The Yankee Illusion

The Red Sox are 3-1 against the Yankees this year and for some reason those wins seem to mask the fact that in mid May the Red Sox are STILL sub .500!

But man it feels good to win by one run against the Yankees.
Bartolo Colon has 2 losses this year and both were hard luck losses against the Sox.

Meanwhile Joba Chamberlain is the gift that keeps giving... if by giving you mean insurance runs.

Daniel Bard made me scream at the TV as it was clear that Jorge Posada can't catch up to a fastball yet he was throwing him curve balls. And of course Jonathan Papelbon had to make it interesting.

But Mark Teixeira popped up and I get to update the tally.

DODGED BULLET GAMES - 9

April 8 - 9-6 win against the Yankees. (The Sox end their 6 game losing streak with a slugfest. John Lackey stinks but Phil Hughes stinks even more.)
April 10 - 4-0 win against the Yankees. (Beckett and Sabathia duel in a game that was 1-0 until the late innings.)
April 20 - 5-3 win in Oakland. (Red Sox survive a lead off homer and two bases loaded situations and facing the tying run at the plate to win their first road game.)
April 21 - 4-2 win in Anaheim. (The Red Sox stranded 15 men on base and Josh Beckett's went 8 strong with no decision. But the Sox rallied in the 11th to win.)
April 22 - 4-3 win in Anaheim. (Peter Bourjos makes a 2 run errors and the Red Sox survive a bizarre passed ball by Jarrod Saltalamacchia that let a run scored from second.)
May 1 - 3-2 win against the Mariners. (Ichiro loses a ball in the sun that turns into a 9th inning triple for Lowrie. Crawford singles him home for the win.)
May 8 - 9-5 win against the Twins. (Dice-K lets up 3 runs in the first but settles down as the Red Sox clobber Carl Pavano.)

May 9 - 2-1 win against the Twins. (A bullpen breakdown cost Beckett the decision but Cark Crawford ended the game with an 11th inning walk off hit.)
May 13 - 5-4 win in the Bronx. (Youkilis homers off of Joba and Bard and Papelbon make it more interesting than it needed to be.)

TEETH GRINDER GAMES - 12

April 1 - 9-5 loss in Texas. (The Sox tie Opening Day in the 8th with an Ortiz homer only to have Bard implode and the Sox let up 4 in the bottom of the 8th.)

April 5 - 3-1 loss in Cleveland. (The Sox drop their 4th straight as the bats are dead in Cleveland.)
April 7 - 1-0 loss in Cleveland. (Sox blow a great Lester performance on a squeeze bunt and Darnell McDonald overrunning the bag to end the game.)
April 12 - 3-2 loss to Tampa Bay. (A solid Lester performance is wasted as Kyle Farnsworth of all people shuts down the Sox.)
April 15 - 7-6 loss to Toronto. (Bobby Jenks implodes with a 4 run seventh inning as the Red Sox waste Pedroia and Youkilis homers and a clutch RBI double by Scuatro.
April 19 - 5-0 loss in Oakland. (Pedroia gets picke doff, the Sox bats go dead and waste a solid Lackey start.)
April 26 - 4-1 loss in Baltimore. (Buchholz pitches tentatively and the Sox let Kevin Gregg of all people to close out the 9th.)
April 27 - 5-4 loss in Baltimore. (The Sox tie the game with a 3 run 8th only to have Bard lose it in the bottom of the 8th.)
April 29 - 5-4 loss to Mariners. (Bobby Jenks blows a 7th inning lead, wasting 2 Mike Cameron homers.)
April 30 - 2-0 loss to Mariners. (The Sox strand 11 runnerss and let Milton Bradley double home the go ahead run.)
May 4 - 5-3 loss to Angels. (7 hours with rain delays and stranded runners. Marco Scutaro was thrown out at the plate in the 12th)
May 10 - 7-6 loss in Toronto. (8th and 9th inning heroics, including a homer by Adrian Gonzalez, are undone by a walk off sacrifice fly by David Cooper.)

-3.

Win tomorrow and the Red Sox will have won their first two series with the Yankees.

That would make a hell of a birthday present.

Plan D for the Yankees... destroy Joba's career some more

Plan A for the Yankees this off season evidently was "Sign Cliff Lee."
Their plan to do that was to assume he would buckle to the amount of money thrown at him. Evidently nobody in the Yankees front office ever spelled "Assume."

Plan B was to alienate as many beloved Yankees as possible. Derek Jeter was told to find a better deal. Jorge Posada was told to turn in his catchers gear. Mariano Rivera was compelled to call the Red Sox. Andy Pettitte said "to hell with THIS!"

Plan C was to pretend it was still 2005. Andruw Jones, Mark Prior, Freddy Garcia, Bartolo Colon et al have all signed on. Now to build that Time Machine.

Now evidently there is Plan D... keep screwing around with Joba Chamberlain's already shaky psyche.

He's no longer a rookie. This is going to be his fifth season. You'd think 4 seasons would be enough to figure out his role. And according to reports he has shown up to camp looking heavy. Never a good sign.

So we enter the 4th annual "What will Joba's Role Be?" Spring Training extravaganza.
I've never understood this debate. He was a dominant reliever who the Yankees turned into a mediocre starter, an ineffective mop up man and in the 2010 postseason, an afterthought.

Good job!

I've been saying this for years. I've compared him the Matthew McConaughey... very good at one specific thing but out of his element when you try to expand him.

I said last spring that the Yankees out of mercy should trade him.

But now the Yankees bizarre off season has thrown his role back into the spotlight. They had a thin rotation last October and now it is even thinner. (Although it is hard to describe anything that added Bartolo Colon as "thinner!")

And because Joba was not allowed to develop into a reliable reliever, the Yankees had to spend for Rafael Soriano.

There are three (and possibly four) holes in the Yankees rotation and the richest and most glamorous franchise in baseball couldn't fill the 4 or 5 spots with a major leaguer.

Of course Brian Cashman said that Joba's role is secure and he is a reliever. Then again he ALSO said that they weren't going to lose their draft pick on any deal other than Cliff Lee... so we all see how much leverage HE has these days.

Don't put MORE weight on Joba. Don't punish him because the Yankees wet the bed this off season.

With Rivera and Soriano in the bullpen, the Yankees have to make a trade. Even if it is for a prospect or a role player. Joba is still young enough to have a decent career but not if he stays in New York.

Either that or just go all the way and never tell Joba what his role is.
Don't even tell him which days he is going to start.

How could that be any worse than how they've handled his career so far?

Joba is out of shape? Was he ever IN shape?

The word out of Tampa is that CC Sabathia has dropped weight and looks like he is in terrific shape. That's good news for the Yankees because, when you consider how lousy Phil Hughes' second half was, Sabathia is the only starting pitcher the Yankees have that they can count on.

But evidently there is a constant combined weight for Sabathia and Joba Chamberlain. Whatever weight CC lost, Joba packed on.

And, as shown in the picture above from last season, it isn't like Joba resembled Tim Linecum's waistline last year.

This Tweet should alarm Yankee fans.








Ouch.

This is a make or break year for Joba. As I wrote before, I blame the Yankee management for the derailing of his career. But this is bonkers.

It's not like this is Joba's first year in New York. It's not like he should be surprised that he will be under the microscope (provided they find a Petrie dish big enough for him.) The Yankees are thin in pitching... but not LITERALLY.

Perhaps Joba felt that with Bartolo Colon in camp, there would be no way he would be declared the fattest pitcher.

But the team needs a starting pitcher and relief depth... not a guy who looks like someone signed up for fantasy camp.

Besides, this is his 4th spring training in a row where his role will be in question.
He should know that the New York media loves to pick on a player's weakness. And when your name is ALREADY Joba, maybe you should try to watch your weight a little better.

The Red Sox need to offer Mariano Rivera a three year contract

Wait a second! The Yankees are playing hardball with Mariano Rivera?

Um… wow.
That is the most staggeringly stupid thing I have ever heard in free agent history.
YES, stupider than the Cubs offering Milton Bradley a long term deal.
YES, stupider than the Rangers making Chan Ho Park one of the top paid pitchers in baseball.

If there is ever a lynch pin to the success of the Yankees since 1996, it has been the dazzling career of Mariano Rivera.

There are some people who think Rivera is overrated and there are some people who poo poo the importance of relievers. “They throw less than 100 innings a year. How much value do they have?”

People who say that about Mariano Rivera are idiots.
That’s not my opinion. I can PROVE they are idiots in a court of law.

Yes, many relievers are overrated. I have argued that Trevor Hoffman, while a terrific pitcher who has had a nice career, is overrated. He has compiled a lot of saves but also has come up short in an alarming number of big games.

The fact that there could be a statistical system that would put Armando Benitez in any form of elite reliever category is almost as mind boggling as that piece of crap Crash winning the Oscar for Best Picture.

But Rivera is different. Year in and year out he is automatic. Year in and year out he snuffs out rallies. Year in and year out he shortens close games to 8 innings.

AND he gives the Yankee line up the confidence knowing that if they just beat up the other team’s middle relief and hand the lead to Rivera, they’ll have a win.

Plus the starting pitchers know that they don’t have to go 9, and their win loss record will look good by the end of the year.

And in the unrelenting pressure cooker that is New York, Yankee fans haven’t REALLY had to worry about the 9th inning for nearly 15 years.

Seriously, right now what reliever would you rather have as your regular closer now?
Brian Wilson? Neftali Feliz? Brad Lidge? Jonathan Papelbon?

Put the stats away for a second (even though Rivera’s 2010 numbers are, as usual, awesome.)

Who puts the opposition on their heels more?
Who makes the other team think “If we don’t at least tie the game in the 8th, we’re DEAD” more than Rivera?

And let’s get down to brass tacks here.
Which Yankee star will be the hardest to replace?

You can find another solid shortstop.
You can find another slugger… you can find another starting pitcher.

But where else is there an immovable object on the mound for the ninth?
Who is going to fill in for him?

Whoever it is, he won’t be as good as Rivera.
And when he proves he isn’t as good as Rivera, EVERYONE in New York will remind him.

Think New York doesn’t eat young players up alive? Talk to Joba Chamberlain. He was supposed to be Joba’s heir apparent in 2007. Now it is 2010 and he’s already a mess and Rivera is still at the top of his game.

And the Yankees want to play hard ball?



I say let them.
But why can’t other teams make a run at him?

Seriously, why should other teams play some B.S. honor code about not bidding on Yankee superstars? It’s not like the Yankees ever say “Hey, we can’t bid on that player! He would never be identified as a Yankee. Let’s not even call his agent.”

NO! They try to gobble up the big players… as is their right.
But guess what? OTHER teams can make a bid on Rivera.

If the Yankees are only offering him a 1 year contract, another team should offer him 2.

And I think the Red Sox should offer him 3 years.

First of all it will give the Red Sox a bullpen going into 2011 of Bard, Papelbon and Rivera.

Are you kidding me? Games would be over in the 6th!

Secondly it will give the Red Sox some flexibility when Papelbon’s free agency comes about after the 2011 season.

And yeah, I think in three years Rivera will still be an elite reliever. Has he shown ANY signs of slowing down?

But most importantly not only will it improve the Red Sox, but it will put the Yankees in unfamiliar territory.

Can you imagine the Yankees moving ahead with a shaky closer? Or even a pretty good closer?

Yankee fans haven’t experienced having a subpar closer since before the 1994 strike… you know the era when they couldn’t make the post season.

Giardi already has suspect bullpen handling skills… let’s see how he does without the no brainer in the ninth!

Decimating the Yankees bullpen while the Rays are dismantling their division winner could make the Red Sox the favorite in the A.L. East.

It’s a great chance to give the Red Sox an all time bullpen to go with a rotation headed by Lester and Buchholz and give the Yankees an gut punch?

Isn’t it worth making the call?
Make the offer.

There’s no way it will happen if they DON’T make the offer.

And maybe it will bring other teams into the bidding. Seeing Rivera on another team can only help the Red Sox win the East.

Will it happen?

Probably not… but remember, when the Yankees played hardball with Andy Pettitte after the 2003 World Series, the Red Sox actually made the highest bid before he signed with Houston.

And 2004 ended up to be a good year for the Sox.

Rivera wants to be loyal to the Yankees?
Have him prove it.

How bad are Joba Chamberlain and Javy Vazquez?

I know Joba and Javy have been pinatas for me all year... but let's face it, they've earned every single whack the way they've pitched.

Don't believe me? Just look at last night... a game where their supposed 8th inning stud and supposed new rotation workhorse were used in their playoff roles: Mop up men.

Actually Joba was given the role to get out of a 6th inning bases loaded jam and keep the game close at 4-3.

How did he do? Well not only did he let all three inherited runners to score but let up another run charged to himself. A close playoff feel game turned into a blow out where by the end I think Joe Girardi was asking Guiliani's son if he wanted an at bat.

But the actuality of Joba's futility could only be overshadowed by the disrespect the umpires gave to Javier Vazquez.

Keep in mind the scenario... the Yankees and Rays are neck and neck... they might meet up in the post season with the AL Pennant on the line... this is their LAST regular season meeting... the games, save for last night, were rife with emotion and posturing...

And with the Rays blowing the Yankees out of their own building and former supposed Cy Young candidate turned "use only in blow outs" mop up man Javier Vazquez hit Desmond Jennings.

No warning issued.

Then he hit Willy Aybar... no warning issued.

Then he hit Kelly Shoppach... THREE STRAIGHT HIT BATSMEN...
Nope. Nothing.

Even the umpires knew "He's not trying to hit them... it's Javy Vazquez. He sucks."

I like to think Javy WAS trying to hit them, just to show his teammates his toughness and to show them how much a team guy he really is.

Plunk.
PLUNK!
PLUNK!!!!

And the ump saying "Sorry Javy... I'm not buying that you are doing that intentionally!"

For those of you who think I am too tough on Javy Vazquez, take it up with home plate umpire Andy Fletcher.

He agrees with me.

It's to the point where the Yankees almost have to say "We can NOT put either Joba nor Javy on the post season roster."

The Yankees lose in an unusual way but with the usual pitchers

I mentioned last weekend that the Yankees hadn't lost game that they were leading in the 8th inning or later since July 10th... before the All Star Break.

Well now you can change July 10 to September 10 as the Yankees coughed up an early 4-1 lead, an 8th inning lead and an extra inning loss.

While the result was surprising, you can hardly say the culprits were.

The Yankees took a 4-1 lead after 3 innings. They handed that lead to starter Javier Vazquez... one of my reader's favorite pitchers.

Now I admit, he is more talented than me. But he is also making $11 million more than me a year to pitch. He's not pitching 11 million times better than me.

This big game horse couldn't get an out in the 6th inning and turned it over to the bullpen for at least 4 innings. (Remember... he EATS UP innings!)

FYI, if your average start is 4 runs in 5 innings, you would have a 7.20 ERA.
Vazquez's season ERA is only 5.09... which is still inexcusable.

Now the middle relief did a solid job keeping Texas off the board and keeping the lead for the Yankees.

Guess which reliever coughed it up.

YUP! Joba... the guy who the Yankees turned from a stud into a basket case lets up a game tying shot, once again showing that they can not use him in a big moment in an important game.

Now I give Joe Girardi some credit. He used struggling Phil Hughes out of the pen in the 9th, knowing that if he got them into the 10th the Yankees would have the heart of their order up and Rivera able to preserve the lead.

A sneaky way to get Hughes a confidence boosting win #17 and put him back on track to join the 20 win club.

It didn't work out, but it was clever.

Finally Chad Gaudin, who offers nothing and will only pitch in a mop up scenario, ended the game.

Now the Yankees remain the best team in baseball and they are still the champs and the team to beat.

But going into the playoffs they can rely on Sabathia, Rivera and remind me who else?

Burnett goes tomorrow. You either get an ace or a disaster from him.
Vazquez is a bust even though he's better than me.
Hughes needs confidence boosts as he has been a dumpster fire since the All Star break.
And Pettitte is having his pitches counted in Trenton.
And the middle relief is up and down and they don't have an 8th inning guy... and on nights Sabathia doesn't pitch, they need a 6th, 7th AND 8th inning guy.

The Yankees could very well repeat this year and they will be as tough a team as there is in the AL. But their feet are made of clay... and I am not talking KEN Clay.