A weekend lost

I woke up and saw that the Yanks are 8.5 games back in the AL East and three games behind the Twins (4.5 behind the Sawx) for the Wild Card. We just got swept in LA. As Tyler Kempner puts it, "It’s Getting Late Early for the 2008 Yankees" and he's right on.

The Yanks rotation consists of a rejuvenated Moose, an eminently hittable Pettitte, a profoundly frustrating Ponson and then a hodgepodge of guys including Dan Giese, Darrell Rasner, a recently sent-down Kennedy (foot-in-mouth disease). Generation Trey, as some had called them, imploded rather than "was here to stay". Kennedy and Hughes have yet to win a game. The vets are not happy with Kennedy's comments. Joba's on the DL after what had seemed to be a seamless transition into a top tier starter. Heck, we might even see American Idle Pavano back before Joba. Wang will be ready just as the regular season will come to a close.

With the bats, ARod's still slumping (despite a HR yesterday). Jeter's looking lost. Abreu and Damon are still hitting [I am totally on board with keeping Abreu another two years, for whatever my vote's worth]. Melky has been passed. Cano remains an enigma, with the bat and the glove. Matsui's been out for ages. Nady has been great, though.

What can I say? The best part of my baseball weekend was that I missed the end of every game. Too tired Friday. Hanging with the kids Saturday. Dinner with the extended family Sunday. Missed a lot of the games. Not upset in the least.

More importantly for me was that my older son's catching the ball better. We had a good long catch on Sunday morning and he's catching better. And my younger one (age 5) now knows how to throw from a full windup. Not sure where the ball is going to go, but he'll call out "two seamer" or "four seamer", go into a windup and hurl the ball in my general direction. Yes, he tries to put his little fingers across four seams. And that's why I had a good weekend even though my team didn't.

Work happens

Sorry, I have been completely underwater today. Got in later than usual (amongst the mere mortals who arrive at 9:30am) as I had to play Mr. Mom this morning. Since then, it's been heads down on some stuff that needs to be done by COB today.

On the good side, my TPS reports are almost done and I got a cool red stapler. I'll be leaving as soon as that strange acting guy sets fire to the place.

UPDATE: Seems that I struck a nerve with old Peter Gibbons, Lumberg, Milton. If you want to end your Friday laughing, check out the "Office Space" quotes.

Reader mailbag: Ya stumped me

JoeOrange emailed me this, and quite frankly, I don't have an answer.

Okay, I have a question for you:

Darrell Rasner wears #43. When the Yankees made the trade for Damaso Marte, he couldn't continue with his number, so he chose (or maybe it was chosen FOR him) #34.

Now I KNOW that the Yankees suffer from a depletion of usable numbers due to the number of retired jerseys, but they have to "borrow" numbers from players on the DL? Didn't Phil Hughes wear #34 before going on the DL with that broken rib? What happens when he comes back? Does he get his old number back?

So, what happens to Marte and Hughes when Hughes comes back off the DL? Does he get his old number back? Does he go back to the Spring Training garb he wore when he first came up (#65)? Can he "steal" Joba's #62? For THAT matter, what if he wanted to wear #40?

I gotta admit, I hadn't put 2+2 together to see that Marte was wearing Hughes' #34. I'm surprised they let Marte take that. In checking the Yanks 40 man roster, they have a "--" by his number. Wang (#40) is still on the 40 man roster, Hughes is not. Obviously Joba (#62) is as well.

Joe, ya got me. I have NO idea what Hughes or Marte will do once Hughes comes back. Zero clue. I'd like to think that Hughes will get #34 but maybe he'll change his number once again, looking for something with ANY good luck to it.

The Yankee Advantage

It really IS about the money, isn't it? Here's how the Yanks are (could and should) use their financial advantages:

The Yankees have signed Brett Marshall, a high school pitcher selected in the June First-Year Player Draft, to one of the largest contracts ever given to a sixth-round pick...
.....
The Yankees essentially gave the sixth-round pick the kind of money normally spent on first-round supplemental picks.
.....
During the Draft, Marshall said he heard from the Atlanta Braves, Cleveland Indians, New York Mets, Boston Red Sox, and Kansas City Royals. But Marshall said all of those teams told him they would like to draft him in the first three rounds and Marshall told them he wasn't interested in signing with them.

Now, I have NO idea if this kid will be anything or not, but to toss $1M around at someone with his potential, keeping him out of the hands of others, is a fine risk. Given the amount of money this team will generate in TNYS, it's a mere pittance (H/T to Neyer for that link).

Investing in the draft (and internationally) is the best thing the Yanks can do.

Jeter's down year, not down career

Mark Feinsand of the Daily News has a blog in addition to his daily byline. He used his space to chronicle Jeter's career. It seems that he was getting some heat that Jeter was over-rated and never really did much in his career. I know many of you (including buddy Joe's co-worker, Chris) believe all of that to be true. You like to diminish the things he does well and harp on the things he doesn't do well. To that, I laugh.

I also know that Jeter's having a down year. He's never been a HR hitter and I'm OK with that. He's a #2 hitter and he does what a #2 hitter is supposed to do: move runners, get on base, let the big guys drive in runs. And do things the right way. I know he's an easy target because of the team, position, dating history, good looks, etc.

I also know Jeter's range is bad. This isn't new and I've commented on it many, many times, even wondering how soon Jeter will be forced from SS. I just wonder how that transition will go, but we can table that for another day. Even Gammons noted Jeter's poor defensive ratings yesterday (emphasis mine).

One NL team's defensive statistics, scouting and ratings have John McDonald of the Blue Jays as the best defensive shortstop in the majors. No surprise. They have Boston's Jed Lowrie at No. 5 among the 62 ranked shortstops, even if his sample is small. Derek Jeter and Jose Reyes, who is still working out mechanical start issues, are in the 40s, among the 62 shortstops. Edgar Renteria and Jeff Keppinger are among the bottom 5.

Feinsand (and I) understand the criticisms lobbed at Jeter this year. I understand the criticisms lobbed on him every year (no real power, bad D, over-rated overall game). But Feinsand adds this:

The fact that fans have started to turn on Jeter makes me question if they are actually Yankees fans. I have no problem with people criticizing his performance this season, but to use that to question how good or valuable he’s been over the years is ridiculous. You don’t hit .315 over 12+ years and score more than 1400 runs by accident. Jeter will become the first Yankee ever to reach 3,000 hits, and he could very well get to 3,500 before it’s all said and done.

The bottom line is that Jeter is one of the greatest players of our generation, he’s one of the greatest Yankees of all-time and he’s going to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. He’s also the face of the franchise, and seeing him finish his career anyplace else will be a disgrace.

Feinsand goes on to list many of Jeter's awards and details his hitting/run scoring prowess. I know nothing's going to make the Jeter bashers change their mind. But the "overrated" stuff is and always will be silly to me.

Since 1996, only one player – Alex Rodriguez – has scored more runs than Jeter. A-Rod has 1,552 runs scored to Jeter’s 1,437, and when you consider that Rodriguez has hit 336 more homers than Jeter in that time – scoring a run on each of those homers, obviously – it makes Jeter’s run total even more impressive.

Jeter’s 2,463 hits since 1996 are the most of any player in the majors, 150 more than A-Rod, who is second. And while Jeter doesn’t hit a ton of home runs (201), his 405 doubles are 13th, making him much more than a singles hitter.

He has won Rookie of the Year, All-Star MVP, World Series MVP, the Hank Aaron Award (for being the league’s best overall hitter), three Gold Gloves and two Silver Sluggers. You could also make a case that he should have won the AL MVP award in 2006, which he narrowly lost to Justin Morneau.

The Good Reilly

For some reason, the date the article is published is not readily identifiable, but here's an example of the GOOD Rick Reilly, the storyteller.

Rick: We need more of this and less of the other crap.

2nd Lt. Campbell felt like he was hit in the nose with a shovel. Every day during his four years at West Point, he was reminded of and lived by the Cadet Honor Code: A cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do. Instead the Army lied to 2nd Lt. Caleb Campbell. Now he gets to tolerate it.

Moose, Pettitte and forget it

Borrowing on the famed "Spahn, Sain and pray for rain", we now have the "Moose, Pettitte and forget it" refrain.

Last night's game was just terrible for the Yanks. Pettitte was laboring early and often and the bats hit into four double-plays. Blech.

With Joba off to see Dr. Death, we're forced to rely on Moose and Pettitte. Moose has been exceptional this year, a huge surprise. Pettitte is up and down. He's been our "stopper" for years and right now he's not stopping squat. We need him to pick it back up. Soon.

Pettitte (12-9) last night lasted five-plus innings, giving up five runs on six hits and three walks."I just set, really, a poor tone to the game," he said of Josh Hamilton's two-run homer in Pettitte's 30-pitch first inning.

Through five innings, Pettitte had thrown 93 pitches in the heat. But trailing 4-1, the Yankees sent him out for the sixth -- and he failed to get an out.

If Joba's shoulder is worse than expected, things could spiral down quickly. If he did any real damage, I'm gonna be pretty damn upset.

Off-topic: Rick Reilly on ESPN is disappointing

What happened to Rick Reilly, the great writer that was a fixture with Sports Illustrated? He came to ESPN with great fanfare (and wads of cash) and before my eyes has totally mailed it in. He's submitting this Page2 knockoffs that are supposed to be quasi-funny, snarky (think Jim Caple less the anti-Yanks tone) but they just read like total crap. I guess I expected more. Like when I now buy a box of cereal and it's 90% the size it used to be but costs a little more.

Here's a sampling of Reilly's latest. You tell me, am I too harsh?

It's so sad when bad anthems happen to good countries. America, for one. Ours goes up and down so many octaves only certain German shepherds can hear all of it. Still, I've covered eight Olympics, and our anthem doesn't come close to these:

Thailand. This anthem is played each day at 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. It declares, "Every inch of Thailand belongs to the Thais." Odd. Was anyone under the impression it belonged to Diddy?

Syria. Someone must have written this one in a hurry, or bought it at a discount anthem store, because it contains this verse: "A land resplendent with brilliant suns, becoming another sky, or almost a sky." I would've loved to be inside the mind of the guy who wrote that. Let's see. We have so many suns it's like a whole 'nother sky. No, wait. Nobody's going to believe that. I'll just add, "or almost a sky." Hell, what do they expect for $9.95?

Algeria. "We have taken the noise of gunpowder as our rhythm and the sound of machine guns as our melody." This is why no one invites your band anywhere.

Sweden. Here is a national anthem that has almost nothing to do with the country it honors. It's mostly about the Nordic way of life. Swedes are like that. Once, at an Olympic soccer game, I listened to Swedish fans chanting and singing. Finally, I asked one what they were urging their players to do. "The players?" she said. "We simply chant: 'We are from Sweden, we have come a long way and we are drunk!'"

Damn shame, really. I used to look forward to that last page in every SI issue to read something good by Reilly. Now, not so much. Who says money makes you soft?

Of course, Rick enjoys his pseudo-celebrity and his writing about it shows (how much he's fallen).

Rick, if, by some strange chance, you read this, please note that I thought you were a great storyteller. Leave the whimsy, quips, insults, snark, smarminess, etc. to the others at ESPN.com and blogs like this. Elevate your craft again. Give me something to strive for, something to try to learn from and emulate.

$%^&*(@#$

I couldn't muster a title for this.

I watched much of the Yankees game last night, at least into the 6th or so when the game was tied. I lost much of my appetite for the game once Joba left. Not that he was doing well (he wasn't), but the image of another Yanks pitcher leaving a Texas game early (that's where Hughes blew out his hammy in the midst of a no-hitter last year) left me feeling queasy. So I went upstairs to watch TV with my wife (that David Caruso is gawdawful terrible, by the way).

That I missed a walk-off grand slam was a good thing.

I'll hope a double mug of liquid motivation kicks in soon.

Balk this!

They always say you're likely to see something you've never seen on any given night...or something like that. What did we just see?

• Damon singled
• Balk to second (Padilla didn't come set, though he looks like he did on the replays)
• Moved to third on ground out
• Damon scored on a balk (Padilla stepped off with the wrong foot)

I've seen the balk called on pitcher's who don't come set, but I can't say that I've seen two in an inning, one scoring a run AND as a result of the pitcher stepping off the rubber with the wrong foot.

David Cone clarified it for us knuckleheads by saying the pitcher must step off from their push-off foot, otherwise it's deemed a move to home. Who knew? I didn't. I do now.

Here is the specific part of the balk rule (emphasis mine):

Rule 8.01(a) Comment: In the Windup Position, a pitcher is permitted to have his “free” foot on the rubber, in front of the rubber, behind the rubber or off the side of the rubber.

From the Windup Position, the pitcher may:
(1) deliver the ball to the batter, or
(2) step and throw to a base in an attempt to pick-off a runner, or
(3) disengage the rubber (if he does he must drop his hand to his sides).

In disengaging the rubber the pitcher must step off with his pivot foot and not his free foot first.

What a first impression

Seems like every major trade done this trading season has worked out for everyone. Of course, it's been only a long weekend for most of these guys, but is it ever too early to declare a winner in these trades? Given how the MSM likes to declare winners before the players traded ever play for their new teams, I think not.

I'll probably miss one or two, but let's review:

1. CC Sabathia: 5-0 after 6 starts. ERA of 1.88, 3 CG, 1 CGSO, 43 K's in 48 IP, averaging 8 IP per start. Oh yeah, hit a HR, too.


2. Rich Harden: 1.11 ERA in 4 starts; 39 K's in 24 .1 IP!


3. Mark Teixeira: Grand Slam yesterday against the Yanks masks a slower start as an Angel, 1 HR, 5 RBI in 5 games, .222/.391/.389 (sluggling lower than OBP?)


4. Xavier Nady: 3 HR, 10RBI, .385/.467/.846 as a Yankee (who cares about small sample size?)


5. Pudge Rodriguez: Hits first HR as Yankee; hitting .333/.400/.667 as a Yankee


6. Jason Bay: Finished the weekend 4-for-11 (.364) with three RBI and six runs scored


7. Manny Ramirez: 2 HR so far, equalling the LF output for the Dodgers season-to-date. Wants to finish career in LA, after only a weekend's worth of games. Batting .615/.615/1.154


8. The Bounty landed by Pittsburgh for Nady, Marte and Bay: Brandon Moss & Andy LaRoche hit HR's, Karstens won his first game, Hansen's scoreless debut, Ross Ohlendorf tossed 7 1/3 impressively efficient innings for Triple-A. Karsten's debut: 6 IP, W, 5 H, 4 BB, 2K.


9. Junior Griffey: A nice diving catch, batting .429/.500/.429 after 3 games.

Even a blind squirrel...

Spare me the comments.... Ponson still sucks.

Things that make you go "hmmmm"

Save all your C+C Music Factory singing for the comforts of your own car (with the windows up). This really made me sit back and say "hmmmm, really?" Really.

You know who Ivan Rodriguez is a lot like as an offensive player now? Derek Jeter . They both are extreme groundball hitters these days who have had their power greatly diminished. Among players with 300 plate appearances, Rodriguez ranks third in the majors in the amount of groundballs hit to every flyball (2.56) and Jeter is sixth (2.41). Jeter has six homers, Rodriguez five. They both -- amazingly -- have six steals. Pudge ranks 115th in OPS (.756) and Jeter is 123rd (.747). Rodriguez has a .295 batting average/.338 on-base percentage/.417 slugging percentage compared to Jeter .284/.348/.400.

Remember when Jeter was good for 20 HR, a .315+ BA, 20 SB? Just sayin', I'm starting to wonder where he's going to be in 2 years. Will he remain at SS, defying logic to preserve a memory? Will he be too proud to consider a position move? With the Yanks desire to both keep their aging stars too long (unlike Boston, who is OK with letting their heroes go: Damon, Pedro, now Manny) and keep Jeter as the face of the organization, will the aura of Jeter be something the Yanks can't maneuver around?

Ernie Banks moved from SS. So did Ripken. Yogi moved from behind the plate. Robin Yount was an all-star SS before becoming an all-star CF. Baseball history is littered with guys who moved from the positions that defined them so they could prolong their careers. Why should Jeter be any different?

Could Jeter play left field? He won't have the power to man 1B, but it would keep him in the infield. There's no chance ARod could move back to SS, swapping with Jeter. Unless, of course, Jeter LOBBIED for it, which seems more than unlikely. And even if he did, could ARod do it? He's not getting younger, and with a desire to remain healthy to pass Bonds in a few years, 3B is probably less physically demanding. Would Jeter move to 2B, swapping with Cano? I don't think Cano has that sort of range, either.

In a few years, Damon, Matsui, Abreu, Giambi, etc. will be gone. Will Jeter allow himself to become the full time DH? Will his pride get in the way? I have no idea. I would like him to stay at SS, but with age and declining range, we must begin to face the inevitable.

Just so long as it doesn't devolve into a Favre-like unwinnable tug-of-war...

Wow

Manny's a Dodger and I couldn't be happier.

Jason Bay is a fine ballplayer, a great guy to root for. He plays hard, plays the right way. Boston should love this guy. But, as an opponent, I am thrilled. Like Drew, Bay isn't a guy you have to completely fear or gameplan around. Solid guys but not game-changers.

Wonder what's gonna happen to Andruw Jones, Pierre, etc.??? What a logjam in the OF! I bet Manny thinks he'll play DH.

Kurkjian just said that Boston was afraid that Manny wouldn't play the rest of the year, therefore they made this deal happen. Looks like we were headed for "Operation Shutdown, Part II". That woulda been fun.

Sox gave up a lot to dump Manny. Craig Hansen, Brandon Moss and Manny... just to get Jason Bay for a year and a half. Seems pricey, but I know they must be using the old "addition by subtraction" mantra.

Coming soon: Operation Shutdown, part II

So, with the word that the whopper Manny to Miami via Pittsburgh deal is dead, will Manny channel his inner Derek Bell and commence "Operation Shutdown", part II?

It wasn't so long ago (just 2006) when, following a 5 game sweep at home at the hands of the Yanks in mid-August, that Manny essentially shut it down despite pleadings from Papi to keep playing.

How on Earth does Manny return to that team, that dugout, that ownership, that front office? We all know Manny could care less what they think but will he realize that he needs to perform to earn that big multi-year deal that he wants (as he turns 37)?

Then again, if I were Theo and these were indeed the requirements to deal Manny, I'd hold onto him, too:

ESPN's Peter Gammons was told by a source close to the negotiations Florida reportedly asked Boston for a cash outlay beyond the $7 million to cover Ramirez's contract in addition to two prospects. That would essentially add up to the Red Sox trading Ramirez, $9 million and two prospects for Pittsburgh's Jason Bay.

What's wrong with Florida? Why so greedy? They're getting Manny, some prospects and a chance to leap the Mets/Phillies. But $7M wasn't enough? If that's the straw that broke the deal, then shame on them. It's not dissimilar to the Sox falling a few bucks short in trying to acquire ARod (and Manny was included in that proposed deal, too).

Ehhhh, it's been as fun a Trade Deadline season as I can remember, Manny or not. But I sure am looking foward to seeing "Operation Shutdown, Part II".

UPDATE: I just found this and lordy, it makes me smile:

"At the end of the day you're taking the field with a guy who doesn't want to play with you, doesn't want to be there, doesn't want to ... obviously effort-wise is just not there and that's disheartening and disappointing," Schilling said during his weekly appearance on Boston sports radio WEEI's Dennis and Callahan program.

Does he think it's time for Manny to go?

"Would I be the only guy in the New England area that said no if I did?" Schilling replied to the question. "I think I'm probably with the consensus. It's very obvious from anything you see or hear he doesn't want to be here. And anytime that there's a piece of the equation you have a problem, and then not trading and leaving him here is a problem because you don't know what you're going to get."

Schilling was asked if he was insulted by Manny's "the Red Sox don't deserve a player like me" comment.

"I was here for the end of both Pedro [Martinez] and Nomar's [Garciaparra] situation and I'm not sure how there's any parallels there," Schilling said. "... I've always felt the organization extended a lot of courtesy Manny's way and I know Terry [Francona] as a manager, like with everybody else he went that extra mile for Manny. It's disappointing to see that not get recognized, but that happens."
......
"I would absolutely agree that it's affected this team. I don't question it. I've been around when it did before in '06. These are your teammates and it just makes it hard when every question, you're struggling in a 1-for-14 and grinding your [expletive] off at the plate and every question is about something that you have absolutely no control over..."

Faith in Cashman restored. Well, almost

Let's recap the last week-plus in Yankee-dom:

• Eight game winning streak coming out of the All-Star break
• Two of three vs. Boston, in Boston
• DFA'd LaTroy Hawkins, eventually traded to HOU for a fringe minor leaguer
• Traded Jose Tabata, Russ Ohlendorf, Dan McCutchen and Jeff Karstens for Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte
• Lost two of three to Baltimore, at home
• Lost Posada for the year to shoulder surgery
• Same day as Posada goes under the knife, acquired Pudge Rodriguez for Kyle Farnsworth
• Farnsworth conducts tearful interview
• RedSox seem about to deal Yankee-killer Manny Ramirez. Jason Bay is good, but he's no Manny.
• RedSox get swept by the Angels, at home
• Yanks are 1 game behind Boston, 4 behind TB

Ya know, if not for the mere presence of Ponson on the roster, my faith in Cashman would be totally restored. You DO realize, we have more influence than we ever thought. We got Farnsy traded, we can get rid of Ponson, too!!!

If you want some fun Detroit reactions/complaining/griping, check here. Especially the comments. They are not happy about the Pudge/Farnsworth trade. Not even a little.

What more can I say, I am pretty pleased with the events post-All Star break. It's going to be a fun stretch run.

Giambi flips off the O's

Thanks to old buddy Carl the Big Fool for the tip that the picture was on Sportscrack. Glad someone tracked it down. I had to post it.

I know it was made in jest but man, you don't see it make the TV that often.

Farewell to Farnsworth

So the (former) object of my disdain is gone.

Ironically, Farnsworth has been pitching damn well lately. Figures.

Just watched the interview with Farnsworth and you can tell there had been tears shed. He clearly wanted to stay and prove himself.

But, this is a trade the Yanks had to make. Getting Pudge is huge, considering the financial tail is short. The only concern that I have is if the Yanks offer him arbitration, will he accept? If he does, then what? If not, we get those draft picks. I love the deal.

But, who will catch for Detroit? Will Farnsworth close?

More later, but I'm on deadline!

Proof needed

Anyone have a screen capture of Giambi jokingly flip off either Millar or Roberts after he blooped a hit late in the game last night? Anyone else see it? Anyone else notice Kay pause, unable to discuss what he just saw?

If you have it, send it to jnr98 @ yahoo.com

Manny's doggin' it

From Buster:

By the way: Manny Ramirez's time running to first base on a chopper hit down the third-base line in the seventh inning of John Lackey's no-hitter was 5.25 seconds -- faster than the six seconds it took him to get to first on the back end of a double-play groundout Monday. To put those times in perspective, five seconds is considered glacial by baseball scouts. With his team eight outs away from being no-hit, the guy dogged it running to first.

So as the Red Sox look for some creative way to make a Ramirez deal, they must consider these questions: Will Ramirez simply lay down in the last two months of his contract, now that he knows he's not coming back to the Red Sox? And will he be a daily problem that will distract from the larger concern of winning ballgames?

If the answers to these questions are yes, they should dump him.

More serious allegations about Manny tanking. I wonder what the heck Manny is thinking (doesn't everyone?) as surely other prospective teams see this and have gotta be concerned. He's going to be 37. Do you see him getting better? Faster? More team-focused?

Me either.

He's becoming Roger Dorn.