jacksonianmarch

ARod with a chance to step on the throat

Derek Jeter left todays game with a tight hamstring. f***ing great

Yes, yes, that is me. Actual photo of me. I am actually 3 inches tall and have sticks for arms and run with my arms completely behind me.

You said that it would be the worst prospect for player trade of all time. I am just reminding you that worse ones are around and have resulted. Whether Bagwell did roids or not, the sox dealt a future HOFer for a reliever. At the time, it was needed, but on the whole it was one of the worst deals of all time

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Gardner makes that moot though. The guy should never be moved out of the 9 hole. I dont know why, but the guy can hit down there and just cannot hit in the 2 hole. BTW, grossest thing of all time said yesterday. Waldman was talking about wanting Swisher hitting second. "I love him in my 2 hole." I went deaf for a few minutes, had a seizure and pissed myself before coming to.

Damn, tied 1-1. Oh well. I wonder if they've thought of contracting this piece of s*** Cleveland franchise.

ARod brings home the game's first run. Good start

If Lebron could ever get a second legitimate player, then he'll be the best player of all time. He continues to get old, hurt retreads as sidekicks and regularly brings his teams into the playoffs. And the playoff failures are hardly on him. If I were him, I'd talk to Wade, Bosh and Stoudamire and make sure to team up with one of them on a new team. I think Bosh and Lebron would be unstoppable. Big man in the middle, Lebron running the floor.

Even without the splitty, he's a top 5 closer in the game. We'd be hard pressed to find someone better after Mo walks. That being said, Mo has showed no signs of let-up. What he's lost in velocity, he has gained in location and movement. Plus his 2 seamer is turning into a nice pitch

Jeff Bagwell says hi

This seems to be getting caught up in the gamethreads, and due to its enormity, I figured I'd make its own thread... For the good news... Jorge Posada took BP and ran the bases today. He says he should be back within a week. Initially, he was thought to need a month off then go on a rehab stint. But with his return potentially in the 2.5 week range, he shouldnt need a rehab stint. Will be nice to get his bat back in the lineup, as he was OPS'ing over 1.000 on the season when he went down. It also allows us to ease him in via the DH spot and keep Cervelli at catcher. That kid has been dynamite defensively and proven to be a pest offensively. David Robertson was listed as day-to-day and might be available today out of the pen Now for the not so good news... Alfredo Aceves has been unable to toss since he strained his back. He's had an MRI, but the results havent been shared with the public and the rumor going around the yankee press box (ie that troll Waldman who is a pretty bad source, but she said it nonetheless) is that he might require surgery. Nick Johnson had his wrist surgery, which they say was successful. He should be back sometime in late July, although in what capacity I do not know. Whenever there is a wrist involved, the player typically takes over a yr to regain his prior form.

Another week down, another update AAA Another week, another concern about Jesus Montero. His average has continued to languish in the .230 range, after a 5 for 21 week that only saw 1 walk and 1 EBH. He'll get more time in the minors to figure things out Eduardo Nunez has hit another rough patch as well. After being in the mid .300s for most of the yr, he has dipped down to .311 with a slash line after that. His OPS is down in the mid .700s as well since his patience is waning (1BB in last 10 games) and his power has been non-existant. The good news is that he will get plenty of time in the minors now that Russo and Pena are in the bigs. David Winfree continues his power drive with a complete lack of patience. With Golson on the 40 man, Winfree has a long way to go Onto the pitchers, Romulo Sanchez started the week off hot, but cooled down today allowing 5ER in 5+IP. He might be up with the big club within a few weeks as a reliever. Ivan Nova righted the ship in his last start, 6IP 6 baserunners and only 2 runs. He's also starting to get more grounders and his walks are starting to abate (2 walks in each of his last 4 starts and 2 or less in all but one start in 2010). He is starting to get some pub as a potential 5th starter candidate for 2011 if the Yankees get Lee and let Javy and Pettitte walk. He's earning it too. He's always had the stuff, now he is starting to put it together Zach McAllister has continued his successful run. Now 4 straight starts with 6+IP after his last gem. His ERA is down to 4 and his WHIP is down to 1.29. If he keeps this up, he'll start inserting his name into the 5 starter candidacy. Unlike Nova, McAllister really isnt a pen arm. He throws right around 90, is mostly a control guy and sinks everything. Not the best guy to put out there in a 1 run ballgame in the 8th since he gives up more hits than most due to his sinker. Mark Melancon had a weird week. NO ER allowed, but 6 hits in and 4 walks in only 4 innings, while only recording 3 strikeouts. AA Austin Romine and Brandon Laird are just killing the league right now. Laird hit his team leading 10th homer today, to go along with his 50RBIs, 105 total bases and his .911OPS. He's on pace for 28HR and 142RBI, AND he is traditionally a second half player. My guess it that he starts playing some OF since the yankees have no vacancies at 1st or 3rd for awhile, but his bat is maturing into something unreal. And remember, he is only 22 yrs old. Austin Romine has been equally impressive. He leads the team with a .329BA and is third in OPS at .889. His 16 doubles lead the team. Add that to stellar D, and this kid is the total package. Unfortunately, he's blocked by Montero and will probably stay in AA for the season. David Adams rolled an ankle and should be back soon From a pitching standpoint, David Phelps has been on fire. He threw another gem, going 7.2IP allowing only 1ER and 5 baserunners. His WHIP sits at 0.96 on the season and should lead to a promotion soon. DJ Mitchell had probably his most dominant game of his career this week, striking out 9 in 6IP. The ERA is under 5 and the WHIP is right around 1.6, which are big improvements from his early season struggles The Yankees finally gave up on Wilkin de la Rosa as a reliever this week and moved him back to the rotation. Well, he flourished, throwing 5 innings of 1 hit ball. Strange that a guy with only 2 pitches (albeit both plus) couldnt find it out of the pen. Hector Noesi was promoted to AA and had an okay start. 8 runners in 6 innings isnt too bad, the 5ER was. Grant Duff continues to cruise as the Thunder closer. ERA at 2.41, WHIP in the 1.29 range and K/9 right around 9. He should get a callup to AAA soon, assuming a change is made in the bigs. He has ridiculous stuff, just poor command (9BB in 18IP) A+ There really is only 1 guy of note doing well offensively for the Tampa Yankees. That being Corban Joseph, the 21 yr old HS draftee out of Tennessee. He clubbed 2 homers today, to bring his OPS up to .823. His improved patience and developing power have a lot of people thinking a move to the OF is in order. This is being brought up for 2 reasons. 1, he is a god awful IFer right now, with 10 errors, and 2 is obviously that Cano is there for the long term. But this kid is raking in a pitcher's league. He probably wont see a promotion this yr, but he is gonna be on the short list of big prospects by the end of the yr On the pitching side, Adam Warren ran into some rough luck this week, lasting only 2.2IP in an awful outing. Regardless, his WHIP is still in the 1.1 range and the ERA is in the mid 2's. He's the next guy to get called up now that Noesi is in AA Andrew Brackman is actually turning it around in the rotation. You heard it here first. Now, he is definitely easing off the gas a bit, now sitting in the 90-92 range, but he has had his mechanics reworked and he can actually throw strikes. The hope is that he is going all out by the end of the yr. But the latest returns are good. He's only walked 5 batters the entire season, AND now his K totals are starting to climb (12K in last 12IP). He's has 2 straight 6IP 1ER performances and has seen the WHIP slip under 1.4. Looks like we might have something here. Assuming he stays healthy, he should be back on the prospect scene early next yr when he's in Trenton and only a phone call away from the majors. Graham Stoneburner continues to dominate everywhere he goes. He has pitched 4 games in Tampa and has a WHIP under 1. After walking 5 in his second start, he's only walked 4 over his last 12 innings while striking out 13. His stuff is real, and he should potentially see another promotion should he continue to dominate. He's that good. As for the sideshow, he got roughed up today, allowing 3ER in 1IP. His WHIP is now right at 1 after being under for his career. He still has incredible numbers to this point and is deserving of a promotion. And onto another guy who is forcing himself into the prospect spotlight, Shaeffer Hall was promoted to Tampa this week and debuted well. He threw 5IP of shutout ball while striking out 6. He's a soft tossing lefty with a good curve and change who can locate with the best of them. Probably not a prospect, but his numbers dont lie. He's too polished for inexpereinced hitters. A Offensively, this level is completely barren. JR Murphy, the second round HSer from Florida, was recently called up to this level. After hitting .333 in his first 6 games, he has seen his BA slip to .222. Kyle Higashioka, a highly touted HS catcher from Cali drafted in 2008 has been terrible, hitting right around .200. Jimmy Paredes, the 20 yr old dominican SS whose 5 tools have been touted in prospect circles has put up a slash line. His BA of .282 and 20SBs are all well and good, but the OBP of right around .300 isnt Zoilo Almonte is hitting well as is Luke Murton, but both arent really prospects at this point in their careers Regardless, in the A ball levels, there isnt much offensively to write home about. From the pitching side, there is. Jose Ramirez continues his dominance. He's got almost a K an inning, a greater than 3:1 K:BB ration and an ERA under 2 for the 20yr old. Kelvin Perez has fallen on hard times, allowing 19 runs in his last 12IP. He started out on fire with a solid arsenal, but his recent struggles coupled with his age (24) could mean a pen switch for next season, especially with the pitching that should be graduating from the short season leagues. Sean Black is picking it up after a slow start. He threw 7 shutout innings this week and has seen his ERA fall under 5 and his WHIP down to 1.41. His stuff indicated better results than he has had, look for a strong finish from the Seton Hall product. Now onto some other matters. The DSL started up this week. And no, I wont go into in-depth coverage of a league that sees about 30% of its players make is stateside in a reasonable capacity. But it is telling of a new change in practice for Yankee management. Over the past few seasons, the Yankees had rushed their dominican prospects and their HS draftees. Now some may just call it bad scouting, but a good amount of these guys stumbled significantly out of the blocks. And the presumption is that they were rushed. So, this yr, the yankees have taken a pretty conservative approach. As you see, JR Murphy and Slade Heathcott were left behind in EST to start the yr (Murphy is now in Charleston). We are also seeing it with Dominican prospects as well, none too apparent than Yeicok Calderon. Calderon hit .321 with a .440 OBP in the DSL last yr, after being one of the biggest catches of the 2008 INTL FA signee period. But, instead of moving him to the states, they left him behind for one more yr of seasoning. You will see that more with the yankees over the next few seasons as the yankees hope to slowly grow their prospects rather than overadvance them and risk losing their potential. The short season leagues start 6/18. The draft is coming up in a week, and Staten Island looks pretty loaded for bear. Mikey OBrien, Matt Richardson, and Kyle Turley figure to be leading the Staten Island rotation, while Heathcott, Kelvin DeLeon, Eduardo Sosa, and Jose Mojica figure to be the big bats on the team. Should be a whole lot of fun, and SI should be a hell of a team.

Napoli is not an average defender. He is a god awful defender. SO bad, that Scoscia would rather have a .200 lifetime hitter catch than put Napoli in there

this must be intentional. If it isnt, then you're adam123. Sorry, but this kind of idiocy has been breached only once before.

Whoa, just Casey Kelly for Napoli? You might have to include Lars Anderson, Mike Rizzo, Ryan Westmoreland pre-op and Nook Laloosh to get that one done. And the Angels would have to be in a generous mood

my vote is for Lackey as well. Sounds like Beckett may be out awhile

Might be time for an MRI. Typically "back spasms" start to relent after a week and most prime conditioned athletes only need the 15 days on the DL for a bad case of muscular spasms. Persistent pain is an indication for an MRI to see if there is a bulging disc or worse, herniation. It would also see a muscular tear, which could presents as severe back spasms that last for weeks. Regardless, this is exactly the same time course as Aceves. Initial reports were back spasms, was only gonna miss a week or so, then they tried to get him on the mound and he couldnt finish his delivery due to the pain. Now, Aceves is headed for the MRI scanner and rumors are swirling that he's gonna need back surgery. We'll see how Beckett turns out, but it is impossible to decide between the two initially unless the bulging disc or herniated disc compress a spinal root or the cord to a point that there is a neurologic finding. Typically, the only way we find out betweem spasms and disc pain is the duration of symptoms and length of recovery.

I like your edit, you and I are thinking alike today. Okay, everyone be scared, be very, very scared. I have never liked deadline deals for soon to be free agents. They are always desperation deals, the team dealing the all-star typically wins in the long run, the star always bolts, and the star typically doesnt lead his team to a title. Plus, there isnt a need right now. NY has a rotation that has started out hot, with 4 guys at or below an ERA of 4 and another guy who is starting to figure it out in Vazquez. There isnt a need. And for the sox, if they think Beckett is coming back, then they dont have a need. If anything, they have a logjam, and going forward, Lee would only complicate things with Lester, Beckett, Lackey, DiceK, and Buchholz under team control through 2012 at the least. It makes no sense. Plus, Lee has no intrinsic need to sign with whatever team deals for him. Why should he? He was a star in a WS losing effort for Philly last yr, AND, if he can endure one s***** season in Seattle, he'll get to pick his location for 2011 AND will most likely be on a winner while making boatloads of cash.

The question isnt who they are geting in return off the bat, the question is how much money will the sox eat. If the answer is none, then the Angels could probably get him for a bag of balls. If the sox were to eat a bunch of salary, they could theoretically pry Bobby Wilson away, who looks to be a solid catching prospect, albeit a bit limited on the offensive side of things. And the Angels have been looking for a suitor for him or Napoli for awhile since Mathis is truly the starting catcher on that team.

Well, the retrospectoscope is always 20/20. Buchholz this time last yr was in the minors after coming off a s***** season. Lee was coming off a Cy Young yr and was putting his season together. If the sox thought they were one ace away from winning the WS, then dealing Buch for 1.5 seasons of Lee wouldnt have been that bad. Turns out, the sox made the playoffs, and their pitching wasnt the reason for their downfall in round 1, so the non-trade worked out for the sox. Having Buch not be injured at the beginning of the yr is a plus for Boston, but Lee has outpitched him since. Lee has a WHIP under 1 in the AL, that is awesome

Lester is the rock in this rotation. Buchholz has been good and lucky. Those two guys have been the stoppers. They need a third consistent arm to become a sustained winner