There’s a reason why Gary Sheffield has been on 7 teams in his borderline Hall of Fame career. This is it.
Just shut the fuck up already Sheff, no one’s listening, and no one gives a shit about what you have to say.
by Mike 2 Comments
There’s a reason why Gary Sheffield has been on 7 teams in his borderline Hall of Fame career. This is it.
Just shut the fuck up already Sheff, no one’s listening, and no one gives a shit about what you have to say.
It’s tough to find past evidence to support my Abreu claim, because he has been so damn consistent over his career. His OPB has always been good, and his batting average doesn’t fluctuate too much — except when he’s hitting like .350 and is coming back to earth. This may be a more recent development. Supporting that are a few instances in the past few years.
April 13, 2005
Pitcher faced: Dontrelle Willis
Went 8 for his next 41 (.195) with 10 walks and 0 extra base hits.
September 17, 2005
Pitcher faced: Dontrelle Willis
Went 6 for the rest of the season (45 at bats, .133 BA) with 9 walks and two doubles.
Greetings, RAB faithful, from San Francisco. I’m on vacation for the next week so I’ll be posting less frequently than usual. But Joe and Mike will have the same great content they always have.
I wanted to chime in briefly on this A-Rod flurry of news. Since the All Star Break, we’ve heard a report say the Yanks were willing to negotiate with A-Rod now; a report saying that Scott Boras, A-Rod’s agent, expects the future Hall of Famer to be earning $30 million annually real soon; and a report today saying that the Yanks won’t bid against other teams for A-Rod’s services.
The three of us have been notably silent on these developments over the last few days for the simple fact that they are not really newsworthy. The Yanks’ initial stance was overblown according to subsequent reports. No team would ever engage in intense A-Rod style contract negotiations while attempting to overcome a sloppy start and 10-game deficit. And the Yanks wouldn’t negotiate with A-Rod during the season while ignoring Mariano Rivera’s and Jorge Posada’s current contract situations.
Today’s news is another meaningless piece of unsourced journalism. The Daily News, in an effort to one-up the Post, found some anonymous source in the Yankee organization who said the team won’t bid for A-Rod’s services. Who knows if it’s true? To speculate on that would be pointless, but as MLBTradeRumors notes, if A-Rod opts out, that’s probably going to be the end of his run in pinstripes.
What we do know is that Scott Boras will use all of his leverage — an opt-out clause (you can think Tom Hicks for that one), A-Rod’s 31 HR and 87 RBI in 86 games — to secure a mega-deal for his biggest client. It could be an extension; it could be a whole new contract. But something will happen. That’s it. That’s the story. None of the rest of this carries any weight at all.
Now back to our march to the playoffs…
You know, watching the team play last night almost made me forget about the dismal first half. Okay, maybe not so much, but it was still a damn good effort on the part of the Yanks. It’s against the lowly Devil Rays, but the Yanks have to beat up on these teams to have a shot. The Yanks need at least three out of four in this series if we’re going to take them seriously. Now we’re back at .500, and looking to get back over the hump tonight.
What’s encouraging is seeing that everyone in the lineup got a hit — except Cano. And for the most part, they beat up on one of the surprisingly good starters for Tampa Bay. James Shields surrendered three home runs — all in the same inning — and three doubles, accounting for 2/3 of his total hits allowed. That, my friends, is how the Yankees are supposed to win ball games.
by Mike 20 Comments
One of the craziest box scores of the year right here. The GCL Cardinals were getting no-hit into the 15th inning (!) then walk-off with a 1-0 win in the 17th inning. Insane.
Oh, and this comes straight from the horse’s mouth:
Some people have expressed concern over the fact that I have just three home runs this season. I don’t worry too much about it. What matters is that I’m hitting the ball. The power will come as long as I continue to have confidence in myself.
Amen.Â
Triple-A Scranton (9-6 win over Louisville)
Brett Gardner: 0 for 3, 2 R, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 SBÂ – solid showing in his AAA debut
Justin Christian: 3 for 5, 1 3B, 3 RBI, 1 K, 1 SBÂ – 21 hits in his last 11 games
Shelley Duncan: 2 for 5, 2 R, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 1 K – why not call him up to give the Yanks a little thump off the bench?
Angel Chavez: 2 for 4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 BB
Eric Duncan: 0 for 4, 1 BB – BA down to .223
Andy Cannizaro & Raul Chavez: both 1 for 4, 1 R – Cannizaro walked, Chavez drove in 2 and picked a runner off first
Chase Wright: 6 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 K – the good: he outpitched this guy…the bad: he gave up this guy’s first career AAA homerÂ
Sean Henn: 1.1 IP, 3 H, 2Â R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
Chris Britton: Â 0.2 IP, zeroes across the board
Jim Brower: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K – in other news, Kyle Farnsworth allowed 2 more baserunners
This is little more than speculation, so let’s view it as just that.
There was an article in today’s San Francisco Chronicle that talked about the possibility of the A’s moving Mike Piazza in the coming weeks. This comes just days after speculation that the A’s were prepared to trade first baseman Dan Johnson.
Naturally, the Yankees have been connected to both names. Piazza would have no use beyond DH, as he still cannot throw a ball with his bum shoulder. That’s actually the reason he’s being shopped — with Jack Cust at DH, a full outfield, and Johnson at first, there’s simply no room for Piazza. He’d be a big bat off the bench, but Billy Beane didn’t shell out $8.5 million for a pinch hitter.
Johnson can play first base capably, and is hitting .260/.369/.455 in 235 at bats since returning from the DL. His lowly marks of .234 /.323 /.381 from last year are largely attributed to double vision, which was corrected with surgery this off-season.
by Mike 9 Comments
I present to you the probable pitching matchups for Double-A Trenton’s 4-game set with Double-A New Hampshire this weekend:
Thursday: Ian Patrick Kennedy vs Ricky Romero (1.72 WHIP, 4.11 ERA)
Friday: Phil Hughes vs Ismael Ramirez (1.80 WHIP, 5.54 ERA)
Saturday: Joba Chamberlain vs Eric Fowler (1.63 WHIP, 6.00 ERA)
Sunday: Alan Horne vs Kyle Yates (1.53 WHIP, 5.04 ERA)
So um . . . yeah . . . should be an interesting series . . .
(FYI: you can watch Saturday’s game online for free via CN8)