On the Yankees beat

support a druggie but not one of them was at Arod's side last year at his conference.

Derek Jeter the "selective captain.

Lil Boy - Dad , why does he supprot Druggies and is not present when Alex needed support?

How can you compare Andy and Alex?

Andy has been playing with Jeter since they were in the minor leagues.

People actually respect the way Pettitte conducts himself. This is the first time in his career he has been in the media anywheres near this much. Alex is always in the spotlight and under a microscope.

Ahh CUT the SH*T!!!

Please at this point Alex is a model Baseball player than some Andy Pettite Roger Clemens , Barry Bonds, ok the captain is selective in his appearences that's it no cover up he is just selective in his "support" I don't care if they played in the pamper league he is Captain of the team! Alex is under a scope and to thsi day no dirt on him cheating , people may have tried to link his name but he came up roses all the time. and will be now an Yankee Icon. the issue is Jeter now supported TWO druggies and left Alex to dry

Bomber,

He is a liar just like Giambi and Knobloch and Clemens. You should be disgraced to say you ever gave a penny of your money to those crooks. 218M last year for nothing but liars and cheats. Now this year you got that laughable pitching staff to start off with. Yeah Andy's your number one, how funny is that?

Diane still thinks the big news is Old Man Duncans footwork at 1B. My god doesn't this organization have any instructors in the minors. This guy has been playing ib your system for 8 years and this is the first time some one took time to teach him his position? I guess 218M doesn't leave much left over for coaches huh?

But don't worry if he can't get his footwork down then Jason will grab a glove. Maybe they should be teaching Pavano or Farnsworth about first base footwork. At least they can field the ball and then you can get their pitiful butts off the mound where they are really doing damage.

Great team your putting together there Cashman. Any more embarrassing press conferences on the schedule?

Mc Carthy,

Yeah lots of people in prison and under indictment like the way Pettitte conducts himself. Cheat...then lie...then tell half the truth....then lie again....then tell all the truth. Wow, now your a hero. Michael Milken also admitted he did what he went to jail for. Maybe he should be hired by the Yanks to do image consulting. There are many people who admire how he conducts himself.

Get a life you losers, like me.

McCarthy: You can't use the fact that Jeter and Pettitte have played together for a long time as a reason why he showed up to support Pettitte and not A-Rod. Weren't Jeter and A-Rod childhood friends or something?

Jeter just doesn't like A-Rod and you know what, that's cool. It reminds me of the "Yankees Classic" I watched last night. It was the clinching game of the '78 WS against the Dodgers and after the game Tony Kubek had my boy Thurman and Reggie together and he said "We know you two don't get along but tell us about....blah blah blah" and Thurman got a little mad and said "The press makes that stuff up" but they weren't exactly hugging and pouring champagne on each other.
If there's tension, there's tension- who cares, play ball.

I heard something a few years back about a model sport franchise here in New York. I started following the sports and watched the Yankees spend double what everyone elso does and punk out year after year. So I know it can't be them. The only team thats won anything around here lately are the NJ Devils and the NY Giants. So I guess its one of them.

Unless they were talking about the model team for a situation comedy. Then that would be the Yankees. Wait didn't they already do that? Yes, that's right, George Costanza worked for the Yankees! Now I remember. He was running around with Danny Tartabull...yeah, DANNY FREAKIN' TARTABULL. Isn't that a hoot. Now that was a great all time Yankee.

Play Ball, Play Ball, PLAYYYY BAAAAAAAALL and let the jokes begin

"Now this year you got that laughable pitching staff to start off with. Yeah Andy's your number one, how funny is that?"

"Diane still thinks the big news is Old Man Duncans footwork at 1B. My god doesn't this organization have any instructors in the minors. This guy has been playing ib your system for 8 years and this is the first time some one took time to teach him his position? I guess 218M doesn't leave much left over for coaches huh?"

Say Hey,
Obviously from your comments, you baseball knowledge is EXTREMELY limited, so i won't get into too much detail for you. First off, our rotation is not as bad as you say it is. I'd be willing to bet that a lot of teams in this league would rather be in our position in terms of pitching. We have 2 potential aces in Hughes and Chamberlain and a potential top 3 starter in Ian Kennedy. All of them are under the age of 24. We have veteran leadership from Mussina and Pettitte, and a sinker ball pitcher who has a very good chance to win 20 games every season. So to say our pitching staff is "laughable" is actually in fact, quite laughable.

continued from my last post....

Secondly, my opinion about your baseball knowledge became apparent when you started talking about Duncan and fielding. I know this might come as a surprise to you, but not everyone in the major leagues is there for his "outstanding athletic ability". Some are there for power and not the glove/defense. I guess I just don't really understand the point you are trying to make with Duncan. Should he just say screw the coaching and just head out there and "go for it" on opening day, or maybe ya think he should get a few ground balls in during the spring, in hopes to better his performance. This might come as a surprise to you SayHey, but these players actually try to get better each season.

Who do you root for anyways? I hope it isn't the Sox or Mets with this trash talk about the payrolls.......

Kat please let the photographers know they are doing a horrible job, why the Met fans can see pic of Fernando Martinez, we can't see Jose Tabata, Humberto Sanchez, Jesus Montero, Mark Melancon or Austin Jackson..just a horrible job, other than that Kat your blog reports are great.

Brandon, our photographer, Audrey, has been working really hard. Several of the guys mentioned haven't been involved in workouts yet. Jose Tabata and Austin Jackson just reported today and have yet to do any workouts. Humberto Sanchez isn't even throwing off a mound yet. I'll see what I can do about Jesus Montero, who I have talked to but haven't been able to do a story about yet. And Tabata and Jackson, I'm sure, will figure in sometime soon.

Chrissy,

Is that a Girl Chris or a Boy Chris? Well doesnt matter. You want to brag about the fact that your staff stinks so badly that you are going to start 3 guys who are still wearing diapers(and I dont count Mussina in that three). That IS laughable. So we got a total of 5 wins between 3 guys and they are your enviable staff? By who the Toledo Mudhens?

We all know Duncan isn't there to catch the ball. He is there to rack uo 200 K's for the season. Yeah he'll hit a HR every ten strikeouts or so, but that footwork, since as you state he's not there for his athletic ability, should be better than watching Dancing With the Stars. Haha see and I thought only the pitching staff was a joke. I mean jeez a 29 year old rookie and he still doesn't have a clue how to play a position? What was he doing all those years in the minors, practicing to be Mascot? I bet he's got that footwork down.

Hey didn't one of those potential aces severely disappoint last year? Wasn't he supposed to already be an all star or something? How many wins did he have again? Oh yeah 3 more wins than injuries. Hah and you kept him instead of getting the Cy Young award winner. Yeah that was a big risk. A pitcher that was dominant every year is not worth and potential DLer? One has a history of getting hurt. The other has a history of leading the league in ERA. Oh, I forgot. He would have cost to much in salary. Yeah like thats a big concern here when you regularly flush 200M+ down the toilet along with MacNamee used syringes.

Like I said this is a situation comedy made fot TV.

Chris and Diane,

Big news from Tampa. Joba was working on letting go of the ball after he swings his arm.

First off, I'm a guy. Don't know why that matters, but you have made me ask myself a lot of odd questions today, so this one was no different really. You're criticizing Duncan like he is an everyday player. He isn't and never will be on this team. That's not the point I was trying to make. There was a hole left by Mientkiewicz defensively, and guys like Duncan, Betemit, Giambi, and Ensberg are going to have to play every once in a while. Furthermore, I was just trying to get through your thick, little head that major league players practice when they get to spring training. Thats usually the norm around the league. I'm sorry this information is just getting to you now.

About Hughes:
Hughes is 21 years old, dude. You expect him to be the ace of the Yankees last year? He hadn't made one start before last season. He made 3 starts early, got his feet wet, and was throwing a no hitter when into the 7th inning on the road in his 3rd start when he got hurt. Missed the rest of the first half and didn't get back until the end of August. He gave us quality innings towards the end of the season, as well as into the playoffs.
About Joba:
Need I say more?
About Kennedy:
Kennedy, in my opinion, pitched fantastic last year in the little amount of time he got. Pitched 19 innings, had two of his 3 starts go for 7 innings, and opponents hit less than .200 on him with 15 strikeouts as well. For your first three starts I'd say that's pretty good.

I never said the Yankees don't have questions about their staff. 3 rookies is a tough way to go about things, but it's not like it's 3 guys who have nothing in their arsenal. Again, I think you opinion on Hughes is horrible, but most of your opinions are. He doesn't have a history of injuries like you say he does (one year does not qualify as "a history of injuries"), and to say he should have been been shooting for an all-star bid is rediculous. The Yankees had strict inning limits on both Hughes and Joba last year, but you didn't see it with Hughes because he hurt his hammy and didn't have that many innings. You know nothing about the Yankees, and unfortunately it looks like you don't know much about baseball.

Its ashame that once each and everyone of Say Hey's points are disproved, he will disappear from this blog forever

First off, I'm a guy. Don't know why that matters, but you've made me ask myself a lot of odd questions today, so this one is no different really. You're criticizing Duncan like he is an everyday player. He isn't and never will be on this team. That's not the point I was trying to make. There was a hole left by Mientkiewicz defensively, and guys like Duncan, Betemit, Giambi, and Ensberg are going to have to play every once in a while. Furthermore, I was just trying to get through your thick, little head that major league players practice when they get to spring training. Thats usually the norm around the league. I'm sorry this information is just getting to you now.

About Hughes:
Hughes is 21 years old, dude. You expect him to be the ace of the Yankees last year? He hadn't made one start before last season. He made 3 starts early, got his feet wet, and was throwing a no hitter when into the 7th inning on the road in his 3rd start when he got hurt. Missed the rest of the first half and didn't get back until the end of August. He gave us quality innings towards the end of the season, as well as into the playoffs.
About Joba:
Need I say more?
About Kennedy:
Kennedy, in my opinion, pitched fantastic last year in the little amount of time he got. Pitched 19 innings, had two of his 3 starts go for 7 innings, and opponents hit less than .200 on him with 15 strikeouts as well. For your first three starts I'd say that's pretty good.

I never said the Yankees don't have questions about their staff. 3 rookies is a tough way to go about things, but it's not like it's 3 guys who have nothing in their arsenal. Again, I think you opinion on Hughes is horrible, but most of your opinions are. He doesn't have a history of injuries like you say he does (one year does not qualify as "a history of injuries"), and to say he should have been been shooting for an all-star bid is rediculous. The Yankees had strict inning limits on both Hughes and Joba last year, but you didn't see it with Hughes because he hurt his hammy and didn't have that many innings. You know nothing about the Yankees, and unfortunately it looks like you don't know much about baseball.

I for one will be very glad when all of this steroid and HGH talk is over.

I know some Red Sox fans get into trash talking about the Yankees in the roid mess, but I know and they know that PLENTY of 2004 and 2007 Red Sox were messing with the stuff and just not caught.

Besides, if there was a pill or injection I could take that would let me leave f---ing Versus and send me off to NBC, CBS or producing 60 Minutes, I'd take it in a nanosecond!

Let's play ball!
My team has a title to defend and the Yankees have some great pitchers to throw

Kat,
Please tell Audrey she will probably win a Pulitzer if she can capture the rarest of all pictures: Carl Pavano on a pitching mound!
If she can get that pic, the Loch-Ness monster ought to be a breeze.

Sorry i prosted that twice, my computer is slow and didn't show up right away.

Good one Jim....

Maybe Matt Clement can take the photo....

Yah, good one Jim A.

Chris M. and others.... If you just ignore the say hey types they'll go away quicker. Certain names quickly become familiar and personally I skip reading their entries entirely. Of course you are welcome to address their 'views' but you know they're just children trolling for strange thrills.

I can't criticize the boys for supporting their teammate now versus not supporting ARod before, regardless of the circumstances. Relationships and situations differ. Maybe if ARod were in Pettitte's shoes they would've been there. Maybe if Pettitte had been in ARod's shoes they would've kept silent. I'm not sure Jeter's support would've been best. ARod took his lumps and maybe he's better for it now.

Hey Anonychris,

Duncan is filing a hole????? He IS the hole. Hughes was last years can't miss. I guess he missed because once again he is this years can't miss. Do you guys sit around all day dreaming of the stars that never will be while passing on the star that are and rationalizing it with some stupid comparison to ignorant decisions made by the same guys that are making the current decisions? Well they say that the definition of insanity is repeating the same action and expecting a different result. So you guys are all nuts then.

Kennedy, in my opinion, pitched fantastic last year in the little amount of time he got. Pitched 19 innings.

19 innings and you call him a star. What.....werent like 12 of those against like Tampa or Kansas City, Hahahaha

Kat, I didn't know all of that, I've been on Andy Pettitte overload I know it's the story but me I like hearing and seeing more about the position prospects and pitching prospects. Thanks for clearing that up for me I hope to see and hear about the Tabata's and Jackson, I'll make sure I read the the Montero interview be sure to get Melancon & Sanchez too.

THANKS KAT.

What's wrong with Mets SS Reyes' emotional enthusiasm?

Isn't this how the game was ALWAYS played?

Didn't Mickey Mantle jump up and down like a jumping bean?

Didn't he throw his arms up at the plate and flip the bat when he hit a HR still leaving his team several runs behind? (Like Manny of Boston fame?)

Didn't he pony up his dredlocks and listen to an I-Pod in the outfield? (As a side note, will anyone cut off his head and freeze it like they did with Ted Williams?) Is dancing a crime? Are dredlocks a crime? Is being a showboat a crime. (Bob Gibson and Drysdale would have set that stuff right.)

Didn't the Red Sox of 1945 run around on the mound carrying the Japanese flag?

I hope Reyes continues his antics, they are a great showcase for multiculturalism and diversity!

Let these players be who they are. What difference does it make? They're not hurting anyone else. Yes it's true that they continue to debase this once great game -- yet it's not a crime to act like a retard on the field. He's a 20 odd year old child. Let him be who he is ...

If Reyes sulky or doesn't play hard then trade for David Eckstein. Find really classy, polished players who won't disgrace the team or the game. Find players you want your sons to model after. If not, then just overlook it. We get the society and the game we deserve.

We've seen far worse antics -- just look at Clemens trying to kill Piazza with the ball and then throwing the broken bat at him.

Say Hey,

I will commend you on ONE thing.....that Mussina diaper line had me laughing awhile this morning!

Ant,

Clemens did no such thing. You are misremembering.

I am a big loser and wish I can give it to roger.

Sorry that last post was mine.

My Projected Win Totals -

Pettitte - 15
Wang - 18
Hughes - 14
Kennedy - 10
Mussina - 10
Joba - (Hes not leaving the bullpen)

Thats 67 wins among the 5 starters. You have to consider about 10-15 wins from late inning comebacks and Relief Pitcher wins. Then you also have to consider 10-15 wins from other starting pitchers they throw in the fire due to injuries and just giving them a chance.

That's 87-97 wins on the season and another playoff berth.

But just like the past 7 seasons, we have to get hot in the playoffs if we are to win a world series.

Mac,

I appreciate someone actually going out on a limb and doing some analysis that backs up a prediction. My only problem is that 87-97 wins is such a swing that it covers anything from a first place to third place finish. I think 87 wins would put them behind Boston, Detroit, Cleveland, Anaheim and Seattle. Betond that I dont think the starting pitcher win totals is out of line. I might up the Mussina total and lower the Wang total but ir balances out.

I guess the 10 gameswing comes from the bullpen and emergency starters. I think the emergency starters is where that might breakdown. Assuming as you do that Joba is the 8th inning guy, then you are expecting the likes of Igawa, Pavano, Wright, Ohlendorf and Karstens to get that. Im not so sure thats there.

BTW wouldn't it be a rip if Pavano turned into the big mid season surprise that filled in and ended up like 8-2!

I love how Pavano looks in a uniform

I completely agree with you.

87-97 is certainly no lock for the playoffs.

I do not see Boston being worse then last year even without Schilling. They only have room for improvement with their young players (Pedroia, Ellsbury, Bucholtz). I have a feeling Manny is going to have a big year since hes not guaranteed to have a contract for 2009. Papi's knees seem to be much healthier right now which is very scary.

Detroit has the best lineup in baseball now. It is disgusting to think about. They do have some questions in their starting pitching with Willis and the health of Bonderman being big ones. But they have the potential to be great.

Cleveland is stacked. I think it all comes down to their top two guys, CC and Carmona. If they have monster years again then they will be very hard to beat.

Anahiem made some good moves in getting Garland and Hunter. That makes them very dangerous if Lackey and Escobar have big years again.

Seattle has some great pitchers but I do not think they are contenders with the above 4 teams and the Yanks. Their offense doesn't even compare to these other teams. Screw Seattle. I'am going to hate on seattle all year just like I did last year when people said they would beat out the Yanks for the playoffs. Screw you steve phillips.

Like everyone is saying.....The Yanks will only be as good as their starting pitching. There is no doubt we have the offense to pack them up.

Ant?
Are you cr*pping on Manny and his antics?
Are you referring to the antics that LED the Red Sox to 2 World Series titles in 4 seasons with clutch hit after clutch hit?

And please explain to me the problem with multiculturism.

I do recall the 2005 White Sox, 2006 Cardinals and 2007 Red Sox having players who spoke English, Spanish and Japanese.

Please remind me how those teams did.
I can't quite remember.

Seriously, any trash talk about Manny is jealousy.
Nothing more.
You'd trade Damon, Matsui and Giambi straight up for Manny

Manny is a winner and one of the best free agent signings in history
He is also HYSTERICAL!

Not to mention he looks great in a uniform .

I see Cliffy is still around hoping to get a little more attention by hooking his little red wagon to my Luxury SUV!. Thats OK we all have seen his like come and go and annoy only those he hopes to impress.

Sully,

I think you misunderstood Ant. He was applauding multiculturalism....just not the Red Sox version. But even there I think he was poking fun tongue in check. I may be wrong but I didn't think it was a slap at either.

Cliffy,

Try at least 2 sentences in future imposterations. I rarely post one line comments unless they are funny. Since your never funny the one liners will never work. Work on getting your conversation "stretched out" so you can be more than a failed short man.

TTFN