On the Yankees beat

The game isn't on YES today.

Is the game on anything other than MLB TV? I want to watch Hughes pitch!

scouting on hughes:
(through 3 innings)

great sink on his fastball (maybe a camera abgle thing?), excellent location, froze morneau on a called strike three right on the inside corner (and that dude is no chump).

couldn't throw the curve for strike but kept them honest.

but the most important thing was his demeanor. i felt last year that out of the 3 studs, he was the most easiest to throw off his game and get distraught. today he was BAD... no pacing around, wiping his forehead, just quick execution.

a pleasure to watch.

and now igawa is on. the complete negative.

igawa scouting report:

i physically hate this guy, not because he is incompetent, not because he robbed the yanks & cashman, but because he is a coward.

if you come to ny, you don't have to be the best or the brightest, but you better goddam compete! my two favorite knicks of the 90's were starks and mason, both lacking on talent but the biggest heart on the floor.

igawa is a chicken. he is afraid to throw strikes, everything about him says "i don't wanna be here", he disgusts me. if he breaks camp with the team you bet it's a head office directive due to his contract.

no way, NO WAY, is he a major leaguer.

Okay so here's a link for a slow Sunday afternoon: a story from Esquire Magazine called "The Death of Derek Jeter".

http://www.esquire.com/fiction/ESQ1106FICTION_102

It's not new, been out there for a year and a half, but I just caught up with it, and thought maybe those who haven't seen it will enjoy this curious FICTIONALIZED account written in the assumed voice and supposedly from the viewpoint of Derek Jeter.

Hughes threw over 70 innings. Kennedy had two or three starts. And Joba only had to pitch one or two innings at a time. Anyway, I just think it's unfair to say he was the easiest to throw off his game -- because we have nothing to really compare that. And, all things considered, Phil's demeanor has been impeccable -- he never get too up or too down. As Joba said, "He could give up a three-run home run or strike out 40 and you wouldn't know the difference."

Also Hughes was on last year in the playoffs. I really think he is going to be our number 1 guy this year

Gil,
Don't hold back on us now, how do you really feel about Igawa?

I call him Ughawa and I feel the same way about him that you do.

Rieber- Thanks for the updates...I'm disappointed the game wasn't on YES.
I'm heading to Tampa next Thursday to attend games at "The Stein" on Friday, Saturday and Sunday w/ my 7 year old son.
Does anyone who's been there have any advice on where to go to get autographs, good restaurants etc.? I appreciate any tips as this is my first trip to Spring Training.

well, i was actually paying hughes a compliment, no need to jump all over me... i am really impressed with him thus far, i think being deemed by the yanks basically worthier than santana (in as much as they were'nt willing to give him up) has done wonders for his confidence.

jim a. - have fun at spring training! who would you want to pitch on game day when you're there?

Gil,
Anyone but Ughawa! You might see me getting hauled off the field in handcuffs! I saw Hughes pitch in Cleveland last summer and since he's pitching today and probably Thursday I guess I'll miss him but I'll be happy to get a look at Kennedy and Pettitte.

Jim A.,

I hope you and your son have a great time sharing a first!

As for pitching, I hope you guys get to see whoever is pitching well -- in my experience that always makes for a good family baseball day... ;-)

Last point on the take out play from yesterday's game:

Joe Maddon has said that he believes it is important to play the game on March 8 the same way he would on June 8 and that there is no such thing as unwritten rules...along those lines. Now I said earlier I can understand the manager wanting to get the team to play hard, but I'm curious if his attitude will cause more problems for his team. He seems to be shrugging this off and there are scouts who believe that the plays and his response to them will end up coming back to bite him and his team.

What happens if later on in the spring the Yankees are playing the Rays again - a Yankee prospect knows what has gone on, maybe he's tight with Cervelli from their time in the minors - he's on the bump, Carl Crawford is at the plate, and the pitcher decides to defend his teammate with a tight pitch that breaks Crawford's wrist. Will Maddon chalk it up to "part of the game" when it is his player who is on the shelf for 8-10 weeks?

I have no problem with the play. It was unfortunate that Cervelli broke his wrist, but these are both young kids fighting for spots. Neither player will have any part in the teams 08 records. I see nothing wrong with it. Look at it from the other side, if it was Brett Gardner running into the Ray's 3rd/4th string C and breaking his wrist, we would all have loved it.

Hughes looking sharp early on, he's gotta keep working on that changeup and curve, but so far his control is excellent....the rest should follow in the next few weeks.

Thanks Diane, I'm sure we'll have a blast. I'll let everyone know how it goes for sure when we get back.

Have a safe trip Jim A.!

I guess Girardi wants to set the pace for his team differently than everyone else. We should play hard but everyone else should throttle it back. It reeks plain and simple. A team that hasn't won more than 70 games ever finally shows some competitive fire and the Yankees dont like it. Tough, get over it and if you need to prove something by retaliating then just do it. But then don't think its over.....and who has more to lose in that battle. Looks like Girardi's lessons on self control didn't take very well if this is getting him exercised.

On the positive side it appears that the first meaningful outing was a success for Hughes. Now that these guys are working to the 4th and 5th I can start taking the results a bit more seriously than to date......but still not TOO seriously.

Nudge..Im with you buddy. I think there is a little Yankee Hypocrisy going on here. Again, if Austin Jackson, Brett Gardner or some other up and coming kid that has no chance of making the opening day roster, would have ran over the Ray's 4th string C and broke his wrist...we would be hearing from Yankee fans and Girardi about "thats how we want to play the game". It is a non-issue in my mind and no need for retaliation. The only retaliation that is needed is beating the Rays every time we play. To now throw up and in on one of their starters because a kid had Petey Hustle aspirations...now that would be bush. Going all out in between the lines....its called baseball folks. Spring training or not, I would have done the same thing if I was him. Its not like a pitcher throwing at a batters head here, it was a legit play at the plate. What if the kid pulls up and tears his achilles heal? You cant predict these things in sports, they happen. Lets stop playing the role of the battered wife here, it was a legal play, time to move on.

It was good to see a catcher in this organization actually effectively block the plate too. Jorge is the master of the Ole' swipe tag. Also its not like Cervelli was a top prospect and would be targeted by the other team. Although he did have that powerful .333 average going into the game........1 for 3.......see you jinxed him.

Also interesting was that Carl Crawford collided with the Astros C the other day and broke up the play and no one in the Astros org complained. If I am a Rays fan I'm thinking the manager has got these guys starting to think like winners for a change. I think Joe needs to drop it and move forward. Like I said there is emminently more downside for the Yanks to prolong this than there is upside.

What happened to Kat?? Why is she not posting and Rieber doing all the posying?

Kat went home for a long weekend.

Dru,
I'm not leaving 'til Friday but I appreciate the thought. I'm pretty excited to get a first hand look at some of the younger guys.

I think we all know where the first pitch is going when the Yanks play the Rays soon. I am wondering if this nonsense will spill over into the regular season and we'll have a situation like we did a few years ago when the Red Sox and Rays played beanball and rugby all the time.
I agree w/ Dru and Nudge and I said so earlier that the Yanks really don't have a beef here, it's just hard nosed baseball.

Nudge et al,

In fairness Girardi isn't the only manager to play the Rays who questioned what Maddon is doing. Cecil Cooper made similar comments when Carl Crawford ran through the Astros' catcher. Also, according to Buster Olney's blog this morning scouts who were watching both the Rays and Yankees yesterday opined that Maddon's style is going to get some of his key players plunked.

Like I said, I agree with playing hard, and I believe that creating an attidude around the team where they take every pitch of every game as if it is the World Series is justified. My ONLY question is whether or not Maddon will have such a relaxed attitude about it if one of his players gets plunked or if a hard (CLEAN) slide takes out his short stop for the first month of the season. I also wonder how his players will react if one of them is on the receiving end of a purpose pitch from a Yankee or Astro pitcher in retaliation for the collisions at the plate.

Gil L & Jim A

I only have one thing to say about Igawa and I've been saying it since day one - the $$$ should have been spent on Ted Lilly!!!!!!!!!!!!!! At least he has GUTS and competes. Ahhhh, not I feel much better...

Chip

I think that's exactly what Maddon wants. He knows his team will then retaliate and a new fighting intensity will sweep over the team. It's his way of lighting a fire in TB, ala Billy Martin. And, being perennial cellar dwellers, I think it's a good move on his part. They have some good young talent now, but they need to set a new tone in TB.

To Maddon - " would you like to talk to Girardi about it ? "

( The 'hard nosed' play )

"Honestly, I really haven't even thought about that -- if he would like," Maddon said. "I like the guy. I like Joe. I've always liked Joe. If he'd like to have a conversation, I like to talk about politics. I can talk about global warming. I'm good with a lot of different topics on a daily basis. I like iTunes. I've downloaded some things off iTunes. I like different restaurants. I like red wine. I have a lot of different areas I can go conversationally."

Rick,

Igawa isn't going to be in the rotation anyway - so it doesn't likely matter. Difference between him and Lilly at this point is that Igawa can be stashed in the minors, Lilly would have to take the spot away from either Hughes or Kennedy - all things being equal - I'll take Igawa in the minors over Lilly in the rotation.

As for Tampa Bay - that might be Maddon's strategy but I wonder how his players are going to feel when they are the ones being targeted for retribution. These aren't the same players Billy Martin had - these are guys with millions on the line. I don't think he's going to get the same fire - more likely he'll get a "why are you trying to get us thrown at?"

Jim A: Kat had posted some Spring Training tips a while back as I had asked a similar question. I can't seem to find what she posted, but I'm sure she'll give you the info you need over the next couple of days once she returns to the blog.

DRU: You can't compare the Rays player to Garnder or AJAX. Both of those guys have a shot of being on the team sometime this year, that Rays 2b does not unless he COMPLETELY turns around from last year.

I support hard play like I said earlier, but I wonder how hard they play in an intrasquad game?