My Response to Ed Valentine at Pinstripe Alley...What Should Really Happen

First let me start this blog by apologizing...for what? The fact that I haven't blogged in several days. I wanted to sit and watch the Nationals and Marlins sets, and see if the Yankees could avoid my wrath. Losing 4 of 6 to these steaming piles of dog poop have left me no other choice but to lose my mind on my beloved Bombers yet again. Before I do that however, there is an individual named Ed Valentine who writes his own blog called Pinstrip Alley that can be found on Yahoo. He has given what he believes is credible advice on how to fix the 2009 Yankees before it is too late...I will list direct portions of his advice, and then tell you #1 why it is severally flawed, and #2 what really should happen. Enjoy, and Mr. Valentine, if you happen to read this, don't take anything personal, because we are both Yankees' fans, I just don't think you know as much as you think you do!

From Pinstripe Alley:
1.Get your best roster in uniform. That means waving goodbye to Brett Tomko and Angel Berroa. It means getting Mark Melancon into the Yankee bullpen and giving him a real chance to show whether or not he can help. We know Tomko can't. Getting rid of Berroa would make space for Xavier Nady if/when he is ready to return, or for Shelley Duncan. Either of those guys would upgrade the bench and the offense. Ramiro Pena is better than Berroa, and right now should be the guy playing when A-Rod isn't.

What's Wrong with the Above Suggestions:
First let me open by stating that not all of Mr. Valentine's ideas are off-base, as you will read that I agree with a few of them...but pay attention, because this is where it gets real. Every team needs a mop up man. Brett Tomko is and should be that pitcher. Why burn up the arms of Phil Hughes, Alfredo Aceves or anybody else when the game is on the line when a veteran like Tomko can handle it-plus he brings a good attitude and will do what is asked of him for the benefit of the TEAM. I will agree that the Angel Berroa experiment has failed miserably. Hitting well under .150 should spell the end of Berroa in pinstripes. I do like the youngster Pena, who is hitting .247 with 11 runs scored and 3 steals. He is built more in the mold of a middle infielder however, and should spell A-Rod once a week until the All-Star break. Add Mark Melancon to the bullpen? Give him a real chance? Are you kidding me? Melancon will be a nice bullpen fixture, just not right now. He walks more than he strikes out, blowing a lead against a light hitting Angels squad, and failed to record a single out in the Yankees' 7-3 loss against the Red Sox. Melancon needs much more seasoning and a good secondary pitch before he gets another shot in the Bronx...a 5.40 ERA doesn't lie. I on the otherhand, would give young Josh Schmidt a shot to fill out the bullpen. Who? A young man sitting in Double-A Trenton. Schmidt is sitting at 4-1, a 1.19 ERA, and has 40 Ks compared to only 15 walks issued ANDhe has only allowed one bomb in 2009. A young man who doesn't yield bombs out of the bullpen is a perfect fit in the new Cathedral. And enough with the crazy Shelley Duncan talk already. The guy has proven over and over that he cannot make the adjustment to the next level, that being with the big club. I don't care that he is hitting near .300 has 64 RBI and has only struck out 42 times in 223 at bats in 2009. Don't care. The Yankees know what he is, which is a nice minor league player. You want to give a young player a shot, go with another all-around talent in Austin Jackson. In 2009, Jackson is hitting .336 and has 12 swipes. That is something that can be used off the Yankees' bench, not another 3 swings and return to the bench that comes with Duncan. As for X Nady...there is no guarantee that he will even be able to play the outfield with his elbow issues. He may end up being yet another outfielder that is stuck DHing because of an injury.

From Pinstripe Alley:
2.Get serious about making a deal for Mark DeRosa. DeRosa (.277, 13 home runs, 50 RBI) is a huge upgrade over anything the Yankees have on the bench. Not to mention he might be a better every day right fielder than Swisher. He can play third, second, first and both corner outfield spots. Guaranteed that the Yankees could find a lot of at-bats for him, no matter where he played.

What's Wrong with the Above Suggestions:
Mark DeRosa has struggled for the most part during the 2009 season. Even though his bat has come alive in recent weeks, he is still struggling to adjust to American League pitching. Cleveland will not give away DeRosa, and he is not worth more than a C-level prospect at best...Yes, I said PROSPECT as in 1! Cleveland will want to talk about Austin Jackson or any of the younger prospects such as Eric Fryer. If Brian Cashman is moronic enough to deal more than a bag of bp baseballs for DeRosa, he should be shot. Nick Swisher is the answer off the bench. He can play all three outfield spots, as well as first base. He provides a patient eye as well as a switch hitter at the plate. Nick brings a loosey goosey attitude to the clubhouse that has been missing for quite a few years. Swisher nor DeRosa are everyday players, so get that out of your collective minds right now.

From Pinstripe Alley:
3.Play Brett Gardner every day, at least for now. Center field is going to back-and-forth between Gardner and Melky Cabrera all season, and right now Gardner is clearly the better option. Melky was hot for a while, but he has hit .190 in June. Gardner hit .327 in May and is hitting .348 this month with a .464 OBP. The Yankees need some energy on offense, and the speedy Gardner needs to be given another every day chance to provide it.

What's Wrong with the Above Suggestions:
The Yankees need to continue to use the Melky/Gardner platoon. It is obvious that you go with the hot hand, yet find a way to keep the other player involved. Yes, right now it's Brett Gardner, next week it could be Melky again. Perhaps giving Austin Jackson a shot to work within the platoon may prove to be the better option in the end, and then you can use Gardner as the speedster off the bench, and deal Melky for another bench or bullpen piece.

From Pinstripe Alley:
4.Settle the bullpen. Get Melancon to New York. Give Phil Hughes and David Robertson important, late innings, not just mop-up ones. Let Alfredo Aceves handle the long stuff, which is what he is best at. Maybe, if you give these young guys the opportunity, you'll find you don't need Huston Street or another veteran reliever, after all.

What's Wrong with the Above Suggestions:
I do agree that the bullpen needs to be settled, but as I provided the real numbers on Melancon above, he has no business in the Bombers' bullpen in 2009. I also agree that Phil Hughes is being wasted in mop up roles, as Tomko should have that role exclusively, simply because he throws strikes, and he is a veteran, one in which getting lit up won't crush him mentally under the bright lights of the big city. I love Aceves in the long role, and I like David Robertson in certain situations...but here is the ONLY REAL SOLUTION to the Yankees' bullpen woes...put Phil Hughes in the #5 spot in the rotation and leave him there...put the fat toad part II as the 8th inning bridge to Mariano Rivera. It's obvious. Well, obvious to those of us that remember the last dynasty and how well having Mo setup Wetteland and then having the Nelson/Stanton/Mendoza bridge for Mo worked as well. You need a dominant arm that runs on adrenaline and isn't afraid of tight situations at the end of games to get the ball to Rivera. Why in the hell would Cashman make a trade to upgrade the backend of the bullpen when the answer is free, and is already in house? Probably the same reason that Cashman has gotten away from the recipe that worked to rebuild the farm system and the dynasty of the 1990s...after all, it's only been about 10 years since HIS Yankees' teams have won a World Series!

From Pinstripe Alley:
What I don't want to see
1.Joe Girardi or Brian Cashman getting fired. As of today, the Yankees are a playoff team. Firing the GM in the middle of the season isn't going to help anything. As for Girardi ... well, I have my issues with him, but now isn't the time to fire him. Clearly, Girardi knows he is managing for his job. He knows he has to win to be back in 2010, and I think it is affecting his managing. How else can you explain his reckless handling of A-Rod, his erratic handling of the bullpen and some odd in-game decisions in the late innings? He is feeling the heat. No doubt Girardi goes after the season if the Yanks don't make the playoffs. Right now, stay the course unless the wheels come completely off. If this current tailspin continues for a couple more weeks maybe we need to re-consider Girardi, but not right now. As for Cashman, I feel pretty much the same way. The thing he has done best in all his years as Yankee GM is do enough to keep his job. But, the Yankees of the past two years, on the field and on the bench, are clearly Cashman's team. If they fail to make the playoffs again it is time for him to face the music. But, not just yet.

What's Wrong with the Above Suggestions:
Some of the above statements are exactly was has been wrong with the Yankees since the end of the 2001 season. "As of today, the Yankees are a playoff team." Really? Is that what we have come to accept as success as Yankees' fans? The playoffs? Absolutely not. As Derek Jeter has said numerous times, if the Yankees do not win the World Series, it is a failed season. Last season was a failure, and as of today, 2009 is a failure. Whose fault is that? You guessed it, Brian Cashman's and Joe Girardi's. Cashman should've been fired after the 2003 debacle in the World Series (See the Jeff Weaver trade), and Girardi should never have been hired to replace Joe Torre in the first place. He is inexperienced, absent minded, and has absolutely no idea how to run in game strategy or a pitching staff. He hasn't just been managing to keep his job the last few weeks or this season and been awkward or inconsistent now. He's been giving away games since the day he filled out his first lineup card. At the end of the 2008 season, I could've given you readers AT LEAST 20 specific instances where Joe Girardi's boneheaded moves eventually cost the Yankees the ball game. How many games out of first did the Yankees finish in 2008? That's right 8! 20 games given away, and they still only managed to finish out of the money by 8 games. He never should've been hired, and he needs to go like yesterday already! I've said it on this blog numerous times, and I will say it again here right now...Buck Showalter, the taskmaster needs to be brought back to the Bronx to rattle the cages of these overpaid prima donna crybabies. Gene "Stick" Michael needs to replace Cashman, rebuild the farm system just as he did in the 1980s, just as he did in the 1990s, and make over the big club's roster to mesh together just as the dynasty teams did. As a former drill sergeant of mine used to say..."Common sense prevails Private!"

From Pinstripe Alley:
2.Joba in the bullpen. He hasn't been great, but you can make a case he is the Yanks' second-best starting pitcher. Hard to remove that from a rotation that has been shaky at times. After all, you have to have starters who pitch well before you worry about the late innings.

What's Wrong with the Above Suggestions:
Wrong, wrong and wrong. As with most of Mr. Valentine's arguments and suggestions thus far, poorly constructed, poorly thought out. Joba as the second best Yankees' starter? Get the f*^k outta here! In 2007, as the bridge to Mariano Rivera, Joba went 2-0 with a 0.38 ERA, 34 Ks and only 6 walks allowed. In 2008, the second coming appearance-wise of Hideki Irabu went 4-3, with a 2.60 ERA and 19 holds to go along with 118 Ks and 39 walks. There were only 2 instances where Joba stuggled in 2008 in the bullpen...2! As a starter last season, he did nothing but struggle, pitching less than impressive in at least 4 of his 11 starts in 2008. To say that he is the Bombers' second best starter made me throw up in my mouth a little bit. He has already struggled to make it past the 4th inning in 3 of his 13 starts in 2009. His velocity is down to 91 or 92 mph in most of his 1st innings, thus putting the Yankees in an early hole. Second best? Wrong. He has less than a 2:1 K to BB ratio, his ERA is hovering around 4, and he has yet to show the dominant stuff that Girardi and Cashman believe he has as a potential starter. You heard it here first...if a new manager takes the reigns before 2009 is over, Joba is done as a starter, just as he should be!

From Pinstripe Alley:
3.Crazy changes. Like Pena for Cano. Like releasing Hideki Matsui. Like getting rid of Wang.

What's Wrong with the Above Suggestions:
Desperate times always call for desperate measures. Drastic measures. If you as the most successful franchise haven't won a World Series in almost a decade, changes need to be made. The Steinbrenners and Cashman blamed Joe Torre for the failures since the dynasty crumbled. Now we see that it is actually upper management, the ownership, and a lame duck field boss that continue to plague the Yankees. Who suggested Pena takes over at 2nd base for Cano? Keep the infield intact, and yes, that includes the highly criticized Jorge Posada. The man has won titles behind the plate, I think he knows what he's doing. As for players like Hideki Matsui and Johnny Damon, they are dead weight. Unload both of them if you can. Matsui is a DH, nothing more, nothing less, and he's not producing big offensive numbers. Johnny Damon is a defensive liability who has cost the Yankees several games with his lackadaisical attitude and play in the field. Everything he gives you on offense, he lacks with the glove. I don't care if you deal him for a bucket of popcorn and a soda, just get some fresh legs in the outfield, again, Austin Jackson might be the answer...perhaps X Nady, Melky, whomever. Chien Ming Wang is still pitching hurt. I don't care what the Yankees say, I don't care what Wang says. Ever since the running accident in Houston, Wang hasn't looked anywhere near the same. I say shelf him for the season. Let his legs heal and let him work out the kinks, just like the Red Sox are with Matsuzaka in extended spring training or in the minors. Over the last 3 seasons, Wang has gone 19-6, 19-7, and 8-2 before ending the season hurt. Another reason the DH should be in both leagues. Wang hasn't just forgotten how to win. Winners don't do that. His mechanics and his body aren't right. Let him get things right before throwing him away.

From Pinstripe Alley:
Some Final Thoughts
Yes, things have been ugly for the past two weeks. I am not happy about it, and I am not going to excuse it. The Yankees left several winnable games on the table, and that needs to stop. Soon.

We all have to realize that no players are perfect. Mariano Rivera has blown saves every season of his career. Derek Jeter has hit into double plays every season. Players make errors. They occasionally do bone-headed things. Hitters will fail more often than they succeed, and pitchers will never throw every pitch exactly where they want to. It's baseball. It's a wild, unpredictable rollercoaster ride filled with lots of good times, and lots of bad ones, too.

In the end, what it comes down to for the Yankees is that the highly-paid key players on this team simply have to do a better job than they have done recently. If they can't the Yankees don't win. No matter who the manager or general manager is, and no matter what trades they make.

CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett need to win games, Chamberlain needs to get deeper into his starts and Wang needs to get better. Rivera needs to close games. A-Rod needs to hit, especially when it counts. Jeter, too.

It's still early, but it's not that early. In the end, this season will come down to whether or not the guys on this team making the big money because of what they have done in the past, can still get the job done.

What's Wrong with the Above Suggestions:
I hate to remind Mr. Valentine, but the issues with this franchise aren't simply 2 weeks old. Hell, they aren't 2 years old. We are going on a full decade with problems at the very foundation of this franchise. It does matter who the field manager and the GM are, because if you hire the wrong people, decisions can and will be made that can literally take decades to undo. How do I know? I am a Yankees fan. I lived through the 1980s when the Boss forced Stick Michael to trade every good prospect away and watched as my favorite player-Don Mattingly rotted on the vine, thus never getting his shot at legitimate October glory.

With Cashman's dealing over the last several years, the Yankees have left hundreds of games and possibly at least 3 World Series titles on the table, so don't tell me the Yankees are simply in a rut right now. The franchise as a whole are in a rut-a decade long rut, and the season is half over. Players such as Jeter and Rivera are getting older, and their future replacements need to be groomed and prepared for the day that these two cornerstones of a dynasty gone by are no longer around. When you put on the pinstripes, you are expected to have a career year every year. You are expected to win a World Series every single year. When you make more money than anybody else at your position in your profession, these are not unexpected expectations. You sign the contract, you best be prepared to take the heat of failure and the criticism that goes along with it from men like me.

I love the Yankees, and it pains me to watch this franchise year in and year out hand out money like Monopoly money to the wrong people. Damon was wrong. Clemens was wrong. Sheffield was wrong. Matsui was wrong. I could go on and on about the bad decisions of this franchise, but they appear nightly at a ball park near you. Moves must be made before the deadline. Bench and bullpen depth. The players that are here need to start earning their money. Girardi and Cashman need to be replaced. To say that it's the wrong time, hey, Bob Lemon replaced the beloved Billy Martin and the Bombers recovered from a 14 1/2 game deficit to win another title. Showalter is a Martin prodigy, and Girardi is a lemon...literally.

As much as I enjoy reading Mr. Valentine's blog multiple times per day, he is living in a dream world. A world where all is fair and that the right thing will happen if you believe. I live in a realistic world where expectations come with respect and money. I have been a Yankees' dan long enough to know that anything less than a title is failure. I know enough about the Yankees to know that Joba Chamberlain will never, ever be a dominant starter in the Major Leagues, but could be the best closer in baseball within the next few years. I know that men like Joe Girardi and Brian Cashman talk a really good game, and yes they both have championship pedigrees...but neither was ever responsible for winning those titles on their own. For Girardi, there was O'Neill, Bernie Williams, Tino, Brosius, David Cone, Pettitte, Wetteland and Rivera. For Cashman, it was Gene Michael, Bob Watson and the Steinbrenner check book. At some point everyone must take accountability for their decisions and their actions in life. It's time for the Yankees as a franchise to stand up, and act like adult men and take their whippings for being bad. Below is the link to the full article that Mr. Valentine posted on his wonderful blog, Pinstripe Alley!

http://www.pinstripealley.com/2009/6/23/921456/my-thoughts-for-fixing-the-yankees?ref=yahoo

On to some happier thoughts and feelings regarding the Bombers...the All-Star Game in St. Louis is right around the corner, and there is a major cage match battle going on between the Yankees and Red Sox as to whom is going to start for the American League at 1st Base. We of course want Mr. Mark Teixeira to start in his first season in pinstripes, while Red Sox nation wants to see the crybaby, Kevin Youkilis start yet again. I will be the first to give Youk all the credit in the world. He is one of my favorite players to watch, simply because of his Paul O'Neill-like intensity. He is a Gold Glove caliber fielder and a great bat for both average and power. However, Tex is having a better 2009! My wife the Red Sox fan, argues that Tex is having his nice season simply because of New Yankee Stadium, and how easily the ball flys out of the yard. I argue that any right hand hitter is at an advantage in Fenway because of the Green Monster, so don't blow that smoke up my butt! We as Yankee fans need to make sure that Tex gets out vote, over and over and over again as we can vote up to 25 times per email! Below is the link to do so, and if you feel like voting for any other Yankees, please do so!

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/all_star/y2009/ballot_reg.html

As always, be good, take care of yourself, and take care of your buddy next to ya!