The Official 2012 New York Yankees death watch thread...

[Jman47]

Hello baseball fans and fanatics.

The 2012 MLB season is fast approaching & everyone is wondering if this will be the year that - despite once again having MLB's largest payroll AND having MLB go to an expanded 10 team playoff setup - the New York Yankees will NOT even make the post season? Or, will it be yet another year of the overpaid prima donnas padding their individual stats? To maybe get to round 1 and say "time to go home, we are tired..."? How will they play this season? Will they once again break the heart of every member of Yankeeville? Will Alex Rodriguez ever earn his HUGE contract...as a part time DH? Will the likes of CC Sabathia have more stike outs than lbs. listed on his bio? Will the "great one" Mariano Rivera blow more saves in his final year than in all of those before it? Will steroids once again be the talk of this baseball season ... or will the new HGH testing show what really resurrects pitchers in the big apple? So many questions......

Disclaimer: Read at your own risk. No whining. People who are too thin-skinned, or who fear rebuttal posts, or who are closed minded to all opinions but thier own should not read and/or participate in the thread. This thread was created for the baseball fan with a sense of humor and an open mind who loves this great sport & actually is even kinda happy that there is a team called the New York Yankees. If it wasn't for teams like the Yankees, baseball would be extremely boring and lets face it revenue sharing would be mute. So let's enjoy this upcoming 2012 season together & may it be a harmonious season among Merb's die-hard baseball fans. This upcoming season will be so damn enjoyable to watch! :thumb:​

 

[Jman47]

Hal Steinbrenner plans to lower Yankees' payroll

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — New York Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner says it's his goal to lower the team's payroll to $189 million over the next few years.
Under baseball's new labor contract, the luxury tax threshold will be at $189 million after the 2013 season.

Is it a requirement with baseball that we hit 189? No, it's not a requirement, but that is going to be the luxury tax threshold and that's where I want to be,'' Steinbrenner said on Thursday. ``I don't think it's an unrealistic goal. My goals are normally considered a requirement.''
Steinbrenner said this season's payroll is around $210 million. He feels the Yankees can be successful at a lower level with a strong player-development system.
The Yankees were hit with a $13.9 million luxury tax last season. New York's final 2011 payroll was $212.7 million.

I'm just not convinced we need to be as high as we've been in the past to field a championship-caliber team,'' Steinbrenner said. ``We'll see who comes off (salary-wise) in the next couple years.''
New York has a number of promising prospects, including pitchers Dellin Betances and Manuel Banuelos.

We'll see how these young kids perform towards the end of this year and into next year,'' Steinbrenner said. ``The young kids are going to play a big part of being able to lower this payroll. I am going to need some of these young pitchers to step up.''
Steinbrenner again reiterated that he's not planning to work on any in-season contract extensions.

Right now I just want to get through this season before we talk to anybody,'' Steinbrenner said.
Steinbrenner gave his support to Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, who had a difficult personal offseason.
Cashman's wife filed divorce papers last month, a day after prosecutors charged a woman with stalking him and extorting money over an extramarital affair.

I'm not going to get into personal situations of employees,'' Steinbrenner said. ``It's not Yankee business. I can only say that we're here to support him.''
As for the upcoming season, Steinbrenner is upbeat about the defending AL East champions.

I'm excited,'' he said. ``I think we've got, on paper, definitely a better team than we did last year. I think our starting pitching is improved, and that was one of our goals during the offseason.''
New York has added starting pitchers Michael Pineda and Hiroki Kuroda.

The Yankees open spring training play on Friday with an exhibition against the University of South Florida.

 

[Wexdog]

A Red Sox fan posting about the Yankees. Oh boy.

Where was Red Sox Nation for 80 years while the Yankees were piling up World Series championships ?
Are the Sox headed for another money losing season ?
If they want to contend, what choice do they have ?
Where/when is the Buckner statue going to be erected ?

 

[Doc Holliday]

A Red Sox fan posting about the Yankees. Oh boy.

Where was Red Sox Nation for 80 years while the Yankees were piling up World Series championships ?
Are the Sox headed for another money losing season ?
If they want to contend, what choice do they have ?
Where/when is the Buckner statue going to be erected ?

But the big question is: "Are there any Popeye's Fried Chicken outlets @Fenway Park?"

 

[Jman47]

Refer back to post 1 gents...its a YANKEE death watch thread...wanna bash the Red Sox...go to that thread...if the intent is to pollute the thread, do we really want to play that game - cause I can play too...

The mysterious new Wexdog...hmmm???

 

[Doc Holliday]

And there he goes whining again....like a little girl....in his own thread! LOL!!!!!!!!!!! :lol:

 

[Jman47]

Hello pot, kettle here...calling you black......

And there he goes whining again....like a little girl....in his own thread! LOL!!!!!!!!!!! :lol:

 

[Jman47]

The return of Candy Andy...

Just when you thought the Yankees were going to have jettisoned most of the deadwood...this gets announced... http://newyork.sbnation.com/new-yor...kees-offseason-news-2012-andy-pettitte-return . Great news for the rest of the AL East as the washed up, has been will occupy a valuable spot on the Yankees roster in a division where every roster spot counts. One would wonder why :thumb:??? Doesn't Andy know that MLB is now testing for HGH ... so a miracle return similar to those of Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon is very improbable without him getting caught.... Or has the Steinbrenner legion of chemists found yet another way to outsmart the MLB testing...:eyebrows:.

Or is is simply that like so many others in all walks of life...HE SIMPLY DOES NOT KNOW WHEN TO QUIT WHILE HE IS AHEAD...:thumb:.
This headline could also make a comeback for other reasons this season:

Wecome back Candy...BATTER UP!!!

 

[rumpleforeskiin]

Wecome back Candy...BATTER UP!!!

I understand that they signed him to play shortstop.

 

[Jman47]

I understand that they signed him to play shortstop.

Well that certainly makes more sense than letting him pitch.:help:
No doubt it was a plan hatched by Brain Cashdollar and Baby Huey...of course after consulting with the great sports minds here at merb...:lol::lol::lol:

 

[rumpleforeskiin]

"What Pettitte’s comeback says about the Yankees is far more interesting: They are concerned about their starting pitching.

No Yankees official will admit this publicly because there’s no sense in pulling the fire alarm three weeks before opening day. But consider: Among an out-of-shape Michael Pineda’s disappearing fastball velocity, a heretofore-underperforming Phil Hughes and an injured Freddy Garcia, the Yankees face rotation questions."

 

[Jman47]

Just one of the pending nails in the yankee coffin for 2012...

Why Adrian Gonzalez will win the Triple Crown in 2012

So we’ve now had 44 full seasons since Carl Yastrzemski won the Triple Crown. If no one manages to pull it off this season it will be 45 years, which is really remarkable. Forty-five years. In the 45 years prior to 1967? Nine Triple Crowns (eight players — Ted Williams did it twice). Babe Ruth’s single-season and career home run records didn’t last 45 years. Hank Aaron’s career mark? Nope. Roger Maris? No luck.

When you think about the number of great, great hitters who have played over the last four and a half decades and failed to lead the league in homers, RBI and batting average in the same season just once it borders on the incomprehensible. Think about it: Willie McCovey, Jim Rice, Mike Schmidt, Don Mattingly, Barry Bonds, Frank Thomas, Rafael Palmeiro, Eddie Murray, George Brett, Albert Pujols, Larry Walker, Dave Winfield, Chipper Jones, Jeff Bagwell, Alex Rodriguez, Dave Parker, Dick Allen (the best hitter not in the Hall of Fame), Albert Belle and a a bunch of other greats haven't been able, over the last 45 years, to accomplish what was done 10 times in the 45 years before 1967.

Look, of course some of that is fluky. Dante Bichette led the National League in homers and RBI in 1995 and hit .340, but Tony Gywnn hit .368. Stuff like that hasn't been uncommon since 1967 -- if Dick Allen had batted .319 instead of .308 he would have won it in 1972 -- but no one has put it together for that one season.

And I think that ends in 2012. Call it at least half a hunch, but Adrian Gonzalez is going to win the Triple Crown this season.

Three things have to happen for Gonzalez to join about as exclusive club as there is in professional sports (well, I mean three things other than leading the league in homers, RBI and batting average) -- he has to stay healthy, the other key guys in front of him in the lineup have to stay healthy and there can be no serious slump from Gonzalez. The idea that he "slumped" in the second half last year is a little overblown -- he did hit .317 with a .404 OBP -- but 10 homers and 40 RBI over a 70-game stretch isn't going to get it done.

Can we assume for a moment that Gonzalez was playing hurt in the second half, that his right shoulder was a significant factor in his lack of power? If that's true, maybe the first 80 games of 2011 is a more accurate representation of what Gonzalez may do over 162 games with this lineup. At the mid-point of the season Gonzalez was batting .354 with 17 homers and 77 RBI. That projects to .354 with 34 homers and 154 RBI. Miguel Cabrera (another terrific Triple Crown candidate) led the league with a .344 average, Jose Bautista led in homers with 43 and Curtis Granderson had 119 RBI.

So it's doable, I guess is the point. It's not a reach to believe that a healthy Gonzalez could knock in, say, 130 runs. Now, hitting .338 was a huge jump over his previous career best (.304 in 2006, he's a career .293 hitter). But he is a career .307 hitter on the road (don't forget, he was buried in Petco Park for five years, there were seasons where his home/road batting average splits were 60 points) and spent years stuck stuck in the middle of a lineup filled with Tadahito Iguchi's and Jody Gerut's and Chase Headley's. Take 2009, for example. Gonzalez topped the NL with 119 walks, finished fifth with 40 HRs and fifth with an OPS of .958. He did that for a Padres team that finished last in the NL in runs scored. No regular (other than Gonzalez, obviously) had a slugging percentage that even equaled the league average.

Now give him a full season (again, he has to stay healthy) with Ellsbury and Pedroia and (maybe?) a productive Carl Crawford and Ortiz and Youkilis and I really think .340-45-140 is absolutely in play.

Would that be enough? Depends on what you think about Jose Bautista, I suppose. He never hit more than 16 homers in a season before 2010, then hit 54 that season and 43 in 2011. I have my theories why he experienced that kind of historical power sure at age 29 and so do you, but I'm betting against him going north of 45 again (and he's not a Triple Crown threat -- this is a career .254 hitter). Albert Pujols is one of the 10 best hitters in baseball history, but he is (ahem) 32 years old, switching leagues (his career home numbers are better than road, but nothing alarming) and coming off the worst season of his career. His batting average, OBP and OPS have gone down in each of the last four years. I understand why the Angels felt they had to sign him and there's no question in my mind that he'll be hugely productive for the first half of the deal, but how about when he's (ahem, Part II) 38 years old and struggling in 2018 and you've still got four years and $116 million left on the deal?

To me, the two real candidates and Gonzalez and Miguel Cabrera (a wild card would be Robinson Cano, maybe he can jump up and hit 40-45 homers, but he hasn't reached 30 yet) and I just trust Gonzalez more than Cabrera, who has managed to produce every season at a really high level despite fighting and often losing battles with alcohol issues. I do wonder when that catches up with Cabrera.

Adrian Gonzalez is in his prime (29 years old ), has an extraordinarily high established level and probably won't hit in a lineup as good as this one for the rest of his career. Can he be moody, even surly? Sure seems that way. Does he give off a vibe that suggests winning isn't the most important thing in his world? Yup. Does that matter? Not at all. Who really cares, other than the media? The guy is a hitter, this isn't J.D. Drew. And there's also this idea floating Out There that being like Wade Boggs with power is a bad thing. Comparing Gonzalez to Boggs is a very good thing, a team with nine hitters like Boggs in his prime would win 100 games with a below-average rotation. If he's the most selfish guy in the world (and I really don't know if he is) it means nothing if he puts up numbers.

And he will put up numbers.
You read it here first: Time for Yaz to have some company. The streak ends in 2012. Adrian Gonzalez will win the Triple Crown.

 

[Jman47]

A Comet for the TEAM....

Yankees hurler Ivan Nova rips catcher Gustavo Molina for troubles in spring training game against Baltimore Orioles

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/b...hibition-game-article-1.1042670#ixzz1pn6By2sc

Looks like the super nova may be turning into the vomit comit...:lol:...in this great display of team spirit...typical yankee....

 

[Jman47]

Tick...tock...

Hgoing Going...Hgone....?

Say it ain't so...the AL East would love to see more of the soft tossing Freddie...:thumb:

 

[Jman47]

Baby Joey takes his ball and goes home...

I don't know what those who wear pinstripe glasses saw...but I saw a pansy manager mis-manage his way into a tie and then whine that he was out of pitching and go home...:help:...

Last night in Ft. Myers new Red Sox skipper Bobby V. makes and aggressive, gutsy call in the b9 and suicide squeezes in a run on sleeping little joey girardi to tie the game...only the have baby joey claim he has no pitching to play on and fold his score card and go home, allowing the game to end in a tie...

Must be yankee pride, guts and glory...:thumb:. Or is "no pitching" just an omen of the yankee 2012 season to come as it has been a moniker of many seasons past for the bronx boobers...:lol:.

 

[Merlot]

Kinda funny, a red sox fan talking about worse trades of all time, lol. Ever heard of Babe Ruth

Really.

So who was Ruth traded for??????????

You're baseball knowledge is almost as bad as your hockey sense (lack of). Ruth was sold for $125,000 and a loan of $300,000. There was no player trade. DUH! :lol:

Perfect record Iggy. You never let the truth see the light in you.

Bravo.

Merlot

Gee Merlot. Trading a player for money is still a trade.

...by Iggy3

 

[Doc Holliday]

Ouch! Pineda put on 15-day DL with shoulder tendinitis

New York Yankees right-hander Michael Pineda has tendinitis in his right shoulder and will start the season on the 15-day disabled list.

Pineda had complained of soreness in the back of his right shoulder Friday night, when he allowed six runs in 2 2/3 innings against the Phillies.

Pineda, 23, was acquired in a January trade from the Seattle Mariners for Jesus Montero.

 

[lgna69xxx]

He needed to get into better shape anyways and the depth the Yanks have makes this a non issue at this time.

 

[Doc Holliday]

I was watching a baseball expert on the MLB baseball network today assessing the Yankees (and other teams in the East) & he basically said that the Yankees pitching stinks & that it would be its achilles heel pretty much all season. That was before Pineda's injury was announced.

 

[Merlot]

Exactly, without payment of money. Thanks.

Rumps,

Shame on you. Iggy has given the word (he screwed up and now has to cover his butt with another fake rationale) and the sycophants must agree.

and look like a fool?

You mean like..."I agree with Iggy". :lol:

Well the only way to settle this is the original source of the times:

Yankees BUY Ruth...Oh my goodness, you just got owned. Ooops, I forgot who you belong to...

Tell us DD, when you buy something with cash how often do you say...I want to TRADE some cash for that. BWAH!!!!!!

Cheers,

Merlot

...deal with Mod8.

crying to M8 again.