On the Yankees beat

is this the guy we kept instead of getting santana???
oh my... cashman's last year...

after tonight the yanks go to last place in AL east, i think for the first time since tampa expansion, on may 15th... something DRASTIC has to happen to rock this boat.

PATHETIC!!!

Gonna be tough for Cashman, especially if Santana beats us.

Hughes and Kennedy with no back up plans?!?!?

Gil: What do you suggest drastic? The team is doing something "DRASTIC", they're letting the team start to get younger and taking the lumps that go with it along the way.

HYD

this team is carrying several players on the down swing of their careers, with fat contracts, who, as hank rightfully said, are not earning their salaries.
the yanks should try and off load at least one useless OF, either one really + somehow get rid of giambi.

this of course can be argued, but even cashman's greatest aplogists will have troublw defending his handling of pitching talent and its evaluation. he is in charge of some of the worst piching signings in the last few years, and it seems he mis-evaluated IPK as well. the dude just doesn't have it.

if there was really an offer by the twins of IPK + change for santana, cashman should be fired immediately. in fact, if this team is really going to rebuild, and evev take some lumps, cashman has got to go. so when i say DRASTIC, i say kick him out.

What we need ...

Steal the scouts from Colorado and the old Expos who found and drafted Cliff Lee, Grady Sizemore, Brandon Phillips, Lilly and many others like Holliday, Helton and so forth.

Fire Cashman, his mistakes would take a book to recount. The on and off field performances were horrendous in many cases. Who assembled this cast? The aura of the team was destroyed by Leyritz, Clemens, Mrs. C-Rod and many others with their antics. Disgusting!

Get rid of the dead wood. Farns, Giambi, Igawa of US$ 46 million fame ...

Players I wanted and how they are doing:

Ludwick: .327 BA last time I checked

Ankiel: 6 HR's and Hall of Fame catches in CF, .290 BA. Michael PTRS called him "a coward." Sure bro ... can you pitch AND hit home runs in the MLB? No player has ever done what Ankiel is doing since Babe Ruth.

Gregg, Percival, Cliff Lee, Lilly ... why don't we have guys like this instead of Hawkins and Farnsworth?

Cano, Molina and many others have declined. So have Hughes (hurt) and poor Kennedy. I thought they all would do great.

Now we have spent 450 million on Mo, Jorge (hurt) and A Rod (hurt). That's the new dead wood. We could have let Mo go, signed Percival or traded for Gregg and let Joba close. Put A Rod at SS, Jeter in CF and signed Eckstein. Anything. The dynasy is long, long over.

Cano has now lost what trade value he had. No patience. And look at the batting average. He's not consistent. Newsday reported that when he is interviewed by sports writers he doesn't look at them but reads the paper. Sorry, where's the class?

Laughing in the dugout after throwing the ball off his shoe last year vs. the Mets was classy too.

Please find REAL AMERICAN, ALL-American talent. It's out there. Look at Colorado. Forget the Tower of Babel. It doesn't work. Look at the Mets. Willie can't even communicate with 2/3rds of his own players.

As for the Yankees, I've seen enough this year already. I wrote about all of these things during the offseason but it's worse than I thought it would be.

In the end it is just baseball.

As the nation goes bankrupt, the Yankees will have no choice but to scale down their finances and field a team like Tampa Bay ... lean and mean and hungry. Shields, Crawford, Rocco, Kazmir, BJ, Longeria ... all U.S. kids ... all hungry.

Any Colony is just retarded. There's just no other way to explain that idiotic nonsense.

Well ladies and gents as pathetic as I view the Yankees past road trip with the inability to score runs and some ineffective pitching by our starters. We should have finished no worse than 3/3 if we got any timely hitting.

This season was going to be a test for the Yankee fan. The brass kept the nucleus around with the signings of Mo, Jorge and Arod to present a viable team to pursue a playoff spot. The best plans went array with injuries to Arod and Jorge and terrible play by Cano, Giambi and Damon.

We must stay the course ( Oh no). It makes sense to continue to battle with the young pitchers. They are so lacking in experience. This year must be sacrificed to know what we have for the future especially starting pitchers. If Hughes and Kennedy continue to explode then dumped salaries must be spent on pitching CC any viable arm for hire.

If the team does not pick up the winning pace than Giambi, Damon, Ensberg and Abreu must be sacrificed for the sake of the young guys. If by June first we have not made any headway toward the top of the divison. I'd throw in the towel so to speak and bring up Gardner and any other player that might help us.

If you are going to play uninspired baseball then let the kids play. They will come to the park with desire to prove they belong in Pinstripes just my two cents. We need adifferent style of baseball. This means a different style of player. Molina needs a rest and Jorge needs to play first because he won't be able to throw people out. I have a funy feeling the Yanks are holding out on his injury.

Hughes...

The team sucks and as of right now Ian stinks I do not care what people say he was rushed and is not ready and before the rep of our whole minor league system is labeled over rated we need to make some moves like yesturday.

You cannot end and begin a season like this. fixing needs to take place.

Kennedy has been more consistant in Losing now than in winning.

the writing was on the wall for him not to be up here it was a good thing he was not on the mound tomorrow the boo's would been crazy

There were some positives in today's game. For one thing, the bullpen did well again, showing continued strength that will stand us in good stead as our hitters come back, the offense improves, and we start to score enough to wind the games that are pitched well enough to win.

There were even positives in Kennedy's performance. For one thing, it felt a lot healthier and more promising to see him have a mini-tantrum throwing things in the dugout than to watch him crumple helplessly in misery. For another, he threw a lot more strikes than before. And for a third, he actually managed to pull himself together enough to get out of a jam with a lot less damage than there could have been.

But there were big problems as well. Only two or three guys are hitting. And Kennedy was basically only throwing two pitches -- he was so predictable that some hitters seemed to easily read which one would come at them next.

The Yankees hitting will come.

The qestion is whether (or when, if you prefer) a reliable third and perhaps fourth pitch will show up in Kennedy's repertoire? Until that happens, he will continue to get killed. The pitches he does have are just not good enough to avoid that, except in AAA. With a third and hopefully fourth viable pitch he can keep opponents guessing, and the pitches he already has will look a lot tougher to hit.

To me the benefit of his brief trip down-market definitely showed, so we know he can learn. So where should he work on this? There or here?

Sorry. Should be 'enough to win', not 'enough to wind'.

Robinson Cano's batting ...

Apparently a minor mechanical flaw was found that has solved the problem. Kevin Long, the batting coach explains the issue:

"I was sitting there watching hours of video, trying to dissect his swing." Explained Long, the Yankees batting coach. "Everything seemed in place. I mean he was having great at bats, but had nothing to show for it. Then one evening I'm watching his swing and bam! The problem was so obvious."

"I was holding the bat upside down." Said Cano with an embarrased smile on his face. "I was swinging with the barrel and making contact with the handle. I'd hit it pretty hard, but its like a fungo bat. Its either a ground ball, or a pop fly."

After Kevin Long made the suggestion to hold the bat upright earlier in the month, Cano's batting average has vastly improved.

Diane,

Kennedy pitched better than his line indicated. The problem is that he made a couple of mistakes and he paid for them.

He allowed 6 base runners (5 H, 1 BB) in 5 IP which computes to a 1.20 WHIP. I'll take that any day from Kennedy. By contrast, Wang and Moose both have a 1.17 WHIP. Pettitte has a 1.45 WHIP.

He did throw a lot more strikes and got ahead of hitters. He kept his pitch count at a satisfactory level (78 pitches in 5 IP). He also held it together to limit the damage with the bases loaded. I see these things as a positive.

But you're wrong about his repertoire. Kennedy does have four pitches. He didn't throw his slider and curve as much today because he didn't have good command of them. It's not because he doesn't have those two pitches in his arsenal.

Girardi wanted him to be more aggressive in the zone and he was. He probably figured he'd be better off throwing two pitches for strikes instead of four pitches and missing the zone more often. If a pitch isn’t working, it isn’t working. It happens from time to time to every pitcher - rookie, veteran, or All Star.

Kennedy's stuff isn't the problem. He’ll likely have better results next time out if he continues to be aggressive. He has far better stuff than Moose at this point but Moose has been pitching for a long time and can make some of those adjustments when he's not locating well. Kennedy still has to learn the craft.

Anyone who thinks the youth movement and developing young pitchers was going to be easy is nuts. It's not easy. Growing pains are inevitable and pitchers have to learn from taking their lumps.

A lot of Yankee fans think TB has a great rotation and it is indeed pretty good right now. But that sure as hell didn't happen overnight. This same group of pitchers were hammered all season last year and watched their team lose 90 games.

What this movement requires is patience and too many Yankee fans don’t have it. Perhaps this team needs to miss the postseason for 10 straight seasons again before the fans appreciate what this team has accomplished over the last 13 seasons.

Until the older players and dead weight comes off the books, the team has to slug it out a little while longer. This isn’t fantasy baseball. There are consequences to signing players to long term deals. It’s easy to get rid of someone making $13M or $20M when it’s not your money.

Sorry, Diane. This post wasn’t entirely directed at you - just the Kennedy part of it.

I just have to roll my eyes when I see people complaining about the team needing to get younger and more energetic but don’t have the patience to let the young kids develop and allow that to happen. These are often the same people who want to sign every big name free agent and then dump them when they’re mired in a bad slump.

Real life doesn’t work that way. You make your bed by making these moves and you have to sleep in it for awhile.

This team will turn things around. They are 2 games under .500 and only 4.5 games out of 1st Place. All things are not rosy in Boston either and TB is going to get a reality check sooner or later because they are not this good.

BB: I don't know why your post was addressed to me and I'm not sure I know which moves you're referring to being made yesterday (the McCutchen promotion?). The Yanks have been promoting players as appropriate all year, so that's of no surprise. Please explain. Thanks.

Chip: Looks like George King is talking out of his ass again.

Chad Jennings, who spoke with Mark Newman recently, is reporting that McCutchen has in fact not been promoted to Scranton. No word on what this means for Aceves and Hacker. I’m inclined to trust Chad over George King and the Post, so I believe that this is likely the truth.

This makes sense as I was surprised this wasn't mentioned when I talked to the players.

That's okay, Viper, I didn't take it that it was all addressed to me.

Glad we agree that Kennedy has shown some improvement and that overall the Yankee sky is not falling.

But today he threw by my count two curves and no sliders (let me know if you were seeing sliders, but Girardi also saw only two curves), and I still believe that he can't survive up here with only two pitches reliably available to him, even if by some definition he has others 'in his arsenal'. Evidence? Five runs.

Still I am heartened by the fact that his trip to Scranton did result in progress, and that does give me a sense that he can learn pretty quickly in the right circumstances.

Now I have to sleep. Not expecting Yankee nightmares... ;-)

Ant Colony is a moron!

Jeter to center... let Mo go... sign Percival....???

What an idiot.

DOC

diane et al - re kennedy

he actually did throw sliders, the iwamora HR came off a slider for example. the biggest problem with kennedy i'm afraid is not his stuff but his mental make up. he is terrible from the stretch, he cannot handle runners on bases, and i have no idea why he copied mosse's bend over routine because it does nothing for him.

he did have a low WHIP, but allowed 5 runs, how come? cannot handle the situation when batters get on base. the iwamora HR was a fluke, i think he threw a good pitch. but then he gave up a hit, a HBP, and a walk leading to the 2nd run.

the fact is, he was SOOO over-hyped by cashman. as you pointed out, his arsenal is limited, his demeanor is questionable, and all in all, i doubt he will remain a yankee in the long run after cashman is hopefully gone.

he should have a twin though...

I'm glad Viper has calm in his blood.

But Viper here is NY where people pay big bucks they wanna see a team with the names they have win if people wanna play patience then some of these names need to dissappear and the true youth movement take place. this team this year was not structured for rebuild this was structured for win now I roll my eyes when I see people resort to that excuse when the team loses(A friendly jab @ Viper lol)

Hughes in terms of movement

if we are rebuilding then rebuild call up these "prospects" and play them through win or lose.

DFA a Jason Giambi see what kind of feelers you get.

so what he has 7 hr's maybe that line will attract another fool.

Viper: I agree with your comments about Boston and Tampa especially the Rays. They are obviously playing at a higher level than expected even by their management. The hitting is so timely that you would believe its programed by a computer. Their pitching has been developing but unhittable, come on.

I still believe that Giambi, Abreu and Damon are showing the downside of their careers and the bat speed is quite tardy especially Giambi and Damon. Of those three if no improvement by the end of the month as I have said before. Start the negines and bring some hard working kids. Its time and continue to allow the young guys pitch.

Bronx Bomber: I agree its time to move some of the young guys up and let them play. Gonzales for Ensberg, let this kid develope his bat his fielding skills are without question on par with the bigs.

LARRY

It's time for NY management to get real .Can NY win right now with Giambi Abreu and Damon?
Suddenly the pitching in the AL East has greatly improved so now it's no walk in the park.
Giambi is the quintessential 1 dimensional ballplayer.
Abreu is a good if flawed ballplayer.
teams could use a leadoff hitter in Damon.Houston,San Diego come to mind.Give Gardner a shot.

Arod and Posada make an immeasurable difference to how this lineup jells.

Larry,

what upsets me is the fact that people thought it was great that kennedy was brought up after one start back in AAA this was the problem with last year that based his status on several innings pitched.

I can see the response "what other options do we have now"

Thats right due to the blind baseball instinct an contingency plan was not in place and BASICALLY a successful season was mortage on a couple of Unprovens. This in no way was a rebuild year. That line was used to cover up the internal rift and to cover up if the kids failed. In no way did they envisioned this happening as of right now. The failure of these kids would be the Biggest PR disaster even worse than the Wade Johnson era's becasue there was an chance to obtain a top notch pitcher

I am not telling you this on a bloggers perspective I am telling you this from a reliable source info straight from the camp.

By the way Viper what is your e-mail i wanted to send you some photos . if you know Jim A e-mail hit him up (you seem cool )

Thank you Jim for your thank you's

Ant Colon said - "Ankiel: 6 HR's and Hall of Fame catches in CF, .290 BA. Michael PTRS called him "a coward." Sure bro ... can you pitch AND hit home runs in the MLB? No player has ever done what Ankiel is doing since Babe Ruth."

Melky has 6 HR's too. So what Ant?

And..in saving the best for last, the reason Ankiel is an OF is because he couldn't pitch in the MLB! He threw over the back stop half the time! He wouldnt be in the MLB if he couldn't be an OF you dope! He's not doing anything special! He's an average ball player.

Ant Colon, you are officailly and always will be a know-nothing bonehead!

Yankee trivia question :

Who holds the all time career Yankee record for pinch hits?

Who needs this series more - Mets or Yankees? I would say Mets - not because I'm a Yankee fan - but because while the Yankees are playing poorly the Mets seem to be a team in complete turmoil. Their clubhouse is fractured, they are playing as if in a daze, and it sounds like Willie is on the firing line.

CHIP

Fact is outside Reyes(who hasn't been playing well) ,Wright and a surprisingly good Church this team has many holes in it.Granted they have Santana and Maine .

I think the thing with the Mets is that the fans can't get the end of last season out of their heads. It drives them nuts that Willie isn't a firey guy and defends guys like Castillo when they don't bust it every game. In fairness to Willie I think he's being undercut a lot from Omar and others in the front office and it may break along racial lines. There have been rumors that players like Delgado, Castillo, Alou, Beltran, et al that if Willie comes down on them someone from above will have something to say to Willie about it.

On another note, I'm a big supporter of Cashman, but I'm getting a little tired of the "pity Cashman for having to put up with Hank" nonsense that's going on in the press. First of all, I think Hank has spread the blame around pretty evenly, second of all Cash gets paid a nice chunk of change and has been with the organization long enough to know that putting up with a loud mouthed owner, and finally if I were signing those checks and seeing this production I would be annoyed too.

Not as many holes as the yankees.

24 NYY AL 6 11 23 23 0 0 0 0 127.0 156 89 84 15 33 62 6 5 562 1 1 5.95 4.14 70 1.488
25 NYY AL 2 3 13 8 0 0 3 0 52.7 71 44 39 4 23 14 2 1 245 0 0 6.66 3.95 59 1.785
26 NYY AL 0 2 2 2 0 0 0 0 2.7 12 10 9 1 2 0 0 0 22 0 0 30.38 4.16 14 5.250

Who's pitching stats are the above

Yankees 23 22 0 7 12 .368 6.27 0 0 0 116.1 528 144 81 85 13 53 0 72 3 7 3

and above

this team is on par in becoming the below team..

field of bums..

# Pitchers Height Weight Throws Bats Date Of Birth
25 Greg Cadaret 6-03 214 Left Left 1962-02-27
51 Chuck Cary 6-04 210 Left Left 1960-03-03
60 Darrin Chapin 6-00 170 Right Right 1966-02-01
28 Dave Eiland 6-03 205 Right Right 1966-07-05
26 Steve Farr 5-11 200 Right Right 1956-12-12
35 Lee Guetterman 6-08 227 Left Left 1958-11-22
42, 57 John Habyan 6-02 195 Right Right 1964-01-29
40 Andy Hawkins 6-03 223 Right Right 1960-01-21
57 Steve Howe 6-01 180 Left Left 1958-03-10
43 Jeff Johnson 6-03 200 Left Right 1966-08-04
40 Scott Kamieniecki 6-00 195 Right Right 1964-04-19
54 Tim Leary 6-03 205 Right Right 1958-12-23
50 Alan Mills 6-01 192 Right Right 1966-10-18
45 Rich Monteleone 6-02 234 Right Right 1963-03-22
34 Pascual Perez 6-02 163 Right Right 1957-05-17
33 Eric Plunk 6-05 217 Right Right 1963-09-03
21 Scott Sanderson 6-05 200 Right Right 1956-07-22
41 Wade Taylor 6-01 185 Right Right 1965-10-19
36 Mike Witt 6-07 192 Right Right 1960-07-20
# Catchers Height Weight Throws Bats Date Of Birth
53 Bob Geren 6-03 221 Right Right 1961-09-22
38 Matt Nokes 6-01 185 Right Left 1963-10-31
48 John Ramos 6-00 190 Right Right 1965-08-06
# Infielders Height Weight Throws Bats Date Of Birth
14 Mike Blowers 6-02 210 Right Right 1965-04-24
20 Alvaro Espinoza 6-00 181 Right Right 1962-02-19
14 Pat Kelly 6-00 182 Right Right 1967-10-14
12 Jim Leyritz 6-00 195 Right Right 1963-12-27
13, 43 Torey Lovullo 6-00 180 Right Both 1965-07-25
23 Don Mattingly 6-00 175 Left Left 1961-04-20
12 Carlos Rodriguez 5-09 160 Right Both 1967-11-01
6 Steve Sax 5-11 185 Right Right 1960-01-29
18 Randy Velarde 6-00 190 Right Right 1962-11-24
# Outfielders Height Weight Throws Bats Date Of Birth
29 Jesse Barfield 6-01 205 Right Right 1959-10-29
27 Mel Hall 6-01 205 Left Left 1960-09-16
36 Mike Humphreys 6-00 185 Right Right 1967-04-10
39 Roberto Kelly 6-02 192 Right Right 1964-10-01
17 Scott Lusader 5-10 165 Left Left 1964-09-30
31 Hensley Meulens 6-03 212 Right Right 1967-06-23
17 Pat Sheridan 6-03 175 Right Left 1957-12-04
51 Bernie Williams 6-02 205 Right Both 1968-09-13

Ruse,
I'll take a stab in the dark and say...Cliff Johnson? That can't be right but I've never thought about that question- good one!

Also, is Billy Wagner secretly being paid by the Mets rivals to p*ss off his teammates? What is that guy thinking?

Regarding Kennedy: I think by trying to be aggressive in the strike zone and to make sure he threw strikes, he became predicatable- all that is obvious. What I did not like so much was his body language out on the mound, he just did not look confident to me and I thought to myself that this couldn't be the same cocky kid who made those arrogant (IMHO) statements after his AAA start. I frankly think a little humble pie is good for him in the long run but the Yanks need to decide soon what they are going to do with him. I'd suggest giving him another start in the majors and if he does not do well, then leave him in AAA for at least 5 starts and bring up Karstens, who should be healthy soon.

Karstens was so good over the winter that I have a little flickering of hope that he can bridge the gap until Kennedy gets it together. I do not ever want to see Igawa in a Yankee uniform again.
I'd rather run through more youngsters if Karstens flops, anyone but Igawa.

Mark Melancon debuted for the Thunder last night: 2IP, 2 hits 1ER 4K

Jim A - I can see where Wagner is coming from. I mean he didn't pitch in the game and had to stand there and answer questions because some of his teammates take off after losses

And Jim, regarding Igawa - I'm with you. I think if the Yankees decide to send Kennedy back down we'll see either Steve White or Chase Wright. Possibly Dan McCutchen later in the year.

Chip,
The press comes to Wagner because they know he will generally say something bad about his teammates, management or others. If he just kept his mouth shut, they'd leave him alone, but everyone knows that he has been a clubhouse problem for every team he's been on.

Did Ant just compare Rick (HGH) Ankiel to Babe Ruth?
Wow.

Ant, just say "I want an all white team!"
You are saying everything but that.

But you are right about one thing... last year the Rockies with their clean cut Christian team did well. And when they faced the Red Sox in the World Series, they almost won one game.

I felt so bad that my team had players from different countries speaking different languages.

I'm sure the 2006 Cardinals did as did the 2005 White Sox.

(Please please PLEASE make Ant the GM of the Yankees)

Jim,

If Wagner was the only player with a problem with it I would agree with you, but Paul LoDuca went off on the same guys for the same thing last year. I'm listening to WFAN right now and one of the Met TV voices is on and he's backing up Wagner saying that too often the same guys duck out after losses leaving the same guys to answer the same questions day in and day out.

The Rays "ain't" going anywhere but up! At 1/5th the payroll

Gene in FL

Bad teams tend to play very well in the first half of the season, they tend to fade down the stretch. But hey, if the season ended June 1 they would be in great shape.

gene in fl,

From first place there is only one direction.

How long before the Rays take it?

I'm sure odds are already being offered.

Wow....a Rays fan talking trash.

I crack up just reading that. Go on with your bad self Gene, enjoy the good times. Your team has a lot more ahead of them. I felt they would be pretty good this year and probably very good next year if Price comes up.

Any Royals fans out there that feel like thumping their chests?

JIM A

Red Ruffing Hall of Fame all time winningest RH pitcher in Yankee history(231) had 46 career pinch hits.

I know Sully, quite a comparison with Ankiel and Ruth. What Ant Colon forgot is that Ankiel couldn't hit water if he jumped out of a boat when he was a "prospect" pitcher. They re-wired him and had him spend time in minors as OF. He gets regular time this year, hits 6 HR and all of a sudden he's the man for the Yanks! Again, wasn't Ankiel mentioned in the same sentence as HGH? Along with all those other "discusting" Yanks?

And Gene if FL., I hope you are around come August...then we'll revisit the standings.

So two below-.500 teams meet tonight in the Stadium, before a crowd that will likely be made up of rather disgruntled fans on both sides, in miserable weather.

I hope this is a set-up for a pleasant surprise.

Or is that too much like the old story of the kid who, faced with a room full of horse****, exclaimed "There must be a pony in here someplace!"

...or a rhino

NY was 19-23 after the first 42 games in 2007. All NY needs is 9-3 run to turn their fortunes around .I'm still optimistic about 2008.

this rays team is good and that is what the problem is . WE ASSUME they was going to be bad so we ignored them not realizing that seeing the rockies in the Postseason should have sent word.

These teams will paly har d when teams like the yankees come in. it's disturbing becasue it's not like the Yankees are ancient.

eventhough my coworkers state that rich players tend to be a lil over weight.

I must say this ......

F**K YOU SAUDI ARABIA for declining our plea for more oil

we go something for you

Both of those HR balls that Kennedy gave up were up in the zone. If his intention was to go up the ladder, he didn't go high enough. Guys with the slow stuff need to keep the ball down to be successful.

That was good insight Bomber on the team being built to win now. All winter long the Yanks kept telling us that this is not a rebuilding year and I really liked your comments on how the brass was thrown a curve by the poor performance and blowing the chance to get a top of the rotation guy. I think that the brass didn't anticipate the hitting being as dreadful as it's been for most of the season so far. The pitching hasn't been THAT bad to me. It hasn't been outstanding, but the staff has kept the Yanks in most of the games and given them a chance to win. They just can't hit and it's the same list of culprits. Bobby (I now take all 3rd strikes and won't swing the bat) Abreu and Giambi are at the head of the list for me. Abreu will probably get "better" when A-Rod is back in the lineup, but for me, that doesn't say much about Abreu. Giambi is hopeless.(Sorry Jim A. I know that you like him).

My rant is done.

Hey DOC,

Maybe you can try to put up a post that has something worthwhile to say. Instead of a 3 sentence post that has two sentences devoted to name calling and insults. If you don't like what Ant posts tough luck. You are not his master and no one really cares if you like it or not. If you can't muster anything more than a few schoolboy slurs then think about taking a course on how to win friends and influence people. Because you need it. That cheap shot stuff at Ant grew old like 12 months ago but some just don't get thing to quickly.

Stop acting like a punk and people will have more respect for the stuff you post. If you post garbage then you'll be treated like a garbage collector.

Delancy - Your act as Ant's protecter is growing just as old. If you don't like what DOC posts, tough luck!

Kim Jones is on the FAN right now. She said that the Yanks are really disappointed about their lack of hitting. They could have taken 3/4 from the Rays. They didn't score more than 2 runs in any of those games. Joe and Evan are saying why isn't Duncan playing more because Giambi stinks.

Is it raining back there?

To all Stupid Anons who think the have clever names,

Get over your Ant obsessions before the men in the white jackets come to haul you all away to the funny farm. I've never seen a bigger bunch of whining babies crying about ONE guy in my life. The fact that ONE guy can tick so many of you off shows the complete lack of character that any of you have. A big bunch of chickensh*t babies ganging up on ONE guy. Just like the little boys on the play ground do to the skinny little kid they HOPE won't fight back. Im not sure how proud you all feel after your pitifully condescending and personally abusive posts but I bet its like those kids feel like when they are honing the magnifying glass in on that little tiny ant in the bright sunlight.

Sick intolerant bunch of individuals all of you!

Did any of you read this story in the Daily News?
http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2008/05/16/2008-05-16_jason_giambi_wears_thong_when_in_slump_s.html

Giambi wearing a Thong to break out of his slump?

How about hitting the ball to the opposite field? That's a novel approach.

The only reason why Girardi name is safe now is because alot of the personel Biz was out of his hands.

Like I said thsi team was not assembled with rebuild in mind Idon't what anyone on here says that was not the case!

The patience line from hank was stated to damage control the internal rift over the Johan Deal.

The Mets is messy and should have capitalize on the Johan trade and shifted attention thier way since this is one of the most flip flopped sports city.

The Yanks should be thankful of the Mets Mess.

Bobby abreau could have been let go after last season but that was a tough call for BC who again probally gambled on Arod having a duplicate season.

again you can have baseball smarts but not Baseball instincts

Giambi was a mess last season and the thought of even him playing everyday was retarded again

one may have baseball smarts but not Baseball instincts

people probally looked at the 2nd half success of the Yankees and factor that to be the Norm , basically forgeting the 1st half not realizing the deficit they had to cover.

Again you can have baseball smarts but not baseball instincts

Yanks are stuck with a few of these guys until the end of the year. Giambi will be playing for us unless they release him, which is doubtful. I think whomever said in here Abreu for Lilly might be right. Add Kennedy to that package and we should have a deal. Kennedy is beginning to look like another one of those pitchers who can't pitch in NY. He gave a weird post-game interview yesterday. Might be better to get a veteran back of the rotation 3-4 guy like Washburn or Lilly. Seattle needs hitting and the Cubs are looking for a lefty outfield/bat. Can't wait for the trading deadline. And Gonzalez should be playing more - Ensberg can not hit anymore, and will not ever be the same as he was in his hey-day. Let Matsui hit 3rd in the line-up and move Abreu down in the order - 6th or 7th. Cano should be hitting 5th right now - he looks hitter-ish.

And if the Yankees are still in last place by the all-star break, I would not be suprised if he got the boot either.

At least the Bosox are stinkin' up the joint too.

Lets go Yankees! Wake up.

And if the Yankees are still in last place by the all-star break, I would not be suprised if Cahsman got the boot either.

At least the Bosox are stinkin' up the joint too.

Lets go Yankees! Wake up.

Mike, i would want to tap into the rays minor league system.

i don't want over the hill pitchers give me prospects

Bomber says: "The only reason why Girardi name is safe now is because a lot of the personel Biz was out of his hands."

As far as fans are concerned I think his name is also safe because many have such a strong bias in his favor that they don't want to acknowledge any weaknesses that he has. Of course the awfulness of the hitting and the weakness at the back of the rotation give people plenty of other stuff to focus on when they do want to complain. Still the relative silence here about his performance has been a bit eerie.

I was in favor of his hiring, as regulars will remember, but I never expected him to be flawless. His lack of experience, poor past relations with the press, and reputation for burning out young arms were well known in advance, and so far they have all been in evidence here. If a young just-back-from-DL reliever like Albaladejo's arm had fallen off after he was kept in a game for three innings on Torre's watch, we would still be reading daily rants in this space about misuse of young arms/relief pitchers. But as it is, not a peep out of anyone.

Definitely odd.

Ant - "You're my best friwwend, Delancy!"

Delancy - "Thanks Ant, I'm doing my best to patrol the blog and try to shoot down anyone who disagrees with your excellent ideas!"

Ant - "Aw I wuv you"

Delancy - " Glad I can be of service to you Ant...gotta go! Some kid on the playground has a microscope and is looking for Ants!"

Diane - You better believe the targets will be on Girardi soon enough right now they want Willie's head.

There is something going on with the Mets that have been confirmed with insiders I know I really do not want to get into it because it will feed Ant Colony.

that should be a hint

What do you think Stick Michaels would do to this team if he hasd the chance right now?

Stick would fix this team. Keep in mind that Stick wanted to do the Santana trade so that tells you where his mindset is. I was on the fence about the prospect of that trade until I heard Stick wanted it, then I jumped on the "let's make the deal" side.

Interesting take by the Mike and Mad Dog guys:

The Yankee fan knows his team has warts but fully expects the team to get better when a-rod and posada return and still likes the team.

The Met fan on the other hand does not like his team.

From another Post

No Viper, your arrogant and think you know it all but that is neither here or there. at the end of the day we are all FANS not experts. this team is not in rebuilding mode and if you believe that

"I have for sale a mule thats ready to reproduce " it's all in good fun though Viper we are cool

what i do know is that the creativity even in a year like 2000 when our SP was flawed and offense was flat was high, deal were made to bandaid these handicaps.

it would be unrealistic to think Arod can put up last years numbers and to think Posada can continue to produce like he has in the past. that is the Risk you take with aging catchers and that is understood. Ido believe AROD and posada played some games this year together to no avail. yes they are hurt but in posada's case that is an alarm especially for next season since you want to forcast.

what was ignorged was the obvious holes in the lineup Bobby A could have been traded for prospects over the season but his 2nd half performance led BC to believe hsi option should be picked up

Another SP should have been obtained Chip spoke of this long ago .

again the season was mortgage on a shaky SP and shaky options at 1st base. Injury bug happens true

BU T IT IS MORE COMMON AMOUNG OLDER PLAYERS.

Again I used 2000 Ws team due to the fact that was scrapped together.

However what I will say is this and side with my dude Viper on is perhaps Joba shoudl have been in the rotation maybe his presense would have sent a different message and gave us at least three solid starters

Jim A

that was my point Stick wanted to do this deal with Hughes included. That said alot right there Iwonder if he would have been bashed on here

I think if Stick were to be named GM today there isn't a whole lot he can/would do that Cashman won't.

I mean really, outside of waiting for Posada and Alex to come back and aid the offense what is there that the Yankees can do right now?

Freddy Garcia will work out for teams in the next couple of weeks, I hope the Yankees sign him (to a two year deal) and then he can step in for the second half of the season.

You want to release Giambi? OK, but Shelley Duncan and Morgan Ensberg aren't exactly hitting the tar out of the ball and Juan Miranda and Eric Duncan may or may not be ready.

As for whether or not he would have made the Johan trade - I'm over it. Santana isn't here, he isn't coming here. At the end of the day, Johan is a great pitcher but he's averaging about 110 pitches for the Mets in 6 innings that would be about 5 innings in the AL. And then the Yankees would also not have Andy (Yankees were not going to pay for both of them), they would have the same problems with the back end of the rotation (since rather than Hughes and Kennedy being bad they wouldn't be here at all) and we wouldn't have Melky in CF. So your rotation with Johan is:
Santana
Wang
Mussina
Rasner
Igawa
with Damon in CF and Matsui in LF

rather than Wang, Andy, Mussina, Rasner, Kennedy with Melky in CF and Damon in LF

Pioneer Press in Minneapolis reports today that GM Smith offered a deal of Hughes OR Kennedy, Cabrera + 2 lower prospects for Johan. And, Crashman turns this down? Pettitte is seriously on the downside @ $16M. Last 4 starts = brutal. So what, if he wasn't here. Crashman coulda had Lilly last yr & this instead of his "knee-jerk" $46M AAA bust IgAWFUL. Mike Cameron would be in CF now, not Dumbon and Livan H was readily available as a FA for a song. He's 6-1! Bye Bye Brian!!

Here's some good news on a gloomy day and I think we all need this bit of news as the Yanks try to emerge from their slumber:

I just read in USA Today that Carl Pavano could throw off a half mound as early as next week! Yes!! Our savior is only a half wit and half mound away!

Johan who? WE GOT CARL!

Gene -

I will bet any amount of money that you want that Livan will not finish with a better record than Andy this season.

The offers for Johan were: Hughes, Melky, lower prospect or Kennedy, Melky, Marquez, Austin Jackson, or Wang, Kennedy, Melky.

All reports indicate that the Yankees would not have brought back Andy if they traded for Santana and Andy was coming off a very strong season in 2007.

Seems to me that if Cashman is so bad you wouldn't be so giddy at the prospect of the Yankees replacing him next season.

Once again, I just hope that the guys who are throwing dirt on the coffin will be back to take their medicine if the Yankees turn it around.

Chip, Gene:
To chime in here a bit, Bill Smith only decided to ask for Cabrera, Kennedy and two lower prospects AFTER the moron had overplayed his hand and got turned down by the Red Sox and Yanks and he had to settle for BS from the Mets.
Carlos Gomez may be the only decent one in the bunch and he's just that- decent.

Who really cares about Santana? All that crap is over with now. It's time to move on.

And for the record, Cashman himself said on M&MD back in March that the two offers on the table were:

* Hughes, Melky, and two other top minor leaguers (probably Austin Jackson and Alan Horne)

* Wang, Kennedy, and Melky

And Chip is right. The Yanks were not going to retain Pettitte and make the deal for Santana. It was one or the other. It was never both.

It's kind of tough for this team to get younger when you trade many of your young players away.

Making the deal for Santana would have made it more difficult for this team to continue the youth movement.

This team's problem right now is not pitching - it's the offense. And Santana in the rotation wouldn't have any effect on A-Rod or Posada out of the starting lineup.

Jim A,

If Pavano is on his way back then we can print those WS tickets now!!

Jim A,

Agreed. My point is only that - while Johan Santana is a GREAT pitcher - his inclusion on the team would not have fixed it's current ills.

I think we can all agree that the biggest problems with the Yankees this year have been the back end of the rotation and the