Something tells me Don hated the Soriano signing until he found out that Cashman didn't make the final call. Sad, really. Funny, too. But mostly just sad.
Cashman didn't want to get Soriano, but did try to throw wads of cash at Pavano. Then he buys Andruw Jones. Yes. The guy is undoubtedly a genius. It's a good thing Ian Kennedy, Joba, and Hughes are all in the rotation. Well, 1 out of 3 gets you in the Hall of Fame, right? Well, at least he had Nick Johnson to carry us last year. Umm, he saved Montero and still got Lee? Do the Yankees have a quality organization that has done well in spite of ownership butting in over the past decade and a half? Yes. How much of that is particularly Brian Cashman is quite debatable. I've heard Andy is working out though, so maybe there is some hope. I still have confidence in Nova, but Mitre and AJ are huge question marks. I think Joba is going to get back into the rotation, and I think he'll succeed, or at least be better than Mitre. That's a lot like saying today's snow isn't too bad because at least it's not like the Christmas storm. BTW: jonnyd, you're the same guy I argued with a few years ago that sometimes players make decisions independent of money when they're talking about millions. You insisted that players always go with the most money. Cliff Lee proved you wrong. Gil Meche just made the decision to give up a truckload of cash. Saying that you know what's making Andy think about not coming back and acting like you know for sure any more than I do is a tad ridiculous. Sometimes guys do make personal decisions for personal reasons when they're in a position to never have to worry about bills.
I just don't understand what you wish he would've done instead. Andruw Jones is fine as a 4th outfielder and he's great against lefties. Missed on Lee but was it worth overpaying whoever was the next best starter? Yanks now have the best bullpen in baseball, an improved offense that was already the best in baseball last year and a starting staff that may be inconsistent but has a lot of talent and I'm sure won't be the same come August.
For the record, while there might be a few cases where a player didnt take the most money (hometown discounts do happen from time to time), Lee isn't really a good example. He took a higher AAV to play in Philly. What I really want to know, though, is why Alio has become Don Lite. He used to seem like an insightful poster and a nice guy. Now he just makes the same bitchy posts over and over, like he's butthurt over every little thing that doesn't go his way. What gives?
First of all, what's wrong with the Andruw Jones signing? He's an upgrade over Marcus Thames, the guy who he's replacing. Second of all, would you really prefer Ian Kennedy to Curtis Granderson? Seriously?? Finally, I'll submit to you the same question that I ask everyone who's been ripping on the Yankees offseason: you tell me what you'd rather Cashman have done.
Bad example on Cliff Lee since he got more money per year from Philly. And Meche wants to retire. Thats different from someone going to anotehr team for less money. It is about the money, unless the guy wants to go home. Like Andy-if he doesnt wanna play, he doesnt wanna play. NOw if Andy went and signed with the Padres, well then you have an argument that hes pissed at the Yankees.
Jets season is over. 22 days until pitchers and catchers report! Wait... who's our #3 starter? 6 months until training camp. :sad:
On the bright side, going into 2009, everyone said AJ was the #2 starter, and that turned out okay. So there's that.
soxspacenews.com On Tuesday morning, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman was in attendance for WFAN’s Breakfast With a Champion event. Similar to how Christmas At Fenway was set up for Red Sox fans with Theo Epstein and other Boston front office members making themselves available to fan questions, Cashman opened himself to "Yankee Universe," and had a few notable quotes. The big line that Cashman dropped that everyone is making a big deal about, is when he answered a fan who asked about Derek Jeter’s future. The Yankee GM responded by saying that he’d be surprised to see Jeter play all four years of his new deal at shortstop, and that he sees the Yankee captain moving to the outfield at some point before the contract’s expiration. When asked how he was, Cashman replied, "I’d be better if I could get a starter." This is probably an unfamiliar response for Cashman, as missing out on Cliff Lee is the first time in the GM’s Yankee tenure that the Bronx Bombers have failed to get their man. In fact, you’re have to go all the way back to 1992 when Greg Maddux was a free agent to pinpoint the last time the Yankees whiffed on a free agent target. Because of that, chances are they didn’t look too much into a future without Lee. When you’re shooting 100% for just about two decades as a franchise on the free agent market, your confidence when it comes to signing the big guns is far from a lack thereof. Despite that, Cashmash was quick to note that, "[The Yankees are] one starter away from being a World Series contender.” Certainly a bold statement, given how thin the free agent market is for starting pitching in late January. Cashman said that Joba Chamberlain’s injury in 2008 has axed any plan to move him into the Yankees’ rotation, so any addition to the five-man will have to come via trade. Finally, when asked who had the better team as January 25, 2011, Cashman simply said, "Red Sox". But the Yankee GM tried to quiet the boos in the room by saying, "But we have the better bullpen."
Same info here, but an interesting bit about Joba: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2...opping-some-moderate-sized-bombs-this-morning This, to me, explains a lot about Joba the last two seasons.
I've been saying that since the injury happened. But noooOOOooo... everyone wanted to talk about how he was "built" for the bullpen and ignore the clear as day velocity charts. Sheesh.
First Mark Prior, now Bartolo Colon... I thought the key was to get younger? http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110126&content_id=16510026&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb
No, he had shoulder inflammation which was treated only with rest. Pitchers bounce back (somewhat) easily from elbow problems. That's not really the case with shoulder problems. (see: Prior, Mark; Wang, Chien-Ming; Meche, Gil, et al.) I don't know the true extent of the injury... I never saw the MRI... I don't know exactly what they did to deal with it mechanically... I wasn't at those meetings. I know, I know. Obvious, right? But what I do know is that he left that game in the fifth inning in Texas with a 96 mph fastball, having sat at 95 and having topped out at 98 all game. As a starter. As he had done all year (if not better). When he came back, he had lost 2-3mph off his fastball (max and avg velocity), despite now coming out of the pen, and he never got it all the way back, including last year. He definitely became more consistent with his velocity last year out of the pen by the end of the year, which leads me to believe he might have been figuring out some mechanical issues and was better able to repeat his delivery, but he never really got back that plus-plus fastball, and doesn't seem to be able to dial it up to 99-100 on a regular basis anymore. And it all points back to that injury. I sometimes feel like I'm beating a dead horse here, but what the hell, it's a dead horse that hasn't been beaten in a while. So here it is again: Joba came up in 2007 (as a starter who was going to fill in for the Yanks in the pen), and he AVERAGED 97 mph out of the pen, topping out at 101. As a starter in 2008, he AVERAGED 95 mph, and would still top out at 99. Last year, even after people saying he was back to the "old" Joba, he was averaging 94.6 mph out of the pen. Of course, none of that is to say that I don't think he has what it takes to be an effective pitcher, as a starter or reliever. It just makes me sad to think that he had the stuff to be a crazy-good elite pitcher, but doesn't have it anymore.
