Monday Night Open Thread

by 68 Comments

Jeter takes live batting practice, fields grounders at short for first time
Finding possible trade matches for Ichiro Suzuki

Now that the Super Bowl is in the rear-view mirror, the start of Spring Training is officially the next significant sports event on the calendar. Other than the Olympics, I guess. Pitchers and catchers report in eleven days, the Yankees hold their first full squad workout in 17 days, then they play their first Grapefruit League game in 23 days. Hooray for that. I’m really looking forward to Spring Training this year because the bullpen is wide open and I want to see guys like Jose Ramirez and Dellin Betances as they try to win a big league job in camp.

This is your open thread for the night. The Knicks, Nets, and Devils are all playing. Talk about those games, waiting for Spring Training, or anything else right here. Have at it.

Jeter takes live batting practice, fields grounders at short for first time
Finding possible trade matches for Ichiro Suzuki
  • JC

    So who thinks Kay is a looking like a pretty poor TV face of the Yankees?
    The whole coke in the garbage can stunt today was such a tasteless shot at Francessa. Over what? The A-Rod interview?

    • http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike Axisa

      And to think, he’s going to tell us all summer how classless it is whenever a player pimps a homer or pumps his fist.

    • I

      Dang it. You mentioned it already. Nah. Over the years I’ve learned that Michael Kay has these things with obsesses about. I just simply thinking he probably thought it was stupid that Francesca tore the tag off the coke bottles — it is kinda dumb and he probably just want to take a light jab at it — like “look, it’s a coke bottle”

      No harm.

    • Preston

      It’s just stupid. Besides being classless, you’re on tv, your revenue comes from advertising. How do you think the coca-cola corporation feels about their product being thrown out on air?

      • Macho Man “Randy Levine”

        Maybe he was making a statement about their commercial last night.

        Oh, wait, that’s right. It was a Diet Coke.

    • Macho Man “Randy Levine”

      To think that I used to like Kay.

      God, I was stupid as a teenager 14 years ago.

      • JC

        Yeah I agree, I used to like him. Though over the last few years the level been dissipating.
        It seems like he’s just the Yankees spin guy – don’t get me wrong when I want to be comforted and reminded that the Yankees are a gift from god (and god’s favorite gift at that) – I’m more than happy to oblige and listen to Kay.

        But talk radio? Not exactly his forte. Seems entirely too ‘scripted’ which gets under my skin more than anything else. Though Francesa does tend to berate callers at times, I think he is vastly more thoughtful/intelligent than Kay is when it comes down to actual issues.

        But I digress, ‘Cuse looks like a different team in the second half – and nay for the better.

        • I’m a looser and a trader baby so why don’t you kill me?

          My problem with his radio show is that he knows nothing or next to nothing about non-baseball sports. If he didn’t have La Greca (hockey) or his producers (basketball, football) he’d be even more embarrassing on air than that stammering idiot Lupica. There are simply guys you listen to where you just know that they know, at a deep, long term, studied, first fan then analyst sort of way, that they really fucking know what they’re talking about. Kay is not one of those guys beyond baseball. And even then he says some awesomely stupid shit.

    • Jorge Steinbrenner

      It was dumb, but I prefer him a thousand times over Francesa.

      • Long-Past-His-Day-Rod

        God, this. This a million times.

        The man knows his sports but he is an insufferable pompous ass.

        • I’m a looser and a trader baby so why don’t you kill me?

          Yeah I have to agree here. One thing I will say about Francesa though: on the anniversary of JFK he dedicated a very large portion of his show to the man, his impact, legacy, presidency, etc. It was extremely thoughtful and insightful, compelling listening. And I say that despite my very strong dislike for Francesa.

        • I’m a looser and a trader baby so why don’t you kill me?

          Funny too about him knowing sports. Even when he talks about horse racing (which, yawn) he’s really into it and truly seems to know what he’s talking about. Broad and deep. But I can’t stand him.

    • Farewell Mo

      Not to mention Kay hasn’t come close to beating Francesa in the ratings ever.
      Seems like a curious move to me why the YES would switch from Francesa to Kay now that the Yanks have switched over to FAN. I wonder if ESPNs deep pockets are writing a big check to YES.

      I would never watch either show simulcast though, strictly for the drives to and from work for me.

      • RetroRob

        …in “fairness” to Kay, he’s basically never had much of a chance to beat Francesca. Up until recently, I could never even hear the station he was on unless I was driving by the transmitter! Meanwhile, WFAN is on a 50,000 watt clear channel.

        Yet, as I say that, he still won’t beat Francesca!

    • forensic

      It was stupid, but it’s not that big a deal. At least they didn’t talk about it and bring more attention that way.

      Of course, as a Kay fan, I’m probably biased.

      • Jorge Steinbrenner

        Agreed.

  • Tanuki Tanaka (Formerly Bob Buttons)

    Some can’t wait til spring training. Some, like me, can’t wait til the newest round of baseball games (or rosters/mods) come out.

    • jjyank

      Oh, I feel you on that. I’m a recent convert to Playstation. I ditched my Xbox 360 (well not really, I still have it) for a PS4 for the next gen. Soooo that means that I can finally play MLB The Show instead of the crappy 2K Sports games. Very, very excited.

      • Tanuki Tanaka (Formerly Bob Buttons)

        Certainly will miss Mo Pettitte and others in game though, but also kinda cool having guys on your team that you’ll probably not get via trade in game if it was last year’s rosters.

        Wish there was an official count down for this.

      • I’m a looser and a trader baby so why don’t you kill me?

        PS4 rulez.

    • The Great Gonzo

      RBI Baseball has peaked my attention, although I am just about positive it will disappoint me.

      The biggest issue with baseball video games is that they come out when I would rather be doing other things, like…. watching actual baseball or being outside playing baseball or something.

      • Jorge Steinbrenner

        Make it as easy to play as the original and I’ll be there.

      • Tanuki Tanaka (Formerly Bob Buttons)

        Fair enough, but I just get baseball games on pc and do both at same time.

        • The Great Gonzo

          I can dig it.

        • I’m a looser and a trader baby so why don’t you kill me?

          You kids and your multi tasking.

  • I
  • Grit for Brains

    The Yanks infield defense and offense is, I think, better if Jeter is the third baseman. He can’t be expected to turn a double play at this point. Script it where it’s something he brought to Girardi, IDGAF, I doubt you do, but lets field a playoff team this year.

    • stuckey

      A final draft of the Jeter script was completed years ago and it’s already been greenlit by the NY Yankees.

      Derek Jeter came in the everyday SS, and he’s going to go out the everyday SS.

      This is as plain as day.

      Coming to terms with this reality will make this upcoming season that much more enjoyable … or should I say that much less frustrating.

      We often say overpaying the last couple of years of a long-term contract is the price you pay for a superstar.

      Derek Jeter going out the way he came in is the price the Yankees pay for having a first ballot HoFer, exemplary captain, and guy with 5 rings.

      There are good, sound arguments to be made he should not be the everyday SS, but he WILL be.

      Let’s just all move on.

      • Wicomico Pinstripes

        Thank you.

        There’s no point in dwelling on a subject that you know won’t change. As an armchair GM I would prefer to see Jeter play short most days, but as a fan I most certainly want to see him at short.

        Relish the few days we have left with Derek Jeter as our regular shortstop. There are not many of those left I’m afraid.

        • Jorge Steinbrenner

          Thank you as well.

        • forensic

          And this goes for his spot in the batting order too. There’s no way that’s going to change, at least not for the first couple months of the season.

          • The Great Gonzo

            All truths.

            We married Jeter when he was a 20 year old hot blonde with a fancy new set of bolt ons, now we are going to have to live through the 40 year old bitter broad with a little bit of a ponch and a cheap dye job.

            Or something… For better or worse.

            • vicki

              wow. gross. what a lucky lady, your wife.

              • Jorge Steinbrenner

                I’m sure all the guys look exactly as they did at 20 as well. ;)

                • The Great Gonzo

                  Its an analogy. Albeit, not the classiest one. But it works!

                  And no, my wife is extremely unlucky, and yes I look EXACTLY like I did 20 years ago. Like… EXACTLY.

                  Well, my clothes are of better quality and my hair is cut.

                  • Jorge Steinbrenner

                    On our last trip, for the first time ever, the TSA person looked at my license for more than a millisecond in order to see if that picture from 2001 was actually me. My heart sank.

                    I’m definitely in better shape than I was in 2001 but, otherwise, yeah, I think I look the same.

                • Lukaszek

                  20 years ago I was extremely white and had a long tail. And I could only be seen under a microscope. I’ve changed a lot, whenever I show my ID from ’94, the person has to look at it for a good minute to confirm that I’m the person in the picture

  • Alkaline

    Thanks for some entertaining day threads guys! :D

    • jjyank

      Anytime :p

    • forensic

      I haven’t read them yet, so I don’t know if this really means they were good or train-wrecks. Maybe I’ll stay away from them for now.

      • RetroRob

        Always assume a train wreck.

        • Jorge Steinbrenner

          Ye of little faith.

          • I’m a looser and a trader baby so why don’t you kill me?

            Pollyanna!

            • Jorge Steinbrenner

              *puts hands in air*

              *waves them like he just don’t care*

    • The Great Gonzo

      T’was a fun day.

  • Fred

    Honestly, I’m hoping we can shore up some of this infield deficiency. We learned last year that injuries are detrimental, and that second string starters dont work. I really think Stephen Drew fits within this infield. If Jeter or Tex go down, the inf will at least be semi-salvaged.

    • Tanuki Tanaka (Formerly Bob Buttons)

      You should trademark the term “infield deficiency”

      • JC

        No, Brian Cashman really should. Spin it like ‘Moneyball’!

        • vicki

          that was michael lewis, who also coined “big swinging dicks” in liar’s poker. “big swinging dickerson”: that was me.

  • JC

    Andddd Trevor Cooney is putting on a clinc beyond the arc.

    • Havok9120

      That was quite enjoyable.

      *flees the scene before he arrives*

  • nsalem

    I find Michael Kay’s use of teasers to keep listeners tuned in sometimes for 20 to 30 minutes to hear an “inside” story which he claims is very newsworthy, interesting and exclusive to be obnoxious and annoying. One reason is because he is doing it on a drive time show when a listener can not stay tuned for that long and another is that the story is often not exclusive, interesting or newsworthy.

    • Jorge Steinbrenner

      They all do that.

      • nsalem

        Disagree unless my statement was not clear. Francesca (who I dislike as much as Kay) I feel is actually good about announcing his agenda for the day and often clearly states what will be discussed in what hour. While Kay has this hang on to your hat approach because if you stay tuned I have something to say that will shock you and then makes you wait through multiple commercials and maybe even another topic before delivering his big story. I don’t like either of them. Francesa seems like a miserable and foul person at times who is unhappy with his job and dislikes most of his callers. He is often pompous, married to the heros of his youth (Godforbid anyone suggests that Pedro might have been a better pitcher than Koufax) intolerent of others arguments. He doesn’t seem to follow baseball on a daily basis and has little knowledge of anything relating to new numbers. His lack of knowledge of the Yankee farm system is astounding . He talks about how hard his daily grind is at his age. He’s a bit of a pig for moaning about this to his listeners considering what he makes to talk about sports for 5 and half hours a day and what others have to do to may ends meet. I would imagine that YES may have dumped him because he acts like an asshole to his fan base. I hope they told him that as they were closing the door. I have also heard stories about his abusiveness to people who work at the station (younger ones of a different gender) and wouldn’t be surprised if that may have been the cause.

        • Long-Past-His-Day-Rod

          That was one of the most accurate descriptions of Francesa I’ve ever read. Well done, good sir.

        • Jorge Steinbrenner

          Oh, THIS I agree with. :)

        • I’m a looser and a trader baby so why don’t you kill me?

          +1000000.

          You know though, I do think that he has been taking lessons in advanced stats. Not because he uses them actively on the show (he doesn’t, at least not that I’ve heard) but because the pro/con arguments he takes seem to better line up with underlying advanced stats more than they used to. And he’s stopped automatically arguing that the guy with 20 wins had a better season than the guy with 16.

          Don’t get me wrong. I can’t stand him.

          • Chris W.

            Francesa still occasionally uses pitcher wins to bolster his arguments as well as rbis and runs scored by players. I do agree he’s sometimes better with stats though.

  • vicki

    okay, now that i’ve googled it, kay was only play-fighting francesca. after reading the comments i’d thought he was red-state posturing after the (weirdly) contraversial super bowl coke commercial.

    as it is, whatever.

    • Jorge Steinbrenner

      Kay’s a Republican? Didn’t peg him.

  • mt

    I am very well aware of Michael Kay’s many deficiencies but prefer him to Mike F. Kay is lucky Don is on the show to balance him out.

    I listened to Francesca recently (after not having listened to him for a long, long time) and it was unlistenable. He was obnoxious.

    • The Great Gonzo

      Wait, is Kay’s deficiency of the ‘infield’ variety?

      #InsideJokeFromUpThere^

  • Chris W.

    I wonder if Mike Francesa will or has become more anti-Yankee now that he’s off YES and in spite of the fact he’s a Yankee fan. He’s said he might have been taken off because he wasn’t positive enough and said that the Yankees sell propaganda. He’s right, but I think all teams do to some extent. I don’t like either show, but Mike F. is so pompous that he’s unintentionally funny in small doses.

  • cashjr

    I like Francesca better even with his occasional crankiness – Kay is just too much of a homer. I was disappointed a bit in Francesca’s over the top loyalty to AROD though. Seems like he wants us to believe that MLB is corrupt (I’ll buy that one), but also the arbitrator was corrupt (not buying that one) and that even the union was corrupt (no way am I buying that one). I get the whole “AROD deserves the benefit of the doubt” thing, but Francesca seemed way past that at the end. Other than that I always thought Francesca was pretty fair and objective over the years.

  • AllyinCt

    Mike F certainly has his faults. My main problem with him is that he seemed lazy in gathering knowledge about sports. Too often, I heard him tell a caller that he didn’t watch a game or know a fact, that I thought he should have known as sports is his JOB. I expected him to know more than his callers. I expect too much. That being said, I watched his show most days and looked forward to it. I listened some yesterday on the radio and will watch when he reappears on tv. I will not watch Mike K as I just never found him interesting.
    Meanwhile…go Yankees!

    • Jorge Steinbrenner

      He was incredibly lazy at just that. Kay, at least, gives it about 30% in that regard.

      • I’m a looser and a trader baby so why don’t you kill me?

        Kay has to because he doesn’t seem to have an real knowledge or insight about any sport save baseball. Can’t stand Mike F but as a general rule he knew a great deal about most sports, at least in an old school way.

        • Jorge Steinbrenner

          I don’t think he’s terrible on the NFL. I usually just glaze over the local NBA talk and the NHL altogether.

          LaGreca’s tortured soul Met fan persona does have its charm.