MaTT4281 wrote:Passed Baltimore in the standings, and at worst tied with Cleveland. Now would be a great time for Tampa to slump.

Missed opportunity not closing Baltimore out; so was not winning 2 out of 3 in Tampa and against Toronto..

Man have Hughes and Joba fallen far or what? Both stinkin' up the joint big-time. It'd be nice if we could package either or both in a deal for a young bat/position player. I wouldn't mind clearing them both off the roster next year and opening spots in the rotation and bullpen but we probably have to stick with both guys -- they've been so bad we'd only get pennies on the dollar back in return.

Liking the new look Dellin Betances out of the bullpen. Probably where he belongs. Seemed to lose focus and control as a starter. Kay mentioned on the telecast that we're out of options with him. Next year we either add him to the 25-man roster or risk losing him. Gotta add him and protect him -- too good an arm. Is the future back end of the bullpen Betances setting up D-Rob to close?

Looking forward to a rotation that includes Pineda, Manny Banuelos and maybe even Adam Warren at the back end. Warren just doesn't pitch enough to get any kind of a feel out there but I think he's got good stuff. I thought he looked great the other night in Toronto -- fastball sitting 94-95 and showed a good deuce & slider. And he's got a good changeup too. He's a waste as a long man.

Really warming up to Austin Romine behind the dish too. Looks like he's making nice progress as a receiver (switched recently to a black mitt behind the plate--looks like that could be making a difference) and at the plate. Loved that RBI walk he drew against David Price a few days ago. Great AB..

Gardy's having a pretty decent year. I'm just happy he's healthy. He's not a great leadoff, but who you gonna put there? Sori? Granderson is the only person in a Yankee suit who couldn't hit yesterday.

Jeter finally out of the slump. Nothing like hitting against a team that can't play defense. I agree, he shouldn't be batting second. Oh well, I imagine seniority, HOF status and contract$ put Joe in a hole sometimes...

Why isn't David Huff starting? Would moving Hughes back to the pen really just destroy him mentally? He can't possibly be any worse than Joba.

Depending on which radio station you listen to, we're either only 2 1/2 or 3 games back of the wildcard!

2.5 is very doable. Exciting time, man. All these games mean something now!

Bonn1997 wrote:It's a tough loss but I think you're going overboard. We didn't lose any ground in the wild card - still 2 1/2 back.

Exactly. Stay the course. It's a bad loss, no question, we should've gained ground but silver lining is no ground was lost in the WC standings. Showed great grit coming back from a 7-2 deficit (Cash has improved this offense tenfold from what it was before). Joe made a mistake putting Joba in there (he's been terrible and hasn't earned being inserted into a spot like that at all---I don't want to see Joba in anything other than mop-up duty from here on in---if we're luck enough to sneak into the playoffs, I might even leave him off the playoff roster. Guys like Cabral and Betances would be more useful), Joe West blew the check swing call on Victorino (West has the plate today--that may not bode well), Romine had 2 real lousy throw-downs to 2nd-both weren't even close, etc...As sad as it is, I think I would've gone to Hughes there over Joba or even Dellin Betances. Joba's been a complete disaster -- he looks so much heavier than before, he's lost velocity, the slider isn't nearly as sharp anymore, he can't go one clean inning w/o giving up a run nowadays, and I hated that he had words with Mariano in the dugout several weeks back right in front of the press (teams are giving this guy farewell gifts out of respect and this douchebag disrespects him like that, a teammate, in front of the press?!?). Also that embarrasing DWI where he was trashing Yogi Berra to the cop -- SMH. Enough with this guy already!