Buster Olney just reported that it looks like Rasner will be the Opening Day starter. (Sorry, no link. He just said it on Sportscenter.) He also claimed Cashman told him that they were going with the young guys when the vets can't go.
I've honestly never even heard of Darrell Rasner until just now, but it seems like a pretty nice job picking the guy off waivers last winter by the Yankees. His career stats on Baseball Cube aren't that bad and he's only 25. Bet the guy didn't anticipate being the Yankees Opening Day starter, eh? (Not that it means a damn thing, but still funny).
If the reason they went with Rasner is because they don't think Pavano has the "confidence" to handle Opening Day (which is the only reasonable excuse), well what does it do for his confidence by telling him you're going with a guy who was going to be the #5 starter/long man at AAA over him? Silly move. Just give the ball to Pavano.
It was a good pickup (and he pitched fairly well in spot starts last year), but it wasn't so much a good job by Cashman as it was yet another horrible job by Nationals GM Jim Bowden.
Pavano has Eddie Whitson disease. He would never make the start. He would end up getting a hangnail on his non-pitching hand right before and have to go on 60 day dl because of it.
I liked what I saw of Rasner last year in his quick appearances. Like 10P said though, what does this do to Pavano's confidence? It's not like he was playing with a full deck in the first place. I know it's too early to start getting nervous, but I don't like the current state of the rotation. Though Igawa pitched pretty decently yesterday. Why isn't he getting the start? He's had a couple fair starts lately. Looks like Joe is starting the season with the perfect excuse for his micromanagement of the bullpen skills...
Joe is playing the staff's schedule as to why Moose or Pettite wont start the opener. He doesnt want to disrupt that so he is willing to throw away the first game of the season. Its a bunch of BS. Moose wouldnt be able to get himself ready for a game next week?????
Same old Joe. This is one the reasons why I've been calling for his head for years. Maybe this year will be the last straw. We can only hope...
I still haven't seen anything about Rasner starting on Opening Day. Torre said this morning if everything goes well with Pavano today, he'll make the start.
The last thing they should do is make Mussina pitch on 3 days rest just so he can start on Opening Day. As for Pettitte, they're just being ultra cautious with his back. It's just one game, no reason to risk screwing up Mussina or Pettitte for ONE GAME in April.
All I know is what I saw on ESPN last night, and that was Buster Olney saying he just spoke to Cashman, and he was told that Rasner would be the Opening Day starter. Like I said, you'd just have to take my word for it, I don't have a link.
Yeah, I know. Makes no sense to use the guy on his first day in NY. As for Moose and Pettitte, I don't have a problem with them sitting either. Better safe than sorry. I just wonder why Karstens' couple poor starts dropped him below Ranser. Even Pavano.
Kartsens hurt his elbow, thats why he isn't going to be pitching for NY, I think i heard he is shut down for a week or two. And I think that the report said Rasner would be on the Opening Day ROSTER, not Starter
I hadn't heard about Karstens' elbow. Thanks. As for Rasner, I just repeated what I heard last night. Of course, I could have heard it wrong, but I was paying direct attention to it, so I think I heard it right. Again, Olney said Cashman is the one who told him that, so it doesn't mean it is factual. Maybe Cashman WANTS Rasner to start over certain other guys. Who knows? Personally I don't care. I just want baseball back. We're playing the Devil Rays, correct? If so, who cares who is pitching? If we aren't in first after game 1 against the D-Rays, we have a mountain of other problems to worry about.
That's probably what it was, with them being cautious about Karstens, Rasner will start the season on the roster.
Its still spring training. You can have him skip his next start and have him throw extra or start him but limit his pitches. I think Moose has been around long enough to be able to handle a change in his spring schedule with no ill effects in order to start on opening day.
