Pavano is the Opening Day Starter?!?!

Well looks like Wang will be starting the season on the DL because of a Hamstring Pull. According to the Yankees it’s not a sever pull but it’s enough that they are not going to take any chances with the staff ace. This leaves the opening day start in question because Andy Pettitte’s back was barking a few weeks ago and he has slowly been recovering. The Yankees for see him being able to start the season and this was likely a mild set back for Andy but the smart move is not to rush him back to the mound. Moose has been roughed up this spring but is looking better each outing he pitches. The Yankees could send him out on short rest to pitch his last spring game to get him ready for the opener but with Moose’s age and his rough spring it is smart of them not to want to push things. Who does this leave then?? Iggy could start the season for us but I doubt the Yankees would really go that route. For the most part they have tried to leave the expectation for him low thus keeping the pressure on him to a minimum. Throwing him out there for the season opener could be disastrous if he struggles. That leaves Carol “Holy Crap I’m not Injured Yet!!” Pavano folks and YES believe it or not he is the most likely candidate although in my opinion the least deserving one. If you ask me the Yankees should give the nod to either Jeff Karastan or give the ball to Super Prospect Phil Hughes for the day. Why not?? Karastan has earned the spot in the rotation to replace Wang while he is on the DL. Mind you the opener is normally reserved for the Ace of the staff or one of the vets but that option is not available to the Yankees so why not give it to somebody that has earned a shot at the bigs. With Hughes you simply tell him that it is just for the one start, and there’s a chance to show the fans why the Yankees are so high on him. Basically you’re telling him look just go out there and soak it all in and just have fun. The First game of the season is probably the least important game of the year. Hell the first week is really not all that important. I mean most likely by the end of the week the Nationals will be on top of the NL East because they won 4 of their 6 games that week. They’re not going to stay there we all know that. So why not give the ball to one of the young guns just for some fun??


All this aside Wang’s injury is actually in a strange way a good thing. Considering there is likely to be other injuries to the Rotation this year. Andy is known for injuries during the season, Moose’s age dictates he will spend some time on the DL and Pavano is a miracle every time he takes the mound with out an injury. With this said it gives the Yankees time to see what their young arms can do for them while it is early in the season. Karastan has had a good spring, Rasner was not far behind him, Sanchez is likely to follow, Olendorf, and Hughes would be available as well. With Wang on the DL the Yankees can flip flop threw them in the early part of the season see who has success, who needs some work and who is just not ready yet. I’d rather we do this now then lets say in August when the season is much more on the line and the games mean a lot more. Add this to the increase in the trade value of many of these young arms if they have some success. This also could help increase Pavano’s trade value as well. If he gets off to a fast start and Karastan or one of the other young arms pitches exceptionally well the Yankees will have no real reason to keep Pavano around once Wang comes back. With the good start his trade value will be much better then what it is right now and the Yankees will get a much better return for him.


I’d be lying if I said, I was not concerned about Wang starting the season on the DL, but consider this. Last year the Yankees went threw a lot of injuries to the roster early in the season. When August came around we had found ourselves a break out rookie in Melky, and Wang had stepped up in the rotation as our ace. Buy August guys like Matsui, Shef and Moose where well on their way back to the team and off the DL. Meanwhile teams like the Red Sucks, Angels, White Sox and others were suddenly experiencing injuries to key members of their team. All of them eventually started to fade badly and by September they were virtually out of the race (the Angels hung in there a bit longer thou). The point here is that it is much better to suffer these minor injuries now than to get hammered by DL filled rosters halfway through the season. Just be thankful it’s not Pavano that is injured right now. With Wang we know he will be back on the team by the end of April, with Pavano it would have been the season and we would have lost a chance to trade him away.


Till next week...


The Yankees Fan

Why is Pavano still a Yankee??

So another week of Spring Training baseball is behind us and there is a lot to talk about this week.

First and four most the A-rod story that broke early in the week; according to the article in I believe the NY Post A-rod believes the fans should love him or else. The reaction from Yankees fans was pretty swift for the most part as fans in chat rooms and discussion groups were tired of this subject to start with. Many felt A-rod was out of line, some felt he was justified for saying what he said, and some think he just needs to stop talking to the media all together. My self I actually agree with all of the above sentiments but not in the way you might be thinking. See the thing is A-rod never ACTUALY said the fans have to love me or else I’m going to Leave NY. What he said regarding the option to opt out of his contract after this season was that HE WANTS TO BE A YANKEE so that decision is not his to make, and it was up to the Yankees and the fans. Basically the only way Alex is going to leave NY is if we the fans WANT HIM TO GO or the Yankees ask him to. Why is this so hard for people to understand?? I just don’t get it. More importantly why the fans just don’t see how much the Media in general hates him being a Yankee?? It’s a fact; since we signed A-rod the media has been writing and reporting why he should NOT be a Yankee. They hate the fact that he is Yankee and are doing everything in their power to turn the fans against him. This is why I think A-Rod was justified in saying what he said. Basically he told the Media STOP ASKING ME. Mostly because he plans on staying with the Yankees unless otherwise told he is not wanted there. How else do you explain that?? Truth is there really is no other way to say it, and this leads me to my next point. Alex really needs to simply avoid the media for the rest of the season. These vultures are out for blood this year, because they see a way to get what they want, which is to have A-rod leave the Yankees. So the media takes anything he says twist it in such a manner that it gives the fans the wrong message. The truth is Alex simply needs two words for the Press the rest of the season. NO COMMENT. After that let his bat and his glove do the talking for him. With No Comment the media has no words to twist into ammo to shot. He wants to be a Yankee but the media hates the fact that he is. If A-rod wants to stay a Yankee he needs to let his bat and glove make the point for him. And leave the media with nothing else to write about.

Other topics this week would be Carl “I’ve fallen and can’t Pitch today” Pavano. To be fair he did make two starts this week, one against the Red Sucks where he threw 3 innings giving up 2 runs and striking out 2 along the way. Not a great outing for the most part but not a terrible outing either. Then in his last outing this week he pitched in relief of Andy Pettit who was shutting out the Phillies for 5 innings. Then Pavano came into the game and promptly gave up 3 runs over 3 innings and generally sunk up the joint. What’s really scary is that there are actually teams out there that are interested in him. From What I have read the Rockies and Cardinals have shown some interest, supposedly the Dodgers and Braves have kicked his tires and according to some rumors that I have heard the Mets and D-rays may have interest in him as well. Now if ANY of this is true why he is still in a Yankee uniform completely boggles the mind. He has been nothing but a pain in the ass for the last two years. Constantly injured and were not talking about your normally every day run of the mill shoulder injury a pitcher gets. Not this Putz he bruises his Ass and goes on the DL. Gets into a car wreck while rehabbing another injury NEVER REPORTS IT to the Yankees and it turns out he has broken Ribs. It’s insane that he is still wearing a Yankee uniform and for the Love of all that is good in baseball I can only pray that Brian Cashmen will move quickly to trade him. But who would replace him in the rotation you might be asking. Well…

In three spring games Jeff Karstens is 3-0 and hasn't allowed any earned runs. Opposing batters are hitting .161 against him, and Karstens hasn't issued a walk in nine innings of work, BUT has managed to strike out 9 batters. He is having and exceptional spring and its fair to say that he is not just knocking on the door of the Major League roster but bulldozing it down with a sledgehammer. The truth is the Yankees have to notice how well he has been doing and as much as they want to tell us that he is starting the season in Triple A you have to hope at the very least that their trying desperately to find a way to keep this kid on the roster. One way would be to trade away Carl “What’s the next Injury I’ll get” Pavano. I have to ask you my fellow Yankees fans WHATS THE BIG DIFERENCE?!?! If we trade away Pavano and Karstens has a 12 win season he will have accomplished about as much as Pavano will likely do if he stays. He could however win closer to 15 games or more if he keeps pitching as well as he is now, and honestly that’s very possible. In the worst case scenario he can’t handle pitching in the bigs and the Yankees send him back down. In this case the Yankees have a surplus of young pitchers to bring up and give the chance to pitch on the Roster. Sanchez, Hughes, Rasner just to name a few. Even if all of those options fall through, we have the July trade deadline and the Yankees having a surplus of young pitching to work with picking up a strong back end of the rotation starter for the stretch run and the playoffs are not overly far fetched. The thing is if we stay with Pavano the Yankees run more risk. He could go down with another obscure injury and never be seen again, and then what do we have to show for the money we have dumped into him over the last three years. If the Yankees trade Pavano they FINALY get something back for the contract he signed most likely in the form of young position player prospects that they badly need (Most notably at Catcher). Secondly by freeing up Pavano’s roster space they open the door for the log jam of young pitchers that currently are sitting in the Minors just waiting for a chance to prove them selves. Last year the Yankees were missing the heart and fire of the young rookies we used to get us there. Once Matsui, Shef, and others came back guys like Melky, Reese, Tompson, Rasner, and Karastan were shuffled off the roster and along with them the passion these young kids play with. All you had to do was watch that young Tigers team celebrate after beating us in the playoffs to know what the Yankees were missing HEART.

Last but not least there is the first base debate. Right now as things stand Jason “Look at my chemically enhanced biceps” Giambi is slated to be the every day DH. This is part of the reason the Yankees picked up Doug Mientkiewic, the problem is he is a left handed hitter and the Yankees lineup is very lefty heavy. The Yankees want a right handed hitter to add to the lineup for when we face lefty pitchers. This opened the door for Andy Philips who had a great first half last year but fell to pieces once the second half of the season began. Because of this the Yankees also picked up Josh Phelps and it was decided that one of them would make the team based on spring training. The problem is right now as things stand Phelps is the hands down winner because Andy Philips had to leave the team for personal reason (his mother’s car accident). Regardless of Phelps fantastic spring Andy has not been given the chance to win the last roster spot, so to declare Phelps the winner is honestly not fair to Andy. This is at least how Joe Tore seems to be thinking which means Philips probably is the odds on favorite even thou he has yet to play any spring ball. What I have to wonder is why should, any of this matter. I feel for Andy and understand that he had to leave the team but the truth is Phelps is hitting .421 and has earned the job until he does something to loose it. Also in the end I have to wonder why the hell we even bothered. The truth is there are plenty of trade options out there that could have brought us much better returns then Mitz glove or Philips or Phelps bat. For example Sean Casey signed with the Tigers; Chris Shelton is the odd man out and probably could have been included in the Shef trade. After that there is Chris Duncan on the Cardinals, who will never see the light of day as a first basemen because Albert Pujols is not going to be leaving St Lous any time soon. A friend of mine in one of the online groups I am in has been argueing this point for several months now, and I have to agree with him, but I’ll add another wrinkle to this as well. With A-Rod troubles at third last year why not move him across the field to first base. The Truth is Alex has the range and flexibility to play first and if you take away the added pressure of playing third you eliminate one of the distractions he had last year to begin with.

What this all comes down to is the Yankees need to do more then just improve their farm system. They need to ACTUALY USE IT! We have great young prospects that are beating down the door to the majors in spring training and the Yankees are prepared to simply send them back to triple A with out a second thought. These young kids bring balance to a team comprised mostly of Veterans and for the most part superstars. These young rookies can remind our Veteran Superstars what it is like to be hungry for playing time and have the heart and passion to win. The honor that is involved in being a Yankee has been forgotten by our Veterans and the joy of the game needs to be restored. I believe some young rookies could bring the honor and joy of the game back to our Veterans and inspire our fans. More importantly these young rookies can remind everyone the most important thing about playing baseball.

JUST HAVE FUN!

Till next week...

The Yankees Fan

Wher should Iggy start the Season

Spring is in the air and baseball is only a little over 2 weeks away from starting the regular season. I am really looking forward to this season, because I honestly believe the Yankees have put together a great team. One of the newer members of the team this year Kei Igawa or Iggy whom has been the topic of some interesting conversation; in one of the Yankee groups that I am in. The question as to whether Iggy should start the season in the minors or in the majors has come up quite a few times. The argument is simple. Japanese pitchers have a tendency to come into the Majors with tones of hype and potential, and thus far all have eventually fallen short. Yankee fans see Iggy and wonder if he is ready for the Major Leagues and I for one think he would benefit from a few months playing Triple A ball to be honest. The flip side to this is that the Yankees have spent 26 million dollars just to talk to him then another 20 million over 5 years to retain his service. The thought is that’s not money you spend on a guy to start the season in the minors. The thought process here is flawed thou, because the Yankees signed him for 5 years so their not thinking short term here. Looking at the big picture they are hoping Iggy can be a part of the Yankees pitching staff for the next 5 years. So with that said there has to be a plan in place to achieve that goal. Basically, Iggy needs to develop like any rookie coming into the Majors.

Consider this. Chen Ming Wang was a star pitcher from Taiwan, that helped his country win the silver medal in the Olympics. All things considered when the Yankees signed him, his performance SHOULD have had him pitching for the Yankees that first year. Instead the Yankees sent him to Triple A, had him work and develop into a Major League Pitcher and then when he was called up he became one of the biggest impact players to come up from the minors in the Yankees organization in a long time. Why is this?? Simple Wang was given time to develop, time to learn about pitching in this country, and allowed to develop the skills he needed to pitch successfully in the Majors. Iggy some will argue has been playing pro ball in Japan and should already poses those skills. The argument is a fair one until you compare the Japanese Pro ball to the major Leagues. Considering that many ball players from Japan can’t cut it in the majors should be all that needs to be said. This is not a slight on Japanese baseball. There is TREMENDUS talent in that league, but the culture is very different, and they just don’t’ play the same kind of baseball that’s played in the Majors because of that. For a hitter the adjustment is not to big look at Itchro, or Matsui. Pitching on the other hand is a different story. The mentality of a Major leaguer pitcher is very complex especially for a starter. Most starters will go over scouting reports, study tapes, and have a game plan going into every start. That game plan is shared with their catcher, and is constantly changing as the game progress. This means good communication is needed, as well as a strong working relationship. When a Japanese pitcher comes to the states to pitch here all this prep work I believe is a hard adjustment for them. Then add the Language barrier to the mix makes it difficult if not impossible. Think about it if a pitcher and a catcher mix up their signals and have a miscommunication the results can be dangerous. A Catcher expecting a curve but receives a high and tight fastball will be out of position causing a pass ball. Or have to lunge for the ball causing the ump to call a close pitch or a ball. More importantly if a catch interprets a scouting report one way and his pitcher sees it differently their approach to pitching any batter will not be on the same page and that’s how mistakes that end up in the stands happen.

For any Rookie to move to the majors there is always an adjustment period, but for a player unfamiliar with American baseball the adjustment can be a lot bigger. I have always believed that Japanese pitchers like Iggy need to start the season in the Minors and to give them time and a good feel for what baseball is like here in thestates. Let them get comfortable, and learn how to make the adjustments that they need to make away form the spotlight of the majors. If you apply this rule to any number of the Japanese pitchers that came to the Majors, I believe a number of them would not have performed so badly and the results would have been vary different.

In Iggy’s case there’s a money factor but for me the money spent to bring him to the Yankees (26 million dollars) was nothing more then a tool to achieve a goal. The 20 million over 5 years is allot for a Minor leaguer to be paid but the plan is not to have him stay in the minors. We brought him in to pitch for the Yankees but to have him start in Triple A makes adjustments and get more comfortable gives him the time to understand how we play the game here. We put our money in stock so that in the future it will give a big return, well giving him time to adjust will allow the 20 million the Yankees invested in him to give them back a big return in his performance. Rushing him to perform in a strange League in a different country surrounded by teammates that can’t speak to him and to work with a catcher that is desperately trying to get on the same page as him but can’t will only hurt their confidence and eventually effect them on the mound.

In the end I’m am Proud that the Yankees have not thrown Iggy completely into the fire thou. Truth is he will be the Yankees 5th starter which means that he is expected to take the ball every 5 days and simply pitch well enough to keep the Yankees in the ball game. Basically he doesn’t even have to win all his games. He just has to keep things close enough to give the Yankees a chance to win the game. There honestly is not a lot of pressure on him, and he will be taking the roll that is usually reserved for Rookie pitchers breaking into the Majors for the first time. Now the same can not be said for Dice K (Daisuke Matsuzaka) who is practically being given the Rookie of the year award and has the “Experts” claiming he will carry the Sucks to the World Series this year. All that for a guy that has never thrown a pitch in a major league baseball game in his life. It blows me away that they expect so much form this guy who can’t speak to his teammates, much less his Catcher who hasn’t even TRIED to learn Japanese. He is in a strange country where the fans are expecting the moon from him and when he makes his first start if he doesn’t do well the fans will be calling for his head. Very different from the Japanese leagues where fans are expected to act properly and booing is looked down upon as harshly has committing a crime. Then there are the outside factors. What happens when the Sucks have their first on field brawl?? In Japan nothing like this ever happens. What about the first time Schilling opens his yap and rips Dice K for a poor performance to the Media?? Again in Japan players that talk trash against opposing teams are looked down upon. Imagine what the reaction will be when it’s Dice K‘s teammate doing it?? Look don’t get me wrong Dice K has a lot of Potential in him and he could very well be the real deal, but the truth is the deck is stacked against him due to the Standard the Media and the Suck have set for him. After he does not meet expectations which will not take long ( just Ask Josh Becket about this) it will be nothing but down hill from there. This season is going to be interesting to say the least. For the Yankees we have Iggy as our fifth starter, perhaps starting the season in Triple A. The Sucks have Dice K who will be considered an Ace of their staff even thou he has never faced any Major League hitting. He will be expected to win close to 20 games. He will be on a team where players turn on each other at the drop of a hat, and all of the media will be criticizing you as a pitcher good or bad. (Iggy faces a similar problem but with his expectations less intense) These guys are going to be cursed with Media pressure to perform but in the end I believe Iggy will be the better pitcher because he was supported by his team. For example three years ago who was Chen Ming Wang?? I know who he was last year. He was the guy that finished second in the Cy Young voting. Tell some of these experts that three years ago when Wang hit the Majors and you would have been laughed out of the ball park.

The Yankees Fan

Well thats my two cents......

Who wants there change?????

Spring Training is in Full Swing!!

Before I get started my wife actually posted a Blog about her Spring Training experience last week and her thoughts on some of the Players CLICK HEAR to check it out!!

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Welcome back my Fellow Yankee Fans!!! More importantly WELCOME BACK BASEBALLL!!!, Well at least live games, even if they’re just exobihition Spring training games- IT”S LIVE BASBEALL FOLKS! I’m getting a chubby just thinking about it. Of course with my new work schedule, I have been unable to catch any of the games on TV thus far, but I have been keeping tabs on the Yankees – AS USUAL.

Things started out glum on Monday, when Bobby Abreu got an oblique strain or basically pulled a rib cage muscle (there is more to it than that but I’m dumbing it down a bit for those cavemen out there) Although it is not a good injury to have it’s not to uncommon, nor should it keep Bobby out of the lineup on opening day. A few fans have asked me why he ignored the signs as it was reported that morning and how it was dumb of him not to rest him self right then and there. Thing is you really can’t see something like this coming on this early in the season. You have to remember most of these guys are just getting back from their down time and getting back into the regular routine. Sure they work out and stay in shape over the winter but their work out regiment is very watered down in most cases. With that being said its likely Bobby figured it was just normal aches and pains of getting his body back into Baseball shape. The important thing is that it happened now and not in April or later in the season when it could effect the regular season and the Yankees ability to score runs.



Humberto Sanchez, the prized pitching prospect we got from the Tigers had an MRI on Monday as well. It seems his fore arm was feeling stiff. The MRI came back clean and the Yankees expect him to be fine after some rest.

Brian Bruny was also suffering with from some back problems and had an MRI that also came back clean. On Wednesday, he reported he was feeling much better and I believe the Yankees have said he could be throwing again in a few days.



Lastly but by far not the last, we expect to see possibly injured Carl Pavano hurt him self while pitching batting practice and went in for an MRI on his foot. While Doctors seem to think he will be fine and it was expected that he would start Sunday’s game against the Tigers. My guess is he will trip off the bus and be a scratched for the game. Realistically though I’m hoping he pitches well over the next two weeks and Cahsmen can dump him off in a trade. Perhaps make room for Bernie Williams- now wouldn’t that be a nice thought??




On Wednesday the Yankees played their only inter-squad game of the spring season and Iggy started by throwing 2 impressive innings. Ron “Gator” Guidry told Iggy to just go out there and have fun- he did just that. I have a pretty decent feeling about this kid for some reason. I don’t think he is going to be lights out per say but I think he will be effective enough to pitch every 5 days and keep the Yankees in the ball games. If he does that the rest will come easy and he should be successful. He seems to have a great work ethic, and more importantly he seems to be honored to be a Yankee. He should be interesting to watch this season.




So with the injuries out of the way and the Spring Practices well into there second week the Yankees took the field for their first Spring Game against the Twins. Wang started and pitched 2 very strong innings. Of course he was not happy with the outing (Are they ever??) Posada said he had his pitches where up more then they should have been but never the less for his first outing he did very well. Giambi and Damon both hit Home Runs and the Yankees won 6-1.




On Friday Andy Pettit was on the mound for the first time in 3 long years starting a baseball game as a New York Yankee once again. He threw two perfect innings as the Yankees beat the D-Rays 3-1. Rasner, Proctor, Britten, and Vilone all saw work in this game as well Vilone giving up the lone run in the 7th. Offensively it was Chris Basak with a three run HR. I have no clue who this kid is but he is likely going to be packing groceries in a few weeks from now up in Scranton. Regardless it was nice to see one of the young upcoming prospects give us the winning hit for a change



On Saturday Moose was toeing the Rubber for the Yankees for the first two innings and although he did not fair as good as Wang, Pettit and Iggy he still had a good first outing. Throwing 2 innings and giving up 1 run on two hits. Moose stated that he felt strong out on the mound and that although it was not the outing he wanted he was pleased with the start. Farnsworth and Versa each saw an Inning of work as well neither giving up a run. Posada hit his first HR of the spring to get the Yankees scoring going and Marcos Vechionacci drove in the go ahead run to send the Yankees on to a 4-3 win and remain unbeaten so far this spring.



What Do You Mean thers No Crying in baseball!! I play for the Red Sox!!

Yea, Yea, I know the games don’t mean anything right now but it’s always a beautiful thing to see the Yankees record at 3-0 and the Sucks record at 0-3. Speaking of the Sucks their BP got a nice little beating on Saturday at the hands of the Philly’s. Papulbum started this game and I have to give him credit 2 innings 4 strikeouts is impressive, but I’ll be more impressed when he pitches a full game. Last year it seemed to me that the second time he threw the lineup for Papulbum was a disaster for him and I have a feeling it’s going to be a reoccurring problem for him as a starter. What’s funny so far this spring is the only wins the Sucks have are against a bunch of college students Northwestern, and Boston College. When they have faced actual Major League talent they have yet to win. This likely won’t last but as a Yankee fan you have to love that little fact. The sucks can keep on Sucking as far as I’m concerned.

The Yankees Fan

Well thats my two cents......

Who wants there change?????