Posted by Allanfan20:

Posted by TMS:

my guess is Joba would be put back into the bullpen... no way they'd send Hughes back to AAA if he were pitching well as a starter.

This is why you don't spend a gazillion dollars on the AJ Burnetts of the world. Now, if Joba AND Hughes play awesome and you want to make room, you can't trade Burnett b/c his contract is so huge. Plus, Wang is waiting in the wings. It's not like he's going to suck forever. He's still an awesome pitcher that just needs to work on some kinks.

He is a good vet pitcher to have though, regardless, and I'm happy to have him.

i'm still optimistic on AJB cuz the BA against for him this season is .239... guys aren't hitting him as much as he's hurting himself by walking guys & giving up big hits w/men on base... after last season there's no way the Yanks could have come into this year in a brand new stadium & raised expectations by having the same kids starting games when they failed so miserably last season... hopefully Hughes can stick this time around & Kennedy will eventually be able to become a part of the starting rotation, but right now i'll put my money on AJB... if we already had a reliable setup man i wouldn't even be discussing Joba being put back in the pen... this is about what i feel is best for this team & how we can put the pieces we have in place to be the most successful... if Hughes is pitching well i really don't see any way we can't have Joba setting up again... that gives us absolute dominance for 70+ games this season after the 6th inning, which no other team in baseball has... it's a big psychologic advantage as well when teams know you're pretty much done if you don't have a lead after the 6th inning... right now our bullpen isn't scaring anyone.

Posted by TMS:

Posted by Allanfan20:

Posted by TMS:

my guess is Joba would be put back into the bullpen... no way they'd send Hughes back to AAA if he were pitching well as a starter.

This is why you don't spend a gazillion dollars on the AJ Burnetts of the world. Now, if Joba AND Hughes play awesome and you want to make room, you can't trade Burnett b/c his contract is so huge. Plus, Wang is waiting in the wings. It's not like he's going to suck forever. He's still an awesome pitcher that just needs to work on some kinks.

He is a good vet pitcher to have though, regardless, and I'm happy to have him.

i'm still optimistic on AJB cuz the BA against for him this season is .239... guys aren't hitting him as much as he's hurting himself by walking guys & giving up big hits w/men on base... after last season there's no way the Yanks could have come into this year in a brand new stadium & raised expectations by having the same kids starting games when they failed so miserably last season... hopefully Hughes can stick this time around & Kennedy will eventually be able to become a part of the starting rotation, but right now i'll put my money on AJB... if we already had a reliable setup man i wouldn't even be discussing Joba being put back in the pen... this is about what i feel is best for this team & how we can put the pieces we have in place to be the most successful... if Hughes is pitching well i really don't see any way we can't have Joba setting up again... that gives us absolute dominance for 70+ games this season after the 6th inning, which no other team in baseball has... it's a big psychologic advantage as well when teams know you're pretty much done if you don't have a lead after the 6th inning... right now our bullpen isn't scaring anyone.

I never said I wasn't optimistic. I just don't think it was a good idea to throw so much money at him. I like AJ very much.

Posted by Allanfan20:

Posted by TMS:

Posted by Allanfan20:

Posted by TMS:

my guess is Joba would be put back into the bullpen... no way they'd send Hughes back to AAA if he were pitching well as a starter.

This is why you don't spend a gazillion dollars on the AJ Burnetts of the world. Now, if Joba AND Hughes play awesome and you want to make room, you can't trade Burnett b/c his contract is so huge. Plus, Wang is waiting in the wings. It's not like he's going to suck forever. He's still an awesome pitcher that just needs to work on some kinks.

He is a good vet pitcher to have though, regardless, and I'm happy to have him.

i'm still optimistic on AJB cuz the BA against for him this season is .239... guys aren't hitting him as much as he's hurting himself by walking guys & giving up big hits w/men on base... after last season there's no way the Yanks could have come into this year in a brand new stadium & raised expectations by having the same kids starting games when they failed so miserably last season... hopefully Hughes can stick this time around & Kennedy will eventually be able to become a part of the starting rotation, but right now i'll put my money on AJB... if we already had a reliable setup man i wouldn't even be discussing Joba being put back in the pen... this is about what i feel is best for this team & how we can put the pieces we have in place to be the most successful... if Hughes is pitching well i really don't see any way we can't have Joba setting up again... that gives us absolute dominance for 70+ games this season after the 6th inning, which no other team in baseball has... it's a big psychologic advantage as well when teams know you're pretty much done if you don't have a lead after the 6th inning... right now our bullpen isn't scaring anyone.

I never said I wasn't optimistic. I just don't think it was a good idea to throw so much money at him. I like AJ very much.

i try not to stress the money as much as i stress the results... i know u'r not one of these but all those Yankee fans that complain about the money we spend every year makes me scratch my head on the real... if we were talking about a broken down player on the downside of his career then u can make a case against spending big bucks... AJ carried injury risks that i was iffy on too, but man if that guy doesn't look absolutely dominant when he's on his game.

[Edited by - TMS on 04-30-2009 12:42 PM]

if you don't show them the $$$, they will not come to ny.

Thursday, April 30
LAA Anthony Ortega, RHP (0-1, 7.20)
Angels (9-11)



@

NYY A.J. Burnett, RHP (2-0, 5.47)
Yankees (11-10)



Scouting Report:

Angels: It wasn't a smooth ride, starting with a three-run first-inning homer by Russell Branyan after a single and a walk, but Ortega showed flashes of promise in his Major League debut against the Mariners on Saturday night. With a sinking fastball consistently in the low 90s and quality breaking stuff, Ortega struck out five hitters in five innings, yielding five hits and five runs (four earned) with just the one walk. He finished with a perfect fifth inning, catching Ken Griffey Jr. looking at a third strike. Not great, but not a bad start by any means for the 23-year-old Venezuelan.

Yankees: Burnett gets the ball for his fifth start as a Yankee, coming off a rough outing at Fenway Park that saw him blow a 6-0 lead and take a no-decision in New York's 16-11 loss to the Red Sox. Burnett cruised through three innings before it all came unhinged, allowing eight runs on eight hits while walking three and striking out three. It was Burnett's shortest outing as a Yankee and his second straight no-decision. He last faced the Angels on July 4, 2008 for Toronto, allowing eight runs (six earned) on 12 hits over seven innings in an 8-2 Blue Jays loss.

very nice job by the kids tonite... Melky & Pena coming through w/huge clutch hits w/men on base in the 8th to break a tie game, & Phil Coke does a nice job getting some big outs in the bottom of the 7th... Yanks up 7-4 now & only 1 out w/men on 2nd & 3rd... GO YANKS!

Posted by TMS:

in other news:

ARod goes deep in his 1st rehab intrasquad game... 1 for 6 w/1 HR & 2 walks... ran half speed on the bases... he's projected to return by next weekend if things keep progressing w/no setbacks.

video & full article here:

http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090430&content_id=4497068&vkey=news_nyy&fext=.jsp&c_id=nyy

They shouldn't rush him back. Let him take his time.

comfort or injury? He's already had one cortisone shot in his wrist.

Posted by VDesai:

The good news is the other guys are raking right now. Matsui being done is an afterthought. Cano and Melky are getting 2-3 hits every game right now, Swisher's power has picked up again and Jeter, Damon and Posada have been solid. Once ARod is back in the lineup we're really gonna pick up some steam.

[Edited by - vdesai on 04-30-2009 10:20 PM]

The Yankees are basically playing without Tex and A-Rod since Tex isn't doing anything, but they're still putting up about six runs a game. This is a really good offense. I believe you can never have too much offense but the offense is still the least of my concerns with this team.

Posted by TMS:

very nice job by the kids tonite... Melky & Pena coming through w/huge clutch hits w/men on base in the 8th to break a tie game, & Phil Coke does a nice job getting some big outs in the bottom of the 7th... Yanks up 7-4 now & only 1 out w/men on 2nd & 3rd... GO YANKS!

the last 3 games:

hughes
melancon
joba
coke
melky
cano
pena

the rebuilding of the farm system is starting to show it at the major league level...

[Edited by - djsunyc on 04-30-2009 10:44 PM]

Posted by djsunyc:

Posted by TMS:

very nice job by the kids tonite... Melky & Pena coming through w/huge clutch hits w/men on base in the 8th to break a tie game, & Phil Coke does a nice job getting some big outs in the bottom of the 7th... Yanks up 7-4 now & only 1 out w/men on 2nd & 3rd... GO YANKS!

the last 3 games:

hughes
melancon
joba
coke
melky
cano
pena

the rebuilding of the farm system is starting to show it at the major league level...

[Edited by - djsunyc on 04-30-2009 10:44 PM]

i know i'm being picky but man, i'd really like to see these kids start to produce in games vs. the Red Sux... seems like all their kids are always killing us & our kids never do a damn thing in the games they play (other than Cano)... Melancon did a good job in the 2 innings he pitched vs. them but we still lost that game.