Open thread: Yanks split games
ByToday’s game against Detroit was inevitable. After five scoreless innings, we saw plenty of headlines asking whether Sergio Mitre was the frontrunner for the fifth starter gig. Yet, as happens often in the spring, he got rocked today, allowing three runs, including a solo home run to Johnny Damon, in four innings of work. Chad Gaudin, who started the game, allowed three runs of his own in three innings. Boone Logan finished with a scoreless frame.
On the offensive side, Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira, and Francisco Cervelli eached picked up two hits, while A-Rod added an RBI double. Nick Swisher, Jamie Hoffmann, and Austin Romine added singles of their own.
In Tampa, Javier Vazquez had a somewhat tough go in his three innings, allowing four hits and walking one, leading to two runs, including a Ty Wigginton home run. Aceves came on to pitch four innings of one-run ball (solo shot to Garrett Atkins), while Royce Ring and David Robertson pitched scoreless frames at the end. Jorge Posada powered the offense, going 3 for 4, while Nick Johnson went two for three with a walk. Brandon Laird continued his hot spring, going 2 for 4. Johnson’s was the only extra base hit.
Now that you’re caught up on the spring training happenings, enjoy your open thread. I’ve got a radio hit coming up at 11, but we’ll have a post with details about that around 10.
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So it’s a little windy out.
Guess that means you’re not going out for candy today.
Went out earlier. Unfortunately I have since finished the candy.
via Heyman: Ryan Westmoreland having surgery for a Cavernous Malformation on the brain.
http://twitter.com/SI_JonHeyman/status/10444037812
I ,of course, have no idea what this means long term.
He tried to bat against Casey Kelly. The results, as you can see, were not pretty.
The movie 2012 was actually a depiction of what would happen if Melvin Crousett and Casey Kelly played baseball against each other.
U two r classless jerks
I am actually very classy. I’m drinking tea right now, with my pinkie raised and everything.
Nah, I hope the kid’s okay. I don’t know what a “cavernous malformation” is, but it sounds awful.
That’s crazy; the symptoms are either nothing or very severe.
You got to assume he’ll miss the entire season atleast.
Here’s a quick overview.
http://brainavm.oci.utoronto.c....._index.htm
Sounds like he must have had symptoms, since it appears they don’t operate unless it’s a problem. Even with that, it sounds like something he’ll recover from completely.
Here
http://www.mayoclinic.org/cave.....tment.html
“Surgery
If treatment is necessary, surgery is the most common option. Because they are so distinct from the surrounding brain tissue, cavernous malformations often can be completely removed without causing new problems. It is very important to remove the entire malformation, because it can grow back if a small piece is left behind. The risk of the operation depends on the size and location of the cavernous malformation and the general health of the patient. “
Well, that’s sounds positively terrifying.
Sounds bad, but read those links. Seems like he should be fine.
No way I’m going out with the weather.
For those stuck inside like me, enjoy:
http://www.nydailynews.com/spo.....ivera.html
Don’t read the comments (ZOMG but he sucksssss, teh 2001!!!1//!!), but the article’s pretty great.
Heh I gotta go to a family party to see the Pacquiao fight. Oh wells.
That article was amazing.
heh, I also noticed this linked to on the side:
http://www.nydailynews.com/spo....._gets.html
indeed, the fact that Francona is boasting about a five-strong rotation of Josh Beckett, John Lackey, Jon Lester, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Clay Buchholz with 43-year-old Tim Wakefield, a first-half All-Star last year before he sustained back problems that required surgery, in reserve, should come as unsettling news to Yankee legions watching Joe Girardi conduct endless tryouts for the fifth spot in his rotation.
Heh. Or maybe not.
Oh wow, I’m quaking in my boots.
Boston’s top three: very, very good
Boston’s rotation after that: not putting the Jim Rice fear in me so much
Me too.
I’m shivering in my slippers, fluttering in my flip flops and trembling in my Timberlands.
It is really quiet in these parts.
cos the wind’s so fracking loud
I thought I was losing my hearing.
It’s the quiet before the storm . . . the storm that is going to be the Yankees raging through the season to 110 victories and then #28.
It’s the quiet before the storm . . . the storm that is going to be the Yankees raging through the season to
110145 victories and then #28.ftfy
I thought I was a positive thinking guy but you make me look downright negative. You are an optimist. But I still stand on my 110 win prediction.
haha. I will be plenty happy with 110.
Hell, I’ll be happy with 100. I’d be happier with 110-145, though.
Yuppers.
Though of course we’re gonna go 0-162 because we did not sign Damon. ;_;
How were we supposed to sign Johnny? The Tigers were his first choice.
All that matters is we win the last one..LOL
So apparently there’s a mountain lion on loose in my town.
http://news12.com/articleDetai....._type=news
Call me when you see this guy
http://www.bigfoothunting.com/
Alright, I’ll call you when I see a fictitious creature.
Heh, that’s nothing, there’s a frickin’ Coyote living in Central Park!! This guy has video and everything!
it was 70 here in st pete today, anybody want to trade houses ?
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/s.....experience
“The way I see it, the fans have missed out on watching someone who might otherwise be one of the premier postseason performers of his generation.
Look at what Young has already done with Messrs. Buck and McCarver on the call: a .333 average (4-for-12) and two notable star turns in the Midsummer Classic.”
Hitting 3/12 in All Star Games = Performing in the playoffs??? What?
should be 4/12
The Phillies are screwed because didn’t they see how bad Roy Halladay was at the ASG last year?!
“In October, he would be Jeter-esque.”
You really need to include the paragraph before that:
Young is clutch. He has a .328 career batting average with runners in scoring position. This guy has his best at-bats when it matters most. How else can you explain his ’06 season, when he drove in 103 runs despite hitting only 14 homers?
In October, he would be Jeter-esque.
My brain. It hurts.
I would how he would explain Ruben Sierra getting over 100 RBIs despite hitting .233/.288/.390??
Have fun: http://tinyurl.com/y9vk6gx
Michael Young isn’t a bad player by any means, but let’s be honest: he couldn’t hold Jeter’s jock.
Oh, yeah he can hit. But to say that he hit in All Star games and during the regular season so he would be a “premier postseason performer” and “jeter-esque” while never being in the playoffs is just oaktag, :facepalm:, et al.
http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com.....8;c_id=nyy
. . . and they called me crazy when I picked him as my #5.
You’re crazy to pick him as your #5
See!?! There they go again!
Seconded.
When you wrote that post, how much of that was to stir up discussion, and how much was that was what you really thought?
I feel like the sooner the Yankees groom Hughes/Chamberlain into successful MLB starters, the better.
Let me ask you this. What’s the best 2010 team?
I think the best team is with Joba in the rotation and Aceves as a swingman. Joba was wildly inconsistent last year and still had a 4.75 ERA. I dont see Aceves much lower than 4.3-4.4. Even if Joba repeats 2009, the difference is so miniscule as to make the development question pop up, and when you consider that, Joba should start.
The spread between Joba and Hughes as relievers/starters thus far has been enormous. Given Ace’s full complement of pitches, his stuff translates well as a starter, whereas Joba and Hughes have been completely different pitchers out of the pen. Does anyone believe Phil will post a 1.40 ERA as a starter this year? Look at what Joba’s done out of the pen and as a starter
http://www.baseball-reference......;t=p#sprel
The difference is “miniscule”? If were going to argue long term over short term, then we have a difference in philosophy, which is fine. But there’s no disputing the best 2010 team has Joba and Phil in the pen.
…whereas Joba and Hughes have been completely different pitchers out of the pen. Does anyone believe Phil will post a 1.40 ERA as a starter this year?
Arguments don’t get much weaker. You know the best thing for the 2010 team and the best thing for the franchise long-term are completely different.
I know that you’ve made zero in terms of a counter argument. I also know that I stated this:
“If were going to argue long term over short term, then we have a difference in philosophy, which is fine.”
Which you just re-worded and presented as if it was a rebuttal. Again, zero.
I have zero interest in talking about this yet again. Every day we have to hear about who should be the 5th starter, who shouldn’t be, what should happen to them … I don’t care any more. I hope they put Mitre in the rotation and loan everyone else to the Mexican League just to fuck with us.
Mike, if you don’t want to discuss it, then just don’t. I can understand that, we’ve been doing this with Joba ad nauseum for 3 years. But the Yanks have created this ‘competition’ and it’s one of the story lines of this spring. So people are going to kick this thing around in all it’s permutations.
“But there’s no disputing the best 2010 team has Joba and Phil in the pen.”
Yes, there is disputing it. Sorry, but this is major hyperbole. Assuming Hughes is in the pen, Im talking Aceves and Joba. The spread between Joba in rotation and Aceves in the pen vs. Aceves in rotation and Joba in the pen is minscule. We are talking, even if Joba doesnt improve at all in the rotation, a spread of maybe 10 runs over a whole season, assuming Joba would be back to 1.50 in the bullpen, something I dont believe.
I don’t think you can look at it that way, you have to consider the team as a whole. We don’t know if its Ace vs Hughes or Joba at this point.
In any case, my initial response was to Accent, who acted as if I posted the Ace piece just to provoke, as if no one could possibly believe it. I felt (as you did) that I did a pretty good job of arguing my case, agree or disagree.
“But there’s no disputing the best 2010 team has Joba and Phil in the pen.”
With all due respect, there is plenty to dispute there. The link you gave us shows Joba has a career 4.18 ERA as a starter and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of better than 2:1. That’s damn impressive considering he’s not yet turned 25, and was jerked around like crazy last season.
Joba had a 2.76 ERA as a starter in 2008. His monthly ERAs in 2009 as a starter ran: 3.13, 4.84, 3.79, 2.73 from April through July.
So we basically have two guys, both of whom will be filthy out of the pen, but only one of whom has proven he can be a dominating starter. You suggest “there’s no disputing” we should put in the rotation the one who hasn’t proven he can dominate as a starter.
I very strongly disagree.
One further point on this…
The “Aceves as starter” sample size is woefully tiny, but:
Aceves SP: 26.1 IP, 1.4 HR/9, 3.8 K/9, 1.2 K/BB
Joba SP: 221.2 IP, 1.0 HR/9, 8.4 K/9, 2.0 K/BB
In the (admittedly very small) amount of data we have available for Aceves as SP, he’s been destroyed by Joba. Clobbered.
To recap: Joba has performed better as an SP. By far. His potential at SP (for 2010) pretty clearly exceeds that of Aceves. I love Ace, but this is a pretty obvious call, no?
That’s fine. Just to be clear, I agree that he should start and still see Joba in the rotation for 2011, I’m just saying the best 2010 team has him and Hughes in the pen. It’s a one year thing.
FWIW-Cash said the same thing, and then added the long term considerations. I think Cash framed the debate correctly.
http://www.i-yankees.com/?p=18583
But you are placing equal importance on the role of the bullpen, and that’s where the logic fails. Starting pitching is more important than relief, because starters throw more innings and control the make-up of the game. It is harder to win games with bad starting pitching, while relievers just toil because there is no situation to use them.
Let’s say that a player had a .667 average as a pinch hitter but was only .290 as a starter? Does that mean he should exclusively be a pinch hitter, because his numbers are better there? No, because everyday players are more valuable, even if the numbers aren’t as great in a larger sample size.
A 4.00 ERA for a starter isn’t necessarily worse than a 1.40 ERA for a reliever. Therefore, I don’t agree that “there’s no disputing the best 2010 team has Joba and Phil in the pen.”
Really? The contract situation is the most controversial issue for Ortiz? Wow.
http://espn.go.com/blog/boston.....ontroversy
At least he’ll get back to us when he gets more details. What a saint.
“…meanwhile at the Yankees ST site, ARod just stabbed baseball in the back again, and again, and again.”
He couldn’t have done that… in fact, I don’t even know why we’re still talking about baseball. I mean, it died in early 2009. A-Rod killed it. ;_;
“@GordonEdes Jose Iglesias not only beats out infield hit, but signals himself “Safe” at the same time. Good call.”
He can use his feet and arms at the same time? He better donate his body to science after his HOF career.
You know who used to do that all the time? Melky.
Hmm, let’s try it out-
John Sterling-”Safe! Safe and the run scores! The Inglesias-man delivers!”
No, no that just doesn’t work at all.
Melky also did that a lot.
gmta
get more T&A…indeed.
Fantasy Trade Offer to me:
They want Justin Verlander in exchange for Rafael Soriano and Justin Morneau.
Should I? First time playing Fantasy Baseball… but I don’t think it’s a good deal.
———————–
My Roster:
Wieters, Youk, Uggla, Longo, Bartlett, Choo, Pence, Kubel
KSuzuki, Hawpe, Rasmus, Helton, Hardy, JDDrew
Verlander, Felix, NFeliz, Hughes, Lackey, Sherill, Marcum, ESantana, Volquez
i wouldn’t, Verlander will give you a lot in terms of Ks and probably have a good WHIP. Soriano will have a lot of saves so you might be light on those but Morneau doesn’t really represent a heavy upgrade from Youk.
Then again, I am not the best fantasy guy so maybe someone else has a better idea.
No. Not with Youk at 1st.
My favorite Zack Greinke quote at the moment:
“I just wanted to make this clear: I can’t live without baseball…It’s to the point where it caused problems with my girlfriend because she knows baseball is more important than her. I say, ‘Hey, I’m sorry. I love the game that much. You’re not even close to being No. 1 — that’s how much I love baseball. I couldn’t live without it.”
His brutal honesty is hilarious and I’m pretty much going to use that same line when necessary in future relationships. There more Greinke quotes here. Well worth reading through.
He’s a bit like Moose in his snarky intelligence.
I think Greinke doesn’t process things in an ‘average’ way so to him his words aren’t unusual or offputting even though they might be to the next guy/teammate/reporter. Whereas Moose just didn’t give a shit half the time even though he knew exactly how his words would be taken.
Yeah, Moose was probably a bit more outright rude. Greinke is just kind of snarky and funny and weird.
As a woman, I half love that quote and half want to throttle him, haha.
But you know what? I totally understand him. Because I have *so* been there.
If it was anyone but Greinke I’d grit my teeth and start a rant on why womenz aren’t a weight dragging men from enjoying their manly man interests or careers. But because he’s so outside the box I don’t take the statement to be indicative of him having a low opinion of women and/or a woman’s place in his life.
Also because it’s baseball and baseball is everything.
And for him, it is “everything” in a very real way. Not just his livelihood, but probably _the_ defining aspect of his self-image.
You obviously have not seen his girlfriend.
Rids, if you find it necessary to use that line for the same reason Grienke did, I submit you are dating the wrong guys!
Any ideas why Jesus doesn’t seem to be getting a lot of time behind the plate in games this spring?
Because other guys need more time?
Romine needs it more than Montero?
No, Posada, Cervelli and other guys who might actually have to see time in MLB this year do.
Are you basing this on any numbers, or just your sense of things? With split squad games, games not on TV and the rainouts, it seems like it’d be hard to have an accurate picture of who’s getting which amounts of playing time without looking it up (if info on defensive innings played is even available for ST)
Montero has played in 6 games so far. Romine has played in 5.
The Yankees know Jesus will be starting the season in AAA so he doesn’t need these catching innings as much as those guys who will be working behind the plate like Posada, Cervelli, and the other guy who is 3rd on the depth chart and whose name I cannot remember.
Because he’s not breaking camp with the big league team and will have plenty of time to play back there in minor league camp, which continues for several weeks after the MLB season starts.
Replace Jesus with the name of any other player in baseball who’s guaranteed to start the year in AAA (regardless of his promise) and ask yourself if you’d still be wondering about this.
Did anyone watch todays game where Javy pitched???
For the life of me, I can’t stand Tino Martinez as a color commentator. Great player, and great guy, but AWFUL announcer – cant understand a word he’s saying half the time and he repeats the same comments which a monkey could figure out.
Does anyone know if he’s the permanent 3rd wheel in the booth this season? WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO CONE-HEAD!? he was great.
Coney left for whatever reason
Apparently Tino is going to replace him… meh. I love the guy so much, but he just doesn’t have a broadcaster’s voice and his points are, as you said, pretty banal. He’s actually not TOTALLY terrible, though, which is more than you can say for his stints on ESPN. I think I can deal with him for now.
I do wish Cone was still there, very much. Does anyone know how much Leiter is gonna be in the booth this year, if at all?
Cone was the man, but I think he said he wanted to spend more time with his family. I didn’t see the game today (live out of market), but I can only imagine how bad Tino was.
The only issue I have is that Tino doesn’t add anything from a players perspective that Kenny can’t. If it’s going to be Kay and Kenny, I’d like to have a pitcher or a catcher as the third man so they can give insight on the pitching side of the ball game.
I’m doing another fantasy draft later on tonight. Hopefully I can snag Tex or someone like that toward the tenth pick.