Friday, May 15, 2015

Dear Chase And Jorge, The Yankees Come First

First it was Jorge Posada, lashing out against Joe Girardi about his playing time and spot in the lineup. I was going to write about how ridiculous his comments were, and how angry it made me that he actually refused to play because he didn't like the fact he was penciled into the 9-hole in the lineup, but Andrew Mearns at Pinstripe Alley did an excellent job on that already.

And then comes Chase Whitley. While I'd never get upset with a player because he got injured, I will most definitely get mad at them for hiding an injury. Doing so hurt the team two ways...

  1. That injury certainly contribued to him giving up 8 runs over his past 7.1 innings pitched, both of which ended up with losses for the Yankees. We don't know if the player that would have started those games instead would do any better, but I'd bet on a healthy pitcher over somebody with an injury to his throwing elbow.
  2. The Yanks not only have to figure out what to do with his rotation spot (thankfully, that's not difficult), but they could be without Whitley's services for longer than if they were able to address his elbow earlier. It's never a good idea to let an injury linger without treatment. 

Does anybody think about the team first? Athletes always say something like "I'm here to help the team win", but then you hear about a player that refuses to accept that he's no longer the player he used to be, and then we hear about another player that hid an injury from his team so that he could keep pitching. It's selfish, and as a Yankees fan, it ticks me off.

I love that the Yankees don't have player names on their jerseys, as that is the greatest symbol that the team is the most important thing. The Yankees are not about Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio, Babe Ruth, Don Mattingly, or Derek Jeter. The Yankees are about them all. The Yankees are about pride and pinstripes. The players, the championships, the stadium, the iconic "NY" logo, THE FANS... that is what the Yankees are about. The Yankees are not about Jorge Posada's ego, and the Yankees are not about Chase Whitley's elbow.

If you're not here for the team... for the fans... then you don't belong here. And if you attack one of us, you attack all of us.

26 comments:

  1. I won't make a whole lot of excuses for Whitley and Posada's actions, but I will play the devils's advocate. Posada was always disliked by Girardi. I think it's because Girardi was pushed out of New York by a younger and better Posada. Batting Posada 9th may have been Girardi punking him. Posada was still pretty productive at the plate his last year. And Whitley has already been jerked around by the Yankees in his short career. It's pretty difficult for a young player finally getting his just due to take himself out of the rotation.

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    1. While I respect you playing Devil's advocate, as I like to do that to further conversation, I don't agree.

      In the first month of the season in 2011, when Posada was asked to bat 9th, he hit .125 with an OPS of .607. Then, in May, he hit .219 with an OPS of .639. Furthermore, Jorge hit .230/.783 in the second half of 2010, showing that his early season slump of '11 may not have just been a result of small sample size. BTW, the first eight hitters in the lineup that night were Jeter, Granderson, Teixeira, ARod, Cano, Martin, Gardner, and Swisher. Posada in the nine-hole was hardly a stupid decision.

      As for Whitley he's 25 years old, and was hardly a top prospect that should expect to be a starter right away in MLB. Despite that, he did start 12 games in his rookie season (24 game appearances), and all he's done this season is start. And when a guy fially getrs his "just due", he shouldn't damage himself the way Chase did. Now he's not only somebody that could have a significant elbow injury, which is not good for a pitcher, but he'll be remembered as that guy that hid an injury. Mind you, you can chalk up the bad decision as him just being a "dumb kid", but that idea will always be in the back of a team's mind. Whitley not only cost himself playing time due to injury, but likely cost himself a nice chunk of change too.

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  2. All good points, but Beltran had a pathetic April and was never put in the 9 hole. Soriano had a pathetic April, May, and June and was never put there. I just think there was always tension between Girardi and Posada and that may have factored into both Posada hitting ninth and asking out of the lineup. I'm not saying he was right. I'm also not saying Whitley was right. I'm saying he hid his injury because he was finally where he deserved to be. It doesn't matter if he was considered a top prospect or not. The Yankees claimed there was an open competition for the 5th spot, which turned out to be BS. Whitley pitched better than Capuano and Warren this spring and still got sent to AAA. It was a dumb mistake by Whitley, because he'll probably never get another shot. But there was a reason that he kept his mouth shut. Not a good reason, but a reason none the less.

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    1. I can't really argue the Beltran point. He's stunk in NY. But these are different teams. BTW, the 9-hole is not where you stick your worst hitter. Gardner was the 9th hitter for a while, but not because he couldn't hit.

      I get why Whitley may have done what he did. There's a good chance he never starts another game this season, especially as a regular in the starting rotation.

      I do want to explain the "not a top prospect" thing. There are young players that force their way into positions in MLB, like what's going on with Severino and Judge. Whitley was not one of those guys.

      And as for the competition thing... we've been through that for years, and it never works out that way. Girardi is the master at making empty comments. Look at all the times he's said Stephen Drew is in line to rebound, and it never happens. And I don't blame him. What else can he say? All athletes have egos, and you have to be careful in handling them to do the right thing for the team.

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    2. To piggy back Bryan's points and stats I can't think of a single player that Posada should have been hitting in front of that season. I can name a slew of players that should hit behind Beltran that start with Didi and end with Drew. Same for Soriano when the Yankees are trotting out Dean Anna, Brian Roberts etc.

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    3. I never said Posada deserved to hit in front of any of those guys. I only offered a possible explanation of why Posada felt the way he did and why Girardi chose to let him struggle. One thing that Bryan didn't mention is that Posada may have had a low batting average, but he was among the team leaders in homeruns and rbi's. The same can't be said for Beltran this year and Soriano last year.

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    4. Stephen Drew is among the Yankees team leaders in home runs. Let's move him up too.

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    5. Again, I'm not saying Posada didn't deserve to hit ninth. I'm also not saying he was right to ask out if the lineup. All I'm doing is offering an explanation of why he did it. There was obvious tension between Girardi and Posada dating back to the late 90's. It was that tension that made Girardi bat Posada ninth, and that same tension that made Posada ask out of the lineup. And by the way, Drew's best year at the plate might have been as good as Posada's worst year at the plate. The two are uncomparable hitters. But the fact that Girardi will continue to send Drew out there for nearly a year when he's hitting .170 is proof that he just didn't like Posada.

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    6. Or proof that he doesn't have many better options right now. Cashman makes the call on the Refsnyder call ups, etc.

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    7. He does, yes, but Pirela hasn't shown ANY power this season and in a small sample size hasn't been great.Even with a .278 average its only been like 20-30-ish at bats. He also has said numerous times he wants to save Pirela for more of a utility type roll. I agree with you though, Pirela is probably the better option and is being used wrong I'm just pointing out his line of thinking.

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    8. How can you compare the situations with Posada and Drew? They are different positions in different eras. I suppose I could see the similarities, but to use the Drew situation to say that what Girardi did to Posada was purely out of spite is not right.

      What Girardi asked of Posada was the right thing to do for the team at the time. At least it's not hard to see why he'd think that. So please... stop with the "Girardi did it out of spite" arguments.

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    9. I didn't compare Drew to Posada. That point was brought up by Daniel. As far as the out of spite argument, I'd like to hear a more logical reason than best for the team. I can't recall any other middle of the order bat being moved to the 9 hole. Sometimes you'll see a leadoff type like Gardner hitting ninth because of speed, but I've never seen Girardi take a guy used to hitting 5th or 6th and move him to 9th. So if he does "what's best for the team", why have we never seen Beltran hitting there? Why wasn't Soriano or Wells ever moved to ninth? Why wasn't Jeter ever moved down in the order? Those moves would have been "best for the team".

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    10. Jeff, I've given you good reasons as to why Posada was put 9th, including a list of the other 8 batters on the team.... Which you agreed were all better. So I don't understand why you are still hanging onto the "he did it out of spite" argument.

      Hell, you could be right, but why are you dismissing me like that? Sounds like somebody is just trying to find reasons to hate Girardi.

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    11. Not at all. We'll never know the real reason. One things for sure though. Posada is probably selling a few more books because of this. Maybe that was his goal in bringing this back up.

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  3. No the 9 hole isn't the worst place to hit. I miss the days when athletes felt fortunate just to get in the lineup instead of feeling entitled. Do you think Refsnyder or Judge would feel insulted batting ninth?

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    1. LOL, no, but some Yankees fans might have something to say about that.

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  4. Jorge Posada is known as a great catcher, athlete, gentleman, baseball smartass, and one of the most beloved Yankee. Good numbers, and not too shabby having his number retired.
    Chase Whitley=Carl Pavano

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    1. Slight typo-baseball SMART

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    2. Whitley = Carl Pavano? Please humor me with that explanation. And no, you had it right the first time with Posada.

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  5. I can't believe people are actually mad at Chase Whitley right now. As far as we know he didn't hear any pops or obvious signs of trouble but he did feel a little pain, discomfort, whatever. Whitley got bombed early in his last start but what many are forgetting is he settled down and returned to his dominant form late in that game and still gave the Yankees some innings. Its not like he and his elbow completely fell off the map giving him a cause for concern.

    He had something to build off of and generally thought he could pitch through the injury. In an era where players ask for days off just because or to protect their status or to ensure the winning of batting titles and such to be mad at a guy who wanted to stay on the field and help the team win is gutsy. Stupid, probably to his own detriment, but it's not something WE THE FANS should be pissed about.

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    1. The guy could be getting Tommy John surgery. That tells me there was more than discomfort, but there was pain.

      I will probably get over my anger towards Chase, but he was wrong.

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    2. He said there was discomfort in the bullpen sessions and while he was warming up and they would go away once he got heated up in the game. Those are his words.

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    3. I've never had A UCL injury, not talked to someone who did, but to be on the verge of TJS makes me think there was more than discomfort.

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  6. Posada, never was a good defensive catcher, he was ok, but he was a switch-hitting catcher that could and did hit very well. When one looses their main reason for being in the line-up (Hitting) but can still do well enough behind the plate, they blame it on the manager? He should have been benched, but Joe G. let him play for only one reason because he knew how much of an ego was involved with Posada and he had always given 100%, all the time! This one was on Posada for misunderstanding Joe was being kind and respectful of him by putting him in the line-up at all.

    I believe it was a big communication problem between the two of them.

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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)