Previewing the season, 26 games in

April 28, 2008 by Benjamin Kabak 21 Comments

While 16 percent of the baseball season has come and gone already, some folks are still rolling out thes season previews. Yesterday, Baseball Think Factory unleashed its Yankee blogger roundtable on the world. Joe, Mike and I all participated in the 20-question exercise. Check it out. And for the record, if Jason Giambi keeps on hitting, I won’t consider him “a baseball train wreck” for much longer.

JT

Theres a lot of talk going around how melky has bulked up by working out with A-rod this off season. Do you think that holds any truth (5hrs already this year), and if so does that change your evaluation of him in your response in the roundtable. If Melky can consistently put up 20+hr’s a season, and continue the plate discipline that he has shown early this year, i would say he will can be an really good CF for the yankees
- http://www.riveraveblues.com Ben K.
  
  If Melky sustains this for a season, I’m happy to change my evaluation of him. He’s had a great month; let’s see it continue.
  - JT
    
    I wasn’t necessarily trying to get anyone to admit that you were wrong. I was more interested in the type of production that melky would need to provide to be considered a good – great CF for the Yankees. I think the biggests knocks on Melky are his lack of power (8hrs last year), lack of plate discipline, and bad reads on fly balls. Offensively, what type of line would Melky need to put up.
E-ROC

I like the over/under 15 HRs for Giambi. BK- “Over, begrudgingly”, lol.

Also, Steve Lombardi can’t hide his hate for Cashman. It’s just sad. He makes personal when talking about Cashman.
- steve (different one)
  
  why does anyone care what Lombardi has to say at this point?
  
  he wrote a whole article about how Hughes was never going to improve his velocity from 91 MPH and it would only decline over the next decade.
  
  he’s already throwing 93/94.
  
  Lombardi is just a hack who has a forum.
http://knickerbockerchatter.blogspot.com/ Bruno

“Mike (RAB): I was in the stands for Doc’s no-hitter. It doesn’t get any better than that.”

Unless you were in the bleachers for Game 6 of the ’96 WS. ; )

If A-Jax and Melky continue on these paths this season, and AG keeps improving with the bat as well, any chance my ’09 fantasy becomes reality?:
CF-Melky
LF-Jeter
2B-CANO
3B-A-Rod
DH-Matsui
1B-Posada
C-Molina/Cervelli
RF-A-Jax
SS-AG
- Joey
  
  fantasy indeed, if only the Yankees and minor leaguers were so predictable. Plus we have to throw in Hank now, he’s the new unmeasurable variable, and will Cash be back?
  - http://www.myspace.com/j_panama Jamal G.
    
    I think people have been giving Hank to much power. Believe it or not, this is a dictatorship. Just because Hal Steinbrenner is quiet does not mean he owns any less of the team than Hank. I understand Hank maybe in charge of “baseball operations” but that is just for title sake, it’s a two-headed monster .with an voice-in-head in Brian Cashman. Well, that’s how I see it/
nick blasioli

epstein makes cashman look sick…just look and the transaction differences between them…trade for a catcher until posada gets healthy again….
- JT
  
  Epstein isnt that great of a GM himself. He’s made plenty of bad deals, and the one deal that everyone can point to that puts the Sox over the top in their 2 championships werent even made by him.
  - steve (different one)
    
    he traded Mirabelli to SD, then 1 month into the season realized he wanted him back and traded Cla Meredith AND Josh Bard for him.
    
    he traded Shoppach in the Coco Crisp deal.
    
    so, he’s traded two backup catchers who are much better than the one they have now in the last 2 years.
  - http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike A.
    
    Epstein’s a good GM, but he’s not the as great as some think. He got flat-out lucky with Ortiz, made two terrible shortstop signings only 2 years apart, the Gagne fiasco, and he overpaid in a big way for Dice-K.
    
    He’s done well with developing his own guys, but only Buchholz has star potential. Ellsbury will be a good player, but not Grady Sizemore like Peter Gammons will have you think. Lester, Pedroia, Lowrie, Moss, Delcarmen, Masterson are all okay players. Not great, not terrible, but decent.
    - steve (different one)
      
      yeah, he’s definitely good, but he’s not the best in MLB as some would say.
      
      the bad moves get forgotten by Yankee fans, while every questionable move by Cashman is discussed ad nauseam.
      
      no one remembers $4M for Joel Piniero. or that they had David Riske, but traded him a year before he put up 70 innings of 2.45 ERA.
      
      could you imagine if Cashman did that? people are still upset over Scott Proctor, and Proctor wasn’t even that good.
chris

Lester will be an annaul 15 game winner and I do see star potential in Ellsbury. Overpaid fo Dice-K? most of that was a one time expendeture and is still very young with a llot od potential to go. Newsbreak here also – Bucholz’s stuff is far superior to Hughes. Even in his start against the Yanks when they knocked him aroung you could see a great curve, chnage-up (which for his age is amazing) and a fastball with late-life. Once this kid gets experience, he will be nasty.

Did he not bring in Beckett – one of the best big game pitchers in baseball (look at his postseason stats – they are some of the best of all time) and if you are going to call the Ortiz move luck than call the Jimmey Key signing or Paul Oneill signing luck on the yanks part. Timlin, Okajema and Papelbaon in the bullpen – and how many other good relievers did he get off the scrp heap.

Not to mention entirely restructuring the team – a very controversial move – in 2005 that led the a WS.

To say that he is not doing a great job is to say that the Yanks are idiots because they are essestially copying his style of building a team.
- steve (different one)
  
  yeah guys, a “one time” expenditure doesn’t even count. it’s like the $51M never even happened. they only paid it once.
  
  yes, he’s done a good job. no one said otherwise.
  
  but i’d take Shapiro anyday.
- http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike A.
  
  Lester will be an annaul 15 game winner
  
  Based on his 4.76 BBper9 in parts of three season in the bigs? Or that he came back from cancer? Most people wouldn’t fight for their lives, that’s impressive.
  
  Bucholz’s stuff is far superior to Hughes.
  
  But it’s not as good Joba’s.
  
  Overpaid fo Dice-K? most of that was a one time expendeture
  
  $51,111,111.11 is one hell of an expenditure just to negotiate with the guy.
  
  Did he not bring in Beckett
  
  He did not bring in Beckett. That was after he left in the monkey suit and he was replaced by his two assistants (forget their names). Theo wasn’t with the organization at that point.
  
  if you are going to call the Ortiz move luck than call the Jimmey Key signing or Paul Oneill signing luck on the yanks part
  
  The difference between Ortiz and say, Paul O’Neill is that Ortiz was nontendered by his previous organization because he sucked so bad.
  
  Timlin, Okajema and Papelbaon in the bullpen – and how many other good relievers did he get off the scrp heap.
  
  How many relievers did he miss on? Piniero? Riske? Rafael Betancourt? Gagne? Hansen?
- JT
  
  I may be wrong, but i thought Beckett was brought in during the time that Theo was no longer the GM of the Sox. I thought the Beckett deal was a Larry Luchino move
  - steve (different one)
    
    this is true. though rumor is that he was “advising”.
    
    the trade has been worth it, b/c they won last year.
    
    flag fly forever, so you make that trade 10 out of 10 times.
    
    BUT….let’s not forget they gave up one of the 5 best players in the NL to get Beckett.
    
    like i said, they don’t regret it, but Hanley Ramirez is going to be an MVP candidate for a lonnnnnnnng time.
- Mike N (Stamford, CT)
  
  “To say that he is not doing a great job is to say that the Yanks are idiots because they are essestially copying his style of building a team.”
  
  What is “his style” of building a team? Building through your farm system and plugging in free agents to fill a need? Yeah, Theo “invented” that style of building a team.
xkevinx

My vote for the dumbest statement in the entire preview, by none other than resident Phil Hughes Apologist MikeA:

“I believe in the Phil Hughes. I expect moments of greatness, moments of utter suckiness, and generally a respectable body of work in 2008. How’s 14 wins, a 4.20 ERA and 130 K in 150 IP sound?”

Sounds good, but entirely unrealistic for next season, let alone this one. He would have to go 3.60, 120K over 130 inning the rest of the way to get to those levels this year, in other words he would have to put up CY consideration numbers from May on. Anything less than a 5.0 ERA is almost unattainable for Kennedy or Hughes this season.
ray sam

we have to get cc sabathia