No Class

From the title of this post, it is probably of no surprise to you that I am going to write about ARod. He is such a tool. From the moment he got here people were saying that he wasn't a "real Yankee" and he just continues to perpetuate this belief. He showed no class when he signed the quarter of a Billion dollar contract with Texas by wanting to have his own tent at the Ranger spring training site and stay in his own hotel on road trips. He showed no class in 2004 by slapping at Arroyo. He showed no class by elbowing Pedroia in the crotch rather than just taking a hard slide directly at the 2B trying to break up a double play. He showed no class running around on his family and he showed no class yelling "mine" at the Blue Jay infield. He is everything that is wrong with today's athlete. I know that it is unlikely to happen, but I would love to see them trade him right now. He could be to the Yanks this year, what Nomar was to the 2004 Sox team. Let him admire his HRs and flip his bat and trot around the bases for another team, he is no Yankee.

Dead weight

If Carl Pavano gets his wish, the Yanks will be approving his surgery to care for his ailing elbow in the near future. This surgery will sideline him for most of the fourth and final year of his current contract. A contract in which he made a total of 19 starts and won 5 games in four years. That is almost $2million per start and $8million per win. This might be the biggest bust contract in baseball history. I actually am not surprised in the least. I knew Pavano as a kid growing up in Southington and he was a punk then. He was a slacker and a tiger doesn't change his stripes. The Yanks should have done their homework and known that he didn't have the character to make it on one of the biggest stages. I question his toughness in playing through these injuries. I question his integrity in hiding the cause of certain injuries (see his car accident that broke ribs that he hid from his team). Lastly, I am glad to see him go. I just wish that they spent the money elsewhere or traded him in one of the short windows that he might have had some trade value. Now they will get more of the same from him, nothing.

I hope that I'm wrong

I am probably in the minority of Yankee fans, but I am skeptical about what Clemens is going to bring to the team this year. He has only pitched in the NL since 2003, which is at this point a much lighter hitting league. In addition to the lesser competition that he has been facing these last couple of years I am concerned about his average innings pitched per start. He averaged less than 6 innings per start last year. If that is the type of pitcher that we are going to be getting, the bullpen will be taxed to pitch 3 plus innings every time his spot in the rotation rolls around.

The Red Sox reportedly were offering Clemens an arrangement where he would only fly in to Boston (or wherever they are playing) and pitch every Sunday and then fly home. He wouldn't be with the team for the remainder of the week. They would have gone with a 6 man rotation. Boston was hopeful that the 6 man rotation would be beneficial to Matsuzaka, who is used to pitching once a week.

One of Clemens agents explained that both the Red Sox and the Astros wanted Clemens to return in late June or early July (presumably to save some of the money on his pro-rated contract) and the Yanks wanted him ASAP. According to Randy Hendricks (one of Clemens' agents) Roger wanted to pitch sooner.

I hope that I am wrong and that Clemens pitches effectively into the 7th on most of his starts and joins a rotation, when healthy, that will include Wang, Pettitte, Mussina and Hughes.

Bitter Sweet

What an amazing game by Phil Hughes. Forget for a moment that he is 20 years old and in his second major league appearance. He showed the command of a veteran. Carrying a no hitter through 6 and 1/3 innings he falls prey to the year-long curse of Yankee starting pitchers and has to be removed in the middle of the 7th with a leg injury. The future is bright for Hughes, but we have to wonder how serious the injury is and how long he will be out of action. He walked off under his own power, so I am hopeful that this is a matter of the Yanks being cautious, and not a long term injury. Whenever he gets back to health, it looks like the Yanks have found someone that can have a positive impact on the rotation.

Speaking of injuries, this has been the season from hell. Why are so many people getting injured this year compared to years past? You could make an all star team from the players that are on the DL right now. In fact, I did.

C- Josh Bard, Greg Zaun
SP- Cliff Lee, Kenny Rogers, Jason Schmidt, Jered Weaver, Bartolo Colon, Francisco Liriano, Pedro Martinez, Rich Harden, Felix Hernandez, Chris Carpenter
RP- Bob Wickman, Eddie Guardado, LaTroy Hawkins, Jose Mesa, Brandon Backe, Octavio Dotel, Eric Gagne, BJ Ryan
1B- Mark Sweeney, Frank Catalanotto
2B- Freddy Sanchez, Howie KendrickSS- Rafael Furcal
3B- Andy Marte, Troy Glaus
LF- Scott Posednik, Reed Johnson
CF- Jeff DeVanon, Mark Kotsay
RF- Chone Figgins, Juan Encarnacion
DH- Jim Thome, Rondell White

Just look at those starting pitchers. That is a list of two full 5 man rotations that could start for any team in baseball. There has to be an explanation, but what? I think that one of the issues with baseball players in the past 15 years or so is that they have become too muscular. Baseball is a game that requires flexibility. The more musclebound you are, the less flexible you become, and the more prone to injuries you are.