Kly, I re-read, and keep getting stuck.



Giambi also hasn't been horrible either. They haven't won a championship with Mike Mussina either, but I don't think that was a bad signing. Giambi's contract was one of poor foresight, I agree, but I don't think individually that Giambi, Sheffield, Mussina, or Johnson were specifically the reasons why this team hasn't won since 2000.



A-Rod is a class a-choker. I have no excuse, other than some guys can handle the big spotlight, and he seemingly can't. That being said, the Yankees don't even touch the playoffs last year without his monster run. He carried the team for an entire season.



The problem is that those hype and spectacle signings were never followed through with either a better supporting cast or restocking of the farm system. Kei Igawa may be a total piece of garbage, but he didn't cost anything other than money. Those signings I don't care about so much.

The Yankee team, as composed for the last 5-7 years, has not been well-constructed. They lack a true leadoff hitter. They lack a true #3 hitter. Their cleanup hitter has stage fright. The back of the order is always mending some sort of injury. More egregiously, the pitching rotation has been woefully unaddressed, even up to this year, despite the addition of Chamberlain and (a couple of years ago) Wang, who was a total surprise.

Cutting the dead weight is key. But signing prized free agents - the three of whom I've mentioned - is only going to help bring some more composure to a team that sorely needs direction. With Sabathia, a rotation that might finally be able to compete in the AL East. With Teixiera/Burrell, a true first baseman and #3 or #5 hitter. With Manny Ramirez, the feared bat and clutch ala Reggie Jackson.

This merely complements what is a core that while good, requires the trimming of the fat. At least 5-7 starting players (pitchers and position players) need to go this offseason. They have to be replaced with better quality.

All I ask is this:

Does the addition of C.C. Sabathia help to stabilize a fragmentary Yankee rotation?

Does the addition of Mark Teixiera bring stability to a position that has been lacking both offensively and defensively for the past 3 seasons?

Does the addition of Manny Ramirez provide a significant offensive boost to a team that is anemic with RiSP?

If the answer to all these question is yes, then with the money and players coming off the books, I see no reason why these are not viable options for improving the team. If they aren't, then I'd like to hear what would be your recommendation to improve the 2009 Yankees?

So, after watching the game gift-wrapped and given to Toronto last night, I admit that I scratched my head and asked myself, "Johnny Damon in Center Field? When everyone knows that his arm is gone, gone, gone? Why was Melky Cabrera not in center field? Who made THAT decision? Where is he again?? Oh, that's right! He's been sent to the MINORS!!!!!!!!"

Yeah, pretty much. I can't really reconcile that, other than the Yankees (and many bloggers) basically think their #9 hitter is the problem with their order.

Incidentally, A-Rod says it's time for the Yanks to start pressing...

Yeah, A-Rod has always had a grasp for the obvious.

Yes, Melky is to blame that ARod and Damon are the pretty much the only batters hitting over .300 this season. Ridiculous.

I haven't paid much attention the past few days... are you SERIOUS??!! Melky??!!! W-T-F is going on over there??!

I wonder what Torre's thinking about it, if anything. I mean, we still have a better record than the Dodgers, but they're only 1 game back in their division. We're freakin' 11 (6.5 Wild Card) -- in AUGUST?!!

I have nothing against Girardi, and I know that the Yankees have had their share of injuries and problems, but I can't help but feel that Torre would have found a way to win DESPITE the problems. He always did in the past.

I dunno, Babe. I love Torre, but this team is just too OLD in too many places. If they get younger (and I'm certain they will), they'll win 95 games next year with Girardi at the helm. Back to the playoffs.

Joe was a great motivator. C'mon, like the team was YOUNG last year?? Torre's talent is that he can wring a performance out of a player that they didn't think they were capable of giving.

No, they weren't young last year, which is pretty much my point. They're even older this year.

Let them get younger in the outfield next year and you'll be raising the division flag before you know it.

You mean an outfield that can actually catch and throw?? Silly man. Do you want everything???

Let's also not try to compare the AL East with the NL West

I was watching the ninth inning last night, and A-Rod should have been pressing last night. After three Ks he hit the blooper down the right field line, got a late break from the plate and didn't bust it until he rounded first. He was out easily.

He's a great player, one of the best in the league, but he combined poor judgment with lack of hustle in a critical point in the game.

It was a waste of good pitching.

The season isn't over yet, but NY has to make the most of the head to head games left with Boston, and they have to sweep a few series.

I can tell by the way they've looked dead the last three years of the playoffs in a row...what a motivator.

Someone figured out the Elias sports bureau rankings...

...which is pretty nifty. That's the mathematical formula used to determine Type A or B free agents. Type A free agents require that whichever team signs that player must send two draft picks to the players former team; Type B is the same, except only 1 draft pick must go the the old club.

If Kyle Farnsworth - who still sucks as a Tiger as much as he did a Yankee - comes out to be a Type A and Pudge is a Type B, that's fucked up.

Well, at least they MADE the playoffs under Joe Torre. And won an impressive number of championships, too, if I remember correctly. And he managed to do it with injuries and no pitching.

Hmmmm...sound familiar? Except this year, they're 10 games out in the 3rd week of August.

I'm not saying that Girardi's the problem. Not at all. But perhaps those who were on the "Fire Torre" bandwagon were chanting the wrong name.

Do you honestly think that Torre could get this team in the playoffs with the injuries, poor RiSP production, and lack of quality pitching?

How can you say that they had no injuries and no pitching? I seem to remember hearing names like Key, Wells, Cone, Pettitte (in his prime), Clemens, Wetteland, Rivera, etc.

The team is just a.) old and b.) overrated. While I don't think that Girardi is the whiz "kid" some of us thought he'd be, there isn't much he can do when the heart of the order has a sub-.250 batting average with RiSP.

If I had to choose between making the playoffs and getting embarrassed in the first round (like we have under Torre now for the last 3+ years) by trading away talent for short-term fixes or not making the playoffs and then coming back with a trimmed and expanded roster next year, I'd take the latter every time.

I'm talking about the last 4 or 5 years. They lost both Clemens and Pettitte to Houston, and who did they have? They haven't had decent starting or relief pitchers in years. Wang has done a great job, but he's also been injured at some point every season. Moose has been hit or miss. And that's been the extent of it. One or two reliable starters isn't enough.

I think that both Torre and Girardi have had to play with whoever they've been given. And that SUCKS. But, as I said earlier, Torre's main talent is to squeeze a performance out of a player that he didn't even know he had in him.

If anything, I think that Cashman should have been fired last year, for the reasons that we both gave. Torre wasn't the problem, and neither is Girardi.

If the next year or two have to be rebuilding years, then so be it. Perhaps that what's needed.

I disagree with this statement, Cashman's not to blame. Torre, Girardi, Cashman, no one could have predicted the amount of injuries the Yankees would sustain this year or lack of offense the roster would give. If Cashman was gone, so would Phil Hughes and either Ian Kennedy or Melky Cabrera. Sure we would have Johan but let's give the deal some more time to see what was the wise course of action.

Well at least we'll get our monies worth at least one more time before his contract expires at the end of the year

---

Injury-prone Pavano to start for Yankees this weekend

[quote=Irishman12 If Cashman was gone, so would Phil Hughes and either Ian Kennedy or Melky Cabrera. Sure we would have Johan but let's give the deal some more time to see what was the wise course of action. [/quote]

I think if the Yankees had the chance to go back in time to make the deal, they'd jump at it.

Torre has also had the benefit of some absolute pure luck, ala Shawn Chacon and Aaron Small in 2005, A-Rod's surge last year, etc.

Girardi doesn't have that this year outside of Pettitte and Mussina. Wang has been hurt down the stretch, Hughes and Kennedy have been atrocious, and Joba has only been here recently.

Two reliable starters aren't enough, but you can't blame that on Girardi. Torre had the benefit of a lot of luck, and you saw the *real* Yankees when they got booted by real teams like the Angels, Tigers, and Indians.



Squeezing out performances by riding out favorites even though they were terrible (ala Miguel Cairo) and ruined the arms of pitchers again with Papa Joe's favorites (laundry list starts with Scott Proctor, Paul Quantrill, etc.). Torre can't manage a bullpen to save his life.

And for all this talk of squeezing out performances, I must be missing all this clutch awesomeness oozing out of his Bigelow Green Tea when we looked like trash against Anaheim, Detroit, and Cleveland.



Cashman is the only one who has protected the farm system, cultivated talent, and brought some sort of sensibility to deals. The best thing that happened to the Yankees in the last couple of years is Hank started drooling out of his mouth and now the Tampa group has lost control.

I think if the Yankees had the chance to go back in time to make the deal, they'd jump at it. [/quote]

I wish people would get the terms of the deal correct. It wasn't just Kennedy and Melky, it was:

Hughes
Kennedy
Melky
Prospect

for Santana

or

Chamberlain
Cabrera
Prospect

for Santana

or

Hughes
Kennedy
Austin Jackson

for Santana.

The question is whether Hughes ends up doing something with the Major League career. Kennedy is a wash at this point, and Melky is now in AAA because the Yankees feel the #9 hitter is what is holding them back.

Carl Pavano pitched a win for the Yankees yesterday.

In other news, hell has frozen over, Jimmy Hoffa's body was found, and Elvis really is alive.

DJ, I was thinking the same thing last night! He actually pitched moderately well. I mean, it was Baltimore, but still. I thought that Girardi was going to take him out in the 5th, but he hung in there, and they actually won.

And he didn't get injured during the game!!!!

It kind of makes you wonder if he actually gave a shit and didn't let a sore ass keep him from pitching, what he could have been for the Yankees when they signed him to that big deal.

Alas, I think Mike Francesca has the right idea...offer him the league minimum for a 1 year deal this year and see if he takes it.

I wish people would get the terms of the deal correct. It wasn't just Kennedy and Melky, it was:

Hughes
Kennedy
Melky
Prospect

for Santana

[/quote]

I knew Hughes was one of the guys mentioned in the trade.

As I said, if the Yankees could go back in time, they'd jump at this trade.

No they wouldn't. Hughes is still untouchable. If it had been just Kennedy and Melky, I think that would have been an instantaneous deal. Unfortunately for the Yankees, the Twins played hard ball and in the end, tried to hornswaggle the Sox and the Yanks. I would say the Twins got the short end of the deal considering three of the four players in that deal will likely never make an impact at the major league level, but the Twins are playing great baseball in spite of losing Hunter (who everyone called me retarded for saying the Yankees should sign but now regrets not signing) and Santana. In my opinion, at this point in the season, Hunter would have had a bigger impact than Santana, considering the dismal run support the Yankee offense has given pitchers.

3 a-level prospects (the "Prospect" in question was allegedly either Austin Jackson, the Yankees #1 AA outfield prospect, or Mark Melancon, the Yankees #1 AA-AAA relief prospect and planned heir apparent of Rivera) and your starting center fielder for a player asking for a $100-million plus pitcher is too much, especially when you look at what the Mets gave up in the end, which was a "nice" player in Gomez who could be an average-to-good outfielder and three no-name prospects.

Joe Torre
Part of Speech: verb
Etymology: Early 21st Century English, from the Italian “Joe Torre”
Definition: To beat like a rented mule
Use: Poor Scott Proctor was never the same after 2 years of getting Joe Torried.

See also: Quantrilling, Sturtzing, Proctoring

The Sox beat the Yanks and a down here in Philly land the local paper just capsulizes the other games; the Yanks being one. BUT they did have a headline over the capsules that read "A-Rod comes up small...."
He hit into two double plays, one with the bases loaded and he whiffed in the ninth. What an expensive dud. I never liked the deal. They should have spent the money on pitchers and picked up a servicable 3rd baseman. I should've been the GM too.