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

[Brett Favre 0]

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

 

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

 

I agree that he should start, but I also agree with the innings limit.

[NYU 0]

It's not a matter of simply "giving him a shot." It's a matter of the bullpen becoming completely vulnerable if you remove Joba -- you can't trust Farnsworth and Hawkins to pick up the slack. Furthermore, to just suddenly place Joba into a starting spot when it's supposed to be a gradual process that lets him improve his stamina is just asking for trouble. And as someone said earlier, if people think he's going to continue throwing unhittable 100 mph+ fastballs by the time we reach the fourth or fifth inning, they have another thing coming.

 

Besides the logistics of it, Hank's comments are completely classless. Way to call your General Manager and the Manager you JUST hired "idiots" for not agreeing with you on this stance. I have a feeling Hank is going to be even WORSE than George because it seems, with his comments, he feels he has an outspoken family reputation he needs to live up to.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

I don't know if it's true, but supposedly he was calling out JOE TORRE who once again, supposedly, established those guidelines for Joba that the Yankees continue to adhere to.

[naiwf 0]

I don't know if it's true, but supposedly he was calling out JOE TORRE who once again, supposedly, established those guidelines for Joba that the Yankees continue to adhere to.

 

He may have been calling out Torre, but Cashman and Girardi got laid out as well, "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."

 

The fact that he says only an idiot would keep him as a setup man basically shits on everyone in the entire organization who decided that's what Joba's role should be. Anyone who doesn't like the Yankees hopes that Hank gets his way here. Potentially destroying the bullpen for the season to put an unproven guy in the rotation for about 20-25 starts at 5 to 6 IP per is the best way for the Yankees to miss the playoffs.

[Precious Roy 0]

If Hank cared so much about it he should have stepped in in the offseason and made sure we put some better arms in our bullpen. He signs the checks, he could have made it so our big bp addition wasn't 40 yr old Troy fucking Hawkins. As things stand right now he's wrong, and he's even wronger to speak out in the way he did.

[TheDevilAndGodAreRagingInsideMe 0]

Joe Torre did not come up with the "Joba Rules." Nardi Contreras and Brian Cashman did, as a way to protect Joba from Torre abusing him like he had in the past with guys like Scott Proctor, Tanyon Sturtze, and Paul Quantrill to the point where they just weren't serviceable any more. It was just Torre who blabbed about it to the papers when he wasn't supposed to.

 

There wasn't anything that great on the offseason market for relievers. They got Hawkins on a nice 1-year deal. They let Luis Vizcaino walk and they were able to get a type B pick for him.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Hank Steinbrenner is indeed clueless. He should be like most owners in the league and just shut up and let the GM do his job. All his comments are making the organization look like a total circus.

 

As for Derrick Turnbow, yes, he has probably had his last chance already in any sort of meaningful in-game situation. I think Doug Melvin would probably trade the guy for next to nothing at this point. They have 14 pitchers on their 25 man roster right now, so something has to give anyway.

[Guest blame that goot.]

Sheets is going to miss his next start. Put Sheets on the DL, designate Turnbow, and for the love of God, put together a bench of more than two people. 14 pitchers. Ned tries to outsmart baseball too often.

[naiwf 0]

Carlos Delgado sucks at life. The Mets NEED to cut him loose at the end of the year, move Wright to 1st and look for someone to play 3rd.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Carlos Delgado sucks at life. The Mets NEED to cut him loose at the end of the year, move Wright to 1st and look for someone to play 3rd.

Why does Wright need to move? The best free agent on the market is likely Mark Teixeira.

[naiwf 0]

I don't think the Mets can get Tex considering the Yankees desperately need a 1B too. Wright has issues with throwing to first at times, especially on routine grounders. And if anyone is watching today's game and just saw Delgado make an idiot of himself in the field they know why this guy is simply killing the Mets right now. I'm almost rooting for him to end up on the DL. His mental error just cost us 2 runs and his inability to put a bat on the ball in the clutch cost us a chance to score in the top of the inning. Just awful stuff from Carlos.

[Annabelle 0]

alright, mets fan. al's right. its easy to see why your bright baseball mind will remain at silent as wright is a gold glove 3b who fits the position perfectly. moving him to 1b would not be suitable whatsoever.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I hate to keep harping on minor league teams that no one else cares about. Barring a ninth inning miracle though (they're down 13-6), the Lehigh Valley IronPigs are about to fall to 2-18. They have scored just 45 runs in their first 20 games. Brutal.

 

Edit: Here's a fun stat. Counting the Ottawa days, the last time the Phillies' AAA team had a three game win streak was last May.

[Guest blame that goot.]

It's hard to keep a good team down, but they won't be getting up today-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ayyyy.

[Boon 0]

Josh Beckett scratched from tonight's start with a sore neck. David Pauley from AAA goes in his place.

[Guest blame that goot.]

This Cardinals-Brewers game is a real knock-down-drag-out affair. 12th inning, each team has used a shit-ton of pitchers, Pujols is playing second base, Jason LaRue is playing first, Gagne blew a save, it's all over the place. I don't even care who wins. This is just fun to watch.

 

And now Ronny Cedeno just hit a grand slam. This is a strange day of baseball, for sure.

 

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3 Members: Bruiser Chong, blame that goot., sfaJack

Cubbie circle jerk, 25 point infraction!

[Bruiser Chong 0]

By most accounts, Ronny looks like a completely different hitter this year. I haven't seen many of his at-bats, but from what I've read, he's not chasing as many bad pitches, he's working deeper counts, and his actually producing. I'm not completely sold on him, but since he's playing the role of understudy to Ryan Theriot, I think he deserves serious consideration for the starting shortstop position.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Good win for the Brewers today (well, a hard fought one, at least). I'm afraid they've basically blown their whole relief staff apart for this series with the Phillies coming up, though.

 

Gabe Gross was traded right after the game to the Tampa Bay Rays for minor league pitcher Josh Butler. I guess they figured having one guy named Gabe on the team was enough.

 

Edit: Just read the Brewers also recalled outfielder Tony Gwynn Jr. They seem determined to stick with the 14 pitchers on staff until Mike Cameron returns this coming Tuesday, which is just so weird...

[Guest blame that goot.]

Didn't Gross just win the game? Or was that Kapler? I don't suppose Gross had any particular future with the team beyond being a bench guy (he might be the same person as Joe Dillon, whom I no longer see listed on the website's 40-man roster. splain that), but I guess if you're only going to have two bench players, one of them might as well be Junior Gwynn. The Brewers puzzle me at times.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Didn't Gross just win the game? Or was that Kapler? I don't suppose Gross had any particular future with the team beyond being a bench guy (he might be the same person as Joe Dillon, whom I no longer see listed on the website's 40-man roster. splain that), but I guess if you're only going to have two bench players, one of them might as well be Junior Gwynn. The Brewers puzzle me at times.

 

Gross scored the winning run, but Kapler drove him in. Gross was actually starting to come around and play pretty well, after struggling a bit initially. He's a good bench player, but they just have too many outfielders on the team, and defensively he's probably a bit sub-par...with Cameron coming on the roster soon, something had to give. Joe Dillon is down in AAA now...he got sent down when they recalled lefty Mitch Stetter.

 

I think Doug Melvin's plan is to somehow showcase Tony Gwynn, and trade him later in the season if the Brewers need another piece.

[Dandy 0]

Hairston!!!

[treble 0]

The Jays are going to do this 'win a few, lose a few' bullshit all season long, I just know it.

 

It's hard to get too tied up into what felt like a glorified Spring Training game, though. At least they're in the Walt Disney World Series, though!

[Guest blame that goot.]

Here come the Yankees!

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

Felix Hernandez doesnt look as good as he did in the game vs the Os 2 weeks ago.

 

 

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Great ninth inning for the Phillies, as Burrell clears the bases with a double and puts the team up 8-6. Brad Harman got his first MLB at bat as well.

[NoCalMike 0]

CBSsportsline's ranking comments for the A's is amusing. It talks about their lack of power and how it will keep them from winning even though they have very good pitching so far. So lets put aside that through 20 games, they are off to their best start since 1992, and the fact that leading up to this year they kept being criticized for relying on a big free agent DH to score all their runs for them with the "big key homerun", so finally they are scoring runs with singles and doubles and they get criticized for having a lack of power. Whatever. Look, I am not predicting the A's to be a playoff team, but the last time I checked when you come out with Power Rankings on a weekly basis, your comments and rankings should be based on what the team has done up to that point, and not what you think might happen down the road.

[Guest blame that goot.]

"Ohh...Dan. Oh my."

 

Czech, I hope you don't mind but I replaced the video with one from Youtube that is far less ad-intrusive. It is still the same clip.

 

-Al

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I'm really surprised Bobby Cox and/or Yunel Escobar did not go batshit over that call. If it were Red Sox/Yankees, it would end up on a documentary.

[Bored 0]

Even Don Denkinger thinks that's a shitty call.

[Conspiracy_Victim 0]

The umps are having a rough time of it this year.

 

BTW, after a very rough start, I'm beginning to see a method to Ed Wade's madness for the Astros. I'm still not sure that surrounding Roy Oswalt with a bunch of 3rd and 4th starters is a great idea, but the offense surely does seem to be coming around. Matsui's going to drive pitchers nuts (esp. with Bourne distracting them by stealing every base he can find), and Tajada is hitting like he didn't need to stick a needle in his ass for all those years.