Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
Don't look now, but Jaret Wright is turning into a legitimate number five starter. In four starts in May including last night's victory over the Red Sox, Wright has posted the following line:
22 1/3 IP, 18 H, 7 R, 2 HR, 7 BB, 13 K, 2-1, 1.12 WHIP, 2.82 ERA
Last night, Wright held the Red Sox scoreless through five innings before leaving with a tweaked groin. Wright initially injured himself while trying to dodge a line drive by Kevin Youkilis leading off the first inning. The ball wound up sticking in Wright's ribs for the first out. In the fifth, an attempt to dodge another comebacker by Youkilis, which Wright also turned into an out, exacerbated the injury, ending his night after the inning.
Given Wright's predilection for being hit with flying objects in the later part of last season and the fact that the injury prone hurler has managed to stay healthy while the rest of the Yankee roster has crumbled around him, it seemed only a matter of time before Wright would get his. Fortunately, the Yankees don't expect Wright to miss his next start, though one wonders if they'll rethink their plans to skip Aaron Small's turn this weekend, instead using Small on regular rest to give Wright an extra day off before his next start.
While Wright was stymieing the Red Sox, who stranded seven men against the Yankee starter through five innings, the Yankees were pecking away at Tim Wakefield. Johnny Damon started the game by wrapping a homer around the Pesky pole. In the third Damon followed a one-out Andy Phillips walk by hustling a single to center into a double. Derek Jeter then singled home both men on Wakefield's next pitch to put the Yanks up 3-0. Wakefield handed the Yanks another run in the sixth when Alex Rodriguez reached first on a passed ball after striking out swinging, then took second on another passed ball, moved to third on a fielder's choice, and scored on yet another passed ball one pitch before Terrence Long struck out to end the inning.
With Wright out of the game, Scott Proctor came on and gave that run right back on singles by Trot Nixon, Alex Cora and Doug Mirabelli to make it 4-1 after six.
After getting Phillips and Damon out on three pitches to start the seventh, Wakefield lost the strike zone, walking Jeter and Sheffield on his next eight pitches. Jeter and Sheffield then executed a double steal as Wakefield fell behind 2-0 on Alex Rodriguez, who then teed off on a pitch in the zone. Somehow Rodriguez lost track of the ball off the bat and kept looking up as if he though he had popped it up, meanwhile the ball was sailing into the Monster seats in left field for a three-run homer, making it 7-1 Yanks and driving Wakefield from the game.
Red Sox again answered Rodriguez in the bottom of the inning when Youkilis and Loretta lead-off the inning with walks off Proctor. Proctor then got David Ortiz to line-out to center for the first out and got ahead of Manny Ramirez 0-2 only to put his next pitch on a tee for Manny, who launched it to dead center for a three-run jack of his own that ended Proctor's night.
Mike Myers came on and walked Trot Nixon before yielding to Kyle Farnsworth, who finished the inning, but not before adding a walk of his own, the fourth of the inning. Farnsworth then issued one-out walks to Youkilis and Mark Loretta in the eighth, forcing Joe Torre to bring in Mariano Rivera for a five-out save.
Rivera's first task was facing David Ortiz, who represented the tying run with men on first and second and one out and the Yankees up 7-4 in the eighth. Rivera's first pitch was inside, belt high and Ortiz lined it foul beyond the Red Sox dugout. His next had a bead on Ortiz's heavily padded right elbow, which the lefty slugger leaves hanging in the strike zone as he leans over the plate. Ortiz checked his swing and fouled that pitch straight back to make it 0-2. Posada then called for high heat up around Ortiz's eyes, but Rivera missed high and away for ball one. Rivera then took aim at Ortiz's elbow again and Big Papi popped the pitch up to Jeter behind second. That elbow pad makes a mighty nice target for Rivera's cutter, which appeared to crack Ortiz's bat on that pop out as a pissed off Papi snapped his club over his knee on his way back to the dugout.
Having retired Ortiz, Rivera missed Posada's low and away target on a 1-0 pitch to Manny Ramirez, leaving it belt high on the outside part of the plate, where Manny was able to get the barrel of the bat on it and line it past Jeter for an RBI single that made it 7-5. Mo then got Trot Nixon to pop out foul behind third for the final out and pitched around a one-out Alex Cora single in the ninth to pull the series even at a game a piece.
In Other News:
Jorge Posada pulled up lame while running out a groundout in the second inning. He finished the game without further sign of injury, but is listed as questionable for tonight's game with a strained tendon behind his knee. According to Joe Torre, Posada was putting heat on the tendon between innings all night last night.
Also, to clear room for Sheffield on the 25-man roster, the Yankees designated Colter Bean for assignment, an unnecessarily harsh demotion for Bean as he is only in his second option year (he was first added to the 40-man roster in November 2004) and the Yankees had just 39 men on their 40-man roster with Bean included. Even if the Yankees wanted to clear more room on their 40-man, they could easily have moved Sturtze, Pavano or Matsui to the 60-day DL. Besides which, Sheffield was already on the 40-man roster, meaning a space did not have to be cleared for him. The Yankees mistreatment of Bean remains utterly inexplicable.
Making matters worse, Scott Erickson and Terrence Long remain on the 25-man roster. Not only that, but Long has actually started the last two games. Hopefully the latter issue will be resolved starting tonight with Sheffield, Giambi and Melky Cabrera appearing in the line-up together for the first time this year as the Yanks look to beat up on Matt Clement to capture an unlikely series win. Torre has said he plans to bat Sheffield, Giambi and Rodriguez in that order in spots three through five in the line-up. Me likey.
Finally, Peter Abraham reports that the Yankees will call up a pitcher to replace Bean before tonight's game, likely at the expense of Kevin Reese. Peter thinks the hurler is likely to be Ramiro Mendoza. Me likey that'n too.
A play on Jaret Wright's name for a headline? Now, you wouldn't be mailing it in, would you?
Say it ain't so.
I would consider posting every headline I could find (on google, in the paper, from other blogs...) featuring some kind of word-play with that name if I thought for a minute that a list that long wouldn't crash the toaster. I really do have all the time in the world to do that sort of thing.
Imagine: every "The Wright Stuff", every "Wrighting the Ship", "Wright on Target", "Yankees all-Wright", "Wright of Way", "The Vast Wright-Wing Conspiracy", "If Loving You is Wrong, Then I don't Wanna be Wright", etc., etc...
Where was I?
Oh, Wright. I actually love playing around with names. Great headline.
Six Degrees of Scott Erickson
As a rookie, Scott Erickson was teammates with Jim Dwyer (1), who as a rookie was a teammate of Joe Torre (2), who as a rookie was a teammate of Warren Spahn (3), who as a rookie was a teammate of Paul Waner (4), who as a rookie was a teammate of Babe Adams (5), who as a rookie was a teammate of Jack Beckley (6), who was a rookie in 1888.
Can anyone make a chain from a current Yankee player (or any current player) all the way back to 1876 (first year of organized baseball) in six steps of teammates? I used rookie years above but you can use any year players were teammates if you think it will help. I don't know if it can be done but linking Harold Baines to Minnie Minoso seems promising.
Two nights in a row, Manny hits an 0-2 yard. Why do I always think our star 3ber will wiff in the same count?
bean: in alex's interview with joel sherman he said something to the effect of "the general consensus around the majors is that bean just does not have good enough stuff to suceed at the MLB level". i am guessing sherman and his cohort have actually SEEN a bit more of bean than we have, so there may be something to that.
HOWEVER!!!
dimelo: erickson over bean? are you secretly bunking up with torre? more confidence? wow.
also: phillips came up with the big RBI against the mets. he's also been showing some ability in taking a pitch or two. he and bernie are starting to feel a LITTLE less like a DH black hole.
If you see a 18 month old with a Bean T on at the stadium this season, say hi to the guy holding her hand, because it's me.
What the heck was up with the bullpen last night? Did everyone this side of Mo forget where the strikezone was? One guy having an off night I can understand, but all three?!?
In other observations, has anyone else notice that Papelbon has the Private Pyle look from "Full Metal Jacket"? With that blank country boy stare, I can't wait for his first blown save. Let's hope it's tonite.
Almost a "must win", but I won't call it that. Felt good.
Any thoughts on Manny showboatin' - watching that homer ???
http://tinyurl.com/ledzk
I love Posada's response when asked how he felt about Manny's showboating (as quoted in the Daily News): "I can't answer that question correctly."
I'd love some chin music from Randy to Ramirez tonight. It's really just what BOTH of them need.
17 Jorge and Proctor both showed amazing restraint in answering that question, but I think they got their feelings across.
Enough with the "Manny being Manny" already. Time for a little "Unit being Unit" tonight.
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that being 4 innings pitched, 7 earned runs?
Time for someone to get their clock cleaned.
As for the Bean DFA, it's so illogical that it almost has to be something personal. Perhaps after being informed of being optioned, Bean blew up and said "I want no part of you."
Tonight is an important game for Johnson, and the Yanks. I'm just hoping Randy can step up and pitch effectively, let alone try to dominate and intimidate.
That said, if Johnson (or any Yankee pitcher) thinks brushing back Ramirez (or any opposing hitter) is necessary, and can help win the game, I'm all for it.
Sure, it's an emtional reaction, and I'm sure Joe would be 100% dead set against it, but geez. Enough.
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I think that's just the thing. The only way RJ is effective if he is intimidating. When batters can dig in and feel comfortable in the box, well the result is Big Unit 2006.
However, with Randy, you just never know. Many he's been missing that killer instinct the last month or so and a nice adrenaline-pumping beanball might just do the trick for him.
On a side note, I think someone should ask Josh "The Sheriff" Beckett what he thinks of Manny's pose. If I hear that's "Manny Being Manny" from any Sox players another time, I think we should just bean every single player that ever mutters that phrase for the remainder of the season.
He's not a current Yankee, but:
Cap Anson (1876 Chicago White Stockings) played with (1) Buttons Briggs (1897 Chicago Colts) who played with (2) Johnny Evers (1905 Chicago Cubs) who played with (3) Johnny Cooney (1929 Boston Braves) who played with (4) Warren Spahn (1942 Boston Braves) who played with (5) Phil Niekro (1964 Milwaukee Braves) who played with (6) David Wells (1987 Toronto Blue Jays)
With that said, I'm quickly falling in love with Melky and I'm starting to like his demeanor and approach. It also seems like he's tracking the balls better, too. He doesn't scare me anymore when a ball is hit to him. T-Long...he scares the crap out of me. Everything about him scares me, the scariest part is seeing him in a Yankee uniform.
Shortly before playing in Tuesday's game, Gary Sheffield said "he has a broken hamate bone in his left hand."
Sheffield reportedly considered surgery, which would have kept him out for 4-6 weeks. I don't have time for surgery," Sheffield said. "Not anymore." Don't be surprised if Sheffield fails to hit for his typical power. May. 24 - 10:03 am et
Source: Newark Star Ledger
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I know Sturtze sucks because there is a mountain of evidence declaring he sucks.
As for Bean, I don't care how he does it, but Bean gets hitters out at an alarming rate. That's all I need to know. Just because he's 300 pounds and lacks Scott Erickson's deep piercing blue eyes doesn't mean he's not effective (did you see Bean make David Wright look silly on Sunday?). There are junk ball pitchers in the Hall of Fame, you know.
Minor League numbers do translate to major league performance. Here are Bean's:
2006: 1.69 ERA, 26 2/3 IP, 16 H, 0 HR, 33 K
Career through 2005: 2.69 ERA, 371 1/3 IP, 276 H, 18 HR, 471 K
Explain to me why he doesn't deserve a longer trial at the big league level?
I've never understood the phrase, "He doesn't look like a major leaguer." What, exactly, does a major leaguer look like? Guys of all heights (6'10" Unit, 5'10" (snigger) Rickey) and weights (170lb-soaking-wet Roy Oswalt, 250+lb Boomer Wells) have succeed in the bigs.
Who cares what Bean looks like? He has a great track record in the minors of getting people out and ought to be judged on that, not two innings.
Just my $0.02.
Quite fitting I would think.
There's more than one way to skin a cat. In fact, the only reason Proctor's getting guys out now is because his breaking pitches are far more effective. Same with Wright. There are very few pitchers who can get by on heat alone. Junk is what gets hitters out in the major leagues. Wake's knuckler, Moose's change (both of which top out around 70 MPH), Zito's curve, Randy's slider (well, it used to), Roger's split finger, Wang's sinker. Movement, not speed is how you succeed in the major leagues. Even the best fastballs have to have movement (Mo's cutter, for example). Proctor threw hard, but straight and gave up homers in bunches. Now he's got breaking pitches and he's getting guys out. Bean's "junk" would work just fine in the majors, if he ever got a shot. Myself, I don't care how he does it, the results in 35 speak for themselves.
Bottom 8TH B:0 S:0 O:0
Pitcher Change: Colter Bean replaces Ron Villone.
Bottom 8TH B:4 S:2 O:0
Jason Varitek walks.
Bottom 8TH B:2 S:2 O:0
Mike Lowell doubles (21) on a fly ball to left fielder Terrence Long. Jason Varitek to 3rd.
Bottom 8TH B:3 S:1 O:1
Willie Harris out on a sacrifice fly to center fielder Bernie Williams. Jason Varitek scores.
Bottom 8TH B:1 S:1 O:1
Alex Cora singles on a line drive to left fielder Terrence Long. Mike Lowell scores.
Bottom 8TH B:1 S:2 O:3
Kevin Youkilis grounds into double play, second baseman Robinson Cano to first baseman Jason Giambi. Alex Cora out at 2nd.
--Good job, Bean. Only two runs scored.
Sunday vs. Mets
Bottom 6TH B:0 S:0 O:0
Pitcher Change: Colter Bean replaces Mike Myers, batting 9th.
Bottom 6TH B:3 S:3 O:1
David Wright strikes out swinging.
Bottom 6TH B:1 S:1 O:2
Cliff Floyd flies out to left fielder Bernie Williams.
Bottom 6TH B:1 S:0 O:2
Xavier Nady hit by pitch.
Bottom 6TH B:2 S:0 O:2
With Kazuo Matsui batting, Xavier Nady steals (2) 2nd base.
Bottom 6TH B:3 S:1 O:3
Kazuo Matsui grounds out, shortstop Derek Jeter to first baseman Jason Giambi.
--------------------------- MIDDLE 7TH
Bottom 7TH B:0 S:0 O:0
Offensive Substitution: Pinch hitter Jose Valentin replaces Aaron Heilman.
Bottom 7TH B:4 S:0 O:0
Jose Valentin walks.
Bottom 7TH B:1 S:0 O:0
Pitcher Change: Ron Villone replaces Colter Bean, batting 9th.
In two innings pitched he's allowed 2 walks, 1 HBP, 2 ER, and one great strikeout of David Wright. I noticed that if players like Lowell just sit and wait on his junk that they can hit it hard. There are a lot of prospects/minor-leaguers who when they get to the majors quickly turned into suspects and their minor leaguers didn't always translate.
Something I've often been confused by is the following, which you said Cliff, "Minor League numbers do translate to major league performance". What exactly is the % of that being true? Are we only looking at players who were successful at the major leagues and saying that it translates perfectly, within some standard deviation, and therefore the statement is true? Or have we looked at every minor leaguer who (eventually) reached the big leagues, who has a minimum number of at-bats or innings pitched, and come to this conclusion? I would say the latter is more accurate. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that should also be accompanied by some percentage too. Is it 51% of the time that the stats translate from the minors to the majors, or is it 75% of the times, etc. The talent pool at AAA and high double A aren't anywhere near as good as in the majors, so I don't think the stats always translate. Again if there's a place I can read and look at the data and study their findings then great.
I remember looking for the same sortive quantitative analysis in Shandler's Forecaster, but nothing exists. However, references are constantly made how they translate and I was a little confused because I don't think that's always the case. Then again I haven't asked the question till now.
And for all the people out there asking other people to justify their love of Bean, well it's based on 350+ innings of work in the minors. How do you justify not liking him based on FOUR! innings of MLB experience, not all of which happened in the past week?
What's amazing is that in the Joe Torre era the Yankees, to my knowledge, have not developed more than a couple of relievers: Mendoza and Rivera (and Mendoza is a stretch to call a reliever). Anyone else? Why the hell are we always spending so much money or giving away even grade C prospects when right handed relievers are about a dime-a-dozen, often to be had from within? It's not so much that the Bean situation is frustrating so much as Torre et al act like unless you make more than $2 million per or were good before the turn of the century you can't help the team. And BTW, no doubt Dotel will help when he gets back, but he will also further add to the specialization of the bullpen. Basically we're going to have a bunch of guys who Torre will only want to pitch with a lead or Myers who should only be used against lefties in key situations, which leaves Proctor for everything else (although now that he'ss in the circle of trust, I wonder what his role will be in teh future).
"As a guide to major league performance, minor league batting statistics are reliable virtually 100% of the time. . .In anticipating future major league performance, minor league batting records are of essentially the same degree of reliability as previous major league batting statistics."
In that book, James figured that players lost 18% of their production in jumping from AAA to the majors (or rather, retained 82 percent of their production). You can read Rich Lederer's summary of James' material on minor league translations here:
http://tinyurl.com/l72ea
As Cliff has already pointed out just about every time this debate comes up (which is often and ditto for Andy), its not that these guys have wallowed in the minors because they stink, the #'s don't lie. They have wallowed in AAA because our team doesn't understand about giving them a chance. So cut the he's a 30 year old minor leaguer he can't be good crap. And stop acting like we say that Bean would have been the savior of this team, because no one ever said that. What we all did propose, however, was that given a fair trial, Bean could be a solid addition to the bullpen and serve a Nelson type role complimenting Myers. Bean is murder on righties.
Everyone hems and haws over wanting Smith back, but if he comes up and sucks for 5 innings, does that mean we should give up on him too?
If the Yanks brass hate Bean that much, why not just trade him? Surely his great AAA stats could fetch something in the trade market.
Re: the game last night, one of the best things was that Posada started. I heard some comments that stinnett would start since he had been working very well with Wright. I'm just very glad that none of that proved to have any grounds.
Re: tonight's game, this game is VITAL for RJ, if he has a good performance it will bolster his confidence, if he doesn't hell will break loose with Stein and company. I think he'll bounce back and have a nice game and the yanks will win it.
my $0.02
http://tinyurl.com/rxro8
I am not anti-bean and I'm not down on his stuff by referring to it as junk. I just dont think the brass thinks he can consistently get major league hitters out with a bunch of offspeed pitches that are basically the same speed with no real fastball to back it up. If that is true of proctor (in reverse), why is that not true for bean? or does Bean have a great fastball that I havent seen in my numerous first hand observances of him at Columbus? all the guys cliff mentions in #40 get guys out because they can change speeds, not just because of 'movement'...I just find it hard to believe that Colter Bean is the next great thing based on all the times i've seen him pitch...does he deserve a shot? maybe, but maybe not if the role he will be asked to fill is different that what he's done for 350 plus minor league innings...I'm not trying to say Bean sucks because he obviously doesnt, I just cant understand why every team in MLB doesnt want him if he is as great as some of you think he is. I mean, the passion in some of the comments lead me to believe you think he can be a major factor on an MLB team but so few people in baseball appear to feel the same way...
This is of course ridiculous -- anyone who sees the replay has to realize that you can't fake that.
Talk about our superstar third baseman or talk about a specific junk ball pitcher with junk-in-the-trunk? I know...I know...I'm being a bit evil...but the ARod stuff yesterday gave me an aneurism.
It would be nice to see RJ do something good today. The Sawx will have a righty based lineup, Wily Mo, Alex Gonzalez, etc.
05 stats:
era - 3.01
appearances - 65
IP - 71.2
hits - 60
BB - 39
Ks - 82
04 stats:
ERA - 2.29
appearances - 53
IP - 82.2
BB - 23
Ks - 109
to what degree do you think Torre is really the GM? Seems like Cashman has been much more willing to use youth while we know Torre is completely against it...do cashman and torre ever clash this stuff?
If all Yankee 'rookies' were judged on the results of their first 2 IP/2 ABs and their minor league track records were ignored:
Mariano Rivera, 5/23/95 - 3.1 IP, 5 R, 1 HR, 3 BB, 5 K - nope
Andy Pettitte, 4/29/95, 4/30/95, and 5/6/95 - 2.2 IP, 5 R, 0 HR, 0 BB, 1 K - nope
Ramiro Mendoza - 5/25/96 - 6 IP, 3 R, 0 HR, 0 BB, 6 K - OK, he stays
Derek Jeter, 5/29/95 - 0 for 5, 1 K - buh-bye
Jorge Posada, 5/22/96 and 6/30/96 - 0 for 2, 1 K - so long
Alfonso Soriano, 9/14/99 and 9/19/99, 0 for 2, 1 R - see ya
Robinson Cano, 5/3/05 - 0 for 3, 1 K - bah
Ruben Rivera, 9/3/95 and 5/23/96 - 2 for 3, 2B, BB, K, HBP, 2 RBI - you're in, kid
Hideki Matsui, 3/31/03 - 1 for 4, 1 RBI - back to Japan with you!
Hideki Irabu, 7/10/97 - 6.2 IP, 2 R, 0 HR, 4 BB, 9 K - you can stay!
Randy Choate, 7/1/00, 7/2/00, 7/4/00, 7/6/00 - 2.1 IP, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K - I guess you're OK
Jay Tessmer, 8/27/98 and 8/28/98 - 2 IP, 0 R, 3 K, 1 W - take a low uniform #, kid
And just for the heck of it:
Bob Wickman, 8/24/92 - 6 IP, 6 H, 5R, 0 BB, 0 HR, 2 K - ah, no
Sterling Hitchcock, 9/11/92 - 6 IP, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 K - welcome to the bigs
Don Mattingly, 9/11/82 and 9/22/82 - 0 for 2, K - sorry, dude
Dave Righetti, 9/16/79 - 5 IP, 3 R, 1 HR, 6 BB, 3 K - no thanks
This is just a small sample, but the point remains - trying to judge what a guy is/isn't capable of based on two innings of work is impossible.
Even Mo didn't look all that great his first time out, and he was a short little righty who hardly 'looked' like a major leaguer.
for those looking for complete stats on bean:
http://www2.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/players/Colter_Bean/
Here you go:
Before Erikson was called up
BA / OBA / Slug% / OPS / SB% / AB per HR
.278 / .496 / .691 / 1.187 / 100.00 /8.08
After Erikson was called up
BA / OBA / Slug% / OPS / SB% / AB per HR
.143 /.324 / .179 / .503 / - / -
I saw Erikson got called up on the 13th, so I used that date as the break point. No HR since he was called up. I'm not trying to start any rumors, but if Giambi is juicing Erickson with his protein shakes then someone has got to get between these two - I'm not volunteering either. I remember in Raging Bull Jake Lamotta wouldn't have sex because he felt it would deprive him of his power and training. Giambi is Italian and I'd like to think that he's more like Tony Soprano and less like Vito.
BTW, this is all meant to be a joke....but I did find it interesting.
Joe Torre consistently displays his bias towards youth by marginalizing call-ups and inserting them into the most stressful situations in which their anxiety and belief that this is their one opportunity to prove their value clearly works against them. I would think that all of those playing for the Clippers know this which would only add to the pressure they might feel on being called-up.
Colter Bean is not Mariano Rivera. Few are. To complement Mo we need useful arms capable of getting outs. That is not a determination that can generally be made in 4 innings. If it were the case Bean would indeed certainly be a career minor leaguer and some one like Sindey Rleal of the O's would be the next coming of Mo himself.
The pressure of playing in New York is substantial enough. There is no need for the organization to compound that.
And, how can you say Bean has had a "series of awful spring trainings" 68 and then say you want to see his spring training numbers 71? How do you know for a fact that Bean has had a "series of awful spring trainings" if you haven't seen the numbers?
Nonetheless, you can see those numbers on Baseball Cube, click the BC link next to Bean's name on the sidebar.
As for Bean's age, he's Scott Proctor's age almost exactly, and should have made the team over Proctor in 2004 at age 27. Also, Bean was signed out of college, so he didn't hit the minors until he was 23.
Out of a 12-pitcher roster, it's quite amazing one can only feel at ease when Moose is pitching. There is always a tense factor when everyone else is on the mound.
However, there's an off day tomorrow and Moose pitches on Friday, so I wouldn't be too concerned about how many relievers need to pitch tonight if Unit doesn't have it.
Don't forget that Villone has been a spot starter/starter/long man before, and could easily do so again.
Alternatively, in dire need, the Yanks could call up Darrell Rasner, who is a starter and could certainly handle the job as long man.
good point on villone...i guess i just get paranoia about the pen because Torre burns em up so bad every year (gordon, sturtze, stanton et al)...every appearance adds up when september/october hit in my opinion...that said, maybe Mendoza can fill Erickson's role so Erickson can take his rightful spot as a shoe shiner at LaGuardia...it is so embarassing that he's on our roster! I dont know about Rasner. I hate using guys in roles with which that are not paid for and/or maybe comfortable...
even if villone can be the long man, should he be? I;m not saying yes/no, just asking. Seems to me he's more valuable as a reliever when the game is somewhat in doubt versus a long man especially when the only other lefty in the pen is really only going to face 1 batter. I dont know...this team drives me crazy.
http://www.waswatching.com/archives/2006/05/unit_counts.html
R - Rivera
R - Farnsworth
R - Proctor
L - Myers
L - Smith
LL - Villone
LR - Mendoza
The lesser of Proctor and Smith could then be dropped when Dotel arrives, if not before in order to beef up the bench. Looks awful nice without Sturze or Erickson in there don't it?
is smith actually on the roster now? your list certainly does look better without Mr and Mrs Kerosene on it...
82 Absolutely, though it looks now like we might only have to see Small once in the rotation due to his being skipped this weekend. Incidentally, Small should get the boot along with Erickson. Which brings up an interesting question, with Mendoza coming up, Bean already gone, and Chacon due to bounce Small back to the pen, Small or Erickson will have to go when Chacon's activated around June 1, right? Right? Mendoza's got the Torre cred to bounce one of those guys, doesn't he?
I might use the Angels pen as an example to demonstrate your point.
Can't understand why the A's or whoever haven't offered to trade some hard-throwing but useless prospect for him.
Why do people have to be Bean haters if they dont share the same opinion that he's a "can't miss" guy? Do you think he's good because of his stats or because Cliff told you so? Just curious as to how you've formed your opinion of him...
as for my comment about proctor saying "at least he throws hard" was an inference that proctor now has the ability to change speeds and that's the one thing I think could hurt Bean at the major league level. From what I've seen he doesnt change speeds a whole lot although he's been very effective in the minors albeit much more effective in 04 than 05.
Anyone know if there's a lockerroom chart for the Yankees anywhere online? I'm curious now about who's where.
I toured Heinz Field yesterday, including the Steelers' lockerroom. It was surprisingly spartan. No arguing over lockers there. They are assigned in strictly numerical order. If it means a rookie gets prime real estate while a superstar veteran does not, so be it.
Tonight's complete Red Sox lineup:
1. Kevin Youkilis, 1B
2. Mark Loretta, 2B
3. David Ortiz, DH
4. Manny Ramirez, LF
5. Jason Varitek, C
6. Mike Lowell, 3B
7. Wily Mo Pena, CF
8. Dustan Mohr, RF
9. Alex Gonzalez, SS
-- Matt Clement, SP
Now, given all the hype with Bean....when I first saw him pitch I just didn't see what all the fuss was about. I read what Cliff said and I understand where people are coming from, but something tells me that he's not going to be that good or that he'll help the Yanks. Again, given all the hype and the websites dedicated to Bean by Yankee fans...and given that most of us never saw him pitch before (like myself), weren't you expecting something more? Weren't you expecting some dominating force? All I know is that I saw why he hasn't been pitching in the majors. If he was as good as people say then he would have been playing a long time ago.
1) Throw strikes
Failing that:
2) Stare down a Red Sox hitter
3) Start a brawl with the Red Sox in which I got a black eye, but got a couple of good licks in
4) Refer to Joe as 'Mister Torre'
These are the things that will endear you to the skipper. If you don't do at least one of them, you're never going to be "full of guts" or "have a really big heart" or however Joe judges pitchers.
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The Yankees, Mets, Braves and Nationals are among the teams showing interest in catcher Francisco Pena, 16, the younger son of Yankees first-base coach Tony Pena. Francisco, a native of the Dominican Republic, is eligible to sign with a major-league club on July 2. Teams are attracted to his power, and Tony Pena told the Newark-Star Ledger that he didn't have as good an arm as Francisco at the same age. Pena's older son, Tony Jr., is the Braves' Class AAA shortstop.
In scanning the thread I saw that Bean was DFA'd today and see that's confirmed to the right. I don't understand and I'll readily admit I came to this late today, but why was Bean DFA'd? Was he out of options? There's no realistic hope to get him through waivers to get him back down. We aren't going to be able to trade him now. Does he really have zero value as far as the organization is concerned or at least less value than anyone else on the 40 man roster? Is there no notion of at least recouping some of the sunk cost invested in training the guy?
Man, whose corn flakes did he piss in?
10 days pass.. he goes to AAA
someone puts a stupid claim.. Yanks can outright him..
coz he aint got enuf service time..
i maybe wrong..
But let's see if he clears waivers.
i know he got his rear busted against Tampa last year.. but is he a genuine prospect??
How come u guys expect Rasner to trumph Henn in a call?? Is Rasner that good (i saw his numbers in 3A .. impressive..)
Is Sean Henn an option??
Looking at the draft and what's available there as well as upcoming free agency we may have a decent backup who is capable of taking over in place by the time Jorge is 40.
Big fat guys who soft toss and compulsively lick their right hands just can't get a break. What a world.
also about henn..he was put on 7 day DL back on 4/17 but I dont know what for..
1. Cabrera RF
2. Jeter SS
3. Sheffield DH
4. Giambi 1B
5. A-Rod 3B
6. Cano 2B
7. Bernie CF
8. Long LF
9. Stinnett C
They are really tight lipped about that stuff.
thx for the info on Henn..
So they wised up and called Smith?? Good..
121 Long again? Nooooooo....
-----------IP---H---BB---WHIP---HR---K
Bean-------2.0--2---2----2.0----0----1
Erickson---4.2--1---6----1.5----1----1
Farnsworth-5.0--4---5----1.8----0----6
Proctor----5.0--6---4----2.0----2----4
Myers------3.0--4---2----2.0----1----2
Villone----4.0--1---5----1.5----0----2
Rivera-----4.1--5---1----1.4----0----5
I have to admit the scenario you paint makes more sense from the Yankees POV. I hope you're right.
We get a lot of good MiLB around here. It's a great atmosphere for the kids and the ball is pretty good too.
That's a neat story about Mattingly. So I guess you saw all the guys now who came through the system. I think it makes it more enjoyable if you can follow these guys as they grow into major leaguers.
but i was checking the Columbus clippers transactions and for "today" it says Colter has been "optioned from NY"
does that mean he aint DFA'd no more??
Interestingly, they have spelled it Colter "BEEN"..
Melky's definitely earned his chance to have a little leadoff appearance, but Long again?????
Please heal fast...
http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/
I assume it's Damon's broken foot that's his issue.
I can't believe they would just give him away. I must be wrong or something else must be in play. It would make no sense.
Maybe I will just check back in the 7th inning. After all, I've spent the extra money on watching mlb.tv buffer...can't afford blood pressure lowering medicine anymore.
yeah, I am very lucky that my pop was a huge baseball fan...he probably only missed 10 games in over 10 years of having season tix...We saw all the future stars come through..our seats were right behind the dugout so it was a sweet deal...when my pop passed the clippers even planted a tree in his memory outside the stadium by the ticket office..mattingly was my favorite and was a heck of a left fielder before they moved him to 1B...Steve Balboni was also a personal favorite because he hit those mammoth homers...most of my favorites never really did anything in the bigs...tucker ashford, marshall brant, otis nixon and rex hudler to name a few...booing Deion every at bat was another highlight of those days...I remember my pop guaranteeing mattingly would be a star
My point is that EVERYTIME he's seen major league hitters, he's looked really bad. He was bad this time up, he was bad with a huge lead last time up, he was bad in three straight STs.
Eventually I have to sit here, factor that in, factor in the whole rule five thing, and say "Well, maybe there isn't a great conspiracy against Colter Bean."
And I share your pain, believe me.
I'm starting to wish they hadn't DLed Bubba. I mean, since they aren't using the outfielders they called up from Columbus, anyway. (Except Long.) They were expecting Bubba to be "playable" by today, but he's stuck on the DL until June 3.
Do you have any good news for Rob G about anyone at C-bus? We're all becoming just a little concerned, you know, what with this Long thing and all.
I havent been out to the park yet this year since I recently moved about 40 min from downtown to a new house but when June hits I can usually persuade my fiance to go have a few beers and catch 5 or 6 innings so I hope to give some meaningful info to everyone in the coming months. With so many of the somewhat decent players already called up to NY there isnt much left to look at. Offensively, Duncan hasnt dont anything this year. Cabrera was on fire and Thompson was doing okay but Reese is struggling. Pitching wise, Rasner has been good but Henn is hurt and and we already know Matt Smith just got promoted and Bean is in limbo. From what I have seen, I dont think there are any long term yankee contributors on the clippers roster with the exception of Matt Smith and Melky Cabrera although I've never seen Duncan play so who knows about him and Kevin Thompson could eventually have a Bubba Crosby like role on future teams. I get the feeling Duncan is gonna be nothing but hype like Bam Bam Meulens. I only saw Matt Smith once last year so I have no real thoughts on him - just know his numbers look good and he's a lefty so he's more likely to get a chance in NY.
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