Sep
11

The Governor’s Cup will have to wait another day

By Mike Axisa

Triple-A Scranton (3-2 loss to Durham, walk-off style) SWB leads the best-of-five series 2-1 … all three games of the series have been decided on walk-off hits, as was the final game of the previous round for SWB … Phil Hughes vs Wade Davis in Game 4 tomorrow, pitching matchups in the minors don’t get any better
Justin Christian: 3 for 3, 2 R, 2 2B, 1 BB, 3 SB – what a stud
Bernie Castro: 0 for 2, 1 K
Juan Miranda: 2 for 4, 2 RBI, 1 K
Shelley Duncan & Chris Basak: both 0 for 3, 1 K – Shelley drew a walk
Ben Broussard & Eric Duncan: both 0 for 4, 3 K – yikes
Matt Carson & Chris Stewart: both 1 for 4, 1 K – Stewart allowed a passed ball
The Ghost of Kei Igawa: 6.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 7-7 GB/FB, 1 E (throwing) – 71 of 105 pitches were strikes (67.6%)
David Robertson: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 0-1 GB/FB – 14 of 26 pitches were strikes (53.8%)
Six-Finger Perez: 0.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

Double-A Trenton is tied at one in the best-of-five Eastern League Championship series with the Akron Aeros (Indians). Chris Garcia George Kontos gets the ball in Game 3 tomorrow.

High-A Tampa’s season is over; they did not qualify for the playoffs. The Daytona Cubs won the league championship.

Low-A Charleston’s season is over; they did not qualify for the playoffs. The Augusta Green Jackets (Giants) won the league championship.

Short Season Staten Island’s season is over; they were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. The Jamestown Jammers (Marlins) will take on the Batavia Muckdogs (Cards) in the best-of-three NY-Penn League Championship series.

The Rookie GCL Yanks’ season is over. The GCL Phils won the league championship.

Posted on Thursday, September 11th, 2008 at 7:52 pm in Down on the Farm.

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146 Comments »

Ivan says:

I don’t know what to think of this game. I want the yankees to win obviously, but at the sam time you want them to lose so I see the Hughes/Davis matchup.

yankeemonkey says:
 
 
 
Ivan says:

As I see Jeff Niemann pitch, you know that 04 draft year is shaping into a solid draft class.

 
 
yankeemonkey says:

Thanks for the thread, Mike!

 
yankeemonkey says:

It’s actually Kontos pitching tomorrow for Trenton; Garcia went last night and got rather lit up…

Mike A. says:
Mike Pop says:

cmon man get it right

 
 
 
yankeemonkey says:

Scranton offense looks eerily similar to the parent club.

What sort of prospect is Niemann? He looks decent.

Mike A. says:

A pretty good prospect. I think he was the 4th overall pick a few years back, definitely one of the top 10 picks. Had some shoulder issues that sapped some velocity.

yankeemonkey says:

Tampa’s going to be scary good for a long time.

 
Ivan says:

He was part of the Rice Trio in 04. Him, Humber and Townsend. Great arms and they all sucumb to injuries.

A.D. says:

Rice arms over used in college?

Mike A. says:

Yep. They come in power arms and leave finesse guys.

 
 
 
 
 
Mike Pop says:

Nieman aint too shabby

 
Mike Pop says:

Can we trade Igawa and 50 mill for Darvish ? lol

Mike A. says:

What makes you think Darvish will be better?

Mike Pop says:

that play that igawa just had did

 

If the scouting reports are to be believed (yeah, right), Darvish has a low-to-mid 90s FB with a plus breaking ball and good change. He’s 21 and still very much projectable and is the best pitcher in Japan. You could say none of that about Kei Igawa.

daneptizl says:

He’s more of a 91-92.8 guy.

 
 
A.D. says:

Darvish > Igawa in Japan, so it would make sense that would carry over

 
 
 
Mike Pop says:
 
Slugger27 says:

mike, u know anything about this tazawa guy? im assuming hes one of the players stick is scouting… any info?

Manimal says:

I say don’t get involved. Recent Japanese players haven’t really work.

Mike A. says:
27 this year says:

I disagree, this guy is someone who hasn’t played in the Japanese professional so whatever his philosophy is, hasn’t quite molded in. This guy could come over to the MLB as a prospect in like A or AA and because he hasn’t played pro ball in Japan, his pitching style hasn’t been set. He is just like an arm out of college or highschool so I think he is a better bet plus he would have a lot less mileage on the arm.

Manimal says:

hes going to cost a shitload for a college or highschool player.

 
 
 
Slugger27 says:

true… im not saying im for it, but gene’s obviously over there for a reason

 
 
Mike A. says:

Nada, today was the first time I heard his name.

 
 
Ivan says:

Igawa pitching well.

 
yankeemonkey says:

Hey, look at Igawa limiting the damage!

As for being careful with Japanese players, I’d say it’s more limited to the pitchers, no? The hitters seem to work out pretty well.

 
Mike Pop says:

Arod for Price and Kazmir

Slugger27 says:

lol the rays with arod’s salary…. we’re very lucky they dont have a lot of money

 
Patrick T says:

Not only are we the only team that can afford A-Rod, it would actually be harder to replace A-Rod’s production than it would be to get our hands on an ace SP and a 5-star prospect. There’s no bats out there to replace him.

 
 
Mike Pop says:

Anyone think Christian has the potential to be a regular mlb outfielder ?

Mike A. says:

I’m a big J-Christ fan, but no. Helluva 4th OFer though.

 

No way. Guy with plus plus speed and a singles hitter with a lot of Ks. 4th/5th OF to me.

 
 
Mike Pop says:

Imagine kazmir shields price davis niemann ?? my gosh all young and affordable with great talent

27 this year says:

with Garza, and guys who turned it around this year in Jackson and Sonnastine along with some great position player talent.

 

In reality due to stamina and injury issues Niemann projects as a very nice 3rd/4th starter. He could be a closer but it’s been said that with his body type and all he can’t warm up quickly.

 
 
Mike Pop says:

If i was the rockies i woulda looked at a Price for Holliday deal. I know the rays weould only bring his name up for Holliday if i was the Rockies I woulda hopped all over it

Ivan says:

TB is not making that deal.

Mike Pop says:

Rosenthal said the only way they woulda discuess Price was if Holliday was in the deal.

Ivan says:

Why in the hell would TB trade price for a guy chances are they are not gonna sign long term.

Mike Pop says:

Why did Braves deal Andrus and Salty plus 2 or 3 other guys for Texiera. They were going for it …. Dont act like its the most unbelievable thing u ever heard.. Why did Milwaukee deal Laporta why did we deal Tabata with Nady gonna hit FA cuz of Boras

 
 
 
 
 
Mike Pop says:

I did want Dice-K pretty bad but im not hung up by it. he cost them what 72 74 mill overall right ?

Ivan says:

How about 103 Million dollars.

Mike Pop says:

think its gonna blow up in their face considering how much he was worked in Japan ? you think his arm is gonna die or w.e

 
 
 
 
D.B. says:
Mike Pop says:

Phil Hughes is my favorite but obviously Price projects to be better … What bout Joba or Price

Mike A. says:

Price is the lefthanded Joba.

Mike Pop says:
 
Ivan says:

While Kershaw is the lefthanded Hughes right?

Mike A. says:
yankeemonkey says:

You know, if Kershaw was on the Yankees, he’d probably be announced a bust by now.

Mike Pop says:

agreed

(Comments wont nest below this level)
yankeemonkey says:

Which only goes to show that it’s utterly ridiculous how little patience Yankee fans have. And Hankenstein, evidently. Good grief, someone put a muzzle on that guy.

 
 
 
 

Kershaw is different. He’s basically a two-pitch pitcher, with a plus velocity on a 93-96 fastball with little to no movement and a plus 11-5 curve that checks in at 74-77. He rarely uses his chaneup or slider, but he really doesn’t need to some times. He has real control issues, and at this point and in the future I would definitely take Hughes’s command over Kershaw’s.

 
 
 
D.B. says:

yeah i agree with price over hughes, but you have to take chamberlain over price anyday. joba has had success at the big league level which is something that price hasn’t done yet. the only thing that worries me about chamberlian are his injury concerns.

Slugger27 says:

price vs joba isnt fair cuz joba has already shown tremendous success at the major league level so technically hes not a prospect anymore… but if ur debating 5 years from now, i think joba is the safer bet simply cuz we’ve seen he can handle major league hitters

 
 
 
Ivan says:

Price for the fact that he’s a lefty and has obviously nasty stuff.

 

Price. He’s a lefty with a superior fastball (93-94 dialed up to 96-97) and a plus slider (85-87). He has a solid change to compliment the three.

Hughes, for now, has an inconsistent fastball, though I’ll go with 91-93. He has a plus curve with 1-7 break between 72 and 74, a plus slider/cutter that was scrapped until this year that comes in at 85-87, an average 2-seamer 86-88, and an underdeveloped changeup that is around 78-80.

You might say, well, Hughes has 3 plus pitches and Price has two, so what gives? As I said, Price is a lefty but he also younger and already has more experience and comfort with his arsenal. Hughes has gotten by very, very well using two or three pitches throughout his career. No question, both are a relatively sure bet to be aces, but I’ll take Price.

Ivan says:

Actually Hughes is younger than Price.

 
Mike A. says:

And Andrew Brackman.

D.B. says:
 
 
 
Ivan says:

I don’t wanna call the cutter a plus pitch as of yet. His Fastball is a plus pitch, while his curveball can be Plus-Plus.

The thing is that his slider/cutter (not sure what to make of it yet) was labeled plus and “major-league ready” as he was coming out of high school.

Ivan says:

His Slider was yes a good pitch for when he came outta HS, but once he didn’t use it for a while, he lost the feel for it and the velovity on the slider was similar to his change up and as a result really was a plus pitch anymore and scrap it for the cutter.

His cutter from reports and from I see has potential to be a plus pitch but it’s new so I can’t really label it at that level yet.

Ivan says:

was not a plus pitch anymore.

 
 
 
 
 
 
Slugger27 says:

mike, whats ur takeo n phil coke? hes impressed me so far but hard to tell what he will be long term. u see him as a lefty specialist, solid middle reliever, back end starter, or career minor leaguer in the long run?

Mike A. says:

Definitely reliever, but I think he can more than a LOOGY. Maybe not great against righties, but not completely hopeless.

Slugger27 says:

im hopin he can be the 2nd coming of stanton… its been a while since weve had a reliable lefty in the pen… cant handle watching the felix heredias and jesse oroscos and billy trabers of the world much longer

Ashish Skaria says:
 
 
 
 
Mike Pop says:

I really see Kennedy getting dealt within the next year

Bill says:

For what? His value is real low right now. Its really similar to the Tyler Clippard situation last year. We could cut our losses and get a decent player with less upside or we could take our chances that Kennedy can pitch at this level and give him a shot.

 
 
Mike Pop says:

Could we get Kershaw in a deal for Cano than if he has all those problems ?

 
Manimal says:

“I’m going to be reviewing the entire organization,” Hank Steinbrenner told the AP in Tampa today. “We’re going to do everything we can to win next year. We’re not going to wait. Do everything we can that makes sense. We’re going to fix what we have to fix. We’re going to have to look at what has been done wrong over the last five years, which I’ve had one year to try and figure out. Clearly, a lot of mistakes were made.” Damn. Now I know what you meant Mike. Anyways, Padres claimed Scott Patterson and Maruszak was called up.

 
yankeemonkey says:
 
Mike Pop says:

UHOH if Cashman loses autonomy he might not want to stay and head to Philly

 
Mike A. says:

Hank needs to go back to his horses. Just shut the hell up and let the baseball people do the baseball stuff.

TurnTwo says:

what makes people automatically assume this is only Hank speaking? he’s the only one to go public, but there might be any number of people behind the scenes who feel the same way.

The Scout says:

That’s it! Someone or something has taken over Hank’s mind (or mouth)….

 
 
 
Ivan says:

Hank really needs to shut the fuck up right seriously.

 
 
Mike Pop says:

i was looking at joel shermans post today and some ppl who commented on it were absolute idiots.. they were like deal matsui melky wright and kennedy for rowand and cain.. liek that would even be close to getting it done

Slugger27 says:

nobody wants melky, mastui isnt worth $13 mill, i still think chase wright is a career minor leaguer, and kennedy would be selling low… sabean wouldnt even respond before hanging up the phone

Mike Pop says:
 
 
Ivan says:

NY Fan beat me to making my point.

A-Rod is PRICED for PERFECTION.

Michael Jordan made 36 million a year, but he GOT RINGS lots of RINGS.

I will paraphrase a little SCRIPTURE here.

To whom the MOST is given,the MOST is expected.

Michael Jordan delivered on that, A-Rod has not DELIVERED on what he is paid and the expectations that come with what he is paid.

I UNDERSTAND the media and the YES network defending A-Rod. Their bread and butter is filling print space and filling air time. Blathering how great the individual is, is what you gotta do, when the team you are covering takes a September nap.

But I do NOT understand fans defending A-Rod.

The media are mercenaries but fans should be populists.

If you as a fan can defend and cheer A-Rod, then you are much like those SF Giants fans whose team stunk but filled the park and celebrated a misanthrope like Barry Bonds, who is a legend, but only INFAMOUS legend.

Yea A-Rod takes 30 A-bats game.

Slugger27 says:

i think myself, mike, and jamal are the only arod supporters left on the entire planet, he makes $28 mill but hes still a human being, he runs on blood and brain power, not a battery or robot remote control

Ivan says:

I didn’t write that. It came from a poster on Sherman’s blog. I was just showing something that was just ridiculous.

http://blogs.nypost.com/sports.....tte_p.html

see.

 
Mike Pop says:

I support him hes my favorite player but hes so mentally weak it pisses me off.. A guy with that much talent should not K like he does. I am grateful he is a yankee but I think he needs another star on the team to help him AKA MANNY RAMIREZ or I would settle for MArk Texiera

Mike A. says:

I think he needs another star on the team

Uh…

Mike Pop says:

you know what i mean a big hitter .. a 280 300 hitter 30 homer 100rbi plus guy we dont have that. someone needs to help protect him

 
 
Slugger27 says:

the entire roster is stars

Mike Pop says:

you cna argue that boston has more stars than us

 
 
 
D.B. says:

i am too. arods the best hitter on the yanks day in and day out.

 
 
yankeemonkey says:

Um, what? Barry Bonds cheated his way into the record books. That’s totally like striking out/RISP. Well done.

yankeemonkey says:
 
 
 
 
Mike Pop says:

I like to see Hank running his mouth I know its not the smartest move but I like leadership and I love the desire to win

 
Manimal says:

D-rob droppin Curves left and right.

 
Steve H says:
Manimal says:

LMAO, Byrd’s face was like FUCK IM SUROUNDED BY TRANNY’s.

The key to winning.

Fun.

 
 
Ivan says:

Come on D-Rob ya better than that son.

Ivan says:

That’s what the fuck im talking about. Nasty curveball.

 
yankeemonkey says:

I like Robertson. I hope he gets another chance next year. Of course with Hank running his mouth the way he is, who knows. It’ll be a crime if he trades away the farm.

Mike Pop says:

Hes not gonna trade the farm everyone knows he wont hes just gonna spend mad dough…. He will trade some picks but he wont trade our high end prospects

 
 
 
Slugger27 says:

mlbtr projects marte to be type A… given the small buyout and his less than stellar performance i think it makes more since to decline and offer arb… especially if they like coke as much as they seem to

D.B. says:

yeah i agree….more picks the better, cokes fastball is a tick or tick faster than i thought

 
 
Manimal says:

Justin “they call me Jesus” Christ.

 
Mike Pop says:

I think D Rob will be a nasty reliever in the majors eventually

Ivan says:

He has potential to be a solid/very good reliever on a championship team. He’s the type guy the mets would love to have.

Manimal says:

Honestly, Aceves Coke and Drob would all be top of the line relievers

Mike Pop says:

Ya dude Drob is the best of them tho

 
 
 
 
yankeemonkey says:

Tie game!

JChrist + Miranda = pure win.

Mike Pop says:
 
 
Ivan says:

Seriously should we really take Hank seriously? Sometimes he just blowing just hot air.

That’s why I fuck with Hal and Cashman too.

yankeemonkey says:

Sometimes I wonder if Hal is Michael to Hank’s Freddo.

Ivan says:

Hanks more like Sunny, but we all know what happen to Sunny.

yankeemonkey says:
 

“Sunny”? Really? That’s where you went with that? You think his name was “Sunny”?

WOW.

 
 
 
 
yankeemonkey says:

Haha, the Durham announcers are the worst homers ever. Every pitch that their player throws should be a strike, and they don’t even try to conceal their disappointment when Scranton does something good.

Mike Pop says:
Manimal says:

“A broken bat liner and.. oh sheesh, a double play, (mumbles something but sounded dissapointed)”

yankeemonkey says:

Yup. Mumblemumbledoubleplaymumblesigh.

 
 
 
 
Mike A. says:
Mike Pop says:

cmon baby walk off style !!!!

yankeemonkey says:

You want Scranton to lose?

Mike Pop says:

my bad wasnt thinking straight i thought we were the home team

 
 
 
 
Joe says:

Hey, the Yankees are out of it and Gardener has rode the bench for the past few weeks why not send him down to play in the triple AAA playoffs?

Manimal says:

You should be GM because clearly, you are smarter than cashman.

 
 
Ivan says:

SWB sure love playing these games mad close.

 
Manimal says:

Perez is a big guy with pretty good stuff

 
 
Manimal says:
 
 
yankeemonkey says:

There we go, another walkoff. Guess we get our wish with Hughes tomorrow.

 
Manimal says:

Any chance we can get two game threads tomorrow?

Ivan says:

How about just for the SWB playoff team.

 
 
Ivan says:

Fuck they lost, oh well at least we see that Hughes/Davis match up.

 
Frank says:

Can’t wait for that Hughes/Davis matchup.

I think Hughes will breeze through that lineup. He’ll dominate in a big game for the win.

 
Ivan says:

SWB involve in 4 walk-off games. What are the odds.

 
pat says:

welcome to fucktown population: us

 
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