jacksonianmarch

and I still think he is. But like I said before, I didnt view his acquisition as crucial until watching slug after slug get the piss beaten out of him in the Fens this weekend. Clemens acquisition is becoming necessary and with it comes some anxiety that he might not come to NY. As i said before, I still think he comes to NY, but I wasnt all that scared if he didnt. Now, if he doesnt, I'll be scared unless our rotation solidifies itself somehow.

are you playing career mode in 07 the show? Seriously, lol. In the game thread?

I think the success he had as a rookie and last yr can be considered a track record. 1.5 seasons is more than one season and he built off his rookie campaign. Plus, he has had 2 very solid playoff performances.

The point is moot for next yr as both had 1 yr left and both would not have resigned to stay. If any of the kids we got for these 2 produce in the next 10 yrs, it is a steal.

BTW, happy days.... Matsui and Posada should be in the lineup today. Thank f***ing god.

I think that him not being a yankee is detrimental. This was something I did not feel about a month ago. I had originally thought that him going to Houston would be the best for all involved simply because we have all this young pitching that is ready and no spots. But with Cashman's unwillingness to tap into any of the guys who SHOULD be in our rotation right now, it is obvious that Cashman is willing to sacrifice this season for the long term health of these kids. It is a noble move, but it makes Clemens acquisition that much more important to the major league team.

If you guys get Clemens, then the edict from on high may be strong. Though I dont think George will ever get Cashman to deal away Hughes, I do think he will force Cash to deal other pitching prospects to overpay for somebody. Clemens validates the rotation and staves off a long term flop of a move mid season. I dont like the midseason options anyway.

It still bears noticing. We are an older team with finesse pitching. Finesse pitching is negated to a large degree in the cold.

He isnt as much of a 1 trick pony as he is made out to be. And ORS, if you have watched him at his finest, you'd see the sinker at its best. Nobody in the league can throw one like his. 95mph consistently and it moves from corner to corner. Opposing hitters have been commenting on how hard it is to hit Wang after nearly every game. Also, one thing that was enjoyable was seeing how many ST guys and MiLB guys he is K'ing. I noticed in ST early on, he was working on the slider a lot and mixed in some 4 seamers. And the thing with Wang that separates him from a lot of pitchers is his location. He can place it on a dime anywhere he wants it. I think your wishes will not be answered ORS. He isnt a dominant guy due to his high contact rate, but the contact he gets is typically so weak that he gets results.

if he went to Boston, I'd be shocked to be honest with you. When you have 4 horses like you currently do and have your prize prospect on the fast track to a mid-May return, I have a feeling you wont even make a terribly competitive offer. But if he did go to Boston, I think that would clinch the ascencion of Phil Hughes. Clemens makes so much sense in NY on so many levels that I havent really given thought to not having him. Hell, I even made a post about him being in our rotation without thinking. It almost seems like a foregone conclusion at this juncture. Spot open, nobody coming up to take it, team in need of a savior, who better to ride in than Clemens. And for the yankees, Clemens would mean that Hughes gets to stay down until Sept. which is what Cashman wants so dearly. It works on so many levels.

we split the opening series with TB as it was nearly zero degrees. I dont worry about TB all that much. As for Igawa, he has gotten progressively better with each start, so we shall see how he does. As for Wang, he threw 2 rehab starts.

I say it more because of who we are throwing out there. In Tampa, we have Igawa and Wang throwing, 2 guys who are in the projected rotation for the team and 2 guys at least capable of going 6 or more. In Toronto we are throwing Pettitte to start, who should give us a quality start vs a righty depleted lineup (no Glaus, no Johnson who OWNS us). The question mark is Karstens who could bounce back against their crappy lineup. So in all, I will assume that out of Pettitte, Wang, and Igawa, we get 19IP and from Karstens, at least 5. So we should average 6IP going into your series meaning that for 4 games, we will start getting some players rested prior to your series.

My picks are incomplete. First of all, unless we come up with some sort of miracle, you guys take game 1. I think the only thing quality about DiceK's outing against the full yankee squad will be the innings. 6IP 4-6ER which will be good enough for the win. You'll knock Chase on his ass early and we will be behind all game. Paps closes out the 9-7 win. Second game is impossible to predict. Wake has been dominant against us before and then has sucked at times. You guys dont seem to like lefties all that much but Igawa can be Wright-ish or Pettitte-ish depending on the day. No idea how this one breaks. Third game- Wang gives a QS, 6.1IP 3ER Mariano saves it and the yankees win it 7-4. Tavarez is knocked out after walking 5 in 3IP and giving up 4 runs. We knock around Snyder a bit and you guys play from behind and this time, dont catch up.

you should see a mildly different bullpen when you come to NY next week. We should be fresh off 3 good pitching performances and one question mark. And Joe knows he can burn a little in the first two and tell Wang to get him 7 or 8 in the last one. We wont be running on all cylinders, but you wont mash our pen as bad as you did this weekend.

I would. Why not. I wouldnt stand a f***ing chance but he wouldnt scare me.

wonder if the knuckler will be dancing tonight. Can the pitch of chaos continue to flutter in his favor.

Like I said in my state of the yankees thread, not so sure how he will do. Regardless of his status, he doesnt see the 7th. He isnt that type of pitcher. I am still not sure what kind of pitcher he is actually. He has had 1 suck start, 1 okay start, and 1 solid start in that order. Maybe he goes 9 tonight? Who the f*** knows.

I'll take WMP if you guys wont.

The catcher? Wil Nieves? The guy who hasnt had a major league hit since 2002? He is a defensive guy who I dont mind having backup at C one day per week. But start stacking games with him and we are in trouble. Kevin Thompson is a guy I dont mind as a backup OFer because of his speed, but he is an OLD guy (28yrs old), no prospect. And he swings like Millar, all or nothing, every single AB. Only he doesnt have Millar's power. Once again, dont mind him as a late inning CF replacement/pinch runner, but force him to play too much and he will be exposed. Minky is just an awful hitter. He used to work counts and make the most out of his AB's. Now he just hacks away at the first thing he sees most times. It frustrates the s*** out of me. Dont forget Melky, the kid who had a solid yr last yr but is not right thus far either. None of these guys work counts on a regular enough basis to make up for their lack of offense. When they arent smoking the ball, they are easy, weak outs. Something that makes our offense predictable. The beauty of the offensive machine that is the yankees is that the team has guys who work the s*** out of counts. When all cylinders are firing, there is no way in hell your rotation gets to the 7th (or almost to it) 3 days in a row.

This is a gem of a post. I agree. Our bullpen is being ripped apart. I saw them in ST and earlier when they were good. But if you saddle a pen with that many innings, you are bound to kill them. Add to that the closr starting slowly as he usually does and you have a recipe for disaster. Mussina, when healthy, is good for 6 innings a night. Wang is good for 6-7 and sometimes 8IP a night. You have to remember, that he is the guy Torre would tell to go 8 innings or a CG when the pen was tired and he'd do it. He is the only guy who can match your top 3 in terms of innings and durability. Losing him gave our bullpen no days off in the rotation. He comes back in 2 days and it will help.