On the Yankees beat

it's really getting annoying watching the yankees pitchers. igawa is a joke, aminor leaguers with no stuff, very high pitch counts and many walks.
the guy looks like he doesn't want to be out there, and i agree with him.
oh, and before you pounce on this monday morning QB - i wrote the same during spring training and after his "successful" start last week. he's got nothing.
a terrible move by cashman, the guy will not finish the year with the yanks (either demoted or traded).

Where would we be without A-Rod and Pettitte? It's bad enough where we are right now with them!

igawa's high pitch counts are inevitable. even when he gets 2 strikes he can't finish batters and they foul off tons of pitches. it doesn't matter if he is "on" that day or "off" (which i believe is his standard) - he is poison to the bullpen and makes jared wright look like a golden boy.

hoping and praying for clemens!!!

Gil,
Rick Keyes and I have both been saying exactly what you said. We did not have a good feeling about Igawa and it hasn't gotten any better. I think this guy is destined to be a "mop up" guy at best.

Mike: I've hated Clemens for a long time but I can't remember me wanting a player more than I want him back right now.

this has to be igawa's last start as a yankee. he is NOT a major leaguer, as all scouts said after cashman signed him. and yes, it is time to go out there and see what we can get via trade, the fact that it's april makes no difference - he will be this bad in july too...

We can not count on putting 7 runs every night. Someone has to pitch and win a 1-0 or a 2-1 game. I cant watch this crap 5 runs allowed a night

how many runs is this offense expected to score in order to win?????
this is redicolous.

Good god, Igawa is a nightmare.

A few observations:

Igawa sucks just like I suspected he would. Where is Lilly????

Melky is not what THEY said he would be. Where is Bernie????

Pavano is out for the rest of his contract just like I said he would be! Where is that bag of balls????

Farnsworthless and Myers are wastes of roster space just like I said they'd be.

Gee, Rick seems to be pretty accurate on alot of his predictions!!!

What about Torre?

I'd like to know your predictions on that old bag.

Igawa makes Jaret Wright look like a Cy Young candidate!!!! Giving him and Pavano spots in this rotation were HUGE Cashman mistakes. And, I pointed this out all winter long. We could of had a rotation of Wang, Pettite, Mussina, Lilly, and one of the kids or a combination of kids.

I told you what I think of him too! The pregame chant at the stadium should be Clueless Joe Needs to Go!!!!

ANy chance Igawa moves to the bullpen?

I imagine demoting him to Scranton would look embarassing.

Rick,
You and I agreed on all this all winter. The only thing I wouldn't do right now is fire Torre. Sure, he made a bonehead move on Friday (actually a few moves), but he can't pitch and he didn't acquire these pitchers so I don't blame him. He's wearing out the bullpen because the starters suck.

We agree on everything else though. I'd love to see my posts over the winter that said "I'm really worried about the starters". I think I said it 40 times. Grrrrrrrr.

the next move igawa makes is outta here. he has no business being in the majors. he is a pathetic excuse of a pitcher (for 46M dollars...)
cashman is absurd. the number 1 lesson from last season was - no more 5 innings pitchers like wright, got to get work horses - and he goes and gets igawa. and please don't take him off the hook - every single non yankee scout said the guy doesn't have it.
lilly is a good name, there were others worthy of no.5 spot. hell, gil meche only costs 2M a season, and he eats up tons of innings, whether he gets hit or not.

oh, and before you cite injuries, unknowns, who knews, could be's etc. as excuses - this is the richest team in baseball, there's no excuses for putting such garbage on the mound.

p.s. have you read jim b's column today, questioning the reality behind the hype of the "restocked farm"?

regarding former post - gil meche is only 2M dollars PER YEAR more than igawa.

Gene "Stick" Michael for GM. Demote Cashman NOW!!

The Yanks have burned out pitchers back to Habyan.

They couldn't help Lilly or Contreras.

Guys like Stanton were used and abused till they couldn't lift their arms.

They got Pavano instead of Beckett.

The Japanese imports, Irabu and Igawa aren't or weren't very good.

Why do they keep making so many mistakes? Oakland and Toronto got Lilly to change his motion and not throw across his body and he became and All Star.

Why can't the Yanks do things like that? If I can see it, why can't the so called experts see it?

For 200 million dollars you would expect more.

Still a fun team to watch, flaws and all with a lot of talent. It is still going to be a fun year.

poor bruney... torre has no respect for his pitchers, their careers and earnings potential. when proctor hits free agency he'll have torre to thank if he's undervalued due to to dead arm.

Now it will be poor Viscaino. This guy is also spent.

And Farnsworth just sits there licking his hand.

What a great pitching staff.

and there goes vizcaino... torre is a joke and cashman is a bigger joke. this is what you get for 200M dollars? teflon cashman used to play the media and blame GS for all the mistakes, but made it clear that it's "his" team for last 2 years - how about some accountability???????

If this keeps up, Steinbrenner might finally wake up and shake up this team. Too bad though it could be somebody like Guidry who gets the hook.

Problem with firing Torre, who is going to replace him? Mattingly? Don't think he is ready. Seems like he would have the same style as Torre.

i have never seen such an un-motivated group as the yankees relievers seem to be. they are out of gas and don't want to be out there - and for good reasons!

p.s. earlier there was a close play at the plate with phelps sliding, and despite the good call TB's managers came out to argue.
a second ago jeter got baldelli out but the umpire blew the call. where is torre out to argue? wake up his sluggish team? support his exhausted pitcher? he's drinking tea. what an idiot.

torre can be replaced by girardi, though cashman would never make such a gutsy call. he wants no personality drones who will offer automatic support for him and help his battle against tampa HQ.

hmm... no pinch running for giambi today? but why? it is such a well tested brilliant move.

scenario for tonight:

1) torre has one of his annual "closed door meetings" with the players.

2) players are quoted saying torre was serious and stern but did not yell or scream.

3) cashman blurbs some nonsense about getting guys back.

4) someone tries to catch GS leaving tropicana, gets a one syllable quote.

no one fires torre...

where the hell is farnswoth???? if he can't pitch more than once a week, shut him down are create roster space.

Finally the light is being shone upon Cashman!

Step 1 is his ouster.

What a joke! 8 runs and they can't beat the Devil Rays!

Where is the BOSS when we need him? George, I implore you to take charge! This disaster is all on Cashman and Torre! Get rid of these guys and let's get moving with some real leadership!!!

Why on earth is Mendoza Melky batting LEADOFF??? Bat Jeter leadoff and Cano 2nd. At least they can hit!!!

Igawa is a AA pitcher AT BEST. And he's here as a SP for 4 years?????

It's hard to believe how things are unraveling now ... Igawa needs to go. The bottom to the top of the order, Dougy and Melky and will Nieves in there ... this is a 200 million dollar team? The scouts in Asia must be seeing double after a night in Bangkok. It's becoming a disgrace. The Yanks can score but the relievers are burning out ... lots of hard throwers, Bruney, Proctor, Farnsworth(notless) and Mo ... but they can't be dragged out there EVERY DAY to pitch, plus all the warm ups, and its only April. Why not sign Kip Wells instead of Igawa. And again, why get Pavano instead of Beckett? Cashman and Torre need to quickly light a fire, make a move ... if Hughes gets knocked around, it could get ugly. If Moose comes back and gets hurt again ... it could get uglier. Let's try to be positive with Wang and Moose coming back, Hughes on the way and Clemens in the wings. George S. must be really holding back a tantrum. He should be livid. If you can't beat Tampa Bay when you score 8 runs, how can you win the World Series. On a positive note, way to go A-Rod.

if the spiral continues torre would get fired they are waiting. PR disaster is the only fear. when andy pettite is the only hope on the pitching staff it looks bad. clemens is coming to the Yankees he see's the run support. some of the young guns if they continue to slip here and in the minors will be package for more young established pitchers. Stick michael would be interm if cash is canned mid season he may go because he supported Torre , also for demanding more power which is not shown