DAMON DISSES YANKEES
Damon tells Detroit press Tigers always his No. 1 choice

Boy, if anyone could’ve used a teleprompter yesterday while speaking in front of the press it was Johnny Damon. After signing a 1-year, $8 million contract to play baseall in the Motor City for the 2010 season Damon told those present that playing in Detroit was always his goal.

"This is where I wanted to be from Day 1," he told reporters at his coming out news conference. "I'm sorry it took so long."

Damon sounded like playing in New York for the past four seasons was just a hiccup in his journey from Boston to Detroit.

Apparently, Damon’s speech writer isn’t aware of the economic climate assailing this country nowadays. Damon complained that he was offered a pay cut by the Yankees after having what anyone would call a great season.

"We're coming off a great year and you're told you've gotta take a pay cut," Damon said to the media present. "You're kind of like, 'A pay cut? What the heck?' It's a little humbling.”

"You're like, 'Wow, is that what they really think of me? Or what I do for the ballclub?' I did a lot for the ballclub. I even recruited (free agents) for those guys. I did everything."

Talk about losing touch with reality. Does Damon realize there are people who have been out of work for years, losing their homes, businesses and having trouble putting food on the table or in their stomachs? How anyone could complain about being offered $14 million for two years, playing what in essence is a kid’s game, is ridiculous.

Gee, Johnny what were the Yankees thinking?

Maybe Damon should have spoken to Andy Pettitte before turning down the Yankees offer or making these insensitive statements.

In 2009, Pettitte took a sizable reduction in pay when the Yankees offered him a 1-year, $5 million contract to stay in the Bronx. Pettitte’s salary in 2008? $16 million.

However, Pettitte had to weigh out what was most important to him. Turn down the offer and move on or accept it and remain in pinstripes. Pettitte chose the latter.

“I had to eat a lot of pride,’’ Pettitte said in an interview this past Friday in the New York Post. “But they gave me a chance to make $5 million more in incentives.’’

Pettitte responded by having one of his better seasons over the past four seasons. After going 14-8 with a 4.16 ERA and 4-0 with a 3.58 ERA in the playoffs the Yankees rewarded Andy with a 1-year, $11.75 million contract to stay in New York.

After turning down the Yankees initial offer Damon remained on the market while the Yankees went looking elsewhere. After trading for Curtis Granderson (Detroit Tigers), resigning Pettitte, signing Nick Johnson (Florida Marlins) and trading for Javier Vazquez (Atlanta Braves) there wasn’t enough money to interest Damon.

“I was in the same position and I could see it coming,’’ Pettitte said about the smaller pot of money. “That’s where I was last year. You need to be careful in that situation.’’
Damon and his agent Scott Boras overplayed their hand with the Yankees and got burned. If Detroit hadn’t offered this one-year deal what then? Damon would probably still be sitting at home waiting for the phone to ring.

After the season was completed, the playoffs and World Series over Damon made it clear where he wanted to play.

On November 23 Damon was contacted by the New York Daily News and was quoted as saying,

"I want to continue to be on a team that can win and to play in front of great fans - and we know that the Yankees fill both of those," Damon said. "I think everyone knows my desire to come back. Still, every time I've been a free agent, I've ended up switching teams. It's the nature of the beast. If people are interested, I'm going to listen."

In another interview with Andrew Marchand of ESPN 1050 Radio in New York Damon told him, “I know where I want to be next year. I want to be here in New York.”

If Damon would’ve stepped back and looked at the big picture instead of having a myopic view he would probably be a Yankee today.

Perhaps, Yankees’ General Manager Brian Cashman summed it up best.

"When we signed him (for four years, $52 million), he was playing center field, a premium position, and the market was high. Now he's a left fielder, he's 36, in a collapsed market. Why would he not expect to take a pay cut?"

Hopefully, for Damon his ego didn’t get the best of him, because he is going to have to go through all of this again next year. The Tigers, in addition to Damon, got highly touted prospect Austin Jackson from the Yankees in the Granderson trade. Jackson will get a year in the Tiger organization and will be ready to go in 2011. Damon will be 37, and probably looking for a new employer. For the difference of $2 million ($8 million x 2) Damon let the Yankees slip through his fingers.

Damon will be missed, but he is not irreplaceable. If the new guys in pinstripes can play and hit up to their projected potentials Damon’s departure will be a distant memory.

In the end Johnny Damon will again wear the number 18 on his back, but he’ll wish he was playing for the number 28 in October.

© 2010 Yankees Talk Shop @ yuku.com

Redistribution, rewriting, rebroadcast, or republication of this story without the prior written consent of Yankees Talk Shop, Pride in the Pinstripes or its affiliates is strictly prohibited

Yankees Big 3 finally earn their (pin)stripes
Sabathia, Burnett & Teixeira start paying dividends

Imagine the chagrin at the administrative offices of the New York Yankees located at E 161st Street at River Avenue after April 30 when the Yankees record in the American League East was 12-10 and they were sitting in third place, two games behind the Toronto Blue Jays. The Yankees were swept in Baltimore to start the season and later swept in Boston by their chief antagonists.

On top of that C.C. Sabathia, who signed for the biggest contract ever given to a pitcher, was 1-2 with a 4.73 ERA. On Opening Day in Baltimore the Orioles stung the big lefty for 6 runs on 8 hits. A.J. Burnett, the other high profiled, big contract, free agent signee, although sporting a 2-0 record, had 3 no-decision games and owned an alarming 5.40 ERA. In fact on April 25 against the Red Sox Burnett was burned for 8 earned runs in 5 innings of work, which jumped his season ERA from a respectable 3.20 to a bloated 5.47 overnight.

That brings us to first baseman Mark Teixeira whom the Yankees outbid both the Red Sox and Los Angeles Angels for his services. Teixeira owns a .289 lifetime batting average, has hit an average of 33.83 home runs and has knocked in an average of 120 runs per season prior to 2009. Although Teixeira is known as a very slow starter, when the season began it was expected that with a new contract and a new team Teixeira would bound out of the gates blazing. If spring training was any indication the Yankees had every right to believe Teixeira would be an offensive monster. He was batting .433 with an OBP of .485 and a SLG% of .800 (OPS of 1.285) coming out of camp.

Alas, that was not the case. Teixeira like Cinderella’s coach turned back into a pumpkin during the month of April and the first part of May. If not for the heroics of free agent OF/1B Nick Swisher, who took over the everyday duties in right field for an injured Xavier Nady, there wouldn’t have been much for the Yankees to write home about. Swisher responded to a lackluster offense by hitting .312 in April with 7 home runs and 19 RBI. Teixeira’s numbers fell like a meteor to earth. He was hitting a very pedestrian .200 and had only 3 home runs and 10 RBI to show for it.

May wasn’t looking much better for the Yankees either. After play ended on May 7 the Yankees had dropped to 4th place and owned a 13-15 record. Teixeira continued his freefall; dropping to a .197 average and was only up to 5 home runs and 15 RBI in 24 games. Sabathia’s ERA jumped up to 4.85 and he saw his record fall to 1-3 with 2 no-decisions. Burnett was the biggest puzzle of all. After two brilliant outings Burnett couldn’t find his rhythm. He continued to go at least 6 innings in his starts, but had nothing to show for it. It took nearly to the end of May before Burnett would see his next victory.

After last year’s 89-73 third place finish manager Joe Girardi’s tenure with the team was definitely in jeopardy. He beat out Yankee legend Don Mattingly for the managerial job in ’08 after Joe Torre left the team for Los Angeles. Girardi knew he had some big shoes to fill. Torre made the playoffs every year he was at the helm taking the team to 2 wild card appearances, 9 division championships, 6 AL championships and 4 World Series championships. Not even making the playoffs was not the way Girardi wanted to start his managerial career in New York.

To be fair not everything has bounced the right way for Girardi. He had a lot of injuries to deal with, most notably Jorge Posada who took two trips to the DL; the second one on July 20, 2008. Posada didn’t return for the remainder of the season. Chien-Ming Wang was another. Wang injured his right foot on June 15 in an interleague game against the Houston Astros and immediately went to the DL for the remainder of the season.

Two solid performers, Melky Cabrera and Robinson Cano, had down years. Pitching, especially the bullpen, continued to be inconsistent in 2008. During spring training one of the biggest bombshells in the history of baseball took place when Alex Rodriguez was accused of taking performance enhancing drugs, which he later admitted to doing. Also, Torre, along with Sports Illustrated writer Tom Verducci, published a book called “The Yankee Years,” in which Torre chronicles a lot of behind-the-scenes dirt about what went on inside the four walls of Yankee Stadium.

Getting back to this season if you’ve been following the Yankees you know about other situations that have plagued the squad. In addition to Rodriguez’s admission of using banned substances he went on the disabled list when a cyst and a torn labrum was discovered in his right hip. He had corrective surgery to address the problem to hopefully get him into the lineup as soon as possible.

Wang had horrific 3 starts at the beginning of the season after coming back from his foot injury. He lasted just 6 total innings in those starts and his ERA was a stratospheric 34.50. He went back on the DL with a side injury, but recently returned and has seen action in the bullpen. Additionally, relievers Brian Bruney and Damaso Marte have landed on the DL. Posada returned to the DL on May 5 with a hamstring injury, and reserve catcher Jose Molina went down with a quad injury on May 8.

Those injuries necessitated the Yankees bringing in a whole bunch of minor leaguers to hold the fort down until the regulars could return. Third baseman/shortstop Ramiro Pena, RHP Phil Hughes, RHRP David Robinson, C Anthony Cervilli, C Kevin Cash among others have done a masterful job in keeping the season from getting away from the Yankees.

All those headaches were enough to send anyone, let alone a manager, screaming into the night. However, the entire negative vibe turned positive on Friday, May 8.

That was the day A-Rod returned to the lineup.

Whether or not A-Rod is the real reason the Yankees suddenly turned around is an argument to be discussed around the water coolers, but the fact remains the day their superstar third baseman returned was the day the Yankees turned their season around.

Since May 8 the Yankees have gone from 13-15 and in 4th place to 31-21 and 1st place in the AL East Division. That means they have gone 18-6 in that span. They currently own the best record in the American League and they lead the Red Sox by a game.

The biggest beneficiary of A-Rod’s homecoming has been Teixeira. Since May 8 Teixeira has raised his average from a season low .191 (May 12) to .279. He is hitting .374 with 11 home runs and 19 RBI during that stretch. He is tied for 2nd in home runs and 4th in RBI totals in the AL.

Sabathia and Burnett have improved as well.

Sabathia is now 5-3 and has lowered his ERA to 3.46. Sabathia is 4-0 over his past 5 outings and has averaged a 3.00 ERA. Burnett, too, has responded. He is 4-2 and his ERA has dropped to 4.69. He has won his past two games posting a 2.08 ERA.

The team as a whole is playing the game with more enthusiasm and more focus. In the AL the Yankees are 2nd in home runs (82), 1st in RBI (285) and 2rd in team hitting (.282). Pitching continues to be a concern, especially in the bullpen, but with the Yankees offense clicking on all cylinders the pitching has been good enough. No one is hurting them to the point where the Yankees have to go out and look for an arm.

A month ago the media and fans alike were bemoaning this club and now there is a glimmer of hope. The Yankees have brought back some of the swagger that everyone has seen from teams past. But, before anyone goes and shines up the World Series trophy, keep in mind the Yankees have a long road in front of them and they still haven’t beaten the Red Sox this season.

Until “B” happens and if they don’t continue to play at the level they’re playing at now today’s hope in this team won’t become tomorrow’s reality.

© 2009 Yankees Talk Shop @ yuku.com

Redistribution, rewriting, rebroadcast, or republication of this story without the prior written consent of Yankees Talk Shop, Pride in the Pinstripes or its affiliates is strictly prohibited

BoSox KO Yankees with early season sweep
Bronx Bummers go 3 and out

If this weekend proved anything it proves the 2009 version of the New York Yankees isn’t very good. At least they’re not good right now and not good in the State of Massachusetts.

The Boston Red Sox shredded the Yankees starting rotation of Joba Chamberlain, AJ Burnett and Andy Pettitte, along with a shoddy bullpen, for 25 runs on 34 hits, five of which were home runs to sweep the Yankees. With the weekend losses the Yankees dropped to 9-9 on the year, and they landed into third place, four games behind the front running Toronto Blue Jays. The Sox improved to 12-6 and moved to within one game of the Jays.

This was the first major test for the Yankees who, along with the Tampa Bay Rays and Red Sox, were considered by most experts to be one of the three best teams in all of baseball. Unfortunately for New York fans the Bronx Bummers didn’t live up to the hype.

On Friday evening, with the Yankees leading the Sox 4-2 going into the bottom of the ninth, Yankee manager Joe Girardi handed the ball to his star closer, Mariano Rivera, with the confidence Rivera would close the door and secure victory for the pinstripers.

It’s no secret Rivera has had difficulties from time to time in Fenway Park and this night proved no different. The inning started off well, as Rivera struck out David Ortiz, but then gave up a single to Kevin Youkilis who just happens to be the hottest hitter in the American League at the moment. He moved to second on JD Drew’s ground out and came home after Rivera threw a ball down the middle of the plate, which was promptly deposited into the deepest part of center field by outfielder Jason Bay. Rivera surrendered a single to third baseman Mike Lowell, but ended the inning by striking out catcher Jason Varitek.

Predictably, the damage was done.

The Yankees failed to score in the 10th and 11th innings and with Dámaso Marte on the mound Youkilis ended the game with a walk off home run as the Sox edged the Yankees 5-4.

The following afternoon bore out the Yankees inability to maintain a lead or get off the canvas when knocked down.

New York starter AJ Burnett cruised through the first three innings as the Yankees built a 6-0 lead in the top of the 4th inning. However, in the bottom of the frame Burnett unraveled and the Yankees allowed Boston back into the game. The Red Sox scored 5 runs, capped by Varitek’s grand slam, which by the way, doubled his RBI total for the year. The Sox scored 3 more runs in the 5th to take an 8-6 lead.

The Yankees scored 2 runs in the 6th and 7th innings, but the Red Sox answered with a run in their half of the 6th and 3 more in the 7th. The Yankees got a run in the 8th, but Boston ended it with a knockout in the bottom of the frame scoring 4 runs to make it a 16-13 victory in a slugfest that saw the two teams combine for 28 hits.

It seemed no matter what the Yankees did the Red Sox countered with greater ferocity.

Hoping to avoid the brooms leaving town the Yankees put their hopes in the left arm of Andy Pettitte. Pettitte has always been the Yankees slide stopper, and he has had a lot of success pitching in Fenway Park. Pettitte came into the game with a 2-0 record and a decent 2.53 ERA. Things were looking good, because the Red Sox had to counter with a kid by the name of Justin Masterson who was making an emergency start. Masterson had thrown just 11 innings in 5 previous appearances, and he was facing off with one of Baseball’s best gamers.

There are reasons teams play 162 games on the field and not on paper. Masterson mastered the Yankees, keeping them off balance in his 5.1 innings of work. Masterson allowed 6 measly hits, while striking out 4 and walking one. He did not give up an extra-base hit. Boston’s bullpen picked Masterson up after he exited the game by not allowing a run to help the young gun improve his record to 2-0.

On the other side of the mound Pettitte didn’t pitch bad, but he made a huge mental error in the game, which shifted momentum to the Red Sox side of the ledger. In the bottom of the 5th with Pettitte locked in a 1-1 ballgame he walked Varitek to start the inning. He struck out Ortiz, and then walked Jacoby Ellsbury, who is a blur on the bases. Pettitte induced Dustin Pedroia to fly out and it looked like he might get out of the inning, as he faced the struggling Ortiz.

Ortiz spoiled Pettitte’s attempt to get out of the inning unscathed by hitting an opposite field double into left field scoring Varitek and putting Ellsbury at third. Pettitte intentionally walked Youkilis to load the bases. While facing Drew, Pettitte and Posada neglected to check Ellsbury at third. Pettitte wound up and delivered a slow breaking pitch. While Pettitte was in his windup Ellsbury broke for home and slid head first across the dish before Posada had a chance to receive the ball from Pettitte and apply the tag.

The Yankees were stunned.

To add insult to injury Drew doubled to score Ortiz to make the score 4-1. New York was unable to overcome its mistakes and only collected two insignificant singles (Robinson Cano – top 6th; Melky Cabrera – top 9th) the rest of the way.

The Yankees who broke spring training camp in Tampa with two new arms (Burnett and CC Sabathia) in the starting rotation and a new power hitting, defensive first baseman (Mark Teixeira) had hopes for a fast start. After losing 2-of-3 in Baltimore where they were expected to win the Yankees went to Kansas City and won 2-of-3 to even their record at 3-3. They went home to open up their new $1.5 billion palace against the Cleveland Indians.

With the new digs as a backdrop, an enthusiastic crowd and their ace on the mound the Yankees opened their home stand with a 10-2 loss. Sabathia, who had been signed in the off-season for $161 million over 7 years had a good start, but was betrayed by his bullpen who gave up 9 runs to blow the game for the big lefty.

The Yankees won the following game 6-5, but were embarrassed by Cleveland in Saturday’s matinee game by coughing up 22 runs on 25 hits. It was one of the most lopsided losses in Yankees’ history. In fact New York, who owned a 2-0 lead after the first, gave up 14 runs in the top of the 2nd inning to break the MLB record for most runs scored by a team in a single inning. The old record was 13 previously held by--you guessed it--the Yankees.

Finally, in Sunday’s get away game the Yankees finally played solid baseball all the way around and beat the Indians 7-3 to unrighteously earn a split in the 4-game series.

The Yankees took a rain shortened, 2-game series against the visiting Oakland Athletics by beating the A’s 5-3 and 9-7 respectively, then headed into Boston with a 9-6 record and tied with the Red Sox for second place.

The Yankees, with their tails between their legs, head for Detroit where they will play the Tigers in a 3-game series before traveling back home to open their stint against the always dangerous Los Angeles Angels.

This team, so far, has been a huge disappointment. They have been grossly overrated at this juncture and have underperformed given their expectations. Mark Teixeira, although putting on displays of defensive genius, has been a mess at the plate. As one of the big winter signings Teixeira is expected to provide a lot of offense in replacing the aging Jason Giambi.

A notorious slow starter, it was hoped Teixeira would mash out of the gate, but true to form he has achieved little in the month of April. He is batting just .218 with 3 home runs and 10 RBI. In 55 at bats he has struck out 11 times.

He isn’t the only underachiever on the team. Cody Ransom, who is standing in for Alex Rodriguez until A-Rod returns in May, was only hitting .180 with no home runs and 6 RBI in 50 at bats before he injured his right quadriceps sliding into 2B on April 24. Center fielder Brett Gardner beat out Melky Cabrera for the starting job in spring training by swinging a hot bat, but has fallen off the radar screen with a .220 BA, 0 HR, 4 RBI and only 9 runs scored. Not a power hitter Gardner was expected to get on base and use his unbelievable speed to create scoring opportunities. So far Gardner is sporting an OBP of .254, which is not getting the job done.

There have been some bright spots though. Newcomer Nick Swisher has carried the team for much of the month of April. He is currently batting .286 with 4 HR and 13 RBI. With Xavier Nady on the disabled list Swisher has been able to play daily and has made the most of his opportunities.

The biggest surprises have been Robinson Cano and Cabrera.

Cano, who started the 2008 season as an undisciplined hitter, had a terrible first half season, and even though he warmed up in the second half of ’08 only batted .271. He had 14 HR and 72 RBI. This season Cano came out of the spring with a renewed purpose. He is the Yankees hottest hitter. Cano is batting .373 with 5 HR and 15 RBI. If nothing changed Cano would project out to 45 HR and 225 RBI. Obviously, that won’t play out, but you get the picture. Cano has completely turned his game around since the end of last season.

The same can be said for Cabrera who is hitting .303 in April. Melky has 4 HR and 7 RBI in limited playing time. Beat out of the center field job, Cabrera is showcasing his talent at the plate in hopes of possibly moving Gardner to the bench.

Up to now the Yankees have played rag-tag baseball. They are not getting timely pitching, nor are they getting timely hitting. The Yankees can’t expect to get 10-15 runs per game in order to win. They seem to have lost the killer instinct that marked the great Yankees teams of the ‘90’s. They get leads, lose them, and then lose the game. They’re not answering the bell when they get hit on the chin. In order to compete with other teams in their division the Yankees are going to have to get tougher. Now with Nady, set up man Brian Bruney, starter Chien-Ming Wang, Ransom and Alex Rodriguez all on the DL, it is up to the rest of the team to suck it up and get after it. Somebody is going to have to step up and put the team on his back, otherwise, the Yankees will fall further behind the front runners.

The Yankee organization spent a ton of money on marquee free agents to help this team get back into the winner’s circle. It also spent megabucks on opening a new citadel. But, unless the new stadium has a winning team in it the fans are going to find other things to do with their time. Yeah it’s early, but to me, the games in April and May mean just as much as those in August and September. A win is a win no matter when you get it.

If the Yankees can’t get off the deck when floored, then when that hot streak comes sometime during the season it’s going to be used in getting closer to the top, but not over it. And, as we all know the measure of a successful season for the Yankees is capturing the World Series trophy and taking a trip down the Canyon of Heroes. Anything less is considered failure.

Failure is not an option.

© 2009 Yankees Talk Shop @ yuku.com

Redistribution, rewriting, rebroadcast, or republication of this story without the prior written consent of Yankees Talk Shop, Pride in the Pinstripes or its affiliates is strictly prohibited