yankees228

If you don't mind me asking, how do you sell them? Stubhub?

Hey I hope you're right. Interesting thing is, I don't think we disagree on how good this team is. It's just that, for all the reasons I mentioned, and Jacko's comment about resting players, I don't think it's reasonable to expect a 110 win season. Either way, there is no denying that this team is good.

Wouldn't Bay have signed if they gave him the fifth year?

Andy really got squeezed there on two straight pitches against Andrus. EDIT: Great work by Andy coming back to get Young. Now Hamilton will be his last batter. EDIT: Fantastic outing. Great start to the season for Pettitte.

The Yankees, despite all of their opportunities, have really allowed the Rangers to hang around. Pettitte is sitting at 82 pitches, so they'll probably look for him to get through the seventh. If he succeeds in doing that it'll probably be a combination of Joba and Marte in the 8th, and then Mo in the 9th. EDIT: That was just so easy, and with Pettitte only a 91 pitches, they'll probably send him out for the 8th.

Ah, Tanyon Sturtze. One of the many that can thank Joe for their arm problems.

But wait! Cory Schwartz is lying. Dipre, you're such a sheep for believing him.

Excellent, thank you. Fact is, as I've thought all along, I'll trust Gameday (and Brooks, which I believe takes from Gameday) over any super-imposed strike zone on MLB Network or anything like it.

Dipre, can you provide a link about Gameday's margin of error?

Again, I really don't think I've ever seen a worse hitter at getting a runner in from third with less than two outs than Nick Swisher.

Well that's a positive sign. Nice shot by Tex.

Well, Pettitte really doesn't have a fastball today, and Swisher with a really stupid decision in the outfield.

I've always thought that Gameday and Brooks Baseball (I believe they're the same) are supposed to extremely accurate. However, can anyone confirm this with something more than just your word?

I don't disagree with any of this. They're an excellent team, quite possibly the best team in baseball, on paper. Thing is (and this is obviously assuming they stay healthy), it's so rare to find a team that wins 110 games. I think they're fantastic, but they will struggle. Win totals that high are rather flukey, and I just don't think there's any reason to expect it.

Tell the Yankees that. They won't believe you. Anyway, if they were to add a catcher, I guess that means no more Papi. Are there really any other alternatives?

He doesn't look bad either. He made a prediction, which he backed up with his knowledge of similar injuries. Then, when an update was available about Ellsbury's condition, he posted it, something that many other people would have done. This represents a classic example of someone making assumptions about Jacko, and therefore making things bigger than they are. This is exactly what I was talking about in the 'Yankees' minor league prospects' thread. There was not a single thing wrong with what he posted initially about Ellsbury's injury, or what he posted now. Unfortunately, people look for problems with what he posts, and this becomes a recurring theme.

You're putting words in Jacko's mouth. He never once said that he was hoping Ellsbury was injured.

Couple points about such a simple statement. It would appear that they've finally combined their financial advantage with excellent decision making. Not only have they built a good team in the two general areas, offense and starting pitching, but they've focused greatly on the two other areas of a team; bullpen and defense. Take last year, for instance. As good as the Yankees were, they didn't really get going until they sured up their bullpen. It hasn't been a great start for them this year, but they're clearly setup to have a solid pen. Then, they also made a real effort this offseason to get better on defense and become more athletic, which they've appeared to have accomplished. They made a couple of moves that weren't fan friendly (letting Damon and Matsui walk), but as the year goes on, I think it will become very apparent that these things were for the best. However, as I posted earlier in the thread, you're never as good as you seem when you're playing well, and you're never as bad as you seem when you're playing poorly. Yeah, when a team is playing like the Yankees are right now, it's hard to imagine them ever struggling. However, when they do inevitably struggle, it reverses itself, and it's hard to imagine with the way they're playing that they'll ever getting rolling again. Fact is, with a few exceptions, this is how it always works. Couple that with the fact that they play in the best division in baseball, and we're not going to see a 110 win team. I would expect, if they remain injury free, that we'll see a similar win total as last year's team.

Ideally I think the Yankees would like to see AJ get through seven, and then go to Mitre for the last two innings.

Great pitch to get out of the inning.

If the Rangers want to hang around in this game, they absolutely need a big hit here from Michael Young.