5/11 Red Sox at Rangers

[Bellhorn04]

Boom! The Red Sox caught up with the Yankees thanks to old friends Aceves and Thornton.

 

I thought the Yankees did a terrible job with their bullpen in the offseason and it's starting to show.

 

The only defence for replacing Logan with the washed-up Thornton is that they saved a few bucks.

 

And for the Yankees that's no defence at all.

 

Thornton throws 94-96 but his command is awful.

[Palodios]

They basically replaced Mariano with rookies. So far they have been doing well, but they'll get exposed eventually.

[a700hitter]

They basically replaced Mariano with rookies. So far they have been doing well, but they'll get exposed eventually.

A post Mariano world will be very uncomfortable for Yankee fans. They had a sure thing in the 9th innin for almost 20 years. That is such a luxury.

[User Name]

They basically replaced Mariano with rookies. So far they have been doing well, but they'll get exposed eventually.

 

The fact that Girardi's a terrible bullpen manager doesn't help the Yankees either.

[jacksonianmarch]

The fact that Girardi's a terrible bullpen manager doesn't help the Yankees either.

 

No s***. He burns the good parts of our pen in games we are losing, then decides to throw Aceves and Thornton into the fire in a game we should have had in hand. What the f***?

[Bellhorn04]

Signing a couple of good relievers would have been a worthwhile idea. The Yankee FO screwed the pooch there IMO.

[rjortiz]

Signing a couple of good relievers would have been a worthwhile idea. The Yankee FO screwed the pooch there IMO.

 

Of the top seven relievers used by the Yankees in 2014, the highest ERA is 3.86. The problem has been the sorry performances by relievers 8-15. Those relievers get minor league deals, or are fringe prospects. I find it hard to find fault with Cashman here.

[Palodios]

Of the top seven relievers used by the Yankees in 2014, the highest ERA is 3.86. The problem has been the sorry performances by relievers 8-15. Those relievers get minor league deals, or are fringe prospects. I find it hard to find fault with Cashman here.

 

The numbers so far have been great, although the season is early. Lots of live arms, but too many rookies.

[Bellhorn04]

Of the top seven relievers used by the Yankees in 2014, the highest ERA is 3.86. The problem has been the sorry performances by relievers 8-15. Those relievers get minor league deals, or are fringe prospects. I find it hard to find fault with Cashman here.

 

Your point about the numbers certainly has merit.

 

Thornton's ERA is 5.40 and his WHIP is 1.8 after last night, and he's their lefty.

 

That's where I find plenty of fault.

 

Especially for a team with a right field short porch, having a good lefty or two would be useful.

[rjortiz]

The numbers so far have been great, although the season is early. Lots of live arms, but too many rookies.

 

Only Betances, and if he's striking out batters at this rate it doesn't matter. A healthy Yankee bullpen has five decent relievers. Signing a good sixth or seventh option doesn't move the needle very much.

 

The biggest problem for the Yankees is the progeria outbreak that claimed two starters and four position players. McCann can be cured, but I'm skeptical about the others. Regardless, it is starting to look more obvious with every passing day. This was a desperate attempt to field a winner.

[User Name]

Two things: 1) Raw stats don't always tell everything about reliever performances, especially in small samples. 2) Girardi is terrible at BP management and tends to make his relief corps look worse than they actually are. In the Yankees' case, i am leaning towards number two. Girardi's ineptitude is literally costing the Yankees ground in the standings.

[Bellhorn04]

Thornton is washed up. He showed it with us last year, he's confirming it now. I don't see how anyone can make a case that letting Logan go in favor of this guy was a sound move.

[rjortiz]

Your point about the numbers certainly has merit.

 

Thornton's ERA is 5.40 and his WHIP is 1.8 after last night, and he's their lefty.

 

That's where I find plenty of fault.

 

Especially for a team with a right field short porch, having a good lefty or two would be useful.

 

I think it's too marginal to worry about. Thorton has appeared in 6.2 innings compared to 332 innings the entire staff has appeared in. Granted, he will appear in inning with higher leverage, but you need the other 323.1 innings filled with competent players to even reach that point.

 

I agree that good lefties can help, but they are complementary pieces to teams with good foundations. The Yankees foundation is Ellsbury, McCann, Gardner, Tanaka, a Daniel Nava impersonator, and the AARP wing of MLB. Not good.

Edited May 13, 2014 by rjortiz

[rjortiz]

Thornton is washed up. He showed it with us last year, he's confirming it now. I don't see how anyone can make a case that letting Logan go in favor of this guy was a sound move.

 

Giving Boone Logan 3/16.5 is stupid regardless of payroll. If Thronton doesn't work out, the cost of a situational lefty in the trade market is pretty low.

[Palodios]

Game thread?

[seabeachfred]

Giving Boone Logan 3/16.5 is stupid regardless of payroll. If Thronton doesn't work out, the cost of a situational lefty in the trade market is pretty low.

 

RJ and the rest of you----good analysis and pretty much right on the mark as far as the Yankees are concerned, but if I could add an addendum to this thread, let it be said that we are going to have make some moves ourselves. Unless the stalwarts really go on a tear we may need some outfield help (Denorfia and Ethier anybody?), and I keep insisting we could use a good starting pitcher. It would be swell if we could get by with what we have but that would mean guys underachieving must get hot at the plate and the rotation and bullpen have to pitch solid baseball. It's a lot to ask for the whole team to fall in line and put up impressive numbers but that being done it would save us the pain of having to dump off some of our prospects to other teams to patch us for this year, and this year IS important because from what I'm seeing anyone of five teams has a chance to take the division this year while this is one year the WC might not come from the AL East.

[mvp 78]

If they trade for an OF it's to replace LF not CF.

[seabeachfred]

If they trade for an OF it's to replace LF not CF.

 

Perhaps, but if Bradley cannot come up from the Mendoza line and at least give us some offense I can't see how we can carry such a weak bat in the lineup, especially when you consider that some of the people we're counting on haven't got untracked yet. Jacky has gotten three hits in the last two games so perhaps he is finally starting to come around, but he has weaknesses up there that jump out at you--very weak on a good fastball inside and now he is having trouble with curves. Well, we'll see.

[Spudboy]

I say wait it out on Bradley. I think he has shown some promise at the plate.

 

No one should expect him to be a finished product this early.

[mvp 78]

JBJ is already one of the best defensive CFs today. He'll be given a long leash.

[rjortiz]

Bradley is getting a long leash, because there are no other options. All of the internal options would be atrocious in CF, except for Victorino. However, RF in Fenway Park might as well be CF given how huge it is. Gomes, Nava, Carp, and Sizemore would still be awful, and still don't hit enough to justify terrible defense of that extent.

 

Bradley isn't even the worst outfielder on the team. He isn't even the second, third, or fourth worst if you count Carp. The options mentioned in this thread are not CF's. Ethier has barely played CF in his career, and he was awful when he did. Ethier is also potentially due 4/68, so you can cross him off. Denorfia is a cheap rental. He rates very poorly in CF, but he would be a nice upgrade in LF. Of course, we could always trade for Denorfia and Stanton, and go with a Stanton-Victorino-Denorfia outfield. Bradley could be the 4th OF for the rest of the year.

[VA Sox Fan]

jacko isn't going to start tonight's GT......maybe someone else should....not me though...I'm mojo-less