthusiastic Bullwinkle fan in 1971.
I just wanted to add my 2 cents on trading Melky. It seems to me that relief pitching is a lot like your back yard garden. Growing it yourself seems to work better than transplants. Look back on the recent transactions to bring in “stud” relief pitchers. Do the names Quantrill, Karsay, Farnsworth, Benitez, and on and on mean anything to you. Whereas Proctor, Rivera, and yes even a Brian Bruney pay better dividends. You cant predict year to year how a reliever will pitch. Look at Bruney, a dump in Arizona that noone wants, and a stud for the Yanks. Are you really surprised that Bobby Jenks was so good for the sox. Well so were they. And the Angels were too. Thats why they cut him. Look at the career of Brendon Donnely, like ten different teams, yah, they all thought he ****** too, and you know why they thought that? The same reason teams thought Jenks, Donnely, and Bruney ******, because they DID. Never trade a proven commadity for a reliever. Outside of Keith Foulke, the now unemployed Keith Foulke, when has it ever worked? Build up the farm relief and bring THEM in, Just like with Mariano.
I just wanted to add my 2 cents on trading Melky. It seems to me that relief pitching is a lot like your back yard garden. Growing it yourself seems to work better than transplants. Look back on the recent transactions to bring in “stud” relief pitchers. Do the names Quantrill, Karsay, Farnsworth, Benitez, and on and on mean anything to you. Whereas Proctor, Rivera, and yes even a Brian Bruney pay better dividends. You cant predict year to year how a reliever will pitch. Look at Bruney, a dump in Arizona that noone wants, and a stud for the Yanks. Are you really surprised that Bobby Jenks was so good for the sox. Well so were they. And the Angels were too. Thats why they cut him. Look at the career of Brendon Donnely, like ten different teams, yah, they all thought he s.ucked too, and you know why they thought that? The same reason teams thought Jenks, Donnely, and Bruney s.ucked, because they DID. Never trade a proven commadity for a reliever. Outside of Keith Foulke, the now unemployed Keith Foulke, when has it ever worked? Build up the farm relief and bring THEM in, Just like with Mariano.
sorry, I double clicked.
Normally I’d agree with you bmj, but Mike Gonzalez is a proven closer and we all know Mo isn’t going to last forever. And while Farnsworth was lights-out when closing in Mo’s place, you just can’t rely on that back of his. We also don’t know if Proctor is suited to closing, and JB Cox has never closed in his career, as far as I know. Yes, decent relief is pretty much on par with Red Army infantry, but you don’t just pull the best closer of all time out of any old farm system. I’m not saying Gonzalez will be on par with Mo, but his numbers so far are pretty darn good.
If Melky can’t get regular playing time, then he’s just rotting on the bench. Might as well turn that trade value into something that can actually benefit the Yankees. I’m not saying I want Melky to be traded, but I understand the logic behind it and I’m not going to throw Cashman into the fire for doing it.
Why cant the Yankees cross that bridge when they get there? Mo probably has 1-2 GREAT years left in him, then the downword progression. Why not try and wait on one of the stud arms recieved in the Sheffield deal? That being said, the Yankees farm system hasn’t been this deep in ages.
Farnsworth wasn’t exactly lights out, Swo.
Gagne’s deal is only a for a year, pick him up if he’s healthy.
I have been reading this blog for a while, and my opinion on the Melky situation is as follows. It all comes down to luck, if Gonzales works it was a great trade, if he doesnt then everyone will miss Melky and wonder what could have been. But how do you know if you get lucky? You simply dont, but if we dont make the trade, we certainly wont know what we could have gotten until he`s on the mound for the Red Sox. Does this make sense?
Proctor isn’t homegrown. He came in the same deal that brought Bubba Crosby. Ventura to LA for Proctor and Bubba.
We do know about Proctor and closing. He finally got his first save late last year after going 0 for 7 in his first 7 save opportunities.
How good would it be for Jaba Chamberlain becoming the future closer?
Stadium lights dimmed, Star Wars music playing, lowered in on a racer pod…
All the kids in the Stadium with light saber bats in two pieces showing the singed edges where Jaba’s 120 mph fastball split them in two.
Looks like I picked a bad week to give up sniffing glue.
That’s hardly fair to Proctor, Mike. In only 1 of his first 7 “save opportunities” did he come into the game in the 9th inning, in a real save situation. The other 6 were twice in the 6th inning, twice in the 7th, and twice in the 8th.
They really ought to have a “hold opportunties” category, because all a middle reliever can get is either a hold or a blown save if he came in with the lead.
Good point, Andy. I did not realize that. I have read many times that he did not have the makings of a closer because of his failures.
I believe Proctor will be as good as last year or better this next year. Watching him evolve last season into a new role was interesting.
Proctor started in a dominating way but then hit a wall and was almost ineffective until the All Star break. Those few days of rest seemed to recharge whatever it was that drove him because he was really excellent the rest of the season.
True, it may not be fair, but it is a stat oft brought up late last year, and until that last week, when he came in in the 8th or 9th for the save, well…
Actually, after so many innings last year, I worry about Proctor for this year. If Bruney can handle control problems, he (or Britton) could be huge this year.
One thing I think we should beware of…building someone up too high after one decent season. I’m so happy Wang and Cano came through this year, and hope Proctor and Melky could follow up on their 2006 seasons, but let’s not build either up too high on so far, skimpy evidence.
Temperance, here.
I have a major fear I don’t like to share of Wang not building on his season….Just a bad feeling, I mean he is clearly not effected by emotion and his stuff is there, I just feel like something is going to go wrong.
Joe Barbera died at 95. (HannaBarbera)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061218/ap_en_ce/obit_barbera
He was part of the duo that made some great cartoons.
Vince, you sound like you have nightmares about that.
Vince, that is why you can almost never have too much pitching.
It also is a reason I am not comfortable going into a season relying on or even considering Johnson and Pavano as options.
lol I will never have nightmares about anything ever again because by a sheer miracle I got all A’s and B’s….god i love my professors, I totally did not deserve a B in one of my classes
That is probably the hardest part of being a GM, besides letting a beloved player go. Having the knack of knowing when someone had a career year. Someone young like Melky should have more good years in his future.
Someone like Proctor (30 in a few weeks)… who knows? I’m not saying that Proctor did have a career year. What I am saying is the importance of what is probably a hit and miss proposition, which is knowing when someone has had a career year. This knowledge of something so tenuous can make or break you for a year or a couple of years.
“Farnsworth wasn’t exactly lights out, Swo.”
Alex, Farnsworth converted all of his save opportunities when he was filling in for Mo at the end of the season. That’s what I was talking about when I said he was “lights out.”
I agree 100% about the “hold opportunities” category. I think it’s funny that some people are still down on Proctor for that whole “save opportunities” thing, but that’s really more telling of the criteria for a save. Anyone remember when Francisco Liriano got a 3-inning save when he had a 10 run lead? That’s borderline absurd that that could be considered a save opportunity.
Mike, often there is a preponderence of evidence to sway you one way or the other.
Two examples:
Aaron Small was brilliant in 2005, yet the year appeared unique in that his major league experience prior was not anything indicative that such a trend would continue.
I was sure it would in 2005 but I was wrong. Yes, he also faced an early season injury which could have derailed everything.
As for Proctor he really has not had a body of work to compare to this past year, so based on prior MLB experience there is nothing to indicate either way.
My judgment is based on how he handled adversity during the season.
Mike, I know you have your doubts about Scott Proctor, but don’t let them bog you down. We have to rely on what we know, and we KNOW that Proctor excelled in a 7th inning setup role last year, and he is making the league minimum. If it doesn’t work out next season, then we just find someone else.
I don’t recall anyone ever talking about trading Tanyon Sturtze “while his value is still high” out of the fear that he might not be able to hack it the next season.
Again, I’m afraid you’re thinking too far down the line in this case. Keep in mind that Brian Cashman’s primary job is to put the best possible team on the field that very season. Gauging players down the line, especially bullpen arms, is of secondary importance.
Yes, Swo I know all about garbage saves, but I don’t trust Farnsy or Proctor for the save. Pepto time.
Good point about Proctor’s career, Paul. The fact that Proctor threw more innings this season than he did in the last two (in the Majors at least) should speak of his upside and his ceiling. Having a consistent role is good for everyone. Just ask TJ Beam.
No matter what happens, I’m eager to see how Scott Proctor handles his second full season in the Majors.
Small—career year.
Same with Chacon.
Swo, I ALWAYS think down the line. Only way to go. I don’t sell out tomorrow for today.
But you’ll gladly do the opposite, right?
Well, you are a college student. I’ll be 45 soon. Obviously I think more in terms of pension and 401 K than you do.
LOL
The key is knowing when “today” has passed, and that is the toughest of all calls.
I am not saying to trade Proctor or not to. But I am saying to temper your expectations of what Proctor actually is.
You also must keep in mind there is probably a reason why proctor never had a real role until last season considering he is 30 years old. I don’t know that we can expect THAT much from him in the future, or maybe he is perhaps just a late bloomer.
505 comments? Holy Cow.
Scottie had a great 2nd half last year. I just need to see him do it again, an ERA in 2007 of 3.60 or less. I’m just not sold on him yet. Obviously I hope he does well, but I just reserve judgment on him.
Some, like Jeter, just have it and sell you from day one.
Others need to prove it to you. For me, I need to see Proctor keep doing it for a while before I am sold.
Moose is a little young for President. Even JFK was 44 when he was elected.
Posted by: marksman@ny-yankees.net | December 18, 2006 05:10 PM
Well I think it is only fitting for Moose to become the new youngest President.. after all, he is the smartest man to ever walk the face of this Earth! 😀 Although as was correctly pointed out, with his contract running THROUGH 2008…since he’ll be busy basking in Yanks WS #28 come Election Day in 08, he’d have to wait till the next term.
Moose/Pettitte 2012!
Anyway just got back from working at night grrr. Doesn’t look like I missed anything in the baseball world, except maybe Vernon Wells’ press conference which I’m consciously avoiding anyway.
As for the whole Proctor expectations thing, I’d have to agree with Mike…I like Scotty a LOT and hope he continues his success. But one year of successful relief pitching does not an untradeable Yankee make. Melky is the one who’s untradeable!
Hi everyone..
Mike and Vince what on earth was the Australian campfire sing-a-long all about? LOL
I had a good laugh reading those.
Well. I’m not sure if anyone here actually said that Proctor is untradable…my objection was to the assertion that Proctor should be traded now to protect against a potentially subpar 2007. It’s a move that does make sense, but it’s a risky one. Say we trade him for a decent prospect. What if that prospect doesn’t pan out and Scott Proctor has a few more seasons like 2006?
Placing tomorrow as your primary concern has its consequences. Just look at the Royals and Pirates. You’d think year after year of high-level draft picks and veteran-trading would produce SOME sort of results. Teams like the current Twins and A’s are the exception. (Note: I really hesitate to place the Marlins in this category because on Opening Day 2006 they had no intention whatsoever of being competitive in the present) Most of the time it’s very tough to be competitive both today and tomorrow.
Brian Cashman and the Yankees are extremely fortunate to have the foundation of a competitive team today while still being able to look toward the future. Hopefully more deals like the ones for Sanchez and Britton will be made in the future. But as long as Yankees fans demand a World Series year after year, your Damons and Abreus and Pettittes are going to keep getting signed.
haha there’s a little australian in all of us angel.
LOL but you guys were putting me to shame. I didnt know that Tie Me Kangaroo Down song had all those verses.
I was going to say something the other night when I was on, but I had to go grocery shopping and didnt get to get back online.
I have a nagging urge to throw darts at the Pillsbury Dough boy.
Just to get my rant out:
Trading Melky would be an awful thing to do. It would ruin what has otherwise been a very good offseason and compromise the Yankees’ future outfield. No, Melky’s stats were not overwhelming in 2006. But he was 21! If you look at all the endless research that has been done, it clearly shows that people who have average seasons at young ages eventually turn into excellent players. I could see Melky putting up very Jeter-esque numbers. Jeter hit, what, .310 and .290 his first two years, with 10 homers in each? Hardly overwhelming. But combined with above average speed and improving, flashy defense, it was the foundation for a future MVP candidate. He may never work out, of course. But the odds are on Melky’s side.
LOL to the “Eye Chart” nickname for Mientkiewicz. I would be perfectly content with an EC/AP platoon at first.
Given the opportunity to trade Proctor for Gonzalez I would do it, but not to get rid of Proctor, who, remember, was a starter once and has a lot of innings in him. He was used a lot last year, but can anyone remember an instance in which he actually looked overworked? I can’t. Maybe the 5 games in Boston, but everyone was gassed by then. I was amazed at how he held up and avoided a Villone-like scenario.
I am so sick of cold, boring, snowless Minnesota right now. Summer can’t come soon enough.
good evening all.
so, reports that Igawa agreed to the 5 year, 20 mil plan i see. sounds good, can never have too much pitching. you know i noticed that all the criticisms of of Igawa not being an MLB pitcher or a 4-5 guy in the rotation at best are weird to me, because reviewing his career numbers and reading about his stuff…i notice that the only thing that really ever looks bad is his record, and that could easily be due to a lack of run support, because he’s a guy with a lot of wins but a lot of losses too kind of deal. his career ERA is great and his ERAs from recent seasons are good too. He’s a strikeout pitcher. about his stuff, they say he throws a fastball in the 90s which is fine and he has an above average curve.
So i’m thinking, why is it that Matsuzaka can be an ace, but their skeptical Igawa can even make the rotation? I’m not saying he’s as good as Matsuzaka, but if it’s likely that Daisy’s stuff will translate well to the MLB’s, why not Igawa’s?
I like Igawa’s numbers and most of what i’ve read about him. I think 5 years at 20 mil is an excellent deal.
i mean seriously, go to http://www.japaneseballplayers.com (it’s a site all about japanese players in the MLB). Compare Matsuzaka’s numbers from the last 3 years to Igawa’s. The only thing that Matsuzaka has a major edge in is ERA, and that’s because he has an amazing ERA, so it’s not to Igawa’s are no good. Other than that, W-L records are comparable, Games are comparable, Strikeouts are fairly comparable (Matsuzaka may have a slight edge) and Igawa has the edge in IP.
actually i realized i effed up my math, and the strikeouts are infact extremely comparable over the last 3 years and Igawa has the slight edge. from 04-06 Igawa has averaged 185.6 K’s and Daisy has averaged 184.4
well no one else is posting so i’m forced to make a 4th consecutive post. For those interested, here is my comparison of the two pitchers over the past 3 seasons, with the major pitching stats averaged.
W-L: Igawa 13-10, Daisy 14-9
edge: Daisy, but as you can see they are very close.
ERA: Igawa 3.56, Daisy 2.44
edge: Daisy, of course, but Igawa’s is certainly nothing to sneeze at.
G: Igawa 28, Daisy 25
edge: Igawa.
IP: Igawa 190.8, Daisy 182.3
edge: Igawa.
SO: Igawa 185.6, Daisy 184.4
edge: Igawa
So if you want to make your judgement by the numbers, there they are. Who do you think made the better deal? Yanks for Igawa, 5 years at $20 mil ($46 with the posting fee) or ******* for Daisy at 6 years $52 mil ($103.1 with the posting fee)?
I think the logic behind all the Matsuzaka praise is that he still hasn’t hit his ceiling yet. This is particularly because he throws a fastball, changeup, and 2 breaking pitches, all for strikes. Any pitcher who can do that can do well in the Majors. Everyone says Igawa already has hit his ceiling, and while his stuff is great in NPB, it doesn’t amount to much in MLB.
It’s pretty arbitrary in my opinion, but everyone keeps saying that, while Matsuzaka’s success will likely translate to the Majors, Igawa’s won’t as much. Of course, we’ll have to wait and see. And frankly, if Igawa posts similar (or better, for that matter) numbers to Matsuzaka, the Yanks will look the wiser and the Red Sox even stupider than they already look.
He projects to be like Ted Lilly, according to most, and he’ll be a Randy Wolf at worst, and Tom Glavine or David Wells at best. For the modest commitment they’re making to him, I say it’s worth the risk, especially in this pitchers’ market.
Honestly, when Carl Pavano starts to look like a bargain in this market, I’m quite comfortable with the Yanks committing 4 million a year (w/o posting fee) to an untested but clearly talented pitcher from overseas.
One last note to everyone: I apologize for the extended rantings I’ve posted here over the last few hours. As you can see, I am done with finals, so I have plenty of time on my hands for the time being. Unless Vince goes out and buys me a beer, I’m gonna to keep on going.
lol touche….rants are welcome when we know humans are writing them.
SCRUBS MARATHON!
i understand what you’re saying Swo. i guess i just don’t agree with the scouts that he’s hit his ceiling. He just had a huge, freak year a couple years back. His ERA did balloon in 04 and 05 after it was great from 01-03, but in 06 he brought his ERA back down again. Everything else has been pretty much the same from when they claim his ceiling was. 03 was a standout year as far as W-L record though, but the offense contributes a lot to the record too. Notice he had a losing record 2 years before his 20-5 season but a better ERA. Oh and if anyone checks the site i previously listed, the 2006 stats on Igawa are inaccuarate, but i checked everything else and it seems fine. It says he was 13-9 with a 3.11 era when really he was 14-9 with a 2.97 ERA, which is even better so cool.I know i’m not a scout and i didn’t watch the guy first hand, but the numbers and my research suggest to me that he hasn’t really hit his ceiling, he’s been fairly consistent for the last several seasons. Hopefully he’ll be able to carry it over here. I understand he’s prone to giving up the long ball much like Randy has been in his Yankee stint so far, so that’s my only major concern for him coming to the majors…because if he gives it up a lot in Japan, he’s gonna give it up a lot here. All in all though, i think it looks good.
Why am i here at 3:46 in the morning?
Scrubs is on ALL the time. Recently they started showing it on like 4 channels in re-runs and at many times during the day i can probably find scrubs playing if i want to. It’s hilarious though. The janitor kicks ***.
hahah dr cox is my favorite, i can’t stop watching it on dailymotion.com
igawa is 27, matsuzaka is 26, i don’t see how they both aren’t at the same stage of their “ceiling reaching” yet.
dr cox is awesome too. i borrowed the first season on DVD from my brother so i could watch it in order, but i got distracted by watching “The Wonder Years” on the internet. It’s a nostalgia thing…watched that show when i was 12 and loved it. Not quite as profound in my “old age” but still, i like nostalgia.
Taking Igawa’s Japanese stats, 86-60, 3.15 and say, divide by 7 (an arbitrary number) to get 12-8 (roughly the number of decisions a # 5 starter would get) and add 1 run to the ERA for the adjustment,
I’ll take 12-8, 4.15 from him. That’s good for a #5 starter.
It would be one more win (and loss) than what Wright did (11-7) with a better ERA (4.15 rather than 4.49). Hopefully, and maybe most importantly, Igawa goes deeper into ballgames than Wright did and therefore helps to save the bullpen.
So, my expectations for Igawa are based on, “is he an improvement over Jaret Wright, should he be the #5 starter?”
I see ex-Dodger pitcher and 1959 World Series MVP Larry Sherry died. Four games in the 1959 WS, 2 wins, 2 saves.
so i was reading some old articles on espn last night and this caught my eye:
The Giants’ quest to field the slowest and worst defensive team in baseball made significant progress with the signing of Bengie Molina to an inexplicable three-year deal
my first thought was HA! and followed it with well the bonds signing doesnt help it much either.
but the more i keep thinkin abt it, and the further through the snipits i was reading (not an “insider” so i can only get the first sentence or two) the more i think this guy is a jacka$$ who just seems to rip every move any team thats not a major contender picking up a superstar makes! please tell me this isnt the case??
Who wrote the article, Gnome? Some are jacka**es, but I can’t tell who wrote it from your post.
Well. I’m not sure if anyone here actually said that Proctor is untradable…my objection was to the assertion that Proctor should be traded now to protect against a potentially subpar 2007. It’s a move that does make sense, but it’s a risky one. Say we trade him for a decent prospect. What if that prospect doesn’t pan out and Scott Proctor has a few more seasons like 2006?
Posted by: swolansky@mail.colgate.edu | December 18, 2006 10:28 PM
My bad Swo, I read through last night’s comments rather quickly and probably didnt catch everything.
I actually agree that it would be kind of silly to trade Proctor JUST on the chance that he won’t do in 07 what he did in 06. But then on the other hand if it comes down to trading Melky or Proctor, I’d trade Proctor because there is a larger risk that he might not be effective in 07 than there is a risk that Melky may not be effective. Alot of it comes down to relief pitching just being much more of a crapshoot than position players. Esp. considering Torre’s bullpen management.
I just read that Igawa will be a starter…good, we can never have too many leftys.. but to me this means that the Yanks almost definitely will trade for Gonzalez. So, I hope it is Proctor traded rather than the Melkster. It seems like one of them is gonna have to go, unfortunately.
Speaking of j***es, I don’t get insider, but I do think Buster Olney’s latest (just judging by the headline) is full of it.
i don’t even give espn a chance anymore. eversince 04 they’re baseball coverage has become nothing but Red Sox love-fest, same with SI to a lesser extent. They write so much about every minor thing the Red Sox do and praise just about everything they do (the occassional writer who seems to favor the Yankees also seems to not write a lot of stuff). Also i’m sure we’ve all noticed how on ESPN, especially on SportsCenter, they openly knock the Yankees a lot, with comments such as “If it were up to me we wouldn’t have these in the highlight reel but we gotta have these Yanks highlights” and also has anyone else noticed that during the MLB season, on sportscenter and baseball tonight any great Yankees play has to be completely and totally outstanding and bizarre in order for them to put it on top plays or web gems. They show some really basic, common good plays over and over again, from teams like the Padres and Diamonbacks and Brewers and **** when the Yanks did something unusually and great that doesn’t make the countdown. This particular Posada play comes to mind, where there was a slow grounder, kind of like a swinging bunt i think up the first baseline, don’t remember what lead to the play that well maybe it bounced off the pitcher but eitherway, jorge got to it pretty far up the first base line and bare handed it and shovel tossed it to first base and got the runner. It was clearly a great play, everyone was impressed, didn’t crack web gems or top plays that night of course.
OK i’m done my ESPN rant. don’t get me started on them for future reference….
Hey guys, somebody on another site I frequent just said that Cashman and the coaches are having a meeting today about whether to trade Melky? I apologize if someone posted about this earlier in the blog and I didn’t see it but I haven’t heard anything about a meeting, has anyone else? Havent read any of the papers today.
My thoughts on Melky:
WHY THE **** WOULD ANY SANE PERSON TRADE THIS GUY?!?!?
Maybe I’m being a little sentimental, but I’m a fan, not a GM, and can afford to be. But, Melky played a huge role in saving the Yankees’ season last year. Yeah, he didn’t hit for power, but power usually improves as players get older. He’s an excellent fielder who will only get better. His bat will probably continue to get better, especially with somebody like Cano driving him. This guy is the real deal. Do not trade him for the chance of getting a reliever who may or may not pan out. Give up 2-3 minor leaguers. Give up Proctor (although I hate that idea also). Do NOT give up the future of the Yankees outfield.
Melky has a chance to be better than Bernie Williams ever was.
Apparently there was a six hour organizational meeting yesterday.
Wow. I wouldn’t go THAT far, Alex.
Yeah, that might be pushing it. I like Melky too, but I think it’s time to put down the Kool Aid.
I simply can’t understand that Cashman is considering the idea of trading Melky for González. If we HAVE to get González, on the execs view, then give the Pirates some minor league prospects, but not a proven prospect. Maybe Pitts would accept a trade involving Clippard and Thompson. And, if necessary, add to that list a class A or AA pitcher. But NOT Melky.
Melky has the chance to excel in some areas more than Bernie, but I don’t think he’ll surpase Bernie. Bernie had 5 100+ RBI seasons, single season averages of .342, .339, .328, and .333, and he’s been a gold glove centerfielder. I think defensively Melky has the chance to be better than Bernie, but I doubt Melky will be clocking 100 RBI’s, or hitting the long ball like Bernie. I do think his average will rise in the future though.
New column will be up on the website tomorrow.
I will use as one of the trivia questions the one Jorge gave me.
Agree, Alejandro. I think Alex was going too far. And we shoudn’t forget the impressives post seasons Bernie had. And his number of doubles. It would be very difficult for Melky to even approach to wath Bernie has been for the Yankees. But, anyway, it would be a mistake to let him go.
You didn’t forget your promise, Mike. Thanks
Something to Consider
In 1991, Bernie started for the first time with a .238 average, and 3 homeruns in 320 at bats. In 1993, at the age of 25 Bernie had 567 at bats, and hit 12 homeruns. At the age of 28 Bernie hit 29 homeruns, and gave his first 100+ RBI season.
In Melky’s first long term stay in the majors, he hit .280 with 7 homeruns in 460 at bats. If you looked at Bernie in his first long term stay, he was a .238 hitter with 3 homeruns in 140 less at bats than Melky. If people had given up on Bernie then, we would never have seen the batter he would become. Who knows what Melky will become, but I’m sure that a lot of people looked at Bernie with his 3 homeruns in his first year and never thought he’d be smacking 30 homeruns in his future. Trading Melky would be too short sighted.
Good analysis, Alejandro. And once again, I agree with you
I lied.
I wanted to get the column out before Christmas (some club members don’t have Internet access and our newsletters are mailed to them) so I finished it today so that hopefully it is a) e-mailed to those with Internet access so that they can get it before the holidays and b) able to be mailed to those without Internet access so that they could get it before Christmas.
For those interested, you can find the column at
http://www.lvyankeefanclub.com/columns/
I hope you enjoy.
In 1990, I saw a game at Reading (the AA affiliate of the Phillies) vs. the Albany-Colonie Yankees (which is where the AA Yankees affiliate was at that time).
Playing for Albany was 2b Pat Kelly (his hometown is the town next to mine), CF Bernie Williams and RF Gerald Williams.
The young Bernie looked and ran like a gazelle. You just had a feeling about him. It was the same feeling I had when I saw Hanley Ramirez for Pawtucket in 2005. You could just tell certain guys.
I saw Thompson and Melky play in the same OF in 2005 at Trenton. Thompson can flat out run, and he hit a shot for a home run in one game. As for Melky, he did show off his arm on one strike to the plate. The runner on third didn’t even budge.
The thing I hate the most about these nonsensical trading Melky rumors is that we don’t really know if, or when, it is gonna happen, which makes the whole thing so ominous. It is like the sounding of a death knell. The feeling that a black cloud is following you around and you never know when, or where, Satan himself will reach up and grab you by the throat as he cackles evilly and takes perverse and sociopathic joy in the vile and putrid news that our beloved Melkman is on his way out of the Bronx!
OK maybe that was a little dramatic. lol. But you get my point. I DOOOON’T want Melky to go!! And the longer these trade rumors fly without being refuted, the more nervous I get. It just feels surreal cause I keep thinking, they couldnt POSSIBLY be serious about trading Melky could they?! Jebus this *****…but not half as bad as it will if he actually goes!
mike nice column, I like the layout, it gives a strong feeling to each category.
With Carmelo Anthony suspended, the Nuggets make a deal with the 76ers to get someone to fill in while Anthony is suspended and then to work with him when he comes back.
76ers agree to trade A.I. to Denver.
Thanks, Vince.
denver is trying to become the new portland trailblazers of the NBA. I’m surprised no miami hurricane football players have gone pro in basketball and joined either of these two teams.
Instead I guess they go to the vikings or bengals.
Let’s put this Melky thing to rest. The only reason not to trade him is because he’s Cano’s best friend. We have every reason to trade him, otherwise … 1) It allows Bernie to have an official good-bye 2) We’ve been waiting to have strength in the farm system so we could trade major leaguers while they’re worth something instead of having them come back to haunt us – Melky is probably at his highest trade value right now because another season of similar or reduced production won’t help us. 3) We have plenty of help on the way whom all of you can fawn over and declare “untouchable.” Thompson may not pan out but perhaps Tabata? 4) There will be a good crop of free agent outfielders in the next 2 years. We will need to land someone of V. Wells’ caliber to keep the boss happy and the baseballs in the seats.
I don’t know why Pittsburgh wants so much for their 28-year old, 1-year wonder but I think Melky and a pitcher like Sean Henn or Matt DeSalvo should do the trick. The fact is, we need lefty relief more than we need a light to medium hitting outfielder.
I don’t even know what to make of that post….I may disagree with everything you said, except that pittsburgh’s gm always demands too much. Cano’s best friend actually, has nothing to do with anything, I am convinced, I mean anyone on the team is best friends with someone, so therefore there would never be a trade if anybody actually gave some sort of thought to that ideology.
Bernie has had an official goodbye, it was called 2006…hence why fans gave him a love affair everytime he was between the white lines and this same exact situation happened last offseason.
In fact the reason we are strengthening our farm system is to, and here is a shocker, don’t have an aneurism, bring them UP to our team, so we have cheap talent we can maintain control of for numerous years before they get expensive. at 22 years old, it would be difficult to take a claim that melky is at his highest potential seriously.
The boss, also will stop being “the boss” in 2009 so in fact, we need not do much of anything to keep him happy in the future and perhaps one free agent outfielder would be necessary, but why would we have to get a superstar? That is the same thinking cashman finally convinced “the boss” does not work for the past six years.
We actually could use a possible 300 fundamental clutch, multi dimensional solid fielding player in the outfield, youth would help too and wouldn’t you know it, we have that. His name: Melky cabrera. His price: Virtually nothing.
Great post, Vince.
My only guess is that anyone demanding to trade Melky missed the 2006 season, is a Red Sox fan, or hates players with cool names.
Another good column, Mike!
In reading a bit here and there I posted the following theory earlier today elsewhere.
Atlanta wants to pickup another fielder, like Melky so they can move either him or Andruw Jones to a particular team for prospects.
The other team in great need of an outfielder? Boston.
Imagine seeing Melky as a Red Sox player. Or if Atlanta keeps him, they would send Jones to Boston.
That is all well and good, Vince, but when is Melky going to actually get playing time? When will the Yanks be able to utilize this player who is apparently the second coming of Jesus? It’s not going to be when he gets 200 AB next season as a backup. His trade value is at his highest right now, and if you don’t trade for a decent non-bench player, then he’s being utterly wasted. Keep in mind that Giambi’s DHing is going to seriously cut into Melky’s playing time.
Ideally I would see Abreu traded away and Melky starting in Right Field. I would have absolutely no qualms with a trade like that. But since that isn’t happening, then I would hope that Torre would rotate him around the outfield and keep those bats in the lineup. But he’s going to be lucky if he gets more than 300 AB next season, and those are 300 AB that can be made up elsewhere.
I’m not advocating trading Melky, but don’t be so quick to deride everyone who brings up an alternative point of view. They’ve got some pretty good points.
Thanks, Paul.
People, enough Melky. We need to concentrate on our big game Monday night. We win, the division is ours. Come on, let’s give some karma to out ‘Boys!!!! Two wins, coupled with a Giants win (for once) on Sunday, we can have the #2 seed…….come one everyone….let’s dance!!!
Hopefully Torre can figure out something like what Joe McCarthy did in 1939 with the Yankees (one of, the not THE best team of all time).
Joe D. missed the early part of the season.
Keller 105 games .334-11-83 (as a rookie). 81 walks, OPS of .947
Dimaggio (MVP) .381 (he was hitting .408 in early Sept. before a sty in his eye hurt his .400 chances, he still led the league) 30-126 117 games OPS 1.119
Selkirk 124 games .306-21-101 103 walks OPS .969
Henrich 88 games OF (1 at 1b)
.277-9-57 OPS .800
I am offended.
“our big game”
“our ‘Boys”
“we can have…”
Ugh. Russ, you have really bad taste in football teams. Don’t drag the rest of us into it.
Bad taste? LOL, they are America’s Team Rob!!! Drag who? Now come on…it is refreshing to see a team do good that has been bad for about a decade now….better than the Giants who argue with each other every day…..now get up and dance Rob……..
Ok after seeing you in a complete depressed state after the Cowboys loss a while ago, I can no longer take you seriously.
The Bears will be coming out of the NFC to the Super Bowl. The rest of the NFC seems to be really weak.
There are about 8 strong teams or more that could come out of the AFC.
Anybody read about the high school ranch dressing incident at a school in Illinois?
I saw it on the smoking gun site but I cannot give any more info as this is a family site, or tries to be.
Wow Paul, how did the guy get caught?
We are hoping against that Paul, in the NFC we want Dallas or Dallas. In the AFC we are hoping Indy or San Diego and Super Bowl winner we want Dallas.
You will have to read about it, Andrew.
And don’t try this at home.
I was reading on the same site about the New Orleans QB out for the season because he was run over by the Tennessee Titan mascot driving wildly in a golfcart during a preseason game.
Of course the lawyers are now involved.
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/1218061titans1.html
And if Dallas doesn’t go from NFC, the we are hoping for New Orleans……
No we don’t, Russ.
We want the Patriots.
Dallas may make it to the Super Bowl, but only if they have tickets.
“WE,” of course refers to Russ, and Sam, and all the other of his personalities. The rest of us know that the “America’s Team” stuff is a farce.
Down with the cowboys. Even more so since they have that miserable excuse for a human being on their team.
The only miserable, struggling team that I want to see return to the Superbowl is the 49ers. But that will never happen as long as York is in control.
The Smoking Gun is a great web site Paul, has some real interesting documents on there.
Actually New Orleans is a possibility.
I usually ignore New Orleans since I almost always predict their games incorrectly.
Last year I think it was I picked games on a website trying to win a prize and I got all 16 Saints games wrong.
They do me in each week I did not even attempt joining one of those sites this year.
Funny Rob. “We” refers to all the Cowboy fans out there. JTorres is one that I know of on this site. And sorry if you can’t take a joke. They were at one point refered to as America’s Team. And who is your team Rob? I am sure I can point out a “miserable human being on your team” as well. I am not a TO fan either. Calm down Rob. Talk about Melky again, may make you feel better.
If Dallas doesn’t go, I’d root for New Orleans. Their head coach has some great Dallas ties (:
Talk about not being able to take a joke….
I WAS joking Russ. Yeah, I don’t agree with your choice of teams, and am adamantly opposed to any team with that foolish bufoon on the roster. If you would read my previous post, you would realize who my team is and also understand a little bit about why, besides his other antics, I am so morally opposed to the no-need-to-name-him horse’s rear end.
My oppologies to the horse.
Oh, and why would anyone root for a team with a coach nicknamed “the Tuna?” lol.
“I WAS joking Russ. Yeah, I don’t agree with your choice of teams, and am adamantly opposed to any team with that foolish bufoon on the roster.” But my ribbing is actually supposed to be good-natured.
Sorry, didn’t finish my thought process in print before.
I don’t even know who “York” is for San Fran. However, they did do Dallas a favor by beating the Seahawks last week….(:. I am just a little giddy because Dallas is halfway decent this year as they have stunk for about last 10 years. I don’t expect them to do much of anything of anything in the playoffs. Their defenseive secondary is playing really bad and they are not getting any pressure on the QB. Apology accepted, and I apologize too for jumping so hard.
And I only have 1 personality this year…..I have been good, just ask Vince LOL
lol the giants argue with each other every week?
What do u call TO and bledsoe, TO and Parcells, To and everybody? The teams with aikman and smith were “america’s team” even with a cracked out HOF wide receiver turned ***** analyst, and “primetime”, this team is just a typical “show” in Dallas. They will fizzle out in the playoffs and Romo will be sent down to earth with a rude awakening. The saints are america’s darling now.
Now, Rob, I am a fan of the Tuna. He is a great head coach.
He was awesome with the Giants and repeated it in New England. Fortunately the Jets were beyond rescue, but he has brought Dallas around. I like to see Parcells do well, but not the Cowboys.
Just taking my jabs at all things Coytoy related, Paul. lol.
York is the controlling owner of the 49ers, Russ. He is the brother-in-law of Eddie DeBartolo, who controlled the team back when they were good and, seeminly, playing the Cowtoys in the NFC Championship every year. When DeBartolo had his legal troubles, he was forced to allow York to rest control of the team away from him, and it’s been downhill ever since. Not to mention Carmen Policy’s crappy handling of the salary cap when it was first introduced….
York is one of those owners who is all about making a profit. Winning only matters if it means getting more money.
Mike, just so you know, the person you answered on Pete’s blog has posted yesterday and today on Pete’s and Newsday blogs as:
Kyle Mire
PhilHughes97mph
Anonymous
Cosme
Casey
Bill
Kevin Ferrer
Robert
Rod
J.M.
Mediaj33
Mediaj33®
It posts the same stuff on many blogs.
Vince, don’t burst my bubble, my wife just bought my Romo jersey for x-mas for me….thanks for info Rob….Thak you for Romo, beacuse if Bledsoe was still the QB we’d be like 4-10…Mr. Statue of Liberty himself……
Now the Giants can do us Cowboy fans a HUGE favor Sunday and WIN on Sunday. If Giants win and Cowboys win this week and Cowboys win the last game, I believe the Cowboys can get the 2nd seed in the playoffs……..
Maybe we can get the death penalty for spammers, scammers and trolls.
Barring that, we cut their fingers off so that they can never use a computer keyboard again.
Thanks, Paul.
It is the same old act by the troll over and over. It claims to be brand new on the Newsday blog and minutes later announced I live in Boston and am a Red Sox fan.
In another name earlier it claimed I am several other people, basically anyone else who recognizes it is a troll.
The registration process cut down on the number of different names on Pete’s blog but it already has a few.
In the NFC it looks like
Philly or Dallas, the other as Wild Card
Chicago
New Orleans
Seattle
with the last Wild Card one of
Giants
Atlanta
outside shots to Green Bay, Minnesota, Carolina, San Francisco, and St Louis. Lots of 6-8 teams.
In the AfC 12 teams are 7-7 or better.
It will likely take 10 wins to make a Wild Card berth and there are four 8-6 teams.
Last year the Super Bowl Champ Steelers were the 6th and last AFC seed…and that was with an 11-5 record.
Are there any Red Hot Chili Peppers fans on here?
I like a couple of the songs, Alex but I have none of their CDs.
Oh ok…I heard on VH1 that they’re releasing some songs that didn’t make it on to their latest album…I think they said they were releasing them today but I haven’t seen anything about it…Paul I think you should get Stadium Arcadium, it’s their most recent album and it’s also a double album, nominated for several Grammies.
Ha. I’m sad because Denny Payton, sax player for the Dave Clark 5, passed away. The lead singer, Mike Smith, is paralyzed from an accident several years ago.
Now if you have to ask about the Dave Clark 5, please don’t bother. I know I’m getting old…
Mike: I’ve just read your most recent column. As usual, you’ve done a great job. Thank you for keeping your promise and for your complimments. I’ll show them to my wife and kids as soon as I get home.
I’ve found this AP article. It’s Darryl Strawberry talking about the relationship between Jeter and Alex. Here is the link, for those who would like to take a look:
http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061219&content_id=1764507&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb
And according to another Associated Press article, Kei Igawa is scheduled to arrive to NY as soon as tomorrow to have his physical.
Andy Pettitte has a physical today. Maybe next Thursday both leftys will be presented to press.
leftys = lefties. Sorry
Jason Werth to Phillies.
Ryan Klesko to Giants.
Marcus Giles to Padres.
Done deals
Man, I wonder what ever happened to Liz, she hasn’t been around since she made a screename.
Poor Vince.
I have heard some of those tracks, Alex, liked them. Not sure enough to buy the CD, but I will give it another look. Or listen.
Good column, Mike. I’ll still disagree with you about Clemens, though. Much of the same logic you applied to Pettitte applies to Clemens as well. It wouldn’t be a long-term deal, so his age doesn’t matter. He would be a bridge to help us this year and keep from having to risk bringing up Hughes or Clippard before they’re ready. And if we’re in the middle of a pennant race in August (and in the playoffs), I’d much rather have Clemens pitching than one of the young guns. We expect great things from them in the future, but I’d rather start them out at the beginning of 2008.
Thanks for the Strawberry article, Jorge. It is good to get the crackhead Met point of view once in a while.
They should drug test Strawberry every time he opens his festering maw to talk to the media.
Great job by the druggie dragging this ARod controversy back out again.
Jeter and ARod have been hanging together recently this offseason. They were with Giambi in Vegas 2 weeks ago.
So Straw wants to bring it up again.
I tell you this will not end til ARod is mercifully traded anywhere to any other team anywhere on the planet for anything. Just please please PLEASE get rid of him!!!!
We have enough age, Andy. I’d rather use one of the kids. Greater chance the kids stay healthy rather than a guy in his mid 40s.
Also, I’d rather have someone who no one has seen or has a “book” on…
Kind of like K-Rod with the Angels in 2002.
Thanks for the compliments, Andy and Jorge.
Hopefully we get a new thread after Igawa and Andy get their press conference(s?).
i don’t care whether the cowboys win or lose (i’d much rather see nola in the super bowl), but i do find it mildly ironic to hear yankee fans railing against the nfl’s franchise with 1) a storied history of winning 2) an immense payroll 3) a lunatic owner who tries to control every move the team makes.
just a liiiiiiiiitle ironic.
also, paul – and i’m no a-rod fan, far from it – i do think it’s a little odd that you don’t want to move melky because he hast POTENTIAL, but you do want alex, a proven superstar who put up gaudy numbers even in a down year, out of town ASAP. i’d be happy to see a-rod gone for a decent third baseman and a good pitcher, and i’d also feel fine about a trade involving melky if it brought back a GOOD, proven pitcher.
I’d rather have a guy with 348 wins who’s still had an ERA under 2.00 over the last 2 years. Book or no book, he’s still one the most dominant pitchers in baseball. Do you really think that Hughes, if we brought him up in August, would be more successful in the pennant race and playoffs than Clemens would be? And if Clemens did get injured, then you fall back to the kids as Plan B.
I’m not at all sure the kids are more likely to stay healthy, either. The track record of 19-22 year-olds in the majors the last few years isn’t good. The trend has been to rush kids up without enough seasoning, and arms are falling off left and right (pun intended). I’d rather be conservative with our future aces, especially when there’s a more than viable alternative.
Alex, re your post at 7:36, I am kind of a Red Hot Chili Peppers fan but mostly their older stuff–their last album that I loooved was Aeroplane (and that was 10 yrs ago already–god I’m gettin’ old!) Anyway I heard what I guess was their new single on the radio the other day, and was VERY disappointed! It goes “Hey-ohhh, listen what I say-ohhhh”–do you know the one I mean? Is John Fruiscante still in the band? I cannot imagine him writing a song like that!
I am torn about the Clemens issue.
I don’t like the precedent of special treatment for a player as Kevin Brown got; though he was not as talented as Clemens, it is still bad form for the team.
Not sure if any of the kids will be ready by this summer. I am sure many will be ready next year.
Maybe if Johnson could be moved Clemens would fit in. One cantankerous egomaniac at a time.
And hopefully ARod will be gone by then if we have a ghost of a chance to make it to the post season, it would help the team tremendously to lose the albatros.
Other than spending more money (and I personally don’t care how much we spend), I can’t see any downside to signing Clemens for the stretch run and playoffs. He’s a great clubhouse guy, an example for the younger players, and still one of the elite pitchers in the game. My only concern might be innings – he doesn’t usually go deep into the game – but I wouldn’t want Hughes pitching a lot of innings either.
Paul, I seriously doubt the Yankees will give Clemens the option of not travelling with the team when he’s not pitching like the Astros did. And from what I hear he’s not a cantankerous egomaniac. An egomaniac, maybe, but very friendly d:>
Maybe you are right, Andy. He might be a good influence for the youngsters up in September.
Unlike the Stepford 3B ARod who will drag the team down until Jeter has conjugal relations with him.
Andy, I’d take one or the other and not both—for age and salary reasons. I still remember Clemens’ last WS game, where he left after 2 innings (like Wells leaving after 1 inning).
Now if the Yanks could get Clemens back and AT THE SAME TIME DUMP RANDY—I’d go for that.
Who knows if Hughes would be better than Roger? It’s not far-fetched that he would be. I can tell you this—if the Yanks would not have brought up Whitey Ford in 1950, they probably don’t win the WS that year. They won the pennant by 3 games and Whitey was 9-1.
Same thing in 1964. The Yanks don’t make the Series if they don’t bring up Mel Stottlemyre in August. Mel went 9-3 down the stretch.
The only year the Yanks missed the Series between 1936 and 1943 was 1940. Why? One reason is because they didn’t bring up Phil Rizzuto. While Scooter was doing great at Kansas City in 1940, Crosetti was hitting .194 for the Yanks. When Rizzuto finally was brought up in 1941, he hit .307.
So there is precedence for a “kid” leading the Yanks to a title.
I’d rather be conservative, too, but as for Roger—hey, Steve Carlton and Warren Spahn dropped off the table thisquick.
Biggest mistake Torre made in the playoffs was batting him 8th. Should have benched him entirely. Pointless to let him even get dressed for a playoff game. You know what is going to happen.
As far as moving the kids up, I really don’t want them rushed. Several years ago SI published a study about pitchers who threw over X (I don’t remember the exact number) major league innings before age 24 (I think it was 24). The study covered something like 25 years and the number of pitchers who were “over-used” too early and still had success was, like 2 out of 50. I’d really rather not have a Woods-Prior-Liriano experience with Phil Hughes.
Mike makes a good point, too.
In last year’s playoffs I would have started Karstens over Johnson and sat him out for the series. His Division record is awful.
Karstens could not have done much worse than Johnson. If only he could have played 3B.
My bad, that should read “their last album I loved was One Hot Minute”– Aeroplane was just a song on it–whoops.
Oh, and I could just cry about the A.I. to Denver thing. Uuuugh, not only will he have to be teammates with one of my least favorite players in the league but he is going West GRRRR!!! I really wanted him to stay in the East and specifically to go to the Celtics. At least then he wouldnt be that far away! Philly <3s A.I. for life regardless, but…grrrr.
I am so sad about this yet it is small potatoes to how I will feel if Melky is traded, but still.
And as far as football goes, Daaaaa Bears will WHOOP the Cowgirls, period, end of story! I just hope they have enough left in the Tank (haha, pun intended) to win the Super Bowl afterwards.
Also, I just realized that I forgot to wish a Happy Hannukah to those who celebrate it! Now that it is getting cold outside, it actually feels like the holidays! Imagine that?! 😀
Same here Andy, but can you guarantee me that a staff with Mo-Muss-Myers-Andy-Roger-Randy (that would be 1/2 the staff) would stay healthy? There is enough age on this staff in my opinion.
I wouldn’t want to add more.
The one positive about A.I. going to Denver, I guess, is that his talent will quickly expose Carmelo as the overrated player he is.
Also, about Clemens…do you guys really think that the Yanks will agree to all the clauses he would demand in his contract? Like not starting till June, time off to visit Houston, and (this is the one that I think will be the dealbreaker for the Yanks)…he’d only have to pitch once a week? That will mess up the rotation and disturb the routine of the rest of the starters! Seems to me that the possible harm there would outweigh the good.
No! Not to my Celtics! UGH.
Iverson and Rodman are two of the reasons my NBA interest has plummeted.
Somewhere along the line the NBA stopped having real players and with Iverson and Rodman and players like that became a circus.
Now I guess when Gina comes in we will have to greet her with
MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSE!
Ahhh the Moose call! Music to my ears! (Or make that eyes, I guess.)
Hey Paul, you were an activist when you were younger, weren’t you?
Gina, I don’t think he’ll demand all that stuff from the Yankees. If he comes to the Yankees it will be because his best chance at one more title. If he wants all that other stuff, he’ll have to stay in Houston. I think the only part the Yankees would agree to is starting in late June or July.
And in Houston he didn’t only pitch once a week. He was part of their regular rotation.
I don’t like the precedent of special treatment for a player as Kevin Brown got
Posted by: paul1040@aol.com | December 19, 2006 09:43 PM
I don’t like special treatment either. (I.e. Randy and his own personal .175-batting catcher..no thanks!) But this statement about Brown reminded me of something that’s always bothered me…I had heard back in the day that one of the conditions of Brown coming to the Yankees was that he never be required to speak to Mussina. Don’t remember where I read it (lived in FL w/o Internet at the time, so kind of out of the loop) but if true, that has always bothered the life out of me. Can anyone vouch for the accuracy of this rumor, and if so, explain to me what on God’s green earth Brown’s problem with Moose was? (other than the obvious of Moose making him feel like the mental midget he is.) Thanks!
Andy, I thought I read that on another team he would ask to only pitch once a week so he’d be able to visit Houston, but come to think about it, the idea of him going to another team is conjecture, so the pitch-once-a-week thing probably is too.
If he didn’t demand all these Crazy Man clauses I guess I’d be cool with it if he wanted to come back and win some games for us…but at the same time I will never forget how we could have gotten a draft pick from Houston when they signed him, had he only been honest w/us about his intents, so I shan’t ever greet him with 1/1000th of the enthusiasm that I will have for Pettitte!
okiedokie guys I’m off like a prom dress for tonight, later all!
Alex, re your post at 7:36, I am kind of a Red Hot Chili Peppers fan but mostly their older stuff–their last album that I loooved was Aeroplane (and that was 10 yrs ago already–god I’m gettin’ old!) Anyway I heard what I guess was their new single on the radio the other day, and was VERY disappointed! It goes “Hey-ohhh, listen what I say-ohhhh”–do you know the one I mean? Is John Fruiscante still in the band? I cannot imagine him writing a song like that!
Posted by: moose4prez35@yahoo.com | December 19, 2006 09:43 PM
Yeah Gina, haha that song is on the album though I think it’s a great song actually you gotta really get into it…if you listen to it constantly you’ll grow to like it I’m sure.
And yeah Frusciante is still in there…he’s one of the best guitarists I’ve heard.
Wouldn’t argue about good call-ups, Mike. There are others you could quote as well. But what I’m talking about would essentially be the equivalent of a trade-deadline deal, a mid-season acquisition of a player that put a team over the top. And there is probably as much or more precedent for that.
gina, i get the feeling after reading that for ther third or fourth time, you had one very crazy and legendary prom night.
I am an RHCP fan, I think I have 9-11 of their songs.
I tend to agree with Vince on the prom dress comment…only 9-11 songs Vince?..I’ve got 86 but there’s only one other album that I want by them…it’s the only one I don’t have that has all the current members.
lol, I have 146 eminem songs if that counts for anything, and just to prove I don’t hate on generations, I also have 71 beatles songs.
I have all the Beatles, all Eminem, most RHCP, and 5000 other various songs.
Even Infinite and underground rap and compilation cds of eminem and rubber soul and unreleased beatles cds?
Yes to the unreleased Beatles stuff. I don’t think I have any of the underground stuff though.
I have everything by the Fab Four. Including many bootlegged cuts.
Out for tonight.
Later.
i just listened to their “love” album, the new one released with enhanced sounds….pretty interesting.
Has ARod been traded yet?
What are they waiting for?
yes…he was traded to the redsox for schilling….HA
arod isnt getting traded anytime soon….and like it or not, he helps the yankees win.
ARod helps the Yankees lose. It assures it. Snatches defeat from the jaws of victory.
The Stepford player ARod saps the life out of every team he has ever played for. They have going away parties after he is gone.
He is a total distraction. Rather than focus on him and making him comfortable teams can focus on winning or maybe having fun playing baseball.
He is a traveling circus.
He is an utter and complete failure in the playoffs.
Egad, he must go.
There is no i in TEAM. There also is no ARod in TEAM.
It is all about him. All about his getting great numbers.
This year on the Yankees he had more men on base in front of him than any other player in baseball. Nick Green blindfolded could have knocked in 105 runs.
Yeah, but Nick Green is on pace to break the single season homerun record next season currently held by Bonds at 70, but Green’s going to do it without the juice.
You know I must be really dense, or there must be something wrong with me – for me to like a player that is perceived to be such a powerful destuctive force on the yankees. What is it that I’m missing that everyone else sees?
whatever, you cant be serious in thinking that arod does no good for the team…yes he struggled in the playoffs, but to think that he is the cause of the colapse in the playoffs….or that he was the only one who struggled is simply naive
I never said he was the only reason the Yankees lost. There were a bunch of others and 2 of them are already gone (Sheffield, Wright). Where did you read that he was the only reason?
Did someone else type that using my name?
He is a distraction. He does not intend to fail I am sure. But it is inevitable.
I was sure it had all died down and Jeter and ARod seemed to be hanging out together this offseason.
But the crackhead Met brought it all up again. Stirred it up some more. And who knows what other fool will stir it up next week.
Once ARod is gone, we will be spared this circus. Not sure I can wait til 2010.
inevitable?? not so sure abt that, and true this time you did not specifically blame him and only him as being the only reason they lost, however, all arod detractors seem to put it all on him, and it frankly is starting to get old….so while no, you didnt sight him as the only reason they lost in this short exchange of posts, the sentiment is the same
Oh Paul, get ready to wait at least another year. If A-Rod doesn’t turn it around this season, he’s gone. But who knows, maybe he will turn it around and then we’ll never want to see him leave.
the media “circus” surrounding the “arod situation” was dying down, but to say that crackhead strawberry is bringing it back to the forefront is a tad extreme too, most ppl will recognize that this is just a deperate attempt for attention by a sad man….he is so far removed from the situation it would be like us commenting on the social structure and chemistry of the DOD. we dont know whats going on, he doesnt know whats going on, just ignore him and hope he goes away….on the other hand his son is great, very approachable and it seems like whenever anyone brings his dad up he tries to change the subject
Wrong again, Gnome.
ARod detractors, at least those who follow baseball, understand failure is a team effort, but distraction can be accomplished single-handedly.
What is getting old and has been old, is the constant, and I repeat constant, barrage of ******, sychophants, and mental defectives who pander to ARod and blame Jeter for each ARod failing. Demands on Jeter to take some action to help poor poor ARod is older than old. Enough already.
This is baseball. There is no crying in baseball. If ARod can’t hack it, let him retire or move to a team that is less demanding. He can rack up gaudy numbers elsewhere and have the media and fans fawn on his every breath.
oops I forgot mo rons is censored
Barajas to Phils.
Need to get Post in an hour or so and see what is in there, but Daily News says…
Melky talks stagnant as of now.
Eye Chart’s agent says he has a two-year offer from another team (Yanks won’t go to two years).
Rumors continue on Loretta. Not hot ones, but lukewarm. I’m not sold on him for 1b. Now, if they can’t get Miggy back, Loretta would be ok for a utility infielder, but 1b–I’m not sold on that move. Rumors also are that Cincy has interest in Loretta.
Cashman states he isn’t looking for backup C. I’m not sold on the backups we have right now, and now Barajas is off the market.
Igawa physical today. Pettitte will probably do a conference call tomorrow and not a Stadium press conference. No word on if Igawa will have a Stadium press conference tomorrow.
Here’s an unrelated question, and it has to do with the future. After this coming season the Yankees have the option to bring back Abreu for another year, allow Cabrera to take over, or can turn to the free agent market. Among some of the free agent outfielders next season will be Jermaine Dye and Ichiro Suzuki. What are people’s opinion on this? Should the Yankees resign Abreu, allow Cabrera to play, or sign one of those free agents?
well i agree that it is only moe-rons who would blame Jeter for any struggles ARod has, however i think you are wrong that ppl dont blame strictly ARod for the last two Yankees’ post-season exits. It seems to be the entire focus of ppl’s ire toward him…
No to Suzuki, a very very strong and resounding no. He is a pain in the butt, constant whiner, total me-me kind of guy.
He tried to get his manager fired because the manager dared to move him to CF when the CF was hurt.
As for Dye how old would he be? Not sure that he would be an upgrade.
As for re-signing Bobby I would wait and see how this year goes. I just have a feeling Melky would play a lot more than we think and may up becoming a regular more than one of the others due to injury.
The 3 Yankee OFs are all 32. Or did Damon just turn 33? They are all about the same age and Melky is 10 years younger so I think he will see significant playing time.
Also I would expect Giambi to miss some time due to injury so one of the senior likely DH.
Why are people even paying attention to Daryl Strawberry?
A pitiful addict trying to ride the coattails of controversy as a cry for some attention he feels lacking in?
Good lord, must be a slow news day.
Alright well how about this question. Do people think Aubrey Huff would be a good 1st base replacement? And although Cashman says he’s done looking for a backup catcher, would you guys like to see Robert Fick get signed?
The crackhead felon Strawberry stirred it all up again and it is in all the news.
It had been quiet since ARod’s moronic sportswriter pals denied Jeter the MVP to show him ARod is king.
Falejandro, I cross that bridge when I get there. First I see how all those you mentioned do this season.
Sometimes you don’t need to make a move. Sometimes the move is made for you.
I just let it play out, see how they all do this year, then decide.
someone really needs to put straw out of our misery!!
Fernando, I thought Fick was a good player a few years ago. He really smacked Yankee pitching. But lost track of him. I think he was not catching so much any more but was in the OF. But I am not sure.
Huff is versatile and might be an option at 3B. Yanks really need a major league level 3B player.
I can’t seriously believe all this started here over something Daryl Strawberry said!! I mean do we not consider the source, and dismiss it based on that alone? Yikes!
Ouch, shots at A-Rod left and right today.
Fick played the majority of his games last season as a catcher, but he plays the outfield and first base as well. As a backup guy he hit .266 in 128 at bats, but that’s better than our backup catchers hit last season. He was playing in the National League but he spent his first 5 seasons with the Detroit Tigers, and even played with the Devil Rays briefly in 2004.
I think Huff would be a great first baseman. Though primarily he’s a third baseman, he’s played plenty of first with the Devil Rays. He’s batted for power, and he’s played in the AL East. The only problem is that he won’t be looking for a one year deal.
I would have no problem with Fick.
Huff turns 30 today. I haven’t seen his name linked to the Yanks in any way. The guy can hit and play a few positions. As for his D…?
The lineup is pretty much set. Whoever plays 1b hits 8th or 9th.
Others in terms of age.
Abreu…33 in March
Damon is 33
Dye 33 in January
Matsui 33 next June
Ichiro 33
Melky of course, is 22.
Remember in ALL talks of free agents the $1.40=$1.00 ratio regarding the Yanks. I know Andy advocated Clemens. I say no.
If Clemens wanted $11 million for 1/2 a season of work, that would be $15.4 million for a 1/2 a season in Yankee economics due to the revenue sharing and luxury tax. No.
Huff made almost $7 million last year.
That is $9.8 million in Yankee economics. Would you go that high on him?
Before you talk free agents, remember that ratio first.
Gotta go; be back later this afternoon.
I would go for that. We’re talking about a guy who hit 34 homeruns in ’03 and 29 in ’04. His production has gone down since then but he’s a lefty and in Yankee stadium that can only mean an increase in power. Basically I think he’s worth it.
Angel, thanks for the voice of reason. But you know we will hear this stuff for days.
And on an unrelated note, I love to watch penguins.
lol, i try to be. I’m mad at him for starting this all up again. Its so pathetic.
Penguins are amusing to watch.
Bob Saggat (i cant spell his name but Danny Tanner from Full House) has a Penguin movie coming out too. its supposed to be hysterical, kind of a Real World meets penguins, voiced over by all these different ppl…..
its a mocumentary that, based on his radio snipits and interviews should be hysterical!! for those interested:
http://imdb.com/title/tt0488539/
It does sound funny, but I see it is rated R. Not sure I should see it because it could jeopardize my innocence.
Remember in ALL talks of free agents the $1.40=$1.00 ratio regarding the Yanks.
Posted by: yankeefan1@enter.net | December 20, 2006 10:19 AM
I have a doubt. Do you know if this stuff is applied to the Red Flops too? Because, if that is the case, that japanese pitcher (not too much better than Igawa) they’ve signed, will cost them a lot more than those $100 mill.
Jorge, the Sox are still likely under the luxury tax threshold.
Especially true as they are renegotiating with Nancy Drew since he failed the physical.
This year on the Yankees he had more men on base in front of him than any other player in baseball. Nick Green blindfolded could have knocked in 105 runs.
Posted by: paul1040@aol.com | December 20, 2006 08:26 AM
Yeah, and A-rod knocked in 121. What was your point? I certainly hope it wasn’t that you were trying to downplay his production, because then you’re just inventing reasons to complain about him.
As far as I’m concerned, Bernie has earned the right to sit on the bench for as long as he wants and get paid for it. For those of you who lament how much playing time he will get, how much time did he get in 2006? Was supposed to be minimal and he ended up in 130+ games! There were years when he was still full time CF and played in fewer games. He can play the OF. He can hit for power from both sides of the plate. He can PLAY in the Bronx (a trait that MUST be given weight). How much more are you looking for from a 5th OF? And 1b should be Phillps’ to LOSE not to win. He was .988 at 1b last season and the more he played, the better he got. For the record, his fielding percentage was HIGHER than every other regular infielder – A-Rod, Jeter, Cano and Giambi all had lower fielding percentages (Phillips was in just under 100). Granted all but Giambi played more games at their positions (Cano played in about 20 more games, ARod and DJ were full timers and Giambi played in 68). Give him the job to lose. Let’s face it. If this were a year or so ago, no one would be saying “Let’s bring in someone to compete with Giambi for 1b and his glove has NEVER been stellar during his time in NY. Screw Dougie M.
And i like how no Yankees fan dare ever acknowledge Jeter’s roll in this “circus”. It’s publicly obvious that his coldness toward A-Rod is what creates a lot of the attention and distraction in the whole situation. If he were the professional and the leader everyone makes him out to be, he would put personal feelings aside, and show some ******* leadership and support this nutcase.
Goodness this gets tired. It just keeps going round and round. Point blank, Jeter can be more supportive and A-Rod can be less of a nut job. Let’s drop the issue before we waist more life on this matter.
I’m surprised no one has been talking about Aubrey Huff as a 1B option…he makes sense pretty much all around.
Btide thank you! I mentioned it earlier, but didn’t get a solid response. I think he’d do great.
I also think we should be less worried about the luxury tax issue. Wasn’t it there last season? Its the Yankees money to spend.
Haha I didn’t see your post Alejandro, but it’s good to see someone else on the same page…his price tag might be more of the reason we haven’t heard him linked to the Yankees at all…you can call me Alex by the way.
Yeah, and A-rod knocked in 121. What was your point? I certainly hope it wasn’t that you were trying to downplay his production, because then you’re just inventing reasons to complain about him.
Posted by: brianstanton87@yahoo.com | December 20, 2006 01:17 PM
_________
huh?
My point was that his acolytes always cite his accomplishments over and over because ARod is all about getting great numbers whether the team wins or loses.
The point was that ANYONE hitting in his position could knock in a bunch of runs. ANTONE.
Hence citing his numbers as the reason to keep him is a specious argument.
Inventing reasons?
Have you noticed the distraction?
Jeter did not win MVP because of ARod and incompetent sports reporters who buy into the whole ARod worship. Not just in NY but all over.
I did not invent all this ARod ****. None of this happened prior to the diasterous trade for him in 2004. At the time it seemed good. Little did I know what would happen when the drama queen arrived.
Alex, I think your right. They just want a one year guy, and Huff could get 4 or more elsewhere. I mean they didn’t go forward with Hillenbrand because he wanted two years. Otherwise I think Huff would be a solid addition.
Is ARod gone yet?
It is all I want for Christmas.
Well, maybe also let him take Johnson and Pavano with him.
http://www.progressiveboink.com/dugout/archive/b40.html
hilarious comic of a fake internet chatroom featuring jennie fince, and several yankees including scott proctor, andy pettitte, giambi, farnsworth, randy and melky.
oh and cat osterman
Jorge, I don’t know how much over that limit Boston is. I don’t how how much Boston paid out in revenue sharing. If they paid anything out, maybe their ratio is $1.07 to the dollar. I can’t answer that.
As for Straw, how would he know what the attitude is like in the clubhouse? It’s not like he’s been a daily presence in there since 1999. What he knows is the **** he reads from the media.
Umm…Bernie can’t play the OF anymore, and ESP. CF. I don’t mind him batting Righty, but lefty he doesn’t have it anymore. Power? He had 12 HR last year. Speed? He hasn’t stolen bases in a while.
If you think Bernie has “earned” the right, then we may as well bring back Paulie and Brosious.
We don’t have to worry about the luxury tax issue, but it seems like Cashman would like to cut the payroll. There is no doubt he is in charge now, and maybe he is tired of paying luxury tax and helping someone else out (or seeing them pocket the $$). Let them help themselves.
Jeter not winning the MVP had nothing to do with AROD! it had to do with ppl over valuing the twins late push into the division lead….sorry but the twins didnt win it, the tigers lost it! but that is what gave morneau the extra attention and push to make him the MVP instead of DJ
I agree with you Yankeefan1, but if it means passing on a good player then I think he’d be willing to take the hit.
Dayn Perry on FoxSports.com agrees on Huff.
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/6290182
I can cite 3 writers who stated that they thought Jeter did not deserve the MVP because of the way he handled ARod.
How absurd is that? Jeter’s on field play is evaluated based on how he related to some overinflated selfabsorbed miserable loser of a player?
Phil Taylor, Sports Illustrated
Ken Davidoff, Newsday
Joel Sherman, NY Post
If you want to read their articles search this blog or google the links.
Were there others? Sure there were if those three booobs thought it you can be sure there are others.
The ONLY way to end this all is to get rid of ARod. Now and forever.
And then please burn all pictures of him in pinstripes so we can purge the memory.
Maybe Huff could play 3B once the Yanks send ARod away for pitching.
I had originally written off Huff because of his .267 batting average and 21 homeruns. I thought Hillenbrand would do better. Then I saw his numbers in previous years and he looked much more attractive. Not to mention that Yankee stadium would boost his power stroke being that he’s a lefty.
well if those three actually said that Jeter’s handling of arod impacted how they voted, they should be stripped of their votes!! i want aware that they actually said that. perhaps i still live in days gone by where a players value was how he PLAYED. guess all along i was the naive one….
Paul, just look who those writers are. You’re going to listen to the **** they write? And lo and behold, they all write for media who live to rip on A-rod whenever they can.
I’m not trying to argue Paul. It’s just the complaining about A-Rod has gotten really old, and i know it was the Strawberry article that brought it back up, not you, but enough is enough. It seems very unlikely that he’s going to be traded this offseason unless there are some dramatic changes of heart on either Cashman or A-rod’s part, and i don’t know what would have to occur to make that happen. So instead of everyone having to fight over whether to shun or defend A-rod is just a waste of time, we’re Yankees fans and all we can do is support the team we have and hope for the best.
Brian, you are right, enough is enough as people as you continue to defend ARod against big bad Jeter.
Enough is enough, GET RID OF HIM!
Nancy Drew walked away from his contract with the Dodgers this year.
Who has a contract just like that? ARod. He could walk away after this season and the Yankees get….nothing.
So now, while some teams think he has some value, it is the time to trade him.
If he blocks a trade it should be made known.
I was on to talking about Aubrey Huff and penguins until Brian posted his
_______________
And i like how no Yankees fan dare ever acknowledge Jeter’s roll in this “circus”. It’s publicly obvious that his coldness toward A-Rod is what creates a lot of the attention and distraction in the whole situation. If he were the professional and the leader everyone makes him out to be, he would put personal feelings aside, and show some ******* leadership and support this nutcase.
Posted by: brianstanton87@yahoo.com | December 20, 2006 01:23 PM
_______________
I was in a happy place until one more time Jeter is blamed. How stupid is this?
are we all from maryland today? Because we sure are crabby!
ba dum ching!!
OH I GET IT VINCE!!! IT’S A JOKE!!!! AAAAHAHAHAHAHA
well paul, you of all people who have been here for so long and so frequently should understand that when anybody comes in and rants or raves about A-rod, someone else is going to argue. People such as me will defend him (which doesn’t mean i refuse to see that he is a distraction, at no point did i deny that) whenever people such as you attack him. Getting rid of him isn’t the only way to end it all and you know that. If he and Jeter can stop acting like children and just come together, it will do wonders. If he sticks around one more year and finally performs in October, it will do wonders. Frankly, i’m just concerned for the well being of the Yankees and i don’t want the failure of the A-rod experiment to forever plague their reputation, and i don’t want to constantly hear it from Boston fans. If they give up and get rid of him, that will happen. I’m just an advocate of keeping him around until he leaves on his own or his contract is up so he has the maximum time to prove himself, because honestly if he can patch things up with the clubhouse, i’m not going to complain about having a 30-100 guy in the lineup everyday. He’ll continue to be a distraction as long as the writers and the readers make it a distraction. He struggled at the plate but still had a good year production-wise, every hall of famer has gone through a period like that. It’s the media who make such a big **** out of it when it’s not necessary, so i don’t blame A-rod.
I’d just rather see him prove his worth as a Yankee then leave on bad terms and be a blemish on the Yankees renowned history.
And Paul, of course Jeter is going to get some blame, he’s earning it. To not acknowledge that would be ignorant, and i’d like to give you a lot more credit than that. Do you HONESTLY believe that it would be this much of a distraction if Jeter wasn’t involved? You cited yourself that they talk about Jeter and the whole deal a lot!
haha thank you alex, you can see me in Las Vegas in a few months….though my routine is about two and a half seconds since that is my only joke.
Haha whatever works man.
hmm….Perry mentions Fick as well…
later … more to do…
are we all from maryland today? Because we sure are crabby!
ba dum ching!!
Posted by: yankeevmm@yahoo.com | December 20, 2006 02:16 PM
The trunk will be expecting you.
Keep it going, brian, and call me ignorant if you wish.
Does ARod owe you money? Are you a relative?
Not sure I can explain such bizarre sychophantic behavior.
hahaha…..must order international plane tickets…
Oh come on Andrew, I KNOW you’ve seen those shirts in that rest stop that has a roy rogers, bobs big boy and some sort of pizza place
Is Arod gone yet?
is that all we are known for?? crabs?? we also have some great beer!! but no one mentions that….only STDs
I used to like Roy Rogers, the actor that is. As a kid I used to watch the Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show.
But then I saw him with one of those whacko fake religious loons and lost all respect.
hahahaha i meant the animal mikee hahahahaha. Didn’t know about your beer though.
Roy rogers was my first two words.
fine, forget it paul. i guess i thought you were a reasonable person and could have a discussion but if you wish to resort to personal attacks then forget it.
there are a few decent micros here, though there are a few horrible ones too….natty boh comes to mind
personal attacks? You called me ignorant.
What is to discuss? You love him for some insane reason and I can’t see it.
ARod must go.
So you see, Gnome, there are seemingly reasonable people who blame Jeter for ARod’s failings. You see it right here.
i DID NOT call you ignorant. I said to not acknowledge that would be ignorant. If there’s nothing to discuss then don’t ******* talk about it. God man, what is with you? I thought you were better than that, in the past you’ve given talked to me about not criticizing people’s fanhood and opinions, and yet you come at me and basically tell me that i’m ridiculous for having my legitimate opinion.
and god ****** paul, i see you telling peopel to READ what you said a lot, so how about you READ what i say? I didn’t blame Jeter for A-rod, i blamed Jeter for part of the distraction.
Paul:
You know very well A-Rod won’t go nowhere but Yankee Stadium.
And I don’t like it when talking about A-Rod turns into personal attacks between the members of this great family. And Brian and you are between the top original members.
Let’s try not to affect our friendship with this stuff. We’re much better than that.
omg andrew what was the site like dailymotion.com…..scrubs was removed from this one
“would someone tear these two apart this is a factory not a circus I run a business of refute I am the mayor of this town”
You are right about letting it get personal, Jorge. Good advice.
But Jorge, I think and hope he will be traded. Otherwise he will walk away after 2007 and another failed year and the Yankees will get nothing.
His agent Boras did it with Drew and will do it with ARod.
This year on the Yankees he had more men on base in front of him than any other player in baseball. Nick Green blindfolded could have knocked in 105 runs.
Posted by: paul1040@aol.com | December 20, 2006 08:26 AM
Paul, I hope the Nick Green comparison was not meant to be taken literally, but you keep bringing up the men-on-base-more-than-any-other-player argument, so I have to stick this in. Nick Green had 28 AB’s with men on base and got 4 RBI. At that rate, if he’d had as many AB’s with MOB as A-Rod, he’d have had 42 RBI.
A-Rod hit .293 with runners on base. The league avg. was .283. The average hitter would have had 79 RBI from AB’s with ROB with the same opportunities as A-Rod. A-Rod had 105.
If you want to use the “team distraction” argument, okay. I don’t agree that’s a good reason to trade A-Rod, but at least it’s a subjective judgment. But if you try to argue production/statistics, it’s a losing battle. Based on production, A-Rod was as good or better than any other 3rd baseman in baseball.
Andy, Nick Green was holding back to make ARod look good.
My mistake, you said “blindfolded”. My stats are based on open eyes. Maybe blindfolded Nick Green would bat 1.000!
Yup. He has the force!
He IS the force.
With 80 homeruns too! Nick Green bats more powerfully blind folded.
wow….yup…ok well im out for the day….chowdah!!
mm I could go for some chowdah….that or chickarina soup, the much more superior soup.
Speaking of food, has anyone been to Mariano Rivera’s steak house? I’m thinking of going in February.
whwere is it?
http://www.mosnewyorkgrill.com/
Save your money before you go.
The reporters who went said it was nice but it is not cheap.
I think a steak is about $400.
makes sense, mickey mantles place isn’t cheap either.
Okay, trivia time.
a) With what home run did Babe Ruth become the career HR leader?
b) Who held the record before him?
c) What 2 other memorable HR feats were accomplished by that previous record-holder?
I don’t know the answers to your questions, but typically the answer to all Yankee questions is Derek Jeter. Final answer.
There was a career HR leader before the Babe? I thought he invented HRs.
Was it Ty (corn on the) Cobb?
Sorry, Chris Berman, not Cobb.
Was around #121…Somewhere near there.
Ned Williamson (27 HR in 1884)?
Nor was it Scott Supercalifragilisticexpeali-Brosius or Jim Two Silhouettes on Deshaies.
Correct on single season, Mike, but I’m looking for career.
Not Williamson, then I think it was a guy named Connor.
George Connor or something like that.
b) Roger Connor.
Close….You giving me credit on that?
Yeah, I’m easy.
Ha. I’m one of the few who ever heard of Roger Connor LOL
…It was around #121 that set the all-time record. I’m within 5 homers on that, if not dead on.
Not within 5, sorry.
Don’t have time to look it up right now.
Besides, refreshing is taking forever.
We need a NEW THREAD!
a) With home run #139 Babe passed Connor.
If Nick Green were alive then he would have had the record.
c) Roger Connor also hit the first Grand Slam in MLB history and hit the first HR over the wall at the old Polo Grounds.
Paul, isn’t this where Vince or Andrew usually chime in with something about how they’re surprised you don’t remember, since you were probably there?
Hmm, looked it up. More than I thought.
Numerous rule changes when Connor played. Too numerous to list, but a very different game.
When Williamson hit 27 in 1884, the RF fence was only about 200 feet away.
Back then most of the HR’s were inside the park.
Paul, you should remember since you were there.
ha ha Andy. There is room for you, too, in Andrew’s trunk.
Heck, in my book Lost ballparks, which talks about Hilltop Park (Washington Heights section of Manhattan, where Columbia Presbyterian Hospital now is) it states the dimensions of Hilltop Park (Highlanders’ home 1903-1912) home as follows:
365 down the LF line
542 to CF
400 down the RF line.
Lawrence Ritter author.
Lost Ballparks is a good book about the old parks.
Green Cathedrals is another good one.
Paul isn’t connor your son?
Heading out.
Later.
Alex? Swo? You guys want to pile on?
posted by paul: “No to Suzuki, a very very strong and resounding no. He is a pain in the butt, constant whiner, total me-me kind of guy.
He tried to get his manager fired because the manager dared to move him to CF when the CF was hurt.”
that’s actually patently untrue. ichiro moved to center towards the end of the season, and when he did so it was because he asked hargrove if he good. he had been reluctant to play center previously, but never attempted to get hargrove fired.
the guy is selfish and numbers-motivated, and a whiner, but that story is absolutely false.
regarding a-rod: i hope he gets traded too, but i wouldn’t hold your breath.
“he asked hargrove if he good”
good=could. i’m an idiot.
I think Andy, Vince, and Andrew could all fit in Andrew’s trunk.
At least you did not mention Brian this time, Paul. A good sign
If you want to use the “team distraction” argument, okay. I don’t agree that’s a good reason to trade A-Rod, but at least it’s a subjective judgment. But if you try to argue production/statistics, it’s a losing battle. Based on production, A-Rod was as good or better than any other 3rd baseman in baseball.
Posted by: ataustin@aol.com | December 20, 2006 03:02 PM
AMEN, Andy. That’s why I’m sure Alex will stay with the Yankees for MANY more years. Because he is one of the best players of this generation. As simply as that.
I don’t plan to mention him again, Jorge. He is done.
Time will tell. I remember when you had a great dissagreement with our dear Angel. And now, thank to God, you both talk to each other again. I REALLY hope that will happen between you and Brian. As I said before, a baseball argue CAN NOT be a friendship rupture.
C’mon. You know I absolutelly disagree with you, when we talk about Alex Rodríguez. And I will always disagree because you won’t change your mind, as I won’t change mine. But we still talk to each other. That’s the point.
The Yankees will not win til he is gone Jorge.
Pile on about what, austin? I’m not sure what you’re talking about, but that’s only because I’ve been sitting on the sidelines waiting for the A-Rod talk to finally subside. It was frustrating during the season and it’s no different after the fact.
But whatever. That’s a moot point now, and I think most people have agreed to just let it go. So whatever.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. The offseason has slowed down massively for the Yankees recently, and it’s getting to us all! Hopefully something somewhat interesting happens soon so that we can all overanalyze it. 😛
Jorge, people can disagree, but it depends on the way it is done.
Like that kasey person. He started name calling. He is done.
Well, I have felt no need to respond to prior sputum from him but suggesting what I wrote about Suzuki was baseless made me google it because I knew I was not imagining it.
http://www.baseballthinkfactory.org/files/newsstand/discussion/newsday_heyman_ichiro_hargrove_feud_may_benefit_yanks/
Yankees/Mets notes from Jon Heyman…
“Whatever it takes” is basically [the Yankees’] standing offer for Ichiro in hopes that his feud with manager Mike Hargrove could be impetus to a trade… Newsday has learned that Hargrove and Bavasi recently proposed trading Ichiro and that Ichiro suggested Hargrove’s firing, which should make for an uncomfortable spring reunion.
___________________________
I was pretty sure I did not imagine it and I used to regularly read Heyman’s column in Newsday before he went to Sports Illustrated.
I also read that Suzuki also resisted moving to CF. I googled it only to find repeated blog backup but not a news story. I likely read it in a Ken Rosenthal column.
lol we’re all making fun of the fact that Paul and Benjamin Franklin met when they were both teenagers…or you know, something along those lines
Vince send me some pictures of Benjamin.
The ones with 100 in the corners.
Here is another link to a column on Ichiro not being happy with the manager.
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/5977660
I am now finished supporting that point.
Has ARod been traded yet?
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! And you know VERY WELL he won’t
Is Paul finished yet?
😛
Anybody knows if Kei Igawa had his physicals today? Or, at least, has he arrived to New York?
paul,
i’m not saying you made up the ichiro thing or imagined it. i’m saying those “reports” proved to be false. he was unhappy with the club’s losing and wanted changes made because he hates losing, but he never demanded that hargrove be fired. it was all over the radio out here. the reports were exaggerated.
paul, i apologize for “namecalling.” i’d hope that we’re both mature enough that we could have a discourse on a BASEBALL BLOG without continued feuding. i have nothing against you, aside from occasionally disagreeing with your opinion.
i’ve certainly got nothing against you, but if you insist on ignoring me because ONE TIME i called you a naughty name, feel free.
i’ve been called names by many on this blog, and for good reason. i’ve incited more than my fair share of arguments. it’s fine. people are passionate about the game and this team. i would think most people on the blog would understand that sometimes people say things that aren’t especially polite when discussing things.
either way, your “taking the moral high ground” approach would be a lot more valid if you hadn’t immediately mocked me in response and then decided i was “done.”
at any rate, i’m sincerely sorry if you honestly can’t handle being called a naughty name. i’ll try to refrain from using that kind of language when responding to your posts.
and no, a-rod hasn’t been traded. he’s not going to be traded. and you say I’M a broken record?
Is it bad if I’m tired of looking at those types of Benjamin Franklin pictures because I count them in thousands every day at work?
wooooooooooo, 17th in the country baby! highest ranking ever!
Paul I’m confused a couple weeks ago you took defense when I said something along the lines of you “hating” A-Rod. Now here you are again practically demanding that he be traded and stating that the Yankees won’t win again until he is traded. What information do you base that on? A-Rod wasn’t with the team 01-03 amd yet the Yanks didn’t when then either.
I have to ask what did Alex do to you personally? You seem to have it out for the man for having a “bad” by A-Rod standards season.
Igawa is at home!!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061220&content_id=1765277&vkey=news_nyy&fext=.jsp&c_id=nyy
Finally
But life still goes on i can’t get used to livin without livin without livin without you by my side, i don’t want to be alone, god knows got to make it on my own so baby can’t you see i’ve got to break freee.
We need lots of Igawa pictures. That way the upper deck people could have lots of pictures, and when he pitches they could put up his picture with
Kei–Kei–Kei–Kei for each of his strikeouts.
The best one I remember is when Cone got bitten by that little dog in 1998 and they put up pictures of the dog for each of his strikeouts. Cone had to miss one start. Guess who made that start?
It was El Duque’s major league debut.
Yeah, Kasey “naughty names” crush me. I wept for days after. My point is it was not a necessary part of civilized discourse.
I cross the line myself also but need to be reminded it is not the way.
We will move forward.
Now, Jonnia… which part of I do not hate ARod do you still not understand?
I absolutely do not like him. But marginalizing anyone who recognizes his deletrious effect on any team burdened by his presence as an ARod hater is pointless.
I think I explained in great detail above why it is my opinion he must be traded so I will not repeat them here.
I don’t think it is true that they cannot win a title while A-Rod is on the team. They may or may not. But, I think they would improve if they did deal him if they can get some value in return. If they could deal him and get maybe a packaged headed by Santana from LAA I think it would be worth it. Pitching is the name of the game these days.
-Ben
OK, looks like it was an interesting day on here. I don’t want to beat a dead horse, but I’ll throw in my two cents.
I will begin by saying that I am a very stubborn person. Even though I was furious at A-Rod for his performances, there is not one third baseman out there I would want over A-Rod.
As I have said several times, this team should be good enough to win without A-Rod. It wasn’t. Teams have won with considerably less talent. To say the Yankees cannot win without A-Rod is a very strong assumption that I would generally associate with someone else on this blog whose commentary I did not enjoy. Please do not sink to such levels. There is a large difference between ‘I don’t think they can win with A-Rod’ and ‘They cannot win because of A-Rod’.
I also think that putting ANY blame on Jeter for this mess is preposterous. Who are we, people sitting at computers thousands of miles from New York, to understand a very private situation, or to tell Derek how to run the clubhouse that he is, after all, the captain of? We don’t really know what goes on between Derek and A-Rod. Not even the reporters do. Only they, and maybe a few other players, do. Certainly not Darryl Strawberry.
Like him, don’t like him, hate him…whatever your opinion is, A-Rod is not going anywhere for the next 4 years. We have to learn to accept that. A-Rod knows his legacy rides on what he does over these years, and he’s not going to give up his opportunity to win on the greatest stage.
I’ll close with a quote from Mickey Rivers, who offers some very insightful, Yogi-esque wisdom.
“I don’t worry about the things I can’t control, because if I can’t control them there’s no reason to worry about them. And I don’t worry about the things I can control because if I can control them, there’s no reason to worry about them.”
DNA, RNA, Gene Expression, Operons, and everything related can go screw themselves.
mmm double helix
“Yeah, Kasey “naughty names” crush me. I wept for days after. My point is it was not a necessary part of civilized discourse.
I cross the line myself also but need to be reminded it is not the way.
We will move forward.”
right on, right on.
Forget Robert Fick. He re-signed with the Nats. A minor-league deal.
Cashman says he is not looking for backup C. I gotta wonder why, when you had a Barajas, Fick and (still out there) Todd Greene on the market.
I’m not sold on Nieves and Chavez.
At 35, Jorge needs to stay healthy and productive.
this seems like the perfect “cant we all just get along” speech moment….but im not good at speeches so lets go with “New thread, new thread!!”
What abt a guy like todd greene, i know no one likes the majority of whats out there, but talk abt a guy you might be able to grab on a one year deal, numbers arent bad (159 AB’s, .289 avg, .335 Ob, .428 slugging); defense wasnt bad for a back up(11/31 CS; .995 feilding). anyone else have an opinion??