WasWatching.com Water Cooler Talk 7/10/09
Posted by Steve L. on July 10th, 2009 · Comments (15)
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Via Mark Feinsand…The Yankees 2009 season to date:
* They are 0-8 against the Red Sox.
* Chien-Ming Wang is 1-6 and on the DL for a second time.
* Brian Bruney missed 40 games over two DL stints and hasn’t found his groove since he returned.
* Joba Chamberlain has been erratic every five days.
* Mark Teixeira hit .190 in April and went 95 at-bats without a home run in June/July.
* Alex Rodriguez missed a month after hip surgery.
* His replacement, Cody Ransom, then went on the DL himself, leaving third-base to scrappy minor-leaguer Ramiro Pena and aging 31-year-old Angel Berroa until A-Rod came back.
* Jorge Posada (22 games) and Jose Molina (54 games) have both been on the DL, leaving catching duties to Double-A call-up Francisco Cervelli and journeyman Kevin Cash.
* Robinson Cano went about two weeks without an RBI and hasn’t hit with guys on base all year.
* Xavier Nady played for a week before blowing out his elbow.
* Andy Pettitte’s ERA at Yankee Stadium is almost 6.00.
* Damaso Marte pitched terribly and has been out with a bum shoulder since April.
* Edwar Ramirez and Jose Veras stunk and were sent down/released.
* The Yankees are 51-34 and tied for first place in the American League East.
That’s pretty amazing, huh? We’ve been spoiled with some damn good Yankee baseball the last few weeks, and being reminded of all these issues with the team over the first 80+ games makes you really appreciate the effort the Yanks have put together. It’s really nothing short of amazing that we’re tied for 1st place right now.
FWIW, teams like the Red Sox and Angels have had issues to deal with, this season, to date as well.
Good teams move past the issues. Bad ones use them as excuses.
Steve Lombardi wrote:
That isn’t necessarily true. 1979 was clearly a blip for the Yankees, 2006 was a blip for the Red Sox. I don’t think that they were bad teams, I don’t think they made excuses for the number of injuries they suffered.
Don’t forget the Rays, they’ve had some big injuries as well. The teams who have depth and young talent (Yanks, Sox, Rays, Angels) have definitely been able to sustain success. That’s just a testament to our minor league talent and roster construction at this point…other than the decisions to keep and use Angel Berroa and Cody Ransom, i’ve been very happy.
With the bullpen somewhat depleted Joba HAS to go 6 or 7 innings tonight. If not, its up to..dun dun dunnn..Tomko and Bruney!
Steve Lombardi wrote:
True dat. That 0-8 stat against the Red Sox is a very telling about this team. The Yanks have a team that has excelled in spite of drawbacks(which have afflicted every other team as well) BUT the fact that they haven’t one against the Red Sox really will be important in the end. If the Yanks need to beat them in the playoffs, that probably ain’t happening based on what has happened so far. And forget the analogy of the 88 Dodgers VS Mets playoff, ‘coz the Red Sox “ain’t” the 88 Mets.
Young talent? The Yanks got CC, AJ, and Teix in the off season and so far that has worked out for them but I’m still waiting for the shoe to drop on AJ. Yeah, the young kids have contributed to the Yanks BUT if they didn’t make those moves they wouldn’t have been this good. I’d love to see the young kids excel on a team without AJ, CC and Teix!
@ Raf, interesting to note that Varitek’s injury so negatively impacted Boston’s chances in 2006. And I must admit that Posada’s absence(the de facto Captain) also has a similar effect on the Yanks. The point that Steve makes has much weight in that “the woe is me card” might work with a middle market team(even then is is quite whiny) but not a team that spent 200 million on payroll this year. No one feels sorry for any team that has injuries especially the old Evil Empire.
Yeah, the young kids have contributed to the Yanks BUT if they didn’t make those moves they wouldn’t have been this good.
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I don’t get this statement. Of course the Yankees wouldn’t be good if they didn’t get CC, AJ or Tex via free agency. What does that matter? We have them, and we’re better for it. Other teams wouldn’t be good without their best free agent acquisitions as well, why is this a knock on the Yanks? The Red Sox spent close to $300 million after the 2006 offseason and won the 2007 World Series…you think they care they spent money on good players and won because of it?
I’d love to see the young kids excel on a team without AJ, CC and Teix!
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Some young kids have excelled this year. Our entire bullpen is full of interchangeable parts of young kids with options. Edwar and Veras didn’t work, so you bring up Robertson and Hughes. Someone is overused? So bring up Melancon or Albaledejo. We’ve also learned Pena may be a super utility player after he filled in nicely for Alex and Ransom, and we learned Cervelli will be our backup catcher next year and into the future.
I understand none of these kids are superstars, but this is young talent helping our team and they helped us work through injuries and into a first place tie. I’m pretty sure you’re saying you’d like to see the Yanks develop superstars instead of buying them, which is cool, but just because we don’t develop superstars doesn’t mean what we have isn’t helping us big time, right?
according to a post at RAB, the jays are rumored to be asking for a package of:
“Joba Chamberlain or Phil Hughes, Mark Melancon, and Austin Jackson or Jesus Montero”
if it was me? I’d give ‘em hughes melancon and jackson and call it a deal.
butchie22 wrote:
They only bring up payroll because they haven’t a clue about the way the roster is constructed. It’s a lazy argument.
Much of that $200m payroll is tied up in the following players; Jeter, Rodriguez, Posada, Rivera. Four HOF caliber players. Teix, Matsui & Damon, are pretty good players. Any one of those players are lost for an extended period of time, it will hurt. I find it hard to believe that a bench player can be found that can replicate their production.
Whether your a small-middle-large market team, if you lose your starters for an extended period of time a team will suffer.
according to a post at RAB, the jays are rumored to be asking for a package of:
“Joba Chamberlain or Phil Hughes, Mark Melancon, and Austin Jackson or Jesus Montero”
if it was me? I’d give ‘em hughes melancon and jackson and call it a deal.
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No thanks. If i’m flipping Hughes for somebody I have to give a mega contract extension to, that guy will not be 32 with his best pitching years behind him. I don’t see how you can justify passing on Santana with a package of Hughes but biting on a guy three years older.
Yanks are really catching the Angels at a good time with Vlad down again and Hunter going on the DL. No excuse not to take 2 out of 3 from them, even though they are the Yanks’ kryptonite.
I honestly think they’d be better off keeping Hughes than Joba at this point, but I might be crazy. Maybe it’s just because I know people in Lincoln that saw him drinking heavily all around town after his DUI “wake-up call”, but coupled with the loss of miles per hour I feel justified in my concerns about his future. Hopefully tonight will be a turnaround for him.
Cashman is not even the worst gm in town..
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/07/mets-trade-ryan-church.html
better off releasing him then have to play francouer
http://www.metsblog.com/2009/07/10/news-mets-acquire-francoeur/
Yeah, amazing how much Manuel hated Church. That’s the worst kept secret in all of baseball.
Joba, before the game today, posing in front of the Nick Adenhart section of the Angels outfield wall…an eyewash moment?
@ Steve Lombardi:
Definitely an eyewash moment.