On the Yankees beat

1. Plant the flag like Shackleton in Alaska ...

Today's topic ...

Rank the best teams in the AL

Boston
Cleveland (If they get Harren)
Detroit
Yankees
Angels

Is this list accurate?

Matsui is old but should be traded for more than some Sanchez guy from the san fran pen.

Pavano is guilty of grand larceny.

Ant, I believe that is accurate. Let me ask you this though, how many times did the "experts" rank the yank #1 over the past 7 years. I think 5 of those 7 years we were ranked the best in the league, only to fail. I have toilet paper with pre-season rankings on it.

Matsui doesn't have much value. If the Yanks can get a decent pen arm for him, they should. Othewise he becomes another aging high salary sitting on the bench .Barring injury, Damon and Giambi are going to get more playing time than he will. I say thank him for his service, tip your cap to him, dump his salary, and bring a prospect up to get some major league experience.

Detroit - Red Sox - Cleveland - Angels - Yanks - Mariners - Twins (if Santana + Nathan stay)

Tigers are ahead of Sox ... better line-up and I think better pitching (other than their closer) ... Yanks will be in a dog fight w/ Indians, Mariners and possibly Twins and Blue Jays for a wild card spot

I don't believe the Mariners will be much
I think the Red Sox, Yankees, Tigers and Angels are the head of the class.

Something about the Blue Jays scare me if they avoid injuries.
I think the Indians will have a let down.

Rankings are not accurate. Detroit has offense but not enough pitching. Cleveland has pitching, but not enough offense. Here are the correct rankings as of now (but Yankees will move up if kid trio come through as hoped...):

Boston
Los Angeles
New York
Cleveland (without Haren, he's staying in Oakland)
Detroit

Yankee Bri

Come on man that's low.

For my list I'm gonna use the amount of space to illustrate the gaps I believe exist between each of the teams...

Scenario 1.
Red Sox (if they don't get Santana)
Tigers

Yanks
Indians

Angels
Mariners

Twins (if they keep Santana and Nathan)

Scenario 2.

Redsox (if they DO GET Santana)

Tigers

Yanks
Indians

Angels
Mariners

Twins (if they trade Santana for anything less than Bucholz)

Mike...from last thread on Garcia vs Moose..

MIke - I dont think Fat Freddy is that much of an upgrade.

Fred
07 - 5.90 ERA...1.60 WHIP

Mike
07 - 5.15 ERA...1.47 WHIP

Moose had a bad year, but it was better than Freddy. Plus just last season Mike was =

197in...3.51 ERA...1.11 WHIP...1.60 BB9

Fat Freddy's lowest ERA the past 5 years is 3.81. The rest of the years he was in the mid 4's. As old as Mussina is, he's actually been injured less than Fat Freddy over the past 2 years. Keep Mike this year, dump him after the season and get a new fresh face from the minors..Alan Horne and the gang are ready to come up. Im sure that one of those SP's can get us a 5.90 ERA for much less money.

I found a new pastime while the blog was bloated and semi-abandoned. Here's the link to the Yankees all-time roster on Wikipedia, which lists everybody who's played even one game in the uni, and their year(s):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Yankees_all-time_roster

Most of the names on the list have a link to their own listing in Wikipedia, whether it's a paragraph for some little-known guy from 1925 or an article about Allie Reynolds (who was lauded here the other day).

When you have a few minutes to kill you can track names you never heard of or find out something new even about a recent Yankee. For example, I didn't know that Miguel Cairo has the highest winning percentage of team wins when he plays in a game of any player in the majors in 2007.

Talk about a trivia trove!

DAMN THE THING DIDN'T LET ME USE MY SPACES IDEA!!

Scenario 2.

Redsox (if they DO GET Santana)
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Tigers
.
.
Yanks
Indians
.
.
Angels
Mariners
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Twins (if they trade Santana for anything less than Bucholz)

In this scenario, Yankees become top ranked team:

Pitching records, Sept 15, 2008:

Joba Chamberlain 18-6, 2.29
Phil Hughes 15-9, 3.38
Andy Pettite 15-8, 4.04
Chien-Ming Wang 16-10, 3.56
Ian Kennedy 12-9, 4.27

While some may see this as pipe dream, I don't. We might look back 10 months from now and say how did everyone so underestimate the Yankees pitching rotation.

Sevrox:

Thanks for the reminder about Walt "No Neck" Williams #13. How could I have forgotten "No Neck"? His great years were with the Chisox but he did end his career as a Yankee.

By the way, I hope you're right about Cano and that he will learn to play with his full heart and mind as well as his huge talent, but those just seem like such innate qualities that I'm not sure a spoiled guy in his mid-20's is suddenly going to change.

But Go Robbie! Let's see that #24 jersey move with spirit again!

Steve O,
Matsui with 100 RBI, 100 runs scored per year seems like valuable to me (even with a bad knee this year). Check his batting average with RISP, then tell me if he doesn't have much value. Average outfielder who gets rid of the ball, not the worst but not the best. He is an offensive outfielder, kind of like Reggie was, but with a higher batting average and less homeruns. Very clutch with RISP. Can not discount that fact. How many are out there?

Why does everybody keep putting Wang in the middle of the pack in all our pitching estimates??

WANG WILL AGAIN WIN THE MOST GAMES FOR US LIKE HE HAS 2 YRS RUNNING.

Playoffs??

I start Andy for 3 straight games.

Pump him full of cortisone and amphetamines if you have to.

As stated before, my toliet paper has as much value as preseason rankings. With that said, people are ranking the Angels too low.

Lackey
Escobar
Weaver
Garland
Saunders
Santana ( Ervin )
Krod
Shields
Speirer

They have great pitching and solid defense. This year Juan Rivera (wish the Yanks still had him) will be healthy. They can now move Vlad to DH and put Mathews in RF, Hunter in CF, Anderson in LF, Willits as a 4th OF to make up a great OF. They get a full year out of Kendrick and Napoli. There offense is gonna be very good. Not to mention they have solid AAA guys on the way with Wood and that SP (cant remember his name) on the way. They have a good deep team. They will run away with the West, F the Mariners.

The Tigers have great hitting, but they are all free swingers. You can get those guys out with good offspeed stuff. They have good SP, but if Bonderman goes down again they are screwed in the rotation. Plus they didnt address their biggest weakness, their bullpen. Zumaya will be out the entire season and the rest of the guys are very hittable. Plus they have NO farm left to back these guys up if they get injured.

The Indians will be good again with their pitching. They will also get a bounce back year from Travis Hafner who might be the strongest man on earth. Looks for the Indians to win that division with the Tigers close behind.

The Sox are the deepest team from top to bottom, but they are beatable, the yanks wil be right on their heels all season.

Those 5 teams are the cream of the crop, but each has a weakness or two.

Sox
Angels
Indians
Yanks
Tigers

Sounds about right...now hold one while I print this out to wipe….AHHHHHHH

AZ Yankee Fan , I am with you. Those numbers look good - although I gave 'em all 16 - 18 wins each in my anti-Bosox getting Santana rantings. Your numbers look sound.

Sorry but Angels are better than Yankees right now as currently constituted ... Indians may be in for a down year (I don't see Carmona having the same kind of year) but you also have to think the kids get better (peralta, their 2b) and keep in mind Hafner had an "off" year (he wasn't his dominant self) ... Mariners are in the mix for Bedard, and the two Japanese players (Kuroda and Fukodome) so if they land 2 of 3 that could be trouble

looks like Yanks need everything to click (kids pitch well, stay away from injuries AND bullpen is not a disaster) for them to claim the wild card ... that's alot to ask

Drew, LOL!!! Plop, plop.

so...do I, or do I not, buy an Ellsbury Jersey?

AZ -SIGN ME UP BROTHER!!!!!! Id take those stats in a NY minute.

Cas

Wait and buy a Santana jersey.

Phuck,

You know I'll love the guy if he comes to the Sox and is what he has been over the past 4 years...because the Sox will be like the Patriots....but, I really really hate to see this kid Ellsbury go...

Cas

LOL...

Cry me a river while I play this tiny violin..

Casual,
Hold off on the Ellsbury jersey for now. My new rule for buying jersey's is I only buy those of players that have retired or died. The Yankee Jersey's I own: Home: 15 (Muson), 21 (O'Neill). Away: 23 (Mattingly); 51 (Bernie).

This rule especially applies to football. Never, EVER, buy a jersey bearing the name of an NFL player, ESPECIALLY if he has just signed a 10 yr contract with your favorite team.

Back to business: Matsui is only 33, although he looks pretty old for his age, so it's not really fair to say he's old and washed up. Even in a year when he was injured from spring training on he hit 25 HR's and drove in 100+ runs. I like this guy as a player and I definitely think he's worth more than a bullpen arm.

AZ,

Just wondering -- why do you predict Wang will win three games fewer than usual this coming season?

yeah, I know....but it will be painful watching this kid mature into an AS caliber player in a Twinks uni....and THEN...WATCH...as soon as he is due for his payday...the Yanks will sign him....ugh!

Jim,

I have Petey's, Nomar's, Yaz, and Schilling.....I wouldn't be caught dead wearing Petey's jersey now...or Nomar's....

Man if they let you slide without Bucholz in this deal I'm gonna start watching more golf and less baseball.

Also notice Mussina is nowhere to be found. He needs to be traded (Philly is a good fit for trade partner). He is a detriment in the clubhouse and his whining about not starting on regular schedule, who his catcher is, etc. is a bad influence on the kids.

Casual,

Schilling?

I will never be able to think of you the same again.

Phuck,

Everything I've read indicates that Bucholz is "untouchable"....but who the hell knows?

Cas,

I want to buy a Gagne jersey

Grampa,

I admit it..I got caught up in the bloody sock.

AZ,

Mussina a detriment in the clubhouse?

He's one of the starting pitchers who has been most praised for helping young pitchers develop new pitches.

Lord knows some of our young guys are going to need it...

Thats what I'm sayin, Jim A. Matsui is worth way more than an average, or in this case, below average arm. He is worth at least a #3 starter and 2 young bullpen arms. So, worst case scenario, keep Godzilla.

Cas Ob, Please order your Ellsbury shirt asap. And your Santana shirt too. They will both shrink in the wash!

Casual,
I believe there will be a moratorium on wearing Pedro/Sox jersey's a few years after he retires. He will always be remembered for things he did in a Red Sox uniform so let's make the rule now: 4 years after he retires, all you Red Sox fans can break out your Pedro jersey's.

The same rule may apply for Nomar, but how about Boggs? Obviously he committed the cardinal sin of playing for the Yanks so that may cost him some years.

Sully,

I'm not one to typically correct someone elses typo's, as I have so many of my own...but in this case it is warranted.

You mean Gagme....right?

Wang has become a little too predictable. Batters are starting to lay off the sinker, and he is not as effective against the disciplined teams.

I would love to see him develop a changeup or even a slider. Something he can throw for a strike to mix it up.

I've only once had a specific number on a Red Sox jersey

#4... for Butch Hobson

Mikey,

Like Peyton says...I aint 23 or younger, and I aint a pro football player...so I need larger shirts, not ones that shrink.

ERIC GAGNE....

HOW DID THAT JACKASS GET 10 MILLION DOLLARS OUT OF THE BREWERS!!

Must be a Boras guy.

I had several other jerseys...mostly from the 70's vintage (which I bought then)...but I wore them alot...so many of them have just...uh...."shrunk"...you know

if Gagme can get $10mm clams, as a washed up closer,...just think what Santana will cost.

I'd love to see the Sox go after Inge...the guy can catch, play both corners of the infield and outfield....has pretty damn good pop in his bat and a decent obp. He would be the residing "super-sub" in my 08 Sox squad. With that much versatility, he would be a lock for 450 ab's....

I'd rather the Red Sox get another reliever.
Okajima strikes me as a one hit wonder.
I think Okajima translates into English as "Dexy's Midnight Runners."

plus.....his wife is from the Boston area.

Sully,

My guess is the Sox will indeed look for middle relief...much like just about every team ....but they do have some options/depth....let's not forget about Breslow/Lopez/Hansack/Hansen/Pauley/Snyder/ and Edgar Martinez to go with the current bp of Tavares/Oki/Delcarmen/Timlin/Donnely (likely after the AS break) and Papelbon.

like I said... I hope the Red Sox get another reliever

Yes...well there is no guarantee that BP will once again have the best era/holds in MLB again in 08, but it is pretty solid...all things considered...not to mention with the possibility of 7 starters, the bp could include Bucholz, or Wakes...Lester...who knows....

Point is, if those guys dont make you swoon with delight, who will?.

Middle relief is the hardest facet of the game to predict..

It's obvious teams with talent to trade are looking to pull a heist this winter with the Yankees as the mark. Give Cashman credit for not impersonating Andy Garcia in an Ocean's XX movie.

Here is my take on bullpens. Most years the teams with the greatest success didn't carefully construct their relief corps, they mostly just got lucky. Look at ChiSox 3 yrs ago, Detroit last year, Indians this year. Didn't import proven names, just found hard throwers who can deliver strikes. Hell this year Dbacks rode a bunch of no-name relievers all the way to the LCS.

Yankees may have found a gold nugget with Albaladejo. His numbers, both minors and majors, are impressive. Jose Veras is pitching well in winter ball; and I liked his aggressiveness the times I've seen him. And Humberto Sanchez might show up next summer and be the 2008 version of Joba.

LaTroy Hawkins and Farnsworth don't come with much hope, but we'll see what a little TLC from the Yankees coaching staff can do.

All in all the Yanks have enough arms to try out in the pen that they just have to hope to get lucky and find a couple who can deliver.

Good point.

Middle relievers are a crap shoot. Very few MLB pitchers want to be a middle reliever...the money sucks (comparatively), you stand the chance of being forever defined by your failures, rather than your successes, and only a select few are consistent year in and year out. If the pitcher is any good....he would be a starter or a closer first, set up guys are usually youngsters trying to move up, or old farts trying to hang on.

I am still holding out hope that the Yanks can package Matsui with a vey good pospect (AJax, Horne) fo Lincecum or Cain. Wishful thinking I know, but hey the Giants did give Zito that contract last year so you never know.

Matsui has value - 100 RBI gus ae not easy to find and I dont buy much into the argument about o being in that lineup - he still had to get hits with men on base. People focus too much on home run hitters - In fact you could make the argument that a player who drives in 100 with 20 homers is more valuable than a guy who drives in 100 with 40 homers. I am wondering why he seems to be willing to waive his no trade clause with no fuss - no word of posturing for a contract extension. Wonder if he is unhappy in NY, or maybe its the posibility of decreased playing time and/or hqaving to fight for a job in the spring.

Also, he only has 2 years left on the contract and baseball has gone the way of teams lusting for short term committments.

Chris ... what's your address? I'm mailing you a new keyboard for Christmas.

If the Red Sox get Santana, why bother ranking the teams, but hee goes mine

1. Red Sox - the best team with or without Santana. With Santana possibly the best team I have ever seen on paper

2 Detroit - Injuries derailed them last year and with Miggy their line-up is scary to go along with good pitching

3. Indians - Great young team will just get better. I think they will be the most underated team going into next season. I see them almost on par with Detroit because of the impovement I see their young stars making.

4. Angels - Again great young pitching and I see them adding a big bat from somewhere before the trade deadline

---What do all those teams have in common - If you said they have an Ace - then you get 2 gold stars

5. Yanks - Granted I am a pessemist, but for me this is a best case scenario. Depending on 3 young pitchers is going to be tough. No matter how much talent they have - there are going to be growing pains in the rotation and bullpen. Many young pitchers can stuggle mightly their first year so you have to think their is a chance that eithe Joba or Kennedy have some vey rough stretches. Also the bullpen is a total crapshoot as bullpens typically are - the added problem though is that it will be full of kids making the probability of it having major problems increase.

Its a shame that every one of these teams is better than anything the NL has to offer up yet one will be left out.

Also watch out for an improved Rays team. Not playoff ready yet, but I love what they have done this offseason and they are getting closer and closer to becoming contenders -

Rays in 2010 - mark it down

sorry about the "r" key - I try to catch them, but miss a lot --- hopefully my messages are at least comprehendable

Well, let's get real baseball fans. No quality starter under 30 will get traded for anything less than a king's ransom. There are just too few of them to go around, and they are THE most valuable commodity.

So forget about Lincecum, or Haren, or Santana, Bedard, Kazmir, etc. Instead of lusting after the greener grass, how about being thankful that the Yanks have FOUR of these commodities in their rotation next season!

After complaining for years that the Bombers don't develop talent, now fans are looking for it elsewhere when what we need is already in hand. Remember the bird in hand theory, and give credit to Cashman for holding on to what could be a rotation to rival the 60's era Dodgers or Orioles.

Sully,

Dexie's Midnight runners??????????? Lmao , we have to be about the same age with some of the off the wall things you throw out there. Very funny and I hated that damn "come on eileen" song ....cept for the version my friends and I made up ;-)!

AZ ,

Holy crap , I like your starting pitching line! If it is anywhere near that you are my new hero ;-)!

CO,

Very true regarding middle relievers! They aren't good enough to start , set up or close..........or they would be ;-).

I am all for allowing younger starters , with the correct mental makeup , a shot at middle relief...if a starting job isn't available in the rotation. At least they get to whet their teeth on MLB hitting and hopefully learn from the vets?

Gee, some people must not believe their eyes. I have been watching baseball for 40 years, and here are the names that came to mind watching Chamberlain this season:

Gibson, Drysdale, Palmer, Blue, Seaver, Clemens, Gooden, Guidry

If you don't believe Joba is as good as these guys, then your baseball instincts need a major tune-up. Almost every one of these guys dominated from their first season in the league (remember what Gooden did at the age of 19, look up his 1985 stats!)

The Yankees have their Beckett, Sabathia, Verlander, Lackey. He's been heaven sent from the Land of Joba. Hughes is their Carmona, and Pettite & Wang as good as any 3-4 starters around.

So why the despair in Yankee-land? Yes, they could suffer injuries, or get pounded now and then. That happens to every pitcher, even ones named Santana, Haren, Lincecum, etc.

Funny thing about baseball, but games are played on the field and there is always room for the unexpected. Beckett could have another off year, Schilling do a Pavano impression, Dice-K be average. Let's not be conceding the Red Sox the AL East title just yet...

Sully + Realist ... you know the joke - What's worse than sweat on Mick Jagger??? Come on Eileen.

And Chris (with or without an "r" key) is spot on. I have serious doubts that Yanks can compete with the team as currently constituted. No way can anyone with a "right frame of mind" expect all 3 kids to have solid seasons next year. That's just asking for the moon and the stars. Plus w/ injury prone guys like Damon, Giambi, Matsui on the team that means down time and patchwork (you're seriously comfortable running Shelly Duncan out to the OF on a regular basis???) ... and bullpen will be shaky unless we catch lightning in a bottle (someone mentioned that before) and get lucky w/ one or two guys. All in all ... too many things have to break right for Yanks to get into playoffs.

HOWEVER ... after a year of seasoning by all of the youngsters (starters and relievers combined) you just have to like the way Yanks stack up in 2009 and beyond!!!!

AZ,

I am estatic wit with NY's youthful pitching and believe they will be special...no doubt. I have been a fan since the early 70's and cringed at the thought of seeing as fine of a prospect as Hughes possibly going for Santana. I believe he and Joba will be fantastic starters for years to come and Kennedy doesn't look too shabby neither.

Bri,

LMAO! I forgot about that joke:-)

Btw....

I think Sully is that Seth McFarlane fella that made " Family Guy " and " American Dad " ........hehe! ;-)

AZ - Im on board with ya brother! I remember Joba 1st coming up and pitching in Toronto. (my wife actually got me a giant framed and signed picture of that 1st pitch for our anniversary). Every person that comes over says the same thing. Oh, nice Clemens picture. His motion really does looks like the Rocket on the mound. Aside from the visual similarities, he's learned how to work out from Roger and even challenged him to a workout competition to see who pukes 1st. I get all star struck with I read stuff like that. Makes me feel like a little school girl with a crush, my heart starts to race. The fact that he has the talent, the desire to win, the heart of a champion and is well grounded by seeing his father struggle with a disease...all adds up to a winner.

Whats also funny is how everyone now forgets about Hughes since Joba popped up. Before then, Hughes was the messiah. Now he's expendable? Thats bullsh!t. He's was ranked as Baseball America's #1 prospect last year...Ahead of Lincecum, Gallardo, Ellsbury, Buchholtz, and every other great rookie this past season. We have something very special with these two guys and should be thankful we have a GM that recognizes how unique a situation we have.

Oh and dont forget about Ian, I think Ive expressed my crush on him as well in this blog. He could be a young Moose or if the stars align, the next Maddux. (If you need the stats to compare him with Maddux, check previous threads, Ive posted it already). Its not as far fetched as it may seem.

The game of baseball is crazy, things that are not supposed to happen do all the time. Is it probable that all three turn into all-stars? Probably not, but it is possible, no matter what the statistics say. There is only one way to find out if we have three golden tickets...thats to keep them and march them out every 5th day. My excitement of seeing these three guys far exceeds my desire to get Johan.

The thing is, this Yankees team is still the same team that finished last season and couldn't beat Cleveland in the playoffs. Right now it's impossible to rank the Yankees ahead of Boston (of course), Cleveland and possibly LAA, not to mention Detroit.
Detroit and LAA have both added to their teams while the Yankees have done basically nothing.
People will argue that they will have the new young pitchers for the whole season but I could argue right back that they were all on the team at the end of last season. Joba was a beast in the bullpen so now you could say the Yanks are better with him starting but he's been replaced in the 'pen by either Jonathan Albaladejo or LaTroy Hawkins and Vizcaino is gone.
All the other signings (Pettitte, A-Rod, Rivera and Posada) have been great, but they don't make the team better from last season. As a matter of fact, is it even logical to expect A-Rod to have the same type of season in 2008 and Posada as well?

I'm not trying to be overly negative but I just don't want to be let down again so I'm expecting the worst, while hoping for the best.

Drew,

I like to read a post full of frank enthusiasm, like yours at 18:19. While I am reading it I am reminded of all my pleasure at watching the many youngsters we saw during this past season and hoping that each one would do well, just as we did when the group that is now the core of our veteran players came up in the 90's. This is a big part of the fun of baseball, watching the arrival, development and then dominance of a tide of young players, and I have enjoyed it as much as any Yankee fan.

Then I get to your last sentence which talks about the excitement of seeing these players far exceeds your desire to get Johan, and somehow in place of 'Johan' I see 'win'.

Does my excitement at seeing these guys exceed my desire to win? Does yours, really.

A lot of the pleasure we experienced with the last big crop of young stars was the experience of WINNING with them. Would it have been the same, and would we feel the same about them today, without all that winning?

How will we feel if one of our young guys turns out to be as great as we think Joba might be, for example, and he endures the fate of Mattingly? Because no matter how good he is, he has to have winners around him to win.

I am not in love with Johan as Johan.

But I would certainly love to have another period of greatness in which young developing stars and, yes, some old mercenaries and some blue collar guys and a limping manager and all that stuff turned into WINNING TOGETHER.

And I'm not sure I wouldn't give up a bit of the youth movement to have that again.

Jim, I didnt realize you were a Negative Nancy. ; ) Like I've stated before, I believe we are a better team this season. I dont expect A-rod and Posada to be as good as last year. But I do expect Melkey and Cano to be better. I expect Damon to be healthy all season and get 550 AB's. I expect Abreu (working out with a personal trainer for the 1st time in his career as we speak) to be better. I expect Giambi to get 450 AB's as a DH and jack 30+ HR's. I expect Shelly to give us more balance from the right side. I expect Jeter to continue his climb to Pete Rose's hit record. I expect Girardi to be more aggressive and use a more NL style of managing. I expect the starting pitching to be more stable. I expect fewer distractions with A-rod, Posada and Mo wanting new contracts. I expect a full season from Molina helping the young staff. I expect our bullpen to be better than last season with Britton, Ohlendorf and the rest of the young guns getting a fair shot. I expect Farny to be better than any season up to date since it is a contract year and Girardi worked with him on the Cubs. I expect we will be better from start to finish than we were last season and into the playoffs.

I suspect you don’t feel the same. That’s fine, if we were all thinking the same, what would we talk and argue about?

GO YANKS!

But perspective is sometimes hard for Yankees fans. This team won 94 games after a .500 first half. Yes, they lost in the first round again, but playoffs are all about pitching and a manager who has some sense (Girardi) will line up a rotation of Chamberlain, Pettite, Hughes and Wang next season.

They will also have a manager who WILL bunt, who WILL call for hit-and-run plays, who WILL know how to handle the bullpen effectively. I believe Girardi will make a major difference come post-season.

Diane - Again, I cant argue against anything you said. Part of me still wants Johan and still wants to win this year so bad. I honestly believe that we can win this season with what we have. If we get Johan, our chances go through the roof from say 10% chance to 35% chance. I understand the Donnie Baseball reference, the only difference is that there was no pitching in the Bronx back then. Look at the current pitching market, the best FA this season is Livan Hernandez? Look at last year, Gill Mech? Good and great SP's just dont fall off a tree somewhere in Texas. They should be locked away in a safe and guarded with hell hounds. I know that Santana is a cant miss player. He is a guarantee. He is the only FA that is actually worth the money and the prospects. Did he bring home a championship in Minn? Did he lead them to the WS once? How about the ALDS? HMMM. Another thing to ponder, he stopped throwing his slider at the end of last season and got killed in Sept. Did his elbow hurt? Did his desire decrease? Did 900 innings the past 4 years start to catch up to him? Why is he trying to force the Twins to trade him? If he's still at his peak, he can win another CY young next season and have an auction for his services next fall. Wouldn’t that make his contract even bigger? So why the rush? Maybe that elbow is worse than he's letting on. Maybe he got figured out last season when he led the league in HR allowed. Maybe, just maybe his best years are behind him.

Maybe not....just something to think about though. Nothing is guaranteed in life, not young starting pitchers or 29 year old CY young winners.

Drew,
You made some very good points, mostly things I have thought of but I'm really just trying to temper my enthusiasm for now.
I am normally a very positive fan, but I've always been able to look at this team objectively and point out their problems and they have, to me at least, always come back to starting pitching and the bullpen and while I think having Joba in the rotation sounds great and if Hughes can stay healthy, that's great too, I'd just be surprised if these guys could live up to the hype, but I'm hoping so.
Like Diane, I'd still love to see Santana in pinstripes, I think it changes the entire dynamic of the team and slots pitchers where they should be. The part I wrestle the most with is trading Hughes, I just hate to see that happen.....but we're talking about Santana here.

I wis h I was Seth McFarlane.
I'd be able to afford a better house

By the way, it appears as if The Mitchell Report has been delivered to MLB. Expect names to start leaking out by tomorrow and the report to be delivered Thursday. Supposedly it contains the names of 60-80 current or former MLB players.

I think after so much anticipation, unless there is some stunning names in it, the report will be met with a yawn.

I couldnt agree with Diane more. Yankee fans need to expect to have a down year if they are going to continue on this road of only youth. The chances of us having our cake and eating it too are slim. The young players we watched grow into stars would not be the icons that they are today if they were not on winning teams. How would we view Jeter or Pettite even Mariano if they never played in the post season.

I dont see a trade of some youth as abandoning the youth movement especially if we net a guy on the right side of 30. I dont want to lose Hughes, but I also do not want to watch this team miss the playoffs during the final years of Jeter and ARods prime years and the last years of Mariano Posadas and Pettites careers. If things stay as they are, this team is not a playoff team. Someone brought up Gooden with regad to Joba. Is that possible -