Made In 1903

Sorry I kind of lost track of this place

danman1202 — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 23:38:06 +0000

I’ve been very busy with a lot of things. I’ll get this place back on track with game updates, opinions, and the like. But I will be doing that at our new blog location. Which is:

http://theyanks.blogspot.com/

Miguel Cairo Dilemma

Jeff — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 04:01:23 +0000

Miguel Cairo has been a Yankee since 2004 excluding 2005 season which was the Tony Womack experiment. In his tenure as a Yankee he has been nothing short of a good serviceable back up infielder. This off season in the Randy Johnson trade, one of the three players obtained in the trade was slick fielding SS Alberto Gonzalez. Gonzalez in my opinion would be a better fit as the backup infielder, he is an above average fielder with an above average arm which is what you would want form a back up infielder anything hitting wise would be plus. But unfortunately Gonzalez is still young enough where he still needs his AB’s which he wont get being a utility man behind Jeter, Arod and Cano.In the misfortune that one of these infielders get hurt I think it would be best for Gonzalez to get the call as the starter while Cairo stays as the backup.

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Hughes Struggles

Jeff — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 22:45:49 +0000

Phil Hughes was not sharp today in his third outing of spring training. Hughes pitched a inning and a third gave u 3 hits and allowed 3ER. Uncharacteristically Hughes did not have good control and walked 3 batters, which is rare for a guy who’s career k/BB in the minors is exactly 5.o. In the grand scheme of things Phil Hughes struggling in Spring Training is a good thing,you get to see how Hughes handles adversity and how he adjust.

Josh Phelps is mashing right now…

danman1202 — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 22:27:29 +0000

You can tell me it’s early. That’s fine. But at this point in Spring Training, Josh Phelps has clearly wrested the right handed first baseman spot away from the absentee Andy Phillips, who is not in Spring Training due to family matters. At this point in Spring Training, Phelps is hitting a robust .600, with four RBIs and one home run in seven games played. From what I’ve seen at least, he has shown a sweet swing and his fielding is competent, although not great (I think his career statistics back that up as well). What I’m trying to say here is this: While Phelps has not locked up his spot as of yet, he’s well on his way towards accomplishing that.

A lot of this will fall on Andy Phillips, and how he plays from now on. Torre will most definitely give Phillips a fair shake at winning the job out, as he is not the kind of manager or person for that matter that would give a roster spot to another player while another player is hurt or going through personal issues (as is the case with Phillips). But from what everyone who watches the Yankees on a daily basis can tell you, Phillips is a mediocre player: I’m not sure he is capable of winning the job out if Phelps continues to play like this.

Remember to keep in mind this as well: Whoever loses this Spring Training positional battle will more than likely not be a member of the Yankees after all is said and done. Phelps is a Rule V player, meaning if he does not make the roster, the Yankees must offer him back to the Orioles, who will likely accept him back on the team. As for Andy, he is out of options with the Yankees. Meaning if the Yankees want him to go to AAA Scranton-Wilkes Barre, he would have to make it through waivers. And I’m pretty confident that one team in the majors will take a chance of Phillips, he is not that bad of a player.

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Pavano Update: Will not make tonight’s start

danman1202 — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 00:26:38 +0000

According to Peter Abraham at his Lohud Blog Pavano will not make his scheduled start tonight for “personal reasons”. Team officials say it’s nothing physical but that Joe Torre will comment about it after the game. This is purely speculation but: perhaps a trade is on the horizon? If that’s the case, good riddance Carl.

That being said, hopefully nothing terrible has happened in Pavano’s life: I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. But with the way this guy has been with the Yankees, every time he fails to make a start there will always be speculation that it’s typical Pavano garbage.

Update-Also according to the Yankees Lohud Blog :

“He’s got a legitimate reason. Joe Torre told him to go take care of it. When he returns, to the degree he wants to, he can address it or not. He doesn’t have to. There’s somewhere he should be right now and that’s where he’s at. The important thing is to know that he really doesn’t need to be here tonight. It’s something that came up right before game time. Joe said to let him go and rightfully so. He’ll return here soon and it’s not an issue.”-Brian Cashman

Carl Pavano Doesn’t Want to Pay His Agent

danman1202 — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 22:43:03 +0000

Remember the “Carlpalooza” hype-fest back when Carl Pavano was a free agent? Well that was all a great job by his agent, and most definitely raised the amount of money Pavano got on his deal. However, now it seems Pavano is dissatisfied with his agents performance. SI.com reports that team sources say Pavano may have to testify in Tampa later this month in a hearing over his non-payment of the commission on his $39.95 million Yankees deal. The article says that Pavano is not willing to pay the agents commission because the agent did not get Pavano the 40 million dollars he wanted, instead only a paltry 39.95 million dollars. The commission for the contract comes out to about two million dollars, which a rich man like Pavano should be able to pay, especially since he has to as Pavano agreed to the deal, and thus must hand over five percent of that contract to his agent.

Personally, I think this is a weak move by Pavano, and I say weak because the wording would be different if I were not posting on this blog, and I were in a situation at the water cooler. The guy asks for 40 million, and the agent basically gets him 40 million dollars. So what he does is he looks for a loophole and says that because the agent did not get him the 40 million he doesn’t deserve commission but in reality it is just Pavano trying to hoard more money. And to this point it looks as if that is the only thing he is good at, besides getting hurt of course. This is the exact stuff Pavano needs to try to get away from, not run himself into. But instead, he continues to operate like someone who is completely oblivious as to what a decent human being should do.

In closing, all I will say is this: No one will care about this stuff if he gets on the mound and performs. People will choose to look past all of his character flaws if he helps the Yankees towards their twenty seventh world title. But as I see it now, Pavano first needs to get out of his own way before he can do anything to help the team.

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Curt Schilling has an opinion…again.

danman1202 — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 22:58:39 +0000

Hey everyone, check this one out! Mr. Curt Schilling, who the people on my message board have affectionately started to call “fat actress”, has now created his own blog to state his bloated, if you will, opinion. Go ahead and give it a look. 38 Pitches Blog

2007 draft offers plenty star power

bdiddy7 — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 15:36:10 +0000

The MLB draft is held annually on the first Tuesday of June. There are 50 rounds and teams have 2 minutes to make a selection via conference call. For the first time in MLB history, the draft will be televised–the first 5 rounds will be shown on ESPN.

Here are my top 5 college and high school eligible amateur players for the draft.

Top 5 college players:

1. David Price, LHP, 6-6 215 — Price is the number 1 prospect available for the 2007 draft. He has all the ingredients to one day front a big league rotation. He has a great pitchers frame and being a lefty only helps his cause. Price features 2 exceptional pitches in his fastball, which sits at 92-95 and touches 98, and his devastating mid-80s slider. His change-up may not be as good as his 2 best offerings, but it’s still a plus pitch which he throws with the same arm speed as his fastball. A big lefty throwing this hard usually means that his command is lacking, but that’s far from the truth with Price as he has very good command of his repertoire and with further refined mechanics it should only continue to improve.

2. Matt Wieters, C, 6-6 230, B/T: B/R — Wieters is a huge catcher that may have to move to 1B in the future. Even if he has to switch positions, he’ll still be a special offensive force. Wieters has great power to all fields and should hit 35+ homers in the majors. He has a great approach at the plate and his plate discipline is impressive, and he also easily makes consistent hard contact which all point to Wieters hitting .300+ in the majors. Wieters is very athletic for a catcher and features a very powerful arm which he uses to close games for his team. Even if he’s able to stick at catcher, he’s such a special player that some teams would rather move him to 1B and have him for much longer.

3. Andrew Brackman, RHP, 7-0 250 — Yes, you read that correctly: Brackman is 7 feet tall. As you can imagine Brackman pumps mid-to-high 90s fastballs from a huge, imposing stature. He also throws on a severe downhill plane, further complicating things for hitters. Brackman also shows a plus knee-buckling spike-curveball, a good, tight slider and an average change-up. While Brackman hasn’t pitched much throughout his college days, due to the fact that he was also on the basketball team, he shows good, natural feel for pitching. Inexperience and mechanics that need to constantly remain in check are two of Brackman’s biggest weaknesses but now that he’ll focus solely on baseball he should only improve upon them.

4. Joe Savery, LHP/1B, 6-3 215, B/T: L/L — Savery is a two-way player and a potential top-10 pick in the upcoming draft. While he’s a good hitter, his future lies on the mound. There he shows off his arm-strength which produces a low 90s fastball and a plus curve with sharp break, he also shows an improving change-up but it lacks consistency. Savery is a Rice pitcher and has already had hand and shoulder injuries and if he continues to get injured he could really slide.

5. J.P. Arencibia, C, 6-1 200, B/T: R/R — Arencibia is simply a great pure hitter. He employs a compact stroke with which he produces good power to all fields. He has a very good eye at the plate and makes hard contact with ease. He profiles to hit for both average and power, making him a valuable asset for a team. His defense is solid, but don’t expect any Gold Gloves in the big leagues from him. He features a strong arm, solid footwork and good catch-and-throw skills.

Top 5 high school players:

1. Rick Porcello, RHP, 6-5 200 — Porcello is a big, projectable righty with big stuff. He’s very polished and is an imposing figure on the mound. He throws in the mid-90s on a downhill plane and has good sinking action on his fastball, making it a very dominant offering. He throws a sharp slider in the low-80s and a curve that has good potential but needs more consistency. Due to the fact that Porcello has such a dominant fastball he hasn’t needed a change-up but it offers good potential with good fade.

2. Josh Vitters, 3B, 6-3 180, B/T: R/R — Vitters is the best pure hitter in this high school class. Not only is he a great pure hitter, he also has plus power. He has strong, quick wrists, and lets the ball travel deep in the hitting zone before committing. His approach at the plate is exceptional for a high school hitter and he also shows a keen eye at the plate. He’s a solid defender at 3B with solid footwork, good hands and a strong arm.

3. Matt Harvey, RHP, 6-4 190 — Harvey has a very smooth, repeatable delivery which allows him to throw strikes at will. He has great command of a fastball that sits in the low-to-mid 90s but his secondary pitches need work. He’ll snap of a nasty curve but needs a lot more consistency with it. Harvey hasn’t needed a change-up facing high school competition but will need to develop one as he climbs the minor-league ladder. He has a projectable frame and already has one of the most important building blocks for a pitching prospect: fastball command.

4. Michael Burgess, OF, 5-11 200, B/T: L/L — Burgess is your prototypical right fielder with mammoth power and a cannon for an arm. He boasts unparalleled bat speed, capable of catching up to any fastball. Burgess has some holes in his swing and they will be exposed as he moves up the minor-league ladder. He also needs to improve his jumps and routes in the outfield but that should come with experience.

5. Blake Beaven, RHP, 6-6 200 — Beaven is a tall, athletic right-handed pitcher who figures to go in the middle of the first round. His total package makes him a future top-of-the-order starter, provided he reaches his ceiling. He throws a plus fastball between 92-94 and has touched 97 in the past. His breaking ball, a slider, is a plus pitched when it’s on but he needs more consistency with it. He has shown good feel for his change-up but needs to disguise it better and gain more consistency with it.

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The Crushing Pressure of the Hype Machine

danman1202 — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 16:25:55 +0000

We’ve seen it all before. Kevin Maas. Shane Spencer. Drew Henson. All of them highly touted, all of them faltering under the pressure of enormous expectations. So where am I going with this you ask? It’s simple really. Young phenom pitcher Philip Hughes has been wowing both players and coaches down in Tampa, Florida, home of Legends Field, the Yankees Spring Training home. Let’s take a look of some of comments made by various people and you will see how highly Hughes is looked at:

” (Hughes is like) a young Rocket, the ball jumps out of his hand.”

- Jason Giambi

“He’s just special, I think he knows it, but he just wants to get better. He doesn’t seem caught up in when he’s going to get to the big leagues, or anything like that.”

-Ben Davis

“He can pitch anywhere, anytime.”

-Gene Michael

“The kid is special, he’s got great ability. We just have to wait and see what happens in his situation.’’

-Ron Guidry

Phenom Phil is the real thing

So everything is going great, right? Right now it is, but with young pitchers, anything can happen. All it takes is an injury or for the Yankees to rush him up to the big club and have him struggle, thus resulting in a loss of confidence for him to lose what now seems to be a “sky is the limit” future. But this is just me trying to provide a Devil’s Advocate point of view. What makes me think the Yankees will not rush Hughes, is my faith in General Manager Brian Cashman and his comments that he refuses to rush Hughes, even though Joe Torre suggested that they give him the call last season. And even Giambi in his comments about Hughes said(although while laughing), “We could have used him last year.” But now it is this year, and it’s time to expect big things from the phenom, but only when he is ready. And once he is ready, Major League Baseball is in for a rude awakening.

Tyler Who?

sufan4eva13 — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 04:45:27 +0000

As we all know the Yankees farm system is stacked with talent. With Humberto Sanchez, Ross Ohlendorf, Jeff Karstens, Joba Chamberlain, Dellin Betances and the almighty Phil Hughes in the mix, you would think that would be all of the great pitching prospects we have. Well there is one who is being overlooked by some: Tyler Clippard. Well, I decided to compare T-Clips stats to some of his AAA team mates (last seasons stats):

Clippard:

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/C/Tyler-Clippard.shtml

Hughes:

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/H/Philip-Hughes.shtml

Sanchez:

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/S/Humberto-Sanchez.shtml

Ohlendorf:

http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/O/Ross-Ohlendorf.shtml

Taking a look at the stats, it appears clippard has an advantage over Ohlendorf and Sanchez in terms of stats (though it should be noted Sanchez’s stats are AAA stats). So it begs the question: How much longer can Clippard be overlooked?

Looking at these stats, its clear that Tyler Clippard is a legit pitching prospect. I believe he has a great future with the Yankees, and he will soon be overlooked no more