High and Tight.

Monday, September 17, 2007

What Have We Learned This Weekend?

Looking back at the Fenway series, here are 10 things we've learned or confirmed this weekend:

Other than Josh Beckett, the starting pitching really isn't very good. Schilling had a nice performance most of Sunday and Matsuzaka constantly worked out of trouble on Friday, but do either of them put any fear into a playoff team?
Terry Francona has no faith in Eric Gagne. If he did, Papelbon never would have been asked for a 6 out save. That's why they got Gagne in the first place. At first I thought Tito was a genius in that he was going to use his best reliever in the highest leverage situation and then use Gagne to start the 9th, but that's not what he was planning to do.
The Red Sox bullpen is not nearly as good as people think. Papelbon has been beaten twice by the Yankees this year (both final blows delivered by the amazingly un-clutch bat of Alex Rodriguez). The freefall of Hideki Okajima continues. Perhaps it's just a regression to the mean, as nobody expected him to be as good as he was in the first half. Still, going into the playoffs is a poor time to have your bullpen implode.
Umpires are not good at their jobs. Despite clearly being safe, Johnny Damon was called out at first, which cost the Yankees at minimum one run on Sunday. On Friday, nothing Pettitte or Matsuzaka threw was being called consistantly a strike or a ball, and the zone seemed to shrink whenever men were on base. The umpiring for the entire series was disgraceful. Bud Selig absolutely needs to address the umpiring situation in MLB in teh off-season. Of course, he won't.
80% of Derek Jeter is still probably better than your team's shortstop. I hate to agree with Jon Miller, but it's true.
Jason Giambi can be the most impactful presense on any bench of the playoff contenders. he really should be in the starting lineup, but Giambi has kept his mouth shut and produced when asked to pinch hit.
Joba can handle the pressure. Sunday was really the first "big game" Chamberlain has been in, and he handled himself well. Yes, he gave up his first earned run, but it was on a 98 MPH fastball up above the strikezone. You can't do anything but tip your cap to Lowell and move on, and that's what he did.
Sean Henn is a disaster. Even in a mopup role. Blech.
The Red Sox need Manny Ramirez to return, and be Manny Ramirez again. Look, the Jacoby Ellsbury experiment is working out so far, but let's face facts - he had an unerwhelming minor league career and wasn't ever projected for superstardom. Ortiz needs protection in that lineup and in the postseason teams can completely pitch around him and nullify his power. Without Manny, the Sox offense is a lot less scary.
Alex Rodriguez is a good ballplayer. It would be nice to see Posada hitting behind him more often though, but the Yankees have proven that you can't walk Rodriguez and beat New York. It's a recipe for disaster.

Labels: a-rod, derek jeter, joba chamberlain, redsox, sean henn

posted by Mr. Faded Glory @ 10:15 AM 10 comments

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Cashman Restores Balance to Universe

Ok, so maybe that's a little bit of hyperbole, but the Yankees have optioned Sean Henn to Scranton and recalled Chris Britton.

Now since it's Red Sox-Yankees, we'll hear about how Torre wants to "find the right spot" to bring him in and "not throw him into the fire" all the while forgetting that he pitched in the AL East last year.

Labels: brian cashman, chris britton, joe torre, roster moves, scranton, sean henn

posted by Mr. Faded Glory @ 2:17 PM 0 comments

Monday, August 27, 2007

Are You Intentionally Trying to Throw the Season?

Cashman. Torre.

I've been posting about this for seemingly forever. I have sent you personal emails.

Enough is enough.

If Sean Henn's 79 pitches in 2+ innings with 8 hits, 7 runs and 5 walks - yes, that's 13 baserunners in 2.2 innings - isn't enough to convince you that he should NOT be a major leaguer and that Chris Britton should, there's really no other explanation other than you're intentionally tanking the season.

I'm out of other theories.

Labels: brian cashman, chris britton, joe torre, roster moves, scranton, sean henn

posted by Mr. Faded Glory @ 7:52 PM 3 comments

Saturday, August 25, 2007

Team Goat - 08/24/2007: Sean Henn

Who couldn't have seen this coming? Besides Torre and Cashman, that is.

So, I'm sitting there, watching the game, and as soon as Henn is summoned, I know it's over. I mean it's get-up-out-of-your-seat-and-head-for-the-exit-to-try-and-beat-the-crowd over.

One has to wonder what Chris Britton could have done in that situation. Well, one has to wonder because that's all we can do.

How mant consecutive awful appearances does Sean Henn need to make before he's back in the land of Dunder-Mifflin, Mr. Cashman?

Henn now has a 6.10 ERA. He's given up nine runs in his last four innings of work. His WHIP is 1.67. He has an ERA+ of 70. His VORP is -1.9.

Look at his splits; incredibly, there is no situation in which he is a good pitcher.

He is bad against righties. He is bad against lefties. He is bad at home. He is bad on the road. He is bad at night. He is bad during the day.

But seriously, he's the only lefty, so that means you keep him up there, right?

Labels: goats, sean henn

posted by Mr. Faded Glory @ 10:53 AM 1 comments

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Wrapping Up the Deadline Deals

Lots of smoke, very little fire. As opposed to every analyst on ESPN who is going completely apeshit for Boston's aquisition of Gagne, I'm glad the Yankees didn't mortgage the future for a guy who will throw at best 18-20 innings for the rest of the year. Now I know Boston is probably more interested in using Gagne in the post season, but they already had a good bullpen, and all Gagne does is take away opportunities from Delcarmen and Okajima. I don't think Boston improved all that much. Gagne would have been much more valuable to the Yankees, Brewers, or Mets, which makes this deal all the more strange.

Trading for Wilson Betemit is a good move. It's not splashy, and Torre probably won't play him very much, but at least now there's a better option than Miguel Cairo. Cairo needs to go. I know Torre will object, but with Betemit and Phillips, you have two guys who can play every IF position. Duncan can play first if needed, as can Giambi when he's back. The Torre loyalty needs to no longer extend to the bench, and Cairo needs to be DFA when Giambi is back. He can't hit and isn't needed defensively anymore.

Speaking of Torre blind loyalty, does anyone else get the feeling that maybe Cashman made the deal in order to take away Torre's favorite toy? Besides the fact that the abused arm of Proctor is likely to have a breakdown, Torre was using Proctor in ridiculous and unneccesary situations all season (and last as well) at the expense of other relievers who were not getting any work and then would be thrown into the fire once every two weeks and relegated to rot in the 'pen again when they (surprise!) didn't perform well after the layoff.

Having Proctor gone allows Chamberlain to get some more opportunities, so he doesn't turn into another Edwar Ramirez or Chris Britton or Sean Henn. I remember Torre saying they were "looking for an opportunity" to use Ramirez, and the following game he used proctor with a 5 or 6 run lead. If you won't trust a kid there, you never will. Same with his statement about using Duncan as the DH as long as he keeps mashing and then benching him for nearly an entire road trip.

I'm hoping Cashman recognized this and made the move in order to protect Torre (and the Yankees) from himself.

This should be evidence enough that Torre is unfit to manage this team, or any team without "veterans with pre-defined roles." Bring on Girardi or Mattingly in 2008. Something in my gut tells me that's been the plan all along, and a possible reason why Girardi turned down the Orioles.

Labels: brian cashman, bullpen, chris britton, don mattingly, edwar ramirez, eric gagne, joba chamberlain, joe girardi, joe torre, redsox, scott proctor, sean henn, trades, trading deadline, wilson betemit