Light Coverage Weekend Coming Up

So here's the deal, people.  I'm flying home for the weekend for some activities so the constantly awesome material I've been churning out lately is going to slow down a bit.

I can promise you that I will post something any time I have an opportunity to do so.  I can also promise you that with a wedding on Saturday (complete with 6-hour open bar reception and an after party in the hotel bar after the reception), NFL football and bar hopping with my buddy on Sunday, and what will undoubtedly be a kickass Alice In Chains/Deftones/Mastodon concert on Monday, those opportunities will be few and far between.



So there you go.  You might get some stuff or you might have to sit tight and be patient until Tuesday.  This is the downside of only having one writer on the team.

Whatever.  It's an open bar reception!!!  Cheers, bitches!

Why Are We Even Mentioning This Right Now?

Last time I checked, it was still the 2010 regular season, but I guess I must have missed something because there are already stories being written about the Yankees' 2011 schedule.  Don't believe me?  It's true.  Check here and here.

Guys, what the fuck???  We still got 16 games left to win the division and then the whole playoffs to cover.  Who gives a crap about 2011?

When the Yanks finish their parade down the Canyon some time in November, then we can start discussing the 2011 schedule.  For now let's focus on the tasks still at hand, OK?

The Most Talked About HBP Ever

(Photo courtesy of The AP)

 Are people really that fired up about Derek Jeter's fake HBP the other night?  Is it really that big a deal?

All day yesterday I'm reading stories on all the blogs and all the major sports sites talking about the play, how it affects Jeter's legacy, what it means about his struggles this season, what would people be saying if A-Rod had done that, etc.  Then I go home for lunch and SportsCenter's entire coverage of the game from that night was based around Jeter's play and everyone's reaction to it.  Then I get home after work and that play is the lead topic on PTI and we're bringing in Tim Kurkjian and everybody else to talk about what Jeter's fake means in the context of expanding instant replay in baseball.

All I have to say is, are you fucking kidding me???  Is this real life right now???  What planet am I living on where this play becomes so newsworthy that it overshadowed the eventual outcome of the game and the subsequent changing of hands in the division lead again?  Was it a sneaky play?  Absolutely.  Jeter knew he wasn't hit, but the ump didn't and Jeter took what the guy gave him, putting on a very convincing act in the process with superb supporting performances by Joe and Gene Monahan.  He's certainly not the first guy to fake getting hit by a close pitch up and in and he certainly won't be the last.  What Jeter did was no different than catchers trying to frame pitches to make them look like strikes or runners on 2nd trying to steal signs and I don't hear an uproar from the media about that.

The fact of the matter is, Jeter was playing to win, which is what you're supposed to do as a professional athlete.  The umpire made the mistake and called him hit and Jeter ran with it.  It's not his job to be the moral compass of baseball, it's his job to do whatever it takes to help his team win.  It's not different than if somebody at a restaurant gives you too much change on your bill.  Would you call them back and say "hey, there's too much money here?"  If you would, then you're an idiot.  You take what's given to you.  That's what Jeter did and that's what every other player in that situation would have done, so just leave it at that and move on to more important things.

Hail The Conquering Hero

Now that it's official, I can finally uncross my fingers, put my 4-leave clover away, and celebrate.

THANK.  FUCKING.  GOD!!!!!!!!!  ANDY IS COMING BACK!!!!!!!

I know I've tried to put a positive spin on the last couple weeks, but now that I don't have to pretend to be OK with Dustin Moseley and Javy Vazquez sucking balls anymore, I'm just not going to.  A weak link is being removed from the rotation, and the Yankees' 2nd best pitcher is coming back just in time for the end of the year run to the division title and the start of the march through the playoffs to title 28.  That's good news when your team is a couple of timely hits away from a 10-game losing streak.  Sunday can't come fast enough.

I can honestly say that this is definitely the first, and most likely the only, time I will ever be this excited about a 38-year-old man coming back into my life.  But when that man is Andy Pettitte, I'm OK with it.

Searching For A Silver Lining

Another strong Phil Hughes start turned into just an OK one last night thanks to a couple of misplaced pitches.  This has been a constant theme for Hughes all year long and now the impact of that theme is felt even more in the heat of a division race, especially when the offense is still lost at sea without Swish and Gardner and seemingly unable to get a hit or two with RISP.

On the negative side, Hughes was given 2 leads and couldn't hold either of them.  He could have helped the Yankees gain a little more breathing room over Tampa and chop 2 more games of the divisional magic number and instead the Yanks wake up today looking back up at the Rays in the standings.  He has given up a lot of home runs this year in key situations and is still probably in limbo as far as his postseason role goes.

On the positive side, Hughes pitched exceptionally well for the rest of the game last night, hitting his spots with his fastball and mixing his pitches up far better than he had been recently.  And if you eliminate a handful of the home runs he's given up this year, Hughes could be looking at 18 or 19 wins right now.  Location and pitch selection issues aside, Hughes has pitched incredibly well this year in his first year as a full-time starter.  Improving pitch selection and location is something that comes with experience, so imagine how awesome he's going to be once he masters that over the next year or 2.

A Nova-Centric Mini-Linkapalooza

After last night's fantastic first 4 innings and meltdown of a 5th, Ivan Nova has now become the wildest of wildcards in the Yankee pitching pecking order, both for the remainder of this season and looking to the playoffs.  Naturally, Nova was a hot topic of discussion around the blogosphere and the best in the business were all over it.

- First, Chad a LoHud takes a look at what caused things to fall apart for Nova last night.  Particularly telling about how Nova's starts have gone was this inning-by-inning comparison:

First inning: 5 IP, 4 H, 3 BB, 5 K — 1.80 ERA
Second inning: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 BB, 3 K — 0.00 ERA
Third inning: 5 IP, 5 H, 0 BB, 2 K — 3.60 ERA
Fourth inning: 5 IP, 4 H, 0 BB, 4 K — 3.60 ERA
Fifth inning: 4.1 IP, 11 H, 3 BB, 4 K — 18.69 ERA
Sixth inning: 2 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 0 K — 0.00 ERA

- Building on that breakdown was Joe Paw's piece on RAB examining Nova's approach the second and third times through the order last night.  As Joe states, Nova's strong starts to outings and struggling finishes point more to his inexperience than flaws in his stuff.

- Building on his own dissection of Nova's outing last night, Joe Paw followed up his first post with another questioning Nova's potential effectiveness out of the bullpen in the postseason.  His .194/.275/.306 tripleslash against in the first 2 innings of each outing this year and his .238/.327/.429 tripleslash against with runners on base could be good predictors of success in shorter outings, small sample size aside.

- Stephen R. at TYU takes the 'Nova out of the 'pen' concept a bit further by comparing Nova to all the other options for the 10th and 11th playoff pitching staff spots.  I agree with Stephen that Javy is making the roster one way or another, but Nova could very well be the best option for the "other" long man role.

He's hit a few bumps in the road lately, but I'm still very high on Nova.  His stuff has played up extremely well against Major League hitters and he thinks and operates on the mound mentally better than a 23-year-old rookie should.  Teams are starting to learn his approach right now and they're keying in on him, so he clearly has some work to do, but Nova should still be considered a vital option for the Yanks as either a starter or a reliever.  And since I can't say it any better than these guys already have or point to any advanced stats that they haven't already come up with, I'll just do what I do best and end this with the "Nova the Terrible" Photoshop picture.

K-Rod Still F'n Up

Apparently Francisco Rodriguez doesn't understand how a restraining order works, otherwise he wouldn't have sent over 50 texts to his girlfriend in violation of said restraining order since the time he decided to kick the shit out of her father right in front of her.  Here are some of the gems of the collection, via the WWL: 

•  "I know this message could get me in trouble again, but I already lost you, my house and my children"
•  "I do not want to have problems with your family, all I want ... is to recover you and my children and continue forward"
•  "Lets find a solution to this conflict, baby if you really loved me do not deny me the opportunity to fight for you and my children"
• "Tell your father and mother, so that the three of us can get together and reach an agreement and leave things as they are and I can recover my house and my job, please lets find ... way to solve this."
• "Thank you for sinking me turning your back, take good care of my children ... and now I see that your were with me because of the money to see that your family ..."
• "Your parents are manipulating you like a marionette ... You are already a woman who can make her own decisions"
• "You are already a woman who can make her own decisions and because of that, our home in spite of its ups and downs we built it together no longer exist because of their greed. I pray to God that is not too late for you to open your eyes and reconsider."
• "Daian, I understand that perhaps I made a mistake, the biggest mistake of my life for doing what I did but I love you"
• "Things like this should not be done especially when your parents have what they have because of me, even clothes."

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!  This would almost be sad if it wasn't so incredibly hilarious.  What an asshat.  First off, dude, if you're going to blatantly violate a court order, you might want to not use your own phone to text.  And if you're trying to apologize to the mother of your kids, you might want to refrain from accusing her of turning her back on you, accusing her of being a gold digger, comparing her to a puppet, and attempting to play off the seriousness of the situation because you supposedly provided her parents with stuff.

Now I've done my fair share of apologizing to girls in my life, sometimes when it was warranted and sometimes when it wasn't.  And I can say from experience that a well-written, honest, remorseful text message is a good starting point.  But to then turn everything around and insinuate that you shouldn't have a restraining order against you because you bought the old dude who you kicked the crap out of a t-shirt or two is definitely not the correct next step.

It's just a never-ending calamity of errors for the Mets, on and off the field.  Even as a shitty baseball team they are still entertaining.  And now it appears that in his personal life, just like he often does on the mound at the end of a game, The Pitcher Formerly Known as K-Rod has trouble closing.  And if there's one rule we follow here at AB4AR, it's A-B-C.

Always Be Closing.

Tell him, Blake.

Bigger Than A Win

(Photo courtesy of The AP)

Last night's win was big for the Yankees.  Let's not try to pretend it wasn't.  Sure they've all but locked up a postseason berth, but this team expects better; they expect to win the division.  And the quality baseball they had been playing over the last 10-14 days was not championship-caliber baseball, so to jump out to a big lead on the road early and then scrap back to tie and re-take the lead in the late innings is big.

But bigger than winning the game was the emotion the Yankees showed last night throughout the affair.  Everyone was into the game and focused from the first pitch, and the emotion built up as the game continued on.  You had guys jumping around for A-Rod and Cano's homers early.  You had Dave Robertson practically losing his shit after Granderson made that great catch in the 9th.  You had Swish freaking out over Jorge's go-ahead homer to the point that the casual fan may have thought Jorge broke some kind of record.  You had Jorge almost separating his shoulder with an agitated fist pump after Jeter couldn't hold onto the ball on Crawford's steal attempt.  And after the indescribably awesome Golson-to-The Horse DP to end the game, you had the entire team celebrating like they had just won a playoff game.  Shit, even Mo was fired up and you only see him show emotion when he closes out the World Series.

Regardless of the outcome, the Yankees were in it to win it last night.  There had been a noticeable lack of emotion over this recent weak stretch, so to see them come out last night with playoff intensity was a good thing.  And to have that energy and focus and emotion rewarded with an extra-innings victory, well that's the kind of stuff that can propel a team and motivate them moving forward.  They're still banged up, they still have questions in the bullpen, and they still have more questions in the rotation, but last night the Yankees may have just gotten their swagger back.  If they can come out later tonight and thrash James Shields, we'll know for sure.

P.S.- How much did Greg Golson help his playoff roster chances last night?  100%?  500%?  1,000%?

Juice!!!

Hip fuckin' hip, people!!  He might be older than shit, he might be brittle as hell, and he might still be concussed, but Jorge can still knock the crap out of the ball when he gets into one.  And his timing (and Joe's timing when it came to substitutions) couldn't have been better.  Yankees hadn't had one of those in a while, now let's see what they can do with it.

P.S.- Feels good to be in first place again.  It was weird being away from it for so long.

How Mad Can You Be?

I mean really.  When the Yanks went into the game with D-Rob and Joba not available and Mariano probably only available in a save situation and you end up in the 11th inning with Wood and Logan already out, who do you expect Girardi to go to?  He stole an inning with Gaudin in the 10th, and Mitre is likely going to make the postseason roster as the long man, so why wouldn't Joe bring him in in a pressure situation?  And when the guy has pitched once in the past 16 days, you almost have to expect him to be rusty and give up something.

The Yanks got everything they could ask for from CC last night, which you expect from your ace.  The Rays just happened to get everything they could have asked for out of their ace too, which is why both of those guys are aces.  It was a masterful display of pitching on both sides and in the end the Yankees having a depleted bullpen came back to bite them in an extra-innings game.  The writing was on the wall, people just need to read it.

If you're going to be mad, be mad at Brett Gardner for getting thrown out trying to steal 3rd in the 10th.  Or be mad at Joe for not using Mitre enough lately, but not for bringing him in last night.  I like to get on Joe for his bullpen management as much as the next guy, but you really can't last night.  It was a great game full of great pitching by both sides and the home team won in their half of the inning against the 5th or 6th best guy in the Yankee bullpen.

3 Reasons Why This Yankees-Rays Series Matters

The Yankees have 7 regular season games against 2nd place Tampa and they'll play 3 of those games over the next 3 days starting tonight at The Trop.  The Yanks will be sending CC, Ivan, and Phil to the mound against David Price, Matt Garza, and James Shields for Tampa in what could be the first preview of the ALCS.  Knowing that those are the high stakes in place later down the line while the more immediate benefit of division lead also being in play, it goes without saying that this is a big series for both teams.  But it's not for the cliche, ho-hum reasons you'll probably hear on Baseball Tonight or the YES pregame show.  It's not about the Yankees "righting the ship" after a horrendous weekend and a 6-out-of-the-last-7 losing stretch, nor is it about one team "building momentum" or "gaining a mental advantage" over the other for the playoffs.  No sir, there are plenty of real, actual baseball reasons while this series matters for both teams.  Here are, in my mind, the 3 biggest.

1) We get to see how the young pitchers respond to a high-pressure, playoff-style atmosphere.

This might seem like another cliche, ESPN-fabricated talking point, but when you look back over the history of the playoffs, there are plenty of pitchers who have completely shit the bed on the mound with the spotlight on them, both young and old alike.  And using some basic logic, those younger pitchers without any experience of pitching in a playoff setting would seem the most likely candidates to get a bit of that gag reflex when put into that setting.

There are candidates on both sides: Wade Davis, David Price, Jeff Niemann, Jeremy Hellickson for the Rays.  Hughes, Boone Logan, and Ivan Nova for the Yanks), and although we will probably only see one or two from Tampa, one outing is enough for an opposing team to tell if the moment is too big for a particular guy, especially veteran hitting teams like those 2.  Price hasn't pitched all that well against the Yanks this year, and his only postseason experience came out of the bullpen in 2008 when he was rookie with unknown stuff and lower expectations, not the ace of his staff as he is today.

For the Yankees particularly, this series should be telling.  Hughes struggled mightily in the playoffs last year out of the bullpen, and hasn't exactly been lighting the world on fire lately as a starter.  Another rough outing for him could put his playoff rotation spot in jeopardy.  The opposite holds true for Ivan Nova, who could do himself a great service in securing a playoff roster spot with another good outing against a quality team.

2) Both teams can experiment with bullpen roles/matchups for the postseason.

Us Yankee fans know that Joe loves to play the matchups when it comes to his bullpen.  Joe Maddon, also a known in-game strategist, is no stranger to playing the mix-and-match game himself.  Seeing as how these teams haven't played each other in a while, this series should serve as the first round in playing the odds and determining what approach each manager may take in late-game situations.

Should Teix be walked with A-Rod behind him?  Is it worth bringing in a lefty to face Robbie Cano?  Who do the Yanks use to neutralize Longoria in the later innings?  Will Maddon use Rafael Soriano for more than 3 outs?  The answers to those questions could start to be answered in some close games this series.

3) Brett Gardner vs. Carl Crawford.

This looks more towards 2011 than anything related to this year.  But Crawford is the big free agent positional prize this offseason, one the Yanks seemingly had their eye on heading into this year, and Gardner is the younger, much cheaper current leftfielder for the Bombers who has greatly outperformed expectations this year, possibly to the point that Crawford no longer becomes as big a need as he might have been at the beginning of the season.

Crawford is hitting .305/.357/.494 this year in 522 at-bats with 100 runs scored, 159 hits, 30 doubles, 12 triples, 15 HRs, 78 RBIs, and 42 stolen bases while continuing to play Gold Glove-caliber defense in left.  He has a wOBA of .376, a UZR of 22.0 in LF, and is rated at 6.4 WAR for the season.  He also made $10 million this season and should make more than that next year.

Gardner is hitting .280/.388/.379 this year in 428 at-bats with 85 runs scored, 120 hits, 17 doubles, 5 triples, 5 HRs, 45 RBIs, and 40 stolen bases while also playing Gold-Glove caliber defense in left and center field.  Gardner has a wOBA of .360 for the season, a 17.1 total UZR (16.9 in left, 0.2 in center), and is rated at 4.9 WAR, all for the lovely price of $452,500 for the year.  Gardner has also performed incredibly well hitting from the leadoff spot, something he could conceivably do next year with the Yanks given Derek Jeter's 2010 decline.

Now that stats show that Crawford has been the better player this year, but not by a significant margin.  And when you factor in that he has been an MLB regular for years now and this was really Gardner's first full season, and that Gardner is 2 years younger, it does make Gardner look like the more attractive option for next year, especially considering the strength of the rest of the Yankee lineup.  But we all now how enamored George used to get with certain players, and there has to be some of that DNA left somewhere within Hank and Hal.  A monster series from Crawford against the Yankees and the talks about bringing Crawford into the fold next year could start to heat up again, even if the Yanks do get great approximated Crawford-level value from Gardner.

AP Top 25 Yankee Playoff Roster Poll For The Week Of Sept. 13-19

Another week, another batch of changes to the playoff roster poll.  Some new guys getting some look from the voters after September call ups.  Their chances to make the roster, although slim, were greatly improved by the continued injuries to Yankee regulars (Swish and Jorge) and the season-ending injuries to Alfredo Aceves and Damaso Marte.  Here's the latest look of what the roster should be after last week:

Top 25:
1) Mariano Rivera (hiccup aside)
2) CC Sabathia
3) Robinson Cano
4) Mark Teixeira
5) Brett Gardner
6) Kerry Wood (absolutely lights out since donning the pinstripes)
7) Curtis Granderson (becomes more valuable w/ OF injuries)
8) Nick Swisher (knee not getting any better)
9) Dave Robertson (value increases w/ rotation struggles)
10) Phil Hughes (needs to rebound this week)
11) Jorge Posada (somebody get him a crash helmet and safety bubble)
12) Boone Logan (dude has been almost automatic since his call back)
13) Alex Rodriguez (still looks strong)
14) Francisco Cervelli
15) Derek Jeter (still too many groundouts)
16) Marcus Thames
17) Austin Kearns
18) Lance Berkman (looking a little more Puma-ish)
19) Sergio Mitre
20) Joba Chamberlain (always bad at the worst times)
21) Ramiro Pena
22) A.J. Burnett
23) Ivan Nova (could improve chances w/ a good start against TB)
24) Javy Vazquez
25) Dustin Moseley (will be off once Andy comes back)

Also Receiving Votes:
26) Andy Pettitte (due back this week)
27) Eduardo Nunez
28) Chad Moeller (depends on Jorge's health)
29) Jonathan Albaladejo (could sneak in if guys keep f'ing up)
30) Greg Golson (Joe loves speed)
31) Chad Gaudin (just to make him feel special)

Garbage Weekend

Get it?  It's a visual metaphor for how the Yankees played like trash all weekend.  Pretty clever, huh?

I got nothing else to say tonight.  Updated playoff roster coming tomorrow...

A Bad Omen?

Well it's a good thing the internet connection was fucked at my apartment all day yesterday, because after the last 2 games, my immediate postgame responses would have been much harsher than this morning's will be.  As it is, the Yankees have opened the door for the competition and their critics with 2 consecutive losses against a likely playoff opponent in 2 games that they could and should have won.

Let's start with Friday.  Another "meh" start by Javy gets picked up into a potential win situation heading into the bottom of the 8th after a bases-loaded walk to Teix in the 6th put the Yanks ahead 5-4.  Enter Joba in the 8th and exist baseball into the bleachers on his first pitch to Nelson Cruz.  Goodbye lead and goodbye win after 13 innings when the Yanks could do nothing in extras off the Rangers bullpen and Cruz put on an encore home run performance off of Chad Gaudin.

The Yankees were a combined 3-17 with RISP on Friday night, and in the 12th and 13th innings had the go-ahead run at 3rd with 1 out and couldn't get anything across.  Joe also showed how important winning that game was, using Phil Hughes out of the bullpen in the 9th and Mo for 2 innings in the 10th and 11th.  The Yanks couldn't scratch a run across and that extra work on Mo would come back to haunt them the next day.

Now yesterday.  Another close game, another "meh" starting performance by A.J., who was pulled after 4 innings and 88 pitches, and another late-inning Yankee lead courtesy of an A-Horse 3-run double in the 8th.  Mo entered the game in the 9th and commenced with a Joba-like meltdown.  Leadoff walk, single, double, and just like that the lead was gone.  After an intentional walk to load the bases and an out, Mo hit Jeff Francoeur with a pitch to force in the winning run.

Mo looked completely awful yesterday.  21 pitches, only 9 of which were strikes, a day after he worked 2 innings by throwing 20 of his 23 pitches for strikes.  Joe had said he didn't want to use Mo for more than an inning during the regular season, but in the last 2 days he has not only broken that rule, but then brought him back the day after to close out a game in which Mo was clearly not ready to be used again.  While it's always a little strange to see Mo that off his game, it almost should be expected from a 40-year-old pitcher who worked multiple innings the day before.  Sometimes we need to remember that Mo is human, and he is old, and yesterday we saw the end result of an old pitcher who had been overworked.

The offense cost the Yanks more on Friday (even though they were just 3-13 with RISP yesterday) and Joe cost them the win yesterday with his decision making on Friday.  But the bottom line is the Yanks lost 2 close, playoff atmosphere-style games in a row in which they had the late in the 8th inning or later and now the Yanks find themselves just a half game up on a surging Tampa team and on the verge of getting swept by a club they could face in the postseason.  The suddenly mortal (and possibly injured) Cliff Lee is on the hill today for Texas against the always-mortal Dustin Moseley, and even though their playoff ticket is all but punched, with Tampa breathing down their necks and a big series in the Trop looming, I say this is a must-win for the Yankees today.

How Did I Miss This???

The Jesus had ankle surgery???  For an infection???  How in his father's name does that happen???  He's The Almighty, The Savior, The Chosen One.  Regular human injuries should not even happen to his celestial, otherworldly body.  And if they do, one would think that The Jesus could just heal himself, no?

Light a candle and say a prayer tonight for The Almighty, Yankee fans.  He needs our love and faith now more than ever.

Get well soon, sweet prince.  Rest and heal and return in 2011 ready to begin your legacy.

Postseason Questions, Anyone?

Chad from LoHud had an interesting piece yesterday about all the questions facing the Yankees as they head towards the postseason, and there are plenty of them.  Being the helpful guy that I am and seeing as how I was spot on with pretty much everything playoff-related last year (check the posts from last October and November if you don't believe me), I decided I would answer those questions today.  Here we go... 

ROTATION
Big decision: Who else gets a start in the playoffs? 

- Andy Pettitte will most certainly get a start as long as he stays healthy upon his return to the rotation.  A.J. will most likely get one just because he's making $16.5 million this year and he has the experience.  And as long as he doesn't start to show significant effects of his increased workload this year, Phil Hughes will be the 4th starter. 

Smaller decisions:
• How do the starters lineup after Sabathia?

- The starters should line up Hughes for Game 2, Pettitte for Game 3, and A.J. for Game 4.  That gives the Yanks the best chance to win a short series and at least come out up 2-1 heading to a Game 4 while keeping their most volatile and unpredictable starter off the mound for as long as possible.  But they will, in all likelihood, line up A.J., Andy, Phil. 

• How much consideration does Ivan Nova get?

 - Unless any of the previously-mentioned 4 get hurt, Nova won't get much consideration even though he should.  Seeing how Joe has managed him so far, and seeing how he's managed A.J. throughout the season, I don't see Joe giving Nova a shot over A.J., regardless of how shitty A.J. may pitch down the stretch.  Nova would be a good option against any of the teams the Yanks will face in the playoffs because none of them will have seen him more than once if at all, but knowing Joe I just don't see it happening. 

LINEUP
Big decision: Is Brett Gardner still the No. 9 hitter?

- Yes he is.  Even though he probably shouldn't be.  Gardner is obviously a better choice for the leadoff spot than Jeter, but again, unless Jeter gets hurt Joe is never going to take him out of the leadoff spot.  The best lineup would be Gardner, Jeter, Teix, A-Horse, Cano, Swish, Jorge, Berkman/Thames, C-Grand, but Joe's loyalty to Jeter and unwillingness to do anything that could be seen as an insult to Jeter will prevent that lineup from ever seeing a lineup card. 

Smaller decisions:
• Does Marcus Thames get any DH consideration against right-handed pitchers?

- If he continues to produce then he certainly should.  Thames' tripleslash against righties this year, while not as good as his numbers against lefties, is nothing to sneeze at.  Joe is already working on riding the hot hand and trying to get Thames ABs however he can now.  If Thames stays hot, he can't be ignored as the ideal DH option no matter what hand the opposing pitcher is throwing with. 

• Is Austin Kearns an automatic starter against left-handers?

- No, and he shouldn't be.  C-Grand has been much better against righties and lefties since working with Kevin Long and the fact of the matter is he's a better player across the board than Kearns.  Going into the playoffs, the outfield should be set with Gardner, Grand, and Swish.  If Granderson does struggle against lefties then Kearns becomes a bigger possibility, but in no way should he be considered an automatic starter. 

• Is there any chance Jorge Posada catches A.J. Burnett?

- Chad didn't think so, but I say hell yes to this.  With the extra off-days that come with the postseason, Jorge has more time to rest his bumps and bruises.  And with the way Cervelli has hit since May, the Yankees can't afford to sacrifice a more productive bat for his just to make A.J. feel warm and fuzzy out on the mound.  It's put up or shut up time for A.J., and if the Yanks are facing a must-win game with him on the mound they need their best lineup out there.  That means Jorge and his bat behind the plate and Frankie and his bat on the bench. 

• Is there any reason to give Alex Rodriguez or Derek Jeter a day off?

- Not unless they absolutely need it.  See the logic above for Jorge.  Extra off-days in the schedule means free off-days for the old guys.  The postseason isn't the time to rest, it's the time to win.  You manage your players' off-days accordingly during the end of the regular season so you can ride them to a title in the postseason.  Period. 

BULLPEN
Big decision: Who fills the back of the bullpen?

- Like Chad said in his post, Mo, Wood, D-Rob, Joba, and Boone Logan are shoo-ins.  I think the Yanks are taking 12 pitchers, so with the 4 starters locked in that leaves 3 spots.  Sergio Mitre should and will be the long man with Ace on the shelf, and Javy will make the roster just because of who he is and how much he's making.  The last spot should go to Nova, but with Mitre and Javy the Yanks will have 2 guys who can go long innings if needed.  With that in mind, don't be surprised to see Jon Albaladejo take the 12th spot if he pitches like he did all year in Triple-A for the rest of the season. 

Smaller decisions:
• Do the Yankees need a defined eighth-inning guy?

- Hell no.  As a matter of fact, I wouldn't mind them using any of the 4 they have setting up Mo right now for one batter at a time in the playoffs just to keep the other team on their toes.  The beauty of having Wood, D-Rob, Joba, and Boone Logan available is that it gives them options for any situation that could crop up in the 7th and 8th innings of close games.  Not to mention Joe will be more willing to use Mo for more than 3 outs if he has to.  I get on Joe all the time for how he micromanages the 'pen, but the mixing and matching has been working for a while and with all these guys dealing right now there's no reason to change the formula come playoff time. 

• Does someone take the Gaudin role?

- See: "Mitre, Sergio" or "Vazquez, Javier" if the Yanks are really in a pinch. 

BENCH
Big decision: Is there room for a fifth bench player?

- As long as everybody is healthy then no, and there shouldn't be.  Pitching is what wins in the postseason and it's why the Yankees won the title last year, not because they had Freddy Guzman on the bench.  Cervelli is your backup catcher, Kearns is your 4th outfielder, Thames is your one-man wrecking crew, and either Pena or Nunez is your utility infielder.  Combine that with the flexibility that Swish and Gardner provide in the field and you're covered for every conceivable scenario. 

Smaller decisions:• If there’s room for only one, which utility infielder makes the roster?

- Smart money would be on Ramiro Pena.  Nunez has shown flashes since being called up, and he is a better hitter than Pena, but I don't think he's shown enough to supplant Pena from his spot.  Pena is the better glove and has more experience, which always factors into managers' decision making come playoff time. 

• Is there something about the individual matchup that affects the bench?

- No.  Like I said before, the Yankees are covered for every possible scenario.  You want your 25 best guys for the playoffs so there's no sense in trying to get cute and add a speedy runner or another lefty bat or something quirky like that at the expense of a better overall player. 

• If they do carry a pinch runner, is Golson or Nunez a better bet?

- Nunez.  He's already had some Major League success and is more of an asset in the field and at the plate than Golson would be if he had to stay in the game.  Nunez would provide better defense if he ran for A-Rod whereas Golson subbing for any of the regular outfielders is almost a wash while also being a downgrade from any of them at the plate.

Another Pitching Prospect!!

(Photo used courtesy of Mike Ashmore)

He looks a little old to still be in Double-A, but this Pettitte guy looked pretty damn good to me last night.

4 shutout innings, only 2 hits allowed, no walks, and 4 Ks.  That'll get the job done 25 hours a day, 8 days a week.  His fastball lived in the high-80s, but he can locate it well to both sides of the plate, and his cutter and curveball can also both be thrown anywhere at any time to induce weak grounders and swings and misses.

It was the first I've heard of this Pettitte character pitching for Trenton this year, but something tells me if he keeps pitching like that he's definitely got a future in the Yankee organization.

Catching Up With The Mets And Their Good Deeds

Some of you may have noticed a glaring absence of Met-bashing here at AB4AR lately.  I could apologize for that since it is one of my hobbies and favorite topics to cover on the site, but honestly, with as pathetic as the Mets have been over the course of this season, I just didn't feel like I could come up with anything to make what they were doing on and off the field any funnier or entertaining than it already was.  That is, until I read Mike Puma's piece in today's NY Post about some of their players' latest great decsion.  Here are the highlights:

WASHINGTON -- Carlos Beltran, Luis Castillo, and Oliver Perez can add a missed visit to a military hospital to the Mets' laundry list of issues with them.

According to a clubhouse source, COO Jeff Wilpon wasn't happy that the trio of underachievers skipped the team's visit to Walter Reed Army Medical Center on Tuesday.

Beltran said he had a foundation meeting about a high school he is building in his native Puerto Rico.  "I don't know who is creating this issue, but [last] offseason I went to visit a veterans hospital in New York, so it's not that I'm against it," Beltran said. "I went with Fred Wilpon, I liked it and I wanted to go [this time]. But I had my own things to do, and I couldn't make it."

Castillo also denied he was trying to make a statement by not visiting the hospital.  "I don't like to see people like that, so I never go there," Castillo said. "Sometimes you see people with no legs, no arms. I don't like to see that."

Perez refused to address the subject.  "I don't answer anything about outside the stadium," he said.

So there you have it.  Not only are the Mets and their players a complete and utter embarrassment to the game of baseball, some of them are also interested in pissing in the collective faces of the brave men and women who risk their lives on a daily basis to preserve the freedom that allows them to make exorbitant amounts of money by playing a fucking game.  I mean the Yankees already have a laundry list of good causes they and their players take part in (HOPE Week, Turn 2 Foundation, Jorge Posada Foundation, Grand Kids Foundation, want me to keep going?), but you can be damn sure that if Teix, Robbie Cano, and D-Rob were scheduled to show up at an army medical center then they would be at the damn medical center. 

And it's not even like the excuses are any good either.  High schools in Puerto Rico, Carlos?  Come on, dude.  School year's already fucking started.  If that shit ain't built now then there's no point in trying to make it happen.  You've already wasted valuable learning time for those kids. 

And I'm sorry that you don't like seeing veterans in pain who have had their limbs blown off, Luis, but how do you think THEY feel about having to be laying there in pain missing those limbs???  More importantly, with all the added pain they suffer through from watching you and your teammates get your heads kicked in on an almost daily basis, don't you think the least you could do is show up and let them spit at you?

And Ollie, who the fuck are you kidding with this 'not talking about anything outside the stadium' bullshit?  You don't do anything INSIDE the stadium that anybody wants to talk about.  Shit, at this point I would be shocked if there was anybody anywhere that wanted to talk to you about anything other than how they could kill you and the team could escape the rest of your horrible contract.  Just admit that you were afraid one of the vets in the medical center was going to stab you for sucking so much and get on with your life.

It's bad enough that the Mets are killing their fans slowly from the inside out with their wretched play on the field.  You would think they would at least want to try to brighten up a few lives and sign a few autographs off the field, but some of them can't even do that.  I'd like to say I'm surprised, but when your team is run by this dude:

(We know, Jerry.  There ain't much going on up there)

 ... that pretty much tells the whole story right there.

Fuck the Mets.

How Good Was Ivan Nova Yesterday?

The answer would be "very good."  Nova rebounded nicely from his rough outing last time against the Blue Jays, throwing strikes and attacking a weaker lineup that was not familiar with him.  He got ahead in a lot of counts early and put hitters away with ease the first time through the lineup, and more importantly, showed some toughness and ability to work out of jams when they started adjusting to him the 2nd and 3rd time through the lineup in his last 2 innings of work.  All in all, Nova continued to justify his place in the rotation while the question marks continue to swirl around him.

Through the first 4 innings, Nova allowed just 2 hits and struck out 5 batters.  He was working quickly and economically, and the Orioles didn't seem to have any idea what he was doing.  In the 5th he ran into a little trouble, and his at-bat against Matt Wieters wasn't good (fell behind 3-0, gave up a 2-run homer on a meatball), but that was really Nova's only mistake of the day and he was able to get out of the inning without any further damage.  Particularly telling was his inning-ending strikeout of Ty Wigginton after the Roberts double and intentional walk to Markakis in which he threw 3 straight curveballs that Wigginton swung and missed at.  That takes some balls to throw those pitches with runners on and talent to make them look appealing enough for a batter to not lay off of, and is something that I would bet A.J., Javy, and Phil couldn't do right now.

Nova got himself into another 2-on, 2-out situation in the 6th before retiring Cesar Izturis to end the threat, once again working out of self-made trouble created by wild pitches and intentional walks.  To be able to bear down and get an out after throwing 4 straight balls is something that we've seen plague other pitchers, but Nova handled it coolly and calmly.

At the end of the day, Nova's line looks very good by any standards: 6 IP, 6 H, 2 BB, 2 ER, 6 K.  But his total performance was actually better than those numbers indicate.  He threw first pitch strikes to 19 of the 26 batters he faced, a very solid 73.08%, and while his strike percentage (60/91 or 65.93%) doesn't blow you away at first glance, you have to remember that 8 of those balls thrown were intentional.  Eliminate those and re-calculate and you get a better strike percentage of 72.29% (60/83), which is much more indicative of how well Nova pitched yesterday.  He threw strikes, was usually ahead in the count, and did not unintentionally walk anybody.  He pitched more than well enough to win and only lost out on one because of the pathetic Yankee offense.

Once again, Nova pitched beyond his limited experience and continued to impress as a vital member of this year's rotation and a potential asset to the back end of the 2011 rotation.  At this point he is more of a known commodity than other younger Yankee pitchers, and he doesn't have the "blow you away" stuff of a Dellin Betances or Manny Banuelos, but Nova can certainly hold his own in the Majors and should continue to be a key contributor for the Yankees going forward.

P.S.- 3 innings of scoreless, hitless, walkless, 6-K relief to back up Nova wasn't too shabby either.

Get Some, Kim Jones!!!

Get some indeed, you dirty, dirty girl.  You knew exactly what you were doing getting yourself that close to Swish yesterday during the postgame interview, positioning yourself perfectly in the line of fire from A.J.  You wanted to get pied.  You NEEDED to get pied.  And darlin', you got you some pie right in the old facepiece.

And we were all a little bit happier because of it.

Thank God For Nick Swisher

Shit was looking pretty grim until Swish put a little super polish on the turd that was today's game.  That knee must be feeling better.  Ball's in your court now, Tampa.

Swish-a-licious!!

A Little Wednesday Bad News

From the always reliable LoHud:

"Girardi said Alfredo Aceves will not be back this season. He’s being evaluated by a doctor again for this back problem that has sidelined him since May. Girardi said Aceves didn’t feel good after his last rehab outing, and that surgery could be an option.

Girardi also said Damaso Marte probably won’t be back this season. The lefty was very useful out of the pen in the postseason last year. But his shoulder is still problematic. Marte hasn’t given up on October, but he said it’s some sort of a labrum issue and that he feels he’s just at 40 percent."

Looks like Boone Logan and Sergio Mitre's postseason roster spots just got a lot safer.  And that leaves the door open for Gaudin and Nova too.  Hope you all keep wearing the big boy pants, gentlemen.  Shit's about to get real in a month or so.



P.S.- Hughes having his next start skipped.  He won't be pitching again until a week from today.  Extended rest hasn't done him a whole lot of good so far this year, but with the way he's been scuffling as his innings continue to increase, it might not be a bad move.

Hey, CC!!

Ummm, CC.  Buddy?  Did you misread my post from earlier today?  Did you misread the part where I said:

"CC is a stud, we know that... The only thing keeping him from being the #1 starter in the postseason rotation is serious injury, kidnapping, alien abduction, or death."

Did you?  What did you think I said?  What could have possibly upset you so much that you would go out and be so unfocused that you pitched like shit against the fucking Orioles???  Seriously, tell me!!  Because I can't think of any other logical reason for why you would be so unfocused that you went out and pitched like shit against the fucking Orioles!!!  I know they're so inconceivably bad at baseball that you might have thought they actually were aliens and gotten scared, but seriously, dude.  They were just the fucking Orioles.

Seriously, dude.  What?  The?  Fuck?

A Horseless Lineup

via LoHud: 

1) Brett Gardner LF
2) Derek Jeter SS
3) Mark Teixeira 1B
4) Robinson Cano 2B
5) Nick Swisher RF
6) Lance Berkman DH
7) Jorge Posada C
8) Curtis Granderson CF
9) Ramiro Pena 3B

Apparently Joe is "playing it safe" with the A-Horse tonight, giving him a night of oats and a good brushing in his stable rather than a 3rd straight game on wear and tear on his body.  Can't argue with that logic when the team is still 2.5 up on the Rays and has back-to-back big series' against the Rangers and Rays after the Orioles leave town.  Better to keep those 4 legs fresh for when the Yankees really need them.

At least Gardner is back in the leadoff spot tonight...

Time For Another Evaluation?

After A.J.'s horrible start against the White Sox, Joe said he was going to "evaluate" the rotation and make some decisions.  The only real decision he made after that day was to re-insert Javy Vazquez into the rotation for Dustin Moseley, but since then there really haven't been any solutions to the problems plaguing the rotation.  A.J. has pitched better since Joe dropped the "E" word, but as of this morning we are still looking at more questions than answers.

- CC is a stud, we know that.  He rebounded from his little bump in the road by one-hitting the A's last week and in his start today he'll be gunning for his 20th win of the season.  The only thing keeping him from being the #1 starter in the postseason rotation is serious injury, kidnapping, alien abduction, or death.

- A.J. hasn't been great in his last 2 starts, but he also hasn't been awful, and for A.J. that's pretty damn good.  He has at least given his team a chance to win in his last 2 outings, something he hadn't been doing, and his curveball has looked much better the last 2 times out.  If the playoffs were starting today, he would most likely be getting the ball in Game 2.  Joe has shown a willingness to stick with A.J. and let him work his problems out, so it's on A.J. to improve and start to maintain some consistency moving forward.

- Phil Hughes is having real problems right now.  He's not pitching horribly, but he is also not pitching efficiently.  He had 2 starts in a row in which he walked 5 batters, and though he was able to fix that in his last outing on Sunday, he still got slapped around for 6 runs and 7 hits, including a couple of 2-run homers on horribly-located pitches.  His biggest issue is he can't put batters away right now.  He gets to 2 strikes and then guys foul off the shit out of everything until Phil makes a mistake.  His stuff still looks good, so we still can't point to fatigue as the cause, but something is definitely amiss with Phil right now and he's getting pushed to the back of the playoff rotational line.

- Javy continues to be a riddle wrapped inside a mystery inside an enigma with a big old conundrum bow on top.  After being demoted, he was lights out in his 2 outings out of the bullpen and earned his rotation spot back after his 4+ innings of shutout ball in relief of Dustin Moseley.  His velocity was up, his sharpness on his breaking pitches was back, and he looked more confident on the mound.  On Saturday all that went away.  The low-90s fastball was gone, the break was gone, the demeanor on the mound was gone, and it was Moseley coming in to bail him out in the 5th inning.  At this point, it might be worthwhile to ask whether Javy is better coming out of the 'pen.

- Ivan Nova continues to be the wild card in all this, and his stock took a hit with his last subpar outing.  For now he will stay in the rotation, but his future in it, with Andy possibly coming back this time next week, could be in jeopardy if he lays an egg the next time out.  There still isn't much of a book on Nova, but Joe doesn't seem willing to give him some lead on the leash and let him work out of trouble when he gets into it, so if he's not on, he isn't going to be out there for long.

- Andy will make a rehab start for Trenton on Thursday with a 45-pitch limit.  After that, he should have another one more with a 75-pitch limit and then would be set to rejoin the team either a week from this Sunday or early the following week.  However, given the Yanks current rotational struggles and the fact that they are set up to have CC, Nova, and Javy start in what could be a crucial series against Tampa next week, if Pettitte feels good after Thursday, there's a chance he could be back with the team taking Javy's spot against Tampa.

Personally I don't like this idea.  If 2 rehab starts were planned then Andy should make 2 rehab starts before coming back.  He's already been delayed once from trying to come back too soon, and the Yanks are still ahead in the division and playoff races right now, rotation issues aside.  Seeing as how they are already having trouble getting length from guys like Hughes and Javy right now, it makes no sense to bring a guy back off injury and put him on a 75-pitch limit at the Major League level.  Let Andy get fully healthy, get his stamina back, and put him back in the rotation when he can give you a full start.

In the mean time, Joe needs to figure out what he's going to do with the rest of the crew.  Clearly something needs to be done with Phil's approach right now, clearly Javy is still a major question mark and somebody that Joe doesn't trust, and clearly Joe doesn't seem to have any kind of plan for Nova.  If he can put his last start behind him, Nova could be the dark horse that stays in the rotation and sneaks onto the playoff roster.  But, like with Javy's arm strength, A.J.'s mental stability, and Hughes' innings limit, that is a big "IF."