Is infumation a word that Torre invented for Villone getting smoked?

On an unrelated note, Mike Celizic wrote a doozy of an article on Mariano Rivera yesterday: http://tinyurl.com/2d3rmy

The gist is Mo is cooked, has been a dubious contributor to the team (no rings in six years, Game 7 in 2001, 2004 ALCS), and Cash is going to brush him off, just like he did Bernie, after this season. Celizic seems to think (in spite of the title of the article) that this would be no great loss.

How does Celizic know Mo is cooked? He went to baseball-reference.com and discovered that Rivera's career first-half/second-half ERA split is 2.09/2.52 (!). This means his slender frame can't stand up to the rigors of pitching through the season.

More specifically, Celizic cites Mo's 2004, 2005 and 2006 ERA splits. In 2004 it was .99/3.24, which is almost completely accounted for by an increase in Opp. BA from .207 to .248 in the second half, corresponding with a rise in BABIP from .260 to .312, and three more doubles (7 on the year) and one more homer (3 on the year) than in the first half. Opponent's OBA split was a meaningless .286/.288. The 2005 and 2006 first-half/senond-half ERA splits he cites don't require any response, as they were 1.01/1.69 and 1.76/1.86, respectively.

Now Mo won't be around forever, but he doesn't by any means look like a pitcher on his last legs. We all worry about his health, but that's more about who he is than the problems he's actually had. We all worry about his use, but only because with Joe the potential for overuse is there with any of his Guys (see above); Mariano has shown nothing but the highest endurance one could expect from a reliever.

I'd do the rest of the article, but this isn't my blog.

Once Michael Kay starts doing YES broadcasts with more regularity I just might write about the fift inning and Alex Rogrigess.

2 Ditto. If Villone has a 8.00+ ERA going in to May, I wonder if Torre will give him the Sturtze treatment, and keep using him, or the Stanton/Groom treatment and exile him.

8 I'll be shocked if anyone claims Phillips.

Good luck Andy. Welcome Josh "BP Coverboy" Phelps.

Too bad about Cox. At least they have 17 RHRP pitchers - let's see if we can count them:

Britton
Bean
Beam
Kennard
Corey
Jackson
Whelan
Sanchez (maybe)

Britton will certainly get his chance this year. After that Beam and maybe Bean. My sleeper for a late year impact is Whelan.

Still they got Bruney for nothing last year - any team could have had him. Relief pitchers really do grow on trees - the problem is shaking until a non-rotten one falls out.

4 Amen, brother! Not to worry. Besides, we should never trust a man who tries to pull off (quite poorly, I might add) an impersonation of Rex Harrison's Henry Higgins from My Fair Lady! ;-)

The "Wilkes Barre Citizen's Voice" (as opposed to the Emma Span-less "Village Voice") is reporting Cox underwent Mariano Rivera surgery, as in the same procedure Mo underwent when he was in the minor leagues.

WB Voice also reports Humberto Sanchez threw a bullpen session yesterday suggesting he could be back in the mix soon.

1 word.

1 14 At the expense of a 1B? So that depth can pitch in October? Sure, the Yanks have pitchers that will get them through the season. But then they had that before the off-season (see top five on that list above + Veras and they had four starting pitchers). I know, I know, I'm arguing with those already drunk on the Cashman-flavored Kool-Aid.

The 1B and BUC problems will be resolved somehow. Patience.

re: Veras - he was the dark horse I was rooting for until he got hurt.

Anyone know if any of those guys' schedule serendipitiously coincides with when the Yanks need a starter?

The two are related. An abundance of one should have meant the negation of the other.

And you're right. Sooner or later it will. Because the Yanks have nothing else to trade.

But to say that Andy has "never hit MLB pitching" seems a bit harsh, IMO. Last year Andy hit .324/.342/.543 (with 4 homers and 3 triples) during May and June. Yes, his April and July numbers were terrible, but he did "hit MLB pitching" for a couple of months.

Not trying to start something with you Jim, recently others have made similar statements and it bothers me that some of the same poeple who are loving the "Sosa-like" numbers that Phelps has put up this spring forget about Andy's hot streak last summer. Both small samples to be sure, but certainly not dissimilar (unless you count the fact that the Phelps numbers occured during spring training).

Again, I realize that I see Andy Phillips through Crimson colored glasses but after all he has been trough during his time with the Yankees, I just wanted to mention something positive about him as his career in pinstipes could be ending.

Damn, that brief run of success Andy enjoyed last season was exciting.
Remember that dive into the seats, too?
He did your alma mater proud in pinstripes.
I wish him the best, and that might not mean the Yanks for him.

Oh, I'll take that bet. I completely loved Scooter, and occasionally he'd display some remarkably subtle baseball insight - but I don't think I've ever heard an announcer who paid less attention to the game in front of him.

I am torn. While I would like to see Andy remain a Yankee (even at the AAA level), I would also like to see him get picked up by someone who could use him at the major league level. However, I agree with Jim and others that the latter is not likely.