When I was a kid, just starting to follow baseball seriously (mid 80s), I hated the Blue Jays, because it seemed like they were the team that knocked my beloved Yankees out every year. A little karmic payback would be lovely....
The Blue Jays commercials are pretty hilarious. This last one featured two kids in a pillow fight. Frank Thomas shows up and asks "shouldn't you be in bed?" To which one of the kids smacks Thomas with a pillow. Thomas says "Oh yeah?" takes a pillow and whacks one of the kids clean off the bed. Hilarious
Fine print at end: "Dramatization. Stunt man used. Do not try this at home."
Let's see here, Abreu is the Ghost of Bobby, Damon is the Ghost of Johnny, The ghost of someone who can hit a baseball obviously is no longer in possession of Melky's body. There is only one conclusion that makes sense:
Nothing annoys me more than when a bad organizational move comes back to haunt us. I think that's why I come off as smug. When the Yankees do something that I think is alarmingly stupid, I will be very vocal about it. But I always hope I'm wrong.
But when hideous signings like Pavano or Wright or Farnsworth or Mientkiewicz, or organizational moves like the promotion of career minor leaguers fail miserably, it pisses me off. I feel that a blind man could have prevented this and thats why I come off as smug.
This is how I feel every time I see Doug Mientkiewicz ground out to second.
The drinking game is easy, you do a shot every time Joe Torre walks onto the field. You'll get alcohol poisoning somewhere around the 8th inning, every night.
31 The run was a 2-base error by Jeter, a stolen base, and a groundout. The "falls home run call" I'd imagine was Lind's deep (but ultimately foul) line drive down the left field line, which I'm guessing launched Sterling into his "itishighitisfar" spiel, erroneously.
45 Scene: beach/luau, with characters that look like they're from Disney's Pocohantas. A sign reads "Welcome to the Land of Vanilla,"
A female (long eyelashes) miniwheat is applying a bottle of "Vanilla Flavor" to the back of the male miniwheat, who is singing:
"My little story takes place at a tropical villa
I fell in love with the flavor
Yes it was vanilla."
Zoom back to some hula dancers, giant island men and the chorus:
"Miniwheats... wheats... wheats
I've wanted vanilla for so long
Miniwheats... wheats... wheats
It's high in fiber, you can't go wrong."
"Vanilla makes me weak
Got a flavor can't be beat"
(Scoops what I can only imagine is vanilla flowing from a pipe)
"Vanilla flavor mixed with wheat
Tastes so good, what a treat."
A giant easter island head announces:
Kellogg's miniwheats mixed with vanilla. Tastes so good... good... good...
Zooms out to the whole island, complete with masked men doing tribal dances.
48 he had good control while in japan. So that isn't "How he pitches" necessarily. That said, he wouldn't be throwing at AAA right now fi the Yanks didn't think he had made some progress with his new throwing motion. Still, it will probably take a bit longer for the motion to take hold and be effective, if it ever does.
57 I should disclose that I'm watching the Blue Jays' feed on Extra Innings. So maybe it's a Canada-only commercial. Entirely possible, with how absurd/borderline offensive it is.
65 The danger in your strategy is that as you drink, you'll start hearing nonsense which may or may not actually be spoken by Sterling. Then again, if the goal is to get plastered...
I can't even rail against any negativity anymore when the team seems to crave it so voraciously with their play. Did the 1962 Mets make every opposing pitcher look this good?
I haven't given up...but wow, this is one heck of a parallel universe I've landed in.
Don't know if YES showed this, but Damon switched shoes when he got to first base. He didn't even tie them, just slipped off his cleats and slipped on some sneakers. His mom would probably be upset. "Tie your shoes Johnny!"
Anybody think the Dodgers or Angels would take ARod and Damon or Abreu by the ASB? If this team is under .500 by then, and I don't see much reason why it wouldn't, that might be a pretty good move.
90 Arod's the most tradeable and then he could spin leaving as a way to help the team. But then the Yanks better get some position players of value rather than 5 more mL pitchers.
91 I think the chances ARod will play out his contract with the Yanks are about as likely as the Yanks winning the AL East this year. I don't see any reason why Damon would complain, either. Abreu, maybe.
98 Yes, I'm fairly certain that A-Rod opts out, after the season. But there is no reason that Scott Boras would ever allow A-Rod to be traded during the season when he can get maximum value after 2007 no matter what.
The Angels would actually have to part with some young talent... not Erick "projects to be an average player" Aybar... we're talking Kendrick/Kotchman and Santana/Weaver as a starting point, even for Abreu. So that's not going to happen. With the Dodgers it's gotta start with Ethier, and why would they want Abreu if they have to trade away a younger version of the same player?
The trade talk will make a lot more sense around the All-Star break, provided the Yanks are still double digits behind.
I just don't see A-Rod going. I don't see anyone picking up his contract and giving him the kind of money the Yankees will. I also don't want him to leave.
How could you possibly trade a guy who averages an RBI every 5 AB and a HR every 14.4 AB?
BTW, those are career numbers. This year his average expected time to RBI is 4.3 AB and his average expected time to HR is 10 AB.
Sorry, been working on some new numbers. But those are phenomenal statistics.
I simply cannot watch this team. The suck all the life and fun out of my body. Watching the Yankees play is like staring at a Dementor. In fact, I think I'll just refer to them as the Dementors from now on...
Can someone get angry? Must the entire team sit on the bench forelornly? It probably wouldn't make a difference, but at least it would make me feel like someone on the team is actually as angry as I am.
115 I flip around. I watch the first inning or two, until they fall behind. Then I go back and forth, watching bits of the game just to make sure that they're still pathetic and helpless.
120 I agree, dude. Not to actually accomplish anything, but it would be nice to see.
It probably goes back to the whole 'Yankees are uber-professionals' thing. No facial hair, no long hair, no traveling without being decked out, no tossing water coolers and snapping bats over your knee. (I made those last two up)
Think how ol Lou would be in the dugout game after game like this...
108 I think Boras is going to find his ass kicked to the curb if he's arguing for ARod to stick around a sub .500 team while two teams that have a very real possibilty of winning the World Series are expressing an interest in him. And wouldn't the contract still have an opt out option after 2007 no matter what happens?
Understand that I'm not arguing that ARod sucks. He absolutely does not. He is the best third baseman the Yankees have ever had, far and away.
But the guy is going to be gone if the Yanks don't make the playoffs this year. Count on it. As Steven Goldman has already said, the Yanks might as well see if they can get some value for him. My only contribution to the idea is to see if another contract can be attached to the deal. ARod is good enough to make a team bring someone else along they might not otherwise consider.
I think Abreu is a free agent after this year anyway, so maybe forget him.
121 I'm sure they are...but I want to see it Paul O'Neill-style. Before this turns into a debate, please realize that I'm not advocating that someone fake emotion. I just wish the team had an O'Neill type if only to show me that someone on the team was as angry as I am.
113 Sorry, you're dreaming if you think a team takes both contracts - no other team could afford it unless the Yanks give 10 million or take 10 million back.
126 Not happening. If we're lucky it would be something like Loney and Kemp.
133 no debate. i just bet they are angry. What you want is a display of emotion. I'm ok with a display. But it needs to be timely i think. Otherwise it looks silly after a while.
133, it's funny that you say that. It reminds me of how strangely okay, even good, I felt after the Yankees lost to Cleveland in 1997. I remember Cone, Jeter, maybe a couple of others, lingering in the dugout watching the Indians celebrate. They were fuming, especially Cone. And I remember thinking, "Wow, these guys are angrier than I am. This feels good."
135 I agree with you; I don't want it to seem like I'm not an A-Rod fan. I absolutely am, he's been one of my favorite players for a long time.
But, it's an age-old debate: if the trade I proposed in 126 (with Wood instead of Aybar) was feasible, wouldn't you pull the trigger? Is one great player worth more than four good ones? You can answer the question analytically through Runs Created and WARP, but the point is that if the Yankees can improve depth, and get younger and better at many positions... trading the best player has to at least be considered.
I really hope the Yankees find some way to stay competitive for the next 5-10 years while keeping A-Rod and while not breaking the bank for every aging vet. But I would sacrifice the former before the latter.
Okay. I think the problem is we have the Phelps/Stink situation backwards. We should minimize the Stink's AB but bring him in late in games. Not the other way around.
You have to be kidding me. Pettite gives up 2 unearned runs, one on a steal of home. Its getting hard not to question the coaches at this point. Nice to know that IF practice really helped.
At this point in the season, to me, it's like in Major League when Rick Vaughn gives up the grand slam to Clue Heyward and Pepper asks Lou Brown if he should go get Vaughn and Brown says, "No, I want to see how he handles it."
Boston is playing as well as any team can play and I'm not sure the Yankees can finish above .500 at this point. I just want to see how they handle it.
171 I don't think it was interference, Phelps was blocking the path to first base. I could do without the smirk after he smashed into our firstbaseman though. Maybe there's some bad blood from their minor league days?
175 Phillips was running outside the base path. Phelps was on first base awaiting the ball. I think that may have been interference. But Joe doesn't ever argue. Or watch the game.
176 straight steal. Pettite was looking at first briefly when the runner on third started going. Pettitte didn't see it quick enough. Posada jumped and called for the ball and Pettitte threw home but he was safe.
136 I'm not going to pretend I know the intricacies of MLB contracts. So if someone wants to tear me a new a new a on the contract stuff I've laid out below, go ahead.
Let's say this Disneyland trade happens. The Angels are on the hook for half of what the Yanks pay ARod. So that would be $7 mil. For the Angels, this is no BFD.
The reason why I think the Yanks can tack on the Damon contract is that the Angels would have the possibility that ARod won't use his opt out and he sticks around for another two years. They've saved themselves the grief of throwing their hat into the ARod ring after this season and having to commit to what could conceivably be the most insane contract in the history of baseball.
Certainly, if ARod opts out after 2007, the Angels will be calling Scott Boras morning, noon, and night to try and work something out. They are a front runner for his services, if not the front runner.
With my scenario, they've at least got the possibility that they can keep ARod around, get his bat in the lineup now to become the surefire AL West winner, and potentially save some money because they didn't have to sign ARod to some wacky eight year deal after 2007.
That's how I'd sell it, anyway. You lose $26 mil over the next two years with Damon, or you sign up for $200 mil for eight with ARod.
I know Matsui has his fans, and I was one of them, but I think his extension is turning out to be a big mistake. It seems like he's always good for a worthless at-bat in a big spot this year.
I was at a Yanks game in KC with Pettitte pitching, and they stole home on him there. Can't remember who was catching though. Andy was pretty pissed about it.
176 Clayton kept stepping out and Pettitte was taking his sweet time, his back to third base. Hill took a walking start, made it to the end of the dirt around third and as soon as Pettitte went to a set, Hill took off. He was 10 feet away when Posada got Pettitte's attention, and there was no chance.
1) No way the Angels take Damon since they just signed Matthews. I just can't see it.
2) Angels have very little in the system that the Yanks need except Napoli or Kotchman. And I just can't see the Angels trading either of them.
3) I can't see Stoneman taking a risk. He just doesn't trade anyone of talent.
I see a much better match with the Dodgers with two of LaRoache, Loney and/or Kemp. All three the Yanks need in the near future and the Dodgers don't have as much of a need. Plus, Colletti seems more amenable to rolling the dice.
182 i just don't see a trade with ANA happening, Stoneman's style is much more in line with trying for a free agent signing in the offseason. And the angels have absolutely no use for damon or abreu
ugh ... with at bats like that, i don't think the newark bears would have any use for abreu ... jesus, someone needs to paste his face on a milk carton and leave it in his locker ...
ok, so far in May we are 2-4 in games where the other team scores 3 runs. We are winless when they score 4 or more runs. We are 6-1 when they score two runs. So this is obviously an important half inning.
Matsui is really a bad fielder. The entire Yankees OF is bad.
Bringing Prcotr here makes little sense because he is a flyball pitcher and Rios is a fastball hitter. I think the move is to walk Rios and have Andy try to coax a DP from Overbay.
226 the truth is that folks seem to question any pitching move that doesn't involve bringing in Bruney or Mo. So inveitably, they question 90% of pitching changes.
i wonder if the bullpen assignments would work better if cashman gave bruney a sombrero and a pancho villa mustache, then told torre he'd traded for a crack veteran reliever from the mexican leagues
It's not really questioning every pitching move. Kenny Singleton said Torre's thinking strike out there. So why not go with the guy with the best strike numbers out of the pen? It doesn't make sense to use Proctor over Bruney there if that's really the motivation.
231 I am commenting on a pattern that you always have a problem with every pitching change. I'm asking if you can find me a game where you did not question any pitching changes, and it all went according to your logic. I'd like to know the end results of those games.
In this case, it just may be that Torre figured that Pettitte was "done." It's the 8th inning, and Farnsworth sucks, so it's time for Proctor.
I've got a theory on Cano. I may be wrong as this is all subjective. But I think that when the season started he was trying to look at more pitches and he saw more than his shares of strikes without a swing. And now I think he is overcompensating and swinging at everything even worse than before. His struggles could be his own cause. But I could be wrong...
I hate to say it again...but once again Cano puts up a very troubling AB (his second of the game). Changes have to be made. Otherwise, the season is over.
199 Angels, Dodgers - six of one, half a dozen of the other to me.
I just think that if a team is already in the market for ARod's services after 2007, it would be in their best interest to take Damon on if they'd like to save some money and lock up one of the most productive hitter in MLB for the postseason and possibility another two years.
All of these one run losses really highlight Torre's bullpen handling issues like never before. Usually our offense would save him. But this month in particular, there is nothing there.
239 Generally, I believe in letting the starter go until he falters and then bringing in the pitcher who best suits the situation. Joe doesn't seem to share my philosophy, so naturally, I often disagree with his decisions.
Of the top of my head, I liked Joe's decision to let Colter Bean take one for the team last month. That did not turn out well.
wow ... this season is just amazin' ... and keeps on getting amazin-er ... i've thought (probably since 2001) that an off year one of these years was not just possible, but inevitable, but ironically, this was the year i felt best about the composition of the team going into the season (obvious warts and all)
anyone know who's supposed to be the big name in next year's entry draft?
some folks hate to hear it, but we're gonna be like whoever that horse was that won the big race (whatever that was called). you may notice that i don't give a damn about horse racing.
251 but neither of those teams is taking damon ... or abreu
unless, of course, you'd like the pleasure of watching juan pierre lead the league in outs and chase flyballs like a peg-legged drunk falling down stairs
Jeter's first inning bunt is the play that is gnawing at me most. For some reason, I really feel like the game was lost there. The attempt seemed to imply "we aren't going to score, so let's play for one here". Sure enough, with that attitude, that's pretty much how the team performed.
they're still not playing as a team
maybe they should start by having fun?
maybe they need to hear a rousing version of "You Gotta Have Heart"!!
it's great being at the bottom
let's enjoy it while it lasts
Cheer up! it's only going to get worse
before it gets better again
looking on the bright
it's nice when they're out of town
and I can hear the home crowds going nuts
as they put our Yanks to shame
Does anyone think that if Bobby Abreu was showered with a chorus of boos everytime he stepped to the plate at YS he would care? Oddly, that's why I like Arod so much.
266 yes. Actually, Abreu seems very sensitive to that kind of stuff. He reminds me a lot of ARod like that. At least that is the vibe I pick up from him.
258 You're probably thinking of Seabiscuit. But the horse you really want to compare them with is Silky Sullivan, famous for coming from way, way behind to win.
All anger and emotion aside, I think Cashman needs to sit down with Joe and convince him to resign. Maybe, just maybe, that will relieve the pressure on this team and allow them to just go out and play. There is no practical way to reform the roster, so changing the manager is the only option. It might be a shot in the dark, but it's time to fire it. Joe has had a good run; now it's time for him to step aside and see if a new voice will get through.
7.1 IP of 1 run ball and we lose, WOW, someone's gotta be fired for this, I finally get a week of vacation from teh freaking Navy and i seen exactly 0 win? yuck
By the way...this is my "rock bottom" predicition. Randy Johnson is now on schedule to start against the team on June 14. I predict he will throw a 3-hit shutout and drop the team to 15 games under.
272 I think you are right. The way I see it, the team is playing scared/pressing. They need to play like there is nothing to lose. With Joe gone, they might be pissed about that (that may be good) or just ready to say "frack it". In any case, as down as this team has gotten, it may actually have a positive impact.
279 Ironically, they may also be playing scared, knowing Torre's job hangs in the balance. The upside to letting Torre go is now much greater than the risk.
279 The only positive I can forsee coming out of that is identifying who the slackers are. If cutting Joe loose doesn't pick up some people's games, nothing will.
I can't believe I'm saying this, but I really wish Clemens wasn't coming on board. As one of his biggest fans, I can't see anything positive coming from his being in this putrid environment. I really don't want his last season in pinstripes to be ugly, and it sure looks like that's how it's going to be.
Before I explode, just one more dead horse. Gary Sheffield is having another great game. The Yankees really miss his bat and his presence. I was 100% wrong in advocating the trade. As he departed, Sheffield said something like you'll see that Abreu isn't as good as I am. Could he have been any more prophetic?
wow................ok, gotta agree with william: bruney (or in an ideal world mo) in that situation: proctor is an extreme fly ball pitcher and his K rate is very low this year. but one expects this from Joe. the steal of home, that was not so expected......and then when they tried to give it to us in the 8th and we said 'no thanks'......wow.....
Man, I'm depressed (ask the 1/2 bag of BBQ chips I inhaled a little while ago!) And I haven't done that in MONTHS!
This sucks beyond the telling of it! What else is there to do? Beg? Cheat? Steal? Kill? Pray? Make voodoo dolls of Josh Beckett (8-0??? How the F did that happen??).
...thank goodness I don't have a quart of Rocky Road in the freezer!!!
I know most people frown upon the bunt, and especially frown upon the bunt being used by a .350 hitter, and especially frown upon the bunt being used by a .350 hitter with no outs in the first inning.
I get it, really, I do.
However, is it possible that playing for one run might be the right thing to do in some circumstances because scoring first puts the other team on the defensive and thus it pays to take the bird in the hand rather than the two in the bush?
I ask because I often hear the players (O'Neill, Hernandez, Leiter, Flaherty, etc.) musing about how such things effect the morale of a team and how that morale effects performance.
In other words, not all runs are created equal. Some of them have more psychological power than others, or at least the players believe they do.
Is it possible that this is the sort of factor that can't be quantified with stats?
Is there any merit to this kind of thinking, i.e., that pressure is a real factor in games and can be inflicted on another team by something like, e.g., scoring a quick one out of the box?
295 Always listen to Earl Weaver. Weaver's Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Laws:
4.Your most precious possessions on offense are your twenty-seven outs.
5.If you play for one run, that's all you'll get.
6.Don't play for one run unless you know that run will win a ballgame.
Or look at it this way: Jeter used up an out, and they still didn't score the run. It just doesn't increase the odds of scoring even one run enough to warrant using up the out.
297 Oh, I should mention that I did read Moneyball, and while I certainly may not have understood it as keenly as some, I think I get the basic argument, I just didn't find it quite so compelling as others, perhaps because baseball gratifies aesthetic needs of mine, so it doesn't just come down to percentages for me.
Not that it does for others, I don't mean to be presumptuous.
299 I don't know, maybe it does give a psychological boost, but I don't know how to gauge that. I don't think anyone can in advance - you only know there's a psychological boost later. There must have been half a dozen times tonight where Singleton or Flaherty said, "That's the kind of hit/play/at-bat/whatever that can really turn things around." Of course, none of them did.
Any of them could have, but only if they worked. I'd say the same for the bunt. And when it doesn't work, it's just another out.
300 Heh heh. No kidding, there's a lot of kinds of whatevers that can turn things around.
You know who I love listening to? O'Neill. You want to develop an appreciation for the horrors of the game, just listen to O'Neill.
One he was talking about how during a slump you just play all sorts of mind games with yourself. If you're home, you tell yourself sleeping in your own bed will help, if you're away, a change of scenery, etc.
"AbbyNormal821: voodoo dolls of Josh Beckett (8-0??? How the F did that happen??)."
Um, he's got great freaking stuff and good run support? A lot of people don't like beckett, but you'd have to be blind not to understand why he should be successful.
290 Do you actually think a "slump" right now (after a 2-4 game yesterday) will in any determine the batting race? Or were you trying to troll without sounding like one? I ask you again, where were you last year during the Red Sox 8-21 month where they were swept in 5 games at home?
Meanwhile, Andy Pettitte is becoming the new poster boy for why wins are a stupid stat.
Speaking as a Red Sox fan, I, at least, try not to gloat too much. In large part because I think the Yankees are a much better team than they are currently showing and are likely to have a much stronger second half, and I don't want to look like a gloating moron when that happens. I'd like to think that part of it is also that I'm not a total asshole. But...
This sucks beyond the telling of it! What else is there to do? Beg? Cheat? Steal? Kill? Pray? Make voodoo dolls of Josh Beckett (8-0??? How the F did that happen??).
This made me laugh my ass off. Now you know how we felt about Aaron FREAKING Small. 10-0? Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over?
maybe they need to hear a rousing version of "You Gotta Have Heart"!!
Wouldn't that be ironic? (In the show Damn Yankees, this is the song Washington Senators players sing to inspire them against the mighty Yanks.)
For Yankee-loathers, this is a depressing year. It's one thing to see Boston finally kick their asses, or the Angels knock them down a peg. It's another when they present less of a challenge than the D-rays.
The Dodgers have at least two veteran mediocre pitchers, Tomko and Hendrickson, who you guys could use. Pettitte they ain't. But better than the rest. Hendrickson knows the AL East. Tomko is capable of throwing a great game (and then not.)
310 Go back to Dodger Thoughts, and take your worn-out journeyman hurlers with you!
PS--We'll give ya Doug Mientkewicz for either one, take your pick.....
304 Yeah, but have you ever tasted those things? Sugar-frosted whisk broom, shredded and wrapped in tiny corrugated cardboard boxes, aged to perfection. Yummy!
Thank you, Mr. Rios, for not tagging.
Fine print at end: "Dramatization. Stunt man used. Do not try this at home."
I've officially entered the Twilight Zone...
Like that.
The Curse of Bernie Williams.
But when hideous signings like Pavano or Wright or Farnsworth or Mientkiewicz, or organizational moves like the promotion of career minor leaguers fail miserably, it pisses me off. I feel that a blind man could have prevented this and thats why I come off as smug.
This is how I feel every time I see Doug Mientkiewicz ground out to second.
Everytime I check in, the Yankees are already losing, so this is on someone else.
Me, I'd rather see Clippard get a few more shots any ways.
A female (long eyelashes) miniwheat is applying a bottle of "Vanilla Flavor" to the back of the male miniwheat, who is singing:
"My little story takes place at a tropical villa
I fell in love with the flavor
Yes it was vanilla."
Zoom back to some hula dancers, giant island men and the chorus:
"Miniwheats... wheats... wheats
I've wanted vanilla for so long
Miniwheats... wheats... wheats
It's high in fiber, you can't go wrong."
"Vanilla makes me weak
Got a flavor can't be beat"
(Scoops what I can only imagine is vanilla flowing from a pipe)
"Vanilla flavor mixed with wheat
Tastes so good, what a treat."
A giant easter island head announces:
Kellogg's miniwheats mixed with vanilla. Tastes so good... good... good...
Zooms out to the whole island, complete with masked men doing tribal dances.
Oh well, it wasn't that good anyway.
Okay, fine, I'm going back to check. This is exactly why god invented the Tivo.
But nope, it's just the MiniWheats ad agency that's gone mad.
Drink up, the world's about to end!
Abreu. DEAD!
Mienakdnghajsngwicz. DEAD!
NIEDERMEYER.....
But, watching that commercial too much could be hazardous.
I haven't given up...but wow, this is one heck of a parallel universe I've landed in.
And Damon is running on like every pitch, he's sure to make 92 come true...
The Angels would actually have to part with some young talent... not Erick "projects to be an average player" Aybar... we're talking Kendrick/Kotchman and Santana/Weaver as a starting point, even for Abreu. So that's not going to happen. With the Dodgers it's gotta start with Ethier, and why would they want Abreu if they have to trade away a younger version of the same player?
The trade talk will make a lot more sense around the All-Star break, provided the Yanks are still double digits behind.
How could you possibly trade a guy who averages an RBI every 5 AB and a HR every 14.4 AB?
BTW, those are career numbers. This year his average expected time to RBI is 4.3 AB and his average expected time to HR is 10 AB.
Sorry, been working on some new numbers. But those are phenomenal statistics.
The situation might be similar to what the Marlins proposed for Beckett/Lowell. If you want ARod, you gotta take this guy, too.
Funny video I came across today - a commercial from ESPN with Jorge and Big Papi. If you haven't seen it, it's too funny:
http://tinyurl.com/27qubm
I'll drink to that!
It probably goes back to the whole 'Yankees are uber-professionals' thing. No facial hair, no long hair, no traveling without being decked out, no tossing water coolers and snapping bats over your knee. (I made those last two up)
Think how ol Lou would be in the dugout game after game like this...
Understand that I'm not arguing that ARod sucks. He absolutely does not. He is the best third baseman the Yankees have ever had, far and away.
But the guy is going to be gone if the Yanks don't make the playoffs this year. Count on it. As Steven Goldman has already said, the Yanks might as well see if they can get some value for him. My only contribution to the idea is to see if another contract can be attached to the deal. ARod is good enough to make a team bring someone else along they might not otherwise consider.
I think Abreu is a free agent after this year anyway, so maybe forget him.
Free Josh Phelps!!!!!!!!
126 Not happening. If we're lucky it would be something like Loney and Kemp.
But, it's an age-old debate: if the trade I proposed in 126 (with Wood instead of Aybar) was feasible, wouldn't you pull the trigger? Is one great player worth more than four good ones? You can answer the question analytically through Runs Created and WARP, but the point is that if the Yankees can improve depth, and get younger and better at many positions... trading the best player has to at least be considered.
I really hope the Yankees find some way to stay competitive for the next 5-10 years while keeping A-Rod and while not breaking the bank for every aging vet. But I would sacrifice the former before the latter.
I keep waiting for his bat to come around, but I'm starting to think that last year was a complete fluke.
I think Loney and Kemp is doable but more because Loney is struggling in AAA. That would be a fine trade for half a season of Arod.
WE.ARE.BETTER.THAN.THIS
WE.ARE.BETTER.THAN.THIS
WE.ARE.BETTER.THAN.THIS
It's gotta rhyme with "om" somehow.
Boston is playing as well as any team can play and I'm not sure the Yankees can finish above .500 at this point. I just want to see how they handle it.
Let's say this Disneyland trade happens. The Angels are on the hook for half of what the Yanks pay ARod. So that would be $7 mil. For the Angels, this is no BFD.
The reason why I think the Yanks can tack on the Damon contract is that the Angels would have the possibility that ARod won't use his opt out and he sticks around for another two years. They've saved themselves the grief of throwing their hat into the ARod ring after this season and having to commit to what could conceivably be the most insane contract in the history of baseball.
Certainly, if ARod opts out after 2007, the Angels will be calling Scott Boras morning, noon, and night to try and work something out. They are a front runner for his services, if not the front runner.
With my scenario, they've at least got the possibility that they can keep ARod around, get his bat in the lineup now to become the surefire AL West winner, and potentially save some money because they didn't have to sign ARod to some wacky eight year deal after 2007.
That's how I'd sell it, anyway. You lose $26 mil over the next two years with Damon, or you sign up for $200 mil for eight with ARod.
I was at a Yanks game in KC with Pettitte pitching, and they stole home on him there. Can't remember who was catching though. Andy was pretty pissed about it.
Come on A-Rod.
...shiat....
We'll pull something together. We have to.
Right?
What happened for those of us on Gameday?
1) No way the Angels take Damon since they just signed Matthews. I just can't see it.
2) Angels have very little in the system that the Yanks need except Napoli or Kotchman. And I just can't see the Angels trading either of them.
3) I can't see Stoneman taking a risk. He just doesn't trade anyone of talent.
I see a much better match with the Dodgers with two of LaRoache, Loney and/or Kemp. All three the Yanks need in the near future and the Dodgers don't have as much of a need. Plus, Colletti seems more amenable to rolling the dice.
ugh ... with at bats like that, i don't think the newark bears would have any use for abreu ... jesus, someone needs to paste his face on a milk carton and leave it in his locker ...
Who drank Jobu's rum, Abreu?
This would be the perfect time for Bruney to come in and strike out someone.
Bringing Prcotr here makes little sense because he is a flyball pitcher and Rios is a fastball hitter. I think the move is to walk Rios and have Andy try to coax a DP from Overbay.
In this case, I also think Bruney would have been a better choice for the same reason.
In this case, it just may be that Torre figured that Pettitte was "done." It's the 8th inning, and Farnsworth sucks, so it's time for Proctor.
Also, he just swung weakly at ball four.
Miniwheat.... wheat... wheat...
It's high in fiber, you can't go wrong...
244 see what we are saying about no offense? Even that one run came off those errors.
We are now 2-5 in games where we ONLY allow 3 runs. ANother quality start down the drain. What else can you do?
I just think that if a team is already in the market for ARod's services after 2007, it would be in their best interest to take Damon on if they'd like to save some money and lock up one of the most productive hitter in MLB for the postseason and possibility another two years.
I think Damon would go to LA, no doubt.
We look terrible. Just terrible.
Totally over? Not yet. Close? Maybe.
We have got to get it together.
Of the top of my head, I liked Joe's decision to let Colter Bean take one for the team last month. That did not turn out well.
anyone know who's supposed to be the big name in next year's entry draft?
some folks hate to hear it, but we're gonna be like whoever that horse was that won the big race (whatever that was called). you may notice that i don't give a damn about horse racing.
unless, of course, you'd like the pleasure of watching juan pierre lead the league in outs and chase flyballs like a peg-legged drunk falling down stairs
1. Petttittte has been terrific.
2.
maybe they should start by having fun?
maybe they need to hear a rousing version of "You Gotta Have Heart"!!
it's great being at the bottom
let's enjoy it while it lasts
Cheer up! it's only going to get worse
before it gets better again
looking on the bright
it's nice when they're out of town
and I can hear the home crowds going nuts
as they put our Yanks to shame
enjoy everyone!
Does anyone remember what seeing Mo in a save situation even looks like? I'm going to have to start watching Yankee classics.
http://tinyurl.com/3dzw5r
273 All I could say after the game was, "wow, wow, wow...how is this situation even possible?"
This sucks beyond the telling of it! What else is there to do? Beg? Cheat? Steal? Kill? Pray? Make voodoo dolls of Josh Beckett (8-0??? How the F did that happen??).
...thank goodness I don't have a quart of Rocky Road in the freezer!!!
:-(
At least they had in him the right kind of frontman for a sideshow.
This?
This is just painful.
If this is the kind of year it's going to be, let's at least find a lovable loser-type to manage the team.
Someone with panache.
A showman.
Someone who will make my dream come true and play Giambi at short for few days for my own amusement.
Maybe it's time to think about a mascott of some sort.
Someone like Mr. Met only with a bigger head.
Or wouldn't it be cool to watch some of the position players pitch a little?
I'll be Alex could pick up pitching and do a decent job of it.
Ooooh!!!
I got it!!
Let's get Morgan to manage!!
What do you guys think?
Winning ideas, no?
And by "it all" I mean "it all."
Giambi gave him the pretext to laugh, which was actually a very warm, sympathetic moment.
The poor man.
I feel for him.
I get it, really, I do.
However, is it possible that playing for one run might be the right thing to do in some circumstances because scoring first puts the other team on the defensive and thus it pays to take the bird in the hand rather than the two in the bush?
I ask because I often hear the players (O'Neill, Hernandez, Leiter, Flaherty, etc.) musing about how such things effect the morale of a team and how that morale effects performance.
In other words, not all runs are created equal. Some of them have more psychological power than others, or at least the players believe they do.
Is it possible that this is the sort of factor that can't be quantified with stats?
Is there any merit to this kind of thinking, i.e., that pressure is a real factor in games and can be inflicted on another team by something like, e.g., scoring a quick one out of the box?
It's official...Bobby Abreu has become Tony Womack with much less speed.
4.Your most precious possessions on offense are your twenty-seven outs.
5.If you play for one run, that's all you'll get.
6.Don't play for one run unless you know that run will win a ballgame.
Or look at it this way: Jeter used up an out, and they still didn't score the run. It just doesn't increase the odds of scoring even one run enough to warrant using up the out.
What if it's more complicated than that?
I'm just asking questions because maybe Earl Weaver missed something.
Maybe Bill James did.
Who knows?
Not that it does for others, I don't mean to be presumptuous.
Just my perspective.
Any of them could have, but only if they worked. I'd say the same for the bunt. And when it doesn't work, it's just another out.
You know who I love listening to? O'Neill. You want to develop an appreciation for the horrors of the game, just listen to O'Neill.
One he was talking about how during a slump you just play all sorts of mind games with yourself. If you're home, you tell yourself sleeping in your own bed will help, if you're away, a change of scenery, etc.
Your point is taken.
Um, he's got great freaking stuff and good run support? A lot of people don't like beckett, but you'd have to be blind not to understand why he should be successful.
Meanwhile, Andy Pettitte is becoming the new poster boy for why wins are a stupid stat.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=8Jo29zxDaQ4&mode=related&search=
This sucks beyond the telling of it! What else is there to do? Beg? Cheat? Steal? Kill? Pray? Make voodoo dolls of Josh Beckett (8-0??? How the F did that happen??).
This made me laugh my ass off. Now you know how we felt about Aaron FREAKING Small. 10-0? Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over?
Wouldn't that be ironic? (In the show Damn Yankees, this is the song Washington Senators players sing to inspire them against the mighty Yanks.)
For Yankee-loathers, this is a depressing year. It's one thing to see Boston finally kick their asses, or the Angels knock them down a peg. It's another when they present less of a challenge than the D-rays.
The Dodgers have at least two veteran mediocre pitchers, Tomko and Hendrickson, who you guys could use. Pettitte they ain't. But better than the rest. Hendrickson knows the AL East. Tomko is capable of throwing a great game (and then not.)
PS--We'll give ya Doug Mientkewicz for either one, take your pick.....
(and thanks for being one of the sane RS fans...I knew there was a bunch of you out there!)
Perfect.
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