Let me guess, Don. When the Yankees traded Al Leiter for Jesse Barfield, you were the happiest man in town.
And why would that be exactly? You are one of those who when they have no answer to the truth digress off into the twilight zone.
That would be because you have some kind of ridiculous hard on over Chamberlain because he's no longer striking out every other batter like he did when he was called up. You've repeatedly said the Yankees should just forfeit his games. You've repeatedly said he cannot start in the playoffs. You belabor the most ridiculous misconception that the Yankees are better off without him. Its fine, you are certainly entitled to whatever baseless opinion you possess, but you are going to catch some shit for it if you keep trotting it out all the time. And do yourself a favor, we already have a bunch of dicks here who like to call there opinions "truth" as if that negates any other opinion on the subject. Don't be like that.
This is one of those magical sentences that has the power to make me both laugh (because he's oblivious to the hypocrisy) and weep (because of the syntax).
That's not the case at all. My problem is with Cashman who I consider a complete fool. They knew at the beginning of this year that there was no way in the world that Chamberlain could pitch the entire year as a starter if they really cared at all about him. So the Cashman line all year was "we have a plan". Now when it matters most he is total shit because of how they have screwed with him over the last 6 or 8 weeks. He should have started in the pen like he did last year and then move into the rotation at a time when he could finish the year normally.
Which only would have led to the inevitable "Joba should STAY in the pen ROAAAAAAR" BS that went on last year. Not to mention we'd have been down another starter. Who would have been the 5th starter all year? In the beginning, it would have either been Hughes, or who? Igawa maybe? And it it were Hughes, at best, we'd be in the same boat at this point. Instead they put him in the rotation where he belongs, and they formulated a plan. No one ever detailed that plan, and really, it's doubtful that said plan was ever anything more than the words "Joba can only pitch XXX innings this year." So in the end they've stuck to the plan. It's the implementation of that plan that has developed in different directions over time. Your issues with this come as a result of your lack of desire to look forward. You see Joba's performance right now and throw your hands up as though this is an utter failure. The truth of the matter though is that Joba started the year as the 5th starter, and that's more or less where he's ending the year. This year was never supposed to be about him dominating. He's got at least a decade ahead of him to dominate. Taking care to not rush 10 years of service in order to pack it into one or two years isn't foolish.
What has it led to now? Chamberlain most likely back in the pen when it matters most. Brilliant! It wasn't hard to see this coming either, all you would need was an abacus. I saw it coming long before the season started..as everybody knows, I wasn't very quiet about it.
Are the Yankees finished with Chien-Ming Wang? Thu Sep 10,2009 2:28 PM ET By Aaron Gleeman Chien-Ming Wang is just starting down the long road back from July shoulder surgery, but said yesterday that he hopes to begin playing catch in January with an eye toward returning to the mound at some point in 2010. However, as Peter Abraham of the New York Journal News points out Wang's return may not come with the Yankees: Wang had a $5 million contract this season and is eligible for arbitration. There is virtually no chance the Yankees will offer him arbitration before the December deadline. That would leave Wang a free agent. "I would like to stay in New York," he said. "But I don't know what will happen." One possibility is that the Yankees could offer Wang a minor-league contract. Or another team could sign him to a major-league deal and hope that he returns to form. "That's something we won't even think about until November," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said. "Those are issues for another day." Shoulder surgery, a foot injury, and a 9.64 ERA leave Wang with an awful lot to come back from, but the beauty of the Yankees' payroll is that it enables them to sign big-name free agents and gives them the flexibility to take fliers on risky players. Small-payroll teams have a difficult time risking even a couple million bucks on a pitcher coming back from a major injury, but for the Yankees that represents a drop in the bucket. In other words, if Wang is interested in remaining in New York and the Yankees are interested in having him back there probably won't be a better fit for him between the familiarity and monetary upside. They can non-tender him this offseason, re-sign him to an incentive-laden contract with a team option for 2011, and hope that the ground-ball machine who went 54-20 with a 3.79 ERA through his first 95 starts can reemerge with a rebuilt arm. http://bases.nbcsports.com/2009/09/are-the-yankees-finished-with-chien-ming-wang.html.php
The fifth starter works out of the pen in the playoffs? Not very sagelike Don. :wink: As for Wang, I'd say he'll probably sign a minor league deal with incentives if he comes back into the majors. We'll see how that works out.
When did he become the 5th? Does that make Gaudin #4 now? Just think about it if that is what you are saying.
As I said earlier today, he started the year as the #5 behind CC, Wang, AJ, and Andy. When you made your prediction that he'd be in the pen he was the fifth starter. Like I said, not very sagelike. Anyway, right now, he's pitching like a #5. Of course he has more talent than Gaudin, but it's ridiculous to view him as our 4th best starter right now, when he's not pitching that way, and he's only pitching a limited number of innings. Come on Don. I'm not arguing with you. I'm just telling you to lighten up and look at the big picture. The Yankees are sacrificing a little today for rewards in the future. Besides, how much are Joba's starts actually hurting us? We've won something like 23 of the last 29.
That is the whole point. We agree but they want him ready to be the #4 in the playoffs. The "Plan" was to insure that he would be and the "Plan" has been a complete disaster. If we end up losing a playoff series because Gaudin or Mitre has to start instead of Chamberlain..well...no need to go there now. The other hard nosed ridiculous decision Cashman made was leaving Hughes in the pen when it was obvious he might be needed. He could have been stretched out long ago instead of being used 1 inning every 2 or 3 days. Cappy likes to talk about innings..Highes pitched 146 in 2006. There is no reason at all he is in the pen now.
Jeez, that really sucks about Wang. Wait, that doesn't sound right. Anyway, if the Yankees have carried Igawa on the payroll somewhere for this long, I'd hope they'd at least show the same patience for the Wangster.
My favorite part about all of this is watching Don contradict his past self to blame Cashman for anything and everything. Actually, that's my second favorite part. My favorite part is how he'll inevitably tell me that I'm a fool for some completely tangential reason that has nothing to do with anything I've ever said. It's high comedy.
