Results tagged ‘ Hideki Matsui ’
Yanks Off Season Thus Far
I have been pretty quiet since the end of the year, just watching the moves unfold as an interested observer. Today I want to take a stab at evaluating whether this is a better team now than it was at the end of the World Series. Let’s start with CF. Curtis Granderson replaces Melky Cabrera. Clearly this makes the team stronger in CF both offensively and defensively, although Melky was a pretty good defender. Next comes the rotation. Having Javier Vasquez as your number four starter speaks to the depth of talent in the starting rotation. In my mind, this move makes the starting rotation much stronger than last year. Next comes DH, where you have replaced Hideki Matsui with Nick Johnson. This one is more of a question mark. I believe the Yankees will miss Matsui’s power numbers and clutch hitting, but Johnson should be a solid piece out of the number two hole. I believe this one may make the team a bit weaker in the run production department, but we’ll see. Now comes LF. Johnny Damon will be gone and who starts there remains to be seen, but again, I believe the team will miss his left handed bat in the new stadium. So overall, I believe as it stands now, the moves make the team about the same as last year as far as wins and losses. It may be a different kind of team with less power, but might score just as many runs. Certainly they will be younger and a bit cheaper, so if that was the goal, then I believe Cashman has achieved that. Thoughts?
Hot Stove
Alright, I guess it’s finally time to talk about what the Yankees should or might do to get ready for next year. It’s been over a week since the WS, so I have had plenty of time to enjoy the victory. Now how do we do it again. One of the more interesting things to come out of the GM meetings was the availability of Curtis Granderson. I believe the Yankees would be foolish not to pursue him. If they were able to trade for Granderson, then they could let both Damon and Matsui go. They would be better defensively by moving Melky to left and with Granderson in CF. It would also allow them to move Juan Miranda to the DH spot and get both younger and cheaper there. But what would it take to get him? I think you would have to include Gardner in any trade package and it would most probably take at least one pitching prospect. Who would you give up? Ivan Nova, Ian Kennnedy? Either Joba or Hughes. My package would be Gardner, Ivan Nova and perhaps a position prospect or another minor league pitcher. What do you think?
Hot Stove
So you may have noticed that since the season ended, I haven’t been blogging every single day. First I wanted to take a few days just to savor the championship. I didn’t want to or feel the need to immediately start thinking about what the team should do in order to put themselves in a position to win it again. Championships are hard to win and I think A-Rod and Jeter said it at least a dozen times in the post series interviews. I am still smiling from the win and feeling very content as a fan. It was a great season and I enjoyed it all, not just the post season, but the whole season. This team was fun to watch and seemed like a great bunch of competitors, which they proved to be.
Now it’s time to consider what the Yankees might do. I will talk about the various options as they present themselves and I welcome your opinions and comments. There are a lot of decisions to make. What to do with Damon and Matsui? What about Andy Pettitte? What would it take to pry Granderson from the Tigers? Which free agents if any, do they pursue outside of their own. Lots to consider and talk about. It should be a fun offseason and tomorrow I’ll jump in head first. As for today, feel free to offer your suggestions for discussion.
Yanks to WS
Yes, I know, they haven’t won the ALCS yet, but there is no way that they lose the next three games. After winning last night to go up 3-1, they virtually assured themselves a spot in this year’s WS. It was a great game if you’re a Yankees fan, not so much if you root for the Angels. The Yankees scored 10 runs and very easily could have had 12. Tim Mclleland had a rough night umpiring at third. How do you call Swisher out for leaving early when you weren’t even looking at him? And how do you not call both Posada and Cano out when each was tagged standing off the bag right in front of you? As for Posada, it’s time for him to get his head out of his posterior before he costs the Yankees a game. I learned in little league to go halfway on a ball that deep to center, then get back if it’s caught or take off if it’s not. You don’t tag up there, particularly if you run like Posada. And you definitely do not take off from third on that ground ball. And oh, by the way it is usually the catcher that reminds everyone how many outs there are. That’s three mental mistakes within the span of about ten minutes. In the end, none really hurt the team too much, but all of them could have. Time to wake up Jorgie. So Melky finally woke up and he was huge last night, Cano showed signs of coming to life. Now it’s time for Swisher and Matsui to start hitting. If that happens, watch out. This team will be a juggernaut going into the series. Now let’s take care of business on Thursday after another ridiculous un-needed day off.
The One That Did Get Away
First, I want to say that I don’t believe this loss was entirely Joe Girardi’s fault. The offense except for hitting home runs, has been putrid. It’s time for Cano, Swisher, Cabrera, Texeira and Matsui to wake up. You can’t depend on home runs to win in the playoffs. The Yankee offense needs to put pressure on the opposition and they haven’t done it. Having said this, the final blow for the Yankees definitely was Girardi’s over managing. He has done it all series, but this time it bit his team where it hurts. There was no logical reason to pull Robertson for Aceves and his team paid dearly for it. There were a few other questionable moves that hurt during the game, but this one put the icing on the cake and handed it to the Angels. I still don’t believe the Angels will beat the Yankees three out of the next four, so I like the Yankees chances. I do however believe there is a very real chance the Yankees will lose two out of three in Anaheim and go home with a 3-2 series lead. Too bad that they had to gift wrap this one. When you’re up 3-0 in the fifth inning of a playoff game, you are supposed to win.
Nice win
Last year and in the last couple years of the Torre era, if they Yankees lost a game like they did on Friday night, they usually went into a tailspin for about a week. That is the difference between those teams and this year’s team. They picked themselves up after a tough loss and won in convincing fashion. Of course it helps to have CC Sabathia on your side. And Mark Texeira doesn’t hurt your chances of winning either. And how about Hideki Matsui. He has 26 home runs even with the bum knees and is second on the team in RBI. They may have to re-think letting him walk.
This team has been a pleasure to watch all year. They have heart, they have character and they are entertaining. Regardless of what happens the rest of the way, this team has been a breath of fresh air compared to those stuffy Yankees teams of the past few years. Look for another win today and then it’s off to Anaheim.
A much needed win
Wow! This team continues to impress. On a night when all indications were that they would drop another one to the Blue Jays and lose another game in the standings to Boston, they found a way to win. This time it was Frankie Cervelli who came through and how ironic. If Posada doesn’t get suspended, then there is no way Cervelli is up in that situation. Poetic justice I think. This was one of those games that looked as if there was no way the Yankees would come back. The offense was listless most of the night and the Jays were threatening to score almost every inning. Then up comes Matsui and bam it’s a whole new ballgame as they say. After that, I knew that they would find a way to win. This team has done it repeatedly all year. Props to Cervelli and I think this year he has proved that he can play at this level. He will be a good backup next year and could even hold down the fort for a year while one of those hot catching prospects like Montero or Romine is ready. Great game and a great walk off win. Now it’s off to the west coast for six. My prediction is 4-2.
Also, just wanted to thank everyone for their comments and suggestions yesterday. I am a fan just like you and one of the reasons that I started this blog is that most of the so called “experts” don’t like it when we have different opinions than them. I feel that most of us fans know as much or more than the so called “experts” and our opinions are worth just as much as thiers. I will always respect your comments and opinions, even if they differ from mine. Take care and thanks for reading and taking the time to comment.
They were due
Well, it wasn’t pretty, but it was pretty much what I expected. I did not expect the Yankees to get swept by Baltimore. They played a sloppy game, but exploded in the eighth for eight runs to put this one away. I believe they would have won even without the big inning as they were well in control at 5-3 with Mo warming up. What a day for Matsui. Another 5 RBI. If you look at his numbers, they are pretty amazing considering he has missed so many games with the bum knees. I would consider bringing back both he and Damon next year, but I don’t imagine the Yankees will. Maybe Damon, but Matsui’s days are numbered. Too bad as he is still productive despite the bad knees and there is almost noone on this team that is better in the clutch than Godzilla. He will go somewhere else and continue to be a productive DH for a few years to come. So today it’s the makeup game with the Angels and then Toronto. Should be an interesting week.
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