Comments on: Observations From Cooperstown: Replacing Joba, Cervelli, and The Gray Fox

By: a.O

a.O — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 00:09:18 +0000

[6] Youre right, of course, about their present situation. I’m just fairly pessimistic now because I dont think they can hold up over the whole season at the present pace. When you factor in the injuries, the pitching is probably going to regress a bit. The truly disturbing thing is the offense, of course. Derek, Robbie, Jorge, Nick, they all look like shells of their former selves. They get Teix out in high leverage situations because he swings at anything. Same for Robbie. I don’t know, I’m just crying in my beer now. Joba and the sweep really bummed me out. I just don’t see a pennant this year.

By: Chyll Will

Chyll Will — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 18:36:57 +0000

That’s the thing, ny, the Yanks put themselves in a position that they had to rely on the unknown with Freddy and Colon; how long can luck hold out to this degree during a full season?

The funny thing is, and people think I’m crazy or something, but the talent that develops in the minors seems to lose a lot when it transfers to the majors, like we’re adept at developing Quad-A players with only a couple of exceptions (Wang, Cano) and even then there’s a tendency to bleed the personality out of them to such a degree that they also just might lose the competitiveness that got them there. Joba: the spirited spin and jab he’d do when he struck out someone, when he stopped doing it was like his spirit left his body and he became a mediocre reliever prone to injury. I’m beginning to think that adjusting to New York has little to do with it, it’s becoming a matter of adjusting to the Yankees for the young guys. Can’t blame them if they actually are spooked or confused, we know they are at least capable of doing really well.

By: cult of basebaal

cult of basebaal — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 18:24:20 +0000

Norton went on the D.L. yesterday. Shoulder problem. Too bad, he was a nice story.

By: Chyll Will

Chyll Will — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 18:17:31 +0000

I suppose it’s still too early to jump all over the Yanks in terms of how protective they’ve been of their young starters (remembering Generation K of the Mets), but I’ve had a bad feeling for a while. The problem is there really isn’t a one-size-fits-all way of developing pitching prodigy, it either happens or it doesn’t. But I’ll wait a few years and see what happens with the Rangers pitchers before I declare all development philosophies a lot of bullisht or not.

By: ny2ca2dc

ny2ca2dc — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 16:53:54 +0000

[5] Really? They’re still just a couple out of first and leading the wild card. I think they’ll make the postseason, just not do well.

It’s just been fruuuuuuuuuuustrating. So much has gone wrong, so many bad decisions (buoyed by two good ones, Garcia and Colon). The only real big time bright spots have been Colon and Granderson.

By: a.O

a.O — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 16:43:16 +0000

Given the bullpen injuries, inevitable problems in the rotation, and uneven offense, I just don’t see this team making the postseason regardless of what they do with Cervelli. Deck chairs, Titanic, etc.

By: ny2ca2dc

ny2ca2dc — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 16:25:47 +0000

I actually think a diatribe against the Yankees handling of their young pitchers needs to be written. I think the outlines are that they both overvalued them (not using Joba to headline a trade for Haren last year), and were caught in the middle in their deployment (didn’t do a straightforward late start / early shutdown to control innings, or just let them pitch limits be damned; bounced back and forth between BP/rotation; essentially tried to have their cake and eat it too, getting nothing).

I’m down with jettisoning Cervelli. Bringing up Montero would add a more capable right handed hitter to the IF/OF/DH (would be IF/OF/C/DH) rotation, hopefully leading to less Nunez.

By: Mattpat11

Mattpat11 — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 14:57:01 +0000

By hour eight at Yankee Stadium last night, in the ninth inning, I turned to my dad and said “I just can’t handle another Francisco Cervelli appearance tonight.”

I was overjoyed when they pinch hit for him for no discernible reason.

He seems like a nice fellow, but its time for him to go. Its not working.

By: Just Fair

Just Fair — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 14:44:06 +0000

I was reading about the Pirates today and they are in desperate need of catching. Cervelli can’t be any worse than what they are trotting out there nowadays. They’re down to their 4th or 5th catcher. Bad news for the Toros.

By: monkeypants

monkeypants — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 14:17:39 +0000

It’s beyond me what Joe Girardi and Brian Cashman continue to see in Francisco Cervelli.

With regards to the former, I think he sees a bit of himself…and that could be a problem.