Back on the Move

Hi everyone, I know it's been a while so I will start out by wishing each of you a safe and prosperous new year. Now that I finally have the time to write I want to talk about the state of the New York Yankees in 2011.

From what I have seen and read, the lost chance of landing Cliff Lee did indeed rattled the Yankee hierarchy and I don't blame them. Lee would have filled a hole that just seemed to keep getting bigger in 2010 with the struggles of AJ Burnett all season long. any questions that fans and experts had about the rotation Lee would have answered in more ways than one. But alas, that is not to be, so The Yankees must do as many others who have come up short of an ultimate goal, they must forge on. While it could be looked at as an utter tragedy to some including myself, I now see it as an opportunity for the team to truly evaluate the team in front of them, especially their to tier minor league prospects. Jesus Montero is already being held in high regard amongst Cashman, Girardi, and the Steinbrenners, so much so that the team refused to give him up when the Mariners asked for him in the potential mid May deal that would have landed Lee. The signing of Russell Martin coupled with the permanent move of Posasda to DH creates a window for Montero to break into the majors sooner much sooner than we think.

Andy Pettitte looks to be headed towards retirement though with spring training upon us next month, he has yet to make anything official. His presence in the rotation would certainly help greatly but the team is doing the right thing by presuming he is retired so that they are not left waiting. Contrary to what many may think thee are many alternatives that can be looked at in replacing Pettitte that I am sure the Yankees have looked at. They have explored signing Justin Duchscherer who has Major league experience and some good seasons under his belt. Perhaps looking within is the way to go, with young pitchers like Andrew Brackman, Ivan Nova, Dellin Bentances, and Daniel Turpen there is much to choose from and much to look forward to. Hopefully patience will be a virtue, and the Yankees will not be tempted into making any desperate moves to match the Red Sox bevy of off season acquisitions. Opening day will soon be upon us and one thing the Yankees can count on the the undying support the New York fans will show as they pursue title number 28.

The chase for 600

The wait continues as Alex Rodriguez is on the verge of reaching a career milestone that only seven have reached before him. I am certain the Yankees fans are disappointed that he could not hit it at home during the recant home stand, but the notion that he will get it eventually leaves optimism for the seven game road trip. On a down note Rodriguez was hit in the hand yesterday and it could have an effect on whether or not he can hold a bat steady let alone hit a home run. I had the great opportunity to be at the game as all of the fans collectively anticipated each at bat hoping to get a live in person view of history. The Yankees rallying to get Alex one more at bat for the fans showed how much the team wanted him to do it in front of the Yankee faithful. However the Royals Pitcher Blake Wood did not want to have his name on the wrong side of history and did the only thing he felt was better for his career. The fury every fan felt that a team would stoop this low was that of a grease fire when you add water. While the hit that we all wanted to see did not happen, there was still some history to be shared as Robinson Cano collected his 1,000 career hit, making him on of the fastest to reach that plateau. Could this the the first part of his march to 3,000 hits? who knows but it will be interesting to see how it plays out.

It is nice to see Derek Jeter putting together good multiple hit games as he has corrected the one flaw in his swing. With him holding his hands higher he should be able to strike the ball with more authority, thus collecting more hits and shortening the wait for the illustrious 3000 hit.

Lebron's decision

Now that the waiting is finally over and James is officially going to Maimi, it is time to give a critique on his big move out of Cleveland. It seems that perhaps the loss to the Celtics in the playoffs may have dug deep into James' soul and made him fearful losing in the playoff yet again. For his sake, while it completely has devastated the Cavaliers and their fans, who grew to love their hometown hero expeditiously from the moment he was drafted, he was in a lose lose situation. While he would have total financial security, the Cavaliers probably would have had no way to get another player to help take the pressure off James. Miami made the Necessary moves to land big time players and everything fell perfectly in place for Lebron James to delve right in and form what is being called the "South Beach Super Team" with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. For the teams in the running, it has to be quite the disappointment especially for the Knicks as everything they have done for the past 2 years has been to land Lebron and that has backfired. Perhaps this is what happens when you try to lure a free agent in with no way of actually getting him to come, especially after the fact that your team virtually tanked two seasons and dumped off one too many draft picks. It back to the drawing board for the Knicks and there is certainly much work to do, hopefully they will do the right thing this time around.

This Free Agency period has certainly shaken up the NBA and 2010-11 looks to be quite an exciting season. One thing can be said most definitely though, every sports fan from all around are heavily anticipating Lebrons return to Cleveland as a member of the now loaded Miami Heat.

links to articles about Yankees-Dodger series

here are some interesting articles I have discovered about the series be sure to check them out

http://newyorkpost.com/p/sports/yankees/former_manager_still_father_figure_KXXy0g7xGCYTnfQAuAhlSN

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100624&content_id=11533100&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/lee_jenkins/06/25/joe.torre/index.html?eref=sihp

A time to reflect on the past

There is no doubt that all Yankee fans will be reflecting on years past as the Yankees take on the Dodgers in L.A. with none other former Yankees manager, and leader of the last Yankee dynasty...Joe Torre. Though he has been managing in L.A. for the last 2 years it will still bring a feeling of unbalance watching him manage against the team he grew to love for over 12 years. His departure still leaves some anger in faithful Torre advocates, but there is a certainty that many have gotten over it now that there is a post Torre championship in New York or fans may have called for the removal of the Yankee brass. For players like Jeter Posada, Rivera and Pettite it will very bittersweet to look in the other dugout knowing that Torre is managing against them.

On a baseball standpoint one would think tha the Yankees would be at a disadvantage because of Torre's knowledge of the Yankees players, but let us keep in mind that while he knows the core four, he does not know everyone else. on the other side the Yankees will get to see an familiar foe donning Dodger blue, Manny Ramirez, who has been a thorn in the side of the Yankees for his entire career, especially during his time with the hated Red Sox. It will be the first time the Yankees get to see the 2009 walk off machine Andre Ethier, and young pitching stud Clayton Kershaw. Outside of the folklore of the reunion of Torre and the Yankees there is a quite interesting series that should draw much attention for the baseball and not just the storyline. Let's hope emotion does not get the better of the Yankees, who need wins to to extend their AL East lead.

A look at the situation

Since the injuries to Johnson, Posada, Granderson and Aceves the Yankees seem hard pressed to get production from key spots on the team. Now some may say that Johnson was not hitting anyway and his presence would not have made a difference, but when we look at it from the perspective of baseball he was bound to turn his struggles around and become the hitter the team hoped for when he was signed. As for the loss of Granderson, there is a significant loss of continuity that has been sorely missed for the last two weeks with him out of the lineup, Gardner has been a breath of fresh air with his surprising hitting, but two is always better than one. The absence of regular players has played a part in a tumultuous week where the Yankees have not been able to get key hits when needed. Every hitter has it in their minds to try and do to much with runners in scoring position and abandoning the true objective, which is to just get a hit and keep the wheels turning. Without runs the pressure is put on the pitching staff to hold off the opponents for as long as they can until the team can manage to score, but that is way too much to put on a starting pitcher who is not likely to throw continuous shutout ball star after start, not to mention how much stress the bullpen is under if the starter does not do just that. The injuries are taking their effect and things may look bleak to fans who are fast to throw the Yankees under the bus, but no one should lose hope as things are bound to turn around for better, it is baseball after all.

For those who are wondering why Jeter is struggling, look no further than the positioning of his hands. in the past when Jeter's hands are up in his batting stance, he hits the ball with more sting and drive, but when his hands come down, he will hit everything weakly and have no ability to turn on anything on the inside part of the plate. I do not know if Kevin Long has noticed this or not but he should do so in a timely manner before this slump becomes far too prolonged.

Hughes

Tonight was another brilliant start for Phil Hughes as he moved to 5-0 on the young season. though some were skeptical of how he would perform, he has exceeded all expectations and looks more like he is the ace of the staff, not the 5th starter. Hughes has certainly held his own with tough American league lineups which feature some of the best hitters in all of baseball. Most impressively taking a first place Oakland Athletics team to the 8th inning, 6 outs away from a no hitter. His time in the bullpen in 2009 has paid great dividends in building his confidence on the mound and the trust he has in his pitches followed right along. With consistency like this, it is sure to make some wonder why the Yankees are still letting him pitch behind Vasquez but he has completely blown the Yankees away with how well he is doing that it probably caught the organization off guard. Young pitcher who actually do well in the majors now days are watched very closely in order to ensure that they do not get worn out or suffer setbacks to the same equivalence of Mark Prior in his rookie season with the Cubs. Though it would be best to let him alone, the Yankees are bound to still look after Phil Hughes intently so that nothing happens to debilitate his great start to the year. Perhaps it is true that Hughes is indeed the future ace of the pitching staff, with a 5-0 record and an ERA of 1.38 he looks willing to take that role on a lot sooner than later.

The NFL Draft

The NFL Draft is now over and it was quite the interesting follow with so much talent lingering for each team to pluck from the board. Sam Bradford is now the new face of the Ram Franchise just as Matthew Stafford is for the Lions, it will be a tough road for Bradford as it is almost certain he will take his lumps right away even though some may disagree. It is imperative that the Rams get this young quarterbacks feet wet or he will gain the experience that is needed to develop into a top line quarterback in the NFL. Perhaps the Biggest Surprise is the Draft of Tim Tebow in the first round by the Denver Broncos, It is puzzling as to why Coach Josh McDaniels, the scout team and management would take a quarterback who seems to lack the basic skills to last as an average quarterback. Perhaps the resume that Tebow racked up as the QB for the Florida Gators that included 2 national championships made his stock rise even as he was projected to fall very far. With more skilled and fine tuned quarterbacks like Tony Pike, Colt McCoy, and Jimmy Clausen fall ins= as much as two and three rounds behind him there will be wonder as to why the Broncos chose not to draft either of them. As far as Tim Tebows NFL future goes, we cannot predict the future so only time will tell whether or not it was a good or bad decision.