Aug
06
Fan Confidence Poll: August 6th, 2012
ByRecord Last Week: 3-3 (33 RS, 25 RA)
Season Record: 63-44 (521 RS, 429 RA, 64-43 pythag. record), 6.5 games up in AL East
Opponents This Week: @ Tigers (four games, Mon. to Thurs.), @ Blue Jays (three games, Fri. to Sun.)
Top stories from last week:
- The week opened with three games against the Orioles, who took the opener in yet another one-run game. Ivan Nova got crushed in the second game, but the bats woke up to salvage the series in a blowout win on Wednesday.
- The Mariners came to town for three games following Thursday’s day off, and CC Sabathia spun a complete game in Friday’s win. Felix Hernandez completely dominated the Yankees in the middle game before the Bombers rebounded to take yesterday’s rubber match.
- Injury News: Brett Gardner (elbow) may be able to rejoin the team as a pinch-runner/defensive specialist in September. Andy Pettitte‘s (ankle) recent checkup went well. Mark Teixeira (wrist) received a cortisone shot for some inflammation and has since returned to the lineup. Eric Chavez (foot) is fine after feeling something in Friday’s game. Top prospect Mason Williams (labrum surgery) is out for the rest of the season after hurting himself while diving for a ball in the outfield.
- The Yankees acquired Casey McGehee and cash from the Pirates for Chad Qualls at the trade deadline. Joba Chamberlain (elbow, ankle) was activated off the DL to take Qualls’ spot in the bullpen. Ramiro Pena was designated for assignment to clear room on the roster for McGehee, but he has since cleared waivers and rejoined the Triple-A squad.
- The Phillies placed Cliff Lee on trade waivers but the Yankees did not place a claim. The Giants offered Nate Schierholtz for Eric Chavez before the deadline. The Yankees agreed to acquire Carlos Lee for $1M before he invoked his no-trade clause. Other players New York had interest in prior to the deadline include Ryan Dempster, Ty Wigginton, Chase Headley, Rafael Betancourt, and Brendan Ryan.
- Dewayne Wise was released after refusing his outright assignment to the minors. Jack Cust and outfielders Colin Curtis and Ray Kruml were released from Triple-A Empire State.
- Both Gary Sanchez and Williams cracked Kevin Goldstein’s midseason top 50 prospects list.
- Qualifying offers for free agents will fall in the $13.3-13.4M range after the season.
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 interactive 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?
98 Comments»
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I’ll push up one from 7 to 8. The division lead is just too big for anyone to catch up. None of the teams behind us seem capable of going on a run and time is running out before Andy and Alex return. Nova needs to show some improvement tonight. I think he’s effectively pitched himself out of the playoff rotation and Hughes and pitched himself in. If Andy and Alex can come back healthy we’ll be tough to beat in October.
CC, Andy, HIROK. I wouldn’t be surprised if both of them ended up in the bullpen for the playoffs.
You think Andy can go on 3 days? I think they’ll go 4. Hughes has pitched well enough to be a 4th starter in the playoffs, though I’m sure they’d prefer him to start on the road.
Didn’t they have three in 2010? CC, Andy, Burnett? I can’t remember. Maybe four but it won’t be Nova.
I’d say, if this started tomorrow, Nova would be on the outs. Yes. What he has going for him is that there’s still a month of baseball left and how good his performance last postseason.
I wouldn’t be terribly surprised to see Nova traded in the offseason in a package for a good young RF. would be great if he can go on a bit of a run here in the last 7 weeks.
In 2009 they had three. But with Andy’s injury, even if he comes back strong, I doubt they would push it. Phil looks like he’s in if they started the playoffs today, but a lot could happen. Honestly, I’m not ready to write Andy’s name in there yet either. People seem to be expecting that he’ll just come back and pitch like we’re all used to. I need to see it first.
Isn’t that what we were all saying in May?
Yes. But then it was just a matter of seeing if there was anything left in the tank. Shaking off the rust, as it were. Not coming back from a recent ankle *fracture.* His arm may be fine, but if he has problems pushing off or landing, I can’t imagine that would be a good thing for him or the team.
I had higher expectations for him than most and still think he’ll be fine, but there’s just no reason to decide on a playoff rotation in early August.
7/10. Would be an 8 if Showalter was our manager.
You mean 8 BAZILLION!
Even better!
Haha, well played.
Don’t be disrespectful to Flanny!
“If you were successful, Buck Showalter gave you some help. There was Buck Showalter somewhere in your life. Buck Shwalter helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Buck Showalter invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that. Buck Showalter made that happen. The Internet didn’t get invented on its own. Buck Showalter created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet.” – Mr. President.
Buck Showalter doesn’t always drink beer…but when he does, he prefers Dos Equis.
Buck Showalter ALWAYS is Pillowpants.
And Listerfiend, combined.
I heard that Sasquach has already taken a picture of him.
If Buck was an anarchist, I’d support him.
lmao
8. Fuckin labrums, man.
They’re great sauteed with some green onions and some white wine.
Sounds delicious.
Seriously though, I just hope Mason isn’t a Slade Heathcott redux.
Injuries are going to happen to otherwise-healthy guys. One injury shouldn’t get a guy labeled as injury-prone. It sucks in the way your first fender-bender in your new car sucks. Doesn’t mean it’s suddenly going to turn into a lemon (and Slade Heathcott stil isn’t a lemon either.)
Plus it’s not Mason’s throwing shoulder.
Yeah, and it’s not his power shoulder either because he bats lefty. It’s pretty much the best case scenario for this type of injury.
Oh, I know. Mason is just my first real prospect crush that I’ve followed since he was drafted so I reserve the right to be irrational.
Just like I irrationally love Betances no matter how ugly his K/BB gets because I first started following DotF when he was unhittable in 2010.
Wow, First prospect crush. I guess mine would be Steve Balboni early 80′s, but only because Frank Messer hyped him up as the next Gehrig. In the post-Baseball America days though (after ’87 for me), when I was able to read and research for myself rather than rely on announcer’s hype…it would have to be my short lived crush on Brien Taylor.
Fucking Balboni.
I had really strange expectations of Scott Nielsen. Even called in Art Russ Jr. when I was about 12 or so to ask why he couldn’t be the closer.
Haha. I got through to Arthur George Rust Jr. once and asked Jerry Cooney a question …. “who’s the toughest guy you ever fought?”. “my father” he replied and added “and he kicked my butt.”.
Funny thing on Balboni is the Yanks had a FAR FAR better 1B coming up a year behind him and he was completely under the Radar. He worked out pretty well, too.
Art was nice to me. It was clear I was being a precocious kid at the time. Asked me how old I was, etc.
I then went back to torturing Magic Matt Allen on Z100 every afternoon.
Well, I’m 18 and I only started being a full on baseball nerd a couple of years ago.
It’s pretty weird being older than some of the guys being drafted.
Haha, get used to that my friend
Yeah, I saw a Staten Island game when they were up in Lowell last year and I felt too awkward to ask for an autograph cause they were all pretty much the same age as I am.
It’ll be even wierder when you’re still under 40 and you’re watching these guys retire…..or watch their kids gets drafted. I mean, we’re on Lance Fucking McCullers Jr. already, never mind DBJ.
If only he had Buck Showalter to develop him. (sigh)
The REAL problem.
It’s a shame that Greg’s deep hatred towards curmudgeons ran Buck out of town.
Even better with some fava beans and a nice chianti.
I knew that was coming at some point.
9. The current streak of not-so-hot play has really only made a dent in the division lead. McGeeeeheee was a nice little acquisition that only cost the team Chad Qualls, with Qualls-as-trade-chip just great stuff to begin with. System still looks good, and now some of the released vets make way to some other guys to move up. Maybe they even bought some spackle to fill the hole in Melky Mesa’s bat. Freddy’s been a good fill-in thus far. A quicker return to form for Joba would be nice, but I’d rather have a healthy Joba in 2013 than anything else.
I am at an 8. Kudos to Tex for that hustle single in the first inning yesterday. On the other hand (and as much as I’ve tried to be in denial about it) someone needs to get into Cano’s face and tell him to cut the shit (Captain Jeter please or Girardi at least or even Arod who use to have some influence over him). He should have had a triple against King Felix in the first inning Sat. and his half-hearted running out of the double-play in his last at bat yesterday was disgraceful.
Hmm. Can’t say I disagree with you. For all the “he’s such a natural ball player, he never really seems like he’s trying when he really is” talk, there is no denying that he doesn’t always hustle out of the batter’s box. Even Kay called him out on it yesterday. Seemed like Paulie didn’t pile on or just did not want to say anything negative about a current Yankee (his default approach on matters like these.). Still, I remember Jeter’s injury last year being a baserunning one, and I can think of MANY others as well like Swish too happening on the base paths (and CMW is the one permanently embedded in my neural net.). I guess what I am saying is, you don’t need to be Charlie Hustle in every AB but should at least have the instincts to know when busting it out of the batters box could be advantageous for the team, and also when moving safely to first on a routine play and preventing unnecessary injuries is appropriate.
“as much as I’ve tried to be in denial about it”
Obviously, others share this blind spot too.
Still at an 8. We’re just loaded.
Right there with you.
Qualls out.
McGehee in.
Lizard dancing.
I wish more players on the Yankees “didnt hustle” and hit .320 with a .950 OPS.
Thank you.
+1
You want hustle? Watch him make the plays he makes at second night-in, night-out. I’ll take not running out a grounder every now and then if he’s out there getting his pitchers out of innings every night.
I assume we’re talking Robbie here, of course.
People just need something to be contrarian and gripe about. I pretty clearly remember the days of the likes of the Chuck Knoblauch’s and Miguel Cairo’s manning 2B out there.
Cano is, by far, the best 2B in MLB and has been in that conversation for the past couple of years. He plays 150+ games season in, season out.
Occasionally, if he’s mad at HIMSELF for missing a pitch here or there, resulting in letting his team down in that moment, and while chastising HIMSELF, neglects to run out the play as hard as he could, I mean, how could ANYONE ignore all that he’s done and continues to do to focus on just that??? Give him a break.
Agreed. Cano’s only problem is plate discipline, not some perceived lack of effort.
We’re just talking about hustling out of the batters box, not about making that play behind the bag look effortless.
I think sometime pretty soon, we’ll see Cano start making that adjustment. I really think that he just really believes that he could do something with most balls around the plate.
I also like that he doesn’t try to settle for the walk. While some probably see it as a lack of patience, I see it as plate aggression. He attacks the plate, rather than tries to finesse it. It stands out so much because he would rather go down swinging than holding the bat on his shoulder. With BA, OBP, OPS, and BABIP numbers like him, you have to admire it. Damn the walks for now.
“You don’t walk off the Island.”
/Sanpedrodemacoris Cliched
I can remember quite a few times when Paul O’Neill was so furious at himself for popping up or hitting a weak ground ball, he barely even ran at all to first base. One time, he stopped running half-way there and the fielder wound up bobbling the ball. If Paulie was running full out he would have beat the throw. Instead, even with the bobble, he was thrown out easily because he was already on his way back to the dugout.
Yeah, I’d be a lot more upset with him if he wasn’t leading second basemen in AVG, OBP, SLG, wOBA, wRC+ and WAR by a wide margin (less so for OBP) while being a borderline-elite defender.
I’m sure the same was said of Hanley Ramirez when he was still putting up his great numbers. Do you really think Tex and Jeter aren’t disgusted when they see Cano not putting out 100% and that sort of thing doesn’t lead to hard feelings in the clubhouse eventually a la Ramirez?. No one is denying Cano’s talent but one thing you can coach and insist on (management and fans alike) is hustle and effort.
“Do you really think Tex and Jeter aren’t disgusted when they see Cano not putting out 100% and that sort of thing doesn’t lead to hard feelings in the clubhouse eventually a la Ramirez?”
Since I don’t know either of them, and you are obviously in the clubhouse with a microphone in your hand every night, I’ll defer to you here….Meridith.
This. I’ve seen exactly zero evidence that anyone is disgusted with anything.
Does Tex even have that emotion programmed?
Yes. Vicente Padilla disgusts Tex to the 10th degree.
Whenever whatshisface suggests that Showalter can turn turd into gold, shouldn’t our only reply really be “Vicente Padilla?”
I like it. Vicente Padilla can be like a new oaktag. But only for Buck Showalter related trolling.
I also approve. It’ll be like Need Pitching’s names for stuart a.
TMITN: Rabble, rabble, rabble…GIRARDI SUCKS…rabble, rabble, BUCK IS MY IDOL…rabble, rabble…PYTHAG!!
RAB: Vincente?
+5
Though I was imagining something more along the lines of:
TMITN: Screw Joe Torre and Gene Michael, Buck Showalter is the reason this team has made the playoffs 16 times in the last 17 years.
Me: You be Vicente Padilla’n, bro.
We can each bring out own flair to the table
You know that would be a fabulous question for her to ask (or maybe Michael Kay should ask Girardi about it since he is talking about it on the broadcasts). Hey Tex or Jeter, are you upset when Cano doesn’t run hard to first when both of you are busting your tails? Do you ever think of going up to him to tell him to cut it out? Robinson, you must have played ball or coached kids somewhere along the line. What would you say or do in a comparable situation? You don’t need to be in the Yankee clubhouse with a microphone to figure this out.
“You don’t need to be in the Yankee clubhouse with a microphone to figure this out.”
Yes you do. And what do you think Jeter would say back anyway?
The last thing Jeter (or Girardi for that matter) would do is call out Cano in public (especially in light of Reggie’s recent fun quotes). What goes on behind closed doors in the clubhouse is where I would hope this would be addressed in some way. This issue is not going to go away quietly though as Kay has opened it up for public discussion and the national media will pick up on it as well as will the Yankee haters. I say the best way to make this go away is to deal with it and the best result would be to see Cano hustle out of the box every at bat.
I really don’t think it’s a big deal though. Like, at all.
If you want to hear the players take a public negative stance against their teammates, I suggest rooting for another team. That’s not what you’re going to get with the Yankees.
You’re defining “busting your tail” is running grounders out. I’m defining it as what he does on the field and at bat every night. Neither of us have any idea how any of the players actually feel, which is the way it actually should be unless you’re a fan of how Bobby Valentine and *gasp* Jerry Manuel run/ran their clubhouses, which I am decidedly not.
I’m done discussing this with you.
I was actually just about to use Hanley as an example of why I have no problem with Robbie’s perceived lack of hustle!
I was actually just about to use Hanley as an example of why I have no problem with Robbie’s perceived lack of hustle!
I’m not really on hom for it, but he could hit exactly the same and just run harder. There’s no tradeoff.
The lack of hustle stuff with Robbie is much more narrative than reality
Damn Dominicans!
/Salty’d
This would all be settled if you placed a plate of steaming monfongo at first base.
Of course, this wouldn’t work when Ortiz is playing first. God help us if it’s Prince Fielder.
Prince is Vegetarian.
Hold the pork bits, then. Still works.
Check that. Wikipedia says Prince only stayed Vegan for 3 months.
There ain’t no amount of tempeh that’ll make you look like that.
Yeah I was imagining him eating gallon cartons of peanut butter with a spoon.
Not when it refers to coming out of the batters box.
Cano looks like he doesnt hustle kinda the same way Usain Bolt looks like he doesnt hustle while blowing everyones doors off.
No… Cano really doesn’t run on some plays. He’s hardly the only player, but pretending he’s sprinting when he’s jogging is just silly.
8. I’m almost always an 8. I don’t remember the last time I wasn’t an 8.
Assuming we get Andy and Alex back in September and they shake off their rust nicely, we have as good a chance as any team in the playoffs to win it all. Next season will be interesting considering it will probably be Mariano’s last and we’ll all finally get to see what Pineda is made of.
it’s a safe assumption that both will be back by Sept. I just don’t know if I can count on either to be in ‘mid season’ form when the bells are rang for Oct.
The future of the Yankees will always be bright as this is a team that can outspend most teams by some odd 70 mil dollars even under the current 189 mandate. The influx of impact players from the system looks to be 2 year away. The Yanks have some useful prospects at AA and AAA in the forms Murphy, Mustalier, Adams, etc… etc. If the Yanks can avoid locking in mega deals well pass a player’s prime (see Arod) and continue to bring in talents with high ceilings through all venues possible, this team will be in good shape for the future. What they decide to do with CAno and Grandson this off season will have the most immediate impact on the future.
How do 16 people rate at “no confidence”?
Greg, Greg, Greg, Greg, Greg, Greg, Greg, Greg, Greg, Greg, Greg, Greg, Greg, Greg, Greg, and Hummingbird.
No. Greg actually votes a 9 and then agonizes over it.
Greg, we love you.
At least one of those is teddy although, really, I bet at least half of those are people who don’t even comment.
The only teams thats fans should ever vote a 1 are the Asstros and the Royals. Royals fans have had the pleasure of one season above .500 and zero playoff appearances since 1985. I don’t know anything about their farm system but their recent crop of players like Gordon, Hosmer, and Moustakas haven’t exactly taken them out of the gutter. (Gotta give credit where credit is due though, and Moosetacos is pretty fabolous).
If I was a Marlins fan, I’d be massively pessimistic, but a “1?” I honestly think that should be reserved for the Washington Generals.
You forgot about mit nerd..
It’s the least labor-intensive way to troll.
Read a game thread from when the Yankees lost. You should be able to figure it out.