[0] I don’t see the point, but then I didn’t see the point in Moeller, either.

Anything...ANYTHING...is better than a thirteenth pitcher.

Ok, I'm going to try to banter on this game thread using this new iPad thingy. Let's see how it goes.

Thoughts on Hughes being skipped?

[2] Oh, terrible. You'll have to go back to your laptop immediately.

[3] Had to happen. Now's as good a time as any.

[3] What RI Yank said. That's how it goes. Seems a good time to do it as any. It actually makes the pitching matchups better for the LA series as they now have Pettitte facing Kershaw instead of Burnett.

[4] why terrible?

[5] if hughes's innings limit is about 170-180, like most expect, he only needs to be skipped a couple of few times. It makes sense to skip him here and maybe around the all star break. At least it looks like the team has a plan, unlike last year. Then again, 170 innings are easier to accommodate than joba's 150 or so.

[6] jk.

Have you found many uses for the iPad?

[5] [6] Yeah, everything you guys say I agree with, I just quake in fear at the ham job they did with Joba last year. It'd be super cool if Hughes won 20.

[7] I hear they make great bookends (more reason to get two!):

http://bit.ly/cIjydS

[2] Thoughts on the iPad? I don't like touchscreen so not getting one.. (wait, you shelled out for the iPad but not mlb.com?!?! :)

[7] I got it as a toy a few days ago, though I justified it as a work tool. I haven't had it long enough to see how useful it really can be. I plan to use it for simple ppt presentations and for taking notes and lite work when i travel to conferences, etc. But I am under no illusion that it's not really a productivity device and, since you need to buy a bunch of extra things to make it function as such (conector dongles, keyboard, case, etc), the thing is pretty much overpriced.

That said, it's slick and strangely addicting for surfing the web and emailing. I much prefer to use the iPad for browsing now, though refreshing the page on the game thread seems to be a bit of a hassle. I'll see. How it goes this evening.

Meanwhile, I am thinking of dropping the $15 for the MLB At Bat app, which claims to include radio broadcasts as well as a bunch of other goodies. I can usually only follow on the radio with a weak signal...if I can get the radio, especially the opposing team's play by play, for that price, I'll give it a whirl.

[9] Ha.

[10] I love touchscreen, actually. But, for actual writing I think I wouldn't like the iPad, and it isn't all that portable (can't put it in your pocket), so I can't think of enough uses to justify the $500.

[12] (wait, you shelled out for the iPad but not mlb.com?!?! :)

See [11], I scammed my work into paying for it, so in reality the tax payees of Canada paid for it.

It's fun, I'll say that.

[11] Nice, thanks for the review.

[12] Over here in Nippon people use their flip-top cellphones for EVERYthing..web, tv, music, phone, wallet&banking, train pass, camera, video, heart-rate checker, etc...so I'm addicted to mine and never got an iPhone let alone an iPad..

Robinson Cano, 2B (.367/.416/.607, 3.6 WAR)
Jorge Posada, C (.291/.401/.546, 1.7 WAR)
Alex Rodriguez, 3B (.277/.349/.459, 1.6 WAR)
Brett Gardner, LF (.312/.394/.417, 1.6 WAR)
Nick Swisher, RF (.293/.377/.502, 1.5 WAR)
Curtis Granderson, CF (.240/.322/.442, 1.3 WAR)
Derek Jeter, SS (.283/.336/.423, 1.0 WAR)
Mark Teixeira, 1B (.226/.344/.410, 0.4 WAR)

This is a direct cut and paste from a post by SG at RLYW (http://www.rlyw.net/) except I rearranged them from our lineup order to WAR order.

Nothing I think that surprises us, but does point out how bad Teix has been, how disappointing Jeter has been, and that ARod's number is none too hot. Cano has been otherworldly and Gritner has certainly held up very well, even as a COF.

[15] is WAR a counting or rate stat?

[16] Counting. The number of wins the player has contributed, above replacement.

Thoughts on Hughes being skipped?

[3] Had to happen. Now’s as good a time as any.

No, no it's not.

I've got tickets to Friday night's game, bought specifically because Hughes was scheduled to start.

grumble, grumble, grumble.

Hmmm, Cano's Baseball Reference player page assigns him 4.6 WAR (OYF [15] cites RLYB giving him 3.6), and the Baseball Reference front page lists him as the WAR leader (edging out Morneau).

To have 4.6 wins above replacement for the year is excellent (BR says that 5 or more is "All Star quality"). It's phenomenal at this point in the season. Well, obviously, since he's the MLB leader.

[18] Disgraceful!

Oh, fuck. Hughes is being skipped.

[18] Oh, that fucking sucks! I'm soo sorry!

[15,17,19] fangraphs has jeter at 1.7 WAR,which would extrapolate to about 4.0 for.the season, which is really quite good. Noe, if it really is 1.0, that is below jeter's usual level.

Evening, all.

Reading all these "Yankees return to Arizona" stories makes me depressed (and nostalgic). Why did they play the infield in? WHY??

[24] Sigh...it was that stupid strip of dirt to the pitchers mound that ruined it first..on grass, the ball is slowed and Mo fields it cleanly and...

I can't even type it, that was just the worst...

EFF YOU, Buck Showalter for that damn dirt!!

[23] Wow, that's weird. I always thought WAR was a standard statistic, but obviously Baseball Reference and Fangraphs are using different statistics with the same name.

[13] Where in Canada are you? I'm in Vancouver myself right now.

Do you happen to also have a ps3? The MLB app on that is phenomenal. I can watch any game, live or DVRed in full HD, choice of broadcasts, skip to innings etc. It's awesome.

[24] The real question is how in the fuck did Womack double.

[24] [25] Shhhhh.
It's all right.
It's 2010 now. World Champion New York Yankees. 27 rings.

[28] It was such a Mo type of inning, too. Seeing-eye single, a little dribbler, a failed bunt, line drive, hit batsman, bloop single. All those baserunners, one well-hit ball.

And McCarver called it. That's what haunts me, that Tim McCarver called the broken-bat single moments before Gonzo* hit it. Sigh.

*Who joined Brady Anderson as the most absurd 50-homer guys in MLB history.

[28] I remain convinced that Womack was later signed by the Yankees purely because of that double.

[27] Montreal.

[31] yep. It was part of the plan to sign every member of the 2001 dbacks and 2003 marlins.

Having been to Chase Field, I must say its the nicest ballpark and shopping mall ever housed in an airplane hangar.

Joel Sherman:

When I asked Rivera what he wanted, the great righty said, “During the season it is hard to focus on the contract. During the season, I have to do what is right by the team.”

When I asked if he would be amenable to doing what Andy Pettitte (another free-agent-to-be) does, and take one-year contracts and determine at the end of each season if he wants to continue to play, Rivera said, “Something like that would be fine.”

Sigh.
Mancrush.

The Hughes Rules have started? Yay.

[30] Who joined Brady Anderson as the most absurd 50-homer guys in MLB history

Yeah, thtats one word you could use. I'm thinking of another one.

[30] Well, two, really. Grace's was a hard line drive up the middle.

[36] you can't complain yet. We went around on this earlier this year and I told you (it was not great prediction) that he had to be skipped two or thre times to stay around 170-180 innings. Nothing to see here.

Now, if they start doing weird three inning starts or bizarre start-to-bullpen-to-start things, then you can justifiably complain.

[37] No, Luis Gonzalez was a "great guy" who "worked hard" and "grinded himself to be a slugger"...not like that evil FrankenBonds!

[36] What "Hughes Rules"? Been out of the loop recently..they are not resting him, are they??

[36] Chad Jennings:

Surrounded by reports in the visiting clubhouse here in Phoenix, Phil Hughes was answering all of the questions you’d expect about his innings limit and his turn being skipped. When someone asked whether he knew exactly how many innings he would be allowed to pitch, Joba Chamberlain leaned over the crowd.

“High five,” he said, holding his left hand up to Hughes. “Someone else gets the question. Awesome!”

Excellent pre-game notes today at LoHud.

I like the 'jeter swings at the first pitch thing' better when he gets a hit. Flyout, not so much.

Don't take too long with those ab, guys.

[39] You forgot the secret starts.

And I have no reason to believe that the team won't do everything you just said.

The public address speaker system in the park was awful when I was there. It sounded quiet and underwater.

[45] That's one of the water features.

Oh, Lord.

Wow, that was a biggish mistake.

Oh well, bad AJ again. I was thinking I needed to play some video games tonight anyways.

Gameday showed what looks like a 500-ft tater by Upton..did AJ leave a stright fastball that Justin make go boom-boom?

[50] I want the AJ Rules.

[39] Why do you bother?

[51]

I want The Mob Rules

[53] I want the slide rules.

[53] Only if that mob tears AJ apart, limb by limb ...

Way to keep it under control, AJ. Fucking Adam fucking Laroche just drilled you.

Hit that shit over the pool. AJ...YOUSE STINK.

I wonder if he is tipping his pitches ...

Oh for god's sake.

Ah, well. Now I don't feel bad about going to bed early and missing the rest of the game.

[52] Why should I have any faith in this organization after last year?

UNFUCKINGBELIEVABLE.

Stink really bad. Way to keep us in the game.

Could Burnett be hurt?

[63]

His velocity seems fine ...

Anytime you want to get this third out is fine by me, AJ.

all they need is a triple for the team cycle in the inning ...

AJ Burnett has to be one of the least enjoyable pitchers to watch in baseball. Even when he's on, he often looks like he has no idea where the ball is going. It just moves enough to make up for it.

What we all feared from AJ last year...it's arrived!
Seriously disgraceful performance against an awful team..

Well, he got a K. That should help my fantasy team

I picture Javier Vazquez dressed like Snidely Whiplash, in a black suit and top hat, twirling his mustache and cackling at A.J.'s predicament.

[44] they already said the secret starts do not count against the innings cap.

[52] oh, I only bother once and a while, and i have been away frothe banter for more more than a month.

[60] I hope you see the staggering irony of that statement, even though I know what you are trying to say.

Man, I'm going to nickname AJ "The Doctor", because wherever he goes, sick teams get better ...

Also, what is the grammatical rule regarding possessives and initials?

[71] That first one was obviously a joke that went over my head.

AJ's ERA went up by half a run in that one inning.

If nothing else, we're facing Rodrigo Lopez.

[73]

A.J. is D.O.A.?

[14] But Dude, if you had an iPhone and shelled out a mere 130 bucks for the MLB Premium Package, you could be watching the Yankees on your iPhone right now!

Well, maybe right now is not a good time to be watching, but tomorrow, when Andy's pitching...yeah, that's the ticket...

This is going to be one of those games, isn't it?

I can't believe he didn't even try to hit anyone out of frustration. He didn't throw one inside pitch.

Oh Christ.

[79] At least now I can concentrate on my work. I've got some headlines to write.

Dylan Thomas would not be impressed, Yankees.

Watching this on ESPN3.com. I assume it's not possible inside the New York market.

Lopez is a mentally tough pitcher. Even when he doesn't have his best stuff he usually doesn't get shelled. He's the anti-AJ to some extent. Looks like he has decent stuff tonight.

Oh, you know what I really want to see? The Yankees strike out looking against Rodrigo Lopez all night

Dear AJ, pitchers are supposed to throw batting practice *before* the game.

kthxby

[74] it is what it is. They said that the simulated starts he threw at the start of the season, when he was skipped in the rotation, do not count against his innings cap.

I don't care if it makes sense, all i care about is the ramifications for the season. At 6.3 innings per start, which is what Hughes is averaging, he can make 28 starts or so during the season and still remain at 180 innings. Right now he is on pace for about 29 or 30 starts. So they need to skip him once or twice, maybe three times over the restbof the season. I'm not sure i see what all the fuss is about, really.

This infield may be quick and all, but Jeter really showed his diminishing range on that play.

[87] I didn't mean simulated starts. I meant keeping the date of his next start a secret from the pitcher himself, like Girardi did with Chamberlain last year.

He's just catching too much of the plate with those pitches and not getting away with it, though arguably the last two hits could have been turned into outs. Neither was an easy play, of course.

Yikes....
FanGraphs (FG) has Jeter at 1.7 WAR at Gritner at 1.8 WAR
BR.com has Jeter at 1.0 WAR at Gritner at 2.5 WAR
So... I have no idea what gives.

FG says an 8 WAR is about MVP quality, so if Cano is at 4.6 (4.4 by FG), he is headed for a 10-ish WAR, which is insane.
One variable might be what is considered 'replacement level', but there is no excuse for the inconsistant differences between BR and FG.

And is replacement Level a static stat, relative to something, varying from year to year?

SG is usually a guru with stats, so I don't know where he is getting his numbers from. It doesn't seem like either BR of FG.

This is quite the spectacle.

I've never seen another pitcher flat out quit as much as AJ Burnett. The scariest part is he is signed for three more years. Of course, Girardi isnt smart enough to realize that sending Burnett out for another inning was going to lead to even more runs.

Meanwhile, the Yankees continue the charade of playing Arod.

The Yankees are a poorly run team.

Jaysus-farging-christ. What's with the 2-out rallies. I really should stop watching.

[93] David Wells?

[91] WAR is not very useful. It relies on a subjective replacement value and incorporates unreliable defensive metrics.

[95] Wells had that rep earlier in his career, but he overcame it.

Wasn't in Daniel Cabrera that hurt Jeter a few years back?

[95] [97] I assume he's referring to Game 5 of the '03 WS.

[99] That was a legitimate injury, so I wouldn't consider it quiting.

[93] It's not so much quitting as not having anything. Can't wait tomorrow to see all the "AJ can't pitch to Posada" articles

[91] I suspect they are using different defensive metrics. Jeter is all over the map defensively depending on the chosen metric.

[97] I seem to recall Wells giving up in the 2002 ALDS, in an elimination game no less.

I liked Boomer alot too, but he had his share of these games.

STICK!

It would be nice if we could stop giving up runs, because the Score Truck is going to show up for us this game ...

[101] He is throwing 95 with some good curves. It's not that he has nothing. Rather, as soon as something doesn't go his way, he simply starts throwing. In other words, he quits being a pitcher.

I really hope Teixeira isn't going to tell us about all the homeruns he hit last week if he winds up going back into another slump. Against a bad pitcher like Lopez, that's a spot where Tex has to come through.

[103] He didn't quit that game, the Angels were just that good. Big innings happen from time to time

[106] Exactly...they did it to the Yankees, Twins and Giants all post season.

[105] Since when has Burnett been a pitcher? He never has an idea as to where the ball is going. He was like that as a Marlin as a Jay, so it shouldn't be surprising that he does it as a Yankee

Colin Curtis looks like Tanyon Sturtz

[108] I don't agree with that at all. When Burnett is pitching well, he locates his fastball and mixes in the curve. When things start goig against him, he reverts to trying to throw as hard as possible. You could see it in the first inning. He was locating a 92-93 heater, but as soon as he got beat by Upton, out came the 94-95 leaking over the middle.

Hello Yankee Fans,
Frustrated? Maybe Joe should have pinched hit for AJ the last inning. The score truck could be a Kenilworth tandem this game, but it has to stop for the dBs right now.
I was not able to pay attention the last few innings, but I had an idea of what was going on by the sound. Nice of the Yanks to give the Phoenix Phans some thrills.
AJ again will hint that Posada is the reason...

I just imagined a pen with no lefties and smiled.

Meanwhile, where is Dave Eiland? Maybe Burnett would benefit from having him around.

Who are the Yankees fooling? Arod should have been placed on the disabled list. Batting him fourth has really hurt the Yankees.

Ohforfuckssake, its Rodrigo god damned Lopez

Age really seems to have finally caught up to the Yankees.

[110] How does that relate to quitting? Burnett has never been known for his control, it isn't often that he is able to locate the fastball.

O,those nightmarish memories of the last time the Yankees were in Phoenix...that is a cold sweat kind of feeling. Conjures up 9/11, and how great the Yankees were for the city until that last inning. That it happened to Mo, made it at least survivable.

My son was just shy of 7 at the time. It was his kenboyer moment.

Oh, please tell me how AJ has settled down Kay. I know its coming.

[114] now this IS a beef I have with the yanks...they do seem to dick around with players in order to avoid the DL.

Meanwhile, though, listening to not-Sterling-Waldman is quite enjoyable. I'm starting to remember how nice it is to listen to baseball, despite the score.

Ugh, now Kay has to bring it up.

What a miserable night that was.

[116] probably, but the best record in the league seems to soften the reality some.

Luis Gonzalez is...smaller

[117] It relates to quiting because for AJ to locate at times, he has to dial back the fast ball a bit and really battle through at bats. In games like this, however, he quickly abandons that approach (quits) and instead starts trying to throw the ball as hard as he possibly can. AJ likes to talk about he learned from Halladay that less is more, but in too many starts, he simply reverts to be a thrower.

AJ against 9-1-2 hitters: 0-8
AJ against everyone else: 8-10, 2 BB, 3 HR

[123] The best record in the league on June 21 is nice, but they pay off in October. Watching Jeter, Posada and Arod age before out eyes puts all the more pressure on Cano, Swisher and Gardner to stay hot. Can that trio keep it up all year? I don't know, but if not, the Yankees will not make the playoffs.

[126] Check that: 8-11. Don't want to short-change AJ.

Well then

Well, that was fun while it lasted.

Can we please put me out of my misery and pinch hit for AJ next inning?

[125] And that's the way it has been over his career. He gets lit up whether he's throwing low, mid or high 90's. His control isn't good enough where he can locate the fastball no matter the velocity.

Does Girardi really expect Burnett to find it? Just because the pitcher quit doesn't mean the manager must as well. Burnett's performance is inexcusable, but Girardi's incompetence is a much bigger problem.

Have the Yankees ever won a game in this building?

[131] And that's why I said I've never seen a pitcher quit as much as Burnett. Instead of grind, Burnett prefers to simply throw when he doesn't have his command.

AJ is down to his last nerve, he will not be back next inning.

[132] He's just out there to eat as many innings as possible here. With Mitre out the bullpen is short long guys.

Anyways, I expect he'll be hitting the showers in about 2 batters ...

[134] Command that he has never had. There is no "grind" to it, he's a two pitch pitcher who can barely control either of them.

I have nothing to add other than there may never have been a more overrated pitcher to step on the mound for the Yankees over the past 20 years than David Wells. I stand by that statement.

Run, Gritner, run!

Nice move here to get Curtis an at bat with his parents in the stadium.

[127] that sounds a bit dramatic. Declaring that these guys geriatrics (I assume of course that you mean aging in dramatic fashion, since literally everyone is aging before our eyes) in June strikes me as a bit overwrought.

[136] Well, if Girardi is throwing in the towel, then he should remove Arod, Jeter and Posada from the game. At 5-0, I think the Yankees still had a chance, but those two extra runs were huge.

[137] I completely disagree with the notion that AJ Burnett never has command. He often does...his problem is that when he doesn't have it, he quits trying.

You'll like this William

Actually, Maddon has become increasingly intrigued by the idea of giving up the DH in certain situations by putting him in the field to allow more flexibility.

“The thing that I’ve really played with a lot this year is there’s really no reason why you can’t put your DH in the game in an American League game,” he said. “The fact that he can play defense, that’s one thing we have going for us. Whoever DHs for us is able to play a position and play it pretty well, actually.”

...“I’ve become more comfortable with that this year,” Maddon said. “It really expands your bench further, where you don’t have to minimize your movements. You can leave this guy in the game. You can move the pitcher’s spot around and you have plenty of options to choose from to pinch-hit for that pitcher if he happens to show up later.

“Of course, it’s only going to happen when you’re down. … And whenever you’re losing a game, you’ll do whatever it takes to win.”

[142] i think AJ Burnett's pitches often wind up low in the strikezone. I'm not sure that its always by design.

sigh.

Did the Score Truck forget its papers???

[141] Dramatic? Maybe, but Arod and Posada are both batting injuries, while Jeter's splits include several red flags.

[145] It might be stuck at the border in Nogales. I also thought that Swish was going to bring this game back to a possible last inning.

Adam LaRoche is some kind of ugly.

[142] Burnett is a FB/CB pitcher that doesn't have command of his fastball (no matter the velocity), and doesn't thow his curve for strikes. He may put it together for a few starts, but it's just as likely that he won't.

[143] Maddon is the kind of manager the Yankees should have. It's too bad the best talent can't be paired with a creative manager. Had he been the Yankee manager, I am convinced the Yankees would have 4 or 5 more wins.

[143] I love it, not only because it's creative, but also because it holds out the hope that teams will start carrying a longer bench. The only thing I disagree with is that you would only domit when down. Why? If you have a DH who can play some defense, I can imagine situations where you might swap out a player late, perhaps to try to score an extra run with a PR,and then use the dh in the fieldmfor an inning or two despite holding a lead.

[150] here's the link to the whole thing

http://www.tampabay.com/sports/baseball/rays/tampa-bay-rays-manager-joe-maddon-says-hes-ready-to-sacrifice-dh-under/1104004

I refuse to believe that this is "just the way Reynolds hits" There have been plenty of people in baseball history that hit 40 homers without striking out 200 times. Reynolds is doing something wrong.

[150] Well, we'll never know. With all due respect to you, we still have to give Girardi the benefit of the doubt with the team defending a world championship with the premiere record in baseball. Even with the "best" players, and the highest payroll (boy, is Hughes a bargain), the game has to played, and million dollar men are still only human.

[149] So, Burnett never throws strikes? According to fangraphs, 61% of his career pitches have been strikes, so he is getting something over. Burnett's problem is not that he never has command...it's that he doesn't know what to do when he doesn't have it.

From LoHud:

UPDATE, 11:55 p.m.: A foul ball into the press box just hit off the official scorer’s hands and bounced out into the crowd. He literally announced to the press box that he was declaring an error on himself. “It hit my hand,” he said.

[155] Whats the swinging strike percentage?

Ugh. Got lucky there.

To this ump, at the knees and over the plate doesn't seem to register as a strike.

[154] It's definitely just an opinion, but I don't get your point about Girardi. Even if he is a good manager of people, that doesn't mean a team like the Yankees shouldn't also aim to have a good game manager. While it's true the Yankees can win with Girardi, that doesn't mean they shouldn't have the best possible manager. Also, it should be noted that Girardi did oversee the Yankees only non playoff season in 15 years.

jesus fucking h. christ. i come home from work to this pile of crap? fuck you AJ. thanks for ruining dinner and a rare chance to actually watch half a yanks game.

aaarrrggghhh!!!

oh, and cult - ya know how i have very limited texts? my best friend just sent me like 14 gajillion in a row. one word per fucking text. cursing me out (as is our wont). he's an asshole... : )

i was having a good day... : /

fuck baseball fields that have swimming pools. and fuck luis gonzalez. scurt schilling and bob brenly, too...

[154] plus Girardi is, apparently, saddled withbthe core of veteran stars aging before our eyes...or is that his fault too?

Sarcasm aside, I am not a huge girardi fan, but I am not convinced that he is much below average either, or that Maddon in five games better than him at this point in the season.

[157] They don't break it down.

[162] It is his fault when he refuses to make concessions to that reality.

tex and a-rod fear my ranting!

robbie, not so much...

C'mon JoPo, make Nostralarmis' dinner!

[155] According to Fangraphs Burnett's Zone% (Percentage of pitches seen inside the strike zone, for anyone interested) is 50.8 for his career and 46.9 on the season.

Better, but not great.

[160] Injuries are the reason the Yanks missed the playoffs in 2008, not Girardi.

[160] Maybe being a "good" manager of people, effects being a "good" game manager. These players are not cogs in a machine, and making some of the moves that you profess might change the dynamic of the team. Even these "professionals" have egos, pride, and weaknesses.
Girardi gets a bye for his first year. It was an injury nightmare, with ownership in transition.

Nice to see the score truck heading west on I-10 again!

[169] Germans? Pearl Harbor???

[169] "Injuries *were* the reason"

[167] It looks like the league average is 47.2%, so Burnett has been an average command pitcher.

[171] Forget it, he's rolling :)

Hmmm ... has Gaudin gotten back to where he was at the end of last season?

That would be ... semi-useful.

[174]

=)

[173] Ok, then I'll concede the point about Burnett being a mindless chucker, but I believe that his control is more Ollie Perez than Greg Maddux

Oww.

[162] I think Joe Girardi 2008 was absolutely below average. Everything he did, from the various "is he hurt-yes he is-no he isn't" sagas to is on field MOVEZ seemed designed to trick someone, and no one was ever fooled. Except for maybe Joe himself. It just made him look like a liar to the public and a fool when he was on the bench. He's improved somewhat since then, although she still enjoys making pointless moves.

[177] And having his numbers around league average would lead me to believe that he'll be bad as often as he is good.

holy ouch. that's gotta hurt like a mutha. i hope he'll be okay.

man, if i were a pitcher and god forbid i hit someone, there's NO way i couldn't go run over to him immediately, apologize profusely and find out if he's okay...

[164] what precisely is he supposed to do about that, outside of requesting that, say, A-rod go on the DL so peña or Russo can start for two weeks? Bat Jeter ninth?

Seriously, it's the job of the GM to deal with an aging team. The manager can only do so much with the pieces that he is given. The team as is does not present Girardi many options for dealing with the supposed reality that you posit (everybody becoming old and decrepit at once).

[179] He hasn't improved, his players got healthy. Makes a big difference when you have 9 decent hitters in the lineup as opposed to the 6 they were running out there in 08. Jeter's "off" year didn't help matters much either.

holy shit, he's a very very fast man.

GORGEOUS!

Well, done, Gritner!

[179] as far as i can tell, nearly every manager enjoys making pointless pitching moves, largely because they carry so many pointless pitchers who 'need to get work.'

Yet another argument for smaller pitching staffs.

Run, Gritner, run!!

A little off topic, isn't Cano something else on the field? He made the pivot to first look effortless while a very angry Upton was bearing down. Ole'

If Gardner went during Huffman's at bat, we'd likely have a run.

If he'd gone during Jeter's at bat, we'd likely have a run.

Instead, we've got a runner at third.

god fucking dammit, tex.

[189] And no runs.

[189] exactly. i was thinking the same thing. now, i'm just seething...

[186] The pointless pitching moves annoy me, particularly when it involves bringing in awful lefties for the sake of using a lefty and the obsession with having *two lefties,* but I think that is par for the course with most managers.

The pointless moves I was talking about are more the pinch runners that do nothing or the bad defensive replacements. In 2008, he would invent ways to get Betemit in late in the game, despite his inability to field or run. But no one expected it, I guess.

Went to a Staten Island Yankees game tonight, to see some of the Yanks' new draft picks. They lost, but many of the fans were looking forward to going home to see Yankees game. Little did we know they'd be down 0-5 by the time we got home.

[180] Pettitte is at 49.2% this year, so I don't think you can read that much into it.

[182] You can be more hands on and employ a little bit of strategy. I've talked about how Maddon has used the squeeze this season, but I'd settle for giving Huffman the take sign on 2-0 last inning.

[189] Another good example of how a more proactive manager could have helped a team in a tough game.

[189] Gardner= super fast, but not so great of a base stealer. He looks afraid of getting caught leaning and picked off, and his jumps while stealing are not so great, but he makes up for it with pure speed. He should be stealing a whole lot more while on base, and I guess he has to learn the skill.

[197] Gardner isn't the best at getting a read, but when Huffman swings 2-0 and Jeter follows by hacking at the first pitch, well, that doesn't give him much time to take off.

[198] True...true.

DAMMIT.