Comments on: Fan Confidence Poll: July 13th, 2009

By: Fan Confidence Poll: July 20th, 2009 | River Avenue Blues

Fan Confidence Poll: July 20th, 2009 | River Avenue Blues — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 13:31:36 +0000

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By: Andrew Berry

Andrew Berry — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 03:20:04 +0000

Offensively we are the best, our relievers have gotten a bit better, but we need someone new in the starting rotation and get Joba out of the starting rotation, he does well his first four innings and then loses his fastball speed and fall apart. Sign Roy Halladay and we are perfect.

By: Little Bill

Little Bill — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 21:19:48 +0000

Still a 10 for me, just like every week. This is a great team, probably the best in baseball.

By: Ian

Ian — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 18:04:49 +0000

Starters need to conserve energy if they wish to go a reasonable distance, and need to employ a greater variety of pitches. What has happened to Hughes is essentially to opposite of what Joba’s going through: decreased velocity, lack of consistent secondary pitches, and timidness.

By: Klemy

Klemy — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 17:46:42 +0000

“A switch to the pen has enabled him to be more aggressive, throw harder, and focus on utilizing his best pitches.”

Why should he not be able to do that as a starter?

By: Ian

Ian — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 17:45:00 +0000

Due to the fact that after two seasons of disappointing starts, Hughes has found a niche in which he has become an incredibly valuable asset. A switch to the pen has enabled him to be more aggressive, throw harder, and focus on utilizing his best pitches.

By: Klemy

Klemy — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 17:43:22 +0000

Down to a 7 after the weekend series.

I’m very upset that Hughes has not returned to the rotation, when our rotation needs an arm so badly. I would rather Aceves not be spot starting and stayed in the pen.

I’m willing to wait on Joba’s building right now. He frustrates me all to hell with some of these recent bad innings where he seems like he is just mentally to weak to pitch himself out of jams. I’d like to see his fire and some velocity back.

Andy has lost me. I just think he’s of the downhill with no brakes at this point in his career.

I think AJ and CC are coming around and will be great the 2nd half.

I get frustrated with some of the day off scenarios going in to the break too. I have questions about Girardi’s managing decisions now and then to the point that I’m yelling, “Are you seriously that stupid?” at the TV some nights. Sometimes it seems like he’s making great decisions and other times it seems like he’s giving up the game to me. I don’t know if it’s fair or not, but it’s how I feel.

By: tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside

tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 17:31:53 +0000

Looking forward to the offseason, I believe John Lackey may be available, who the Yanks could make a run at, to help keep Hughes in the bullpen, where I honestly think he would see much more success. We might be able to put an end to Joba’s bullpen-rotation debate, if that happens.

No to that.

If we’re going to look towards the offseason fixes, why sign Lackey to big bucks and leave Hughes in the bullpen, when we could move Hughes back to the rotation and sign one of the Jose Valverde/Mike Gonzalez/Rafael Soriano/Matt Thorton/John Grabow/Danys Baez/Rafael Betancourt deep list of quality relievers and save a ton of money and risk?

By: Ian

Ian — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 17:21:49 +0000

Despite their recent troubles, the Yankees still do have the second best record in the AL. Their main problem as of late has been getting adequate length out of the rotation. Sabathia is pretty much a lock for seven or more innings, and Burnett can go fairly deep into games as well. As has been noted, the problems lie with Pettitte, who has been giving up far too many free passes for a veteran, and Chamberlain, who seems to be unable to finish hitters off. If the Yanks can manage to get these guys through at least the six inning, Girardi can tap into the Coke-Hughes-Rivera tandem, which was working well up until a few days ago. With the way Mitre has been pitching in AAA, I’m fairly confident that we can get at least one decent start out of him before (a) Wang returns (b) Yankees trade. Like any other year, if there is a team that can get the player they want before the deadline, it’s the Yankees.

Going after Halladay would not be the best route, honestly. The Jays understandably want a bevy of top-notch prospects, and I just cannot see the Yankees’ brass parting with the likes of Hughes, Austin Jackson, Jesus Montero, etc. Looking forward to the offseason, I believe John Lackey may be available, who the Yanks could make a run at, to help keep Hughes in the bullpen, where I honestly think he would see much more success. We might be able to put an end to Joba’s bullpen-rotation debate, if that happens.

Anyway, you have to give the Yankees credit. They lost their cleanup man for upwards of a month (who has not reached his peak fitness level as of yet), watched at their ace for a few seasons start of the year in a simply horrid fashion (and has struggled since), will be without Nady — expected originally to platoon or start ahead of Swisher — for essentially the entire year, and lost Damaso Marte, expected to take up a key role in the route to Mariano. Despite all of this, the team is in contention for the AL East crown, and has a decent lead in the Wild Card.

By: tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside

tommiesmithjohncarlos a/k/a Ridiculous Upside — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 16:51:59 +0000

I think it’s unrealistic to think that it’s easier to aquire a solid reliever than a solid starter.

But, that’s been the case for about the past 15-20 years. Relievers are almost always cheaper than starters. The only relievers that would have a lower prospect cost than a good reliever are totally crappy back end starters like a Doug Davis or something.

Seriously, what starter would you rather trade for?