Today’s Funny
From Newsday:
Because Mike Myers is strictly a lefthanded specialist, the Yankees plan to go with a seven-man bullpen. Now it’s just a matter of defining everyone’s roles.
The biggest question is finding Tom Gordon’s replacement as Mariano Rivera’s setup man. Torre said he plans to use a committee consisting of righthanders Kyle Farnsworth, Tanyon Sturtze and Octavio Dotel, when he’s healthy.
“The one thing we want to do is not rely on the one guy, only because you don’t want to overuse somebody,” Torre said. “If you have a couple of guys who can do the job and have them understand what we’re going do, I think we can keep everybody strong.”
Did I just read that Torre says he’s concerned with overusing a pitcher in the pen? Nah, it’s gotta be the cold medicine playing tricks with my mind.
I can tell Torre is once again going to make me contemplate cutting my wrists. I already get the feeling that he doesn’t “trust” Farnsworth — even though he hasn’t thrown a single pitch in pinstripes. The idea of Sturtze coming into the eighth inning makes me want to vomit. It’s obvious that Torre wanted them to keep Gordon and he’s going to take his anger out on Farnsworth, who, at nine years younger and with seven miles an hour more on his fastball, is a better pitcher than Gordon (whose arm was pitched off last year). Three people should have specific roles in the ‘pen: Myers is the lefty specialist; Mo is the closer; and Farns is the setup man. When Dotel comes back, he’s the seventh-inning guy. It’s just that simple.
It’s good that Torre is finally thinking about saving people’s arms, but only he could somehow turn that into something that leaves you banging your head into a wall.
And who among us thought that things would really change? Perhaps not even Brian Cashman, whose moves this winter hinge on Torre, for once in half a decade, using his entire roster (and I mean his 40 man roster)and jettisoning his idiotic “trust” doctrine out the window. But he continues to give us his canned double-speak. Cashman better be pro-active this season or it’ll be the same old, same old. And that is getting really old.