Monday, July 07, 2008

No time, so I'll make this quick:

Great game pitched by Moose. Let's give him an extension on his contract!

It pains me to say it, but Mr. Rasner's time in the bigs is probably over. 1-7 his last 8.

Next year, Chamberlain will be the Ace of the staff, and Wang can take his rightful position as the best #2 in the league.

Melkey Sucks - piss poor quality ABs are driving me nuts.

Gardner came through last night which is good I want him to do well. But the fact that they are sticking with him while he is batting beneath .100 tells me perhaps there is not a future with the team for Shelley Duncan.

Bats came alive after Joe G. got bounced - it is about time Joe - you were hired to show some fire out there.

These last 6 games before the break are the season.

Sabathia to the Brewers? Who saw that coming? At least they are going for it, with the revenue sharing system, more smaller market teams need to be making moves. Big risk for them, hope it pays off.

No Mets starting in the field at the ASG - and that's a good thing.

And The Rays, just completely and totally disrespected by the voting system of the ASG.

31 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looks like the Yankees missed the boat on dealing Melky. I read a couple of articles over the weekend that indicated teams have noticed his precipitous decline offensively and where he was once sought after, teams don't want to touch him now.

Let's talk about the ASG. How does Jason Varitek with .218 BA & 7 HR make the team while 11 game winner Mike Mussina gets snubbed??? Other snubs how about Derek Lee? 1B in the NL was deep this year with Pujols, Berkman, and Adrian Gonzalez but Lee is batting .305 15 HR and 53 RBI.

I'm tired of this every team needs to be represented too. Usually truly deserving all-stars are left off just so a team can be represented.

The Scooter said...

Mid, Shelly Duncan is on the shelf. I think it's a shoulder injury and I think he may be out for the year. Bad break for him as he probably would have gotten another opportunity with Damon on the DL. I think they called up that kid (Justin Christian?) to take his spot, but I really like what Gardner brings to the table....good defense, really good arm and some blazing speed. If he keeps the ball on the ground, he might be a Brett Butler type for the Yanks and enable them to move Melky at some point, although Damon's injury assures that Melky will be a Yankee for the remainder of the season.

I have seen enough of Darrell Rasner. At this stage, could Igawa do much worse? (I hope Prof doesn't see that).

I loved the fire by Girardi, the dude has a lot of Pinella (and by proxy, a lot of Billy Martin) in him. The team certainly responded to his tactics last night.

Just as important as last nights win was the fact that they did it off of Paplebom.

Now it's time to sweep the Devil Rays. (I refuse to call them just "the Rays").

57 said...

David Wright was snubbed from the ASG as well. Anyone from Colorado that makes the AST is a joke...rarified air. David Wright should be the starting 3B.

**

Go Mets! 2 of 3 in Philly so far with a very important game tonight with Pedro on the mound. The best part of the two wins in the past two days is that the Mets had to truly work for it in the late innings. Wagner threw a meatball to Wurth with two strikes and two outs to tie the game. However, three weeks ago, the Mets would have lost that game... but they are starting to compete... even Beltran is playing harder. The Mets are going to make a run from here on in. If they win tonight, they are 2.5 games out of first place.

Crash, Oliver Perez is going to have 17 wins by years end. Watch.

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A-Rod's wife files for divorce today. She says that her husband has left her emotionally vacated. Whatever. Women...can't live with them....pass the beer nuts.

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Anyone happy with how Girardi handled the media on Thursday? "ITS BETWEEN MY TEAM AND ME".. I kind of liked it and the 'journalist' who retorted with "Im sure the 4.5 million people that come to the games would like to know".. kind of pissed me off...

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Go pick up New York magazine. Completely nude photos of Lindsay Lohan posing as Marylin Monroe... UNREAL.

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Reyes' offensive numbers are better than Jeter's to date.

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That's it, im done.

old professor said...

Help may be on the way for the Yankees. Ian Kennedy has been activated from the DL. He has been sent to Single A for the start of his Rehab. Hopefully he can be back within the next two weeks. He has to be better than Rasner or Ponson. Gardner will hit, not for power, but he will hit and steal bases.

Sabathia to the Brewers - Parity has reached MLB. They aren't going to try and sign him either they are looking to catch some lightning in a bottle and ride he and Sheets to the playoffs.

Yankees are out of the running for the Eastern Division. They will have to really work to make the wildcard.

Mussina's snub to pitch in the ASG is unfortunate. I don't think there is another pitcher in the AL that has shown his consistency. Let me try and get this straight - Mid is recommending Mussina for an extension. Varitek got on the team because he was voted on by the players.

Oh and San Antonio is very very hot this time of year. 95-98 everyday.

57 said...

Remember the Alamo.

old professor said...

The next few days could be very important. Yankees play the Rays and the Red Sox play the Twins. The Yankees or Sox (or both) could find themselves out of the running for the division and way behind in the wildcard.

And 57, the Alamo is very small, it gives you a good idea of the ineptitude of the entire Mexican Army when they could not overrun the grounds of the Alamo and kill off a couple of hundred misplaced people from Kentucky.

57 said...

sounds like Iraq to me.

Anonymous said...

Wow I didn't even catch that Wright was not going to the ASG. That is bad. Why do they carry 3 catchers for the ASG???

I refuse to believe the Yankees are done in the East. I think they play Tampa 8 more times this year and Boston 9 times. If they take care of business in these 2 games coming up, it could undo a lot of that confidence the Rays have built up so far this year, and play a role when the play later in the year when it means a lot more. It definitely goes the other way too, if the Rays walk in and blow out the Yankees they'll be tough to beat later in the season.

The Scooter said...

Rays will come back to the pack.

Who cares about David Right? Mussina being left off the roster is the biggest snub.

57 said...

A-Rod had a pre-nup. Smartest move he's ever made.

Anonymous said...

pre-nups don't help with child support...

The Scooter said...

I have a feeling that Cynthia is still going to do very well, 57.

old professor said...

Mid, you speak with the same the glass is half full nonsense as you did when you were pontificating about Karstens being the next big ace. The Rays are playing solid defense, they are getting quality starts from their starters and offensively they will score a lot of runs. The only thing that will bring them back to the pack is if their starting pitching begins to wear out because of logging so many innings early or there is one or two injuries to the rotation.

It will also be interesting to see if they are active in the trade market. I do not believe the Yankees have the offense or rotation to catch the Rays. If Kennedy and Hughes were healthy and contributing as they had been touted to, then they would be tough.

Anonymous said...

This little 2 game series with the Rays could do 2 things. It either says the Yankees are still contenders or they can pack it up and wait for next year.

Which could lead to the Yankees becoming buyers or sellers in the trade market. Could Damon, Melky, Rasner, Betemit, Moeller, Hawkins, Farnsworth, Karstens, and/or Igawa all be "on the market" after this series? I think Damon has a partial no trade, but other than that everyone else on that list is in the clear.

I think Farnsworth and Hawkins may become expendable if Bruney is coming back sooner rather than later. Not sure of the return value though.

It's interesting to note that the Yankees have approximately $85M coming off the books at the end of this season. I think I read somewhere that Cashman wanted to have the payroll down to about $150M next season. The payroll trimming may begin a little early if they think they are out of contention.

57 said...

Break up the Mets. 3 of 4 in Philly, and only 2.5 games out of first with San Fransico and Colorado (AT HOME!) before the break. It is possible, stop me now, that the Mets could be in first place with 50 in the 'W' column come Sunday night. We can only hope!!

old professor said...

Crash, regarding the money coming off of the payroll for next year, the amount cited includes Giambi and Mussina. If both of those individuals continue to have monster seasons (Mussina winning 19-20 and Giambi hitting 35 homeruns), they could both be back in the payroll and I don't think either will come with a hometown discount.

As for your trade list - Hawkins is a definate even if the Yankees believe they are still in the hunt. Farnsworth has been (pardon the phrase) reborn with Girardi and may find himself back in pinstripes next year. Rasner and Igwa have not panned out and have no trade value, though Seattle was interested in Igwa (only because of Japanese ownership).

Damon is on the shelf and will be through the trade deadline. The one large chip they have to trade is the young infielder currently at triple A - Gonzalez. In his few trips to the show, he has been very good defensively and has shown sense at the plate. (Did I mention that LA and Joe Torre are looking for a shortstop?). However, he does appear to be the heir apparent to the current shortstop in NY.

Anonymous said...

Giambi will have to come at a discount, nobody including the Yankees will pay him anywhere near $22M next year. Mussina will have made $13 this season. I don't care if he does win 20, the Yankees will not offer a contract at that amount...he'll be 40!!! Maybe they offer him $6.5-$8M and go with incentives after that. Plus you have to figure in the free agent market. With both Sabbathia and Sheets on the market, why give a 40 year old that money when it can go toward getting a much younger ace.

You could have #1 Sabbathia and/or Sheets, #2 Wang, #3 Joba, #4 Hughes, #5 Kennedy. Talk about a young rotation, and your top 3 are studs.

I say and/or Sheets bcz if you don't resign Pettitte you have that much more in the bank for another great pitcher. Signing both would be amazing...Hey I can dream.

The Scooter said...

Great win.

Pettitte pitched like an ace and Prof's favorite player pretty much singlehandedly won the game with a HUGE two out, two RBI base hit and a sparkling play from DEEP in the hole for a forceout at second to end a Rays threat.

THAT is why he is your All Star shortstop.

57 said...

Mets. BIG win, and Pelfrey is pitching tremendous baseball in his last 8 starts. Beltran shows up in the first with a three run nock, and the Mets would never look back.

Give a lot of credit to Jerry Manuel who is managing very well and resting players that need it in order to be fresh for big games.

1.5 games back of first. Another 14 hits tonight and 102 hits in the last 8 games. THAT is tremendous. LOOK OUT NL!!! We're back!

**
I have to admit, I was surprised by the Yankees score... i did not see the game, but as we said before, whenever Petitte pitches, Jeter usually does something. Its not coincidence anymore... they are in love.

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Do they A's EVER want to compete ever again!?!? Bad trade with Chicago!

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Would it NOT be great if we learn that Jeter has been sleeping with Cynthia??? Straight out of 'Major Leauge' when Vaughn slept with Dorn's wife.

old professor said...

Crash, regarding your dream for next year's rotation, Sabathia will stay in the National League (as he has said many times before, he wants to bat as well as pitch), Sheets is having a career year, but when you look at his overall career, he has spent a lot of time on the DL. As for Hughes, two seasons in the bigs and more than 60% of the time has been on the DL - talk about fragile. Kennedy may be the sleeper in the whole thing if he ever gets his head on straight. Chamberlain may be the big stud of the rotation, but the jury is still out. While he has overpowering stuff, he has not been real consistent. He seems to blow people away quickly and then will have a 30+ pitch inning, which necessitates the pen by the sixth.

Scooter, the guy that actually put the game out of reach was none other than Melky with his BIG homerun in the eighth inning. That Jeter is the starting shortstop tells you a lot of young kids from NY went on line a voted him in. These are the same brainless idiots that voted for David Ortiz even though he has not played in a month and dare I say it didn't vote for David Wright.

57 said...

I'll vote for Giambi if you all vote for Wright. It's only fair.

Anonymous said...

First in case you missed an entire season of posts let me sum up by saying MELKY SUCKS. Unlike Old Prof, I don't care that he hit a meaningless HR in the 8th inning. Contrary to the old man's thought process, the game was already locked up going into the 9th with the lead. Melky had a chance to help his team earlier in the game but he struck out 3 times, once while failing to get down a sack bunt.

Hopefully, this is something to get Melky going. If he can finish the season with a .275 Avg with 10-15 HRs, maybe the team could trade him with some value in the offseason. Everyone will remember a strong finish and not a crappy first half.

Instead of throwing praise on Melky, how about giving it to the man who pitched, Pettitte looked awesome. Mussina and Pettitte are on pace for 20, the Yankees will need them to continue if they have any real shot at contending.

I can't believe we have Ponson starting tonight in what could be a very crucial game for the season. I hope Ponson steps up and can have a Pettitte-esque performance.

Anonymous said...

I just read this and had to come back and post it...Carl Pavano threw 30 pitches in a BP session yesterday. It's his first pitches since surgery. He threw some curveballs and fastballs. As comparison, Phil Hughes hasn't thrown from a mound yet.

Could we actually see Pavano in the Bronx before Hughes???

Last year at this time I was celebrating that his time in pinstripes was done. Now I'm hoping he can comeback this season and contribute to a late season push. If he pitches well in 1 or 2 big games, helps the team make the playoffs, all would be forgiven.

old professor said...

Crash, I would think by now you would be able to think without regurgtating your sibling's rants about the current Yankee Centerfielder. Last time I checked, he was the only logical choice for the position. As for the game being iced with a two run lead, get real. And as a special note the term is Sac Bunt not Sack bunt - the word is short for sacrifice. (Guess I need to take some of the blame since I supervised the building you graduated from).

As for Pavano, he has been throwing a baseball for a few weeks now. He is expected to return in August. Hughes on the other hand is not expected back until sometime in September if then. Kennedy has started his rehab session at Class A.

I do have to agree with you (though it pains me to do so) regarding Ponson. He is very hittable and if not real sharp will have a very short night in the Bronx (if he gets lit up, he will be gone before the end of the week and Geise will be back in the rotation).

old professor said...

Just read the article on the Harden trade to Chicago. Is it my imagination or did the Cubs get two quality pitchers for marginal players. Somehow, I believe the Yankees could have put a better deal together for Harden than what Oakland got from the Cubs. Only big knock on Harden is his health, five times to the DL since 2005.

Anonymous said...

So for the typo on Sac(k)...that's what happens when you type with emotion (usually anger when talking about Melky).

Harden is hands down an ace when he takes the mound. You just don't know if he'll take the mound. The A's get 2 young OF that are or will be better than anyone they have now, except for Carlos Gonzalez. Murton and Patterson just need time in the bigs. That OF just got speed, avg, and a little bit of pop.

Love the ESPN headline on the Yankees game: "Jeter clutch as Pettitte Yanks blank Rays."

Don't forget day game today. Overrated Jeter turns a pretty decent DP in the 1 inning.

57 said...

Melky had a chance to win the game, but blew it.

Anonymous said...

MELKY STILL SUCKS!!!

Bottom of the 9th, man on 3rd, with a chance to win it and he strikes out. Unreal. All he had to do is put the ball in play.

How many times will Girardi put him up there in clutch situations before he learns, that Melky can't hit.

Anonymous said...

Luckily overrated-Jeter and Abreu were there to pick-up for the ineptitude that is Melky and the Yankees sweep the Rays in the 2 game series.

The Yankees are not done yet.

The Scooter said...

Thoughts on the game:

First, the bad...

Melky is an absolutely horrible hitter. His defense does impress me, but his stock is dropping faster than the housing market in Vegas.

After watching Gardner for a few games, he looks totally over-matched at the plate. Let's hope all he needs is an adjustment period because I really like his speed and his arm.

Now the good.....

Ponson. What can you say...six strong innings today. That makes 2 out of 3 quality starts. I'll take that from my #5. Cashman gets props for taking the risk.

The Bullpen. Shaping up to be one of the best in the league. Yea I said it...a bullpen with Kyle Farnsworth in it among the best in the league...Pigs are flying.

Abreu. Professional hitter.

The CAPTAIN. Won last night's game by himself (ok, he got a little help from his buddy Andy), and scored BOTH runs in today's game. So to review, he is the biggest reason for the Yankees two most important wins of the year. The guy is MONEY!

I said it before and I'll say it again....The Rays will come back to the pac (or is that pack, Prof?)

The Scooter said...

This is from Fox Sports...I knew there was a reason I liked the kid:

Yankees' Gardner: A rare breed

Ask Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner to name his favorite player growing up, and he gives an unusual response:

Pete Rose.

Not that Rose isn't worthy of emulation, but his final season was 1986 — the year that Gardner turned 3.

Gardner, though, says he admired Rose's passion, and tries to play with the same verve.

"It doesn't matter if I hit a groundball to the pitcher, I'm going to run 3.9 or 4 flat to first," he says.

Yankees officials say that Gardner and Class AA reliever Mark Melancon possess "Derek Jeter makeup" — the ultimate compliment within the organization.

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