Sunday, February 17, 2008

My thoughts for the week. . .

Look, I have hated Pedro Martinez since he moved to Boston a decade or so ago. With that said, his recent comments have me rethinking my position on him, and am feeling much more respect and appreciation for this guy. For those that missed it, he pointed out he was able to dominate the Steroid Era without the "funny fuel". Yes a shot at Roger, but it is in fact - true. Looking at his ERA, # of CY Youngs and his Winning %, I'm of the opinion that perhaps he is the best pitcher of the modern era instead of Clemens. - any takers on that one?

Oh the Irony of Carl Pavano. In addition to him being a lifetime member of the DL, he was almost the reason why another player would be making a stop there as well. LaTroy Hawkins tripped and fell in the clubhouse. He ended up being OK I guess. The culprit? Hawkins stumbled on what turned out to be a duffel bag that was left in the middle of the floor in the locker room. The owner of the bag was the same person who left it there, our boy, Carl Pavano.

We've talked a lot about how our projected starters could do in '08 in terms of anticipating a solid rotation (Mussina, Hughes, Pettitte, Kennedy, Chamberlain, and Wang). We've talked about how the 2nd line of defense looks should one of those guys go down (Karstens, Steven White, maybe even Chase Wright). Only on rare occasion have we bothered to bring up the name Kei Igawa. Granted for good reason. But, it seems to me every pitcher has a one year adjustment to NY. Maybe his adjustment was a little harder to take given it was a move to a different part of the world. So, who knows, maybe in his sophomore season he can deliver something that has major league stuff this season. I'd be satisfied with a handful of spot starts and an ERA under 4.50.

One thing is for sure, we are heading into the Spring loaded with a lot of arms - quanity or quality?

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think Pedro is in the conversation, let's not overlook Maddux or Smoltz. I probably would say Maddux, Pedro, Smoltz are 1,2,3 respectively.

Did anyone else see that they took the Clemens jersey out of the Yogi Berra Museum. It was part of a display honoring the '90s dynasty years and they removed it do to the steroid allegations. I hope there's more of this to come for Roger, he looks like an idiot, and will look even worse when he has to read the his "apology" for lying to us, a la Marion Jones.

It's good to see Farnsworth in the right state of mind heading into camp. Hopefully he can get on track. If he sucks again, he's out of excuses now that Torre is out of town.

After tomorrow's media circus with Andy Pettitte, hopefully we can begin following "baseball" and not all of this other garbage. I think the first pre-season game is on YES the first week of March. I actually like watching the later innings of the pre-season games because you get to scout out the young kids.

Can't wait for the season to start.

old professor said...

Camp is open and the season is just around the corner. Don´t have to worry about what is on at night once the season starts. Will be tuned in to YES neetwork every nightl Pettitte will survive though he will have to work on the mental edge he has been known for.

57 said...

I have to agree with Pedro Martinez on this one. I would not put Smoltz in there... I think his career would have been shortened if he did not spend as many years as he did in the pen. He is good, no doubt, but I think there might be some other pitchers that were better than Smoltz..Beckett has won more championships than Smoltz has...and Maddux for that matter.

The Scooter said...

Wait a minute...Do you all still consider Bonds the best hitter of this generation? Because if you do, then Clemens is still the most dominant pitcher.

Anonymous said...

Who said anything about Bonds being the best hitter? I"ve never said that. Wait, last post I said best HR hitter - as in the one who has accumulated the most HRs from a stats standpoint only.

I think that Griffey now has to be in the conversation for the 90s and first part of the 00s and that Pujols and A-Rod from on all around standpoint will take the mantle.



This past week, NY'ers voted on their most favorite and hated sports figures. The most hated was the owner of the Knicks, followed by Kyle Farnsworth - ouch!

Anonymous said...

I wouldn't even put Bonds in the conversation for best hitter. I think right now you have to go A-Rod and then Pujols. If you go back to when the steroid era began Griffey is hands down the best hitter, and perhaps best all-around player. Don't forget he was winning gold gloves in CF. Too bad he started getting injured, because he may have been in the conversation for the best player ever.

On a side note, if you are a fanatic like Mid and feel the need to watch the Super Bowl over and over again but forgot to set your DVR, the NFL Network has game replays, where they essentially cut all the crap out of the game so you can watch the whole thing in about an hour. You can buy the NFL Network Super Bowl replay on iTunes for $3. They have interview clips throughout the game discussing the big plays, some pre & post game interviews. Not bad for $3.

57 said...

Question is, who picks up K-Rod at the end of this season? My money is on the Phillies or Red Sox.

Anonymous said...

Question is - who gives a shit about K-Rod?

Pettitte's press conference was a waste of time.

The Scooter said...

Mid....K-Rod is the Yankees next closer.

And as for Pettitte..he can frame it however he wants to and fall back on his "Christianity" all he wants......A RAT IS A RAT IS A RAT!

57 said...

Petitte's new name is Andy Bompensero

Anonymous said...

K-Rod is no where near the Yankees for their next closer. In case everyone forgot they signed some old guy named Mo for 3 years. So it wouldn't matter if K-Rod was available next off season or not. The next Yankee closer comes from within the organization, and I'm not talking about Joba.

Anonymous said...

My line of thinking is that Humberto Sanchez or Joba is next once Mo hangs up the cleats.

I will become a Nationals fan if the Yanks sign K-Rod..

Anonymous said...

The closer of the future is Mark Melancon. Watch him in the spring games. He'll most likely be sent down, probably AA, but you could see him shortly after the All-Star break coming out of the pen, kind of like Veras and Ohlendorf did last year. He's coming off TJ surgery, has a plus fastball, curve, and change.

I know Old Prof would screaming right now saying "What about Alan Horn?" He will start the season in AAA as a starter, and then be brought up most likely for the bullpen help, unless there is an injury in the rotation and/or Kennedy, Hughes, and/or Igawa doesn't cut it this year in the rotation.

Middle Relief said...

Uh oh -

It has not been too many times in my life that what I am about to type, has actually ever been typed.

Old Prof may be right on a topic concerning the Yankees.

Mystery man Alan Horn is in the Top 5 for Yankee prospects, and that top 5 list included Chamberlain and Kennedy.

I'm not one to include those guys as prospects anymore - they are given in my book. That means that this Alan Horn is rated as the third best prospect - wow. (Tabata and Austin Jackson were the other two).

Is the sky falling????

Anonymous said...

I think they classify you as a prospect as long as you still qualify for ROY. That's more than 50 IP or 130 ABs. That's why Hughes is not considered a prospect as he pitched 70+ innings last year, and Joba is rated the #1 team prospect, he only pitched 24.

That's the same reason guys like Jose Contrares, Ichiro, Matsui, and Dice-K can be classified as "prospects" when they come over.

Anonymous said...

why? why is pedro martinez not exposed? the most hated man on Yankee land is..clean *sigh*

great post by the way

CopyGhost said...

I argee with what Middle is saying 100%, but I still hate Pedro.

57 said...

Oliver Perez wins arbitration...$6.5 million vs. the Mets offer of $4.75. Perez better nut up this year and offer more consitency.

K-Rod gets $10M in arb. How do these arbitrators quantify this? Why are they always on the side of the player and not the team?

57 said...

future... because the man is pure talent.

Anonymous said...

57 K-Rod actually lost his case. He was asking for $12M.

57 said...

thanks Crash. I stand corrected.

57 said...

As a frequent used of this site, I feel it only fair for it to be as fair and balanced as possible. With that, I submit my request for the Mets website added as a link.

Thank You.

The Scooter said...

REQUEST DENIED!!!!!!


Oh sorry, I forgot this wasn't my blog.

Mid, we all know that your will do the "right" thing.

Anonymous said...

The content committee has recieved the request, and will take it under advisement. . .

Anybody watch the Oscars?

Anonymous said...

I watched about 20 minutes of it. Saw Javier Bardem give a speech in Spanish for his mother. I thought that was kind of cool, here's a top actor at the Oscars, and he doesn't bring some hot piece of ass as his date, he brings his mom.

I have to see "No Country" and "There Will be Blood". I've always thought Daniel Day-Lewis was under-appreciated as an actor, glad he won.

Anonymous said...

I think the Daniel Day Lewis pick was a make up call for not giving him the award back for his performance in Gangs of NY.

old professor said...

Okay, now that I have returned from Cancun and can use an English keyboard let me get involved in these discussions. First, Mid agreeing with me may have caused the earthquake in Indonesia (mid, it won't change the percentages associated with inheritance).

As for Pedro, in his prime he was the most dominant pitcher in baseball. The last two years, he has been a shell of what was.

Regarding Pettitte's coming to Jesus statements, I could be wrong, but I believe he is Jewish not Christian (might be wrong on that one, but....).

Chamberlain will not be the next closer for the Yankees. He will become a starter this year and be in the rotation for a long time. As for Sanchez, let's see if he recovers from the surgery and can throw in the upper 90s again.

By the way the weather in Cancun was great. (Last Tuesday, high winds put the windchill at about 80). Having said that, I will never fly Northwest Airlines again. They have to be the worst of the worst. All flights delayed planes were not clean and I don't need someone to give me a fake smile and say thank you for your patience on the flight being delayed TWO HOURS because the pilot broke his seat!!!.

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