Words From Gammo
Say what you will about Peter Gammons (and there's plenty, good and bad, that you could say), he's got connections, and when he drops by for a chat, he's always got something interesting you probably haven't heard before.
Here's a sampling of his comments from his Boston Globe chat session yesterday:
- "I've spent a lot of time with the Cubs this season and they are stating that their entire business model is copied from the Red Sox right down to the design for luxury boxes that Janet Marie Smith and Lucchino drew up."
- "[T]here is a ground swell among the players that [Masterson] should start ... . I found it interesting that two national league scouts both said he reminds them of Kevin Brown and a young Darren Dreifort because of his sinker ..."
- "I realize that [t]his is a very brief window but one national league team that does defensive ratings like Red Sox and Indians has Lowrie's defense ranked 5th among the 62 major league shortstops."
- "I don't think players were angry because so many of them like Manny off the field but what happened was that he became a distraction and players don't like answering questions about other players when those players won't answer the questions themselves."
- "I am told that as long as Brian Cashman is the GM and Hank Steinbrenner is owner, Manny will not be going to the Yankees. Their plan is to take the money they have stashed away and go after CC Sabathia."
- "[R]emember, in 2006, Ramirez played 6 games in September and Ortiz was second to Alex Rodriguez in OPS for the month. Last September, Ramirez played 6 games, batting behind Ortiz once, and David led the majors in OPS. If Ortiz's swing is right, he's one of the few players who rises above protection."
- "My guess is that they'll make a run at Jarrod Saltalamacchia in Texas or Mike Napoli with the Angels, but they may have to forge some kind of platoon with someone like Brian Schneider and hope that the next couple of years they can develop a Mark Wagner or a Luis Exposito."
- "I get the distinct impression that the Yankees are looking at the rest of this season the way the Red Sox looked at Sept. in 2006, which is a time to build and develop their young pitchers and find out what they have before the offseason."


a young Darren Dreifort
Uh, is this supposed to be a good thing? Dreifort was, by most measures, a failure of a pitcher.
Posted by: SF | Thursday, August 14, 2008 at 10:24 AM
If Ortiz's swing is right, he's one of the few players who rises above protection
Or, protection is a myth over enough of a sample size. When will these guys get out of the statistical stone age?
Posted by: SF | Thursday, August 14, 2008 at 10:26 AM
"...I get the distinct impression that the Yankees are looking at the rest of this season the way the Red Sox looked at Sept. in 2006, which is a time to build and develop their young pitchers and find out what they have before the offseason."...
duh, "day late and a dollar short" petey...i said it first, a long time ago...
Posted by: dc | Thursday, August 14, 2008 at 10:38 AM
Glad to hear the Sox want to go after Salty.
Posted by: Atheose | Thursday, August 14, 2008 at 10:45 AM
But we don't have to learn how to spell his whole name, right?
Posted by: rootbeerfloat | Thursday, August 14, 2008 at 11:08 AM
""I am told that as long as Brian Cashman is the GM and Hank Steinbrenner is owner, Manny will not be going to the Yankees. Their plan is to take the money they have stashed away and go after CC Sabathia."
Why not do both? Are the coffers suddenly drying up because of our putrid season??? I doubt it...
Posted by: krueg | Thursday, August 14, 2008 at 11:26 AM
"Why not do both? Are the coffers suddenly drying up because of our putrid season??? I doubt it..."
Not at all, in fact we will have more money to spend next year in addition to the money coming off the books due to the new stadium. I expect the yanks to make a run at and sign both CC and Teixeria. We dont need another DH/LF type as good as Manny would be.
Posted by: Sam-YF | Thursday, August 14, 2008 at 11:33 AM
Sam: With Thong Stache and Big Wiffie going away, thankfully, and Melky plastered on the bench, we could use a DH/OF it would seem. Damon, Fat Bobby (God, I hope not) and Nady could platoon with Man-Ram??? Is Matsui ever coming back? The guy can't stay healthy so I don't really count on him.
Posted by: krueg | Thursday, August 14, 2008 at 11:50 AM
No mention of Tek's divorce yet? (repeated from other thread)
Posted by: Devine | Thursday, August 14, 2008 at 03:22 PM
His divorce from the ability to hit???
*rimshot*
:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)- get the point? joke?
Posted by: krueg | Thursday, August 14, 2008 at 03:29 PM
No mention of Tek's divorce yet?
From his ability to hit, or his wife?
:)
Posted by: Brad | Thursday, August 14, 2008 at 03:33 PM
sweet, K. we though of the same divorce. ha.
Posted by: Brad | Thursday, August 14, 2008 at 03:53 PM
Kinda scary, right??? ;)
Posted by: krueg | Thursday, August 14, 2008 at 04:33 PM
i'm still worried about manny's sore knee. has anyone heard if it's feeling better? i'm surprised the dodgers took our clearly damaged goods.
Posted by: sf rod | Thursday, August 14, 2008 at 05:45 PM
Yeah, but that divorce was finalized months ago.
Posted by: Devine | Thursday, August 14, 2008 at 05:58 PM
Manny... "clearly damaged goods" ? Oh, I get it, you mean his brain. Yes, that is clearly damaged goods.
Posted by: Brian Houk SF | Friday, August 15, 2008 at 11:34 AM
Gerrit Cole not signing? What the? Can't be that the Yanks are cheap.. how much more can he make by going to college?
Posted by: Lar | Friday, August 15, 2008 at 12:16 PM
Maybe he wants to go to college, which is really stupid of him, college is for suckers, it didn't do a damn thing for me other than sink me in debt.
Posted by: LocklandSF | Friday, August 15, 2008 at 12:54 PM