G-Man Comes Thru Twice & Free Agent Talk

Jason Giambi delivered twice in the final game of the Boston series. He hit a two-run pinch hit homer in the bottom of the 7th off lefty specialist Okijima. And then hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the 9th off Pabel-Bum. So, the Yanks salvage 1 game in the series.

Jason's had a pretty good year. That being said, I still hope the Yanks don't resign him. Giambi is representative of the post Tino Martinez/Paul O'Neill Yankees. Big payrolls...Larger than Life Superstars...and Zero Championships. Besides that, the Yankees need to infuse some youth into this Geriatric bunch and at the same time improve the defense and team speed.

Mark Texiera would be a good fit but I'm not sure if the Yanks can get him. I think the Angels will try to keep him and they have the money to do it. And when the Angels come with the money they have the advantage of being in sunny California. Even though Texiera is from the East Coast, Maryland, he seems to have a very laid back personality that may suit the West Coast more. We'll see though...because with Scott Boras, his agent,...it will always come down to the most $$$$.

I hear CC Sabathia has said he wants to play on the West Coast. Yikes!!! Whether true or not...it's a good marketing tactic to let other teams know you are not set on going to the Yanks. It pretty much forces them to negotiate with you. Can the Angels or the Dodgers look their fans in the face if Sabathia is pretty much saying he wants to play for you...and you don't make an offer??? But again...it's about the money and the years...and after this year the Yanks, or should I say, Hank, is not going to miss out on getting a front line starter like they did with Santana.

It's Over

After last nights beat down by the Sawx, 11-3, the Yanks are done. They are not going to the playoffs. I don't want to hear that because they are not mathematically eliminated, they still have a chance. This team is done. Stick a fork in them.

And we can't blame this season on ARod, or Girardi, or Cashman. No, this has been a true team effort. The Yanks just aren't one of the top 4 teams in the American League and don't deserve to make the playoffs.

Injuries have been a big part of the poor performance but all teams have injuries. The Red Sox have been hit pretty hard too. They have lost Schilling, Beckett, Ortiz, Lowell, Drew, & Wakefield to injuries at some point this season. Then they had Manny pretty much tanking it for parts of the season...yet they have managed to be there all year. The Rays have had injuries too.

The Yanks have too many players that are past their prime. And with the crackdown on PED's and amphetamines these old guys aren't putting up numbers like they used to. Homers are down in baseball. You see it all over the league. Most teams have seen the trend and adapted. More "small ball" is being played. But the Yanks were unable to adapt. Still, they wait for ARod or Giambi to hit the 3-run homer. More often than not, it doesn't come.

And our young players didn't help us much this year. Cano & Cabrera regressed. Brett Gardner couldn't hit big league pitching yet. Rasner is himself...a good AAA pitcher. Kennedy & Hughes didn't perform and then injuries got 'em. Joba was doing great til the injury bug caught up with him too.

If you look at the Sawx, it's the young guys carrying them...Pedroia, Lester, Lowrie, Elsbury and even Loukilis. Is he young? I guess he is. So, even though Ortiz is having an off year...The Sawx are getting contributions from other guys.

With the Yanks, if ARod doesn't do it...we don't win. It's too much on one guy. Everybody needs to contribute. That's what winning teams do. That's what the Yankees used to do.

Time to look to next year. The Yanks run at making the playoffs is over.

Season On the Line

Big series with the Sawx. We really need to sweep but 2 out of 3 at the very least is acceptable I guess. We need to try to get these first 2 because Lester pitches for the Sawx in Game 3 and he's been tough on the Yanks this year. Pettitte vs Wakefield tonight.

...Pettitte works out of trouble in first and Damon goes deep leading off. Good start so far.

...I've watched a lot of Yankee games this year. ARod has to lead the league in 1st inning strike outs. I have to find the stats for this...

...Two slow rollers that Arod could not make a play on. Then a lined single to left from Elsbury makes it 1-1. I'll say this about Arod at 3rd. He's steady. He won't make the spectacular play and he doesn't get to balls if they're not hit right at him. But he's steady. Basically, an average fielding third baseman. He'll probably win a Gold Gove there one day because of his bat, but he's no Craig Nettles (or Scott Brosius for that matter).

...I'm not an expert on the knuckleball. But Wakefield seems to be leaving a lot of his pitches up. He's coming back from the disabled list so maybe he's not quite on.

...Two out RBI single from Molina. Anytime you get some offense from Molina it's gravy. 2-1 Yanks after 2.

...Alex Rodgriguez has 23 strike outs on the year in the 1st inning. That's in 67 at bats including tonight. So, he strikes out more than 33% of the time when he bats in the 1st inning. And since he bats 4th exclusively...most of the time there is a runner on base (either that or a runner has already scored). Considering he still bats .318 in the 1st inning on the year...imagine what if he could do if he made more contact.

...Meanwhile Pettitte gave up 2 runs in the top of the 3rd. He's not getting hit hard. But he's getting hit often.

...Michael Kay just said ARod has hit into 8 DP's in his last 19 games. This is turning into a diss ARod post for some reason. I really do like him. I do. I do.

...Sawx have scored 5 of 6 runs with 2 outs. Pettitte done for the night. Of the 10 hits against Pettitte, maybe 2 were hit hard. But the Sawx have a line-up of guys who put the ball in play and make you work.

...Ok. ARod's up with two on and the yanks down by 3. I say he comes thru. Lord knows he's due.

...He pops out to shallow center field.

...I'll say this...If Pettitte and ARod don't perform at a very high level down the stretch the Yanks are done. Our best pitcher and our best hitter have to carry us. It's the only way the Yanks have a chance. We're in too much of a hole.

...The Sawx have a chance to bury us in this series. To put the proverbial "nail in the coffin". Last year they couldn't do it when they had the chances.

...Ok. This is the season: bases loaded. Arod up...

...He grounds into a double play to end the inning. ARod tonight: O for 4, 2 GIDP's, SO, Pop out. And they're booing him.

...I told you the Sawx want this game. They brought Papelbon in in the 8th with a 4 run lead. I don't blame them. They have a chance to bury the Yanks and they're going for it.

Bobby Socks!!!

Bobby Abreu was 5 for 5 last night against the O's. Bobby's been hitting the ball well lately. Well, actually he's been pretty consistent all year. Which leads me to the question:

Will the Yanks resign him?

Abreu leads the Yankees in RBI's with 82. He's hitting .292 with runners in scoring position. With runners in scoring position and 2 outs he's hitting .396. Offensively, he may be the Yanks MVP this year.

Bobby doesn't hit for a lot of power anymore but he really never has been that much of a power hitter. Playing during the Steroid Era, he hit over 30 HR's only twice in his career. Over the course of his career he averages 22 HR's over 162 games played. I think winning the Home Run Derby one year made lots of people think, myself included, that he was big slugger. But he's not. He's a high on base percentage, spray the ball to all fields type of hitter.

Defensively, he catches what's hit at him (and not much else) and he's got a fairly strong, accurate arm. His base stealing has been poor this year. He's 14 out of 24 and since he hits in front of one of the best hitters ever, he really needs to be more judicious in when he runs. But all in all, he's a good baserunner.

I've been saying that the Yanks shouldn't resign Abreu for next year. But now, I'm thinking they should. I wouldn't want to give him more than 2 years and nowhere near the $16 million he's making this year. But there aren't a lot of corner outfielders that would be available to replace him. And there are no prospects in the Yankee farm system ready to take over.

The Yanks have a lot decisions to make this offseason. Mussina, Pettitte, Giambi, Abreu and Ivan Rodgriguez are free agents. Will they go after C.C. Sabathia? Or Mark Texiera?

But for a team that has struggled scoring runs all year, it would be somewhat foolish to let your most consistent hitter go to free agency. I hope they resign him.

Tyler Kepner of the NY Times had his take on Abreu here.

Bad Night for the Yanks

Bottom line....We probably weren't beating Halladay anyway even if we didn't give up 14 runs. But we drop another series and you can't keep dropping series. We are at the point that we have to start getting some sweeps to make a run at this thing.

Since the 8 game winning streak we had after the All-Star Break, has this team shown any sign of putting together another hot streak? We need to sweep the O's this weekend. But that will be difficult because...



Carl Pavano is the scheduled starter on Saturday. Are we desperate for starting pitching or what?!?!

Pavano is pitching for his next heist...uh...I mean contract. So, I fully expect him to pitch well the rest of the year. Then, over the winter, he'll sign with another team and he'll be comeback player of the year. So, effectively he'll continue to screw the Yanks even after his brittle azz is gone. If I was the Yanks, I wouldn't pitch him at all. Why should he get a chance to audition for other clubs at our expense?

So when you wonder why we are hanging our hopes on kids like Hughes, Kennedy & Joba, it's because of deals like Pavano's: 4 YEARS, $40 MILLION, 5 WINS.

We Need This One

This is the only favorable pitching match-up of the Toronto series tonight. Pettitte versus David Purcey. Purcey is 2-3 with a 5.93 ERA in 6 starts. We need to punish this guy early and often.

By the way...I miss the old Blue Jays' uniforms as pictured above. They remind me of Dave Stieb. The new uni's look like the Rays'. When the two teams play each other I don't know who's who.



....BASES LOADED NO OUTS...AROD up in the first. I say he strikes out....Let's see what happens...He pops out to short right. Runners hold. Productive at bat from the best player in the game. But thanks to the Giambino and The X Man we get 2 runs. The punishment has commenced.

...For all the talk of Derek Jeter's demise....he's 2 for 2 bringing his average to .297. He could very easily have a hot September and end up hitting .310 to .315. I know his power numbers are down but power numbers are down throughout the Majors. All in all he's having a very good year.

It's 5-1 going into the 8th. Funny how easy the game looks when you get a well-pitched ballgame and you score some runs. It's not over but Pettitte is cruising. Boston is losing in Baltimore. Maybe we can pick up a game. I hope, I hope.

Ok. We got one. Now we need to find a way to beat Halladay tomorrow. Good Luck , Mr Ponson. You're going to need it.

The Fat Lady is warming up

OK. Here we are. It's August 20th. The Yanks are 11 games behind Tampa Bay. (That still doesn't sound right). And we're 6 1/2 games behind The Sawx for the Wild Card. We're actually closer to the cellar of the American League East (6 games seperate us from the cellar dwelling O's) than we are to the Wild Card.

Time to stop kidding ourselves.

Last night's game was a microcosm of the Yanks season:

1) Decent starting pitching

2) Poor offense

3) Defensive & Base-running mistakes at the worst times.

Things could get ugly now. If the Yanks start to realize they are out of it....I don't see alot of guys who will have the pride to play out the string. The Yanks could easily drop below .500 if they aren't careful.

It's almost time to bring up Hughes, put Gardner in center and see where we stand for next year. I like that Matsui is back but Gardner was starting to hit...and he catches that ball in center last night. Shucks, I catch that ball. Okay, maybe not, I probably don't even get a glove on it but I digress.

The next week is critical. If we drop back to say 8 games in the wildcard, God forbid, you have to come to grips that we ain't catching nobody.

OH!!! Woe is us!!! Where have you gone Joe Torre!

It's Getting Late Early

The Yanks start an important series tonight against the Toronto Blue Jays. They have AJ Burnett going tonight and face Roy Holladay in game 3. I'm watching the game and it's in the 6 inning. The Yanks lead 1-0 despite the fact that Burnett has like 19 strike outs. ARod and Giambi are 0 for 6 with 6 K's. You can say what you want about the Yanks starters but Rasner is getting it done tonight. If we don't make the playoffs this year the reason will be due to OFFENSE or lack there of.

Hideki Matsui is DH'ing tonight. Good to see him back in the line-up. He's a professional hitter who comes thru in the clutch.

...Update...Mr. Burnett has 13 K's thru 7. His career high is 14. All those strike outs means lots of pitches, though. He's at 110 now. Meanwhile Rasner has thrown 72 thru 6 1/3. I'd hate to lose this game. Rasner pitching a gem, out-dueling Burnett. We need this one.

Rasner just gave up a towering home run to Adam Lind. Tie ball game. Rasner coming out. He did a heck of a job. What more can you ask from him? Now it's up to the bullpen and the offense.

Veras got the final out for Rasner in the 7th. Still 1-1 in the bottom of the 8th. Looking forward to the ninth the Yanks have the middle of the order coming up...ARod, The Giambino, and The X Man. One of these guys needs to jerk one out. Then we can bring Mo in to end it...and we all go to sleep happy. Is that too much to friggin' ask???

Johnny Damon just dropped a routine fly ball in the 8th with 2 outs. The go ahead run scores from first. He dropped a fly ball in the 1st as well. I don't have any words. Unbelievable. That's all I can say.

I've calmed down enough to say this...The Yankees need to find a center fielder for next year. It has nothing to do with Damon's performance tonight. To be honest, him dropping 2 balls is just a fluke. In both cases he made it to the balls with time to spare but just dropped them. It's the kind of thing that happens to a an outfielder once in a career. But Cabrera is not the answer and Damon is too old to play the position for a full year.

ARod thrown out trying to leg out a double. Awful game for ARod, 3 K's and a bone head attempt to stretch a single to a double with no outs, and down a run in the 9th.

Give Giambi the Golden Sombrero for his 4 strike out of the night. Nady flys out to end it. TERRIBLE loss for the Yanks.