New York Yankees catcher Jorge Posada is not having a good year. He's not even having a decent year. He's having the worst year of his career and it is causing the Yankees front office and their manager to make a tough decision.What should they do with Jorge?From 1998 (the year he became an everyday player) through 2010, Posada was one of the best offensive catchers in the game. He batted .277, with an OBP of .379, a slugging percentage of .482, an OPS of .861 and had an OPS+ ...
Give me an A!No. Not "hey". A.Give me a J!No. Not that kind of J.What's that spell?It's a Maalox Moment!Never before have two letters—A and J—elicited such a wide variety of emotion from fans of the New York Yankees.Some become angry. Others become nervous. Many, like myself, become nauseous.It is no secret that AJ Burnett's performance over the past two seasons has been mediocre at best and his relationship with the fans a tenuous one.Burnett has been involved in some oddities around the Yankees—from his unexplained black eye last season, ...
In a move, possibly only explained as "irrelevant” and "for organizational depth," the New York Yankees have brought back relief pitcher and arm-abuse victim Scott Proctor. For those of you familiar with the Joe Torre-era Yankees, Proctor has become something of a joke, or even a cautionary tale of what happens when you're on Torre's "good side.” Proctor, who was formerly with the Yankees from 2004 to 2006, has also spent time with the Dodgers and the Braves under the Tutelage of not only the bullpen-mangling Torre - who followed ...
This past Saturday, the New York Yankees signed the recently released Scott Proctor to a minor league contract with an assignment to their Triple-A affiliate.Proctor, who was released by the Braves on August 10th, was one of Joe Torre's favorite bullpen arms from 2004-2007.In 2006, his best season to date, Proctor pitched in a league-leading 83 games, totaling 102.1 innings pitched. He racked up 89 strikeouts and posted a 3.52 ERA.In 31 games this season for the Braves, Proctor has struggled. He has recorded more walks (19) than strikeouts (18) ...
Jorge Posada had one of the most important hits in the glorious history of the New York Yankees. Mention the come-from-behind victory against the Boston Red Sox in the seventh game of the 2003 ALCS and fans immediately think of Aaron Boone's home run.Who tied the game in the fateful eighth inning? With the Yankees trailing 5-2, Nick Johnson led off the eighth with a pop-up to shortstop Nomar Garciaparra. Derek Jeter doubled off Pedro Martinez and Bernie Williams singled Jeter home. In what Posada referred to as the game's ...
A few weeks ago, I wrote an article depicting the saddest endings to Yankees' careers. As we enter the final stretch of this season, it seems Jorge Posada may be heading for that list, and it is hard to watch. This didn't just start yesterday, but back in spring training when the team brought in a good catcher in Russell Martin, sending Posada the message that he would not be in the catching rotation for 2011. He took it in stride with relative professionalism, but did not show it on ...
Brian Cashman has faith in his team. He proved it at the July 31st trading deadline when he didn’t make a move, and he’ll likely do the same as the August 31st waiver trade deadline passes. He told LoHud’s Brian Heyman that the Yankees will probably stand pat, “I think…what you see is what you’re going to get,” Cahman said. He’s already expressed that he’s happy with his team, and he feels that the Yankees have a talented enough roster to make a run in October.On top of all that, the ...
New York Yankee utility infielder Eduardo Nunez, a natural shortstop, represents the future. He is a five-tool player at a position that every team in baseball would like to have one but that only a handful actually do. He has demonstrated the capacity to hit in pressure situations and, quite impressive for a player with such little experience, he has a thorough command of the strike zone and a patient approach at the plate.
When Derek Jeter went down earlier this year, Nunez stepped in as the everyday shortstop and hit ...
ESPN seems to go crazy whenever Mariano Rivera blows a couple of saves, as he did last week. But here's why it's not a big deal.For one, there is only one person who has gone a season as a team's major closer without blowing a save. That was Eric Gagne the year he won the Cy Young. And he was juiced.Consistency is an important factor, but not the only factor. If it was, here's this year's NL MVP...Dan Uggla!Mariano Rivera isn't doing that poorly. He's still saved the vast majority ...
Ralph Branca and Bobby Thomson did it for about 50 years and now David Price is playing the role of Branca to Derek Jeter’s Thomson. Vince Lombardi said it best. “Show me a good loser and I’ll show you a loser.” Baseball once was more than mere entertainment. Today, the players belong to the same union. Their primary objective is to make as much money as possible. Winning is nice, but it's secondary. During the 1950s and 1960s, whenever a hitter challenged Babe Ruth’s single season home run record, the newspapers ...