I guess it is so far so good for New York Yankees GM Brian Cashman, as he crossed a lot of things off his 2012 off-season not-to-do-list at the Winter Meetings this past week.
Continue reading ‘New York Yankees Hot Stove: Cashman Makes Progress On His Not-To-Do-List’ »
Can you blame them?
I am talking about the new evil empire called the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, who dropped the bomb today with the announcements of signing Albert Pujols and CJ Wilson.
Pujols will be making $250 million bucks over the next 10-years; while Wilson will be paid $77.5 million over the next 5-years.
Image via Wikipedia
If the Angels new pricey transports work out like the 2009 New York Yankees, the Halos are banking on being World Series bound in 2012, literally.
It must be a wretched day in St. Louis, Missouri. My heart goes out the Cardinals fans that lost the face of their franchise today, as Pujols took money over loyalty and that hurts, no doubt about it.
Pujols is the West Coast’s version of A-rod, which would make him A-Jols?
Need a better nickname than that, but you can’t fake the Yankees without an A-something and the Halos got themselves an expensive one.
Since, Rangers’ fans have only been around for like three years who cares, but supposedly their offer to Wilson was pathetic, according to Wilson. Bo-ho.
Now not to worry Yankee fans, as it will take the Halos at least a decade more of overspending, while winning four more World Series for them to ever catch the boys in the Bronx.
Hey the Bombers are still the rightful owners of the highest paid player ever in Alex Rodriguez, so take that Angels.
As I headed to the Bronx on Tuesday night, to watch the New York Yankees take on the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, the last thing on my mind was the possibility of losing.
I certainly didn’t expect to witness Mariano Rivera blowing his second save in a row, which resulted in another loss for the Yankees.
Well reality does bite, as the Yankees did get beat-up again at the hand of the Halos who won the game 6-4, thanks to a two-run blast off ex-Yankee Bobby Abreu in the ninth.
What made it more painful was that Mo was to blame; as Yankees Stadium takes on the worst kind-of silence on the rare occasions he makes a mistake.
Even more now because the reality is that Mo is 41-years old and saying goodbye is just unimaginable to any one who swears loyalty to the Yankee pinstripes.
When I talked with my father after the game, his first statement was, “The Yankees can’t trust Rivera anymore.”
I responded by saying he was being way to dramatic, only to be refuted with the fact that Mo’s cutter has not been cutting for some time like it used too.
Thinking about what my father said made me so sad. I literally had to force myself to stay focused on today, which spells S-L-U-M-P or at least the start to one.
There isn’t a less perfect time for the Yankees to start losing by beating themselves. This skid has to halt tomorrow because losing is even more contagious than winning.
NOTES ABOUT THIS SERIES….
When the Halos came into the Bronx Tuesday night boosting a 21-12 record since the start of July. Continue reading ‘New York Yankees: Losing Is Contagious’ »
Arriving in the Bronx after winning eight of ten games on the road, the Yankees should be very pleased with that performance; except 
when both losses materialized in Fenway Park.
So, instead the Yankees come home shamed and self-conscious, but thankful for Monday’s off day to shake away everything Red Sox off their shoulders.
Not only the players, but also Yankee fans needed a breather after enduring the emotional rollercoaster that comes with losing to Boston for the 10th time this season.
BOMBERS vs. HALOS:
Admittedly still pissed but trying to focus on the upcoming series against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim because the Halos pitching is a force to be reckoned with.
Angels skipper Mike Scioscia has only confirmed that Dan Haren will be on the hill to open the series, but otherwise mums the word.
The obvious guess is that staff ace Jeff Weaver will throw in Wednesday because that would be his scheduled start day, but no matter if it is Thursday the Yankees should expect to face the All-Star this week.
Luckily Erwin Santana pitched on Sunday so doubt he will be available for this series and as well as he has pitched that is a blessing for any opponent.
AJ Burnett, who seems to be irreparably flawed, will try to right himself again. Burnett will be up against a feeble Anaheim offense, who come into the Bronx only having scored four runs total in their last three-game set.
Without falter, Haren is the better pitcher as this season he is boosting a 12-6 record, a 2.81 ERA, with three complete games and two shutouts over 24 starts. Haren does not walk batters, issuing just 24 in total this season. This fact got more frightening when I looked at the top 50 pitchers on MLB.com and only Phillies Roy Halladay has allotted less with 20.
As usual after a solid first half, Burnett did not clock a ‘W’ in the month of July but in his defense he got zero run support in two starts where he went seven plus innings.
Otherwise Burnett’s 8-9 record, and 4.54 ERA paint a bad picture. On a positive note, Burnett has kept batters at a .241 average on the season, which is not as bad as you would think. His last start against the White Sox is one skipper Joe Girardi wants to forget, as he had to pull him out of the game shy of five innings, with a 13-1 lead.
The Yankees bats certainly made up for July by driving in 13 runs in four innings for Burnett in Chicago, but no one expects that vs. Haren.
Still, the Yankees can hit the hell out of the ball in comparison to the Halos and that is their big advantage in this series.
A NEW BASEBALL FORMULA; AND MY SERIES PREDICTION:
Everybody is constantly preaching about the importance of pitching in baseball, which I agree with completely but that is only one-half of the game. Continue reading ‘New York Yankees: Halos Starting Dan Haren Tonight’ »
The New York Yankees continue their West Coast road trip with a final series in Anaheim against the Los Angeles Angels.
As of two seasons ago, facing the Halos anywhere was never a fun time for the Yankees or the New York fans, but times have change. This is not due to the Angels not being a solid ball-club, but more attributed to the Yankees not being scared of this team like they seemed to be in the past.
Still, this series features some hard hitters and noteworthy pitchers; here are the weekend’s match-ups as the Angels play host to the Yankees:
FRIDAY JUNE 3, 2011 – 10:05pm EST; YES, MLB.TV
Yankees Ivan Nova (4-3) vs. Angels Jared Weaver (6-4)
Yankees are expecting a better performance from Nova who is posting a 4.67 ERA. With Phil Hughes’ return looming, Nova knows he is pitching to keep the job he won out of Spring Training. Nova couldn’t get through four innings in his last outing, giving-up four earned runs to the Mariners, who are also meekest, line-up in baseball. Following that Yankee 12-inning loss, the other four Yankee starters all won their starts, each pitched through seven innings and combined for a 1.74 ERA. Nova is only 24- years-old and this is what young pitchers go through, but tiring out the bullpen and losing games is not productive. Let’s hope for a resurge from the kid.
Weaver was the hottest pitcher in baseball for the few weeks of 2011 season, posting a 6-0 record breaking Randy Johnson’s 2002 for most consecutive wins to start a season. In his succeeding six starts, Weaver has hit a career slump going 0-4. Still, the Angels have not been giving any run support, as in Weaver’s last start he threw nine-innings of two-hit baseball. He seems to be pitching up to par again, but until Vernon Wells and the team’s leading hitter Howie Kendrick are healthy the line-up will suffer. Kendrick is looking to be activated this Saturday, so Weaver will have to deal without his bat unfortunately. Weaver will have to be on target facing Curtis Granderson has made 14 at-bats, with four RBIs, four solo homers off and posts a .429 batting average against the Angels ace.
*SATURDAY JUNE 4, 2011 – 9:05pm EST; YES, MLBN, MLB.TV
Yankees CC Sabathia (6-3) vs. Angels Dan Haren (5-3)
In his last three starts, Sabathia has pitched 25 innings in total and posts a 1.80 ERA. Sabathia always starts out the season slow, but now he has found his groove. Sabathia is looking to win his fourth straight start and seventh on the season. He has gone eight or more innings for the Yankees in his last four times on the bump and that is why he is the ace of this staff.
Sports Illustrated reports that Haren suffered back stiffness this past Wednesday, mid-bullpen session and as of now is still scheduled to make his start vs. Sabathia on Saturday. Haren, like Weaver has been hung out to dry and not getting any help from the Angel bats. With Kendrick made active prior to this game, Haren might just finally get that help. Keep an eye out regarding Haren’s status.
SUNDAY JUNE 5, 2011 – 3:35pm EST; YES, MLB.TV
Yankees Bartolo Colon (3-3) vs. Ervin Santana (3-4)
Colon threw a shutout, complete game in his last start. Colon will be looking to continue his impressive revival on Sunday afternoon facing his old team, as Colon won the 2005 CY Young Award with the Halos and spent the majority of his career in Anaheim. The last time Colon faced his old peers was back in 2009, but he beat them and threw just shy of seven innings but held the Halos to just one-run.
Santana will have his hand full with the heavy-hitting Bombers, but he has improved vastly since his awful start to the 2011 season. Santana boosts a 3.56 ERA at-home compared to 5+ on the road, so he is happy to be back home. Following a complete game shutout against the Braves, Santana’s last start vs. the Royals was a mess, giving up six earned runs and two homers. He walked away with the win because the Angels offense did wake-up up by scoring 10 runs. This 28-year-old has a deadly slider and when he it is on, with his solid fastball he can be lethal for any clubs bats.
*injury-watch
Following winning the rubber game 7-3 to take the series against the Toronto Blue Jays, the New York Yankees are on their way out West for the first time in 2011.
Here is the schedule for the next three series on the other coast:
| DATE | VS. | TIME (EST) | PROBABLE PITCHERS |
| Friday, May 27th | @ Seattle Mariners | 10:10pm | Burnett (5-3) Pineda (6-2) |
| Saturday, May 28th | @ Seattle Mariners | 10:10pm | Nova (4-3) Hernandez (5-4) |
| Sunday, May 29th | @ Seattle Mariners | 4:10pm | Sabathia (5-3) TBA |
| Monday, May 30th | @ Oakland Athletics | 4:05pm | Colon (2-3) TBA |
| Tuesday, May 31st | @ Oakland Athletics | 10:05pm | TBA |
| Wednesday June 1st | @ Oakland Athletics | 3:35pm | TBA |
| Friday, June 3rd | @ Los Angeles Angels | 10:05pm | TBA |
| Saturday, June 4th | @ Los Angeles Angels | 9:05pm | TBA |
| Sunday, June 5th | @ Los Angeles Angels | 3:35pm | TBA |
The Mariners and A’s both have young and talented pitching staffs, so the Yankee bats will play a big role in these two series. Finishing off the trip in Los Angeles against the Angels who are never an easy win, especially for the Yankees
Where will the Yankees be when they return back home?
Honestly, this road trip will be a true test for the Bombers, who leave atop the AL East (27-21) by just a half a game above the Boston Red Sox (27-22). The Tampa Bay Rays (26-23), Toronto Blue Jays (24-25) and Baltimore Orioles (23-24) are all very much in the hunt, as the AL East is as tight as can be.
The one thing that is for sure is that the Yankees return to the Bronx to play host to the Red Sox, Indians and Rangers so there is really no room for error.
On one hand, Yankee fans will get to know what this 2011 team can handle; and so will GM Brian Cashman who will probably use these next few weeks to establish whether a trade is absolutely necessary or not.
After winning the 2005 CY Young Award (MVP for pitching), Bartolo Colon went from pitching hero to CY Young zero pretty quickly.
Physically, Colon was never the poster boy for anything athletic. Standing at 5’11 and hovering around 250 lbs. certainly explained the numerous injuries, which understandably exhibited a poor and lazy attitude.
In 2005, the 32-year-old Colon made 33 starts and posted a 21-8 record, with a 3.48 ERA, 157 strikeouts, over 223 innings for the Los Angeles Angels.
Even though 2005 earned Colon the coveted CY Young Award, this was not his best season on record but it would prove what seemed to be his last.
Following being the best pitcher in baseball, the next four seasons were atrocious, as Colon’s downfall compares best to that of the 2007 New York Mets. It was that bad.
From 2006-2009, Colon played for the Angels, Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox. In total he made 47 starts, posting a 14-21 record, with an ERA just shy of 5.00, while striking out 172 batters, over 256 innings in total.
So, anybody saying that Yankee fans had no foundation to be apprehensive is just a hater because Colon’s history did not spell anything but possible problem.
Rightfully the Brian Cashman criticism followed, as confusion over the definition of a GM’s job was being questioned. Wasn’t a GM supposed to sign players to help the team win?
Well, Colon is making Cashman look like a certified genius.
Look, I am not forgetting that this was a HUGE gamble for Cashman and even though it is working out BIG time, it could have easily gone south too but it didn’t.
Fact is at 38-years-old and still way over-weight, Colon can still pitch and completely control a baseball game. Colon throws the ball sharply, with enough velocity (clocking a mid-90’s fastball) and movement to be game winning effective starter.
In 2011, Colon has made two starts and three appearances in long-relief, posting a 2-1 record, with a 2.77 ERA, with 26 strikeouts over a total of 26 innings. Opposing bats are averaging .237 when Colon is on the hump.
I witnessed Colon throw eight brilliant innings against the White Sox at the Stadium on Wednesday night, leading the Yankees to a much-needed win following two losses in a row.
Point is, what potentially could have been a mess with the unfortunate Phil Hughes situation; has actually become an unexpected shock.
At this point, even if Colon fell on his face, he has delivered well beyond any Yankee fans expectations and it has been an absolute pleasure thus far.
To be honest, I am still in complete shock at what Colon and the rest of the tattered veterans are doing in the Bronx thus far in 2011.
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