Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
It was only a week ago that the Yankees took three of four from the Royals in Kansas City, so there's not much to add here. Since then, the Royals swept the Rangers in K.C. by a combined score of 22-6 with Rutgers grad David DeJesus leading the attack. They then scored just nine runs while dropping two of three to the Twins in Minnesota where the fourth game of their series was cancelled out of respect for those killed in the recent bridge collapse. The Royals lone win of that series took ten innings and all three games were decided by two runs.
The Royals made one significant deadline deal, flipping Octavio Dotel to Atlanta for starter Kyle Davies, who will pitch tomorrow. Davies is a curious return for Dotel seeing as he's been consistently terrible in the major leagues and hadn't pitched since failing to get an out in his start against the Reds on July 16. Still, he won't be 24 until next month and Royals' GM Dayton Moore came from the Braves system, so perhaps he has reason to value Davies so highly. That or he's judging the pitcher on what he did in the low minors three years ago.
At any rate, Dotel's departure reinstates Joakim Soria as the closer. Davies and Leo Nuñez replace the released Scott Elarton and disabled Jorge De La Rosa (elbow) in the rotation (the Yanks will miss Nuñez in this series), and Joey Gathright replaces the once again disabled Reggie Sanders (hamstring) on the bench.
For those who have forgotten, the Yankees took the first three games last week's series in K.C. by a combined 25-7 score, but the third game was just 3-1 after seven innings and saw the Yankees go hitless with runners in scoring position even after dropping an additional four-spot on tiring starter Gil Meche and reliever Jimmy Gobble. The Yanks were then shutout by De La Rosa, Zack Greinke, and Soria in the finale as Kei Igawa and Sean Henn combined to allow seven runs.
(But I'll take any W we can get.)
If Joe calls him up, and plays him, he should be fired on the spot.
I know we are all frustrated with Torre, but I wish we could out the phrase "...he should be fired on the spot" on ice.
Could Joe be any more obtuse?
Does anyone believe this is praise?
As crappy as Farns is, because he has good stuff and had a very good year recently, he still has some market value. Torre is not going to say anything to devalue him.
Wow, four comments and it goes awry. Is that a record? >;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SVBWREZF5Y
(Sigh)
Too hot for bantering tonight, I guess. I'll go pour another bourbon and soda.
Well, with Santana on the mound in Minn., we certainly should pick up a game tonight if we can scratch out a win. Maybe I like the bunt more in that situation. I know Sabathia is going as well, but well, he's not Johan Santana.
He's just like Pedro. Hates the cold.
All of those moves are, of course, the wrong moves and reminds me of last year, when Sheff and Matsui got their spots back at Melky's expense.
Here, we'd needlessly be making room for Mink the Stink.
1. Trade him to said team (all traded players must also pass through waivers, or be PTBNL)
2. Just dump him on the new team and get out of the contract.
3. Pull him back.
Either of 1 or 2 are fine for me. You could trade him for some B-level position prospect.
Mientkiewicz just rubs me the wrong way. He seems to think, for Christ knows why, that he's good.
I hear you bro. I don't understand why they don't just dump Myers or Villone, or Farnsworth, and waive Mientkwicz and activate Giambi. It seems pretty simple to me. That way you dump a pitcher you have no use for, and fortify the lineup and bench. I'm not sure that Giambi will be any better than Duncan, at least not down the stretch.
Even so, I agree it would be fine. Get out of the contract, and after all you wouldn't expect to get much of anything for him.
I guess it'll have to be a solo...
Hey, I like this. If Alex starts taking walks, he'll eventually see a lot of better pitches.
It just boggles the mind. Singleton said it yesterday. Teams won't start carrying fewer pitchers until everyone does it, which means it won't happen.
I totally understand it if you have seven or eight good relievers, then you are trading value for value, and pitching always being more important than offense. But we don't even have three good relievers.
I would actually dump Villone because its always good to have at least one reliever with a strange delivery, and Myers would be ours.
Torre, on the other hand, benched the veteraniest of all veterans, Bernie Williams for Melky Cabrera last year.
I don't think EITHER of them is likely to use the Stink properly (valet parker)
Now I'm just hoping someone has posted something since my last one, otherwise this is four in a row and I'll have to be removed for a relief banterer.
I actually think Cashman and Joe are joined at the hip these days behind closed doors. With the shakeups in management, they keep their jobs by keeping both of them employed. When one goes the other will follow, and I believe they are working together to avoid that end, even if the team suffers as a consequence.
When Giambi comes back, what they should do is:
Hughes for Henn (he's got options still), or Karstens
Giambi for Cairo
That leaves a bench of Damon, Duncan, Molina and Betemit. That is the best bench we've had since '96 or '98.
I agree. I just don't want to see Betemit, Duncan, or Phillips go down just so we can keep Villone, Farnsworth, Bruney (now that the Bruney from Arizona has finally appeared) or Myers.
Eighth, doesn't Joe already have Viz penciled in no matter what?
Torre will handle him like fine china.
This is why all of my (two or three weeks ago) analysis of "no outs first and second" vs. "one out second and third" misses a lot of what matters in bunting. And of course the fielders can boot it.
Oh well, let's just get some damn runs.
Is that a ground rule, or an MLB rule, that that's a double?
Wow, that was a weird double...
I just wanted to know it was more humid somewhere else.
These ARod ABs involve more tension then the games. It's wearing me out, I can only imagine how ARod feels.
This is Speed, I assume. Maybe he should store his stash in Minky's locker.
"Trainer Anderson cheering for Bonds from prison"
Isn't it a little weird that Bacardi sponsors the scouting reports?
Any bounding fair ball is deflected by the fielder into the stands, or over or under a fence on fair or foul territory, in which case the batter and all runners shall be entitled to advance two bases...
http://seriousconsideration.blogspot.com
>;)
I'd love to see him in the eighth, actually. Because then he couldn't pitch tomorrow.
I would actually like them to stop misusing the term "sponsor." They don't sponsor anything, they pay for ads which air during programming, outside of regular commercial breaks, which I am sure more than cover costs and salaries. The FCC made all this possible some years ago. Prior to that change, "Coors Light Cold Hard Facts" or the "Bud Hot Seat" and on and on...would have been illegal.
Uh.
This is the same problem I had during that suspended game. Tense.
I think he was trying to pull that ball.
"Hope Your Feeling Better."
(That was my Belth imitation.)
Hey, I just realized, we can't be hitting into DPs. We need base-runners so A-Rod can bat again!
I get that you're pissed that they are advertising, but I don't get the semantic argument.
What's Myers' job again???
227 same for A-rod /Jeter / Melky /Abreu. hell maybe Damon can take up knuckleballing
Mientky might not get his job back after all, with the BFOG points Andy's earning.
That thunder and lighting is alot louder and brighter here than on TV...
One more base runner.
Yeah Melk!!!!
A-Rod on deck, baby!
In case you forgot, I love love love this kid.
Yeah! Jeter selfishly tries to keep Alex from batting, but to no avail.
Nice! Now for the Wonderboy Moment!
What, is it coming up 95?
Oh, Mariano, of course.
honestly, there's a difference between hitting your 500th and hitting when the team really needs it. and he's hit when the team needs it this year. but do we really want a player who feels this much pressure for a personal milestone? aside from the fact that it doesn't bode well for the playoffs, why is he feeling so pressured now?
Now Mo, that's some lightnin' I can deal with...
Also, it's good to get him a scoreless inning when the other team (a) stinks and (b) is demoralized and ready to give up.
Twelve pitches of perfection. And you guys are complaining??
Farnsworth was not available to pitch. He pitched yesterday.
Jesus, when will you slackers learn the rules???
278 Twelve pitches that would have been better used in yesterday's 8th inning.
.
*Not sure of the actual count, but no BB thread is complete without a minimum of 50 calls for Joe's head. Just tryin' to help...
I say Joe should be executed. He doesn't deserve to breathe another breath.
I'm not saying it's a bad idea, or that it wouldn't have been a better idea than bringing in Farnworth, but it's so beyond the pale with Torre's thinking that I find complaining about it pointless.
Now the stubborness around not bringing Mo in on the road until the team has a lead, that's a different story...
Even I get squeamish at a certain point. Could we just waterboard him?
Hmmm. That's a non-starter simply for the fact that no one knows who the hell Neifi is, let alone half of MLB followers, I would venture to guess. The hardcore, yes, but casual fans, no way...
Now if Bonds* hits it on the same day Jose Canseco decides to cap himself, now we have some headlines...
As Bonds* flys out against Maddox as I type this...
It would be better on # 756. That would probably be one of the few times that I would say the press served it's purpose well...
"Bonds Tops Aaron On Canseco Cap Day"
Comment status: comments have been closed. Baseball Toaster is now out of business.