On the Yankees beat

The Yanks have gotten a few wins vs. Seattle, Houston and now Pittsburg, some really bottom feeders. But a win is a win. This has helped to fatten up their record.

I will anxiously await a move to pull us even with Tampa. A trade for let's say, Kevin Gregg, or another starting pitcher. Tampa can bring up Price from the minors (as I wrote previously) and he will be an elite pitcher someday. That could be their ace in the hole for the stretch drive. But who can say for sure?

By the way, Ankiel hit TWO MORE HR's vs. Detriot yesterday ... in the same game. He had two HR's at Boston a few days before in the same game ... is this guy amazing or what?

Still waiting for Newsday to write about Ankiel. Maybe they would if the Cardinals played the Yankees this year. If the Cardinals get Mulder and Carpenter back, and Pujols stays healthy, they can go to the World Series vs. the Angels or Boston or Tampa Bay.

I would like to see the Yanks in the World Series but it won't happen for another year or two. That would make a decade long drought. Still the Yanks bring drama with their surges and failures. There is a lot of talent there. They just need a new GM.

Newsday has already covered Clemens and Giambi to death...
No need to cover Ankiel.
Guys caught on juice is old news.

Ant. The Marlins are contending
Why would they deal their closer when they are 1 back in the loss collumn of first place?

Oh yeah... I forgot.
All of baseball has to cater to the needs of the Yankees

I hate it when there's no Yankee game to read about in the morning. Nothing to balance my mood before or after (usually before, especially if they won) I read the op-eds.

I don't mind the scheduled off-days, because I know they're coming. But rain-outs really bug me, even though I know the players like them and they're good for team spirit and rest. etc. I want the Yanks to win and be as healthy as the next fan does, but heck, I'm selfish about my morning reads, and I want good stuff to read about my team while I'm sipping my java, darn it.

Just sayin', glad the guys got a needed day off, but I still hate rainouts as much as I did when I was playing ball as a kid.

Ice-lander,

Why don't you just change your handle? How 'bout BobbyBourne505? Or OldmanWestfall? How 'bout Nystrometer?

Or Gillies-to-Trottier-to-Goal! Or simply, PowerOnIce (Potvin's autobio).

Sure they can always continue to immitate you, but thought I'd give you some suggestions.

;)

DC

Ice 505,

How did you remove the post? Didn't know that was possible.

Can I remove mine, now that it's not relevant?

Ant,

How do you figure a decade, exactly?

Winning a WS is one thing. Yanks last won in 2000, right? So they'd have to win in one of the next 3 seasons to make it within the decade, but they've been to the series twice since then, by my count.

But I'm pretty weak with numbers.

Viper: I think you're misreading what I'm saying about Brackman. I think the Yanks would look to have him pitch in Tampa and Trenton in 2009 with a September call up possible depending on performance, but that in 2010 he'd most likely start the season in either Trenton or SWB. As seen recently, it's not uncommon for AA pitches to get called straight to the majors as the Yanks did it with a couple of pitchers last year and the Sox are having success with Masterson this year.

Also and for some of you, this will come as a shock, but Mark Newman has said that Mark Melancon will probably spend the entire year in Trenton despite fans clamoring for his call up. He said it's not a guarantee, but that player development is important. Check it out on Jennings' blog. It's a good read and doesn't just talk about Melancon, there's info on several top prospects.
http://emedia.thetimes-tribune.com/Blogs/SWBYankeesBlog/tabid/552/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/3898/Default.aspx

I got poo-pooed on these boards earlier this week for suggesting that Melancon was on an IP diet, but TJ surgery generally takes 18 months for full recovery. Melancon had the procedure in October '06. That means he's only hitting his stride now. I doubt he gets anywhere near the Bronx this season. Especially now that the FO is taking it slow with the kids and the arm injuries.

Sure, the kid's got 50 IP already, but it's at Trenton and there's no indication they're bringing him up to SWB. Maybe they just want him to throw and develop arm strength again, while competing but against competition that isn't too strenuous for him. Maybe they'll bring him up to SWB for a short time in July or August, but my guess is they shut him down early, short of 100 IP. If there's reason to believe otherwise, I'd love to hear it.

Sully

"Oh yeah... I forgot.
All of baseball has to cater to the needs of the Yankees"

Wow,
You have 2 championships since 2004.
And you post that nonsense??...

So how small is your keyboard??

I need to call into Miller. I WAS having a hard time believing that that you wrote for him. Now I am getting sure.
Not even a hint of sarcastic humor.

I am thinking fraud or troll.

Help me here.

Islander505

You misunderstood my post Islander.

I was responding to Ant saying the Yankees should trade for the Marlins closer... with the Marlins only a game back in the loss collumn of first place.

Why would they be shipping off their closer?

It's the kind of trade idea where people are only thinking about their team and not thinking that another team might kind of sort of want to contend.

I would have said the same thing to a Red Sox fan if they proposed something stupid.

In fact I was talking to a Red Sox buddy yesterday who was saying "The Red Sox should trade for Ben Sheets"

I asked "Who do you include? Ellsbury? Buchholz? Lester? Masterson?"

Of course he didn't want to get rid of any of those players.
I asked "Why would Milwaukee make that trade?"
And he said "Come on! They're the Brewers!"

I then broke his nose with a tire iron.

The idea that the major leagues are simply the farm system for the Red Sox and Yankees is the reason that everyone HATES our two fan bases.

And make no mistake... they HATE Red Sox fans.
And they've ALWAYS hated Yankee fans.

That's why, in a strange way, we Red Sox and Yankee fans need to stick together.

We're like Dennis Quaid and Louis Gossett Jr in Enemy Mine

Just some thoughts on Melancon:
Melancon will remain at Trenton until Scranton clears a roster spot for him.
Which probably means 1 or 2 of the current relievers(Strickland?) will be traded or Hawkins is DFA.
I believe Scranton carries 13 pitchers.
Yanks have a logjam w/ Bruney,Britton and Albaladejo all on the DL w/Bruney returning sometime August?
Melancon is not on an IP count .
He's been logging 2-3 innings per appearance on a consistent basis.
Does it make sense NY would jeopardize his arm allowing him to log so many innings so early into the season?
It also looks like Cox and Robertson are slightly ahead of Melancon in the pecking order.
NY said it appeared during ST Melancon would more than likely be in the Bronx late in the season.September callup?

Enemy mine!! HAH

YOU'RE GOSSET SULLY WE'RE QUAID!!

Ruse: Melancon is not just waiting for a roster spot to open up in SWB. There is a chance that Claggett would be promoted before him. There's also the chance that in a week when Whelan is pitching, that he could be a fast mover being as how he's had considerable time logged in the minors prior to his injury keeping him out the beginning of this year. I think Newman was sincere in saying that Melancon may spend the remainder of the year in Trenton.

HYD,

Yeah, I read the Newman interview with Jennings yesterday. Like I said before, I follow the minors leaguers every day too.

I know Newman said that Melancon might be in Trenton all season, and that may end up being the case, but this is the same guy who said last season that Joba wasn't going to pitch in the majors because it was too fast of a transition.

We all know that didn’t happen.

Newman also said on May 15 of this year that Daniel McCutchen wasn't going to be promoted from Trenton any time soon and McCutchen made his first start for Scranton on May 24 - just 9 days later.

Not calling Newman a liar, but obviously, not everything he says is etched in stone. I suppose plans can and do change.

I'd be very surprised if Melancon pitched the entire season in Trenton. However, if he does, it adds fuel to my side of the debate with you and Chip regarding Brackman and taking it easy with his TJ recovery next season and not worrying about anything more than building arm strength, cleaning up his mechanics, and developing his secondary pitches.

Also, yes, you are right about the September call-ups from Trenton last season. But the one thing you left out is that none of them played. Trenton had just won the Eastern League Championship and the organization rewarded some of their key players with a call-up to the big club.

But I have to emphasize again that none of them played.

Claggett's WHIP is over twice as high as Melancon's which stands at .066? I'd be surprised if Claggett receives a promo before Melancon.IMO

Sully..lol Hilarious, I was with you buddy. Most Yankee fans are guilty of one sided trade ideas, forgive them, they've been spoiled, its all they know.

Im on board with keeping Melancon in Trenton this year. I dont believe he should approach 100 IP, doesnt make sense for a RP to log that many innings. Usually RP's only go between 60-80, 90 is a lot. For a prized prospect to hit 100 IP in his 1st full year after TJ would be unnecessary and very risky.

Now to Brackman, like someone pointed out yesterday, this is a very large man, lots of moving parts. Getting healthy and working on his mechanics are the top priorities. I wouldnt expect him in the Bronx until 2010. Although some people recover from TJ surgery faster than others. Look at Josh Johnson of the Marlins, he's a big guy too..6'6" 230 lbs, he had it last August and will be up by the break. Ive been tracking his minor league starts ( for fantasy ), and his control is great. On the flip side, Francisco Liriano is more than a year and a half removed from the surgery and he's struggling with his control. Every person is unique in their recovery times. Still..Im in the slow and steady approach with Brackman camp.

Beating a dead horse here.

Melancon is already at 54 innings pitched between Tampa and Trenton.Is NY going to pull the plug after July sending Melancon home ? Once again I'd be surprised.

Tommy John pitched 207 innings after sitting out one yr. following TJ surgery.Pitched until he was 46.It can be done.

Viper: I don't think splitting the year between Tampa/Trenton is all that aggressive. The only aggressive approach would be if he's evidently ahead of schedule when he does come back next year and shows true dominance right out of the gate. It's a possibility and that's all I'm listing. My expectation is that he does time in Tampa and gets promoted to Trenton as soon as deserving once he's over 40 IPs.

ruse,

Melancon's innings are misleading because he's not throwing a lot of pitches in those innings.

Mike Ashmore - who covers Trenton daily - has said that the organization takes that into account and focuses more on pitch counts than innings pitched.

Obviously, there's a big difference between an average of 10 pitches per inning and 20 per inning because he's throwing two innings a night but throwing only 20 pitches.

The organization understands that - at least Mike says they do - so I wouldn't put too much stock into his IP because they are a bit skewed.

Nonetheless, because he's mowing through AA hitters with ease these days, he should be challenged a bit more and promoted to Scranton.

He's not throwing enough pitches per outing at Trenton to work on his secondary pitches.

HYD,

No, I think splitting time between Tampa and Trenton seems about right for Brackman next season.

I disputed you suggesting he might get a September call-up to the majors because of the kids who got that call last season.

Chip has suggested a more aggressive approach with Brackman and believes the Yanks will try to get some early returns on their investment next season by giving him a shot with the big club at some point.

Personally, I don't think that's going to happen and the fact that he signed a major league contract last season isn't going to matter one iota. They are going to focus more on his health, mechanics, and command more than anything else.

I don't expect Brackman to throw a single pitch in the bigs next season and a September call-up would be for show more than anything.

Viper, Ill buy the pitch count theory. Remember though with multiple innings in one game, the pitcher throws his inning, sits for a while, then has to warm back up, so that has to factor in the equation as well. Still, Im just a fan, these guys get paid big bucks to monitor this stuff. We'll see how it all plays out. Know this though..Mark hasn't pitched more than 66 innings in college or his short MILB career.