Clockwork Orange….

After what I considered to be a very successful series in Boston, the Yankees have become submerged in a funk again as they have dropped the first two games to Baltimore at home.  I’m not really surprised by this, since Baltimore has given them trouble all year (record 4-7 against) and because after the torrid start to the second half, they just seemed poised for a let down.  Hence the title of this blog, as its like clockwork that the Yankees are struggling after showing signs of life (and Orange is for the Orioles if you really are that slow).  Not to mention the Orioles seem to employ a roster of “Yankee Killers”, which is now captained by Kevin Millar since Edgar Matinez retired.  And I was not surprised that they lost last night, since Daniel Cabrera is the right handed version of Oliver Perez against the Yankees.  Excuses aside this is obviously disappointing, but hopefully Joba can give the Yankees a quality start today and they can then up their game against tougher competition this weekend. 

I’m not going to breakdown any of the games that have been played lately, so instead lets just get into the Yankee related news, with my thoughts and observations sprinkled in.

Yankee Related News

- Found it interesting that Girardi choose to go with Betemit in the 9th against Sherrill yesterday, instead of using Sexson who was acquired for this very reason.  Add in the fact that Betemit is terrible from the right side (.222 avg) and it makes you wonder if Girardi has already lost confidence in Sexson?  Or it could have just been that there was no one else to play 3rd, unless they moved Arod there thus eliminating the DH.

- The big news of Tuesday night was Mark Teixiera being dealt to the Angles, a team who is clearly a member of the elite, however a team that really needed a bat to bolster their offense.  Swapping Kotchman for Teixiera tells me that the Yankees odds of getting big Tex has greatly decreased.  Yes Boras will still look to push Teixiera towards free agency, but now Teixiera has a chance to get comfortable in Southern California, thus more likely to resign with them.  Plus the Angles just gave away their only other first base option, so unless they want to move the 5 foot 10 Kendrick back to first or reacquire Darin Erstad, chances are they will offer Teixiera whatever he wants. The more I thought about it, the more it seemed obvious that Teixiera, not Sabathia, was the Yankees target this offseason.  However it now appears Cashman may have to start mapping out a plan B.

- Moose was bound to have a bad game eventually, and it was no shock that it came against the Orioles (who as I mentioned have a ton of yankee killers).  Rasner was good yesterday, and if a move is made soon, I think it should be Ponson that is showed the door. 

- Speaking of making a move for pitching, Buster Olney commented in his blog how there appears to be a New York-Seattle rivalary brewing amount the sportswriters.  Seems a lot of the media out in Seattle are offended that the Yankees feel they are doing the Mariners a favor by offering to take all of Washburn’s contract.  Well guess what Seattle writers, they are doing you a favor.  Washburn is at best league average, and his case isn’t helped by the fact that he is paid like a top starter.  Seattle isn’t winning anything anytime soon, so it would be best for them to clear off some salary and spend the money in either the amaetur draft or in the international market.  No other team is willing to take Washburn off their hands, but because its the Yankees, and since the Mariner people are probably still pissed their dream team of 2001 got booted from the playoffs in 5 games, this time they will make a stand against NY and not be pushed around.   Well you know what then, keep Washburn and have fun paying him nearly $11 million next year to win 5 games. 

- Bobby Meacham is F*%*G terrible.  I miss the days of Send ‘Em Home Sojo after watching this buffon waive guys home where they are then tagged out by 5 feet and then throw up the stop sign when the outfielders are conceding the run. 

- I wouldn’t mind seeing the Yankees acquire Benjie Molina if the cost is low.  But the Giants aren’t going to give him away since they play in the Pacific Coast West Division.  Although it would be fun to get Molina, and then have him settle the long dispute of whose slower between him, Giambi and a dead dear.

- As of now, Derek Jeter is the definition of league average.  He has a .752 OPS and an OPS+ of 102.  This wouldn’t be bad if he weren’t making $22 million dollars.  I’m going to do a post soon on how his contract negotations in 2 years could be very very ugly. 

- So far the trade hasn’t produced much, as Marte was awful last night and Nady is off to a slow start.  Of course anyone who comes to a conclusion from this small sample size is a moron, and I’m willing to bet these two get back to their normal numbers.  Paul O’Neil said exactly what I was thinking about Marte last night, in that in the AL East you can’t throw fastballs by every hitter, which is what he was trying to do.  He has to mix his slider and fastball (and locate it better) up more if he wants to succeed in the AL.  This also illustrates the point that the NL is a crappy league (I’m thinking this may anger some people on this site, lol). 

Injury/Rehab Updates

- Posada gets his shoulder surgery today.   Rehab supposedly takes 6 months, so he should be ready to go by Opening Day.  Sad to see the emotional captain of the team miss this season, but hopefully a year off from catching allows his body to hang around for his entire contract. 

- Wang’s cast is off and he is healed, praise the lord!  Still it will take a month or more for him to get into pitching shape, as he was completely immobile with the cast.  It’s nice to know that he is healed though, and if he can pitch 1 or 2 important games this season it is definitely worth it.

- According to the AP in Tampa…..Eric Milton threw 35 pitches in a simulated game on Tuesday, Victor Zambrano threw 46 pitches, lefty Joey Eischen threw 37 pitches and Shelly Duncan swung a bat for the first time since separating his shoulder.   I think I’ll wet my pants.

- Ian Kennedy had another solid start in AAA last night, as he went 6 innings giving up 3 hits, 3 walks and 3 runs while striking out 5.  I’d still like to see him throw another good game or 2, but there isn’t much left for him to prove in the minors.  Getting close to that proverbial fork in the road for Kennedy where he either puts up or shuts up as  Yankee. 

- Brian Bruney continues to walk and strikeout a ton in AAA, now there’s a shock.

- News from Single A Charleston, Carl Pavano (gasp!) pitched (gasp!) 2 innings (gasp!) where he gave up a hit and and a walk while striking out 4 (gasp!).  No sign of injury yet, but the day is still young.  Also Phil Hughes piggybacked on Pavano by pitching 3 innings and giving up 2 hits, walked one and stroke out one.  He also got the win if anyone cares.  My two main goals for Hughes during rehab are to see him stay healthy (obviously) and rack up some strikeouts, which is what I think was hurting him while in the majors.  With his curve he should be able to hold a K per 9 rate around 6-7. 

Sadly there is almost more injury news than actual Yankee news, which makes me shed a tear.  Nice to see that most of these pitchers are coming back though, of course there are only 2 months left in the season so chances of seeing them are pretty slim.  I’ll be back later in the week to reflect on the Yankee-Angles series, which should be fun since they almost always seem to kick the S&*T out of us.  You can check out Nich Hall’s blog for more Angles information, as he covers the Halos here at STB. 

Thoughts and comments can be sent to jvg019@yahoo.com.  See ya!

 

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Last post (s) by Joseph Gallo

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