Tagged: Hideki Matsui
A-Rod has successful surgery
By Jon Lane
WFAN’s Sweeny Murti reported that A-Rod had a successful one hour and
20 minute surgery that according to Dr. Marc Philippon went exactly as
planned. Dr. Philippon added there was “no doubt” that all parties made
the right choice. Not only does A-Rod projected 6-9 weeks of recovery remain on track, he will absolutely be ready for Spring Training
next year following the more invasive procedure.
You can read the full story here.
Shameless plug department: I’ll be discussing A-Rod’s surgery momentarily on Sports Radio 790 in Atlanta.
News of the day
From the AP: Mariano Rivera threw 30
pitches during his third bullpen session. Coming back from surgery on
the AC joint in his right shoulder last Oct. 7, Rivera is scheduled to
throw batting practice Wednesday and could make his spring training
debut around March 17.
Rivera expects to be ready for Opening Day on April 6.
“I’m right on track,” Rivera said. “Everything will depend on how the arm feels. So far it’s been feeling good.”
Hideki Matsui, who had left knee surgery last Sept.
22, reported no problems after playing consecutive games for the first
time this spring training on Saturday and Sunday.
4:59 p.m.: Joe Girardi was just on WFAN with Mike Francesa.
Among the highlights, Mark Teixeira will continue to bat third in
A-Rod’s absence … Jorge Posada is progressing nicely and the intent
is for him to still catch at least 100 games … Girardi has been
impressed with Phil Hughes, but the Yankees want him to start, so
expect him to begin the season in Triple-A barring injury to one of the starters … Gardner
and Nick Swisher each have caught Girardi’s eye. While it’s still
early, that could eventually spell bad news for Cabrera and Xavier
Nady. Since Cabrera is out of options, Girardi may carry both he and
Gardner, but that remains too early to decide.
YESNetwork.com will have portions of the interview posted later.
The heat will be on Teixeira
By Jon Lane
Courtesy of Peter Abraham, the state of the 2009 Yankees, taken from the point of view of what awaits Mark Teixeira.
All this for $400 million. What you have looks like a big mess, but it’s not even spring yet! Let’s see how this latest Alex Rodriguez tale plays out. A-Rod had additional tests done on his injured hip today, Hal Steinbrenner told reporters, but the Yankees’ co-chairman wasn’t revealing any details.
“Everybody is concerned, of course,” Steinbrenner said after meeting with general manager Brian Cashman and manager Joe Girardi for about 15 minutes. “No decisions being made. Just being cautious. We’re going to take it slow.”
Which brings up the importance of Teixeira to this team. Buster Olney writes that Teixeira is the only sure thing the Yankees have going at the moment. Right now you cannot argue with this. A-Rod as the No. 4 hitter that’s the glue to a machine that when operating at 100 percent has Teixeira batting third and a healthy Hideki Matsui fifth. Now with A-Rod’s season possibly on the brink, Teixeira will have to waste no time in earning the $180 million he’ll be making over the next eight years – perhaps without the benefit of A-Rod’s protection in the lineup.
If history is any indication, however, Teixeira will not get untracked immediately. As Olney writes, “Any hiccup on his part will be devastating for the Yankees. A slow transition to New York, which has been typical for most of the big-name players acquired by the team in the past decade, might crush the Yankees’ playoff hopes. They need him to hit early and hit late; they need him to hit all season.”
Problem is, Teixeira has annually been a slow starter (see the chart six paragraphs down in Onley’s blog). But as Sweeny Murti indicates, A-Rod’s injury turns the heat up on Teixeira, CC Sabathia, and A.J. Burnett. Even the most knowledgeable fans and astute sabermetricians won’t cut Teixeira any slack should he post some of the paltry numbers listed in Olney’s chart.
Tonight’s lineup
Johnny Damon LF
Brett Gardner CF
Nick Swisher 1B
Jorge Posada DH
Shelly Duncan RF
Cody Ransom 3B
Jose Molina C
Angel Berroa 2B
Ramiro Pena SS
The around and about
By Jon Lane
A few takes on the latest happenings around the Yankees.
Alex Rodriguez is in the news – again. A-Rod could be held out of the World Baseball Classic because of a cyst on his right hip, which is something Joe Girardi said today bothered the third baseman last year. Rodriguez will be examined by Dr. Marc Phillipon in Vail, Colo., today.
In light of this, I don’t see A-Rod representing the Dominican Republic. A cyst is easily treatable, but love him or not Rodriguez is extremely important to the Yankees’ chances in 2009. Forget about his history with PEDs; that’s not what I’m talking about. Can you honestly say the Yankees are better off without the numbers A-Rod puts up year after year?
What you can’t ignore is A-Rod’s penchant for putting his size 12 square into his mouth. He told reporters on Tuesday he wished Jose Reyes played for the Yankees. Does it ever stop?
Jeter was with the Yankees this morning and told reporters: “I’ve got nothing to say, man.”
‘Nuff said.
Speaking of the Captain, we here on The YES Blog love pushing your buttons! Steven Goldman was being realistic that Father Time eventually catches up with everyone. Joe Auriemma spoke from the heart and of Jeter’s true value to a ballclub.
May these two, and fans with dissenting opinions, duke it out in a 15-foot high steel cage. I choose not to worry about this until I have to: at the end of the 2010 season. This is like wondering what would happen if Jeter got hurt and Cody Ransom had to play shortstop every day. Why concern yourself with hypotheticals?
Glenn Giangrande writes the Yankees should consider trading Hideki Matsui. When Matsui is healthy he can hit with power and produce in the clutch, but since he’s limited to being a designated hitter, it creates a logjam. Guys like Johnny Damon and Jorge Posada will need at least half-days off, which means Matsui wouldn’t play. If the Yankees can find a taker for someone willing to push the envelope and test Matsui, in the final year of a four-year, $52 million contract, in the outfield, more power to them. That won’t be easy.
The Yankees will return to Grapefruit League action today, traveling to Lake Buena Vista, Fla., to meet the Atlanta Braves at 1:05 p.m. Ian Kennedy makes his second spring start against Kenshin Kawakami. Among the players in the Yankees’ lineup will be Johnny Damon, Gardner and Xavier Nady.
The lineup:
Johnny Damon LF
Brett Gardner CF
Xavier Nady RF
Juan Miranda 1B
Angel Berroa 2B
Jose Molina C
Kevin Russo 3B
Ramiro Pena SS
UPDATE: The Yankees lost, 3-2, to the Braves to fall to 2-4-1 on
the Grapefruit season. Damon went 1-for-2 with an RBI triple to deep right-center while Dan
Giese, in relief of Kennedy, added a base hit of his own. Kennedy,
however, struggled in his second spring start, allowing two runs and
three hits in three innings. Giese was also touched for a run on two
hits in three frames.
Time to trade Matsui?
By Glenn Giangrande
Let me start by saying Hideki Matsui has been the consummate professional in pinstripes and I believe he has given the Yankees everything he possibly could during his tenure, which goes far beyond what he’s done solely on the ball field.
Now that I’ve said that, I’m saying it’s time to cut the cord with him.
Matsui appears to be a major albatross on this roster. It is pretty well known that he will be little more than a DH this season given his knee problems and he’ll turn 35 in June. I’m not going to say his power is officially in decline just yet because he turned in a very solid .285-25-103-100 season the last time he was healthy in ’07, but at his age and with his health problems, Godzilla might be at the tipping point.
My main concerns actually have more to do with players around Matsui than Matsui himself. Jorge Posada has already had one setback this spring in his return from shoulder surgery, and given his age\health issue, he will probably need more than a few at-bats as the DH to keep him fresh for his time behind the plate. Johnny Damon will need the occasional day off from left field as well. Joe Girardi is said to be a huge fan of Nick Swisher, so if he happens to lose the right field battle with Xavier Nady, he and his positive clubhouse presence can slot right into the DH position. It just seems like a number of players offer more to the Yankees than Matsui does right now.
Baseball is a business though, and maybe the Yankees think that dealing Matsui would hurt their brand in Japan. I say their flag has already been planted firmly enough there. They’d probably have to eat a fair amount of his remaining $13 million salary, maybe half of it. At this time though, dealing Matsui might be addition by subtraction when talking solely about roster makeup, and isn’t that what matters when a World Championship is the main goal?
Figuring out the outfield puzzle
By Jon Lane
Barring a trade, or the Yankees plucking a stop-gap veteran off the scrap heap, Brett Gardner or Melky Cabrera will be the team’s starting center fielder.
Many people wanted to pull the plug on Cabrera; he was almost shipped
to Milwaukee for Mike Cameron. Why give up so soon? He’s only 24 and
had one bad season, which made nearly everyone forget his 16 assists
and 73 RBIs the year before, as well as those sparkling catches in
center that had fans enamored with him. Cabrera’s biggest issue is
maturity, so you hope his demotion to Triple-A last August humbled him.
From the looks of his Dominican League numbers (.312-1-12 in 24 games
for Aguilas Cibaenas) the prognosis is encouraging. Also helping
Cabrera’s cause is him pulling out of the World Baseball Classic. It’s
admirable Cabrera wanted to represent his native Dominican Republic,
but he has too much to prove to the Yankees – and to himself.
There is a lot to like about Gardner’s game. He’s a demon on the bases and goes all-out in every area. He just has to hit; a .228 batting average in 42 games isn’t what the Yankees are accustomed to in center field.
Why trade either Xavier Nady or Nick Swisher? Either (likely Nady) will start in right field. Both offer depth and in Swisher’s case, flexibility. Bear in mind that Hideki Matsui will not see any action in the outfield all spring. He’s coming off knee surgery, so he’ll be a DH for the foreseeable future.
I’m expecting a bounce-back season for Swisher (.219-24-69 in ’08), a genial person who needed a fresh start after his fallout with Ozzie Guillen in Chicago. He’s only 28 and two seasons removed from slugging 35 home runs with 95 RBIs.
A friend of mine had this idea the other day: The Yankees sign free agent Garret Anderson. In theory it’s great. At age 36, Anderson batted .293 with 15 home runs and 84 RBIs, second on the club to Vladimir Guerrero’s 91. When the Angels decided to decline picking up their option on Anderson’s contract, Anderson left Southern California as the franchise’ leader in games played, at-bats, hits, total bases, singles, doubles, grand slams, extra-base hits, career RBI, single-game RBI, and consecutive games (12) with an RBI.
In practice it’s unlikely, though you never know. Anderson would have made $14 million in 2009 and the Yankees do not want to add more to their bloated payroll. Nady or Swisher would have to be dealt and Anderson would have to play every day. He turns 37 in June, so how productive would he truly be?
One person who will not be roaming the outfield for the Yankees: Bernie Williams. The fan favorite was with the team in Tampa today, but he’s not on the roster. He’s working out in preparation for Team Puerto Rico in the WBC.
Now let's move on from it
By Jon Lane
Alex Rodriguez issued a mea culpa to the media, his team, his superiors and his viewing public Tuesday afternoon.
Great. Thank you A-Rod. Now we can move on.
Easier said than done. A-Rod lied about PEDs and Selena Roberts. He came across very strange with this story about “the cousin” and how they brought this over-the-counter substance from the Dominican Republic to the United States, and how his “cousin” injected him with this stuff for THREE seasons without any knowledge of potential side effects or long-term damage.
With A-Rod there are always more questions, and you know that this story – unfortunately – just will not go away. But quite frankly, I don’t want anymore. A-Rod is not going to give you anymore. His teammates are sick of talking about it; players who have been Yankees for a few years are fed up with the annual distractions that have descend upon Yankeeland like midges.
And you can debate until you’re dark blue about whether or not A-Rod belongs in the Hall of Fame. Let me break it down for you: The fact that he admitted he did it – unlike Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens or Mark McGwire – is a step in the right direction. Let this play out – and hopefully go away one of these years – for the rest of his career, wait five years after that and then decide.
Today, right here, right now. I’m through with this BS. Everyone I speak with are done with it and are anxious to talk baseball, talk about how this Yankees team is loaded on paper and whether it will translate to ultimate success on the field. Put it to you this way: The New York Daily News was forced to pull two of Anthony McCarron’s features, one on how Jesus Montero is Jorge Posada’s heir apparent at catcher and Phil Hughes’ approach to Spring Training 2009 – thanks to Alex Rodriguez.
The Yankees spent $400 million on people in the offseason. Nobody has cared. There’s heavy anticipation with the move into the new palace and excitement over what should be a hotly-contested battle for the AL East title between not two, but three teams, one which by the way is the Tampa Bay Rays, the reigning AL Champions. Few people are talking about it or anything else baseball-related, so time to change the subject.
Here’s my 2009 prognosis on Alex Rodriguez the baseball player.
A-Rod will have another HUGE season. The last time he got a heavy burden off his chest was 2007 when he admitted that he and Derek Jeter were no longer close friends. That season he batted .314 with 54 home runs (a franchise record by a right-handed hitter), 156 RBIs and 143 runs scored. This time King Kong is off his back (you’d like to think), he’s batting cleanup between Mark Teixeria and a healthy Hideki Matsui, and it’s an odd year. A-Rod won his MVPs in 2003, ’05 and ’07.
A couple of anecdotes from 2007: Gary Sheffield, traded from the Yankees to the Tigers that offseason, had a hunch about A-Rod in the spring, predicting a monster season. Then on Opening Day at Yankee Stadium, A-Rod misplayed a pop fly that dropped behind him in foul territory with two out in the first. He was 0-for-3 when he led off the seventh, fresh off the Yankees’ sixth-inning rally that tied the game. He poked a single to left, and then decided to take the game in his own hands by stealing second base – on his own – before scoring the tiebreaking run. In the eighth, his two-run homer iced the game. Fans who jeered him for the error and a strikeout about 90 minutes earlier showered him with cheers.
Doug Mientkiewicz, his Yankees teammate in ’07 who played with Rodriguez at Westminster Christian (Fla.) High School and is great with the media, told me this after the game:
“No one can ever possibly fathom what he has to go through, and I will never sit here and try to speak for him,” Mientkiewicz said. “The biggest thing for Alex is to relax and understand that you’re surrounded by 24 other guys who know how to play the game too.”
A-Rod’s insecurities need to be coddled and massaged. The Yankees will do that, like it or not, because they need a relaxed A-Rod who is “simply a baseball player” to win. And you know the deal in Yankeeland: Win or else.
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