Actually, I read that number after the end of the year and after his injury. Less then what he was on last year. Remember he has been hurt once already. Let's assume you are right though. What do they do after 140 in July? Send him home? Makes no sense (again) for him to be a starter unless they have a 6 man rotation and with these guys I could see that not being a bad idea.
Whar else could he say while he is a part of the team? Personally, I was shocked at what Girardi said. However, it doesn't matter what anybody said. If they get even 1 more pitcher he ISN'T part of their plans for this year. For somebody who was written into the starting rotation before last year even started, that is a huge career blow. I don't care how you want to look at it, that is what it is. I would almost guaranty he will be traded this winter. That's if they want to be nice to him.
With the additions of Lowe and Texiera the Red Sox are probably still better than the Yankees. I look at the Yankees lineup minus Abreu and I just think Boston is better. Swisher is a nice addition but he won't match Abreu's production. That being said I would pick the Yankees in a short series should Sabathia and Burnett be healthy come playoff time.
You'll have to find it for me. I've never heard or seen anything that said that. You really need to look long-term here. 140 innings this year? Okay, so you miss a few starts... you're not talking about July... you're talking about late August. But a fifth starter isn't expected to put out more than 160 anyhow, due to off days. So let's say you sacrifice anywhere from 30-60 innings from Joba this year. Why would you do that? To have him be able to pitch 180 next year and 200+ going forward. That's a hell of a lot better than putting him in the pen to pitch 70 innings year in and year out. See, this is the shit I don't understand from you. To say that a 22-year-old top prospect who they admitted was rushed last year "is not in our plans this year" comes out to you as -- and I quote -- "as bad a statement as you could ever want to hear." That's just patently ridiculous. The Yankees are saying that they're not counting on Hughes this year. Fine. If they think they rushed him last year, and considering how he performed, plus the injuries... then they absolutely shouldn't count on him. But he's 22 and their top prospect. In no rational world does saying these things mean that they've given up on him or think less of him. It's certainly not "as bad a statement as you could ever want to hear." I can only imagine how fragile your ego must be if shit like that is taken so negatively. In a perfect world, the Yanks wouldn't have needed to count on him (or Kennedy) LAST year. But they did, and it didn't work out. They don't need to count on their young prospects to come up before they're ready? That's a GOOD thing (both for the Yankees and for the prospects). I think Hughes CAN contribute to the big league club... but if he doesn't have to, that's fine. Again, he's only 22. One of the youngest players in the majors last year.
Yeah, I tyhink a statement like that is an absolute psyche buster. Why don't you? What would you think if you were the brightest star on the team one year and then told the next that we could care less what you are doing? There is enough written about that that you should know better. As far as Joba. A few starts missed? Who starts them then? When do they start them? How do they know he is available in the post season? Does he take July and August off? It's just not that simple as you would like to portray it to be. Last year they had the right plan. Start him in the bp and then move him over. Unfortunately he got hurt. What is YOUR plan this year?
But that's not what was said! They care very much what he's doing. If you think otherwise, you're insane. They've said, "Hughes is not in our plans for this year." They're just talking about the big league club. They still want to develop him. They still think he can and will contribute to the club (if not this year, then next). They still think he has a ton of potential, realized or no. That they could not care less about him is only what, you, in your seemingly eternal pessimism, have interpreted it to mean. Honestly, if Hughes isn't mentally tough enough to shake off that comment, he wasn't going to make it in the big leagues, anyhow. I mean, really... you think that comment hurt his feelings? Please, dude. From everything we've heard from Hughes regarding his struggles last year and his expectations for next year, he's been taking all of it quite well. Of course, his poise has always been listed as an asset for him, so this is not unexpected. Start him from the get-go. Treat him as your fifth starter and skip him when you can (off days, etc.). If all goes well and he's approaching his limit, maybe you do the reverse of last year... move him to the pen for the stretch to limit his workload. This also makes sure he builds up innings early, so if there is a minor injury or something, he can come back and still build his workload. The starter > reliever transition is what they did in 2007... he was approaching his innings cap, and they figured the big league club could use some help in the pen, so they killed two birds with one stone: They limited Joba's innings while letting him contribute to the big league club. Unfortunately, they also sparked this ridiculous "controversy" about where he's more valuable. The specifics of how they do it really aren't that important (to me, anyway). What matters is that he is seen as a starter by the club and is allowed to increase his innings workload this year so he can move forward next year. But here's what you DON'T do... you don't move him to the pen and completely scrap the smarter long term move because it's "not that simple" to work out this year. You do what you can this year in order to ensure that Joba is a part of your rotation for years to come.
how are these very different? "hasn't been given a spot" and "is not part of their [MLB] plans" are essentially the same thing "he'll have to earn it" and "he could earn his way back in" are nearly identical. Don, you're making arguments that aren't there to be made.
is the Yankees spending a gang load of money this offseason any different than past offseason spending sprees in which they have also wanted to win?
Yankees -A.J Burnett 5yrs $82.5 Much needed pitching help on the way. Still need another big bat--------- MANNY RAMIREZ.............:up: http://www.nj.com/yankees/index.ssf/2008/12/yankees_agree_to_fiveyear_825.html
By the way, since we're talking about direct quotes regarding what has been said about Hughes and Kennedy and their future in the rotation, here are a couple from Girardi: I see nothing wrong with this. It's certainly not a slight to them.
Cappy how the hell do you have Burnett 2nd over Wang? If Wang pitches 3rd he gets 25 wins though. Joba also will have a great opportunity to get 15+ wins.
The bat will come in a trade. Olney said today the Yankees want to cut and keep payroll at 180 million.
Did I say that somewhere? I don't recall. In any case, rotation slots hardly matter during the regular season, with the exception of the "fifth starter" who typically makes fewer starts because he can be skipped on off days. After April, your #2 guy is just as likely to face another team's #5 as he is a #1. That said, I wasn't really putting the rotation there to "rank" them. A healthy Burnett and Wang are practically interchangeable. A nice problem to have, in any case. Although... with that said, I think Burnett's stuff would translate better to a playoff setting.
That's like, John Kruk predicting Randy Johnson to have a 30-win season with the Yankees-level insanity, my friend.
I thought the way he put it was unbelievably bad. So did Francesa obviously, that is why he tried to dampen it by saying "But he could earn a spot". Like I said to Cappy, just think about it if he were listening to that show and heard his manager say he is not in our plans. He didn't say "we will start him in Scranton and see how he does" or anything else to temper it. He said "he is not in our plans". Of course I am sure others in the Yankee organization cringed too if they heard that. You can bet Cashman wouldn't have used those words.
Like I said above, I wouldn't have said that. Cashman wouldn't have said that I don't think. You are dealing with somebody who is still young and has failed miserably once already. You don't then go and kick them in the teeth too.
