Monday, September 8, 2008

How Does Fourth Place Feel?

(AP Photo/John Froschauer)


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
R H E
N.Y. Yankees 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2 6 1
Seattle 0 0 2 1 1 0 0 1 X
5 8 0

Pretty f***ing sh**ty, that's how it feels.

Following today's loss to the Mariners the Yankees are now in fourth place in the AL East. The last time the Yankees were in fourth this late in the season was 1992.

Mike Mussina wasn't terrible, but he wasn't very good either, and considering the quality of team he was pitching to he should have done much better. In six innings he allowed four runs on seven hits, while walking one and striking out seven. He failed to pick up his 18th win, and now with just four starts left it looks like he will most likely miss out on 20 wins once again. Too bad, Mr. Almost will probably come up short once again.

I could sit here and pretend to know or understand why this team couldn't hit a bum like Ryan Feierabend, but I honestly have no clue. It's been like this all year; they can't hit crappy pitchers they've never seen before. In fact, it's been this way for a few years now. Maybe it has something to do with the advanced scouting, the hitting coach, or maybe it's just the players. Who the heck knows? Either way, it was another putrid day for the Yankees offense. The only runs came on solo homers from Derek Jeter and Xavier Nady.

Jeter drove in his 1000th RBI of his career today and also tied Babe Ruth for second on the all time Yankees hit list.

They gained a game yesterday, but today gave it right back as Boston defeated Texas. And with Toronto's win the Yanks are now alone in fourth place. Like I said two days ago, no matter what this team seems to gain they give it all back and more. Things always get worse for the 2008 New York Yankees.


ABRHRBIBBSOLOBAVG
Damon, CF4000010.306
Jeter, SS3121110.297
Abreu, RF4000002.300
Rodriguez, A, 3B3000111.309
Giambi, 1B3000010.247
1-Ransom, PR0000000.750
Nady, LF3111101.315
Matsui, DH4020000.308
Cano, 2B4010024.264
Molina, C3000003.218
a-Betemit, PH1000012.261
Totals322623713

a-Struck out for Molina in the 9th.
1-Ran for Giambi in the 9th.

BATTING
2B: Cano (29, Feierabend), Matsui (17, Feierabend).
HR: Jeter (10, 1st inning off Feierabend, 0 on, 1 out), Nady (23, 2nd inning off Feierabend, 0 on, 1 out).
TB: Jeter 5; Nady 4; Matsui 3; Cano 2.
RBI: Jeter (67), Nady (86).
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Molina 3; Betemit.
Team LOB: 7.

BASERUNNING
CS: Jeter (5, 3rd base by Feierabend/Johjima).

MARINERS OFFENSE


IPHRERBBSOHRERA
Mussina (L, 17-8)6.07441723.48
Coke 1.00000000.00
Veras 1.01110213.66

MARINERS PITCHING

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Jose Lopez (3-for-4, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R)

HONORABLE MENTION: Adrian Beltre (2-for-3, HR, 2 RBI, R, BB)

GOAT OF THE GAME: Mike Mussina (Crappy game against a crappy team.)

The Yanks now head to Anaheim to take on the Angels. Carl Pavano will start for the Yanks in the opener, and he will face Jon Garland. Game Time: 10:05 p.m. - TV: YES - Radio: YES

19 Comments:

Anonymous said...

WELL LOOK AT IT THIS WAY, THE REDSOX MISSED THE PLAYOFFS 2 YEARS AGO AND WON IT ALL THE LAST YEAR, WE HAVE A POSSIBLE 80 MILL COMING OFF THE BOOKS THIS OFF SEASON, LET'S HOPE WE SPEND IT WISELY.

James Miller said...

I think it's actually pretty easy to figure out this years yankees. Besides being old and Rickity, they advance scouts, as you mentioned dicked them over in every way possible.

Hughes and kennedy both suck and so do there horrible reports on opposing pitchers. They have nobody but themselves to blame for ruining everything this organization has built over the last 13 years.

And anyone who is happy we kept Phil Hughes over Johan was proven wrong last night and you're in for a couple more seasons of feeling like a complete idiot. Fuck 7 years, cuz in 5 years John will still be better than Phil Hughes, you'll see.

This years attempt to remake '96 was a total failure. I thought the Yankee brass was smarter, maybe they just got lucky.

Greg Cohen said...

Yes Hughes and Kennedy struggling was a huge blow to this team.

As for the trade itself, nobody could have expected all three of the people within the deal to have horrible years.

Still, Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy can turn things around (Hughes is probably more likely to do so than Kennedy), they would be the first young pitchers to have a hard time before figuring things out.

What people don't seem to understand, or want to accept, is that young pitchers struggle when the reach the majors at such a young age. Clay Buccholz pitched a no-hitter last year, this year he ended up pitching in the AA playoffs. Does that mean he sucks? No, it means he hit a bump in the road. Not everyone is Dwight Gooden right out of the minors.

And what Johan does in the NL east has nothing to do with what he would have done in the AL east.

Anonymous said...

I don't know, I didn't want the trade and I still don't want the trade, and I don't feel like an idiot. It didn't work out as expected in the first year post the trade, but who knows what will happen over the next six years.

- J.C.

James Miller said...

you can keep riding that shit storm of a belief for the next 6 years and I'm sure even after all that time you'll still have an excuse to hang ur biased yankee cap on.

James Miller said...

and to greg...Nobody is talking about Clay Buccholtz....we're talking about Johan Santana, who last night proved he is worth the billing as one of the best pitchers in baseball, whom of which we could have had if we gave up 2 young pitchers one of which who MIGHT be decent..you have absolutely no indication that he will ever be an ace or a #2 pitcher in this league, a side from some great AA stats and a barn-blind scouting report in which you yourself threw under the bus in your latest game summary.

It's time to admit that not trading for Johan was a mistake that costed the yankees this entire season.

James Miller said...

And the NL East routine is getting old..What about what he did to the yankees? And especially since the Phillies probably have a better lineup than all but 3 or 4 teams have in the AL..

Greg Cohen said...

I mentioned Buccholz because it's another example of how young pitchers struggle. He, like Phil Hughes is projected as a future top of the rotation starter.

AA numbers? Besides this season when he had two bad starts while rehabbing he dominated every level of the minors, including AAA.

Barn-blind scouting reports? The scouts who rated Phil Hughes as high as they did were not Yankees scouts, so they can't be barn-blind.

Greg Cohen said...

And when I mentioned the NL it had little to do with last night and more to do with his overall performance pitching in a league, and division, where the pitchers hit. Lineups in the NL are overall worse than lineups in the AL. So his numbers are inflated in pitching in the weaker league. There's no reason to believe he would have a 2.70 ERA pitching in the AL.

James Miller said...

Congradulations to Phil Hughes, dominating every minor league level. Clearly he got used to that level of competition....How's he doing in the minors this year?

Doesn't matter which scouts they were.

Secondly, I'm not talking about young pitchers struggles or any other lame excuse you can hold on to for dear life. Unlike the Yankees, The Red Sox actually had pitching to compete with. Beckett, Dice-K, Lester, even Wakefield. Therefore enabling them to take a chance on a young guy like Buccholtz. The yankees turned down the 2nd or 3rd best pitcher in the entire game to bank on Phil Hughes. That's a joke.

The Yankees as well as I, WISH they could get 7 and a third innings of 2-run ball from a starter in a big game. Instead of big games, now, they have a magic number to death. I think and wish that they made the deal for the better of the team. Phil Hughes sucks, bottom line.

And i've been wrong before and I'm not afraid to admit it. As i wont be if Phil Hughes ever turns out to be an ace. My gripe is that the proven best was there for the taking and i think the yankees shorted themselves and us fans. I'm also not gonna buy into some bullshit that soemthings is good when it's really not.

Greg Cohen said...

Well you said it was just AA, and it wasn't.

Anyway, you're basing your opinion of this non-trade on one year of Phil Hughes struggling, and one year of Santana doing well in the NL. Why not wait a few years until we see how this whole thing plays out?

Nobody thought the Yankees would be better off in '08 without Santana and with Hughes. But not making this trade was never about this season.

We have no idea what will happen next year, or the year after, or the year after that.

Many scouts, baseball analysts, and journalists still believe Phil Hughes is going to be a very good major league pitcher, so do I. I'm willing to wait and see what happens before coming to any conclusions.

Anyway we should just agree to disagree because we're not going to see eye-to-eye on this.

James Miller said...

First of all, just to be clear I didnt base it on one year of Santana at all. I based it upon Johan's career ( in the MAJORS)which has put him amongst the elite pitchers in the game. here is a link incase you dont know.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/stats?playerId=4280

Second: that is exactly my point, 'we have no idea what will happen next year or the year after that' and so forth. With Johan we had a pretty solid idea.. And no matter what little stats of decline u want to use against him, he is still one of the best so a decline from the top of the mountain ain't that bad.

We can agree that you will continue to believe Scouts while I judge him off of what actually happens on the field in the major league level.

Greg Cohen said...

I believe scouts because they know more than the both of us combined. A lot more.

It's their job to know what to look for in a pitcher. That's why they are paid to do what they do. To discredit scouts, analysts, pretty much everyone, because of one bad season, which was actually only six games is ridiculous.

Especially when you seem to forget that at 21 he was pretty solid last year, especially for the youngest pitcher in the sport at the time. 5-3 with a 4.46 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP is pretty good. Johan Santana at 21 had an ERA of 6.49 at 21 years old.

I also see that Hughes has a very good curveball and good fastball, that since he's been back has been hitting 94. He also is developing a his change up and he has a slider. When he learns how to pitch he should be very good. There is no reason why his stuff shouldn't translate to the majors.

And another thing we should remember is that the trade was not Phil Hughes for Johan Santana, it was Hughes, Kennedy and Melky, and like I said early, nobody thought all three would play like they did.

James Miller said...

ok, since he's been back its hitting 94mph, whats his era that u forgot to mention for some reason, 'sicne he's been back'

In MINOR LEAGUE ERA i'm talking about also.

Greg Cohen said...

I mentioned earlier that he struggled in two games during his rehab in the minors. I'm denying that or forgetting anything.

He had a 5.90 in six starts in AAA. Two of the starts were bad. Here are his game logs:

8/7: 4.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K

8/12: 5.1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K

8/17: 3.2 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 0 BB, 4 K - Awful

8/22: 3.1 IP, 10 H, 8 ER, 1 BB, 6 K - Awful

8/27: 6.1 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K

9/1: 5.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 8 K

Last night in the AAA playoffs against the Pawtucket Red Sox his line looked like this; 8 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 11 K (0.00 ERA).

He also was coming off a six week DL stint, so a few struggles are to be expected.

I'm sorry I'm just not ready to give up on a 22 year old because of six bad starts this season in the majors.

James Miller said...

As you shouldn't be.

Just admit we got the shitty end of the deal by keeping him.

Greg Cohen said...

That remains to be seen.

The final judgment on this non-trade cannot be made yet.

Everyone thought that the Yanks screwed up when they didn't sign Pedro because he had a good first year with the Mets. Several injuries, and a few sub-par seasons later the Mets are the ones who appeared to have screwed up.

We need to see what happens over the next few seasons before we will know for sure.

James Miller said...

I dont think the Mets screwed up there, nor do i think the yankees would have if we signed him neccessarily. On the mets he is a 3 or a 4 guy, when they are healthy, he is safe there cuz they built a staff where he can be used properly.

Greg Cohen said...

Once again, let's agree to disagree.