Yes, and we've seen him have productive years before too. Last year, he got off to a slow start, and was bad all year. His rookie year, he batted .280 and helped boost the Yankees in the playoffs, until Torre yanked his starting job so Sheffield and Matsui could get some at bats, despite them being out all year (Pissed me off to no end.) The year after, he actually got off to a somewhat slow start, but batted .280 for most of the year until he dropped off to .270.

Melky is a good player who had 1 bad year last year. He'll probably be back to batting around .280 with a good arm and clutch hitting this year. He's a better player than Gardner.

Gardner: Great speed in the field and on the bases. Not too great at the plate, at this point. Very weak throwing arm.

Melky: Good hitter, not great. Good speed on the bases and in the field. Very good throwing arm.

I'm sticking with Melky at this point.

Just an FYI...

Hughes won again last night. He's 3-0 in 3 starts with a 1.86era 19k's in 19innings. I think the dudes ready.

Posted by nyk4ever:

Just an FYI...

Hughes won again last night. He's 3-0 in 3 starts with a 1.86era 19k's in 19innings. I think the dudes ready.

I agree. How can he be any worse than Wang? I know management wants to hide him forever since he was the main reason we didnt get Johan, but it looks like the time has come.

Posted by sebstar:

Posted by nyk4ever:

Just an FYI...

Hughes won again last night. He's 3-0 in 3 starts with a 1.86era 19k's in 19innings. I think the dudes ready.

I agree. How can he be any worse than Wang? I know management wants to hide him forever since he was the main reason we didnt get Johan, but it looks like the time has come.

Hughes is a legit prospect. It's Kennedy that haunts this team concerning Johan. That package was built around Kennedy. Cashman still hasn't answer for that.

yankee stadium

Posted by martin:

^ nice freakin pics!

thx bro

Joba vs. Lester tonight!!!



[Edited by - TMS on 04-24-2009 09:16 AM]

lol, yeah i saw that... i guess to Papi it's all good when Beckett's throwing at people's heads, but Joba better not... i dunno what the beef is between Joba & Puke-a-lips, but always good to have some drama going into a Yankees-Red Sux game.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/04242009/sports/yankees/wang_might_be_headed_to_dl_165998.htm

WANG MIGHT BE HEADED TO DISABLED LIST

By GEORGE A. KING III
April 24, 2009

Chien-Ming Wang will rejoin the Yankees tonight in Boston and throw a bullpen session at Fenway Park tomorrow. After that, there is a possibility the struggling right-hander will land on the disabled list and return to Tampa to build arm strength.

The Yankees were mum about Wang's immediate future yesterday, letting Joe Girardi address it before tonight's game with the Red Sox. However, GM Brian Cashman spoke frequently this past week about Wang's arm strength not being where it should. And yesterday, after Wang pitched seven innings against the Phillies' extended spring-training squad in Tampa, that concern wasn't erased.

Organizational pitching coordinator Nardi Contreras watched Wang with minor league head Mark Newman and noticed Wang's velocity not at the 93- to 94-mph level it was a year ago. Wang's fastball was clocked at 89 to 91 mph last Saturday at Yankee Stadium and wasn't sinking.

"He doesn't have the arm strength he had last year," Contreras told the Associated Press. "But he hasn't pitched in eight months prior to this spring training. What I saw today, he had the best slider I've seen since I've known Chien-Ming. The slider has improved and the change-up is very good. His off-speed pitches are coming in really well."

But it's the lack of sinking action on Wang's fastball that is the reason he is 0-3, has an ERA of 34.50 and has given up 23 hits and six walks in six innings.

"Good day," said Wang, who allowed five runs (four earned), nine hits (one homer), didn't issue a walk and fanned 11 during the 91-pitch outing that included 70 strikes. "Sinker down more, but sometimes [it] got higher and the ball didn't sink."

Wang missed the second half of last year with a foot injury but says the foot is not an issue.

Wang's scheduled turn is Tuesday night in Detroit, but that's not going to happen. The favorite to face the Tigers is Phil Hughes, who is 3-0 with a 1.86 ERA in three starts for Scranton (Triple-A). He worked Wednesday night and allowed one run and six hits in 7 1/3 innings. In 19 1/3 innings this year, the 22-year-old righty has allowed 17 hits, fanned 19 and walked three.

this article supports my theory that Wang's issues have nothing to do w/last season, his velocity is down after coming off foot surgery this year because his arm strength isn't there as i suggested before.

dang man, bullpen pitched so great. even marte - he was pitching great until that final pitch.

oh well, mariano blew, what can you do?

but i have to figure out what giradi did with pulling albadejo after 1 pitch for mo? too early in the season to use mo for 1+ innings...

and bruney is back in ny getting his elbow looked at...hello melancon...

Posted by GKFv2:

Yankees could not hit tonight. Too many blown spots. Mo was off his game tonight and Marte still showed us that he sucks ass. Tough loss.

marte pitched GREAT. he gave up the homer after 1.2 innings of work - much more than he should be pitching. i'm not putting this on him.