Fan Confidence Poll: May 3rd, 2010

May 3, 2010 by Mike Axisa 49 Comments

Record Last Week: 4-2 (40 RS, 22 RA)
Season Record: 16-8 (136 RS, 89 RA, 17-7 Pythag. record), 1.5 games back
Opponents This Week: vs. Orioles (three games, Mon. to Weds.), Thurs. OFF, @ Red Sox (three games, Fri. to Sun.)

Top stories from last week:

The Yankees visited the White House on Monday, the last bit of celebration left from their 2009 World Championship. After that they headed to Baltimore, though the bullpen coughed up the lead late in the first game of the series. Nick Swisher and CC Sabathia led the team to victory on Wednesday, then A.J. Burnett and Robbie Cano did the same on Thursday.
The Yanks then returned home for the first time in what seemed like an eternity, and Derek Jeter led the way to a win over the White Sox in the series opener. Javier Vazquez got shelled yet again on Saturday, but Phil Hughes and the offense sealed another series win yesterday.
Curtis Granderson left Saturday’s game with an injury, and was diagnosed with a Grade II groin strain that will keep him on the shelf for about a month. Alex Rodriguez is dealing with a knee issue, but it’s not considered serious. Jorge Posada suffered a contusion when he took a pitch off the knee in Baltimore, but he’s since returned to his regular catching duties.
Jeter, Posada, Andy Pettitte, and Mariano Rivera, graced the cover of this week’s Sports Illustrated.
The Yanks signed Dominican righty Erik Olivo.
Turns out that the Yankees aren’t as hated as they’re made out to be.
You can take a boat to the New Stadium, though subway ridership to the Stadium was down last year.

Please take a second to answer the poll below and give us an idea of how confident you are in the team. You can view the Fan Confidence Graph anytime via the nav bar above, or by clicking here. Thanks in advance for voting.

Given the team's current roster construction, farm system, management, etc., how confident are you in the Yankees' overall future?

10 (very confident)
10414% of all votes
9
28638% of all votes
8
24433% of all votes
7
8011% of all votes
6
203% of all votes
5
30% of all votes
4
20% of all votes
3
41% of all votes
2
51% of all votes
1 (no confidence)
20% of all votes

Total Votes: 750 Started: May 3, 2010 Back to Vote Screen

Stryker

sticking with a 9 here. the injuries are a bit concerning, but you have to think with grandy’s athleticism he’ll be able to shake the injury. watching cano and hughes tear up the league has been an absolute treat.

also a little concerned about javy and the bullpen, but there’s 5 months left in the season. no reason not to think they’ll both improve.
http://yanksdraftsandprospects.blogspot.com/ Jake H

9. Hughes looks really impressive. I doubt he is going to keep it up but he has been a huge bright spot this season.
- CountryClub
  
  Keep what up? Pitching to a 1.4 era? Yes, that’s a pretty safe bet.
  
  But why can’t he continue to pitch well and keep the Yankees in the game on most occasions?
  - http://yanksdraftsandprospects.blogspot.com/ Jake H
    
    Oh I think he will but he has a whip under 1 right now. I don’t see that continuing either. The thing I love if the velocity is 93 to 94 for most of the game.
    - CountryClub
      
      Agreed.
Frank

Going with an 8. OF depth is a concern given Granderson will likely be out a month or more. I think it’s safe to say Vasquez is major flop. Mitre to the rotation? Also, the middle relief, specifically D-Rob and Marte, are too inconsistent
- Slugger27
  
  i was gonna go with 9, but you make a really strong case.
  
  javy, grandy, and to a much lesser extent the middle relief are all legitimate concerns
- Big Juan
  
  I think it’s safe to say Vasquez is major flop.
  
  First of all, Vazquez.
  
  Second of all, no it is not.
  - Frank
    
    Sorry about the misspelling Big Juan. As to the second point, you are dead wrong.
    - whozat
      
      No, he’s not. Javier has been TERRIBLE. For all of a month. No one is a flop in one month of play. His FB dropped almost two MPH since last season. SOMETHING IS WRONG, and it’s not that “he can’t play in NY,” it’s that he’s hiding an injury or can’t get his mechanics together.
      - Tampa Yankee
        
        “it’s that he’s hiding an injury or can’t get his mechanics together.”
        
        I’m leaning towards the latter as Ben tackled this after Javy’s last outing and has quotes from Piliere about what he’s seen: http://riveraveblues.com/2010/05/open-thread-the-problems-with-javy-27622/
        
        Marcos
        
        This.
        
        I’m getting more and more scared that Javy might be hiding some injury. At first I wrote it off as some mechanic problems, but that possiblilty seems to diminish more and more with every start. Hopefully he’s OK and goes back to being his old self, but if the worst should happen, I want my man Joba in the rotation.
    - Big Juan
      
      Nice logic.
      
      So according you Teixeira must be a bust too? And most certainly Johnson and Granderson.
      
      Yes, you’re right. Clearly one month of the season is enough to dismiss all of them.
      - Tampa Yankee
        
        Clearly one month of the season is enough to dismiss all of them.
        
        It is if you see it with your own eyes!
      - radnom
        
        And most certainly Johnson and Granderson.
        
        Careful…he might just agree with you on that one.
Andy in Sunny Daytona

10 CHOCOLATE PIESSSSS!!!!!!!!!!

/The Baker from Sesame Street’d

I would be happy with another 4 wins this week.
http://twitter.com/yankeesgalaxy YankeesGalaxy

A perfect 10. Let’s keep things in perspective, even though Javy has been garbage AND A-rod & Nick Johnson are not at the top of their game, and Granderson out for a month AND most relievers not named Mariano Rivera sucking, we are 16-8. We should be 19-8 going into Fenway against a reeling Sox team swept by the Orioles, who we will start a 3 game series with today at home.

Look for a sweep of the O’s.
- Slugger27
  
  on 1 hand, i can look at 16-8 and love it cuz our 2,3,4 hitters have all vastly underperformed, and based on all 3 of their track records, we know it’s gonna get WAY better for them. that’s exciting, but just as they’re underperforming, we have gardner, cano, pettitte all overperforming.
  
  but on the other hand, you mention javy and granderson, and those 2 are much more alarming. looking a little deeper into the numbers, there’s not a whole lot to like with javy and nothing to make you think the shittiness won’t continue…. not to mention grandy being out makes winn/thames an everyday player
  
  i’ll give it an 8.5
  - Guest
    
    How can you say there is nothing to make you think it won’t get better? How about he is track record as a well above average major league pitcher over the last decade? Javy is much more likely to perform at his career averages (compiled over many hundreds of innings, many of which were also in the AL) than replicate his most recent starts.
    
    I just don’t understand how we can know for a fact after one month in the season that Javy won’t be able to get everything together.
Aaron – Long Island

I’m a pessimist; I voted an 8.

I feel pretty good about the team (which probably means that they will now tank), but one thing really worries me: The Tampa Bay Rays. Last I checked (Friday) they were on pace for a run differential of 494 and a pythagorean expectation of 128 wins, both of which, I assume, would be records. Even after this weekend, they still project to be tops all time. I know the Rays are good, but are they ‘steam roll the rest of the league’ good? Is this a SSS illusion?

As for the Yankees; this team is solid. Even though they aren’t firing on all cylinders, they are winning, which is all I can really ask for. If all of the hitters start (or keep) performing to their previous track records and if Vazquez’s FB velocity and effectiveness return to previous levels, then I think this is going to be a very fun summer, even for a perpetual downer such as myself.
- CountryClub
  
  The Rays are good, but they havent exactly played a tough schedule.
  - Rose
    
    I feel bad for the Orioles who haven’t been able to play a mediocre-to-poor team yet this season haha. They’ve played the AL East 18 out of 25 games so far this season and of course the worst team in the AL East (besides the Orioles themselves), the Blue Jays, they’ve only faced 3 times…the Rays and Sox they’ve faced 6 times a piece…and they’re about to see the Yankees again right now.
    
    Has to be frustrating…
  - Tampa Yankee
    
    This.
    
    They are good but 6 vs BAL, 3 vs ChiSox, 4 vs BOS (who would have thought that would be considered easy), 4 vs KC, 3 vs TOR. 15 games at home, 10 on the road (BAL, BOS and ChiSox), 2 vs OAK. That’s not exactly a tough schedule so far. Let’s see how they do after this 9 game west coast trip they start on Tuesday.
  - Thomas
    
    Just to throw it out there here is Rays team by team record:
    
    vs Bal 5-1
    vs Bos 4-0
    vs CWS 2-1
    vs KC 2-2
    vs NYY 1-2
    vs Oak 2-0
    vs Tor 2-1
    
    They played 15 games at home (9-6) and 10 on the road (9-1).
    - Thomas
      
      Also the Rays strength of schedule is .474. Yankees’ is .499.
      
      Also the Pirates’ Pythag percentage is .195!!!!!!
- Chris
  
  Comparing the Yankees and Rays:
  
  Yankees OPS: 0.830
  Rays OPS: 0.773
  
  Yankee Pitcher’s OPS Against: 0.669
  Rays Pitcher’s OPS Against: 0.675
  
  My take away from that is that the Rays are over producing in terms of runs scored and runs allowed and should regress as the season rolls on.
  - Rose
    
    They strike out a lot more…they’re surprising caught stealing a lot more…
    
    Basically they’ve scored more runs and that’s about it. The Yankees have more hits, more triples, more home runs, more walks, less strike outs, etc. in nearly 30 less plate appearances.
  - Aaron – Long Island
    
    Hmmm… Second and Third Order wins actually has the Yankees ahead of the Rays. This I did not realize.
Reggie C.

A good week punctuated by Yankee farm products: Cano and Hughes. i’m still awaiting a power surge from Arod but as long as he’s healthy youve got to keep betting on an iminent break out. The Grandy injury hurts the lineup so here’s hoping Thames & Winn can produce.

A. Romine’s in a groove that makes you want to project Posada like numbers & defense … We’ll see how the kid fares as the weather warms up.

Javy…Boone Logan throws real hard!!
- Reggie C.
  
  Ugh. Espn radio saying Grandy is out a month. i’m dropping from a 9 to an 8. Winn and Thames have better take extra cage time.
CountryClub

I’m still at a 9. I’ve felt all along this was a 105 win team and I’m sticking with it. Javy has obviously underperformed, but Hughes has been better than expected (and I thought he would be a solid #5). And Arod and Tex havent really gone on a tear yet. Wait until one or both get hot.
yankthemike

have to stick with 9 when three out of the top 4 in the lineup aren’t hitting yet, but they have won every series save one. my favorite thing about the season so far is Hughes.
SamVa

At a nine.

The deal is, as many have stated, that certain players have been atrocious and certain players are playing out of their minds.
But here is how I look at it:

Even if Javy doesn’t find his groove, he is not going to be pitching to the tune of a 9+ ERA all season. His drop in ERA will cancel the obvious raise that we will see from Hughes (granted I really don’t think that will be much.)

Pettitte is Pettitte. Yes I realize that he is not going to throw the way that he is throwing all year, but I think we are in for a long ride in terms of his determination to just win every game he can all year.

C.C. and A.J. are going to have their ups and downs, but I think it is safe to say that we are going to see way more of the Up.

On the offensive side of things:

Gardner- You have to love it.. Yes I realize that he probably won’t keep it up.. He has a remote chance at a .300+ average.. but still.. it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside watching the things he has done so far.

Cano- could he do it? I mean could he be this hitter all season? the power behind ARod?

AROD/TEX- You have to think it’s just a matter of time and when it happens it will either coincide with the best frickin 3/4/5 in baseball or Robbie C. will go back to the “I get on base by swinging first pitch, but I can’t hit with people on” guy.

Swisher just needs to be the Swisher of last year.

Posada just needs to not regress too much.. and I don’t think he will.

Then we get into always consistent Mr. Jeter.. No worries there for me.

and finally we have the three things I am actually worried about-

1. Nick Johnson.. can he at least get to .250?
2. Curtis Granderson.. Who replaces him? (production wise.)
3. Tampa Bay for real? or is this the Blue Jays of ’09?
- http://twitter.com/riddering Riddering
  
  The 2010 Rays are not the 2009 Jays. They won’t play this well all year but their rotation and lineup is stacked with talent. They are a true contender.
  - SamVa
    
    I know the way I worded it made it sound like I was saying they were the same, but I realize that they are a completely different team in terms of talent.
    I was more just saying can they maintain their production…
    
    that’s all.
- Rose
  
  3. Tampa Bay for real? or is this the Blue Jays of ‘09?
  
  They’re certainly not the Blue Jays of ’09 that’s for sure.
  
  But I think they’ll come back down to earth a little bit.
  
  The Red Sox are doing terrible…if things continue…I see the Rays being good enough to take the Wild Card…
- CountryClub
  
  Johnson will end up well above .250. And as others have commented, the Rays are for real. But I think they come in 2nd.
http://twitter.com/riddering Riddering

At an 8. Hughes is pitching great and I’m almost confident in believing the Yankee lineup can rake without Granderson for 2-4 weeks.

Yeah, Javy is a big questionmark but his role isn’t as kaput as many fans believe. (Or writers. As in: no, Cashmoney will not be trading Javy to the Mets and sliding Mitre into the rotation.) I also retain punching rights for those who continue to bring up the “can’t pitch in NY” meme.
- http://twitter.com/riddering Riddering
  
  (I’d be an 8.5 if Joba was pitching AAA.
  
  /whips dead horse with fresh vigor)
  - Thomas
    
    http://tinyurl.com/yahod3d
Rose

8.

It’s hard putting an 8 because they continue to win games regardless of their misfortunes they’ve encountered thus far (slumps, injuries, bullpen, etc.) it would be a 9 if a few of those were cut back…and a 10 if all of those were.
Mattyice8885

Check out the 2010 Yankee Song to the tune of Adam Sandler’s Hannukah Song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQzeRddNfdg
Tampa Yankee

At a 9.

I am a believer that, for the most part, players “play to the back of their baseball card” meaning that Javy, NJ, Tex Granderson will not be this bad all year and will get things straightened out (although Boston looks terrible and may be like this all year). On the flip side, Gardner, Cano, Hughes, Andy will not maintain their hot starts all season (same can be said for the Rays). Both sides will settle somewhere in the middle and to me, that still results in #28!
- Slu
  
  I agree that players generally play to their career norms, but why doesn’t this apply to Boston players? It sounds silly to say that the Yankees that are under performing will get straightened out but Boston may be like this all year.
larryf

I am at 9. can never be perfect but am very confident.

As for Javy, don’t think he is injured. He has NO confidence in his fastball and just nibbles on the outside corner with it. Batters just sit on his slow stuff-curve/change/slider. Hughes will throw an 0-2 fastball right down the middle to get a strikeout/out and that makes his curve/change that much more effective. No decent middle/in fastball for Javy-no success. He is not a knuckleballer after all…..
Beamish

If the Yankees keep winning series with regularity I might have to up that 8 to an 8.5
YankeeScribe

9

In spite of Javy’s struggles, the rotation looks as strong as ever.

Tex is coming around. A-Rod will come around. Jeter is being Jeter. Cano is on fire. This might be his year for winning a batting title or MVP.

With exception to Winn, the bench is performing well when called upon. Couldn’t ask for more from Cervelli, Pena, and Thames.

Granderson’s injury hurts(no pun intended). I’m confident that the outfield defense won’t suffer too much while Granderson is out. Afterall, we did ok last season with Damon as our everyday left-fielder and Swisher making a lot of mental mistakes in right-field
dkidd

9

handling of joba is my only criticism

/joins riddering in flogging poor, dead, outnumbered horse’d
Melvin FTW!

Is there anyone else who has voted a 10 on every single poll since it started?