Csavel From United States of America, joined Jan 2001, 1317 posts, RR: 5 Posted (4 years 10 months 3 weeks 6 days 5 hours ago) and read 926 times:
OK So the Yankees are pathetic this year. Terrible pitching, lackluster hitting from left-handers, they just don't have any fire. The season is slipping away from them? How would you fix that?
NOTE: This is not a thread to gloat over the Yankees' misfortune, or to rant about the arrogance of New York, the Yankees, A-ROD, Steinbrenner or whatever, all may be worthy topics, but you can start your own thread for that. My thread has only one subject, you are charged with fixing a failing MLB team that happens to be named the New York Yankees, how would you do it?
My ideas (Long list, sorry about that)
1) Dump Giambi, he's on the DL and will never be what he used to be IMHO.
2) Dump Kyle Farnsworth
3) More time for Viscaino to give Procter and Bruney a rest then they can come back to being fairly good setup men
4) Keep Damon the DH until he is 100% healthy. Melky Cabrera will eventually be a star and he needs more playing time to get seasoned. Then assess.
5) Set Cano straight. He has the potential to be one of the greatest hitters, but he is a bit lackadaisical. He can't hit .340 every year,and I am sure the pitchers are wise as to how to pitch to him by now, but he needs to be more patient and to think at the plate more. His .260 or so is just not hum.
6) To do that, dump Torre, he is a great man, but I don't think his heart is really in it anymore. Perhaps make him some sort of ceremonial director or aide to Cashman
7) Hire Mattingly as manager, he's great baseball instincts, was a player during the days when Steinbrenner was a psychopath so knows how to help his players manage pressure of psycho owner and psycho fans.
8) Try to keep A-ROD, yeah I know he is an asshole, but he is becoming the anchor of the infield. Plus his bat.
9) Experiment with A-Rod #3 and Matsui #4 against righties.
10) dump Carl Pavano already!
11) Call up Tyler Clippard again, even if he gets shelled half the time, he's the future, make him gain a little weight so he can last. Can you imagine Clemens mentoring him?
12) Force all the starters to work harder, this 100 pitch stuff makes pitchers throughout the majors primadonnas
13) Call up that phenom whose name escapes me but is having an incredible year as a reliever in the minors
14) When Mientkewicz comes back, platoon him with Phillips and best man wins spot. Other man can be backup and allow Cairo to give the rest of the infield some rest
15) Force Mussina to use Posada
16) Find a good backup for Posada (I know vary hard to do - good catchers are rare nowadays) let Nieves go, backup can allow Posada to slowly transition to first base.
17) Give up on this year. See #18
18) GIVE UP ON THIS YEAR - Yes that is right, sometimes you got to know when to fold them. Concentrate on giving prospects big-league experience with big names mentoring them. Nurture Clippard, Hughes, Cabrera, et al. A big payoff and perhaps one good prospect can be trade bait for an Outfielder or a catcher. Take the long view.
Not sure whether or not to keep or release Abreu. Probably let Cashman go but then you might risk having Steinbrenners Tampa "baseball people" call the shots and that will be awful.
That's it.
Opinions?
I may be ugly. I may be an American. But don't call me an ugly American.
Mir From United States of America, joined Jan 2004, 17876 posts, RR: 59 Reply 1, posted (4 years 10 months 3 weeks 6 days 4 hours ago) and read 917 times:
Quoting Csavel (Thread starter): 1) Dump Giambi, he's on the DL and will never be what he used to be IMHO.
Unfortunately, I think you may be right on this one.
He has way too many walks, but who besides Rivera in that bullpen doesn't? The guy has killer stuff, if only he could get himself figured out.
Quoting Csavel (Thread starter): 3) More time for Viscaino to give Procter and Bruney a rest then they can come back to being fairly good setup men
Only works if he's effective. Which he wasn't earlier in the year. Some signs of improvement of late.
Quoting Csavel (Thread starter): 4) Keep Damon the DH until he is 100% healthy. Melky Cabrera will eventually be a star and he needs more playing time to get seasoned. Then assess.
Pretty much a no-brainer there.
Quoting Csavel (Thread starter): 5) Set Cano straight. He has the potential to be one of the greatest hitters, but he is a bit lackadaisical. He can't hit .340 every year,and I am sure the pitchers are wise as to how to pitch to him by now, but he needs to be more patient and to think at the plate more. His .260 or so is just not hum.
Much easier said than done.
Quoting Csavel (Thread starter): 6) To do that, dump Torre, he is a great man, but I don't think his heart is really in it anymore. Perhaps make him some sort of ceremonial director or aide to Cashman
Not until the end of the year (at which point he'll probably leave anyway - his contract will be up and I get the feeling he's had enough). The man may have lost his touch, but he has guided the team through a really great run, and he deserves much better than to be fired mid-year.
Quoting Csavel (Thread starter): 7) Hire Mattingly as manager, he's great baseball instincts, was a player during the days when Steinbrenner was a psychopath so knows how to help his players manage pressure of psycho owner and psycho fans.
Either Mattingly or Girardi. Truth be told, I'm not sure Mattingly is manager material.
Quoting Csavel (Thread starter): 8) Try to keep A-ROD, yeah I know he is an asshole, but he is becoming the anchor of the infield. Plus his bat.
Another no-brainer there. But there is the possibility that he'd leave after the year anyway, and if the right deal came around come July 31st, I wouldn't say no. Unless he says flat out that he won't opt out of the contract.
Quoting Csavel (Thread starter): 9) Experiment with A-Rod #3 and Matsui #4 against righties.
I'm sure that'll happen in good time. You don't have to worry about him pitching in a Yankee uniform again.
Quoting Csavel (Thread starter): 11) Call up Tyler Clippard again, even if he gets shelled half the time, he's the future, make him gain a little weight so he can last. Can you imagine Clemens mentoring him?
No, he needs to say in the minors and get himself together. He'll be back fairly soon. You can't waste games on him getting shelled just to give him experience.
Quoting Csavel (Thread starter): 12) Force all the starters to work harder, this 100 pitch stuff makes pitchers throughout the majors primadonnas
Joe does have too quick a hook in my opinion, it was good to see him let Clemens go eight yesterday.
Quoting Csavel (Thread starter): 13) Call up that phenom whose name escapes me but is having an incredible year as a reliever in the minors
Relief help wouldn't hurt.
Quoting Csavel (Thread starter): 14) When Mientkewicz comes back, platoon him with Phillips and best man wins spot. Other man can be backup and allow Cairo to give the rest of the infield some rest
I really like what I'm seeing from Cairo, and wouldn't mind him getting more playing time.
Why? Posada is 35, if you can give him a rest every five days why wouldn't you? Especially if Mussina pitches better because of it. He can DH, so you don't have to lose his bat.
Quoting Csavel (Thread starter): 16) Find a good backup for Posada (I know vary hard to do - good catchers are rare nowadays) let Nieves go, backup can allow Posada to slowly transition to first base.
The Yankees' problems extend much further than their backup catcher.
Quoting Csavel (Thread starter): 18) GIVE UP ON THIS YEAR - Yes that is right, sometimes you got to know when to fold them. Concentrate on giving prospects big-league experience with big names mentoring them. Nurture Clippard, Hughes, Cabrera, et al. A big payoff and perhaps one good prospect can be trade bait for an Outfielder or a catcher. Take the long view.
No need to wave the white flag yet. The Wild Card is still within reach. Hughes will be back, and will benefit greatly from Clemens' presence. Clippard will get what he needs in the minors. I'm not sure how giving up on the year will allow Cabrera to be nurtured any better. The Yankees are rebuilding, but because they're the Yankees, they do it on the fly. And as far as trading a good prospect for an outfielder or catcher, isn't that what got the Yankees where they are in the first place. If I'm going to trade a prospect, it had better be for a Johan Santana type player.
Quoting Csavel (Thread starter): Not sure whether or not to keep or release Abreu.
His contract is up at the end of the year, and I'm not sure that he'll be back.
Quoting Csavel (Thread starter): Probably let Cashman go but then you might risk having Steinbrenners Tampa "baseball people" call the shots and that will be awful.
I wouldn't be surprised to see Cashman go at the end of the year. To be honest, some of the moves he's made have been pretty bad.
-Mir
7 billion, one nation, imagination...it's a beautiful day
AirCop From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 2, posted (4 years 10 months 3 weeks 5 days 7 hours ago) and read 871 times:
The starting eight is still pretty decent(although old only two players on the current roster where born after 1980) , with first base still the big problem. The Yankees need to bite the bullet and develop their own young pitchers, or at least trade for some young pitching, it only took the Braves a year to get back in the chase ..what does it say to other players who work hard all season in the minors hoping for a shot at the major league roster to bring Clemens back for a half season?
Duff44 From United States of America, joined Apr 2006, 1723 posts, RR: 0 Reply 3, posted (4 years 10 months 3 weeks 5 days 7 hours ago) and read 868 times:
Don't forget that in MLB you can't outright 'dump' a player, you would still have to pay him if he was released until picked up by another team. With the money Giambi and Pavano are making, there is zero incentive for them to find new teams to play for, because they would likely be taking very large pay cuts to do it.
Quoting Mir (Reply 1): Another no-brainer there. But there is the possibility that he'd leave after the year anyway, and if the right deal came around come July 31st, I wouldn't say no. Unless he says flat out that he won't opt out of the contract.
If he leaves, he's going west coast.... SF, OAK, LAA, LAD... i.e. in a media market the east-coast media doesn't care about.
Quoting Mir (Reply 1): Quoting Csavel (Thread starter):
10) dump Carl Pavano already!
I'm sure that'll happen in good time. You don't have to worry about him pitching in a Yankee uniform again.
Delta767300ER From United States of America, joined Dec 2003, 2559 posts, RR: 16 Reply 4, posted (4 years 10 months 3 weeks 5 days 2 hours ago) and read 851 times:
Move the franchise to Las Vegas, Change the name of the team, and shoot Steinbrenner......Not like that will ever happen though
Duff44 From United States of America, joined Apr 2006, 1723 posts, RR: 0 Reply 6, posted (4 years 10 months 3 weeks 5 days 2 hours ago) and read 842 times:
Red S-O-X are 52-31 (after the win over Tampa on July 4th), currently have the best record in baseball, and are 12 games ahead of the Yankees in their division (after the Yankees lost to the Twins on July 4th)
Better shut up now before the Yankee superfans have me "taken care of"....
Delta767300ER From United States of America, joined Dec 2003, 2559 posts, RR: 16 Reply 8, posted (4 years 10 months 3 weeks 5 days 2 hours ago) and read 837 times:
Quote: How are the red socks doing ??
Great question. The Red Sox are 52-31 and leading the AL East by 12 games.
Halls120 From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 9, posted (4 years 10 months 3 weeks 5 days 2 hours ago) and read 827 times:
Quoting Csavel (Thread starter): OK So the Yankees are pathetic this year. Terrible pitching, lackluster hitting from left-handers, they just don't have any fire. The season is slipping away from them? How would you fix that?
Mir From United States of America, joined Jan 2004, 17876 posts, RR: 59 Reply 10, posted (4 years 10 months 3 weeks 4 days 23 hours ago) and read 813 times:
Quoting Duff44 (Reply 3): If he leaves, he's going west coast.... SF, OAK, LAA, LAD... i.e. in a media market the east-coast media doesn't care about.
I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up in Anaheim.
-Mir
7 billion, one nation, imagination...it's a beautiful day
Confuscius From United States of America, joined Aug 2001, 3392 posts, RR: 2 Reply 11, posted (4 years 10 months 3 weeks 4 days 23 hours ago) and read 812 times:
Srbmod From United States of America, joined Mar 2001, 16221 posts, RR: 57 Reply 12, posted (4 years 10 months 3 weeks 4 days 23 hours ago) and read 807 times:
I hear their owner is needing some money to fund a play........
The Yankees are going through the downward portion of the cycle. They've had a good run, but throwing that kind of money at players who never really lived up to their ability and the hype hurt them in the long run. By signing these vets, that keeps the prospects down on the farm and a player can only develop so much in the minors. The Braves were lucky a few seasons back to have some bad breaks that led to many of their top prospects getting called up and eventually staying up for good. A few decent starters ended up getting dealt or were not re-signed because of the youngsters that came up and helped the team out when they needed the help. Plus the kids came at a cheaper price than the vets, and with the team on the market, smaller payroll means more interested buyers.
Hello Airplanes? Yeah, it's Blimps. You win, bye....
FXramper From United States of America, joined Dec 2005, 6849 posts, RR: 98 Reply 13, posted (4 years 10 months 3 weeks 4 days 23 hours ago) and read 791 times:
Why get rid of Cashman? He's already Steinbrenner's puppet.
Galapagapop From United States of America, joined Feb 2005, 910 posts, RR: 4 Reply 17, posted (4 years 10 months 3 weeks 4 days 18 hours ago) and read 761 times:
As a Red Sox fan I'd rather let things continue down this road, but being in Yankee country and having enjoyed many a Yankees game over the years I'd suggest:
1. dump Torre, he needs to leave on some sort of high, don't let him continue to be brought down by this team's performance.
2. Dump all the aging arms in the pitching staff top to bottom, only person I'd even recommend keeping, is Rivera as hands down he's one of a kind and still the best closer year over year, despite his continuing decline and rising walk numbers. Trying to head back to the success of the 90's literally by adding Petite and Clemens is the completely wrong way to go.
3. Get rid of Giambi, Abreau (he really was just a player to keep away from the Sox last year and more of a face for a comeback, rather than the perpetuator of such a comeback, as we know that was Jeter and Cano), and Damon (His offense was his only real asset, as Sox fans liked to say after the signing, looks like Jesus, Acts like Peter, Throws like Mary) I'd also watch Matsui, he's off his usual offensive mark, and even though his numbers looked fine for last year he was injured for the majority of the season, remember he's 33 and his success started long before coming to the Yankees in 03'.
4. Stop signing and spending millions on free agents, lets just look at the Red Sox this year, Lugo and Drew were much heralded signings, but alas have they really proven themselves integral to the Sox's success? No, players like Youkilis, Pedroia, and Lowell (to a lesser, more expensive extent). Both Youkilis and Pedroia are home grown but over time, Pedroia got a few games last year, until ready, Yanks can do that too with Clipper and Hughes (Although I believe heavily Hughes is over-hyped). But the Yanks are gonna need some prospects behind the plate (Jorge is having a career season at bat, but he's no spring chicken, where you can expect this from here on, he's a career .270 hitter, and his catcher body ain't getting younger, however if he does find power at his age and hits above average, it'd be worth exploring moving him to 1st if needed, but the track record with things like that isn't always great.
5th and most importantly remove Cashman, he's failed in pitching and other departments for several years now, the kind of money he spends, should yield much better results.
Homer71 From United States of America, joined Jul 2001, 2181 posts, RR: 19 Reply 18, posted (4 years 10 months 3 weeks 4 days 5 hours ago) and read 733 times:
Fire Susan Walman...her on-air orgasm announcing Clemens' return to the Yankees pretty much made the whole team sterile
"Man running through airport turnstile sideways going to Bangkok"
N1120A From United States of America, joined Dec 2003, 25729 posts, RR: 86 Reply 19, posted (4 years 10 months 3 weeks 4 days 5 hours ago) and read 730 times:
The best thing to do with this ship is to sink it and let the Mets be New York's team
As for what needs to be done to fix the team, they need to dump Cashman and build up their farm system again, because the current one sucks.
Quoting Csavel (Thread starter): (I know vary hard to do - good catchers are rare nowadays)
Good backups are easy to find. Perhaps they should look at Barrett. He can hit, throw and is a primmadonna who gets his a$$ beat by pitchers, which fits in well in the Bronx
Quoting Csavel (Thread starter): 7) Hire Mattingly as manager, he's great baseball instincts, was a player during the days when Steinbrenner was a psychopath so knows how to help his players manage pressure of psycho owner and psycho fans.
Donnie Baseball was a great player and has so far been robbed from a rightful place in the Hall of Fame. He is, however, too much of a yes man to be effective as a manger. Girardi has a history as a Yankee and is an extremely capable manager.
Quoting Csavel (Thread starter): 9) Experiment with A-Rod #3 and Matsui #4 against righties.
Experiment? A-Rod is a prototypical #3 hitter and should be hitting in that spot every day.
Quoting Mir (Reply 1): Unless he says flat out that he won't opt out of the contract.
I really don't see why he would, unless he thinks he can get more late value out of a new one. I just don't see anyone upping the ante to 28-30 million a year.
Quoting Duff44 (Reply 3): If he leaves, he's going west coast.... SF, OAK, LAA, LAD... i.e. in a media market the east-coast media doesn't care about.
Forget about OAK. They are all about sabermetric moneyball and there is no way they would take him. I mean, Beane compared A-Rod to Chavez for crying out loud. I don't think the Angels make sense either, as they have a very strong team as it is and have a payroll that has been steadily rising and will have to continue to do so in order to hold on to the players they have. The Giants I see as a strong candidate, as they have been pretty much stripped bare of talent except for a 42 year old slugger and a LHP who has had his worst year of his career. The Dodgers are a mixed bag. The team could really use a major power bat, but I don't know if A-Rod wants to play in a stadium that is going to take away at least 10 home runs a year from him. Further, the team is known for growing from within and has a great deal of talent just getting their chance or waiting in Vegas. If Matt Kemp OR James Loney (let alone both) turn into the hitters that they are expected to, you really don't need A-Rod. Then again, if Jeff Kent (that a$$hole) finally retires, the team will have a whole bunch of cash to play with, despite overpaying for Juan Pierre, and could easily pay A-Rod.
Quoting Mir (Reply 10): I wouldn't be surprised if he ended up in Anaheim.
I just find that hard to swallow. The Angels don't need him and have some significant financial obligations either currently (Guerrero, Lackey, Cabrera, Colon, Mathews) or in the future (Escobar, K-Rod, Kendrick, Weaver). I think Bonds is more likely than A-Rod.
Quoting Galapagapop (Reply 17): Damon (His offense was his only real asset, as Sox fans liked to say after the signing, looks like Jesus, Acts like Peter, Throws like Mary)
Who cares how he throws? Yeah, it would be nice, but the guy gets to and catches the ball and adds speed to a lineup that needs it.
Mangeons les French fries, mais surtout pratiquons avec fierte le French kiss
S12PPL From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 20, posted (4 years 10 months 3 weeks 4 days 4 hours ago) and read 728 times:
Why would you want to fix the Yankees??
I think this whole season is fricken hillarious!
Trying to buy a ring? NOPE! DENIED!
I think this is the funniest thing that could possibly happen to the evil empire. Spending all this money on all these super star players...And they can't even make it out of the first fricken round of the playoffs!
I hope they don't even MAKE the post season this year. I'll pop open a cold one to that.
Duff44 From United States of America, joined Apr 2006, 1723 posts, RR: 0 Reply 21, posted (4 years 10 months 3 weeks 4 days 4 hours ago) and read 717 times:
Quoting FXramper (Reply 13): Why get rid of Cashman? He's already Steinbrenner's puppet.
Actually, he supposedly was given the reins to run the team without Steinbrenner's hand up his butt... maybe that wasn't such a wise decision after all.
Quoting FXramper (Reply 13):
Get rid of Pettite, Clemens, and Mussina.
Get rid of Posada, Abreu, Giambi, and Damon.
Average age of those guys is 36yr 10mos... I should say so.
Quoting Homer71 (Reply 18): Fire Susan Walman...her on-air orgasm announcing Clemens' return to the Yankees pretty much made the whole team sterile
If I never hear her voice again it will be too soon.... worst announcer in baseball
Quoting N1120A (Reply 19): Forget about OAK. They are all about sabermetric moneyball and there is no way they would take him. I mean, Beane compared A-Rod to Chavez for crying out loud. I don't think the Angels make sense either, as they have a very strong team as it is and have a payroll that has been steadily rising and will have to continue to do so in order to hold on to the players they have. The Giants I see as a strong candidate, as they have been pretty much stripped bare of talent except for a 42 year old slugger and a LHP who has had his worst year of his career. The Dodgers are a mixed bag. The team could really use a major power bat, but I don't know if A-Rod wants to play in a stadium that is going to take away at least 10 home runs a year from him. Further, the team is known for growing from within and has a great deal of talent just getting their chance or waiting in Vegas. If Matt Kemp OR James Loney (let alone both) turn into the hitters that they are expected to, you really don't need A-Rod. Then again, if Jeff Kent (that a$$hole) finally retires, the team will have a whole bunch of cash to play with, despite overpaying for Juan Pierre, and could easily pay A-Rod.
Agreed, he wont go to OAK. I was using it more of a location callout demonstrating the west coast teams... very easily could have been SD as well.
If Pay-rod bolts NY, I think he's going to have a big problem finding work for the money he wants.
N1120A From United States of America, joined Dec 2003, 25729 posts, RR: 86 Reply 22, posted (4 years 10 months 3 weeks 4 days 4 hours ago) and read 715 times:
Quoting Duff44 (Reply 21):
If Pay-rod bolts NY, I think he's going to have a big problem finding work for the money he wants
Yeah, I really don't know the logic behind this. I think Scott Boras has finally dropped off his rocker. A-Rod should just play well, ride out his contract and enjoy the fact that even a 10 million dollar pay cut on the next one would be 15 million a year.
Mangeons les French fries, mais surtout pratiquons avec fierte le French kiss
Mir From United States of America, joined Jan 2004, 17876 posts, RR: 59 Reply 23, posted (4 years 10 months 3 weeks 4 days 3 hours ago) and read 714 times:
Quoting FXramper (Reply 13): Get rid of Pettite, Clemens, and Mussina.
Get rid of Posada, Abreu, Giambi, and Damon.
I'd agree with all except Posada, Pettite and Clemens (who may not be back anyways). Those three are big clubhouse presences, and very positive influences on the team. Tino Martinez said a while back that it doesn't look like everyone on the team is trying hard. Those that are, surprisingly, are the ones who were on the Yankees back in the late 90s - Jeter, Posada, et al. It would be a mistake to expect Pettite or Clemens to be a first, second, or perhaps even third starter, or Posada to be a big component in the lineup (though ever since he said "screw this loosing shit" in the 9th inning of the ALDS Game 4, he's been on a tear), but they can still contribute a lot to the team.
-Mir
7 billion, one nation, imagination...it's a beautiful day
LTBEWR From United States of America, joined Jan 2004, 11686 posts, RR: 8 Reply 24, posted (4 years 10 months 3 weeks 4 days 1 hour ago) and read 705 times:
First of all, let me state that I am a Mets fan, but I don't like to see the Yankees be miserable either. I don't believe in massive or wholesale changes during the season, let the season pass, use it for rebuilding, use what is left to bring up guys from the minors and consider minor changes.I would consider ditching Cashman and Torre as well as some of the overpaid and too old players after the end of the season. I do believe I do think resurrecting Clemens was a mistake, especially for he money they threw at them and is a poster boy for the GM mistakes the Yankees have made.
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