Fan Confidence Poll: April 6th, 2009
ByLast week was a pretty uneventful one for the Yanks. Well, unless you count the opening of their new gazillion dollar palace. Derek Jeter hit the first ball out of the park in batting practice, and the team opened the place with a win over the Cubbies in an exhibition game. More good news about the New Stadium: you can actually drink in the bleachers now! It’s not all happy times though, because we might never The Voice of God again.
Aside from opening the New Stadium, the team finalized it’s two remaining roster questions, taking Jon Albaladejo as the seventh reliever and Ramiro Pena as the utility infielder. The Pena move is somewhat significant because it reinforces the front office’s dedication to getting younger, more athletic, and better defensively. Joba Chamberlain put together two strong starts to close out his spring, but more importantly Jorge Posada has seen the light. Brett Gardner was also named the best rookie in camp.
A-Rod‘s rehab from hip surgery continues to go well, and it looks like he might even be able to return in late April. Reegie Corona was returned by the Mariners, and Phil Hughes‘s strong spring continued in his latest Triple-A outing. All is good in Yankeeland these days.
Please take a second to answer the poll below and give us an idea of how confident you are in the team. At some point in the next few weeks I’ll create a permanent link to a graph showing the change in fan confidence over time, but for now this will have to hold you over. Don’t worry, I’ll pretty it up eventually. Thanks in advance.
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The Mason Williams Watch
WHAT?! WHY?! Did he accidentally the whole bottle?!
With everyone’s staying mostly healthy and watching the way they handled the Cubs, I have to say that I am becoming more confident. Let’s see if they can carry their great spring over into the season.
exactly, had they been reg season game si might have increased ym vote, but it stays at an 8 until stuff that counts happens
I voted 10 because I have the utmost confidence at this particular juncture.
Been voting 10 every week.
I’m with you TSJC. As long as Melvin is with the organization, I’m at a 15.
I’ve been voting 10 everytime too. How could one not vote 10?
Well I haven’t been voting ten for several reasons:
I think ARod’s absence could put us in a hole that we can’t climb out of, especially in this ultra-competitive division.
I don’t think Pettitte will be effective this year, but I think they will hesitate to bring up Hughes because then they have nowhere to put Pettitte, and even if they bring up Hughes, there’s no guarantee he dominates either.
Joba and Burnett have yet to prove that they can stay healthy as starters in the MLB.
The bullpen is full of unproven arms, and while they may succeed, the chance they may falter is nearly as high.
Posada is a huge question mark, as are Matsui’s knees. Will these guys make it through 100+ games as they are projected for right now?
Is Jeter’s decline an aberration? Or is he really getting that much worse every year? If so, how much does he fall this year?
What if Gardner looks like the lost kid we saw in his first call-up last year as opposed to the one we saw in ST? If he is that lost kid, and we get the 2008 Melky as well, we might as well be an NL team with the pitcher batting 9th.
There are so many questions with this team. And yes, there are questions with every team, I know, but that’s why I don’t think anyone could/should ever be perfectly confident.
Whats up with all the self-linking? Trying to increase page views or what?
What’s up with your face, Gary?
Lots of coke.
LOTS OF COKE!!!!
You like Bruce Lee movies?
Mike Pop, do you like gladiator movies?
TSJC, have you ever been in a in a Turkish prison?
Sweet Willie, have you ever seen a grown man naked?
speaking of the new stadium, this never got 1% of the bad press the obstructed bleacher seats in YS got:
http://www.metspolice.com/2009.....ng-in.html
there are obstructed views at every stadium but people never hear about them because they rarely sit in EVERY seat. I was at Citi Field on Sunday for their workout and checked out seats in the promenade (Right Field). We were in the 4th Row and even when we stood up we couldn’t see CF or the RF corner. How is that any different than being unable to see the RF or CF at Yankee Stadium? And those seats are a lot more than $5.
To me, obstructed views are when you sit behind home plate at Wrigley Field and have to lean to your right to see the batter because you are behind a freakin’ support pole. NOT when the angles of the stadium prevent you from seeing the entire field.
I meant LF field corner at Citi Field not RF
yeah lf corner is where my gf’s dad bought a 10 game package…he went to check them out when we were at the game saturday (we were sitting in right field last row of the uper deck) and was sorely disappointed that he cant see left field, part of cf, or a fly ball until it descends. all for only $19 a seat
With the news that Boli will be back before May and the way the team has been playing lately my confidence went up to 10 from an 8.I was a bit worried about how the offense would perform without Boli but it looks like they can not only “weather the storm” but be worthwhile.
Dont get me started on the pitching. Every game we play we will have a capable starter and the depth makes me smirk.
Dont get me started on the pitching. Every game we play we will have a capable starter and the depth makes me smirk.
Agreed.
Out of curiosity, if we were to trade pitching staffs with the Mets, and our fivesome was Santana/Pelfrey/Maine/Perez/Hernandez with Redding and Garcia as the depth, what would your confidence level be?
I’m going to go with a 3.
yet somehow all these people pick the mets to win the east (woe is dave winfield)
i was on ym feet screaming at the top of my lungs from my seat friday when handsome cody ransom went deep. everyone in my section was like, dude, you know thats not arod right? of course, come on, thats the handsome one (perfect wrestling name)
Hmmm. -2?
Omar did a good job, he made the game shorter by getting depth in that pen. Remember, 7, 8, and 9 are way more important then the first 6.
See, I couldn’t go all the way down to a -2, because while that rotation would be like a -5, we’d still have our lineup and bullpen; the cumulative positive of those two is probably a +8 so the balance is a +3.
The 1-4 is not that bad but beneath the surface they have alot of question marks. It would go from 9-10 to about a 5.
“The 1-4 is not that bad…”
Yes it is.
Santana = great
Pelfrey = probably good
Maine = meh
Perez = sucktastic
Perez is the ‘more strikeouts’ version of Brett Myers, IMO.
Both the Phillies and the Mets have rotation issues, but the Phils have more offense to make up for it than the Mets do.
“Perez is the ‘more strikeouts’ version of Brett Myers, IMO.”
That’s a great comp, well done. And, even though Perez is indeed the more strikeouts version of Brett Myers, I’d still take Myers over Perez.
Mets optimism scale = 4
Mets team sum-up: 3 great position players, 1 great starter followed by Pelfrey and cannon fodder, and a nice Putz-Rodriguez punch. That’s it.
but schneider has the intangibles!!!
IMO, there may not be a better “core” in baseball than Wright/Reyes/Beltran/Santana in terms of age and talent.
to potentially waste the prime years of that core by not making a few simple fixes in the offseason is pretty inexcusable if you ask me.
the Mets should have signed Lowe over Perez and picked up one of the many corner OFers sitting on the market.
ive been saying fromt he start minaya is a terrible gm.
even guys like that can fall into a lucky trade. the church/schneider trade for milledge was a great great trade for the mets
even guys like that can fall into a lucky trade. the church/schneider trade for milledge was a great great trade for the mets
i don’t think i would go that far.
Lowe looked dominant last night against the Phillies. I know its game 1 , but that start made a big impression. Lowe should keep reminding Minaya that there isn’t a better sinker in the NL east.
But if the Yankees were in the national league, they’d win 120 games a year.
Staying at eight.
9 every week baby!
If Joba was in the pen, I’d be at a 10. Cause, according to the man of knowledge, Jayson Stark, Boston has way more pen depth than us. Not even close ;(
Today I believe we can conquer the world!
10!
Its a 7. Don’t know how we could be dishing out 9s and 10s when this lineup isn’t at full strength. A-rod ups the score to a 9.
i thought this was supposed to be a multi-year view? if so, 3-4 weeks without A-Rod shouldn’t change things too much.
It’s an “overall” view, which I think should take into account the immediate outlook as well as long-term outlook. If we go strictly by a “multi-year”, or long-term, view, there will (or, should be) so few changes in people’s votes that the poll wouldn’t be much fun.
…will (or, should
be) be so…(fixed)
word.
Don’t know how we could be dishing out 9s and 10s when this lineup isn’t at full strength.”
How about the fact that we probably have the best 12-man pitching staff in all of baseball? Our pitching alone is probably enough to get us an 8. Add in Tex, Jeter, Damon, Cano, Posada, Matsui, Nady, Swisher, Gritt Gritner… I think we could be a 10 even without ARod. When he comes back, this amp goes to 11.
Maybe its Monday morning blues, but I can’t budge from a 7 right now. Its about context. If the Yanks were in any other division, my number would be 9,10. But we’re in the AL East, and neither Boston or Tampa have had any significant roster changes (depth doesn’t count imo). A-rod’s absence simply stings more in a league where the Yanks aren’t going to be the only team starting off well (hopefully!!).
but again this isnt about this yr. this fan confidence pollis about the future of the organization
Given the team’s current roster construction, farm system, management, etc., how confident are you in the Yankees’ overall future?
“how ocnfident are you in the yankees overall future”
For me, the distinction is moot.
My confidence level in both the long-term future and the immediate 2009 season is both identical: a 10.
A multi-year view changes my number to an 9. But these fan confidence polls taken weekly struck me as a view of the immediate future – ’09. Why have this poll weekly then??
A multi-year view affords us the optimism of successfully integrating or acquiring talents like Austin Jackson, Rick Ankiel/Matt Holliday/ Crawford, Hughes, Brackman, and Melancon.
“but again this isnt about this yr. this fan confidence pollis about the future of the organization”
Says you. You interpreted “overall future” to mean “only long-term outlook,” but that term could be interpreted any number of ways. I just commented about this above. I think it’s fine for people to take immediate concerns into account along with long-term outlook. Nobody ever said your “fan confidence number” can’t change because of short-term concerns, even if those concerns might not effect the long-term outlook a few years down the road. I actually think this whole exercise would be kind of pointless if we were only concerned with long-term outlook. The whole point is to see the fluctuations in “fan confidence.” We want a little volatility in there to make it worthwhile, right? What’s the fun in only looking at long-term outlook and never having any change (or, at best, having relatively little change) in the fan confidence numbers?
Then again, this is coming from a guy whose “fan confidence number” has been consistent in each poll.
yes, an injury to arod should effect your rating if it is something that could be nagging and effect his remaining 8 or 9 yrs on his contract. if it is something that will only effect thim for the next month then it shouldnt in my mind effect your overall rating very much. this polls volatility wil really ocme into play when the DoTF start coming and we see ajax having a terrible month and ppl begin to question his ml viability.
I kind of agree re: A-Rod, that’s why my rating has stayed constant since these polls started. However, if A-Rod were to be out for, say, half the season or the whole season (even with a guarantee that he’d be healthy for the remainder of his contract), my number would probably go down accordingly. 2009 is happening right now and it matters, my whole point is that I don’t think the polls are just about the next 8-9 years but should also take into account immediate, 2009, concerns.
Whatever, in the end it doesn’t matter much. I just think the poll will be a lot of more fun if we take short-term concerns into account. If it’s just long-term, we might as well do the poll, like, quarterly or something. Or maybe we could do both a weekly, 2009 fan confidence poll and maybe a monthly or bi-monthly, long-term-only fan confidence poll.
Marty DiBergi: Why don’t you just make ten louder and make ten be the top number and make that a little louder?
Nigel Tufnel: [pause] These go to eleven.
When he comes back, this amp goes to 11.
I’ve been at 8 the whole way because I worry about whether ARod comes back at all, and if he does, does he come back at full strength or something less. I worry that Nady/Swisher neither hit well enough, I worry that Grit Gardner is a flash in the pan and the Melkman is what he was last year, I worry that Jeter’s defense is going to be a REALLY big problem this year…that all said with my irrational fears, I love the defense and the pitching compared to anything in the past.
Your fears are irrational.
You just said so yourself.
LOL
Just because they’re irrational doesn’t make them any less real for me!
8. Things are good (ARod’s injury aside). The reason it’s not 9 or 10 is a combo of the ARod injury and the strength of the division.
my ratings will be based on today’s weather in Baltimore.
if they play, it’s a 10. if they don’t, the season is lost. 3+.
ur sucka ratings got no juice
Looks like we could still see Yankee baseball today. According to this the weather in Baltimore improves at 3:00 (an hour before the game). http://www.weather.com/outlook.....r/USMD0018
I’m staying at 8. I am confident in the boys, but until the season gets under way, I can not go higher or lower. When they start winning, you needs some place to go, right…UP!
Will everyone who voted “1″ please stand up to be beaten about the head and neck with a trout?
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