yankees228

I agree with the excellent work part, I think you did a really nice job as well. As you said in your Red Sox post, you're almost being a bit conservative, as weird as that may sound coming from a Yankee fan. If the Yankees continue to play as well as they are, I expect the Red Sox to really pick up the pace as well, and could possibly finish close to 100 wins. As for the Yankees, it's all about whether they go on another one of those two weeks spirals from here on out. However, even if they continue to play extremely well, I think that their streak of division championships will end. The Yankees, in their current state, and considering the way they played in the first half, are probably right where you have them, a 90 win team. Still though, I think there are a couple things to consider that might push them over the 90 win mark and closer to 93 or 94 wins. Even with their subpar first half they had a winning record against plus .500 win teams. There two main problems in the first half were playing sub .500 teams and playing on the road. It seems like they've solved one of those issues, and hopefully the other will be solved in the near future. Now, we'll know soon if their good play against plus .500 teams continues, but if the first half is any kind of indicator, things should only improve. In my opinion, there are three "X-factors" with this team, Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain, and Jason Giambi. This is pretty simple, in my opinion. All of them, except maybe Giambi, will have big roles on this team for the rest of the season. Their future performance this year, which is definitely a question mark, should be a determining factor.

Not to mention the fact that he has allowed a lot (I think) of inherited runners to score.

I agree that the M's starting rotation can't compete with the Yankees' rotation, but I'm not so sure about the Guardians. The Yankees' rotation is probably deeper than the Guardians, but the Guardians have the guys at the front of the rotation that the Yankees don't. The Yankees don't have the assurances at the front of their rotation that they'll get a really good start everytime out. The Guardians, based on performance from this year, have two. Obviously you need more than two starters, but those two guys are really going to help the Guardians' playoff chances.

I don't think he cares too much that only three of them were earned. He knows, regardless or any errors, that he didn't do his job.

Well, Betemit has struggled so far this year in the batting average department, but his on - base percentage and slugging percentage are both good. He should benefit from more consistent time with the Yankees then he was getting with the Dodgers. He should be a solid upgrade to the bench, and he should be a solution for more then just this year. Proctor might hurt a bit, but he has been struggling mightly, and Joba Chamberlain (I understand he is a question mark out of the pen) should fill in as an adequate replacement.

I think it was started by someone that posted it on SOSH. He admitted five minutes later that he got it in an e-mail, and wasn't actually sure if it were true. On top of that, it had quotes from Theo Epstien, and you would think it would be all over the place if Theo had actually spoke on the issue. By the way, the thread at SOSH is now closed, and the person who started it deleted his initial post.

Tough loss, although you guys are all missing the boat by blaming Torre. This loss has got to go on a small group of players, not the manager.

You would not have had Wang start the seventh?

However, there was no reason to have him start the eighth, that's just stupid.

The problem is that he really should realize that Wang was losing it, because everything was being hit hard. At least after the Glaus AB, he should have had Vizcaino up. The problem is that he didn't realize that Wang was running into trouble. I don't blame Torre for not forseeing the seventh inning problems, however I do blame him for not having Vizcaino ready once the problems did start. EDIT: Cano really has got to learn to hustle out of the box. This bottom of the order really sucks today. EDIT: On top of that, you can't say that that always happens to Wang. For as many times as he has lost it in the seventh there are just as many times when he had a good seventh.

That's true, and on top of that, they are completely different pitchers.

The Yankees really can't afford to lose Melky to injury considering that would put Damon in centerfield everyday... EDIT: Heck of a play there by McDonald.

lol, you're actually kind of still arguing with them, but you're tell them to be more optimistic. Weird... (Although I understand your point.)

We're going to have to agree to disagree about Bruney, because I really don't like him. As for Proctor, he seems like, as you have noted, he is just extremely tired. You're probably right about him though, maybe some rest do him a world of good. Although I would not argue with the fact that Joe has a history of ruining relievers, and he may have done the same to Proctor.

The article doesn't necessarily say that they're going to do that, so I'm curious to see what they actually do in the next week or so. However, I'm also curious whether they'll be able to trade away Farnsworth along with some of the other relievers on this team.

I think a lot of you guys have made this argument into more than it was initially supposed to be. The article was about which closer has had the best year so far. It was nothing to do with long term. If you make the argument between Saito and Papelbon, numbers wise, it's Saito. If you bring league into it, it may be a different story, but nobody can question that Saito has been excellent this year.

With the tired bullpen I'm thinking that Proctor is going to pitch two innings tonight. EDIT: Considering how early they're going to Proctor, I'm thinking Mo is available tonight. I was thinking that the sixth would have been a good spot of Edwar.

That was some tough choice the Yankees had (even though they weren't the same offseason) long term deal for Beltran or a long term deal for Damon...

I would have much rather Edwar start the inning.

Why do we still have Brian Bruney? The one guy on this team that I can't stand more than anyone else is Brian Bruney.