1. You don't get to be a two time MVP without some mental fortitude.

2. A-Rod will be ok.

3. (and most important) Who do the yankees trade for him? Who plays 3rd base? Who bats 4th?

I guess those are things Steve Phillips ignores. Wonder if that's why he's not a GM, but plays one on TV.

1. I agree

2. I agree

3. Aramis Ramirez - http://tinyurl.com/ktxdn

The accounting firm of Ponson, Wilson, & Chacon ("Names You Can't Trust") had their pocket calculators working overtime, tallying up the runs, and I'm wondering, "Is Pavano watching this? No, he's probably face down on the massage table, getting his sore buttock worked on."

Oy vey.

Steve Philips this year also advocated that the Tigers trade Zumaya to Atlanta for Smoltz. At that point I realized just how bad a GM he was, and I have to sympathize with Mets fans over what he did to that team.

I'm glad I completely missed the game yesterday as well. Definitely our worst series in quite a while, and the ingredients were all there for this to happen the last 4 games-- blowing a well-pitched game, major lapses in offense from the stars and overachieving young ones, our two worst starters essentially throwing up stink bombs.

I'd panic if this were a trend, but let's hope the ship rights itself this week.

A. Ramirez and Zambrano for ARod - maybe.

What a horrible year, he's on pace for only 120 RBI.

Someone's gotta be off-camera orchestrating this whole mess - no way these 'analysts' can be THAT inconsistent and/or boneheaded on a day-to-day basis.

That said, the thought HAS crossed my mind that perhaps Alex is just one of those players who seems destined to play out his days on a non-contender, putting up MVP numbers all the while. If I'm Cashman, I only trade him for a frontline pitcher like Zambrano or prospects if I know my season's over. Which, by this July 31st, it most certainly is NOT.

Phillips is a buffoon who couldn't succeed as a GM in New York or any where else. Even the ridiculous Jim Bowden was given another chance to screw up the Nationals.

We're looking at a full-season statline of roughly 37HR, 125RBI, 118R, 16SB, and an OPS at .900. Enough already.

Whether this is a media driven story or not, how can most of you ignore that he has turned into a mental case in front of our eyes. Between his horrid defensive yips and constant failures with men on base, I can't help but wish that he was just gone, period.

And I don't buy the meme that it's all about the money. I don't care one bit about how many dollars he earns. When one looks at the mulit-million dollar deals being thrown around baseball, I don't care whether someone makes $24mm or $15mm a year...it's all much more than I will ever see in my life. So what do I, or the average Yankee fan, care that he is making the most in the majors?

It all comes down to performance. And he is simply not performing to his talent, NOT to his contract.

So, I don't necessarily expect all of you to come here and spew venomous rhetoric towards Arod, but can you all honestly defend him and blame it all on the media and the boo-birds? Doesn't he deserve most of the blame for his play?

I'm so sick of this soap opera already. I either want him to snap out of it and carry this team on his shoulders for just 3 friggin' days or just say bye-bye and approve a trade anywhere else.

.277/.379/.499 (OPS .878, third on the team)

In what universe does this player hurt the team? From what perspective would any team not starting 9 Babe Ruths be better off without such such a player 'period'? They would be better just cutting him--you really believe that??

Ah, but then you change gears and say it's not his contract, it's that he is not playing up to his talent. So, does that mean that more talented players are held to a higher standard? Let's say that A-Rod is only playing to 75% of his talent--he's still more valuable than a Cairo or Bubba playing to 100% of their talent. Should the Yankees have gotten rid of Mickey Mantle because he didn't play up to his talent, squandering his God-given abilities on booze and broads?

The only way your argument holds up is that he is not playing up to the value of his contract--that is a plausible line of reasoning-0-but that brings us back to the contract, which you want to avoid.

Come on man, you can do better than that.

Yankee trades Steve Phillips would have advocated if he were alive in:

1925: "Babe Ruth has just been horrible this year, when he's actually been healthy, and he is 30. I think its clear that the Babe loves partying too much and can't keep himself in shape. CLEARLY NYC has gotten to him, and the Yanks should trade him while he still has value left."

1946: "Joe DiMaggio looks like an old 30, coming back from the war. The Clipped Yankee set career lows in batting average - his first time under .300! - doubles, and RBI - his first time under 100! Clearly he's not the same player he was before the war, and the Yankees should trade him."

1959: "Mickey Mantle is in trouble. The Mick, though only 27, hit under .300, managed only 31 home runs, and set a new career high in strikeouts. And the Yankees didn't play in the World Series for only the second time since 1948, losing the pennant to the go-go-White Sox. Power is on the way out, and steals are in - and NYC has CLEARLY gotten to Mantle. The Yanks should trade him while they can."

Now, given that A-Rod completely spurned the Mets and Steve Phillips when he was a free agent, and directly contradicted what Phillips said about him, and generally made Phillips look like a total moron, there couldn't possibly be any ulterior reason why Phillips is saying what he's saying about A-Rod, now could there?

I'm pretty sure A-Rod has done that, twice, since the booing started - for 3 games against the Braves, and 3 against the Mets:

http://tinyurl.com/z8ss3

Of course that didn't stop the booing at all.

To me, its easy to defend A-Rod and say the Yanks should hold on to him. Why? There are ZERO instances in baseball history of trading an inner-circle Hall of Famer in the middle of his career and getting equal value in return. It NEVER works out. For the Yanks to trade A-Rod now, given how little (comparatively speaking) they have to pay him, and given that he's still only 30!!!, would be suicidal.

The pitching match-ups for the first 4 games of these series favor the yanks and go against the bosox (except for the schilling start).

we could/should be looking at 1 game behind, or tied or one game ahead after these 2 series (end of July). August is extremely equal for both teams.

the yannks' ofense is very hurt without Sheff and Mats, but the bosox' pitching is in shambles with only 2 real starters. it seems that they will continue the same through August if there are no big trades come the july 31 deadline.

Imagine Piazza over Stinnett and Thomas over, well, I dunno Nick Green or Miguel Cairo. And then have Thompson replace Bubba. Now THAT would be a nice bench.

-- Newark Star-Ledger

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*Rob Gee Memorial Head Trauma

A bit of positive news, now only if Smith was back up.

Using only EqA adjusted for all time, it's not even close:
Gehrig: .346, Ruth: .367, Ortiz: .304, Manny: .330

Anyone else scoff when Michael Kay mentioned Aaron Small yesterday? I'd love to see Smith come up in Chacon's place to take Villone's role, and Villone become the long-man. Then, Villone could be the 5th starter if/when Dotel ever arrives.

BTW, isn't "Bama Yankee" a contradiction?

I've been a Yankee fan since back in the 70's. When I was a kid growing up in Alabama, the Braves were our closest team and they were terrible. So I started pulling for the Yankees (Reggie & Thurman), the Cowboys (Staubach & Dorsett) and the Sixers (Dr. J). I have stayed with the Yankees (even through the bad times during the 80's) and now watch them every chance I can on Extra Innings or MLB.TV. But I have really had more fun this year since I found this site. I really enjoy BB and all the interesting people you "meet" on here. It's especially entertaining to follow the Banter duing a Yankee game. I guess it's as close as a guy in Alabama can get to watching a game at Yankee Stadium (although I plan to try to make it up to a game sometime before they tear down the Stadium).