GOM's plan for Yankee dominance

[Gom]

Ahh...the thread you've all been waiting for...dreading actually. For I am convinced that Cashman read my column and followed it nearly to a T last year, and the end result is a championship. Two years ago, he ignored me and we missed the playoffs for the first time since 1995. Without further ado...and in no particular order...here we go.

1. Avoid Holliday. As good as his stats may be, he is not worth the money. First of all, his tenure in Oakland was nothing to write home about. An .832 OPS is more indicative of his performance in the AL instead of the insane 1.023 OPS with the Cardinals, in a weaker division and league. Also, he was horribly exposed in the NLDS. Of the 36 pitches he saw, 34 were inside fastballs. He hit one homerun, on you guessed it...a curveball. Considering the money he's going to command, would you rather have Damon AND Matsui short term or Holliday long-term? Let the Cardinals and Mets fight it out. Plus, with Arod, you need a lefty to even it out. Considering he will command a long-term contract, let him go back to the Cardinals or to the Mets, or as a suprise, the Giants. I doubt the Red Sox are dumb enough to take him on.

2. Resign Molina. 2 years/$4M. This may be the most important move the Yankees make. Posada was exposed as being an absolutely terrible defensive catcher. Anyone who watched Game Six of the World Series objectively was outright disgusted by how terrible he is behind the plate. Molina ended the season with a CERA that was a run and a half lower than Posada. His lack of framing nearly destroyed Pettitte. He still has a decent arm, but how many times does someone try to steal? It's all about the pitching, stupid. The Yankees beat the Phillies with nearly no production whatsoever from 1/3 of their lineup. Cervelli is decent, but could use another year of seasoning. The Yankees have too much money invested in pitching to NOT sign Molina.

3. Resign Damon. Two years/$18M. Abreu set the standard, which is going to be fair. Ideally, I would like to see a one year deal, but it won't get done with Boras. If he balks, let him walk. After playing the first few years in KC, then going to Oakland during their heyday, then the Red Sox and then the Yankees...I can't see him going to a middling team. This is tough because of Boras. A take it or leave it offer. His home/away splits are putrid, he is a by-product of Yankee Stadium...but since we play half of our games in Yankee Stadium, it's beneficial. Offer him arbitration and hope he takes it. One year at $13 million would be a Godsend. Then the Yankees can look to Carl Crawford next season as they are only on the hook for one year. If he rejects it and they can't work out a deal, we got two draft picks.

4. Resign Matsui. One year/$7 million. A professional hitter with the ability to hit lefties and righties, his market is limited as there are many DHs on the market. Winning is it's own drug, and the reality is we're starting to see what we saw in the 90's...players WANTING to play in New York. Winning does that for you.

5. Resign Pettitte. One year/$12 million. Pettitte will pretty much go year to year at this point. I don't think he will retire, he still has the ability to pitch effectively. He wants to come back, and the Yankees want him back.

6. Sign John Lackey. 6 years/$100 million. Throw the kitchen sink at this guy. His numbers are comparable to AJ Burnett, and he should command about the same amount of money. A quartet of CC, Lackey, AJ and Pettitte and we can book another trip to October.

7. Non-tender Wang, but bring him back. One year/$5 million. You can never have enough pitching. With four spots wrapped up, you leave a spring training competition between Hughes, Chamberlain, and Wang for number five, with the two losers going to the pen. I am of the belief that the 5th spot should always be a competition in the hope of catching lightning in a bottle. Plus, it will allow Girardi to stretch out the pitchers so they can save their arms for the post-season. This was the reason for going three deep in the playoffs.

Where does that leave us salary-wise? Molina is a wash, and so is Pettitte for the most part. Wang saves you a million. You save $6 million on Matsui, $4 million on Damon, and $5 million on Nady. That means breaking even and getting Lackey. Not only that, but Nady projects to be a Type A...so you don't even lose draft picks by signing Lackey.

The bullpen is unchanged. Cashman has assembled a bunch of pitchers who are interchangeable that there is no reason to go outside of the organization. Let Giradi figure out what to do with Marte, Coke, Aceves, Gaudin, Chamberlain/Hughes or both, Robertson, Kennedy, Bruney et. al.

This leaves a LOT of roster flexibility. Let's face it...this is an older team. Their core players are all on the wrong side of 35. Sooner or later, these players will start to decline. Jeter quieted his critics by turning back the clock defensively. Arod rebounded. Posada will continue his decline into oblivion. I fully expect Posada to catch a pitch next year, throw his glove down, and stomp on it. His contract the next two years will hamstring the Yankees. Mariano defies the odds, and is quite possibly the most amazing pitcher I've ever seen.

Most fans will see things as continuing. Father Time has a say in this. The Yankee players under 30 are nothing to write home about. Cashman has to manage the money until some of his players, the Jacksons and Monteros are ready. The Yankees cannot afford any more long-term deals. Short term deals at a higher AAV is a better risk.

A lesson to be learned from the Red Sox this year. They went into the season looking like they had a pitching surplus. It was a deficit by the end of the year.

Burnett, Joba, Wang, Hughes, and Pettitte have had injury issues. I wouldn't be surprised if all of them played an important role. I also wouldn't be surprised if all of them got injured. Let's face it...when it came to injuries to their staff, the Yankees were INCREDIBLY lucky this year.

Next year is the key. With the probably emergence of Austin Jackson, and the free agency of Carl Crawford, we could see two if not three changes in the OF.

I am a huge Crawford fan. With the excess in the pen, look to the Yankees to possibly package Melky with some of their surplus pitching to Tampa for Crawford and throwing him in CF. Gardner is not a major league hitter, and Melky is a weak stick as it is. Putting Gardner in there as well makes them a very weak team at the end of the lineup.

Cashman has done a good job in accumulating assets. This would allow him to use some of these chips in a deadline deal or to replace those that need replacing, and at a very low cost.

End result: Salary wash. Lackey replaces Gaudin.

Next...I will try my hand at Fixing the Red Sox.

[26 to 6]

Gom we made the playoffs in '95, you mean '93. :P
Anyways....

1-Agreed. Stay away from Holliday!!!

2-I'm impartial. He's as good a defensive catcher as they come, but he can't hit a lick. Unless the Yankees plan on carrying three catchers, which I don't see happening, I think Cervelli is more than capable of emerging as the new backup. He can hit a little and can call a great game. All the pitchers had great things to say about his game calling and defense behind the plate while he was with the big club this year. I think Cervelli has a bright future as a solid catcher, even with the emergence of Montero and Romine I think he can stick with the Yankees in a backup/platoon role for a long time here. As for next year though, it's getting clearer and clearer that Posada can't play as often, and when he's he's either DHing or not in the lineup I'm much more comfortable with Cervelli's bat in there than I am with Molina's. Now if the Yankees plan on DHing Posada a lot, then maybe carrying both Cervelli and Molina is a good thing, although it hurts our depth elsewhere tremendously. Ideally a third catcher should be able to play another position or 2 (granted Molina has played first, but he's a far from adequate first baseman), so I don't see it happening. If I were to choose between the two, I would go with Cervelli.

3 & 4-C'mon Gom, seriously? Both? It's not gonna happen. We need the room, unless you want your boy Posada behind the plate a significant portion of the season we need to open up some space, and the DH spot. I am all for bringing either of them back, but you can't do both. I would prefer Matsui, but only because he wouldn't require the 2 years that Damon would. I don't like the idea of giving Damon 2 years AT ALL. But Matsui is an injury risk with his balky knees, and he may or may not be able to play the field. He insists he can play the outfield, and is even willing to pick up a first baseman's glove. I say you offer them both a comparable one year deal, sign the first to accept, and let the other one go. I like both players very much, and I'm sure they can both be productive barring any injuries, but we can't keep them both and I would rather let them go one year too soon rather than one year too late.

5-Agreed. But how do you know he wants to come back? I hope he does but I wouldn't be surprised if he hangs them up (nor would I be surprised if Mo retired either), there's no better way to go out than coming off a World Series win while you can still perform. Both of them seem like guys that would want to go out on their own terms and not linger around and not be productive. If he does want to stick around then it goes without saying, bring him back!

6-Why? Seriously!? C'mon man. He's great, but age is a concern, as is the AL East. He's a tempting name, but I would stay away. He's gonna cost too much, and if we do sign him we're gonna get him for the twilight of his career. Not worth it if you ask me. Let the Mets sign him, he'd be perfect in Queens. The only way I would be open to Lackey is if we could trade Burnett. It won't happen in the second year of his $85 million deal, but I would LOVE for the Yankees to rid themselves of Burnett, ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT.

7-Agreed, but if you're gonna non-tender him why offer him $5 mil? He wouldn't make that much in arbitration if they did tender him a contract. If he gets non-tendered they will try to bring him back on a Minor League deal to let him start the season in the minors and do some rehab and get back into the swing of things while keeping him off the 40 man roster. Whether they tender him a deal or not he'll be back at some point. But with his track record they can't non-tender him and let him go somewhere else. He's always been an injury risk his whole career coming up through the Minors, but when he's healthy he can be great, as we saw 2005-2008 when he was the winningest pitcher in the league.

I say flip-flop Hughes and Joba and let Hughes try his hand at starting again. Sign another quality starter who is not named Lackey and who will be cheaper to hold down a spot until CMW returns or if Hughes falters and goes back to the pen. I expect Hughes to excel though. He's got too much talent, and his horrid 2008 is far behind him. He's gotten his feet wet in the bigs, he's failed and succeeded in different roles and I think he would be a waste if we leave him out in the pen. The plan all along was for him to be a starter and hopefully our future ace. Joba on the other hand has convinced me he cannot start long-term and needs to go back to the pen full-time and get ready to succeed Mariano.

As for the outfield, Austin Jackson is probably still another year or so away as his prospect status has dropped a little bit after a marginal season. He hit .300 exactly, but only hit 4 homers with 65 RBIs (granted he hit out of the 2-hole most of the year) and accumulated just 204 total bases. Not to mention he had a .354 OBP and .405 slugging %. As for Crawford, I like him too, but only if we let Damon go. I have a hard time seeing Tampa Bay trade him within the division though, if at all. I think our best bet at him is to overpay in Free Agency. I say keep Melky around to be the CFer/4th OFer if Jackson emerges and trade Gardner if we can. He's a good gritty player but he looks like a little leaguer at the plate. All he's really got going for him is speed, both on the basepaths and tracking balls in the outfield. I think in the long run we can only keep one of Melky or Gardner to be our eventual 4th OFer, and I would much prefer Melky. Melky is Babe Ruth compared to Garnder, and he plays a slightly better defense, IMO. Not to mention he has a great arm, something Gardner does not. While he still has some value I say package Gardner in whatever big deal the Yankees look to make this offseason, whether it be for Crawford or someone else.

Also, I believe Nady has been declared a Type B already, not Type A. If he were an A there would be no question but to let him walk. But I think if he's willing to take a very cheap, incentive-laden deal we should explore the possibility of bringing him back to platoon with Swisher, especially if we only keep one of either Damon or Matsui. It's clear Swisher is a streaky player who at times in the season can be a liability, and I'm not too convinced that if both healthy he's better than Nady anyway. Having both of them gives us the chance to get them both enough rest to stay fresh and productive, especially Nady who's coming back from TJ (and might not be ready at the start of the season anyway, although most reports indicate he will be. Setbacks are always a possibility though. I'm no medical expert so direct any questions to Dr. Jacko), and it also gives us more flexibility elsewhere. If he needs to here and there Tex can DH and Swisher can play first or other things along those lines.

For the bench I would bring back Hairston and let Hinske walk. If the Yankees do take my advice and look into moving Gardner, Hairston has enough speed to come off the bench late and run, and he's just as versatile, if not more than Hinske. The only position that Hinske can play that Hairston can't is first. Other than that he can play third, the middle infield, and all over the outfield where as Hinske is strictly a corner guy. Hinske does have some pop, but we're the MFY, we hit 244 Home Runs this year. We don't need pop off the bench, we have enough of it in the lineup.

So basically this is what my rough/earlt Opening Day 25 man roster would look like. Keep in mind this will probably change 100 times as the offseason progresses and we see what's going in in Free Agency and Trades. Players in bold indicate my preferred choices.

Rotation:
Sabathia
Burnett
Pettitte
Hughes
Noah Lowry/Garland/Sheets/Pedro/Washburn (Lowry was just outrighted by SF and elected Free Agency after having surgery on his left forearm in 2008 forcing him to miss all of 2008 and all of 2009. In May he had rib removal surgery to relieve the continued pain in his shoulder and neck associated with his new recent diagnosis of thoracic outlet syndrome, which brought the original diagnosis of exertional compartment syndrome into question along with the necessity of his 2008 surgery. His name has always come up in rumors between the Yankees & Giants and coming back from injury he could be had on the cheap with just a Minor League deal/Spring Training invite. He anticipates being ready for Spring Training. Again, direct all questions to Dr. Jacko as I know nothing about what I just mentioned. He is the perfect type of pitcher to hold down a spot until CMW is ready, as is any of the others mentioned; but all things considered, especially financially, I think Lowry is the best bet. Wouldn't mind Sheets though)

Bullpen:
Mo
Joba
Aceves
Coke
Marte
Robertson
Melancon/Bruney/Gaudin/Mitre/Edwar/Pedro (I've always wanted to see Pedro in pinstripes and we know he's always wanted to wear pinstripes, and I really think he still has something left in the tank. As long as he's not starting every 5th day I think he can consistently come out and put up a solid inning or 2 consistently, and I don't think he would be too expensive. He's definitely a better option than any of the other 4 guys I mentioned before him)

Catchers:
Posada
Cervelli/Molina

Infielders/Outfielders:
Teixeira
Cano
Jeter
A-Rod
Swisher
Melky
Damon/Matsui
Nady
Hairston (He's a Type B so if he walks take the pick and sign one of the many other suitable FA bench players)
Pena/Hinske/Ronnie Belliard/Nomar/Mientkiewicz
Crawford/other possible trade recipient/Gardner (Maybe a package of Gardner, some prospects, and a reliever or 2 such as Bruney, Mitre, Edwar, Aceves, or Melancon could get it done. Even if it takes more, if the Rays are willing to deal him within the division, we gotta get him!)


Now THAT my friend, is a WINNING team.

[Dipre]

1. Avoid Holliday. As good as his stats may be, he is not worth the money. First of all, his tenure in Oakland was nothing to write home about. An .832 OPS is more indicative of his performance in the AL instead of the insane 1.023 OPS with the Cardinals, in a weaker division and league. Also, he was horribly exposed in the NLDS. Of the 36 pitches he saw, 34 were inside fastballs. He hit one homerun, on you guessed it...a curveball. Considering the money he's going to command, would you rather have Damon AND Matsui short term or Holliday long-term? Let the Cardinals and Mets fight it out. Plus, with Arod, you need a lefty to even it out. Considering he will command a long-term contract, let him go back to the Cardinals or to the Mets, or as a suprise, the Giants. I doubt the Red Sox are dumb enough to take him on.

Staying away from Holliday for his prohibitive cost is one thing, staying away because of his performance in Oakland because of his supposedly being "Exposed to the inside fastball" in the playoffs is an exercise in stupidity.

Allow me to elaborate.

For one, during his time in Oakland he was surrounded by a mediocre lineup, playing in a new league with a new team, yet still maintained a .378 OBP while playing above-average defense in LF, and hitting in one of the worst ballparks in the Majors, folks.

About the inside fastball:

Matt Holliday hot/cold zones.

As you can see in the chart, he hit .368 on middle inside pitches, .276 up and in, and .381 down and in in 2009.

You saying he's susceptible to the inside pitch is a fabrication. 12-15 ABs are indicative of nothing.

About his being unable to hit AL pitching, even with his "mediocre" .832 OPS with Oakland, here are Holliday's OPS numbers vs AL teams:

vs. BAL 1.472

vs. BOS .876

vs. CWS 1.271

vs. CLE .607

vs. DET 1.042

vs. KC 1.167

vs. LAA .813

vs. MIN 1.073

vs. NYY .690

vs. SEA .700

vs. TB .742

vs. TEX .882

vs. TOR .423

These are very limited sample sizes, but better than the couple ABs he got in the playoffs, and judging by these numbers, and adding the fact that he slumped badly for quite some in Oakland you can conclude that Holliday can in fact hit AL pitching. Specially given the right circumstances, because anyone who overlooks the fact that the Oakland offense and that savannah of a ballpark were major factors in his decreased production needs to get it together.

Holliday also brings to the table something extremely lacking in LF today: Defense.

UZR/150 last 3 seasons:

'07 14.7

'08 10.9

'09 6.0

Don't get me wrong, i know it's a flawed stat, but having seen the guy play, and looking up the stats to back up the argument, it's easy to conclude the guy's one of the best, if not, the best defensive LF in the game.

Add to that double digits stolen bases and smart base-running, and we've got ourselves a winner, folks.

One last thing, the "inferior" league argument is asinine in this case, because Holliday used to play in the NL West, a division stacked with good pitching and tough stadiums. By using a bit of logic and being able to put two and two together, all of these factors are easily put together to identify Holliday's true value.

Any team that is not the Mets with their shitty stadium will get their money's worth out of Holliday unless he gets injured.

[jacksonianmarch]

I agree with Gom on a lot of things here, man.

First of all, Matsui and Damon are not coming back unless one of them takes a backup pay contract and role. It just isnt happening. And Matsui will find someone to give him more than a 1 yr contract, so that won't fly. But I do think it is imperative to bring one of them back, and to me that guy is Matsui. His bat protecting ARod was big all yr long and especially in the postseason. Damon in the 2 hole was great this yr, but seems to be a product of the stadium. Plus, he looks to be the more fragile of the two guys, pulling calves left and right. Matsui has balky knees, this we know. But if you dont put him in the OF often, they shouldnt be too much of a problem. Damon gets hurt every time he plays in cold weather, so he might not be the best play.

You dont lock up Molina for more than one yr. I'd be fine with him coming back. But with the catching depth that is coming up through the minors and with the kinds of defensive catchers we are breeding, it makes no sense to lock up a defense only catcher for more than one season. Cervelli offers more since he has average speed and can hit the ball a bit better than Jose.

Cashman and Co. have said that this off-season is about getting younger. And while resigning one of the old guard in the OF would actually age us by one yr, we need to address LF with a younger option. Damon isnt that guy. That is why I think Brad Hawpe ends up in pinstripes. There were some rumors a few weeks back that Ethier would be available for the right price, but his haul would be astronomical. I think Hawpe can be gotten for a reasonable sum and could lock down LF well for years to come.

I agree completely on Lackey. He is the exact kind of player we need. In his prime, gives innings, pitches like a horse in the postseason. He's a bit of an asshole to his fellow teammates, but I'd live with that if it meant getting close to 200IP of sub 4ERA and a playoff horse.

I also agree on signing Wang. He will allow for some insurance as will Gaudin, Mitre, Kennedy, and some of the other promising arms in the system.

Otherwise Gom, I agree with you these days. Must be the after championship glow.

[jacksonianmarch]

I absolutely wouldnt mind Pettitte coming back Gom. But I have a feeling he's retiring. Plus, we got a glimpse of what Pettitte might be next season. As the yr went on, he got by more on guile than anything else. His FB has lost another 2 mph. He was sitting in the 86-87mph range in both WS games.

[Gom]

This will get revamped if Pettitte retires of course. On second thought, I was probably a little high on Wang salary as well.

Funny how this goes Jacko...that I'm the one advocating keeping the younger players and not trading for Hawpe, and you're doing the opposite. Is the difference between Damon and Hawpe worth the cost in prospects? I don't believe so.

As for Dipre...again, close but no cigar. This is like a broken record. You try so hard....and fail. This seems to be a recurring theme both here and in personal life. You seem to agree that his cost is not worth his value, but you debate my point on his inability to hit the inside fastball in the NLDS.

See, in your desire to put in your two cents where they are not needed, you pointed out his hit chart. Kudos. What you failed to realize was I wasn't talking about the inside pitch, I was talking about the inside fastball. Did you know that the only homerun he hit was on a curveball? Did you know that of the 36 pitches he saw in the NLDS, 34 of them were inside fastballs? That his homerun came on a curveball? This kind of analysis is beyond your comprehension.

Again, the Yankees should avoid Holliday. If his price came down to the 10 million dollar deal, by all means get him. However, he will cost about 16 million a season for years, and this is cost prohibitive for the Yankees. It is simply not a good allocation of funds.

You could learn a thing or two, not only from me, but from your baseball better's, Jacko and 26. You took a marginal point and argued it [incorrectly], while agreeing with the big picture. A true exercise in futility.

My advice? Shut up, read, and you may learn something or two.

[Dipre]

This will get revamped if Pettitte retires of course. On second thought, I was probably a little high on Wang salary as well.

Funny how this goes Jacko...that I'm the one advocating keeping the younger players and not trading for Hawpe, and you're doing the opposite. Is the difference between Damon and Hawpe worth the cost in prospects? I don't believe so.

As for Dipre...again, close but no cigar. This is like a broken record. You try so hard....and fail. This seems to be a recurring theme both here and in personal life. You seem to agree that his cost is not worth his value, but you debate my point on his inability to hit the inside fastball in the NLDS.

See, in your desire to put in your two cents where they are not needed, you pointed out his hit chart. Kudos. What you failed to realize was I wasn't talking about the inside pitch, I was talking about the inside fastball. Did you know that the only homerun he hit was on a curveball? Did you know that of the 36 pitches he saw in the NLDS, 34 of them were inside fastballs? That his homerun came on a curveball? This kind of analysis is beyond your comprehension.

Again, the Yankees should avoid Holliday. If his price came down to the 10 million dollar deal, by all means get him. However, he will cost about 16 million a season for years, and this is cost prohibitive for the Yankees. It is simply not a good allocation of funds.

You could learn a thing or two, not only from me, but from your baseball better's, Jacko and 26. You took a marginal point and argued it [incorrectly], while agreeing with the big picture. A true exercise in futility.

My advice? Shut up, read, and you may learn something or two.

My adivice?

Quit the bumbling stupidity.

Please tell me what's the most thrown pitch by pitchers?

If he has a .330+ average in the inner part of the strike zone, how could he have it without hitting fastballs if fastballs are the bread and butter pitch of almost every pitcher in the Major Leagues?

Again, please use a bit of logic, and stop making shit up. Thanks.


And another thing, you really think you're smarter than scouts?

If Holliday really had a big hole in his swing against inside fastballs, they'd have been pounding him hard inside before he got called up from the Minors.

[BSN07]

I agree with Gom .

Damn Jacko and Gom giving the Yankees the double whammy! The Yanks are so screwed next year:lol:

[BSN07]

Wang could get a 3M base, with some incentives taking it to like 6M or 7M from someone.

I bet AZ, St. Louis, Boston, Philly, LAD would all be interested I would think.

[26 to 6]

On second thought, maybe we should keep Hinske, he might be good luck. Each of the last three years his team went to the World Series, twice they won.

[Divinity]

2. Resign Molina. 2 years/$4M. This may be the most important move the Yankees make. Posada was exposed as being an absolutely terrible defensive catcher. Anyone who watched Game Six of the World Series objectively was outright disgusted by how terrible he is behind the plate. Molina ended the season with a CERA that was a run and a half lower than Posada. His lack of framing nearly destroyed Pettitte. He still has a decent arm, but how many times does someone try to steal? It's all about the pitching, stupid. The Yankees beat the Phillies with nearly no production whatsoever from 1/3 of their lineup. Cervelli is decent, but could use another year of seasoning. The Yankees have too much money invested in pitching to NOT sign Molina.


4. Resign Matsui. One year/$7 million. A professional hitter with the ability to hit lefties and righties, his market is limited as there are many DHs on the market. Winning is it's own drug, and the reality is we're starting to see what we saw in the 90's...players WANTING to play in New York. Winning does that for you.
[/B]

Pretty sure they won't be bring Molina back for the following reason's :

1.) As bad as you may think Posada is behind the plate, he's still one of the remaining old championship Yankees, and he can still hit pretty well. Jason Veritek is far worse and yet the Red Sox still start him

2.) They have a pretty good defensive catcher in Cerveli, along with Jesus Montero (named the third best prospect in baseball by Baseball America) who will most likely be Posada's sucessor in a couple years.


As far as Matsui goes, his chances of coming back are slim to none. As you know Brian Cashman wants to get younger regardless of the sentimental value. Remember when he let Bernie Williams walk? Not only that, Matsui can't play the field, and should his knee's give out, can they afford having sit on the DL for a month or two? They've also stated they don't want one person clogging the DH, so they can give Jeter, Posada, Damon and A Rod days off from playing the field.

[jacksonianmarch]

This will get revamped if Pettitte retires of course. On second thought, I was probably a little high on Wang salary as well.

Funny how this goes Jacko...that I'm the one advocating keeping the younger players and not trading for Hawpe, and you're doing the opposite. Is the difference between Damon and Hawpe worth the cost in prospects? I don't believe so.

As for Dipre...again, close but no cigar. This is like a broken record. You try so hard....and fail. This seems to be a recurring theme both here and in personal life. You seem to agree that his cost is not worth his value, but you debate my point on his inability to hit the inside fastball in the NLDS.

See, in your desire to put in your two cents where they are not needed, you pointed out his hit chart. Kudos. What you failed to realize was I wasn't talking about the inside pitch, I was talking about the inside fastball. Did you know that the only homerun he hit was on a curveball? Did you know that of the 36 pitches he saw in the NLDS, 34 of them were inside fastballs? That his homerun came on a curveball? This kind of analysis is beyond your comprehension.

Again, the Yankees should avoid Holliday. If his price came down to the 10 million dollar deal, by all means get him. However, he will cost about 16 million a season for years, and this is cost prohibitive for the Yankees. It is simply not a good allocation of funds.

You could learn a thing or two, not only from me, but from your baseball better's, Jacko and 26. You took a marginal point and argued it [incorrectly], while agreeing with the big picture. A true exercise in futility.

My advice? Shut up, read, and you may learn something or two.

By keeping both, you advocate having absolutely abysmal defense in LF with a significant likelihood of regression offensively. I am cool with one of them as a DH.

[Dipre]

Hey Jacko.

You played baseball.

Would you be so kind as to explain how the fuck can a baseball player hit a cumulative .350 on the inside part of the plate if he can't hit inside fastballs?

[yankees228]

I don't want to bring back Matsui, because I think, starting next year, they should rotate A-Rod and Posada in the DH spot. They have eight more years of A-Rod, they have to do all they can to preserve him for as much of that time as possible. As for Posada, they have to try to keep him productive through 2011.

[Dipre]

I don't want to bring back Matsui, because I think, starting next year, they should rotate A-Rod and Posada in the DH spot. They have eight more years of A-Rod, they have to do all they can to preserve him for as much of that time as possible. As for Posada, they have to try to keep him productive through 2011.

What do you suggest then?

Holliday's not an option because he clearly can't hit the inside fastball, even though he hit a cumulative .341 on the inside part of the plate, and about 60% of those pitches were fastballs, he simply can't hit fastballs on the inner third of the plate, and the 36 pitches they threw at him in the playoffs is a clear indication of that.