Sunday, September 16, 2012

What Happened To Pedro Feliciano?


Remember Pedro Feliciano? You know, the guy that signed a 2 year deal worth $8 million and injured his shoulder, failed to rehab it, had surgery on it, and has been working back for the better part of a month before he fell off the edge of the Earth? His 30 day window is all but gone and the minor league seasons are over but we have not heard, unless I have been living under a rock, what the Yankees are going to do with him. The Yankees expected him to be on the major league roster by the middle of September, like now, and I have not heard a thing about him. I guess that means the Yankees have decided to cut their losses and shut him down for the season.

Who Should Be On The Hot Seat?

"Hold on, I'll have Girardi's Christmas gift in a second."

Joe Girardi has been getting a lot of crap thrown his way. Although I don't think it's all justified, though. It does bother me than Joe keeps putting Andruw Jones and Raul Ibanez into the lineup, when Chris Dickerson has earned the chance to get some regular at bats and playing time. And while Joe Torre had a knack for knowing when to put on the hit and run, I could probably count the number of times Girardi has called a hit and run this season on one hand.

I understand fan frustration, as I almost ruined my 56" flat screen tv Friday night by throwing my remote through it. People are always looking for a scapegoat... somebody to put all the blame on when things aren't going well. Bobby Valentine is not somebody I'd want coaching my team, but I think the Red Sox problems go much deeper than Bobby V. But it's Valentine that's on the hot seat.

So the question is... should Joe Girardi be fired? River Avenue Blues is actually running a poll on this subject. And my choice was "he shouldn't be fired and he won't be".

Relax, buddy, your ax will taste blood.

Managers have been the scapegoat for struggling teams for as long as we can remember. Face it, they can be replaced a hell of a lot easier than the players can. And more often than not, it's the players that are to blame for the team's struggles. That's not to say managers mean nothing to Ws and Ls, but you can't tell me that the Yankees' issues over the last month or so is the fault of Joe Girardi.

From the beginning of August through last night, the team is hitting .258/.329/.425. That batting average would currently be 8th in the American League, while that on-base percentage and slugging percentage would both be 5th. And in 14 games so far in September they've hit .238/.323/.395. So it's not like the offense is really doing "their thing". Oh, and I won't bother bringing up the infamous #RISPFail hash-tag.

I tried to get #RISPFlouder to catch on, but was unsuccessful.

So what should the team do? Nothing? Just go into the 2013 season hoping things work out better? Before I tell you my idea, let me ask a few questions...

  • Why has a guy with a career batting average of .260 been scraping and crawling in order to get above the Mendoza Line (Russell Martin)?
  • The last 2+ seasons Mark Teixeira has not been close to the guy the Yankees signed before the 2009 season. Here's a guy that hit .306, .308, and .292 between 2007 and 2009, and in the past 2+ seasons he's hit .253. What's up with that?
  • Why is it that ARod had an OBP of .392 or higher between 2005 and 2009, but the last 2+ years Alex hasn't been above .362? Not to mention that the guy hasn't had a batting average above .278 the last 2+ seasons. By the way, I don't think you can attribute that drop all to steroids.
Fans probably have other questions regarding batters, but I'm going to add one more thing...
  • At the beginning of the 2011 season, when his batting stance was changed, Derek Jeter was hitting .206. .206! Sure, it was not a huge sample size, but we're talking about a guy that's in the hunt for the batting title here in 2012, and has a career batting average of .314. 
Does this look like a guy that bats .206?

The one constant through all of these things is Kevin Long. The only good thing Kevin Long has seemingly done is turn around Curtis Granderson in August of 2010. Curtis was especially struggling against left-handed pitchers, and this season he has the 2nd most home runs against lefties. Then again, the Grandy Man is currently batting .234 with a .322 OBP, so that "turn around" didn't last very long. Except for Granderson's home run production.

Kevin Long has one more year left on the 3 year deal he signed to be the Yankees hitting coach before the 2011 season. Part of me wants to see the team eat that last year and find somebody else. Sure, the offense has had plenty of success in the past with Long around, but lately it seems like things aren't working out. There shouldn't be that many questions surrounding hitters, especially a perennial all-star, a possible Hall of Famer, and a definite Hall of Famer.

Remember... nothing lasts forever.

Well, except for Joan Rivers face.

Rays @ Yankees 9/16/12

Update:

Jeter RBI single gives the Yankees a 1-0 lead
Alex Rodriguez gets his own RBI single to make it 2-0
Russell Martin muscles up to make it 5-0 with a three run home run
A Rod sac fly makes it 6-1 
#untuck Yankees win 6-4

The Yankees will finish up their weekend series with the Rays this afternoon in Yankees Stadium. The Yankees took back sole possession of first place after beating the Rays and getting some help from the Oakland A's. The Yankees will send Hiroki Kuroda to the mound today so if history is any indication do not expect the Yankees to put up many runs. The Rays will send Matt Moore to the mound to try to get back into the AL East race and the second wild card. The game will be televised at 1:05 pm ET on TBS.

Lineups

1. Derek Jeter DH
2. Nick Swisher RF
3. Alex Rodriguez 3B
4. Robinson Cano 2B
5. Russell Martin C
6. Andruw Jones LF
7. Curtis Granderson CF
8. Steve Pearce 1B
9. Eduardo Nunez SS

Go Yankees!!

This Day In Yankees History : 9/16/12


In 1914 the Yankees replaced current manager Frank Chance with 23 year old current Yankees short stop Roger Peckinpaugh. He would manage a total of twenty games for New York and would finish with a 10-10 record.


In 1948 Joe DiMaggio hit his 300th career home run which was an exclusive club back then with only seven other members at that time including Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth.

Congratulations To The Trenton Thunder


The Yankees AA affiliate the Trenton Thunder saw their season come to end last night at the hand of a good Akron team in the Championship Series. It did not end the way they would have liked it to but it has been an exciting season and a very successful one which included a manager of the year award and a ton of promising prospects coming through the system, including Tyler Austin. Congratulations to them and their fans as we all wait those long four weeks until the Arizona Fall League begins. Thanks Trenton for another great season.

Aardsma Pitches Another Scoreless Inning In Rehab


David Aardsma may have thrown his last inning of work this season as he threw a scoreless inning in Trenton's loss that ended their season last night. He threw 17 pitches, 10 for strikes, and allowed a walk in his scoreless frame. This was the first time that David had gone in back to back days which is generally considered a big step in a rehab. The minor league season is over and Aardsma's 30 day rehab window ends on Wednesday so the Yankees have to call him up or shut him down and I expect the latter but we shall see.