On the Yankees beat

Cool....glad this is done, officially anyway.

Now Cashman needs to get to work on that bridge to Mariano. I'm sorry but LaTroy Hawkins isn't going to cut it.

Jim A

Can you imagine how good it will feel if and when we ever get a REAL DEAL done!!!

IE...ONE THAT DOES NOT SIMPLY SOLIDIFY THE IDENTICAL 07 ROSTER TO RETURN IN O8 !!!

Hey now Mike...Ill go into battle with our men any day!

GO YANKS!!!

Funny stuff at work today from the Cowboys fans.

They keep saying that their season is over because Jessica Simpson is in Tony Romo's head...lol

I thought of Mick...WOMEN WEAKEN LEGS KID!!!! GET THESE CHICKADEES OUT OF HERE!!!

I told them to send Tony a copy of 'The Natural', how do you think about your gameplan when Jessica Simpson is coming over in tight shorts? F FOOTBALL!!! Say what you want about her being stupid, she's smoking!!!

DRU,

Maybe Romo was "tryin'" to get her out of his mind for the game , earlier............leading to a weakened condition????????

That's how I woulda done it...lol!

Mick was right but think about it... BUT after lookin' at Adrian wouldn't you wanna smack the p*ss out of someone????? oh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.rotoworld.com/content/features/column.aspx?sport=MLB&columnid=2&articleid=29688&pg=3

A blurb about Jonathan Albaladejo and Scott Patterson in their
Venezuelan Winter League doings...........

TAKE HER TO THE ZOO, I HEAR THE RETARDS LIKE THE ZOO.

best part of that movie,,,it still cracks me up!!!

Tony's done. He's just a small town boy that is now the QB for the most popular football team in the league, has TO as a WR and now Hollywood Jessica Simpson blowing him kisses from the owners box? He's gonna crack!

BTW - Is Jessica's dad loving life or what? He's from Texas and now gets all access into the Cowboy’s stadium. On top of that his two little girls are multi-millionaires. If that’s the price to sell your family's souls to the devil…sign me up!!! lol just kidding gang..or am I???

; )

NICE - over 2 k/bb ratio and less than a hit per inning. The reporter is right, they better not bury him like they did to Britton. I think Britton, Ohlendorf and Albaladejo could be BIG parts of the pen this season. All three throw strikes and can crank it up in the upper 90's. Torre wouldnt have used them, lets see how creative and brave Girardi is with trusting the young guns in the pen.

I like Ohlendorf and Veras.

Ohlendorf needs to throw more strikes but his "stuff" looked pretty good last year.

Hopefully with a full time ML assignment maybe he'll get the nerves under control along with his pitches..

Veras impressed me last year although only for a brief period when he and Ohlendorf were brought up-Late September?

I have high hopes for both and they both need to be pretty good or our "Joba the Starter" operation may be in peril...nomsayin

Yes Veras did very well, I think the sleeper to be this years Joba is Dave Robertson though =

========================================================================
Age: 21
Height: 5′11
Weight: 175 lbs
Drafted: 17th Round, 2006, out of U. Alabama
Position: Relief Pitcher
Throws: Right

Stuff: Robertson throws both 2-seamer and 4-seamer in the mid-90s. He has a devastating mid-80s plus slider along with an average cutter. He depend use his 4-seamer and his slider for strikeouts, as he is a strikeout pitcher.

Control/Performance: Robertson’s control is a problem, as he has so much movement on his pitches. Although pitching to a .96 ERA in 44 G and 84.1 IP and 113 K’s line, he also walked 3.42 per 9 this season, his first in the system. That line is deceiving, because in the bulk of his innings at Charleston he walked only 2.87 per 9, but walked 4.05 per 9 at his next stop in Tampa. However, strikeouts are very impressive, and at all three levels he pitched at this year, he maintained a godly hit rate of 4.82 H/9.

Outlook: When Robertson improves his control, he will be a great closer prospect. He has great stuff, but, again, control is the problem. Moreover, he averaged over 2 innings per appearance, showing his stamina. His control isn’t the worst, but it could improve. He should have a great year next year starting at Trenton, and should move up to AAA and maybe even taste the big leagues in late August/September. He should move up this list quickly, and he will be a Yankees’ bullpen mainstay by 2009.

Ceiling: A, Health: A, Comparison: Not one real comaprison, but Pat Neshek/Francisco Rodriguez would do.
========================================================================

Looks like he's walking too many guys, but guys arent hitting his stuff so he's expanding the strike zone. He moved from A, A+, AA all last year with that sick line.

0.96 ERA in 44 G and 84.1 IP and 113 K’s line, 0.92 WHIP.

The kid is FILTHY!!!

I was elated last year when Britton was picked up! He was used wrong and not given a fair chance , that was Torre's fault. I loved Torre but as the years passed his bullpen mismanagement worsened.

He was a genius when he had Mo , setup by Nelson and Stanton with a little sprinkle of Mendoza............after that?????

Dru

Not sure man...That report was pretty negative for my tastes.

Remember Joba is not the kind of kid who comes up every year much less from the same system in consecutive years.

This Robertson fellow sounds like he's probably a year or so away with all those walks...I'll remain cautiously optimistic.

PTRS is right, reconstituting the same team is not enough. Good numbers in the second half, with many games against teams under .500, but nothing in the post-season.

Yankees need to improve if success in the postseason is the goal.

I'm looking forward to my Christmas present! (Even if it's late.) What's hidden in there? How long will I have to wait to see it?

Thinking of keeping the tree up till I get what I want.

yup, after that not so much. It was easy for him to look great when he had Mo go for 2 innings then Wetland to close it out. Nelly and Stanton were the perfect right left combo after 96. What ever happened to Ramiro? He was on the Sox for a year or so then the Yanks signed him to a minor league contract and we never heard from him again. We need to get back to shortening the games. Thats what the Sox did this past season with Oka and Paps.

Let see if Joe G can get that late 90's bullpen magic back!

Which Britton are you guys talking about?

The fat tub of useless that got lit up or walked everybody?

The fat tub of useless who made Brian Bruney seem like the more attractive option ?

The fat tub of useless whom I would consider probably just as useless as Sean Henn?

I'm very confused.

Mike - True, a 09 spot is probably more likely. I dont think anyone can match what Joba did last season.

Excuse me, what would have been the right way to use Britton?

I mean who in their right mind would have trusted him with a more crucial task than carrying the candy bucket to the bullpen?

And not to be egregriously cruel, but could he even be trusted with that?

If you're a professional "ATHLETE" under the age of 30 and you are not a superstar...

You should be put on probation.

Seriously.

These guys get paid to be full time athletes.

Is it too much to ask that they not look like those unfortunate people in spandex at Great Adventure?

"Candy Bucket Britton" hah =)

Is every single pitching flop from the Torre years suddenly going to be given a free pass because somehow they weren't 'used right'?

Revisionist history, guys.

I can hear him telling him grandchildren, "If only I could have pitched for Piniella! I coulda been a contendah..."

Definitely egregious cruelty, Diane.

Some fatties do very well.

Joba is no sylph even now.

Ok come on guys, we all know how Joe leaned on his regulars and rarely gave a shot to the young guys. Britton gave up a couple runs but still got guys out.

12 inning.....9 hits...5 ER...4 BB...5K's.....3.55 ERA

The year before he was 3.35 ERA in 53 innings with BAL. Hes still only 25 years old and could be a very good RP if given the chance. I hardly think 12 innings can be considered a real chance. You guys are so quick to pull the hook on these guys after one or two bad outings. Thank God Joba didnt give up some runs or eveyone in here would be complaining about him.

Relief pitching is entirely too volatile to assign managerial misuse as a large factor in any successes or failures IMO.

Some guys can pitch everyday and be lights out. That same guy can come back the next year and be Brian Bruney.

Middle relievers are a crap shoot.

However I will say Scott Proctor did get abused by Torre and I feel bad for him now that he's apparently being stalked by JT LOL

But it's not as though we had a ton of options.

Maybe in LA the starters will give Torre more than 5 innings and Proctor wont be the ONLY guy who Joe can summon to throw strikes.

We forget how bad the bullpen was last year but seriously who could we rely on to not walk the first two batters they faced last year?

Villone?
Myers?
Farnsworth?
Bruney?
Viscaino? (yeah better in the 2nd half but then suffered the Proctor fate as a result of his mid season improvement)

At least Proctor made the batter swing. (even if that swing resulted in a bases clearing double)

I'm rambling...

My point is I think we're gonna need more this year.

If Girardi has only 2 guys he can count on I can assure you his managerial styling will quickly turn Torre-esque with such limited options.

OK all, Im off to my company X-Mas party to get drunk and make a fool of myself. Im sure we can pick up the Fat Britton talk manana.

Go Yanks!

Dru

That's the point though.

We would've said the same thing about Joba if he performed like Sean Henn or Chris "Candy Bucket" Britton in his first 12 innings.

What's fair?

15?

20?

30 Innings?

I had a feeling you were gonna throw stats at me and almost prefaced my negative remarks about him with that in mind but stats aside what I saw from Henn and Britton was ENOUGH for me atleast...

It doesn't help my opinion that he's fat either.

HAH sorry I guess I'm a Fatophobe.

That was funny Diane.

Actually the bullpen is handled differently from starting pitching because good strategy is what's important a good deal of the time. The manager needs to match pitchers to hitters so they should know which combination works best. Because you have lots of guys in the bullpen, you can confuse hitters with different styles, keep them on their toes and confused. That's another way of getting guys out. You don't bring in three 90 MPH fast ball pitchers in a row unless they got great stuff. Instead after you bring in the 95 mph thrower, you then bring in the 78 mph hurler. While either one might get killed in a starting role, they can be very successful in middle relief. When you don't have a lot of Joba and Papelbon types (and who does?), you have to use your relief like you were playing chess. There are very few Mo's out there who can use one or two pitches and get guys out for 12 years, so good strategy is the manager's best friend -- or not.

Prior to The Yanks acquiring Britton he filled the set up man role and did a solid job. He wasn't given the chance to do that as Torre's bullpen was a volitale(sp?) one at best.......AFTER Stanton , Nelson and Ramiro............he seemed to have had no faith in a pitcher not named Mo?????

Please save me the " Torre hater" crap...he wasn't infallable(sp?) and not the greatest at managing a bullpen.

I am NOT a fatophobe and those with any memory will recall that when Joba was being KILLED on this blog by the very same people who now worship at his feet -- why? because he's too heavy -- I'm the one who went around saying, 'Yeah, Babe Ruth was heavy and he couldn't play either', and 'Remember Fat Boy Wells, couldn't pitch a lick because he was overweight HAHAHA'.

Britton was not effective, we were in must-win mode, and Torre would have been shot from the stands if he had used people like 'Candy Bucket' when games were on the line, which if I recall correctly they continuously were.

Fat or as skinny as Edwar. Keep them out of the way when it counts if they cant't be relied on.

If they can be relied on, BRING THEM, in spandex if necessary.

LOL

2Shea Ninja...

Florescent colored spandex if absolutely necessary-whatever gets us to Mo.

Luciano Pavarotti!!

Orson Welles!!

Miguel Cabrera!!

David Ortiz!!

;-)

Jennifer Love Hewitt!!

Sorry about that one-My roomate reads people magazine.

Apparently she's now a size SIX and all hell is breaking loose.

PTRS,
I saw a picture of her in the NY Post and it's not "all hell" that's breaking loose, it's her a*s!

Britton was great for one reason last year: He got Jaret Wright off the roster! Give that man another pile of chicken wings!

Jim A.

LOL

2-Cschaaey to you to sir.

Cashman is smart.
ARod is the best player in MLB history, so far.
The Yanks are, as currently constituted, good enough to challenge for a title.
I doubt Britton can win a spot after Rivera, Pavarotti, Welles, Cabrera, Ortiz and Love Hewitt... although the competition is always good.
Screw the Bosox. Who cares what they do? Our guys are good too.

Lacock:

Nice.

LOL

Who cares how fat someone is? Geez , Jennifer Love is fine no matter what the size. Britton is big boned or at laest that is what his Mom told him;-)

My point is that he wasn't used enough to get in a rythym ...be it good or bad. Torre would often let players sit while going with a few selected pitchers. What is the sense of having 6 men in the pen when only 3 are used? That was my point....

Found a use for Britton. Hot dog eating contest in Coney Island.

Family Guy!

Jeez. And people wonder why so many girls these days have eating disorders.