Sunday, August 02, 2009
Sunday Morning Coffee
(The Spittin' in the Wind Edition)
As if being decreed by the baseball gods, it seems inevitable that by the time Thursday night rolls around the Yankees and Red Sox will be in close to something like a virtual tie for first place in the American League's eastern division. Like the swift nature in which New York had built a 3.5 game lead on the Boston nine, the Sox have erased three games in three nights and are now an insignificant one-half game out of first place.
While the Yankees have been getting bonked around the Windy City this weekend, Boston has been enjoying the usual cosy comforts of Fenway Park South, a.k.a. Oriole Park at Camden Yards. In 48 hours the very fabric of the race has changed. And not just because of a couple of blow-out, forgettable losses by the Yanks.
No, the shift in the winds has everything to do with the composition of the Boston line-up now:
CF Ellsbury, CF
2B Pedroia, 2B
1B V. Martinez
3B Youkilis
DH Ortiz
LF Bay
Jiminy Christmas, that's a potent top six . . . Any line-up gap between the two rivals has been narrowed considerably by this shrewd move by Theo Epstein. (Hey, he's been around the block long enough that we can cease preceding his name with "Boy Wonder GM," correct?)
I can only hope that inserting Martinez dead-smack in the middle of that line-up will be the equivalent of putting a wet rag on smoldering embers. The Red Sox line-up has been putt-putt-puttering along over the last month, and Martinez hasn't exactly been lighting up the scoreboard either: .161/.268/.279 over his last 30 games as Goldman pointed out.
What's more likely to happen is that Martinez is going to find a nice groove with the bubble of Pedroia/Youkilis/Papi/Bay hitting around him. Batting average aside, he's not that far-off his 2007 rates (he missed a substantial amount of time last year due to injury).
2007: .301/.374/.505
2009: .283/.366/.461
As is the way with this rivalry over the last five years, the infusion of giddiness in Beantown coincides with the moment that the Yankees usually slip on a banana peel. While the Red Sox were wheeling & dealing in an effort to raise their chances of winning the pennant, the Yankees were adding . . . . . . Jerry Hairston, Jr. .
Now, I have nothing against Jerry Hairston, Jr. He is what he is: a utility guy who can pretty much play anywhere on the diamond. With the stick? Well, there's a lot to be desired . . . However, in 297 PAs last season he actually hit .326/.384/.487 for the Reds. If there's any chance he can catch some of that lightning, then maybe this will turn into a useful pick-up. Chances are probably slim that's going to happen, and the reality is that he's just one more caddy for the hobbled and rickety players that man the left side of the diamond on a daily basis: Damon & Rodriguez.
(And, now can we get Cody Ransom off this baseball team? What is the point of having Hairston and Ransom on this team? It's becoming more and more remarkable that the Yankees are giving away at-bats (86 PAs) to date to a guy hitting .190/.256/.329. Enough. Please.)
My buddy's going to hold my feet to the fire on my "the Rays ain't catching the Yankees" proclamation. That's fine; Tampa's picked up three games in three days in the loss column, reducing the number to five. And unless C.C. Sabathia can pitch a big game this afternoon, that number could very fall to a suddenly manageable four games.
However, once the Royals are off the slate after Monday afternoon the Rays' consistency will be put to the test for the rest of August. Two games vs. Boston; a West Coast trip to Seattle and Anaheim; three games against the Rangers; and a four-game series at Detroit. Stretching it even further, Tampa's first 13 games of September are against Detroit, Boston and New York.
If the Rays are still alive & kicking (within 2 or 3 games) on September 14, than maybe I'll start preparing myself for eating a large dose of crow. But until then, I'll keep the faith that the Yankees can stave off an epic collapse, and focus on what it's going to take to stay in first place.
---
Goldman's take on Washburn to the Tigers:
When the pitching staff is hanging on by a thread after giving up 24 runs in the two days to the White Sox, this non-move is going to start looking worse on a daily basis. However, I'm willing to see how this plays out, in terms of a possible waiver-trade. They've already shifted the rotation so Mitre will miss the Boston series. The bad news is that he's probably going to have his brains beat in by the Blue Jays on Wednesday. And throw in the fact that Halladay's pitching against Pettitte on Monday, and there's a great chance the Yanks are going to be stumbling into that Boston series like a dazed prize-fighter.
Just get me to Thursday night, and we'll take it from there.
(The Spittin' in the Wind Edition)
As if being decreed by the baseball gods, it seems inevitable that by the time Thursday night rolls around the Yankees and Red Sox will be in close to something like a virtual tie for first place in the American League's eastern division. Like the swift nature in which New York had built a 3.5 game lead on the Boston nine, the Sox have erased three games in three nights and are now an insignificant one-half game out of first place.
While the Yankees have been getting bonked around the Windy City this weekend, Boston has been enjoying the usual cosy comforts of Fenway Park South, a.k.a. Oriole Park at Camden Yards. In 48 hours the very fabric of the race has changed. And not just because of a couple of blow-out, forgettable losses by the Yanks.
No, the shift in the winds has everything to do with the composition of the Boston line-up now:
CF Ellsbury, CF
2B Pedroia, 2B
1B V. Martinez
3B Youkilis
DH Ortiz
LF Bay
Jiminy Christmas, that's a potent top six . . . Any line-up gap between the two rivals has been narrowed considerably by this shrewd move by Theo Epstein. (Hey, he's been around the block long enough that we can cease preceding his name with "Boy Wonder GM," correct?)
I can only hope that inserting Martinez dead-smack in the middle of that line-up will be the equivalent of putting a wet rag on smoldering embers. The Red Sox line-up has been putt-putt-puttering along over the last month, and Martinez hasn't exactly been lighting up the scoreboard either: .161/.268/.279 over his last 30 games as Goldman pointed out.
What's more likely to happen is that Martinez is going to find a nice groove with the bubble of Pedroia/Youkilis/Papi/Bay hitting around him. Batting average aside, he's not that far-off his 2007 rates (he missed a substantial amount of time last year due to injury).
2007: .301/.374/.505
2009: .283/.366/.461
As is the way with this rivalry over the last five years, the infusion of giddiness in Beantown coincides with the moment that the Yankees usually slip on a banana peel. While the Red Sox were wheeling & dealing in an effort to raise their chances of winning the pennant, the Yankees were adding . . .
Now, I have nothing against Jerry Hairston, Jr. He is what he is: a utility guy who can pretty much play anywhere on the diamond. With the stick? Well, there's a lot to be desired . . . However, in 297 PAs last season he actually hit .326/.384/.487 for the Reds. If there's any chance he can catch some of that lightning, then maybe this will turn into a useful pick-up. Chances are probably slim that's going to happen, and the reality is that he's just one more caddy for the hobbled and rickety players that man the left side of the diamond on a daily basis: Damon & Rodriguez.
(And, now can we get Cody Ransom off this baseball team? What is the point of having Hairston and Ransom on this team? It's becoming more and more remarkable that the Yankees are giving away at-bats (86 PAs) to date to a guy hitting .190/.256/.329. Enough. Please.)
My buddy's going to hold my feet to the fire on my "the Rays ain't catching the Yankees" proclamation. That's fine; Tampa's picked up three games in three days in the loss column, reducing the number to five. And unless C.C. Sabathia can pitch a big game this afternoon, that number could very fall to a suddenly manageable four games.
However, once the Royals are off the slate after Monday afternoon the Rays' consistency will be put to the test for the rest of August. Two games vs. Boston; a West Coast trip to Seattle and Anaheim; three games against the Rangers; and a four-game series at Detroit. Stretching it even further, Tampa's first 13 games of September are against Detroit, Boston and New York.
If the Rays are still alive & kicking (within 2 or 3 games) on September 14, than maybe I'll start preparing myself for eating a large dose of crow. But until then, I'll keep the faith that the Yankees can stave off an epic collapse, and focus on what it's going to take to stay in first place.
---
Goldman's take on Washburn to the Tigers:
In terms of the moves the Yankees did not make, it's a bit surprising to see the long-coveted Jarod Wasburn go to the Tigers for two left-handed pitching prospects, Luke French, who has pitched seven games in the majors this year with strong results, and Mauricio Robles, an A-ball pitcher. Neither is a high-value prospect, just "interesting," and it seems odd that the Yankees couldn't have made a competitive offer had they wanted to do so.
When the pitching staff is hanging on by a thread after giving up 24 runs in the two days to the White Sox, this non-move is going to start looking worse on a daily basis. However, I'm willing to see how this plays out, in terms of a possible waiver-trade. They've already shifted the rotation so Mitre will miss the Boston series. The bad news is that he's probably going to have his brains beat in by the Blue Jays on Wednesday. And throw in the fact that Halladay's pitching against Pettitte on Monday, and there's a great chance the Yanks are going to be stumbling into that Boston series like a dazed prize-fighter.
Just get me to Thursday night, and we'll take it from there.
