jung

Actually I would prefer that the O's not be taking advantage of the Rays. The Rays always start like s***....their bullpen is for some reason terrible at the start of seasons and stellar at the end. Would prefer somebody else was playing the Rays as opposed to an AL East team early on.

Iggy looks like an 8 year old waiting at the bus stop wondering why they don't call off school for cold.

I can't imagine searching for your grip on the baseball with your finger/hand going numb in the cold like that. We might be lucky that Kuroda was missing down and in to the LH hitters as I do not think he had any idea where the ball was going.

I was just going to say, that finger was going to go numb on Kuroda. They need to get him outta' there.

Aroid has been actively trying to convince players to leave Boras. I wonder if his going directly to Yankee ownership to get the long green to stay in NY a few years ago was something that was a sticking point between Aroid and Boras. Long green or no maybe Aroid has a long memory. at least for the faults of others. Tex has left Boras as well.

Cano is not leaving NY. That is why he left Boras.

Salty actually looking for a base hit instead of the dinger.....did not see much of that last year.

They won't hit and run with Napoli. They don't have enough power bats in the lineup

Nava with the very definition of the Seeing Eye.

I agree that Iggy still has to prove himself. However I have had it up to the neckline with the "decent enough" Red Sox SS that gives us more bang for the buck at the plate. Drew has the potential to be a far better defensive SS than the dregs that the Sox usually settle for. However IF Iggy can hit .240 or better and more importantly maintain a decent OBP, I would much prefer his exemplary defense to anybody's decent defense at the position of SS. By the end of ST he was taking balls 4' the other side of 2nd base with Pedey just in lala land over not having to stand on his ear at 2nd base. Just the saved wear and tear on Pedey would be worth it.

This Yankee team is so derelict that I think we will have to wait for Toronto for anything like a test. They might take 1 of 3 from the Sox. I would actually be somewhat worried if they could take 2 straight form the Sox. The Yanks brass are apparently bound and determined not to open up the purse strings to solve this problem although I don't think they really knew how bad it would be considering how late in the game the last two injuries came on them. I expect the Yanks will try to keep playing Yankee baseball shorthanded in the next game. However if they put up another 2 spot, and Salty is catching game 3, I expect them to test Salty. I don't think they will have a choice.

Iggy absolutely does have to cure himself of swinging at the first thing he sees unless it is a very good pitch to hit. If he can do that, he will be way ahead of the game particularly with regard to OBP. Even if he does not eventually draw a walk he will end up with more counts in his favor. Regardless of how critical Strike 1 is to pitchers, they are not inclined to just groove the thing in an 0-0 count.

All I can say for Iggy is that he has what he deserves, a clean clear shot at proving himself. For one thing, at no time in his career to this point could he bunt his way out of a paper bag. That was as good a bunt for a hit as you are going to see in Game 1. He got some breaks on infield hits and ends up launching into the year with a decent BA and OBP. Nobody will be looking for Slugging out of him. Iggy has the best swing of his career and a chance to prove himself all converging at the same time. His defense is still sterling. This may turn out to be as good a break as the Sox have gotten in a long time. JBJ has figured to take over in CF from the moment he stepped into a AA uni for the Sox. So, his appearance in a Sox uni was only a matter of time. But Iggy was probably one season from earning himself a ticket outta' here. The guy that would really benefit if Iggy can pull this off is Pedey. Pedey has really had to play 2nd standing on his head like some baseball version of a hockey goalie cause he has had nothing next to him covering middle infield. The Sox send defensively sound SS's packing as soon as they prove not to be the second coming of Robin Yount. If Iggy does pull this off I will wager that the happiest guy on the planet will be Pedey.

While it is always nice to beat the Yankees, there is not much to beating this Yankee team. They are starting the season the way we ended it.....two guys in the lineup that can hit at all and nobody that a pitcher really needs to fear. The Yanks have had their reliance on older ballplayers come back to haunt them in a big way. Could not have happened to a nicer bunch a' guys. The Yanks could very easily lose so many games before they get their team back together that they will be out of it by the time they get guys back. You need to rally in their bandbox to win games and they can't rally. Putting up a two spot like they did today will likely be the norm for them. Yankee Stadium is not OCC.I don't care how good they pitch, that won't work. They are still trying to play Yankee baseball and they just do not have the horses. They may have to rethink their lineup instead of trying to set up Cano and Nix to play the roles of the guys that are missing. I had picked the Yanks for fighting to stay out of the basement this year. If they have to play through April and then even part of May like this, they will likely have the basement locked before they can get anybody back. I don't know when Jeter is due back but Tex is gone till at least mid-May or longer. Aroid is what...mid season at best?

I would bet that with Kershaw holding all the cards and the Dodgers having all the money all any other team would do is drive up his price...one that the Dodgers will pay. They would have to have rocks in their heads not to. Ya' pay Agons, Beckett and that stiff Crawford and let Kershaw go? Don't see it.

Kershaw is ridiculous. How do you get a hit off that guy. He presents the usual probs for LH hitters. However the way he hides the ball behind him, you actually get less time to react to his pitch from the right side than the left side. He is just impossible.

How the hell does anybody get a hit off of Kershaw? Guy presents the usual built in issues for LH hitters but is no bargain for a RH hitter either. He tends to keep the ball hidden behind him and by the time you get to see the ball from the right side, you have even less time to react to it. I would love to be able to say I got a foul tip off of him in 100 swings. Must be crazy tough to hit.

I usually go to the MLB team boards. You can easily get from one team to the next and I found the Yankee crowd there mostly reasonable and knowledgable baseball fans during the last post season. Today, their front office sucks, their manager sucks, their pitching sucks...the sky is falling.

Looks like you will have to wait for your team to get back from the hospital.

Watching LA/Frisco...nice to see Agons is still the same guy. Went over to the Yankee boards...too funny....they sound just like we do....just like we do.

Interviewing Farrell there are tubs of bubble gum over his shoulder on a locker shelf. Sort of what I mean about baseball being particular to certain things that are only baseball. Where else would you see tubs of bubble gum.

Joe Girardi right on with his analysis of what happened today. We might have to wait for Toronto to get a true test. This Yankee team looks hopelessly lost at the plate at least until they get some guys back. Caught in no mans land. Not enough of any one thing to be effective. You can tell, they are still hoping that guys like Gardener can get on and Cano and Nix can get them home and pull them through. But they can't get on enough and putting the load on two guys like that makes it easy for the opposing manager to figure out what to do. They could go 0-fer April if they are not careful.

If the Sox continue to play like this it will cause quite a dilemma for them. This is NOT Red Sox baseball. If it is not an aberration it could be good baseball, just not Red Sox baseball. Their one power bat goes 0-fer and the other semi-power guy really does not show it. They still win big and going away and rubbing the Yanks nose in it at the end. Only one game but it will be very interesting to see how management reacts if this is how they play games. I bet this game will do wonders for ticket sales.

I think you have to credit Farrell some here. The plate discipline is across the lineup for the most part as the lack of patience was across the lineup last year. That does not look like individual players just happening to be patient. JBJ is likely the exception. He seems patient at the plate by nature.

Sometimes I can't get the hamster running fast enough to generate enough power. So access is rare. Seriously though I think Gomes would have had as much trouble in right as he would have had in left today.