Amazingly there was no off-the-field story-of-the-day today (yet). Have to say, it was weird. It has a tendency to be a circus around here, and the start of spring training has been my craziest time covering the team in three-plus seasons. But today was rather quiet. Jason Giambi took live batting practice for the second straight day and reported no problems with his surgically repaired wrist, though he admittedly is taking it slow. The players still don't know what to think about Bernie Williams. It seems some of them think he could still appear. I'd say that's highly unlikely...
Tomorrow pitchers will throw live batting practice to hitters. You can read into this however you want, but here are the seven who will throw to the major-leaguers on the main field: Mussina, Pettitte, Wang, Pavano, Igawa, Hughes and Sanchez.
Comments (33)
JIM B- How are the "young guns" looking and fitting into Yankee Camp? What about Igawa and that "slowed down" delivery? Bernie is now DOA, whether the Yanks want to admit it or not.
Rumor circulating that maybe Jim can look into:
A-Rod to the Cubs ? its rumored that jim hendry has been contacted by brian cashman about a possible movement of players that could include ceasar izturis, sean marshall, juan meteo, carlos marmol, angel guzman, minor league 3b prospect scott moore and casey mcghee. with possible return of carl pavano, a-rod.
Chip, where did that rumor come from? i read that in an espn chat earlier this afternoon, too.
If arod didnt agree to a trade over the winter, i couldnt be convinced he'd agree to waive that no-trade now, even if it was to play for Sweet Lou...
and there is no way i could see them moving arod for anything less than Zambrano to start with, and then go down the list from there.
and they'd have noone to take over at 3rd, unless they were to pull off another deal.
Now if they send ARod to Chicago for Zambrano plus prospects, then move a couple of pitching prospects not named Hughes or Sanchez for Mark Teahan, then you've got something to work with IMO...
Amen Don Zimmer!
check out his quote about the silly soap opera the media has created
Sheffield will be a cancer whereever he goes. Good riddance cry baby, lazy crazy Sheff.
As much as I'd like to get rid of A-ROD, I don't see any way the Yanks would benefit from this "possible" deal. No offensive "fire power" to replace A-ROD, and the pitchers the Yanks would get are mediocre at best, and that's facing NL hitters. A-ROD and Pavano for this Cub flotsam and jetsam? No way.
Roy- completely, 100% agree. its a bunch of second and third tier players, and none of which would ever be an impact player.
if they ever had the opportunity to move arod, which at this point i dont see how they could with the current structure of the offense, they need immediate impact mlb'ers, plus prospects.
that arod rumor is a bunch of crap, like the media blowing the jeter arod situation out of proportion and the britany spears thing. the members of the media who thrive on this stuff need to get a life or a real job.
If there is any backbone to this rumor anything less than the names Zambrano,Rick Hill or Ramirez wouldn't make a bit of sense for the Yanks.The Yanks already have an abundance of pitching prospects,no need for C- pitching prospects,if the Cubs felt strongly about this kid Moore they would have let Ramirez go and Isteris is a great field no hit middle infielder ,I believe the Yanks have 2 All Star players at 2nd &SS
A-Rod isn't going anywhere. He has a Full No Trade Clause.
Jim B.- nice to hear you had a day long break from the high-school shenanigans that has been Yankees' camp. Thanks for the great insight you're providing.
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Ruse,
Well said!
Sorry for some bad information. Turns out that rumor was started by a talk show host on one of Chicago's radio stations.
Lets see, here's another rumor: A-Rod and Jeter will be traded to Anaheim for Vladdy and Cabrera. Jim, can you look into that one please?
I'm glad it was quiet at camp today. No news is good news sometimes. I'm excited to hear about the pitching squad tomorrow. Jim let us know who looks better Hughes or Sanchez or Pavano. WIth all the work outs Pavano has had he might have the upper hand hopefully he doesn't get hurt.
Good Old Sheff didn't take long to take a shot at Joe Torre did he? He says "Joe took the fire out of me" when Joe didn't start him in the playoffs (game 3) last season. He shouldn't have started him in game 4 either (0 for 4, 3 whiffs). I am so happy Sheff is gone, even though he is a good player, I believe he is just a troublemaker.
Note to Bubba Crosby: Hey, hug everyone you can in Cincinnati, you guys can even spoon while watching the playoffs from Griff's house, that'll be a jolly good time!
Jayson Stark on Mike and Mike: "Red Sox are AL East"
http://espn-mp3-od.andomedia.com/espnpod2/espnradio/insider/mikeandmike/mikeandmike_02212007_8.mp3
Ok, I'm one of those people who do NOT believe in the ESPN bias against the Yankees. I also realize it's only March, and so I really don't care what those guys say. However, I heard Jayson Stark's interview with Greeny and Golic this morning, and I have to said I don't understand his logic at all. Listen to this and tell me what you think.
He said that Boston has 4 legitimate number 1 'ace' starters. He said that with that rotation they are the odds-on favorite to win the AL East. Now, he did mention the Red Sox bullpen, but completely downplayed it, as if it's a non-factor and it will just take of itself. I'm sorry, but I don't know where in the world he comes up with this notion that they have "4 number 1's." Schilling is a number 1, and Beckett is too, but Schilling is on the wrong side of 40, and Beckett looked like every other pitcher who goes from the AL to the NL. As for Matzusaka, how about Jayson Stark lets the guy log at least one major lead inning before we crown him an 'ace.' Some goes for Papelbon, lets let him show he's healthy, and log a few games as a starter before we crown him an 'ace.'
i don't think anybody could go wrong with picking either the yanks or boston to win the division... both teams are capable of winning it... i only give the nod to the yanks, because, i believe until someone beats you, then you have to be the favorite...
i don't believe sox think they have 4 legit no.1's... otherwise they wouldn't be interested in clemens... but you do have to give the starting pitching nod to boston...
Don't forget Jon Lester. If he's healthy and comes back, he is an outstanding young lefty prospect. And Wakefield is the 6th starter, long reliever.
The Sox do have a potentially sensational starting pitching staff. No question, ON PAPER, its better than the Yankees staff.
Matsuzaka has changed the equation in their favor for now.
Yankees still have miniscule advantage on offense. I only yesterday discovered Pecota and was trying to make some some sense of it. One Category I liked that has most detail encoded in it is SuperVorp. Yankees offensive advantage would have been bigger if not for couple of positions. Drew and Lugo really helped them close.
I was surprised to see that for 07 season, somehow Crisp had higher SuperVorp than Damon.
Either way, that is not where Yankees suffer. Doug score was -1.6 and our backup catchers were at -7 compared to Mirabelli.
Yankees really could have helped themselves if they could find a better 1B option and better backup catcher.
Penny wise and Pound foolish in this case - Mr. Cashman.
As of now the Yankees offensive advantage comes from HUGE years expected from DJ and A-Rod.
As far as Pitching, Matsuzaka puts Boston on top. (Which IMHO is better advantage than having offensive advantage)
Schilling and Mussina are close, Andy and Becket are close, but Matsuzaka is way ahead of Wang. Papplebon also gives them huge advantage, against either Iggy or Pavano.
Their reliever also score pretty good and best one for us is ofcourse Mo (but not huge score - probably due to age based regression), then Farnsworth followed by Proctor. They got plenty of MLB ready solid young guns (Lester, Hansen etc, lots of options). Our heavy guns are year and half away (Chamberlain, Betances, Kennedy).
The Pitching gap would narrow considerably when King Philip arrives in Bronx!!!
I think 4-5 weeks to polish off the rust is enough before we call in the cavlary, otherwise, their pitching advantage is real, no matter how badly we don't want to hear about it.
Either way there is always Wild-Card. By the end of the year hopefully, Sanchez, Beam, Cox, and Clip (I hope) should help us out too.
Bottom Line - ESPN's Boomer (only guy that I still like on that network) has a line - That's why they play the game.....
If Giambi is rejuvinated and healthy, if A-Rod has typical A-Rod year, if DJ has THE-MVP season that I know is in him, if Cano keeps turning into a super star.... if Pitchers keep us in the games, and if JUST ONE of 4-5 names in AAA have a breakout year as a middle reliever for Yanks.....the Division winning streak may yet continue......
phatphony81: "Their pitching advantage is real" "DMat is way ahead of Wang" Wang won 19 games for the Bombers,which tied him for the most in the majors.On paper DMAt is by a slim margin a slightly better pitcher than Igawa .Neither has yet proven anything so don't jump to conclusions.Pettitte and Mussina combined are better pitchers than Schilling and Beckett combined...the BoTox are rumored to be thinking about returning Papelbon to the bullpen....the Yanks have far more depth and experience in the bullpen than the BoTox....outside of DH and Leftfield and maybe 1st base the advantage is in NYs favor....the only reason Mirabelli is even in baseball is to catch Wakefield...Rick I need to borrow your machete!
Jim B; I read this as anyone might. This is how the Yankees would like this rotation to shake out. But, I believe it could be slightly misleading because their may be a trade by springs end. The guys who are trade bait have the initials CP and HS. So, Mr. Hughes maybe here sooner then expected. Unless CP surprises in a positive way. Other wise its the rotation on paper and the order of call up as things fall out of place.
Larry M: I don't see the Yanks trading Humberto Sanchez ,his fastball has been clocked at 95-100 mph which he compliments w/2 breaking pitches and he throws strikes.Let's not forget Ohlendorf who outside of Karstens might be major league ready...I just can't see the Yanks holding onto Pavano w/ all the pitching talent they have.If they do Scranton will have nearly a major league starting rotation on their hands.
Ah, for the good old days of Billy Martin having it out with Reggie Jackson!!
Why can't we see those days again!
Any truth to the rumor that Albert Belle is on the come back trail and is looking at homes in Scarsdale?
Just asking...
Yanks are load with prospects. Another words, unproven MLB players. How can you dump Pavano, if healthy, and bring in one of these guys?
Billy Martin once said soemthing to the effect of, Don't let a rookie fool you in March. Or was it, fool you in spring training? Anyway, the point is, the rookies sound great and may be great ... but for right now, I'll take Pavano(again, if healthy) over any of them. Until he pulls a hammy taking toast out of a toaster that is ...
To ruse,Ca. and Tony T. your comments are well taken. The lack of head to head competition for the pitchers is leading us into the guessing game of what if.
On another note I was hoping the Arod rants would slowly subside. But the media and some fans are continuing. No matter what he does on the field. It will not be enough for these two groups. Also, he may have to silly clue his lips shut.
Gary Sheffield is a piece of garbage. He should keep his forked tongue in his mouth.
Before he put on his Tigers No. 3 jersey for the first time, he added, "I am what I am."
And What you are Gary is a classless, crazy, lazy, self centered dirt bag.
I believe the Yanks are putting on this "dog and pony show" as if Pavano is really going to be in the rotation just to establish some kind of trade value for him. They are proceding like everything is great and Carla is our #4 man.
I think it's all a smoke screen just to get his value up. There is no doubt in my mind that he will be traded before opening day. The facts of the matter are that even when he did pitch (way back when), he sucked. So, I'll take any of our kids over him in a heartbeat.
Rick : I agree he has as much to prove as any "rookie".
From Ken Rosenthal:
The deeper tension with this club stems from the reality that the 2007 season could be something of a last hurrah. Posada, closer Mariano Rivera and manager Joe Torre — three of the four enduring cornerstones from the Yankees' four most recent championship teams, Jeter being the other — are entering the final years of contracts.
And that's not all.
A-Rod has the right to void his deal after this season. Left-hander Andy Pettitte has a player option for next season. Right fielder Bobby Abreu has a $16 million club option that the Yankees could decline if they decide to pursue a center fielder next winter, when Andruw Jones, Torii Hunter, Ichiro Suzuki and Mike Cameron will be free agents.
The difference, as I see it, between Pavano and the young pitchers who are in camp as competition is that the Yankees are desperate to get any kind of return on their investment from him. They will give him every benefit of the doubt.
While teams will be making offers for him, they will be offers of minor league junk if and only if the Yankees are willing to take back part of Pavano's contract. At that point if he's healthy enough to trade, the Yankees will decide he is also healthy enough to start for them.
Chip : Pavano's market value will continue to go up as ST progresses,as he is currently making less per yr than current free agent pitchers ,another team might be willing to swallow his entire contract.I think he is worth more than minor league "Junk" ,of course the market will dictate what he is worth.The Yankees getting a return on their investment might boil down to a good lefty reliever and a catching prospect which as it turns out maybe all he was worth to begin with.
The Yankees now have an abundance of "cheap" good pitchers, and are cutting the team payroll. This means Cashman will do everything he can to trade Pavano. He will not "give" the guy away, but he will move this player when he recieves an offer that will either improve the team immediately, or "down the road".
Ruse,
I agree with the sentiment, but the question to me is this:
Given the state of the Yankee rotation (injury questions around Mussina, Andy, Wang; uncertainty with the rest) if a team sees enough out of Pavano to trade for him this spring, wouldn't it stand to reason that he is also showing enough for the Yankees to keep him?
My thing is we have to take the emotion out of it. Yes he's been a disappointment, but do you trade him just to get him off the team when doing so may take a viable arm out of an already thin, yet deep, rotation?
Now if they could get a deal like they did for Randy, certainly you do it, but even given everything Pavano has or hasn't done, I don't think you give him away if he is healthy and effective.
Chip : I really don't have any abiding emotion about Pavano.I see it as a business transaction...the performance of a starting rotation is hard to predict,certainly more so than an established position player...the Yanks by virtue of scoring the number of runs they do don't need a 15 game winner out of a 4th or 5th starter...and I think out of the pool of minor league pitching talent the Yanks have someone equal to or more capable than Pavano will emerge...the only reservation I have is what Igawa will bring to the table...which I'm sure the Yanks will carefully monitor thru out ST...and his performance may dictate what the Yanks do with Pavano.
For instance, you have to admit it really was true when he said Bobby Abreu, his replacement in rightfield, "ain't me." Sheffield had 70 home runs and 244 runs batted in during his two full seasons as a Yankee.
See those two year Stats??
Bobby Abreau has some shoes to fill and don't give me that 10 million walks and 10 home runs and 80 rbi's etc.