The 2008 New York Yankees

Champagne Breakfast

Thinking about it here's the main reason I am looking forward to 2008 season;
Finally unlike the past few years its seems as if we have a solid compound to work off of:
No more A-rod drama & opt out drama. He's a yankee for 10 years. Done.
No more coaching drama and questions
No jobs in jeopardry
No Clemens retirement drama
No more free agent question marks (Posada & Mo)
Hopefully this steroid/mitchell drama will be over & dealt with
No personal milestones, #'s to meet, or records to break
Last year in the stadium
No more Pavano as. 2007 opening day starter should've clearly indicated we were in a for a wild and doomed year


With Girardi and all of the above resolved we finally have a TEAM and can play baseaball. Not media-ball.

JSBE

igotid88 wrote:

From what I've heard other players who took it in the past was just to heal faster. So it's basically going back to their original level or close to it. If he was healthy and taking it. Then that's different.

to use hgh to heal faster IS an edge. if player A and player B both sprain their ankle to the same severity but player B takes hgh to heal quicker and player A just rests to heal...player B has an edge. or am i wrong?

Fighting Hellfish

JSBE wrote:

to use hgh to heal faster IS an edge. if player A and player B both sprain their ankle to the same severity but player B takes hgh to heal quicker and player A just rests to heal...player B has an edge. or am i wrong?

You're right. If you're talking about pettitte though, do you think using it for 2 days does anything whatsoever?

NCBRI

Champagne Breakfast wrote:

No more A-rod drama & opt out drama. He's a yankee for 10 years. Done.

The contract issue and the #500 are in the past, but I don't think any of us really think the drama is "done" with A-Rod. There is always something with him.


Things I'm looking forward to:

A full season of Phil Hughes.
Robbie Cano winning a batting title.
Watching Wang win 19 games and maybe even unveiling some new pitches.
Seeing Joba pitch more than 2 innings at a time.
Ian Kenedy battling for a spot in the rotation.
Seeing how Girardi and Eiland handle the pitchers.

JSBE

Fighting Hellfish wrote:

You're right. If you're talking about pettitte though, do you think using it for 2 days does anything whatsoever?

i really can't imagine that using hgh for 2 days did much of anything.

as i said before, i'm glad he stepped up and admitted unlike some other players. i was just more disappointed at how he his statement in the way to imply that by using to heal quicker he wasn't using it for an edge, which is just (in my opinion) a dumb train of thought.

less than 2 months until spring training, right?

Fighting Hellfish

Looking forward to it. Aside from the Mitchell thing and the ARod drama, this has been a very boring offseason.

BetterManningNYG

holiday ticket packs went on sale yesterday:

http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/nyy/ticketing/holiday_ticket_pack.jsp

i went for the fujifilm pack. 11 games for $72.50 per person.

JSBE

this was in buster olney's latest blog entry:

"Heard this: If all goes well in spring training for the Yankees, Joba Chamberlain is likely to start next season in the Yankees' bullpen, as part of the team's effort to limit his innings. Chamberlain will go to spring training and, at the outset, prepare to pitch out of the rotation, along with five other rotation candidates -- Chien-Ming Wang, Andy Pettitte, Phil Hughes, Mike Mussina and Ian Kennedy. Assuming that none of the other five has a physical or performance breakdown, Chamberlain would then open 2008 in the bullpen, as a set-up man, for at least the start of the season -- under the Joba Rules.

The Yankees want to restrict the number of innings Chamberlain throws, and working him out of the bullpen for at least a couple of months will allow them to do that. Chamberlain may return to the rotation sometime in the middle of the season, depending on the Yankees' needs."

Champagne Breakfast

JSBE wrote:

this was in buster olney's latest blog entry:

"Heard this: If all goes well in spring training for the Yankees, Joba Chamberlain is likely to start next season in the Yankees' bullpen, as part of the team's effort to limit his innings. Chamberlain will go to spring training and, at the outset, prepare to pitch out of the rotation, along with five other rotation candidates -- Chien-Ming Wang, Andy Pettitte, Phil Hughes, Mike Mussina and Ian Kennedy. Assuming that none of the other five has a physical or performance breakdown, Chamberlain would then open 2008 in the bullpen, as a set-up man, for at least the start of the season -- under the Joba Rules.

The Yankees want to restrict the number of innings Chamberlain throws, and working him out of the bullpen for at least a couple of months will allow them to do that. Chamberlain may return to the rotation sometime in the middle of the season, depending on the Yankees' needs."

I never want to see Mussina in the starting rotation again.

Champagne Breakfast

Interesting article today......

Yu Darvish On Yankees' Radar?
"Yu Darvish is a 21 year-old Iranian-Japanese starter for the Nippon Ham Fighters. Darvish backs up his celebrity status as perhaps Japan's best pitcher. His Wikipedia page is a good read.

Today, East Windup Chronicle speaks of a thirdhand report indicating the Yankees' intent to acquire Darvish after the 2008 season. Apparently the Dodgers, Mets, and Cubs are on his trail as well. According to the report, Daisuke Matsuzaka's $8.6MM salary would be the floor with Darvish. And I'm guessing his posting fee would easily exceed Dice-K's $51.1MM.

Two huge questions remain. Are the Fighters actually considering posting Darvish after the '08 season? The loss of such a popular player would be a huge hit for Japanese baseball. Also, does Darvish even want to play in the U.S.? "

JSBE

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/2008/01/02/2008-01-02_taxpayers_will_fund_yankees_vip_parking_.html

Taxpayers will fund Yankees' VIP parking, NYC gets less money

The Yankees and hundreds of their VIPs will get free valet parking for the next 40 years, courtesy of New York taxpayers. The startling revelation of yet another subsidy for the richest team in baseball is buried deep in the fine print of a $237 million tax-exempt bond offering that city officials quietly issued the week before Christmas. The documents say a $70 million state subsidy for parking improvements for the new Yankee Stadium (slated to open next year) has been earmarked for a new 660-car valet parking garage where virtually all the spaces will be reserved for the free, year-round use of the Yankees and their VIPs.

Fighting Hellfish

Champagne Breakfast wrote:

Interesting article today......

Yu Darvish On Yankees' Radar?
"Yu Darvish is a 21 year-old Iranian-Japanese starter for the Nippon Ham Fighters. Darvish backs up his celebrity status as perhaps Japan's best pitcher. His Wikipedia page is a good read.

Today, East Windup Chronicle speaks of a thirdhand report indicating the Yankees' intent to acquire Darvish after the 2008 season. Apparently the Dodgers, Mets, and Cubs are on his trail as well. According to the report, Daisuke Matsuzaka's $8.6MM salary would be the floor with Darvish. And I'm guessing his posting fee would easily exceed Dice-K's $51.1MM.

Two huge questions remain. Are the Fighters actually considering posting Darvish after the '08 season? The loss of such a popular player would be a huge hit for Japanese baseball. Also, does Darvish even want to play in the U.S.? "

Oh good, someone to room with Kei Igawa. Maybe Irabu can become the pitching coach

rearviewmiror

Fighting Hellfish wrote:

Oh good, someone to room with Kei Igawa. Maybe Irabu can become the pitching coach

Holy shit! That is funny.

NCBRI

Fighting Hellfish wrote:

Oh good, someone to room with Kei Igawa. Maybe Irabu can become the pitching coach

I guess Scranton will have to open an upscale authentic Japanese restaurant.

MyHandsBound

looks like the yanks are still trying to get johan......



Returning from their holiday recess, the Yankees still have what senior vice president Hank Steinbrenner believes is the best offer to finalize a deal for Twins ace Johan Santana.
Steinbrenner told the New York Daily News in Thursday's editions that the Yankees will work on a final decision regarding their potential trade for the two-time American League Cy Young Award winner, perhaps drawing the months-old process to conclusion.

"I think the Twins realize our offer is the best one," Steinbrenner told the newspaper. "I feel confident they're not going to trade him before checking with us one last time, and I think they think we've already made the best offer."

Discussions with Minnesota have largely revolved around the inclusion of right-hander Phil Hughes and outfielder Melky Cabrera, though the Yankees balked when the Twins pressed to add right-hander Ian Kennedy to the package.

New York has deemed Joba Chamberlain -- on his way to the starting rotation after a stunning debut as a setup man -- to be untouchable, though it is believed that pitching prospect Jeff Marquez could go to the Twins in a potential Santana trade.

"It's still the best one," Steinbrenner said. "And let's face it, we're the best able to handle the kind of contract [extension] Santana will be after."

The allure of acquiring Santana is easy to figure on the Yankees' behalf, especially with the rival Red Sox still involved in the discussions.

"At the same time, we won't be in it to keep him from them," Steinbrenner said. "Each team is in it for what they can handle. We have great young pitching, that's the main plan. Do we want to put Santana in there, who's 29 [in March], to be an ace for a few years? I know a majority of fans don't want to lose Hughes."

Santana was 15-13 with a 3.29 ERA in 32 starts for the Twins in 2007, walking 49 and striking out 235 in 219 innings, including a 17-strikeout performance on Aug. 19 against the Rangers.

Santana led the AL in strikeouts for three consecutive years from 2004-06, including winning the ERA title twice. He owns a full no-trade clause and would need to approve any deal to a potential suitor, which would also likely require a contract extension that could fetch as much as six years and $120 million.


Steinbrenner said that the dialogue between the Yankees and Twins -- mostly on hold since the Yankees' self-imposed a deadline during the Winter Meetings in Nashville, Tenn., early in December -- is expected to increase.

"We're not desperate, so we're not going to chase anything," Steinbrenner said. "In the next two weeks, we're going to have to get everything done. I either have to do [a Santana deal] or don't do it, same thing for the Red Sox, I guess.

"I think the Twins would like to keep him, so I don't think there's any hurry on anyone's part. It all depends on what he asks for in an extension. You obviously have to be very careful with pitchers, for obvious reasons."

Steinbrenner said that even if the Yankees stand pat and do not acquire Santana, their chances for the 2008 season should be strong.

"We're going to have the best pitching by far in baseball in two or three years, and we'll be tough this year," Steinbrenner said. "We obviously already have position players."

NCBRI

Hank likes to talk. I still say that is too much to give up between the players traded and what you have to pay Johan. I'm not convinced that he will even get traded at all. I hope he doesn't.

Champagne Breakfast

I read a few places today and was old told from a baseball guru that the oakland a's are shopping huston street. just a thought....would make sense for the yanks to go for him as a setup man for mo?? this way joba can be inserted into the rotation without concern that the pen is too week.
just don't know who they'd have to give up

JSBE

buster olney's latest espn insider blog update:

Some baseball executives wonder if federal investigators will uncover trainers and batboys in other cities, in Los Angeles or Kansas City or Boston or Texas or some other place. "You have to figure that there was a Kirk Radomski in just about every clubhouse," a GM said the other day. "It wasn't only in New York."

But so far, the fallout from the Mitchell report is generally confined to New York, where Radomski and Brian McNamee mostly worked. Some friends who are Yankees fans have believed all along in the conspiracy theory that New York got the most scrutiny because George Mitchell is on the board of directors of the Red Sox.

That's way too Oliver Stone-ish for me. Mitchell's investigators didn't dig up McNamee and Radomski -- it was the feds who did that -- and beyond that, I just can't see Mitchell sitting in his office plotting to make life miserable for the Yankees.

But the reality is that the Yankees are going to be knee-deep in this mess for months, and it could be an enormous distraction. Their No. 2 starter -- someone who was already on the fence about possibly retiring -- is going to spend a lot of the time usually reserved for preparation talking with lawyers. Assuming that Roger Clemens' defamation suit against McNamee goes forward, it figures that depositions will be taken from some executives and players of the Yankees, including Andy Pettitte. And as the revelations leak out from those depositions, inevitably, the Yankees will be caught in the wake of the headlines. It figures to be a long and ugly summer of steroid talk in New York, and much less so in Boston.

The stakes just keep going up for McNamee, Clemens and Pettitte, with word that the congressional hearing scheduled for Jan. 16 has been postponed so that more information can be gathered, much of it in the form of depositions. There is no turning back now.

+++++++++++++++++++++++

Forecast for Spring: More Yankees Drama

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/10/sports/baseball/10yankees.html?_r=2&ref=sports&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

JSBE

Champagne Breakfast wrote:

I read a few places today and was old told from a baseball guru that the oakland a's are shopping huston street. just a thought....would make sense for the yanks to go for him as a setup man for mo?? this way joba can be inserted into the rotation without concern that the pen is too week.
just don't know who they'd have to give up

closer to set-up man doesn't always translate so well ::cough:: eric gagne ::cough::

plus, billy beane wouldn't just hand street over to a team like the yanks or red sox or mets without getting a couple quality prospects in return as he has already stated that 2008 will be a rebuilding year.

meme

Can anyone tell me when single game tickets are going on sale? (and the difference between single game and individual game? )