Thanksgiving Day Open Thread

November 27, 2008 by Mike Axisa 43 Comments

We Yankees’ fans are a lucky bunch. The team has experienced so much success over the last decade and a half that we have so much to be thankful for. There’s this. And this. And this guy. And those guys. I could go on and on (Joe already did). There’s no doubt we’ve been spoiled by our beloved Bombers, but today is the one day a year we should take a step back and say “thanks” for all the joy they’ve brought us.

It’s easy to forget that it’s just a game, but Thanksgiving is one of the rare days that the intensity of the hot stove will simmer down. Don’t expect much, if any baseball news today; players, agents and execs will be sitting around with friends and family and great food just like everyone else.

The only hot stove on your mind today should be the one in the kitchen, but if you have some time to kill before the bird’s ready, use this as your open thread. You know the routine by now – anything goes here, just keep it civil.

Happy Thanksgiving. May Mo watch over your travels.

Marsha

I love Oscar the Grouch.
Marty Puccio

Today I give thanks that I was not born a Pittsburgh Pirates fan.
Mike W.

Guys,

Thanks for giving us this site to enjoy everyday.

And to everyone, happy thanksgiving to all of you…
christopher

it is looking more and more like the Angels having giving up on Tex with the mets waiting in the wings holfog theor cards on tex,

that means that the angels will come with an identical offer to that of the yanks. cc signs with the mets and tex with the muts

yanks will be leftt in a bidding war for lowe, burnett, annd manny. i like manny but a rotation of wang, lowe, burnett, and hughes isnts exactly a champiomhip rotation.

dwallow your pride and cash and give cc 7/175. expect the last 2 tears will hurt a bit; swallow your pride and bring in mannhy for 2/50 with an option based on games played – hell you can even give him another year with 25 million option on games played with other options on awards like RBI, HR, OBP, AVG and 100 grand for every guy he beats on the home run list, I am sure there are many more criteria that can be used to help defeat his one weasknss – giving up

finally there are great role players out there out there in milton, kotsay and especially baldelli who wouls make an excellent platton player on an incentive laden contract, in fact i am surorised there has been no mention of him. Any of these three would be huge upgradew over melky splitting time in the outfield at all three positions to get at-bats. These role players like lus sojo, tim raines, strawberry and others —something the yanks have been missing sinsed the dvnysty years.
of course they cant get all of them, but i would love baldelli and bradley (if he shows he can play the field)

This is a year that the team can build a solid core for the next 4 or 5 years giving them time to develop more position players and elite startes. Screw the budget this year – keep the payroll as it is now. Next year they can cut some payroll while keeping a championship core intact.

Also, as far as Tex goes there will be other first basemen who turn free agents during the term of his contract namely texeria. Often it seems that the yankees havent gone after players because the position was blocked – most notably
mr. giambi.

ps please excuse the spelling – i was a little hungover
- Mike Pop
  
  Lol there will be other 1b who turn free agents namely Texieria
  - Jay CT
    
    I guess he meant Pujols. Seriously, that post should just get deleted.
- http://www.riveraveblues.com Ben K.
  
  Ok. This is the second day in a row where you’ve posted something unsubstantiated and frankly wrong about Teixeira. I know this is a free-rein Open Thread, but you can’t just go stating as fact something about the Mets being interested when they are clearly, clearly not about to sign Teixeira.
  - Steve
    
    Sure they are. They’re going to move their 1B to 3B, and then trade their 3B who’s aging, owed a ton of money and coming off a serious injury.
    
    . . . oh no, wait. That’s somebody else.
    - Steve
      
      BTW-Is the Mets #1 prospect a 1B as well? Because then it would DEFINITELY be true.
- Jay CT
  
  What the hell does this diatride even mean?
  - Steve
    
    http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/diatribe
- andrew
  
  also… wang lowe burnett joba hughes/pettitte can be a championship rotation..
Mike Pop

Im just here to say to Ivan…

The Knicks should of drafted Eric Gordon instead of the bum from Italy
- Steve H
  
  You must have loved the Frederic Weis pick
- http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/02_01/burressDM0402_468x305.jpg Nady Nation
  
  Still too early to make that claim I think, but you very well may be right.
  
  Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.
  - andrew
    
    it’s going to be a long year for those knicks… harrington looked awful last night in the first quarter starting out 0-8 before he turned it up in the 2nd half… but hopefully the summer of 2010 will make this all worth it. even without lebron, getting wade or bosh with a good supporting player would be a nice way to rebuild
Manimal

that picture is awesome.
Steve

NEW YORK — The Yankees’ offseason pursuit of starting pitching may create a situation where Phil Hughes begins his season at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, rather than being present for the opening of the new Yankee Stadium.

But whether or not the Yankees are able to land their top free-agent choices, a respectable Arizona Fall League campaign can only help Hughes’ chances of sticking in New York. Pitching for the Peoria Javelinas, Hughes did not allow more than two earned runs in six of his seven starts in Arizona, which he hopes will set the tone for future success after an injury-marred 2008.

“I’m going to take the same attitude I take every year, but obviously the Yankees are going to make moves to put the best team out there they can,” Hughes said.

“I’ll go into Spring Training in the best possible shape, ready to make the team. I’ll keep working hard and doing what I need to do. That’s been my philosophy since I was 19. Nothing’s going to change for me.”

Hughes’ performance sent some positive notes to New York, where the club is monitoring his progress. He was clocked around 95 mph in some starts, striking out 38 and walking 13 in 30 innings. In his final start on Nov. 19, Hughes beat the Scottsdale Scorpions, striking out 10 in five innings of shutout, two-hit ball.

Manager Joe Girardi was encouraged, saying that he believes Hughes will eventually be a Major League pitcher for the Yankees. Girardi said that there are situations where Hughes could open the year in New York, but it would depend on how successful the Hot Stove season is.

“Obviously, you look at what you’re able to acquire,” Girardi said. “Maybe you don’t acquire the three starters like you think you are, and there’s a possibility that he could be in our rotation. The first thing that’s important for him is to stay healthy and the next thing is fastball command.

“Then you build off of that. You would hope that he learned a lot from this year. I know it was a very frustrating year for him and for us as well. At this point, you can’t rule out anyone being a starter, because there’s spots open.”

http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081126&content_id=3694289&vkey=news_nyy&fext=.jsp&c_id=nyy
- Matt
  
  On this Thanksgiving, a few quick hits:
  
  Absolutely the right way to handle Hughes.
  
  On CC, the most I’d go is 150 over 6, if he’d rather take less and play in LA, then he probably wasn’t a good fit here anyway.
  
  DeJesus doesn’t look like a realistic option in CF because Tehan is more likely to be traded out of KC.
  
  I’m interested to see what Melky and Robbie do in Spring.
  - Steve H
    
    I’d go more $ and years on CC. Look at what David Wells did after the age of 33. 9 years out of 10 with 30+ starts. Similar body type, repeatable delivery, and a good athlete. If we give him 8 years, and he gets injured (for the 1st time ever) for 2 of those years, it’s worth it. On Dejesus, good, don’t want him at what he’d cost, he’s simply not that good. Look at his 2007 season, simply Melky-esque.
  - Reggie C.
    
    I agree Matt. I’m sure there’s a limit to where Cash and Hal are willing to go and I think its 6 years/150 ML. We’re not going into a bidding war b/c frankly its not a bidding war. We’re going to have the highest total contract value on the table. The Halos aren’t going to out-bid us. Its those unquantifiable “family” ties that makes the scenario nerve-wracking for the Yanks.
    
    We shouldn’t go higher than 6 years b/c the Halos aren’t. We shouldn’t go higher than $150 ML b/c the Halos MIGHT bid $137ML (if that). If CC hasn’t signed with us by the end of the Winter Mtgs (12/11), then Cash should talk of a deadline.
    - andrew
      
      yea but if the halos go 6/137 and cc comes back and says he’ll come to new york if they go to 6/155, would you really say no for an extra million per year?
      knowing that NY is not his #1 choice, we may have to outbid by more than 500,000 per year to get him
      - Mike Pop
        
        If we have to pay more than 160 that is where I draw the line
Manimal

thank you chris Johnson. Already got me 18.30 pts in my other league, CBS clocked him at about 22mph
McCaff

I am thankful for not being born in Boston, thus not rooting for the Red Sox nor having a Baastan accent.
- Manimal
  
  I was born in worcester Mass, Xcore yanks fan, 0 boston accent.
  - A.D.
    
    Then you’re one of the lucky ones
mike

I am thankful for the best closer in the history of baseball…sometimes we forget just how good he is…
- Steve H
  
  By far the best closer in the history of baseball.
Manimal

Who is worst. 2008 Lions or 2007 Dolphins
- Manimal
  
  worse* bad grammar.
- E-ROC
  
  2008 Lions are much more terrible than 2007 Dolphins. The Lions are losing 21-3 in the first quarter. They are a really bad team. No discipline on both sides of the ball and don’t execute at all. At least the Dolphins were competitive in their games; the Lions aren’t. The only bright spots on that team are Calvin Johnson, Kevin Smith, and Ernie Sims.
  - Old Ranger
    
    The only bright spots on that team are Calvin Johnson, Kevin Smith, and Ernie Sims.
    
    Disagree with this part of your post, we have a lot more players doing well then just those you mentioned. One of the problems is; they are not playing as a team, plus they lost their first and second quarterbacks. There isn’t any continuity from either side of the ball. I think we could go on for a while here…but why? 27/09.
    - E-ROC
      
      I like Lee Bodden and McDonald. Are there any other bright spots? Corey Redding is ok, too. Everybody else…….just not cutting it, at least from my perspective.
      
      When that lacks discipline on both sides of the ball, it is the reflection of the coach. Marinelli needs to get his team back to the basics of executing plays.
      - Steve H
        
        Jeff Backus. And Drew Henson has a strong arm, and can hit for power. Too bad he can’t hit a curveball.
      - Mike Pop
        
        Cherilus
Manimal

Oh wow. From bad to worse. 10 yard punt.
J.R.

I’m thankful for owners who will do, or say, or spend whatever it takes to be a championship team. Thinking about the Yankees, there is no other comparison in any sport ever.
Mike Pop

Cookie Monster was my boy
Steve H

OMFG!!! A Drew Henson sighting!! Too bad he didn’t pan out, we wouldn’t have had to trade for that bum A-Rod.
J-Gao

I don’t support the idea, but w/all the Rafael Furcal rumors going around, something popped up in my mind.

When Furcal was first a free agent a few years ago, he was mentioned as a possibility to take over the CF job (over Bubba Crosby).

Is it even possible that the Yankees sign him, or is this just a dumb idea?
- Old Ranger
  
  Not a dumb idea at all…
  I don’t think they would help the team much, Rivera is 29-30 yrs. old, and Rafael is 30-31. To me that is older then I would like, plus neither one is really good as defenders or hitters, I think pitching and defence is the watch word for the team this coming year.
  2009 we will have only one guy in the outfield that is signed for 2010, Brett Gardner (Melky, if not traded). We will have A-Jax one year closer to the big time (maybe) and about three/five OF FAs coming to market for 2010, save some money and get us a good, young, athletic OF. 27/09.
- Mike Pop
  
  Not dumb but unrealistic.. Why would he want to play center when he is better at SS. Plus why put him there it doesnt benefit the team the most with some of the options in the next couple years