On the Yankees beat

I'd pick Rasner and Hughes to be the winningest combo, I know it's not on the buffet, but that's what I think.

Giambi: Prediction: .258

Wang: Yes!

Mariano: Yes, he'll give up three of them. :)

Question 1 - The answer is Rasner and Kennedy lol. Igawa is a bust and wont be here for more than 1 start as far as I am concerned even in AAA his numbers were not great

Question 2 - Giambi will be right at 250 but I believe his power and RBI numbers will be just fine

Question 3 - Absolutely no doubt

Question 4 - He will he always has that 1 or 2 blown save outings and everyone wonders if he is done. If he doesnt I predict this is the year he finally gets the Cy Young he deserves

Pitchers: I'd agree with Jim A. except that Hughes may be out for a long time given how long he took to recover completely from his last injury, so I'll stick my neck out and say Rasner and Kennedy. I know, this is based on the assumption that Kennedy can take his demotion in the right way, accept that he has to change his so-far gutless approach, work hard on learning to go after hitters aggressively, and make it back up in short order. Fingers crossed.

Giambi: no idea.

Wang: yes.

The great Mariano Rivera: I think Gayle has this one exactly right.

I agree w/ Diane's evaluation

Giambi gets released

Wang 18-22

River gives up his usual 15-20

Maybe we can get a pool going on who can and will sustain his next injury Hughes or the A's Rick Harden ?

I'm also going with Rasner/Hughes as the duo to win the most games.

Ruse - don't think the Yankees will release Giambi with Alex and Posada both hurt. He may not be hitting for much average but he's getting on base and is second on the team in home runs.

Wang will get over 20 wins (I'm really looking forward to Wednesday's game between Wang and Cliff Lee)

At some point Mo will have to give up a run - hopefully it will be a game where he comes in to get work during a blowout for the Yankees.

I'm really impressed with the way Melky is living up to the promise that Billy Masse (his AA manager) saw in him in 2005. Sometimes it doesn't happen overnight - but that doesn't mean that a prospect is a bust.

I'm not at all expecting much from Igawa (or Rasner long term) but Suzyn Waldman made an interesting point on the radio yesterday - there are veterans in the minors who have out clauses if they are offered a big league deal - one such pitcher is Bartolo Colon. Flubber has been pretty impressive for Boston in spot duty - maybe he would be a better alternative than Igawa until Hughes is healthy or Kennedy rebounds.

Point is, some writers and radio hosts are calling for the Yankees to make a trade for a Roy Oswalt (or even Bronson Arroyo) but the fact is, no one is trading a starter in early May and the price for serviceable starters on the trade market is always outstandingly high - the key is to get a pitcher where all the team has to give up is money - so a Colon, Freddy Garcia, Russ Ortiz type - would be the way to go in my opinion.

CHIP

Dah! I realize Posada and ARod are DLed .I've suggested over and over again he will be released sometime after Posada comes back.Giambi is 1 for his last 21 he continually gets up in RBI situations and fails.OBP means nothing if you're up in RBI sits and not producing.

Waldman's suggestion is an idiotic one .Scour the minors for these pitchers they simply don't exist.
You keep harping on Garcia yet no team has signed him ,I wonder why?
Just about every MLB team needs starters if he were so in demand don't you think he'd have landed a deal by now?
Don't even bring Russ Ortiz into the discussion !

Bartolo Colon has been disabled since the start of the season .He made 1 start for Pawtucket then was shut down."pretty impressive for Boston in spot duty"??? I must live in a parallel universe???

Ruse:

Took your advice, scoured the minors and while they certainly aren't saviors - here are some veterans:
Tomo Okha
Josh Towers
Victor Zambrano
Jason Johnson
John Wasdin
Tony Armas

actually the guy I would target is Anthony Reyes of the Cards who was just sent back down. He's 26 and has the ability to be a very good starter, it just hasn't clicked for him in St. Louis. He has shown flashes and probably wouldn't be all that hard to pick up via trade.

Something to keep in mind for those who want to bury Kennedy and Hughes - Roy Halladay came up as a highly regarded prospect and had to be sent back to A ball before becoming the pitcher he is now.

By the way, in case anyone missed it - it seems like the pressure of being a top prospect may have gotten to Jose Tabata a little bit:

Jose Tabata batted sixth and played right field against Portland last night, one day after the Thunder prospect finished serving a three-game suspension for storming out of the clubhouse and going home moments after striking out in the seventh inning of Saturday’s 7-4 loss to New Britain. Despondent over a horrendous slump that has dropped his batting average to a season-low .188, the 19-year-old Tabata was reinstated by the Yankees prior to going 0-for-3 in Thursday’s 5-4 setback to Connecticut at Dodd Stadium.

“The expectations of who I am supposed to be and what I am supposed to do finally got to me,” Tabata said through assistant coach and translator, Julius Matos. “I made an irrational decision. Maybe it was immaturity, inexperience or just that I didn’t know how to handle what was happening. I just kept thinking I am not producing the way I should be and maybe I didn’t belong here.”

“I just felt like I had to go,” Tabata said in an exclusive interview with The Times yesterday. “It was a rash decision, but after talking to my wife, she asked me if this was really what I wanted to do and if leaving (the team) was the right decision to make. I thought about it a little and realized I am not a quitter. I was either going to face the consequences, learn from this and grow, or I was going to run away. So, here I am.”

Tabata admitted he contemplated going so far as to ask the Yankees for his release, a request that most assuredly would have been denied.

Chip

I hate to break the news I'd rather see Ohlendorf or Steve White or even Igawa starting for NY then any of those retreads.

ruse,

wouldn't argue against you on that one. Who knows, maybe Igawa shows us something....

btw, I just put this on the other thread - we were talking about Melhuse and we had the right idea but the wrong name - Yankees signed JD Closser to a minor league deal and assigned him to Scranton

Hughes and Kennedy will get it together and get 24 wins between the two of them. Not spectacular, but servicable and a stepping stone to a 30+ win season in 2009. Igawa and Rassner won't get 12 wins between the two of them.

Giambi will step it up, but still have a terrible year. I predict .23 BA, but his OBP will be closer to .310.

Wang will have 20 wins by late-August.

As far as Mariano goes, of course he will give up some runs, but he will continue to dominate. As much as I love Mariano - I don't see a Cy Young in his future.

Rasner will stay on and Kennedy will get more wins than Hughes, thus I like the Rasner-Kennedy tandem, even though that is not an option, LOL!

I am concerned about Hughes not wearing contacts or getting Lasik??? Seems to have worked for Maddux.

Giambi will end up around 260 but with Jorge down and A-Rod out, I don't see the Yanks releasing him....Melky will have more HRs than him!

Wang will end up with 23 wins.

Rivera will give up a run and probably blow a couple of saves but his overall saves will probably be around 45 to 50, he is still the Sandman!!!

PapleBUM will NEVER be in his league or even fit to tie his shoes....

Let's Go Yankeesssssssssss