Off Topic · Yankees Talk thread (page 94)

Holy shit! 63 pages of yankee talk? Where the hell have I been?

join the convo brohamus

EnySpree
Posts: 10982
Alba Posts: 116
Joined: 04-18-2003
Member: #391

09-28-2008 11:02 AM Show Profile Reply with Quote Moose, Giambi, Pettitte, Bobby Abreu are all free agents. Why in the world would the yankees sign any of these bozo's? There's no cap so there's no worries with that. Its about the pinstripes. Giambi's stashe was the only joy he's brought to the yanks since he's been here. I have more fire in my empty lighter than Bobby Abreu. Pettitte doesn't want to play baseball anymore and neither does Moose. Moose is chasing 300 wins so he can get in the hall of fame. Let them go and don't look back.

Pitching:
Cc sabathia, aj burnett should both be yankees....cashman usually gets his man if the Yanks want him. Even if the Yanks can't get either, they should be looking for fire and desire everywhere. The bullpen guys were ok this year. Joba, Kennedy, Hughes and the rest of the good young arms the yanks have need to get healthy and fall where they may.

Outfield:
Xavier Nady is the man in right field and should totally eliminate Bobby Abreu out of any talks with the yanks. Johnny Damon and Matsui are getting up there in age but deserve plenty of at bats. Melky is a 4th outfielder that actually should be traded if possible. Yanks might need to pick up someone via trade/free agency or call someone up.

Infield:
Jeter and Arod aint going anywhere on the left side. Robinson Cano is a bust. Everybody knows he has talent but I think he is content with pissing away his career. I've said before the Yanks need a guy like Brain Roberts. He has speed and is a better option at lead off but he's getting old too. Anyway you look at it, this guy Cano need to be gone for a young guy with a pulse. Posada, yes Posada needs to be put on 1st. Pudge is getting old too but he's healthier that Posada who I said last year that the Yanks should have let him go.

Eny, i agree w/u on some points, but not on some others.

pending FA's - Abreu definitely lacks any fire & desire, i completely agree... i think his laid back attitude might be rubbing off on Cano a bit, not sure... i wouldn't pay Abreu the type of money he'll be looking for to return... & no way can we pay Giambi his $20 mil to return... if they buy him out at $5 mil & they make some trades of guys like Damon or Matsui, then i wouldn't mind having him back strictly as a DH at say $8 mil, which would put his annual take at around $13 mil, not too shabby for him... i don't see that happening tho... he'll probably go play for an AL West Coast team, or maybe sign w/the Dodgers & rejoin Torre? or who knows, maybe the White Sox pick him up, cuz Konerko's production has been falling dramatically & Thome's a FA also... on Moose & Andy, i think both guys are gonna be back... Moose is gonna want to get that 300th win in pinstripes u can bet on that, & Andy's already said he'll only wanna come back for the Yanks & does want to pitch in the new stadium... i think 1 year deals will be in the works for both of them pretty soon.

Pitching - agree w/u on CC & AJ, but i think we'll only be getting 1 of them realistically & maybe another middle of the rotation guy... other than Oliver Perez & Jon Garland, i dunno who else would be good options for us... not too crazy about guys like Randy Wolf... maybe we can trade Cano w/Ian Kennedy for a stud young arm for the rotation... we also got the kid Aceves to be given more of a look in ST, & hopefully Hughes doesn't turn out to be a bust like he was this season.

Outfield - don't think Nady's arm is strong enough to play RF, but his range is limited in LF... it's an iffy situation w/him... i think if i'd want anyone converted to 1B next season, it would be him rather than Jorge, Damon or Matsui... Damon just looks plain weird playing 1B & i don't think Matsui's cut out to be one either.

Infield - wouldn't call Cano a bust man, he had 1 down year in 4... after last season he was universally considered 1 of the top 2B in the game... Brian Roberts wouldn't be a bad substitute if we do end up trading Cano, but he's signed for next season at reasonable dollars & there's no way the O's would make any deals w/in the division for 1 of their main guys.

Jorge - we need him behind the plate next year, not as a 1B... if we're gonna sign any big bats it has to be Mark Tex... he'll give us pop from both sides of the plate & gold glove D at 1B, & still in the prime of his career... what's not to like?

encouraging statlines for Brett Gardner:

Gardner has had a strong finish to his rookie season. He struggled in his first big-league stint, hitting .153 (9-for-59) with one extra-base hit between June 30 and July 25. Since being recalled in mid-August, though, he has hit .305 (18-for-59) with six extra-base hits. He drove in four runs Friday night in the Yankees' 19-8 victory over the Red Sox and is on a 13-for-33 streak.

"Hopefully I showed them that I can go out there and play good defense and be out there every day," Gardner said.

One major selling point about Gardner is his speed. He stole 37 bases in the minors this season and 11 at the major- league level, getting caught only once as a Yankee. The team wants him to work on his awareness of when to push it and when not, as he was thrown out several times trying to stretch a hit. "You don't want to ever lose your aggressiveness," he said. "You want to play smart but stay aggressive."

I wouldn't yet leave the starting CF position open to him next year but he definitely would be my 4th outfielder and Melky can go back down to AAA or maybe single A where he could actually hit the ball.

Melky can get traded out of town. It's time for him to go.

Posted by TMS:

Eny, i agree w/u on some points, but not on some others.

pending FA's - Abreu definitely lacks any fire & desire, i completely agree... i think his laid back attitude might be rubbing off on Cano a bit, not sure... i wouldn't pay Abreu the type of money he'll be looking for to return... & no way can we pay Giambi his $20 mil to return... if they buy him out at $5 mil & they make some trades of guys like Damon or Matsui, then i wouldn't mind having him back strictly as a DH at say $8 mil, which would put his annual take at around $13 mil, not too shabby for him... i don't see that happening tho... he'll probably go play for an AL West Coast team, or maybe sign w/the Dodgers & rejoin Torre? or who knows, maybe the White Sox pick him up, cuz Konerko's production has been falling dramatically & Thome's a FA also... on Moose & Andy, i think both guys are gonna be back... Moose is gonna want to get that 300th win in pinstripes u can bet on that, & Andy's already said he'll only wanna come back for the Yanks & does want to pitch in the new stadium... i think 1 year deals will be in the works for both of them pretty soon.

Pitching - agree w/u on CC & AJ, but i think we'll only be getting 1 of them realistically & maybe another middle of the rotation guy... other than Oliver Perez & Jon Garland, i dunno who else would be good options for us... not too crazy about guys like Randy Wolf... maybe we can trade Cano w/Ian Kennedy for a stud young arm for the rotation... we also got the kid Aceves to be given more of a look in ST, & hopefully Hughes doesn't turn out to be a bust like he was this season.

Outfield - don't think Nady's arm is strong enough to play RF, but his range is limited in LF... it's an iffy situation w/him... i think if i'd want anyone converted to 1B next season, it would be him rather than Jorge, Damon or Matsui... Damon just looks plain weird playing 1B & i don't think Matsui's cut out to be one either.

Infield - wouldn't call Cano a bust man, he had 1 down year in 4... after last season he was universally considered 1 of the top 2B in the game... Brian Roberts wouldn't be a bad substitute if we do end up trading Cano, but he's signed for next season at reasonable dollars & there's no way the O's would make any deals w/in the division for 1 of their main guys.

Jorge - we need him behind the plate next year, not as a 1B... if we're gonna sign any big bats it has to be Mark Tex... he'll give us pop from both sides of the plate & gold glove D at 1B, & still in the prime of his career... what's not to like?

Why do you guys feel like Abreu doesn't play with any fire and desire? Guy just put up 2 very good seasons in a row for us out of the 3 hole. Around .300, plays almost everyday, patient/works the count, almost 40 doubles, 20 HRs this year, 100 RBI/100 runs, 20 SBs and a adequate fielder with a very strong arm in RF/a true RFers arm (agreed TMS, doesn't look like Nady has a strong enough arm to play RF fulltime). Plus he looks like he's a good clubhouse guy, the guys seem to like him (I don't buy that he's had some kind of negative effect on Cano at all - Robbie had a great year with him on the team last year), and he wants to return -- I don't see any evidence at all to suggest he's some kind of malcontent or clubhouse cancer. I mean do you guy see him on the bench sulking with a towel over his head like a certain cu-koo we all know?? Until we come up with a better option (hopefully A-Jax will have a big year in the minors next season and force himself upon the scene at some point soon) he should remain the rightfielder IMO. I know the $19 mil. option for next year isn't cheap but if he duplicates the same numbers from the last two seasons, that's not the worst spent money in the world. I'd be happy with those numbers again provided we upgraded different areas of this team. Getting rid of Abreu now really thins us out considerably IMO, something I just assume avoid right now. We'll have enough trouble trying to plug the unavoidable holes on this team that we currently have no answer for. You cut Bobby loose, now you're scrambling trying to fill a position that was an area of strength on this team for the past two seasons. Replacements?????? Damon had a really good year offensively but he's not a rightfielder. I seriously have my doubts that Damon and Matsui are even regular everyday players anymore anyway. To keep both fresh, healthy and productive for as long as possibly I think both guys would greatly benefit from a platoon/DH type of situation at this point. Melky's not a regular (might not even make the club next year out of ST). Trading both of those guys is easier said than done too. We're not talking trading Cano here. These are aging vets with injury concerns. Nady should remain in left; productive player but not a rightfielder. A-Jax, our best minor league OF talent now that Jose Tabata has been traded, isn't ready yet. And I'm sorry T but Mark Kotsay's a nice little reserve, but he's no Bobby Abreu. They have to bring Bobby back, at least for one more year. Then you reaccess. If it ain't broke, don't fix it...

Between Moose and Andy I want Moose back. Moose changed around his approach this season and put up one of the best season's of his career closing in on age 40. That really showed me a lot. The guy just won 20 games. How do you say goodbye to that? In my plan, there's simply isn't enough room for Pettitte anymore. Bring back Moose as your #5 guy, get either CC or Burnett (prefer Sabathia - prefer both actually - but getting one of these two is critical - have a funny feeling CC's not gonna want to come here but we'll see - money talks in the end right?), move Joba back to the rotation, Wang and Hughes - with Kennedy and Aceves ready to contribute if there are injuries. Trading Cano/Kennedy for another young starter with a good arm would be good idea. Agree there. I'd explore that.

You go get this kid Juan Cruz for the bullpen to replace Joba. With the addition of Marte this season, hopefully FA righthander Cruz this off-season, the emergence of Phil Coke, Aceves as your long man... - this bullpen will be in good shape next year. Provided Mo's healthy, this will be one of the better bullpens in the league next year, even with Joba in the rotation. I'd rather have Joba in the rotation and Juan Cruz in his place in the pen rather that Joba staying put in the pen and bringing in a lesser starter like Oliver Perez, Jon Garland or Randy Wolf. If that's the route you want to take, shit, just bring Andy Pettitte back then. I want something better than those type of guys though. Chamberlain in the rotation and Juan Cruz to bolster the pen - those are two plus arms right there for both spots. Plus Cruz, a middle reliever, should come cheaper than signing an Oliver Perez or Jon Garland anyway. Go look at the stats and watch some tape and then come back and tell me picking this kid up isn't a sound idea. He'll prove to be one of the better FA pickups this off-season. If they really intend on starting Joba I hope they look long and hard at this kid Cruz...

Mark Teixeria's an absolute must. Nothing else to say. We need him.

i never said Bobby was a malcontent or a negative presence in the clubhouse, just that i feel he's a little too laid back & i would like to bring in some more fiery personalities in this place to wake these guys up for a change... if we're gonna stick w/a laid back personality i'd rather go after Manny cuz his bat's just on another level offensively... if we can find a gritty style player out there who can put up numbers, all the better... not sure who would be available in the OF tho... even so, no way that $19 mil for Bobby Abreu is a good value at all... if anything u buy him out & re-sign him at a discount to total around $13 mil at most... if ur gonna spend $20 mil for an OFer u sign an offensive weapon like Manny... otherwise use that money to sign Mark T for 1B & upgrade the pitching w/CC & AJ using the rest of the money u get from Giambi, Pavano & either Moose or Andy leaving... personally i don't care if Moose or Andy come back either way... if they can use the money to sign younger options, i'm fine w/it... if they decide to keep them, i'm fine w/it too, but they HAVE to sign 2 more starting pitchers other than those guys... Joba is not a viable option to have in the starting rotation to begin the season... he'll be on another innings count next year & they already said he'd be starting the season in the BP again.

i brought up Kotsay's name as a reserve, not as a starting option... forget about Melky, he's finished w/this team, & i would not mind giving Gardner a shot to start next year provided we can upgrade the offense in other areas as i noted above.

as for Juan Cruz, i have no idea how good he is & have never seen him throw so i can't really comment on him.

oops. forgot all about my man Brian Bruney... gotta have him in the bullpen next year.

What a powerful quote that sums up the entire season:

The Yankees began the 2008 season with a starting rotation of Chien-Ming Wang, Andy Pettitte, Mike Mussina, Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy. Mike Mussina won 20 games this year. The other four? They won 22.

http://

Anyone catch Ken Davidoff's "Right Moves - Do's & Dont's" for the Yankees this off-season in yesterday's Newsday? A real mixed bag of ideas. Some I agree with, some ideas are downright nuts. If you missed it, here are the highlights in substance:

Do's
(1) Elevate class-A Tampa manager Luis Sojo to 1st base coach, move Tony Pena to 3rd base coach, fire Bobby Meacham. All done with the idea of appeasing Robinson Cano and getting a guy in here who might be able to reach him like Bowa apparently did. I mean he's kidding right? As if Bobby Meacham somehow did a bad job for us (some do blame Wang's injury on him but I don't know if that's really fair. Anyway, he has nothing to do with Cano). And enough with getting someone in here to connect with Cano. Granted it looked like he had a special bond with Bowa but I really believe that the link between Bowa's departure and Cano's drop in production is way overblown. Nobody loved Joe Torre more than Jeter and Posada (Jorge just referred to Torre as a guy who's like a father to him on the recent Centerstage show). You think Jeter and Posada are gonna go into the tank all of a sudden just because Joe's gone?? Rediculous. I betcha, as long as both of those guys are healthy, they'll both put up their typical good seasons next year and Torre will be the last thing on their minds when the bell rings and it's time to play ball. Just from that Centerstage interview, you can tell Posada has a great deal of fire to get back to playing at a high level. Can't even begin to explain how radical and unnecessary a coaching shakeup like this would be, just to appease one player who had an off year.
(2) Go after Derek Lowe hard and give him in upwards of $15 mil. a season for up to 3 years to lure him here. Guilt Pettitte into coming back at a cheaper rate ($10 million) because we stood by him with regard to the Mitchell Report. Commit to Joba as a starter. Lowe's not one of the better names on the market, definitely not a guy I was interested in and that looks like a lot of money at first glance for a 2nd tier type but it's an idea that makes some sense I guess, when you look at both Lowe's recent & career numbers. Rubber arm type that throws a ton of innings every year, always has a decent ERA in the 3s, throws groundballs. Sort of a Chien-Ming Wang lite. There's stuff to like here. We all know who the top arms on the market are. But if it doesn't go according to plan (say we loose out on Sabathia, Burnett or both AND Moose retires - maybe we should consider him over guys like Garland, Wolf, Pettitte. Pretty good call here. As far as Andy goes, not interested. Definitely on the decline, doesn't have the same stuff to go after guys like he's used to doing and I don't see a complete 180 in pitching style all of a sudden. What we can bank on from Andy is more of the same: he'll throw some innings if you keep giving him the ball but it'll be a laborious process seeing him grind it out start to start. I mean you can see it. I for one don't wanna see him get smacked around the way he did to close out the season. It hurt watching him struggle the way he did. And I doubt you can get him for $10 mil. Although it was far from pretty the guy did grind out 14 wins and gave you over 200 innings. He'd likely ask for another $16 mil. I'd pass on Pettitte; there are better options. Derek Lowe might be one of them. And even if there were some interest, that's how you go about bringing him back - by making a guy who's given you everything he's had for the better part of 13 years feel guilty?!? That approach would be utterly disgraceful and completely classless. And you all know what I think about Joba starting - No brainer IMO. Our bullpen, only requiring some minor tinkering, will be one of the stronger bullpens in baseball next year even with Joba moving to the rotation. No argument there.
(3) Offer Abreu and Marte arbitration. If they accept great, if not move on. Plan for Cabrera, Gardner and Damon to share time in center next year with A-Jax waiting in the wings at AAA. First of all, Abreu and Marte are vital IMO. As I understand it, if they wind up signing with another team we get compensation draft picks which would be nice but that's not what we should be focusing on. Some feel we should let them go just to get those picks and that's wrong. These are two very important parts of the greater whole that would be very hard to replace and it's up to the Yankees to retain as many of these working parts as possible. We're trying to get back on top next year - no doubt both of these guys will help us get there. I said the other day, losing Abreu thins us out and we'd then have to scramble to fill his spot in RF, a spot that was a already a strength for us the past two seasons. As for Marte - I mean you don't pull off the nice trade for this guy just to cut him lose in the off-season. Remember his first outing against the Red Sox? Came in and blew away Big Papi on three pitches. He had his ups and downs for us, but he's one of the best lefty relievers in the sport. It took him awhile but Girardi finally found out exactly how to use him - a couple of lefties and out. He can't be overextended. You use him like that, he'll be fine. Marte AND Coke next year. I want both. I want Joe to have that depth and those options. Very few teams would be able to match that kind of depth from the left side late in ballgames. I want Girardi to be able to mix and match right from game one next year. Every effort should be made to bring back both guys. I wouldn't even get caught up in jerking them around with arbitration. Both might win their arbitrations anyway coming off productive years (Abreu's due $19 million, Marte $6 if I'm not mistaken). I have a little different take on centerfield - Gardner would be my fulltime guy in CF and hit 9th (hopefully he puts in some work offensively this offseason to justify the expanded role), Damon's primarily my DH (wanna cut back his PT, especially in the field - he's injury prone and I think that's in his best interest now) and Cabrera's on the fence. Melky's really in no-man's land. He not as fast as Gardner nor as good a defender and he can't hit. Decent glove with a plus arm but that's about it. Don't want him in there unless someone's just getting a day off. You can argue that Justin Christian should be the extra outfielder over Melky anyway just for that extra speed element off the bench. And I agree that A-Jax could be a factor at some point next year provided he comes back and builds off the solid year he had this past season. I'd like to see him hit for a little more power; hopefully that'll come. Would love to be looking at the next Torii Hunter here. We'll see what happens.
(4) Push Cano this off-season, frequently sending guys like Kevin Long, trainer Gene Monahan and strength & conditioning coach Dana Cavalea to the D.R. to check on his progress. Check his trade value and be prepared to pull the trigger on a deal that might land us a top-flight pitcher for Cano and possibly Ian Kennedy. Sounds good although I'm not sure what they can expect to gain from sending Monahan and Cavalea out there - Robbie appeared to be in good shape. Highly doubtful that a few visits from the team's trainers to the man's house will automatically transform Cano into a 30 HR guy. Can't hurt I guess. Anyway, as possibly dealing Cano for the right guy goes, I think we're all in agreement here; most of us have been saying the same thing. I even heard Joe Beningo on the FAN in the car yesterday mentioning Zack Grienke's name as a possibility for Cano (Beningo also mentioned Carlos Delgado for Cano and that's when I had enough and threw in a CD). Maybe he read us talking about Grienke! Funny. Anyway, Davidoff mentioned Jake Peavy and Matt Cain - two others I like a lot. Chad Billingsley, Jonathan Sanchez and Roy Oswalt are a few others I'd consider dealing Cano and Kennedy for. Cano AND Kennedy is very good value. That should fetch us a starter with a live young arm should we find the right match. Meanwhile, if that happened, I think we could survive with Benemit/Ransom at second until we came up with something better. Benemit could surprise with a starting role.
(5) Meet with Girardi and find out what went wrong. Pull Jeter aside and ask him for his opinion on Girardi. Hey there's always room for improvement but he was far from terrible. I was suprised to hear that a few (Damon especially) had a problem with him at times. Would love to see Gardner improve to the point where we can just cut Damon loose eventually. And not to make too many excuses but we were snakebit with some huge injuries this year and that has nothing to do with Girardi (if we don't lose Wang that's close to 10 more Ws right there and we're in the playoffs). Important to re-tool and give Girardi what he needs to get the job done. I'm sure Jeter would say the same thing. Not sure what there would be to gain from pulling Jeter aside. It's not like Jete's gonna come out and bash his skipper, he played with Joe and won championships with him in '96, '98 & '99. I'm sure they have each other's respect.

Don'ts
(1) Don't sign Sabathia and Burnett. Don't agree at all. These are the two best out there (provided Burnett even opts out of his deal) - at least one should be a Yankee. Having said that, it's important to keep an eye on how Milwaukee and Dale Sveum have been using Sabathia here. He's out there 120, 130 pitches almost ever game. That's a lot. Maybe they don't care. Maybe they think he's gone and they might as well just gas him to try and win ballgames. That's how it was down the stretch to get into the playoffs and that's how it will probably be until they're eliminated. Don't mind Sabathia's thick body type as much as some btw (David Wells had a nice career pitching with some extra weight) but the way the Brewers are using him has to be a concern. Here's hoping the Brew Crew is knocked out early this way big CC can shut it down and get some rest. As for Burnett, spent 4 seperate stints on the DL in 2006 & 2007 with elbow and shoulder problems but appears to be over that now. Rebounded to win 18 games, throw over 220 innings and lead the league in Ks with 231. Some of the best stuff in the game. Stuff's a good as Josh Beckett's, maybe better. Lights out when he's on. You can't let past injuries scare you away - not for a talent like this (we're not talking Jaret Wright, Carl Pavano or even Ben Sheets here - Sheets didn't even make Milwaukee's post-season roster). If CC's not available we have to turn to this guy. Suppose AJ signed with Tampa or Boston, then what? Plus, what have we really won without adding a top-notch FA starter the past few years? JACK that's what. Time to bring this franchise back up to that next level and we'll probably need at least one of these guys to help us get there. Worth taking a chance on, the both of them.
(2) Don't resign Giambi. Sign Casey Blake, not Mark Teixeria to play 1st base. Totally rediculous. Blake had a decent year with the Dodgers hitting around .275 with 21 HRs but he's no Mark Teixeria. I mean it's not even close. No comparison. He's not even as good as Giambi IMO. Blake's also 35 yrs. old and played 3rd base for the Dodgers fulltime this year not 1st. I know you try to cut corners to save money and he'd come cheaper than big Tex but you're not even getting half the player. Big Tex is only 29, a switch-hitter & one of the better 2-way players in the game. He'd be excellent protection for A-Rod in the lineup. This is the FA we probably have the best chance of getting (even better than Sabathia) as Teixeria and his wife are from Baltimore and are partial to the east coast. That's big. When you're the NY Yankees and you have all of this money coming off the books and you need a 1st baseman - Mark Teixeria's a classic no-brainer. There are really no excuses. They need this guy. If Casey Blake would ever be interested in coming here as a platoon righthanded DH/infielder/nice righty stick off the bench with some pop, I could be interested. But he wouldn't so what's the point? If it came down to it, you bring back Giambi before you replace him with a Casey Blake.
(3) Don't worry about A-Rod. His odd years are usually his better years. Agree. Just pencil the guy in the lineup at 3rd and in the cleanup spot and leave the man alone. This is the best player in baseball, like him or not. The more help he has the better he'll be and the better off we'll be. Getting Teixeria to hit behind him will be huge for him.
(4) "If you win 89 games and miss the playoffs again next year but the kids and minor leaguers display promise, then all will not have been lost." WHAT???? Is this guy kidding me. Talk about complacency. Jesus.... Is he talking about the Yankees or the Knicks???? To have an identical year to this past season would be a monumental failure in my book. You think that's what Hank Steinbrenner's thinking about heading into his internal meetings with his executives?!?!? Absolutely not. They're all thinking re-tool, brand new ballpark, bring in/retain who we need to and lets go after this thing. Division title, postseason, World Series berth. Minimum. Anything less would be a disappointment. I can't believe the guy even wrote that to be honest.

Sorry for such a long post but (a) I'm bored and (b) I got a little pissed off reading this in the paper yesterday morning... Share your own thoughts please.....


[Edited by - finestrg on 10-01-2008 1:00 PM]

Lowe had high ERAs in last two AL seasons. I'd still offer everything I could to get Sabathia. The Brewers overused him for half a season. Big deal. It's not like they overused him for eight consecutive years! Just do a thorough physical examination to make sure no problems show up. AJ Burnett is the next pitcher I'd go after.

RE: Cano: You can't just force a player to be committed to the game. The motivation has to come from within.

Cabrera, Gardner, and Damon to play CF? Those are all problematic. Are we operating on a $40 mil or $200+ mil budget? Why go into the year with a glaring problem at an important position?

I agree Teixeira is young and outstanding. Passing on him to try to save money makes no sense. Again, we aren't operating on a $40 mil budget. Maybe this guy should start writing for the Brewers.

i understand the concerns on cc and burnett. cc has logged alot of innings, is fat, and wants 6-7 years. that's a big time investment and not an easy decision to make. burnett seems to only stay healthy when he's up for a contract.

imho, NO PITCHER should be offered more than 4 years. it locks you in and you can get screwed big time if they don't pan out. cc might give us 3 good years, but then what happens after that?

it's very difficult these days to improve without breaking the bank. that's why the yanks didn't make the johan deal last winter. i look at next season as another year of transition.

i think we will have the best bullpen in baseball next season hands down. so our starters may only be asked to go 5/6 innings tops for a majority of the year. so i'm very hesitant to dish out these big contracts for more than 4 years.

if gardner can get his avg up to .270 - he could be an igniter for us like juan pierre. when he was playing, girardi was able to manage the team the way he wanted to. there were more hit and runs, bunts and steals. but you need a fallback plan and i think that's why they'll hold onto damon.

How many transition years does Cashman need? Why did the Red Sox need only 1 bad, transition year? We're talking about a GM (Cashman) who 4 years ago was given huge powers in his contract with the Yankees. So it's not like you can just let him off the hook for neglecting rebuilding all those years.

[Edited by - bonn1997 on 10-01-2008 10:29 AM]

Really, the pitching staff got hurt. Lose no.1 starter and its tough to overcome. Moose stepped up. Both Step up we in playoffs.

We relied on the kids and they got hurt. Not the end of the world. Have to figure out what to do with Joba. The kid can be the next great closer, but with Mariano still a force its tought to overcome. On the otherhand, give the kid lots of promises and prolong his career the way the yanks do best.

89 wins is not the end of the world and the team finished strong. I know we think its our devine right to win every year but we in the middle of a youth movement in our pitching staff and our minors have lots of good kids.

Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.....

Posted by Nalod:

Really, the pitching staff got hurt. Lose no.1 starter and its tough to overcome. Moose stepped up. Both Step up we in playoffs.

We relied on the kids and they got hurt. Not the end of the world. Have to figure out what to do with Joba. The kid can be the next great closer, but with Mariano still a force its tought to overcome. On the otherhand, give the kid lots of promises and prolong his career the way the yanks do best.

89 wins is not the end of the world and the team finished strong. I know we think its our devine right to win every year but we in the middle of a youth movement in our pitching staff and our minors have lots of good kids.

Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.....

So then if the pitching staff doesn't get hurt again, next year shouldn't need to be another transition year, right? Really, Wang got hurt and then Mussina pitched as well as Wang probably would have. Kennedy and Hughes got hurt but I said many times before the season that Cashman was making a mistake depending on them to be 40% of the starting rotation. If I can see that, surely he should have. Unfortunately, we're stuck with Cashman for another 3 years. Aalthough Cashman could not have foreseen Wang's injury, he also got lucky to have gotten as many starts and wins as he did out of Pettitte and Mussina. He probably got about 8 or 10 more than he could have reasonably expected given their performances the previous year and their ages.

Posted by Bonn1997:

How many transition years does Cashman need? Why did the Red Sox need only 1 bad, transition year? We're talking about a GM (Cashman) who 4 years ago was given huge powers in his contract with the Yankees. So it's not like you can just let him off the hook for neglecting rebuilding all those years.

he started to rebuild the farm system 2 years ago. it takes time to develop from within. they passed on johan b/c they wanted to many of our farm hands. if ownership put that much faith in cashman's plan for our young players then there was no choice but to bring him back. now he has 3 more years to see his plan through. if he fails, he will be gone. bringing in a new person, especially from outside of the organization, imho would be a very very bad idea.

A feisty, defiant Brian Cashman said today that he returned to the Yankees to “change the story” about where the team was headed. “We have to win,” he said. “And we will.”

Oddly, Hal Steinbrenner was not on had to give their side of the story. But Cashman said that relations between he and the Steinbrenners have improved since last winter when some moves were made he did not approve of. He also believes that they can work together moving forward.

Obviously he did not address the future of specific players, especially those FAs from outside the organization. But he warned fans against expecting the Yankees to get certain players. That means CC Sabathia.

He did say he wants Matsui to DH, Damon to play the outfield, Posada to catch and a first baseman to play first base.

i wonder which acquisitions he's referring to about hank/hal? i'm guessing bringing back jorge for 4 years and letting torre go...

[Edited by - djsunyc on 10-01-2008 2:12 PM]

listening to cash's interview, it's a lock that giambi + abreu are gone...

He did say he wants Matsui to DH, Damon to play the outfield, Posada to catch and a first baseman to play first base.

that first baseman has to be Mark T... Casey Blake's not a bad secondary option but if u wanna make the types of moves to get this team back into serious contention, u gotta go out & get urself a big bopper to replace Giambi, & that has to be Mark T.

i don't mind a guy like Derek Lowe for the backend of the rotation but u can't let him be the top pitching name u get in the offseason... we need a real ace up in here... if u have to trade for a young stud arm like Grienke or Billingsley, or u go out & sign CC, AJB or even Ben Sheets... those are all names that should be considered first... then u sign guys like Lowe or Garland to round out whatever holes are left over.

Posted by djsunyc:

listening to cash's interview, it's a lock that giambi + abreu are gone...

what interview? any link for the story? would love to hear it.