We moved!

Sorry for any confusion, but we had to move the site to a new url. It is....

http://www.26-going0n-27.blogspot.com

Update your bookmarks and keep checking back. We have a ton of new features and ideas for this year. Our first post explains all about it.

Thanks for the support.

To trade for Johan, or not to trade that is the question.

To all but the most optimistic fans, the off season has not been kind to the Yankees and their faithful fans. Not only are we recovering from the taint of another first round playoff exit coupled with a Boston Red Sox World Series, but we are also coping with allegations of steroid use against two genuine Yankee heroes Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens, as well as those levied against lesser heroes David Justice and Chuck Knoblauch. (As for the Ron Villones and Rondell White’s of the world – well, as soon as you can find their contribution to a World Series win, you let me know.) Some fans will add the loss of Joe Torre and Don Mattingly to the list, and while I admire and appreciate their contributions to the team, I am not sad to see them go.

There is some good news, Alex Rodriguez has returned, as have Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte and Jorge Posada. Above all, losing A-Rod would have been absolutely devastating, as there is no way the Yankees could have replaced his production in the line up. There is a huge fall off between A-Rod’s worst season and Wilson Betemit, and regardless of whether you want to hang out with A-Rod, as fans we should all be thanking our lucky stars that Alex will be back. Rivera, Pettitte and Posada all occupy key positions that currently have no understudy. While all three are being overpaid, considering the alternatives, their return will be key to another winning season.

Once again the biggest questions for the Yankees this off season is the pitching. As of now, the rotation would be Andy Pettitte, Chien-Ming Wang, Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain, Ian Kennedy and Mike Mussina. The bullpen is Mariano Rivera and, ummm…well, let’s talk about that another time. The rotation is very solid with a ton of upside. It is very possible that Hughes, Chamberlain and Kennedy could soon bring to mind some other big threes, such as John Smoltz, Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux or Tim Hudson, Barry Zito and Mark Mulder. Of course, given the precociousness of young pitchers, they could also all be out of baseball by 2012. Looked at in a vacuum, the Yankees staff projects nothing but sunny days; looked at in comparison to their biggest rivals the Red Sox, the view is a little cloudy. The Sox are going to roll out Josh Beckett, Dice-K (too lazy to look up the proper spelling), Curt Schilling, Jon Lester, Clay Bucholz, Tim Wakefield, and quit possibly Johan Santana. It is that last name that is a major point of concern for the Yankees. The truth is, it will be difficult to beat a very good Boston team as things stand right now. The task will become somewhat Herculean if the Red Sox add baseball’s best pitcher; especially if they do so without giving up their best prospect, Bucholz. (Of course there is a giant asterisk to all of this. The Red Sox would only be unbeatable on paper. There is a chance Becket reverts to 2006, Dice-K does not improve, Santana’s increased HR rate last year was the beginning of a trend, not a blip, Schilling’s aging accelerates, and Bucholz doesn’t pan out – see this is why I hate pitchers.)

So, the question becomes, do the Yankees say damn the torpedoes and acquire Santana no matter what the cost may be. The question is a simple one. If you believe that Santana is the fire-breathing lefty that can lead the Bombers back to the World Series – then you make the trade no matter what. Perhaps the strongest argument to be made for this approach is this: imagine if the Yanks had Santana in games 1 and 4 of the American League Division Series instead of Wang - suddenly, it is not so hard to imagine the Yanks, not the Red Sox, pounding the National League’s latest patsies, the Rockies. Johan Santana could very well be the missing link between the Yankees and their 27^th World Championship.

So why isn’t Santana being measured for pinstripes right now? Mostly because Santana is not yet a free agent, and in return for Johan, the Twins are demanding Hughes, Kennedy and Melky Cabrera. Hughes is a blue-chip prospect who projects as a 1 or 2 in anyone’s staff; Kennedy projects as a solid 3, but has the added bonus of already appearing to be a polished pitcher (see Baseball America or Baseball Prospectus, or any game he pitched, if you don’t believe me); while Cabrera is probably going to project out as a 4^th outfielder on a good team and a starter on most others.

As of right now, Santana is far better than Hughes, Kennedy or Cabrera. In fact, if everything goes right you hope that Hughes will someday be as good as Santana is now. So why is Hank, Cash and company so reluctant to make this deal? After all prospects are just that, prospects, with no guarantees as to their future. Furthermore, when you’re adding a player of Santana’s stature, you are going to have to give up a lot. Detroit gave up their two best prospects for Miguel Cabrera, Arizona gave up their two best prospects for Dan Haren, and now both teams are favorites to win their respective division. Given, Hughes is far better than any of the prospects given up by either Arizona or Detroit. If the Yanks add Santana, they would also be favorites to win – or would they?

Upon closer inspection, maybe there is a method to Hank and Cash’s madness. First of all, the Yankees would be parting with Cabrera, their starting centerfielder. With Melky gone, the Yankees outfield looks like this – Hideki Matsui in left, Johnny Damon in center, and Bobby Abreu in right. Not only is the outfield old and injury prone, Matsui has no range and can’t throw, Damon has range but can’t throw, and while Abrue has range and can throw, he’s afraid of the wall and has no idea how to take a proper route to a flyball. In other words, unless Santana plans on striking everyone out, his ERA is going to suffer because he will be playing in front of a below average defensive team. Now, Santana might get some of that ERA back because Yankee Stadium is a slight pitcher’s park, but he’d also be dealing with Derek Jeter at shortstop and ?? at first base – not an appealing defensive package. The bombers have missed out no the more appealing centerfield options, and would likely have to resort to Mike Cameron for an outside solution. Cameron is a fantastic fielder and as good a hitter as Melky. But Cameron is injury prone and being heavily pursued by the Phillies right now. If Melky goes, odds are Damon is back in center field this year.

Then there are the two pitchers, Hughes and Kennedy. Make no mistake, despite what some fans have made of him, Ian Kennedy is not the kind of prospect you hold onto at the cost of getting Johan Santana. The issue is not one of talent, but depth. While the Yankee farm system is loaded with pitching prospects, after the big 3, Alan Horne is the only one likely to contribute much in 2008. Therefore, if they trade both Kennedy and Hughes, the rotation will be Santana, Pettitte, Wang, Chamberlain, Moose and Horne. Given that Pettitte and Moose are health risks and Chamberlain has never thrown more than 150 innings in a season, this is a very shallow rotation. Matters would get worst in 2009, when Pettitte and Moose leave (although, there are likely to be other pitchers on the market by that point). By holding onto Kennedy, the staff is Santana, Pettitte, Wang, Chamberlain, Kennedy, Moose – a far deeper option.

So it comes down to this, if the Yanks really believe they are one Johan away from a World Series, they should do the trade. However, if the Yanks believe that Hughes will be a 1 or 2 for the next ten years, that Kennedy will be a 3 for the next ten years, and that Melky will be a solid contributor until someone better comes along – then they should stand pat. As for me, I’m torn. I’ve howled and ranted about my love for Phil Hughes and after watching him pitch, nothing has changed. I’m not as high on Kennedy and Cabrera, but can admit I’m not exactly looking forward to runners going from first to third on a fly ball because Damon can’t throw. Ultimately, I’d hold off for now. See how the market develops and hope the Twins hold on to Santana, so that the Yanks can sign him in the off season. Then again, we would still have Joba, and the thought of him and Santana anchoring our staff for the next six years – well, it gives me shivers.

Melky! Is there anything he can't do?

"World Milk Day!"

And Steve Phillips thinks the Yanks should have traded him for Eric Gagne. Steve, Melky wins games, Gagne loses them - any questions?

Gassed

We'd like to give the Gas Face to all the writers and pundits who criticized Brian Cashman for not giving up Melky Cabrera or Ian Kennedy to get Eric Gagne. Once again, Cashman proved the know-nothings wrong by refusing the trade and bringing up Joba Chamberlain instead. Want proof? How about last night. While Gagne was getting smacked around like the ex-superstar he is by the Baltimore Orioles, Joba was making the Indians look like small children facing a giant. Joba - 2 innings, 4 strikeouts, Gagne - 1 inning, 4 runs - Cashman wins again!

Trade Deadline Wrap-Up

'Don't believe the hype' would be a pretty accurate description of this year's trade deadline. The biggest name to move was Mark Teixeira. Other than that, we saw a whole bunch of teams doing minor patchwork to set themselves up for the stretch run. There are a couple of contributing factors to this: the Wild Card race in both leagues is wide open so a lot of teams weren't ready to deal themselves out; teams are beginning to recognize that mortgaging the future for a middle reliever or an aging starter doesn't work out in the long term; and there simply weren't that many big name players on the market. (Note: None of this applies to the Pittsburgh who have made one of the most non-sensical trade in the history of baseball. Oh well - Viva Matt Morris - for whatever that's worth).

So how did our Yankees do? Pretty well I'd say. Scott Proctor for Wilson Betemit is pretty much a no-brainer. Anytime you can trade a middle reliever without dominating stuff, whose arm may disintegrate at any moment, for a switch-hitting, 25 year old, quasi-prospect you've done well. Betemit is already a better option off the bench than Miguel Cairo and there's a chance he could still develop into an everyday player. More important was adding Jose Molina before the trade deadline. Those two deals have gone some way towards improving the Yankees biggest problem the atrocious bench. And, Cashman managed to address a major problem without mortgaging the future.

I know some people have killed the Cashman for not adding Eric Gagne, but those people should all get the gas face. While Gagne would have been nice, we need to remember that this is Eric Gagne Model 2007, not Eric Gagne model 2002 to 2004. This year, Gagne has thrown 33.3 innings pitched, he missed time at the beginning of the season, struck out 29 and saved 16 games, his ERA is 2.16. While those numbers look good, there is a giant however coming, that however is what Gagne has done since July 1st. Since July 1st Gagne has made 11 appearances, he has pitched 11.1 innings, over that span he has allowed 11 hits and 5 runs, his ERA doubled from 1.11 to 2.16. Those are hardly dominating numbers. What we're dealing with here is the myth of the closer, essentially if a guy has had success closing in the past, he will continue to do so, regardless of how bad his peripheral numbers are (For more evidence of this phenomenon, see: Borowski, Joe, Jones, Todd, or our very own Farnsworth, Kyle). Furthermore, Texas was asking for Melky Cabrera or Ian Kennedy in return for Gagne. It is never a good idea to trade your future CF and a future starting pitcher, who is dominating in the minors, for 9 weeks of a middle reliever who has had major arm problems. Gagne is no longer a dominating pitcher, and while his addition would have been nice, there's no reason to believe that Joba Chamberlain cannot do at least as well as Gagne would have.

More to the point, the Yankees are playing for their playoff lives. They need to either catch Cleveland or Boston to get into the playoffs. While they have Cleveland in their sights, they're still behind the 8 Ball. Mortgaging the future for a middle reliever doesn't make sense for a team fighting to make the playoffs. Had they made the trade and missed, this could have been the kind of trade that has disastrous consequences. You know, the ones where teams give up young prospects for middle relievers and don't win anything.

There is also the fact that Gagne would have been much more useful to Cleveland than he is to Boston. Considering, the Yanks have Cleveland in their sights for the Wild Card Spot, this is somewhat of a win.

Now, while getting Gagne made little to no sense for the Yanks, it does somewhat make sense for Boston. I'm a firm believer in the idea that if you can make a trade that will win you a World Series now, you do it without regard for future implications. I'm not saying you trade your top prospect for a lefty pinch hitter, but teams should always play to win now. If the Red Sox feel that the only thing they need is another middle reliever to guarantee post season success, they did the right thing. The Sox gave up Kason Gabbard, David Murphy and Engel Beltre, and while it is possible that one or two of those players may turn into decent major leaguers, this is hardly giving up the farm. While I feel that Gagne is overrated, this is the kind of trade first place teams with huge leads should be making.

YES for sale, get em while they're hot!

According to Fortune.com, the YES Network is for sale. "The highest-rated regional sports network in the country and the cable home of the Yankees and the NBA New Jersey Nets, YES is jointly owned by the Yankees, investment bank Goldman Sachs & Co. (Charts, Fortune 500) , and former Nets owner Ray Chambers. Goldman and Chambers would like to cash out, YES and Yankees insiders say, and one source says to expect a deal by summer's end. Some possible bidders: Cablevision, Comcast (Charts), News Corp. (Charts, Fortune 500) and Verizon (Charts, Fortune 500)." (Source Fortune)

As long as the new owners don't adopt Fox's style of sports coverage, known for coming back to commercial breaks with runners already on base or a batter already at 3-2, I don't really care. I don't get why they would want to get rid of a source of revenue, especially one that will continue to bring in cash as long as the Yankees don't revert to the early 90's Yankees. Then again the profits on the sale could be A- Rods salary for his next 5 years here. So scratch everything I said before that last sentence, sell the network!!

Four Hundred and Ninety Nine, One to Go

God clearly has a sense of humor. Every member of the Yankees homers except A-Rod. Damon, Abreu, Matsui, Posada, Melky, Cano, Shelly Freakin' Duncan all go yard. And yet poor A-Rod remains mired at 499.

Retarded arguments beware, 26 is on ya

My morning ritual involves a large iced skim latte and Mike and Mike on ESPN radio as I drive to work. Normally this is my time to relax and let my mind wonder before thinking about the work before me. This morning, I had the unfortunate pleasure of listening to Erik Casilias sit in for Mike and Mike. Casilias is one of the normal sit ins for the Mike and Mike crew, and while not my favorite, I usually enjoy the change of pace he provides. This morning, I was stunned to find out that Erik Casilias is a glue-sniffer, the only possible explanation for this morning’s rant. Let me explain:

Now for the record, what I heard today was the conclusion of a rant started on Friday morning. So I did not hear the genesis of Mr. Casilias’s addled thoughts. But what I caught today was this, Mr. Casilias proclaimed that while Derek Jeter will be a first ballot hall of famer, he is not one now. He then made two further proclamations. The first being that if Jeter were to retire today and make the Hall of Fame, he would be the worst offensive player in the history of the Hall. He justified that claim by stating that Jeter didn’t have 3,000 hits, wouldn’t have 500 homers and so far has no MVP awards. Then, after taking another huge huff of industrial strength glue, he boldly proclaimed that he didn’t like Jeter, because he prefers his Hall of Famers to have “hardware.” Explaining that “hardware” meant MVP or Cy Young awards. He concluded with “that’s why I like Rollie Fingers, he has a Cy Young and an MVP award.” (To be fair, that was a lead in to Rollie Fingers appearing on the show. Although it is possible that Mr. Casilias does not know that Derek Jeter is ineligible for the Cy Young Award. )

Here’s my what I imagine Mr. Casilias’s pre-show prep went like.
Mr. Casilias “Derek Jeter is over rated.”
ESPN Intern “Why do you think that?”
Mr. Casilias “He has no MVP awards.”
ESPN Intern “So.”
Mr. Casilias “Well Juan Gonzalez has two MVP awards, so he must be twice as good as Derek Jeter. And, more important, twice as worthy of Hall of Fame induction.”
ESPN Intern “But he washed out early and almost all baseball experts consider his MVP results a matter of the voters overvaluing RBIs more than anything else.”
Mr. Casilias “Hold on, I need another hit of glue. Okay, well what about George Bell.”
ESPN Intern “What about George Bell.”
Mr. Casilias “Well George Bell has one MVP award, and one is more than zero, so George Bell is more worthy of being in the Hall of Fame than Derek Jeter.”
ESPN Inter “Ummm…okay…whatever, here’s some more glue.”

Look I know some people think Derek Jeter is overrated. Even we’ll admit he didn’t deserve his gold gloves, but anyone who questions Jeter being a first ballot Hall of Famer is an idiot. Let’s break down Casilias’s statements. His first one, about if Jeter’s career ended today would he be Hall worthy, is simply idiotic. It is the equivalent of me arguing “If the war in Iraq ended today, there would be no more soldiers dying in Basra.” Sure it’s true, but it’s absurd and irrelevant as the war in Iraq is not ending today. Neither is Derek Jeter’s career. I’m not sure what Casilias is going by, but Jeter is just over halfway done with his career. He has played 12 full seasons and he is only 32, he has never been an injury risk and has no statistical signs of slowing down. Oh, and by the way he already has 2,292 hits. Over the last 11 seasons he has averaged 194 hits per year. Which means he should break 3,000 in four seasons, this would put him on pace for about 3,500 hits for his career. For those who don’t know, and I know Erik Casilias doesn’t know, Tony Gwynn has 3,141 hits for his career, and Gwynn was a first ballot Hall of Famer. Here’s another equivalent of Casilias’s argument “If Albert Pujols retired today he wouldn’t have 500 homers and would not be worthy of the Hall of Fame.” Sure, that would be true, but that would come as quite a surprise to Pujols who will probably play ten more seasons. I mean for fuck’s sake, how many players are evaluated based on their first 11 seasons. Did Greg Maddux have 300 wins after 11 seasons? No. Did Roger Clemens have 300 wins after 11 seasons? No. Did Barry Bonds have 500 homers after 11 seasons? No.

Casilias stated that if Jeter retired today and was voted in, he would be the weakest player in the Hall. Stunningly Casilias even got this wrong. Compare Jeter to two Hall of Fame shortstops, Pee Wee Reese and Phil Rizzuto. Reese retired with 2170 hits, .269 career Batting Average, .366 career On Base Percentage and .377 career Slugging Percentage (in 16 seasons). Rizzuto finished with 1,588 hits, .273 Batting Average, .351 On Base Percentage, and .355 Slugging Percentage (in 13 seasons). For sake of comparison, Cal Ripken Jr. finished with 3,184 hits, .276 Batting Average, .340 On Base Percentage, and .447 Slugging Percentage (in 21 seasons). Jeter has 2,292 hits, .318 Batting Average, .389 On Base Percentage, and .463 Slugging Percentage. So to be clear, as of right now, Derek Jeter has a higher career Average, On Base Percentage, and Slugging Percentage than current Hall of Famers, Pee Wee Reese, Phil Rizzuto and Cal Ripken Jr. Now, those are just pure numbers. Without even getting into the Rookie of the Year Award, the World Series MVP, the All-Star Games, the two MVP Runner Ups, Jeter has the stats to get into the Hall of Fame.

Now, Casilias’s statement about hardware is so stupid it barely deserves a comment. But, here are some of the luminaries who have won the MVP Award over the last 20 years: Terry Pendleton, Jose Canseco, George Bell, Kevin Mitchell, Mo Vaughn, Larry Walker, Juan Gonzalez (twice) and Jason Giambi. According to Casilias all are more Hall of Fame worthy than Derek Jeter - pure stupidity.

I recognize that Casilias probably spent very little time actually thinking about his argument and simply seized upon what he thought would be a controversial topic. As the stats show, he clearly never bothered to look up Derek Jeter’s career numbers and compare them to actual Hall of Famers. Furthermore, trying to evaluate Jeter’s career when it is halfway done, is a cheap way of making an argument. More importantly, most baseball fans who care about the sport are not listening to Erik Casilias for insight. Those real fans are reading Baseball Prospectus, or Baseball Analysts, or the Hardball Times. But the sad thing is that it is people like Casilias who have repeatedly cheapened the MVP and Cy Young awards. Journalists who are too lazy to look beyond RBIs or Wins when placing their ballots. Journalists who give us Cy Young awards winners like Bartolo Colon and MVPs like Justin Mourneau (who is incredible, but was merely the third best player on his own team). It is sad to me that because of those journalists those awards have been cheapened in the eyes of so many. I know Casilias wants to make a splash, but maybe he should think before he speaks…it would go a long way.


(i wanted to put up a pic, maybe casilias sniffing glue out of a Cy Young award, but i couldn't find a picture of him... which sorta says it all about actually considering his argument, if anyone does have a pic of this genius please send it over, im sure well need it again soon.)

So...

Sorry it has been so long between updates, life has a way of interfering with blogging…anyways. Here are some thoughts:

1. The Yankees have largely lived up to our post All-Star Break plan, taking 3 of 4 from the 6 of 8 from Tampa Bay (2 series), 3 of 4 from Toronto, and 3 of 4 from the Royals. When you couple that with the pre-All Star Break series wins against the Angels and the team had a nifty little streak going. But, that somewhat ground to a halt when Baltimore took 2 of 3 over the weekend (I’m discounting the already won game, the teams completed Friday night). While one doesn’t want to overreact to one series loss, the weekend was bad. In order for the Yankees to make up ground on Boston and the Wildcard they simply cannot afford to lose series against losing teams. The Yanks have the next 6 against the White Sox and the Royals – anything less than 4 wins could be devastating.

2. The Yankees finally got rid of Will Nieves. I can’t tell you how excited I was watching Jose Molina collect 3 hits in his first game against Kansas. In fact, I was so thrilled by the prospect of having an actual living, breathing ballplayer back up King Jorge that I didn’t care that the Yanks lost. I can’t believe it only took Brian Cashman half of a season of watching a guy hit below .200 with no power before he thought about replacing him.

3. Phil Hughes comes back on Saturday, August 4^th – cue the angels singing and the golden lights.

4. Joba Chamberlain is coming up to help the pen. Part of me likes this move, Scott Proctor and Kyle Farnsworth are awful. Joba throws in the high 90s and can be dominate. Furthermore, there is a blueprint for success here – look at Johan Santana and Francisco Liriano. Of course, neither of those pitchers were managed by Joe Torre. Torre is awful when it comes to managing his bullpen and the thought of what he might to do poor Joba’s arm is horrifying. However, this could provide the Yanks with a strike out pitcher from the pen, other than Mo, something the teams sorely needs.

a. Actually, I take that entire paragraph back. There’s such a likely hood that Torre will irreparably harm Joba that I think the team needs to hold off till Torre leaves – it is just not worth it.

5. Trade Deadline Thought: I kind of hope the team stands pat. There’s not a whole lot out there, I don’t think adding Eric Gagne is going to make a tremendous difference (and it will kill one of my Fantasy teams) and Texas wants too much for Mark Teixeira. Moving Kyle “disaster walking” Farnsworth or Scott “home run” Proctor would be addition by subtraction and if the team can get some live young arms, or better yet, some young hitting prospects, I’m all in.

D-D-D-Duncan

"AB: 12 -- R:3 -- AVG:333"

Part Deux

"I realize the outfield got a D not an F, but they still blow."

Just to put into perspective how good A-Rod, Jeter and Posada have been and how bad the rest of the team has been, think about this:
Right now Alex Rodriguez leads the Major Leagues in Value Over Replacement Player (see www.baseballprospectus.com - Value Over Replacement player is basically how many more runs over the course of the season a player is worth in comparison to your league average player), Posada is 19 and Jeter is 20, the next highest ranked Yankee hitter is Hideki Matsui at 107. To really make you really want to slice your eyelids, Jason Giambi, who has been out for the last month, is 5th on the team as of now. Yup, Mr. DL himself has been more valuable than Robinson Cano, Bobby Abreu, Melky Cabrera and Johnny Damon - simply putrid. Which brings us to our outfield grade.

Outfield: D
Wow, I'm still feeling nauseas after that last paragraph, so here goes nothing. In a word, the Yankees outfield has been atrocious. Bobby Abreu can't hit, Hideki Matsui can't field, Melky Cabrera can't identify a breaking ball, and Johnny Damon can't stay off the disabled list. Not really sure what else there is to say. For most teams, the outfield is a source of offense, come to think of it, so is First Base, but not for the Yankees. Nope, we are going to become the first team to succeed while getting almost zero production from the outfield. Oh wait, .500 isn't success for the team with the highest payroll in baseball?

The Truly Dope

"No seriously, everyone else does suck."

As there is no rest for the truly dope, we here at 26goingon27 will be bringing you our mid-season grades over the All-Star break. We will also be posting our predictions for the second-half on Thursday. Starting with the infield:

Starting Catcher: Grade A
What is not to love about what King Jorge has been doing this season? He’s hitting .326, slugging .505, and getting on base at a .399 clip, he also leads the team with 25 doubles. Not only that, he actually called out his teammates for being the slackers that they are. We could nitpick about the fact that opposing teams are running against the Yanks at will. However, I’m not sure how much of that is Jorge’s fault and how much is the fact that Moose and Clemens couldn’t keep my grandmother from taking a big lead.

Backup Catcher: F-----------
Words fail to describe how truly awful Will Nieves actually is. Just looking at his stats makes me want to roll around in a bathtub full of rusty nails. The only thing good taste allows me to print is 50 at-bats, 6 hits – I’m going to be sick…
Note: I am separating catcher and back up catcher because to put Will Nieves and King Jorge in the same paragraph is straight blasphemy. Seriously, my computer refused to let me type when I even tried to write about them together. Now if only my computer could keep Nieves out of the Yankees dugout.

First Base: F
The only thing keeping this from being an F- is that Josh Phelps (before getting cut) actually hit the ball. Watching Miguel Cairo at first makes me embarrassed to root for this team. And by the way, can Yankee fans please get off Cairo’s jock. I mean we put a picture up of him on the website, but it was a joke. Saturday night, a good friend tried to argue that Cairo playing first isn’t the problem and that Cairo’s the kind of guy the Yankees need. First of all, I’m not sure how a first baseman who is hitting .263 with 6 extra base hits provides anything to a team, unless Cairo gets credit for not being Doug Mientkiewicz. And, second of all, why do the Yankees need a barely competent hitter on our team at all. Someone, please explain the allure of Miguel Cairo to me.
Given the state of things for the Yankees this year, the fact that Andy Phillips has actually been hitting since he’s been called up, means he’s likely to get hit by a bus over the All-Star Break.

Second Base: C
Right now Robinson Cano has two things going for him, according to Zone Rating (see www.nomaas.org) he is ranked 2nd out American League Second baseman, which is a very good thing; and the fact that he rakes in the second half of last year. As most experts, see Steven Goldman or anyone form Baseball Prospectus, have pointed out, if Cano is not batting over .300 he’s simply not a good hitter. This year he is hitting .274, not a bad batting average by itself, but his on base percentage is only .314 which is putrid. To put the utter awfulness of Cano’s .OBP in perspective, Bobby Abreu is having as awful a year as humanely possible and he is getting on base at a .352 clip. Cano is either going to have to learn to identify pitches or hit above .310 to really have any value.

Third Base: A+++++++++
If you disagree with this grade you are retarded. If you think that the Yankees should not do everything in their power to make sure Alex Rodriguez is in pinstripes next year, you are too stupid to sit in the back of the short bus. The next person who says that the Yanks need more guys like Cairo and to get rid of A-Rod is getting beaten till they are bloody. Look at the numbers - 30 homers, 86 RBIs, 79 runs, .317 batting average, .413 on base percentage, .665 slugging percentage at the break – he is out of his freakin’ mind.

Shortstop: A-
It is kind of weird, Derek Jeter has been so good for so long that he has almost become underrated. He’s batting .336, slugging .463, getting on base at a .408 clip and no one notices because we all expect him to do that. For the first half of the season the Yankees are 1 game under .500 and Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada are the only players hitting like they are capable of – that says something about how good these guys are.
The only knock on Jeter is his defense, which has been especially awful this year. Zone Rating has him as worst in the American League and anyone who has watched a few games this year knows how much trouble the Captain is having going to his left. Unlike Posada whose trouble with base runners involves others, Jeter’s defensive problems are all his own fault so it is costing him half a grade.

Tomorrow – the outfield

Torre waves the white flag...

Even though the Yankees are 2 games under .500 and 11 games behind the Boston Red Sox, Joe Torre has decided the Yankees don't need to win this game. How else do you explain starting Miguel Cairo, Will Nieves, Melky Cabrera, Andy Phillips and Kevin Thompson against Johan Santana? In case no one's noticed Santana is the best pitcher in baseball.

Happy Birthday George, your 2007 Bronx Bombers, featuring such feared automatic outs as Will Nieves and Miguel Cairo.

Congrats to the Rocket Man!!!!

Thanks to Roger Clemens' vintage performance, we suggest the Yankees hold off blowing up the team for one more game. However, if A-Rod is really hurt, then screw it, sell the lot of them.

HOLY FUCKING SHIT!!!!!!!

Get this, Monday in a tie game that the Yankees absolutely needed to win Torre won't use Mariano Rivera in the 9th. BUT TONIGHT, with the Yankees down 4-0 he brings Mariano in in the 8th. Someone please, please stop this man now.

I'm too depressed to keep writing.

Wheres Mo?

"Torre couldn't do the Magic Eye posters either"

We here at 26goingon27 have unearthed a fact about baseball that Joe Torre may be interested in. Evidently, if you are the away team and the score is tied in the bottom of the 9th or any inning after that and the other team scores, you lose. You would think that as a major league manager Joe Torre would understand this, he doesn't. It is the only possible explanation for his refusal to use Mariano Rivera, aka the best reliever on the planet, in Saturday and Monday's losses. Torre already cost the Yanks a game in the 2004 World Series, remember when he went to the immortal Jeff Weaver instead of Mo, and he still hasn't learned.

Then again maybe he knows and doesn't care. After all Joe Torre also thinks Miguel Cairo should start at first base.

Another reason to hate Coors

"The Yanks, feeling the vibe of Coors, decided follow in its footsteps and end up down the toilet at the end of the night."

OUCH! Three games, three losses, a total of five runs scored and three decent pitching performances wasted. To make matters worse, the Yankees are back at .500 and Boston’s lead is once again in double digits.

There are a couple of different ways to look at this Colorado swoon, the truth is, if you weren’t giving up on the Yankees after the Mets series, there’s no need to abandon ship now. A couple of years ago I was at a Yankees – White Sox game. It was during the first few weeks of the season, and was one of Javier Vazquez’s first starts for the Yankees. I don’t recall the exact score (and am too lazy to go to Retrosheet.org right now), but in the 9^th the Yanks were losing 7-4, or something like that. Most of the fans had hung around because it was a beautiful night and it was only 3 runs that needed to be made up. Tony Clark was leading off the ninth and promptly flied out, immediately the flood gates opened with fans flocking for the subway. Suddenly the guy in front of me stands and yells “OH, so Tony Clark makes an out and now everyone’s leaving!” The point is this, the Yankees were probably going to lose before Tony Clark made that first out, so if you had hope that they could come back in the 9^th, there odds of doing so had only marginally decreased from what was already a tough task. The same could be said of this sweep, if you really think the Yankees are going to make the playoffs, this is only a temporary setback.

On the other hand…

The Yankees simply cannot afford to get swept by anyone. The Bombers are 10.5 behind Boston and 6.5 out of the Wild Card. The Red Sox, Tigers, and Indians are all better than the Yankees this year. Even teams that are not better than the Yankees, Angels, Atheltics and Mariners I’m looking at you, have better records. What the Yankees need is a sustained winning streak combined with a sustained losing streak by some of those teams – something that is simply not very bloody likely.

Here’s what has to happen for the Yankees to really have a chance at the Wild Card.

1. Finish the 1^st half on an positive note. This is going to require playing very well for the next 6 games, 3 against San Francisco and 3 against Baltimore, because they then play 3 against Oakland, 4 against the Twins, and 3 against the Angels.
2. Immediately after the All-Star Break, the Yanks need to go on a tear. They open the second half with 4 against Tampa Bay, 4 against Toronto, 3 more against Tampa Bay, 4 against the Kansas City, 3 against Baltimore, 3 against Chicago, another 3 against Kansas City. This is a great stretch to make up ground, the Yankees simply must do so during this time. The end of August is nasty – 3 against Cleveland, 7 games against Detroit, another 3 against Anaheim, and 3 against Boston.
3. Plug the hole at 1B. Look there’s a giant fucking problem when a team’s payroll is close to $200,000,000 and the manager is plugging in the following names at 1b – Doug Mientkiewdaklfjdakl;fjd; Josh Phelps, Miguel Cairo (even his supercharged form), Johnny Damon, and Andy Phillips. Sure, our anonymous poster will be excited that Doug M is coming back in the second half, but those of us who can read the back of a baseball card understand that Doug’s comeback is not a good thing. It is disgraceful how much trouble the Bombers have had filling this position. Combined with the double whammy of having Jason Giambi out, thus robbing the team of a DH as well, there are two major holes in the lineup. While I would cut off my right toe to get Mark Teixeira (though not if we have to give up Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy, or Joba Chamberlian), I just don’t see it happening. Adam Dunn on the other hand would be a substantial improvement over our anemic first sackers. (Before you post, Anonymous, I know Adam Dunn strikes out a lot, but we’ll take all those homers over Cairo’s infield singles.)
4. Figure out what to do with Johnny Damon – he’s killing us. The guy can’t play the field and can’t swing the bat, which means he either needs to be put on the DL or released. I’m not advocating releasing him, but a nice long stay on the DL so that he can get healthy sounds appropriate. (For the record, I think it is beyond pathetic when players put themselves above the team by trying to maintain their consecutive game streak or their never having been on the DL streak. Seriously, do these guys think they’re helping the team by limping out on the field, grounding out to the pitcher and sitting down. I mean sure Lou Gehrig and Cal Ripken had some days where the manager helped them keep their streaks going, but that was Lou FREAKIN’ Gehrig and Cal Ripken! Not Johnny and Miguel Tejada. While I’m ranting, even Ripken was no Gehrig – look at the stats. If you hit like Gehrig you can play every single game and never go on the Disabled List – otherwise not a chance.)
5. Paging Kevin Long, as hitting instructor it is your duty to explain to Melky Cabrera that pitches three feet over his head are very difficult to hit. While you’re at it Mr. Long, it might be time to teach Robinson Cano that there’s no rule in baseball that you have to swing at the first pitch.
6. Pray Phil Hughes comes back soon.
7. Someone other than Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada and A-God needs to step up on a consistent basis. Both Bobby Abreu and Hideki Matsui are showing signs of life, but if those top three don’t hit, the Yankees lose. It would be nice if Robinson Cano, or Damon (after he returns from the DL) or Melky or the void at first base could actually contribute.
8. Hope that Kei Igawa doesn’t implode tonight.

For $80?!?!

"Bleacher creatures and fans in the outfield, get your gloves ready...he's baaaaaaaack."

Gettin' Ready for Kei

"Ron Guidry limbers up for Kei Igawa's return to the big leagues."

Tazmiguien Devil

When asked to comment, Cairo could only mutter, "So, tired. So, very tired."

We here at 26goingon27 want to personally thank the demon that is currently possessing Miguel Cairo's body and making him resemble a major league ball player. Demon, we hope you never leave.