Doesn't change my original opinion: forcefully hitting oneself in the head should diminish one's cognitive abilities enough to make Don's thoughts seem cogent. Doesn't matter whether he gets it from the media or if it's solely from the echo chamber between his ears... rarely have I read something of his that even remotely makes sense.
Some fans just don't have the stomach for watching absolutely terrible performances by Yankee players. I kinda get it, but it's Spring Training, so Hughes should get a pass. Wang on the other hand... I never want to see that guy donning a Yankees jersey ever again.
But the thing is, yesterday wasn't even an "absolutely terrible performance" if you apply even just a liitle baseball sense. And seeing as how it was the first performance of the year that wasn't really reaaly good, results wise, the comment makes even less sense.
The only thing I give a shit about right now in these games is that no one gets hurt. I'll worry about results when the calendar changes. No one was crying when CC or Andy got shelled the other day. It's no big deal.
I completely agree with you. I didn't think Hughes performance was out of the ordinary since there are plenty of starting pitchers, even elite ones, during TC that have had similar games. It doesn't count. If Sanchez threw 3 INTs in a quarter during the first preseason game, some may be a little concerned, but no one would call for him to be the backup. Not exactly a good analogy, but you get the idea.
I know when Jon Lester had a bad first outing this spring I was FURIOUS that he wasn't sent to the bullpen. I got your back Don.
Not even. It's more than that. If you read about the game, Girardi and Hughes both thought it was his best outing of the spring in terms of how he threw. Five hits in five-plus innings, 6 Ks. Yes, three of those hits were HRs, but two of those dingers were fly balls that barely carried over the fence on a day when the wind was gusting straight out. They weren't hard hit. Shit happens, yeah, and you gotta deal with it, but that game line is not a reflection of how well he pitched. It's more like if Sanchez threw 3 TDs and 3 INTs, but two of those INTs came on passes where he hit Edwards dead on in the chest and the ball bounced out into a defender's arms. The final line might not be pretty, but you'd still say he played well.
Chad Gaudin cleared waivers and has been granted unconditional release. I'm a little surprised at the move. I figured he'd stick at least in the pen. Ah well. In other news, not truly Yankees-related, but Edwar Ramirez was traded yesterday from the Rangers to the Oakland As. We're almost there people. Let's get this title defense started!
So the first year that Joba has no innings limit, they're going to send him back to the pen? And replace him with another (granted, very talented) pitcher who has an innings limit? How wonderfully short sighted. I really, really hope they send him to AAA to keep him stretched out.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/spring2010/news/story?id=5027433 If they put Chamberlain in the bullpen that has to be it for him starting right? How many times can they move him back and forth? They have handled him terribly.
Joba will be in the pen. I'm all but completely certain of it. So we'll probably have Marte and Robertson in the 7th, then Joba leading to Rivera. I guess that puts Aceves and Mitre in the long-relief role. I thought this would be the eventual move, and I'm happy with it.
It was worth giving it a shot. If he's as dominant in the bullpen as he was 2 years ago, then I think we'll just ride him out and eventually make him Rivera's replacement. Which is exactly what the majority of fans wanted anyway.
I'm conflicted about Joba in the pen. On the one hand, I strongly believe that he can be a good starter in the big leagues if he were given the opportunity to spend a whole season working at it without any restrictive rules. On the other hand, I think that Hughes is a better pitcher than him, and the best guy should be in the rotation. I fear that the Yanks will regret pitching Joba from the 'pen next season when Pettitte is retired and Vazquez is potentially gone as a free agent.
Well, doing what the majority of fans want is a horrible way to run your organization if you like winning, so that doesn't really factor in. I'm pretty confident that the Yankees don't give a flying rat's ass what the fans want in terms of Joba's role. The fact is, Hughes outpitched him this spring. There was only one spot available. If we didn't have Vasquez right now I'm certain the rotation would be CC, AJ, Andy, Phil, Joba. I don't know what the team's plans for Joba are. Now that Mauer is off the table are they maybe thinking Lee is really attractive? That's a pretty hefty upgrade if Pettitte decides this is his last hurrah. If we lose Vasquez on top of that maybe then Joba gets another shot at the starting job? Who knows? I'm actually curious to see how Joba takes this. Hughes was only too happy to contribute last year, whatever his role. Joba has been vocal that he believes he's a starter. Perhaps there's even something the Yankees see that could be exposed if they allow Joba to start that they'd like to just cover up and trade him? Anything is possible. Personally, if Joba can be Joba as a starter, I'd still like to see him get the opportunity. If he's as good as he has seemed then he's got dominant starter stuff. It's been discussed far too much already but you get far more value from a top-flight starter in the rotation than you do putting him in the closer role.
^Hughes may have outpitched Chamberlain but did he outpitch any of the other 3 competing for the role? I caught his last game. Was that 4 HRs in 4 innings including the game winner? He won't be starting by the break.
Why would that be the end of Chamberlain as a starter? He has had less chances than Hughes has and they have screwed with him royally every day he has been on the team with the so called Joba rules. It got so bad last year they had hi throwing like 40 or 50 pitches a game at the end of the year.
It was three homers in five innings, two of which just carried over the fence when the wind was blowing out. But while Hughes might have outpitched Joba during ST, Joba still has had better results as a starter in their careers. I almost hope Pettitte tweaks something before ST is done, just so Joba gets the chance to start. It's such a stupid move.
Because you can only move the guy back and forth so much without shitting all over his development. It may have already reached that point.
