If we had gone 4-5 (not even .500!) against the Red Sox this year, we'd have a 10 1/2 game lead over them right now!
Posted by Finestrg:
If I had to project - we'll wind up going out and getting another starting pitcher by the deadline, whether it's Washburn or someone else. And we still have Shelley Duncan ripping up AAA ball, so if we need another bat off the bench in addition to Hinske's - esp. from the right side - Duncan's a good option. It's the middle part of the bullpen that's a problem. Hughes and Mariano are fine but I just have no confidence in the rest of these guys. Coke's been OK but is still shaky at times but Melancon, Robertson, Bruney, Marte when he comes back -- I just don't feel good about any of these guys anymore man. We need a good, solid middle reliever before we get to Hughes and Mariano. Somebody reliable. I gotta believe Cash knows that too. Let's see if he's got a Jay Witasick-type move in him by the deadline. Witasick sucked for us but you get the idea - at the time, that was a very good trade on paper...
[Edited by - finestrg on 07-23-2009 1:22 PM]
I think Coke is as good a 4th reliever (after Mariano, Hughes, and Aceves) as any team has. We don't have a good 5th reliever but I don't think any team other than Boston does. (They have six relievers with ERA's at 3.27 or below.) However, we're a bit shaky after our #2 starter. Getting at least one starting pitcher is a more pressing need. Washburn would be a great pickup (like you mentioned).
[Edited by - bonn1997 on 07-27-2009 08:24 AM]
we have a major opportunity to bury tampa the next 3 days. if tampa sweeps, it could give them enough incentive to make a major move for a player. but if we push them down, alot of things could change the rest of the season and down the road (i.e. not picking up crawford's $10 mil option)...
Posted by SupremeCommander:
Phil Hughes looks like getting out there every day and not having the time to beat himself up over his mistakes has made a world of difference. Why don't the Yanks just make this their progression strategy--make the young guys start out of the pen? Then there'll always be room on the club for a promising pitcher without the weight of the world being on his shoulders. Worked for Joba and Hughes and maybe it would have worked for Papelbon, etc.
we don't know for sure yet if Hughes will be a viable starter for us over the longterm, he's been inconsistent as a starter but very good as a reliever... Mariano started out as a starter too but found his niche as a closer... i still think Hughes is better suited as a starter & Joba as a reliever tho but his past couple starts have made me rethink that about Joba at least & Hughes looks terrific out of the pen... then again, Joba was lights out too as a reliever... in the end, the Yankees want both these kids to be starters like Lester is for BOS & become stalwarts in their rotation.
Here's some rumors and speculation that concerns us -
- From mlbtraderumors.com: Bob Klapisch of The Bergen Record reporting that the Mariners reportedly asked the Yankees for outfielders Melky Cabrera and Brett Gardner in exchange for Jarrod Washburn. Sounds a little steep for a hired gun/possible rental: 2 young ML-ready CFers that have both excelled this year. I guess this scenario would all depend on how the Yankees felt Austin Jackson was coming along and if they felt he was ready for the show full-time in CF right now. This obviously might change a little bit now based on Gardner's thumb injury but at least we know what the asking price is for Washburn (I'd love to keep Gardy out of this somehow - his injury right now could be a blessing). TMS, you were right the other day when you said something about Seattle being interested in ML-ready talent and not necessarily just minor leaguers. Interesting...
- Erik Bedard was just placed on the DL by Seattle with soreness in his left shoulder so it looks like he's no longer an option for us... Or could this be an opportunity to get him cheaper than expected provided he'll still be able to come back and pitch this year?? Maybe if the injury's not too serious, we pick him up, rehab him and let him come back mid-Sept. in time for the playoffs. The Mariners plan to treat the injury with rest and medication with no plan for him to even undergo an MRI at the moment. 2nd time he's been on the DL this year with the same thing though...
- Despite picking up Adam LaRoche recently, the Red Sux are still engaged in talks with the Indians over Victor Martinez. And also Cliff Lee too apparently. Any deal for either player will have to start with Clay Buchholz and so far Boston hasn't been willing to put Buchholz on the table yet. Apparently, they're interested in Halladay as well. Same deal though - it would have to start with Buchholz and they seem unwilling to include him in any deal.
- Yanks had at least 1 scout in attendance at Ian Snell's latest AAA start. Pittsburgh Pirate righthander has been dominant since being demoted. What's weird is that he apparently asked for the demotion (doesn't look like it was injury-related) and to remain in Indianapolis which is even more bizarre. It appears he's just lost all confidence in the Pirates organization to turn their situation around and would now rather stay at the Triple-A level to continue auditioning for other teams until the Pirates come up with a way to move him. Very odd, almost unheard of situation.. Just looking over his stats since he's been in the league, they're unimpressive to say the least. Still, he's only 27 years old and has always had very good stuff. Fastball in the 92-96 MPH range, good slider and a real good, effective changeup with great arm action. With that type of arsenal, it's baffling why he's struggled so much since becoming a major league pitcher, and in the National League no less. Looks like he's definitely on our radar though. Might prove to be a much cheaper alternative than some of these other guys we've been talking about for the past few days - a move for a talented guy w/o depleting the farm system or compromising our major league roster. Could be a real diamond in the rough here. Worth taking a chance on IMO.
Here's a good article I found on the Yankees/Snell situation:
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/22476...Some archived mlb.com video of Snell:
http://mlb.mlb.com/search/media.jsp?text...[Edited by - finestrg on 07-27-2009 7:55 PM]
There's no way in hell I'm giving up Melky AND Brett, or even just one of them for a possible half a season rental. No thanks. Especially now, considering that Brett is hurt.
I'd rather stick with Mitre and if we are forced to lose Joba, then I'll even settle for bringing up Igawa. It's not ideal, but I don't want to make any short term trades in which we have to at all mortgage our future.
Yeah Melky and Brett is tough to do this year though I wouldn't say that's an unfair deal in terms of value. We just can't afford to give up both right now.
Snell is interesting but his control is terrible. He's better than Mitre right now though.
i wouldn't give up either Melky or Gardner for Washburn... i think the presence of both those kids has really energized our team & that can't be understated... the team has the best record in the AL right now, no need for panic type moves... i think we should be able to get Washburn for a combo of minor league talent that doesn't include any of our top prospects... for someone like Bedard if he were healthy then definitely we'd have to give up some of our major league ready talent.
Posted by TMS:
i wouldn't give up either Melky or Gardner for Washburn... i think the presence of both those kids has really energized our team & that can't be understated... the team has the best record in the AL right now, no need for panic type moves... i think we should be able to get Washburn for a combo of minor league talent that doesn't include any of our top prospects... for someone like Bedard if he were healthy then definitely we'd have to give up some of our major league ready talent.
agreed - a 5th arm would be nice, but the rest of the line-up is solid and no need to mess w what's working.
how about boston sucking these days btw - you think they blew their load early this year or another run to come? would be nice to take the remaining games we play against them this year to get us ready mentally for playoffs - our team needs to feel like they can beat the sux and a few wins towrds end of the season wouldnt hurt...
we play most of our remaining games w/BOS at YS, so hopefully our homefield advantage will come into play... Fenway has not been good to us of late.
ok, who's better: aj burnett or cy young?
[Edited by - djsunyc on 07-27-2009 9:21 PM]
Who's better? Joe Girardi or Jesus?
Posted by Allanfan20:
Who's better? Joe Girardi or Jesus?
this is a tough one but what i do know is that how some people wear superman pajamas when they go to bed, superman wears joe girardi pajamas...
Posted by Finestrg:
Could be a real diamond in the rough here. Worth taking a chance on IMO.
Speaking of diamonds in the rough, this kid Mitre could be just that. He's still 28 years old and and has shown flashes of dominance. The only thing that's held him back are some injury problems. If this kid can stay healthy, he just might be the answer, and it won't cost us anything since we already have him.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2005 season
In 2005, he started off on Triple-A Iowa's roster, and on May 10, 2005, he was recalled from Iowa, only to be sent down after two games and not pitching in either. On May 24, 2005, he was called up for a spot start.
On June 14, 2005, Mitre pitched his first complete game, along with his first shutout in a 14-0 victory over the Florida Marlins against Josh Beckett. [7][edit] 2006 season
On December 7, 2005, the Florida Marlins traded Juan Pierre to the Cubs, receiving Mitre and minor league pitchers Ricky Nolasco and Renyel Pinto in exchange.
He pitched 15 games for the Marlins in 2006.
[edit] 2007 season
In the 2007 season, Mitre set many “career bests.”[2] He won a career-high five games.[2] He also set career bests with 27 games played, 27 starts, 149.0 innings pitched and 80 strikeouts.[2]
Mitre had a streak of not allowing an earned run in 24.2 consecutive innings.[2] This streak lasted five starts, beginning May 20 at Tampa and ending June 15 at Kansas City.[2]
He made Marlins history with his 1.12 ERA in May, only the second lowest for a starting pitcher during May in Marlins history, a feat previously held by Chris Hammond, who turned in a 0.61 ERA in May 1994.[2] Mitre began to see injury problems beginning in 2007, missing two weeks with a blister on his right middle finger, and time later in the season for a strained right hamstring.[2] He had three stints on the disabled list, foreshadowing his 2008 season. [2]
[edit] 2008 season
Mitre did not play in a game in 2008. [9] On July 15, Mitre underwent Tommy John ligament replacement surgery to fix right forearm tightness. As is the case with all Tommy John surgery patients, he was expected to miss 12 – 18 months.[10] He was released by the Marlins at the end of the 2008 season.
On November 3, Mitre signed a one-year minor league contract with the New York Yankees with an option for 2010.[11]
I like Mitre and I want to see more of him. But he is what he is - 5th starter material. He's kept us in games and that's all you can ask for. Job well done so far. I still think Cash needs to pull something off. Maybe not for a Halladay or Cliff Lee (the price tag is way to high for both of these guys), but for a legit middle-of-the-rotation type. And he's got options. I like the idea of going after this kid Snell. Low risk/very high reward type that shouldn't cost too much. He's got good stuff and has been pitching very well since asking to be sent down. Seems like a little bit of a headcase but I attribute it to his obvious frustration with the Pittsburgh organization over anything else. Can't judge a book by it's cover - I'm sure the Pirate organization had a hand in this feud as well. Again, very odd situation going on there with this guy right now - he asks for a demotion, the team obliges, then he asks to stay down in AAA ball and so far, they've accomodated him. I mean this is a guy they're paying something like $4.5 million dollars to this season. Crazy. Whatever. Maybe a change of scenery might be just what he needs. I read that the Pirates GM said he isn't about to get fleeced in a deal for Snell but what kind of leverage does he really think he has here?? You got a pitcher who wants no part of the organization, they have to be equally frustrated with him and most likely want him gone in the worst way and they're not getting any return on their investment at all ($4.5 mil. bucks isn't Bronson Arroyo money but it's not exactly chump change either). Perfect guy for the Bombers right now - we come in & offer to take the contract off their hands and offer maybe a B-Level prospect or two, nothing major. Everybody's happy. He's been dominant in AAA-Indy since being demoted including a 17 strikeout performance. If Seattle maintains their high asking price for Washburn (last I heard they wanted both Melky and Gardner in a deal) and the only other possible alternative is Arroyo who's got something like $18 million left on his deal which is crazy money, this kid Snell may be our best shot at an upgrade right now.
To be honest, we really need 2 capable starters in my opinion, not 1 -- 1 for the backend of the rotation (Snell, stuff-wise, should be an upgrade over Mitre - Snell was considered the future ace of the Pittsburgh staff not too long ago) and one more guy to slide into Joba's spot (really Wang's #3 spot if you think about it) which will then allow them to move Joba back into the bullpen as he nears his 150-innings limit. Unless Cash has his eye on a big-time reliever that we haven't heard anything about yet, it wouldn't surprise me to see him bring in 2 starting pitchers..
[Edited by - finestrg on 07-28-2009 1:15 PM]
What I like about Mitre is his consistency. He's going to have a 4.5 ERA (or thereabouts) by giving up 4 runs one game and five the next. He's not going pitch a shutout and then give up nine runs. That's about as much as you can ask from a fifth starter
What I don't understand is why the Yanks haven't tried to lure Mussina out to get ready for September/October
It just doesn't look like we're going to either add payroll or give up prospects right now. We're 23 games over .500 and we don't have any major needs to address. Having another starter would be great (I like Washburn), but Girardi's been doing a great job managing the rotation and the pen with what we have. Also, call it a hunch, but if this Mitre kid can stay healthy and prove to be durable I think he's just going to get better. Come playoff time, with his ability to induce ground ball outs, he could be a big asset coming out of the pen.
If there is an area where I think we are a little weak, it's in the corner outfield positions. We could definitely use a defensive upgrade with a power arm to keep base runners honest (imho)
Posted by SupremeCommander:
What I like about Mitre is his consistency. He's going to have a 4.5 ERA (or thereabouts) by giving up 4 runs one game and five the next. He's not going pitch a shutout and then give up nine runs. That's about as much as you can ask from a fifth starter
What I don't understand is why the Yanks haven't tried to lure Mussina out to get ready for September/October
i'm pretty sure Cash is probably asking but Moose is probably happy w/his retirement.
I read that Boston is throwing in Clay Bucholz in a Halladay deal to try and sweeten the offer. All I know is if the Red Sox get Halladay then we are screwed bad. We haven't beaten them at all this season and if they add one of the best pitchers in the game then I don't see how we can get past them. Our starting pitching behind AJ and CC is inconsistent. I know they all pitched well recently but they still have been inconsistent this entire year. Joba, Pettite and Mitre/whoever. I don't have all that much faith there. We need another quality and consistent starter, especially if Halladay goes to the Sox.
can't control was the sox do. if they want halladay and get him, all the power to them. we can't get everybody.
