Results tagged ‘ Paul O'Neill ’
Mr Rightfielder, are you out there?…
Why not dream big?…
Admittedly, I keep hoping the Yankees announce the acquisition of a proven slugger for right field, but the realist in me knows that the Yankees are truly serious about getting salaries beneath $189 million by next year.
I’ve also come to realize that whenever the Yankees are publicly attached to a certain player through rumors or expressed interest, those deals rarely come to fruition. Such was the case with Washington Nationals first baseman/outfielder Michael Morse who was subsequently dealt to the Seattle Mariners. I thought Morse would have been a good replacement for the departed Nick Swisher, but the Yankees obviously felt the cost in terms of prospects was too much. Of the remaining options, there’s always the chance that GM Brian Cashman can parlay his good relationship with Arizona Diamondbacks GM Kevin Towers into a deal for outfielder Justin Upton. I am really not enamored with other possibilities like Vernon Wells.
I guess I am still waiting for that next Paul O’Neill type of deal to bring a fixture to right for years to come…
What if Boston’s acquisition of A-Rod had come true so many years ago…
Before I write these next words, please know that I am not a fan of Alex Rodriguez. Therefore, my words about him will always be jaded. My personal opinion is that A-Rod was as immersed into PED’s as the newly admitted doper Lance Armstrong. I look forward to the day when A-Rod no longer wears the pinstripes. When the reports about A-Rod’s ailing hip came to light, there were comments by his doctor that it was directly attributable to his poor play late last season. But today, the news headline is that the cartilage damage was “less than expected”. So, of course, my immediate thought was maybe the hip had nothing to do with A-Rod’s performance…he just tanked it as he always does in pressure situations. The man who lives for his own personal stats is not a friend of mine and certainly not someone I want on my team.
Yogi Berra’s heir-apparent…
I am very pleased to see Jorge Posada accepting an invitation to spring training as a guest instructor. There’s no doubt his exit from the Yankees could have been handled much better, but it is time to make amends and to embrace Jorge as a Yankees Legend. Without question, the uncertainty of the 2013 starting catcher is a great opportunity for Jorge to mentor the right candidate for the job. I think the starter will be Francisco Cervelli or Cervelli in a platoon with another catcher. As much as I like Austin Romine, it’s just not quite his time yet. Welcome back to the fold, Jorge! Hip-hip, Jorge!
Andy, just say “no”…
I know that Andy Pettitte has not committed to the WBC or Team USA yet, but I really hope that it does not happen. I am not convinced that the Yankees can get an entire season out of Pettitte who missed part of last year due to injury. I do feel that 2013 most likely will be Andy’s last season so I hope that we can get the best possible Andy for his swan song.
I guess Jenny Craig does work…
After seeing all those photos of “fat” Derek a month or so ago, it’s clear from current photos that he’s in pristine condition and ready to take the field. Derek has never been my favorite player (sorry, but Mariano Rivera has held that position since 1996), but he’s a future Hall of Famer and his number will be between Billy Martin and Babe Ruth in Monument Park after his playing days are over. Derek has impressed me with many things over the years but his renaissance after talk he was declining shows how truly special the player is. I have trust in DJ to know that when his time comes, he will walk away. He will never be a burden to the Yankees roster…unlike his teammate to his right.
Youk!…
Back to A-Rod, I really hope that Kevin Youkilis holds third base for the entire season…
My favorite manager is…
I can’t help but think the stars are aligning perfectly for Don Mattingly to return to the Yankees as manager. I do like Joe Girardi and I’d be in favor of an extension, but the Yankees’ sudden budget conservatism places the Yankees in a potential “letdown” season. If the team loses, can Girardi hold his job? Meanwhile, baseball’s new salary leaders, the Los Angeles Dodgers, have soared expectations to unimagined heights. So, if the Dodgers underachieve, is Mattingly a potential fatality? Mattingly has become a good manager so if the circumstances yield a result with Girardi unemployed and Donnie Baseball available, is #23 the next manager of the Yankees? It could certainly happen. As a huge Donnie Baseball fan, I’d like to see this outcome. Sorry Joe…
Spring training is getting closer and closer. I am ready…
–Scott
Farewell to a Champion!…
Exit Stage Left…
A great Yankees career has come to an end with the retirement of former outfielder Hideki Matsui. It has been gone from the Bronx for a few years but he’s certainly not forgotten. When he arrived in 2003, he immediately attracted the attention of New York. He had been well hyped as a Japanese superstar, and of course, everywhere he went, he was followed by a large pack of Japanese reporters.
As I remember his great career and those key clutch hits, I recall his Yankee Stadium debut in April 2003. I remember it was a day game, and while home for lunch (I was in a West Coast time zone), I had turned on DirecTV in time to watch “Godzilla” hit a grand slam in the 5th inning that powered the Yanks to a 7-3 win over the Minnesota Twins. If memory serves correctly, it was a gray day and Matsui’s shot was one of those line drives that kept going (it wasn’t a booming shot that you knew had been parked from the start).
Tuesday, April 8, 2003 at Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY
| Minnesota Twins | AB | R | H | BI |
| Jones, lf |
3 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
| Guzman, ss |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| Koskie, 3b |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| Hunter, cf |
2 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
| LeCroy, dh |
4 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| Mientkiewicz, 1b |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| Cuddyer, rf |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Pierzynski, c |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Rivas, 2b |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Totals |
30 |
3 |
5 |
3 |
| New York Yankees | AB | R | H | BI |
| Soriano, 2b |
4 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| Johnson, 1b |
3 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
| Giambi, dh |
4 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
| Williams, cf |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| MATSUI, LF |
3 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
| Posada, c |
4 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
| Ventura, 3b |
4 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
| Mondesi, rf |
4 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| Almonte, ss |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Totals |
32 |
7 |
9 |
7 |
| Minnesota |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
- |
3 |
5 |
1 |
||||
| New York |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
x | - |
7 |
9 |
1 |
| E-Pierzynski (2), Almonte (3). DP-New York 2. PB-Posada (1). 2B-Jones (4), Hunter (1), Posada (2). HR-Ventura (3), MATSUI (1) 5th inning off Mays, 3 on, 1 out. SF-Hunter (1). SB-Johnson (1). CS-Mondesi (1). |
| Minnesota Twins |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO |
||
| Mays, L (1-1) |
5.0 |
8 |
7 |
7 |
2 |
3 |
||
| Fiore |
3.0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
||
| Totals |
8.0 |
9 |
7 |
7 |
3 |
5 |
||
| New York Yankees |
IP |
H |
R |
ER |
BB |
SO |
||
| Pettitte, W (2-0) |
5.2 |
5 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
||
| Osuna |
2.1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
||
| Anderson |
1.0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
||
| Totals |
9.0 |
5 |
3 |
3 |
4 |
6 |
||
| WP-Mays, Osuna. T-2:36. A-33,109. | ||||||||
He finished his Yankees career as the MVP of the 2009 World Series. Time and again, he came up with the crucial big hits, and seemed to excel against the Yankees’ key rival, the Boston Red Sox. As a Yankee, he hit 140 home runs with 597 RBI’s. Including his 10 years in Japan and major leagues together, he hit 507 home runs. He represented the Yankees with the grace and dignity that he had with his prior organization, the Yomiuri Giants. I wish there had been room on the Yankees roster for Matsui the last few years but sadly it was not meant to be. He may have subsequently worn the uniform of the Angels, A’s and Rays, but he will forever be a Yankee. I am hopeful he will return for future Old Timer’s games at the Stadium as he is now engrained as part of the Yankees history and lore.
Where’s Paul O’Neill when you need him…
While I have always liked outfielder Matt Diaz as a role player, it’s hard to be enthused about his arrival in the Bronx. With no other additions, there’s a huge drop-off from former Yankees rightfielder and now Cleveland Indian Nick Swisher to Diaz. The Yankees are banking a great deal that Ichiro Suzuki will be the player he was in pinstripes last year and not the Seattle Mariners version earlier in the season. Inevitably, as Matsui showed, there is a time when the ability to execute simply erodes with the passage of time and age. Given that Matsui is, in fact, younger than Ichiro shows that Ichiro is on borrowed time. I know his superior conditioning has much to do with his late career continued success, but Matsui was no slouch when it came to physical conditioning. I remain hopeful that GM Brian Cashman is able to bring a young outfielder with strong upside before spring training starts. Yes, it’s easier said than done, but he’s done it before and can do it again.
Well, 2012 is rapidly coming to a close and it will soon be 2013. Only January stands between now and the arrival of the Yankees in Tampa for spring training. So close, yet so far away. Hopefully, the Yankees will do something to enthuse the fan base in the coming days…
Happy New Year!
–Scott
No Royal Pains…
They got it right…
The homer pick was to go with CC Sabathia for the 2009 AL Cy Young Award. However, it was clear that Zack Greinke of the Kansas City Royals is THE right choice. He had an incredible season. Imagine what he could have done playing for Boston or New York. The win-loss record wasn’t spectacular (16-8), however, the 2.16 ERA and 242 strikeouts were. It was a dominating season and Greinke was the class of the American League.
Ed Zurga/AP
Of course, “dessert” for Greinke is his upcoming nuptials this weekend to former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader Emily Kuchar. Okay, Zack lives in a world that I will never know…
Congrats, Zack, on a tremendous season!
I am not so sure that I like the Yankees very slow and non-reactionary approach to the early off-season. I know that GM Brian Cashman is trying to see how many dollars in his wallet, however, the team is costing themselves money by not proactively seeking to retain certain free agents like Johnny Damon.
Nick Laham/Getty Images
The Yankees would be wise to start talking about an extension with Derek Jeter now rather than wait until the expiration of his current contract. By waiting, it will most likely cost the team more than if they’d put forth the deal to secure Jeter’s pinstripe-only career.
Barton Silverman/The New York Times
I was really shocked to hear that the only coach signed for next season is hitting instructor Kevin Long. Even manager Joe Girardi is a lame duck with a contract set to expire after next season. Maybe it’s just me, but it would be kind of nice to have a first or third base coach.
Maybe the Yankees have a grand master plan that will work to perfection. They’ll walk off with top free agents John Lackey and Matt Holliday signed to very reasonable deals. But then again, maybe they won’t and they’ll be scrambling to retain the likes of Sergio Mitre, who’s option they declined earlier today.
William Perlman/The Star Ledger
Admittedly, I am a bigger fan of Theo Epstein’s quick-strike approach. I’d rather make the moves with swiftness and confidence. Act before your opponent has time to react. Take a chance on the sleepers. I dislike going into September of a pennant chase with Sergio Mitre as your fifth starter. I know that you can’t have an All-Star at every position, however, there are a number of low budget moves the Yanks can make to strengthen the team for its defense of the World Series championship. If he’s ready, I would like to see Austin Jackson in center, but that does mean the team needs proven production from the corners. I liked Boston’s pickup of Jeremy Hermida and I think the Yankee scouts should be doing their homework on the next breakout players. Last off-season, I would have loved to have acquired the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Andre Ethier. Now, after the successful season he had in 2009, he’d be impossible to acquire. But he could have been had pre-2009. I know, I keep waiting for the next Paul O’Neill, however, those type of deals can be made.
Jeff Gross/Getty Images
With the rumors of whether or not 2010 will be the final season for Dodgers manager Joe Torre, I do feel bad that he has to endure the divorce battle between Frank and Jamie McCourt. There has been talk of contract negotiations between Torre and the team so hopefully the divorce situation won’t adversely impact Torre. Ultimately, I am a fan of Don Mattingly as the next Dodgers manager, however, it should, respectively, be on Joe Torre’s terms.
If the Yankees do non-tender Chien-Ming Wang, I do hope that they move quickly to sign him to an incentive-laden deal. I still think that Wang can be the pitcher he was in 2006 and 2007. I was frustrated last season, however, he clearly was not healthy.
Lucy Nicholson/Reuters
I’ll be headed to Arizona in a few weeks to finally see Brett Favre play as the Minnesota Vikings take on the Arizona Cardinals in Glendale, AZ. I haven’t seen the Vikings play (in person) for about 20 years. The last time was against the Dallas Cowboys in Irving, Texas. The Vikings won a shoot-out in overtime, 44-38. A quick Google search tells me that it was 22 years ago on Thanksgiving Day. Hopefully, December 6th in the Sonoran Desert will be equally exciting and with the same result!
The previous week will start with a Kelly Clarkson concert (oh yeah!) and will also include a Broadway play in New York City, so here’s hoping for a GREAT week for ME! J
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