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I've speculated about this a few times in recent weeks, but after last night's performance, I am convinced the Yankees need to send Eduardo Nunez down to the minors and either give him extensive work as a utility guy or as an outfielder. This is a guy who appears to be turning into Chuck Knoblauch and the Yankees have to figure out a way to prevent that. Maybe they can't. Maybe Nunez is going to be a guy who simply can't make the routine throw in the infield. I refuse to believe that right now, I think this is more a case of not being trained for the role the Yankees wanted him to play.

In his minor league career, Nunez played 600 games at shortstop, 19 at second, 17 at third and zero in the outfield. Yet, they made him their utility guy at the start of 2011, primarily because he can hit and run a bit while Ramiro Pena can't. I don't think it was a bad choice, but it also required Nunez to do some things he had never done before. There is no shame in the fact that he is failing.

And failing may be too nice a word for it. Look at the way he tried to backhand that ball on his first error last night. That was a terrible play. The throw in the second was probably the "better" error, but both of those plays are routine ones that need to be made. What the Yankees need to do is figure out their long term goal for Nunez. Is it as a possible replacement for Jeter or A-Rod? Is it a move to the outfield? Perhaps a super-utility guy? I suspect the latter, so why not send him to the minors for a couple of weeks and let him work through his troubles? He could start every day at a different position and get some experience. The Yankees have Nix on the roster to soak up the utility AB's and Chavez could be back later today. Trying to teach him multiple positions in the majors isn't working.

One last thought. CC Sabathia had a lower ERA throwing to Russel Martin last year than he did to Francisco Cervelli. (Both were outstanding) So, why does he need Chris Stewart as his personal catcher this year? And if Martin is the defensive whiz the Yankees think he is, what is going on?

Posted by Peter (Yankees) at 01:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

the Yankees tried to break in a new closer. He blew three of his first six saves, but rebounded pretty nicely from there.

The point, obviously, is that closing ballgames is not an easy job. It's even harder when you have to come in and protect a one-run lead. Robertson looked shaky last night and he looked bad tonight. Some fans will bury him, but if you are one of the guys (like me) screaming for the Yankees to develop their own pitching, this is the harsh reality of that request. Sure, Robertson may never amount to a big league closer, but he has shown more than enough in his big league career to keep the job right now. Girardi gave a great example in his postgame comparing closers to NFL kickers. As he said, "the great ones bounce back." Robertson deserves the chance to prove he can be a great one.

Posted by Peter (Yankees) at 10:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Boston.com is reportng that Josh Beckett played golf just 2 days prior to a scheduled missed start due to a stiff latissimus (lat) muscle.

Playing golf is what baseball players do, I get that, but when public perception is already that you are a beer drinking slob, how can you be so careless in your decision making? Again, it is a sense of entitlement that he must feel, as though he can do no wrong and isn't to blame for anything bad.

Bobby Valentine is quoted in the piece as saying, "I'm trying to sort out my feelings" about this issue. Sort them out he will as this is not going to go away.

More fallout to come I'm sure.

I was away last week and much happened. The Red Sox still stink, Kevin Youkilis got hurt...again, and Will Middlebrooks was called up, amongst other things. The Middlebrooks call-up was the best as he is off to a boffo start and anytime a rookie comes up and makes a splash, it is an exciting thing. Exciting is what the Red Sox need after all.

Regarding the still stinking part, the Red Sox haven't just stunk for 5 weeks in 2012, they stunk for 4 weeks in September/October 2011. Their record since September 2011 is 19-37. That is last place bad. It kind of reminds me of the time leading up to Morgan Magic, when John MacNamara had lost his team and watching the Red Sox was a chore. Walpole Joe came in and the Red Sox rattled off one of the best runs in baseball history (or at least Red Sox history).

I'm not sure who or what will be this season's Morgan Magic, but Middlebrooks Magic has a ring to it.

Posted by Andy (Red Sox) at 05:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

I can't for the life of me get why the Yankees are putting Andy Pettitte into the rotation Sunday. I get that David Phelps didn't exactly dominate in his one start, but by giving up two runs in four innings while striking out five, he showed some potential. Meanwhile, Andy Pettitte has made two starts above A ball and has allowed three earned runs in five innings in both of them.

But Pettitte proclaimed himself ready and something makes me think the Yankees felt pressured into this. I hope I am wrong and I also hope that getting Pettitte back in the bigs will "start his juices" and up his performance. I wouldn't have made this call if it was my choice.

What I do wonder is what will happen roster-wise over the next few days? Brett Gardner should be back Thursday and Eric Chavez may join him. Then Pettitte will need to be activated and put on the 40-man roster. the obvious calls are Gardner gets activated, Wise gets sent down. Chavez gets activated and Nix gets sent down. Pettitte gets activated, Rivera moved to the 60-day DL and Eppley gets sent down. But, it wouldn't shock me to see the Yankees keep Nix and send Nunez down to get more outfield time. Or jettison Rapada, a guy who has walked 5 in 8 innings and keep Eppley. Maybe they send Phelps down to keep him stretched out? We shall see.

Posted by Peter (Yankees) at 06:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Mariano Rivera just announced on Twitter and to the press that he will come back for the 2013 season.

Simply awesome news as this is clearly not the way anyone wanted to see Rivera leave the game.

Posted by Peter (Yankees) at 05:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

While we all hope that Mariano Rivera won't decide to retire off of this injury, the fact remains that the 2012 Yankees need to regroup and figure out how to replace him. As I see it, there are three choices they can make.

1- Give the job to David Robertson. Robertson has been lights out and he appears to have ice water in his veins so it would be a good fit. In a way they would be passing the torch to a guy who resembles Rivera pre 1997.

2- Give the job to Rafael Soriano. Soriano has closed before and done it in the AL East, so he could certainly do it. Furthermore, letting him close now would allow him to rack up some saves and increase the chances that he opts out of his contract after this season.

3- Move Phil Hughes to the bullpen with the idea of making him the closer in the near future. Probably not going to happen, nor am I saying it should- yet. But, if Hughes continues to be a two-pitch pitcher, it's hard to see how he stays in the rotation. He's been in the bullpen before so it isn't the craziest idea. But, I think the Yankees won't make this move unless Hughes bombs in his next few starts. After all, Rivera was once a mediocre starter.

Lost in all of this is a move which didn't get a lot of notice at the time, but could become important later this season- the signing of David Aardsma. Aardsma saved 69 games from 2009-10, but he's essentially been injured since then. When the Yankees signed him in February Cashman said he was a month behind Joba in his comeback (before Joba's ankle injury) so he could be ready to pitch in July. Hopefully, the Yankees don't have a big hole in their bullpen come July, but if they do, Aardsma could be a solid addition.

If the choice were mine, I give the job to Robertson. The Yankees were going to need to develop a new closer one of these days, why not go with the home-grown guy?

Posted by Peter (Yankees) at 11:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (21)

Seldom do we get to write our own athletic obituary. Perhaps it was hubris that led us to believe Mariano Rivera would be able to write his, but it sounds like that was folly. Girardi announced tonight that the "preliminary" report is that Rivera has a torn ACL. I'm not a doctor, but I can't believe someone who was could look at a MRI and proclaim a tear of the ACL when a tear didn't exist. In short, I think this is the end of Rivera for 2012. And if it is, you have to wonder if it means the end of Rivera forever?

Posted by Peter (Yankees) at 11:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

If you haven't seen the video, here it is. Mariano got hurt before the game tonight shagging flies.

To me, the lack of sound in the clip makes it even worse. You see Rivera crumpled along the fence. You see A-Rod grimace and look concerned before yelling to Girardi. You see Harkey trying to get someone's attention by whistling. You see Girardi sprint out to the outfield. It's the original "Nosferatu" playing out in front of you. (Look it up)

Let's dispense with the obvious complaint, Rivera has shagged flies for twenty years without getting hurt. In fact, if you had ever witnessed him doing it you would have thought he was an outfielder, he was that smooth. Hindsight is 20/20, but you can't wrap these guys in bubble wrap and expect them to emerge unscathed. Don't blame Rivera or the Yankees for what happened tonight, it was a freak accident.

Now we have to face the very scary reality of what happened. At worst, it is probably a torn ACL and Rivera is out for the year. (or career?) At best, his knee is twisted and he is headed to the 15-day DL. No matter what the verdict, it seems certain that the Yankees are about to lose the one thing that made them better than every other team in baseball for these past 16 years. For all those years we have had the luxury of knowing the 9th inning was in good hands. There are plenty of names who could step up in his place, but there is only one Rivera.

Posted by Peter (Yankees) at 10:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It's funny how life works some times. While watching last night's game at the Stadium a guy in the seat in front of me turned to his buddy and said "Nunez has looked really good on ball hit his way tonight" Not a minute later, he made that big error to cost the Yankees two runs.

But the thing is, the guy in front of me wasn't wrong. Nunez had looked good and as the title of this post suggests, it wasn't a very easy night in the outfield. There was a pretty strong wind blowing from right to left that took the ball on some strange flight paths. You may have heard the buzz of the crowd on TV on some routine flyballs because it was very hard to pick up where the ball was headed right off the bat.

Now, an outfielder should have made that play, but remember Nunez is not an oufielder! He is a guy who never played the position in the minors and has a grand total of 36 innings playing it in the bigs. If the Yankees keep running him out there, he is going to make mistakes like this. That doens't mean the Yankees should give up on him out there, I am becoming more and more convinced that outfield is his ultimate destination, but they are going to have to put up with his growing pains. If they don't want to give him on the job training in the majors, perhaps they send him to Scranton for two weeks after Gardner comes back and let him play in the outfield every day? Otherwise, I hope fans give him a little more latitude than they did last night.

One other note from last night. While it wasn't what I would call a good start by Phil Hughes, I think it was a much better one. He challenged guys and I saw the scoreboard show a fastball speed of 95mph a few times. He didn't seem afraid of trying to put guys away. It's a small step forward, but a step nonetheless.

Posted by Peter (Yankees) at 11:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)

Andy Pettitte's line in Florida today: 5-2/3IP 10H 6R 5ER 0BB 10K's. The strikeouts are good, but this was a start against low level minor leaguers. He threw 96 pitches, but the thought that he may be ready in a start or two seems far fetched- even if the wind was blowing out. The Yankees seem intent on promoting him for a start May 11th or 12, but I think that speaks to their desperation more than anything else.

Beyond that, I think the Yankees are playing a risky game tonight with only two guys on the bench. Because Nick Swisher has a hamstring pull that isn't serious enough for the DL and Brett Gardner looks like he will be ready to be reactivated May 3rd the Yankees are going to play shorthanded against the Orioles. We can probably add the current state of the 40-man roster as another reason. Other than Ramiro Pena, the Yankees don't have anyone on the 40-man who can play the outfield in the bigs. Almonte and Mesa are both in the lower minors and Pena has a grand total of 11 games in the outfield in his career. When you add in the fact that his bat is a minus, you can understand why the Yankees aren't rushing out to promote him to the majors.

But, Pena could certainly play the infield and the Yankees would have been smart to promote him tonight. If a position player gets hurt tonight, the Yankees have only Stewart and Jones on the bench. That's a foolish way to enter a series and while I understand the reasons, I don't agree with them.

Posted by Peter (Yankees) at 05:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)