On the Yankees beat

I was at the Trenton Thunder game tonight and while it was a very long game (ended at 11 pm) and the Thunder got beat up (lost 7-1), I enjoyed the game and learned quite a bit. I got a chance to spend 3 innings sitting with Jason Jones and Phil Coke and two Red Sox AA pitchers as well. All 4 were friendly, telling me stories about times their buses have broken down in the past. Apparenly last year, on a trip from Tampa to Clearwater, the bus broke down and one Joba Chamberlain decided it would be a good idea to run across the highway in traffic. Since then the team has implemented a rule not allowing players out of the bus if there is a breakdown. Since Coke was working the game and it was getting late and he's set to pitch the 11am game tomorrow, I was joking around with him and offered to take his radar gun so that he could take a nap. You could tell that while he would've loved for his teammates to come back and win the game, that if they weren't going to win, that they would just end the game already. He was getting tired (and it was getting cold) and knew he had to be up early to get ready for his morning start. They told me that Cox had said his good byes (promoted to SWB) and they were awaiting Melancon's arrival. They also said that Cervelli would be joining them soon. He's on the team's 7 day DL now and will hopefully be playing soon.

Bunting Bobby Abreu looks like he's back to calling balls and strikes.He refuses to swing at anything slightly off the plate .I'm not talking about chasing bad pitches just marginal ones, pitches that can be called either way.It bloggles my mind.

Yankee hitters combined vs. LHP:
.234 ave.
6 HR
29 RBI

As much as I like Girardi's approach to the handling of the team. Its obvious that he has much too much faith for this team of older players to wake up offensively. He must take opportunities to produce runs. Jeter on third with one out and no one gets him across the plate.

Until the team starts hitting it must be supervised, controled to produce runs. Bunting and stealing is a part of game especially when limited oppts prevail to produce offense through average hitting. The back of the baseball card is not the predominant indication of play when the players reach 34+ or their contracts. So, make the moves to get some runs across.

As someone who touted Bobby Abreu as a possible MVP candidate I'm really disappointed in his production. Now I fully believe that his offense will return once Alex is batting behind him.

Interesting thing from Steve Phillips - at the current pace home runs will be down by over 1000 this year vs 2006. Extra base hits in general are down across the board. He believes that because of the Mitchell Report and testing in general have scared players out of using. He goes on to say that this is why you see teams that rely on manufacturing runs (Angels, Twins, Rays) are leading their divisions while teams that rely on power (Yankees, Tigers) are struggling.

With a few exceptions, the team looks sluggish -- and Cano looks sedated. This high energy that Girardi was talking about yesterday must be the magic invisible kind.

According to Pete Abe, "The pitchers are none too pleased with the hitters." He gives a couple of quotes.

CHIP

That's interesting.I'm guessing here but I think we're seeing more complete games this yr and lower ERAs in general.I wonder if there is a split stat comparing 2007 and 2008.
I've also wondered if the mounds are slightly higher let's say 2 inches and/or the baseballs are being manufactured with less core tension.???

Around the league teams are cutting bait with guys who are not performing earlier than I can ever remember. That said, who would you cut loose RIGHT NOW from the Yankees - but be realistic - can't say "cut Damon" because of how much he has left on his contract.

Also, if we accept that Phillips is right, and that power is dwindling around the league - how would you rejigger this team on the fly to make it fit that mold?

Ruse -

It does seem that the pitchers are having more success - though that brings up the whole Chicken/Egg debate - are the pitchers pitching better and that's why offense is down or is offense down and that's why the pitchers are pitching better.

Just a quick look though and there's a disturbing trend about the guys who are struggling most - Giambi, Delgado, Sheffield, Ryan Howard, Travis Hafner, Ortiz...all guys who are prime candidates for users.

Good teams are teams that pick each other up such as offense picking poor defense and pitching and the good pitching picking up the offense. But this Yankee team appears incapable of the functionality of good clubs. For such quality hitters, you would believe that performance did not hinge on the other hitters but just look no one can drive in runs. The only guys capable of this appear to Jeter, Matsui and on occassion Melky.

Pitching just a bad mixture of age and youth. Its called transition, I accept it but boy these guys look pathetic on any given night. The offensive output must be addressed by Giradi. He must disregard the baseball cards and manufacture runs while they are unable to produce runs. When did Johnny Gomes become a base stealer. He runs at will against us.

Yanks need a RH power hitter .I wonder if the Astros would part w/ Carlos Lee for Abreu and relief pitching and/or Gardner???

I go back and forth on Abreu.Lately he just wastes ABs he takes far to many pitches .Never swings at the 1st pitch.The league knows this and they exploit it over and over again.

Larry,

It's tough to manufacture runs with this team. It's easy for us to sit here and say the Yankees should use small ball to move guys along, take the extra base, this and that - but with the likes of Giambi, Matsui, and Duncan it's tough to do in practice.

Ruse,

I don't want Carlos Lee. First off he makes a ton of $ and second his best position is DH and we have too many of those as is. Yankees will get RH power on Tuesday when Alex comes back.

Chip: I would have to say my candidates for cutting loose are Giambi and Abreu. Giambi is numero uno with Abreu next in line. Abreu has more value and a better contract to disolve. I would bring up Gardner and play the OF of Gardner CF, Damon LF and Melky in RF. Matsui becomes the relief OF and fulltime DH. He appears to enjoy the spot. He's a good hitter. My concern with Posada is his arm. Yes, he's a catcher but until the arm tis what it is unless Giambi and Abreu bring in some prospects.

It's mid May and the Tampa Bay Rays are in first place

I guess they DID need to get the devil out of their team

It's not fair that teams like the Red Sox and Yankees have to compete in the same division as powerhouses like Tampa Bay!

How can our teams compete?

Not for nothing, but Susan Waldman made a valid point last night (please...continue to read). Prior to the game's start, she questioned where the high intensity, enthusiastic approach was that was so praised throughout spring training. Where are the hit and runs? the sac bunts? double steals?

Now, with molina and duncan on 1st and 2nd, i wouldnt expect a double steal. Yet, damon gets on last night in 1st with infield single...and no steal / bunt / hit and run is called...or at least performed. Or with Jeter on 3rd, one out, and Abreu up. How about a bunt to stir things up? Why are we relying on Torre's HR philosophy to win games? Yanks are begging for runs and the bench /coaches are hardly executing the same practices they praised 2 months ago in spring training.

Moving on....I hope Hanks comments (in which ESPN has now jumped all over it with their website and im sure a special "outside the lines report" will soon follow) sinks in nice with Giambi. He is not the only underachiever, yet to collect 20 mill throughout the year and still be riding the interstate is saddening. If i see one more YES promo with Giambi in it, I'm going to trade in my #25 tee-shirt for a Pavano one.

On a different note, going back to the topic of Newsday's acquisition by Dolan (from another thread), here's a link to Sandomir's column in the Times about possible conflicts when Newsday's sportswriters cover the Knicks and Rangers:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/14/sports/basketball/14sandomir.html

CHIP

Alone Arod doesn't provide enough RH power.

Who cares how much Lee makes ?

Abreu isn't exactly Ichiro in RF

I guarantee NY will be in the hunt for a good RH bat come June.

Also the Yanks should seriously think about releasing Ensberg when AROD comes back.Gonzalez is more than adequate.We all expected Ensberg to provide some pop and given the amount of playing time he's received it just ain't happening.

Thank God for FSN & Sunshine, where I can watch teams that care! Johan hands Yanks 5th straight defeat on Friday @ Stadium and Hank goes absolutely ballistic? Hmmm

I heard the same thing by Phillips that Chip did. It was on Colin Cowher's ESPN radio show yesterday. The whole premise behind the power numbers being down this year is the fact that MLB is "cleaning up" the sport as far as roids go. The players are smaller and leaner. Today he said the thing about how teams with small payrolls and that are younger are leading 4 of the 6 divisions. Kind of makes you wonder about the drugs doesn't it?

I said it yesterday about the hitting on this team being pathetic. Two runs in two games? Come'on! No one is picking up the slack for A-Rod and Posada. There are enough bats there to do so.
Bobby (I take too many pitches and hate to swing) Abreu just plain $ucks. Giambalco refuses to go the other way with pitches so unless he clocks one, he's almost an automatic out, usually on a ground ball to the short right fielder, opps, I mean the 2nd baseman.

I'm glad that it's a long season and there's time to at least make it a horse race.

In his last 7 games, Giambi has started to emerge from his funk. He seems to get all the blame on here but he is certainly not alone. Here are his numbers the last 7 games:

Avg.400 OBP.526 Slg .933 OBPS1.460

Let's hope some others start waking up.......soon.

John G,

Really it doesn't matter what they reason is for HR declines does it? I put that in the gossip category. It is what it is. You still have to play ball everyday as best you can to win however you can.

Interetsing though about the complaints in regards to the manager that echo from last year.

Miguel,

I doubt that "inspiring" Hank has any affect at all on any player on any team. He may think he does but I don't.

I also keep hearing that transition year stuff. If you are transitioning its from a competitor to a non-competitor. For this to be a successful transition year then the guys you hope to transition the team to should be starting to make a place for themselves shouldn't they? Outside of Joba as a setup man...no one really has.

To be fair and balanced, I believe Giambi is 4th in the league in HR's? And with a team that seems to have no power hitters, I think it would be foolish to bench or unload him now. There's plenty of blame to go around.

Also, if hitting is down and it's a pitchers paradise right now, then how come our pitching sucks, especially the two kids given rotation spots in ST?

Rick,

But it does go to the argument that the Yanks are too dependant on the HR ball. Giambi becomes the embodiment of that argument by being so all or nothing.

Nothing also applies when he is in the field.
But there is more blame to go to many others too.

Nudge,

I was just commenting on some of the posts that I saw here this morning because I heard the same show. I listen to Cowher on my way in to work cause the alternative is to listen to the local ESPN station and gag.
I personally don't care about the declining home run production and i agree with you that you still have to play the game. What's bothering me is that there are enough hitters on this team to get the big base hit with runners in scoring position and it ain't happening. They all take too many good pitches and this getting the pitch count up stuff is not making it. That only works when the pitcher can't find the plate and walks the world. When they throw strikes you have to jump on that.
It's early and no one is running away with anything, so far.

Nudge

I agree with you on the HR mentality being a problem. That's why I was happy to see Girardi get the job. I THOUGHT we would see more energy and small ball being played. I guess my hope was for naught?

Jim A. His name is mentioned by me often for his inabilities both in the field and at the plate. When your hitting under the Mendoza line as Michael K would say. And your in the lineup for your bat with the inability to hit to the opposite field with runners on base and one infielder covering a width of 90' and depth of 150'. You can expect some blame until you can starighten out.

I know he's a great guy to the fans but its more than that. I prefer an arrogant individual who bats .300+ with 125 RBI's. Call me crazy.

Rick,

Its hard with a first year manager to judge. You need to give them time to feel out the team and adjust strategy and also evaluate who is going to play the type of ball that they want to play. So I always think 2-3 years before the manager really has his system and team in place. Unfortunately Hammering Hank is not as patient as he led everyone to believe.

John,

A lot of the same complaints as from early last year when if A-Rod Jeter or Posada didn't get a big hit...no one did. Now its Matsui Jeter and sometime Melky or Abreu. But Bobby is back to bunting Bobby it seems.

I saw a good interview w/ Giambi just a few days ago where the interviewer asked him why he doesn't hit to the opposite field and just dink a roller down the 3B line for an easy double. He said he has never been able to hit the ball on the ground that way, everything would be in the air and it wouldn't have much carry to it.

Hit 'em where they ain't is easier said than done.

The offense will wake up and everyone will stop calling for heads to roll. It's funny how Shelley Duncan was going to be the savior of this team at one point and now he will probably be sent down or traded. The Yanks just need A-Rod and Jorge to get back in the lineup and things will be fine.

Nudge,
In order to get better, some teams have to get worse first. It is very hard to rebuild on the fly and the Yanks have been putting band aids on their holes for quite some time and they are just going to have to be patient (not always the best attribute of the Steinbrenner clan) and let the kids take their lumps for a year or two. After that they can evaluate how good their own talent scouts are because if this team is not absolutely loaded with RH pitching and speedy outfielders with power within a couple of years, it's time to get new scouts.

Jim A,

Im all for allowing kids to take their lumps so that theu can improve. Thas not at issue. Its the kids that can't even get to the take their lumps level. I didn't expect the two kids to have 3.20 ERA's immediately. But they aren't even close to 5.20. You can't stick with that and call it growing pains. That is a non-starter (pardon the pun). Add to that the fact that combined they only had like 10 AAA starts and it jumps out as "not ready". So send them down for a few months and when they have a consistent AAA record bring them back. Then its a transition. Prior to that it had more the look of a Cashman Coup. Pitchers installed bythe military! Maybe thats a bad analogy but I think you get the point.

If its transition you need the successors there establishing themselves a foothold that they can grow from. So far there are more holes than there was last year.

Nudge,
I agree. I think Kennedy and Hughes were rushed and/or overrated but now the Yanks are stuck with them so they may as well let them go and pitch (when healthy).

Jim A.

But if they are getting hammered 3 out of ever 4 starts then they are not progressing. Bite the bullet and bring up a few sacrificial lambs and allow them time to straighten themselves out and come back strong instead of weak. The team really hasn't given them a success oriented plan. They really just threw them to the wolves. I'd rather bring a guy up 6 months later than they are ready than six month too early. Because that sometimes sets them back a year or two. By June I think the Yanks will be in the hunt tradewise for a journeyman #4 guy to round out one of those 2 slots for the rest of the year.

Nudge,
The young guys have innings limits anyway so they may end up in the minors again but right now, the pitching coach that was hired specifically because he has experience with them is in the majors with them. He supposedly knows them best so logic would seem to be that if anyone can fix them, it's him.

I know they are supposed to be just getting their feet wet but they are drowning and it is not pretty but the Yanks don't have a lot of options right now. I do agree though, I think Kennedy especially could use more minors time but if giving up this season means getting better next season and beyond, it's worth it to me.

Well the market and the trade fron was'nt as fruitful to the Yankees as was the case in the past.

The Yankees were lead to think that Johan would be a Twin until he became a FA so they was not going to rightfully so trade away their advertised future.

the Problem here was the Adverised goods and how certain everything was.

Minor league numbers is good enough to state wether or not the player is a .....PLAYER

Brandon CLausen had good minor league numbers

Eric Milton to name a few.

The flaw of the team was the automatic insert into the rotation. that right there is obvious gamble. Hughes should have been in the pen and a jorneyman should have been either obtained or the team could have rolled with a 4 man to start the season you all know what i'm reaching for.

the pressure would have been less with hughes pitching his way into the rotation. After studying this I'm led to believe that the chance or the tide may have changed if it was Joba was placed in the rotation even if that means a few games would have been lost by the pen rather than by the SP's that is a different attitude