Yankees Daily

First, let me congratulate the Rays and Red Sox for making the playoffs.

Let me tell you how I feel that the Yankees are not making the playoffs…. terrible. I’m spoiled. I’m used to going to the playoffs every year and discussing who should start what game and which position player should be where etc. I’m going to miss watching Jeter making that jump throw from short to get another Red Sox out and I’m going to miss watching Mariano slaying the opponent in the 9th inning. How great it would of been to watch Joba Chamberlain pitch a shut out 8th to give way to the great Mo for the save in the 9th. I’m going to miss that this October.

I won’t miss A-Rod making another big out in a key situation and I won’t miss watching Robinson Cano making another lazy play in the field or Jason Giambi hitting the ball right into the shift. When it comes to A-Rod, the thing with him coming up short in a big spot is something us Yankee fans are going to have to deal with because he isn’t going anywhere. I’d like to see the Yankees trade Cano and not resign Giambi.

What I would of liked to see was how certain players would of performed in the post season. It would of been interesting to see how Phil Coke would of performed in pressure situations as well as Alfredo Aceves. Since they performed well in the regular season you know that Girardi would of used them in the post season. It would of been good to see David Robertson, Chris Britton, Edwar Ramirez, Jose Veras and Andrew Backman get playoff experience. Looking at the players I just mentioned, I can’t believe how young the Yankee bull pen is. They should only get better and help the Yankees for years.

The bottom line is this. The Yankees are finishing strong and with key free agent acquisitions next year along with a young pitching staff and guys in the line up like Gardner who could steal bases, the future is looking very bright.

Yankee could face Boston with playoffs on the line

If the Yankees win their next 3 and Boston loses their next 3… Hey, you never know. Boston choked before and with the way the Yankees are playing now and with the way Boston is playing… The Yankees will have a hard time winning their next 3 games however. Mussina could easily beat Litsch. I don’t think they could beat Burnett AND Halladay. The Yankees will most likely lose at least one game against Toronto and that would end their season. It would be a shame because the Yankees are going to win the series against the Blue Jays. I’d love for the Yankees to go to Boston with the playoffs on the line. They could beat Matsuzaka because Pettitte pitches well in big games. Aceves looks unbeatable and Beckett has been very beatable as of late. That would leave the last game against knuckle baller Wakefield who has a losing record. Hey, it’s good to dream.

Yankees have deal with Sexson

The Yankees need a right handed bat against lefties and Sexson was hitting lefties well this year. I don’t want him on this team but I’m sure the Yankees do. The Mariners will pay the 6 million that is owed him this season and the Yankees will only have to pay prorated minimum of $390,000 from his $14 million salary with the Mariners.

• Yankees have tentative deal with first baseman Sexson - Buster Olney – ESPN Magazine

American League Wins

That’s right peeepull. They won. Some interesting things that happened yesterday.

10. I saw George Steinbrenner cry. Wow!
9. Went to my day program, my mother picked me up from program and took me to get some food.
8. Since I’m out of it most of the time, I took a nap because I was tired and when I woke up, the game was just starting and I didn’t even know the game was on or why it was on.
7. After posting on a Yankee message board asking if this game counts and if the winner will get home field advantage, I went to a Red Sox blog to bust chops. When you leave a message, a pop up board comes up and it’s the only blog I know that has this.
6. I heard the bleacher creatures do their roll call and I didn’t know what they were saying until the guys on fox said what they were saying.
5. There is a guy who takes all of my minor league reports and posts them every where but he never posts here. Go figure.
4. I bet that every one is going to be jealous when I tell them that today, since it’s 4:55 AM Wednesday morning, I’m going to Philly to get checked by my lung specialist and while I’m there, I’m going to have a nice, big, juicy Philly cheesteak. Today I’m going to get checked by my lung specialist and while I’m there, I’m going to have a nice, big, juicy Philly cheesteak.
3. I’m jealous of some one in my every day life.
2. The heat has made it almost impossible for me to walk in.
1. I had a feeling that Morneau was going to be safe at home in the 15th inning even if he was out because the umpire probably realized how tired every one was.

• ESPN ALL Star Game Recap(video) - ESPN
• Matsui’s season may be over for Yankees - Ed Price/The Star-Ledger
• AL outlasts NL in marathon 15-inning All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium - MARK FEINSAND – NY Daily News
• Lupica: For one more night, he was Boss again - Mike Lupica – NY Daily News
• Sources: Roger Clemens got HGH in mail from Kirk Radomski - TERI THOMPSON, Michael O’Keeffe & NATHANIEL VINTON – NY Daily News
• Mariano Rivera delivers in his All-Star turn at Yankee Stadium - ANTHONY McCARRON – NY Daily News
• RIVALRY GOES HOT, COLD OVER LONG NIGHT - Mike Vaccaro – NY Post

• New wrinkles in familiar scene for Mo - Anthony DiComo – Yankees Official
• Rivera Keeps the NL Down(video) - Yankees Official
• Yankees legends throw first pitch(video) - Yankees Official
• And now, for the main event… - Bryan Hoch – Bombers Beat

Yankee Predictions

Will this year be a “rebuilding” year for the Yankees or a year where they still contend especially with the defending World Champion Red Sox and an improved Toronto Blue Jays team in their way? Let’s look at each Yankee starter.

The lineup:

Johnny Damon: – Johnny Damon is no longer the elite outfielder for the Yankees and had a terrible spring.

Derek Jeter: – How time flies by. Can you believe that “our” Derek Jeter will be 34 this June? Hard to believe. Jeter will still be Jeter and score 100 runs and hit .300. His spring wasn’t the greatest but he’ll be “Jeter” once the season starts.

Bobby Abreu: – Bobby Abreu had a great spring and worked out hard to get in shape for this season. Expect another 100 run, 100 rbi season from him.

Alex Rodriguez: – A-Rod had a great spring. There’s really not much to say about him except that he’s the best position player in baseball and will have another mvp type season.

Jason Giambi: – Had foot surgery this offseason and if he’s healthy, should hit for a higher average, hit more home runs and drive in more runs but that’s just it, it’s “if” he could stay healthy.

Jorge Posada: – Will turn 37 during the year and I’m not so sure how much of an impact he will have. Catchers usually start their down ward spiral in their 30′s and he’s 37. Considering his age and the fact that he’s not in a contract year, I see an average year for Jorge. Not bad but not great either.

Hideki Matsui: – I don’t see him getting 100 rbi’s and 100 runs scored because he is an injury risk. More like 80 rbi’s and 80 runs scored. I don’t see a Godzilla type of season from him. I see a Godzooky type of year.

Robinson Cano: – Can you say breakout candidate of the year? Big time star potential in the making? Robinson Cano had a great spring and can wind up being the best hitting second baseman in both leagues. I see 30 home runs, 104 rbi’s and batting champ in my crystal ball.

Melky Cabrera: – Melky will have a much better year than most people think. He had a good spring but he’s only 23 years old and with a 3rd full season under his belt, I forecast a .310 batting average, 102 runs scored, 22 stolen bases, 18 home runs, 89 rbi’s and the loyalty of most Yankee fans.

The starting rotation:

Chien-Ming Wang – I know that Wang has a great sinker ball and he lives on keeping the ball down but I don’t see him having a year as good as last. I’m looking at a 15-10 record with a 4.21 era this season.

Mike Mussina – The end is here for Mussina IMO. He won’t have a good year and he’ll get rocked almost every time out. I don’t see him finishing the year in the rotation and I don’t even want to guess what his stats will be.

Phil Hughes – It’s up to him. I feel it will be more mental for Phil this year more than anything else because he has the physical package. I see 15 wins with a 3.98 era and will dominate down the stretch and the Yankees will make the playoffs and one of the reasons will be him.

Ian Kennedy – Ian is not a proven starter in this league but he has so much potential that it’s mind boggling. He had a great spring. He’ll be the 5th starter but I prognosticate 17 wins with an era of 3.50

Andy Pettitte – Will be an injury risk all season for the Yankees and I feel it’s because he won’t have HGH to take anymore. Taking steroids breaks you down and it could be possible that he’s breaking down now not only because he took steroids or hgh but because of his age as well. I don’t see a good year for Andy at all. Where’s Joba?

Joba Chamberlain – Set Up – Chamberlain might not have the same era from last year but he will dominate just as much. If Mariano gets hurt, Joba will be right there to pick up the saves but as a middle reliever, he will be untouchable.

Mariano Rivera – Mo is 38 so no one knows what could happen injury wise but he’s as consistent as they come. He’s still throwing the cutter and still getting the ball over at 94 plus. 38 saves for him.
Prediction: Yankees make the playoffs with a 95 and 67 record. Will get off to a hot start. Slump in the middle and come on strong at the end. MVP of the team and if not the league will be Robinson Cano. Best pitcher on the team will be Ian Kennedy.

• Yankees at a glance – Dan Duggan – Boston Herald
• Ed Price’s Yankees preview – Ed Price – Star Ledger
• Baseball Beat: Yankees, Mets could be in for some disappointment – Peter Abraham – Journal News
• Tough task for Girardi: Sending players down – KAT O’BRIEN – Newsday
• High-energy Girardi may suit younger Yanks – Peter Abraham – Press and Sun Bulletin
• Little reason to worry about Yankees’ offense – KAT O’BRIEN – Newsday
• Questions about Yankees? We’ve got answers – KAT O’BRIEN – Newsday
• Yankees healthy heading into season – MARK FEINSAND – NY Daily News
• American League Preview – The Ledger
• A-ROD ADORATION GROWING AMONG PINSTRIPE FAITHFUL – Joel Sherman – NY Post
• Beginning of a long goodbye – LARRY McSHANE – NY Daily News
• Season Preview: AL East and other thoughts – Dave & Aziz Nekoukar – Pride of the Yankees

Baseball Prospectus publishes something called, PECOTA which feature a range of values, allowing readers to see the possible range and probability of various performances by pitchers and hitters.

For example, Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay comes in with a 3.50 eqERA at the 75th percentile (meaning he has a 75 percent chance of an eqERA 3.50 or higher) and a 4.81 eqERA at the 25th percentile (meaning he has a chance of an eqERA 4.81 or higher).

Under this way of looking at pitching staffs, Tampa will have the lowest era in the American East after the year is over and the Yankees will have the highest. There are other things that this guy isn’t taking into account, and that’s they have to actually play the games.

• Sorry, BoSox, Yanks: Rays have better rotation – David Pinto – SportingNews

I’ve said this before about how the Yankes are counting on the young arms to compete this year but this is a mini preview of the AL East.

• Yanks counting on young arms in AL East – Tracy Ringolsby – Fox Sports
• A-Rod: Johan Santana deal great for NY – Mark Feinsand – New York Daily News

A-Rod has faith that he will end his career like John Elway did but with a World Series ring and with the younger players around him getting more experience, it could be a reality. Will Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz from the Boston Red Sox prove to be too much? Who will start at first for the Yankees? Who will displace Mike Mussina if at all?

• Will ’08 be year A-Rod wins it all? – Bryan Hoch – Yankees Official
• A-Rod Stats – Baseball-reference.com
• Yankees Spring Training quick hits – Bryan Hoch – Yankees Official
• Yanks’ newest arrival: Competition – Bryan Hoch – Yankees Official
• Yankees depth chart – Yankees Official
• Yankees Spring Training schedule – Yankees Official
• Yankees Spring Training tickets -Yankees Official
• Legends Field information - Yankees Official
• Division Preview – Tom Singer – Yankees Official
• Bryan Hoch’s MLBlog

If either team, the Yankees or Red Sox sign Santana, would the other team that didn’t sign Santana go full-bore into signing Sabathia?

• Will loyalty or money win? – Patrick McManamon – Akron Beacon Journal

• General Managers still have many moves to make as camps near – Bill Madden – NY Daily News

MLB released it’s 2008 schedule today

New York Yankees Schedule – MSG