Mephistopheles

Yeah, I don't know where the Silva love is coming from. He has a career batting average against of .299, which if you take out his 170 relief innings, would be around the .305-.310 mark. His strikeout rate is atrocious as he's never struck out even 4 men per 9 as a starter. That would be a bad K rate even if he was an extreme groundball pitcher, which he is not. He's more of a flyball pitcher. He's given up about 28 HRs a year as a starter. The only good things about Silva are that he eats innings and that batters almost have to sell their soul to get a walk off of him. Of course, why walk when there's a 3/10 chance you get a hit? He's in the top quarter in GB rates. He's a pretty good groundball pitcher.

Fair enough I suppose.

I am convinced that YanksFanNumbers = RichHillisaBeast

Reyes was a pretty good defensive shortstop in his own right and has a better arm than Matsui does.

Kaz never could play short. Yes he could. He wasn't great there but he was more than adequate. He's better than Jeter there, not that that's saying much.

the italians beat them today. http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/prospects/?p=651 no idea how liddy or maestri did

That's not entirely accurate. The Yankees only paid $16m of it. The Rangers picked up $9m. Since he opted out, the Rangers are the happiest team in the world.

Jon Heymans [expletive], but w/e. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/jon_heyman/11/08/scoop.thursday/index.html Notables Rodriguez 10/350 Jones 5/80 Hunter 6/90 Rowand 4/56 Lowell 4/52 Cordero 4/44 Silva 4/40 Wood 2/10 Matsui 2/8

It is still not a benefit. He isn't playing for free. I really cannot understand this. Baseball shouldn't be a fraternity club. It might help Fukudome transition better. If it's for a few pennies, why not. if its 3 years 12 mil...jim hendry's probably murdered before sundown, unfortunately.

it wasnt baker

a 250 mil payroll isnt going to hurt the yankees and giving 25 mil to santana is worse than giving 40 million to rodriguez

Kennedy isnt that good. Chamberlain is a reliever. Hughes is Mark Prior. Hughes is going to have a career 167 ERA+. That's much better than Prior. mark prior would have had a 178 if he didnt get hurt, you know that. hughes is also going to get hurt

Kennedy isnt that good. Chamberlain is a reliever. Hughes is Mark Prior.

The Yankees should get keep Rodriguez at all costs because there isn't enough pitching out there to spend money on to offset a 80 run deficit created by the move. Not only that, if you don't give him the money let's be honest, they won't go out and spend all of the money. Their budget does not work that way. The Yankees are in this position because of several bonehead moves. 1. Randy Johnson 2. Carl Pavano 3. Not signing Beltran 4. Signing Damon instead The Yankees have the money to spend on pitching even if they signed Rodriguez. That's not the point here. In order to be as good as the late 90s yankees you have to keep rodriguez AND shave off 100 runs allowed.

So they miss the playoffs, but maybe the rest of the guys learn how to play together and grow into a TEAM. Say what you want the 2006 and 2007 Yankees had great players but were not a team!! they had great players on offense....on their pitching staff?....not so much. The 06-7 yankees were half a great team...not a great team.

I don't want to take anything away from A-Rod's stats. He is a BEAST (except his RISP). My point is that the Yankees won without him, and save the 30 million for pitching!! This team won with Scott B at third and went to the series with Aaron F'in Boone. I feel it is time to go back to the winning ways of "THE TEAM" concept. 1998 Yankees, no 40 hr guys but were 125-50 (including playoffs)!!! Do all Yankee fans think this way? It's utterly stupid to think that the 98 Yankees won because of the team concept. Come on. So how did the 98 Yankees win?? O'neill, Jeter, Martinez, Posada, Bernie, Knoblauch-- What would you call it?? Those guys all hit really well that year. Awesome offense, decent pitching and a great bullpen. Edit and when i say decent pitching, i mean that they had the lowest ERA in the AL. By almost half a run. The offense was also fourth in the league in HR and first in runs. Acting like it was a bunch of no names banding together to claw out a championship is totally wrong. I never said it was a bunch of no names. I was saying that it was a great team! But there was no A-Rod type. Bernie Williams hit better than Alex Rodriguez that year. So is Bernie the best ever?? You just made my point! Bernie, O'neill, Brosius, Martinez. They fed off each other and hated to lose. That is why that was such a good team! They just wanted to win. I didn't say that team was full of bums! They had stars, but other than Jeter, Any Hall of famers? Not really (Sorry Bernie). No one hit 40 homers, but as a team they stole bases, hit in the clutch, executed the hit and run, and Pitched and played defense!! I would love to have Bernie and O'neill on this team!! You can bet I teach my boys to play like them!! No, they didnt feed off each other...they were good. There's a complete difference. THE 2007 YANKEES HAD A BETTER OFFENSE THAN THE 1998 YANKEES! The problem isnt offense. The 1998 Yankees didnt have a better outcome because of ONiell, Bernie, etc. They had a better year because they had an elite pitching staff. Youre blaming Rodriguez because you signed Carl Pavano Good Job.

Rodriguez. Soriano sucks. Zambranos a ticking time bomb. The Yankees would be better off cutting dead cash like Damon and others to strengthen up the staff, not letting go their best player. The Yankees will struggle to score 870 runs next season and will allow about 800. That puts them at around 87 wins. I'll bet on it now: If Rodriguez's gone and they don't make a significant upgrade they're not making the post season next year.

I don't want to take anything away from A-Rod's stats. He is a BEAST (except his RISP). My point is that the Yankees won without him, and save the 30 million for pitching!! This team won with Scott B at third and went to the series with Aaron F'in Boone. I feel it is time to go back to the winning ways of "THE TEAM" concept. 1998 Yankees, no 40 hr guys but were 125-50 (including playoffs)!!! Do all Yankee fans think this way? It's utterly stupid to think that the 98 Yankees won because of the team concept. Come on. So how did the 98 Yankees win?? O'neill, Jeter, Martinez, Posada, Bernie, Knoblauch-- What would you call it?? Those guys all hit really well that year. Awesome offense, decent pitching and a great bullpen. Edit and when i say decent pitching, i mean that they had the lowest ERA in the AL. By almost half a run. The offense was also fourth in the league in HR and first in runs. Acting like it was a bunch of no names banding together to claw out a championship is totally wrong. I never said it was a bunch of no names. I was saying that it was a great team! But there was no A-Rod type. Bernie Williams hit better than Alex Rodriguez that year.

the most important job for a leadoff hitter is being a good hitter. whether or not that includes obp doesnt matter.

Who said terrifying?? Still good enough to win some games. The real worry is the Pitching, both starting and the pen!! If Hughes and Chamberlain continue to improve and Pettitte Returns, then we need some releif help and we will do alright. I would love to see this team winning more 5 to 3 games and not 13 to 11!! you worry about the pitching and say at the same time the yankees need winners, not alex rodriguez. explain to me that one. the last i heard scoring 950 runs a season isnt a problem.

Hey let's face facts: Year Runs Scored - Runs Allowed 1996 871-787 1997 901-688 1998 965-656 1999 900-731 2000 871-814 2001 804-713 2002 897-697 2003 877-716 2004 897-808 2005 886-789 2006 930-767 2007 968-777 Someone tell me the greatest difference between the Rodriguez years and the years before he got there? Hey the team allows about 100-150 more runs a season. The Yankees pitching staff sucks these days. That's why they're not winning. It's not because Rodriguez is "not a winner" or any stupid idea like that. It's because they can't pitch.

loogys arent important. the difference between a crappy one and a good one is a good run or three. not worth losing sleep over.

I don't want to take anything away from A-Rod's stats. He is a BEAST (except his RISP). My point is that the Yankees won without him, and save the 30 million for pitching!! This team won with Scott B at third and went to the series with Aaron F'in Boone. I feel it is time to go back to the winning ways of "THE TEAM" concept. 1998 Yankees, no 40 hr guys but were 125-50 (including playoffs)!!! Do all Yankee fans think this way? It's utterly stupid to think that the 98 Yankees won because of the team concept. Come on. So how did the 98 Yankees win?? O'neill, Jeter, Martinez, Posada, Bernie, Knoblauch-- What would you call it?? Those guys all hit really well that year. Awesome offense, decent pitching and a great bullpen. Edit and when i say decent pitching, i mean that they had the lowest ERA in the AL. By almost half a run. The offense was also fourth in the league in HR and first in runs. Acting like it was a bunch of no names banding together to claw out a championship is totally wrong. I never said it was a bunch of no names. I was saying that it was a great team! But there was no A-Rod type. 2007 ARod OPS+ 177 1998 Bernie Williams OPS+ 160 2007 Yankees team OPS+ 118 1998 Yankees team OPS+ 117 The 2007 Yankees allowed almost a full run per game (0.75) more than the 1998 version. That's why you weren't as good. Not because ARod is "only interested in money". EXACTLY MY POINT!!! How is A-rod and his 30 million going to help our pitching?? The Yankees have had mediocre pitching for years. I would much prefer to spend that 30 million on pitching!! We don't need the offense. ARod is worth what, 80 more runs than Betemit (total estimate)? With this FA pitching market, it's going to be tough to spread out $30 million dollars in a way to make up that many runs. The Yankees offense will be fine. I am tired of hearing how we will have no offense if he leaves! Yes his stats are IMPOSSIBLE to replace, but didn't we have a good offense in 2003? Can't we have offense without him? is everyone convinced there is no life after A-Rod? Didn't SWEET LOU guide the A-Rod less Mariners to 119 wins and the playoffs the YEAR AFTER he left?? They had the best offense and the best pitching in the league in 2001. The Yankees will definitely not have anywhere near that in 2008. If you lose ARod and you lose Posada, you can expect every player on your roster not named Cano or Melky to hit worse than they did last year. I'm not saying that it's foolish to not resign ARod, because it's going to be a lot of money over a lot of years, but if he and Posada hit the road, you are going to have to replace well over 100 runs. And if the rest of your team continues to decline (they're all well over 30 at this point), that offense is going to take a hit. I agree -- A HUGE HIT. But as a fan, I am willing to take it to get rid of more salary. Next year, Giambi, Farnsworth-LESS, Abreu all come off. I want to go back to the days when the Yankees developed young players AND spent money to get guys that know how to win. Know how to win? This doesn't exist. Argue away prove me wrong

I will add these names to potential suspects: Mike Piazza Mike Lamb Eric Gagne Robert Fick Michael Barrett Tony Clark Geoff Jenkins Trot Nixon Eric Hinske

I think they're alright. They're middle of the road. Nothing special, but definitely not Cardinal ugly.