On the Yankees beat

Thanks for the update. The fact that he got hurt on the bases in the first and returned to the field in the 2nd, made me think it wasn't too bad and was primarily precautionary.

I suppose if Jeter were hurt, A Rod would go to SS. This is why I wanted Eckstein.

Anyway ... I have a question.

Why can't the pitchers throw 300 innings in a season.

Carlton
Seaver
Ryan
Catfish

Why only 200.

You have to add in better nutrition, vitamins, work outs ... so why is productivity down. Other sports, let's say the Olympic High Hurdles and other events the times went down, down, down.

So why did this happen?

You have to add in the pitches before the game and also in between innings ...

Strained Quad, Its best to let it heal. Give it a few days even a week because it will never go away. I know the Baseball has a difficult time getting 162 games into the season but playing baseball in the NE before the middle of April is a crap shoot. Injury lists just grow because of weather related injuries. Shave a game or two from the schedule and plan a couple of double headers. Maybe even expand the roster by one or two players. It can be done to minimize the injuries in early season.

Kudos on a good game (with Jeter exception). Moose ain't quite cooked yet...but the oven is warming up. Larry I believe it was a groin. Not that it matters. I have a better suggestion, eliminate the All Star Break. Do what football does and play it after the season. One week of prime weather time goes back to playing meaningful games.

Ant,

I'll take a stab at it. Its not a matter of ability but of protecting your investments. BACK IN THE OLD DAYS........players weren't treated as assets as much as today. If you have a 10M investment in something you become more cautious with the handling of that investment. If you only have 50K invested, you are less cautious. After teams started paying big bucks for pitchers with multi-year contracts, the thinking changed. The one year contract is a rarity today but was almost universal back then. FA changed everything. Some say for the better, some say for the worse.

So its not because they cant. Rathers its because the management views little upside to the risk of allowing them to do it.

Bring back Sunday doubleheaders.7 per season they could be split separate admission games .Start the season around April 12th in warm weather cities or domed stadiums the 1st week or so games in Boston,Chicago,NY wouldn't be played until the 21st.Of course the players union would balk at it.

The problem is not scheduling. Its the smaller markets screaming that the kids are still in school in those areas where the weather is warmer in April and May. Thus revenue is lost.

As long as revenue could be lost than no schedule change.

I haven't followed the Tigers all that much but their injuries are quite documented. I wonder how many injuries could be related to cold weather.

The fan is not considered. Now, the Twins are building and open air stadium.

On another note Moose seemed to have a game plan that worked and was able to set up his 86 mph fastball. Good for him. Wilson Betemint who I believe could be an excellent first baseman just $ucked last night at the plate. I guess the real plan is dump salary at the end of 2008 and sign Tex.

Hudge: I was refering to Jeter.

Baseball has basically taken kids out of the equation anyway. When was the last time a kid under 12 got to see any part of a playoff or World Series game? The first pitch usually comes at about 8:35 PM and little kids just don't get to see anything but a few pitches maybe.

This is a shame because kids are leaving baseball in droves and I blame part of it on the fact that they don't get to see the game, get attached to teams and players or learn the history of it unless their parents try to make it happen for them. I record a lot of games so my son can see them but it's not the same as a live game.

Baseball has ignored the kids so they can suck the milk out of the corporate cash cow and sell skyboxes and suites. This is partly why you see all those jackasses in the suites on their cellphones, they have not grown up watching baseball games so they just go to say they went, but they don't really care about the game.

It's too bad really, because baseball should realize that when they hook a kid while they are young, they will be a fan for life.

No doubt Tex would be a huge signing.

But do the Yanks resign Bobby if he ends up having a big year? He is really going to be hard to replace. He does not cause any problems in the club house and he is capable of taking pitchers deep into a count every time.

If we can resign him for anything less than 4 years, or maybe 3 years with an option....i think we have to pull the trigger.

Damon and Matsui are most likely going to be gone after the 09 season if not sooner.

No telling what we are going to get out of Jackson, Tabata or even Gardner yet.

Moose benefitted from a free swinging Rays team and a big strike zone. I hate to spoil the party, but Moose will have a handful of those starts this year, and that's it. Teams like Cleveland, Boston, Detroit (I know they are slumping now) will take him apart.

I always thought scheduling double headers was the way to go. I'd also expand the rosters by one or two so the teams would have more depth. But those of you that posted that baseball only cares about $$ are absolutely correct. Otherwise, we wouldn't be playing our first two games of the year in Japan.

McCarthy,
I agree on Abreu, he has a good eye, gets on base and is a decent outfielder. With the uncertain futures of the OF, I'd like to see him stick around for a short while, maybe 2-3 years.

MZ,
With Moose, we'll take what we can get, when we get it.

Jim A.

We really need a true center fielder. Melky is more built for a corner outfield position.

Damon does not have the speed he once had and I am able to throw a baseball further then him.

Matsui makes a great 4th outfielder/DH....hes going to hit over 100 RBI's again this year if he stays healthy.

Hopefully out of Garnder/Jackson/Tabata one of them develops into a above average center fielder with a solid bat. Gardner has the speed but needs to work on his arm. Tabata and Jackson did not show us much of anything this spring.

Jim A.,

I'm not so sure about the argument that kids don't watch because the games are too late. Kids now stay up very late -- at ten o'clock, when a NYY game is scheduled to end, many of the children of affluent Boomers are barely winding down. And weekend games are played in the afternoon.

But these children are way too overscheduled to spend three hours watching any game, whatever day or time. They go to gym classes, art classes, skiing classes, tennis classes, music classes, golf classes. They have regular academic tutoring sessions if they need them. The family goes rockclimbing, bowling, kayaking, and scuba diving as well as skiing and golfing, traveling to do these things with their children just as you traveled to Florida with your son to take in Spring Training.

Granted this is just one group of America's children.

But where is the group of kids that both has three hours a day to spare for months at a time, and wants to spend it sitting down watching someone else play?

I wouldn't re-sign Abreu to a multi-year contract whether he has a big season or not.

I'd rather see this team sign a stop-gap for one season until one of the kids like Jackson or Tabata is ready to play everyday. We'll know a lot more how close they are to the majors by season's end.

Take advantage of Abreu's contract year and reap the benefits if he has a great season. Signing him to a multi-year deal doesn't make sense because he just replaces some of the dead weight that has consumed this team in recent years.

He would be blocking the progress of the kid(s) and this team needs to continue the youth movement.

Good to see Viper back after myself, Delancy, Nudge and Rick Keyes all took the piss out of him ... no hard feelings ...

No problem with Abreu leaving.

He is not half the player he was in Philly.

Afraid of the wall for one thing, that's like a QB who is afraid to take a hit.

Trade for Josh Hamilton.

We need to move away from the Caribbean-East Asian Axis at all costs and go for the BEST TALENT

IE ... Josh has the BEST BAT SPEED and BEST ARMY in the Game.

Period.

Wake up Yankee Fans!

Wake up Cashman!

Americans loved Duke with Hurley, Lattener, Calabria and Grant.

Find the best people with the best talent. Find role models. No more Clemens, Farns and McNamee ... kick em out the door!

I have a feeling Cashman is on the way out anyway. This year obviously will NOT bring a World Series for the highest payroll ... for the 8th STRAIGHT year.

See ya, bro!

Uh, not exactly. I'm not going to leave because a few cranky old men didn't take their medication.

Nice to see that you and Nudge like to play Delancy though. I guess you have to invent friends in this forum.

It's nice to know I still get under your skin so much that invented friends have to come to defend you.

Ya, Viper i have no problem going either way with Bobby.

It will be great saying goodbye to Farnsworth, Pavano, Giambi, and Mussina.

That is a lot of freed up money.

Abreu is what, 32-33 - I think it depends entirely on what he's looking for. If he's content to take a 2-3 year contract at about the same money he's making now, I could see the Yankees doing it. If he wants a deal that will take him until he's 40 then I think the Yankees will take the draft picks.

Also a lot of it is going to depend on what the Yankees see this year from Austin Jackson and Jose Tabata.

I think it was Nudge yesterday who asked why a team would be interested in trading for Farnsworth - consider this nugget from Buster Olney's blog:

"Armando Benitez has a deal with the Jays that allows him to walk away if he's not in the big leagues sometime by the middle of May, but with bullpen help at such a premium -- the Tigers, for instance, would love to have someone like Benitez right now -- there is seemingly no way that Toronto will let Benitez walk if it sees good things in the veteran right-hander."

My point is, if Armando Benitez is an attractive option - Kyle Farnsworth is as well.

Ant Colony

It's great to see you have the faith in the Yanks this year to go all the way.

The fact is, no one knows for sure if they will or won't be able to win a World Series this year. But I definitely feel like they have a shot at it.

Wang, Pettitte and Hughes all have the ability to shutdown teams in the playoffs. Joba and Mo as well.

If the Giants can win the super bowl anything is possible.

Chip,

If the Yanks sign Abreu to a 2-3 year deal, they clearly haven't learned anything from the Damon/Matsui contracts.

That's not to say Damon or Matsui are bad players, but this team has supposedly put an emphasis on rebuilding from within and signing Abreu to a multi-year deal is the opposite of that this team should be doing.

Also, if Abreu does have a great season, the odds are good that he'll want more than a 2 year deal.

Obviously, a lot of the decision-making depends on the prognosis of Jackson and Tabata, but we'll know a lot more about that by November.

I agree with Viper to some extent. It depends on what the kids do this year in the minors, but I agree with Chip - Abreu has plenty left. He might be doable for a 2 year contract AT MOST. He looks to be in shape, focused, and happy to be a Yankee. Abreu could challenge for the batting title this year, hitting in front of ARod.
As for Ant-hole: I am sick and tired of "non-athletic" types suggesting the Yankees take on all the ex-druggies and somehow rehabilitate them. Yanks have already did the compassion thing with Howe (rest his soul), Strawberry, Gooden, etc. Time for a change to youth and NATURAL ability, without the baggage. After this year, Giambi should go too, despite his popularity.

Mess up your own team and keep our Yankees outta that mess.

McCarthy-
I'd be worried moreso about the rainy weather in KC today than what the douche Ant Colony has to say about a team he knows nothing about.

Tabata is at least two years away from being of any help to the Yankees and AJax might be that far as well. Besides getting off to a bad start, but rebounding nicely, Abreu has been a very good player for the Yankees. I certainly agree that he should not be retained for any longer than two years, but to me that amount of time is a stop gap until the other outfielders are ready.

Diane: I'm talking about young kids under 12 on school nights. If they are staying up past 10 PM then their parents need to be spoken to about that. I also mentioned the playoffs and World Series and when was the last time you saw a day game in the Series? When was the last time a WS game ended before midnight even?

Jim A.,

Not making it up. They stay up late to be their late-arriving parents' playmates. In my experience there are very few adults to be 'spoken to' about young children but huge numbers of people who don't want to grow up or be what you may mean by 'parents'. They want to be playmates to their offspring and that means their offspring have to be awake when they are available. I personally know people who take their youngsters (four and up) bowling at 9 o'clock at night, and I mean highly educated, very well-off, upper-level-position, family-oriented people who work in the City, commute to the nicer suburbs, and want family fun to be available when they get home.

And the WS is one week out of the season, a week in which most fans do not have a dog in the fight.

What keeps kids from growing up interested in baseball is that most of them don't PLAY it any more, in the neighborhood, at school, after school, on long lazy summer afternoons when there's nothing to do.

I was lucky enough to grow up in a situation where childhood leisure and freedom were possible. As I result I had plenty of time and leeway to learn to enjoy time-consuming stuff like baseball and reading.

Anyway enough of that, back to the team!

But don't say no one told you what it's like out there ...

Jim,

You're right, Tabata and Jackson are probably two years away - which means they'll spend this season and 2009 in the minor leagues.

Hence, the reason the Yanks need a one year stop-gap for 2009 while getting the kids ready for 2010.