Tagged: Joe Girardi
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?
Gardner stakes claim on CF
By Glenn Giangrande
While I sit here and watch Phil Hughes take his first steps towards erasing his 2008 season, I’m still shocked by what I saw in the box score from Wednesday’s Spring Training opener.
Brett Gardner went deep?
Sure, it doesn’t have the media relevance that A-Rod’s two-run jack had, but boy oh boy, what a nice way to start the official slate for Gardner, who I fully expect to win the job in center field over Melky Cabrera. He’s not going to be hitting many homers, I know, but I don’t think people who view CF as a position battle will get their money’s worth.
In my eyes, Gardner is the clear cut favorite, and if he wasn’t so young and inexperienced, he might’ve been given the job in college, although I think we’d all agree in saying that Joe Girardi is the probably the kind of manager who likes to foster competition when possible. The facts cannot be ignored though. Gardner has blazing speed in the outfield, and while his arm is not at the level of Melky’s, you don’t need to throw the ball in if you can run it down!
When he doesn’t start, Gardner can wreak havoc in the late innings as a pinch runner, but I believe that the temptation to have that dimension in the lineup on a regular basis is far too tempting for Girardi.
The Joba Rules revised
By Jon Lane
Interesting blog entry from Tyler Kepner of The New York Times:
Should Joe Girardi choose to not skip his fifth starter – the Yankees have an off day after opening the season in Baltimore on April 6 – Joba Chamberlain would line up to start the home opener April 16. The way I projected the lineup last week, I had Chamberlain being skipped and making his 2009 debut April 15 at St. Petersburg with CC Sabathia to follow. Time will tell how this shakes out.
Meanwhile, there will apparently be no serious flexing of any Joba rules with this talk about Chamberlain making roughly 30 starts. As Kepner points out, should Chamberlain average six innings per start, that would equal 180 innings – 80 more than he threw last season and well more than the Yankees want. That had Girardi admitting to times when he’d have to pull Chamberlain after five to keep down his innings.
“It’s tempting to want to leave him in, because he has the ability to shut people down,” Girardi said. “But you understand it’s a long-term project.”
Bring it on!
By Jon Lane
Finally it’s upon us, baseball! The Yankees open their Grapefruit season today at 1:15 p.m. against the Blue Jays in Dunedin, Fla., in which their full roster will be intact before many players leave to prepare for the World Baseball Classic.
This game is neither televised nor over the radio waves – I wish it was because Alex Rodriguez is playing and it would have been interesting to gauge fan reaction – but we’ll do our best to provide periodic updates. A-Rod is braced for a hostile reception, but to him that’s nothing new.
News flash: Joe Girardi announced the order of his rotation this morning, reports The Journal News‘ Peter Abraham.
CC Sabathia
Chien-Ming Wang
A.J. Burnett
Andy Pettitte
Joba Chamberlain
Many of you were hoping Wang would be No. 2 between Sabathia and Burnett. You got your wish and it’s a good decision by Girardi to separate two power pitchers with Wang’s nasty sinkerball, which helped win 19 games in consecutive seasons. Not a bad No. 2, eh?
Furthermore, the plan is for Chamberlain to make roughly 30 starts. Chamberlain will be carefully monitored, but the last thing you want to do is handle him with kid gloves. Let him go out and show what he’s all about.
Today’s lineup:
Brett Gardner CF
Derek Jeter SS
Robinson Cano 2B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Nick Swisher RF
Shelley Duncan DH
Juan Miranda 1B
Todd Linden LF
Kevin Cash C
The starters: Brett Tomko vs. Brett Cecil
The Yankees agreed to a Minor League contract with Tomko on Friday and invited him to Spring Training. The veteran right-hander turns 36 on April 7 and split last season with the Royals and Padres. In 12 seasons, Tomko is 95-99 and a 4.68 ERA in 368 games (260 starts) with the Reds, Mariners, Padres, Cardinals, Giants, Dodgers and Royals. His chances at the making the Yankees are a longshot – and our Steven Goldman is not a big fan – but he’s another veteran arm that could be stashed away just in case.
Tomko, incidentally, will wear Bobby Abreu’s old No. 53.
The rotation: Tomko, Kei Igawa, Christian Garcia, Mike Dunn, Dave Robertson, Dan Giese and Jose Veras.
About the Blue Jays
Remain a middle-of-the-road team off a fourth-place finish in the AL East … pitching staff is anchored by Roy Halladay, who has thrown 220-plus innings in three consecutive seasons while averaging 17.3 wins … injuries limited five-time All-Star Scott Rolen to 115 games (.262-11-50), but he batted .307 with three home runs and 11 RBIs over his final 25 games … Vernon Wells suffered a left hamstring injury in drills on February 23, and might miss the remainder of spring training … manager Cito Gaston returned for his second stint as Jays pilot when he took over for the fired John Gibbons on June 20, 2008 and signed a two-year extension that September.
Yankee Doodles
By Jon Lane
A quick thank you to everyone who’s shared their comments, opinions and observations. Joe and I are appreciative of the amount of feedback already with this endeavor not even a week old. It’s great to be a part of the community, and trust us when we say a plethora of fun and creative projects are on tap.
One other quick note: Steven Goldman’s latest Pinstriped Bible entry is a must-read. He and non-roster invitee Jason Johnson share something in common that puts life back in its proper pecking order.
The Yankees enjoyed a break in the monotony on Monday when Joe Girardi arranged a pool tournament to build team camaraderie. Before I get into the positive aftereffects, a few baseball-related news and notes with the first Spring Training game one day away:
Jorge Posada made 15 throws from distances as far as 220 feet on Sunday. He’s targeting being behind the plate Opening Day on April 6 and insists he’ll catch 110-120 games.
“It’s night and day,” Posada said. “Last year, I couldn’t do the things that I’m doing right now.”
Posada will also receive a community award for his work with the Jorge Posada Foundation, which provides support to families with children affected by Craniosynostosis, from the Ted Williams Museum in St. Petersburg, Fla., during a dinner at Tropicana Field to benefit the Children’s Dreamfund. He deserves it. This is a player who operates on talent, heart and guts, and extends those intangibles to charitable organizations.
Mariano Rivera’s surgically-repaired right shoulder is feeling great. He told reporters he’s building muscle while throwing and playing long toss, and that it’s getting better every day. This is coming from, in my book, the greatest closer of all time and an absolutely indispensible member of the Yankees who is showing no signs of slowing down. He’s yet to throw off a mound, but it never takes too long a time for him to be ready for a new season.
Rivera, by the way, won two titles in Girardi’s First Annual World Championship of Pool, an idea that was embraced by the Yankees and the media. Girardi took some jabs last season for showing a Type-A personality, but working with him while he was a YES talent and ghostwriting a few of his columns, I found him bright, friendly and interesting, and his heart has always been in the right place. The experiences he had in Florida and last year in New York will only help take his overall game to the next level.
We saw a different side of Girardi before he canceled practice at Steinbrenner Field and took his players to a billiards bonding expedition, writes Ken Davidoff.
Monday was so long GI Joe. Hello Gentle Joe, writes Sweeny Murti.
Giants coach Tom Coughlin was impressed with Girardi’s idea to build team unity through pool, writes George King.
Today around the Yankees
By Jon Lane
Jerome Preisler offered a positive yet compelling take on Alex Rodriguez in his new Deep in the Red, while also looking back on a September 2005 game we worked together.
Meanwhile, some notes and nuggets from another day in Yankees camp:
• George Steinbrenner paid a visit. Asked by a New York Post reporter how he was doing, The Boss said, “I feel good.”
• Bernie Williams returned to his old digs and will remain with the Yankees until March 2 when he meets the World Baseball Classic’s Puerto Rican team. Tyler Kepner has the details with quotes from Williams and Joe Girardi.
From Peter Abraham’s LoHud Yankees blog:
• Edwar Ramirez and Jose Veras (Dominican Republic) won’t be going to the WBC. You can probably count Damaso Marte (hamstring) out too. The righty reliever won’t be running for at least the rest of the week.
• CC Sabathia’s first Grapefruit start will be March 6 against the Tigers at George M. Steinbrenner Field. That lines him up for Opening Day on April 6 in Baltimore.
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