Burnett, Vazquez, React To Yanks ALDS Roster Decisions
Via Mark Feinsand –
“It’s not surprising when you look at the season I had,” Burnett said after Joe Girardi revealed a three-man rotation of CC Sabathia, Andy Pettitte and Phil Hughes. “Phil deserves a shot to pitch; he’s had an incredible season. If you look at how the season went, those are our top three starters this season. That’s who should be starting.”
“I’ll take it a day at a time, and whenever they need me, I’ll do what they need me to do – whether it is to get one out, pinch-run, lay a bunt down, whatever,” Burnett said. “I’m game. It’s a team here. We all have the same goal, so there’s no hard feelings.”
“It would be different if I had a great second half or started to put it together, but I took baby steps,” Burnett said. “I never took that huge leap.”
“With what I’ve dealt with all year, they didn’t have to bring me here,” Burnett said. “I knew the start was an iffy thing. I understand everything. They still believe in me enough to keep me here in the bullpen, so I’m going to take it in stride and go with it.”
“I’m not going to be a bad apple or a cancer and cause problems,” Burnett said. “I’m here for the same reason everybody else is here. I’m not going to pout or be that kind of guy. I’ll be here for my team whenever they need me.”
“It’s disappointing but I can’t say I’m surprised,” Vazquez said. “I knew I was on the bubble. It’s nobody’s fault. It’s my fault.”
Nice to see these guys saying all the right things. Now, let’s just hope they don’t, for some reason, get pressed into duty and have to pitch in some meaningful spots this post-season.
I’m not surprised Burnett and Vazquez are saying the right things. They always struck me as team-first, right-minded guys.
As to the latter point, Burnett will have to pitch in the later rounds of the playoffs, there’s just no getting around that.
Vazquez will only be added to the playoff roster in the next round in case of an injury. Otherwise, it’s quite safe to assume that he’ll never pitch for the Yankees again.
MJ Recanati wrote:
LOL, didn’t Yankeeland say that about Vazquez following his trade to the D-backs after the 2004 ALCS?
Regular season performance isn’t necessarily indicative of post season performance.
Steve Lombardi wrote:
I’m sure they did. But Vazquez was much younger then. The odds don’t favor him being in the big leagues for that much longer.
Raf wrote:
True enough. But regular season performance is the merit-based way to mete out postseason innings. On that basis, Burnett’s regular season performance justifiably diminishes the chances he’ll get to test that axiom one way or the other.
Steve Lombardi wrote:
They took the news a lot better than Dioner Navarro did
http://www.tampabay.com/sports/baseball/rays/tampa-bay-rays-catcher-dioner-navarro-leaves-team-after-not-making-playoff/1126545
@ Raf:
Wow. He’s not a good enough player to be pulling ‘tude like that with a contending club. He just got his behind relegated to a life of catching crappy Pirates, Royals or Nationals games…
MJ Recanati wrote:
You don’t think the Red Sox will show interest?
Raf wrote:
Maybe. But I don’t see why they wouldn’t re-sign Victor Martinez and they traded for Jarrod Saltalamacchia from Texas at the deadline so they’re probably better off with those two than bringing in Navarro (who can’t hit a lick).
Frankly, if I’m the Yankees, I look at Navarro and make Cervelli, Navarro and Montero compete to caddy for Posada next year. Navarro is young enough to still have value as a backup catcher for many years to come.
@ MJ Recanati:
I’m thinking Martinez splits time between 1b & C, Saltalamacchia and Navarro split time @ C, especially if Saltalamacchia has a relapse of the yips.
Scratch that, with Youk and Lars Anderson, I don’t think Martinez will see much time @ 1B. And if the Sox pick up Ortiz’s option, he should be the full time DH. So yeah, Martinez will probably be the primary C with Saltalamacchia backing him up.
@ Raf:
Is Lars Anderson ready to come up? He hasn’t really distinguished himself at AAA yet, from what I can tell. Then again, that’s a moot point. The Sawx can sign anyone to back up Youk at 1B. Shoot, it wouldn’t surprise me if Nick Johnson ends up there too.
@ MJ Recanati:
Lars was already with the big club.