YFSF

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.

Mooooose!

Congratulations from YFSF to Mike Mussina on his career-first 20 win season—an extraordinary accomplishment. It's a cliche at this point to describe him as "crafty," to talk about how he has "reinvented himself" now that he no longer throws in the mid (or even low) 90s, but it's almost impossible, indeed it's fruitless, not to do so. This year he pitched with guile, with intelligence, with impeccable control, and with some truly wicked stuff, and we hope he continues to do so next year for the Yanks. If not, he has capped a terrific career with a deserved milestone. Bravo.

PS: Our condolences to Mets fans. Shea, predictably, goes out just at it came in, with ignominy. We've never developed the soft spot for the Mets that some Yanks fan have sprouted over recent years; they'll always be the enemy. So there isn't a whole lot of sympathy in this house. That said, these are tough days for New York; a playoff run would have been good for New York, both emotionally and economically. Going down in flames, again....That's exactly what we didn't need from the boys from Shea.

PPS: This comment in the thread from Paul is so interesting it seems worth putting up top:

1992: Mussina wins 18 games and throws quality starts in five of nine no-decisions and three of five losses. Just one of his wins occurs in a non-quality start. He throws three shutouts and eight complete games, including a 10-strikeout one-hitter at Texas, and pitches into or completes the ninth inning another three times.

1994: The players' strike costs Mussina at least eight starts in a 17-win season, during which he threw quality starts in three of four no-decisions and two of five losses while winning a non-quality start just three times. He went 7-1 in his final nine starts before the strike canceled the rest of the season.

1995: Mussina wins 19 games in the strike-shortened season and throws quality starts in two of his three no-decisions and one of nine losses, while none of his wins came in non-quality starts. He finishes the season with three straight complete games and two straight shutouts, giving up one run in 27 innings.

1996: Mussina wins 19 games again, and is denied his 20th when in his final start on Sept. 28, he exits having given up just one run in eight innings only to watch the Oriole bullpen blow the save in the ninth. It's the third quality start in six no-decisions for Mussina, and the second in which he gave up just one run over eight.

1999: Mussina wins 18 games, thanks largely to three losses with game scores of 64, 72 and 75 -- though he does have a larger percentage of non-quality wins. The Orioles nevertheless go 21-10 in his 31 starts.

2002: Mussina wins 18 games, twice losing in September after giving up two earned runs or fewer over seven or more innings. He also receives a no-decision that month despite allowing one unearned run in seven innings to Tampa Bay. In all, three of his five no-decisions are quality starts and four of his 10 losses. Only four wins were not quality starts.

2003: Mussina wins 17 games, in large part because six quality starts turned into no-decisions, including a game that ended in a 1-1 tie and another in which Mariano Rivera blew a 2-1 lead in the eighth. Mussina also threw quality starts in two of six losses and all but one of his wins.

I think this should be shown to any sportswriter firmly convinced in the value of using wins as an assessment of a pitcher's season and seasonal win totals as an assessment of a career. Mussina's overall record and accomplishments would be little changed with a few more lucky breaks -- maybe just an additional 10-20 wins total -- but Mussina would now have a whopping SEVEN 20-win seasons, and his Hall candidacy wouldn't even be a debate.

Every pitcher goes through bad breaks, has a season or two where he should have won more games but didn't, but I don't know that any pitcher has had the misfortune Mussina has had consistently throughout his career when it comes to wins and losses despite playing for enough decent teams.

So congrats to him. He richly deserves it.

Two for the Show: Yanks-Sox Season Ending Double-Dip/Gamer

Not really the year either of our two franchises were expecting this season, but it seems fitting that the old foes end it, or at least the regular season, facing each other. (Though, yes, it would have been more appropriate for them to be facing each other in the Bronx, but whatever.) There's not a whole heck of a lot at stake. Mike Mussina hopes to achieve the 20-win benchmark for the first time in an illustrious career; that's the big news. The Sox (hoping for rain) will try to get through the thing without wearing out their roster before heading west, or going out on a sour note, swept at home by the Bombers. But, really, ho hum. The real action today is elsewhere, with the Twins, ChiSox, Mets, and Brewers fighting for their playoff lives. Keep your eye on the away board, and savor the last few hours of regular season ball in 2008--there's always something bittersweet about this day, even if your team is moving on. Enjoy, and comment away.

Soggy Saturday: Yanks-Sox Gamer XVII

Ponson vs. DiceK, currently on delay.  PA reports that Jeter is done for the season.  Comment away.

The Great Debate: Yanks-Sox Gamer

It's raining in Beantown, but we are told there will be a game tonite, probably starting some time before the main head-to-head down in Mississippi. We know which kerfuffle we'll be watching. Go Bara...Yankees!

The Franchise?

By now you've read that our newly bespectacled non-Joba-ace-of-the-future, Phil Hughes, had an impressive outing last night in Toronto: throwing strikes over 8 innings, he allowed but 2 runs on 5 hits (1 a late dinger to Scott Rolen), with 0 walks and 6 ks. He showed slider, fastball, and curve, with a sometimes change. This, combined with a decent outing last week against Chicago, has the Yankee blogosphere re-enthused. Over on the Banter, Cliff Corcoran writes, that if he continues to locate, "he should be able to dominate the way we've all expected him to." Color me hopeful, but with reservations. One solid outing with a friendly strike-zone in a meaningless game is not quite the sample to inspire confidence. A bit more problematic, as far as I'm concerned: every one of those ks came on his (admittedly wicked) curve. That's great when that pitch is on, when the ump is calling it, and with a team that hasn't seen him much, and can't identify the pitch so easily (most of the ks were looking). The inability to get batters to swing and miss at his fastball (or at anything else), represents a problem. Rolen tagged one of those curves for his dinger, and that was just one of several shots to the deep reaches of the ballpark. There was much comparison of Hughes to Moose during the game, and I think that's instructive. Moose this year was consistently able to win the intellectual battle at the plate, fooling hitters with his variety, not a single pitch. Also, Moose's control was something exceptional. And while Hughes threw mostly strikes (again, the friendly ump was a bit of a help), there were times when he missed wildly. In all, this was an encouraging outing, but I think Cliff's suggestion (and the suggestion elsewhere) that if Hughes can just pitch like that he'll become an ace is wrong. The good news is he has terrific tools, and he's so young there's reason to believe he can put it all together. On that note, there's some speculation as to whether the Yanks ask Moose or Pettitte back next year. I know there's a lot of love in Yankeeland for Pettitte (not so much from me), but if it were up to me this would be an easy decision in favor of the guy with 19 wins and counting.

19 and Up

This is rightfully a day of celebration for the Sox, who back-doored it into the playoffs last night—congratulations to our foes; the best team came in second this year—but we'd also be remiss not to send out a congratulations to Mike Mussina on his 19th win of the year, tieing his career best, a 3-1 victory over the Jays in which he took a liner off the elbow. I hope it's not his last win as a Yankee, either this year or in the future. It's been a pleasure to watch him this season—one of the few pleasures granted us YFs—and I for one would be glad to see him in pinstripes again next year. For the record, he now has 269 wins (plus 7 in the postseason). This past March, the idea that he might someday reach 300 wins seemed wildly farfetched. It's still unlikely, but perhaps not quite out of the question. We can leave the HOF debate for another time. For the moment, we'll just hope he gets numbers 20 and 270 before this ill-fated season is in the books.

Sox-Tribe, Yanks-Jays Mashup

Let's see if anything becomes official tonight. Go (insert team)!

Swiss Family Robinson: PaleSox-Yanks Gamer V

Recently looking as lost as the famed family but not nearly as resourceful or interesting, Robi Cano is back in the lineup after his brief exile to the pine.  We'll see if he has any more giddy in his up and go as Andy Pettitte pitches for the Bombers, needing a win in a rilly bad way before he forgets what it feels like.  Gavin Floyd goes for the PaleSox.

Thirteen: WhiteSox-Yanks Gamer IV

With thirteen games left in the season, the Yankees have six games left at the Stadium and though post-season chances are (have been?) a mere pipe-dream, there are several interesting personal achievements that may be reached tonight.  Jeter may pass the Iron Horse for the most hits at the Stadium.  Mo may pass Lee Smith to record more saves than any pitcher other than Hoffman.  And Alex Rodriguez may continue to thumb his nose at detractors by hitting 35 home runs in 11 consecutive seasons, a feat accomplished by only one other player -- some guy named Ruth -- though those detractors would have you believe that not one of ARod's came "when it counted."

Mark Buehrle goes for the PaleSox, Alfredo Aceves gets his first start at The House That Ruth Built.  There are likely just fifty-four innings left; Aceves may well get the last one ever for a Yankee, as the rotation currently sits, next turn against Baltimore.  That's one for the scrapbook.  Comment away.