Comments on: The Purrrfect Pair

By: The Hawk

The Hawk — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 14:49:11 +0000

[53] I don’t think there’s another major piece to be added, not on offense. I think they feel they’re in fine shape and don’t really need Damon anymore. There’s something to be said for that; the line-up should be solid, and the OF as it stands defensively is better than last year.

By: Horace Clarke Era

Horace Clarke Era — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 14:17:06 +0000

[52] The problem is, Paul, and this comes up a lot … are you punishing the team and player because you are pissed at the agent, or ‘sending a message’? We sure didn’t send Boras a message on A Rod, did we? He might have been briefly embarrassed for his WS stunting, but the contract made him an insane sum of money.

I don’t think it is in the Yankees’ interest to work out who the roster will be in 2010 based on sticking it to Boris. If Damon got to 2/20, which was where most people thought he’d end up, it makes sense to say no ONLY if Cash (and Girardi?) had decided he was essentially a DH going forward. If they’d made that call, though, Matsui was a better play, to my mind. If Damon is okay in left for a year (primarily) then the one year for Nick J made a lot of sense, with Damon DHing in his 2nd year (primarily).

I don’t get the money aspect, since Johnson is very cheap, and shouldn’t affect the 10 million a year. It feels like something’s missing here, though we can all overanalyze in winter! (Hell, we overanbalyze here all year long!) It may be that there’s another expensive piece in mind… or saving room for one at the deadline. Some of those free agents we’ve discussed will come on the market in summer.

By: Paul

Paul — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 12:35:23 +0000

Saw that about Damon this morning. I say: Good for the Yanks. Everyone once in a while you need to shove it up Boras’ arse. He flat out lies during negotiations. And so we kept wasting their time (seriously – four years at 13?). Wednesday night he wanted 2/26, when the Yankees countered with 2/14, he should have said 2/18 and been done with it. Instead, he tried to eek every last penny and with an unrealistic counter offer (relative to Abreu – who had a better season on the road). 2/20 would have been great if that’s what he started with. They would have quickly found common ground. But once the Yanks got Grandy, Boras should have quickly got his act together. Now Damon will be lucky to get a one-year deal.

By: thelarmis

thelarmis — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 02:34:40 +0000

[50] “Juts” !!! ; )

i’m cool w/ him coming back. and he obviously wants to be in da bronx. i’m cool with it…

By: monkeypants

monkeypants — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 02:21:11 +0000

[46] et al.

Juts remember that I predicted Damon would be back, regardless of the Nick Johnson deal. If his price has come, the Yanks will sign him (otherwise, why not offer arbitration?), unless they have a big LF surprise planned.

Johnny will be manning LF next year, methinks.

By: thelarmis

thelarmis — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 02:18:10 +0000

[48] you and me both. 2 years, 20 mil = do it!

By: Mattpat11

Mattpat11 — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 02:02:21 +0000

[46] If we kick Damon to the curb and spend that money on one of the junkpile of pitchers out there, I will be displeased.

By: thelarmis

thelarmis — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 00:48:19 +0000

[46] i just saw that and was coming here to post it. makes no sense to me. i would totally do 2/20 for JD. this is weird…

By: Horace Clarke Era

Horace Clarke Era — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 00:13:49 +0000

MLB Rumors says Damon came back to Yanks with 2 for 20 but by then Johnson was signed so ‘there was no going back’ … honestly? This makes very little sense, unless Damon was pegged as the DH primarily, which I guess is possible. But it means he is NOT seen as a left fielder, period, because he could be signed to play there, leaving DH for NJ. Hell Damon could DH after a year of NJ, even.

Is this budgetary? Cash won’t add $10 million a year to this roster (he will add 5-7 for a pitcher, I am guessing). That does nix Holliday, to OYF’s chagrin, IF it is true. Cashman is not a very predictable dude, which is good.

So LF, as matters stand, is another year of Leche is More (than Gardner), or not. I’m okay with that, on the whole. Hell, so often we hear people saying here, let’s see what the kids can do.

By: Raf

Raf — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 00:05:35 +0000

[44] Damn flu medication… You’re right

By: wsporter

wsporter — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 23:11:15 +0000

[42] Shouldn’t Silva be headed to Chi and Milton the other way?

By: Raf

Raf — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 22:19:00 +0000

[42] I’m looking, and I don’t see anything wrong with that sentence. Good pickup for the M’s

By: OldYanksFan

OldYanksFan — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 22:06:50 +0000

What is wrong with this sentence?
From ESPN:
“The Mariners and Chicago Cubs have announced a trade that sends right-handed pitcher Carlos Silva to Seattle for outfielder Milton Bradley.”

Anyway, I THINK Seattle just got a bit better.

By: Bama Yankee

Bama Yankee — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 21:31:29 +0000

[37] “Because it was more rediculous then every Yankee having an even better year in 2010?”

Okay, I see. I thought you might have been trying to see how many commenting guidelines you could break with one sentence…

By: monkeypants

monkeypants — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 21:12:42 +0000

[37] I scanned over baseball-reference and counted about 30 teams in the last 20 years wit 98 wins or more, or about 1 or 2 per year. I would say the odds are against any team being better than 98 wins in any case, even the strongest teams in the league.

So if pressed, no, I would not predict more than 98 wins.

By: Diane Firstman

Diane Firstman — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 21:05:01 +0000

2009 road stats (to eliminate the comfy YS bump in stats)

BA OBP SLG OPS BAbip
Matsui .286 .383 .567 .949 .272
Swisher .268 .361 .585 .945 .275
Hinske .250 .339 .604 .943 .219
A-Rod .313 .413 .525 .938 .352
Teixeira .272 .380 .502 .882 .288
Jeter .337 .399 .437 .836 .378
Cano .303 .333 .498 .832 .316
Damon .284 .349 .446 .795 .330
Pena .308 .345 .442 .788 .400
Posada .245 .327 .432 .760 .285
Brett Gardner .289 .350 .408 .759 .333
Melky Cabrera .278 .336 .409 .745 .300
Francisco Cervelli .283 .306 .391 .697 .293
Jerry Hairston .220 .339 .260 .599 .250
Jose Molina .225 .287 .288 .575 .293

By: OldYanksFan

OldYanksFan — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 20:57:07 +0000

Also, in 2009, Jeter had an advantage, as ARod was dating Kate Hudson. I mean, no more ARod begging for sleepovers had to be a relief!

By: OldYanksFan

OldYanksFan — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 20:55:35 +0000

[36] Because it was more rediculous then every Yankee having an even better year in 2010?

Jeter had a .871 OPS in 2009, so an .830 OPS would be 40 points. However, when does age have him dropping significantly delow his career average?

True about Posada. Took too quick a look. His .885 OPS ‘only’ bested his career average by 26 points. But again, he will be 39. Is there a cliff far ahead? An .825 OPS would be pretty damn good for a 39 year old catcher. But gotta admit, Po keeps surprising me. Remember in 2005, at 33, Posada posted a .782 OPS, and most of the Banter was ready to retire him? Not to mention Jeter’s .771 OPS in 2008. Baseball is a funny game.

Anyway, jus’ tryin’ to be realistic. Aside from ARod and Po to start the year, we were lucky with injuries? Yes, Wang was terrible luck, but he is not on the 2010 team, and Nady was lost, but I feel that helped the team, as Swisher played better then Nady would have.

Right now, do you think we are looking better then 98 Wins?

By: Bama Yankee

Bama Yankee — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 20:39:23 +0000

[33] Pretty efficient post. You worked Politics and Religion into one sentence… Although, I’m not sure I understand why you included it in with your other comments.

By: monkeypants

monkeypants — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 20:38:18 +0000

[33] However, Jeter bested his 2008 OPS numbers by exactly 100 pts, so losing 50-75 pts isn’t unreasonable to expect.

What an odd compariosn. 2008 was clearly an outlier. Look at his career (.847) and last several years: .844, .823, .839, .900, .840, .771, .871

The more reasonable prediction would regression to, say, .830 or .840.

Similarly with Swisher, whose last four years are: .864, .836, .743, .869

Hmm…which of these are not like the others. Again, some regression is likely, but surely his career .818 is misleadingly low.

As for Posada, you are not really going to base expectations on his injury savaged 2008 season?

You are correct to be cautious, even pessimistic, but you’re just cherry-picking with those particular comparisons.

did you guys know the Republicans had a big prayer meeting and literally begged God to defeat Obama’s healthcare bill???

We really shouldn’t broach politics and/or religion, but anything that can possibly defeat that monstrosity should be tried.