any value for either over 100 favors batters.

- won two of three against New York ( 44-33)

- lost two in a row to Baltimore (33-43)

- won two of three against Boston ( 48-29)

- lost two of three to San Fransisco ( 33-44)

- swept the D'Backs ( 45-35)

- were swept by Colorado ( 38-41)

The New York Yankees are unpredictable... just watch them go sweep this weekend series.

Of all the problems with this team, the presence of Nieves is the most embarrassing and the most inexplicable. Starting catchers might be hard to find, but bad backup catchers are always available. None of them can be worse than Nieves.

The Orioles DFA'd Alberto Castillo. I can't believe I'm saying this, but the Yankees should see if they can get him. He's merely awful, which would be an improvement.

Anyone?

Quelle mystere!

Better hit, kid, or it's gonna be Cairo in the lineup tomorrow.

No fucking shit.

Oh Jesus. Igawa is going tomorrow.

Ah, now we're back to the Yankees I know and love.

Wow, five innings 62 pitches for Moose. Now on pace for a CG!

So, do we rely on Mike for the 7th?

History would seem to suggest that trotting him back out there is to play with fire.

Vizcaino's been throwing well of late...

If he walks the leadoff hitter, start warming up the bullpen.

But you're right about recent history. Short leash? Don't forget, Kei Igawa tomorrow means we need the bullpen.

I'm not trying to jinx anything, but I hope you can appreciate my apprehension...

But seriously, I think you have to get the bullpen ready at the first sign of trouble.

Abreu just looks awful at the plate.

Well, we got out of the seventh, so that's good!

Now some runs, Team, some runs!

He bunted that terrible bunt in the first. Terrible in execution, apparently terrible in conceit.

But Flaherty mentioned that maybe Derek didn't feel right swinging the bat in BP, so maybe he felt his best chance tonight was to bunt.

Then he goes down looking twice this game.

Maybe Flaherty was on to something?

Just a thought.

I want Mo here.

HE SUCKS

And here's Mo for the 4-out save! Goooood call.

Remember in ST when Joe said Mo would be a 1 inning pitcher only this season?

They just had to use three pitchers to get through one inning. Gave up three runs. And the lead. Again.

*may earn additional $0.5M annually if he leads club in Rolaids relief points

I love baseball.

Some years ago, he was better. But now he isn't. And he's a schmuck.

142 Good point, those have been few and far between!

2007 Yankees+Hatteberg-Farnsworth-Cairo/Phillips=significant improvement

New Yankee slogan: Space is the place!

He's one-of-a-kind.

158 Rivsy (Krivsky, the Reds GM, but without the Ks - because he hates when batters strikeout - I borrowed this from Keith Law) would give the Yanks more than pocket lint, or Conine, or Hatteburg. I really think Dunn could be had for a package built around Krazy Kyle.

142 152 155 Maybe Sun Ra will send a few more of these one-run victories the Yanks' way!

Then he could pitch the ninth in a tie game on the road.

Maybe someone who has Joe's ear (does any of his coaches have his ear?) should suggest to Joe that W's are as legitimate a pursuit for Mo as Sv's.

Sigh.

Where the fuck does he get off showing attitude?

What unmitigated gall.

Sit the fuck down, Kyle.

I once mused that maybe Farnsworth could actually be straightened out, at least that it was plausible.

I no longer think it's plausible, unless he has some kind of conversion experience and finds humility, he's irredemable.

Either he or his head must be off, and that in about half no-time.

What about Sal Fasano?

Jesus, please, please dump Kyle and call him up.

His WHIP is 0.82. His K/BB ratio is over 5. Want a coarse stat, his ERA in AAA is 0.76. He's given up 2 runs.

While I don't think he's the next Mo (there never will be), shouldn't we see if he's the next Tom Gordon? or Mike Stanton?

Red Sox have a Nascar sponsorship? Have to hand it to them, they tapped in to the most loyal fan base in the history of sport, in terms of merchandising and brand loyalty.

What did you guys see?

And since we kill Joe (and he should be fired) he does get credit from me for DH'ing Jorge with no third catcher. What a novel idea!

Then he goes and undoes that creativity with Cairo as LIDR?

Otherwise - what did Farnsy do?

170 That's completely awesome. Russell Nathan Coltrane Jeanson Martin. My new favorite non-Yankee, as long as I forget that he's on my least-favorite team.

Look, I think Joe should probably go, but that's based on baseball reasons. I still think he's been a great manager, player and more importantly a man. You do not do that, especially in public. If Kyle has a problem with being taken out he should:

a) Try not sucking and putting two-three men on every time.
b) Take it up with Joe in private. If there's one thing you can say about Joe, his door is always open and he's willing to talk.

The rebroadcast is on now, and they're in the 7th, so you can check out Kyle's theatrics.

The guy walked off the mound barking, got to the dugout throwing a tantrum and (as my wife noticed with great amusement) the whole team ignored him, walking away, giving him room to hang himself.

Sure, he could have just been raging at himself, but he seemed kind of petulant, as if he'd been mistreated. And didn't he show up Melky last week, too?

Either way, it's one thing for a Paul O'Neill or Moose to behave like that, but Farnsworth just hasn't earned to right to act out.

176 No kidding! We went to the 7:30pm movie after dinner. And when we got to a bar afterwards I was shocked when the game was over.

Moose pitch well and/or was the defense as good as Tyler makes it sound?

The guy had good stuff. I don't know why he's pitching so badly. Must have abreuitis.

Don't get me wrong, I want Nieves off the team as much as the rest of you. But he really does have a good BFOG+ (remember that day he caught the entire game with an injured hand because he knew the team needed it?)

And does anyone else think Cano should bat 3? He'll get a steady diet of fastballs, which might revive his power stroke. It's not like the others we throw out there are tearing it up.

It's Igawa's world, we just live in it.

On a more relevant point, get rid of Farnsworth. He can't be trusted in the 8th (or before)

Thanks.

But I suspect that's also the reason they Yanks haven't brought him up much. The Yanks rely pretty heavily on looks moreso than results (see also: Colter bean, Andy Phillips). Borderline prospects have a really hard time breaking through and sticking.

I like it a lot. It might be just the way to maximize Cano's potential. Of course to do that would be to give up on him becoming a great hitter because he'd be dependent on hitting before the game's best hitter (HA! I just called Alex the game's best hitter! Don't tell RI...).

Hmmm. Not a bad idea...

BTW, what happened to our bats? This is the SECOND multi, multi-game run drought this year?

Fastball up and on the outer half of the plate.

He could have smacked that hard with authority to left.

Instead he hits another weakass grounder on a low pitch--slider?

Maybe he's thinking too much about being patient?

God, I'd love to see him straightened out.

"You can't be afraid to fail; if you are, you will be afraid to try."-Captain Clutch

The more pressing concern seems to be how to get this freaking team to hit tho

Ahem.

Chad Gaudin has no-hit us through 4.

He's pitching a no-hitter.

Hey, a DP on a pitch down! Whaddayaknow?

we're being NO HIT!!! ugh...

we should certainly try ramirez and britton in the pen. farns is a complete farse.

yeah, russell martin is a good story. he grew up in france, with his mom and also canada, with his dad. his pop was a street musician and very supportive of his son. that's where the "coltrane" middle name came from. very very cool!

those of you in NY, should go check out trane's son Ravi, if you have the chance. he's an excellent sax player himself...

c'mon yanks, we need to win! esp. w/ haren on the bump manana...

oh, and FOX sucks. why isn't this game being televised. these silly 3:55 games and generally 1 game per saturday. there are no other conflicting games on right now. i don't have YES down here and would love to see our boyz. though i'd rather not see us get no-hit... : ~

However, if he can continue to improve on his mechanics, I'll take 7 innings and 4 runs from our #5 every time out, that would place him as league average, which is actually better than a #5. Not that it will really happen...

cult - you get the email about the latin-jazz gig at the baked potato?

Why, why are you bringing in Proctor Joe? Its 4-0!

i would've left quest in. this is about to get ugly...

why am i not shocked it's now 6-0. this is awful. boston's offense has been pretty anemic lately, but they keep winning 1-run low scoring games. this is a really shitty season. : /

always a nice touch to bring a reliever in to walk somebody. handedness is sometimes overrated. this game sucks...

i get to play a mellow(ish) jazz gig. kinda wishing it was a hard hitting metal gig at this point...

and the inning finally ends. our dreams of the wild card are about to also...

viz best come back out for the 8th...

or, as homer simpson would say: "Beer. the cause and solution to all of mans problems." how true!

--You can't say g0dd@mn on the radio!

--Who cares, no ones listening.

At least not for much longer.

Ditto everyone not named Mo in the bullpen (and maybe Viz, who's been decent lately.)

Then we cobble together a bullpen and 5-6 position players from Scranton, Trenton, and Tampa. Shelley, Gardner, Tabata etc.

Let them play for 2 weeks. Embarass the BFOG vets.

Kids from the minors couldn't hit any worse, could they? And lord knows anyone is an improvement over Proctor et al these days.

Not a huge sample size, but 117 ABs at #3/#4 with an OPS of .725 +/- vs .875 at #6

Mean anything?

BFOB = belly full of beer. props to elton john of all people...

Captain, Arod, and Posada get a pass. You're allowed to have off days.

Too bad the rest of the lineup is garbage. No one to pick up the slack when those days come.

Does that help?

http://youtube.com/watch?v=om2EQ7YXork

Some NSFW language

my fave Phish album is called Rift. by far. it's easily their most polished and progressive effort, from a performance standpoint.

the album that preceeded it, was definitely foreshadowing the greatness that is Rift. this album is called A Picture of Nectar. (nectar, was the name of the owner of a club phish used to play in their home state of vermont, before they blew up and got huge).

the album after Rift - hoist - is their most slick sounding studio effort. great songs and they brought in some outside forces, like female background vocals and even the amazing Tower of Power horn section, for a coupla songs.

those are the 3 studio cd's i suggest. they're mainly known as a live band. the only official live record i have, is their 1st of this sort - A Live One. i like it a good bit, but i stopped following them after that.

i didn't mention the 1st 2 cds in their catalog. so, i suggest, in order: Rift, Nectar, Hoist...

hope that helps.

I forgot that Cabrera got to within two outs of a no-hitter.

What is there left to say, really?

zack took care of the 1st 2 phish cd's...

cult has the live thing down...

i took care of the 'mid-era' studio cds...

yankz - you're all set, dude! maybe grab 1 from each era or something -- junta, rift and slip stich & pass for live. be aware, junta, their debut, is a 2cd set, so it may cost more...

2-28-2003 Nassau Coliseum
4-2-1998 the
4-3-1998 island
4-4-1998 tour
4-5-1998 shows
10-31-1996 "Remain in Light" Halloween

at least we won the damn division in 06.

we all liked Quest, the person, in the offseason. still, there really wasn't much of a need that we had to go out and sign him. it reeked of cashman trying to keep up with beantown's moves and i don't like working like that.

here's hopin' we somehow knock the beard off of ha(i)ren tomorrow...

Yecch.

i have fishman on a cool mandolin project cd... i'm not a big MM&W fan, but there was a bootleg w/ trey sitting in with them at a cool club in Austin, TX and that was a cool live tape.

i have Phish doing the White album on video and that was fun also. you and my best friend out in denver would have a blast talking all the live phish stuff...

I had no idea.

What the fuck is up with these players today?--practicing fundamentals is beneath them?

No wonder they all suck so bad, my God.

All it means is that one day someone will have to reinvent the wheel.

Someone should write a book, a serious book on the state of fundamentals in baseball today.

Or even just a general history of "fundamentals" in baseball.

I'd read such a book.

I really couldn't believe when Kay said how rare infield practice was. Like it was some quaint thing the team did.

Kind of disgusting, imo.

Fine by me, so long as his average stays high.

yeah, it's true. a coupla years ago, i had a kid come to me 'coz he wanted to learn how to play Jazz drums. well, he wanted to be Elvin Jones right away and play along to 1960's John Coltrane records. yeesh. i had to start him at the very, very basics of jazz drumming which can be difficult, tedious, boring, etc. needless to say, the kid got frustrated quick and didn't last.

really though, what it comes down to, is no matter how talented someone is, there really are NO shortcuts. practice really does make perfect. or closer to it...

i hope biggio still gets enough AB's the rest of the season to try. i don't know that he'll be playing next season. he's averaged in the 20's the last 4 years but is stuck at a jeteresque 5 longballs right now. he needs like another 14 to make it to 300-300.

i really wish someone would've given rickey another comeback chance. would've been great for him to hit another 3 homers...

96 - 10
97 - 10
98 - 19
99 - 24
00 - 15
01 - 21
02 - 18
03 - 10 (injured)
04 - 23
05 - 19
06 - 14
07 - 5 (1/2 season)

total = 188

boBBy was a cinch to join the 300-300 until his loss of power following that fateful homerun derby at comerica. say he hits 11 more this year, giving him 15 on the season and 220 for his career. he'll need to average 15 or so for the next 5+ seasons to reach the mark. at this point, who knows - not so likely...

If I were a manager, I'd absolutely forbid my players from participating in that circus act.

Hit the ball up the middle if you're such goddamned good hitters. That should be the contest--they should award the crown to the guy who hits the most linedrives up the middle.

384 What's a paradiddle? A dinger?

neh, a Paradiddle is the most basic Drum rudiment there is. now that doesn't mean it's easy! it combines singles & doubles (no dingers!) and switches hands. it's a 4-note group (3 strokes if using proper technique!) - i'll spell it out for you using R's for right hand and L's for left hand; 1st note of each grouping should be played with an emphasis:

A Single Paradiddle:
RLRR LRLL

A lot of you probably thought that game sucked royally, but that's entirely wrong. It wasn't anywhere near that good. I'm not even sure it was baseball - whatever the Yankees were doing, it sure as hell wasn't playing baseball.

It might have been the single most boring game I've ever been to. The only Yankees who did anything at all interesting were Proctor and Myers - they were wretched, but at least it was slightly interesting. I could get pissed off, which was better than just watching...nothing. Not a single goddamn thing. I would have welcomed a no-hitter, because at least that's something.

Well, the weather was perfect, the best day imaginable. The company was good. We had a day in the sun, and somewhere below us guys in pinstripes were walking from the dugout to the plate and back again. Maybe next time I'll see baseball.

Are we exasperated yet?

Ooooh, goody, it just occurred to me that California's coming up soon, right?

You think today was bad?--You just wait 'til the Californias come to town.

391 rock on, yankz! i only have a second, 'coz i need to get motorin' and go play a gig w/ my jazz trio tonite, but - cliche alert: it's never too late to start! it's really true, bro. i've taught plenty of older folks who were either just starting 'coz they always wanted to play but never did or used to play when they were kids but life got in the way.

one thing i tell older students who are just starting, you may wanna keep in mind, and this is for any instrument -- since you're older, you may pick up stuff more quickly. so if there's something that might take a year for a 10 yr. old to learn, it might take an adult only a month. of course, there's no substitute for experience, like starting early, but you can make up more ground more quickly when you start later.

if you ever wanna start up, lemme know where you are in NY and i might be able to hook you up with a teacher or something.

and yeah, drums RULE!!! : )

They said it's very hard on the players, having to loosen up their arms, cool down, then crank it up again for the game.

Teams conducted infield practice for the benefit of scouts, not to keep their players sharp?

I don't know, it's hard to believe there aren't drills they could do that aren't so taxing on their precious arms. If they can do bp, they can do other kinds of drills, I'd think.

But whatever. It's a new day.

(If you haven't noticed, I've been saying that a lot lately.)

My son has been bugging/inspiring me to attack the bass again and your words where just what I needed to hear ;-) When I was coming up, Jaco Pastorius and Stanley Clarke were my boys, but never committed the time required to learn those chops. One my greatest regrets.

So thanks for the inspiration — this will be the perfect distraction over the summer while we climb back into the wild card chase ;-)

And... I caught most of today's loss on the tube, the rest in the car radio (local feed from Oaktown), and I can't recall a more lifeless effort this season. I'm sure there was one lately which I've blotted out of my mind, but damn, this squad needs a kick in the ass big time. Except for Cap, A-God, and Jorgie, of course...

http://tinyurl.com/3ylwwh

;)

179 et al--Thanks for recapping the Farnsworth meltdown.

398 The problem is, making up a game a week, every week, for the rest of the season--without ever losing ground, against multiple teams, w/o many head-to-head games--is very difficult. It doesn't seem as daunting as it is, and tempts teams to make crazy trades, etc because they feel that they are still in it. I would rather the organization just accept that the season is probably lost, and just pull the plug and build for next year. Maybe they can get lucky and dump a reliever or OF for some prospects.

I still think we can get something for Farnsworth. Teams are always willing to take a chance on a guy who throws 98 MPH. Let that team try and "fix" him. We need some kind of pop off the bench. I think Cashman can get Barrett from the Padres, and we wont be burdened by his contract next season. Maybe the Padres won't part with Bard, but if they are looking to make a push in the NL, there is no reason for them to carry both Catchers in the light hitting NL West. They need all the pitching they can get. Move Jorge to 1B for the remainder of the season. Poof! 1B problem solved.

Maybe then they'll call up Ramirez. Wait, that makes too much sense.

Email me: jen AT nosenseworrying DOT com

i'd like to have either of the SD catchers, i just don't see them needing farnsworth so badly that they'd be willing to deal from a position of weakness to bolster an area of strength ... especially since trading one of their two catchers leaves them without a capable backup and there's nothing we can give them to change that

Just throwing it out there as a possibility. I know the Reds would love to have him. Their bullpen has been horrid, and even Farny can get NL hitters out. They have Votto in the wings, but Hatteberg is useless. Can you say Adam Dunn? Yes, we need someone in the lineup who can hit a HR other than Arod. Give up one prospect and Farny for Dunn. The Reds are going to deal him at some point anyway.

You beat me to it.

Dunn!

Dunn!

and .... done!

It would be nice, but what does Brian Cashman care about a bench, what with Interleague and all.

I would rather they call up Shelley Duncan, put Damon on the DL (or put him down--really, it's not humane to let him suffer), and commit myself to 250 ABs for Duncan and Phillips at 1B and DH (with some BUIF for Phillips and some RF for Duncan).

Will they succeed? Probably not--especially in Phillips case. But who knows, maybe one of them makes the adjustment and you find a Shane Spencer or Marcus Thames (these type of players do have some value).

In any case, that would be a better use of the remaining season than adding spare parts to win only a few more games.

Plus, it would help continue the work begun by the World Baseball Classic (a wonderful invention).

Plus, if I watched enough Japanese baseball (my impression is that there's a lot of slap-hitting?), perhaps I'd come to develop a greater appreciation of major league swing-for-the-fences-every-time-up ball.

:)

i saw the semi-final game between South Korea and Japan last year down in Petco ... it was an amazing experience ... half the stadium was wearing korean white ... there was a rain delay late in the game ... a lot of the non-affiliated (that is, american) fans went home and the koreans all moved into the seats down the first base line and started chanting and singing, banging blue and white rally sticks together ... and kept it up for like 45 minutes straight ... a real special experience ...

having read whiting's book ... one of the things i've got on my list is to attend a japanese baseball game, sounds totally different than the american experience ... maybe even go check out the big HS baseball championship they have every year ... bigger than march madness over there ... frickin' country comes to a halt to watch ...

I agree. Damon is a total loss. Glad Cashman saved some money by not signing Beltran. Beltran is having a bad year, but still heads above Damon, and he actually is a CF'er. What's worse is he doesn't want to go on the DL. Even worse, is that he is lobbying to get back in CF. I mean seriously, Damon should have played his last game in CF 5 years ago. He needs to get his head out of his ass and do what is best for the team, shut the fuck up and get healthy. Not being on the DL is not a streak for gods sake. Luck does not a streak make.

But I suppose that's one of the functions of sports--take out your tribal hostilities in a safe, ritualized setting rather than on a battlefield.

Those rally sticks you mention...that must have just been unreal. The sound of tribal bloodlust...

:)

As for Damon, I expect that athletes are not always the, er, most forward thinking fellows. I actually don't mind that he wants to be out there and 'help' the team, even though he's hurt. In many ways, he's the anti-Pavano.

No, the blame here falls on Cashman and/or Torre--whoever is really responsible for deciding to put players on the DL.

Or to whip up tribal hostility and blood lust, so it can be channeled to the battlefield (or other less overtly destructive but equally ugly forums). I hate "national" sports, but I've ranted about that before.

he had a good year with the bat last year, this year's been a loss to injury ... to write him off as a total loss seems premature ... in any case, there's no point in trading him when his value is at it's lowest ...

but we're in agreement that he should be on the DL, trying to get healthy ... hell, i argued the should have DL'd him right before they went on the road to Colorado

no fights, no chanted obscenities, nobody got doused with beer for wearing the other team's shirt ...

Alan Horne: 7 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 8 K - 106 K puts him only 9 behind Clay Buchholz for the Eastern League lead

I can't remember the last time i was so excited about actual (and i mean actual, not NY media hype) yankees pitching prospects

maybe never? i mean brien taylor, sure, but that lasted 1 season before he got hurt and the yankees were a godawful mess at that point

starting the end of this year, we're gonna start seeing some actual, live hard-throwing, good-pitching prospects start coming into the bronx ... and i'm gonna love it

429 I guess I'm not surprised by that.

431 When you put it that way, cob, it sounds pretty awesome. Can't wait.

from mlb.com

His temper already smoldering, Scott Proctor set off an inferno near the Yankee Stadium infield following Saturday's 7-0 loss to the A's, torching various items of his equipment in a smoky blaze.

Perhaps the hot-tempered Proctor hoped to excise some of his recent struggles, lighting a small bonfire a few feet from the top step of the Yankees dugout. He then watched from the railing for several minutes as the contents grew charred and unrecognizable.

..."I'm just throwing like [junk]," Proctor said after the game in an expletive-laced rant. "I can't expect to throw the ball over the middle and expect to get an out of it."

VERY cool that your son is killin' it on the guitar and you're very lucky to have a musical wife! the girl musician has alas been my downfall...

anyway, super glad if i was able to inspire you to pick up your axe again this summer! : ) bass is the coolest and it's the most important to me on a gig. i don't care about the bandleader or soloist - if the bass player isn't a top notch ryhthm section player, i'm miserable. we had a sub bass player in our trio tonite, but fortunately he's a fantastic upright player so all was well!

jaco and stanley clarke are great! you should check out rocco from early tower of power too. he's not a soloist though. gary willis and dominique de piazza are slammin' nowadays as is oteil burbridge.

if you're up in NYC, you need to try and check out matt garrison, fima emphron and ricard bona...

I read somewhere recently that Nardi Contreras thinks that Edwar is still a work in progress, that he needs work on locating his fastball - even though his ERA is sub-1. Jeez. Talk about not grading on a curve. Wonder what good things Nardi would have to say about Farns or Proc.

I imagine Basak would be sent down, as he is useless as is, and someone like Colter Bean DFA'd...

i always tell people i work the other 9-5 : )

I hope the kid gets a shot. But then again we have Villone and Farnsworth, why would we need Britton and Ramirez?

Brian and Joe just seem content to keep kicking the same dead horse all season.

426

I guess my gripe with Damon now is that he is stirring about moving back to Center, when he should be volunteering to move to 1B, and Cashman should be looking for someone to fill the DH spot until and if Giambi comes back. He should also be offering to platoon with Matsui and Abreu once or twice a week to give them a breather. Like I said earlier, someone did JD a large disservice when they allowed him to play CF in the first place. Whether it was in high school, little leage, or whenever. He never should have stepped foot out there.

Charles Grodin.

Heh.

What are your nightmares about? defensive metrics?

Kidding...I usually don't remember my dreams.

Sorry, rant over. In any case, wanna put money on Torre bringing Ramirez in today? Its his way. And thenm, depending on his determination of his BFoG, he will either pitch in the next two games or not be seen again...

If so: It's time to retire - Geezer!

449 He also suggests that Ramirez is lying about his age (based solely on one picture), which to me is a pretty bold claim to make.

I pretty much expect the Yankees to get blown out today vs. Dan Haren, so we might actually get to see Edwar in action.

I predict that whenever he is actually brought in, he'll walk someone and Pete will have a comment that goes: See statheads, that's why he's a career minor leaguer. Major League players throw strikes with their fastball.

Of course, none of our actual big league relievers do that, but hey, that doesn't sound as good.

Has he gone downhill that much?
He can't catch at all? Not better then Nieves?
And howabout Farns to Baltimore? Reunite him will Malzone?

Poor kid, he pitches well in Baltimore, gets traded to the Yankees (yay! a non-crappy contender) only to find out they are a crappy non-contender and then gets sent down to AAA.

Now they need to DFA at least one other useless RP and replace him with a position play, preferrably someone with a little pop (or at least the potential of some power).

But this is still all window dressing--there need to be wholesale roster changes as this team (hopefully) pulls the plug on the season and begins building for next year and beyond.

But hey, there's enough offense to carry weak bats, right?

Thoughts?
JD's value to us really depends on who we get in the offseason.
He still has trade value, if we eat $5m or so.

Of course, none of that is really true, just what should be true. I imagine they will sit pat with Melky/Damon, hoping Damon recovers in the offeason. They'll need a RF too...

meanwhile, do we have to watch this?

michael kay has to shut up about igawa running. what is his problem with it? fat people don't like when people run.

Truth is in 2 years, we will need/have a whole new OF. Mats at 1B might be a way to improve the OF defense and still have a (hopefully) .800 OPS from first.

Mats is terrible at going back, and now is afraid to dive 'in'. I like the guy, but I consider him slightly (at least) below average on D.

An OF of Ichiro, Melky, Damon/Abreu/X with Mats on first seems decent.

The FA market next year on 1B seems thin. Not that many tasty OF'ers either.

Well.... Game over.
I guess THIS is the shortest game of the year.

I guess Andy was tired of the offense not scoring for him, or the pen losing games and decided to do it himself. If Torre can survive this weekend, he is truly the Teflon Don (not saying I blame it all on him).

when i was setting my fantasy lineup i was trying to decide whether to pitch haren. it's a head to head league and my pitching numbers are all leading my opponent's. he doesn't have any pitchers going, but if haren pitched poorly i could lose some of the numbers. the only thing that could help me is if he pitches a shutout. i really thought about pitching him. in the end i didn't because it was too much of a risk. but maybe it was a mistake.

This is just hard for me to believe.

But I like YOUR plan better. Maybe Cashman is reading,

There haven't been many.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/shareit/r6rx

Kennedy with 4 K through 2 IP.

If you're Haren, why throw a breaking ball? Andy couldn't catch up to the first 2 fastballs.

494 it sounded like there was a good amount of applause, but i couldn't really tell.

With question marks like those, a .500 team is not a stretch.

"I'm not talking about unlucky," Posada said. "I just think luck comes when you go after it. It seems like, at times, we just go through the motions. Today is one of those cases. That's the way it is. I think everybody knows what I'm talking about."

512 Yup. I love it. I think someone should set fire to the bat rack and the bullpen and especially Torre's office.

If you had asked me about what would happen with injuries to Damon, Giambi, and no effort to get a 1B, I'd say their runs scored would have suffered, based on the bench. This team was supposed to succeed with an outstanding offense. With nothing to back it up, they were bound to fail if theings didn't break their way.

An average offense plus average pitching with a well below average bench = an average team.

I am not suggesting that going into the season I though .500 was possible, but as early as mid to late April there were lots of signs that this was going to be a .500 team (check the Banter game logs and you'll see my comments at the time). Sure, there was a time in the first month where the team's ineptitude was a suprise, but by now, I don't think anyone should still be shocked. This team has .500 written all over it.

Nostradamus would be proud!

and on bernie williams, obviously i agree.

521 exactly.

We have plenty of holes, but when the 5spot of JD, Mats, Cano, ABreu and Melky all underperform... well we can't overcome that.

When that 5spot played well, we won. Despite all our problems, we looked unbeatable.

Every winning team has injuries and weaknesses. But like the White Sox, when a number of players are all underperforming, you don't win.

As bad as things look, we are not done yet.

Ha-ha..I just started them!

I say here and now: we're done.

so ... if we don't turn it around, i'm at peace with being done for this year ... and emphatically, i don't want to see a single young player traded in some misbegotten attempt to make it happen this year

c'mon cap'n, this is big

Come on Cano.

First, on today's game, do you get the feeling that the bats only loosened up because Oakland scored 8? Not the sign of a good team.

Second, I've been getting a little sick of the way the Yankees keep spouting off how anything short of winning the WS is a disappointment. The truth is that the Yanks have been flirting with disaster for a couple of seasons now. Notwithstanding the playoff meltdown last year, that team overachieved. It is one thing to shoot for the championship every year and it is another to act like your team SHOULD win every year.

Matsui: 60 points below career OPS. He's one hot week fgrom performing at expectations.

Melky: 30 points below career OPS. Again one hot week away.

That leaves a 3spot (Abreu, Damon, Cano). And their short-comings have been balanced by the outstanding seasons of Arod, Jeter, and Posada.

If anything, their lineup is performing exactly to expectations.

What kills the team is the Giambi injury and 1B. Given a healthy Giambi and an average 1B, they'd be very close to leading the league in runs scored. That they have no compentent replacements absolutely kills scoring.

Consider: They've given 330 AB's to Mghjfkd, Cairo, Phelps, and Nieves - that's more than any other player. And that's more than twice as many AB's they got from Giambi.

huh? if the world series isn't the only success, then how have they been flirting with disaster by making the playoffs every year?

To continue to say that there is a lot of time left only makes it easier to commit to short-sighted moves.

Nope, this team is cooked. If they manage to make the playoffs, well I guess I'll eat crow. I'm not worried about that, however.

With the way Cashman and Torre have run the team and organization, I just can't see how they've ever win another ring with either of them in charge. If the goal is to win the Series, both Cashman and Torre need to be fired. It may mean disaster, but if they aren't going to win again, there's no reason to keep them around.

Consider: Cashman took a team that was winning series each year he started and his method of plug and play has turned them into a team that hasn't gotten out of the the ALDS in two and will be out of the playoffs this year.

; )

559 cashman can't be fired. i disagree with your assertion that they can't win with him as general manager, but even if i didn't i would still think that the type of disaster that would happen should cashman be fired is the type of disaster that would bring about another 18 year drought.

The hitting problems of this year exceed what I anticipated, but I have long been concerned about a leadership vaccuum in the clubhouse.

As I said, you always shoot to win it all. But there is no way that the Yanks were the favorites in 2006 or 2007.

The way they lost in the first series last year was surprising. That they lost was not.

Cashman can't produce a winning team. And it's not like he's had a short leash. He's been in the position for ten years, and the team has only gotten further and further from a championship. They have nothing to lose by making that change - they're already losing every year.

565 It will be seven years, all under Cashman, this year since they last won a ring. What has Cashman done to convince you it won't be another seven year? Signing Pavano? Or Damon? Or Igawa? Or Clemens? That's 150 million just there.

let's talk about sun ra or national health care or puppy dogs and rainbows or something ...

cashman can't produce a winning team? that's stupid.

But I guess you're right, we're really losing because of DougOut and Nieves.

I guess it depends on how "winning team" is measured. If it means winning the WS, they have gotten no further from winning. If it is how far one goes in the play-offs, then they got closer then farther, then closer, then farther. If it is putting together a team that wins a lot of games--assuming, as does Billy Beane, that the play offs tend to be a bit of a crap shoot--then again his record has been variable, though overall the success has been there.

Your mind is made up, and I don't really have a dog in this fight. But I do think that statements such as your above quote a bit overwrought.

And me, I'd love to see an younger guy, with proven success, get promoted. Give the job to Oppenheimer and make Stick his assistant.

Torre's strength is that he respects his players and doesn't get in their way. His weakness is that he doesn't fire up his team and doesn't get in player's faces.

Torre's weakness was masked in the 90's because he was blessed with vets like Tino and Paul O'Neill, who brought strong leadership qualities to the clubhouse, and young players like Jeter, Pettite, and Posada, who had strong characters.

Cashman's style is to deal to maximize the talent/$ ratio. That is fine, except there is no reason to think you will end up with strong, vocal leaders in the clubhouse. As a result you have a lot of underachieving players that Torre does a poor job of inspiring.

576 If your numbers are right, Melky has already picked up 11 points today (-29 OPS) and Matsui has picked up 3 points (-62 OPS)

Meanwhile, I know it convenient for your argument to leave out this:

A-Rod: 142 points above career OPS
Jeter: 21 points above career OPS
Jorge: 77 points above career OPS
- - - - - - - - - - -
240 points above career OPS

Leaving Matsui and Melky aside - cause they just a bit under what would be expected of them - You've got a 3spot. And the downside of Cano and Damon has been more than made up for by the upside of Arod, Jeter, and Jorge.

So, you're right - Abreu has underperformed expectations. That has hurt.

And the 330 AB's of Mghjf, Cairo, Nieves, and Phelps means nothing for the offense.

582 There were many free agents this past off-season that could have helped: Huff, Gomez, Lieberthal, etc.

And when's he going to decide which pitchers can be traded of: White, Marquez, Smith, Henn, etc?

My simply point is: When our 5 spot performed, and our BP was in a good streak (but not over their head), we won 14 of 17.

So I say, If our 5spot plays at 90% or better of their career OPS, we play .600 or better ball. You disagree?

And can Giambi give us 6 weeks of .800+ OPS?
Will Hughes give us 6 weeks of #3 or better?
Might JD heal a lot if we keep him at DH?
Might Cash put a rabbit out of his hat?
Might Roger get better as the season progresses? Possible?

We are playing very badly now, but there is still plenty of potential upside. we are down but not out.

Who agrees?

fuck myers. torre has to be fired.

Good thing Myers is on the team to pitch to lefties.

Your 5spot exists only in your mind. Just like the hope that Cashman can somehow help.

604 Cashman:

a) Consistently signs woeful players on the free agent market for ridiculous prices
b) Has yet to show he understadns the concept of team by stocking the bench with below replacement level players
c) Refuses to trade anything to help the current team

And he's a GM for a winning team, how? Because he's such a terrible evaluator of talent that he can't figure out out which of the 20 pitching prospects to trade?

I wont say the season is over because I've watched many years of baseball in which stranger things have happened, but my baseball observing experience also tells me this team is very close to done.

I've been so busy lately. And the way the Yanks have played, I'm glad for it.

And Lieberthal is at least better than Nieves.

I love the response to name players. I do. Then I get hammered because the players aren't All-stars. The point is: The Yanks could easily have gone into the season with much better reinforcements than they had.

They didn't.

So, are we going to see Ramirez, I am shocked Torre hasn't thrown him out there yet, but I guess we underestimate his rediculous loyalty...

Oh Gosh, and its Ronan Tynin's eternal GBA...

630 Lieberthal cost 1 million. It would be awful, but then what's Nieves.

And 1B - what was your solution? Or were you psyched about Mfghdgdj?

a) Don't win in seven years; and
b) Drop 150 million on Damon, Pavano, Clemens, and Igawa; and
c) Fail to evaluate which B-prospects could be traded away for upgrades,

then get fired.

era+ of 110, 119, 133 ... see a trend? again, with the cherry-picking, eh?

And now Proctor is up..again. Torre just refuses to pitch a kid. Rediculous. Because Proctor hasn't pitched enough or anything. This is why he must go, well, one of the reasons...

646 They lost in six games. They shouldn't have won anything.

Getting A-Rod was brilliant (I think)--but then you have downplayed this before by saying that it was no brainer. OK, but he certainly found great value with Chacon in 2005--but then you say this was luck. But then you just slammed him for not finding Jack Cust--but Cust has been a career journeyman and minor leaguer; to credit Beane for pulling him from the dustbin is, to use your own analogy and logic, to praise someone for a coin flipping heads two times in a row 592.

Is Cashman a good or bad GM? It's a good topic for a reasonable discussion. Does he often get a free pass, with any bad move blamed on the "Tampa cabal"--no doubt. But your incessant blaming of Cashman for ALL of the problems with the team--including tactical errors that Torre has made (you did earlier fault Cashman for Cairo at 1B--and never giving him any credit for any moves that have worked out well, is just as one sided.

Enjoy; I remove myself from this conversation now while I watch Jack Cust probably hit a grand slam.

Cust - I criticized all teams. He had never been given 20 consecutive AB's in the majors. The Yankees were never going to be the team to give him that.

Why the hell is Proctor pitching, again, in a blowout? Dear God, and Joe wonders why his BP is ineffective

664 665 Edwar = Henry Roengardner!

bye everyone. yankees blow.

672 me too

I'm out, Fire Joe, now, I now hate him...

Obviously Bernie's CF skills were in considerable decline before this year but it seems like it would be nice to have another option besides Melky.

Also, it wouldn't kill us to have another switch-hitter off the bench (even if Bernie has been a histrorically lousy PH).

But more than all that, wouldn't it have been great to have another veteran leader in the clubhouse? It seems like Cashman (and I am in the some blame/some credit camp) really undervalues intangibles in anyone besides Derek Jeter.

sigh ... it's like torre desperately wants out, but doesn't want to resign, and is trying everything to get the organization to fire him

hargrove's last game is with weaver pitching. you would think he would've resigned before the game, not after...

Do I want Bernie as a starter? Hell, no. Do I want him in the clubhouse instead of just one of the half dozen mediocre to poor 1B players we've got? Yes.

Although the argument that Torre wouldn't be able to restrain himself from playing Bernie does have merit...

Speaking of which, I won't be around for a while since I'm on another indie film gig, but check me out every now and then at my new spot, for those who know. I posted Part IV Friday night, for anyone who know what that means. Shaun (if you get this), the cartoons are coming very shortly; I'm starting with some classics.

Just trying to spread some cheer; you can ignore me as usual. I can't even mention the games directly anymore, that's how it's gotten. Well, I guess this means more time to learn the popular Banter language and contribute something of measured value (but is that honestly a good thing for Banter? We will see...) >;)

Kennedy should be in AAA by the end of the season, the only thing holding him back being IP. Hes already up to 94 and they are doing the 5 IP limit thing clearly. But that puts him on pace for a mid-late season call up next year, awesome...keep it up kid, you are our are salvation! :)

Ivan Rodriguez C
David Ortiz 1B
Placido Polanco 2B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Derek Jeter SS
Vlad Guerrero OF
Magglio Ordonez OF
Ichiro Suzuki OF

C Victor Martinez, CLE
C Jorge Posada, NYY
1B Justin Morneau, MIN
2B Brian Roberts, BAL
SS Carlos Guillen, DET
SS Michael Young, TEX
3B Mike Lowell, BOS
OF Carl Crawford, TB
OF Torii Hunter, MIN
OF Manny Ramirez, BOS
OF Alex Rios, TOR
OF Grady Sizemore, CLE

And the pitchers:

P Josh Beckett, BOS
P Dan Haren, OAK
P Bobby Jenks, CWS
P John Lackey, LAA
P Gil Meche, KC
P Jon Papelbon, BOS
P J.J. Putz, SEA
P Francisco Rodriguez, LAA
P C.C. Sabathia, CLE
P Johan Santana, MIN
P Justin Verlander, DET

Well. At least there are only two guys on that starting roster that we should have signed. One for nothing, and one which was as obvious as the nose on your face.

I agree with most of what you said about Cashman. Sign Pavano after only one good year in his 5 year career. Let Duque walk for pennies. Let Lieber walk for pennies. Let the bench go to shit. Pass on Guerrero, umm ok. Pass on Beltran and sign Damon...ummm....you're fired. Isn't there another 40+ pitcher you can sign? Another career minor league BUC? Maybe you can pick up another $17 million right fielder after passing on Beltran.

As for Joe Torre. Family problems? Maybe if the father wasn't such a pussy, his kids wouldn't have to go to the neighbors for help! These kids are most assuredly not "Safe at Home" Joe. I respect Andy Pettitte's and Jorge Posada's analysis of this club a whole lot more than I trust Torre's opinion. If there really are guys not trying, get a manger in here who will get in their faces, or a GM who will trade them to Pittsburgh or Kansas City. And what the hell does Kay know about guys being prideful and not wanting to be told they are not trying. I've played organized sports, and there has never been a shortage of guys getting by on natural ability who couldn't care less about winning, or what was said about them. I'm sure there is no shortage of guys treating this like what it is, a job, and to think they all care what is said about them as they cash a check for $300,000 every two weeks is laughable.

Exactly! And then Joe had players to do his job. Now he does not, and he sure isn't qualified to do it.

I-Rod is, at best, the 3rd best catcher in the AL.

I hate the All-Star Game.

Most notably because it wont matter to the Yankees who wins the game.

It's serendipitous that the Bronx in Burning is running this year. Joe has no more control over the clubhouse than Martin did. Joe just lets players walk all over him rather than attempt to assert his authority. I cannot express strongly enough that the powers that be should have let Joe go and brought in Piniella. Trade Joe, who is more aristocrat than anything else, for a basball man.

Agreed. But at least guys seem to care about something. I'd be happy if the Yankees showed some enthusiasm about anything.

And you have to admit that you cannot compare Torre to Piniella when it comes to managing a game and putting players in the best position to win. Its not like Piniella would let Damon limp around half the year.

But then again, if only a handful of guys care whether they win or lose, not much Joe can do about that.

730 what are you talking about? you think jeter should have been hitting 3rd for the last 11 years, but leadoff for the last 2? he should be leading off, and should have been forever.

720 cabrera is definitely a better hitter, but a much worse defensive 3b. but i pretty much agree with you.

716 now we should have signed magglio ordonez?

I disagree. He should be batting third, should have always batted third. While the Yankees should have found a lead-off man somewhere at some point. Jeter himself knows this, but he's not the kind to rock the boat. He has gladly sacrificed statistics for what Joe Torre thought was best for the team.

But even if you're right, then Torre is still doing what is at best the third most viable option for Jeter.

We win despite Joe, not because of him.

Was that your idea, or did you hear it somewhere? If the former, man, that's really fucking uncanny.

As to its wisdom, we'll see. The thing is, though, if it's to be tried, it should be tried, say for at least two weeks.

But you can't just put him there randomly, you have to actually prepare him for the role with sound coaching.

Sometimes I wonder if there's much coaching being done on the team.

You see the other team's hitters punching the ball up the middle and you see ours hitting lazy flyballs and you have to wonder...

Honestly, I have to wonder whether there's a correlation between losing Sheff and Giambi and seeing such heightened play from Alex.

I wonder if he's more relaxed not having to compete with the other sluggers, but being the undisputed Guy.

Didn't they even get swept this week?

If we'd been able to hold the line at 8 or so, we could be down to like 5 games by now if we played some baseball.

So frustrating.

Still, it doesn't solve the problem of how to help the man grow into the hitter he could be.

Reds manager Jerry Narron got canned tonight. Yahoo is reporting that Girardi interviewed for the Reds job twice last week, but turned it down because they wanted him to keep some of the existing coaching staff.

I'm jazzed for it.

Too bad it's made for tv, though. Should have been produced HBO-style, sans commercials.

Oh well, can't have everything.

"p1ɹoʍ uʍop ǝpısdn ɐ uı ʇ1nɐɟ ʇɐ sı ɐpɐsod"

Also, one proposed an Alan Horne for Carlos Zambrano trade. I kid you not.

Why was I there, you ask? Hey, the Yankees are depressing, I needed cheering up.