Is Mike Mussina Done?

There has been a lot of talk about whether or not Mike Mussina is done as a pitcher, and his most recent start certainly makes it less clear. After two rough starts against the Red Sox, Mussina bounced back with a 7 inning 2 run performance against the offense heavy White Sox. His start before the two games with the Red Sox was a 6 inning 1 run effort against Tampa. So the question remains, is Mussina done as a pitcher?

My take on it is that he's just getting older. He's going to have some rough starts and he's going to have some good starts. In fairness, his first start against the Red Sox, a 5.2 inning effort giving up 4 runs, was not awful, and his first start of the season, another 5.2 inning effort with 3 runs against Toronto wasn't either. His one awful start was his second game against the Red Sox where he lasted 3 innings and gave up 5 runs. Even then, his troubles with the Red Sox were really just troubles with Manny Ramirez. So is Mussina done? I'm not convinced that he is.

If you're counting on Mussina to be your number 2 starter (as he is in the depth chart) then yes, you're in for some dissapointment. However, if you're looking for Moose to be a 4th or 5th starter, give some quality starts, keep the Yankees in some games, and help coach the youngsters, then you will get exactly what you want. I still believe he can pitch in this league, just not like he used to.

I do have some concerns about Mussina. Namely, the fact that he has given up 7 homeruns this season. The two runs he gave up yesterday were off two solo homeruns, and the one run he gave up against Tampa was also off a solo homerun. When his curve is flat, it gets hit hard. I was initially concerned yesterday when the YES guns had him topping out at 80 mph on the fastball and was throwing his change and curve in the mid-60's range, but then they had Mariano topping out at 87 mph, so I think it was just the gun. Is Mussina done? I say give him a chance.

Rivera Sets Clock Back

Before the season started, I wrote a post about how Mariano was going to be entering his decline years and that we as fans, couldn't expect the same production from him going forward. I wrote that Papelbon was young, and dominant, and that would carry him to have a better year than Mariano. I used Mariano's concerning numbers from last season as indications that he was declining, and Papelbon's great numbers to show what we could expect. So far, Mariano has shut me the crap up.

Mariano has yet to allow a run this season in 9 innings. In that time, he's recorded 6 saves and has struck out 8. At this time last year, Mariano was giving up walk off homeruns to the likes of Marco Scutaro. We were making excuses for his performance saying that Torre wasn't using him enough to keep him sharp. Now, there's no need for excuses. Mariano has set back the clock. I know there's still a lot of baseball left this season, and a lot of things can happen in that time, but Mariano has been truly dominant thus far, and I am thoroughly impressed. Not that being impressed by him is a new thing, but I'm circa 1996 impressed. Keep throwing that cutter, Mo. Keep throwing that cutter.

Chi City Out Hit by Boogie Down Bronx Crew

The Good

Well, Mussina showed enough to keep the critics off his back with a 7 inning 2 run performance. Both runs came on solo homeruns by Joe Crede and Quentin Tarantino. This was a huge outing for Moose, and it wasn't against some push over team. Posada had a 4 hit night, with 3 of those hits being doubles. Damon continued his recent hot streak with a pair of hits, and even Melky got busy with a couple hits of his own. Giambi had a hit and was walked 3 times. Mariano closed the game with a perfect 1.2 innings.

Perhaps the best thing of the game is that the Yankee offense got scored 6 runs without one long ball. Bad news for the children (more on that below), but good news for this offense.

The Bad

Hawkins just can't seem to get groundball outs as was advertised. Traber can't get out lefties easily either. Hopefully they pick it up, but is anyone else not concerned about the bullpen when
Chamberlain leaves? I'm having my doubts...

The Ugly

Abreu's 0-5 night with 2 strikeouts was ugly, but not as ugly as Robinson Cano's streak of ugliness. He extended his hitting slump tonight going 0-4 with a walk. He did score a run, but he's also batting .165, so its a trade off. Honestly though, I'm not concerned.

Respect Jeter's Gangster is for the Children

The "Respect Jeter's Gangster" blog joined Johnny Damon's homerun club, which raises money for the Children's Health Fund. We are pledged to donate $1.00 for every homerun the Yankees hit this season. We will keep a running tally of the homeruns hit and the money donated throughout the season. Tonight, the Yankees had a lot of hits, but none left the park. The C&C boys were limited to no homeruns for a second consecutive night, throwing yet another roadblock on their way to Derek Jeter's single season homerun record, set by Derek Jeter:

Melky Cabrera 3hr = $3.00
Alex Rodriguez 4hr = $4.00
Hideki Matsui 3 hr = $3.00
Bobby Abreu 3hr = $3.00
Jorge Posada 1hr = $1.00
Jason Giambi 3hr = $3.00
Johnny Damon 3hr = $3.00
Morgan Ensberg 1hr = $1.00
Robinson Cano 1hr = $1.00
Chad Moeller 1hr = $1.00
Total = $23.00

If you are interested in Johnny Damon's Homerun Club or the Children's Health Fund you can find links to both at the top right hand corner of our page.

Yesterday's Windy City Victory

The Good

Yankee offense came up big in the 7th, loading the bases and having Abreu hit a grand slam. Damon hit a 3-run shot of his own to put it a little further out of reach. He may have known Farnsworth was going to pitch. Wang did not have his best stuff, but he limited the White Sox to 3 runs over 6 innings, striking out 5. He gave up 10 hits and 2 walks, so the 3 runs scored is near miraculous considering. Don't look now, but Wang has been striking out more batters than usual. Chamberlain came into the game in the 7th with the bases loaded, and got out of the jam with only one run scoring.

The Bad

Billy Traber came in the 7th to face lefty power bat Jim Thome, he walked him after working a full count. Bruney came in and loaded the bases on a walk and a hit after recording one out. Farnsworth came in the 9th and gave up 1 run on a homerun. Outside of Chamberlain, relief was shaky. Makes you wonder about that 8th inning spot, once Chamberlain is gone.

The Ugly

Derek Jeter's swinging strikeout on a high fastball with the bases loaded. Abreu cleared everything with his grandslam, but it was still an ugly strikeout.

Respect Jeter's Gangster is for the Children

The "Respect Jeter's Gangster" blog joined Johnny Damon's homerun club, which raises money for the Children's Health Fund. We are pledged to donate $1.00 for every homerun the Yankees hit. We will keep a running tally of the homeruns hit and the money donated throughout the season. Last night, Johnny Damon continued his quest for his first 30 homerun season with a shot to right field, Giambi knocked one out as he continues to fight his way out of his slow start, and Abreu hit a grandslam to help win the game. The C&C boys were limited to no homeruns despite their opposite field power:

Melky Cabrera 3hr = $3.00
Alex Rodriguez 4hr = $4.00
Hideki Matsui 3 hr = $3.00
Bobby Abreu 3hr = $3.00
Jorge Posada 1hr = $1.00
Jason Giambi 3hr = $3.00
Johnny Damon 3hr = $3.00
Morgan Ensberg 1hr = $1.00
Robinson Cano 1hr = $1.00
Chad Moeller 1hr = $1.00
Total = $23.00

If you are interested in Johnny Damon's Homerun Club or the Children's Health Fund you can find links to both at the top right hand corner of our page.

A WTF Moment

So, I'm not exactly the manager of the New York Yankees but when you have a save situation in the ninth (4 runs or less) and its the game after an off day, don't you bring your closer in instead of Kyle Farnsworth? Just Curious.

30 seconds later update:

I guess Girardi is a sportsman and he didn't want to show the Sox up by winning by more than three runs.

A World Without Cashman

I don't know about anyone else, but I've been thinking a lot lately about how life would be without Brian Cashman. After Hank had his first Steinbrenner melt down about the rotation the other day, it seems that he has now calmed down after speaking with Cashman, and they are sticking to the original plan. Cashman also had to explain to him that the reason they put Joba in the bullpen last season was because of inning limits, not because they were making him a reliever. Steinbrenner stated that he wasn't around last season, so he didn't know, but c'mon. Everybody in the tri-state area knew about Joba's inning limits, the Joba rules, and the whole "we plan on keeping him as a starter" thing. Well, everybody except Hank.

With this likely being the first of many Steinbrenner melt downs, I started thinking about how good Cashman was at putting out fires. He did it with Sheffield during his walk year when he came into spring training running his mouth, and he did it dealing with George Steinbrenner all these years. Like the middle child, Cashman has been forced to resolve all the issues within the ever dysfunctional Yankee family, and it has to have gotten old by now. So what would happen if Cashman walked at the end of this year? Went to another team that can appreciate the kind of player development approach he has? What if Hank becomes the GM, or installs a puppet GM so that he can call all the real shots? What would life with the Yankees be like without Cashman?

For starters, you can say goodbye to the kids. Hank was very vocal about wanting Santana last season, which would have meant sending Hughes, Melky, and potentially Ian Kennedy to the Twins for him. This coming off season, you could expect Hank to go for free agents Sabathia and Teixeira, but the smart money says he tries a trade to fill the other spot in the rotation, or to find a true setup guy for Mariano Rivera. Remember when we were shopping Melky Cabrera for Mike Gonzalez a couple years back? And then we shopped him for Santana last season? I think Melky would be gone if Hank took over. Thankfully, next off season will have a good free agent crop, so he won't need to architect the trade of our entire tripple A roster to land somebody, but if someone becomes available through trade, Hank will be like his father, and will send away anyone he needs to.

Some people welcome this approach. They hate Cashman for preaching patience, and want him to just sign every big name that becomes available. This is probably because they don't remember our mercenary teams of the early part of this decade. When the Yankees went way over $200 million in payroll, for over the hill, under achieving veterans with no real allegiance to the Yankees, but some allegiance to their big pay check. The whole all-star at every position plan didn't work. If Cashman goes, I fear we'll be back to that. Remember Randy Johnson, Carl Pavano, Jaret Wright, Tony Womack, distraction crazy Sheffield, and Quantrill? We would be back to that in no time.

Joba Chamberlain: Setup Man or Starting Rotation?

Hank Steinbrenner has spoken and it appears he is most interested in moving Joba Chamberlain into the rotation. With regards to Chamberlain's position as a reliever Hank stated: "The mistake was already made last year switching him to the bullpen out of panic or whatever, ... I had no say in it last year and I wouldn't have allowed it." Apparently, he has no recollection of the young arms and increasing work load argument that was the entire reason for the Joba rules and his move to the bullpen. After saying that Mussina needed to pitch like Jamie Moyer, Hank made it clear that he wants Chamberlain in the rotation, and he wants it now. With that being the situation it brings to the front the on-going debate of where Joba Chamberlain can best help the team. Here are the two sides of the debate:

Chamberlain as a Starter

The decision is easy, do you want to see Chamberlain pitching 200+ innings a year, or do you want him throwing 70-90 innings a year? As a starter, Chamberlain can be the hard throwing ace with 20 win potential. When we get to the playoffs, an arm like Chamberlain will be necessary seeing as our lack of pitching strength has knocked us out of the playoffs in recent years. A one-two combination of Wang and Chamberlain can easily grab us 40 wins in a season, and lead us to perennial division titles.

Chamberlain as a Reliever

Yes, 200+ innings of Chamberlain gives you more than 70-90 innings of Chamberlain, but how many games will he end up effecting? If Chamberlain starts, he will pitch in a maximum of 35 games. As a reliever, he has the ability to get into 60-70 games, and is a near lock to hold all of them. The biggest weakness of the Yankees in recent years has been the bridge between the starter and the closer. That weakness has also been exploited by opposing teams in the post season. If you keep him in the bullpen, he can eventually grow into the closer when Mariano retires.

So what do you think? Should Chamberlain be a starter, or should he stay in the bullpen?

C&C Boys Pursuing Homerun Record

It was back in 1999 when Yankee captain Derek Jeter reached the highly coveted 24 homerun mark that he had pursued his entire career. Prior to that season he had been unable to break the 20 homerun mark, but found the extra strength necessary to reach that plateau as he led the Yankees to another world series title.

Now, Melky Cabrera and Robinson Cano's pursuit of the ever elusive Derek Jeter single season homerun mark, set by Derek Jeter, is one for the ages. Cabrera has jumped ahead with 3, while Cano has languished in a seemingly unending slump, which has him stumped at 1. Although this homerun race has not gotten the press coverage it deserves, we at the "Respect Jeter's Gangster" blog feel the need to keep Yankee fans posted. So from now on, we will keep you updated on all the happenings of the legendary C&C homerun chase.

Yankees Avoid Sweep

The Good

They call Andy Pettitte the stopper, since he's very good at giving the Yankees a phenomenal pitching performance after they've been losing a few games in a row. I for one don't feel like that credits him enough. The Yankees did have quite the losing streak, but the last game they won was pitched by, well, Andy Pettitte. So instead of calling him "the stopper", can we just call him "the sole reason the Yankees have any wins in the last week"? I feel it has a better ring to it. Pettitte pitched 7 innings and gave up no runs while striking out 5. He even had it perfect through the first few innings, until Jay Payton hit that cowardly infield single.

The offense stepped up with back to back doubles by A-Rod and Matsui scoring a pair of runs, and Johnny Damon cracking a monster 2-run homerun on his way to a 30 homerun season. Later on, Jeter put the game further out of reach with a bases loaded double.

Bruney and Mariano combined for two scoreless innings of relief.

The Bad

Chamberlain had his first really shaky appearance giving up a pair of hits before a rain delay took him out of the game. Bruney took over and recorded the three outs of the inning, but not before one of those runs scored. It is Chamberlain's first run of the season. Giambi continued his slide with an 0-3 night.

The Ugly

Andy Pettitte had Brian Roberts caught stealing when he threw to first, but Jason Giambi threw the ball into the outfield further proving that he cannot throw a ball to save his life. Jeter pretended to have caught the ball and put an imaginary tag on Roberts which may have kept him from going to third. Also, A-Rod came out of the game with a quad injury. He'll probably be out a few days, but luckily they have an off day tomorrow, and with his wife set to give birth soon, he was probably going to miss these games anyway.

Respect Jeter's Gangster is for the Children

The Respect Jeter's Gangster blog joined Johnny Damon's homerun club that raises money for the Children's Health Fund. We are pledged to donate $1.00 for every homerun the Yankees hit. Johnny Damon added to the cause with his 2nd homerun of the season:

Melky Cabrera 3hr = $3.00
Alex Rodriguez 4hr = $4.00
Hideki Matsui 3 hr = $3.00
Bobby Abreu 2hr = $2.00
Jorge Posada 1hr = $1.00
Jason Giambi 2hr = $2.00
Johnny Damon 2hr = $2.00
Morgan Ensberg 1hr = $1.00
Robinson Cano 1hr = $1.00
Chad Moeller 1hr = $1.00
Total = $20.00

If you are interested in Johnny Damon's Homerun Club or the Children's Health Fund you can find links to both at the top right hand corner of our page.

I Feel Like I Haven't Seen You in Forever

So the offense showed up today. Something they didn't do much at this time last year for Andy Pettitte. Great game by Andy, the bullpen needed that. What they didn't need was two rain delays. Oh well, Joba was less than sharp but he's been away for a while, we'll have to forgive him. Not much to complain about other than the fact that we just lost a series to Baltimore, but we already knew that.

There is something to worry about, however. A-Rod left the game with a strained quad. Is it serious? We don't know, but if it is that could be a problem. Hopefully he's okay, but at least he's getting hurt just as his wife is due, so we were probably going to lose him right about now a few games anyway. Maybe he faked the injury to spend more time with his family. Selfish bastard! I wonder if he's started saving for college?

That's the second quad injury of the season. I don't even think that is a common injury. Have you ever strained a quad? Ankle, knee or hamstring injuries I'm used to hearing about, not quad so much. So last year Marty Miller got the axe for all the hamstring injuries the team suffered. This year Girardi made everyone run, a lot, to avoid such injuries. Are the running drills and the quad injuries correlated? I don't know, but I'm guessing they won't fire Girardi over it. Maybe it's just bad luck, or maybe guys in their mid 30s shouldn't do that much running in preparation for the season. It seems all we've done is move the injuries to the front of the leg.