E-Boland and the Bombers

Did Cashman mention what the plan for Joba in the rotation is? That is, will they skip his starts now and then in order for him to pitch the whole year, or will they start him in the rotation and shut him down in July/August (bad idea, in my opinion)? He cannot pitch every fifth turn for the entire 2009 season due to innings limits.

Kat,
You are on a roll! You broke the Cashman extension story and your "insider" info on Teixeira is great. Keep it up and we'll be seeing you on TV soon!

I think it was Chip who made the comment about Sabathia and Teixeira because it wasn't me.

Nonetheless, duly noted.

I'm not real keen on potentially signing Teixeira anyways. He wants too many years and he wants superstar money for someone who is not a superstar.

You'll then have a major lineup problem next season if Posada can't be the everyday catcher because Matsui is going to be the DH.

LOL, Jim A.

Look out, Buster! Kat's on your heels.

But maybe's there's room for them both. Gammons is looking a bit pale these days.

Is it just me, or does it does it seem like all of a sudden there are fewer Cashman bashers among the posters?

I get the feeling that if I'd posted that Cash should be re-signed in April, or even mid-season, there would have been a dozen or so responses calling for his head, if not mine. Now, everyone seems okay with it. What changed? The Nady trade? Hughes' one strong September outing? The 7 game win streak? Really? That's all it took?

I had some reservations about the choices he made last winter, but I've always thought highly of the guy and wanted him to come back for many of the same reasons so well expressed above and in some earlier posts (continuity, finishing the job he started with the farm system, the dearth of better candidates to replace him, etc.).

I noticed a couple rants a few threads back, but nothing near the outcry I would have expected, considering the amount of heat the guy was getting on these threads and elsewhere before and during the early part of the season.

Has something in particular made everyone come around, or are all the haters simply tuning out?

Okay, good work the Dodgers, now let me see how long I can stay up with a late game that does not involve the Yankees. It would be nice to see the Angels pound the Red Sox -- that might keep my eyes open...

DC,

I was never a hater, but I would not have been broken up to see Cashman go -- except for the fact that he is the only top guy left with any experience to speak of, and I just didn't see adding a newbie GM to novice ownership, manager, and some key coaches.

There has to be someone left who knows where the circuit breakers are, so to speak...

Well put, D. But I never took you for one of the haters.

Still, I wonder if there isn't still an element of suspicion or even bias among some fans--and even some former players now in management--against GM's who never played professionally. For a while, I thought that sort of thing had disappeared, but this season made me reconsider.

Theo seems to be in good order because they're winning; but Cash has been on--what seems to me, anyway--an unfairly short leash with the fans over the past two years. Don't know if has anything to do with his resume, or just his perceived track record. For my money, his record is good: he's rebuilding a sinking dynasty and perennial contender, from the bottom up, on the run. And, except for coming up a bit short this year, he's done it without losing too much ground.

I'm glad he's back, if for no other reason than that I don't know who his replacement might have been. And I'm not looking forward to the day when Hank decides to out-circus his dad on the back pages--though we got a decent glimpse of his talents in that field when he excluded Torre and Mattingly from the Stadium's closing ceremonies.

When I read that headline I thought it meant Joba will start at first base

I thought MAN, they just won't define his role!!!!

FYI, how is YOUR October going?
Mine's pretty good so far

WAKE UP ANGELS !!! Get some of that luck o' the irish on your side !

DC

I don't hate him, I have just never agreed with most of his calls on player personnel moves. Mostly, because they have been wrong! Research my posts on here last winter and you'll see that most of my arguements were bore out. And, I knew he would be back. If it was my decision, he would not have been brought back. How's that? Does that make you happy?

I think Cashman is nuts for coming back
Look how relaxed and happy Torre looks being in an enviornment where it is only about baseball

Is it, Sully?

Odd, you don't usually come on here just to carp and gloat.

But if this is how it takes you...

Sully,

Like Cashman said, he's been with the Yankees for over 20 years, it's all he knows. He's now one of the 3 highest paid GM's in the game and, while the press can be annoying, the fans demanding, and the owners a little tough to take there are certain rewards to working here.

Kat,

I hope Tex proves me wrong. His signing will fill a lot of needs for the team.

On other notes:

I think with the news that Ben Sheets has a torn muscle in his pitching elbow will hopefully convince the Yankees to not go after him.

Cashman has admited that he may rejigger the process by which he evaluates free agent pitchers in light of some of his mistakes (Wright, Hawkins - Pavano was a mistake but he was a mistake every team in baseball wanted to make)

The Yankees have also increased the number of scouts they have in Japan and set up offices over there hoping to get a better read on Japanese pitchers (Yu Darvish)

You have to love how Sully comes in here acting like he's just a good old guy who happens to be a Red Sox fan and then the Sox win a playoff game and he gets that salt shaker out....

Hey Sully....how is YOUR514 career going?

Oops...mouse slip on the previous post.

You have to love how Sully comes in here acting like he's just a good old guy who happens to be a Red Sox fan and then the Sox win a playoff game and he gets that salt shaker out....

Hey Sully....how is YOUR career going?

Not everyone can win graciously.

Just have to remember that when the 'nice guy' act comes back -- it's an act.

Oh give Sully a break. He's got to win another 23 before his team is relevant.

On to more important business.

Earlier in the year I asked if you would rather have Yu Darvish or CC Sabathia. The result, overwhelmingly, was Sabathia. Now that it looks like Sabathia won't be here, I'll ask again:

Yu Darvish or AJ Burnett?

Why does it look like Sabathia won't be here? Because rumors surfaced that he wants to go home to California? How many free agents do we hear say that they would love to go home or they (laughably) want to go where their kids can go to the best schools etc.?
It's posturing is all it is. Sabathia's agent doesn't want him to come out and say "I love the Yanks, would love to play for them" because other teams would figure they don't have a shot, thus the Yanks would lower their offer because they might be the only legit suitors etc. From the Yankees side, they are not going to say "We need CC and we'll do what it takes to get him" because, well CC's agent would be in heaven, other teams would make offers just to drive up the price and the Yanks would have no leverage.
It's a shell game Chip, let's see how it plays out. Never count out the power of money.

I will play along though so if CC goes elsewhere I'd take Burnett. He's proven he can compete in the AL East, he's stayed healthy for the past couple of seasons and he is an established ML pitcher and Darvish is a myth at this point and I still can't shake the Kei Igawa/Hideki Irabu feeling I get about pitchers from Japan who are used to holding smaller balls :)

Other things being equal, a pitcher who's proven he can perform well in the AL East would always take precedence for me over one who has not.

But I don't know enough about Yu Darvish to know whether other things would be equal, or even more than equal.

Love his name, though.

Way better than AJ.

If he has a wild and crazy windup we could call him "you dervish".

all I know about Darvish is what I've heard, that he's nasty on the mound. 6'5", 22 yrs old and, unlike Dice or Igawa, doesn't try to fool hitters, he just goes right after them.

While I don't trust that the numbers mean anything given the level of competition, in 4 seasons with the Ham Fighters:

43-18 (82 starts) 25 complete games, 600.1 IP, 192 walks, 519 K, 2.37 ERA (the last two years his ERA has been under 1.9)

I would go after him. I would go after him whether Sabathia is here or not. Frankly I would go after him even if the Yankees get Sabathia AND Burnett.

His IP were down this year (from over 200 to under 150) but that was because he left the team for a while to pitch for the Japanese National Team in the Olympics

please, no more japanese pitchers, get 'em from the dominican republic. the dice k's are few and far between

Al,

Percentage wise I think the success rate is about equal. There are simply more pitchers from Central America than the Pacific Rim in the majors. But if you look at it by percentage and not just by raw numbers:

Good Asian pitchers:
Wang
Dice
Nomo
Park
Sasaki
Hasagawa
Kobayashi
Kuo
Okajima

Bad Asian pitchers:
Ishii
Igawa
Irabu

Didn't take long for the "Boston" to come out and rub our noses in it eh Sully?

You've been blogging here for two seasons now and some of the guys here even wished you luck at the start of the post season.

Right.

According to Buster Olney, there's a very good chance Giambi winds up with the A's next season if he's willing to go there on the cheap (1 year around 5 mil I would think)

As long as I'm on this, lets play the Where Will They Land game:

Sabathia - LA Dodgers
Tex - based on Kat's statement above NYY
Abreu - NYM
Manny - NYM
Burnett - NYY
Kerry Wood - Cleveland Indians
Brian Fuentes - LAA
Frankie Rodriguez - NYM
Ryan Dempster - Texas Rangers
Adam Dunn - LAA
Orlando Hudson - Chi Sox (NYY if Cano is traded)
Orlando Cabrera - LAD
Ben Sheets - Brewers
Furcal - San Fran Giants
Pat Burrell - San Fran Giants
Blaylock - Baltimore
Crede - LAA

Okay Chip, Here goes:

Sabathia - Giants
Tiexiera - Anaheim
Abreu - agree
Manny - Dodgers
Burnett - Yanks
Wood - Cubs
Fuentes - Anaheim
Rodriguez - Agree
Dempster - Cubs
Dunn - Arizona
Hudson White Sox
Cabrera - White Sox
Sheets - Milwaukee
Furcal - Dodgers
Burrell - Toronto
Blaylock - Texas
Crede - Giants

These are pure guesses on my part.

those are some good guesses.

Ones I would disagree with the most:

Cabrera back to Chicago - they're going to move Alexi Ramirez over to SS

Manny back to the Dodgers - they've got a ton of money wrapped up in Jones and Pierre, plus they have Ethier and Kemp

I think if Tex stays in LA then you could be right on Dunn, but if Tex leaves, Moreno will go hard after Dunn to replace him.

And I would say no to CC with the Giants - they have Lincecum, Sanchez, Cain, Zito, Lowery - they have a bigger need for a bat than a pitcher.

Good counter points Chip.

On Cabrera, I thought that when he was traded to the ChiSox that it was a stopgap one year type thing just like you said. I figured that Williams would want to keep him IF the Sox do well in the playoffs.

On Manny, Yeah I know that they're stuck with the money that they have tied up in those guys. But Manny has changed this team and they are a force to be reckoned with in the post season. They could get to the Series which will make McCourt very happy. Plus, Manny is happy.

On Tiexiera, Kat knows him personally so I do agree with the both of you on your assessment of where he winds up. If Anaheim goes far in the post season, I look for some of the Anaheim players (Hunter for one) to do a full court press on Tiexiera to convince him to stay. Plus Boras has season tickets.

On Sabathia, I completely agree with him not going to SF. In all honesty, I have no clue as to where he winds up. I chose SF because he's from there.
But, in case the Giants decide to package Cain and/or Lowery in a deal for a bat or two, CC may be attractive to them.

Just speculation.

Sabathia - Yanks (What can I say? I'm a hopeless romantic)
Tiexiera - Angels
Abreu - Baltimore
Manny - Dodgers
Burnett - Yanks
Wood - Rangers
Fuentes - Arizona
Rodriguez - Angels
Dempster - NYM
Dunn - Oakland
Hudson- NYM
Cabrera - LAD
Sheets - BOS
Furcal - Baltimore
Burrell - Phil
Blaylock - Texas
Crede - Giants
Giambi- NYY :)

Manny - to the Yanks (his burning desire to stick it to 'em up north) and LA won't commit the years and the money. He can DH for 4 yrs in NY. Abreu stays - good on base percentage and a nice lefty bat in the lineup. Dempster or Burnett to NYY. A 1B and another starting pitcher are found via trades. No more Giambi.

Burnett to Yanks
Tex to Yanks if they really show interest
If not, Giambino is back for sure
Abreu to stay a Yank
Who cares about the other teams???

For a team that's desperate to get younger, it hardly makes an inkling of sense to bring back two free agents who will be 35 and 38 years old respectively in 2009.

Not to mention both are DHs who happen to play the field.

Neither are coming back. They need to cut off the extra fat when they have the chance.