Where do we go from here?

Hi Beth

I promise this will be the last time this boring Met fan will hog up space on your blog. I will still read though because I think this blog is great.

I wanted to say first to all Yankee fans here that I feel so bad about the turn of events. I truly had my hopes last night that once Moose took over at the mound, the Yankee offense would come out swinging. So I am sorry that it ended differently.

As for the funk, you are a week behind me and quite honestly, once you get past it, you actually are quite liberated with the remaining post season games. Like you Beth, I really do not care (now anyway) who wins so I can watch without stress and frustration. It actully becomes enjoyable in a strange sad kind of way:)

I hope A Rod decides to stay. Plus I think it bodes well for him to stay too rather than jump ship and move on. And I read in the paper today that Mo and Posada are likely to resign as well. I know basball is a business but these two guys are Yankee blood. I do not think they will be too anxious to bolt...even if Torre is gone.

As for Torre, I hope he stays because he is a true class act however I understand the arguments otherwise. I just cannot imagine someone else at the helm right now but not being a first and foremost Yankee follower, my opinion probably means little.

I do think you will see a very different team come ST only because we know the Rocket is probably history and we know the edict is to get younger. These are all good things so there is much to look forward to.

Again, I am sorry things did not turn out as we hoped.

Lee Ellen

I say in the next 10-14 days, The Boss lays the hammer down on Joe. Joe is the definition of grace under pressure. A class act.

The Boss wants it and he wants it now. Isn't that always the case? Give me another ring before I sell the team? and the YES network.

So I see it like this....If Torre gets axed, then we are rebuilding. The team loves Torre. They love playing for the guy. But you have to realistically see that in his first 5 yrs he received 4 rings. In his last 7 years, he's received 0.

It's not so much Torre as it is the roster. In 96, much like 77-78 the team had gamers. Character. Class. A melting pot of balance, charism, balls and stubborness. That's what wins it.

Not 35+ yr old dudes who had 1 great yr, signed a big deal and then went bust (Wright, Pavano). Not a bunch of guys on their last leg (Johnson, Mussina), not a bunch of guys with big names to sell jersey's and not a bunch of ego's, that require multiple former head coaches walking the dugout.

If Torre walks by choice or by force, I say Mo and Posada go to. And Pettite will retire and go back to Houston where the finally done Clemens will be residing.. until he signs with Boston. A-Rod should end up with Lou in Chicago, The Mets or Angels, Abreu is a free agent pick-up.

Somehow I see Andruw Jones and Barry Bonds in Pinstripes next yr.

In 09 Giambi and Farnsworth are cut loose and in '10....Damon and Matsui.

In 08 I see Mattingly at the helm (for at least 1 yr), with Girardi coming out of the booth to be the bench coach (and eventual coach in '10. My man Guidry would be replaced as the Pitching coach. Get Leo Mazzone from Baltimore now that his childhood chum got axed as the head coach there.

The rumor mill is already working and I hear LaRussa is being mentioned as a replacement for Joe. I can't see it. LaRussa? He's no Yankee.

//I promise this will be the last time this boring Met fan will hog up space on your blog. I will still read though because I think this blog is great.//

Nonsense, Lee Ellen. Your inputs are always greatly appreciated, and I hope you comment here no matter what.

//I hope A Rod decides to stay. Plus I think it bodes well for him to stay too rather than jump ship and move on. And I read in the paper today that Mo and Posada are likely to resign as well. I know basball is a business but these two guys are Yankee blood. I do not think they will be too anxious to bolt...even if Torre is gone.//

Yeah, I think Mo and Jorge are staying. We need them both and the catcher market is kind of thin this off-season, so re-signing him and Jose Molina should be high on the list. Molina did well as a back-up for us this year, so I see no reason NOT to sign him. I don't even want to think about Mo pitching for another team. Hand him a blank check.

//As for Torre, I hope he stays because he is a true class act however I understand the arguments otherwise. I just cannot imagine someone else at the helm right now but not being a first and foremost Yankee follower, my opinion probably means little.//

Don't say that. Anything you can shed on the situation, is always wanted. I do agree that Joe is a class act and I also can't imagine anyone else managing this team....but a change has been needed the last couple seasons and maybe now is the most opportune time to get it done. I think he should be allowed to step down on his own, rather than getting sh!tcanned by King George. He deserves better than that, if only for what he has done for us in the past.

//Barry Bonds in Pinstripes next yr//

If this happens, I will become physically ill.

//The rumor mill is already working and I hear LaRussa is being mentioned as a replacement for Joe. I can't see it. LaRussa? He's no Yankee.//

Egads. I heard about the LaRussa rumors and I hope they're just that; rumors. The last thing this team needs is Tony LaRussa managing it. If fans thought this season was rough, they haven't seen anything yet.

I'm starting to believe if the move on Torre is not made in next couple of days George is realizing the strength of his support and what a good manager he is and he may not go. It's news everywhere was even in Presidentail debate with Rudy telling everyone joe is his friend and God Willing he stays. George made a fool of himself with the Bergen Record interview and it might backfire as there was much more wrong with this team then the Manager. How about not having a Dominant Pitcher and the Shaky defense? I do think we need a change but concur with you Beth it may end up we wish he was back if we don't get the right guy. LaRussa is going to manage somewhere else but not in the Bronx. Barry Bonds will never be in Pinstripes I doubt the cheater is going to get much interest and if so will stay on the left coast. Andruw Jones no way. We will stick with Melky I believe. Aaron Rowan is best center fielder on market and I wish the Yankees got him 2 years ago instead of Damon.
I am excited about the rest of the playoffs as I just love the game. I quit all other sports years ago. There is baseball then Hot Stove. I won't be upset if Red Sox win it all but I'm rooting for the Tribe now. However, when I grew up the team we hate the most is the crosstown Mets and I was taught by my Dad who hung out at the Stadium as a kid in the 40's that you always root for the A.L. It's harder with Randolph at the helm over there but I did relish in their collapse. i guess it's just the fact Met and Yankee fans were always in each others face. I remember rooting hard for the Red Sox in the 86 series they blew.

I will be sick too if they go after Jones and/or Bonds. I really dont think that they would do that. Cash is taking this team in the right direction now that he has more control, and I think his goal is develop the system and bring the talent up to the big leagues. I too see Mo and Jorge back next year no matter what. They might be pissed at George if he does fire Joe but they are true Yankees and I would think that they would want to try and pull a Bernie and stay with this team till the end.
I read an article in which Doug and Jose talked about loving this team and wanting to come back. It was actually refreshing because Doug said that his only regret is that he didnt get here sooner. I think both guys should be back.

As for Torre, I love the man and dont want to see him go. The players are the reason that they didnt get past the Indians and also the Indians are freaking good. I have to wonder if those stupid bugs wouldnt have come out if we would still be in the playoffs. Joba was rocking it until the bugs came. That could have turned the series around. No excuses though because we ****** it up in game 4.

If Tony becomes our manger I will go into hiding. It's either Don or Joe G. I think if they bring Tony in that might really sway Jorge and Mo, because atleast they have great relationships with Don and Joe.

I really hope the Indians kick some butt!!!

Tony, Rowand is an awesome player! He gives 110% every time he steps on the field. I hope he resigns with the Phillies. That team has unbelievable chemistry and he is a big part of that. If we didn’t already have Melky then I would want him but I love Melky. Plus we have plenty of outfielders and Tabata (not sure about the spelling) should be coming up from the minors soon, or at least I hope so.

Amber, I agree I work on a Ship out of the Philadelphia district and when we are there I go to a lot of games. I Love Aaron but I hope you are right and he stays there. I would think he might come down here to ATL since the Braves are letting Andruw depart.I love Melky too. We need to shore up the defense on the team. Damon, Matsui, Giambi all defensive liabilities you got to have dominant pitching and defense. My gut tells me Mo will leave I hope i am wrong but he tried to sign in Spring Training and Cashman blew it.With Jorge it will depend on if his agent goes for a crazy contract. he is 36 but that's not real old unless you are a catcher. He likely has 2 real good years left and signing him for big money 4-5 would not make business sense. I hope they work it out I'd love for him to stay. I heard Cashman said concerning A-Rod if he opts out they Yankees are out of the running. Well I'm sure he will test the market I hope the Yankees understand that and open talks with him. I don't care what he makes we're a Capitalist society and the investment in him pays HUGE dividends.

I think the best bet for the Yankees would be to put out a hit on Scott Boras. Fox Sports has an interesting article.
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/7318254

A-Rod already has more money than any baseball player deserves to make while playing a kids game. Now is the time to concentrate on establishing his legacy as something other than a hired gun that shoots blanks when it matters (in the post-season). Stick with the team that is most likely to get him into the playoffs and help then go all the way, year in and year out for the long term. Sign an extension to a contact that he agreed to (and ignore the take-my-ball-and-go-home provision) and commit to a team for a change. Geesh, it's not like he still won't be in the top 10 for pay.

Won't happen as long as Boras is leading him around by the wallet though.

Ahhh Arch, you speak words of wisdom. Of course, just coming over from a Met blog and seeing that my fellow Met fans already have ARod gift wrapped to Flushing (LOL - it will *never* happen), pandering to Boras will not be an easy task. I see at least 5 teams putting their hands out for ARod, all like gold to Boras.

Look, Boras is a boor and will look to prostitute ARod anyway he can that benefits Boras. But if ARod stands by what he always claimed, that he wants to win a Championship and that being with the Yankees gives him that best chance and where he wants to be, than ARod needs to put his money where his mouth is. I think he will but I am not very good at predicting "Yankee things" so I expect anything could happen.

I think Rivera will stay especially if Torre is not axed. Posada is more a Yankee than anyone of them so I think he is least likely to bolt.

But one thing I mentioned on the Mets blog in the midst of all the Met fans dreaming and hallucinating that the Mets will get ARod *and* Santana (never gonna happen)this off season, is my fear that nothing worhtwhile will happen and we are left with the same team next year as we had this year. And that is what I suggest here too.

You hate to see some of the favorites go, but in some instances change is good.

I think the Yankees have more of a chance of making very good, high impact off season upgrades than my Mets. They have already shown that this past year - I was very impressed with the trades the Bombers made. They are on the right track nut it may take a couple of years to realize all of the "fruits of their labor".

Have a good night Yankee fans :)

Lee Ellen

"I think the best bet for the Yankees would be to put out a hit on Scott Boras."

I know how you feel, and I think that sentiment reflects the feelings of many of us -I just did not have the "kahones" to say it.

Looking at perhaps the last game not only for Torre, but also Rivera and Posada left me with a bitter aftertaste. These players along with Pettite, Jeter, and Bernie Williams were the core of the lineup that produced those WS appearances. It was sad to see Pettite leave a few years ago, and it is difficult to stomach the others in anything but Yankee pinstripes.

The season is over for me, congratulations to which ever team manages to win the WS.

I don't care about the LCS's either. I'm a Yankee fan. That's why I show up. Everybody else is everybody else. Great work on the season, Beth. It's always a pleasure reading the Yankees Chick...

http://bleedingpinstripes.mlblogs.com

//I don't care about the LCS's either. I'm a Yankee fan. That's why I show up. Everybody else is everybody else. Great work on the season, Beth. It's always a pleasure reading the Yankees Chick...//

Thanks, Geoff. I enjoy reading your blog as well; it reads like chapters in a novel, or something. Really....keep up the great work with that.

I thought about doing game recaps of the ALCS since we're all (presumably) hoping Cleveland wins it, but I don't know it. It depends on whether I actually feel like putting the game on or not.

If it isn't the Yanks in the playoffs, I could care less who wins. I think priority wise the signings need to go like this. 1) A-Rod, 2)Mo, 3)Posada and 4) Torre. Reason being that the players are going to play regardless of who the manager is, even if they love Joe. If Joe has just had enough and doesn't want to coach, then the players need to be on that higher priority.

"""A-Rod already has more money than any baseball player deserves to make while playing a kids game""""""

This is the Condition that has been created to incite class envy in this country. We are a free society and able to make what the market dictates. I don't believe anyone should decide that someone "has enough" Actors and Actresses make more and no one says a word. Oprah makes much more. The point is A-Rod and many others work their tails off. Tiger Woods is a great example. He worked his tail off all his life and developed his talent and continues to bust his rear end today. Hard work pays huge dividends and these guys have talent. A-Rod puts fans in seats and raises the Yankees revenue especially this year as he carried the team into post season. I hope he stays but if he gets more no resentment here. We are the USA and not a Marxist Society.Besides that my first though when Texas signed him for 252 million was that the IRS just gained 126 million it's not like someone making money does not benefit all the looters in society that depend on a handout.

Tony, it's true that A-Rod's talent has made him gobs of money and for owners as well, and I am all for his earning a greater share than, say, owners for a lot of reasons. But while I'm against a salary cap for a few reasons, namely because it's just a way for owners to hoard wealth under the excuse of evening out competition, such restrictions and feelings that salaries may be exorbitant isn't reflective of a "Marxist Society," not even close.

Also, as a side note, isn't the IRS a bit too easy a target, given how easy it is for genuine looters such as corporate tax cheats to circumvent tax laws in this country? Lastly, people who may receive government benefits in our society are not looters. You should choose your words a little more wisely, given that most people pay into so many of the still underfunded social programs that people get benefits from, and should; social security is one example, unemployment is another. That doesn't make people either looters or lazy; it makes many of them down on their luck, and all of us in need of some semblance of a safety net. Sure, some game the system, that happens anywhere. But for the most part, people who need a helping hand are people who are already working hard to make ends meet. I've seen that first-hand. Too often in this country, deriding social programs and their recipients is just a way to justify not caring about wide swaths of society.

http://heartlandpinstripes.mlblogs.com/

That discursive disagreement aside, Tony, I totally agree with your above comments and analysis of Steinbrenner and the Yankees woes. My sense is that all this dragging out the Torre thing has a lot to do with Steinbrenner doing exactly what you said he did, and the heated reactions from Yankees players, especially the free-agents. I think they spent some time this week weighing the "benefits" of ditching Torre against the costs of potentially losing him and people like Mariano and Jorge. Whether or not they're just posturing for contracts, I don't know, but I think there's more to their reactions than just smoke. They're also mad about being denied pre-season extensions that, to me, they deserved.

I also agree about the lack of an alpha starter, heck, a decent staff for much of the year. Igawa was a major bust, relying on Pavano for anything was an utter waste of time and money, and the first couple months produced an enormous hole, yet again, for them this season largely because of the staff's unreliability and injuries. The Yankees have much bigger issues than ditching Torre, such as getting a good starting five and a solid bullpen, especially with Joba probably going to the rotation.

http://heartlandpinstripes.mlblogs.com/

Jason, Being this is a sports blog it's probably not proper to speak about things political. I obviously disagree I think Government is much to large and we punish achievers to loot them for people too lazy to be productive( not down on there luck I've never had a problem getting a job in America and I'm a blue collar guy). Ayn Rand called them looters and I've used the term for the longest. Feel free to email me and we can discuss. I respect your opinion but don't want to have a cat fight on this nice lady's Yankee Blog.

I will keep it to baseball it just gets me going when the class envy stuff starts.

"Jason, Being this is a sports blog it's probably not proper to speak about things political." Exactly, Tony. When you drop in fundamentally problematic political commentary, as you did to start this, you should expect the possibility of a rejoinder disagreeing with you. If you don't feel it's "proper to speak about things political" on a baseball blog, you really shouldn't speak about things political on a baseball blog. And given the intellectual worth to which I ascribe Ayn Rand's ideas--which I would generously assess as zero--my answer to your offer to discuss them or other political matters would be no thanks.

I'm likewise happy to keep it to baseball, since this is a (very good) Yankees blog.

http://heartlandpinstripes.mlblogs.com/

Jason, I was trying to be nice to you no problem you want to be a smart Alic that's fine. Anyone that believes social programs are underfunded is not playing with a full deck. My Point about the IRS taking half an athletes contract is dead on it's not like these guys aren't punished for their achievements. The top 1% of wage Earners in the US pay 90% of all the taxes. I did start the political talk but I was trying to be kind to you and offer to take it outside. Now you want to berate me! Thats fine youngster no problem. Ayn Rands ideas are dead on IMO. She was the Rush Limbaugh of her day articulating the truth. Take care Boy.

"Exactly, Tony. When you drop in fundamentally problematic political commentary"

Life is Political it's obviously a political statement to say someone makes more money then they deserve. Commenting on it is not problematic.

Tony, all of that in your latest response is why I said no thanks to discussing this via e-mail, so thanks for justifying my earlier posts. Sorry you couldn't take an honest and accurate retort about Rand, and mine about Limbaugh would be far harsher but no less accurate, believe me. BTW, I thought you were going to "keep it to baseball." Practice what you preach, little fella. Did you have some baseball to discuss, or no?
http://heartlandpinstripes.mlblogs.com/

Jason you are the one that raised it to the level .What i said about A-Rod and his contract is common sense to me it just is just as Limbaugh is common sense IMO I know you don't share it but if you live we'll get you:) You said so much in your post that is so untrue and so idiotic (very political and shouldn't be discussed here) was just offering to take it outside but instead you berate me? Thats fine I'm done its all baseball from here on out. I like your writings you are obviously a bright young man.

Yeah Baseball, I think Mo and Jorge (he's going to want more years then they will want to give him) might go but Mo for sure. He's not happy about what happened in the Spring. But don't you think Jason the reason the Yankees are playing second to the Red Sox is that they no when to say goodbye to people? Nomar, Pedro, Lowe, , Nixon, Damon (I can't believe Yankees signed the dud. The other thing is Yankees to not have the defensive teams they had in 98,99,00,01. Focus on defense go with youth. Thank God they aren't going to ruin Joba and keep him in the pen. I'm not so enamored with relief pitchers I like starters that can go the distance or close to it every 5 days like baseball was when i grew up.

Tony, my last words on this: since you obviously missed it, I agreed with you about A-Rod's contract and issues of market value. My points were intended to move you away from baseless, inaccurate, and just plain nasty generalizing about certain people as looters. I'm a blue-collar guy too, and do my best to see the complexities that bring people to their respective lots in life, which are usually considerable and have little to do with laziness. That's neither "so untrue" nor "so idiotic." It's nuanced reality. And no, I didn't berate you, but expressed my disdain for Ayn Rand, to which you could add Limbaugh. I'm sorry if that hurt your feelings, which it seemed to. Why not e-mail and discuss? Why, to change each other's minds? It clearly won't happen. I'm well aware of what each person mentioned has said and, based on my views about them, rightly considered any potential discussion to get nowhere. So it's best to end it there, as we seem to agree.

Thanks for the kind words, and I look forward to discussing baseball with you and others in the future. That part, at least, I've genuinely enjoyed.

http://heartlandpinstripes.mlblogs.com/

Tony, good question about the Yankees and saying good-bye to guys. I'm torn on this myself. For example, while the Yankees on the whole, to me, made the right decision not bringing Bernie back because of his limitations in the field, they sure could have used him and his switch-hitting bat in the first half of last year when they couldn't hit lefties. On Mariano, I can't fit him into that category yet because he's Mariano (and not a ******* like me). He's only had one down year, 2007, ever. Jorge, amazingly, has gotten better with age and has been to me the best all-around catcher in the game for a couple years. I would hope that they can sign them for two-year deals, with third-year options, that generously reward them for the shorter-term contracts. A big problem with the Yankees is a lack of depth in the pen and especially at position players. They just don't have many guys ready to step in at all. Cano, Wang, and Melky have been good and have a lot of upside, but they're about it. Duncan seems worth keeping around, but I'm not sure he's more than a good role player like Chad Curtis.

In sum, you may well be right about holding onto guys for a long time. The problem seems replacing them, especially when the older guys still seem so much better than what's down the pike.

http://heartlandpinstripes.mlblogs.com/