Today’s news is powered by . . . The Brain, talking about . . . the brain:
- How do the Angels feel about the Bombers?:
“By no means have we dominated those guys,” manager Mike Scioscia said. “We’ve competed well against them but they’re tough.” Third baseman Chone Figgins told the Los Angeles Times‘ Mike DiGiovanna, “It’s always a battle against them and we’ve had our share of success but I don’t think it’s because we’re in their heads.”
Many scouts believe the Angels hold the edge on the Yankees because they have more team speed and athleticism. “We run the bases aggressively and we put pressure on you, but that stuff doesn’t show up in Kansas City and Seattle,” Figgins said. “It shows up more because it’s New York, and you’re not expected to have a good record against the Yankees.”
- Howard Megdal wonders about the Yanks rotation for ’10:
. . . C.C. Sabathia signed for another six years of his seven-year, $161MM deal. And, like it or not, the mercurial A.J. Burnett has another four seasons left on his five-year, $82MM deal.
Who’s next? Well, assuming he returns to longer outings without any problem, Joba Chamberlain should be good to pitch a full season, finally, in 2010. No Joba rules, no pitch counts, just full-out Joba. . . .
So what’s to be done for slots four and five? Andy Pettitte has been solid this season, with a typical Pettitte season, 178 1/3 innings of a 4.14 ERA. He’ll be a free agent in a winter with very little frontline starting pitching. Will the Yankees want to give Pettitte a multi-year deal if necessary? He’ll be 38 next June.
For the fifth spot, Sergio Mitre is the answer, but only if the question is, “How do we improve the American League batting average next season?”
Phil Hughes is the most talented option, but he’s thrown only 79 1/3 innings this season (98 2/3 including the minor leagues), and no more than 146 in a season (and that was in 2006).
- Not about the Yanks, but an intriguing new graphical way of showing the strengths and weaknesses of a player.
- Cuteness alert!
- On this date in 1993, in a last try for the pennant, the Yankees obtain 40-year-old vet Frank Tanana from the Mets for minor league P Kenny Greer. Tanana will go 0-2 to finish out his career at 240-236, and set a major-league record for most wins without racking up a 20-win season.
- On this date in 2002, Alfonso Soriano gets five hits, including a double and home run, as the Yankees fall to the Devil Rays, 9-7. Bernie Williams scores his 100th run in the loss to reach that mark for the 7th straight year. He is the 4th Yankee to score 100 this year, the first Yankee team to do so since 1941. Williams and Derek Jeter combine to tie the major-league record for consecutive years for teammates both having 100+ runs.
It will be interesting to watch what the Yankees do if King Felix and/or Halladay are traded.
The RS aren't particularly athletic, and they dominate the Angels. I don't think there is a simple reason as to why the Angels beat the Yankees and not the RS.
I'm sorry, I know it's irrational, and I witnessed firsthand the Yankees defeating them Monday night, but the Angels give me nightmares in broad daylight.
You don't fool me, Kaiser Scioscia! (Usual Suspect if there ever was one) I saw the movie: "the greatest trick the devil ever played was convincing the world he doesn't exist."
No, fuck that. The greatest trick the devil ever played was convincing the world he's an Angel.
[2] Are you really worried about the Angels beating the RS if they face them in the playoffs? That's the likely matchup, and if it is, the Yankees will probably face the RS if hey can get by Detroit.
what's a realistic record for the red sox over the final 18 games? i know a team on a winning streak looks like they're never going to lose, but their pitching finally sorting itself out. i've got them at 15-3.
and yes the angels are a tough matchup for the yankees, but they are not as dangerous as the red sox.
"For the fifth spot, Sergio Mitre is the answer, but only if the question is, “How do we improve the American League batting average next season?”"
Cold.
But spot on and very funny. I see slots 4 &5 as between Andy, Phil and Chien-Ming. You can never have too much starting pitching.
[2-3] yeah, talent-wise the Red Sox are probably the Yankees most dangerous AL opponent, but I think the Yankees are more comfortable playing against them, even in Boston, than they are against the Angels in Anaheim. They're certainly more familiar with the Red Sox. I dunno. I might just be trying to force logic into my irrational fear of the Angels. For whatever reason (none logical) I think it would be easier for the Yankees to beat the Red Sox at their best on a cold night in Boston, than to beat the Angels on a balmy evening in Anaheim.
[6 ]meant for [3-4], not [2-3]. See how the Angels mess me up?
I loves me some Brains, Frankie Brains.
[5] Gotta get rid of the Meattray.
[4] That seems pretty unrealistic to me.
If you give the Sox a 70% chance of winning each game (which is very, very good baseball), their chance of winning 15 out of 18 is just over 1%. Boost it from 70% to 80%, which is smoking hot, and it's still just an 8% chance of winning that many down the stretch.
[2] Hah ah aha ha h ahh a !!! Very, very nice. And very, very true.
Oh, and give Andy whatever he wants this off season, as we should have done back in 2003.
I'm so fucking infuriated that we've seen so many pitchers come in here over the years and be mediocre to poor and meanwhile we let our franchise guy walk for no reason at all, only to bring him back a few seasons later to continue to succeed.
[11] The day Andy bolted for Houston is still maybe my most infuriating/frustrating day as a Yankee fan, I tried talking myself into the whole idea of "well maybe he's really injured and they're being smart"...but I just hated it.
[12] I remember it so vividly. It was a cold, dark winter (February? January?) morning and I saw the news on my way to teach on some newspaper cover in a newspaper dispenser. I felt like I'd been slugged in the gut. I was really just demoralized. Couldn't believe my eyes. After the hazy denial depression thing wore off, I grew livid. Wanted the head of whoever engineered such a thing.
I'll never get over it. We'll never get those years back.
[13] It was in December, I remember because I was in college and getting ready for finals. The whole angle of "yeah, but look on the bright side...we just acquired Brown!!" only added insult to injury.
I'm hoping that he comes back next year if only because that would mean he spent (at least) 4 years here in his second tour as opposed to the 3 he spent in Houston...the Astros years need to be as much of a blip-on-the-radar for his career as possible, for my own sanity if nothing else.
The Kevin Brown signing was, to me the lowest point in Cashman's reign. Thinking about 2004 ALCS and I still want to puke. Will the pain ever ease?
I really wanted Pettitte to go after Whitey Ford's record. I hated the way management treated him.
[15] their weird vendetta against him went back to at least '99, when we came dangerously close to a Pettitte-for-Adam Eaton trade at the deadline until Torre and Stottlemyre had to talk George off the ledge.
To be fair Andy was pretty annoyingly inconsistent in '98 and '99, but still...it's Andy!!
All's well that end's well at least, I think everyone can agree that the Andy/Yankees reunion has been a success in pretty much all facets. And if he does come back next year (which I think he will) he'll be right at the doorstep of 200 wins as a Yankee, which would be fitting.
Actually, the incentive laden contract they gave Pettitte ended up serving him well this year. Perhaps that's a better solution than a long term deal at his age.
[16] Yes, he was inconsistent. Couldn't be worse than Jared Wright.
No one remembers Pettitte blew out his elbow in 2004?
[15] Brown was doing fine up until he attacked a wall in Baltimore. A lot went wrong during the 2004 ALCS, but it never should've gotten that far.
I [heart] The Onion ...
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/derek_jeter_honored_for_having
[20] that was awesome! i always use Baines as an example of a cat who had a shitton of hits.
FJM had a coupla Jeter articles up at Deadspin yesterday. it was soooo great reading FJM again! man, i miss that site...
[20] Some of us should probably apply to write for them. That was too easy, but it was funny >;)
[15] The Kevin Brown signing was, to me the lowest point in Cashman’s reign.
No, it wasn't, because they had to dump Weaver. Cash's worse moves were the Lowell trade for nothing of value (when Brosius should have been the one to go), and the Igawa signing.
[11] Oh, and give Andy whatever he wants this off season, as we should have done back in 2003.
He will be 38 with a chronic shoulder problem. There is no way I would give him more than a one year deal with incentives.
i guess it's worthy to note that Edwin Jackson has given up 5 early runs to the Royals today. i'm thinking he'll be starting Game 2 at The Stadium in a few weeks...
[18] Not only that - the draft pick the Yanks got for letting Pettitte go was used to draft Phil Hughes.
I'll gladly trade 3 years of Pettitte's career for the entirety of Hughes's - and I have a Pettitte jersey hanging in my closet!
[15, 19, 23] Brown was a decent enough contributor during 2004, even though he padded his stats against bad teams (he would look like a world beater against Tampa, then shit the bed against anyone halfway decent). But did anyone actually enjoy having him around??
I do give Cashman credit for getting a warm body for Weaver though...even though the original mistake was trading Lilly for him in the first place.
at the risk of coming across like some humorless Jeter fanboy, that Onion thing? meh. The headline was ironically droll, (heh, less than Baines) and revealed the entire one beat joke (heh, less than Baines).
After they hammered it a couple three times i(alright, less than Baines) it got more boring, repetitive (yeah, less than Baines, got it), and predictable than the overhyped YES coverage.
As Kanye might say: "Imma let you finish, Onion, but hopefully FJM has something more amusing."
[27] FJM always has something more amusing! : )
i don't read the Onion - or Deadspin - but found the Baines thing funny, just 'coz i always bring that guys' hit total up in conversation.
[25] that's the best point. hughes and the fact that Andy was indeed injured! there was also the small part of Mrs. Andrew Pettitte, that wanted her good faithed husband home in Tex-ass, since he was being unfaithful with another woman in NY. doh!
i'm glad Andy has come back and done relatively well. it's cool he got to pitch the last year in 'old' YS and the first year in the new 'YS'.
[28] Onion's fine, Deadspin, too, but like you, I'm not a regular reader. FJM? Yeah, consistently good stuff from what I've seen -- but they call out easy and obvious targets, and if you've ever seen American Idol, theyre as predictably snarky as Simon Cowell, but they still make good points, and provide compelling insights. Hate to be a wet blanket about FJM, but I'd rather read a compelling alternative to mainstream coverage than see it picked apart ad nauseum, tho that can sometimes be fun.
[27] Yep.
[28] I don't know how I missed the wifey vs. matey thing among all the outrage about Andy being "dissed". It only kinda stinks that we missed Andy when he and Rocket were highlighting Houston's playoff run, but all things considered (that he probably wouldn't have accomplished that without the HGH, it was the only "very good" year he had out of pinstripes and that we were able to get Phil in the draft because he left), I think his absence was a wash on both ends.
What really hurt the Yanks in the long run? Steinbrenner coming back and chasing off Bob Watson and marginalizing Stick Michael. The man sure appreciated juicy buttkissing like a juicy steak or cheeseburger; an oft-proven business model and successful corporate strategy, but it doesn't help in the playoffs... >;)
[29] nope, never seen American Idol. yeah, i've barely ever read the Onion - only a few links, like today from Diane and am not even entirely sure what Deadspin is. yesterday, was the first time i was ever there. i'll only go back if FJM do.
and i hear ya on FJM. i think it prolly ran its course and i'll be glad to read a "reunion" day once or thrice a year. i don't think too much of it. they make me laugh and that's good enough for me. i like laughing. don't get to do it heartily, nearly enough. they're really smart. and good with grammar. i like that. i don't know if my last 3 sentences were real. they like baseball, too. i do also! i'm terrible with commas, as those last two sentences prove. and my mom's an English teacher. doh!
FJM got me thinking. and i wanted to know more about further/farther and when to use a semi-colon. i have some books, but most on writing. so i went to the store and bought "grammar for dummies". (it's on my coffee table, with all the Blue Note Jazz books...and no coffee). when i got to the section, there was a "Baseball For Dummies" book. on the cover, was an inset photo of none other than...yup, yins guessed it: Joe Morgan. PERFECT!!!
FJM Lives ; )
speaking of obvious targets, couple of us at the office were just riffin on Kanye popping in Swayze's funeral:
Yo, Swayzes. I'm sorry Patrick passed away, he was cool, and Imma let you finish, but Michael Jackson had one of the greatest funerals of all time, of all time! (mic down/ Kanye out)
miguel cabrera just popped his 30th homer. 5th time he's done that in 6.5 seasons. he's got just over 200 already. he's 26. (yes, i'm well aware of his shortcomings, as well. but he's really good at "teh" baseball)