Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
With the Yankees bobbing around in last place in the AL East, I haven't spent much time looking at the standings thus far this year, but checking things out this morning, I see that a four-game losing streak has dropped the Orioles 2 1/2 games behind the Bombers, who are back at .500 and 6 1/2 games out of first place. They're only 1 1/2 games behind the Blue Jays, however, and Toronto comes to the Bronx tomorrow for a three game series. That means a good week could bounce the Yankees up to third place with only the Rays and Red Sox, the teams with the two best records in the American League, and two of the three best records in baseball, ahead of them.
The Yankees can kick this week off right with a get-away win in Minneapolis tonight. Beating the Twins tonight would give the Yankees a series win (rather than the four-game split that would result from a loss), push them over .500, and give them the same record as the Twins, who are only a game out of first place in the Central entering tonight's game.
Andy Pettitte will look to pitch the Yankees to that victory. Pettitte is coming off three straight quality starts in which he's allowed a total of one home run and walked just three men while striking out 19 in 18 2/3 innings. He'll face Livan Hernandez, who has a 6.08 ERA in four career starts against the Yankees. Of course, three of those starts came between 1997 and 2002, which is ancient history by now, but the most recent was last June and saw the Yankees tag Hernandez for seven runs in four innings including home runs by Alex Rodriguez, Hideki Matsui, and Jorge Posada.
Hernandez has an 8.74 ERA in his last two starts, and was most recently slapped around by the lowly Kansas City Royals. Despite giving up all those runs, he's not allowed a home run in his last 23 2/3 innings, but then he's only struck out three men over the same span (while walking only two). Hernandez's single-game high for strikeouts this year is four, and it took him seven innings to do that, and he's only walked three men in a game once all year. So one things for sure, the Yankees will be putting the ball in play tonight.
"And he shall be Livan
And he shall be a good man
He... shall... be... Livan"
Here's hoping that Livan is a good man but a bad pitcher tonight... ;-)
Game on ESPN tonight here in New England.
26 24 He's hitting .330 because he goes the other way on that outside. So why the hell doesn't he do it everytime, or at least tries to? He's shown he can do it, it's just a matter of wanting to. If you have the skills, why not use?
(And hello to all.)
Weird. Three batters in four pitches!
Not good.
the faux gm on joba to the rotation is getting a bit tough to take
Boy that's nice to see.
BUT why would a player use a black bat, when the ball is most clearly seen coming off a dark surface, which contrasts from the white ball? I'd go as light blonde as possible and maybe you'd get a hit or 2 a year extra simply because it's not as quickly picked up by the eyes as a black bat.
I realize this is a goofy and unprovable theory, so if anyone thinks it's a horseshit idea, please be gentle. But does this make sense to anyone? I do realize the black bats look "cooler"
btw, is it true the new park in Minneapolis doesn't have a retractable roof?? WTF were they thinking????
And man, Cano is just playing terribly! Almost got doubled off on that earlier fly and it should not have been close. Is this guy awake? He really needs to be reemed. It seems obvious to me that his contract has gone to his head.
74 75 You got the touch!
C'mon, Johnny. He's a catcher, you'll have to hit it hard to bring him home.
wow..no roof for late September games in Minnesota..
This twins offense is pathetic, no way we should lose this game. How do they keep gicing Punto so many ABs?
This team is playing like a .500 team and the reason very well maybe that's because it is.
Everything is a moral failing. This happens at Bronx Banter every time things are going bad.
hard to see Wang Moose Petitte combined being much better than they are now, though I'd love to be proved wrong.
if we get none of those three, then we're a .500 team...
You win the game.
Oh no, I couldn't possible, it is your game.
No, no I just wouldn't feel right, it is your game.
I really couldn't.
etc.
Reyes has jowls or maybe he's got mumps and ate a pickle.
I mean, doesn't this get factored into the calculations at all?
The Red Sox are pounding the bad teams, something the Yankees have been unable to do. That's a big difference between the teams.
... Except for Reggie Jackson of course.
And Twins, the game is yours.
Maybe Hank needs to get a forearm forklift for the entire team?
http://tinyurl.com/2l7lck
If TB had kept this guy, they would be very hard to beat.
But Jetes is crushing the ball.
Twins broadcast said the Yankees left a RISP every inning so far. I can't believe this is true.
Fuck you giambi.
My gut reaction is that the bunt is not right here, but maybe it bears checking...
If Farnsworth is on the team next week Cashman has to go.
I think a big part of his success now is having a full-time babysitter who was also his coach when he was a kid: Johnny Narron. The brother of then-Reds coach Jerry Narron. When he was traded to the Rangers, Narron went with him. (The Narrons have deep ties with the Rangers.)
Johnny Narron slept in a connecting hotel room wherever they went (including a rehab assignment in the minors). He was there at 3am if Josh needed to talk. He played Playstation games with him for hours, took him to see Transformers three nights in a row to keep him occupied, etc.
(And speaking of the Reds...Andy Phillips was called up. He got his first hit as a Red tonight.)
I also think we're likely to get swept by Toronto the next series. Just a bad feeling.
Whoops. Meant to post that on the Twins Banter.
But are they overpaid?
Brutal!
If this was the Bluejays, I would look at the team and results and conclude it wasn't a playoff team. I want the Yankees to make the playoffs, but it is getting hard for my heart to fool my head.
WHAT THE FUCK IS THE POINT of sending Farnsworth out there anymore?
Add Joe Nathan as closer and that favors the bunt. But now add Kyle Farnsworth as the pitcher and that surely favors no bunt. So I'd say it's a wash. (And it does have the advantage of justifying the employment of Nick Punto.)
In other words, unless the Yankees made a huge, preemptive offer, the Rockies would be foolish to trade Fuentes now.
Farnsworth officially lost the game, but it was lost long before when we left 7 RISP in 7 innings, or when Pettitte got 3 leads and couldn't hold them.
If Pettitte and Wang pitch a bit better, and Joba is an improvement in the fifth slot, then the bullpen only needs moderate improvement.
The other points - Jeter, Cano, Posada - aren't unreasonable expectations. They might not happen, and if they don't, then you're right. But I don't think there's anything outlandish in those assumptions.
Jeter could be at the beginning of a resurgence, too. Yesterday and today. Cano always starts heating up right about this time of year. Posada certainly won't add what he added in 2007, but he doesn't have to be great to be a huge step up from Moeller.
Then add one surprise player (Melky? a power surge from Abreu?) and an increase of maybe .150 OPS from A-Rod (check out his numbers now), and we have ourselves a division race.
1) He throws hard, he MUST be good.
2) Look what happened last year and ignore the rest of his career!
If not Cashman, I don't know who we have evaluating pitching, but they're not god damned good at it, and changes need to be made.
Any product that used to appeal to everyone, then suddenly tries to be hip and kid-friendly is a disaster of epic proportions. This highly offends me for some reason, because it's not even nostalgia driving the rant, it's just such a waste...
I am damned sick of watching Farnsworth in the 8th inning. I'm really trying to work on my anger issues, but like Mattpat I just get angrier every time I see him. I just don't get why Britton can sit for months and months and a guy we KNOW sucks keeps going out there and giving games away. I'm almost at the point where I just won't watch the end of game if he comes in. I am wondering if Girardi puts him in there to say to the offense, 'look I'm going to keep using him, so you guys need to score runs late.'
I'm almost at the point where I won't slow down to gawk at a hideous car accident in the other lane. But (like you, I bet) I've been saying that for quite some time...
That doesn't mean you give up on the season or stop watching...if I was Cashman, however, it would mean that I do everything to make 2009 better (i.e, Joba) and certainly don't trade prospects for a 32-year old reliever.
Sure thing, the Yanks could use some people who could really evaluate real talent, but how easy is it to find someone like that who would work under the circumstances that is the corporate structure of the Yankees? The team continually drives away it's best talent from the field, farm and office even as we've maintained a holding pattern in the playoffs. It's not a divine right to be in the post-season, and the sad thing about it is that the last several teams really didn't go further than they deserved. I know, deserve's got nothing to do with it, but I was not surprised by the showings.
I'm of the thinking that it will take a few years to undo the damage G. Steinbrenner had done to the team when he decided to take control again after coming back from banishment, and it will take an equal amount of time for the FO and the coaching to have an effect on the level of play. Joe has some very sound ideas coming in, and perhaps if he, like any other manager, had players that could execute those ideas, he would be the next Joe Torre circa 1996. I still hold out hope the younger players can get with that, but I think the veterans are either playing for pride (Jeter, Mussina, Damon, Matsui), playing for another contract (Abreu, Giambi) or just stuck on stupid (Farnsworth). The mix is unbalanced and spoiling, so it needs some serious adjustment and unfortunately there's only so much time you're allowed to do that around here.
I'm not shooting for playoffs this year, I'm praying for the return and continuation of good fundamentals and heart all around. If Cash isn't capable of forming that with Joe, well... we need someone who can. Apply him where he's best suited and move on, and if he doesn't want to stay, good bye. I think he's trying, but he definitely needs help.
BTW, Billy Beane has often wondered what was possible for him if he had access to a payroll like the Yanks. That's a very scary statement, because it almost implies that he would abandon his present small-market principles. I'd really try to get some clarification on that if you were going after him. Are you going to continue to be creative and draft/groom for need, or are you going to buy your needs elsewhere with an unlimited credit card and a blind eye to projections? I would want an answer before we even sit down...
Edwar and Britton are both better than him. Its at the point now where I no longer see his purpose on the team. 7 runs in his last 7 1/3 innings? You're telling me half the relievers in Scranton couldn't pitch better than that? If Cox looks ready, just bring him up. He can't be much worse, and even if he's just as bad I'd rather a kid get some experience.
This was the same crap that used to happen in little league. Every year there was some kid that threw really, really hard. 'Cept he had no control, no idea how to pitch, but whatever, he throws, like hard man. So the coach would pitch him for a couple of games, he'd walk a bunch of guys, get hit, sulk on the mound and we'd lose. Then they'd let me or some other kid pitch who threw nowhere near as hard but understood what a strikezone was and how to work it and hey! We'd win. I know its late and I'm angry, but c'mon just trade him, DFA him I don't care anymore. Give him a rifle and tell him he can't come back till he bags an Alaskan Brown bear. Just please, don't let him pitch anymore.
On the plus side, I just found out my rent is going up 13% in a month. Awesome, maybe I'll cancel cable so I can't watch Kyle pitch anymore.
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