jacksonianmarch

that sounds good to me. I think Lester now has a bigger role than just baseball player and he can mold into that role with continued baseball success. That being said, I think bringing him up is a horrible idea as I think he is finally starting to feel the effects of his treatments. His drain in stamina must be enough to send a typical man to bed halfway through the day. This kid is tough, but this may be too much.

should be interesting. We are sending Clemens and Wang at them to start the series, and by the last game of the series, Karstens may be starting over Igawa, giving me some hope. Then again, it is the Royals. They cannot stay semi-hot forever.

should be an interesting series coming up. I want Lester to do well since he represents a broaded interest than just baseball, but the yankee fan in me hopes he loses.

agree 100%. Pitching him in Cleveland against the murderer's row after trending downwards this past 6 weeks or so is not the best scenario for the kid to succeed. And that is what the manager and GM are supposed to do. Put players in positions to succeed.

This is a good rant. With Hughes ascending to the majors and losing his prospect status, the yankees pitching farm system has to take a bit of a hit. AT the same time, from the beginning of this yr to now, Joba Chamberlain and Ian Kennedy have risen to the top in terms of elite prospects. Betances has been alright then had an elbow issue, which will push his ETA back most likely, hence dropping his stock. Clippard was dominating the minors, then got his s*** pushed in with the big club and has been torched in AAA ever since. Wright emerged onto the scene in AA and became one of the league's hottest pitchers, until the Red Sox initiated him. Now he is pitching okay in AAA. DeSalvo and Igawa, both "prospects" got shitcanned Ohlendorf looked great in ST then got hurt and hasnt been himself since his return.White battled injury problems and is finally on track again, although it is too late since Hughes will likely return. Karstens and Rasner who were quasi prospects at the beginning of the yr were hit pretty hard then broke bones on comebackers. Karstens will return this week, while Rasner is likely dont for the yr. Sanchez, Cox, Melancon, and Garcia all went down with elbow surgery Nova pitched great, then got hurt and pitched like s*** until hsi last start McCutchen and Kontos have been nice surprised in A+ ball. Whelan was demoted to A+ ball so he could start and fine tune his control, pushing his ETA back one season. McCallister has dominated in A+ ball since a bad start. So overall, we have had 2 guys outshine all, many falter and a few come out of nowhere to be productive. We had another draft with high end pitching talent, but with more ???'s in terms of injury or signability than we had last season. So, I'd expect us to stay in the top 5, but we likely wont be the top pitching farm next season. But this is what happens when the majority of your big time prospects are MLB ready. Some shine, most get chopped to bits.

Like I said Gom, I think this is a good move short term. I am just very leery of dealing a power armed prospect to an organization that turns rough-edged power arms into dominant forces. Kennard is capable of hitting 97-98 mph and has a plus breaking pitch. He just has poor control. Sounds a little like Jenks, and all he needed was a change of scenery and philosophy.

If the logo is facing the hitter, you wont hit the ball on the logo, which is the most sensitive part of the bat

Well, Jeff Kennard was a solid MR prospect who threw hard. I thought he would be a guy who'd get a shot with this team this yr, but unfortunately, the yankees never moved him up from AA even though he dominated. He was an older prospect as well, and was on the 40 man roster, so I could see why they dangled him. But if anyone can turn him into a lights out reliever, it is the Angels. This is a good deal for us for the short term but with Molina being a FA, this could come back to bite us in the future.

Teixiera is a young, switch hitting, gold glove, 1b who hits for power and average. You guys arent getting bargain basement pricing on him, especially this trading deadline since he is under contract for one more season. WMP is a throw in these days. The sox cannot seem to GIVE him away, and I have said before that he Rangers already have WMP in Nelson Cruz. WMP wont be part of the package simply because the Rangers dont need nor want him. The Rangers are going to want pitching. Youkilis would be a useful commodity as well, but if you were to get 1.5 yrs of Tex, you are gonna have to give up pitching and lots of it. I know the sox wont part with Buchholz and I find it hard to believe that the Rangers would want another wild lefty in Lester (the cancer doesnt help his stock either). So Bowden would be an absolute necessity. I think any deal will be 4 parts. Youk or Ellsbury Bowden X X The arent going to want a half season of Lowell, so stop right there on moving Lowell. If the sox dont want to part with Youkilis, they will have to part with Ellsbury As I said before, Bowden is a necessity In terms of the other 2 spots, I think both would need to be pitchers. One spot would be Cox vs Hansen since both have this high upside pen arm quality while they are both getting the s*** kicked out of them in the minors. And the final spot would be a pitcher as well, this time a starter. Kris Johnson, Justin Masterson, or Daniel Bard. So overall... Youk or Ellsbury Bowden Cox or Hansen Johnson, Bard or Masterson that would get it done right now. If you wait until next yr's deadline, it may be cheaper.

I wish all our pitchers could struggle and allow 1 run per 6 innings.

Yep, you got me. Or, I could have been on the road and returned to the internet this am. Oh, yeah, um, I wont be on the internet tonight either or during the game tomorrow. I must be ducking it, right? Nice logic. So if the yankees lose tonight and tomorrow, you will call me out? Is that how it goes? Do I need to give my schedule to you so I dont look like I'm ducking a "beating". Fantastic talies. And where have you been during the sox miserable stretch. Exactly....

Their ERA's are within .03 of each other. The Whip is within 0.05 of each other. Wang has thrown 1.2 more innings in 1 less start. They both have 11 QS's. Wang throws less pitches per start, while Beckett strikes out more. Time to face the facts, Wang and Beckett couldnt be more dissimilar in their approach, but they are about as equal as you are going to find in terms of effectiveness.

All I know is that Danks dominates us. Hard throwing lefty with a good hook who has a serious tendency to be wild.

He might be. I have a feeling he will be starting in CF in some capacity through his 20s. He's still young and he has shown some progress offensively. You cannot fault his defense either. I do like the fact that he is very tough to K. We need that in a lineup that strikes out a lot. That is what made the sombrero day so weird. He racked up 1/6th of his season total in one game.

Beckett Wang - Advantage- push DMats Clemens - Advantage- Yankees Wakefield Pettitte - Advantage- Yankees Gabbard Mussina - Advatage- (right now you guys, but over the whole season, I'll say push) Tavarez Igawa - Advantage- PEOPLE WITH BATS I dont see your advantage in the rotation. And with the 3 bumpkins set to throw the next 3 days, we'll get another view of how poor the sox pitching can be. Granted, we have a DHer throwing f***ing Igawa and DeSalvo. But Schilling returns for you guys soon, Hughes is slated to return 2 days after Schilling does, so our rotations might get a little jolt. Overall, though, you guys should have won tonight. So should we. Today is gonna be interesting to say the least.

Crunchy, um, have you seen Clemens of late? His last 4 starts.. 27.1IP 8ER 1.01WHIP You have a point with Mussina. Something is wrong with the guy. His velocity was down last yr as well, but this yr his location is totally off. Last night I watched him bull his way to a 2 strike count then tail an 85 mph pitch down the middle. It is not normal as he is such a control freak. Some people will think he is hurt or what-have-you, I wont be one of them. For me, he is still an effective 4/5 pitcher, but will never regain the title of the Yankees #2 that he held for the past 6yrs.

He has the average up to about .280 again as a 22/23 yr old. His future is in having a high BA. Unfortunately, I dont think he will ever develop the 20+ homer potential that could keep him a regular as a corner OFer and I think he might be a bit too thick to stay as a CFer.

I was on the road, but I saw that he got torched. It happens.

still off.

the difference in ERA between leagues isnt meaningful if the worse pitching is in the NL. If we swapped the NL pitchers and the AL pitchers, I'd assume the disparity will show. I think the point is, 7 of the top 10 spending teams are in the AL. Players follow the money. Hence, the better offense and pitching will be where the big spenders are.

I have a scenario.... Contreras goes 6 innings allowing 9 hits, 4 walks yet no runs. Beckett goes 8 strong innings of shutout baseball. The fabulous white sox pen throws 9 solid innings allowing no runs yet 21 baserunners, and Joel Pineiro gives up the game in the 15th inning after hitting 2, an error by Lugo and a walk.

crunch wouldnt do that SCM. This is not another account. Someone is trying to imitate him.

http://yankees.lohudblogs.com/2007/07/20/duncan-to-be-added-to-roster/ Yankees calling up Shelley Duncan for today's game. He has already set the single season homerun record this yr for the Yankees AAA franchise....in July. He may be nothing more than a quad A player, but he is likely a better option than the hobbled Damon.

Who wants to predict how awesome Contreras pitches tonight? He is in line to be traded and has a chance to leap off this sinking ship. A good start in the Fens against the "mighty" red sox could help him out a bit.