The Last Opening Day At The House That Ruth Built!!

Monday, June 4, 2007

Lets Play BOSS

Hello my fellow Yankee fans. Hope you enjoyed the Holiday weekend last week. My was fine would have been better if the Yankees had played better although taking 2 of 3 from the Sucks again this weekend was nice even Sweeter we did it against Papulbum.

Any who as many of you may know I’m part of a great group of Yankee fans on yahoo called The Yankees Club. One of the members posted a good question this week and I figured Id share with you along with some of the answer we got. Below you will find Miss Ravens question and the Response from her self, Les (Another member and Co Owner of the Group) Draciron Smith who you all met last week, and my self (Joe) of course.

**THIS WAS WRITEN BEFORE GIAMBI WENT ON THE DL**

So we are now in 4th place in the AL East. The Red Sox have the best record in the league. There are still more than 100 games to go. If you were Steiny what would you do?

If you get rid of Cashman who would you get to take his place?

RAVEN: I have no idea who you would get but if you are talking about getting rid of Cashman I would suggest someone with a lot of fire. And who understand that you have to build a team for the future as well as continue to win in the present.

Les: Not sure who I would get t replace him, but there is always GeneMichael.

Draciron Smith:
Keep Cashman. He's the only one who's TRYING to solve the problems. He'd done a good job to stock up on pitching. Now we need to stock up on position players.

Joe: Keep Cashman for two reasons. He WANTS to rebuild the Farm system. No mater how this season pans out We DESPRITLY need to start growing our own talent again. Secondly even if we do fire Cashmen the impact on the team is zero unless major trades are made THAT impact is likely a bad one because the opposite of Cashmen is to trade away the young Talent we have and bring in more AGING talent.

Fire Torre? You are the BOSS do you get rid of him now and let Donny move on over or if Torre goes the whole coaching staff goes? Who do you get for manager?

RAVEN: Well, Sweet Lou is off the market. So I would get Giradi. We need someone young. If Torre goes so does most of that staff. Just for not having the balls to stand up to Torre and tell him to wake the hell up!!

LES: I would not give it to Donnie, that would not be a change, How aboutGirardi?

Draciron Smith: Make Captain Hook walk the plank and make sure there are lots of sharks below when we do it. I've lost all respect for Torre this year. Even with all the injuries and problems if Torre was not so badly mismanaging the team we'd only be a couple games out. We cannot win with Torre and the team we have. Simple as that. Things will turn around yes but without young pitching we are going nowhere and Torre cannot manage young pitching. Long term Torre is an obstacle to continued Yankee success. Put Mattingly in and watch things turn around in a hurry.

Joe: Torre I believe is Defiantly not the answer for the Yankees this year. He seems to have lost his passion to win, and simply is not good for our young Pitchers. I LOVE Donnie Baseball but I don’t think he is ready to Manager the Yankees he needs more time. I would get Mazz, Girardi, or somebody completely out of the equation Paul O-Neal maybe. Somebody with a FIRE to win and that will kick these guys in the ass to do it.

Abreu-Do we keep Bobby? He has been hurting hitting wise and perhaps we need to dump him and see what we can get.

RAVEN: I like Bobby so I give him a second chance. UNLESS I can shop him around for decent arms or younger more productive legs.

LES: Depends on what we can get for him, he could still be good, just has to break out of his slump.

Draciron Smith: Keep Abrue because he'll have a decent 2nd half and he'll be better than anybody we get.

Joe: I'm Split on Bobby, his slump has been frustrating and his defense in RF has not been all that at times. He would be a valuable trade chip on the market, But if he starts hitting and getting on base he is HUAGE for this Yankee lineup.

Damon-Injuries, not hitting well. Seems like the Red Sox knew what they were doing when they didn't re-new that contract.

RAVEN: If nothing else you keep Damon around in hopes that the DH position becomes available soon.

LES: I think Damon should go, I like him but his constant injuries are hurting us.

Draciron Smith: Damon did a great job for us last year and started off well this year. He's battling injuries and AGAIN if Gio wasn't clogging up the DH he could be resting those legs but still providing a productive bat.

Joe: I Like Damon and he was great for us last year, his injured Cafs are not helping us at the plate thou. Damon is the catalyst to this offense thou and is a big reason DJ had such a good year last year. I keep Damon but he becomes the regular DH until he is 100%

Cano-The kid's heart doesn't appear to be in it. Do we wait for him to develop and mature as a hitter or see what we can get for him (especially in terms of pitching)?

RAVEN: Cano is young and has a lot of talent. You keep him unless you can get great pitching in a trade for him.

LES: He may have to be sent down for a while to get his act together, but he may be able to hack it by staying.

Draciron Smith: Cano just needs some hitting instruction and a little confidence from his coach. He's in the middle of chaos and turmoil and I think it's affecting him. The down attitude of the team is hurting everybody. The tension in the air and Torre's panic has spread to the troops. Fire Torre and put Mattingly in and watch Cano turn it around big time.

Joe: Why is it the past 3 years we are so eager to trade Cano?? No way on a cold day in HELL (Boston??) do I ever consider trading Cano. He is a slow starter and his bat will get hot sooner then latter. There are better options to trade then Cano much OLDER ones at that.

Cabera-once was the golden boy now ineffective. Dump him?

RAVEN: Mellky days are numbered. He goes in the next trade.

LES: He needs to be dumped or at least sent down, he just isn't hacking it this year.

Draciron Smith:
KEEP KEEP KEEP Melky. The kid is a real prospect. Give him playing time and his bat will and has responded. Torre's inability to develop youngsters has hurt Melky's development.
Joe: Why are we always so eager to trade away our young talent?? At the end of the year Abrue is probably gone and Damon’s injuries this year PRVOVE we need another outfielder on this club. Melky is not getting consistent playing time mostly because Giambi clogs up the DH and there is no room. Give Melky an every day position to play and watch him SHINE once again.

Matsui-Safe? We will have to give up a big name to get good pitching. Can we afford to lose his bat?

RAVEN:
Can't beat his bat. He stays.

LES: He should be safe.

Draciron Smith: Zilla is just slumping. Again the situation is affecting him. Change manager and the change in attitude will infuse Zilla who again should be DHing at least 20 games over the next 100 to keep him fresh. Again Zilla played through an injury that could have been minor but because the lack of DH time turned into a trip to the DL.

Joe: No Way I trade Matsui. He is traditionally a slow starter as well his bat will and has started to heat up

Jeter-The face of the Yankees. Is HE safe and do we put a "Help Wanted Sign" out for a new Captain.

RAVEN: Jeter is the face of the franchise to the fans. He stays because he is talented and a joy to have in the uniform. He is a legend. HOWEVER, he hears my mouth regarding his lack of leadership and his favoritism among the players. He needs to check that ego at times. He's a superstar and even he gets side tracked.

LES: As a player he is great, as a captain, no way.

Draciron Smith: You cannot strip Jeter of the title of team captain. He has not been a good team captain however. He has been a great player so we want to keep him a Yankee for his whole career.

Joe: I don’t get the flack on DJ for not telling the fans not to boo A-rod last year. He was right you can’t tell them what to do and it would have only made the problem worse. DJ did the right thing and in my opinion is a good captain. He handles the young players vary well talks to his teammates and dose what he can to rally the troops. He is a quite leader so many MAY perceive this as a weakness, truth is thou in NY being quite amongst the chaos is the best kind of leadership this team can have.

Jorge-Hot with the bat and the ONLY true catcher we have. Safe? Do we renew contract?

RAVEN:
Goergie stays. He retires a Yankees, and we look for his future replacement so that he can mold them.

LES: Give him a new contract now!!

Draciron Smith:
Posada will cool down considerably after the break. Posada has always been a first half player because of the position he plays. If DH were open we could DH Posada quite a bit thus both having his bat in the lineup and keeping it hot plus having his great defense in the game when we need it most. It's not just his bat that suffers from playing too many games at catcher. his defense wears down also. Posada should NOT be catching more than 80 games a year at his age. Again Torre cannot be bothered to look at stats and consider anything else than over using Posada to the point that come early August Posada is lucky to find his catchers mitt and usually hits under .200 until late August early Sept.

Joe: Posada has been and STILL IS a major factor on this team. Behind the plate he has handled this pitching staff better then ANYBUDY in the league could have. At the Plate his bat right now can’t be beat. He is however no spring chicken and we need to find a young replacement and soon. More If the Rockies are willing to trade Helton I want Chris Iannetta as well. He is only hitting .188 with the Rockies this year but has HUAGE potential and the Rockies just may give up on him.

A-Rod: The way things are going Alex may decide for himself at the end of the season to leave. But since he has stated that he wants to remain a Yankee, do we want to keep him or see what we can get for him? Again to get great pitching we will have to give up a big name. If he opts out do we even try to persuade him to stay? That may cost us. Is the AROD experiment over?

RAVEN: Alex stays, if he wants to. He is a legend in his own right. He is good for the franchise as well.Good or bad he will always keep people talking about the Yankees. I however, look for a manager who can effectively coach Alex. Not someone who will hold his hand, but someone who appreciates his work ethic, his pride and his need to be the best. He needs someone who is neutral in the clubhouse and someone he feels he can trust. Someone who won't talk shit behind his back to reporters
LES: I would keep him, but it is his decision at this point.

Draciron Smith:
A-Rod should have been dealt with in the off season. Too late to worry about it now. Still it'd be nice to know if we should trade him or keep him. The offense needs him but if he goes FA and signs with Boston that is a major problem we don't want. A-Rod should have long ago been made part of the team but he remains an outsider and that I lay at Jeter's and Torre's doorstep. If A-Rod were an insider then nobody would be wondering if he was staying or going.

Joe: If I'm the Boss I give Cash marching orders to sign A-Rod to an extension and get rid of the opt out clause!! If Alex wants to stay then this should be easily done. If it can’t then at this point we need to get what we can from him because we NEED his bat right now. Trading him juts don’t’ make any sense right now unless we are ready to concede defeat to the Sucks (NEVER!!)

Pitching--Are Mussina, Wang, Pettite, Proctor and Rivera safe? Does everyone else go?

RAVEN:
Mussina - He goes in the next blockbuster trade for younger arms. Its been a good ride but if we can get some pen help and/or a starter he is out.
Wang - Keep.
Pettitte - Safe
Proctor - Keep.
Rivera - We keep legends. Just look for a possible replacement.Everyone else is OUT

LES:
Mussina - Not sure about him, getting close to the end, I think. He is also way too fragile. Can't start a game 3 minutes late or he can't handle it.
Wang - Keep, not an issue.
Pettitte - He has been great, but needs middle/late relief to get wins.
Proctor - Keep him, but we need to use him less.
Rivera - Think he just needs the team to get to him more regularly.
Clemens - Hopefully he will help, don't think he will be the same pitcher he has been in the past though

Draciron Smith:
Moose - Goes at the end of the year or even this year if we can trade him.
Wang - Safe,
Pettite - Far from safe and to be honest we had and have better options. Pettite is a clutch pitcher. Soon as the rest of the rotation cools down he'll fall apart. He's turned it up a notch because the team needs him. He cannot pitch like this all year. We cannot rely on him pitching like this all year.
Mo - Unfortunately isn't safe. He's unhappy and the team is unhappy and Mo might just retire or sign with another team to express that. We have no replacement for Mo. Not as a closer and definitely not his clubhouse presence. Posada and Mo should have been signed if for nothing else than past services rendered. They are also irreplaceable members of the team.
Proctor - I was decried when I suggested we trade Proctor since he'd probably had his career year last year and would have had good trade value coming off that career year. Proctor isn't the problem though. Torre's overworking the bullpen is. Proctor is just one of many good relievers Torre has turned into mush with his over use and lack of confidence.
Clemens - Tell him never mind we don't need you after all. He is a burden on our bullpen if he pitches for the Yankees and doesn't have his head where it needs to be.

The rotation : in my opinion next year should be Wang and the best of this group. Clippard, Hughes, Rasner, Karstens, Olendorf, C Wright and DeSalvo. These are really talented youngsters and at least 3 or 4 of them are going to be better than anybody else we can get. At least one will win 20 games for somebody in the next year or two and I suspect half of them will win 20 at least once in their careers. We have more talent coming up the pipeline beyond these guys. Going outside for pitching right now is stupid.

Joe:
Mussina – I Trade Moose to the first NL team that will take him. In the NL he will have some value even with his 87MPH fastball, and we might actually get something we need in return, like better relievers
Wang – No way No How Wang is a keeper
Pettitte – Andy has been our staff ace up to this point. Truth is he should be 6-2 with that Era maybe 7-0 he just doesn’t get the run support he needs.
Clemens – I have no Idea what to expect form Clemens. He to his credit is an amazing pitcher even at his age, BUT in the AL EAST I just don’t’ know how much help he is really going to be. See Moose for the reason for my concern
DeSalvo: Keep him convert him to a long reliever this team DESPRITLY needs one
Clippard/Hughes – These two guys are the future of the Yankees Pitching. NO WAY IN HELL do we trade them for ANYTHING
Proctor – Scot is a reliable Reliever, but struggles form over use. Give him the setup roll to share with Bruny and we have an excellent 1-2 punch in the 7th and 8th innings to get to Mo
Bruney: See above only not as over used (YET!!)
Farnsworth- Trade him he has value and we might just get something we need in return like a better first basemen, or a young catcher
Meyers: Trade him or release him out right. Meyers is to dam old this team needs pitchers that can pitch to more then just one batter.
Villone: Better then Meyers, YOUNGER then Meyers (Not buy much) and can give us innings when we need them. Keep him for now
Hen: After letting Meyers go PROMOTE HIM and give him a chance he can help DeSalvo as the long man when needed.
Vizcaino- Trade him, release him or shove him in a Rocket and shoot him to the Sun I don’t’ care just GET HIM OFF THIS TEAM!! Honestly he should have SOME trade value because of his past performances NOT as a Yankee.
Mo Rivera – Mo is fine and Should have been given a contract over the winter. He is a YANKEE LEGEND and should never play for any other team. Also all Mo really needs is some consistency as in give him some more work insted of siting him for 5 days

Ok guys that it WHAT DO YU THINK?!?! Leave your comments and let us know what you would do if you where the Boss

Till Next Week




The Yankee Fan