2013 New York Yankees Season Long Discussion Thread

[snapple]

Bobby Abreu?

[2JAY]

I am so glad that the Yankees have a bench that can help fill the Granderson........oops, sorry wrong season.

[kan_t]

I am surprise no one mentioned Zoilo Almonte. He makes perfect sense for the fill-in.

[Bub]

Apparently Cashman has already said Nunez in LF is not an option. One of the beat writers mentioned it on Twitter.

Edit: It was Bryan Hoch:
Bryan Hoch ‏@BryanHoch

Cashman says Nunez is not an option for him in LF

That's all fine and dandy, but if he's not an option in LF in a time like this and he's already proven to be a butcher in the infield, what use is he going to be? Where are all those at-bats they want for him going to come from?

[fredgmuggs]

That's all fine and dandy, but if he's not an option in LF in a time like this and he's already proven to be a butcher in the infield, what use is he going to be? Where are all those at-bats they want for him going to come from?

I know you don't want to hear this but I have my concerns about a 38 year old (39 in June) Jeter at SS coming off a broken ankle. I have a feeling Nunez is going to have more time at SS than you would like.

[rajah]

1) I agree with Fred. For better or for worse, they are counting on Nunez to play a lot of SS, especially early in the season. They also, for good reason, must be wary about moving him around defensively. You need more than speed and an arm to play competent OF.

2) The injury is a downer and obviously a blow to the Yankee prospects. But it is not hard to find the silver lining in getting to see whether one of 3 or 4 young OFers might be ready. As I have said before, it can be fun rooting for a team that does not have a lot of veteran insurance.

I would hope the most loyal and zealous Yankee fans would not be bitter and demand yearly dominance.

[NelsonMuntz]

1) I agree with Fred. For better or for worse, they are counting on Nunez to play a lot of SS, especially early in the season. They also, for good reason, must be wary about moving him around defensively. You need more than speed and an arm to play competent OF.

Agreed.

2) The injury is a downer and obviously a blow to the Yankee prospects. But it is not hard to find the silver lining in getting to see whether one of 3 or 4 young OFers might be ready. As I have said before, it can be fun rooting for a team that does not have a lot of veteran insurance.

I would hope the most loyal and zealous Yankee fans would not be bitter and demand yearly dominance.

As down as I am about Granderson's injury, I am looking forward to the possibility of seeing someone like Garcia or Mustelier (possibly even Heathcott although less likely) get a shot.

[ArodEra]

Granderson is going to miss April. It's not the end of the world.

And will probably suffer from a loss of strength long after. Granderson without HR power is pretty useless--a K machine that doesn't utilize his speed offensively. Can we agree on that?

[fredgmuggs]

1) I agree with Fred. For better or for worse, they are counting on Nunez to play a lot of SS, especially early in the season. They also, for good reason, must be wary about moving him around defensively. You need more than speed and an arm to play competent OF.

2) The injury is a downer and obviously a blow to the Yankee prospects. But it is not hard to find the silver lining in getting to see whether one of 3 or 4 young OFers might be ready. As I have said before, it can be fun rooting for a team that does not have a lot of veteran insurance.

I would hope the most loyal and zealous Yankee fans would not be bitter and demand yearly dominance.

And Youkalis has had his shares of injuries lately. I think Nunez is going to get more infield time than some around here would want.

[ArodEra]

I am so glad that the Yankees have a bench that can help fill the Granderson........oops, sorry wrong season.

Maybe it's karma for all the times forumers made fun of Boston's "Legendary depth!!!111" in the Sox thread.

What boggles my mind, is that for a team with such a lack of depth, we take on two invalids in Hafner and Youkilis and sign a declining 63 year old to play RF.

[Yankee Fan in Boston]

And Youkalis has had his shares of injuries lately. I think Nunez is going to get more infield time than some around here would want.

I was going to add this also. I think they're going to be careful with both Jeter and Youkilis, even if they are both healthy

[snapple]

And will probably suffer from a loss of strength long after. Granderson without HR power is pretty useless--a K machine that doesn't utilize his speed offensively. Can we agree on that?

No. I don' inherently believe he's going to lose power.

[ArodEra]

No. I don' inherently believe he's going to lose power.

I meant, would you agree that Granderson would be pretty useless without HR power? There is the possibility, even if remote, that he won't regain full strength in his forearm for a period of time after his expected return.

[snapple]

I meant, would you agree that Granderson would be pretty useless without HR power? There is the possibility, even if remote, that he won't regain full strength in his forearm for a period of time after his expected return.

If he's anything like last year, without the power, he'd be completely useless. I can't imagine the Yankees couldn't find a minor leaguer who can hit for power with the same OBP or have higher OBP with less power.

edit: and no, I don't mean 43 HR power. I mean, 15-20 homers.

[NelsonMuntz]

And will probably suffer from a loss of strength long after. Granderson without HR power is pretty useless--a K machine that doesn't utilize his speed offensively. Can we agree on that?

At a minimum I think it will be end of May until we see Granderson back at anything close to full strength. Assuming the "recovery" timeframe is 10 weeks as has been reported, he'll likely need a few additional weeks to swing the bat and get his timing down since he is missing all of spring training.

[snapple]

At a minimum I think it will be end of May until we see Granderson back at anything close to full strength. Assuming the "recovery" timeframe is 10 weeks as has been reported, he'll likely need a few additional weeks to swing the bat and get his timing down since he is missing all of spring training.

Recovery timeframe is 8 weeks. They are saying 10 weeks before he can rejoin the team.

[JL25and3]

2) The injury is a downer and obviously a blow to the Yankee prospects. But it is not hard to find the silver lining in getting to see whether one of 3 or 4 young OFers might be ready. As I have said before, it can be fun rooting for a team that does not have a lot of veteran insurance.

I would hope the most loyal and zealous Yankee fans would not be bitter and demand yearly dominance.

Or whether you're just throwing some kid into the deep end before he can handle it, just because of a massive planning failure. "Not a lot of veteran insurance" is one thing. Not even having a fourth outfielder is another.

[Doug]

Or whether you're just throwing some kid into the deep end before he can handle it, just because of a massive planning failure. "Not a lot of veteran insurance" is one thing. Not even having a fourth outfielder is another.

This team is so vulnerable to injuries, it's ridurous !

How do you replace Tex, Cano, Jeter, Youkillus, Gardner, Ichiro, CC, Pettitte, MO, etc. when any of them go on the DL ? It;s hard to even give any of the position players a single day off !

[madjack]

Alfonso Soriano on his way back?

http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/cubs...ade-to-yankees

[Torre Must Go]

As much as I hate Happ for making the Yankees' chances of winning and scoring runs, which were already in at least some question compared to previous seasons, that much harder, I do hope he stays healthy. I want him to get hit hard and hurt the Blue Jays in the standings as much as possible, and their team have a 2012 Marlins-like season. Of course if Happ did happen to suffer an injury, I wouldn't exactlly be upset either.

[rajah]

Or whether you're just throwing some kid into the deep end before he can handle it, just because of a massive planning failure. "Not a lot of veteran insurance" is one thing. Not even having a fourth outfielder is another.

As I said, I would hope strong fans like you would not react this way.

I do not intend to debate you on whether this reflects "a massive planning failure," or what the definition is of a "fourth outfielder." You can give vent to your negative feelings toward management if you wish. I know I had those feelings toward the coaching staff during those woeful games in the playoffs last year.

But personally I am sort of glad that some young players will get a chance in spring training and perhaps April rather than have someone like Ibanez or Jones play the kind of bad LF and provide the kind of mediocre offense that Riviera and Diaz probably can provide. And the young, unproven players who will be given a chance "in the deep," like Mesa and Almonte and Mustelier, need to be prett much ready now or they probably never will be. No one is going to be rushing Austin or Slade because of this.

[JL25and3]

As I said, I would hope strong fans like you would not react this way.

I do not intend to debate you on whether this reflects "a massive planning failure," or what the definition is of a "fourth outfielder." You can give vent to your negative feelings toward management if you wish. I know I had those feelings toward the coaching staff during those woeful games in the playoffs last year.

But personally I am sort of glad that some young players will get a chance in spring training and perhaps April rather than have someone like Ibanez or Jones play the kind of bad LF and provide the kind of mediocre offense that Riviera and Diaz probably can provide. And the young, unproven players who will be given a chance "in the deep," like Mesa and Almonte and Mustelier, need to be prett much ready now or they probably never will be. No one is going to be rushing Austin or Slade because of this.

I don't demand yearly dominance, and if I'm bitter, it's just those negative feelings towards management. To me, being a "strong fan" doesn't mean rah-rahing the front office when they screw up.

If they were picking up expensive veterans to block legitimate prospects (Tony Womack), I'd be against that. But when the only contingency plan is to throw washed-up scrapheap players or low-ceiling B prospects out there, just because - then yes, I think that's very bad planning.

Btw, I doubt that Rivera and Diaz can even match the low standards set by Ibanez and Jones last year. And neither one can hit righties.

And even that's assuming that Ichiro! continues to play like he did in September rather than like he did for almost two years before that.

[gold23]

Not so sure this is such an amazingly bad thing here. In fact, you can make a case that it's not all that bad in several ways.....

Gardner is a much better player when a lefthanded pitcher is on the mound than Granderson. He's a much better defender, he's a better hitter against lefties, etc. I know Granderson had that year and a few months where he "found it" against lefties, but that looks a lot more like an outlier right now than anything else. So he's basically a really good hitter against righthanders and not a very good hitter against lefties.

This Yankee club can hit righties. Yes, Granderson makes them close to lethal, but they should do well against righties even in his absence. Girardi tends to sit Gardner more than Granderson against lefty pitching, so this probably makes the Yankees a better team against lefty pitchers- the one area they've struggled at times in recent years.

No, losing Granderson is not a good thing in the aggregate....but it's not as bad as some may think.

[StingrayJG]

Just a quick FYI, the NYY/BAL game is on live at 1pm right now for anyone that can get MASN on their system. ch.640 on DTV

[gold23]

Just a quick FYI, the NYY/BAL game is on live at 1pm right now for anyone that can get MASN on their system. ch.640 on DTV

Also not blacked out via mlb.tv and their apps....