2007 Yankees

xavier mcdaniel

Allie wrote:

the basement? Oh no. Is there a window?


I think you're right actually.

nope, but it's easier to file a story from since it's near the clubhouses.

Allie

xavier mcdaniel wrote:

nope, but it's easier to file a story from since it's near the clubhouses.

that is so cool
it must've been like a funereal atmosphere in there last night though

Hawkshore

Allie wrote:

I=wait what is a stick boy? Like you carry the guys' sticks?

Good One LMAO!!!!

Allie

stickboy wrote:

nah I had no idea about the wedding reception room!

yea they take care of every players hockey sticks, the curves, taping up, arranging on the bench, etc.
That or working in hockey or the NY rangers in any sort of capacity would be my dream...and money would never even be an issue. I'll take whatever they wanna pay me

it's true. Weddings, bar mitzvahs, the whole 9

oh well maybe they are hiring
they need some good male role models at MSG j/k

Allie

Hawkshore wrote:

Good One LMAO!!!!

oh shush, I don't know anything about hockey except that you have to get the puck in the net , off sides, what a hat trick means and what a power play means. And I know who like Wayne Gretzky is and Mario Lemeux and Mark Messier. What else do I have to know?

xavier mcdaniel

Allie wrote:

that is so cool
it must've been like a funereal atmosphere in there last night though

on the yankees side, the indians were pretty giddy as evidenced by the smell of beer on my shirt..

win or lose, it's still a baseball playoff game.

stickboy

Just read on yahoo that Wang said he "needs to rework on his slider cause now every hitter has gotten to know it and expect it and they kept laying off it. His only choice was to raise it a bit and they kept hitting me" he said.
I dont like the sound of that :(

stickboy

Allie wrote:

oh shush, I don't know anything about hockey except that you have to get the puck in the net , off sides, what a hat trick means and what a power play means. And I know who like Wayne Gretzky is and Mario Lemeux and Mark Messier. What else do I have to know?

that the rangers rule! you got the rest

Allie

xavier mcdaniel wrote:

on the yankees side, the indians were pretty giddy as evidenced by the smell of beer on my shirt..

win or lose, it's still a baseball playoff game.

true
nothing beats the playoffs

yea I saw that, why weren't they drinking champagne?!

xavier mcdaniel

they had both, but i think more beer got on my shirt than champagne. luckily i wasn't drenched.

Allie

stickboy wrote:

that the rangers rule! you got the rest

ok
but they haven't ruled since like 1994, right?

I don't know enough about hockey to fairly comment but I'm from Long Island and I have more friends that are Islanders fans

but I'd be willing to reconsider.

stickboy

Hawkshore wrote:

Good One LMAO!!!!

oh booy..here we go! lmao!

lets just TRY to see this NON SEXUALLY?!?!?
pervs!

Allie

xavier mcdaniel wrote:

they had both, but i think more beer got on my shirt than champagne. luckily i wasn't drenched.

lol
and they didn't even have GOOD beer?!

yea that would've been nasty having to go home smelling like beer, right?

Hawkshore

stickboy wrote:

that the rangers rule! you got the rest

Damn......beat me to it except of course remove the Rangers and insert the Canucks

stickboy

Allie wrote:

ok
but they haven't ruled since like 1994, right?

I don't know enough about hockey to fairly comment but I'm from Long Island and I have more friends that are Islanders fans

but I'd be willing to reconsider.

hey hey hey

dont let the other ranger fans hear that!

mets and Isles go together and Yanks and Rangers, lol thats how it goes
there might be a few exceptions tho

NCBRI

BTW.........I've enjoyed the hell outa coming on here and talking Yankee baseball with you guys this year. It's especially interesting hearing some of the inside info. Will look forward to carrying the conversation over into what should be a very busy offseason.


Speaking of hockey......gotta go watch my Canes on VS now.

stickboy

NCBRI wrote:

BTW.........I've enjoyed the hell outa coming on here and talking Yankee baseball with you guys this year. It's especially interesting hearing some of the inside info. Will look forward to carrying the conversation over into what should be a very busy offseason.


Speaking of hockey......gotta go watch my Canes on VS now.

oh thanx I didnt know vs had a game today

nothingman44

Allie wrote:

oh shush, I don't know anything about hockey except that you have to get the puck in the net , off sides, what a hat trick means and what a power play means. And I know who like Wayne Gretzky is and Mario Lemeux and Mark Messier. What else do I have to know?

mario lemieux is all you need to know!

BetterManningNYG

stickboy wrote:

exactly. But we might have to go thru free agency... I know we havent had a catching prospect of his caliber for a while and Im not too sure what we have down there right now.

Allie wrote:

do we have a good catcher in the minor leagues?

i spent a lot of time learning about the minor league system when the yankees were 14.5 games out. the organization has several legitimate catching prospects, but none who will be ready to take over for posada in the next few years:


jesus montero: 17 years old, international free agent signing in 2006. was considered to be the top IFA available that year. batted .280 with 3 HRs in 107 ABs in his first professional season and led the GCL yankees to a gulf coast league championship.

Yankees Land Jesus Montero

Yankees' International Haul Sits At Eight: Organization considers this a "special year" for talent in Latin America

Yankees win GCL championship: Montero's second-inning key blow in rout of Dodgers


austin romine: 18 years old, 2nd round pick in 2007. played in one game with the GCL yankees after signing at the deadline. went 1-2 with an RBI double and a walk.

Baseball America wrote:

Romine’s brother Andrew is Arizona State’s starting shortstop, and his dad Kevin played there before his brief big league career. Austin also has committed to the Sun Devils, but the consensus in Southern California is he’ll never make it to Tempe. That’s despite a left hand injury that has plagued him all season. In May, he reaggravated what was diagnosed as a torn ligament in his thumb and had surgery. Rather than sit out the rest of the season, he focused on being El Toro’s closer. His arm is his best tool, among the most powerful in a strong draft crop of catchers. Romine’s pop times to second base have ranged from 1.78 to 1.85 seconds, putting him near an 80 on the 20-80 scouting scale. Romine’s receiving is less advanced, but he’s no slouch there and has the athletic ability to improve his deficient footwork. Offensively, Romine has gap power and makes consistent contact, and he’s got enough strength to project to hit for average home run power down the road.

MiLB.com: 2007 Draft Report

Draft Report: Austin Romine (2nd round, 94th overall)


chase weems: 18 years old, 6th round pick in 2007. signed at the deadline and will make his minor league debut in 2008.

Baseball America wrote:

Weems could be the Thomas Hickman of this year’s Georgia draft class. Hickman remained tucked away in the hills of north Georgia last year until his stock soared in the weeks before the draft and he was taken by the Marlins in the second round. Weems’ Columbus High made a late surge into the 3-A semifinals, and he was the Hornets’ catalyst. He has athleticism and a sound swing from the left side, but his best tool is his arm strength, which grades as a 65 on the 20-80 scale. His footwork is fine behind the plate, but he has stiff hands and he’s not an adept receiver, leading to questions about his ability to stay behind the plate. He’s committed to Alabama, and it could take second-round money to get him signed.

francisco cervelli: 21 years old, international free agent signing in 2003. ranked by baseball america in november of '06 as the yankees' top catching prospect. batted .279 with 2 HRs in 290 ABs for the high-A tampa yankees in 2007, and was named to the florida state league's mid-season and post-season all-star teams. described as an emotional leader. could reach the majors in late '09 or possibly '10.


p.j. pilittere: 25 years old, 13th round pick in 2004. batted .261 with 2 HRs for trenton in '07 after hitting .302 with 5 HRs for tampa in '06. not a top prospect, but many expect him to be the yankees' backup catcher in 2009 with an outside shot at starting in 2010.

Pilittere Holding His Own


omir santos: 26 years old, 21st round pick in 2001. not a very good hitter (.229 with 3 HRs in 2007 between AA and AAA) but is considered to be excellent at working with pitchers. that could eventually earn him a spot as a backup catcher in new york.

Santos Always Focusing On Improvement

BetterManningNYG

positives: he's joe torre. i shouldn't really have to say anything else here. the way in which he handled each of the last three regular seasons should be enough to earn him a new contract. is tony la russa really a serious candidate to replace him? c'mon...

negatives: 4-13 in their last 17 postseason games (after going 23-19 against those same teams during the regular season). of the 25 players who were on the 2004 postseason roster that started this streak, only six were still on the team in october of 2007 (seven if you count jason giambi, who wasn't actually on the '04 playoff roster). if i posted these numbers without saying which team (or manager) they referred to, the most common response would probably be to blame the manager.

conclusion: i'm glad it's not my decision to make (as long as they don't hire la russa). and whatever the case may be, joe deserves better than the way he's being treated right now.

xavier mcdaniel

That's pretty much what Mattingly said today:

Let me put it this way and it's really pretty simple to me. Whatever happens, whatever decisions that the organization makes and that's not an area as a coach or a player that you may have an opinion on. It's not something you have anything to do with but without a doubt the things the Joe has did (done) here and the way he has not only led this organization (and how) he treated people. He deserves to be treated with respect. No matter what happens, no matter what the decision is, Joe Torre needs to be treated with respect and anything less than that to me would be unacceptable for him to be treated any other way - with total respect because he deserves that. He don't (doesn't) talk bad about the organization, you don't hear him talk bad about any members of it. You don't hear him talk bad about the game, you don't hear nothing negative from Joe and he's handled himself with class. From when he took over it's been nothing but class and he needs to be treated with nothing but respect. I shouldn't say he demands it but he has demanded it in a sense by the way he has treated everyone and the job that he did.

"That's an area, that's not my job as a coach or as a player to comment on how the organization does things. How they do they things is how they do things. I'm just saying simply that he needs to be treated with respect.

"I don't think it's the right time to even talk about it because no decisions have been made. I work for the organization, I work under Joe, I work under Cash (Brian Cashman) and everyone else. Joe's my direct boss. He treated me great through this whole thing.

As a coach he lets you work, he treats you respect, listens to your opinions, makes his own decisions. So it's not time. We'll cross that bridge when it comes. In some timetable I would like an opportunity to manage but I'm not worried about the timetable. I'm not worried about what happens to me at this time.

"How the organization decides to do it, who floated it, I don't know whatever it is. I can't get involved with how things work here. I've been here long enough that it could anybody floating it and just basically making it up. So again Joe needs to be treated with respect and class. He's a class guy. He's been great. He needs to be treated with respect.

"Not very easy. I would think it's like following John Wooden or something. Those guys win championship after championship and they're in the playoffs every year. It's pretty much a no-win situation for someone coming in here if you don't live up to the expectations or live up to what he did. It's not going to happen so as far as someone coming in and taking over his job, it's not necessarily a great situation.

"We talked this morning. Joe to me sounded like he was in a pretty good frame of mind. He's a smart man, he understands what goes on.

"It's not right. It may be the way sometimes it goes here but it never makes it right. You always have to treat people with respect.

has Joe been treated with respect:

"It's not my place to make a decision on that. You all make a decisions on (that). Obviously he needs to be treated with respect.

"I just hope no matter what, no matter what happens or how anything shakes out that Joe Torre doesn't get treated with anything but respect.

"I think he should be. I think anyone should be. I don't care if it's whatever organization or company you work for, someone does a tremendous job for you, I would think you'd treat them properly.

BetterManningNYG

Champagne Breakfast wrote:

In his defense actually; If I were Arod I would not show up today either. He would be bombarded and harassed about his future and the series.

and if i had a $252 million contract, i wouldn't be packing my own stuff either.

i'd hire a team of specially-trained tuxedo-wearing monkeys to do it.

BetterManningNYG

Allie wrote:

I would work for Yankee Stadium too. I sent a resume for a job a while back, I forget what it was...something with communications
Needless to say I didn't get it :(

i send the yankees my resume every year after the season. i have yet to get a response. but it's probably not such a bad thing considering the horror stories i've heard about working for steinbrenner. apparently he'll call you up at 3 AM to yell at you and he's been known to fire people if his coffee isn't the right temperature (regardless of whether or not it's actually in their job description to be getting him coffee).

BetterManningNYG

NCBRI wrote:

Speaking of bullpen..........assuming Mo doesn't retire, who out there will be dependable other than Viz? I think that this is the biggest offseason need right here.

viz is dependable?

i don't think the free agent options are too spectacular, and history has shown that you can't buy a bullpen (farnsworth, gordon, karsay, etc).

the organization has a lot of young RPs who they think should be able to contribute at some point in 2008, but all of them have question marks attached.

BetterManningNYG

stickboy wrote:

Just read on yahoo that Wang said he "needs to rework on his slider cause now every hitter has gotten to know it and expect it and they kept laying off it. His only choice was to raise it a bit and they kept hitting me" he said.
I dont like the sound of that :(

that's not the problem. it's just in his head that it is (which is a much bigger concern).

the problem is that he needs to learn how to pitch on the road. the huge difference in his home/away splits has been the story of his three-year career. he needs to figure out a way to get comfortable on mounds other than the one at yankee stadium.

obviously, he won't be pitching on short rest again.

NCBRI

BetterManningNYG wrote:

viz is dependable?

I thought he was. He had a bit of a slow start and some health issues at the end, but I thought he was very dependable other than that. I agree that there is no magic solution, but I would like to see them find someone that they can throw out there in the 8th and be that bridge to Mo. I think Viz can be the 7th inning guy. We haven't had that consistent 8th inning guy since Gordon. Proctor didn't make it. Farnsworth, Dotel, the list goes on. With the way Joba pitched, you saw what a difference maker it is.

BetterManningNYG

NCBRI wrote:

I thought he was. He had a bit of a slow start and some health issues at the end, but I thought he was very dependable other than that. I agree that there is no magic solution, but I would like to see them find someone that they can throw out there in the 8th and be that bridge to Mo. I think Viz can be the 7th inning guy. We haven't had that consistent 8th inning guy since Gordon. Proctor didn't make it. Farnsworth, Dotel, the list goes on. With the way Joba pitched, you saw what a difference maker it is.

viz was very good for a while, but the shoulder injury at the end of the year made him completely useless. that has to be a concern going into '08 (if they re-sign him).

they won't find another joba in the minors, but they have some good relief prospects. we saw a number of them this year, and there are more on the way. unfortunately, the ones we saw this year didn't manage to get the job done (despite having very good stuff). bruney was the biggest disappointment, especially after 2006. i'm hopeful that veras or ohlendorf can put it together and be that key guy.

there are also three big-time prospects coming off tommy john surgery: humberto sanchez, j.b. cox, and mark melancon. all three are viewed as potential late-inning RPs. but the first year after TJ surgery can be rough, so it's hard to say if any of them will contribute.

Allie

whoa
tons of info here
thank you to the person who posted about the catching prospects, that was interesting and informative.

the piece about Mattingly is interesting too and I agree w/him

but i think Joe is done for.

Champagne Breakfast

Pretty good article in today's NY Daily News. Its on page 6&7 by Mike Lupica.
Basically describes how the Yankees have turned into the big rich kid who can't take a punch. Its very true. Like the kid who always has everything & just expects things to happen rather than working your ass off with heart to make it happen. I should point out the comparison was in regards to the playoffs NOT the regular season as that clearly does not hold true.

My one complaint with the article is how he really pinpoints A-Rod. In this case, I start with Jeter. He's the captain. And the only leading by example that he showed was how to play like a unmotivated, careless, and emotionless rich kid.

xavier mcdaniel

Champagne Breakfast wrote:

Pretty good article in today's NY Daily News. Its on page 6&7 by Mike Lupica.
Basically describes how the Yankees have turned into the big rich kid who can't take a punch. Its very true. Like the kid who always has everything & just expects things to happen rather than working your ass off with heart to make it happen. I should point out the comparison was in regards to the playoffs NOT the regular season as that clearly does not hold true.

My one complaint with the article is how he really pinpoints A-Rod. In this case, I start with Jeter. He's the captain. And the only leading by example that he showed was how to play like a unmotivated, careless, and emotionless rich kid.

I think that's more a reflection of Steinbrenner and people like Randy Levine than the players and coaching staff. There's no doubt that the players and coaches worked hard - the non-baseball people just don't seem to realize that no matter how much money is spent the players are human and do not succeed all the time and that is extremely difficult to win 11 games every single October. That's the reality of it, whether Big Stein and his cronies want to hear it.