Comments on: Yanks inch back into race with two-game sweep

By: Doug

Doug — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 05:10:38 +0000

BUT HE WAS A PUNTER IN COLLEGE
He’s gritty! He’s gutty! He’s a gamer! For God’s sake, what are you waiting for?? Sign him now!

By: BillyBall

BillyBall — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 03:58:28 +0000

The difference between Melky and Gardner:

Melky has a better arm, and overall is a better hitter. When he is going good he uses all parts of the field. AT BEST he projects to hit 15Hr’s and 80 RBI’s with a 300 avg., 10 SB.

Gardner has much more speed, more range in the field. AT BEST Gardner projects to hit 280 with 3Hr’s, 40 Rbi’s, 60SB.

Now based on the Yankees needs, which is more range in the outfield to make up for Abreau and more speed on the base paths Gardner would be the right fit. Also they need a guy who can sacrifice and play small baseball. Every team has a guy like that in there lineup. Melky lacks that small ball mentality. Melky projects to be a better hitter but looking at his production right now day in and day out it is hard to see, also it is not what the Yankees as a team need. They need a guy that can play small ball and create havoc on the base paths. This is why Gardner value in the lineup is a bit ahead of Melky. I believe we could have traded Melky earlier in the year but his stock has plummeted and his value is almost zero. So we set up a platoon in CF for now until the right trade comes along or another injury. The truth is the Yankees do need another RH bat that can provide some pop and also play defense. Holiday is not the right fit. Nady may be an interesting fit to platoon in right field. But than do we trade Abreau. According to Replacement Level Yankees, Abreau is rated the worst RF in the AL based on offensive and defensive production.

By: r.w.g.

r.w.g. — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 03:16:42 +0000

We’ll give Andrew Brackman a multi-million dollar major league contract knowing he is going to have Tommy John surgery, but we’re going to let Bittle go over some “wear and tear” in his shoulder?

I know shoulder is always, always worse than elbow, but the kid is a reliever.. who cares if he burns out in a few years. His stuff is filthy. Nobody has to break the bank and I don’t know what the kid wants, but get him signed.

By: Rich M

Rich M — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 02:58:31 +0000

looks like Bittle may not sign with Yanks.

http://www.clarionledger.com/a.....9/80708025

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 02:38:23 +0000

Juan Pierre was not an above average OF. Maybe you could argue he was average. His career OPS+ is 84 (compare that to Melky’s 88). If you add in his defense and speed, then you could reasonably argue he was average.

I generally agree that Melky has more upside than Gardner, but Gardner is higher probability. Of course Gardner is not as bad as he’s shown, but I haven’t seen anything to suggest he’ll be better than average.

As for the called third strikes, they showed the top-down view of one of them on YES and is was clearly a ball. It’s hard to argue against taking a ball just because the call was wrong. I think the biggest thing is that its more frustrating to see someone ground out on the first pitch than to see if happen on the 5th or 6th pitch, but in the end it’s the result that counts. Also consider that Melky is not that bad in terms of patience (not as bad as Cano, for example).

By: whozat

whozat — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 02:20:31 +0000

I thought the deal was his command of it wasn’t yet as good as his curve or fastball. So it’d make sense he wasn’t confident throwing it in the bigs.

Sucks this is kind of a lost year for him. I figure he should throw winter ball this year too, to get more innings.

We’ll see how his rehab and all go.

By: Ivan R.

Ivan R. — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 01:59:56 +0000

For this year, they have Posada and Molina. Sure, Joe Mo can’t hit a lick, but the man is stellar defensively. So what if the Yanks don’t have a .280+ hitter at every position. It isn’t the worst thing in the world. Jesus Montero is looking great in A ball. Yea he’s a couple of years away, and will need some work behind the dish, but why go and trade away young parts for a catcher when you can just be patient and bring someone up. Besides, it’s not like Salty is some Longoria type phenom that is raking, he’s struggling right now. Yea, he’ll probably be an above avg. catcher at worst, but you don’t go and pay a high price for someone you don’t really need.

By: A.D.

A.D. — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 01:51:05 +0000

Or Garett Atkins, can replace Giambi, and CRUSHES lefties this year, .479 BA, and .321 career.

Probably somewhat of a Coors product but he’d balance out, Coors field sucks some hitters into traps

By: A.D.

A.D. — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 01:48:07 +0000

Thats what i wanted to hear….not re-aggrivated groin

By: steve (different one)

steve (different one) — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 01:41:46 +0000

50 pitch limit, just coming back from an injury