Today’s news is powered by Cyndi Lauper, and the late “Captain” Lou Albano:
New York moved its Thursday workout at Yankee Stadium from 1 p.m. to 11 a.m., in an effort to combat the impending showers. The Angels worked out Wednesday at Angel Stadium and are scheduled to have a late-afternoon session in the Bronx on Thursday.
Weather.com, the official Web site of the Weather Channel, was forecasting an 80 percent chance of precipitation for Game 1 on Friday, with temperatures in the 40s accompanied by rain and wind. For Saturday night’s Game 2, the forecast was for a 40 percent chance of precipitation, with temperatures in the mid to upper 40s.
The National Weather Service is predicting that Game 1 will see a 60 percent chance of rain under cloudy skies on Friday night, with winds between 16 and 18 mph and possible new rainfall amounts between one-tenth and a quarter of an inch. The forecast is similar for Game 2, with a 70 percent chance of rain under cloudy skies.
The Yankees have invited all fans interested in weather updates concerning future home games to follow their official Twitter account at: @YankeesWeather (http://www.twitter.com/YankeesWeather).
Lost in the Yankees’ sweep of the Twins was the fact that Damon, other than a walk in the sixth inning of Game 2, did little to help. His lone hit was a one-out single in Game 1, after which he was quickly erased on the basepaths. He misplayed a Brendan Harris hit in Game 2, resulting in a triple. And he struck out four times in Game 3, three of them against Carl Pavano.
Certainly, Damon was not the only Yankees player to struggle against Pavano, who struck out nine batters in total and generally kept the Yankees off balance all day. And certainly Damon referenced those collective struggles in his explanation, noting that he “didn’t see the ball well at all” off Pavano. But none of that stopped Damon from coming into Yankee Stadium on his off-day, taking BP and trying to eliminate what he called some excessive movement of his head.
“I just wanted to come in and get some peace of mind,” Damon said, “and make sure that I’ll be ready to go come Friday night.”
- Sean Forman admires the performances from the older Yankees:
Taken together, no team before the Yankees has had four players aged 35 or older hit for an OPS+ of more than 120. Only three teams, (the 1999 Orioles, the 1998 Padres, and the 1994 Tigers) have had three each. The conventional sabermetric wisdom is that betting on so many older players to perform at a high level is almost certain to lead to disappointing results, but the Yankees have made it work and none of their veterans show any signs of slowing down any time soon.
- Joe Sheehan opines on the post-season history of A-Rod:
As long as we’re killing storylines, well, there’s Alex Rodriguez. Short memories abound, but five years ago, in his first postseason series with the Yankees, Rodriguez almost single-handedly beat the Twins with a great week. Not long after, he watched the Red Sox celebrate a historic comeback on the Yankee Stadium field and was stuck with a wildly disproportionate amount of the blame for that occurrence. Since then, the idea that Alex Rodriguez, one of the dozen greatest players in baseball history, is somehow unable to play well in the postseason has become a dominant theme in his career. Well, it was never true, and the only way to make it true was to define Rodriguez’s postseason career as running from Game Four of the 2004 ALCS though whatever day you were filing your nonsense.
I want to not care. I want to be above it, safe in the knowledge that my evaluation of Alex Rodriguez cannot possibly be affected by a week’s worth of at-bats. But for his sake, and for the sake of my sanity as a baseball-loving person living in New York—it’s actually an emotion completely disconnected from being a Yankee fan—I want him to keep hitting, because I just don’t want to hear about it any longer.
- Mo gets an award:
Major League Baseball announced on Wednesday that Rivera beat out Nathan for the Delivery Man of the Year Award, presented annually to the league’s best relief pitcher. This is Rivera’s third win in the five-year existence of the award.
“He’s been so good for so long at being able to locate his pitches,” Yankees catcher and longtime teammate Jorge Posada said. “The cutter — everybody knows it’s coming. Everybody gets ready for it. But still, he makes the pitch where he needs to. The location of his pitches is tremendous.”
. . . At age 39, Rivera submitted one of his best regular seasons of all time, saving 44 games in 46 chances to complement a 1.76 ERA. Opposing batters hit just .197 off Rivera — the fifth time he has held them under a .200 mark in his 15-year career. Perhaps most impressively, Rivera struck out 72 batters in 66 1/3 innings, while walking just 12.
- On this date in 1981, pitchers Dave Righetti, Ron Davis and Goose Gossage combined on a 4 – 0 shutout of the Oakland Athletics to give the New York Yankees their 33rd American League pennant.
- On this date in 2001, the Yankees beat the Oakland Athletics, 5 – 3, to win the American League Division Series. New York become the first team ever to win a best-of-five series after losing the first two games at home.
not baseball weather. wife just called to tell me it's snowing up where we live, about an hour northwest of the Stadium.
if the Angels wanted to acclimate to this environment before jetting out of sunny So Cal they should have practiced in an air conditioned car wash.
RIP, Captain Lou - that news makes me feel incredibly sad. What a character he was!
[0] I thought Forman's piece was fascinating. The Yanks have done something that hasn't ever happened before: 4 guys over 35 performing so far over expectations. I don't think there's any reason to expect it will last.
Though my position has been, all along, that the Yanks should certainly let Damon go, and keep Matsui but on a one-year deal, I now wonder if that's the right thing to do. It's possible, likely even, that both Jeter and Posada are going to go downhill next year, whether due to injury or age or both. Having 2 starting hitters over age
3536 is probably the limit. To have 3, or even 4, could kill the team - like it basically did in 2008.I say let Damon go, sign Nady to play LF, and then try to find a bat on the trade market to DH (Adam Dunn? The Nationals need pitching still . . .). If the trade route doesn't work, I'd be open to a Miranda/Shelley DH platoon, at least until Montero is ready. =)
[2] Those four guys are all Hall of Famers though (maybe Pettitte, Rivera, Jeter and Posada). That's what Hall of Fame players do...they outperform and usually decline slowly.
I'd rather take my chances on an older Damon or Matsui than rely on a lesser player like Nady, especially one coming off an injury. When it comes down to talent versus age, I'll take talent every time.
I think the Yankees have two options: sign Matsui and Damon to short term deals or sign Holliday (Nady, Damon, Matsui and Molina =$35mn coming off the books). If I was running the show, I'd aim for Holliday AND whichever of Damon/Matsui would take the shortest deal.
[2] An old offense didn't kill the team in 2008...a mediocre starting staff and two horrible seasons from the two YOUNGEST everyday players.
[3] I wasn't clear - the 4 players I was talking about were Jeter, Posada, Damon, and Matsui.
And Hall of Famer of not, Fisk at 38 had a horrible season (Posada will be 38 next year), while the 3 shortstops who had great years at 36 (Jeter's age next year) were Honus Wagner (the greatest shortstop of all time), Luke Appling (who played in 1943, with the majors devoid of most of the best players), and Eddie Joost (who's value at 36 came because he walked 122 times).
As for [4] - your story doesn't fit the facts. The 2007 Yanks allowed 777 runs; the 2008 Yanks bested that, allowing only 727 runs (+50). The 2007 Yanks scored 968 runs; the 2008 Yanks scored but 789 (-177). No, the problem was that Posada missed 2/3 of the year, and was bad when he did play; the Yanks of course had no replacement for Posada's bat; Jeter had his worst year ever; and Matsui missed almost 1/2 of the year, and hit but 9 HR (SLG .424, his worst ever in the US) when he did play. And to top it off, as you say, Cano and Melky sucked ass.
The odds of Posada, Jeter, and Matsui having bad years again is high. The Yanks need to go into the year expecting that to happen, and act accordingly.
I would also stay away from Holliday, because small sample or not, he looked bad in Oakland, bad against AL pitching. Boras will want a fortune for him over too many years and frankly, he's not worth it.
[4] As well as an off season for Jeter and Posada's injury. There were days that the Yanks were running 3 automatic outs in Molina, Cano & Cabrera.
Pitching may have been mediocre last year, but they allowed runs at around the same clip that they did last year;
09: 4.6 r/g
08: 4.5 r/g
On the offensive side of things
09: 5.6 r/g
08: 4.9 r/g
[4] Yep. Outside of Moose, the starting rotation was a mess last year. Andy had a bum shoulder in the 2nd half, Wang was out with his foot, and Kennedy/Hughes stunk up the joint. Only two starters from Opening Day finished the season in the rotation, and only one of those was healthy (Moose).
When you turn to guys like Syndey Ponson to help, you know things are bad.
Imagine if Moose pitched like his age. Oy.
Amazing the Yankees won as many games as they did.
ie: Forman’s article.
This years good news might be next years bad news?
Although honestly, ARod should be as good if not better next year. The guy is in great shape and doesn't appear to be anywhere near decline.
Mo and Jeter, if healthy, don't look to fall off a cliff.
Posada? Well, he looks pretty good, his shoulder does NOT appear to be an issue, and he got plenty of rest this year.
I don't see JD signing a short deal. It's his last chance to get a 3 or 4 year deal, and I think he has to use his excellent 2009 to extend his career. If he signs for 1 year with us, and has a bad year, at 37, he will not be attractive to sign a deal for 2011 and beyond... so he's gone.
Matsui may be a different story. I thought he was going back to Japan if he isn't resigned.... but now, he says he wants to play the OF again. To say this seems to mean he is looking for another MLB contract. Again, I would go 1 year with him, but I'm not sure he will go for it. Would the Mariners give him 2 or 3 years? And what is he worth in today's market as a DH? 2/$16m? More? Less?
In any event, I say don't resign him and use the money for Crawford/Bay/Holliday. I love JD and Mats, but they are both older and physically breaking down. It's time for the Yankees to spend their money on yongers players. Hopefully, the 'Lets-get-an-old-stud-veteran days are over.
[5] Good call. The pitching seemed uglier--dredging up the likes of Ponson--but the massive loss of offense was the real killer last year. Of course, the missing offense was split between older players (Posada, Jeter) and younger guys (Cano, Melky); on the pitching side, the older guys pitched the best (Moose, Mo).
[8] The baseball geek in me wouldn't mind seeing Matsui play for the Giants next year. He wore the same uniform in Japan.
If his knees don't crumble, he might be able to mash NL pitching. (Again, if his knees don't crumble.)
[5] I agree completely. The 2008 team was old. This 2009 team looks young. Going forward, I think you have to assume 2008.
Still, I'm with [3]. Sign both Matsui and Damon to one-year deals knowing that Jackson and Montero are very close should anything go wrong. Montero also helps cover for Jorge, especially if they get Pena working with him all Spring.
Failing the one-year deals, I say you go get Bay. He's shown he can hit in the AL East. With his OBP, he could also be a very good #2 hitter. And hitting in front of A-Rod, maybe he gets better pitches to hit.
Dunn would also be a very good fit, especially at home.
[5] With all due respect to the SS you mentioned, I think the better conditioning and nuttition of the modern day make those comparisons irrelevant. Also, while Jorge will be 38, he didn't start catching until he was in the minors and spent several seasons as an understudy. Fisk, meanwhile, was a starting catcher for his whole career. The mileage at 38 is definitely less for Posada.
Just because the 2008 staff gave up fewer runs doesn't mean it wasn't mediocre. The 2007 offense was able to compensate, but the 2008 lineup wasn't. A huge part of the problem was awful seasons by the two youngest players. As we saw with Jeter, his off season, like Cano's, was not because of his age.
I also disagree with your assumption that there is a good chance that Posada, Jeter and Matsui will have bad years. While injury concerns are real for Posada and Matsui, if healthy, I would expect them to have good years. The risk is health, not performance with those players. As for Jeter, I don't think he is a high risk to have a bad year.
Having said that, I am all for signing Holliday. I want no part of Bay, however. I see him as the kind of player who will decline quickly. He already has significant holes in his game.
[11] The only problem with Bay, and potentially Dunn, is that both are awful in the field, and even though the Yanks are primarily a strikeout/K and groundout staff, I hesitate to give up as much on defense as either of those would entail. And I'm taking into account that Damon is no great shakes as a fielder either, but I'd hate to see worse and that's what Bay/Dunn would be.
Of course if Dunn DHs 140 times and plays LF maybe 10, I say hello Adam Dunn!
Another great thing about this Yankee offense it is has power, but doesn't strikeout a lot. Dunn and Bay are both 160-180 K guys, while Holliday is usually around 100. Holliday is also a much better fielder. So, if the Yankees go outside the organization, Holliday has to be the target. If I was Cashman, I would go at him swiftly and aggressively.
[14] Except that Holliday hasn't shown he can hit AL pitching, let alone AL East pitching. And you want to sign him to a Boras-type deal?
Much rather see Carl Crawford signed than Dunn, Bay or Holliday. Hits for average, has some pop, steals bases and is a good fielder.