Comments on: Yankee Panky: Spring Flinging

By: RagingTartabull

RagingTartabull — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 19:55:46 +0000

and damn, I remember Bubba being an awful hitter but jeez…thats just putrid.

By: RagingTartabull

RagingTartabull — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 19:50:48 +0000

[38] to be fair, Bubba’s best season was ’05 where he hit .276/.304/.327 over 76 games (his career high). Last year Gardner put up a .270/.345/.379 line over 108 games.

Bubba also topped out at 4 steals, although I think that was more Torre misusing him than anything else.

By: Will Weiss

Will Weiss — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 19:41:27 +0000

[37] Brett Gardner is a faster version of Bubba Crosby. Do you see any parallels, Cliff?

By: Cliff Corcoran

Cliff Corcoran — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 19:32:04 +0000

For what it’s worth, entering camp, Girardi said that he felt Gardner was their best defensive center fielder, but Brett needed to prove to him he was an everyday player in order to be the center fielder.

By: a.O

a.O — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:47:29 +0000

Yes, there is a quote from Girardi, but I agree that the headline is a little misleading. It is perhaps accurate to say that, because Gardner is working hard to improve his bunting at the request of Girardi, he is in his “good graces.” But to the extent it implies that “good graces” = starting job, that may or may not be true. And that’s where this article comes in…

I’m guessing Gardner will get a shot to play regularly, but not all the time. And his relative success or failure will dictate how much Winn starts throughout the season.

By: Will Weiss

Will Weiss — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:31:59 +0000

[34] My bad … There is one quote from Girardi.

By: Will Weiss

Will Weiss — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:30:50 +0000

[33] That headline is misleading, especially since there’s not one quote from Girardi. It’s a good feature, but I still read it as, “this is one of the only ways Brett Gardner can prove his value to the team.”

By: a.O

a.O — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:16:13 +0000

Will, have you seen this piece today in the Times? Seems to imply the opposite conclusion of you re Gardner. Not saying it’s right, but that’s my reading of it, mostly based on the title.

http://bats.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/11/gardner-bunting-way-into-girardis-good-graces/

By: Eddie Lee Whitson KO

Eddie Lee Whitson KO — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:14:11 +0000

Melky got his chance and while many have fond memories of timely hits and youthful exuberance, the most value the yanks got out of him was shipping him to Atlanta.

Gardner has not gotten anything near the same chance so far (thumb), and rather expect some serious outfield platooning this season, which bothers me b/c it gives girardi another tinkering obsession. I’d rather see gardy get his fair go and if he craps the bed, so be it. Until then he has the right to claim the baseball equivalent of diplomatic immunity – small sample size.

By: a.O

a.O — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:06:24 +0000

[26] Hey, thanks man.

By: Cliff Corcoran

Cliff Corcoran — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:02:41 +0000

[27] If Randy Winn is the alternative, I want to give Gardner another opportunity, but I don’t see him as a long-term solution to anything.

By: Mattpat11

Mattpat11 — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:22:54 +0000

[27] Gives some people a reason to care about Spring Training. Its horribly boring, tedious and way too long to begin with. If they admit that its largely pointless as well, what reason is there to even bother coming to the park?

It also throws a bone to the people that have no chance of winning. I can’t imagine the Yankees seriously want to go much further with Sergio Mitre, so if you let him show his stuff as a starter, maybe someone will bite.

By: The Hawk

The Hawk — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:20:40 +0000

[23] Part of A Rod’s infamy though is that he’s managed to distinguish himself in a league full of talented lunatics egomaniacs and nut jobs . He’s a cut above. Certainly anyone with the ability to physically exhaust fans like me with his neverending shenanigans deserves some kind of special designation. That’s why he’s the centaur.

By: Will Weiss

Will Weiss — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:13:02 +0000

[4] I don’t have a problem with it, either. I don’t think any of us here, do. The problem is that Eiland and Girardi are saying it’s a competition when it’s really a toss-up between Hughes and Joba, which we pretty much knew all along. Why string us along?

[3] Cliff, your points are well-taken, but sample sizes aside, do you agree or disagree with my position on Gardner? Regardless of his role, does his presence make the Yankees a better team? I don’t know. Does his skill set merit regular or semi-regular play? I don’t believe so. That’s the point I was trying to make.

By: Will Weiss

Will Weiss — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:08:29 +0000

@a.O … I’m not saying the Gardner/Winn battle is over. I’m saying as it currently stands, unless Gardner improves (see the Gardy Har Har section), then Winn is in left and Granderson is in center. Girardi said recently that he’s leaning toward Granderson as the Opening Day starter in Center, not left, and that after another crap showing offensively, talk in the organization — according to published and broadcast reports — is that Gardner is more valuable to the Yankees on the bench.

All those things considered, it looks like your starting outfield, 7-8-9, is Winn, Granderson, and Swisher.

By: a.O

a.O — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:56:52 +0000

[23] Yep, that’s why they looked the other way on steroids for so long. Again, just a difference in basic moral values.

By: RIYank

RIYank — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:52:38 +0000

[22] Right, but Papi was dreadful at the beginning of last year, so I figure that’s about break-even.

And by the way, I think Vazquez is a much bigger lynchpin for the Yankees than Gardner is (or Granderson). If Scrabble Score pitches well, the Yanks are the best team in baseball. If he stinks, we have a one-of-several situation. The outfield Gs are much less significant…

By: Mattpat11

Mattpat11 — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:46:31 +0000

[18] And if you expand the scope to include 2008, its .214/.247/.271. Being slightly better than some, but still terrible in a certain situation, is not cause to continue that path, especially, if, as RAB suggests, http://tinyurl.com/yjpx8n7, pitchers start to catch on to your “strategy.”

[21] If you want to weed out all the lunatics egomaniacs and nut jobs from baseball you’re going to wind up with some pretty crappy teams. And if someone is in charge of running a baseball team, winning damn sure better be the only thing.

By: Diane Firstman

Diane Firstman — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:41:48 +0000

[20]

and how much (hgh) does Papi have left in the tank … ?

By: a.O

a.O — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:31:53 +0000

[18] Thanks for the perspective.

I still don’t get it. Is Will saying the battle is over and Gardner is on the bench?

[7] I’d rather have a non-sociopath who hit .220 play third base than this pathological liar. It’s a simple difference in values. I would rather root for players with some integrity than nut jobs who happen to be superstars. Don’t get me wrong, winning is very important, but it is not, as Lombardi put it, the *only* thing. I suppose if it happened tomorrow, I’d move Jeter to third for the rest of Spring Training (as a tryout for a full-time move) and put Pena at short.