Comments on: The blame game

By: Michael from LA

Michael from LA — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 23:49:50 +0000

The captain (manager) is responsible for ship (team) not the 3rd base coach. These are major league ball players who should know how to run the bases , if the Yankees are under achieving blame the ball players and the manager for not addressing the situation.

By: ceciguante

ceciguante — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 16:13:31 +0000

i agree with your general point that the improvement needs to come through the farm, but that doesn’t mean a blanket rule should be in place to never trade any prospects for veterans. it’s a case-by-case basis, with a presumption in favor of staying with the kids. i’m not making a final judgment on any kids, but you can’t knock someone who is not happy with their production this year (esp when the team plan was to rely on hughes and kennedy as 4 & 5). i don’t think we disagree much here.

but i don’t see how your stats allow you to conclude that it’s just “luck” that they’re facing such a dropoff in RISP this year compared to their overall offensive #s. frankly, you don’t know that. last year they were equally effective with RISP vs without. injurires may explain some of the dropoff from 2007 to 2008, but not why the team gets worse with RISP this year. they have the same injuries with guys on base or not. you say luck, i say failure.

By: Doug

Doug — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 03:49:45 +0000

would smash

By: Relaunch

Relaunch — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 00:00:15 +0000

This just goes to show how far Pinstripe Alley has fallen to.

By: Patrick T

Patrick T — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 22:23:00 +0000

I did provide a stat. The stat is they are hitting worse this year, period. They’re hitting worse this year because several of their better hitters have been injured for parts or all of the year. They’re also hitting worse because some of the players have gotten older and started to decline, and they’re also hitting worse because some of the younger players have regressed. Yes they have hit poorly with RISP this year, but its not because of some random unquantifiable lack of clutchness. Its because they’re hitting worse overall and so a decline from their normal level is even more noticible.

And as far as giving up on the kids because 2008 has been a tough year – that attitude is how we ended up with the Pavano/Wright/RJ nightmares in the beginning. Or to harken to the era of your SN, Ed Whitson, Dennis Rasmussen, Steve Trout et al. If you don’t develop a decent chunk of your talent, you cannot win on a consistent basis. The 90s dynasty existed because of good talent through the system, with judicious FA signings and trades. Economically the big pay-outs to the likes of Jeter and A-Rod require balance from guys making the minimum to afford.

Its ridiculous to judge kids off their first major league appearances. Bernie Williams was a lousy hitter for several years. Rivera was a bust as a starter. For every Joba, ten-times as many prospects, especially pitching prospects take a few times around the block to make it.

By: jscape2000

jscape2000 — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 22:17:49 +0000

Just now spotted this thread, and wanted to point out that the guy who wrote this post on Pinstripe Alley is a normal commentator, not a moderator.
To say that PA blames Meechum is a mis-/overstatement.

By: Ben B.

Ben B. — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 21:30:02 +0000

Failing to hit with RISP is a major problem this year. It’s also something that can’t be pinned on a particular cause. Bad year.

By: JimT

JimT — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 21:14:17 +0000

You are speaking about J.D. Drew and D. Matsuzaka. Drew was a very controversial signing. Yes, he has played really well this year, but up until the playoffs last year his signing was not looking quite so wonderful. Matsuzaka is a specal case. His case is different because of the posting fee and because he was an accomplished pitcher heading into what should be his prime years.

Besides, I’m not suggesting that a team should never dip into FA. Rather it should be a means of rounding out and complimenting, not the primary means of building a team. The Red Sox despite the signing of J.D. Drew are still a relatively young team. Five of thier current everyday players are under 30 and three of thier best sarters are 28 years old or younger. Complimenting that core is a good deal different than bringing in several high priced FAs to what is already an older team.

By: ceciguante

ceciguante — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 20:48:58 +0000

i think your points about this year’s terrible RISP are wrong. just because you don’t have a convenient stat to explain WHY they are doing worse this year with RISP doesn’t mean there’s no explanation, and it certainly doesn’t mean that the fans on this board shouldn’t be incensed at the team’s failures with RISP. it also doesn’t mean that it’s just “luck” that’s to blame. that’s misplaced reliance on stats — assuming everything is random if you can’t explain it. fans SHOULD be up in arms for the awful RISP production. luck, my ass.

as for your points about “folly” of the kids — i can’t believe you’re even making this argument. i don’t want to dredge up issues that have been discussed ad nauseum on this board, but you raised it: the santana non-deal looks about as bad now as it possibly could have. santana is producing, and the pieces we could have had him for are performing about as badly as could have been imagined. while i agree that the team needs to improve through the farm system generally, as of right now that non-deal looks like another terrible cashman decision. (btw, kennedy is not a 4 starter, right now he is about an 8 starter until further notice).

By: steve (different one)

steve (different one) — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 20:32:43 +0000

So, as a Red Sox fan, its my hope that the Yankees go out and spend like crazy in the off season. That formula is broken.

i’m confused.

this is exactly what the Red Sox did in 2006 after they finished in 3rd.

they went out and spent a couple hundred million bucks.

that worked out OK for them.