I didn't think it was necessary. I figured that what I wrote implied that it was better than last year. I assume all the Yankees fans on this site are knowledgeable enough about the team to know that it is improved from last year. Even the biggest Cashman haters have to admit the pitching (as long as it's healthy) is better than it has been in years.
Clearly Alio. But what I am saying is, that without mentioning the staff last year, that 2-1, 9-6 number set makes no sense. Stictly in the context of this year, Yanks should win games 2-1 rather than winning 10-1 with A-Rod in the lineup.
Okay, so you want me to assume you are mildly retarded, and you needed the year qualified? Fair enough. :smile: Seriously though, yes, rather than win by 5, they'll win more by 3 or 4 until late May. I wouldn't go as far as to say 2-1 rather than 10-1. I'd put it more in the area of 5-3, rather than 8-3.
All that would make a lot of sense..except the Yankees didn't score all that many runs last year. They were 10th in MLB so I think you need to find a better reason why they will be fine without Arod and Giambi, and Abrea for that matter too. Unless Teixiera hits at a 300+ RBI rate for the first two months they will have issues even with the pitching being improved. It wasn't like they were tearing the league up last year with those 10th place runs they were scoring.
That was a little fluky, though. Cano is not likely to have as bad of a year. And Posada, even if he declines, is nowhere near as likely to be as bad as Molina was. Matsui's bat should help. Giambi's loss should be more than offset by the addition of Teixeira. Abreu's loss (not even counting the decline we've seen from him in the past few years) should be offset by a rebound from Cano and the return of Posada. And A-Rod's temporary loss will hurt, yes. But it's a loss that can be offset by the huge improvement to the pitching staff. Besides, the real funkiness for the Yanks last year, though, came with RISP. I doubt we see that recur.
If he only misses 4-6 weeks of the season we will probably be ok but I think Teixiera who is notorious for poor starts can't afford that luxury this year. He missed 24 games last year and most of them in a row and the Yankees still had a chance.
Again, the key difference is the pitching. We had none last year. Moose was good. Wang was good for a short period before missing the rest of the year. Pettitte was good early before falling apart. Beyond that, our starting pitching barely kept afloat. Now we have a rotation full of guys, who when healthy, can all potentially win 17+ games. The offense doesn't have to perform at an elite level. Even if it only performs at last year's levels until ARod returns, it still gets the job done. Again, it's a lot easier to win 2-1 than 9-6. These ARod-less Yankees could score two runs if they all took 2 strikes before swinging.
That's a very pessimistic attitude. Not a realistic one. And I think you missed the point of my post. Over the course of the season, one would expect Teixeira will be worth a couple of more wins than Giambi (even if Tex has a slow start with the bat). Over the course of the season, Posada (even a Posada at 70%) will be worth a couple of wins over Molina. 2009 Cano should (we hope) be worth a couple of wins over 2008 Cano. Even if they lose a win or two in RF from losing Abreu's bat, we're likely to get a some of that back from the significant upgrade in defense. So losing a couple of wins at 3B (from missing A-Rod for 6 weeks), while significant, isn't as big of a blow as one would think, because there is no reason to think that they shouldn't still come out on the plus side there, when compared to last year. And this doesn't even address the pitching improvements that Alio mentioned. Would the Yanks be better off with a healthy A-Rod? Of course. But I don't think they'll exactly be hurting, either.
Some game yesterday. Sure, it was still preseason, but 12-0 is something. Joba had another good start, so that's a big plus. I just can't wait for the real games. Come on April!
Anybody notice that Igawa hasn't given up a run all spring? 6 games, 12 innings and 7 hits. Of course when you put him in front of a big crowd he just melts.
I saw that stat yesterday and to be honest I was shocked. Spring games or not. Im very surprised. Could this be real?
This seems to say Gardner has won the job and with the spring he has had who can blame them. He brings some thing that Cabrerra can't. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/ben_reiter/03/13/yankees.postcard/index.html
if he brings anything then he brings things that Cabrerra cant. Cabrerra is not a major league baseball player.
Igawa is an enigma. He can pitch in the minors. He can pitch in Spring Training. He can pitch in Asia. He can't pitch in MLB games that matter. He's been impressive this spring, but I have no confidence in him. He should do a great job as the highest paid player helping Scranton/Wilkes Barre try to repeat. As far as center, I'd give the job to Gardner too. He's decent at the plate. It seems like he's learned a bit. I cringe when I see him try to throw the ball though. But he covers a lot of ground, so we'll just have to deal with longer relays for Jeter and Cano. I admit I was hoping Melky would win out, but he just can't get over the hump. It sucks, because I think he has the talent. There's just something wrong inside his head.
It seems like Igawa may get intimidated being with the Yankees. He certainly wouldn't be the first player to have that happen.
Don't know if this is true or if it's the time of year or if he has been told to take it easy after getting hurt last year but this says Joba's fastball has slowed down a lot. The range is now 89-93. http://www.nypost.com/seven/0317200...orking_hard_to_get_fastball_up_to__159928.htm
George King is not to be trusted. He's a joke. Joba will be fine. If he's throwing 89 in June, come talk to me then.
