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with the yankees needing to win virtually every game, how can you go out there and hand the ball to rasner while we face the rays best pitcher? really? we have some good live arms in the pen. coke, aceves, and could have brought up hughes to take rasner innings.. You are just asking for trouble with this guy and now we are down 5-0 against kazmir.... I mean talk about giving away a game....

it goes to show how overrated our "prospects" were...the FO has zero confidence in them, they trust rasner more, which is kinda sad

I think the Yankees have given up on the season to be honest. But this Yankee team will come back very strong next year. I wouldn't be surprised if they signed both Sabathia and Burnett. (Sabathia, Wang, Burnett, Mussina, Joba/Pettite/Hughes/Kennedy?) I think the Yankee offense is fine, but it must be frustrating to have so many DH's on the team (Matsui, Posada?, Damon) Perhaps they could move one of Matsui or Damon (hopefully Damon because I LOVE Matsui) and then sign a big bat with good defense in center field. How about bringing in Manny Ramirez? I'm sure he'd love to be apart of Boston's main rival team. Other options are Adam Dunn, Griffey JR, Pat Burrell?. Start Manny in left, Abreu in Right and Nady in Center. Resign Giambi much cheaper obviously, resign Abreu. Posada will come back and be able to catch, let I-Rod walk. Matsui will be the DH.

1B: Jason Giambi
2B: Robinson Cano
3B: Alex Rodriguez
SS: Derek Jeter
C: Jorge Posada
LF: Manny Ramirez
CF: Xavier Nady
RF: Bobby Abreu
DH: Hideki Matsui

CC Sabathia
Chieng Ming Wang
AJ Burnett
Mike Mussina
Andy Pettite/Joba Chamberlin/Phil Hughes/Ian Kennedy

A little expensive on the upgrades, but its the Yanks they can afford anyone.

New York Yankees: 2009 World Series Champions.
New Stadium, Revamped Team, Back on Top.

I think the Yankee FO thinks the season is over, as they should because it would take a 2007 Mets type collapse to make it happen. I think they would have brought Hughes back up but he had those two bad starts and that set him back a little. Plus, he is working on a new pitch so by leaving him down there, they let him work on it with no pressure. I do think Aceves will take Rasner's next start. I think the only reason he didn't take this start is because they wanted to see what he could do and his bullpen appearance proved he could pitch.

I think the rotation for next year is a very interesting subject. You have to figure the only lock is Wang. Moose and Pettitte are both free agents and you figure they bring both back if they want to for a year. I think there is a chance Pavano's option is picked up. They hold on to him for a year as an insurance policy if they can't get one of the big FA pitchers or they balk at the price or if Moose/Pettitte don't come back. If they get the guy they want, they can probably pick up some of his cash and deal him for some A-ball players. Then you have the young guys. I think Joba starts the year in the bullpen and then transitions into a starter mid-year again for whoever is ineffective or gets hurt. I think the only way Hughes starts the year in the majors is if there is a hole where Moose/Pettitte don't come back and they don't sign a big time free agent pitcher.

I don't see Giambi coming back, too much money would be involved and he is too up and down to be counted on day in and day out. Plus, he is another DH like Matsui, Damon and possibly Posada. Those guys still have years left and are better hitters at this time. He can't really play 1B especially if Posada gets some time there. Too many DH's, no way Manny comes here. One of the biggest problems with this Yankee team is poor defense, Manny won't help that. Damon is better in LF than Manny. Nady can't play CF. I would imagine Melky and Gardner will battle it out for the starting CF spot next year to keep the seat warm for Austin Jackson. I don't see them bringing back Abreu because that is Nady's natural position and he won't accept a short one or two year deal. He also isn't a good defender and that needs to improve. I also don't see them getting rid of either Matsui or Damon. Both have one year left on their deals, and are probably the two best RISP hitters on the team. Great clubhouse guys, winners, and short deals. I think there will be changes but not as many as most think. -Jitpal

Relentless88 wrote:I think the Yankees have given up on the season to be honest. But this Yankee team will come back very strong next year. I wouldn't be surprised if they signed both Sabathia and Burnett. (Sabathia, Wang, Burnett, Mussina, Joba/Pettite/Hughes/Kennedy?) I think the Yankee offense is fine, but it must be frustrating to have so many DH's on the team (Matsui, Posada?, Damon) Perhaps they could move one of Matsui or Damon (hopefully Damon because I LOVE Matsui) and then sign a big bat with good defense in center field. How about bringing in Manny Ramirez? I'm sure he'd love to be apart of Boston's main rival team. Other options are Adam Dunn, Griffey JR, Pat Burrell?. Start Manny in left, Abreu in Right and Nady in Center. Resign Giambi much cheaper obviously, resign Abreu. Posada will come back and be able to catch, let I-Rod walk. Matsui will be the DH.

1B: Jason Giambi
2B: Robinson Cano
3B: Alex Rodriguez
SS: Derek Jeter
C: Jorge Posada
LF: Manny Ramirez
CF: Xavier Nady
RF: Bobby Abreu
DH: Hideki Matsui

CC Sabathia
Chieng Ming Wang
AJ Burnett
Mike Mussina
Andy Pettite/Joba Chamberlin/Phil Hughes/Ian Kennedy

A little expensive on the upgrades, but its the Yanks they can afford anyone.

New York Yankees: 2009 World Series Champions.
New Stadium, Revamped Team, Back on Top.

with that defensive alignment in the outfield, there would be more gap shots and bloopers that go for doubles than we could imagine... no thanks.. LOL

Jitpal wrote:I think the Yankee FO thinks the season is over, as they should because it would take a 2007 Mets type collapse to make it happen. I think they would have brought Hughes back up but he had those two bad starts and that set him back a little. Plus, he is working on a new pitch so by leaving him down there, they let him work on it with no pressure. I do think Aceves will take Rasner's next start. I think the only reason he didn't take this start is because they wanted to see what he could do and his bullpen appearance proved he could pitch.

I think the rotation for next year is a very interesting subject. You have to figure the only lock is Wang. Moose and Pettitte are both free agents and you figure they bring both back if they want to for a year. I think there is a chance Pavano's option is picked up. They hold on to him for a year as an insurance policy if they can't get one of the big FA pitchers or they balk at the price or if Moose/Pettitte don't come back. If they get the guy they want, they can probably pick up some of his cash and deal him for some A-ball players. Then you have the young guys. I think Joba starts the year in the bullpen and then transitions into a starter mid-year again for whoever is ineffective or gets hurt. I think the only way Hughes starts the year in the majors is if there is a hole where Moose/Pettitte don't come back and they don't sign a big time free agent pitcher.

I don't see Giambi coming back, too much money would be involved and he is too up and down to be counted on day in and day out. Plus, he is another DH like Matsui, Damon and possibly Posada. Those guys still have years left and are better hitters at this time. He can't really play 1B especially if Posada gets some time there. Too many DH's, no way Manny comes here. One of the biggest problems with this Yankee team is poor defense, Manny won't help that. Damon is better in LF than Manny. Nady can't play CF. I would imagine Melky and Gardner will battle it out for the starting CF spot next year to keep the seat warm for Austin Jackson. I don't see them bringing back Abreu because that is Nady's natural position and he won't accept a short one or two year deal. He also isn't a good defender and that needs to improve. I also don't see them getting rid of either Matsui or Damon. Both have one year left on their deals, and are probably the two best RISP hitters on the team. Great clubhouse guys, winners, and short deals. I think there will be changes but not as many as most think. -Jitpal

next year I think is very important for Hughes and kennedy, I can see kennedy getting moved in some kind of deal. The problem with the yanks is that we have too many players, position players on the wrong side of their primes... that has to change.. In the OF, I would like to keep nady, but we are going to have to see if melky and gardner are even adequate full time CF's.. defensively they can do the job, but offensively they seem to be subpar major league players... we have some work to do, as I said weeks ago, this season is over.... Boston is pulling games out of their behinds for wins and we just don't have the pitching to go on a 8-10 game run....

Jitpal wrote:
I think the rotation for next year is a very interesting subject. You have to figure the only lock is Wang. Moose and Pettitte are both free agents and you figure they bring both back if they want to for a year. I think there is a chance Pavano's option is picked up. They hold on to him for a year as an insurance policy if they can't get one of the big FA pitchers or they balk at the price or if Moose/Pettitte don't come back. If they get the guy they want, they can probably pick up some of his cash and deal him for some A-ball players.

I would disagree with this point. They would have to pick up the option before they knew if Sabathia/Burnett was coming.

Markos wrote:

Jitpal wrote:
I think the rotation for next year is a very interesting subject. You have to figure the only lock is Wang. Moose and Pettitte are both free agents and you figure they bring both back if they want to for a year. I think there is a chance Pavano's option is picked up. They hold on to him for a year as an insurance policy if they can't get one of the big FA pitchers or they balk at the price or if Moose/Pettitte don't come back. If they get the guy they want, they can probably pick up some of his cash and deal him for some A-ball players.

I would disagree with this point. They would have to pick up the option before they knew if Sabathia/Burnett was coming.

Yeah, I know. What I meant was that they would pick up his option, which is essentially 9 million. If they strike out on the big time pitching free agents they would keep him for that option year. If they grab them and the rotation is looking full they would pick up some of his dollars and look to trade him for some minor leaguers to the NL. -Jitpal

TKF wrote:

Jitpal wrote:I think the Yankee FO thinks the season is over, as they should because it would take a 2007 Mets type collapse to make it happen. I think they would have brought Hughes back up but he had those two bad starts and that set him back a little. Plus, he is working on a new pitch so by leaving him down there, they let him work on it with no pressure. I do think Aceves will take Rasner's next start. I think the only reason he didn't take this start is because they wanted to see what he could do and his bullpen appearance proved he could pitch.

I think the rotation for next year is a very interesting subject. You have to figure the only lock is Wang. Moose and Pettitte are both free agents and you figure they bring both back if they want to for a year. I think there is a chance Pavano's option is picked up. They hold on to him for a year as an insurance policy if they can't get one of the big FA pitchers or they balk at the price or if Moose/Pettitte don't come back. If they get the guy they want, they can probably pick up some of his cash and deal him for some A-ball players. Then you have the young guys. I think Joba starts the year in the bullpen and then transitions into a starter mid-year again for whoever is ineffective or gets hurt. I think the only way Hughes starts the year in the majors is if there is a hole where Moose/Pettitte don't come back and they don't sign a big time free agent pitcher.

I don't see Giambi coming back, too much money would be involved and he is too up and down to be counted on day in and day out. Plus, he is another DH like Matsui, Damon and possibly Posada. Those guys still have years left and are better hitters at this time. He can't really play 1B especially if Posada gets some time there. Too many DH's, no way Manny comes here. One of the biggest problems with this Yankee team is poor defense, Manny won't help that. Damon is better in LF than Manny. Nady can't play CF. I would imagine Melky and Gardner will battle it out for the starting CF spot next year to keep the seat warm for Austin Jackson. I don't see them bringing back Abreu because that is Nady's natural position and he won't accept a short one or two year deal. He also isn't a good defender and that needs to improve. I also don't see them getting rid of either Matsui or Damon. Both have one year left on their deals, and are probably the two best RISP hitters on the team. Great clubhouse guys, winners, and short deals. I think there will be changes but not as many as most think. -Jitpal

next year I think is very important for Hughes and kennedy, I can see kennedy getting moved in some kind of deal. The problem with the yanks is that we have too many players, position players on the wrong side of their primes... that has to change.. In the OF, I would like to keep nady, but we are going to have to see if melky and gardner are even adequate full time CF's.. defensively they can do the job, but offensively they seem to be subpar major league players... we have some work to do, as I said weeks ago, this season is over.... Boston is pulling games out of their behinds for wins and we just don't have the pitching to go on a 8-10 game run....

Kennedy also looks like trade bait to me. I think it is great that Karstens and Oheldorf are doing well in Pittsburgh, should raise Kennedy's stock just a little. I agree about the older position players but the way our roster is, we can't just swap them. RF, CF, and 2B are the only guys entering their prime or before it. I think 1B is a position where you could look to get younger, my choice would be Ryan Garko. In the other positions you are locked in with the older guys that we have. LF, C(backup), and DH are open, where you can look to get under. I just don't see us speeding up that process by trading either Damon or Matsui this offseason. FIrst of all both have NTC and both have had great years this year and will be free agents the next. Matsui brings in the foreign revenue and Damon is the only leadoff hitter.

They do look subpar sometimes on offense but they are the number 9 hitters. If the offense needs the number 9 hitter to be successful then there are bigger problems. They play very good defense, Melky has that arm and Gardner has that speed. Ideally all you would need from that spot is a quality AB and move the runner over. We obviously don't have the pitching when a good portion of the games have been started by Rasner, Ponson etc. Injuries have absolutely decimated the team this year. -Jitpal

The hitting is going to be the problem. What are the Yankees going to do to fix this thing? Teixeira makes perfect sense, but is he worth the money even if he leaves the Angels (which he might not)? Personally, I'd like to see Manny at around 4 years 70 million to DH. A lot of people are against this though, and maybe rightfully so, given that he is the anti-Yankee. However, you know this guy can hit in the clutch. You know this guy is one of the best hitters in all of baseball. The Yankees need another big bat to compliment AROD. Manny strikes fear into pitchers, and you know he's going to want to put a whooping on the BoSox everytime he gets a chance.

Aceves who I like is taking Rasner's spot. And all I have to say is FINALLY.

Jitpal wrote:
I think there is a chance Pavano's option is picked up.

I think there is no chance Pavano's option is picked up, we will be paying him 12 million dollars roughly to be insurance? I could see us possibly resigning him to a much smaller deal with incentives and him accepting because of his lack of production he gave us over the course of his contract and he owes us but there is no chance we pay him 12 million next year.

We cant figure both Hughes and Kennedy into the rotation next season, maybe one of them but not both, and thats why is would be nice to have Pavano in case we need to send them down. Aceves has been great in his few starts as well and so was Dan Geise (although he is a great long reliever that will give us 2 innings). Burnett wants to play here, if we want him we can get him, thats how I feel on the situation, I wonder if he would be wanting 12 million a year because an above 4 ERA may not be worth it, but he will go 7 plus innings pretty often. I would love to start Joba, thats where he should be in the future unless we plan on having him be our closer after Rivera. I think he should start the season in the starting rotation, id rather have a guy that can go 6 or 7 innings with an ERA under 3 then a guy that will throw 5 innings tops every 5 days.

1. Wang
2. Joba
3.
4.
5. Hughes (with Pavano/Aceves/Kennedy as insurance)
Thats our starting rotation going into next year right now, with the expectation that we resign at least one of Moose and Andy and then another free agent like AJ, CC, or Sheets.

I do believe that Rasner really was a bad choice to have in the rotation this year, he would give a good start but throw 80 pitches in the first 4 innings making us have to use our bullpen for 4+ innings which not only effects us for that game but it costs us the next couple too and really put a toll on them. Aceves instead of Rasner would have gotten us 2 or 3 more wins and would make it come down to the last series against Boston for the wildcard race.