Yankees go into panic mode with significant changes in lineup/positions

[raystorm]

Tonight the Yanks officially went into panic mode with some huge changes.

Bernie Williams is out as centerfielder and replaced with Hideki Matsui. Bernie is now a part time DH...ouch. Tony Womack is now the left fielder (I think he played some outfield with the D-backs) and the Yanks called up second baseman prospect Robinson Cano to replace Womack. Guess Giambi is now the official Yankee bench warmer?

They also designated Steve Karsay for assignment which signals the end of his Yankee career.

They may also place Randy Johnson on the DL with a groin issue (he'll miss his next start).

Yanks going nuts! Its too early to panic George! yeesh...



So Yankees fans..what are your thoughts on these moves??

 

[Amplifier]

Go O's!

 

[tfinch2]

Money can't buy everything...

 

[ddwbi0]

Originally posted by: tfinch2
Money can't buy everything...

for everything else, theres mastercard

 

[boatillo]

I hope those mercenaries all end up the the cellar this year! BUMS!

 

[Storm]

Bernie is hurting so... that is a temporary move so far.

Lets see how that young guy does at 2nd base at the major league level.

Karsay was ok before he messed up his shoulder, he hasnt been able to recover since he got hurt and since he signed that big contract.

 

[Baked]

They got a Chinese dude SP! Taiwanese for the PC (read anal) people.

 

[pennylane]

Originally posted by: ddwbi0

Originally posted by: tfinch2
Money can't buy everything...

for everything else, theres mastercard

now owners of 99% of new england, and...

 

[nycxandy]

Originally posted by: tfinch2
Money can't buy everything...

Obviously...

And when they do win, all everyone talks about is their money. Whatever it is, they just can't give credit to the Yankees. It's always money.

 

[digitalsm]

Originally posted by: nycxandy

Originally posted by: tfinch2
Money can't buy everything...

Obviously...

And when they do win, all everyone talks about is their money. Whatever it is, they just can't give credit to the Yankees. It's always money.

Well when your payroll equals more than the bottom half of the rest of baseball, of course they arent going to give you credit when you are clearly buying championships(or atleast trying to).

 

[imported_Mike]

Originally posted by: boatillo
I hope those mercenaries all end up the the cellar this year! BUMS!

:roll:

 

[CocoGdog]

Sounds like the Lakers last year with Kobe, Payton, Shaq, & Malone. Billion dollar team, zero chemistry...

 

[pennylane]

Originally posted by: CocoGdog
Sounds like the Lakers last year with Kobe, Payton, Shaq, & Malone. Billion dollar team, zero chemistry...

Lakers were nowhere near that expensive. The vast majority of their chemistry issues were Shaq-Kobe related or injury related.

BTW, when it comes to discussions of this, why is chemistry always the difference between winners and losers? Why can't it be, continuing the Lakers example, that the Pistons were just the better team? They were quicker, younger, healthier, and aside from Shaq, bigger. Though chemistry is a fair example in basketball I guess.

I get the feeling that chemistry in baseball though, is way overrated. To paraphrase some guy that works for the Seattle Sonics, "What are you gonna do? Not throw the ball to first base because you hate the guy?"

The Yankees offense isn't doing too badly. They're 4th in runs scored, 6th in OPS. It's the pitching that's the problem. They're near the bottom of categories like runs allowed, ERA, BAA, OPS against, etc.

Their pitchers are old, prone to injury, and past their prime.
Kevin Brown? all of the above
Mike Mussina? old, past his prime
Jaret Wright? injury prone
Carl Pavano? research shows he was a little lucky (defense independent pitching ERA was worse than normal ERA) last year and last year was a pretty big difference from his production from other years
Randy Johnson? part of it may be switching leagues, a bad streak, and what not. he's still pitched well, but not as well as everybody's expected

Too much typing. Too lazy to keep going. It's not just that the Yankees spend money, but they haven't been spending it responsibly (ie, bloated contracts for aging players, etc).

 

[zainali]

its kinda crazy looking at yankees payroll. most teams have one or two guys with 15-20 mil contracts. yankees have like 10

 

[pyonir]

Originally posted by: raystorm
Tony Womack is now the left fielder (I think he played some outfield with the D-backs)

I don't remember him ever playing outfield here.

<----dbacks fan

 

[maddogchen]

its tony womack's first time doing outfield in mlb

 

[Doggiedog]

I think Bernie is a class guy but it was time to put him out to pasture. First base is a huge problem for the Yankees too. Who knows what will become of Giambi, Tino is way over the hill and that rookie Phillips struck out 5 times last night.

I agree that its really the pitching that needs to be fixed. In hindsight, they should have kept Lieber.

 

[isasir]

Originally posted by: nycxandy

Originally posted by: tfinch2
Money can't buy everything...

Obviously...

And when they do win, all everyone talks about is their money. Whatever it is, they just can't give credit to the Yankees. It's always money.

The Yankees deserved all the credit back when they brought up homegrown guys like Posada, Jeter and Mariano. Now they just keep hiring the best of the best but don't have the chemistry anymore.

 

[Lucky]

Originally posted by: maddogchen[/i]
its tony womack's first time doing outfield in mlb[/quote]

No it's not.

link

 

[oboeguy]

Originally posted by: fanerman91

Originally posted by: CocoGdog
Sounds like the Lakers last year with Kobe, Payton, Shaq, & Malone. Billion dollar team, zero chemistry...

Lakers were nowhere near that expensive. The vast majority of their chemistry issues were Shaq-Kobe related or injury related.

BTW, when it comes to discussions of this, why is chemistry always the difference between winners and losers? Why can't it be, continuing the Lakers example, that the Pistons were just the better team? They were quicker, younger, healthier, and aside from Shaq, bigger. Though chemistry is a fair example in basketball I guess.

I get the feeling that chemistry in baseball though, is way overrated. To paraphrase some guy that works for the Seattle Sonics, "What are you gonna do? Not throw the ball to first base because you hate the guy?"

The Yankees offense isn't doing too badly. They're 4th in runs scored, 6th in OPS. It's the pitching that's the problem. They're near the bottom of categories like runs allowed, ERA, BAA, OPS against, etc.

Their pitchers are old, prone to injury, and past their prime.
Kevin Brown? all of the above
Mike Mussina? old, past his prime
Jaret Wright? injury prone
Carl Pavano? research shows he was a little lucky (defense independent pitching ERA was worse than normal ERA) last year and last year was a pretty big difference from his production from other years
Randy Johnson? part of it may be switching leagues, a bad streak, and what not. he's still pitched well, but not as well as everybody's expected

Too much typing. Too lazy to keep going. It's not just that the Yankees spend money, but they haven't been spending it responsibly (ie, bloated contracts for aging players, etc).

What he said.

 

[rh71]

old... all of them are old anyway... time for a rehash... Yankee fans will just have to suck it up...

 

[PlatinumGold]

why aren't we hearing the ARod doesn't pull his weight thing? oh ya, because he's the only one really producing.

i guess it's because he only performs when there is nothing at stake.

 

[geecee]

Originally posted by: Storm
Bernie is hurting so... that is a temporary move so far.

Lets see how that young guy does at 2nd base at the major league level.

Karsay was ok before he messed up his shoulder, he hasnt been able to recover since he got hurt and since he signed that big contract.

I'd tend to agree with you on Bernie. It's probably only temporary, unless the team suddenly rattles off a 15 game win streak and Cano impresses. Bernie would have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he has no game left before he would be permanently benched.

The Yanks are going to have some playing time issues if you consider that they have Tino, Giambi and Bernie and Sierra (due off the DL soon). Unless one of the latter two suddenly learns to play 1st, you're going to end up with 3 DHs. Tino is obviously the best defensive 1st baseman, but his offense is suspect at this point in his career. I suppose there is some bench versatility in two switch hitters (Sierra & Bernie), but that's a lot of salary for pinch hitters, who probably can still be productive as regular players. Giambi hasn't been impressive so far, and who knows if he (sans steroids) deserves to play regularly. And add Phillips (who's been decent) to this mess as well.

The bullpen has been a disaster this year, regardless of the Yankees' lack of offense. Getting rid of Karsay, and calling up a AA starter is not going to fix that. Maybe when Sturtze gets back, he'll be able to solidify the pen a little, but his career numbers are erratic at best. No easy solutions there, other than if everyone starts to suddenly pitch better.

 

[Argo]

Originally posted by: PlatinumGold
why aren't we hearing the ARod doesn't pull his weight thing? oh ya, because he's the only one really producing.

i guess it's because he only performs when there is nothing at stake.

A-rod, Jeter and Sheff are the only ones hitting on that team. Sheff is batting .500 over the last few weeks but has nothign to show for that since nobody is on base in front of him.

As for the moves, I think it's not too bad. Bernie needed to be benched. The other day a run scored on a VERY shallow pop up. And Bernie couldn't even make it a play at the plate, that's how bad his arm is. I think Torre should stop experimenting with line up and put Jeter, A-rod and Sheff on the top. Those 3 guys are more than capeable to carry the team until everybody else starts hitting.

As for Randy, I understand it's nothign serious. He experienced some tightness in the groin and Yankees chose to go the way of caution. He may not even go on DL, for now he'll just miss a start.

 

[Argo]

Originally posted by: Doggiedog
I think Bernie is a class guy but it was time to put him out to pasture. First base is a huge problem for the Yankees too. Who knows what will become of Giambi, Tino is way over the hill and that rookie Phillips struck out 5 times last night.

I agree that its really the pitching that needs to be fixed. In hindsight, they should have kept Lieber.

Giambi looks lost in space. The other day a pitcher throw two fastballs right down the middle and he swung through both. He couldn't even put a bat on either of them. I wish baseball would go the way of football and make the contracts non-guaranteed. I don't see a reason a team shouldn't be able to cut a player if he isn't performing.