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+--- Thread: why the yanks wont win (/showthread.php?tid=9892)
- Keyser Soze - 01-10-2005
by Jayson Starks
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FIVE REASONS THE YANKEES STILL WON'T WIN (POSSIBLY) (IN THEORY)
1. THEY'RE OLDER THAN THE NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC
Well, the '60s haven't gotten any more recent since then -- and you can look that up. But the 2005 Yankees, as currently constituted, will include (gulp) 13 players born in the '60s, a total of 19 players who will be 30 or older by Opening Day and (barring a Carlos Beltran signing) an entire starting lineup of guys who will be 30-something by the end of July.
We've never commissioned the National Athletic Trainers Association to do an exhaustive study of this, or anything. But one thing we still feel safe in saying is:
Old guys get hurt more than young guys.
2. CARTILAGE IS GOOD
Yes, friends. Cartilage is, in fact, good. That's one of our mottoes in life.
We bring that up because the amount of cartilage currently found in Johnson's right knee would be approximately ... uh ... zero.
3. THEY DON'T GET TO PLAY THE BREWERS
The journey from the National League over to the American League doesn't look particularly perilous, in theory. No native guides, body armor or special inoculations are required by law before you embark, so it would be easy to conclude it's not that big a deal.
Pavano is coming from one of baseball's most pitcher-friendly ballparks (Florida's Pro Player Stadium), where he pitched in front of one of the best defenses on earth. You might also want to note he has won more than 12 games exactly once in his career.
Wright, meanwhile, is leaving a team (the Braves) that sprinkles all new pitchers with special Cy Young miracle flakes. So no wonder he won nearly as many games last year (15) as he had in the previous five seasons put together, stayed healthy all year and had an ERA (3.28) more than two runs lower than his lifetime American League ERA (5.50).
4. THEY FORGOT TO SIGN CARLOS DELGADO, JEFF KENT AND CARLOS BELTRAN
We all admit that Randy Johnson is one talented human being. But he can't play first base. He can't play second base. He can't catch line drives in the gaps. He can't clone himself. And he can't perform orthopedic surgery in his spare time.
Which is one way of saying that this team did, in fact, have other issues heading into the winter besides its lack of left-handedness on that pitching mound.
5. NO $207-MILLION TEAM HAS EVER WON A WORLD SERIES
These Yankees are definitely the best team 207 million George Steinbrenner bucks can buy, all right. But in the long and glorious history of baseball, not one $207-million baseball team has ever won a single World Series. That's a fact.
OK, so it's also a fact that there has never actually been a $207-million baseball team before this one. But that's beside the point. Sort of.
If the Yankees have proved anything these last few Octobers, it's that there can be such a thing as having too many big-name, big-dollar players on one team.
- Arpikarhu - 01-16-2005
why do mets fans spend more time talking about the yankees than about their own team? the inferiority complex you guys have is amazing.
- lush - 01-16-2005
That statement has been noted
- The Jays - 01-16-2005
but he's not even talking about them. He's just copying baseball articles that he likes and posting them, even though everyone on the board already reads ESPN and has probably read the article already.
- lush - 01-16-2005
He's the Jayson Blair of the Internet
- GonzoStyle - 01-16-2005
Point number 5 was basically just thrown in there cause he ran out of points.
- Keyser Soze - 01-16-2005
good luck
- The Jays - 01-24-2005
Quote:# Do Beltran and Pedro Martinez make the Mets the favorite in the NL East? We haven't found anyone yet who thinks so.
"Their biggest offseason need, to me, was relief pitching -- and they haven't addressed that at all," said one NL assistant GM. "You look at their five starting pitchers. How deep into the game are they going to go? I wouldn't call [Tom] Glavine even a seven-inning guy anymore. Pedro is a six-inning guy. You don't know what you're going to get from Victor Zambrano. Benson has never been a given. [Steve] Trachsel is the only one in the bunch who gives them innings. So even if they have the best one-through-six-inning starters in the league, somebody's got to pitch the seventh and the eighth."
And here's the review from another NL executive: "That team still has some holes. [Mike] Piazza is still the catcher, and that's a defensive nightmare. You've got uncertainty in the middle of the infield. They're moving [Kazuo] Matsui to second base, and that's easier said than done. With [Jose] Reyes, you're not sure if you're even going to get him on the field every day. You don't know what's happening in the outfield besides Beltran. Pedro -- the arrow is pointing down. Glavine -- the arrow is pointing down. Zambrano, Benson -- you don't know what you've got there. . . . That's a lot of holes for a team that's spent that much money."
# One Mets development many baseball people will be monitoring is how often they're able to get Pedro an extra day of rest, because the difference in how he pitched last year -- on extra rest vs. normal rest -- was eye-popping.
Starts on four days' rest (counting the postseason): 7-5, 4.99 ERA, 9.4 hits per 9 IP.
Starts on extra rest (counting the postseason): 11-5, 2.91 ERA, 6.6 hits per 9 IP.
- Keyser Soze - 01-24-2005
CITE YOUR SOURCES!!!
- The Jays - 01-24-2005
as if sources will magically dig up a new catcher and bullpen.
- Keyser Soze - 01-24-2005
you could do a lot worse at catcher.
- Arpikarhu - 01-24-2005
not defensively
- Galt - 01-24-2005
There's only about 5 people in baseball who even attempt to steal anymore.
- Arpikarhu - 01-24-2005
CITE YOUR SOURCES!!!!
- Keyser Soze - 01-25-2005
greatest offensive catcher in the history of baseball
- GonzoStyle - 01-25-2005
yeah but he was never a good let alone great catcher, so his feat at catcher is less important I believe. At any other position he's a good player but he's still not great.
- Arpikarhu - 01-25-2005
piazza doesnt even make my list of top 10 all time catchers
- GonzoStyle - 01-25-2005
He's a good offensive player but the whole point is that if he wasn't a catcher his numbers wouldn't be notable, they'd be decent numbers. He never justified himself as a catcher, the same way A Rod was never really a true short stop, though he atleast played the position very well as did Magic Johnson. You never mention Piazza in the same category as a Bench or Berra.
- Sir O - 01-25-2005
Piazza has one weakness - throwing out baserunners. Otherwise he's fine defensively.
If you don't see him as a top-5 catcher of all time, you're not a baseball fan.
- HedCold - 01-25-2005
Quote:Piazza has one weakness - throwing out baserunners. Otherwise he's fine defensively.^^^^^^^