Can Cash Capitalize On Theo's New Deal?

The thought just popped into my head this morning.  If you were Cash, why wouldn't you use Epstein's Cubs' deal as leverage in your negotiations with the Yankees?  Think about it.

Epstein is coming off 2 straight years of no playoffs and is one of the primary architects of the team that suffered the biggest September collapse in baseball history (still love saying that), and yet he turned that into a 5-year deal worth at least $15 mil.  Cash is coming off a WS title in '09, playoffs the last 3 years, division title this year, and he hasn't gotten nearly the credit he should have for this season's success after making the deals for Garcia, Colon, Jones, Chavez, Cory Wade etc.  If Epstein is worth $3+ mil a year for what he's done, what is Cash worth?

The talks and reports on Cash's negotiations are still in the early stages but I think the recent Epstein dealings could change Cash's approach a little, especially considering his last deal was 3 years/$6mil.  I certainly wouldn't blame the guy if he wanted the Yankees to at least match what Epstein got.

The Fraud Sawx Collapse Gets Deeper

(Losing.  Courtesy of Getty Images)

I know it seems like I'm just hanging onto anything I can to cope with the fact that the Yankees' season is over, but honestly, how can you not be intrigued by all the shit surrounding the Bahhston Self Massacre??  It's hilarious and it's everywhere.  The coverage of the collapse rivals the coverage of the 2004 World Series victory.  It's insane.  Today, a huge story was published in the Globe with even more inside information on this clusterfuck of all clusterfucks.  Read the whole story when you get a chance because it's fascinating to see how disconnected everybody in the organization was from each other.  But if you don't have the time right now, here are the highlights:

- Terry Francona maybe was/maybe wasn't distracted this year by problems with his failing marriage and painkiller usage, which contributed to him losing control and influence over his players.

- There were thoughts amongst ownership that the players were tanking in September because they were bitter about a Saturday doubleheader scheduled to try to work around Hurricane Irene.

- As an attempt to end the perceived bitterness, ownership bought every player a pair of $300 headphones and invited them to a players-only party on John Henry's yacht on September 11.

- Josh Beckett, John Lackey, and Jon Lester spent the majority of the season re-enacting the majority of my college career by drinking beer, eating fried chicken, and playing videogames in the clubhouse during games.

- Ownership didn't support the Carl Crawford signing, and stated that they had no idea about how bad things had gotten in the clubhouse.

And to top it all off, Theo Epstein has reportedly agreed to a deal to become the new GM of the Cubs for 5 years and $20 million, which is more than he made last year as the Sawx' GM.  The guy is being rewarded for being the prime architect of this disaster and then jumping ship when it all came crashing down around him.  You just can't make this stuff up.

P.S.- Imagine how wacky shit would have been in NY if stuff like this was happening to the Yankees?  It'd be like "The Bronx Zoo" 2.0.

AB4AR 2011 Season Review: The Rotation

 (Used courtesy of TYA.  Sorry, no Bartolo)

The rotation preview post was done in 2 parts back in March: the "known" spots in the rotation and then the unknowns.  Looking back on it, it's almost funny to think that I considered A.J. Burnett and Phil Hughes part of the known group going in, as they were expected to be the #2 and #3 starters well the back end would be pieced together through a combination of Ivan Nova, Freddy Garcia, Bartolo Colon, and whatever group of Triple-A arms had to step up when Garcia and Colon got cut.  Obviously, things didn't work out that way, but surprisingly, that not working out turned out to be a good thing for the Yankees, as they got way more production from their unknowns than anybody could have anticipated, turning the team's biggest weakness at the start of the season into one of their season-long strengths.

For the year, the Yankee rotation was above average.  Nothing eye-popping, but certainly better than one would expect when the team got 51 combined starts from Garcia and Colon, only 14 from Phil Hughes (and an ineffective 14 at that), and 2 from somebody named Brien Gordon.  Their starters combined for a 4.03 ERA (14th in MLB) and a 3.97 FIP (16th) in 979.1 IP (14th).  They averaged 7.09 K/9 (10th), 2.88 B/9 (16th), and accumulated 16.7 WAR as a staff, good for 6th in baseball.  That WAR stat in particular stands out as the biggest sign of the Yankees' rotational success in 2011.  Their other peripheral numbers don't stand out amongst the competition, but they knew how to get outs when they needed them and generally always gave their team a chance to win the game.  And with an offense like the Yankees', that's not a bad strategy to go with.

AB4AR 2011 Season Review: The Lineup

I'll be doing the season review posts in the same format as the season previews.  If you missed the lineup preview, or want an opportunity to refresh yourself on my takes and laugh at some of the stupid shit I said back in March, the 2011 Lineup Preview can be found here.

Heading into the season, the lineup was one of the few things we could all be confident in, and with good reason.  There were All Stars, MVPs, and Gold Glove/Silver Slugger Award winners littered throughout the 1-9 spots and there was no reason to think that the Yankee lineup wouldn't be one of the best, if not the best, in baseball.  And to everyone's credit, the Yankees as a team were arguably the best all-around lineup in baseball in 2011.  They finished near the top of heap in traditional stats (1st in HR, 2nd in R, 2nd in RBI, 2nd in OBP, 4th in SB) as well as in the newer sabermetric categories that paint a more accurate picture of offensive strength (3rd in wOBA, 2nd in wRC+, 1st in BB%).  They had power, patience, and speed, not a bad combination if you're looking to score runs in the American League.  And as a compliment to that, the Yankees managed to play solid defense, finishing with the 7th-best team Fld % in baseball.

Surprisingly, though, the Yankees managed to stay at the top of baseball in a year where they experienced down years from some of their biggest offensive contributors.  Here's what I had to say in my preview post about Teix... :

"I believe the opportunity is there for him to have a big year and re-establish himself as the best first baseman in MLB not named Pujols."

... and A-Rod: 

"A-Rod has never looked better in Spring Training than he has this year, physically or at the plate, but it remains to be seen if he can translate the offseason workout regimen to a full healthy season of A-rodian production."

2011 Post Mortem Linkapalooza

The end of the season is bringing out some good stuff from the best in the biz.  Let's take a hot lap around the Yankosphere.

- It's never too early to start heating the stove up, and Jon Heyman does just that with this tweet making the Yanks out to be the early favorites for C.J. Wilson.  I'll withhold my comments on Wilson for now.

- This was from Sunday's NY Post, but it's Joel Sherman stating what he thinks the Yankees' offseason needs are.  I can get on board with the "more lefties" theory, but Beltran for 3 years at 40-something mil instead of Swish for 1 at 10 and change?  No thanks.

- William at The Captain's Blog with a little dose of reality/perspective  for the crowd still booing A-Rod for making the last out of the ALDS.  Newsflash, it's happened before, people.

- Vizzini at NoMaas takes a similar stance in response to the Sherman piece, reminding everyone that immediately wanting to change up the roster is stupid.  Check out the entire series of "ALDS Thoughts" at NoMaas.  Always good stuff coming from those guys.

- I'm just going to link straight to the LoHud homepage so you can peruse through their "Moving Forward" series on your own.  Expect to see the earliest hot stove news coming from there soon.

- Brien at IIATMS seems to agree with me that Joe was horrible in the ALDS.  Well, at least that makes 2 of us who think so.

- Buster Olney at The Worldwide Leader had some early details on the contract talks between the team and Cash, and early indications are that things are moving ahead nicely.

- Lord Duggan at Pinstripe Alley uses the CC situation to point out the flaws in inking big FA pitching contracts.  There's something all Yankee fans should be familiar with.

- Steve S. at TYA breaks down the whole Swish situation, painting a pretty convincing picture for why he needs to be the RF in 2012.

- Speaking out painting pictures, Joe Paw at RAB does just that in this piece about what the Yankees should/shouldn't do with Jesus Montero.  There really isn't anything more to say about that story after reading Joe's post.  If it ain't for King Felix, then there's no reason to even think about trading The Jesus.

Jonathan Papelbon Still Taking The Collapse Hard

(Courtesy of TMZ.  Obviously)

That's what I want from one of my clubhouse leaders right there.  Showing his teammates that there's a time to sulk and feel bad about suffering the worst September collapse in baseball history, and when that time is over you have to pick yourself up, put yourself back together, and get back to training to get ready to come back stronger and better in 2012.  Put the collapse behind you and use it as motivation to better yourself as a player moving forward.

I know he blew the game for them the last time they even made the postseason, and I know he blew the game that ended up costing them a playoff berth this year, but that's the kind of guy I want in the foxhole next to me right there.  Total dedication.

Final Bit Of Perspective On The 2011 Season

This wasn't supposed to be Yankees' season.  After missing out on Cliff Lee and watching the Fraud Sawx beef up their lineup with Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez, the Yankees were pretty much written off for 2011 as a team who would battle for the Wild Card and be an afterthought in the postseason, if they even made it, because of the weak pitching staff.  It was all aboard on the Philly and Bahhston bandwagons and about as much as a team with a $200 million payroll can, the Yankees were an afterthought as the offseason wore on.

Cash rebounded from the Lee miss and filled the gaps on the roster with cheap, veteran alternatives.  Freddy Garcia was brought in on a Minor League deal to compete for a rotation spot.  Bartolo Colon was pulled out of Witness Protection in the Dominican Winter League and also offered a non-guaranteed deal to try to make the team.  Russell Martin was signed on the cheap to be the bridge to Jesus as catcher.  Andruw Jones and Eric Chavez were added on 1-year deals to fortify the bench.  And Rafael Soriano, for better or worse, was handed a big contract to beef up the bullpen.  All of these moves went largely unnoticed and were largely underappreciated, especially by people like me, and the Yankees headed into the 2011 season as a $200 million underdog.

Fast forward to today.  Yes, the season is over and there will be no more Yankee baseball in 2011, but if you look at it objectively, it's not unfair to say that the Yankees had a better season than almost everybody expected and had a better season than those of the Fraud Sawx or Phillies.  Philly suffered the same fate as the Yanks, losing their ALDS series in 5 games, but did it as a much bigger favorite than the Yankees were, and the Fraud Sawx failed to even make the postseason after suffering the worst September collapse in baseball history (still fun to say that).  The Yankees used their collection of cheap signings, returning players, and strong farm system to turn themselves into the team with the best record in the American League, and did it in a year where they had just as many obstacles to overcome as everybody else.

They experienced down years from Teix and A-Rod, the #3 and #4 hitters in the lineup, thanks to a combination of injuries and pull happiness.  They watched Phil Hughes, expected to be their #2 starter this year, deteriorate and spend the bulk of the season on the DL with shoulder problems.  They watched Jorge Posada continue to devolve into a platoon player as he transitioned to DH.  They lost Joba for the season.  They lost Soriano for a big chunk of time.  They had Derek Jeter struggle early and then hit the DL in the summer.  They watched a repeat performance of Bad A.J. chew up another 190 innings in the rotation.

But they also saw Curtis Granderson have a career year, MVP-caliber even, from the 2-hole in the lineup.  They saw Robbie Cano quietly repeat his monster production from 2010.  They had CC continue to be the big-time ace that they paid for a few years ago, leading the AL in pitching WAR and putting in another Cy Young-caliber performance.  They had Jeter come back like a man possessed from his injury and hit over .330 for the rest of the year.  They had Mo still being Mo as the closer, and D-Rob taking a huge leap to the top of the relief pitcher mountain.  They got an all-around solid rebuild year from Russell Martin behind the plate, likely to lead to him being the starting catcher for the near future.  They got a combined 311 innings of 5.1-WAR pitching from Garcia and Colon, 2 guys who weren't expected to do much of anything.  They got solid production from young guys like Ivan Nova, Hector Noesi, Eduardo Nunez, and Jesus Montero, painting a brighter picture of the future moving forward.

It didn't end in a World Series victory, something that is always the measuring stick for the Yankees each season.  But in a year like this, where even the most diehard fans and smartest analytical baseball minds amongst us were resigned to the fact that this team more than like WOULDN'T reach the World Series before the season even began, I think there's nothing wrong with that.  This team exceeded most of our expectations, and they did it with contributions from players who weren't expected to do much and without contributions from some of the most important players on the team.  Making the playoffs in baseball is damn hard to do, let's not lose sight of that.  And in a year where plenty of people didn't even have confidence that the Yankees would do that, you have to look at the final result and call it a success.

Everybody deserves credit for what this team accomplished this season, and we as fans should appreciate the job that this crew did.  It sucks that they didn't make it all the way, but the results of this year should serve as a reminder that the Yankees are still one of the best teams in the business and will continue to be one of the best moving forward.  If anything, the outcome of the 2011 season has me even more confident and excited about the prospects for 2012.

Coming Up At AB4AR

I don't know about everybody else, but I'm still not quite over the ALDS loss.  But the time has come to move on and look forward, and so we'll start doing that this week at AB4AR by doing what you always do when you want to move forward, looking back.  Over the next week I'll go back and take a look at all my Season Preview posts from March and use them as the baseline for the 2011 AB4AR Season Review posts.  From there, I'll start looking at the big offseason storylines, comment on potential free agent or trade targets, and eventually roll out the inaugural AB4AR Top Prospects list some time later in the fall.

Just because baseball is over for the Yankees this year doesn't mean shit slows down at AB4AR.  This offseason will give us plenty to talk about and I hope everybody out there continues to turn to AB4AR for our brand of Yankee analysis.  I appreciate all the comments and feedback I'm getting on the site and on our official Facebook page.  Keep the commentary coming and spread the word to your friends to find the page, "Like" it, and then follow the site here every day.  The more people I have reading and commenting, the more motivation I have to churn more shit out for you to read, and it's that feedback I get from the readers that makes doing this all worth it, so thank you to all the readers and commenters out there who follow.

And with that, let's now move into the offseason...

ALDS Game 1 In Pictures

Friend of the blog (and close personal friend of mine) Gary Corbett was lucky enough to get tickets to Game 1 of the ALDS.  He was also unlucky enough to get stuck in the rain on that Friday night and miss out on seeing CC-Verlander I.  But he was lucky enough that he got to back the following night and see the eventual Yankee win.  I asked Gary to document the experience with his camera and asked if he would be willing to share them on the blog and he was happy to oblige.  Below, check out some shots of Game 1, both nights of it, from someone who was there.

There they are.  Section 234.  It's a beautiful thing, isn't it?

Player introductions.  This was about 15 minutes after I got off a plane and started the trek home from LaGuardia on Friday night.

Click "Read More" below to see the rest.

How Bad A Job Did Girardi Really Do In The ALDS?

I ask because it seems that from the start of the ALDS through the final game, I seem to be one of the only people who thinks Girardi did an awful job.  There really isn't that much criticism out there for how he managed this series and I just think that's wrong when you look at all the bad calls he made and how some of them affected the game.  Here's the list of bad decisions, as I saw them:

- Brought Luis Ayala into the game in the 9th to finish.  Ayala gave up enough runs to force Mo to have to come in.

- Even had Mo warming up to begin with in Game 1 with a 9-run lead.  Use Hughes, Wade, anybody.

- Left Freddy Garcia in for way too long in the 6th inning of Game 2, allowing 2 more runs to score.

- Brought in Luis Ayala AGAIN in the 9th inning of Game 2 with a 3-run deficit.  Ayala gave up the insurance run and Girardi essentially gave up on the game.

- Didn't pinch run Dickerson for Posada in 9th inning of Game 2.

- Let CC come back out for the 6th inning of Game 3.  CC gave up the insurance run.

- Putting the bunt on with 2 on, 0 out, and Jeter at the plate in the 5th inning of Game 4 (** Never confirmed that it was Joe's call, but would you be surprised if it wasn't, given Joe's track record? **)

- Not using D-Rob a/o Mo in the late innings of Game 4.

- Bringing CC into the game in the 5th inning of Game 5.  CC gave up the insurance run.

I don't know, that just seems like a lot of fuck-ups to me, especially when 4 of the decisions directly led to the eventual winning runs being scored by the Tigers in the 3 games the Yankees lost.  How can nobody else see this?  And how can more people not be calling Girardi out for this?  He was terrible.  Awful.

It was a team loss in the series, because the players screwed up just as much in their execution, but if you're doling out pieces of blame pie for everybody at the pity party, Joe Girardi should be getting a much bigger piece.

2011 ALDS Review: The Things That Were Supposed To Decide The Series

So how'd I do with my series preview/prediction?  Pretty shitty actually. 

1) Speed/Athleticism

You can say that the Yankees held the advantage in this department in the series, but it really didn't translate into anything.  Curtis' amazing catches in Game 4 were part of it, but other than that there wasn't much.  An extra base here and there and maybe Russell Martin's slide into home, but the Yankees never got the running game going on the basepaths, and the Tigers never really did anything in the field or running the bases to exploit themselves.  They played errorless baseball and didn't run themselves out of anything.  So while the Yankees probably made more athletic plays, it ended up being a wash in terms of predicting outcome. 

2) Miguel Cabrera

I was all prepared to point out how Detroit won the one game that Cabrera did anything in and got their dicks smashed in 3 out of the other 4 when he did nothing, thereby proving that he was the key and cementing my status as a baseball genius, but then the whole "Yankees can't a get hit when they need it" thing happened last night and well, yeah.

But the Yankees did do a good job of limiting Cabrera in the series.  The only game he had a hit in was Game 2.  For the rest of the series he was a combined 0-11 with 4Ks and 0 RBI.  They walked him when they had to, and pitched to him effectively to get him outs when the situation allowed them to.  Cabrera almost single-handedly won Game 2 for the Tigers, but was useless in the rest of the games.  Once again, the Yankees did something that was a key in helping them win but still didn't get the positive result. 

3) The Holy Bullpen Trinities

AGAIN things should stack up in the Yankees' favor here when you look at the numbers: 

DET Big 3: 7 IP, 8 H, 6 BB, 6 ER, 9 K
NYY Big 3: 8 IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 ER, 7 K

It doesn't get much more one-sided than that, folks.  The Yankees beat down every single one of the Albuquerque-Benoit-Valverde troika at one point or another, mostly Albuquerque.  And they looked like they were fixing to do it to Benoit again last night.  On the other side, save for the one bad pitch that Soriano made to Delmon Young in Game 3, the Yankees' big bullpen arms shut the Tigers down.  Unfortunately, D-Rob and Mo only combined for 3.1 of the total innings, so the advantage in performance couldn't be played into victory.

Essentially, my predictions were right on the money in that the Yankees dominated the 3 keys I identified, and completely off in that none of it ended up meaning a goddamn thing.  That was the most frustrating thing about this series.  Everything points to the Yankees being the winners, and they still managed to lose.  Just mind-bottling.

ALDS Game 5 Thoughts & Afterthoughts

(The end.  Courtesy of The AP)

Having to write this with a defeat hangover is infinitely worse than with a victory hangover.

- TBS opened their pregame 7-minute time waster with John Smoltz saying the Yankee bullpen was "equally better" than Detroit's.  As little sense as that makes, it actually makes perfect sense.

- As shocking as the back-to-back HRs allowed by Nova in the 1st was, I really didn't think much of it.  He hung 2 bad offspeed pitches (Kelly's HR was actually more about Kelly putting a good swing on it), but didn't lose his rhythm or command.  The only frustrating part was it being Don Kelly who did the damage.  That guy got voted to the "Jeff Mathis Memorial Shitty Players Who Inexplicably Own The Yankees" Hall of Fame last night.

- While I wasn't throwing in the towel at 2-0, I'd be lying if I said Nova was on.  Even the slider that he struck Cabrera out with was way up in the zone.

- Darling got on his knees early for the Tigers, praising them for being "loose" enough to hit the 2 1st-inning HRs.  It was only the 2nd inning and for the first time in the series the TBS guys were pissing me off.  Bad sign.

- I thought Nova looked better getting out of trouble in the 2nd inning after a leadoff double by Ordonez.  His offspeed stuff was starting to sit a little lower in the zone and he found his command out of the stretch.  It looked like it was going to be another solid outing for him.

- Shockingly, though, Joe quick-hooked Nova after 2 and we were all left to sit and say "what the fuck?!?!"  I'll talk about the arm tightness later.  At the time, I thought Joe was just getting antsy and trying to shorten the game up, which I thought was unfair to Nova, who should have earned a longer leash with the way he'd pitched the last couple months, but it also wasn't a horrible decision considering how well rested his hosses in the bullpen were.

- I counted no less than 6 times that Doug Fister got a generous strike call on the corner in the first 2 innings, and at least 3 times that Yankee hitters had something to say to Tom Barrett about it.  Barrett was consistently wide for Fister all night (gross) and that was a contributing factor to his early success.

- That being said, Fister did pitch very well through the first 3 innings.  He was getting ahead in the count, mixing his pitches well, and working both sides of the plate, something he failed to do well in Game 1.  Getting Cano to end the 3rd inning with a couple runners on was a big out, especially after getting down 2-0 to start the at-bat.

- I wouldn't quite call it "quiet," but Brett Gardner's excellence at the plate flew a bit below the radar in this series.  He seemed to get all his hits in timely situations and seemed to get all of them with either 2 strikes on him or 2 outs in the inning.  He didn't try to do too much with anything thrown to him and didn't swing too hard like he tends to do in tight situations.  The #9 hitter being the best one on the team, who woulda thunk it?

- After watching him keep his short leash on Phil Hughes (who was awesome) to go to Logan in the 4th, I thought I knew what Joe was doing.  He was playing the matchups and working the game in reverse to use his best bullpen guys for 5 innings.  Soriano 5, D-Rob 6-7, and Mo 8-9.  I thought it actually made perfect sense and I felt better about him yanking Nova early.

- Unfortunately, Joe had to screw that plan up and bring in CC for the 5th.  Why, why, WHY???  CC being available was the right call, but he should have been saved for emergency situations or extra innings.  Assuming you're going to come back and score some runs, if you're Joe you should stick with your regular bullpen guys.  They're used to coming out in those situations and more rested than CC and you'd also like to have CC lined up to pitch Game 1 of the ALCS.  But whatever, Joe mangled everything else in this series, why should that have been any different?

- Smart baserunning play by A-Rod in the 4th to pick up Rob Thompson at 3rd (he would have been out by a mile), great at-bat by Jorge to get a hit to load the bases after falling behind Fister 0-2, and an absolute horseshit at-bat by Russell Martin, failing to get a run in on his 1-1 pop up.

- Strikeouts aside, I didn't think CC was fooling anybody with his stuff last night.  A lot of fastballs were fouled straight back and the Tiger hitters seemed to know what pitch he was going to throw in certain situations.  The 3rd run he allowed off the bat of Victor Martinez turned out to be a huge run, and it could have been avoided if Joe kept him in the 'pen and stuck with his bullpen guys.

- Celeb sightings on TV- Jay-Z and Spike Lee, both being caught clapping and yelling maniacally after big outs.  Good to see that those guys are just like us regular fans.  Except for the hundreds of millions of dollars, dozens of different business ventures, legendary rap career, Grammy Award-winning wife, and undeniable swag, there's really no difference between Jay-Z and myself.

- Cano was all over that pitch that Fister hung in the 5th to get the Yankees on the board.  It looked like a cutter that drifted back out over the heart of the dish instead of cutting in and Cano wrecked it into the rightfield seats.  The guy should never hit anywhere but 3rd in the order for the rest of his life.

- TBS tried to justify Barrett's shitty strike zone for the third time in the top of the 6th, talking about approximations and camera angles and where the pitch crosses the plate.  Fuck you, guys.  The strike zone was bullshittingly wide for Tiger pitching, tight for the Yankees on the corners, and you know it.  Take your Cabrera jerseys off and be objective!

- Biggest example of the big fella not being all there last night was the walk to Peralta in the top of the 6th.  You can't be 2-2 on the 8 hitter with 1 out and lose the guy to a walk.  In a game like that, with the bottom of the order up, you have to throw strikes and CC couldn't do it.

- Luckily, Soriano came in and got a HUGE double play off the bat of Ramon Santiago.  That moment felt like the point when the lineup would wake up and start hitting.  It just felt like it had to be.

- For the 2nd time in the series, I sat on my couch and wondered if Joe should have pinch ran Dickerson for Jorge after his base hit in the bottom of the 6th.  It ended up not mattering with Martin K'ing, but at the time I thought giving Dickerson a chance to steal 2nd and score on a single was better than hoping Jorge didn't fuck anything up on the basepaths.

- I'll give some props to Soriano, he was dirty in his last 2 outings.  The home run to Young in Game 3 was still bullshit, but he came up big in the last 2 games when Joe needed him to.

- Who the fuck was the clown they got to sing "God Bless America" last night???  Dude sounded like me singing in the shower.  Where the hell was Mary Kay Messenger?  Chick practically had me in tears in Game 1.  Bad form, Yankees.  Bad form.

- Joe coming out to get the Band-Aid removed from Joaquin Benoit's face was the best bullpen-related move he made all series.

#sadbuttrue

- Darling on an A-Rod foul ball during his at-bat in the bottom of the 7th- "that's the best swing he's had all series."  OK, Ron.  Clearly you missed the 2 he had in the 8th inning of Game 4 when he ACTUALLY GOT FUCKING HITS!!!!  In a related story, the walk that Teix took was probably the best thing that could have happened in that situation, since any time he does swing the bat nothing good happens.

Brutal

Everything.  Everything about tonight was brutal.

The back-to-back home runs to open the game.  Nova leaving after 2 innings.  Joe's curious bullpen hierarchy.  The offense not coming through with 1 guy on, 2 guys on.  The offense not coming through with the bases loaded, twice.  Delmon Young being a big fat piece of shit that can't even do the most basic baseball activities without pulling a muscle and somehow still managing to own Yankee pitching.  Watching Nick Swisher hit with RISP.  Watching Russell Martin hit with RISP.

Losing.

I'm going to get blackout drunk.  We'll deal with the rest of this debacle tomorrow.

ALDS Game 5 Preview: Win Or Go Home

Pitching Matchup: Nova (1-0) vs. Fister (0-1)

Starting Lineups:

NYY- Jeter (SS), C-Grand (CF), Cano (2B), The Horse (3B), Teck-SHARE-uh (1B), Swish (RF), Jorge (DH), Martin (C), Gardner (LF)

DET- Jackson (CF), Kelly (3B), Young (LF), Cabrera (1B), Martinez (DH), Ordonez (RF), Avila (C), Peralta (SS), Santiago (2B)

3 Things to Watch For:

1) Starter Adjustments/Who Can Finish

It's the 2nd time around against the same team in less than a week for the 2 starting pitchers tonight, and you know both clubs have been reviewing video of their at-bats against them in Game 1.  It will be equally important for SuperNova and Fister to not fall into a similar routine to what they did last Saturday.  They need to change their approaches, continue to mix pitches, and not get predictable with their offerings based on count.  Whoever can do that better will have the better outing.  Building off of that theme, the pitcher who can finish off hitters and finish off innings better will also give his team a better chance to win.  Nova excelled at working out of his jams in Game 1, and generally put guys away when he had them down.  Fister's inability to do that in the 5th and 6th innings of Game 1 was his undoing.

2) The Horse At The Plate

As I touched on yesterday, The Horse finally started to look like himself at the plate in Game 4, which bodes well for his chances against a pitcher who doesn't have dynamite stuff like Fister tonight.  Word around the Yankee clubhouse this morning was that A-Rod looked good in his pregame canter around the field.  He was energetic and lively, and he even ate ALL his oats and carrots at lunch time.  He's just finishing up getting brushed right now before taking some BP.  If he looks as smooth and balanced tonight as he did in the 8th inning on Tuesday, we could be in store for some 2009 A-Rod flashbacks.

3) Reliever "Freshness"

Another point I made after Game 4 was my concern that Joe not using D-Rob and Mo in Game 4 could lead them to be a little rusty tonight.  Granted, I'll still take a rusty D-Rob or Mo over anybody else in the Yankee 'pen 25 hours a day, 8 days a week, but they are the types of pitchers who struggle specifically when they haven't pitched in a while.  D-Rob has the tendency to lose his command, and Mo tends to not locate the cutter as well.  It's obvious they are both going to be available for 6 outs apiece if needed tonight thanks to the rest, but even that could prove to be a potential pothole if they're forced to go from next to no work to 30-40 pitches.  Hopefully Nova can put up a repeat 6-inning performance from Game 1 and take this discussion off the table, but I'll be paying extra close attention to how D-Rob and Mo's stuff looks when they get in the game.

Player to Watch: Ivan Nova

Even though he technically was a reliever in Game 1, Nova turned in the best starting performance from a Yankee pitcher in this series.  He was cool, calm, confident, and he attacked the Tiger lineup with his full arsenal.  Game 1 was the biggest game of his career up to that point and he passed that test with flying colors.  How will he respond coming back in a do-or-die Game 5 setting?  I've always liked the way Nova handles himself on the mound and I expect him to be solid tonight.  If he's on early, he can help set the tone for this game and get the Yankee crowd in it.  And if he puts up a repeat performance of Game 1, he could be looking at an ALDS MVP (even though that award doesn't really exist).

I love Game 5s and I hate Game 5s.  Every pitch means a little more, every crack of the bat is a little more exciting, and every ball in play carries that extra little bit of tension.  I feel confident coming into tonight and I think the Yankees do as well.  They're back at home, where some of the deep fly balls from Comerica will end up in the stands if they put similar swings on hittable pitches tonight.  They've got a damn good pitcher on the hill, a fully stocked bullpen on standby, and a packed house of rabid fans cheering them on.  You can't ask for much more than that if you're a professional baseball player in this situation.

This isn't a song, and it's from a football movie, but a lot of the lessons still apply.  Baseball is definitely a game of inches.  And if you don't get goosebumps listening to this speech then you're not human.

Here We Go ...

Big today, boys!  Go get it done.

That Looks Much Better

Something funny happened in the 8th inning of last night's game, funnier than Al Albuquerque's balk and even funnier than his wild pitch into the stands.  Alex Rodriguez got 2 hits in the inning, his first and second of the series.  And not only that, he looked damn good doing it.  Up until those hits, I've been banging the "A-Rod is hurt" drum like Joey Jordison because he's looked so bad at the plate.  But last night, the smoothness and balance to his swing suddenly came back.

(Screen cap courtesy of MLB.com video)

Look at that.  The hips are rotated perfectly.  The arms are in time with the hip motion.  The weight is distributed perfectly.  And the timing is right on point with where the pitch was delivered.  That's the swing on his hit to lead off the inning, and the swing on his 2nd hit was just as pretty.  This is the swing we see when The Horse is on his game, and the 8th inning last night was the first time I remember seeing that swing since he came back.

Maybe this means the thumb isn't as bad as I thought.  Maybe it means that his other bumps and bruises are healed.  Maybe it means A-Rod really did just need to shake the rust off.  Whatever it means, the one thing we should all take from it is that The Horse might be starting to round back into form.  And if that's the case, his timing couldn't better.  A locked in Horse is a dangerous Horse, and it could spell good things for the rest of a lineup that started to stir last night.  I know I would not want to be in Doug Fister's cleats tomorrow night on the mound after seeing this take place last night.

ALDS Game 4 Thoughts & Afterthoughts

(All smiles when you win.  Courtesy of Getty Images)

You know what the best part of writing this recap is?  I'm not nearly as hung over as I anticipated because I didn't have to drink nearly as much to make it through the game.  Thanks, A.J.!

- I started getting a bad feeling that the jinx was on with TBS in the 1st inning when Brian Anderson stated that between the 2 teams, "only" Justin Verlander had better stuff than A.J.  Ummm, CC Sabathia, anybody?  Dave Robertson?  Benoit?  Scherzer?

- That was a pretty nice gallop by A-Rod to catch Santiago's pop-up bunt in the bottom of the 1st.  Did you see that stride??? Majestic.

- The beer was flowing heavily when A.J. loaded the bases, forced the bullpen to get up, and had Larry Rothschild come out to talk to him in the 1st.  If I were Rothschild, I would have just poked him in the eye, punched him in the sack, and walked back to the dugout.  In a related story, I would have been a terrible pitching coach.

- I almost had a heart attack/shit myself on C-Grand's diving/jumping catch of Don Kelly's liner to end the 1st inning.  If he doesn't catch that, that's 4 runs right there and probably the end of A.J.'s night.  The catch later will get all the headlines (and with good reason), but the importance of that 1st inning catch should not be understated.

- This was one of the earliest comments I made last night on The Official AB4AR Facebook Page, but I'll say it again.  The 7 combined pitches seen by Cano, A-Rod, Teix, and Swish in their first at-bats was fucking pathetic.  Just bad times all around.

- After a bad A.J. cameo in the 1st inning, he and Rothschild went to the clubhouse to talk/look at video/do something, and we were treated to Good A.J. in the 2nd.  His mechanics were much sharper, his delivery was smoother, and he threw just 10 pitches, 9 for strikes, to get out of the inning 1-2-3.  Whatever happened between him and Larry between the 1st and 2nd really set the tone for the rest of A.J.'s outing.

- Jeter finally put a good swing on a hittable pitch to drive in the first runs of the game in the 3rd inning.  Porcello left a sinker up and Jeter was right on the pitch.  Bonus point for Russell Martin for the hustle to score from first AAAAAAND the great slide to avoid Avila's tag.

- After a flawless first 2 innings, Porcello started to drift up in the zone with his pitches in the 3rd and 4th, and it got him into trouble.  He also couldn't locate his fastball inside to lefties and hit Teix and Jorge trying to work there.  Halfway through the 4th inning it looked like the wheels could fall off for Porcello at any minute.

- The A.J. Burnett Experience was in full effect in the 4th inning after a solid 3rd- He lost the zone, fell behind Victor Martinez, gave up a HR to him, gave up a double to Peralta (Bad A.J.), then recovered to strike out Avila and Wilson Betemit to end the inning (Good A.J.).  The back-to-back curveballs to Betemit were FILTHY.

- As lame as most commercials usually are during the postseason, the Geico commercial with the guinea pigs rowing a boat to power the dude's computer is absolutely fucking hilarious.  When he's talking about how he had to train the guinea pigs?  "Such a simple word.  'Row.'"  That's good stuff right there.

- Joe Girardi could teach a college course on bad bunting strategy.  Top 5th, 2 on, 0 out, Porcello teetering on the edge of falling apart, and Joe sends Jeter up to sac bunt the runners over.  Did Joe not watch Jeter's previous at-bat where he took Porcello to the DEEPEST PART OF THE PARK FOR A 2-RBI DOUBLE?!?!?!?!?!  And it was a terrible bunt that didn't even advance the runners, which is the risk you run when you take the bat out of people's hands.  Fuckin' A, man.  So stupid.

- The Yankees still managed to score in the inning, though, thanks to an awful pitch by Porcello to C-Grand.  Fastball that was supposed to be in ran right back over the plate and Curtis ripped it into right for a double.

- And not for nothing, but the sac fly by The Horse that scored the 4th run probably would have been a double if he was healthy.  That was another bad pitch by Porcello that caught too much of the plate.

- HUUUUUUGE bailout play by Ramon Santiago, swinging at the first pitch in the bottom of the 5th and grounding into a double play after Jackson's leadoff single.  That could have led to another path down the Bad A.J. Trail, but it was immediately erased.  What the hell was up with Jeter's throw to first, though?  All the time in the world and he basically bounced the thing halfway between 1st and 2nd.

- Miguel Cabrera looked a little bummed out after lining out to Jeter to end the 6th inning.  Somebody should have gotten him a drink.  HIIYOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Et Tu, Jose Valverde?

"It's over already.  Verlander has it tomorrow. The next day we have the celebration in Detroit. They have a good team, but I think that's it for them."

What's that, Jose?  You were saying?  I could have sworn I heard you utter something stupid.

(Assclown)

ALDS Game 4 Preview: A Season On The Brink

Pitching Matchup: A.J. Burnett (11-11) vs. Rick Porcello (14-9)

Starting Lineups:

NYY- Jeter (SS), C-Grand (CF), Cano (2B), A-Rod (3B), Teix (1B), Swish (RF), Jorge (DH), Martin (C), Gardner (LF)

DET- Jackson (CF), Santiago (2B), Young (LF), Cabrera (1B), Martinez (DH), Kelly (RF), Peralta (SS), Avila (C), Betemit (3B)

3 Things to Watch For:

1) Which Starting Pitcher Blinks First

Verlander-CC it ain't tonight, as A.J. Burnett, he of the 5.15 ERA/4.77 FIP in 2011, faces Rick Porcello and his 4.75/4.06 line.  As guys who weren't expected to factor into the equation this series, both will have the shortest of short hooks ready for them tonight from their managers and it will be critical for them to limit damage if/when they put runners on.  These guys are opposites in their makeup, A.J. all stuff and no command and Porcello not much stuff so relying on command, and history suggests A.J. could be in for the better outing (if that means anything).  In 6 outings and 30 innings over the last 4 seasons, A.J. has allowed 13 ER and 35 baserunners against Detroit.  Porcello has given up 16 ER and 45 baserunners over 29 innings in that same timeframe, striking out only 11 in the process.  Whichever guy can buck the trend of poor pitching in 2011 and shaky histories against the other team will give his club a leg up. 

2) Which Random Tiger Hitter Makes a Key Play

In Game 1 it was Delmon Young going 2-4 with a HR and 2 runs scored.  In Game 2 it was Don Kelly pinch hitting in the top of the 9th and getting what turned out to be a very important insurance run on an RBI single.  Last night it was the immortal Ramon Santiago and his .260/.311/.384 season line going 2-4 with 2 RBI.  I thought it would be Miguel Cabrera who would carry the team, and he did his fair share of damage in Game 2, but the Tigers have consistently gotten offense from some unlikely sources in this series.  With what he showed in the past 2 games, it could be Brandon Inge that steps up tonight, but I'm hopeful he'll decide not to and make a liar out of me. 

3) Which Yankee Hitter Decides to Start Hitting

The Horse doesn't have a hit in 10 ABs this series.  Russell Martin has 1 in 9.  Swish 2 in 11.  Teix 1 in 11 with 4 Ks (and just 16 in 99 career postseason ABs as a Yankee).  Jeter has 4 hits but 6 Ks and a small army left on the basepaths.  Cano has been nonexistent since Game 1.  It's essentially Jorge Posada and Brett Gardner carrying the offensive load right now, and that just doesn't cut the mustard.  The Yankees are facing a guy who they've knocked around before and are set up for tonight to be the night to start breaking out of this mini-funk (can't call it a slump after just 2 games).  The question is, who's going to be the one to do it?  Who's going to lead the charge, get the ball rolling, and get some good vibes going at the plate?  The cliche "hitting is contagious" has some truth to it, and somebody needs to start spreading those germs early tonight. 

Player to Watch: A.J. Burnett

All the hitting in the world don't mean shit if your pitcher can't hold the lead.  It's what the Yanks experienced last night with their best on the mound and it's something they've experienced multiple times with A.J., their worst, on the mound.  A.J. was much better in September than he was in August, but his signature outing was still against a Fraud Sawx team that had packed it in.  The Tigers are a team on the verge of advancing to the ALCS and aren't going to roll over for him like Bahhston did.  A.J. needs to be sharp, he needs to work quickly, and he needs to get ahead in counts because he's going to have Phil Hughes handcuffed to him from the start if signs point to him melting down.  Out of all the pitchers I say this about, A.J. is probably the easiest guy to recognize when he doesn't have it.  So tonight, we need to see this guy:

... and not this guy:

It's do-or-die time for the Yankees.  Tonight is their Game 5.  I'd much rather have at least one more day to write game previews and pick out YouTube songs instead of starting to figure out what offseason topics I'm going to discuss first.  The offense has sleepwalked through the last 2 games, not taking advantage of all the chances they've had.  Tonight they need to get it together and wake up.  A little RATM should help that.

Thanks, Gerry

Yeah, the zone was about even.  From Max Scherzer getting strikes on pitches that crossed the on-deck circle on Sunday to CC not getting strikes that were right on the corners last night.  Gotta love it.  OK, I'm done bitching about the umps.  I'll start moving on to bitching about A.J.

Bigger, better quality versions of the above graphs can be found here at Brooks Baseball.

ALDS Game 3 Thoughts & Afterthoughts

(The horror.  The HORROR!  Courtesy of The AP)

- The Yankees came out swinging against Verlander in the 1st and it paid off with a couple of quick runs.  It also forced Verlander to abandon his usual early-inning routine of throwing nice and easy and dial up the fastball to the high-90s/100, which seemed like a positive omen for the Yanks.

- Great baserunning play by C-Grand on the 2nd run, running on contact and forcing another iffy play by Detroit defense where they had to take the sure out instead of trying to prevent a run.

- He might not win the Gold Glove this year because of his sloppy errors, but that was an all-world turn by Robbie Cano on the DP ball in the top of the 1st.  Literally all arm on the play.  I would probably tear my rotator cuff trying to do that.

- The swing-early approach worked for the Yanks in the top of the 1st, but when Verlander changed his approach up and started going to the offspeed stuff, and missing, in the 2nd, they should have adapted as well.  Instead Swish swung at a borderline 2-0 pitch and popped out to left, and Martin grounded into a DP first-pitch swinging to get Verlander out of the inning quickly.  Oofda.

- It was clear from the start that CC's fastball command was not there last night.  He couldn't locate it down in the zone, and when he missed up, he missed WAY up.  And he couldn't get the changeup to consistently start in and fall out of the zone.  5 BB in a game for CC is practically unheard of, let alone 5 walks to the first 10 batters he faced through 2+ innings.

- It also didn't help his cause that homeplate ump Gerry Davis was not giving him ANYTHING on the outside corner.  CC could hit his spots there, or at least come close, but Davis was having none of it, and that certainly contributed to CC's walks and high pitch count in the early innings.

- Between the 2 teams there were 5 double plays turned in the first 3 innings.  That was really the only thing saving CC too, so it was a good thing he was facing a swing-happy lineup.

- Give some credit to the Tiger lineup as well for making CC work.  They did exactly what the Yankees usually do to Verlander: worked the count, fouled a lot of pitches off, didn't chase stuff in the dirt.  They could sense that CC didn't have that sharp stuff that he had early in Game 1 and approached their at-bats accordingly.  Kudos.

- Moving through the 3rd-4th innings, it was clear that CC wasn't finding his groove and even more clear that Verlander was.  He was locating his change and curve well and starting to mix them up with the fastball.  The short turnaround clearly did not affect Verlander as much as it did CC, despite the prevailing thought being the opposite going into the game.  They each had their stuff, but Verlander was able to find his command and pitch where he wanted to after a couple innings while CC never could.

- Verlander in the 5th inning was a thing of beauty.  He threw 10 pitches, 9 of them strikes, and made Posada, Martin, and Gardner look downright foolish as they got their knees bent and bodies frozen by the curve and then flailed helplessly at the fastball.  Just a clinic on how to mix pitches in that inning.

- Yet another bad pitching decision by Joe to bring CC back out to start the 6th.  I don't care that it was L, R, L that inning, CC was done after a long 5th.  When he's giving up doubles into the gap to Ramon Santiago and throwing wild pitches, that's a sign that the wheels have come off and Joe should have let the 5th inning be the end.  Instead, he once again failed to go to his stacked bullpen and it cost the Yanks another run.  At some point, somebody needs to tell Joe that this IS the ALDS and not some mid-July series.

- Teix moving out of the way of that Verlander curve inside in the top of the 7th was the pussiest thing I've seen since that all-girl porn parody of "X-Men: First Class."  Take one for the team, guy!  Especially when you aren't doing a goddamn thing with the bat to help.

- Go figure that Jorge Posada is the only Yankee hitter who has looked good at the plate throughout this series.  This is the same guy who people were talking about releasing in the summer and who I wanted taken out to Monument Park and shot.

"It's like RAAAA-yeeeeee-AAAAAAIN.  On your wedding day... "

- Just a great at-bat by Gardner in the 7th on the game-tying double.  He saw Verlander start to lose it a bit in the Posada/Martin at-bats, and took until he got in a favorable count.  3-1 he was looking fastball all the way and he put a great swing on it.  If he could hit situationally like that on a regular basis, he'd be in the All Star Game every year.

- The Jorge at-bat prior to that was just as good.  He didn't start hacking when he fell behind in the count, and he was reading every pitch perfectly out of Verlander's hand.  I would have bet my next 2 months' salary that Jorge would have looked lost last night against Verlander, but he was right on point.

"It's a freeeee riiyiide.  When you're already late."

- He said he thought he threw a good pitch, but I'm here to educate Rafael Soriano.  Throwing a first-pitch fastball over the outside half of the plate to Delmon Young, a first-pitch hitter AAAAAAND a fastball hitter who has shown opposite field power, is never a good pitch.

- Props to Smoltz for the "Dumb and Dumber" reference in the 8th inning.  I have to admit, I don't hate the team of Anderson, Smoltz, and Darling calling the game.  And Tom Verducci is very useful as the in-game reporter.  Ken Rosenthal should take notes.

- Admittedly this is me being sour grapes, but Verlander DID get more calls on the corner than CC last night.  Some of the outside strikes and high strikes he got in the 6th-8th were the same pitches CC was throwing for balls in the 1st-3rd.  In related news, Gerry Davis is a cocksucker.

- Did anybody else have absolutely 0 confidence that Teix was going to come through after A-Rod walked in the 8th?  I know I did.  I almost clicked the TV over to the end of WWE Raw I was so sure he was going to get out.  And he didn't disappoint.  Question, would the fans at The Stadium have booed Teix after that pop-up?

- The injuries have made him a shell of himself at the plate, but A-Rod has played a fantastic 3rd base in this series, especially last night.  Maybe the knee isn't bothering him as much because he looks smooth in the field, and at least he's contributing some way.

- Top 9th, Swish has another 2-0 count, and he fucking pops up to 3rd on a pitch right down the middle from Valverde.  The last beer bottle almost went through the TV screen on that one.

- If you're keeping score at home, Jeter has now left 784 men on base in the last 2 games.

- Even though CC barely had his C-game last night, the Yankees still had plenty of chances to win and didn't get it done.  Verlander made a few more pitches when he had to, and the Tiger offense got a few more timely hits, and that was the difference.  Now it's do-or-die time tonight and the Yankees rest their hopes on the arm of the man who inspires the least amount of hope in recent Yankee history.  I might have to start drinking at work this afternoon to prepare myself for tonight.

Not To Be A Downer Or Anything...

... But the hopes of the Yankee season rest on this guy tomorrow:

Jesus fucking Christ...

ALDS Game 3 Preview: Ace Vs. Ace (Again)

Pitching Matchup: Sabathia (19-8) vs. Verlander (24-5)

Starting Lineups:

NYY- Jeter (SS), C-Grand (CF), Cano (2B), A-Rod (3B), Teix (1B), Swish (RF), Jorge (DH), Martin (C), Gardner (LF)

DET- Jackson (CF), Santiago (2B), Young (LF), Cabrera (1B), Martinez (DH), Ordonez (RF), Peralta (SS), Avila (C), Inge (3B)

3 Things to Watch For:

1) Verlander & CC The 2nd Time Around

With Game 3 being in Detroit, it would seem logical that Verlander has more of an advantage here than in Game 1.  But in looking at the numbers, Verlander's home/road splits are marginal (2.37/2.69 home, 2.43/3.26 road) and CC's road numbers (2.93 ERA/3.03 FIP) are just as good as what he did at home.  The bigger factor is going to be recent performance.  And in looking back at Game 1, CC appeared to be the better pitcher before the rains came (home run aside) while Verlander struggled with his command through a 25-pitch 1st inning.  If CC can carry over his apparently rediscovered command from Game 1 and Verlander is still having issues, the homefield advantage could be flipped on its head. 

2) A Jesus Sighting

Jeter looked awful last night, Teix's new stance still isn't returning any dividends, A-Rod is a walking injury report, and the team is coming off of a rough offensive outing.  Surprisingly enough, Jorge Posada has been the best Yankee hitter not named Robinson Cano through the first 2 games, so it's unlikely Montero would unseat him tonight.  But we saw Joe roll the dice with Chavez last night to try to get a spark.  If Verlander is rolling and the offense is sputtering again in this game, I wouldn't be surprised to see him give Jesus an at-bat to try light that same spark. 

3) Bullpen Hierarchies

Perhaps the lone good thing to come out of yesterday's late innings was the fact that both Joaquin Benoit and Jose Valverde had to work relatively hard to get through their innings.  23 in 2 innings was efficient for Benoit, but I'd be surprised if he was available for more than 1, and it took Valverde 34 to navigate his way through the 9th inning.  If their availability is limited, the next guy in line is Al Albuquerque, who needed all of 2 pitches to blow the game out of reach in Game 1.  Jim Leyland might have to be careful/creative to manage his 'pen if Verlander doesn't give him 7 or 8, while Joe theoretically has his Big 3 each available for more than 3 outs if needed (assuming he doesn't just decide to use Ayala again).  While they're counting on him to deliver tonight, the Yankees don't have to lean on CC quite as much as Detroit will on Verlander tonight. 

Player to Watch: Verlander

Because of the above reason, Verlander will be the key to tonight's game.  If he's got the adrenaline in check early and can work through the first couple innings without throwing 60+ pitches, he puts himself in a good position to go the distance and his team in a better position to win.  If the Yankees can work counts and foul off pitches against him like they have all season, the advantage he provides becomes negated and things swing New York's way heading into the late innings.  If there are any Cy Young voters out there tonight who still aren't sold on Verlander, this is his chance to end those doubts (and don't even try to argue that postseason doesn't mean anything for that.  You and I both know better).

The Tigers got the split they were looking for in New York and now have the homefield advantage in a best-of-3.  They can swing the momentum even further in their favor tonight, and they've got the guy they would want on the mound to lead them.  But the Yanks are countering with their hoss and tonight should be the all-time ALDS pitching matchup we were hoping to get in Game 1.  It's Verlander vs. CC, ace vs. ace, strength vs. strength, and fire vs. fire.

ALDS Game 2 Thoughts & Afterthoughts

(Get the fuck off my mound.  Courtesy of The AP)

** This is based on my listening to the last 3 innings of yesterday's game in the car and reading the various game recaps from around the Yankee blogosphere **

- All in all, Freddy didn't have a bad outing yesterday.  He got beat by Miguel Cabrera, which is something a lot of other pitchers can relate to, and his final line didn't look great when it's paired next to 6 innings of shutout ball.  But between the home run and the rough 6th inning he only allowed a couple hits, didn't walk a batter, and struck out 6, which is damn good against the Detroit lineup.  But like we saw with Fister in Game 1, a few bad pitches here and there can ruin your day and that's what happened to Freddy.

- I'd like to give the kid credit, but when you're a flyball pitcher with a 5.23/4.78 ERA/FIP split on the road this season pitching in Yankee Stadium, I just can't.  It's flat out unacceptable that the Yankee offense could do nothing against Max Scherzer yesterday.  My buddy who was watching the game said he was getting the Maddux-Glavine treatment on the corners big time, which could have helped, but there is just no reason why the Yankee offense should ever get shutout (and almost no-hit) by the likes of Max Scherzer.

- There's a lot of calls for A-Rod to be bumped down in the order with the way he's swinging the bat right now, but I'm going to take it a step further.  I think he needs to be out of the lineup and on the bench.  He is injured.  Not hurt, injured.  Whatever is wrong with his thumb and his knee is worse than the Yankees are letting on and I can't wait to hear what the real injuries are once the season ends because he looks horrific at the plate.

He has no power or speed in his swing right now, and he's a black hole in the cleanup spot of the order.  Despite Joe's best efforts to convince us, A-Rod doesn't even come close to passing the eye test right now  in terms of healthy and I think it's better for the team if he takes a seat and lets somebody healthy swing the bat.

- And while we're speaking of The Horse, a big "fuck you" to all the fans who booed him yesterday after he popped up in the 8th.  The guy is clearly hurt and even though he's useless right now, he's still out there trying for his team.  Where were all those boos for Teix and Swish when they flailed through the '09 and 2010 postseasons?  Where were the boos for Jeter yesterday for his 0-5 with 2 Ks, a costly error, and about 9,000 guys left on base?  Booing A-Rod because he's an easy target is cheap, low, and the sign of a stupid fan.  The people who did that yesterday shouldn't be let back in The Stadium for Game 5.

- I didn't have a problem with Joe pinch hitting Chavez for Gardner yesterday.  Yeah, Gardner had made solid contact the last time up, but the offense was still anemic and Joe was looking for a spark.  It didn't work out, but in that situation I thought it was worth a shot.

- What I have a huge problem with is Joe waving the white flag in the 9th by bringing out Luis Ayala AGAIN!!!  This is the same guy who blew the last game of the regular season and couldn't manage to work through an inning with an 8-run lead to close Game 1.  Question- What's wrong with this picture?:

Ayala IP this series- 1.1.  Mo, D-Rob, Soriano IP this series- 0.1

Answer- EVERYTHING.  You don't hold your best guys back in a 3-run playoff game where you have last ups.  Bring them in and shut the other team down to give yourself a chance.  And with the way the Yankee 9th played out, that run loomed huge.  A day after he talked about having the ability to use his big guns multiple times thanks to Nova's work in Game 1, Joe goes back to his worst bullpen guy in a close game.  Just a fucking horrible, stupid, unforgivable decision by Joe.

- Last one on Joe, and I know I'll be in the minority here, but how the fuck does he not pinch run Dickerson for Posada after Jorge's triple in the 9th?  I know the logic is that the 1 run doesn't mean that much in that situation, but I disagree.  Every run is important when you're down in the bottom of the 9th and you want to give your team the best chance to score as many as possible.  Sure, it would have been nice for somebody to crank a HR, but if there's a shallow fly ball hit to right center, I want to make sure that run from 3rd will score and cut down the deficit.  Jorge would never make that play, but Dickerson would.  That's what he's on the roster for and Joe didn't use him in a situation tailor made for Dickerson's skill set.  In the end, it didn't mean much, but that was still an awful non-call by Joe in my mind.

That's it for Game 2.  It sucked and it's over.  Let's move on to Game 3 and the Game 3 Preview coming this afternoon.

ALDS Game 2 Preview: Abbreviated Version

Heading out to breakfast and then the track soon, so here's what I got.

Pitching Matchup: Freddy Garcia vs. Max Scherzer.

3 Things to Watch For:

1) Tigers' Approach vs. Freddy- swing early and try to beat him up on the slow fastball or patience and let him use all his junk?

2) Joe's Hook with Freddy- well-rested bullpen and CC coming back tomorrow.  Joe might not give Freddy a lot of slack on his line if he starts to struggle.

3) Robbie Cano- He looked completely locked in last night.  What will he do today for an encore?  2 more HRs?  3?  Will Detroit even pitch to him with a weak A-Rod hitting behind him?

Player To Watch: Mark Teixeira

The stance and swing from the left side looked better last night, and he's facing another righty today.  If he keeps using all fields, Teix can get back to being the dangerous hitter he's always been.

Game starts at 3:07 Eastern/2:07 Central.  I'll miss the whole thing.