FYI for everyone, the reason that Joe Girardi put in a pinch runner for Jose Molina is that Molina had hurt his left hamstring earlier in the game. Much earlier, in the fourth inning, but Molina "sucked it up" and stayed in the game, given Posada's status with a right shoulder strain. Girardi said he didn't think of using Morgan Ensberg there because it wouldn't be fair as he hasn't caught in like 15 years. But wow, you've got to have a backup catcher who's capable of playing on the roster.
Expect Chad Moeller to join them in Tampa tomorrow. Not sure what the corresponding move will be to add him to the 40-man roster. Molina doesn't think he'll have to go on the DL, but who knows. And Posada plans to try to throw tomorrow, but does not expect to be able to catch just yet. Soon, he hopes, but not the first game in Tampa.
Comments (21)
Well, that sucks.
I have an idea for the corresponding move - DFA Farnsworth.
It won't happen, but I hope Girardi sees the light soon and realizes that Farnsworth cannot be fixed.
It's better to abort this project and move on. Bring up someone later who actually has a chance to get hitters out.
Responding to Mike P's question about the Red Sox running on Posada...
How is that cut throat?
It's called baseball.
The Red Sox had only a 2 run lead with A-Rod, Matsui, Giambi and Posada coming up the next inning.
They also didn't have Papelbon nor Okajima available, so they would be going with their 3rd best option out of the pen.
They needed to score an insurance run.
Girardi put Posada out there knowing that the fastest runners on the Sox were coming up.
Should Girardi have come over to the Red Sox bench and say "Hey guys... my catcher can't really throw, so give us a break, OK? Oh and while you are at it, swing at Farnsworth's breaking ball... he needs a confidence boost"?
Sully,
I would have done the same thing. I don't blame the Red Sox for that. And it's tough for me not to blame the Red Sox for something.
I ripped Girardi for taking Molina out in the first place but he's off the hook now since Molina was hurt.
This sucks but it's not time to panic. They will weather this storm.
Play .500 ball in April and they'll be in good shape the rest of the season.
I wonder if AG is going to get sent down now because of the Molina injury. Jeter is supposed to be back in the lineup tomorrow or Tuesday anyways, so they might decide that's the best short term move.
Tomorrow should be interesting.
Now that I think about it, Wilson Betemit could be the odd man out.
Let's face it, the team doesn't really need him anyways and he ain't really pulling his own weight.
A few random things ...
Johnny Damon said. "Fortunately, it's early and we can recover."
I don't think they can recover with this very flawed team. They'll do better, but we don't have the right players. We waste about one third of the roster space.
Maybe Hughes was a bit nervous to pitch at Fenway ...
Anyway, not a very good start for the season. I really didn't know what to expect.
I do expect a major house cleaning by the trade deadline or in the offseason. The work Cashman did not do over the past six months ...
As an aside, Rick Ankiel has FOUR home runs already and will hit between 30 - 40 this year.
Why can't the Yankees get players like that? Nice, clean cut, All American, good looking, great character ...
And his father is in prison, so he can fit in with Leyritz and Mel Hall, McNamee (recall his gal pals ER trip) ...
Speaking of Leyritz, having him around to catch, play LF and 1B was a great luxury.
Molina's injury did not help things and it is strange to have a catcher who can't throw. (For 200 million in salaries you would expect more ...)
Why is Cashman still running this team?
It's frustrating. I am sure the fans paying all that money must be frustrated too ... I can't put my finger on what's wrong. But something has been wrong for a few years now ...
What's wrong is the character guys are missing...
Tino, Brosius, O'neill (most of all), Mariano Duncan, Boggs, Mendoza, Stanton, Nelson, Girardi... etc.
Players that new their roles, performed within their ability, didn't overswing at every pitch the saw and when called upon in relief they threw strikes.
And held every other player accountable for their performance.
DOC
It's funny that whenever a team wins all the role players or vets are "character guys" but when the team loses, the roster is full of a bunch of heartless, gutless stat hounds who can't play their way out of a paper bag.
I never really heard anyone refer to Boggs as a "character guy" before. I mean, he was quite a character what with the chicken and whores, but I'm not sure he was exactly a well respected presence on his clubs. Mr. Character sold his HOF plaque to the then Devil Rays for a million or so until the deal was rejected by MLB.
As I see it right now this team only has one major personality problem and it is Farnsworth. This dude needs to be shipped out so they can bring up someone who actually wants to compete like Patterson.
Transition year, transition year......I keep repeating this to myself but it's not helping.
Joba is not with the team today - he left to be with his dad who is in critical condition.
Looking at the Yankees' 40 man roster I get the feeling that the move to open a spot for Moeller (assuming he's called up):
Place either Sean Henn or Francisco Cervelli on 60-day DL. Henn is out of options and the Yankees don't want to lose him but also don't want to use him. He's on the DL right now, moving him to the 60 wouldn't be shocking. Cervelli, we know about his injuries, they would probably take 60 days (if he were put on retroactively) to recover.
I just think a move like that is far more likely than DFAing Farnsworth at this point of the season.
Again, I will point out - that in my opinion, everyone should take a step back from the edge. Did Hughes stink last night? ABSOLUTELY - but he's not the first, or last pitcher to struggle against Boston. He's not the first or last highly touted rookie to be inconsistant. I used these names last night on the other string:
Alex Gordon
Dice-K
Brandon McCarthy
Dustin Pedroia
all highly regarded rookies last year, all had uneven seasons
This season Adam Jones - the position player version of Hughes - is off to a bad start. Jarrod Saltalamaccia was sent back to Triple A to open the season. I suggested early on in the season that we not get too high or too low on Hughes early on - he's a young player and inconsistancy goes with the territory.
Michaelz: Robbie Cano batted in the 2 spot over 260 times in his career with a .280 average. He's struggling right now, he struggled early last year too. We might just be looking at a kid who doesn't get out of the gate hot - Bernie was the same way.
Ant,
You are hopefully being sarcastic when you call Rick Ankiel a nice, clean cut guy right?
Doc,
Character guys: Jeter, Posada, Rivera, Mussina, you can even argue Andy and Alex. Girardi was the ultimate character guy on those Yankee teams in the 90s,
As for Boggs - more like he was a character than a character guy. And Mariano Duncan was such a distraction in 97 after he was removed from the lineup that the team shipped him out to Toronto for nothing despite him winning the batting title the year before.
I have accepted that Hughes will be a drag on the team as often as he is an asset, at least until he develops two things:
a) some control over his fastball, and
b) a reliable, MLB-ready third pitch.
I am resigned to this. The 'disappointment' phase is over.
At present it's one good game to two awful ones, and an ERA of 9.0. My hopes are rational: now let's try for a ratio of one good game to one not-so-good game.
As for Farnsworth, no disappointment there -- he's living up to every expectation we could reasonably have had of him. He's been around the block a few times and shown us what he has, and this is what he has. Our bad if he's still on the team -- not his.
Girardi has not looked comfortable as NYY manager, and I was surprised that it took this long for a columnist to write about that. He's made several very debatable decisions, but that's no surprise. He's very, very young as a manager and deserves at least as much leeway as a rookie pitcher. But I thought he'd be more confident and happy in the role. Much of the time he looks absolutely hunted out there. I'm looking around and wondering who he has to turn to on his coaching staff to help him stay on an even keel in the tough times -- like JT had Zimmer at first. Where is JG's Zimmer? He's going to need one.
I worry about Hughes' arm with that big curve ball of his. He reminds me of Gregg Olson, who used to pitch for the Orioles and Braves if I remember correctly. The guy had a knee buckling curve but hurt his elbow and was never the same.
Honestly, from what I've seen so far, and Chip I don't need a long winded response from you telling me why I'm wrong because frankly, you're as much of a baseball expert as I am except I've been watching and following the sport for probably 12 years longer than you and I suspect Hughes will never be anything more than an average major league pitcher. Too many myths about this guy for me (95 MPH heater, third pitch etc.).
Jim,
No long winded response - just a couple of points:
1. He's 21, second youngest player in the majors, lots of development ahead of him.
2. Lots of great pitchers use (or used) only two pitches: Clemens - fastball/split, Santana - fastball/change, Andy - cutter/curve, Pedro - fastball/change. These guys would mix in a third pitch every once-in-a-while but their bread and butter were two pitches. I'm sure Hughes is working on a change or adding some sink to his fastball. But like I've said, everyone is entitled to their own opinion.
Well, I don't agree with Jim on Hughes, but I do agree with him wholeheartedly on the issue of "character".
Character is like chemistry.
Winning = Character
Winning = Chemistry
People never talk about how good team chemistry is or how great the team's character is when they are struggling. It only happens when they win.
That's why I've always thought it was a rather unimaginative criticism when a team isn't playing well.
Chip, I'm not buying what you're selling on Cano. Modern day managers don't understand that there is a bit of science when it comes to picking your batting order and it's real simple: 1) put your best hitters at the top of the lineup (your best guy should bat third); 2) string them all together. You bat them at the top because when the lineup turns over, they'll get one more at bat. You put your best hitters together because it gives you your best shot of stringing hits/walks together and scoring runs. Even under the "conventional" thinking, you put a guy second who can work the count and help your lead-off hitter steal a base. That will NEVER be Cano. All of this ignores the fact that he's presently in a dreadful slump. He killed us last night, and I was screaming this at the tv as soon as I saw the lineup. Cano shouldn't bat second, period.
Anyone else notice that Hughes breaking ball is not as sharp as it was when he first came up? I also remember the kid throwing 95 regularly. For whatever reason (fear of re-injury, changed mechanics, etc.) the kid doesn't have the same stuff he did when he first came up. This is what concerns me....
CHIP
Sean Henn is pitching for the Tampa Yanks no way he ends up on a 60-day DL.
Cano seems not to be a cold weather player and whether he should bat 2nd or 7th is not an argument.Be patient.At this time last yr just about everyone was willing to trade him (ludicrous) .He's a tremendous offensive player and a somewhat underrated infielder.Chill.
speaking of pitching doesn't Ohlendorf continue to impress ? I wouldn't be a bit surprised to see him starting before the yrs out.He shows poise and makes pitches.Great fastball.
If Hughes ends up needing more seasoning in the minors the Yanks should consider Ohlendorf.
Ohlendorf won't be starting for the Yanks.
He was converted to a reliever last June and has taken his game up a notch ever since.
I think he may become the 8th inning setup guy when Joba moves to the rotation.
Viper can I quote you on that ?
My point with character guys is simply: making other people accountable when there are mistakes, or failure to execute.
Seeing Paul O'neill strike out in the 9th inning of a blowout Yankee win and not be pleased with his effort, maybe even knock over a water cooler or two... made other players take notice of the fact that failure to execute was unacceptable.
YOU are correct in stating that:
Winning = Character
Winning = Chemistry
But before you get to the winning, there is an atmosphere of "losing" and poor effort, poor execution of minute details and attitude, that is going to be unacceptable. That is what I was implying by character.
As far as Mariano Duncan is concerned.... I seem to remember that he was widely given credit for an attitude change in the clubhouse... that started with a simple gesture.... a T-shirt that he gave everyone during spring training that said:
"Play today, win today"
Whatever problems he had following that season regarding playing time, contract or clubhouse issues is forgotton and not a part of this argument.
Boggs is also widely discussed as a guy "with the Yankees" as having had a very "PROFESSIONAL" approach at the plate that taught the YANKEES players how to work the pitchers, drive up pitch counts, be patient etc. Between him, Mattingly and O'neill... they were the basis of that attitude and character.
DOC
Excellent point DOC.
These people on here seem to forget.
when Boggs came here his tude changed HE ADJUSTED. so in fact he was liked and linked to CHEMISTRY on the team.
as for Cano he does not have the luxary Bernie had when he ealry on struggled and that is consistant hitting around him. bernie would get a walk and steal and bunt so he did lil things that kept his pulse going so please do not compare the two.
Cano is an OK hitter a good hitter or great hitter is one that can hit on a steady basis . The begining of last season was a disaster and promptly cost Torre his job so to give a pass for the mess being played now would be phony and eventhough I championed for joe G when your wrong your wrong.
Cano is an all-star 2nd baseman in his 4th season.A silver slugger and a decent defensive second baseman.It took Bernie Williams until his 5th season when he was 27 yrs to finally develop into the player we remember so well.
Last season did not cost Torre his job.It was an accummulation of things since 2003 that cost Torre his job.