Off Topic · Yankees Talk thread (page 1)

Joba Chamberlain was just called up & will be in the bullpen tonight vs. the Jays... Edwar Ramirez is also going to be recalled in the coming days... looks like our needs in the bullpen are being addressed as we speak.

The Betemit trade looks to be a good one so far... the guy can hit, it's pretty clear, & he doesn't seem phazed at all by the Yankee Stadium pressure.

Melky, Cano, Matsui, Abreu & Damon are all on fire since the Allstar break... our weakness in the 1st half has now become our strength w/all these lefty hitters on a tear lately & now w/a nice deep bench w/the emergences of Andy Phillips & Shelley Duncan & the acquisitions of Wilson Betemit & Jose Molina... & now add Jason Giambi's name to the list, who is set to rejoin the team now also.

we're not just .5 game in back of DET for the WC, & 6 behind the Bosux for the division... looks like those morons over at ESPN spoke too soon when they all claimed the Yankees were dead & buried earlier in the season (w/the exception of Kurkjian & Gammons, who have been fair all along IMO)... i can't wait to see Steve Phillips, Buster Olney & John Kruk eat crow when the Yankees catch BOS & win the AL East this year!

can't wait to watch chamberlain blow serious cheddar against the blue jays.

I'm just worried about Giambi returning, causing some serious chemistry issues and whatnot, but I think Melky has earned his starting spot no matter who returns at this point. It looks like the 2 guys who have to look out for their jobs are Phillips and Damon.

i don't think Phillips has much to worry about... it looks like Torre will use him & Betemit in a platoon at 1B this season... Giambi & Damon will likely be fighting for AB's at DH... somebody's going to have to accept a reduced role... unfortunately this probably means Shelley Duncan sees a lot less playing time also... the kid's been nothing but great since he got called up... hopefully we at least keep him on the roster so that we have a power righty bat to go to if we need it.

if Torre sits Melky down now after the great season he's having to insert Giambi back in the lineup, he's an idiot... but leave it up to him to completely destroy team chemistry by tinkering w/something that's working for us... i hope he learned his lesson from last season, but i'm not banking on it.

Posted by TMS:

Joba Chamberlain was just called up & will be in the bullpen tonight vs. the Jays... Edwar Ramirez is also going to be recalled in the coming days... looks like our needs in the bullpen are being addressed as we speak.

The Betemit trade looks to be a good one so far... the guy can hit, it's pretty clear, & he doesn't seem phazed at all by the Yankee Stadium pressure.

Melky, Cano, Matsui, Abreu & Damon are all on fire since the Allstar break... our weakness in the 1st half has now become our strength w/all these lefty hitters on a tear lately & now w/a nice deep bench w/the emergences of Andy Phillips & Shelley Duncan & the acquisitions of Wilson Betemit & Jose Molina... & now add Jason Giambi's name to the list, who is set to rejoin the team now also.

we're not just .5 game in back of DET for the WC, & 6 behind the Bosux for the division... looks like those morons over at ESPN spoke too soon when they all claimed the Yankees were dead & buried earlier in the season (w/the exception of Kurkjian & Gammons, who have been fair all along IMO)... i can't wait to see Steve Phillips, Buster Olney & John Kruk eat crow when the Yankees catch BOS & win the AL East this year!

You'll have to pass the Mariners first. And the dog loving Ichiro is not going to let that happen.

we've already passed the M's bro... sorry to break the news.

Posted by TMS:

we've already passed the M's bro... sorry to break the news.

Oh, Damnit!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey TMS, you know when a great time in Yankee history was? When back in 2001, the Mariners passed the '98 Yankees for total wins, yet we blew by them and destroyed them in the playoffs. Ahhh man.

Posted by Allanfan20:

Hey TMS, you know when a great time in Yankee history was? When back in 2001, the Mariners passed the '98 Yankees for total wins, yet we blew by them and destroyed them in the playoffs. Ahhh man.

I think you are confusing that great time with this great time:

Line drive, we are tied! Griffey is coming around! He's going to try and score! Here's the throw from Bernie. And here comes Griiiiiiifeeeeeey...Here's the division championship! Mariners win it, Mariners win it!!!

at least the '98 team still holds the record for games won in a season including the postseason.

Or:

"Just listen to these fans, 30 years in the making, pack up the tailgates we are going to Detroit"

You guys think you have it bad as Knick fans, try being a Knick, Mariner and Seahawk fan. In my lifetime, approximately 78 years of rooting for these three teams and I got squat.

Cairo DFA'd and Bruney optioned down to AAA

Posted by Bippity10:

Or:

"Just listen to these fans, 30 years in the making, pack up the tailgates we are going to Detroit"

You guys think you have it bad as Knick fans, try being a Knick, Mariner and Seahawk fan. In my lifetime, approximately 78 years of rooting for these three teams and I got squat.

damn, i didn't know u were that old bro... u don't look a day over 60.

I cant believe we are already tied for the wild card. What a comeback

Posted by VDesai:

Cairo DFA'd and Bruney optioned down to AAA

Bruney going to AAA is a joke... Jim Brower? are you freakin' kidding me? the guy's a career journeyman... Bruney can at least strike major leaguers out... & his ERA was very respectable... did u see the line drives the Jays were hitting of Brower the other day? just because he got out of the inning doesn't mean a linedrive hit straight at ARod should inspire confidence in that guy...

maybe they just want to send Bruney down to work on his control a little more since he walks way too many guys... who knows... i had a feeling Cairo would be DFA'd... it's a shame, he was a consummate pro... hopefully he can catch on w/a contender for the stretch run & play in some meaningful games.

Cairo had no use to the is team with Betemit in the fold. Betemit can play all the IF positions pretty well and has a better bat.

Bruney I don't understand. Brower was never that good and is now over the hill. Looked like Bruney was starting to get his confidence back in some recent outings. It is probably b/c they want to work on his control/mechanics, but even with his warts he could help more than Brower.

Cairo was our only real pinch running option off the bench... Betemit, Molina & Phillips aren't scaring anyone in terms of stealing bases... i know there was no other option but to DFA the guy though... i have a feeling not having a pinch runner on the bench is going to come back to haunt us at some point in this stretch run or in the playoffs.

Posted by TMS:

Cairo was our only real pinch running option off the bench... Betemit, Molina & Phillips aren't scaring anyone in terms of stealing bases... i know there was no other option but to DFA the guy though... i have a feeling not having a pinch runner on the bench is going to come back to haunt us at some point in this stretch run or in the playoffs.

Cairo isn't very fast. Johnny Damon is probably gonna be on the bench in the playoffs to pinch run, and they will have plenty of options when they expand the roster to 40 in Septemeber between guys like Kevin Thompson, Brett Gardner, Kevin Reese etc.

Cairo isn't that fast, but he's a very smart base runner... he picks his spots well... that's a fair point about Damon tho... KT, Gardner & Reese aren't figuring into our postseason plans at all... i just like Miggy... he got some big clutch hits for us in some big games... he's like 1 of those Luis Sojo type role players that our past champions have always seemed to have on the team.

Posted by TMS:

Cairo isn't that fast, but he's a very smart base runner... he picks his spots well... that's a fair point about Damon tho... KT, Gardner & Reese aren't figuring into our postseason plans at all... i just like Miggy... he got some big clutch hits for us in some big games... he's like 1 of those Luis Sojo type role players that our past champions have always seemed to have on the team.

KT, Gardner and Reese will factor into the Septemeber stretch run that you were referring and I wouldn't be too surprised if KT ended up on the postseason roster if they were really concerned with running and OF defense at that point.

I'm not worried about not having enough clutch role players. We've got guys like Duncan, Betemit, Phillips etc. who are a ton more likely to come up with a hit in a big spot in the playoffs than the light hitting Cairo. We shouldn't miss him at all.

BTW, Gardner rates is a plus, plus baserunner...80 on the speed scale and he can pick it in the OF. He could be a valuable reserve soon.