Monday, August 22, 2011

Minnesota Recap

The Good

3 out of our 4 starters were exceptional this series. Sabathia, Nova and Hughes all pitched at least 7 innings, allowing a total of 5 runs between them. Hughes pitched 2 outs into the 8th before being pulled. With the exception of Laffey, who apparently plays for us, the bullpen had 8.2 scoreless innings throughout this series.

The Yankee offense was alive and well this series. The Yankees combined for 23 runs in this 4 game series, while hitting 8 homeruns. Andruw Jones hit two of them after watching old tapes at the suggestion of his mother.

"My mom gave me a call and said 'You should watch these old tapes I have.' And I was like 'Mom! Not in front of Jeter!' But she was like, 'Just watch the tapes!' So I got home and put in the tapes. They were reruns of He-Man, and they were so inspiring! Skeletor, the embodiment of evil, would devise his wicked schemes, and then He-Man would always stop him. I was so pumped up, I just started swinging for the fences, which I always do, only now I'm actually making contact."

The Bad

In the midst of what was an exceptional series, we had one black eye, one ugly mark, one player who underperformed and then walked off the field acting as if he were the victim. If you saw the game, then you know I'm talking about A-Rod, who in his first game back went 0-5 leaving 6 runners on base.

"Why does everyone hate me?" asked A-Rod. So selfish.

The Ugly

AJ Burnett's swearing at Girardi when getting pulled out of the game in the 2nd inning after allowing 7 runs. I know he got frustrated, but you don't fault your manager for your own underperformance, and you don't swear at your manager after he just saved your ERA from further embarrasment. The truth is, Burnett is at risk of losing his spot come playoff time. We have 5 starters who are outperforming him. Sabathia, Colon, Hughes, Nova, and Garcia are all pitching better than him.

No One Man Should Have All This Power

Granderson tied Bautista with an inside-the-park homerun, but lost it later that day when Bautista hit his league leading 36. Besides Granderson, Texeira, Swisher, Jones, and Martin all put smiles on the children's faces. 8 homeruns from those guys means $16 for the Children's Health Fund.

Mark Teixeira 34hr = $68
Curtis Granderson 35hr = $70
Russell Martin 15hr = $30
Alex Rodriguez 13hr = $26
Jorge Posada 10hr = $20
Robinson Cano 21hr = $42
Andruw Jones 8hr = $16
Brett Gardner 5hr = $10
Nick Swisher 15hr = $30
Derek Jeter 4hr = $8
Francisco Cervelli 1hr = $2
Eduardo Nunez 4hr = $8
Ramiro Pena 1hr = $2
Eric Chavez 1hr = $2
Total = $334

5 comments:

Rich Mahogany said...

Dropping Burnett from the playoff roster is a no-brainer unless we are short a starter. If the Giants could do this with Zito, the Yankees can do it with Burnett.

Fernando Alejandro said...

It is a no-brainer, but the Yankees have a history of sticking with their veterans through their struggles. Burnett has been trying to turn this around since last season. He's quickly becoming Javier Vazquez.

Anonymous said...

The bottom line is that he does not deserve to be in the playoff roster. My question is: what are the chances of getting rid of him during the off season?

Fernando Alejandro said...

Slim to none. He's owed $16 million a season through 2013. We'd have to eat a considerable portion of his contract, and then not expect much in return.

Anonymous said...

Ouch! Will he be of use in the bullpen?