Mar
01
Open Thread: The Lord takes the mound
By
Mariano Rivera threw his first bullpen of the 2010 season today, tossing 21 pitches to Frankie Cervelli early this morning. Everything went nice and easy for Mo, as it tends to do. He essentially makes his own schedule in Spring Training, not traveling for road games or anything like that, so he’ll likely make his debut in a week or two.
Here’s your open thread for the night. The Knicks are the only local team in action, but you’ve also got House and 24. Enjoy the thread.
Photo Credit: Kathy Willens, AP
174 Comments»
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The Tyler Austin Watch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNPElizEdwc
Wow …
That is messed up
I call fake
It is, well i think it is. But still amazes me.
It’s so weird that there are actual shows back on…
You’ve also got Chuck, and How I Met Your Mother.
HIMYM is one of the best shows on TV. Loved the episode with Swish Dog.
BTW, the entire conversation I had with ROBTEN in the IFA thread happened entirely during my Comparative and International Education class. So incredibly and painfully boring.
That’s funny, because I was teaching my Comparative and International Education class at the time.
Hey, wait a minute…
Mó-ria in excélsis Deo
et in terra pax homínibus bonae voluntátis.
Laudámus te,
benedícimus te,
adorámus te,
Morificámus te,
grátias ágimus tibi propter magnam Móriam tuam,
Dómine Deus, Rex cæléstis,
Deus Pater omnípotens.
Dómine Fili Unigénite, Iesu Christe,
Dómine Deus, Agnus Dei, Fílius Patris,
qui tollis peccáta mundi, miserére nobis;
qui tollis peccáta mundi, súscipe deprecatiónem nostram.
Qui sedes ad déxteram Patris, miserére nobis.
Quóniam tu solus Sanctus, tu solus Dóminus, tu solus Altíssimus,
Iesu Christe, cum Sancto Spíritu: in Mória Dei Patris. Amen.
Gaudete gaudete Mo-stus est natus
ex maria virgine, gaudete
tempus ad est gratiae
hoc quod optabamus
carmina letitiae devote redamus
Gaudete gaudete Mo-stus est natus
ex maria virgine, gaudete
deus homos factus est
natura mirante
mundus renovatus est
a Mo-sis regnante
Gaudete gaudete Mo-stus est natus
ex maria virgine, gaudete
ezeckelis porta per transitor
undelux de salta salus invenitor
Gaudete gaudete Mo-stus est natus
ex maria virgine, gaudete
ergo nostra contio salus jam in lustro
benedicus domina salve regi nostro
Or something like that.
No hablas?
Español, si. Latin? No.
Que mierda es esa.. lmao sorry excuse my french
Latin is such a beautiful language. Has anyone here ever read any of Ovid’s Metamorphoses? Great stories.
Tu stultus es?
/had to
Well played.
Somehow my thinking that interview with the scout was real turned into an argument about whether Cano cares or not.
There’s no use arguing with someone like that. Logic NEVER wins.
I know, but I can’t help it. It’s like A-Rod bullshit. I feel like I just HAVE to write something for the sake of Yankeedom.
Never argue with an idiot. He’ll drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.
A wise man told me don’t argue with fools
Cause people from a distance can’t tell who is who
So stop with that childish shit &#^^@ I’m grown
Please leave it alone, don’t throw rocks at the thrown.
(sic)
fitting, i suppose.
cool shit from THT
http://www.hardballtimes.com/m.....ojections/
“Announcers and some pundits like to say that it’s all about mixing pitches, changing speeds, hitting spots—and all those things are nice, and if you can’t do any of them, you’re Kyle Farnsworth”
That made my day, I still can’t believe the Royals might throw him in the rotation. If I had the money, I’d buy mlb.tv just to watch that trainwreck
wow. so Mo has Cervelli as his personal catcher now too?! WTF?!
ST was great. Mo stepped out of the dugout to hushed tones of ‘Mo! Mo!’ and then the crowd broke into cheers. he actually had to come out on the field and wave to everyone, further erupting more cheers.
Reggie admonished some guy asking for an autograph during BP–it was awesome: You know I can’t come sign your stuff, then everybody will stampede down here…these guys are working! These people want to see BP not me signing some stuff in a crowd!
Then he proceeded to come back out on the field at autograph time and sign like 50 autographs for people. My daughter said ‘Thank you Mr. October.’ She got a huge hug. 47 people cried. T’was awesome to say the least.
Over at the Pirate City, Steve Pearce was walking past and gave one of the young boys we brought a broken bat: Here you go little man. Shawn didnt know what to do–he just looked at him. Steve laughed and waited til Shawn took the bat. Everyone thanked him and he honestly had an ‘aw shucks’ look to him. Hope he sticks…some people were saying the Pirates didnt have room. (i was like…on the bus? surely they can’t have more than 25 players MLB ready???)
I went back sunday for a quick check, and got there seconds before autograph time…it was either three guys i didnt know or Tabata. I went with the three guys…turns out it was Pedro Alvarez, Garrett Jones and Gorkys Hernandez.
We’re definitely going back next year! it was a blast.
Mo I cannot wait. 5 more days, just 5 more freaking days!
That’s awesome. I’m glad you had such a great time!
You picked a good day to go. Tomorrow? No. Wednesday? No. This weather down here SSSSSUUUUUCCCCKKKKSSS. I’m sure everyone buried in 80 feet of snow really cares.
it does suck down there…i was in Pirate City thursday and sunday, with Friday being my Reggie Jackson/Jeter-jokes-around-and-blames-Cano/Swisher yells like an idiot/Arod shows up late day.
and i got sunburn
the whole time it was in the 60′s and sunny, i was really disappointed…
Are you going to be there the rest of the week? It will be a different story.
I wish somebody would set up a live webcam at the ST facility, so I can actually watch the Yankees do batting practice or pitching work….
/voyeur’d
Can we have a RAB auction draft?
I’ll take Riddering and bexarama for $100 each.
$150
$200
I’m dropping out of the doubling up portion, I’m gonna go $280 on bexarama.
That’s a bold move–splitting up the pair. They’re more fun together.
$300 for them both. That’s my final offer.
Darn, I had to cut my funds somewhere and I figured I’d throw in the obligatory “28″
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kk4n0SvG0-Y
SFW
That’s just weird. =P
$150.01
/Dwight’d
200,000,000.1
/overbudget’d
I’ve never done one, and I’m terrified that I’d suck at it. I can draft a fantasy team like nobody’s business, but I don’t think the auction thing would go over well.
I do an auction draft with my buddies and it’s a lot of fun. As long as you have some sort of rough idea about auction values you’ll be fine.
Plus it’s fun to watch people bid $15 dollars over the listed value for their first few players then bitch and moan when they have no money leftover for the rest of the draft.
anybody ask about dropping out or thoughts of a 3rd league yet?
I floated a post in the off-topic thread about a third league.
Does anyone know anything about terrorism in Former Soviet Republics?
/obligatory Modern Warfare 2 reference
Yes: it’s bad.
Seriously, though, I’m not sure about the Ukraine and Belarus, or the three Baltic states, but for all the “-stans”, the mafia is either the #1 or #2 biggest industry.
That’s all I’ve got for you.
terrioism: they’re doin in rite akshually!
sorry. couldn’t resist.
depends on your definition of terrorism…some people i’ve worked with call the russians the terrorists, and everyone else is the victim…
I have to write a 25-page paper on it. And I’ve found like 3 texts on it. Why? CAUSE NO ONE CARES.
Ugh, just give me a C in this class so I can graduate pleaaaaaaase.
The most productive avenue for resources would probably be to examine the conflicts in Chechnya, although, again, the question of whether or not such actions are constitutive of “terrorism” is, as KoFH said, a matter of one’s global perspective.
As a first option, you might want to look at the Council on Foreign Relations as well as their main publication, Foreign Affairs.
http://www.cfr.org/publication/9181/#p5
http://www.foreignaffairs.com/search/chechnya
You should be able to access FA through whatever university library you are working from.
From there I would search JSTOR, WORLDCAT, Project Muse, Lexis Nexis, etc. for either their references or additional sources on Chechnya. There are bound to be several options in scholarly journals/books.
Depending upon whether this is a research or argumentative paper, I would then consider moving on to examine left and right political journals like Monthly Review, International Socialism, National Review, Policy Review, etc., in order to provide a broad scope on the issues. Most of these journals are available online.
From there you could move on to mainstream popular sources like the international newspapers (NY Times, Washington Post, WSJ), Newsweek, Time, etc., but these should really be the last option and for information rather than analysis.
The Taliban and US’s roles in natural gas pipeline conflicts within Turkmenistan might also be another option, though I’d guess Chechnya would prove a bit more plentiful in resources.
Going to echo the idea to start with using databases like JSTOR, Lexis, etc. If the information’s out there, you can find it there.
I was thinking that there was a short window, so Chechnya might be the fastest to research, but JMK is right – the conflicts over the TAPI (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India) gas pipeline would certainly also be a productive topic (although it might depend upon how much one wants to get into the issue of Afghanistan).
I think someone else in the class is doing a paper on the pipelines. My paper focuses on terrorism in the region and how it’s different now than it was in the Soviet Union.
The paper’s not actually due til 4/14, but we have an abstract and outline due Wednesday. The problem is that I’m a senior and I don’t like Poli Sci anymore and I just need this class to graduate. It was a poor choice, I should have gone with something American.
I want to say the chechies were the first to kill both the T-90 tank and BTR-80. Those guys are vicious street fighters, although I guess that makes them guerillas not terrorists.
Oh wow, someone does know about this stuff. Thanks!
And yeah JSTOR and LexisNexis are what I usually use, but JSTOR doesn’t really have much on this. And I’m going to focus a lot on Chechnya, I found a 60-page article on the conflict.
Thanks for your help
I know a fair amount, though as Tommie alluded to in his response, there’s often a blurry line between what qualifies as “terrorism” and “mafia”-related organizations, particularly in their goals, aims and methods. There’s no uniformity, as one would expect when one considers the range of thought, culture and spheres of influence within the different regions.
If you’re thinking along a more Western-termed definition of Islamo-terrorism, I’d unquestionably focus more on the Central Asian countries like Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, and places like Chechnya. The Balkans, notably in Bosnia, Albania are very troubled places, as well.
Shoot me an e-mail if you have specific questions; I might be able to help.
Thanks!
I’m defining terrorism “as the premeditated use, or threat of use, of extra-normal violence or brutality to obtain a political objective through intimidation or fear directed at a large audience,” or something close to that. So anything that fits that criteria will be considered.
I might take you up on that offer as I’m writing this thing later this month/early next month.
The Yanks are just pulling former top prospects off the scrap heap this winter.
http://www.baseballamerica.com.....ts/?p=7631
I’ll have more on that later.
WE MISSED OUT ON DENNIS SARFATE?!?!??!??!
That’s it, I’m cancelling [sic] my tickets.
/BronxTeechur’d
Dustin Moseley is barly above .500 for his carear! Clearly Cashmun is an idoit who doesnt know how to bild a teem!
Prove it!
San Francisco Giants
Signed: RHP Byung-Hyun Kim
Hearing news like this makes me want to come out of retirement to start mashing again.
Sincerely,
Scotty Bro
Heh. Jacque Jones.
The Mets signed Rylan Sandoval.
Maybe when they play San Fransisco they can switch him out for Pablo Sandoval. By the time the Giants know what hit ‘em, they’ll be on to the next stop on the road trip and it’ll be too late to do anything about it.
Knowing the Mets, they probably thought he was Pablo Sandoval.
iettc (i enjoyed these two comments)
Who are the best five Sandovals of all time?
RYLAN, RYLAN, RYLAN, RYLAN, AND RYLAN!
I spit hot fiyah.
So I’m going to Spring Training this weekend.
Aaaahhh I can’t wait!
?
i dont think it will be ST then, it will be pre-season games…the rules for what they do and where they are get really different after tuesday…
Can you elaborate? I too am going, and I’m curious as to what you mean.
DP in case you came back the next day:
the first week-ish of ST is just open. you just walk up free and watch them do drills, BP, conditioning, pen sessions, etc. usually ends around one with autographs following.
I know, but I wanted to go see a game!
And since it’s not the regular season, it’s spring training! So there!
Minor. League. Complex.
1. Go to the front office to ask for a roster.
2. Get yourself a thermos full of margaritas.
3. Pick yourself a good spot on the top row of the bleachers.
4. Profit
5. Enjoy.
6. Get pissy drunk
7. Get taken advantage of by Andy in Sunny Daytona
IETC.
Hah, I got a ticket for the major league game (Cardinals/Marlins), but the minor league complex is not a bad idea!
Shit, is tonight’s House new or a rerun?
I think rerun. Feels familiar to me.
Rerun…unfortunately.
I have never watched House. Ever.
The first few seasons were fantastic. Arguably the best show on television. Once they got rid of his old team, it went downhill a bit.
But my Mo, is Olivia Wilde gorgeous.
But my Mo, is Olivia Wilde gorgeous
Seconded, thirded, and fourthded.
Me either. That guy is such a prick.
That’s kinda the point, isn’t it?
If you’ve never watched the show, how do you know that?
So I was looking at this article earlier for the comment section in that piece about how the Yankees struggle in April. It is very fun to laugh at in retrospect, so enjoy (especially considering that the Yankees might have been 0-7 against the Sox, but they were only ONE GAME BACK!!!). But also, I saw this line, and it jumped out to me:
With a deep starting pitching staff and bullpen, playoff-tested veterans with recent postseason success…
The Yankees: old.
The Red Sox: playoff-tested veterans with postseason success.
And, since this cavernous, insurmountable one game divide which is really a one game divide in name only (it’s actually a huge 15-game division lead for the Sox and we all know it) is so cavernous and insurmountable, the only thing left for us to do is to sit back and watch the ill-conceived agglomeration of overpaid, warring, lazy, disinterested, self-obsessed diva personalities of the Yankees crash and burn like a jackknifed tractor trailer on the interstate burst into flames as they self-destruct and end up in last place, losing games and pointing fingers by the bushelful… as we sip chablis and laugh at the delicious irony of it all, patting ourselves on the back that we were the wiser while that stupid idiotface Brian Cashman was too dumb to anticipate that his team was clearly inferior to the massive, gargantuan Red Sox Machine of brawn and MENSA-level genius.
Sincerely,
Matt Taibbi
A+
Finally got over to No Maas to read the Swisher interview. Good stuff.
And he took their musical advice evidently. I have to agree, coming out to KRS-One would be pretty sweet.
That would be amazing. South Bronx South South Bronx!
That nickname kinda started in Oakland as a little joke. And when I got here, John Sterling called me “Jolly Ol’ St. Nick” on one of my home runs early in the season. And one of my buddies called me and said, “What are you fat and 70 years old!?!” So I went to John and said, “John, do I look like Santa Claus to you?” And we laughed about it and that’s when the new home run call started.
Actually, Sterling is 70 and could stand to lose a few pounds.
Oh God. My mom just started talking to me about how she read this “really insightful interview” with a scout that was linked on the YES Network’s website.
Guess what interview it was.
Your mother is funny.
$300 for Riddering and bexarama, and I’ll throw in an extra $50 for bexy’s mom.
What’s that, Eric?
/Mrs. Tommie’d
(waves hand)
Shhhhhhhhhhhh, shh… nothing to see here, move along.
/Bo’d
//Salty’d
Bexy’s mom has got it going on . .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZLfasMPOU4 (safe)
Weird/sad thing is that song just came up on my Pandora…
Awwwwww sheeeeeeeeeeeet
/ClayDavis’d
I don’t see the link on the site…
it was linked to on the YES Network’s website earlier.
So I guess it runs in the family… but at least I didn’t think the scout was insightful.
you ever have one of those days….
(fill in the rest)
All the time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJaIDr8MRDI (safe)
example –
you ever have one of those days when you want to eat a grilled cheese sandwhich really bad?
Every day is a grilled cheese day.
(insert Raul Mondesi joke here)
“sandwhich”
For some reason, I like your spelling better than the correct one.
Every Thursday.
When you don’t wanna wake up
Everything is fucked
Everybody sucks
/middle school’d
CRAAAAWLING IN MY SKIIIIIN
THESE WOUNDS, THEY WILL NOT HEAL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gd9OhYroLN0
Sing it, Bexy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgM-k3xgmBw
/8th grade’d
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_on46G1ybI
/fuck Cobra Starship
I still have all these CDs…yikes.
You guys seem like crazy morons to me.
/PeterGriffinHanSolo’d
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQcvddgwDQA
Boom.
Nice. I think the main point here is that yes, Warped Tour at Randall’s Island from 98-02 was AWESOME
And sadly, I have some friends who never gave up the dream:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpUYjpKg9KY
Haha so um upon further review, I’m pretty sure Dre, Snoop, and Eminem wish they could take this back, I’m pretty sure Limp Bizkit, as distant in the past as they may be, wishes they could take Pauly Shore’s appearance back, and the 30ish second sequence between Fred Durst and Jonathan Davis is SO awkward.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hf70pLv7ZUA (safe)
http://twitter.com/Adam_Schefter/status/9755975624
http://twitter.com/Adam_Schefter/status/9847383760
I disagree with this strategy. The Jets are bound by the Final Eight plan, we can’t sign any free agents. Jones is due a 3M roster bonus, but after that, he’s got a low base salary. He’d be easy to trade.
There’s interest in him; he rushed for 1400 yards last year and still has decent tread left on the tires since he didn’t get a lot of carries when he first hit the league. I don’t want him released, I want the 3M bonus paid now during the uncapped year when it doesn’t hurt us and then trade him to the Chargers/Texans/Browns/Seahawks for a third or fourth rounder so that his roster spot can actually be replaced somehow.
What’s your take on the Nnamdi Asomugha- Jets rumors? Could a possible trade have spurred the need to clear $3MM roster bonus off the books?
p.s., Golden Tate had an awesome combine. Tate is definitely not going to be around for when the Jets pick, and that’s really too bad considering he’s gonna make one heck of a slot receiver ala Steve SMith (with BETTER speed).
What’s your take on the Nnamdi Asomugha- Jets rumors?
Never. Gonna. Happen. We’re going to be paying Baby Lockdown Asomugha money; we’re not going to tie up that much of the payroll on two of them. We’ll draft a CB in April and call it a day.
Oh, and, yes, Golden Tate had an awesome combine, but yes, he’ll probably still be there when we pick at #29.
Not sure if you’ve given it much thought, but who do you want to see the Jets select among an available group of: Golden Tate, Taylor Mays, or… Dan Williams (current nfldraftblitz pick).
Well, firstly, I think of Mays, Williams, and Tate, Tate has the best chance to be there at #29, by far.
Odds that they’re still on the board at #29:
Tate – 70%
Mays – 10%
Williams – 2%
That being said, I haven’t done my initial comprehensive mock (swamped with school), but I’d say we’re looking at a Best Player Available grouping from amongst Golden Tate or Arrelious Benn (one of whom should be there), Earl Thomas, Nate Allen, Jared Odrick, Everson Griffen, Kyle Wilson, or Devin McCourty.
My guess is we go DB first with either Wilson/McCourty or Thomas/Allen. Rex loves DBs, and we’re still an impact DB short.
The wideout can be found at the bottom of Round 2 in a Marty Gilyard, Dezmon Briscoe, Damian Williams, or Brandon LaFell. Keeping Braylon around another year (and getting Leon Washington back in the return game) allows us the luxury to not reach for a wideout over a more pressing area of need.
What I’d love to do, though, is trade back to the middle of the second and pick up some extra material. We need a third top-100 pick, because we have four huge needs to address (DB, 5-technique DL, edge rusher, WR) and we should aim to fill at least three of them. Maybe move back and target a Demaryius Thomas or a Ricky Sapp with the high second rounder, get Patrick Robinson (who is falling fast) at the bottom of two, and then take whomever’s still quality on the board at one of those four spots with the third rounder we pick up via trade.
It’s unknown whether A-Rod has ever been treated by Dr. Galea, but Dr. Mark Lindsay, the rehab specialist that worked with Rodriguez following last year’s hip surgery, has close ties to the tainted doctor. A-Rod doesn’t seem worried that this latest issue will become a distraction for him.
“This is about someone else,” Rodriguez said. “I’m going to cooperate the best I can and focus on baseball.”
http://www.nydailynews.com/blo.....Bombers%29
So let me get this straight. Phillipon refers Alex to Lindsay, Lindsay refers him to Galea, Alex follows Doctor’s orders and now HE’S in some trouble?
There’s only one way to get to the bottom of this:
Have David Ortiz do some in-depth investigating. He’ll leave no stone unturned in his tireless research to find out the truth and be back in no time with a detailed, thorough report of his findings.
Hahahah!!
“I’m just trying to find out what I did. When I do, I’ll let you know. ”
Classic.
I can just see the headline somewhere tomorrow:
“Connecticut Women Seek and Get 69″
They are unbeatable. Go Huskies!
Ohlendorf and Steven Jackson are pitching Wednesday. That’s about the best we could’ve asked for from a March 3rd Spring Training game against the Pirates.
Why in the fuck was Paul O’Neill bunting in Game Three of the 1999 World Series?
I was just coming here to post that. Did you see Jeter say “that’s bullshit” over a called strike earlier? That was pretty awesome.
Can you imagine if it was CANO that didn’t run on a weird bunt? YIKES.
More goodness from the Ted Keith article:
This article went to press June 11, 2009.
The Red Sox rotation at the time:
Beckett – 3.77 ERA, .658 OPSA
Lester – 5.09 ERA, .770 OPSA
Wakefield – 4.50 ERA, .721 OPSA
Matsuzaka – 7.33 ERA, 1.038 OPSA
Penny – 5.32 ERA, .856 OPSA
The Yankee rotation at the time:
Sabathia – 3.68 ERA, .619 OPSA
Burnett – 4.89 ERA, .805 OPSA
Pettitte – 4.22 ERA, .774 OPSA
Joba – 3.79 ERA, .754 OPSA
Wang – 13.92 ERA, 1.209 OPSA
Wang and Dice-K were equal traveshamockeries; let’s remove them for a moment. If the discussion is “Which team has the best rotation” in June, 2009, and the choices are CC-AJ-Andy-Joba v. Beckett-Lester-Wakefield-Penny, then guess what, Ted Keith of June 2009, it’s not the Sox.
CC >>> Beckett
Burnett = Lester (again, using only June 2009 information)
Pettitte > Wakefield
Joba >>>>>>>>> Penny (W/L record be damned)
Basically, his argument is the Red Sox rotation is better because:
A.) Wakefield and Penny have a lot of wins and not many losses
B.) CMW is really bad (and no Red Sox Asian starter need be mentioned)
C.) The Sox have Smoltz and Buccholz not currently in the rotation, but they COULD BE in the rotation
D.) Clay Buchholz threw a no-hitter once
E.) Andy Pettitte is old and will retire soon, so whatever he’s currently doing at the moment while he’s not yet retired is irrelevant to this conversation because, as I said, he’s old and will retire soon
Yeah… good times.
Legendary depth.
Also, Smoltz being old ties into the whole “Red Sox are experienced” thing. You see, he’s a Future Hall of Famer, see. Pettitte is just old. (Yeah yeah yeah, Smoltz is a HOFer and Andy’s not. But they’ve both had really long careers they can be very proud of.)
F) Phil Hughes, not part of the Yankees rotation as he notes, has an “ERA north of 5″ which….Jon Lester….has.
That doesn’t count. You have to give the Red Sox starters time to develop. Any Yankees, however, that come up to the major leagues and aren’t King Felix at least immediately are total failures who should just be set-up guys.
What accounted for the ERA difference between the two teams at the time? I’m guessing it was the Sox’s BEST BULLPEN EVER.
(Lester is pretty awesome, though. He’s the only current Red Sox player I’ll root for. Unless he’s pitching against the Yankees, obviously.)
So does Brackman in a lot of ways. Many figured, in his first full season after Tommy John surgery –the Yankees accorded him a $3.35 million bonus as part of a $4.55 million guaranteed contract – and got sixpence for the shillings last summer in the South Atlantic League.
Not only did Brackman, 24, go 2-12, 5.91 in 29 appearance – 19 starts – at Charleston, his command and control were often absent. He ranked second in Minor League Baseball with 26 wild pitches.
On the other hand, one cannot get too detrimental about Brackman in the South Atlantic League. In 2008, Boston reliever Danny Bard, as wild as an untamed coyote, did his Rick Vaughn imitation in the same league at Greenville.
Bard got straightened out, and Brackman, who can almost reach 100 mph when healthy, will be given a chance to do the same at Class A Advanced Tampa.
Like Bard, some scouts feel Brackman might flourish more as a reliever with his imposing 6-10, 240-pound frame.
This season will tell whether these two live up to their Yankees contracts or become a pair of tax deductions.
http://nybaseballdigest.com/?p=21166
It’s all just speculating, but say Brackman repeats his hideous 09 campaign. How long until the Yanks pull the plug on him starting and try him out as a reliever? He’s a special case, so it’s tough to say.
and yes, I’m hoping to steal all of your best ideas for a post tomorrow morning.
My heart says if he does ’09 again in ’10, make him a reliever in ’11. My head says let him try one more season as a starter in ’11.
I agree with your head. He could probably scrap the changeup and relieve in the majors tomorrow if need be. I think he was throwing the change a boatload last year and he was just horrible with it, missing spots and getting slapped around.
That could explain why he was so much better in relief.
The thing is that he’s pitched so little.
Yet on the other hand, he’s twenty three years old.
And yet with pitchers his size, you generally need loads of patience.
But this is the Yanks. The clock is always ticking.
But this is the Yanks. The clock is always ticking.
I don’t know. I mean, I don’t see why they couldn’t keep him around if they still felt he had upside.
Ridiculous upside, even.
But this is the Yanks. The clock is always ticking.
See, I sorta disagree with that. I think the clock is always ticking at the big league level, but at the minors, we’re more patient than many other clubs, especially since we can and often do fill holes at the big league level to keep from leaning on the kids too soon.
I think Brackman’s large signing bonus and 40-man spot buys him MORE time, not less. We spent this money to get an ace starter, and we’re damn well going to give him every opportunity to be an ace starter. Pulling the plug just to get some marginal return doesn’t really make sense; I doubt Cashman approves of such a move unless the baseball people really push for it. And they’d only push for it if they genuinely believed there was absolutely zero hope at all of him EVER becoming a frontline starter, and we’re a long ways from that (since, as you said, he just hasn’t pitched very much).
How many years have we given Chris Garcia? Like, a decade worth?
We give our SP prospects lots of time because we can. We’re not the Sox who need Bard helping out their flawed big league staff immediately to keep pace with the Yankees; we ARE the Yankees.
I doubt we’re pulling the plug anytime soon. The reason Brackman had the initial lofty prospect status is that his secondary stuff was way better than Bard’s (or other big-fastball guys from that draft class). The ceiling still vastly outweighs the floor, so there’s less incentive to cut bait and try to get an ROI. We can wait.
I bet he needs to have not merely a “bad” 2010, but a clear regression AND additional injury problems to be moved to a reliever. If he merely plateaus (i.e., still bad WHIP, still too many walks) he’ll get 2011 as a starter, and maybe even another year after that.
We don’t move bad minor league starters to the bullpen in the minors, we move good minor league starters to the bullpen when they’re ready to hit the majors.
Don’t we agree Garcia should have been moved to the bullpen a long time ago? I thought we did, for health reasons alone. In his case, you’re just hoping to get SOMETHING out of him. But Brackman’s a long way from where Garcia is.
In any case, one is health related and the other performance. But your point on patience is well taken.
BTW-As Mike usually notes in these situations, you want pitchers to throw as many innings as possible in the minors, to gain experience if nothing else. So most of them stay as starters whenever possible.
But I’m talking about moving him to the pen, and fast tracking him to the bigs. I have to figure that he gets at least this year before that happens.
If he does the exact same thing, then I’d put him in the ‘pen.
However, I think we’ll see him take a decent step forward.
The dude’s freakin’ huge and still working his way back from TJ, so his mechanics are out of whack and it’s likely he still hasn’t fully regained total strength. It will take time and patience with Brackman, something the Yankees surely knew when they drafted him. It’s not like he was a polished prospect to begin with; he was a guy with ace stuff with very little refinement or results in college. In short, lotto ticket.
As far as a strict timetable, well, who knows? They’d be fools to give up on him starting even if he were to struggle again in 2010. But if they want to get some value out of his present contract and things aren’t looking good (his deal runs in 2013), they may look for him out of the ‘pen in 2011 or 2012. I think it would be a mistake — you give a guy with that kind of profile every opportunity you can — but they may see things differently or have a pressing need, and be able to solve “the Brack problem” and fill a spot well, too.
Good point on the contract. He’s already on the 40 man, so you won’t have any reason to push him until the deal is close to expiring.
I think I have enough for a post now. Thank you all very much.
I sent you an e-mail on Thursday? Did you get that? Let me know if you got that? I sent it to your e-mail? Thank you for your time? Now back to whatever you were discussing?
Sorry, haven’t checked other than my regular e-mail since I’ve been working on the CSS junk on a different theme. My bad. I’ll get right on that.
I just checked it, it was in the spam folder. That troll alex gonzalez sending us spam.
I’m just trying to get the $1 million dollars left in my name. I promise to give you 30% for all your troubles.
Don’t worry about it. Let me know if you like it at all when you have a chance. You can be brutally honest. Although you will make a grown man cry.
For that 30%, do you need my SSN, Bank account #, or both?
You use social security? It figures you communist bastard.
Steve,
Got your text earlier today. Design has been coming along slowly. It was going super well earlier and then all the sudden the links stopped working. We can still use the interface we have now in the interim, so you can start throwing things up whenever and I can change it over as it finalizes.
So now, not only do we have the TYU guys openly having site business meetings at RAB, but the Mystique and Aura wondertwins are doing the same.
Hilarious.
Building the Brand.
http://riveraveblues.com/2010/.....ent-788069
I was thinking about this a couple of days ago: Why is Noah Lowry still out there? Some team should be able to nab him and get him back into shape. Personally, I believe that the Yanks should pick him up on minor league deal and let him work himself back into shape. If he sucks, we can absorb the contract and release him.
Can he even pitch? He hasnt pitched since 2007, not even in the minors. If he’s not healthy, or has no stuff its not even worth an organization’s time/effort
if anyone sees this, FUN FACT! Guess who WARP has as the #1 pitcher in all of baseball in 2008, without cheating. Said pitcher also rated higher than all position players save Pujols, Berkman, Hanley, and Chipper.
I’m guessing CC.