Apparently Mike Mussina didn't get the memo. The New York Yankees are trying to battle their way out of a deep hole in the American League East and win their division. Yes, that is a tall order, and if the level of determination they showed on both Sunday and Monday indicated that they were serious about becoming contenders, all of that was lost on the "Moose."
As reported by Kat O'Brien in the Wednesday, May 23, 2007 edition of Newsday, "Mussina has never really gotten on track this season, and he did not do so last night. He gave up six runs in four innings in his first start of the year, then strained his hamstring in his next outing. Once he came off the disabled list, he had two decent games before reverting to inconsistency in his last two." Mussina is quoted as saying: "I felt like my arm had some life the first two," Mussina said. "I haven't felt like I had that life the last two." Not for nothing, if you don't feel like you can pitch before a game, then don't.
If the Yankees were ten games up over the Red Sox instead of the other way around, this writer would feel that Mussina was right to take the ball and give it a shot. At this point in their season, every single game, every inning, every pitch is important. Mussina should have either sucked it up and thrown like he never has before, or given the ball to someone else. Given that all of the rookies who have been called up this season have largely done a terrific job, one of them could have taken the mound on short rest.
Still, Mussina's lousy outing does not get the rest of the team off the hook. The team was back to it's typical (for this season) listless approach at the plate, and allowed Julian Tavarez to squelch their offense. Now they have to face Curt Schilling tonight and they can't win while asleep at the wheel. They need to pretend that this is the post season even though the Red Sox are on cruise control. The Yankees have to pretend that this is a big, important game like game seven of the 2004 ALCS. No, wait, scratch that.
Just when one thought that the Bombers have turned a corner over the last two days, they go ahead and fall flat on their collective face, again. What's Joe Torre's take on Tuesday night's game? "We had opportunities," manager Joe Torre said, "and we just couldn't get the big hit." (Kat O'Brien, Newsday)
This latest tepid performance has raised the level of frustration felt by many Yankees fans to the point where they feel everyone should be traded and Brian Cashman should replace all of them with young guys from Triple "A" Scranton. At least those young guys would play hard, and it would be worth rooting for a team full of players who are thankful that they are playing in the big leagues, instead of a collection of sloths resting on their past laurels, making excuses, and apologizing for nothing in particular except to say that they're sorry. Oh, I'm sorry, that last one was aimed just at Jason Giambi.
Showing posts with label Brian Cashman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brian Cashman. Show all posts
May 23, 2007
May 3, 2007
Do The Yankees Need Clemens?
A lot can happen in a month. Players who were hitting the month before can go into deep slumps, pitchers who were effective and able to record outs suddenly become very hittable. So, if it can happen to a player, then whole teams can either begin to win games, or begin to slump. Considering the Yankees awful start in April due mostly to injuries to their starting rotation, things can only get better.
Mike Mussina is back from the DL, as is Chien-Ming Wang. With Andy Pettitte, Mussina, and Wang at the top of the rotation (not necessarily in that order), and with Kei Igawa maybe pitching fourth, the Yankees should survive with a mix and match of rookies and call-ups taking turns in the number five spot. One of them may even perform well enough to earn a permanent spot in the rotation. Phil Hughes was well on his way to doing just that until he pulled a hamstring while throwing a no-hitter for 6 1/3 innings in the Yankees' 10-1 victory over the Rangers on Tuesday. Speaking of injuries, who knows, but maybe even Carl Pavano will come off the DL to pitch a game or two?
But Roger Clemens? Do the Yankees really need him? This writer thinks so. The Red sox aren't going to fall into third place like they did last year, injuries or not. The Blue jays are a better team, and even the Devil Rays play the Yankees tough. Forget complaining about money and special considerations as part of a potential deal to sign The Rocket. A man like Clemens deserves special treatment if he comes to a team because he can be a real difference maker.
This writer does not doubt that Brian Cashman has been speed dialing Clemens' Agents, the Hendricks brothers, for weeks now. But after George Steinbrenner’s last public statement about the state of the Yankees, I'm sure the Yankees will do whatever Roger wants and pay him whatever his agents have the nerve to ask for. You only want to play home games, Roger? Sure, we'll make that happen. You want twenty five million dollars for a half a season worth of work? Gulp, yeah, we'll make that deal. We'll even give you another brand new Hummer like the one we gave you when you retired three years ago.
The Yankees will do all of that and more so that they can save their season, win the World Series, please George Steinbrenner, save Torre's and Cashman's jobs, keep him away from the Red Sox at all costs, and oh yes, win one for the fans. Come back Roger, now, please.
Mike Mussina is back from the DL, as is Chien-Ming Wang. With Andy Pettitte, Mussina, and Wang at the top of the rotation (not necessarily in that order), and with Kei Igawa maybe pitching fourth, the Yankees should survive with a mix and match of rookies and call-ups taking turns in the number five spot. One of them may even perform well enough to earn a permanent spot in the rotation. Phil Hughes was well on his way to doing just that until he pulled a hamstring while throwing a no-hitter for 6 1/3 innings in the Yankees' 10-1 victory over the Rangers on Tuesday. Speaking of injuries, who knows, but maybe even Carl Pavano will come off the DL to pitch a game or two?
But Roger Clemens? Do the Yankees really need him? This writer thinks so. The Red sox aren't going to fall into third place like they did last year, injuries or not. The Blue jays are a better team, and even the Devil Rays play the Yankees tough. Forget complaining about money and special considerations as part of a potential deal to sign The Rocket. A man like Clemens deserves special treatment if he comes to a team because he can be a real difference maker.
This writer does not doubt that Brian Cashman has been speed dialing Clemens' Agents, the Hendricks brothers, for weeks now. But after George Steinbrenner’s last public statement about the state of the Yankees, I'm sure the Yankees will do whatever Roger wants and pay him whatever his agents have the nerve to ask for. You only want to play home games, Roger? Sure, we'll make that happen. You want twenty five million dollars for a half a season worth of work? Gulp, yeah, we'll make that deal. We'll even give you another brand new Hummer like the one we gave you when you retired three years ago.
The Yankees will do all of that and more so that they can save their season, win the World Series, please George Steinbrenner, save Torre's and Cashman's jobs, keep him away from the Red Sox at all costs, and oh yes, win one for the fans. Come back Roger, now, please.
May 2, 2007
Injuries Mounting for Yankees
During one feel-good game, possibly for the ages, the Yankees watched as their top pitching prospect, Phil Hughes, threw a no-hitter for 6 1/3 innings. The Yankees needed this uplifting start from someone on their pitching staff. It seemed that young Hughes, who was okay in his Major League debut against the Blue Jays, read the statement issued by George Steinbrenner the day before and decided it was time to rise to the occasion and pitch an incredible game.
With plenty of run support, the young Yankees phenomenon dominated the Rangers, walking three and allowing no hits. Then, he pulled a hamstring. Ouch! That's not only for Hughes himself, but a growing number of Yankees, especially the pitching staff who are limping around with pulled hamstrings and other maladies. How can this be? Is there something in sunflower seeds they keep spitting all over the dugout?
Brian Cashman didn't analyze the buckets of sunflower seeds, or the bottled water for that matter; yet, he did use some logic and narrow things down to their new Director of Performance Enhancement, Marty Miller. Where there weren't so many hamstring injuries before Miller took over, there are now plenty with Mike Mussina, Hideki Matsui, Chin Ming Wang, and now Phil Hughes all sustaining hamstring injuries. While it's not certain that Miller's work is responsible for these injuries, Cashman is most likely on the right track. Plus, we the baseball consumers will never really know what the Yankees know and aren't telling us.
If Brian was awake all night thinking about this, as he stated on the YES Network before Wednesday night's rain out against the Rangers, he is aware of much more than they are letting on. Miller's firing does not come from guess work. Also, as desperate as the Yankees are to turn things around, firing someone wouldn't have been all that drastic a maneuver to begin with. With that said, it will take a long time to determine that Cashman has found the culprit which has been sidelining his players since the beginning if the season.
If Miller's training and conditioning methods are indeed the cause of all of the recent injuries, then it seems like Cashman’s move is a reasonable one. But, during the course of any baseball season, injuries are common enough without players straining themselves due to poorly planned exercise routines. Fans can only hope that the “Baseball Gods” take pity on the Yankees decimated roster and allow them to dive for base hits, slide into base, and pitch beyond the fifth inning without harm. Johnny Damon has been complaining of a bad back for at least a week now and has been going to a chiropractor. Let's hope that the chiropractor isn't named Miller.
With plenty of run support, the young Yankees phenomenon dominated the Rangers, walking three and allowing no hits. Then, he pulled a hamstring. Ouch! That's not only for Hughes himself, but a growing number of Yankees, especially the pitching staff who are limping around with pulled hamstrings and other maladies. How can this be? Is there something in sunflower seeds they keep spitting all over the dugout?
Brian Cashman didn't analyze the buckets of sunflower seeds, or the bottled water for that matter; yet, he did use some logic and narrow things down to their new Director of Performance Enhancement, Marty Miller. Where there weren't so many hamstring injuries before Miller took over, there are now plenty with Mike Mussina, Hideki Matsui, Chin Ming Wang, and now Phil Hughes all sustaining hamstring injuries. While it's not certain that Miller's work is responsible for these injuries, Cashman is most likely on the right track. Plus, we the baseball consumers will never really know what the Yankees know and aren't telling us.
If Brian was awake all night thinking about this, as he stated on the YES Network before Wednesday night's rain out against the Rangers, he is aware of much more than they are letting on. Miller's firing does not come from guess work. Also, as desperate as the Yankees are to turn things around, firing someone wouldn't have been all that drastic a maneuver to begin with. With that said, it will take a long time to determine that Cashman has found the culprit which has been sidelining his players since the beginning if the season.
If Miller's training and conditioning methods are indeed the cause of all of the recent injuries, then it seems like Cashman’s move is a reasonable one. But, during the course of any baseball season, injuries are common enough without players straining themselves due to poorly planned exercise routines. Fans can only hope that the “Baseball Gods” take pity on the Yankees decimated roster and allow them to dive for base hits, slide into base, and pitch beyond the fifth inning without harm. Johnny Damon has been complaining of a bad back for at least a week now and has been going to a chiropractor. Let's hope that the chiropractor isn't named Miller.
March 22, 2007
Cashman Won't blink
Well, Brian Cashman was allowed to start acting like a real general manager two years ago; and, he's taken on the enormous task of shrinking the Yankee's payroll which is the size of a medium sized city's budget. Still, Cashman sees the whole Alex Rodriguez affair, his failures in the clutch and his distractions with Jeter, his personal life being under constant scrutiny, as well as every word which comes from his lips, as a major pain in the franchise. Fans have been yelling "he's got to go" in between boos all last season. Now that everyone (in the Yankees organization) apparently has finally had it with him, in spite of public comments to the contrary, Cashman announces that the Yankees won't entice A-Rod to stay with more money should he decide to opt out of his contract.
Maybe that's what Alex wanted when it was announced a few weeks ago that his opt-out clause existed. Perhaps he needed the Yankees to dangle a big, fat carrot in front of his face in the form of a giant sack of hard cash to make him feel wanted. But, it seems that that plan back-fired. My belief was that Alex really wanted to ditch the team and play shortstop somewhere else, again, for a super-huge barrel of money.
If Alex was testing the waters for his next contract, or if he was trying to assess how much he is really wanted in New York, or both, he went about it the wrong way. If you're going to play poker Alex, don't blink. Alex not only blinks, a lot, he also hugs himself and rocks back and forth in public.
Cashman has ice water running through his veins. Not only does he have the luxury of having an All-Star, or potential All-Star at every position on the team, he would also like to lop $15-20 million off of his payroll. Waving bye-bye to Alex would do just that. What Brian would probably do if Rodriguez opted-out early would be to hire a third baseman for a fraction of the cost and use some of the dough he saved (minus the money spent on cake and ice cream for A-Rod's Bon Voyage party) and spend it on pitching. Trust me, A-Rod does want to leave; but only if he thinks it's on his terms, and not if everyone on the Yankees and the entire fan base was shoving him out through the stadium entrance. Quote from A-Rod: "Gulp".
In practice, therapists (I am told) often tell their patients to make their needs known. In Rodriguez's case, he should have kept his big, fat trap shut about his opt-out clause. Now he's telling everyone (for the umpteenth time) that he really, really, wants to stay in New York. Are you sure? Not even for a boat load of money to play shortstop somewhere like, Texas?
Suck it up, Alex. You might be miserable in New York, and money can't buy happiness. But, in your case, it makes one hell of a down payment.
Maybe that's what Alex wanted when it was announced a few weeks ago that his opt-out clause existed. Perhaps he needed the Yankees to dangle a big, fat carrot in front of his face in the form of a giant sack of hard cash to make him feel wanted. But, it seems that that plan back-fired. My belief was that Alex really wanted to ditch the team and play shortstop somewhere else, again, for a super-huge barrel of money.
If Alex was testing the waters for his next contract, or if he was trying to assess how much he is really wanted in New York, or both, he went about it the wrong way. If you're going to play poker Alex, don't blink. Alex not only blinks, a lot, he also hugs himself and rocks back and forth in public.
Cashman has ice water running through his veins. Not only does he have the luxury of having an All-Star, or potential All-Star at every position on the team, he would also like to lop $15-20 million off of his payroll. Waving bye-bye to Alex would do just that. What Brian would probably do if Rodriguez opted-out early would be to hire a third baseman for a fraction of the cost and use some of the dough he saved (minus the money spent on cake and ice cream for A-Rod's Bon Voyage party) and spend it on pitching. Trust me, A-Rod does want to leave; but only if he thinks it's on his terms, and not if everyone on the Yankees and the entire fan base was shoving him out through the stadium entrance. Quote from A-Rod: "Gulp".
In practice, therapists (I am told) often tell their patients to make their needs known. In Rodriguez's case, he should have kept his big, fat trap shut about his opt-out clause. Now he's telling everyone (for the umpteenth time) that he really, really, wants to stay in New York. Are you sure? Not even for a boat load of money to play shortstop somewhere like, Texas?
Suck it up, Alex. You might be miserable in New York, and money can't buy happiness. But, in your case, it makes one hell of a down payment.
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