i actually though hughes cutter was a good pitch. but youre right, his curve doesnt have the same bite it used to. hughes' biggest problem this year was lack of an out pitch. if anything, he needs another pitch to keep hitters from sitting on his primary pitches. what you guys think? supposedly his slider was his best pitch in high school, but once the yanks drafted him they shut it down to prevent shoulder injury.
The cutter is a hugely effective pitch if you have a straight fastball from the same release point. Mariano Rivera has made a career of throwing 2 pitches that look exactly the same, one cuts, one doesn't.
It's not that he shouldn't throw a cutter, or that it doesn't have potential, but in order to be an ace he needs that dominant breaking ball. He's too consumed with the cutter, and developing the change. A dominating FB-CB combo is what got him here, he needs to focus on that before he spends another Spring Training worrying about developing a decent fourth pitch when he doesn't have a great second pitch right now.
Really, though, everything built off his fastball. If he could locate it, he was almost unhittable. If he couldn't, he wasn't. And I'd blame pitch selection before I blame pitch execution. His curve might have been less effective this season (actually, there's no "might" about it), but the improved effectiveness of his cutter and change could/should have made up for it, if it weren't for the predictability of his pitch sequences. Part of that might be confidence in his pitches, but man, he needs to be able to throw a first pitch curve or change for a strike semi-consistently. And I love that the tired Matsui argument keeps getting brought up almost a year later. Especially when this has been clarified several times over. People just like to bitch, I guess. But just for old time's sake: The Yanks had room for one of Damon or Matsui, not both. They preferred Damon because he could still play the field (sort of). Matsui signed with the Angels on December 13th, while the Yanks were still negotiating with Damon (whose asking price was still outrageous). When it seemed his agent was being stubborn, the Yanks then decided to pass on Damon (and his outrageous asking price), and looked elsewhere, signing Nick Johnson. It's not that they preferred Johnson; they just didn't want to accede to Boras's demand of 3/$39M instead of the 2/$20M that the Yankees initially offered. (And remember, Damon wound up signing a contract for one year and $8M. So Boras's stubbornness cost his client a fair chunk of money.) So let's not pretend that these guys were just cast aside and unwanted. The Yanks very much wanted Damon. He passed on them. Matsui was already gone by that point.
Ok so I listened to 660 on the way home. they had both of the yankees beat writers on there talking about the 2010 season and the 2011 and 2012 seasons. Some interesting stuff: - They both agree that Posada will not be the full-time catcher next season (they speculate he will catch between 40-55 games) - The Yankees will try to save money by avoiding Crawford and use it to make Lee the highest offer. - Kerry Wood will want to be the closer for another team. - Jeter will be resigned...however after 2011 he will be moved to 3rd base, Posada retires, and A-Rod becomes the full time DH. This was brought up because of the Texas Rangers' scouting report stating the Yankee left infield is extremely weak defensively. -If the Lee deal falls through...the Yanks will try to package Montero and Joba for an ACE...they didn't mention any names. -Kearns gone...Berkman gone... -The Texas Rangers had Curtis Granderson the 2nd best all-around player behind Teixeira in their scouting report -Swisher will not be traded...he will start in RF next season That's all I can think of at the moment.
Less than this year I assume...But we need Cliff Lee and need to make another trade for a Bat I want Montero up this next season with the big club
That's some interesting info in there. It all sounds reasonable, but I'd like us to hold onto Montero. How'd they get their hands on the Rangers' scouting report? And why would Texas let anyone look at their scouting report?
It wasn't too clear but I believe Ron Washington discussed the scouting report after they clinched the ALCS. The whole point about dealing Montero was that the Yankees were adamant about dealing him for Lee and they felt if another blue chip pitcher were made avail, they would deal Montero too. Both of the writers agreed though, Joba is the one most likely to be traded.
OH ANOTHER BIG POINT I FORGOT... ...they both agreed that Andy will come back for another season. They were going on the fact that Andy said he will continue to pitch so long as he doesn't have shoulder or arm related injuries...which he hasn't and they said Andy showed himself he can still bounce back from injuries because he pitched so well after the 6 week layoff. About Andy wanting to be with his family more often: They said that now that his children are older, they see them at the ballpark more so Andy gets to spend the time he needs with them. I hope they are right.
That's absolutely insane. I love Granderson, but he is in no way a better all around player than Robinson Cano.
So if Posada isn't the full time catcher and they package Montero to get an ace, who is? Oh, and even if they do get Lee, if Pettitte doesn't come back they still need another quality pitcher if they want to compete next year.
Perhaps Romine? More likely Cervelli, though. I don't see them trading Montero. What ace of Lee's caliber is available? Sabathia > Lee > Hughes > Burnett > Useless Chump should be more than enough to compete next year. I think Pettitte comes back, though.
Called that awhile ago. Who is available for that price? Mariners would be foolish to trade Felix for that. Joba is not THAT great of a piece. An inconsistant bullpen. Meh. Zambrano! Cubs would love to trade him and they might even lower the price if you take on most of his deal.
Zambrano is not worth Montero, and Cashman knows that. An expensive NL pitcher whose fastball velocity and effectiveness is dropping? Pass. Zambrano for Joba straight up, maybe. But you hit on the main point: Who is available? No one, really. There are only so many elite pitchers (Zambrano ain't one of them), and not many of them get moved. Felix? Not going anywhere. Lester? Nope. Price? Nope. Josh Johnson? Maaaaaybe. Verlander? Nope. Lincecum? Nope. Greinke? Maybe... but on a lower tier than the others.
^ They confirmed what Alio was saying about Greinke...anxiety disorder..Yankees probably a no-go on him. I was going to say Johnson from the Marlins would be nice..but they literally just extended him...who knows there.
Reports saying that Swisher is on the block, and the Yanks could trade him for Werth. Swisher grew on me and quickly became one of my favorites on the team. I'd hate to lose him.
Why would Philly trade Werth, who was their best position guy this season(and post season) for Swisher? Makes no sense...
I love Mark Teixeira, but there's no way he's a better all-around player than Cano. Robbie is the most talented player on the entire club right now. Honestly, part of me even wishes they'd move Jeter to second and Cano back to third. If not for ARod, Robbie would be our starting 3B. Posada will catch 3 days a week from now. Girardi pretty much said that in his presser yesterday. It'll be a platoon, and as long as Montero is in the organization, he'll be catching 3 times a week next year with the pro team. I'm going to go so far as to say the Yankees won't trade Montero this offseason, but if he is, it'll likely be Cervelli until one of the other kids is ready. As for the rotation is Pettitte doesn't return, I'm not so sure you're right. If they have CC and Lee fronting the rotation, with Hughes as the third man, I can see them risking some combination of AJ, Nova, Moseley and Mitre behind them. I'm still convinced that Nova will be a starter in our rotation long-term. He simply needs to get his stamina up. He can give 4-5 very good innings now, he needs to get another 1 or 2 tacked on and he'll be a legit starter. As a #5, he would be just fine. Moseley is my pick to be first in if something happens to a starter, though I think Girardi is still in love with Mitre. If the Yankees don't get Lee, this whole thing falls apart though. You can risk a postseason rotation of CC, Lee, Hughes and whoever. Anything less though, and you're not sitting nearly as easily.
