The rain has finally stopped out here in New Jersey and it appears the Yankees and Indians will indeed play ball tonight. The pitching match-up is a compelling duel of 26-year-old lefty Cliff Lee (3.68, 9-3) and the Yankees 25-year-old ace Chien-Ming Wang (who leads the Yankee starters with a 3.87 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP). Meanwhile, despite the presence of the lefty Lee on the mound, Joe Torre has returned to what appears to be his now regular line-up:
Jeter
Cano
Sheffield
Rodriguez
Matsui
Giambi
Posada
Williams
Cabrera
I can hardly believe my eyes. Go Yankees!
1. Rain ended, good lineup, good starter. Uh oh. (sorry, I tend to pessimism when things look to good).
2. I hope everyone celebrated yesterday: it was Jaret Wright's 75th day on the DL. Oh yes, this means the $3mil buyout can be exercised. Not that this makes the signing excusable, but hey, I'll take what I can get.
3. here's a question: wouldn't it have been worth a go to pick up Corey Patterson off waivers given the Yanks CF issues? I know he's having a piss poor season, but he has good upside and is supposedly a good defender.
4. I'm not 1000% positive, but didn't he still have service time yet? ie. not making him elgible to be claimed off waivers by another team
5. he's played 5 seasons, so I think he qualifies, but I think the answer (after surfing around) is that his clearing waivers was a mere formality. If a team had put a claim on him, the Cubs would have blocked it and retained him. I guess it's a unspoken rule that other teams respect because they might want to send a struggling player down themselves (Kearns in Cinc. for instance).
6. FINALLY.... a team I recognize and a line-up to be proud of. However. I would love some feedback...
Sometimes, against righties, how about Tino at first and Bernie in the OF (with Giambi at DH) This rests Giambi a little and gets Tino in instead of Melky. I still think the defensive upgrade at first offsets Bernie in CF. Tino needs some regular playing time to be effective off the bench.
I have seen both Mattingly and Hernandez play 1B. Greaty D at 1B makes a BIG difference. It is key defensive position yet very underrated. I think having Tino at 1B offsts Bernie (over Melky) in CF.
Woemack can stew on the bench but I want Tino to be a part of the team. Matbe every 3rd or forth game.
7. no way you can compare the difference between tino and giambi to the difference between cabrera (assuming he's about league average defensively) and bernie. For what it's worth, Tino's defensive numbers are not that good.
8. Are there any metrics out there for the differences of defensive value at different positions? It seems like a bad CF will cause more runs to score by missing doubles to the gap that could be fly outs. 1B would be stopping mostly singles (with the occasional double down the line). I may be wrong, I haven't put that much thought into it.
9. How many questionable throws are made to first each game? Bunts, cut-offs and 3-6-3 DPs. Again, if you watched games, Mattingly and Hernandez saved run routinely.
10. That's a good point. Giambi does not have a knack for the 3-6-3, that's for sure.
11. Around the internet, Yankee fans keep saying that the Yankees will probably trade Melky and a prospect for Kotsay. Can anyone reassure me that the Yankees won't trade their 20 year old switch hitting solid centerfielder who is hitting surprisingly well so far for an older more expensive player? I'd really appreciate it. Thanks.
12. No one can assure of that, but that doesn't mean that these so-called fans have a clue about whether Melky will be traded. The more he hits, the more likely it is that he will stay.
Any word on whether Giambi is hurt?
13. From what I heard, Giambi has a slight strain of his left groin and pulled his stomach muscle a bit. They said that he could play tomorrow, Sunday at the latest.
14. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/09/sports/baseball/09yankees.html
[...]
Giambi left in the sixth inning with a hip flexor injury, but it was not considered serious.
15. Giambi took a little spill that looked fairly nasty - the sort of thing that Ken Griffey Jr. has turned into a month-and-a-half vacation for the last couple of years. We'll see, though.
First base has been a historically overrated defensive position by the fans for years. I do not have the statistics in front of me, but my understanding is that the difference between great and mediocre first base difference is VERY much less than the difference between great and mediocre outfield or shortstop.
So, not to violate the Yankee Fan Ideology, but Don Mattingly (my favorite player of all time & a lifetime idol, incidentally; the only jersey number I own, and the only number I wore in my years playing baseball, was 23) didn't have a statistically significant impact on the number of wins the Yankees had.
16. http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/yankees/ny-spyanks0709,0,5497284.story?coll=ny-sports-headlines
[...]
Giambi has a slightly strained left groin.