The Sommer Frieze

Awful Day. Rain. Wouldn’t be surprised if we get a PPD.

If they play, here is the lineup.

Damon LF (.295 on May 4th, .255 now)
Abreu RF
Jeter SS (lefty in Santana. 6 walks, 0 SB).
Matsui DH
Giambi 1B
Cano 2B (lovely. Three straight lefties vs. Santana. )
Cabrera CF
Gonzalez 3B
Moeller C (worked with Rasner well at SWB and so far here).
Rasner RHP (2-0, 3.00)

Heavily lefty laden lineup vs. Johan. Losing Alex and Jorge really hurts tonight.

Game rained out. 

Maybe this hint will have the Yanks take
a harder look at who could be #5 in the rotation.

AAA: I’m all for the youth movement in the rotation and all behind Hughes and Kennedy. But I’m also about rewarding perfomance.

In 2005, Aaron Small came out of nowhere to go 10-0 for the Yanks down the stretch. Combined with Shawn Chacon’s 7-3, the two sparked the Yanks to the playoffs.

Could Dan Giese be the Aaron Small of 2008? Giese started the year in SWB’s bullpen, and was thrown into the rotation when Alan Horne went down with an injury. Giese isn’t on the 40-man roster. Horne comes back soon. Where Giese goes, who knows.

Maybe he should go to NY and Ian Kennedy get sent back for more seasoning. I’m all for Ian, but as I mentioned, performance should be rewarded. What has Giese done?

Tonight in Game 1 of a DH, Giese threw a 7-inning shutout. (Minor league games are 7 innings when part of a DH). Seven starts, three relief appearances. 3-2, ERA 0.96. That’s ZERO POINT NINETY-SIX. Maybe he should be put on the 40-man, brought to NY and given some shots as the #5 starter (Rasner is #4). It can’t hurt. Heck, Ian is at 8.48. Reward the fine performance Giese has put up. Ride the wave.

In that game, Brett Gardner had a single, two walks and an SB (11, prev. figure from baseball-reference is slow. Apparently baseball reference is slow in updating the minor league numbers. Gardner is 11 for 17 now in SB). Juan Miranda had a HR and 2 RBI. SWB won 4-0.

Game 2 later. Igawa gave up a 2-run HR in the 1st. He gave up 2 more in the 3rd. Those two were unearned, but…. UGH-Gawa. Gardner got SB # 12 in Game 2…matching the total for the whole Yankees major league team to date.

AA: Trenton won 5-3. Chase Wright (6-1, 2.70) gave up 3 runs in 7 IP. Anthony Claggett (think Sheff deal) went 2 scoreless for the save. Austin Jackson had 3 hits, double, 3-run HR, 4 RBI total. Edwar Gonzalez also had 3 hits. Ramiro Pena and Reegie Corona had two hits apiece, Pena had an RBI.

A (Advanced): Tampa won today 3-2 in 11. Eric Hacker, just coming back from a blister in his last outing, isn’t Trenton-bound yet, but he made a case for himself. 6 IP, 1 UNEARNED run. His ERA is now 0.75. Kevin Whelan pitched scoreless, 3 K. Seth Fortenberry had 2 hits, inc. a HR. He tripled and scored on a WP for the GW run. James “Fenimore” Cooper had 2 hits, double, .340.

A: Dellin Betances threw six no-hit innings, giving up one unearned run, three walks, 8 Ks, 1 HBP, 1 WP. He is so much like J.R. Richard was. Same height. Unhittable. Throws hard. Strikes out a lot. The only question is his control. See Richard’s baseball record and how many he walked. Then think Betances. Betances’ ERA is 3.26. His reliever, Wilkins De La Rosa, gave up 2 runs in 3 IP and took the loss as Charleston lost 3-1. Carmen Angelini had 3 hits for the Riverdogs, and Braedyn Pruitt had two.

Mark Feinsand of the Daily News gives his quarter-point grades.

Unreal.

Derek Jeter is a # 2 hitter. He has six walks. No SB. His OPS+ is 103. 3 % better than a league average hitter. How does he get a B? A tablesetter who isn’t walking and not stealing. Gets a B. That’s not all.

Robbie Cano gets a C-? He, more than any offensive player, has brought this team down. He is at .207 now, but was in the .150s for most of the season so far. How does he avoid an F? Nine walks. OPS+ is 60. SIXTY. Giambi (.181) and Ensberg (see prev. post on Ensberg) get C minuses?

Jose Molina a B? I applaud the pitch-calling and D. But .203, and just 2 walks, an OPS+ of 44 gets a B? You gotta be s**tting me.

Overall Grade C? C? Check today’s standings. 20-22 may be a C. Last place isn’t C-worthy. 19 games out of 42 where the team has scored less than four runs isn’t a C. C is average.

I didn’t know the Yanks were in the NO TEAM LEFT BEHIND group.

Give me a break. Some of those grades are way too high.

Update: I will give Mark an A for his Hawkins grade, though. On the surface, it appears too high, and I do give LaTroy the “Sadie” Hawkins label. Lately he’s been Edwin Hawkins, as it’s “Oh Happy Day”. Take away the one bad outing vs. the Rays in the first week of the year (6 r in 2/3), and Hawkins 6.05 drops to a 3.38.

Now some notes from myself:

Combine that 3.38 with Joba (2.60), Mo (0.53), Farnsy (2.84) Ohlie (4.56), Bruney (1.59), Alby (3.95), Edwar (0.00), Veras (1.93) and Britton (1.93) and the bullpen has been superb. All I did was to remove 2/3 of one inning from Hawkins.

In fact, and here is the real indictment vs. the offense (I’ll bring it up again 19 of 42 < 4 runs) and Hughes and Kennedy.

The Yanks have an ERA of 4.26—10th in the league.
Take out Hughes (9.00 in 22 IP) and Kennedy (8.48 in 28 2/3) and that team ERA drops to…

3.55.

The 3.55 would rank 4th in the league. A big difference.

There’s more. Take out Igawa’s one game and it drops to

3.41 (3rd)

If Igawa was what the Yanks thought he would be, a half-way decent back-end pitcher, maybe one of the kids (Hughes or Kennedy) would be in AAA. Maybe not. You have to turn to the youth eventually. But what would have happened if Pavano and/or Igawa were actually earning say SOME of their money? Would the youth movement have been pushed back a year? Would it have helped the kids? Or would they still do in 2009 what they are doing now? I can’t answer that. What we can see is how much that the team ERA drops by (and remember, it’s only 1/4 of the way into the season, so the numbers will fluctuate more) when you take the kids and Igawa out of the equation.

Significant.

UPDATE: Mark explains:

Jeter: .455 with RISP on a team which is hitting .249 with RISP. That’s how he gets a B.

Cano: .341 in May. That’s how he gets to C-

Ok. He has his rationale. I have mine. I have to deduct the lack of walks and SB from the Captain. Cano’s hot May, for me, doesn’t erase the fact that he is still at .207 and the OPS+ is still 60. He has to get up in the .240’s for me to get to a C- grade.

I’m tough, but then if I got a 94, my dad would wonder why not a 98. If I dropped from a 97 one term to a 93 the next, my dad wondered why.

To each their own.

On what would have been Billy’s 80th,
the Yanks are in the cellar. Granted just
4 1/2 out of first, but still no cause for
celebration…at the Copa or anywhere.

At 20-22, the Yanks find themselves in last place, just 4 1/2 out of first, but last place nonetheless.

Amazing stat. Joba is in the bullpen. Yet with one win, he has more wins right now than Ian Kennedy and Phil Hughes combined. Tell me you saw that coming. Yanks, at 20-22, are 20-15 when Phil or Ian don’t have a decision. Phil and Ian combined? 0-7. ERA of 9.00 for Phil, and 8.48 for Ian. Ouch.

One person actually agrees with Hank going off on the players—Tino Martinez. According to Dan Martin’s article in the Post, Tino says “I think Hank has every right to do that, because they are playing lackadaisical.” Remember the image of the cartoon the other day, where I said wake me when something exciting happens? That they were boring? Pete Abraham admits on his blog now that the team is boring. Tino continues, stating that statements like the one made by Hank have an effect on a team and often work. “You don’t want guys getting complacent with huge contracts. This kind of thing sends a message that you’re not afraid to get rid of guys, which is a good thing to throw out there. It ignites you.” Tino also says that they “need to pick up the intensity level.” Hmmm. Didn’t I just write about that the other day?

As bad as things are for the Yanks right now, Girardi has a pass. Randolph doesn’t. A bad stretch vs. the Yanks, Braves and Rox could cost Willie his job.

Great line from George A. King III—right now the Yanks can’t score in an Amsterdam brothel. Ouch.

Darrell Rasner tonight (if they get it in…rain) for the Yanks. Last May 19th, at Shea, is where Rasner fractured the index finger of his pitching hand, ruining his year.

Hmmm. Regular blog readers know I wanted Brett Gardner on this team as a backup OF. Mostly to give the added dimension of speed. Others wanted Ensberg because of his power. I can see the point of Gardner needing to develop some more, but what if the Yanks had done what I suggested? As of now, the Yanks are next-to-last in the AL in SB. Twelve total, five by Damon. Granted that with A-Rod’s injury and then the injury to Betemit the Yanks needed to employ Ensberg, but you couldn’t have predicted injuries come the end of spring training. Had the Yanks dumped Ensberg, they probably would have had to turn to Cody Ransom or Nick Green to fill in. Anyway, here is a look at the four:

Ensberg. .217-1-4. Yup. Providing the power. (Heavy dose of sarcasm). His two walks yesterday now give him 6 in 69 AB. Speaking of power, that one HR is the ONLY XBH he has out of 15 hits. OPS + of 52.

Gardner. .288-2-15. Not great, not poor. 19 walks. Good. 11 of 34 hits for XB. Good. 8 for 13 in SB. Had ankle problems, but the 8 SB are 3 more than Damon’s team-leading total. Plus, he has a better arm than Venus de Damon.

Ransom. .246-5-17 at SWB. No great shakes. Only 8 walks, 32 K in 134 AB.

Green. .227-3-14 at SWB. Only 5 walks in 124 AB. 28 K. Nothing special either.

Gonzo is 9 for 32, 1 RBI. No pop, but does have the glove and an OPS+ of 98.

You gotta wonder. I wasn’t sold on Ensberg and still am not.

Neither Ransom or Green is doing well. But then, neither is Ensberg. At least Gardner could have provided a missing dimension.

AAA: SWB PPD.

AA: Trenton won 7-2. Jason Jones (6-0, 2.20) 7 IP, 1 R. Melancon 2 IP, gave up a run. He did K 4. Ramiro Pena 2 hits, triple, 3 RBI. Edwar Gonzalez 2 RBI. Chris Malec 3 hits. Kevin Russo 2 hits, RBI.

A (advanced): Tampa scored 2 in the top of the 9th and won 5-4. Luis Nunez single knocked in the two runs with two out in the top of the 9th. He drove in 3 for the game. The other 2 runs came on a 2-run HR by Tim “Ready for” Battle. Ivan Nova gave up 4 runs in 5 2/3.

A: Charleston won 2-1 despite getting only three hits. Zach McAllister (5-2, 2.20) went 7 scoreless, 7 H, 0 walks, 11 Ks. Bring him up to Tampa.

From Pete Abraham:

Girardi is not happy with Ian Kennedy and even more displeased with his hitters.

A few stats:

* The Yankees are hitting .229 against lefties. (My note: A-Rod and Jorge out. Shelley not picking up any of the slack)

* They’ve scored six runs in the last 42 innings.

* They were outscored 15-6 in this series.

* Johnny Damon was 1 for 18 in the series. (my note: 5 for last 36 or so).

* They drew 10 walks in four games against Tampa Bay. (my note: They haven’t been drawing walks all year. Too much 1st or 2nd pitch swinging).

Chad Jennings reports that contrary to what George A. King III wrote, McCutchen isn’t on his way to AAA….not yet.

As if things can’t get worse for the Yanks’ offense,
guess who they face tomorrow? (Shown as Twin and now a Met).

Recap: Ian Kennedy’s ERA actually rose from 8.37 to 8.48 as he gives up five in five innings. I don’t know what can be done. I really don’t know what more he can do in the minors, where he dominates (ERA there less than 1.90). He’s got to do it at this level. Unfortunately, he isn’t. But the truth is, even if he did, the offense failed to score 4 runs (and they needed more, obviously) for the 19th time in 42 games this year. Almost half. Tomorrow doesn’t get easier. It’s Johan Santana. [Read more →]

After a good outing at AAA,
Ian Kennedy (0-2, 8.37) gets
a second chance in the rotation.

A 4:10 start today, as it’s getaway DAY. Ideally, you’d probably like it earlier, but the way the Yanks’ getaway days have been, you may as well take what you can get.

Let’s see if Ian Kennedy learned anything from that outing in AAA. 7 1/3 IP, 0 R, 1 hit, that’s more of what he’s capable of. Throw strikes. Get ahead. Trust your stuff. 20 walks in 23 2/3 is ridiculous. As for Igawa, I’d be shocked if he isn’t on the way to AAA right now.

Cano has hit in eight of his last nine. 13 for 33. .150 to .205.
Melky is 5 for his last 31.
Damon is 5 for his last 32.
Moose dropped his ERA to 3.99. Since losing to Boston 4/17 (to go to 1-3, 5.75), Mussina is 5-0, 2.76.

Stat from Pete Abraham:

The catchers (Molina, Moeller, Stuart) and third basemen (Ensberg, Gonzalez and Betemit) are 17 of 92 (.185) with 5 RBI since Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada went out with their injuries.

I’m tired of sportswriters and broadcasters reminding us that it’s a long season. I know damn well it’s 162 games. I know damn well this team came back to make the playoffs in 2005 and 2007. I’m also sick of 39-39 (July 1, 2005) or 44-44 (July 13, 2007). Don’t patronize me. I know the team can come back and that it’s still early. It doesn’t mean I like it or want to see it again, … and yes, I lived through 1978 as a sixteen-year-old junior/senior in high school. I remember that year extremely well. How about just getting off to a decent start? No excuses.

Also, quit making excuses for the team’s offensive woes. We all know that A-Rod (last year’s MVP, 3x MVP, 522 career HR) and Posada (6th in MVP last year) are out. This lineup still has a two-time All Star (Damon), a future HOF (Jeter, 7x All Star, .317), another two-time AS (Abreu, .300), Giambi (5x all star, 371 HR), Cano (one AS appearance, .305) and Matsui (2x AS, .296). That’s six guys in the lineup who played in All-Star games, only one who is definitely way past his prime, and the one with the lowest career BA is Damon at .287. Any team would love to fill out six of the spots in their lineup with those kind of credentials.

It reminds me of something Ralph Houk did in 1965 when he was Yanks’ GM. When it was pointed out that maybe the run was over when the Yanks got off to a bad start (maybe after they fell to 19-27 in early June 1965), Houk huffed, puffed on his stogie, and exclaimed, “Think Mantle isn’t going to hit? Or Maris? Or Howard? Or Ford isn’t going to pitch?…” Um, Ralph? They didn’t. Not then or ever again were they what they were, and neither was the Yanks. Some sportswriters and broadcasters remind me of Houk, ca. 1965. Overconfident. Believing something will get done simply because it was done before.

Don’t sell me that. I’m not buying. Even without Alex and Jorge, this offense still should do better than have eighteen of forty-one games where they have scored less than three runs.   

No excuses. Time for Larry the Cable Guy again….GIT R DONE!

Maybe this year’s motivational T-shirts for the team should be a picture
                               of this guy with the GIT R DONE slogan.

Jason was right. The Celts came back. Are they the Minnesota Twins of the NBA right now? (The Twins have played in three WS. They have lost EVERY road game. They have won EVERY home game except for one—Game 7 of the 1965 WS, in which they were shut out by Koufax.)

I haven’t seen it anywhere else, but the N.Y. Post is reporting that Eric Hacker and Alfredo Aceves will be moving from A+ Tampa to Trenton, and that Dan McCutchen is going up to AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre from Trenton.

Aceves, 25, RHP 4-1, 2.11 at Tampa. 47 IP, 32 H. 37 to 8 K to walk ratio. Pitched 7 scoreless innings last night, 2 hits, 1 walk, 7 Ks.

Hacker, 25, RHP, 2-1, 0.86 at Tampa. 42 IP. 22 H. 28 to 5 K to walk ratio. Last pitched May 5th. Blister.

McCutchen 25, RHP, 4-3, 2.52 at Trenton. 50 IP. 38 H. 46 to 15 K to walk ratio. Struggled Tuesday with extra rest. 18-7 over last two years, Tampa and Trenton. ERA in that time? About 2.50.

After 11-10, 5.15 last year, and a 1-3, 5.75 start, who knew?

Recap: The Yanks bats come alive, exploding for two runs to give the Moose a ton of run support (SARCASM). Anyway, Moose wins his 5th straight. He was 1-3, 5.75 and now has won five straight and has dropped the ERA under 4.00. Who knew? Cano finally cracks the Mendoza line with a 4-4. Molina lays down two bunts (as he should). Joba and Mo are JOBA & MO. [Read more →]

AAA: SWB lost 11-6. Heath Phillips, getting another spot start due to Igawa not being there, gave up 8 R, 5 ER, in just one inning. (2-1, 6.00). The only pitching bright spot was a scoreless inning by Scott Patterson. Justin Christian had 2 hits, HR, 2 RBI. Jason Lane had 3 hits. Cody Ransom 2 hits, HR, 2 RBI.

AA: Trenton lost 10-6. Five errors, three by Reegie Corona at SS, doomed the Thunder. Phil Coke gave up 3 runs, all unearned, in 5 IP. Mike Gardner gave up four runs, all unearned, in two innings. Corona did have two hits, double, 2 RBI. Edwar Gonzalez had 3 hits, one of which was a double.

A (Advanced): Tampa lost 1-0. They only got 3 hits. Alfredo Aceves (4-1, 2.11) went seven scoreless IP, but Josue Selenes gave up a run and that’s all she wrote.

A: Charleston lost 1-0 as well. Guess the offense has a flu all the way down the system? Justin Snyder got the Riverdogs only hit of the game. Jason Stephens pitched six scoreless innings, but Jesse Hoover gave up the only run of the game in the 7th.

On this date in 1967, Mickey Mantle
became the 6th player to hit his 500th HR
when he hit #500 off Stu Miller at the Stadium.

We’ve reached the quarter-pole. 19-21. 4th place. Granted less than five out (behind, no…not Boston, but Tampa Bay) but the team is boring and lifeless. Joe Girardi insists his team is playing hard. Playing hard is one thing, playing smart is another. I do find this quote from Pete Abraham’s site a bit laughable. Joe Girardi insisted that his team has plenty of energy. “This is a very lively group. This group shows a lot of energy every day,” he said. “That’s what you want and eventually that’s going to pay off.”

They sure don’t look energetic, do they? No hit-and-run, no steals, no runs.

We aren’t happy, and if we aren’t, you know Hank isn’t. He says it’s time for some players to earn their cash. The N.Y. Post headline today is “fat cats.” Hmmm. Think they read my post yesterday in which I used that exact expression? (just kidding…).

Brian Cashman’s contract is up after this year. Things get interesting. Torre last fall, Brian this upcoming fall? There are things I like about Cashman. Then again, there are things I don’t like. I think Cashman’s best attribute is getting the right pieces mid-season to rectify a sinking ship. In 2000, he picked up David Justice, without whom the Yanks don’t win the World Series. In 2003, he dumped Robin Ventura and picked up Aaron Boone, and we know what happened in Game 7 of that ALCS. He lucked out with Aaron Small and Shawn Chacon in 2005. Who’d have thought the two of them would go 17-3 down the stretch? In 2006, Bobby Abreu and Cory Lidle. Last year it was the move he didn’t make. No Gagne, but bring up Joba. So mid-season, Cashman has been fine.

I also give him credit for starting to build up the system, although I find it a few years too late. At least we are starting to see some young talent come up. More talent looks as if it is a few years away. Good for that.

But if I give him credit for that, I also have to criticize him for a few things. Some awful, awful signings. Pavano. Igawa. Jaret Wright. Farnsworth. Giambi (ok, I’ll excuse that one). Trying to keep the team afloat with retreads like Clemens and Randy Johnson. Contreras. For as much as the in-season moves have been decent, the off-season Cashman moves have been horrendous. Not to mention how this team is put together.

A team is like a jigsaw puzzle. The best looking piece isn’t necessarily the piece that fits.

Let’s take a look at how this team is constructed. There is a lot not to like.

 
C–Posada is 36, 37 in August. He is now on the DL. Molina is great defensively, but the .203 BA and lack of drawing walks are hurting the Yanks. They are catchers, so you know neither will be able to run. Molina is 3 for his last 41. Problem here is not having a young backup for when Jorge reached this age. Montero and Romine are three or four years away. Just in time for the end of Posada’s deal, but in the meantime, the Yanks are forced to give a 36 year old catcher a four-year deal.

 
1B–Giambi comes off the books after this year. I hate multi-year deals. Anything over four years (and that’s a push, right Pavano?) is too much in my eyes. I’ll give Cashman a break on the big G however. The Yanks signed him to a seven-year deal right after the big G won the MVP in 2000 and was the runnerup in 2001. 2002 was good. .314 with 41 HR. Since then, there have been the steroids, the tumor, and a BA that has topped .255 just once. The defense is awful. He can’t run. He does draw walks and even now still leads the team in HR. But he is one-dimensional. The Yanks need less of those types of players. As much as we like Shelley Duncan, he is one-dimensional too.

 
2B–I don’t think anyone saw this coming. Cano is an impatient hitter, we knew that. A .306 hitter with 97 RBI last year. .342 in 2006. .183 right now. 11 RBI in the mostly 7 hole. 11 x 4 is 44. That’s the pace he is on. 120 OPS+ in 2007, 49 now. The guy hit what, .450 in spring training? Just signed to a four-year deal, and just 25. With all the problems the Yanks have had….the injuries to A-Rod & Posada, the ineffectiveness of Hughes and Kennedy, I think it’s safe to say that Cano may have cost the Yanks four wins by now. They are 4 1/2 out. You can do the math. Maybe there is a batting title in the future. Cano’s impatience may keep him from getting that. If there is no improvement in plate discipline, and it becomes apparent that he is what he will always be, Cano may be the best trade bait the Yanks have. He doesn’t have speed. It’s amazing that the Yanks right now have NO SB from their middle infielders. Usually one of them is a base-stealer. Not always, but usually. Only three attempts from the two–combined. Lefty hitting Justin Snyder, 22, is hitting .314 at low-A Charleston. In 400 Minor League at bats, he is hitting .328-7-59 with 74 walks. 13 steals. Not great, but it could make Cano expendable in say three years, esp. if Cano doesn’t show patience at the plate and still seems lackadaisical. A lot of the Yankee failures this year can be put right at Cano’s doorstep.

SS–An interesting call. Jeter is hitting .305, but he has just six walks (pace for 25) and NO steals. Not what you want from a # 2 hitter. Jeter turns 34 this year. His contract ends in 2010 when he turns 36. After that, it gets interesting. The Yanks won’t let the icon go, but where does he play? With the range diminishing, SS should not be in his future after 2010. His next hit is #2400, and #2500 is on its way this year (barring injury). When that contract expires, 3000 should already be in the bag. We have, however, seen a dropoff in power. Both the OBP and SA are both down about 50 points. He isn’t walking or stealing. Will he be a .280 hitting singles-hitting SS with no walks, speed or range in a few years? Will the fans refuse to see the diminishing skills at age 37 and refuse to let him go, just as they didn’t want to face facts with Bernie?

3B–The Yanks just signed Alex to a 10-year deal taking him to 42. The last ?? years will probably be at DH, just as Montero arrives. Does this mean Montero catches? 1B? What about Romine at the C spot? Montero is just 18. In 253 minor league at bats, he is hitting .304-8-47. Jeter is a year older than Alex. Both can’t DH. What then?

OF–Damon has five steals. One reason I wanted Gardner on this team was what I perceived as the lack of team speed. I find it alarming that Abreu has just two steals. Just three for Melky. None for Jeter. Alex has been out the last two weeks, but he only had one. This doesn’t look like an athletic, versatile, multi-dimensional team. One with power, speed and defense. There is no speed on the bench (Ensberg, Betemit, Duncan, Gonzalez, Molina, Moeller) which is why I wanted Gardner. I realize you don’t want to stunt the kid’s growth, but this team doesn’t manufacture runs. They look old and slow. I hate waiting for the HR. Without Matsui’s HR last night, this team did NOTHING. Gardner had some leg troubles. Still, he is at .288 with 8 steals in 13 attempts.

Stats from today’s Post. Starting pitcher’s ERA (before last night) 5.08, 27th in the majors. BA 12th. 19th in runs scored. 28th in stolen bases. 28th. No speed. Slow. One of the most underrated but necessary skills in baseball is a simple one. Running the bases. Beating out a grounder. Beating out a DP ball and letting the opponent get a force rather than two. Going 1st to 3rd, 2nd to home. Scoring on a SF. Most simple yet necessary aspect of the game. Baserunning. 21 year old Austin Jackson is doing OK at AA, .281-0-6, but he isn’t ready. 19 year old Jose Tabata has been struggling mightily at AA.

The team is pieced together wrong. Not enough speed. Mediocre defensively. Not enough guys willing to draw a walk. Not enough guys who are willing to hit-and-run, steal a base. No leadership. No take-charge guy. A “firebrand” if you will. A Munson/Piniella type. A Billy-type. I mentioned this yesterday.

Lastly, pitching. Finally they are putting pieces together for a future staff. It’ll take years though. It should have been done a while ago. But as I’ve pointed out time and time again, where are the lefties? It looks like once again the Yanks will draft a RHP in the first round. Name me a lefty starting prospect in this organization (say Igawa and you are dead meat.) Chase Wright. 25 year old Phil Coke? Don’t see it. Other than that, ??? When are they going to draft and/or develop a lefty? Pettitte is 36. Sign Sabathia? What if they don’t? The organization was built on Pennock, Gomez, Russo, Ford, Lopat, Page, Arroyo, Guidry, John, Righetti, Lyle, Key, Pettitte, to name a lot. The team right now has no lefties other than Pettitte on the team. Traber and Heath Phillips are both relievers at SWB. Michael Dunn is 23. He’s in A ball. A few years away if at all. Wright, Coke, Dunn. That’s all the lefty starters in the whole organization other than the $46M bust.

The team has been pieced together for one dimension and one dimension only. To bash. They aren’t doing that. The D is mediocre, the team speed isn’t there (or isn’t being used, what with the lack of running, SB, etc.), there are no lefty pitchers, they can’t bunt, don’t hit-and-run. With only one dimension, no wonder we (and Hank) are pissed. No wonder that they are 2 games under .500 at the 1/4 pole. Extra inning game. Another team can get a man on, bunt him over or have him steal, get a hit to win the game. The Yanks? They wait for the HR because they can’t do what the others do. We’ve seen it for years.

And that has to fall into Cashman’s lap. As well as other front office members. This team needs to be pieced together the right way. Speed, Power, Defense, …

Balance. Youth and Vets.

We don’t see that. It shows.

Aside to Nick: Melancon was a top reliever at Arizona, but was shut down while in college. He missed all of 2007 due to Tommy John surgery. He is a big righty (of course, no lefties) with an above average fastball and good curve. He’s only thrown 31 1/3 IP in the minors. 1-0, 2.87. 24 K. It’s good he’s up at AA, but it may be too early to really get a read on him, esp. after last season. They are high on him. For more about him, type Melancon in “Search It” on the right of this page. It’ll bring up all the posts in which I mention him. Hope it helps.

Celtics need to hold serve in Game 5 tonight. Lose at home and the Cavs probably wrap it up in Game 6. How disappointing that would be…to not even make the Eastern finals after a 66 win season?