Would you expect any different with your absurd comments about Arod every day? You must admit though that he has very few years left at short. This year may be his last before he moves to first and he only gets this year because there are alreday too many first basemen on the team until after Giambi leaves.
My "absurd" comments are based on the FACT that ARod is terrible in October. Jeter has been great for us year after year after year, yeah he stunk in october THIS YEAR but we know that won't carry over into next year unlike ARod where since Game 5 of the '04 LCS it's carried through 2007. They were put under alot of pressure b/c Boston's bats got Boston out to big leads. They didn't have that pressure against us b/c our bats were silent. The only pitcher who was big time was beckett. The other guys were very hittable.
Apparently Arod won't be here next year. What will be your excuse then for why we don't win? Assuming we even make it to the post season. You better start thinking up one now, you are going to need it. I wasn't here for 2001-2003. What was your excuse then BTW? And while you're at it, what are the odds of getting to the post season 7 years in a row and not winning once?
I would think that's a good move by the Yanks, hopefully for you guys it means Matsui will stay healthy for a full season although I would think a platoon with Damon and Matsui is a more logical thing because I don't see Damon making it a full season in left field. As far as this snippet about the Angels... I think it's pretty accurate that Arod will be a member of the Angels. I've been saying that since July but they are going to need to resign Vladdy in a few years so this ultimately could backfire on them.
As long as we spend money wisely we can be alot better, a more well rounded team instead of one dependant upon a choker. Remember we were last in a WS the year BEFORE ARod got here, our o wasn't the focus of one player- we actually had a few clutch hits and won 2 series. I think we'l be fine as long as Andy is back or we get a good vet SP to go along w/ our young guys. The odds of getting to postseason 7 straight years and not winning once aren't that high but 2 teams have done it in the past decade and at least pre-ARod we had reached the WS 2 of 3 years instead of going out in the ALDS every year.
Spend on who? What FA do you see out there that is worth spending a nickle on? Reached and winning are two different things. You of all people should know that as it is the only thing you harp on. (and yeah, I forgot about the Braves...how pathetic...lol)
It hasn't worked out w/ ARod, on the field we've been worse, off the field there's been a million distractions then on top of that he wants an undeserved raise? He's a selfish player and it's time to move on. if he wants to come back and prove he's learning to be unselfishhe can take alot less money to come back but if he wants his raise let some other dopey team pay him. We have the makings of a dynamic young piching staff that will carry us the next decade. We will need clutch hitters not great fantasy players who don't show up in october. We reached a WS w/ Aaron boone at 3B and karim garcia in right and at that point we didn't have any 50 HR guys we had a couple of good power hitters but our lineup was more balanced and guys like Boone, garcia, Sierra, etc.. came up w/ big hits for us. That's what we need to get back to.
So who do you want to play 3rd next year? Betemit? Crede? With either of them we don't come close to the playoffs. While our young pitchers may eventually do well, they haven't done a thing up till now. Add to that they will all be on inning count limitations next year and we are in the same position as Boston and will need a 6 man rotation.
The difference being that Boston has the offensive firepower to decimate their competition. :sad: Forget third base, who the hell is going to hit cleanup next year? Matsui? Posada (if he returns)? Wow, 20 HRs from the cleanup spot. With no protection for anyone in the 3-6 spots. We had better have at least 3 Cy Young candidates in the rotation next year, or we're not even sniffing a wildcard. Our problems are going to be deep next year. Unless Cashman makes some absolute magic, we're in big trouble. Aaron Boone. :rofl: The same guy who was being booed right out of town until he hit a single home run, off a guy throwing in the 70s, late into the night. I guess the old adage is true "It's better to be lucky than good."
I'm really not concerned with 3rd base.... I'd rather miss the post season this year to continue to work on the pitching.... offensive spots always have worked themselves out for us.... If A rod comes back then great but I'm not losing any sleep if he doesn't
Honestly, I fear that once we fall out of contention, we lose long-term as well. We still need to get a lot younger at key positions before we can compete in 3-5 years. We will need a closer and catcher, no matter whether Posada and Mo return for the short term. Shortstop is going to become a concern within the next half decade. Left and right field are only going to hold out so long. The only positions where we're young are center, second base, and first (Andy Phillips). Then of course there is the youth in the rotation, but our pen needs serious upgrading. Right now, I feel, if we lose a little, we lose a lot. The Sox are still young enough overall to be competitive into the next decade.
Why won't we make the playoffs w/ either? you don't need superstars(reg season superstars) to make the playoffs. We will get better in other areas, become a more well rounded team. We will be much better off w/ the ARod circus. In '96 Tino and Bernie hit cleanup most of the year- Tino hit 25 Hrs, bernie 29. In '98 it was mostly bernie & tino again. Tino hit 28 HRs, Bernie 26 In '99 it was mostly Bernie and he hit 25 HRs. In '00 it was bernie again and he hit 30 HRs. We don't need 50+ HRs out of the cleanup spot. our problems '04-current have been we have been waiting on the big HR instead of manfacturing runs. W/o a bip bopper we won't be relying on the HR. As bad as Boone was in that october he had is 1 moment which was alot more than ARod has had the last 3 1/2 postseasons. Aaron Boone in his 3 postseason series w/ the Yanks: .170, 2 HR, 4 RBI ARod in his last 3 postseason series: .159, 1 HR, 1 RBI
I think since Posada and Rivera are free agents, the Yankees are going to be forced to give them 4 year contracts. Posada definitely - he knows the Mets will sign him for 4 if the Yankees choose not to.
Great article...and so true. Get some pitching and a solid 3rd baseman and lets win this shit....forget about the choker.
Because our pitching still sucks (it was great in those years you reference, the best in baseball) and we need all the run production we can get, that's why. Now if we get Santana (and Pettitte comes back for a year), and all the rumors are that we will do everything possible to make that happen, then the whole dynamic changes dramatically.
Another reason to be happy ARod is gone, his salary can be used to sign a Santana if we trade for him. We don't win outscoring teams especially when we can't hit in october, we win w/ good pitching and Cashman has done a great job restocking the system and we now have hope w/ the young arms and chips to trade for a Santana.
I agree but we need to get back to the pitching we had in the late 90s. Right now I think we can get him with Hughes, Cabrerra and a minor leaguer. It would be great if we could with Kennedy, Cabrerra and that 3rd player but I doubt it. What I don't want to do is give up Chamberlain no matter what. Of course, then we have to sign Hunter or Jones and the payroll goes up from this year and not down...and we still need somebody to play 3rd. If we wanted to save money we could put Damon back in center, Matsui in left and DH Giambi full time. Not the best solution but the cheapest since we have to pay for them all anyway this year.
I don't want matsu and Damon in the OF, matsui is a terrible LF and Daon is limited in CF so we need Damon to start in LF and Matsui to play DH mot days. obviously w/ him and giambi they will need to play the field a times but we definitely can't have those 2 in the OF together.
Then, like I said, we need a center fielder and the only two out there are Hunter and Jones. Both expensive. The only two worth signing anyway. And we make our 24 million dollar first baseman a part time DH.
