Steinbrenner all but guarantee's a WS win

[jsinger121]

George going off with the mouth again

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2341248

[Optimist]

Every owner tells himself this year his team is going to win it all (uh, except for the Royals' owner,) George just shares it with the public.

 

I like the fact that he's been so public recently; I was seriously starting to worry about his health, with how quiet he was last year and all.

 

Keep it up, George.

[riverside sluggers]

Yeaa but you know it will be talked about a lot in October if the Yankees dont win it all. A lot can happen in the regular season as well as the postseason, theres some thing you just cant gurantee. Or it will come back and bit you on the ass.

 

I also found in the article of Damon further distancing himself from RS fans (I still cant believe he thought that "letter" ad in the Boston Globe was going to mend the fences)

 

"My time in Boston was great," Damon said. "But now I'm here playing for the greatest franchise in the world. The team with the most championships."

 

He also mentioned that hearing fans chant "Johnny Johnny" means Yankee fans have accepted him. Please, he wont be fully accepted by Yankee fans until he fashions a new ring. Same reason why there is still scrutiny towards Arod

[MC Hammer]

Anyone bother telling ole' Georgie boy that pitching wins championships?

[He Hate Me]

I think he's setting up Torre for a fall if we don't win it this year

[Cityofchampions33]

Yeaa but you know it will be talked about a lot in October if the Yankees dont win it all. A lot can happen in the regular season as well as the postseason, theres some thing you just cant gurantee. Or it will come back and bit you on the ass.

 

I also found in the article of Damon further distancing himself from RS fans (I still cant believe he thought that "letter" ad in the Boston Globe was going to mend the fences)

 

 

 

He also mentioned that hearing fans chant "Johnny Johnny" means Yankee fans have accepted him. Please, he wont be fully accepted by Yankee fans until he fashions a new ring. Same reason why there is still scrutiny towards Arod

 

I really am interested in what Damon's IQ is, must be lower then the number on his Yankee jersey is. He is a freakin *******, thinkin he can buy us over, I swear, if he was like this when he was a Red Sox then I never noticed. I guess it takes one big blow for you to realize what an ******* he is.

[ORS]

I think he's setting up Torre for a fall if we don't win it this year

I think you are on to something there. He needs a fall guy, and his ego won't allow him to consider that some of his acquisitions weren't the best moves.

[AlexanderTheGreat13]

Torre only has 2 years left on his deal(Counting this year). There were rumblings last year of him firing Torre. If the Yankees dissopoint again this year I could see him eating the final year of that deal.

[MC Hammer]

Torre only has 2 years left on his deal(Counting this year). There were rumblings last year of him firing Torre. If the Yankees dissopoint again this year I could see him eating the final year of that deal.

Well as the Yankees, anything but a WS is a disapointment ... so I guess this is Torre's last year.

[AlexanderTheGreat13]

Well as the Yankees, anything but a WS is a disapointment ... so I guess this is Torre's last year.

Your right its ws or bust but your wrong he will finish out his contract.

[He Hate Me]

I think you are on to something there. He needs a fall guy, and his ego won't allow him to consider that some of his acquisitions weren't the best moves.

 

I actually think we had a very good offseason this year. The problem is that our offseason acquisitions form a couple of years ago when Cashman had less say in things are gonna be the downfall of our team. Of course, those decisions were made by the Tampa contingent which has absolutely no knowledge of baseball but since they're fellating George, he won't fire them. So instead he sets up Joe to take the fall. I would be shocked if Joe lasts through the season if we dont start strong.

[riverside sluggers]

CityofChampions33: I really am interested in what Damon's IQ is, must be lower then the number on his Yankee jersey is. He is a freakin *******, thinkin he can buy us over, I swear, if he was like this when he was a Red Sox then I never noticed. I guess it takes one big blow for you to realize what an ******* he is.

 

Hey ya know, he's just making it easier for us to boo him.

[Cityofchampions33]

o man, id kill for the chance to boo him at Fenway. Oh I can probably hear it from my house.

[MC Hammer]

Your right its ws or bust but your wrong he will finish out his contract.

 

If the Yankees dissopoint again this year I could see him eating the final year of that deal.

[AlexanderTheGreat13]

I'm implying that they will win the WS(Thus the "Torre will finish out his contract" part). I didnt think I needed to say it in so many words.

[riverside sluggers]

o man, id kill for the chance to boo him at Fenway. Oh I can probably hear it from my house.

 

oh yea, I got tix for the 2nd game of the series. Its basically like 15 rows up from the Yanks dugout. I just need to let it all out, its been building up in me since that dark day in December

[MC Hammer]

I'm implying that they will win the WS(Thus the "Torre will finish out his contract" part). I didnt think I needed to say it in so many words.

Ah my bad. I just had trouble believing you'd take the Yankees with no pitching staff to win the WS.

[ARod2212]

He didn't "All but guarantee". He guaranteed.

 

And he's right, because the Yankees are going to win the World Series this year. Mark it down, negros.

[MC Hammer]

He didn't "All but guarantee". He guaranteed.

 

And he's right, because the Yankees are going to win the World Series this year. Mark it down, negros.

I'll say it again. Pitching wins championships, and the Yankees have none.

[ARod2212]

I'll say it again. Pitching wins championships, and the Yankees have none.

Teams like the Royals and Devil Rays have none. The Yankees have enough pitching. Especially with the offense.

 

The Yankees will win the World Series, that's all there is to it.

[MC Hammer]

Teams like the Royals and Devil Rays have none. The Yankees have enough pitching. Especially with the offense.

 

The Yankees will win the World Series, that's all there is to it.

Match up you're pitching staff with any pitching staff that will be in the playoffs this year ... you lose.

[ARod2212]

Match up you're pitching staff with any pitching staff that will be in the playoffs this year ... you lose.

Based on the expansive stats from 2006? Sure, we've got no shot. Look at all those pitchers with 0.00 ERAs out there this year, its frightening.

[Optimist]

I think we should all just wait for the team to actually take the field before making brash statements.

 

Who knows? Chacon could be for real(not just some lightning in a bottle,) Johnson could replicate the last half of last year, Mussina could feel the pressure of his contract year and excel, Pavano could pitch like he did in '04...or not. Anything could happen.:dunno:

 

To say the Yankees have no pitching, little more than a week after pitchers showed up at camp, is probably just as empty a statement as Steinbrenner's.

[MC Hammer]

To say the Yankees have no pitching, little more than a week after pitchers showed up at camp, is probably just as empty a statement as Steinbrenner's.

The Yankees had no pitching last year ... and they didn't make one move to improve it.

[ARod2212]

The Yankees had no pitching last year ... and they didn't make one move to improve it.

And as experience has taught us, every year pitchers have carbon copy seasons as the ones prior.

[MC Hammer]

And as experience has taught us, every year pitchers have carbon copy seasons as the ones prior.

Did I say that? Did I say every single pitcher on your staff will have the exact same numbers as last year? Oh no I didn't.

 

This board ... especially in the offseason ... is nothing but predictions. My prediction is that the Yankee rotation will suck just like it did last year, and maybe worse depending on Randy.

[riverside sluggers]

By George, a pledge

By Eric Wilbur, Boston.com Staff

 

The wistfulness is apparently gone, replaced by a somewhat gregariously demanding version of his former self, but at least George Steinbrenner is still delusional. The Boss joked with his employees and teased the media throng that details his every move as the Yankees opened camp this week.A year after his health came into some question due to his almost sentimental nature, the Yankees owner is more omnipresent and vocal at spring training in Tampa this year than he has been in the last handful, yesterday even stating what his team's chances were to win the 2006 World Series.

 

"We're going to win it this year," Steinbrenner said. "We're going after them this year." Howard Dean concurs. Nothing against the James Cameron Yankees, who ought to slug their way to plenty of 10-9 wins, but they are about as sure a thing as it is predicting the day that darned lovable Ziggy finally blows and verbally berates the nearest target with a string of expletives usually reserved for a Death Row record. Despite an offseason in which New York added Johnny Damon, the Yankees inexplicably did little to repair the pitching, which was ultimately their undoing in 2005.

 

Outside of the bullpen signings of Kyle Farnsworth and Mike Myers and taking a flyer on Octavio Dotel, the Yankees are in large part depending on the starting staff that was so horrendous for much of last season, saved only by surprises Aaron Small, Chien-Ming Wang, and Shawn Chacon. Carl Pavano is already slated to miss time to begin the season as he continues to battle for the title of "Dumbest free agent signing of 2005" (if that honor doesn't already belong to Jaret Wright). Randy Johnson heads into the season 42 years old, and Mike Mussina remains one of the more overrated hurlers of our generation.

 

Yes, they possess the most potent lineup in the game. That much is undeniable. But how often have we seen teams fail to win the big prize with a concept based predominantly on bats (think the Red Sox throughout most of their history)? It's the pitching, stupid, and whether the Yankees have it is extremely debatable. If it weren't for the midseason acquisitions of Small and Chacon (17-3 combined in pinstripes), the Yankees would have been on the outside looking in at last October's playoffs. So, perhaps Cashman is of the thought that he's banking on the same performances from the duo in 2006, or just hoping to strike lightning twice come July, pulling off some magnificently uncelebrated moves that turn into gold.

 

As great as the Aaron Small story is, it is extremely unlikely that a 34-year-old pitcher who comes out of nowhere to win his first 10 games last season isn't going to be figured out a season later by the opposition. It is, however, more likely that Chacon blossoms in his first full season outside of the Coors launching pad, and that Wang matures into a 15-game winner. But New York is also placing a lot of dependence on guys like perennial underachievers Wright and Pavano, as well as an aging Johnson. Mussina these days is what he is: a $19 million 12-game winner.

 

It is a starting staff that whispers of potential, but also screams of concern, a depiction that is no different than the clubs in Boston and North of the Border in a grieving country that needs a winner right now, what with Wayne Gretzky's latest blunder on ice. Then again, John Henry and Ted Rogers aren't exactly guaranteeing word titles either. By all accounts, yesterday's "George and Joe Show" in Tampa was weird. After manager Joe Torre briefed his troops, telling them the mission was to win a World Series title, Steinbrenner sat in on Torre's meeting with the media. Courtesy of the New York Daily News' Sam Borden, an account:

 

"As the manager talked, Steinbrenner fiddled with a paper clip and peered curiously at each reporter who asked a question. He also seemed interested in playing the role of class cut-up; at one point, Torre was asked about how Damon nearly came to the Bronx during the same winter that his good friend and former A's teammate Jason Giambi signed his seven-year, $120 million contract with the Yanks.

 

'(Giambi) took all of the money so we couldn't do anything,' Torre joked, only to have Steinbrenner pipe up, 'You got some, didn't you?' as everyone laughed and Torre responded, 'Thank you sir.'At another point, Torre was asked if he had been able to sit down and have an extended chat with Damon yet. 'I haven't had a chance sit down and really to talk to anybody,' Torre began. 'I've talked to ...' 'Me!' Steinbrenner piped up. 'Yeah, Mr. Steinbrenner,' Torre continued with another chuckle. 'That's always nerve-wracking.'"

 

What is this, Steinbrenner and Torre or Bergen and McCarthy? According to Damon, who was gushing over how impressed he was with Torre's speech, no other manager had ever told him the seemingly obvious goal was a World Series title. I mean, the man started his career in Kansas City, but please. "There is no reason to celebrate getting into the postseason," Damon said.That must be why Damon didn't participate in last year's wild card champagne-soaked locker room party at Fenway last October and sent some other hairy dude to take his place.

 

Anyway, Steinbrenner lamented how long it's been since he could call his club the best in baseball at the end of the season. The Yankees haven't won since 2000, which doesn't exactly have the same thirst as the last two teams to end World Series droughts -- the Red Sox (1918) and White Sox (1917) -- but who knows, maybe the man is living in canine years.

 

Instead, here is what Steinbrenner will get for $200 million: a likely AL East division winner that as currently constituted is vastly inferior to the Chicago White Sox, a team brimming with -- what do you know -- great pitching. If you can't guarantee what you're going to get out of guys like Wang, Chacon, Pavano, Small, Wright, Johnson, and Mussina, you can't possibly go around believing a world title is in your definitive future.

 

The Yankees, along with the Red Sox and Blue Jays, potentially have some solid pitching in their immediate future. Potential doesn't buy the Yankees anything though, Steinbrenner's wallet does. And the last few years, that money holder has shelled out more cash for pitching jokes than Steinbrenner made yesterday with Torre.

[Optimist]

Surprisingly, I enjoyed reading that. Good article (considering the source.)

[Anuj09]

Carl Pavano is already slated to miss time to begin the season as he continues to battle for the title of "Dumbest free agent signing of 2005" (if that honor doesn't already belong to Jaret Wright).

 

thats almost exactly what i said in another thread lol

anyway the yanks' only true ace the way i see it is old man Johnson

as far as i can tell, hes the only one who will have a good season for the yanks and having ONE good pitcher doesnt mean that you have a good rotation EX Cardinals w/ Chris Carpenter + all that offense and they were eliminated in the play offs

[26 to 6]

Please, he wont be fully accepted by Yankee fans until he fashions a new ring. Same reason why there is still scrutiny towards Arod

I accept him.

Way to go there, reading our minds and whatnot.

 

Anyone bother telling ole' Georgie boy that pitching wins championships?

Our pitching is just as good as yours. And i'm sure you guys believe you have a shot at the WS.

 

There were rumblings last year of him firing Torre. If the Yankees dissopoint again this year I could see him eating the final year of that deal.

I doubt it. I really think Torre is safe for the duration of his contract. If he wanted to go he would have quit last year, and if Steinbrenner wanted him to go he would have either A) fired Joe, or told Joe he didnt want him, which would have led to Joe quitting.

 

The way they act lately, seems like they have reconciled all of their differences and all is good between them. I'm not worried about it. That was just Steinbrenner displaying his attitude. Confidence, and certainty. I respect him for it, and I sure as hell hope he's right.

Yankees in 2006