Spring Training tickets on sale Friday
Here’s a heads up: Tickets for all 2008 Yankees Spring Training games at Legends Field in Tampa, Fla. officially go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. ET. They move quickly, so if you’re interested in heading down this spring and seeing the Yankees in exhibition action, time is always of the essence.
If you’ve never been to a Spring Training game, it’s a much different experience than the one you get in the Bronx. There’s a more relaxed atmosphere, everyone is closer to the action. It’s something every baseball fan should get a chance to do at least once.
Ever been? Planning to go? Recommendations or tips for those on their way?
Bryan Hoch
Bryan,
More emphasis on quickly needed, they sell out in a week. And my free trips to FL were always a week to early, but I did observe George in the early 80s. Typical Tycoon scowl…until a kid asked for his autograph. I stopped knocking him then or thanking Bud Selig.
And every depressed fan should see this today:
http://emedia.thetimes-tribune.com/Blogs/SWBYankees/tabid/552/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/2491/Putting-the-pitchers-in-order.aspx#Comments
Chad’s blog is excellent. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to keep up with the farm system.
latest trade; Brian Roberts to the Chicago Cubs…
Glad to see the Yanks are reconsidering Santana, I don’t want to lose Hughes or Cabrera. They have a huge future in the Big City. “GO YANKEES”
34 more days to go…………
Lesson from Australia:
If you’re mad you need to say pissed OFF. When you say just pissed, you’re telling everyone you’re drunk!!
Glad to hear the Yanks are wising up, and starting to lean against what whould have been a bad trade.
Here’s more fun:
“There is nothing quite like Red Sox Nation in all of sports. The devotion. The passion. The unconditional support. The true example of what baseball is all about.”- S&P
I said:
Yes, Red Sox Nation is unique! But I believe it’s built on hate, I could be wrong,
but i’m thinking **** Germany.
And unconditional support! Maybe this decade, but I worked with Bob Stanley’s
cousin so I know what happened to his dog!
WOW! The N… word gets zapped too!
Right on Matt!
And here’s what I feel about Melky:
http://riveraveblues.com/2008/01/10/twins-questioning-melkys-offensive-abilities-1962/
Hank is finally realizing what some of us on this blog (myself included) have said for so long. Melky and Hughes are too much to lose.
Go Yanks!
I read in ESPN magazine that Joba has been running about 5 miles a day in the offseason, and he plans to challenge Mussina in a running contest during Spring Training, to see who cries uncle first. I’m not sure who I’d put money on.
Thanks Bob Mate for clarifying the language discrepancy
At last something solid and concrete in The Yankees leaning to not trading for Santana. Hank also stated that although he would like for Joba to be a starter the consensus is that he will start out of the pen in his usual set up role and it will be maybe towards the season end that he will revert to a starting role.
Can someone tell me is there a degree of difficulty in going from one to another or can he go from relief to starter.
Thanks Bob for the link to the twins view on Cabrera. Not only is keeping him great but I think all this talk re him being traded will only motivate him to be a bigger hitter in 2008 and then look out.
Bryan Australia
Also I have recently watched footage of The post season series after Sept 11 wher Jeter hit that home run and I found it to be very emotional and breathtaking. I am building a DVD collection of similiar emotional victorys. Can anyone advise if there was a DVD package available on the series the build up, the game and the aftermath.
Bryan Australia
Gidday mate,
A DVD on 2001? Not that I know yet, maybe if ESPN follows up on “The Bronx Is Burning”?
I’d buy that!!!
JL,
Any chance Hank has known a lot longer than we realize?
It is good to see the Brass taking heed of the talent we have.
I agree that although I would love to have Santana, he’s just not worth what we have to give at this point.
It’s odd though, cause this deal could’ve gone down a month ago, and am I to presume that Hank hadn’t really gotten a sense of what the talent was worth (ours)?
I hope they take this much time on all decisions for trades then! I think they’re secretly just perusing these pages looking at our posts…
So keep the good sense coming folks…
The Sox may have the giggle now but we’ve laughed before and we’ll laugh again, our ‘time’ is coming for the 27th time. Until they start sniffing 20 WS Titles (which is a long time to go), the Red Sox nation is just a sideshow compared to the Yankees.
And then there was this guy selling illegal DVDs of Pedro’s 2 hit shut out at the Stadium on eBay, “it was so unique and in their house.”
Well this was way after Moose’s near perfect at Fenway in 2001. So he was two kinds of dumb, or could it be three!
KN,
Was the whole thing about Boston trading away Ellsbury or Buchholz for a guy who stinks at Fenway? The Twins may have been tempted by Lester, but I’ve had cancer (melanoma), my Dad had prostate and died of lymphoma, and my star softball pitcher died of melanoma. He was a Guidry fan and ironically died at 49. STAY OUT OF THE SUN SAILORS or wear lots of sun block.
It’s a shame that rather than addressing the bullpen issues and making Joba a starter we’re caging him into the setup role. It’s not like its necessarily a bad move, anytime you can have Joba in he game it’s a good move but can we please be smarter than the RedSux and not lose a starter to the pen? I mean this is putting a lot of pressure on Moose to do well for an extended period of ime without a safety net now. The rotation has to be Wang, Pettite, Hughes, Moose, Kennedy right, or am I missing something? Hopefully Sanchez can be ready fast and take Joba’s place so he can hit the rotation and relieve Moose of his duties.
WH,
Joba will be in the starter mix, at least I hope so. And we did the nasty with Righetti and still won. And there is Cox or Melancon in the mix with Sanchez along with a dizzy array of other arms as possibilities.
Our management has done a superb job of stocking players and not just one or two deep. Are we ever gonna kick butt!!!
I forgot about Melancon, he was put as the 2011 closer for the Yanks on Baseball America. I like what I’ve read about him, seems to have a lot of promise. I hope Joba can figure into the starter role, it’d be a hughe waste of tallant if he were in the pen. I like the pitchers we have stockpiled, but there are no lefties, and few good infielders. So hopefully we’ll see a few of those holes addressed soon, but good call on the Melancon.
If Joe G. puts Joba in the bullpen he needs to be fired right on the spot. Making a guy a bullpen pitcher, even if it’s the setup role, means that he either
a) stinks as a starter, or
b) doesn’t have enough of a pitch repetoire to start.
Joba has at least 3 world class pitches:
1. Heater
2. Slide Piece
3. Uncle Charlie
Not to mention the fact that he has an above average changeup that, given 1 or 2 seasons, will make that 100mph heat he throws completely FILTHY. Joba Chamberlain is a STARTING PITCHER. Cashman needs to grab his head by both ears and make a real strong effort to pry it from his rectum. Afterwards, he needs to deal Farnsworth and some of our 2nd tier pitching talent to acquire a **** setup man. For the love of God, what is it going to take to get him to wake the **** up?
Brian Cashman is on my intergalactic ****-list. I am really starting to hate his **** guts, and it’s starting to get personal. If you couldn’t tell, given the content of my last 50000 posts.
Give me a cell phone, google, a contact list of the other gm’s in the MLB, George Steinbrenner’s wallet, and the legacy of the New York Yankees, and I could do 10 times the job as Yankees’ GM working 2 hour days with a 1 hour lunch. Cashman: I see that the lights are on, but NOONE seems to be home. Start dialing numbers on that Blackberry, you loser!
Two Hundred Million dollars sure does not buy what it used to in baseball. With all that money that the Yankees will spend, they will once again enter the 2008 season failing to have an ACE leading their pitching staff. And Hank says that Johan Santana is too expensive, well I think what is too expensive is spending 200 million dollars and losing in the first round of the playoffs. Trading young prospects is never an easy decision but acquiring one of the top 1or 2 pitchers in the game sure makes the decision a whole lot easier. With Santana at the top of the rotation followed by Pettite and Wang, the Yankees will have the experience, durability, and flexibility to shape and mold their roster over the course of the season. Joba could start in the bullpen or he could start as a number 4 or 5 starter. We would be able to regulate his innings as well as Kennedy’s. We would have the opportunity to develop 2 outstanding pitchers instead of risking the performance of 3 pitchers (Hughes, Kennedy, Joba) by rushing their development, overusing them, and potentially causing unnecessary injuries.
And the one that I feel the worst for is Joe Girardi because if the Yankees start slow like they have over the past few seasons, all of this talk about our young pitchers and patience will be thrown out the window. He will be second guessed and scrutinized by the media and fans alike that will question why he is limiting their (Hughes, Kennedy, Joba) innings. Steinbrenner and Cashman, please do the right thing, and make the trade. Not only will it benefit the Yankees next year but in the years to come.
Correct me if I am wrong, but The New York Yankees have more World Series championships than anyone, more retired numbers than anyone, and more HOF members that anyone, more money than any other team, and more resources than any other team, right? So explain to me what a GM needs to do to put viable trades together, or compel players to sign FA contracts to play here? Did his mother poke him in his soft spot when he was a baby? Is he drunk? Is he stoned? Is he stoned and drunk? Or, does he just not give a ****?
Hear we go again now that a decision appears to have been reached in not trading for Santana and up goes the sack Cashman flags AGAIN. Did someone ask the question the other day what has Cashman done as GM. Well I believe he had a lot to do with retaining Rodriguez, Posada,Rivera back and Pettitte back ( for the second time ) and it would seem he has a heck of a lot to do with the management of Joba Hughges Kennedy and others in the system such as Sanchez Betence and of course our dear friend of all Farnsworth.
I reckon the moves he has been involved in took guts, the easy option would be to sell the team to get 1, 29 year old pitcher and fork over 200 Million and take the risk he does not collapse or get injured.
I believe he is trying desperately to build a champion team not only a team of champions for 5 to 10 years to comee. He has the ace up his sleave to get Santana in the middle of 2008 or the end which would be a better option.
Bloody Well Done Cashman
MBurruano,
Sorry to say it, but Johan is not the best of the best. I strongly believe his numbers have been skewed by playing in the softest division in the American League and, arguably, the entire MLB. Is it a coincidence that his worst season came when he had to face Cleveland and Detroit last season around 10 times? What was his record vs. the Central Division champions? If you don’t know it was 0-6! He is NOT a big game pitcher. Granted, he is a great, great left hander, but his 3.97 ERA and a postseason record of 1-3 doesn’t tell me that he is ready to take the Yankees to the WS. Let’s also not forget that he gets mutilated in Fenway Park. That’s a welcome fact for our ace to have over his head…..or not. Johan is just as big a risk to us as Phil Hughes or Ian Kennedy. Only those risks won’t cost us our starting centerfielder, MLB’s top pitching prospect, and 20 million dollars per year. Johan would have been a great trade early in the off-season, but there are no replacements for Melky in center, so the ship has sailed. Forget Johan.
Johan’s CAREER numbers at Fenway:
ERA: 7.20
W-L:1-3
Is that worth 200 million dollars and our starting centerfielder, AND Phil Hughes?
Johan is also 4-4 against Boston lifetime. So we could count on the ace of our staff to win 50% of the time against our arch rival, SUPER!
Johan Santana’s career totals vs. The Eastern division (minus the New York Yankees):
13-11 with a 4.00 ERA, what?
Johan will get OWNED if he has to play half of his starts in our divison.
The only teams he has a winning record against in our division are the Orioles and the D-Rays. He is 2-4 vs. Toronto and 4-4 vs. Boston
BTW, He owns us in the regular season:
He is rocking a 2.76 ERA and is 3-0 against the Yankees. But, when we faced him in the postseason, we have kicked his *** all over the field. In 4 postseason starts vs. the Yankees, he is scraped out a 1-1 record. In 2003, his ERA against us in the postseason was 7.20!
In baseball, STATS NEVER LIE! Johan is not the ace we are looking for.
That is interesting chaz. The Santana Boston numbers. Boston is going to be entering the season with a “we can do anything” attitude. They will be hard to beat. It will be done, but it’ll be hard. Although what mburruano said makes sense in my head, it doesn’t fit in with Santana. It makes perfect sense if we’re acquiring say…Cy Young? I agree, why rush the three young stars? Sure Santana has got the sexy numbers, but those just show who he is on paper. He can be beaten. Boston will beat him. Toronto can beat him. He has a 7.44 era versus them in three years. And a 5.68 versus Baltimore. If he is what everyone is saying he is, and apparently everybody wants him, one question, Why don’t the twins?
sports girl: The Twims want him badly. They offered him an extension but it wasn’t enough, They are hoping this goes long enough and they can use him as their start. I hope the Mets get him
How bout my Michael Strahan?
9 tackles
1 sack
1 forced fumble.
Bryan Hoch…check your email please.
How many people think Hank’s statement is a public ploy to get Minnesota to take a deal with Kennedy instead of Hughes?
* How about Michael Strahan.
Jason Lane? Any take on him?
New link for Bergen Record
http://www.northjersey.com/sports/yankees/
Oh by the way, I do have advice for people planning on Tampa this year. Do not stay at Radisson Bay Harbor or the Marriot suites thing in Tampa. Eww, just don’t.
Lane is an outfielder?
check this http://scottproctorsarm.blogspot.com/2008/01/yankees-giving-up-on-santana.html
With Santana’s career record against Eastern opponents, he doesn’t guarantee anything.For God’s sake, don’t waste the team’s future on a pitcher who only has 5-10 good years left as a starter. Hold on to the young kids, and use them to build a dynasty around. That is what is best for this team, and guarantee them a successful future not Santana. For all we know he could go down with an injury the first game of the season, and then where would this team be… in the toilet full of holes.
bpark: Haven’t received anything from you.
George’s hotel is the Bay Harbour probably with ads in Yankees Magazine. Haven’t seen either recently though.
Matt
Bloody well said and even if he does not go down injured. If he brings his form from the last part of 2007 into 2008 and struggles against Toronto and Baltimore along with Boston, well their further down.
Again well done Cashman. I for one think thats it no trade, no ploy to trade Kennedy instead of Hughes, simply go with what we have got incredible potential for the next 5-10 years and get to retain Cabrera who will improve dramatically in 2008
Bryan Australia
Hey, it just dawned on me, did George sell out or become a Radisson?
Bryan, it went to the mailbag address, I didn’t have the mlb.com address. It is titled: “Hank is not doing enough for Clemens – not a mailbag question”.
Also Bryan, will this site be honoring the Giants if they win this weekend?
Yeah, I think if the deal hasn’t been done by now, it will never be done. If the Yanks were smart, they won’t let the Twins leave them hanging any longer.
Didn’t Cashman say he saw Farnsworth as a setup man for Rivera? What the heck has he been smoking. No wonder he has such a long list of failures, and a short list of successes.
I have noticed a few Aussies on this post, which I think is great. I just wanted to know what the status on the popularity of baseball is Down Under. Is it growing? Does it have a long way to go to catch on with you Aussies?
Chaz, I hope your tantrum against Cashman is over. As Bryan has aptly stated he has not done such a bad job.
Thanks, Chaz for all of the research on Santana. As you said statistics don’t lie. Also a trade that included Melky would weaken the Yanks, There is now no adequate replacement readily available.
That would possibly lead to another trade. and more young prospects moving. It would at this time be a disaster. My thought now is that our team chemistry is very good, breaking that up would leave only negative results.
Australian cricket team should play exhibitions with the Yankees in both sports.
I don’t think Cashman will re-sign. He might retire?
Yanks still likely to trade Melky? Can’t believe this
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/7659616
I have called the Cameron stuff forever. They tried to trade Sheff for Cameron and they considered Igawa. They are very high on Cameron within the organization.
I support the Mike Cameron deal because if Melky is dealt, there isn’t a better option in the short term.
Melky fans this post was very early, maybe you missed it. Read MOTOVATION
http://riveraveblues.com/2008/01/10/twins-questioning-melkys-offensive-abilities-1962/
Matt, You hit it on the head, I too have noticed that this blog is very diverse, You, from the Bay Area, another from OC, Jeter From Texas, The Aussies, a British fan, New England. Me, I’m from NC, most of the regulars are from outside the NY area. I would guess many are former NYers, like myself over 50 yrs ago, or had parents brought up as Yankee fans in NY. I think it is great, so many ideas and opinions make this the most interesting site it is.
Yep, I’m a transplanted NYer having moved here to the Bay Area when I was a young kid. I also love the fact that there are others from around the world who can be knowledgeable baseball fans, it tells me the sport is alive, and well in other parts of the world.
I think Matt is a New Yorker fjr. But, as it goes to show Red Sox Nation exists in a Yankee Universe! Go Yankees!!!!!!!
I m a New Yorker. As are my parents and one set of grandparents. I’ve been told everywhere I visit that Baseball is a **** sport. Europeans (most of them) hate it. The people I know hate it. It’s apparently boring. My own frikin sister told me she’d rather sit on her butt writing an essay than watch baseball. I never knew that they dig baseball in Australia. That is cool. My housekeeper knows a little baseball (but no English) and that’s about it.
I hope Cashman was making a pathetic attempt at humor about that Farnsworth thing. Oh dear god please let it be humor.
My e-mail is always on the stories and every one of my posts here. Just click my name. The mailbag account gets thousands of letters per week so it’s very easy to get lost in there.
I forwarded it to the mlb account.
Most GM’s value on Melky is as a 4th outfielder not a starter.
Can someone at mlb fix the bergen record link please.
A guy that hits .280 at 23 years old, with a cannon for an arm and decent speed is NOT a 4th outfielder, I don’t care what anyone says. In a few years, Melky will hit his peak and develop into a .290-.300 hitter, with plus defense. How is that not worthy of a starting position?
And I don’t want to hear that **** about him not having enough power. That stuff about certain positions should have a certain amount of power is BULL. A-Rod can give enough power to cover Melky I’m sure. If he can keep his average up, and continue to develop along the path he is currenty going, he IS a starting CF, NOT a 4th outfielder.
Cameron is a joke…I’d take Melky over Cameron any day of the week, and anybody who wouldn’t is blind.
JL,
Because of his arm, I’m thinking Melky moves to RF. Otherwise your right on.
SportsGirl,
We finally had a true World Series last Spring and Japan won. There were many countrys represented but I think only one from Europe, the Netherlands. The Yanks signed a player out of Israel recently. And a second player from the Middle East I think. I need some help on this one!
And for those Bosox fans, their team is the World Series Champion and not the World Champion. They are really the North American Champions and our fall classic should change it’s name to agree.