On the bright you have 2 days of the Jets drafting guys that we have no idea who they are but they are "Magini" guys. You'll have 2 days of guys telling you that is a "Mangini" pick and what a great job Tangini did of drafting "Tangini" guys. My bet is the Yankees win the next 2 and start to right the ship. I love watching you guys lose but the Yankees are looking like the disgrace of New York which even this Mets fan doesn't want to see.
Somebody asked earlier what Torre did wrong last night. I had long turned the game off but went back to the play by play today to see something. What Torre did wrong and has continued to do wrong was bat Abreu third and I don't care that Arod didn't get a hit last night. Abreu's at bats: Strike out Hit into DP to end inning Fly out to end inning Strike out now c'mon junc, even you have to admit that there is no way on earth Torre should be keeping Abreu in the 3rd spot. Last night wasn't an anomaly, it's been the norm for him all year. The other thing Torre has to do is get Rivera more work. He can't keep letting him sit almost a week at a time. He has to get him in at least every other day whether it's a save situation or not. He looks like he's pitching in the first game of the preseason instead of a game one month into the regular season.
NY Times, NY Post and ESPN all reporting Torre's job is in serious jeopardy. If they lose two more this weekend figure he will be gone next week.
First LOST put me to sleep this week. Then a Yankees/Red Sox game did it too. All of this on top of news about my favorite game (Dungeons and Dragons) going through a huge upheaval. It's been a shitty week, and it's still not over yet. I don't even care about the draft today. We're not nearly as bad as we were going into the last one, so there's no pick to get truly excited about. I don't even care what happens with the Nets right now, and I'm not a hockey fan. Just a shitty week altogether. -------------------- Back to the Yankees. I know, junc doesn't want to hear it, but Joe really must go. Whether he is actually at fault in any way, shape, or form is inconsequential at this point. When a team is falling apart like this, someone has to pay. This may be a game, but it's a business too. If any of us were in charge of a department directly responsible for the success of our respective company, and we had a period where our performance was this poor, we'd get canned, no explanation required. Even if the performance was directly due to the lack of desire of our underlings to do any work, it would fall on us to take the blame. That's the situation we're looking at now. It doesn't matter whether Torre is directly responsible for the apparent lack of desire of these guys to do what they're paid to do, the fact remains that they just aren't getting it done. Considering how many times George canned Billy Martin, and the unceremonious dumping of Yogi Berra, you would think this current performance by Joe is enough to drive him bezerk. ----------------------- This is the first time since '33 the Yankees have allowed 6 runs in 8 straight games. WHAT?!?! Now the reports are coming in on ESPN as I write this that George is unhappy, and that Joe's job is in jeopardy. Proctor, Vizcaino, & Myers are projected to make 108 appearances. Bruney 93, Henn 85. That's unbelievable. Sorry Joe. I really wish I could make a case for keeping you around, but I just can't. You've been given your ultimatum months ago, and you've yet to deliver. It's time.
And did you notice how many empty seats there were last night for a Yankees-Red Sox game? You are right when you talk about the business side of all this.
I say he fires Cashman and Torre. Both are just as responsible. He can make Mattingly an interim manager, who in turn can let Guidry run the pitching staff and make the decisions for the bull pen. There are plenty of people he can make GM.
As much as I've tried to defend Cashman, at this point, his decisions are starting to blow up in his face. He put this team together. Guys like Abreu, Damon, and Mienky are his imports. Keeping Joe was his idea (thanks for the heads up on that.) It doesn't matter how much perceived value there was in the trades that we've already discussed. As they say in the cab industry, "You're only as good as your last ride." Right now, future performance is no meter to judge current status on. We're not a rebuilding ballclub, so the future is useless to the job security of Joe or Cashman. All I care about is preventing a return to the 80s. Not winning it all is bearable. Not good, but bearable. But ending the season behind Boston AND Toronto is inconceivable. Not with the total talent on this team. If we end behind both of them PLUS Baltimore, I may not recover. I don't even want to think how it would feel to end behind Tampa Bay too.
I don't know why everybody thinks Casman did anything at all for the Yankees anyway. It was Bob Watson who put together the team that won those rings in the late 90s along with Steinbrenner himself. It was Steinbrenner making most of the decisions up until a year ago and what has Cashman done since then? Put a team on the field that got us bounced in the first round last year and one that has us off to the most miserable start I can remember.
This team needs a change,and i wouldn't be upset if Joe goes soon. The only thing is that it looks real stupid 20 games into the season when we could have had Piniella last year. Unless George didn't want Lou anyway. Mattingly will be the Yankees coach very soon.
That's not so bad. Manny Ramirez is hitting something like .192, and he's firmly entrenched in the cleanup spot for Boston. You don't move a guy like that unless it's been months and you have a better option. Who would you rather see there?
hmm..cleanup is not #3. You can afford to have your #4 guy be in a slump. The way the game is played and has always been played is that your best hitter hits #3. Torre could have had Arod there or Jeter and we would have won more games then we have. Abreu does not belong in the #3 spot and never has. Not on this team.
Abreu, when playing well, is the PERFECT number 3 hitter. He gets on base, and can hit for power. Jeter is more suited for the 2 slot, and A Rod is a perfect cleanup hitter. The top 4 of the Yankees lineup, when playing as they can, is pretty much exactly how you should set up that part of a lineup.
They never play as they can. That's the problem and why you can't just leave it untouched while losing 7 straight games. I'm not advocating changing the lineup daily but when Arod started off as hot as he did and Abreu made the last out of the inning more then 50% of the time in the first 20 games, you need to have made an adjustment. Actually, I don't care. It will get Torre fired and we will be better off anyway.
They seemed to do a pretty good job of it last year down the stretch. The hitting is not the Yankees problem. They are 6th in team average and lead the majors in runs scored. Meanwhile, they have the fourth worst ERA in all of baseball. If you really think the main problem with that team is Bobby Abreu batting third, you haven't been watching.
