On the Yankees beat

Thanks Kat!

Back spasms are not a good sign for Jackson. I have yet to see him play at all.

Does anyone know the chances he could come up and contribute this year at all?

Matsui and Bobby are free agents after this year and it would be great if we could replace them from within the organization instead of shelling out tons of money and a long term contract.

Instead of losing his arm, it appears as if Mr. Farnsworth lost his b*lls, but at least we know it was an infection that caused the problem.

All joking aside, I hope this moron gets it together and pitches like someone should when they can throw the ball 99 MPH.

Thats its the season is lost. The 20 YO phenom who has never played a game at AA has back spasms. How can this be? How did this franchise get so cursed?
Thats its the season is lost. The 20 YO phenom who has never played a game at AA has back spasms. How can this be? How did this franchise get so cursed?

First all its players got accidentally injected with PED's

Then they brought up a bunch of young pitchers that cant even figure out how many pitches they throw

Then the team cant decide if they should keep them on the high school training program or let them pitch to the MLB schedule.

Then they find out that they have position players coming through the system that didnt learn their position so they have to work on that AFTER being promoted.

Now the Hawaiin league hero has back spasms....Ohhhh the pain.

Laughable Starting Rotation

Hysterical middle inning relief

Incompetent 1B men

6 Old guys competing for DH

Chicken armed OFers

Manager who never won 75 games

Worst fielding team since 1874 Louisville Spitooners

Cheaters and Liars

Playoff MVC most valuable choker - in A-Rod

Record Team playoff choke and collapse

Huey and Duey as owners

no 1 or 2 starter

What a laugh your team is!!
First all its players got accidentally injected with PED's

Then they brought up a bunch of young pitchers that cant even figure out how many pitches they throw

Then the team cant decide if they should keep them on the high school training program or let them pitch to the MLB schedule.

Then they find out that they have position players coming through the system that didnt learn their position so they have to work on that AFTER being promoted.

Now the Hawaiin league hero has back spasms....Ohhhh the pain.

Laughable Starting Rotation

Hysterical middle inning relief

Incompetent 1B men

6 Old guys competing for DH

Chicken armed OFers

Manager who never won 75 games

Worst fielding team since 1874 Louisville Spitooners

Cheaters and Liars

Playoff MVC most valuable choker - in A-Rod

Record Team playoff choke and collapse

Huey and Duey as owners

no 1 or 2 starter

What a laugh your team is!!

Hey I hear Keyshawn Johnson is working out and wants to play. Maybe the geniuses in your front office can talk him into coming over and trying out at 1B. I hear the coach can get him trained in that position in a couple weeks.

But if he has to go to the minors he'll need 8-9 years to learn that same stuff. Well maybe they can put him on the mound. I mean as an ex-NFLer he is pretty tough and I'm sure he wouldn't be bothered by a bunch of gnats flying around. Im sure that's not quite the distraction that a 245 lb backer is when your trying to concentrate on the field.

Or he could manage the team. I mean he has as many 1st 2nd and 3rd place finishes as Girardi......0. Im sure by chance he could finish fourth like Girardi did, Right? Also he wouldn't complain about the music at the stadium or the Mascot or dancers or any of that other stuff that seems to piss Girardi off.

What do ya think?

Farns has such an attitude ... rude to Ken Davidoff, walking around the clubhouse with his earphones.

You need to love and serve others. Be kind. Help the youth. Do clinics ... not act like a jerk, take all that money and waste a 99 MPH heater ...

I just hate that.

I think is reality Farnsworth reminds us all of the worst part of ourselves.

Anyway ...

Sully,

Did you see Carnivale on HBO and if so did you like it? It affected me deeply. Or is it effect?

This blog is degenerating - Ant and Say Hey - go away!

Nudge - take a hike!

Jon K. is right.

Between the technical incompetence and whole threads being swamped by know-nothings and people who don't care about the team ...

To me the unique value of this particular blog was access to the informed opinions of some seasoned, intelligent NYY fans and one or two NYY-knowledgable fans of other teams. Even with the annoying and still-uncorrected glitches, that kept me coming back.

But now we've got too many visitors who see opinions being exchanged and, like children at the family dinner table, think theirs are just as much worth airing, in spite of having little or no basis in experience, close observation, or long consideration.

The pity is that there may be no cure. People can't see more than a step or two beyond their own level, and so they often just don't realize when they are stumbling around way over their heads. So when you try to give them a hint they genuinely believe that you're just trying to 'act superior'.

Has anyone seen DRU? He can't still be on vacation, can he? Has this incessant dribble and nonsensical security code garbage scared him away too?

It does seem that the blog is populated by some anti - Yankee fans who are here to stir up trouble. My defense mechanism is to ignore them. This latest guy with the nickname of a famous athlete is a complete $$$. I have no problem with fans from other clubs looking for conversation about baseball and the team that everyone wants to talk about. I have many Red Sox fans in my neighborhood who watch and know the Yankees as well as some folks on this blog. Its baseball talk.

Now about baseball, any real Yankee fans will indicate that this year could be a crap shoot but the players assembled can get it done. I'm realistic about my comments for success. We were wiped out in the first round in the playoffs not just for lack of rotation but cold hitting which was the key to our making the playoffs to begin with. This year the team could surprise. Yes, we have some youngsters in key spots but these kids do have talent. And injuries occur to all teams some more than others. The cookie could crumble our way. Luck is an ingredient for all championship teams. Make no mistake about it. Didn't a club win a WS because some guy let one get through his legs.

Larry... no team won a World Series because a ball went through someone's legs

I said it once and I said it again, the Buckner error is the single most overrated play in baseball.

Could the Red Sox have won the World Series if he made the play?
Nope, the game was tied.

Did the Mets win the World Series because he missed the play?
Nope, it tied the series.

That game was a disaster for my beloved Sox... but when I went to bed crying that night, and I did, I was thinking about the Wild Pitch that tied the game.

The Wild Pitch was the emotional wallop of Sonny in the Toll Booth

The Buckner error was that guy who kicked Sonny's body in the head

Info on ST (gleaned from making the blog rounds):

After the training debacle last year resulted in an epidemic of hanstring injuries NYY FO did a study and concluded that running had been cut so much that players didn't get enough strength in their legs before taking the field for other stuff. So this year first thing running is big, and the blame (or credit) is going to Girardi, when actually it was planned as a result of this study.

And Kei Igawa is the most out-of-condition guy out there, plodding along behind everybody else, 'running' as if he were carrying somebody on his back.

Wonder if conditioning was part of the half-hour meeting they had with him the other day?

Whats going on everyone! I was trying to extend my vaca as long as possible HYD..damn it was nice down there, cruise life is very laid back. On my way from the ship port to the Tampa airport I stopped by Legends Field for some shots ( photos ). Very nice digs. Ive been trying to catch up all week with work and my fantasy rankings. Now Im back in action!

Kat, thanks for the updates! My favorite part was =

*Melky Cabrera said he plans to work out with Alex Rodriguez (nearly) every day again, as he did last year. They're doing so even here in spring training after workouts*

Melk seems very motivated after all the trade rumors, lets see if he can keep sustain what he did over the summer.

June - .298 Avg....811 OPS
July - .368 Avg....939 OPS
August - .306 Avg.....818 OPS

If we can get a full season out of Melk with .300 + BA and .800 + OPS, we will be in great shape!

Couple observations that I came across while ranking my fantasy players.

The good
Abreu - In for a big year, the offseason workouts have me grinning!
Damon - see Abreu, Bobby
Hughes - Will touch 170-180 innings this year and be a solid #3.
Andy - Got all the BS out of the way, ready for 200innings
Cano - I believe he will have a sick year....320+ BA...100 runs..25 HR...100 RBI

The bad
Giambi - Joe wants him in the field so he can DH Matsui.

The ugly
Farny - I have a feeling this is gonna force Joba into the pen all year.

Other than that, its good to be back! Its also good to have baseball back so we can stop the BS with steriods.

Well I gotta run, talk to you guys tomorrow!

GO YANKS!!!!!

Larry,
I've always felt that the lack of confidence the Yankees had in their rotation in the playoffs led to the poor hitting. I know that sounds far fetched but if you've ever played ball and gotten far behind in a game or played a team that you knew would score a lot of runs, it seemed as if those were the games that you couldn't buy a hit and I think the Yankees hitters feel somewhat like that. I can imagine each guy thinking to himself "well, we've got so and so on the mound and he's been getting hit his past few starts, and we're facing a really good pitcher so we better jump on them early and score as much as we can" and more often than not, this leads to guys squeezing sawdust out of the bats and not much else.

Sully: While the Buckner play didn't lose the game or the series, it put something in the minds of the Red Sox players: dread. Just like Tony Clark's ground rule double in '04, the players see that as some sort of sign that things aren't going their way and it affects their mental state. I've read interviews with former Mets and Red Sox about the Buckner play and many of them have said they knew it was over right there.

Welcome back Dru....I hope you are relaxed and ready for the season.

Diane: The info on Igawa is disturbing to say the least as the least I would expect is that the guy would be in good shape.

Sully: It sure gave the Mets a shot at getting to the 7th game. They were closed out and dead in my vague memory.

Jim A: The higher up you play. The more you believe that you can beat anyone. The Yankees should have taken the Indians IMHO.

And again thank you for the fix. Its fun again on the blog.

Larry,
I agree about the Indians series. The Yankees had Sabathia beat and they should have gained confidence from there but it turned out to work against them as the Indians got the confidence because they figured they didn't need to lean on Sabathia to win. Baseball is a funny game....

Jon K,

Boo Hoo my blog doesn't have all fairy tale conversations about Mickey and Joe D ans how the dead and buried are relevant in today league. If you dont like the neighborhood move out buddy. Just because your team is a joke doesn't mean the world owes you guys a crying sanctuary to stroke each other to sleep every night with nicey nice stories of the young heros in Scranton riding in on their white horses.

Diane,

Thanks for that scintillating review of the weeks events and news. After baeball has been around for 120 years the Yankees have finally concluded that running is good exercise for supposed athletes. WOWEEEEE. Heres another big update. I heard (from scanning all the blog sites on spring training minutia) that the Yanks have changed the food being served to food that is nutritionally balanced and low in fats and sodium. Seems that the front office organized a crack committee that studied the diets from last year and in a groundbreaking analysis found fatty high sodium foods devoid of vitamins and nutrients were not good for athletes,

So now thats done last years embarrassing BUGOUT from the playoffs can be firmly pinned on lousy exercise and bad eating habits. It had nothing to do with the pitiful performance of that laughable pitching staff (95% of which is back surprisingly).

So tell me what am I saying that is factually incorrect.

Oh yeah I think someone said that when I am proven wrong on all my points I will just go away. Well I am here so how are those points looking?

Diane deary,

As for the know nothings...you shouldn't criticize your fellow Yankee fans as such. I know it was news to you guys that running developes leg strenght and all....but us non-Yankee fans knew that since like the first day of gym class in 1st grade. DUH! So dont be so harsh by pointing out the stupidity of your blogging friends....eventually they might catch on that you are poking fun at them.

Beside I am better at that than you.

How are the Yankees a joke when they haven't missed the postseason since 1993 and it was the crosstown Mets who suffered the biggest collapse in MLB history last year?

That's the dictionary definition of embarrassment. It's amazing how little punk Mets' fans have the gall to point fingers at other teams that at least made the playoffs.

Mets' fans are still grasping onto a championship team of misfits that happened over two decades ago. Reminds me of how Chicago Bears' fans are still gushing over the 1985 team - 23 years later.

Get a life, jackass. It's time for bed. You have school tomorrow.

Dru

Good to see you back!!

You're sudden and extended leave had begun to worry some of us.

Q n A with "Say Hey"

Are you Twins fan?

Are you Bill Belichick?

Are you a Hillary Supporter?

Did your wife leave you?

Are you in a wheelchair?

Did your wife leave you for a woman?

Are you adopted?

Are you a midget?

Do you work at the DMV?

Are you Brian Bruney?

The Yanks are not a joke.

They are a talented team but they shoot themselves in the foot with ...

A. Politically correct team, global team (marketing money) rather than having the BEST team. (Lilly vs. Igawa)

B. Last year, no small ball skills, Pavano and Igawa in rotation, no backup Catcher for half the year

C. Cashman was snakebit in a lot of his moves ie Brown, and Giambi but most of us would have made the moves.

If you played baseball in Little League and high school and college, and cover spring training and watch the games and know the game, how can you be a know nothing vs. people who never played?

I am Manny, Manny confused.

Dru

I share your optimism even if my projections aren't quite so high. I oo don't expepct much from either Giambi or Matsui this year, But I could be pleasantly surprised. I don't expect Farnswort to do much, but don't agree that will cause Joba to go back into the pen - he is just too valuable as a starter. We will find an 8th inning arm somewhere - so many to choose from.

Nudgey, oh smartypants nudgey, where art thou? There was a grammatical error, "shurgs", not "shrugs", why haven't you opined about same loser nudgey man?

we been searching for an 8th inning arm until last year Jon K, How is Joba a valubale starter when he started not one Game .

The % does not lie before Joba our one run vicotories was low a 4-2 lead became a 5-4 loss. Joba comes and leads were presereved

Jon K...believe me my friend, Im with you. A dominate starter is much more valuable than a dominate closer. Some may argue the opposite, but with the way the league is structured, Ace's are just not available. Either teams lock them up like Peavy, or you pay an arm and a leg like Santana and Bedard. Making sure Joba develops into a #1 is our top priority this season. Even if the Yanks end up missing the playoffs due to a pen that cant hold down a single lead, even if Phil, IPK and Moose pitch well, even if Andy and Wang stay healthy all year long, even if this current setup has the Yanks in 1st place two months from now....Joba should be put into the rotation this season to build up innings for 09. If that means bumping IPK or Moose down, ( should be Moose ) so be it.

The Yanks want to limit Joba to 150 innings, I cant blame them. The biggest knock on Joba, and the reason he fell to us in the sandwich round, was his durability. He had major knee surgery in college ( I still get misty eyed when I think of the story about Joba's dad bringing him ice bags..carrying them in his teeth ). He also didnt throw enough innings last year and they need to be REALLY cautious with him. They cannot get caught up in trying to win this year at all costs. They need to keep their long term plan intact. Its not as bad as you think though. A typical back end rotation guy will throw about 30inning a month as a starter, a RP will register about 10-15 innings per month. So lets do the math.

April - 15in
May - 15in
June - 30in
July - 30in
August - 30in
Sept - 30in

Thats 150 innings right there and at the inning max for each month. Really as a RP you will make 3 max appearances in a week. If you keep him to 1in a shot, thats 12 innings a month. Same with the starts, 6in a start, 4-5 starts a month. Some months he can be skipped or pushed back to register 24...so...

April - 10
May - 12
June - 24
July - 24 ( all star break should help skip a start )
August - 30
Sept - 30

130innings....that leaves 20innings for the playoffs....or about 3 starts. Again, with Mo still at closer ( still top 5 in the league ), we can find our 8th inning guy. Melancon, Cox, Sanchez, Albaladejo, Britton, Bruney, Hawkins, Karstens, Marquez, Ohlendorf, Patterson, Edwar, Veras, White, Wright, Horne...someone will emerge out of that group. Aside from Hawkins..all these guys are in their 20's, most of them are huge, they all throw hard....there is power in numbers with the young guns. We will find a solution to that problem this season.

Sooooooo in conclusion..lol..Joba needs to start at some point this year. Vote Joba in 08!!!

WINNING is first right??

ok so you have to think victory first and the way us two faced fans think , i can vision this scenerio.

Joba pitches well leaves the game with a one run lead as does the rest of the staff only to see the lead blown away and again seeing our selves in a hole like we was last season's beginning , I don't know about ya'll but there is no way I want to start This season the way we started last season as a team.

Jimmy Key

David Cone

Dwight Gooden

Kenny Rodgers

Andy Pettite

Bullpen .. M. Rivera , Wetland
Now with the over hype you al l proclaim for the rookies here is your 2008 Rotation.

Andy Pettite

Wang

Phil Hughes

Mike Mussina

Ian kennedy

Pen

Joba . M.Rivera

Now on paper who is better and by how much

ohh wait we don't know what Hughes and Kennedy can do in Full but based on the overhype they should be way better than the CHAMPION Rotation above. and why was that rotation CHAMPION ?? because the starters kept the squad in the game while the PEN shut it DOWN!!

Bomber,

Here's what you're not taking into account...

The Mo and Wetteland combo was one season. As soon as Mo proved to be the more dominant pitcher, they let Wetteland walk after the 1996 season - even after he was named the WS MVP.

Mo just signed a three-year deal - which means he's going nowhere.

It is more important to address the starting rotation to eat innings and take the pressure off the bullpen. That is essentially what this team did in the late 90s and won 3 more rings after building the best rotation in the league.

What this team has lacked the most in the postseason since 2004 is starting pitching. The best way to address that glaring need is not placing their top pitching talent in the bullpen to setup Mo.

Thank you Viper...

BX..your missing the point that aside from Andy, the top 4 in the roatation were all proven vets. There were no innings restrictions, no eye on the next year, no talk about developing talent. That team was built to win that year, much like the Mets and Tigers are built today. The Yanks are taking a different approach to get to a point where we were in 96. The Yanks are not going all in this year, they are building for the future, attempting to rebuild a dynasty, not just a 1 year WS win...what dont you understand about that?

Yay DRU's back!

You need to take laptop with you on vacation buddy.