I thought that the Soriano contract was retarded from day 1. But that said, can you imagine how dirty the Yankees bullpen would've been if Chamberlain, Soriano and Feliciano had been healthy all year?
I don't know... I think Robertson et al have done better than anyone expected Feliciano to do, and Joba and Soriano were just doing okay at best. They might have been lucky to have to turn to guys who have had good years. Bullpen arms are fickle.
Obviously he's kicked it up to another level this season but Robertson has been great for 3 years now. Joba was having a very good year too (2.83 ERA at almost a K per inning.) Feliciano would've been better than Boone Logan, which is all the Yankees really need from a LOOGY. And, although Soriano was crappy to start the season, he's undeniably talented. Like I said, I hated the idea of losing first round picks to sign a reliever. But I can also understand why some people in the organization thought it was a good idea.
I hated (and still hate) the Soriano signing, too. He's been inconsistent in the limited appearances we've seen from him this year. I don't know that Feliciano would have been that much better than Logan, if at all. (Logan's been pretty damn good lately, after a lousy start.) And Joba wasn't bad, but I don't reach for ERA when judging a reliever. I guess I'm just saying that the guys who have filled the high-leverage roles for the Yanks in the absence of the injured players have performed very, very well... and the guys that have filled in the less important roles have also done very well. I'm not sure there's much room for actual improvement in performance.
I agree, the bullpen's been great. But going into the season nobody could've predicted that Ayala and Wade would even be on the Yankees at this point in the season, much less be big contributors. All I'm saying is that I see where Levine was coming from with that signing. That said, I side with Cashman--keep your draft picks. I'd love to see the Yankees hang a few runs on Papelblown here. Not that I don't trust Mo--I just really, really hate Pap-smear.
Right. That's what I mean. It's hard to imagine how "dirty" the pen would've been if everyone was healthy because I'm not sure you get the surprise performances without those injuries. Feliciano, especially. Agree 100%. Agree even more. For all the bitching Sox fans do about Yankee players, it always amazes me how they gloss over the fact that they have two of the biggest douchebags in baseball on their team (Papelbon and Youkilis).
Two? They have 4 of the biggest douches on their team (Papelbon, Youkilis, Fairytek, and Josh Beckett's goatee.)
Youk cries to the umps every single time a call doesn't go his way. He's got Paul O'Neill syndrome--fans of his team think he's a warrior, everybody else thinks he's a baby.
Youkilis looks like he has to piss really bad every time he's at the plate. Faggiest batting stance since Craig Counsell's "reach for the stars" deal.
Aside from being a gigantic crybaby, after losing two of three to the Pirates, Youk complained that the Sox have a "competitive disadvantage" in the NL parks during interleague play because their lineup isn't constructed to NOT have a DH. That's douchey on so many levels.
Maybe, but it's absolutely true. For the crybaby part, Paul O'Neill was a million times worse. It's not being a douchebag, it's being competitive.
