Fan Confidence Poll: August 26th, 2013

August 26, 2013 by Mike Axisa 28 Comments

Record Last Week: 5-2 (28 RS, 24 RA)
Season Record: 69-61 (518 RS, 522 RA, 65-65 pythag. record), 7.0 GB ALE/3.5 GB WC
Opponents This Week: @ Blue Jays (three games, Mon. to Weds.), Thurs. OFF, vs. Orioles (three games, Fri. to Sun.)

Top stories from last week:

The week started with an off-day before the Blue Jays came to town for four games. A pair of three-run homers helped the Yankees to a win in the first game of Tuesday’s doubleheader before Jayson Nix‘s walk-off hit gave them a win in the nightcap. A late homer on Wednesday and an odd line drive/single/double play call on Thursday helped the team to a sweep.
The Yankees headed to Tampa for three games with the Rays next, and Hiroki Kuroda was roughed up in the series opening loss. CC Sabathia couldn’t protect a lead in the middle game before the Bombers rallied to win the series finale in extra innings.
Injury Updates: Derek Jeter (quad) played in three rehab games and will rejoin the team today. Nix (hand) suffered a fracture on a hit-by-pitch and is done for the year. Brett Gardner (hand) and Eduardo Nunez (hamstring) were both day-to-day and have since returned to the lineup. Manny Banuelos (elbow) has started throwing batting practice and OF Tyler Austin (wrist) is close to playing in rehab games.
The Yankees are not discussing Justin Morneau with the Twins. The team’s top evaluators have been scouting Japanese righty Masahiro Tanaka. New York signed 19-year-old righty Edwin Fierro out of Mexico.
Hal Steinbrenner held a staff meeting to discuss the team’s lack of minor league talent. Brian Cashman‘s job is said to be “secure.”
Preston Claiborne was called up to replace Nix on the roster and will be sent down to make room for Jeter today.

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.

Eddard

I’m down from a 10 last week to a 9.6 this week due to the series loss in Tampa. I thought Nova pitched like the $20 million ace we never had. Jeter coming back will be a boost. They need to take at least 2 of 3 from the Jays. I think they’ll lose tonight of course with Phil on the mound but win Andy and Hiroki’s starts to take the series.
- Jim Is A (Bored) Peckerhead
  
  Eddard drops to a 9.6? Winter is coming, indeed.
  - Ygritte
    
    You know nothing, ~~Jon Snow~~ RAB Eddard.
- JohnnyC
  
  You are a sour man, Stark. Too long in the north, all the juices have frozen inside you.
- Wolfgang’s Fault
  
  I’m taking Hughes for a “W” tonight. Had a nice outing against Jays in NY last week, & I look for him to have another one in Toronto. Romine did a nice job behind the plate & seemed to work well w/Phil so I expect he’ll be doing the honors again tonight. Romine’s had back issues in the past so you always worry about that on Turf in Toronto. Probably a big reason Girardi doesn’t play Romine more often. Even against Dickey & the knuckler, I’ll stick w/Hughes.
Kosmo

20-12 gets them to 89-73 which is realistic. 23-9 would bag NY 92 wins. Bring it on !
- MannyGeee
  
  A show of hands… who here a month ago was thinking that 89 wins was feasible?
  - Jim Is A (Bored) Peckerhead
    
    *Raises hand*
  - trr
    
    I must confess…I didn’t think 89 was feasible on April 1st.
    I’ll be delighted to be proven wrong
  - JGYank
    
    I predicted 88 wins at the beginning of the year (after the injuries), which looks pretty accurate now. Last month I was thinking around 84.
mitch

Real nice opportunity to pick up another game in the next few days. OAK plays 4 @ DET, BAL and BOS play each other, and CLE plays at ATL.
Robinson Tilapia

Up to an 8, which might be my highest in a while. Why, you ask? Really, what other choice do I have? Not think they can do it? Not an option.

9 for 2013 because I have no choice, as an actual non-frontrunner Yankee fan, BUT to believe they can do it (The minus one there is for actually being self-reflective enough a human being to realize what I’m doing here)

7 for 2014 becaue I believe they can do 2013 better.

8 for beyond because the New York Yankees never stay down for long, if you can even call this “staying down.”
Robinson Tilapia

The reverse Eddard prediction would have the Yanks taking one out of three, winning tonight, but losing the next two. Obviously can’t predict that.
MannyGeee

I am going to bump up to an 8, as the past few weeks’ worth of play has been inspiring. Would like to see some stronger starting pitching for the stretch run, but here we are.
trr

Moved up to 6 with the team’s recent improved play.
My worry is that the starting pitching will not be up to the task-
mitch

I’m at a 7. The only thing holding me back from an 8 is Sabathia. All of the other pieces are in place for a strong final run to 90+ wins. It’s not going to happen if he’s mediocre every 5th day.
RetroRob

It’s always interesting how people vote on these, with what’s happening at the moment heavily impacting the vote. Makes sense, although since it talks about the overall future, I have to look further out (not just the most recent series or even the team this year) when voting.

I’m at a 7, which is low for me. The farm system took a step back this year, and the overall payroll uncertainty caused me to drop it a notch, yet I can’t go too low as we’re still talking about the NY Yankees. The on-field product would need to drop to early 90s play, while the minors would need to drop to early aughts level for me to ever drop a six. In Yankee Universe, there is always hope, and as of late, a bad year is what we’re experiencing, which isn’t bad at all.

I think 2014 will be more of the same, but I can see improvement in 2015 and beyond.
yanks61

I gave them a 5 for this year because it’s still a tough haul and I’m concerned about the SP. Still, it might be noted that in 1978 the were 7.5 games out on 25 August. Of course they only had to catch the Red Sox then.

I was inclined to go up to a 6 but grew cautious just before I clicked – a little too quickly perhaps. But, you know, I didn’t want to demonstrate any irrational exhuberance.:)

However, for next year I’ll give them a 7. Why? Just blind faith that they’ll find a way because they’re the Yankees!
Lukaszek

A solid-ass 7 this week. They’ve been playing much better and more inspired baseball. It’s unfortunate that they lost two to the Rays, but it was in the trop, which has been an ant in the Yankees picnic since 2010
Jim Is A (Bored) Peckerhead

420. Mariano * maximum confidence.
- jjyank
  
  And also…weed
HateMclouth (formerly I’mVernon)

Up to a 6 due to last week’s play. Hopefully we can continue it against the Jays this week.
ThatstheMelkyMesaWaysa

Two questions about Tanaka. First, can they afford whatever it will take to sign him with their new cap-obsessed style? And second, if he didn’t play for the Ham Fighters why do they care?
BK2ATL

6. This team is due for a long hot streak streak, but the Rays series shows that there is still a ways to go. Maybe Jeter coming back sparks the offense again and carries them throughout the rest of the season.

Our pitching is inconsistent and we just weakened our bullpen in sending Claiborne down.

The minors don’t over much quality, nor will come Sept. 1st, except bring Claiborne back. Everyone else with upside for immediate help is injured….
LarryM Fl

6 is my confidence level. If I had chosen 7. It would indicate my belief that the Yanks will make the playoffs. Obviously, we can make the playoffs if we continue to play well. But O’s A’s and Indians have to co-operate which is a tall task.

The team is generally a better club offensively and defensively. We could have taken 2 of three from the Rays if CC did his thing but only allowing three runs against a good hitting club in their park is a good performance because it was only 12 pitches and three runs scored. The prior and remaining pitches CC was good to win.

Last night was strange to me. Arod not pinch hitting for Overbay. The moves defensively were not going to be a problem. It makes you wonder where Adams fits with Reynolds playing third and first. Fortunately Reynolds has been better defensively while missing everything thrown his way. It must be a mistake on his part to hit a pitch as opposed to hitting mistakes.

Hal see’s the drought in the farm system. He probably couldn’t tell from observation but Cashman coming to him asking for the OK to make a transaction for another DFA player. The ledger sheet was the main factor in his awareness of a barren system. Let us have a meeting. Some bosses see things in different ways but come to a similar conclusion.

To respond to the possible wins for the year. I believed the team was good for 85-87 wins. This was prior to the stampede of injuries multiple times to the same players.

Give it up to Eduardo. The kid is playing OK. I hope he sees some time at second or third while Jeter is back. He sure makes more contact than Reynolds.
dkidd

an 8 tipped on its side
Wolfgang’s Fault

Hey, Mike, any more info on Taylor Morton & Hayden Sharp retiring? What type of shoulder issues did Morton have if, indeed, that’s what the issue was? What’s Sharp reason, if any given,, & if it’s injury related, could you give us some detail if any available? What if any response has there been from Newman, coaches, etc.? Appreciate any further info you can provide as both were considered decent upside drafts, particularly Morton who was said to be able to dial it up to 95mph w/an advanced change to go along w/it. How/why did these two wash out so quickly?
Wolfgang’s Fault

I give it a 6, & I always base it on my impressions of what they’ve got in the farm system. I actually think they’ve got more upside then they’re being given credit for.

My biggest concern is — surprise — pitching. Of course, I’m not in a position to eyeball what they’ve actually got throughout the system, but it would appear they have plenty of room for additional big-armed hard throwing guys. The quickest way to rebuild a ballclub is with quality pitching & the old maxim about never having too much is the truth. You can’t over-emphasize it either (well, maybe on RAB, you can). They need to stockpile strong-armed starting pitchers & they need to learn how to develop them. First year without Mo in 2014 should be eye-opening. Love DRob, but until he’s closed, you’re always apprehensive. Unless & until Betances shows he can get big league hitters out while not walking the ballpark, he’s not even really in the discussion.

I like what they’ve got in Romine, & love that Murphy should be ready sometime in 2014 & maybe even starts 2014 in the bigs. If Murphy can play some 3b, you could still start 2014 w/Stewart, Romine, & Murphy on the roster & navigate the season starting from there. Sanchez is the best every day prospect in the system, & that gives them three very solid young backstops to build on. I could easily see Romine & Murphy sharing the gig over the next several years and Sanchez being transitioned to 1b/dh to keep his bat in the lineup every day. With Pete O’Brien at Tampa & the 17 yo Luis Torrens in the GCL whom they seem to like a lot, they’ve got some talent/depth throughout the system here.

Outfielders/infielders, too many to itemize, but they’ve got talent spread throughout the system. How much of it they actually graduate to the big leagues remains to be seen, of course, but they’ve got some ballplayers down there. The key is finding and developing a consistent pipeline of quality pitching to go with the catchers & (mostly) complimentary players they’ve got in their system, & making the big deal for the right one or two players that can keep them an elite ball club when those deals manifest themselves.