Honestly if they can just find a way to land a great starter I'd be happy, because that's really the move that everything else rides on, without better starting they're toast and plenty of shaky offensive teams make the playoffs, it's all about the pitching, also the other stuff is going to take time, it's unreasonable to expect so many holes to be filled in one off season, show me the super-store filled with great players to be had and I'll change my stance, until then I do not expect all these positions to be addressed, just give me a great starter for now.
The SUPER STORE is called free agents. My additions, Ellsbury, Drew, Morales & McCann or even Salty are all FAs.
...pitching was not the problem this year...the offense ranked 14th in SLG % (one point higher than the Astros for last place)...and topped it off by finishing the season batting .222 in September. ...I also see NO reason why D-Rob can't be the closer...Mo blew 7 saves this year and I'm sure DR can do at least that well because he had better numbers than Mo did this year. I really don't know why some people put such a premium on the closer role, as if the guy pitching the 7th or 8th innings is any less important.
I feel if we fix our offense, it will take a huge burden off the bullpen. I think our DH averaged around 200 for the season. Our DH!
...yup, hell, even if they had a healthy Tex, Jeter, Granderson, and even (gulp) ARod, it would have made a world of difference. 2013 production from; LF .236 .293 .399 .692 3B .231 .293 .340 .633 SS .228 .286 .312 .598 1B .229 .292 .397 .690
What's exaggerating about that? All are true areas of concern. Its reality. I actually forgot something....with the Cubs open, job they might be looking for a manager too. I also did place a plan on this board quite a whole back detailing what the yanks would need to do. Essentially signing every free agent of impact there is. That would include guys like Ellsbury, McCann, I mentioned Garza at the time but he has regressed since coming back to the AL, resigning Kuroda somehow but he looks cooked. Colon was another option. Look what is out there. Look at how awful the farm is and realize just how many holes there are. Money to spend or not it's going to be almost impossible for the Yankees to be fixed next year. Its a multi year project at this point i believe directly resulting from years of neglect and mismanagement with the draft, development and dishing out bad contracts. Who exactly is this great starter the yankees are getting anyway? Especially with this GM. How he is coming back yet again......I shake my head.
But the didn't have jeter, arod etc. Old players decline ad get hurt. They will again. and they had nowhere to turn when they did. Jeter will be back buy who knows at what capacity. Arod is likely gone. Tex.....pencil him in for further decline but yes he will help but prob not as much as some expect. I'm personally hoping granderson is gone. I would not expect Soriano to be all that great next year either. I think they need to upgrade in the OF as I mentioned, but with so many true holes its difficult to focus there.
^^^^ I agree with you Blue, there is only one fix for the 2014 Yankees... And that is money, money to buy time for the low minors to hopefully develop under new leadership, time to fill holes all over the 25 man roster. Free Agents will once again be the band aid to 2014 and possible 2015. And if Cano signs somewhere else, then there isn't enough money to Humpty Dumpty back together again
What new leadership? And i sure hope Cano isn't signed if his demands remain above a reasonable level. I don't see a WS caliber team in the near term with or without cano. The last thing they need is another Arod or CC situation just when this team might hopefully start to improve in a few years time. For once they need to look a little bit further than tomorrow and realize that this team is in dire straights until the fix the permeating issues on the foundation of the organization residing at the top levels and in player development. Adding yet another crippling contract does not make all that better.
No amount of money can fix this problem like fans want, there simply isn't enough great players to be had, my prediction is they find a way to grab one, maybe two marquee players and the rest will be OK players and farmhands.
OK... -I strongly disagree with Cano... anything over 6 years, let him walk... he is not worth 7 or 8 and definitely not 10 years! and not at $25/year either... -7 players are committed to next year... 3 or 4 of which we can't count on... the 7 are: Alex Rodriguez, CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeira, Derek Jeter, Ichiro Suzuki, Alfonso Soriano and Vernon Wells... that is 3B, SP, 1B, SS, OF, OF, OF -SO... we need more than 1 strong SP... we need 2 or 3 strong SP and 4 or 5 SP in total... as you said, we don't know what we can count on Pineda. -regarding 3B, I agree Reynolds is probably the best option. -regarding SS, we'll need someone... Jeter, unfortunately, can't be counted on... So either Ryan or Drew -I agree completely about Kendry -I agree completely about catcher... McCann should be higher on the list -OF is a problem... we already have 3 OF, 1 shouldn't see time at all, another shouldn't see much... So I would sign at least 2... Choo and Ellsbury are my votes
Difference is this... you fuck up a lead in the seventh or eighth and there is time for a comeback. .or there is the closer to save you. .. as the closer. . You fuck up and its usually game over the dimished mind of a soon to be 40 year old
...^^^First off, IMO, the "save" stat should be done away with. It doesn't matter when runs are scored. 27 outs is 27 outs no matter how you slice it and today's teams are losing games in the 9th inning or later at about the same rate they were 40 years ago, so the importance of the designated closer is over-rated. This has been shown by Bill James and many others. ...It also has a lot to do with whether you're at home or on the road. And saving your best pitcher exclusively for the 9th inning is flawed depending on the batting order of the opponent because it makes much more sense when facing the other team's best hitters in the later innings, to counter with your best reliever. ... for example, if the Yanx are playing a tie game in Boston and the heart of the order are due up for the Sox in the 8th inning, it makes more sense to counter with Mo at that time, instead of waiting for the 9th inning to face the 7-8-9 hitters.
Found this stat; MLB W-L %=== When Leading: Year==After 7 Innings==After 8 Innings 2013 .897 ============ .945 2010 .917 ============ .955 2005 .904 ============ .955 2000 .900 ============ .950 1995 .898 ============ .947 1990 .914 ============ .955 1985 .906 ============ .948 1980 .897 ============ .946 1975 .903 ============ .949 1970 .895 ============ .944 1965 .901 ============ .950 1960 .899 ============ .947 Source: Baseball-Reference.com
I've been saying this for years now. When I became a fan of this game there was no such think as a save. And IMO the only stat dumber then a save is a HOLD. Please it's not enough that they've introduced the HOLD & are also using the stat WAR I can only imagine what's next. The new commishoner needs to eliminate the HOLD & also needs to adjust the rules of what qualifies as a SAVE. The 3 run lead is bullshit & the one & two out saves are bullshit. JMO.
^^^yup, and just look at the W/L % I posted for the last 53 years...the designated "closer" role has not helped teams odds of winning one bit.
