ByTip o’ the hat to commenter yankz for pointing this story out. It appears that Joba Chamberlain will, in fact, be a starter in 2008:
Speaking with a reporter from The Associated Press, owner George Steinbrenner’s son, Hank, confirmed the news on Chamberlain — who allowed just one earned run during 24 innings in the regular season as a setup man for Mariano Rivera. This decision is independent of Rivera’s status as a potential free agent.
That’s always good to hear. · (15) ·
A sober reflection on “A fork in the road”
By · CommentsAfter reading the comments on the fork in the road post, I thought I’d follow up a bit. I enjoyed the discussion, and thought some good ideas came out of it. I really believe that the more we talk about these issues, the more we’ll all learn. Remember, I’m no expert. I’m some dude who thinks about baseball a lot and posts his thoughts for public viewing. You guys are the crux of it all. You call me out when I say something stupid, and you lend different ideas to the ones I present. That’s why this site works so well.
Honestly, my biggest problem with what I wrote is how I presented it. It was written over the course of a couple of days, and as I progressed the ideas kind of shifted. In essence, the beginning didn’t mesh with the end, and the middle didn’t do a good job of transitioning. What follows is what I think I should have written — only better, because it takes the discussion we had into consideration. And I’m sorry, but it’s going to be another long one. I’ll leave out the pictures this time.
As I mentioned in my disclaimer, the Yankees would never take the more radical path. They have the resources to stay in contention, so they’re going to continue along that path…if they can. This is where I’ll defend the “gut the team” notion. The essence is simple: The Yanks might not have much of a choice in the matter.
ByLong opposed to instant replay, Commissioner Bud Selig said today that he is open to the idea of fielding a recommendation from the General Managers on whether or not to implement the technology in the sport. I’ve been on the record in favor of instant replay in certain situations. Like many issues, people on both sides of the coin here feel very strongly about it, and it’ll be interesting to see if this goes anywhere. · (4) ·
Suttle finally gets a hit
By · CommentsHWB Honolulu (10-4 win over Waikiki)
Ajax: 2 for 4, 1 R, 1 3B, 1 RBI, 1 K – 10 hits & 6 RBI in his last 6 games
Bradley Suttle: 1 for 4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 K – sighs of relief all around…he’s now 1 for 25 in Hawaii
George Kontos: 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 3-6 GB/FB – knocks that ERA down to 4.50
JP’s AzFL update is here.
Javelinas win again
By · Comments
The Javelinas beat the Saguaros 8-3
Brett Gardner: 1-3, 1 Triple, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 R
Reegie Corona: 1-3, 1 Double, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 R
The Javelinas are now 3-1 on the season after another convincing victory. They’re batting .328 as a team and are led by the top two hitters in the league, coming into today’s game. After today’s results, Gardner is hitting a cool .500 through the first four games of the season.
ByA-Rod, according to The Post, may drop somewhere between $39 and $41 million on a seven-room townhouse on East 80th St. between Fifth and Madison Aves. If he’s spending that much money on an Upper East Side pad, does he really plan to leave New York? · (16) ·
Mitchell to name names
By · CommentsThe Mitchell Investigation is going to release names in its report. While I’m just as curious as everyone to see who was juicing and who wasn’t, I’m thinking that this is going to get ugly. Like Sarah Jessica Parker ugly.
Big Papi strikes again!!!…
ByApparently, Adam Loewen’s broken elbow and the overall crappy play of the Orioles was due to Leo Mazzone. He was let go today as the Orioles’ pitching coach. It sure is tempting to imagine him in the Bronx. · (9) ·
ByThis one comes from Tuesday. Don’t know how we missed it. Peter Gammons reports that the Yanks have already had talks regarding Johan Santana (subscription required). The conversation was based around Chien-Ming Wang. Gammons reports no conclusions, but if I’m the Twins GM, the first letter of my response would have started with “F,” and the second word would have been “off.” · (24) ·
A fork in the road! Which way should we go?
By · Comments
Everyone has said it, even the man himself: Brian Cashman is going to have the toughest off-season of his career, and easily the most daunting off-season of any other GM in baseball. He has to choose a direction in which to take the New York Yankees. As you’ll soon see, it won’t be an easy decision, and much of it will be out of his hands.
Essentially, there are two paths he could take: keep the veteran core and let the youngsters work their ways into the lineup, or gut the team and start over — or at least to the extent that’s possible. The problems with these paths are clear. He doesn’t have much control over the former. If Steinbrenner gets his way, Torre is gone, which may preclude our veteran troika of Mo, Po, and Pettitte from returning. The logical thing to do then would be to choose the latter path. However, George wants a ring, and that path is not conducive to victory in 2008. If George doesn’t understand this, it would probably cost Cashman his job.
(Official prediction: Cashman convinces George that if he wants to contend for a ring in ’08, he has to bring Torre back. The Boss acquiesces, and we bring back the troika. A-Rod, of course, is a complete wild card in either scenario.)
Let’s take a journey down each path to see what lies ahead. True, we won’t be able to get a vivid image of the landscape, but we can at least formulate an idea of what 2008 will be like. As always, please leave your takes in the comments. This is just a starting point.
