Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
The Yanks go for a quick and easy series win tonight with their ace, Mike Mussina, taking the hill against former Padre Adam Eaton, who will be making his Rangers debut after spending four months on the DL due to a strained middle finger on his pitching hand. Eaton has made four minor league rehab starts, two in double-A and two in triple-A. He dominated in all four turns, allowing just one run at each level, but the Rangers kept him on a strict pitch limit which held him to a mere 12 1/3 innings pitched across those four starts. Part of me expects Eaton to get roughed up tonight, if not the first time through the order, then certainly the second time 'round as he gets past his minor league pitch limits. Of course, the proof of the pudding is in the Eaton.
And here's the lineup. Andy's back!
Melky Cabrera LF
Derek Jeter SS
Jason Giambi DH
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Jorge Posada C
Aaron Guiel RF
Andy Phillips 1B
Miguel Cairo 2B
Bubba Crosby CF
"Eaton ain't cheatin."
I never knew what he meant till now.
For example, I think that Bubba is pretty safe, despite his 'hitting'.
Also, Andy Phillips and his .290 OBP should be traded post haste.
Still, Joe seems to like Andy. And he has a knack for heating up just when I think he's going to be benched. I wouldn't be surprised if he did it again.
Andy is the tough one. The Yanks let Durazo walk and stared down Pena's out clause to let Andy play (of course, his OPS was around .800 then). But back-up 1B is about the most useless position on the team, and should be easily replaceable. I know he's starting now, but if the Yankees get anyone (player X)--or if Matsui returns--that will likely force Bernie or X into the DH/1B rotation with Giambi, thus forcing Andy back to his role at the start of the season (check that, he was the third string 1B after Cairo then).
I wish Torre/Cashman had the balls to be more daring--like move Bernie well down the depth chart, or DFA both Chacon and Ponson and work with a four+ rotation, or pick up someone like Wilson from Pitt and use him as the back-up C (dropping Stinnett).
"Mike Mussina (11-3, 3.39 ERA) goes to the mound for New York hoping another error by Rodriguez does not hurt his chances for a win, as was the case on Thursday in a 5-4, 12-inning loss to Toronto. All four runs the right-hander gave up in his seven innings came in the fourth, when Rodriguez's throw to the plate sailed past catcher Jorge Posada and allowed a run to score."
have seen some good one liners at the banter today..
heres hoping we have a fun game too
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(UPDATE: Another reader, with "contacts on the inside," refutes the sexual harassment whispers: "Anyone who is saying sexual harassment either has been given bad third-hand info or is lying. Harold has had a couple of rather heated arguments with the producers at "Baseball Tonight," and some of the suits at ESPN over the program's coverage of Alex Rodriguez. At the last production meeting, when it was made clear they were going to really play up the A-Rod angle during coverage of the Yankees-Texas series, Harold had a colossal meltdown, which led to his dismissal. The sexual harassment allegations are even more laughable when you consider that he is being replaced by Steve Phillips -- a man who has never met a skirt he wouldn't chase and who was caught in one of the more embarrassing front office sexual harassment scandals in MLB history."
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2005 AL averages:
OBP .330
SLG .424
BA .268
In the AL, I would say a good obp is at least .360-.370 but I'm sure others could present a more fact based target.
I have to admit I'm bummed myself, and more than a little surprised that he was canned so suddenly while guys like Kruk and Phillips (who can barely string a coherent thought together without foaming at the mouth) are running rampant.
BTW, the comments section in Deadspin is a complete cesspool...talk about the dregs.
A little Chapellian comment here: They fired the wrong black guy. Seriously, Joe Morgan and his fear of computers is really weird. And for ALL THAT ability and being the best 2B in the History of the Game, Morgan knows NOTHING about baseball.
Strikes out Jeter, looking--something on the outside corner. Fastball, no?
Throws a strike on the outside corner to Giambi, strike one. Fastball, up and away, 1-1. Eaton working quickly throws another fastball away, 2-1. Curve ball, cutter, slider, something--Giambi leans, bends, goes to far, strike two, 2-2. Fastball inside. Giambi pops out to the catcher.
i hope this infuriates some as much as me.
excuse me as i go enjoy one of the 20 games i can actually watch on tv.
;)
(nice throw, ARod)
(I'm glad it was Andy instead of A-Rod, though.)
21 .300/.400/.500 is a great line. Remember, .300 is better than good. .280 is good, .300 is very good. That said, I get excited when I see a player with a OBP at or above .370, so perhaps .300/.370/.500 would be a better line to draw. Then again, looking at the league averages in 25 (.268/.330/.424), that .500 SLG seems a bit steep. Perhaps .300/.370/.450 would be a better standard. That said, I don't really get excited about an SLG until it hits .500.
Picking numbers out of a hat:
AVG: .280-.290s good, .300-320s very good, .330+ outstanding
OBP: .340-360s good, .370-.400s very good, .410+ outstanding
SLG: .450-480 good, .480s-.530s very good, .540+ outstanding
Anyone know why there is no baseball channel or if one's in development. I mean car racing and tennis, golf, they all have channels. WTF?
71. Yes. I live i Brooklyn but I'm on vacation in FL and I've been suffering through these other announcers on MLB.TV all week. The Yanks are behind so of course I'm on Gameday/Gameday Audio, listening to Susan and John(who have thier own problems, but they're OUR morons) until they tie it or get a lead.
Two walks in one game. Is this a record for Andy?
Torre did tell him to work on his patience...
Huh???
52, 71 The Texas announcers are not the worst ones. When you get to enjoy the ones from Devil Rays and Royals, the next thought you will have is that Kay or maybe even Sterling is a gift.
Miggy did his job, and the others did well to battle or either keep the bat on their shoulders, but throw out a lineup of backup position players, and a big inning against crappy pitching is still elusive.
On top of that, Sterling and Waldman don't even call or describe the game, but occasionally let us in on the outcome of a play. And Sterling is an idiot--if I have to hear 'you just can't predict baseball' one more time, I'll shoot myself.
When I have the chance, I prefer to listen to the opposing announcers most of the time (I generally don't mind Toronto or Seattle, though they are of course not without pom-poms).
Of course, projected to 204 hits (a huge season), Cairo would only produce 92 RBI, which would not be that spectacular. And such deep, unbiased analysis drones on game after game.
Anyway, I get to eat my words further as Guiel does his Shane Spencer imitation.
Mussina could definitely pitch for Ozzie Guillen.
Leave moose in...anyone...anyone
Chickensh**t managing.
Thanks for the details Cliff - I can't see that stuff on Yahoo Gamechannel.
Thank you, Scotty.
10 pitches for Villon to get 2 on base. Another 10 for Protor to retire 3.
I hate to say it but Michael Young is a great player.
My bad on post 152 - I thought there were no outs.
That said, the 92 MPH heaters he's been fouling off all night should have gone fair and far. He is still struggling, but his approach is much improved from his pre-day-off hacking.
Shoulda been three, though.
Was it really overuse that stuck him in a May-June rut? His April and July have been incredible. That was a really amazing performance, those two innings.
Cliff - I dont understand your man-crush on Andy (nice kid that he is). He has a .680 OPS and a .265 OBP... the worst OPS of any (qualified) 1st baseman in MLB. Do you really think he is helping us?
I don't know how much Torre is responsible, but it is amazing that we are still close. As a matter of fact, with a win tonight, we are 1/2 game off the WC... and Minn is 1/2 behind us.
190 No I don't think he's helping, but I've been clamoring for the guy to get playing time for two years, I'm not going to jump ship now. One thing you can't deny is that when he gets hot he absolutely rakes.
209 Me too, I'm disappointed. He just looked good a month or two ago.
Yes, when he's hot he has good power. But he hasn't demonstrated much ability to sustain a good run at the plate.
Mussina 224-127, 2400K, ERA+ 125
Marichal 243-142, 2303K, ERA+ 122
I know 20 games is just an arbitrary number but it will help Mussina's resume with old-school HOF voters and more importantly it will help the Yankees win this year.
Looks like the A's are roughing up Schilling a little, at least. Three runs in the fifth.
15 yrs - Mussina 3013 IP
15 yrs - Marichal 3501 IP
If Mussina enjoyed good health and pitched in a 4-man rotation over the same period he'd have about 5 extra starts a year. A reasonable 2-1 in those 5 starts would give Mussina 5 20-win seasons on his resume thru '05.
Baseball-Reference's most similar contemporary of Mussina is Dwight Gooden.
Mussina - 3013IP, 224-127, 2400K, ERA+ 125
Gooden - 2800IP, 194-112, 2293K, ERA+ 110
I would never group Mussina and Doc together as 'similar' but that's what the stats show. Mussina has been consistently excellent and Gooden had the one transcendent season in 1985. Mussina can't touch that but he does have 8 seasons better than or equal to Gooden's second best season.
To end a rambling post - Mussina has been very good for a long time. I don't want him to win 20....I want him to win out and join Guidry at 25-3 :)
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