Yankee GM Brian Cashman had a press conference with members of the Spanish speaking media yesterday. While the video is a bit tough to watch due to the starts and stops involved with translating, he did give fans some interesting tidbits and some updates on some injured players. Some highlights:
-Jose Molina is roughly 2 weeks away from returning, and Nady “is coming back soon” as well.
-When asked if Francisco Cervelli will be sent down when Molina returns, he said “we haven’t had those discussion yet”.
Being Julia release -Damaso Marte will resume his throwing program immediately. Dr Andrews gave him a clean bill of health based on the MRIs, but those scans can miss things. If he has any more setbacks, he’s looking at surgery to find what the MRI’s aren’t showing.
-When asked if he plans on making any deals at the July 31st trade deadline, he said:
If we can get consistency out of our rotation and get them to pitch the way we expect them to, I’m not sure there will be much to do
I found that last quote to be the most interesting. He defines the only real need they have in the rotation, not bullpen. Getting them performing up to thier abilities is job #1 for the organization. Wang is obviously the biggest project, but Burnett, Pettitte and Joba are all under performing as well. Given the pitchers’ desire to throw to Cervelli over Posada, it could mean keeping Cervelli around. That would mean DHing Posada more, which means they’d have to figure out what to do with Matsui.
I will have a piece up tomorrow on the problems that Matsui presents to the Yankee roster, he’s really a square peg on this team.
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He also said that the Yanks are at their best with Melky in CF, Swisher in RF, and Gardner on the bench. Not sure I agree with that one; I’m starting to think Gardner is the one who should be starting in CF on a regular basis.
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I thought I was the only one in Bretts’ corner. I think from a power hitting standpoint, Cash is right but, I like everything else that Brett brings to the game.
“Speed kills”, old saying but, true…another one is “Defence is a pitchers best friend, other then a DP”. Balls that Melky is running to make a fabulous catch on, Brett would be there for it to come to him.
Starting pitching is the name of the game, get those guys turned around and things should work out fine. Killing a BP is not the way to win a lot of close games, nor championships.
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I’m a Gardner man myself.Yankees don’t build runs.Bret can walk and end up in scoring position in 2 pitches like he did to no avail last night.Melky always fades and is not really fast enough to be a plus CF’er.Melky hits best in the spring too and the spring is pretty much over.
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Old Ranger Reply:
June 18th, 2009 at 10:49 pm
Melky always fades and is not really fast enough to be a plus CF’er.Melky hits best in the spring too and the spring is pretty much over.
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This is one of the reasons I have been a fan of Bretts all along, since ST of 2008…even before, when I saw his play in the minor league. I also said that as long as Melky was hitting as he was (a few weeks ago) he should play CF, it looks as though those days are over.
Having Brett batting 9th (no black hole at .289+/-) is great for Jeter and Johnny, they will see a lot of fastballs if Brett is on base.
Next year we could be seeing an OF of A-Jax, Brett and Swisher.
With Pena, Cervelli and Brett we have guys that know how to use their talents to help the team build runs (as you said). All teams need the power hitters but, the winning teams have found a way to mix the power with the little ball and great pitching.
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Old Ranger Reply:
June 19th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
What do you do with the rest of the line-up?
Nope, ain’t got to many learning’s but, I ain’t buying that…not yet anyhow.
Besides, I still want him to earn most of the playing time in CF, is this all an aberration? Is his game up to the rigors of the majors? We will have all winter to critique his game or hash out the new guy they bring in. I do like the outfield of A-Jax-LF, Brett-CF, Swisher-RF, a little power and a little speed…good mix.
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Juan
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