Final locker cleanouts at Yankee Stadium
It’s a sleepy, quiet morning here in the Bronx and all seems a little bit too empty here at Yankee Stadium. There’s no baseball to be played in the city of New York today, only some cleaning of lockers and goodbyes for the winter.
Hey, at least the Yankees have had about a week (or more, really) to swallow their fate. Can you imagine trying to talk to the Mets today as they clean out their Shea Stadium belongings?
At some point today we are expected to have word on whether Mariano Rivera has opted for arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder. Other than that, I’m not sure who’ll be here – it’s kind of a grab bag. Some of the guys flew home directly from Boston early this morning and skipped the team charter.
Jason Giambi has promised to be here – he was going to fly Air Giambi back to the West Coast on Sunday night, but the day-night doubleheader messed up those plans. Too bad for Dan Giese, he was going to hitch a ride and see how the wild side lives. I’ll be back if and when anything happens out here.
Bryan Hoch
Morning Bryan,
Any word on when the Cashman announcement is coming? Also, what is in the offing for you this off season?
“Sooner than later,” whatever that means. I don’t anticipate Cashman happening today, though. The offseason is sometimes busier than the regular season so we’ll see! I’d love to take a vacation at some point since I didn’t this season. But it all depends on what the Yankees do – they’ll be active in free agency and that requires making a lot of phone calls and being on your toes. I’ll also be covering some of the playoffs for MLB.com so I’ll be sure to blog about some of that.
Poor Brian gets no vacation while the rest of us were done with baseball a while ago. I’m kind of excited to see what the off season brings. It’s just so long until the new one…. I trust Brian to keep us updated. On another note, this may sound weird, but I want the Rays to go all the way. I’m still gonna keep watching baseball…even it meant nothing to me for the past 2 weeks. I’m hooked!!!
Really, really quiet here. Dave Eiland, Rob Thomson, Jose Molina and Hideki Matsui are in the house. Joe Girardi is expected to get here at 2 p.m.
What is “Air Giambi”?
A lot of the guys have (or have access to) private planes and don’t rely upon commercial flights. Air Giambi is what Dan Giese called the ride he thought he was hitching a flight on … at least, until Saturday’s rainout ruined it. And one can only imagine what happens on Jason Giambi’s private plane.
So that’s where the $$$ goes. Air Giambi, next destination free agency
Article on Melancon:
http://emedia.thetimes-tribune.com/Blogs/SWBYankeesBlog/tabid/552/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/4577/Melancon-I-think-its-a-stepping-stone.aspx
Yankees = Mets:
http://yankees.lhblogs.com/2008/09/29/since-they-have-nothing-better-to-do-can-they-meet-for-one-more-interleague-series/
Matt,
Couldn’t agree with you more about Santana. Even if this team did trade for him this team wouldn’t be going anywhere this season. Did you see Cain pitch and continue to make Manny his personal BITCH? I didn’t see THE FREAK pitch, did you? I heard he pitched his butt off, he’s the pitcher this team should be going after. One other thing Cliff Lee should get the Cy Young, he deserves more credit for winning 20+ games this season with his type of numbers since it’s harder with that sorry *** type of team.
Matt I usually agree with your posts but I can’t agree with your Santana post. Johan Santana did his part for the Mets. He is NOT the reason the Mets are not in the playoffs. As proof of that look at his three hit performance the other night on three days rest that kept the Mets alive. Santana is a Warrior and I believe he would have made a huge diffference with the Yankees. He is a proven pitcher and is an ACE. As I have said in previous posts the Yankees kept two young pitcher (one who spent most of the year in AAA, the other on the DL for the second year in a row), a centerfielder who spent time back in the minors and has regressed, and another outfielder who now resides with the Pirates. The Yankees did this when they should have had an ACE. This team would have been better off with Johan Santana in its rotation.
this year Santana helps no doubt about it…but that still doesn’t mean the trade should have happenned. You can’t afford to offload prospects with the alarming regularity the Yankees have in recent years and load yourselves up with massive contracts burdening the future of the organisation. If Johan was a Yankee, we’d have to resign Abreu as the outfield would be especially thin (no cabrera or tabata to trade for Nady), we’d have the massive financial strain of the Santana contract (so no CC, Burnett et al this year), the real possibilty of watching our top pitching prospect for the past decade become a successful pitcher elsewhere…
the trade just didn’t make sense when there are so many free agent starters this offseason and the players in the trade question projected well
Andy Pettitte was just here briefly and said, again, that he needs to go home and figure out what he will do in 2009. He had slightly more interesting and vague comments about Mike Mussina, saying that he and Mussina have talked quite a bit but it wouldn’t be fair for him to share the contents of those conversations. Pettitte said Mussina is extremely strong willed and could decide his best way to go out is with a 20-win season.
Matt, I don’t believe the roster you see now is the roster you will see in two months. I doubt highly that Melancon will get his shot in the bullpen in front of Coke and Aceves. They both have proven they can pitch consistently in in the ‘pen and rotation, respectively. He is a mid-season call-up. No need to rush our players, Fuentes will look for a closer’s role, so there’s no way he decides to leave “saves” for “holds”. I so hope that Joba is put into the rotation! How about a six man rotation? Or havin him six innings a start. Let’s say he pitches 20-30 starts next year, he would only finish with 180 innings, 120 innings with 20 starts. I don’t doubt he couldn’t do that in the fifth spot, and the Yankees may have to slot him in anyway if Mussina or Pettitte retires.
Let’s say the one of them retires, that would leave Wang, FA ( Sabathia or Burnett), Empty ( Chamberlain ), Moose or Pettitte, and Hughes.
I don’t doubt that the Yankees can sign another FA after they throw the big bucks at CC (assuming he signs ), but maybe they hold onto that money in a possible bid for Teixeira?
PUMPED for the PLAYOFFS! Dodger blue is my new blue for a couple weeks form now on! See you on the other side. GO DODGERS! Most importantly, GO TORRE!
Matt, please don’t tell me you have Sabathia rated ahead of Santana? Santana is in a league of his own. Cliff Lee is a 1 hit wonder.
Bryan, maybe you can ask Rob Thomson and Kevin Long if they are being renewed. I hope not.
If Melancon has a solid ST he could start next season in the pen for them so no need for Fuentes. Don’t see Sanchez starting the season anywhere other than the minors since he didn’t get that many innings this past season. Earliest we could see him is mid-season or later.
By matthew_saiki@gmail.com on September 29, 2008 2:24 PM
Can’t wait that long to find out. Grab Fuentes before Detroit does, cut loose Marte.
Predictions:
Yankees want Pettitte and Moose back, Pettitte says Yes, Moose says No.
Giambi returns, Yankees realize Posada is months away and either bring back Pudge or go with Cervelli backing up Molina.
Kevin becomes a longer shot than Howie to return.
Wilson Betemit unexpectedly announces his retirement.
Cano goes missing during winter ball and later resurfaces saying he was working out to play outfield.
Abreu is not brought back.
Matsui returns to Japan with Igawa and also asks out of his deal.
Cabrera is moved for a minor league player.
Carl Pavano gets injured washing his car days before free agency.
Bryan Hoch is promoted to GM.
A concust Ian Kennadia is asked in a California interview what team he plays for? In response, Kennadia tells the reporter USC, then recants and says the Trenton Thunder. The reporter then asks him has he been on the practice field with the Trojans football team.
The USDOJ arrests Chris Britton for unpaid taxes, his frequent call ups made it impossible for him to say he resides in Iowa. The Yankees release him immediately saying he was terminated 6 months ago but slipped through the cracks.
Paul O’Neill shows up for work and hit Girardi with a bat at request of the Godfather.
bpark,
No way do I have Sabathia over Santana. Cliff Lee may very well be a one hit wonder, but he definitely deserves the Cy Young. Fuentes looks too much like Marte, would hate to see Yanks sign him to any kind of contract only see him produce same results both are nothing more than NL pitchers.
By matthew_saiki@gmail.com on September 29, 2008 4:37 PM
My concern is that whoever signs Sabathia gives him more money and same years as Santana and his weight continues to climb. In the long term, Santana is way better.
Lee is the Cy Young winner no doubt.
Fuentes is way better than Marte, pitching in Colorado is a poor indication of performance but to his credit, Fuentes had a solid year. Marte could not handle the specialist role, time to give Fuentes a shot. Fuentes with Joba and hopefully Mo = unstopable.
I see Aceves in the rotation next year, if Wang, Pettitte and Moose anchor a rotation with Aceves and Hughes, we still may need a 3-5 guy like Vazquez.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3615818
On a slightly related note: no one Giambi and Clemens are such close friends, hopefully Joba is not influenced.
1. Vazquez would be considered only an extra, not part of the rotation.
2. Aceves pitched tremendously Matt, Cash did not sign him to send him back to Scranton or Trenton.
3. Sabathia is going to flooded with offers, he will be smart to take a deal that doesn’t include a weight clause.
I’m noticing baseball slowly but surely entering a “new” era. With less home runs, more complete games thrown by pitchers, and the sudden re-emergence of the 20 win season, baseball seems to be going back to its roots. However, I think along with that, managers (especially younger managers like Girardi) are going to start becoming much more creative. We saw it a little bit with the way the Yanks used Joba and the way they shuffled their bullpen and rotation to deal with injury after injury after injury. I think a six-man rotation, or long-reliever/spot-starter is perfectly conceivable. The young players didn’t really get much of an opportunity to hone their skills to the big league level, what with Hughes, Kennedy, and Joba all getting injured, so next season will be about giving them that experience while trying to build a winning ballclub around them to help protect them while they’re learning. I mean, that really was the objective this year, but there’s not a lot to be done when the injury bug bites you that badly. Brett Gardner ’09 WHOO!
Sorry the season is over, We did have high hopes for this team but they let us down. My take, I don’t blame in the least the pitching staff, I think they did remarkably well for a patched up staff.. We finished only 8 games out. If you think back we lost too many games because of the lack of offense, our inability to score when it counted, With runners in scoring position. One of the biggest culprits JG, He stunk to high heaven… We should have been in the play offs… We lost 1/4 of our games by scoring 2 runs or less… We scored 200 runs less than in 2007…And the pitching staff is to blame!!…..
Girardi, If he’s going to win, must take charge, He allowed things to get out of hand. I could never understand why he had JG batting 5th all year. Cabrera wasn’t hitting he was shipped out, why wasn’t the Jase benched, he hit a pathetic .247. He must not be resigned unless its for a minimal amount, I really don’t want to see him back. Petitte should retire, give the Moose another year if he wants to return. Fire the whole coaching staff, they were no help… New blood all around….
I’m just a fan, So now I’ll going to leave playing GM to all you wannabees….
09 Depth Chart
OF
Damon
Gardner
Nady
Matsui
DH
Matsui
1B
Jacobs
Posada
Matsui
Betemit
2B
Cano
Betemit
SS
Jeter
Betemit
3B
Rodriguez
Betemit
Catcher
Posada
Molina
Cervelli
SP
Sabathia
Wang
Garland
Pettitte
Hughes
Chamberlain
RP
Melancon
Bruney
Ramirez
Howry
Coke
Veras
CP
Mariano Rivera
25 Man seems right and is realistic. Maybe we won’t see Jacobs at first, but we’re not going to have anybody named Posada or Giambi playing first next year. Teixeira? Dunn? Fielder? Betemit?
BXChaz, you will likely see both Giambi and Jorge Po there next season.
CC Sabathia has the same body as David Wells. He could pitch well in New York. AJ Burnett brings too much injury baggage. Remember, four years and Carl Pavano. Interesting trade bait is Ian Kennedy. This kid is the real thing, but I don’t think he’ll make it in New York. The Orioles are tired of Daniel Cabrera’s nonsense. Its a win-win trade for both organizations and players. Mussina will pitch again if the Yankees ask him nicely. He’s a bright guy and he’s on the edge of baseball immortality—and where else can he get a job (even with a Stanford degree) that pays 10 million a year. Betemit might be a darn good everyday first baseman. He’s got good hands and can switch hit. Posada will catch at least 120 and call out AROD. Someone has to do it, and Posada is one tough stud who can curse the guy in two languages. The Yankees have champions at AA and AAA—-so with addition of one pitcher, there is lots of good youth in the organization. Make Abreu a decent offer, he likes playing in New York and he can steal a base, but don’t break the bank. Girardi must be tougher next year, or he knows he’ll get the boot. Make AROD hit and run and everyone else should be able to bunt. Put the suicide signal on—-it works—-and even if it fouls up its no worse than a 6-4-3! Maybe a year like this, will bring back the late 90′s hunger.
As great as they have been for the Yankees, it’s time for Petite and Mussina to officially retire. I’ll be sorry to see them go. However, the Yankees have a load of “young” fresh arms in the minors, and we know they also will be very active in free agency.
Yes the offence did not on a number of occasions get things done as one blooger stated earlier. Do they or do we all forget this team lost Rodriguez, for 21 games early, Jeter probably played since May with a broken courtesy of a hit by pitch, they lost Posada and Matsui for almost the entire season. I presume someone out there is good at maths, as they say do the numbers. Can those sort of players be replaced,NO WAY IN HELL. The season was a disaster yes but wining 89 games with the injuries sustained including to the pitching staff was I believe a bloody good effort by the players Giradi and Cashman.
Yes it is possible to just go out and buy an aspr if you have a headache but it does not always cure the problem.
From afar this team needs support and people to show some faith. Yes I am dissapointed that they have not made the post season . I travelled from Australia in May to see the team for 9 games and bloody glad I did. Life goes on there is next year which the team having a little tinkering and the team will be fine.
SHOW SOME BLOODY FAITH OUT THERE and stop kicking your team when it is down. Do you or does everyone think owners management and players are not hurting. You have had an incredible journey of 12 straight post seasons and 4 World Series Rings in that time. Not bloody bad I would think.
Aussie Bryan
You can’t compare Aceves to Rasner. Rasner is a career minor leaguer who has been cut already. Aceves came out of the Mexican Leagues, Rasner wouldn’t even get a look there.
Pierre is of more value than Kemp.
Sage pearls of wisdom from matt_Saiki, circa October 2007:
So if you read this Mr. Cashman, please don’t make the mistake of leading this organization in a backward direction by signing cancers like Bonds, or signing injury-plagued, over-the-hill players to large or small contracts like Messina or Ol’ Man Clemens, this team already has more talented starters.
Going with old players like Messina, Bonds or Ol’ Man Clemens is the wrong direction.
From RedSoxLose, more astute observations circa October 2007:
mike mussina_________________
moose is done, please don not bring the argument back that he is or was the best pitcher since 2000. he is done, all hitters feel very comfortable with him pitching, its like there little sister is pitching.
Now it’s pile on Pettitte? HE’S done this year? He was 14-14. In a season when we barely won more games than he and Moose put together themselves? Like last year when I didn’t think Moose was done, I stand by Andy if he wants to come back.
New thread……….