Archive for October, 2007
Mariano Rivera has made it known that Joe Torre’s fate is closely tied to whether or not he is likely to return as a Yankee next season.
“I don’t feel good about it,” Rivera said Wednesday, two days after the Yankees were eliminated from the playoffs. “I don’t see why they’re even thinking (about letting Torre go). I wish he’s back, definitely. If you ask me what I would want, I want him back.”
Rivera’s contract also is expiring and he is eligible to become a free agent. He said whether Torre returns will help determine whether he remains with the Yankees.
When asked if the Yankees were his first choice, regardless of the Torre situation, Mariano would not comment. It is clear that Mariano was upset by the treatment he received from the Yankees in refusing to negotiate a contract extension, and it appears that he is further perturbed by the seemingly indifferent and callous treatment that Torre has received over the last week or so.
It’s really going to hurt to see Mariano go, current rumors send him down towards Philadelphia - but expect Boston to make a run at the greatest closer of all time as well.
October 10th, 2007
According to an article in the NY Daily News, Tony LaRussa is being considered as a potential replacement for Joe Torre as the New York Yankees manager, instead of current bench coach Don Mattingly or former Florida Marlins manager Joe Girardi. It is also being rumored that, should LaRussa join the Yankees, he would likely bring along with him pitching coach Dave Duncan - the father of Yankees youngster Shelley Duncan.
In the other soap-opera-like Yankees offseason situation, Alex Rodriguez’ agent Scott Boras recently explained why he feels that A-Rod is worthy of a new, even larger record-setting contract. In addition to being the likely American League MVP, Boras describes A-Rod as a "IPN" player (a term Boras seems to have coined himself).
Boras described Rodriguez as an IPN player. That Boras-devised term means:
1. Iconic, “that he’s an iconic player, he comes in there and increases the brand value, increases the attendance of the franchise.”
2. Performance, “Nationally, people look at Alex completely differently than they did back when he did his contract . . . People really understand now that this player has the ability to break many of the records in baseball.”
3. Network value, “that’s really the new part here, the value that he adds to the regional network.”
October 10th, 2007
Obviously, there will be some changes in the Bronx this upcoming offseason, the first of which will be the search for a new skipper, and secondary will be the circus which is the A-Rod sweepstakes…
Joe Torre
Has to go, sorry. In the last 4 years, it has been apparent that Joe does not have control over his overpaid and "star"-laden lineup. Gone are the days when the Yankees played disciplined "small-ball", and we are relegated to waiting for homeruns, not to mention some of the god-awful decisions Joe has repeatedly made regarding our pitching staff (only Willie Randolph has exhibited a worse understanding of his bullpen than Torre).
Alex Rodriguez
Is gone, like it or not. If he opted to stay under his current contract, I’d say keep him, but only a great fool would walk away from somewhere in the range of an additional $5-10M per year. Even if Alex is a great fool (I don’t think he is, and have been just fine with his performance as a Yankee) Scott Boras is not. Let us wish Alex luck in Chicago…
Mariano Rivera
I would likely resign him, unless we are willing to move Joba to a closer role rather than groom him to be a starter (hey, it worked with Papelbon). Even though Mo isn’t what he once was, I just couldn’t stand to see him with a "B" on his cap - and don’t think Boston wouldn’t sign him just to keep him off the Yankees (a la Eric Gagne).
Jorge Posada
This is the only no-brainer re-sign in the group, Jorge has had a tremendous Yankee career and this was arguably his finest season.
Roger Clemens
It is likely that Roger will retire after this season (real retire, not his usual kind), but even if he doesn’t I can’t foresee the Yankees re-signing the Rocket. Roger has been indispensable this season in terms of morale, and I wouldn’t mind seeing him as a pitching coach somewhere - likely Texas.
Doug Mientkiewicz
A vacuum at first base, but not much of a bat, unfortunately Doug will likely suffer from the Yanks not re-signing A-Rod since we will need to offset the lost offense that Rodriguez is likely to take with him. I also would love to see the Yanks also part ways with Jason Giambi, a liability both in the field as well as at the plate.
Bobby Abreu
Has a reported $16M club option, and we should jump on that - Bobby perhaps is the only consistent, professional hitter on the Yankees this year (perhaps Derek Jeter too), and is the model for the type of players that we will need in order to compete once again for a World Series championship.
Andy Pettitte
Another $16M option, but this one is a player option, Andy has proven that he is indeed the big-game pitcher for the Yankees and is invaluable as a veteran lefty in Yankee Stadium. $16M sounds a bit high, but have you seen what else is available in terms of left handed pitching??? There are some rumors that have said if Roger and Joe Torre aren’t back, Pettitte may retire.
Available Free Agents
Here, have a look for yourself, who do the Yankees go after this offseason?
October 8th, 2007
Well, if you took my odds on Mike Mussina as the game 4 starter, I guess I’ll have to owe ya - I’m good for it, really.
More than ever, I cannot understand what Joe Torre is doing with the New York Yankee pitching staff - why did Roger Clemens start game 3 with Mike Mussina in much better shape and on a roll, if we were not going to "Moose" for game 4? I also was a bit concerned with using Joba so long last night, but I cannot fully bring myself to say that I would have brought in anyone else, so I will let that go - until, of course, we need him tonight. In a game that you are up by 5 or so late, we should only use Joba OR Mariano, but certainly not both.
Let’s hope we need neither of them tonight (in a good way)…
October 8th, 2007
After watching Derek Jeter throw the ball away in the first inning last night, only to somehow avoid the E6 on a rather questionable "homer" call, I happened upon this rather fitting article over on ABC.com.
Here is an article that discusses whether or not Joe Dimaggio’s 56 game hitting streak is truly legitimate, and poses the rhetorical question that is also the title of this post - does "the streak" deserve an asterisk? The article discusses the relationship and questions the impartiality of the official scorer for some of the games - Dan Daniel.
Specifically, Robbeson cites two games in the middle of the streak, the 30th and 31st, when DiMaggio managed just one hit. In each of these games, the hit was suspect and could well have, and perhaps should have, been deemed an error.
The first involved a bad bounce that hit off the shoulder of shortstop Luke Appling after he reached for it. Hits and errors were not immediately recorded on the scoreboard so, Robbeson writes, some spectators believed the streak had come to an end. Daniel, however, called it a hit.
The 31st game of the streak involved a fielding play that was also arguably an error on the part of Appling, who got his glove on the ball, but dropped it. Again Daniel scored it a hit.
So, does Joe D deserve an asterisk? Of course not, although you would have a better chance convincing me (with video) that this record is tainted due to the outside influence of a third party than you could for Barry Bond’s 756 and counting.
As a matter of fact, for all the Barry haters, I have a proposition - for each and every one of Barry Bond’s homeruns - anyone who can prove that Barry was on a performance enhancing drug that was banned by baseball at that time and can prove that the pitcher he faced was not on any PEDs, we can lobby to have that homerun erased.
Plus anyway, all you Barry Haters, he isn’t even the all-time homerun champ - that belongs to Sadaharu Oh, or do we still hold the view that the Japanese League is well beneath the MLB (even though their players come over and play just fine in the "bigs" and Ichiro is the best player in the world, not A-Rod)?
Records are nothing more than statistical anomalies, important only in terms of lore and legend, but fun to argue about for sure.
October 8th, 2007
Despite an expectedly poor showing from Roger Clemens, the New York Yankees and Phil Hughes beat the Cleveland Indians in game 3 of the American League Division Series and forced the only game 4 of any divisional series this year.
No official word on the Yankees game 4 starter yet, but good money is on Mike Mussina with Chien Ming Wang available as a stop-gap long reliever on short rest if need be. It was also heartening to see the Yankees bats come alive somewhat, and did anyone else notice that Joe didn’t make the same mistake with runners at 1st and 2nd with nobody out like in game 1, and how did that work out again?
One thing that I must get off my chest is the utter uselessness of Jason Giambi, who still refuses to hit the ball the other way - something he did in Oakland back when he was a singles hitter and not so concerned with that short porch in right field (y’know - pre-Balco). At this time, Jason is only useful in pinch hitting situations when men are on base and they cannot shift the entire team to just half the field.
Before today’s game, Mike Mussina addressed the press and advanced the notion that it is the players and not Torre that are responsible for the outcomes of the game, and tonight that was true as the Yankee bats were able to pick apart the #3 starter for the Indians. Facing Byrd tomorrow, the Yankees certainly have a puncher’s chance, and Mussina has been solid of late.
The problem is game 5, when Andy Pettitte will have to battle with either (or both) Carmona and Sabathia, and just as in games 1 and 2 many of Joe Torre’s (in)decisions will heavily affect the outcome.
October 7th, 2007
Well, 2 games into the playoffs and I can’t begin to wrap my head around what Joe Torre has been thinking. Honestly, lately he looks more like Willie Randolph - just sitting there, watching the game from the best seat in the house, unaware that he is supposed to be orchestrating the strategy but rather just waiting for someone to get a hit, or an out (poor Willie is still waiting for that).
Why didn’t Derek Jeter bunt in the 5th inning of game 1 with 0 out and men on 1st and 2nd?
And, no "Derek is too good a hitter" crap here - a "good" hitter hits .333 or so for the season, which means he makes an out 2 out of every 3 times. (and also, part of that average is hitting against and feasting on some pretty bad pitchers on bad teams throughout the season - not playoff teams.)
Since the most likely outcome of the at-bat is an out, the best play is to use it productively and advance the runners - then, the next batter (Bobby Abreu) comes up with 1 out and men on 2nd and 3rd, a better situation for a batter and more pressure on the pitcher (especially with A-Rod on deck).
Why was Jorge Posada swinging 3-0 when Sabathia hadn’t thrown 2 consecutive strikes all game?
Remember when we played patiently, using small-ball to manufacture offense and punctuated it with timely homeruns (usually from unexpected sources). It is clear that then Yankees are not as disciplined a team as they have been in the past, that is the fault of the coaching staff and management.
Why did we surrender and put in Ohlendorf, and if we surrendered then - why did Hughes pitch later on in a blowout?
This is the time for Vizcaino, if he holds it together and we mount a comeback then great - if not, then use Ohlendorf - but to waste Phil Hughes in a meaningless moment will come back to haunt you…
What was Vizcaino doing pitching in a tie game in the 11th inning, why not Hughes or Mussina or even Clemens?
When you put in Mo in a tied game, there are only a few things that can happen - we score, hold them and win, they win, or Mariano pitches 2 innings and then needs to be replaced. Knowing this, why not get Mussina up and throwing (Hughes was wasted the night before, but would also have fit well here).
Why is Rocket (Roger Clemens) starting game 3?
No disrespect, but Roger is finished and is more suited as a long or stop-gap reliever at this point, he just doesn’t have the "stuff". This should be Moose’s start, or maybe even one for the "Bottle Rocket" (Phil Hughes). I also have concerns about starting Jason Giambi at 1st from a defense perspective, but I will admit his numbers against Clevelend (and particularly Westbrook) are pretty decent - perhaps a worthwhile gamble, until a ball goes by Giambi at a critical juncture…
These are just some of the things that have likely lead George to tell Joe Torre: Win or Go Home.
October 7th, 2007
According to reports on Newsday.com, it appears that "the Boss" is back in form. After a rather quiet season from Mr Steinbrenner, relatively speaking, George has apparently told the Bergen Record that anything less than a comeback from 0-2 will cost manager Joe Torre his job.
“His job is on the line,” Steinbrenner told the Record. “I think we’re paying him a lot of money. He’s the highest-paid manager in baseball, so I don’t think we’d take him back if we don’t win this series.”
Assuming, arguendo, that the Yankees cannot pull off the comeback and Joe Torre is indeed fired as the New York Yankees Manager, who would you like to see take the helm? Most observers believe that Don Mattingly is the heir apparent, but until he lands elsewhere I wouldn’t rule out (and happen to prefer) Joe Girardi.
October 7th, 2007
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October 7th, 2007