Hot Stove: Set to Broil

The Yanks had their "organizational meetings" down in Tampa this week, and have apparently put together a considerable shopping list: if you've got a live arm and a pulse, you're on Brian Cashman's radar. Sabathia, Shields, Peavy, Burnett, Lowe, in addition to the aging NY vets Pettitte and Moose and (why not?) Brett Favre. Teixeira is also a priority target, perhaps priority target #1. The most significant piece of news to emerge: the organization intends to return Joba to the rotation, as they have always planned. This is great news for all of us sabermetrically minded fans, but may not sit well with some others, including Jorge Posada, who has suggested Joba should remain in the pen for health reasons. What's interesting to me about this is that the Joba decision was presented to the media as one "universally agreed" to by everyone in attendance, a group that included Cash, the Steinbrenners, the Stick, Reggie Jackson, and Tino Martinez. I'm not sure why Reggie should be included in such discussions, aside from legend status; Tino is another story. Smart and a bit ruthless as a player, he has demonstrated some keen insight as an analyst. We all know he has a long-term friendship with Posada, so it's noteworthy, at least to me, that he emerges from these discussions joining the consensus to keep Joba a starter. Tino: definitely a man to keep an eye on within the organization, or perhaps outside of it.

Comments

[SF]

Mixed metaphor alert? Don't you set an oven to broil?

They could change the name of the offseason to the "hot oven" and cross brand it with Quizno's or something. Paging Don Draper!

[SF]

The Columbus Dispatch ran a picture of the Yankees organizational meetings that you didn't link to. Here it is.

[dc]

actually sf, not to nitpick, but the definition of stove is:

courtesy of merriam-websters on-line dictionary:
"1 a: a portable or fixed apparatus that burns fuel or uses electricity to provide heat (as for cooking or heating) b: a device that generates heat for special purposes (as for heating tools or heating air for a hot blast) c: kiln
2chiefly British : a hothouse especially for the cultivation of tropical exotics ; broadly : greenhouse"

...would seem that yf's use is appropriate...one can assume that the term "stovetop" came into usage in order to distinguish the oven from the topside burners...

hehe, "were's the beef?" is still funny after all these years, and your use of this particular characterization to define the current thought process of the yankee brass is probably not far off...

meantime, here's the sox braintrust planning their next moves:

courtesy of amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B000F6M7R8/ref=dp_image_0?ie=UTF8&n=284507&s=kitchen

i know, i know, you hate zero sum, but this exchange is harmless, and kind of funny...

[Sam-YF]

I saw sign them all!

Seriously id love to see Teix, CC, and Moose in pinstripes next year. ( in that order of importance)

[Sam-YF]

Ooops, that should say "say" not "saw"

[YF]

I'm with you on that trifecta, sam, and let me defend my use of the broil term, as dc has so ably done. The term "hot stove" for baseball comes from the tradition of sitting around a stove during the winter to keep warm, and the chatter generated therefrom. And it's actually the oven portion of such stoves that would be doing the warming, not the stovetop. It's not a cooking metaphor. So while I admit to stretching the bounds a bit, I think I'm fairly within the parameters of the term. HA! Anyway, SF, you should lay off and just hope your hot stove season doesn't begin sometime later this evening!!!

[SF]

House money, YF. House money.

[Paul SF]

Very true. If they lose tonight, I'm still happy with this season.

My dream scenario: The Angels pony up to re-sign Teixeira, Sabathia gets lured to the West Coast or the other New York team, and Mussina re-signs and promptly reverts to the form he was shifting into in 2007.

[Sam-YF]

My dream scenario for next year:
Oritz continues his slide. Sox resign Varitek. Pedoria comes back to earth. DiceK's insane WHIP begins to hurt him. Beckett reverts to 2006 and Ellsbury stays right where he is

[YF]

While we're dreaming:

Rays dump Sox.
Yanks sign Teix, CC, Moose
Yanks WS victory in 09 makes it 3 straight for the AL East, a new club each year. (Watch out for Tor and Bal in 2010!)

[I'mBillMcNeal]

"(Watch out for Tor and Bal in 2010!)"

Maybe Toronto. They have the pitching to win but need to retool the offense. Baltimore? No chance. No chance at all. They have nothing in the farm system.

[SF]

Sam:

Dice-K doesn't have an insane whip. He has a high walk rate. He gives up a miniscule number of hits. His regular season whip wasn't bad at all.

[Sam-YF]

OK he doesnt have an "insane" WHIP but it sure aint the typical WHIP of a SP with a sub-3 ERA. His WHIP was good enough for 43rd "best" in the majors. But I dont see the point in re-addressing a Wang-style debate here.

[SF]

24th in the AL, Sam, among starters. It doesn't match his ERA, that's correct, but it is hardly an insane WHIP. In fact, it's a better-than-average WHIP. It was better than AJ Burnett's, only .03 worse than Carlos Zambrano's. We could go on, as you say. It's exactly that, a Wang-style debate. It's a trap. He's a good pitcher. He's also a really odd pitcher.

[Sam-YF]

I agree that he is a very good pitcher. In fact he powered my fantasy team to first place this year. I did take back the "insane" adjective in my last post. 24th in the AL among starters is OK not great. Anyway, Id be very happy if his ERA moved in that direction too...

[Lar]

Health issues for Joba? Well, Mo still has 3 years, and it's really a waste for him in the 8th, but I guess if it pops up again..

I want to see Moose wins his 300 as a Yank. He probably should go in as a Yank if he does by now..

[I'mBillMcNeal]

Lar, I'm not sure Moose "goes in." He's been good, above averagem, and he's certainly close to the precipice, but it's far from gimme.
But consider, not good postseason numbers, one 20-win season, no Cy Youngs, no championships, his WHIP is probably above average. Clearly he helped himself thia year with his turnaround and his first 20-win season.
He best attribute is his longevity.
And I would suggest that his best seasons are with Baltimore so if he does go in he should go in with Baltimore.
Again, not sayin' he doesn't go in, just sayin' "slow down." I think he's with Schilling. one of these guys who will need to simmer for awhile after retirement.

[RollingWave]

the O's have Matt Wieters. that's enough of a farm in itself.