Bonn1997 wrote:It's only 5 games but I am surprised by how bad the Yankees' hitting has been. A lot of these lefties have bats that were made for Yankees Stadium. Hopefully things change at home.

Hope so man. Very encouraged by what I saw out of Pineda yesterday. Technically we lost the game but in the grand scheme of things, yesterday was a huge win. Just the beginning of what the Yankees ultimately saw when they shipped Montero and Noesi out to Seattle to get this guy. 93-95 consistently throughout the entire outing (you get the feeling that once the warm weather rolls around, we could expect a tick or two higher on the gun like he showed in Seattle), with a very effective curve/slider combo. Mixed a little changeup in there too...Really liked what I saw. Find a way to get today's game (hopefully CC doesn't get hammered too bad today), come back 3-3, then head back to NY for some home cookin'!

Very concerned with the offense -- there just doesn't look to be enough there, esp. with Tex going down and Sori not hitting...Definitely a legit need for another middle-of-the-order hitter with some pop imo. Until they come up with better ideas, the following 2 moves should be considered: (1) signing Kendrys Morales to a deal, (2) picking up the phone and see if Aramis Ramirez could be had in a sensible trade. Maybe bring Jorge Vazquez back to the organization -- currently in the Mexican League -- this guy hit 32 HRs a couple of years ago in SWB before we cut him loose. He whiffs a lot but I remember really liking his swing and being impressed. Dude had serious, legit power, and he was a natural third basemen who could also play some 1B if I recall...I dunno man, we need to plug a couple of holes here -- one is the need for more pop and the other might be to swap out David Phelps who's redundant (Warren and Nuno are far superior in the same role) and bring in another power short man (Danny Burawa?) or maybe even a 3rd lefty for the bullpen (Cesar Cabral?). Phelps really isn't that good -- I want that spot filled with something far more useful. Phelps is just straight up superfluous on this club... I wouldn't let this fester too long if I'm the Yanks -- to me, we spent way too much money and went through too bad a year last year to have one or two missing components hold us back now. This team is built to win NOW, Jete's last year and all. Cash has gotta go to Hal and get the green light to spend a little bit more. In the meantime, look at some cheap solutions like Danny Burawa for the pen and minor league third baseman Jorge Vazquez maybe.. Both guys would have to be added to the 40-man, that's the only thing that could present a little bit of a problem.

It will be good to be home.

Nice work by Robertson, anyway...yeah, he's not Mariano, but 2 for 2 is good!

jrodmc wrote:No doubt about George, but if this pitching rotation breaks down (there's a feeling of fragility to the whole thing), I doubt Cano would have led us back to the promised land anyway...

Nice work by Robertson, anyway...yeah, he's not Mariano, but 2 for 2 is good!

I actually feel real good about the starting rotation -- CC obviously isn't the same anymore and that's a huge concern but otherwise, I feel real good about the rest 2-5. Seeing Pineda hit 95 a few times and throw that plus slider of his was tremendous. Kuroda's still very good value (I like how they're going year to year with him on these 1-year deals)...Additional depth behind Pineda looks real good with Warren (big fan of this guy), Nuno and to a lesser degree Phelps. Then there's Manny Banuelos, a guy who looked healthy and strong this spring--a great sign coming off the TJ surgery, waiting in the wings. Dude could get fast-tracked for next year if he puts together a solid season this year (best case scenario would be for this guy to slide right into Kuroda's spot next year and not have to pay Kuroda--Banuelos or a guy like Warren could slide right in there at a much better price. We could then use the Kuroda money on something else next year. That could be big)... Also have 3 very good minor league options ready to go for the bullpen if need be -- power righties Danny Burawa & Jose Ramirez (hopefully he's healthy now) and lefty specialist Cesar Cabral. Kinda wish we still had Tommy Kahnle in the mix -- watching this guy throw 95 outta the Rockies pen stings a little (we should've protected this guy on the 40-man I'm thinking) but overall there's excellent pitching depth all around.

Pitching doesn't feel like a problem to me -- the fact that we lack legit power in the middle of the order and a lack of 1B/3B depth is what concerns me most. Tex going down was very sobering...and let's face it -- Kelly Johnson's a decent player but this guy's a cut below what most would consider normal everyday caliber starting material. Now we're further out of whack with Johnson having to move over to 1B.. The one unexpected offensive bright spot right now is Solarte. Hopefully that kid keeps it going. Really look forward to him up at the plate right now -- just feel like he's locked in & gonna do damage whenever he's at the dish... I just hope they don't let these two areas of weakness fester for too long. Even if they go out and sign a guy like Jorge Vazquez out of the Mexican League -- you guys remember this guy? 32 HRs for AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre back in 2011. Then we let him go...Who knows what the Brewers would want for Aramis Ramirez -- I know one thing -- we could go get this guy Vazquez -- he plays 3B/1B/DH, strikes out a lot but has legit HR power and we could go get him dirt cheap. Would kinda kill 2 birds with one stone here -- not a bad option if higher profile guys like Aramis Ramirez, Kendrys Morales, etc. prove to be too costly..Just a thought...I liked him when we had him. Arguably had the best power potential in the entire minor league system back a few years ago, including Montero. He played well for us that spring training (2011) and then went on to put up 32 HRs and 93 RBI at the AAA level. Not bad..

All CC needs is a little pine tar...

I don't know what's worse: Robertson's injury or Cervelli/McCann getting hurt in the same series. Is Joe eligible to pencil himself in to catch?

Do we have to have what amounts to every jerk starter in the league at least once?

Bonn1997 wrote:It's hard to get a read on this team. They have some great players but major holes too. They look like an above .500 team but not a WS contending team.

Completely agree. My big hope is that we keep it close and are still playing good ball later this summer -- if we're in good enough shape, I could see Hal opening up his wallet for another player or 2, whether it be another position player (corner infielder?), another power bat, starter, reliever, etc. Whichever they deem most important.

Nice win today. My little guy had a soccer game so I caught the beginning and the very end. This Nuno's not terrible -- stuff's not top-of-the-line but I like him -- always seems to come up with quality performances. Wish he threw a tad harder but the rest of his game is real solid: good control, works quickly, decent off-speed stuff, etc.. We're gonna need this guy to continue performing. I think he's up for the challenge...Nice win today. One of the things I like about this team early on -- we've gotten really shellacked a couple of times but always came back and won the next game. That's a good sign..

Bonn1997 wrote:Tex looks like he's on track! Now if only we could get McCann going!
Tanaka's awesome.

I freaking love watching Tanaka pitch. I was also very happy to find out he is only 25. I had just assumed he was in the 28-30 range. Great news.

I was loving watching Pineda pitch as well until he got caught being an idiot. We waited so long to see what we had in him and he was certainly dealing. Argh. Anyway, lets hope he can come back from the suspension and the weather will be warmer and he can regain his form cause he has some nasty stuff.