Scioscia says Bay is a "Long Shot"

It think it also ratchets down fan expectations that Wood will be Mike Schmidt 2.0 in his first season.

So now a few weeks of ST will do the trick!

“Sosh’s approach” (and I assume that he teams with the front office on this, so it is not all his shoulders alone) is to defer to established players first and foremost, even well beyond the point whereby it is painfully obvious that the established player is detrimental to the productivity of the team on the field.

History has the names of Steve Finley, Shea Hillenbrand, and Jeff Weaver branded on his forehead. And it has not changed. Juan Rivera maintained his spot in LF in the 2009 playoffs despite not even hitting his weight, stranding 16, while accounting for only 3 runs in 9 games.

Write.It.Down:
Sosh will defer to the established player at every opportunity, however unreasonable, and will retain that preference for the established player well beyond what everybody else may find to be reasonable.

Sosh’s hand on Wood is merely being forced. With so many established infielders on the roster capable of playing 3B ahead of him, Wood was destined for AAA until he ran out of options which has now happened. Now, with no Figgy and not even a Quinlan, and with Wood having to clear waivers to get back to AAA (something that would never happen), Wood is on the roster unless he gets traded or cut outright (something else that will hot happen). The only thing left for Wood to be hungry about is to demonstrate to ANY MLB team that he can produce at the top level. His spot is secure now, there is no “when” any longer. It is only a question of “where”.

But I still rather give the younger, cheaper player with more upside a chance than the player that’s going to be a free agent after this season. I realize Izzy is the safe pick and you pretty much know what you are going to get with him. There may be some short term gains by having Izzy get the bulk of the playing time, but playing Wood will help his development which will be best for the team in the long run.

but i thought it was rather poor form that you expressed it in an appreciation thread. But one guy was wanting to wear your wife’s underwear, i didn’t go that far.

Platooning was primarily done at 2b last year with Izzy and Kendrick. Izzy (hamstrings; 2007, 2008), Kendrick (hamstrings; 2008 twice) have both been rather injury plagued while up in the MLB. He erred on the side of caution to keep them both healthy all year. Also, pulling a pitcher in the 6th or 7th (even if they are in control) is not such a bad thing. You have to trust your pen and guys like Lackey and Santana routinely have bad starts after being allowed to go well past their presumed pitch count.

After a bazillion years of working with Lackey, Butcher and Scioscia know all the telltale signs that a pitcher like Lackey is beginning to labor. While it might seem rosy to those of us watching from the stands or the Barcalounger, it is the coaching staff which has the job of watching the players and evaluating their effectiveness.

In that 7th inning, Lackey got a flyball out to CF, then gave up a double, followed by two walks before getting a second flyball out. In the course of that 7th inning, he threw 19 pitches alone, raising his total for the game to 104; he had given up a double and a walk in the 6th before escaping with no runs scored, so there was a clear indication he wasn’t dominating as he had been in the early innings.

In this case, Butcher and Scioscia made the decision that Lackey was beginning to falter, and it was a choice to remove him before he slipped further and the Yankees smelled blood and began to get back into the game. By bringing in Oliver, it turned Teixeira around and forced him to bat from his weaker side. In a perfect world, that is the right call to make, especially with how well Oliver had been pitching prior to that game.

I don’t think anyone who has watched Lackey objectively over the past several seasons and who knew the Oliver-Teixeira matchup was available objects to that call. Lackey did, and that is understandable, but Scioscia’s decision was sound in the context of that game. Scioscia was going for a win, not trying to win Lackey’s love at that moment.

Or has everyone forgotten Pedro and Grady Little?

so i harp on everything…i’ll mellow out. sorry y’all

grammar has no place here.

However, if one decides to bag on someone else and call him “a tool”, then it is their obligation to come correct or have their flaws exposed. Can’t have it both ways.

I happen to believe that not all wins are created equal, but more importantly not all loses are created equal. Would you rather lose a game 5-2 in which the opposing starter simply outpitches your starter or lose a game 9-8 in which your bullpen gives up 5 runs in the bottom of the 9th, blowing an 8-4 lead with two outs? If you don’t think the prior option is preferable you’re crazy. Certain loses are demoralizing to teams and tend to linger and effect morale. The bullpen blowing leads late are that type of lose, as is the final game of a sweep when you’re the team being swept. Losing the final game of a series when you have already won the first two and clinched a series win is simply not the same as losing the third straight game to a team, especially when that sweep comes at home. So, being a stopper is an important attribute for a pitcher to have.

As for my other points about Saunders. Just to be clear: I was not seeing he is Maddux or will have a comparable career. I simply said he possesses some of the same tools that Maddux has — and I stand by that statement. In fact despite an ERA that is higher than you might want Saunders is 33-14 the last two years. This last season he wasn’t healthy much of the time and was pitching with a dead arm when he should have been on the DL. Thus the inflated ERA. I think his 3.41 ERA in 2008 is more indicative of who he is. In any case, I’d take 33-14 over two years from my number 3 or even my number 2 starter, let alone my number 4.