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A Look at the Enemy 2008-03-13 19:18:00 Since Spring Training is well under way I thought it would be a good idea to check out arch rival the Boston Red Sox and see what their spring stats reveal;Both Jed Lowrie and Jacoby Elssbury are below the Mendoze line(.086 and .194 respectively)Julio Lugo and Coco Crisp are both banged up (6abs for Lugo and 4 for Coco)Buchholz is getting hit(9.35era)Once super prospect Craig Hansen sucks(13.50 era)Okajima is still getting lucky(7ip no runs) Read more:Enemy
New Season, New Manager, New Attitude? 2008-03-13 08:12:00 Shelley's slide (see below) was a touch over the top. It was blatant and could have gotten the Rays' second baseman hurt, so I am not really condoning it. What I am hoping it shows, however, is a new attitude for the team this year.For far too long we have been the buttoned-down, corporate Yankees who have been pushed around far too much. For far too long the Pedro Martinezes and John MacDonalds of the world have gotten in our faces and challenged us with impunity.In addition to representative performance, I believe that a certain attitude has been something missing from the Yanks and contributed to our lack of post season success.It's time to actually BE the big bad Yankees again. It's time for us to start not only beating the snot out of the competition, but also doing so with the attitu Read more:Season
, New Manager
Basebrawl 2008-03-13 07:42:00 Add the Rays to the list of teams that the Yanks will have interesting games against this year.
2008 Predictions 2008-03-17 08:23:00 As we are a couple of weeks from 1st pitch of the 2008 season, it's time for our 2008 predictions:March 31 - The Yankees rotation consists of CMW, Pettitte, Hughes, Moose and IPKBullpen - Mo, Farns, Hawkins, Joba, Veres, Ohlendorf and TraberMarch 31 - Red Sox pitcher Hideki Okajima's soul begins serving its sentence of eternity in hell as payment for the 2.22 ERA and 0.97 whip achieved in 2007 with an 86 MPH fastball and mediocre secondary pitches.April 15 - Alex Rodriguez blasts his 12th HR of the young season.April 15 - Manny Ramirez mysteriously disappears for 4 days. It is later revealed that while visiting a hospital for the 'Mentally Challenged' Manny was mistaken for a patient and held in a rubber room for 3 days. The director of the Center apologized but stated "We tested him thoro Read more:Predictions
Where do I send my resume? 2008-03-18 10:55:00 I promise...I do not have a personal vendetta against Jon Daniels.Consider the following -Travis Hafner - Traded by the Texas Rangers with Aaron Myette to the Cleveland Indians for Einar Diaz and Ryan Drese.Adrian Gonzalez and Chris Young - Traded by the Texas Rangers with Terrmel Sledge to the San Diego Padres for Adam Eaton, Akinori Otsuka, and Billy Killian (minors).Alfonso Soriano - Traded by the Texas Rangers to the Washington Nationals for Brad Wilkerson, Armando Galarraga, and Terrmel Sledge.Carlos Lee - Traded by the Milwaukee Brewers with Nelson Cruz to the Texas Rangers for Laynce Nix, Kevin Mench, Francisco Cordero, and Julian Cordero (minors). November 24, 2006: Signed as a Free Agent with the Houston Astros.Travis Hafner, Adrian Gonzalex, Chris Young, Alfonso Soriano, Kevin Me
Projected Standings 2008-03-18 10:47:00 For anyone who missed it Basball Prospectus came out with their projections for 2008. Here is how they have the AL East breaking down:NY Yankees 97 WinsBoston Red Sox 90Tampa Rays 89Toronto Blue Jays 78Baltimore Orioles 66The Yankees have exceeded their Pecota projections for the last two years and the Rays have significantly underacheived theirs. However, they probably have the most accurate projection system out there and 7 games is a significant number. You need a subscription to access the Yankees page but the Red Sox' is free . The issue with the Red Sox is PECOTA sees their pitching as extremely average after Beckett, and their hitters don't project to be anything special.
Dance, Papi! Dance! 2008-03-18 06:44:00 From Mark Feinsand:Pettitte didn't deny the pitch to Ortiz was intentionally thrown inside, but he insisted it was for strategic purposes, not in retaliation. "There's no doubt I backed him off. You can't just lay it over the plate for him to hit it," Pettitte said. "You have to move the ball in and out, hopefully make him feel uncomfortable in the batter's box. He's a great hitter, so you have to pitch him inside to get the guy out, that's for sure."One of the biggest criticisms of Joe Torre's Yankees over the past few years was their refusal to pitch inside to Ortiz, who has torched the Bombers for a .321 average, 14 homers and 51 RBI in 209 at-bats over the past three seasons. Whether Pettitte's pitch had a purpose or not, it proved to be effective, opening the door for more of the same Read more:Dance
The Rotation 2008-03-22 07:39:00 Now that Wang has been made the opening day starter and Joba has been officially put in the pen Joe Girardi can solidify his rotation. The easy thing to do would be to make the rotation the following;1-Wang2-Pettitte3-Mussina4-Hughes5-KennedyThere is one major problem with this rotation - the three guys who are not going to be work horses are back to back to back( and a belly to belly....sorry couldn't resist). This is going to result in a lot of back to back days for the pen and could really take its toll as the season rolls on. So the Yankees would be wise to do the following;1-Wang2-Hughes3-Pettitte4-Mussina5-KennedyThis puts the pitcher with the most limits on his innings(Hughes) between your two horses, hopefully reducing the back to back long nights for your bullpen. Spreading out Read more:Rotation
Rethinking Joba in the 'Pen 2008-03-25 08:03:00 No one debates that the Yanks are a better team in 2008 with Joba in the 'pen. Having the ability to shorten games to 6 or 7 inning affairs can be a huge benefit to a team (see 1996). The Yanks (and 99% of the blogosphere) are rightly adamant, though, that eventually, 200 innings of a special talent like The Beast as a starter are far better than 80 to 100 innings as a reliever. I am starting to believe, however, that Joba should spend all of 2008 as a reliever.First off, Joba recently pitched for the 1st time this spring as a reliever. He needed all of 15 pitches to strike out the side showing his trademark 99 mph heater. Pitching as a starter, Joba was consistently 92-95 conserving bullets in an effort to maximize his innings. As a starter Joba's ERA this spring was 6.14. In his relief s
Time to Panick...Mo's DONE! 2008-03-25 07:46:00 and Arod's gonna play for free...27 batters faced, 11 strikeouts, ONE walk...that's just Mo being Mo!
99% of Baseball Reporters are Members of Red Sox Nation 2008-03-28 07:56:00 Rant time -The anti-Yankee media bias is once again driving me nuts. There are 2 kinds of Yankee-killing pieces. The first is the kind that attempts to have a reason why the Yanks stink and the Sox are the best team ever. From Yahoo -(the Sox are)...one of the best rosters in recent memory. Better than the Yankees, who are counting heavily on young pitchers and aging position players...Sanity check -Starting lineup average age Yanks - 28.7 years; Sox - 28.4 yearsRotation average age Yanks - 29.0 years; Sox - 29.0 years(I included the older Yankee lineup with Hmat at DH and Giambi at 1B. If you put Duncan at DH the Yankee lineup is actually 28.1 years average - younger than the Sox'!)Both teams employ older veterans, veterans in their prime, and youngsters in both the lineup and rotation. H Read more:Reporters
, Members
, Red Sox
, Red Sox Nation
Expert Predictions 2008-03-28 04:40:00 Here is breakdown of some of the experts out there and what they predict in 08 for the Yankees;Yahoo - All three "experts" predict Yanks miss postseasonSI - Yanks first in East, losing to Tigers in ALCS. Verducci actually has the guts to list last years predictions too.ESPN - Yanks 2nd in AL east by 4 out of 5 expertsFoxSports - No predictions just a team breakdownAnd the NY papers picks;Daily News - Out of 8 writers 3 say Yanks win WC, 1 Division and 4 predice we miss the playoffsLoHud- Yanks miss playoffsI will update later as I expert a couple more released today but not an optimist outlook for your 2008 Yankees.Update: Add XM radio to those picking the Yanks to miss the playoffs and Craig Carton of WFAN.It's actually kind of nice to be the underdog for once. Read more:Expert
, Predictions
Can Everyone Calm Down on the Devil Rays Please? 2008-03-27 16:23:00 OK, I know the Devil
Rays have some good young talent and some serious prospects in their system but the future is not now. I came across this article on TSN about the AL East Starting pitching. He uses PECOTA projections to compare the staffs. He goes on to say;"Tampa Bay, however, stands a good chance of becoming the class of the AL East. The Rays show strength in eqERA and innings pitched at every level."Now we also have seen the Devil Rays actually picked ahead of Toronto and Boston in certain projections lately. But let's take a step back and look at some numbers;96 - the Number of loses by Tampa last Year944- The number of runs given up by TB last year, worst in MLB (Almost 300 more thenBoston!!)30- The number of games back the Rays were at the end of the year0 - The number of inning Read more:Please
Edward Salcedo 2008-03-27 16:12:00 There has been a lot of chatter in the Yankee blogesphere about EdwardSalcedo
and now we hear he might not be 16 after all. Also, the Yankees think he has signed with Cleveland. According to Yankee's Director of Latin American Scouting via Yankees.scout.com;"He has signed with the Cleveland Indians for $2.9 Million. They evaluated him as that type of player and they're just waiting for clearance from the consulate."
Fare Thee Well, Ikky 2008-03-26 11:00:00 I have a few flaws as pending GM of the New York Yankees. First, I am totally enamored with 'stuff.' A pitcher with a 95+ heater and a nasty secondary pitch will always look like the second coming to me. I tend to overrate stuff some of the time.This has lead me to love the likes of Kyle Lohse and Jeff Weaver, but it has also lead me to draft a young reliever named Johan in my FLB league in 2003 and to be screaming for the Yanks to make a deal with Pittsburgh for a young Jason Schmidt.A second flaw is my refusal to accept the premise of the 'injury-prone' player. For the most part, unless a player is in poor condition or is Carl Pavano, I typically see injuries as arbitrary occurances that typically are unlikely to recur.The combination of these 2 flaws results in my constant yearning for
Boston's Lineup 2008-03-26 10:29:00 Looking at the Boston
lineup the last two days I can't help but feel their offense has really takken a big step down the last few years. The still have the big duo of Ortiz and Manny so they will always score runs but in order for their offense to be elite those guys HAVE to be great, not just good. Really look at the lineup from today;PedoriaYoukilisOrtizRamirezLowellMossVaritekCrisp LugoBesides Manny and Ortiz that lineup is pretty weak. Even if you swap Ellsbury for Crisp and Drew for Moss its a lienup you can pitch to. Their pitching has to be very good or they might be on the outside looking in this playoff season. ....
Bullpen Thoughts 2008-03-26 09:29:00 Some random thoughts on the Yankees bullpen;Kyle Farnsworth - Has anyone else noticed his decreased velocity? I noticed it last year particularly in the first half and the information at fangraphs backs it up. In 2006 his average fastball was 96.2 MPH, in 2007 94.7. Still plenty of giddy-up but not like it was. He has always relied on having an overpowering fastball, and the dip in velocity could help explain his alarming drop in k rate ( 2006 10.23, 2007 7.20). Watch his k rate and velocity early, it could be a sign he isn't the old Kyle.Scott Patterson - The guy has earned a spot. He has allowed 1 batter to reach in 6 innings this spring. If it really was an open competition he would be in.Edwar Ramirez - He has the second most strikeouts of any Yankee pitcher this spring (12) and has sh
Lacking Integrity 2008-03-26 08:50:00 Living in NY we have a number of choices for daily newspapers -Newsday is very Long Island centricThe NY Times is the epitome of a liberal propaganda ragThe Village Voice is a decent paper (though they go beyond the Times on some issues), but doesn't really cover sportsWhich leaves, outside of the very small independents, the NY Post and the Daily News. Both of these papers are called 'tabloids' due to the sensational nature of their content, headlines and reporting. No paper is worse, however, than the NY Daily News. It should therefore come as no surprise when today's headlines read: "A-Roid?"The News is referring to allegations in Jose 'Money-Grubbing Scumbag' Canseco's new book that somehow tie A-Rod to steroids.We all knew Canseco was going to try and bring A-Rod into the steroid fing Read more:Integrity
The Time has Come 2008-03-30 06:29:00 Today I woke up determined to spend an active day with the family; playing with the kids and talking with the wife.Tonight I will kiss them all goodbye and tell them baseball is here so I will see them in November.
A Sad Man 2008-03-29 07:29:00 A must read on our dear friend Jose Canseco, by Pat Jordan
Young Starters 2008-03-28 13:09:00 A common theme in why the Yankees will miss the playoffs is the youth of their starters. However, if you take a look back at last year it was no different. The Yankees had the following "unproven" starts;Starts - Player13 - Phil Hughes12 - Kei Igawa6 - Tyler Clippard6 - Matt Desalvo6 - Darell Rasner3 - Ian Kennedy3 - Jeff Karstens2 - Chase Wright1 - Sean Henn52 Total Starts by unproven Pitchers, of those 30 by pitchers with ERAs over 6 (in red). You have to expect at least a mild improvement from Hughes and if you increase his total to 25 starts he will absorb most of the 18 starts by Clemens at slightly above league average (Clemens had ERA+ of 107).So that leaves about 40 starts needed by Ian Kennedy and Joba Chamberlain. You have to expect that those two can at least match the output
A-Rod Saga is Over 2008-04-02 04:35:00 Based on the introductions last night and the general level of drama surrounding A-Rod this spring I really feel that the A-Rod soap opera is over. He has become simply the best player on our team and is no longer going to judged at bat to at bat. He isn't even the main story line this year, that is the performance of the kids. Jack Curry over at the times disagrees but this is just another case of how the mainstream media misses the point. Curry title his article "Rodriguez’s Opt-Out: A Mess That Sticks" but actually makes no concrete argument that the mess has indeed stuck. As a Yankee fan, and a former A-Rod hater, I can say that this is a non-story to me. A-Rod is here for 10 years and is the best player in baseball. The opt-out and drama of the offseason is no longer a story and
Melky Love Returns 2008-04-02 04:28:00 All through the offseason the conversation centered on keeping The Big Three. The question was always is Santana worth Hughes and Kennedy? Should we trade our pitching future for the here and now? The forgotten man in all of this was Melky Cabrera. Melky is one of those players who is worth a lot more to the team then his stats might say. He has the ability in infuse enthusiasm and energy into the corporate Yankee atmosphere and has a clear flare for the dramatic. I was reminded of how special a player Melky is last night watching a crisp, clean Yankee win and I just can't help but be grateful that the Sanatana trade fell through. I understand this season might have to be sacrificed while our young pitchers get settled, especially in the postseason, but the energy of Melky combined with Read more:Returns
2008 Predictions - Baseball Version 2008-04-01 07:53:00 We previously made our predictions for Yankee-land, but it is time for my (Bombers GM may disagree) 2008 standings predictions.AL EastYankees 97-65Red Sox 91-71Blue Jays 89-73Rays 82-80Orioles 52-110AL CentralTigers 101-61Indians 95-67 (WC)Twins 84-68Royals 81-81White Sox 75-87AL WestMariners 92-70Angels 90-72Rangers 81-81A's 75-87NLEast - PhilliesCentral - CubsWest - D'BacksWC - MetsAL PlayoffsMariners over TigersYankees over IndiansNL PlayoffsPhillies over D'BacksCubs over MetsWS - Yankees over CubsCy Young-AL - Rich HardenNL - Johan SantanaMVP-AL - A-RodNL - Derrick Lee Read more:Predictions
Trade 1 Bloggers FLB 2008-04-01 07:43:00 As you may know, I am in a fantasy league with some other Yankee bloggers (check out the league here). The first trade of the season was accepted yesterday and I'd like to know what you think.I send Bill Hall and Huston Street to Bronx Blockers for Curtis Granderson and Ted Lilly.As I had Street, J. Soria and B. Wagner, I could afford to trade a closer, and with John Lackey on the DL I needed another starter. With K's/9 and XBH as stats I like Lilly and Granderson a lot.What do you think? Read more:Trade
Offensive Slumber 2008-04-06 07:20:00 The Yankees are now 2-3, so much for avoiding the slow start this year. Last year was started with an exact mirror 2-3 record but the Yankees scored 6, 9 and 10 runs in three of those games. In all 5 games this year they have scored 4 runs or less - that matches the longest such streak from last year(April 24-29). Also, they only had three streaks of scoring four or less in at least 4 straight games all of last year. Also, immortals Andy Sonnanstine and Edwin Jackson basic shut down the Yankee attack so the argument used while facing the Jays about facing good pitching no longer hold true. Offensive
slumps always look worse in the beginning of the year so lets just hope the pitching continues to be serviceable and the offense will come around.
Ikky was...well, Ikky 2008-04-05 08:18:00 No need to panick...yes, Ikky got lit up last night.The one thing you can take away from his terrible performance is that it was completely due to a lack of command that he did so poorly. If Ian had his control and got smacked around it would concern me a bit. The fact the he couldn't put any of his pitches where he wanted allows me to chalk it up as a night where he just didn't have it.I think we'll see Ian perform much better Wednesday at KC.
Game 7 Notes 2008-04-08 07:28:00 An excellent start for Moose last night giving up 1 run and 2 hits through 6 innings. He did a very good job of keeping Rays hitters off-balance by varying the speed and break on his curve and using his change more than in his last start.Even though the offense scored 6 runs last night, there is a developing trend worth worrying about. The Yanks saw an average of just 3.25 pitches per at bat last night allowing Hammel to throw just 88 pitches through 6 innings. The typical patient approach at the plate has been mysteriously absent so far this year. Definitely something to keep an eye on.Robbie Cano took a 1 for 4, but hit the ball much better than the box score indicates. Based on his at bats lately I expect he will break out very soon.Matsui is hot to start the season. Could this be the y Read more:Notes
The Good, The Bad and the Ugly 2008-04-09 12:53:00 The GoodWang looks awesome. In winning half of the Yankee's games so far The Wang has shown no ill affects from his post season meltdown against Cleveland. A heavy sinker, good velocity and has even shown a better than usual k/9 ratio of 5.54.Matsui is off to a nice start hitting .357 with 2HR and 6 RBI.Bobby A - .379BA, .438 OBPBruney - 3 games no ER and NO WALKS! Maybe there IS something to this 'in-shape' stuff!The Beast - 1 hit and 4 Ks in 4 IP, future staff Ace, but current bullpen dominator!Mo - 3 games, 3 saves 1 hit and 4Ks...just Mo being Mo!A-Rod - Before the dreaded 'Golden Sombrero' yesterday, Alex was at .320 with a .930 OPS; not blistering, but definitely contributingMelky - His .294 average is overshadowed by his .400 OBP.Molina - Seems to hit the ball hard every time up.Ohl
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