This Week in Baseball, 4/21-4/27

[Guest blame that goot.]

nat'l games

Mets v. North Siders @ the cocksuckers' playground, Monday night on ESPN

Yankees v. South Siders @ the white trash's playground, Weds. night on ESPN

Yankees v. Indians ON FOX

Angels v. Tigers ALSO ON FOX

Dbags v. Padres IS ON FOX AS WELL

Yankees v. Indians on TBS

Angels v. Tigers is back! In Booyah form!

[alfdogg 0]

What did Marty do/say this time?

[CanadianChris 0]

The Hank Steinbrenner era is every bit as enjoyable as I imagined it could be:

 

Yankees co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner, like his father George, has never been one to mince words. When it comes to where pitcher Joba Chamberlain should be -- the bullpen or the starting rotation -- the younger Steinbrenner's expectations are crystal clear.

 

"I want him as a starter and so does everyone else, including him, and that is what we are working toward and we need him there now," Steinbrenner told the New York Times. "There is no question about it, you don't have a guy with a 100-mile-per-hour fastball and keep him as a setup guy. You just don't do that. You have to be an idiot to do that."

 

Through Sunday's games, the Yankees stand at 10-10 and are closer to the bottom of the AL East than the top. New York is three games behind division-leading Boston and just 1½ games ahead of cellar dweller Tampa Bay.

 

Steinbrenner also took issue with how the Yankees handled Chamberlain's situation last season, before he was in a position to make changes.

 

"The mistake was already made last year switching him to the bullpen out of panic or whatever," Steinbrenner told the newspaper. "I had no say in it last year and I wouldn't have allowed it. That was done last year, so now we have to catch up. It has to be done on a schedule so we don't rush him."

 

Chamberlain, who had missed five games to be with his sick father in Nebraska, returned to the Yankees on Saturday. He pitched a scoreless eighth inning in the Yankees' 6-0 loss to the Orioles. Chamberlain said his father was doing much better.

 

Steinbrenner didn't seem worried about the rough early going for young starters Phil Hughes (16 earned runs in 16 1/3 innings) and Ian Kennedy (15 earned runs in 14 innings).

 

"I think once Hughes and Kennedy get plenty of starts and get Joba back, and with [Chien-Ming] Wang and [Andy] Pettitte, we will be fine," Steinbrenner told The Times.

 

The one name missing from that list is current starter Mike Mussina. Steinbrenner also had a suggestion for the starting pitcher who owns 251 victories in an 18-year career.

 

"[Mussina] just needs to learn how to pitch like [45-year-old Phillies pitcher] Jamie Moyer," Steinbrenner told the newspaper. Moyer is known as a crafty pitcher who doesn't have an overpowering fastball.

 

"The starting rotation is not what I would have chosen at the beginning of the year, but that is not a big news flash to anyone," Steinbrenner added.

 

Be afraid, Yankee fans. Be very afraid.

[Guest blame that goot.]

What did Marty do/say this time?

1) the link in my sig

2) freaked at Jeff Brantley over balls and strikes, some sort of "DON'T YOU CORRECT ME" thing

[Brett Favre 0]

Be afraid, Yankee fans. Be very afraid.

 

Afraid of what? I agree with mostly everything he said.

 

[CanadianChris 0]

It wasn't what he said, but how he said it. He's a lunatic. He's worse than his dad, and his dad ran the team into the ground before he was suspended.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Oh please. This is hardly lunacy. He is voicing his displeasure over how Joba is being handled, and I'm imagining he wants Mussina to switch to a style that might hide his deterioration (just a guess). What difference does it make if he explained it in calm terms or in the way Hank does it? There's a lot of reasons to call him a lunatic. This? Not one of them.

[Guest blame that goot.]

I bet Girardi runs afoul of ownership a second time. If he blew his shot with a sniveling little shit like Loria who mostly stays out of baseball operations, there's no way he doesn't have a run-in with the brothers Steinbrenner.

[CanadianChris 0]

Oh please. This is hardly lunacy. He is voicing his displeasure over how Joba is being handled, and I'm imagining he wants Mussina to switch to a style that might hide his deterioration (just a guess). What difference does it make if he explained it in calm terms or in the way Hank does it? There's a lot of reasons to call him a lunatic. This? Not one of them.

He just essentially called his manager and/or general manager an idiot in print. I don't imagine either one of them wants Joba in the rotation at this point.

[NoCalMike 0]

I wonder if the A's have any desire to sign Frank Thomas.......

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

"I want him as a starter and so does everyone else, including him, and that is what we are working toward and we need him there now," Steinbrenner told the New York Times. "There is no question about it, you don't have a guy with a 100-mile-per-hour fastball and keep him as a setup guy. You just don't do that. You have to be an idiot to do that."

 

 

"[Mussina] just needs to learn how to pitch like [45-year-old Phillies pitcher] Jamie Moyer," Steinbrenner told the newspaper. Moyer is known as a crafty pitcher who doesn't have an overpowering fastball.

 

Let's review. Mussina is a 39 year old pitcher with 251 wins and a .631 career winning percentage. Yet he needs to learn how to pitch.

 

The problem isn't the content of Steinbrenner's ideas. You don't undercut your GM or field staff. Father George did this same stuff in the early '80s and nearly wrecked the franchise.

[the max 0]

I'd rather they make Joba a starter, since as a Red Sox fan, I don't really fear anyone out of their bullpen BUT Joba. If Hank thinks Joba's gonna be bringing 100 in the fifth with two men on, one run in and nobody out, he's mistaken. I think Joba's got more value to them as a shutdown setup guy, much in the same way that Papelbon has more value to the Red Sox as a shutdown closer. Bring in Papelbon and the game's as good as over. Maybe if they weren't paying Mariano 15 million a year for three more years, they could stick Joba in the closer's role or something.

[Brett Favre 0]

The difference between Joba and Papelbon is that Joba has always been a starter. Papelbon came out of college as a reliever, converted into a starter, then back to being a reliever. Joba has more value being starter because he has four pitches and 200 innings is better than 80-90.

[the max 0]

But who else is there in the bullpen, besides Rivera?

 

80 innings pitching like he pitched last year is probably more valuable than 200 as a starter.

[Cartman 0]

He also has more opportunity to blow out his arm like most other pitchers that throw 100mph. He won't be throwing that hard if he becomes a starter anyways. No way he can do that throwing 100 pitches or so per start.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Personally, I think that if a pitcher can at all be a starter, that should be his role. Especially if that relief role is anything but the relief ace, and even then it's iffy. A closer is only valuable if a team can take a lead into the ninth in the first place, and if you do that more times than not you will win no matter who your closer is. Joe Borowski last year was as bad a closer (in terms of ERA) as any team has had in recent memory, and the Tribe was 80-4 when they led after eight.

 

The problem here is that making the move now may have an adverse effect on Joba Chamberlain. It can be difficult to make the switch from a one-inning reliever to a starter midseason. Chamberlain has never pitched more than 120 innings in a season.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

But who else is there in the bullpen, besides Rivera?

 

80 innings pitching like he pitched last year is probably more valuable than 200 as a starter.

Chris Britton, Edwar Ramirez, Ross Ohlendorf. The Yankees aren't lacking in extra arms.

[Guest blame that goot.]

The Yankees are about to get fun.

 

Mets fans, a question: are you satisfied with the last three years of Carlos Beltran?

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

PBS's "American Experience" program is airing a piece on Roberto Clemente tonight.

[naiwf 0]

The Yankees are about to get fun.

 

Mets fans, a question: are you satisfied with the last three years of Carlos Beltran?

 

I'd be satisfied if we had acquired him for fewer years and/or dollars. This year it seems like Beltran strikes out in just about every big spot, on top of that he gets minor nagging injuries fairly often and lacks any kind of leadership skills or grittiness. Had he not had that monster postseason with Houston he'd still be rotting in a small market somewhere and putting up huge numbers with no expectations. In 2006, he was borderline great but his other two seasons weren't anything special and my feeling is that he's too "soft" to play in NY. He's just another guy who took every dollar he could from a big market club and didn't live up to the expectations to me. I don't see him getting any better for the remainder of the contract, so we just have to ride it out.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Lehigh Valley lost again, falling to a pathetic 2-17 record. This is just depressing.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Meanwhile, I'll be surprised if Kyle Kendrick does not end up in the minors by mid-May. He is just not that good a pitcher to continually compete at this level.

[Guest blame that goot.]

The Brewers postgame show is making it sound like Derrick Turnbow is down to his last chance.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

But who else is there in the bullpen, besides Rivera?

 

80 innings pitching like he pitched last year is probably more valuable than 200 as a starter.

Chris Britton, Edwar Ramirez, Ross Ohlendorf. The Yankees aren't lacking in extra arms.

 

Im guessing that trade is in favor of the Yankees then..I thought he was out of baseball.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

But who else is there in the bullpen, besides Rivera?

 

80 innings pitching like he pitched last year is probably more valuable than 200 as a starter.

Chris Britton, Edwar Ramirez, Ross Ohlendorf. The Yankees aren't lacking in extra arms.

 

Im guessing that trade is in favor of the Yankees then..I thought he was out of baseball.

Britton's an odd case. He has not missed any time, he keeps plugging away in Scranton. He puts up good numbers. Doesn't get hit, few home runs, few walks, lots of strikeouts, good ERA. And he has a full season of success in the Majors! Yet the Yankees seem completely uninterested in him.

[Precious Roy 0]

I prefer Joba as the setup man at this point for a multitude of reasons. First of all our bullpen is not very deep and removing Joba from the equation puts us back exactly where we were last season before Joba got called up where the pen cost us a ton of games and we had a hard time just getting Rivera into save situations. Right now we've got a lights out 8-9 combo and that's not something that comes along too often, I don't care what anyone says it's easier to fill a rotation spot with a serviceable starter than find a great intimidating reliever. Second, Joba has already proven himself a great reliever, we have no idea how he'll perform as a starter. Could be great right away, could take his lumps and end up being no better than a serviceable vet. And even if he's great, do we trust Farnsworth, Hawkins and Co. to protect his leads? It's just too big a risk to take right now.

 

And the main reason the team is .500 so far is not because Joba isn't in the rotation, it's a sluggish offense and the fact that Kennedy/Hughes have struggled. Joba being in the rotation would probably have us at a worse record right now.

 

Hank Steinbrenner was way, way out of line here IMO, and I'm worried that this is the start of him shoving Brian Cashman out the door.

[naiwf 0]

As an ardent Yankee hater my new motto is: In Hank we trust.

[Brett Favre 0]

What a coincidence, cause I'll stand by that motto myself.

[NYU 0]

Do you agree with Hank Steinbrenner then on the Joba situation?

 

Cause me, I think Precious Roy is 100% right.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

I'm not a Yankees fan, and I agree with Hank. Joba should be given a shot here. And I should preface that with that I think it's stupid to set limits for your pitchers. If they're so fragile, they will be fragile anyways, no matter whether you handle them with kid gloves or not. (Realizes I'll be compared to Dusty Baker or something)