On the Yankees beat

No glamor, no hype, but Razz did what he was asked to do, while showing composure after his one mistake, challenging hitters, and keeping the team in the game.

He earned another start.

A nice day indeed. Perhaps Rasner will pitch well and hold the line until Kennedy or Hughes are ready to return. Of course the ominous news is that Igawa might be returning to the Yanks but hopefully that is for a short time only.

Yanks win, Rangers lose. A very, very good day.

Hopefully Igawa will do better and justify the US$ 40 million + investment in him.

And the Grand Slam vs. the Tampa College teenagers.

In his culture, saving face is important.

For Cashman and many of the Yankees (on and off the field) they lost face long, long ago, and it will never be reclaimed.

The lights are out but no one knows it's dark.

Jim A: I have to disagree with you (especially since you made a comment about the Rangers), but I'm hoping that Igawa stays with the team for the remainder of the season, because if that holds true, it will mean he's pitching consistently well for the team.

Jim A
you must be an Islander fan ? Same here.

HYD,
I'd rather see Igawa pitch well in the short term but I want Kennedy to come back and pitch like he supposedly can.

I would never root for any Yankees player to play poorly so I agree with you, I want Igawa to be lights out, but I want the three we talked about all winter to live up to at least half the hype.

Steve: Yep, that makes a few of us at least. Now the Rangers can fight the Islanders for tee times!

Hopefully Kennedy provided he pitches well at Scranton will be back after 2-3 starts.If he doesn't use the demotion to his advantage he'll be there longer.

well if rasner continues to pitch well Kennedy will have a problem Girardi will not and rightfully so break up positive momentum. I like the Kids but I Love my team.

Looks like the offense is coming alive. Ironically with 2 of the big producers out of the lineup. Thats a good sign. Now Igawa......well thats a different story.

If someone had told us last summer that, of the three vaunted young pitching prospects, by early this season one would already be a star and two would be ineffective (with one of them injured to boot), we would probably have accepted that even one out of three being a marked success so early in the process would be an excellent outcome as things normally go with pitching prospects, no matter how promising.

The statistically minded warned us a few times of how unlikely it was that multiple pitching prospects would hit the big leagues and rise like comets.

It's still the same world, we're just a few months further along.

Diane ...

We was trying to say that from Jump but the ...lets say "chosen" ones on here predicted that these kids would make Immediate impacts well they was right on that note the kids made an immediate losing impact. I stated part of the reason for failure was the pressure too much of it was palced on them . Phil hughes now needs to wear glasses? broken rib ? ahh hello where was the physical results to take care of this eye problem ? why was'nt this addressed in ST?? they could fire the trainer last year but let all this missed medical problems slide.

Diane,

From the fans point of view, Yes that can be an acceptable outcome. Unfortunately from the team and organization point of view, they put so many eggs in the success basket that now they are in a bind. As opposed to acquiring a middle of the road proven pitcher who could give cover to the kids for a year or maybe two they are now exposed to the same string of call-ups that disappointed them last year.

In normal conditions you'd be happy with one coming through this year.....another coming through next year....then another in the third year. I think the org. showed desperation last year pushing Hughes too soon, then again this year with betting on Hughes, Chamberlain and Kennedy.

All this talk about "they had nothing to learn at AAA" looks silly now. It appears two of them still have a lot to learn and now you have to hope that the set back isn't to severe.

Nudge,

These ARE normal conditions for the Yankees, who plan to win every year.

I don't believe for a second that anyone in the organization expected all three of these kids to succeed instantly. They threw them all out there and one of them stuck (so far). No harm done to the ones who need recycling, as so many youngsters have over the years -- including many greats.

I know opponents would love to think the organization is 'desperate' or 'silly'. But I think they're more like 'rich in prospects' and 'optimistic that others will stick' (and that some who don't stick the first time around will stick on another try).

Diane,

If you plan to win, then relying on 3 unproven players is an odd element of that plan.

Also history in rife with youngsters pushed too soon that needed a year or two to recover from the experience.

As for rich in prospects...thats what we've heard for three years. So when are they gonna show up?

In this case Nudge is right, of course they had High expectations for the trio otherwise they would'nt have been inserted (two of them ) into the Starting rotation. I saw warning signs in hughes long ago I also saw talent would I have placed him in the rotation? yes as the 5th starter after earning it in ST. as for Ian i did not see enough of him last year to warrant him a spot. the issue is the team gave them the spots and did'nt amke them compete for it.

I think the Yankees basically tried to hint that this year would be a transition year and knowing what I do about baseball and prospects, I accepted it. I never expected the Yankees to be world series winners or even participants this season, as Nudge said, you just can't do it with three youngsters but the Yankees want to make money and they didn't exactly come out and say "we're rebuilding this year and probably next year, but we'll be primed for another great run after that" and they should have.

I posted over the winter that there was no way I saw all three pitchers having a positive impact on this season so I'm not surprised by this, although Hughes' regression has me a little surprised.

Jim A.

I feel the same way over Hughes "regression" .Not disclosing an injury even though he was hurting the team.Not being able to read catchers signs??? Perscription glasses??? Pulp Fiction.

I see no reason why Kennedy won't be back sometime soon.

The first year Hughes faced ML talent in Spring training he got bombed and the next year and was ok this spring. At this rate his not telling the team of injury, and yet another injury makes him dangerously injury prone we now also know how he repsonds when rattled. sounds like a good fit in Minny too late now