Normally, I’d say 0.0% is hyperbole, but in this case, you are correct.  I’m 0-4 this year at NYS, and I’m going again tonight.  This is how much I care about the team though:  we were supposed to go yesterday, but I knew that was a much more important game.  So i took one for the team.

I like this Whatever chick.

Leave town for the postseason, kronic.

0% seems about right for Mitre vs. Halladay.

Well.. Morneau finally killed my fantasy team.

espn gamecast has yankees chance of victory at 67%.  I’m short that number.  in size.

Yay Swish!
This Andy shoulder issue has me a wee concerned.

bit.

Ichiro Gardy!

I guess “a wee concerned” means a lot.

Yay, TSBG!

Do these guys know that the rules allow you to score from second base on a single?

Yeah, the Pettitte news isn’t very good, although Andy has stuff like this just about every year.

Do these guys know that the rules allow you to score from second base on a single?

Swisher is one thing but Gardner?  I don’t care what kind of jump he gets.  If he is on 2b I want him waved home on in infield single to the pitcher.  Bad job by the 3b coach there.

Is it really so much to ask that the Angels NOT get no-hit in Dice-K’s first game back?

nice to see mitre attack the bottom of the lineup after being given a lead

The Pettitte thing can’t be that serious, can it?

The whole Angels/Boston thing is getting ridiculous.

“nice to see mitre attack the bottom of the lineup after being given a lead”

Gameday did have half the balls in the walk in the zone, though the bottom of the zone doesn’t get called a lot.

The Pettitte thing can’t be that serious, can it?

Doesn’t sound like it.  They’ve got the luxury of being cautious with him so they may as well use it.

[19] Also, even though the Yankees disclose injury info in a way that would make Baghdad Bob blush, Pettitte is the one I’d be least worried about given age and experience profile.  Probably something he can manage with pretty good self awareness

19- I too am whistleing past the graveyard. Gonna need the battle goat.

F’ing bandbox…

bring back tomko

I don’t think Mitre is good at baseball.

At least we swept the Angels last night.

Priceless, thurm.

I think one of the biggest benefits of the unbalanced schedule is that it gives the fans 19 chances to see Lyle Overbay live or on TV

Great, Matsuzaka’s going to pitch a no-hitter and we’re going to have to keep hearing about how Boston has ‘three aces.’

4. Don’t forget the notebook Santa. RE # 28.

Great, Matsuzaka’s going to pitch a shutout and we’re going to have to keep hearing about how Boston has ‘three aces.’

Damn you, Figgins.

Do these guys know that the rules allow you to score from second base on a single?

Foreshadowing?

Mitre knows the game is being played at the launching pad, right?

Ted- Mitre box seems to know very little.

Sergio Mitre is absolute SHIT. Please let this be his last appearance in pinstripes.

Wasn’t this Mitre fellow supposed to be a fairly extreme ground ball pitcher?

Is giving up 4 HRs in fewer than four innings good or bad?

Foreshadowing?

The Gardner not scoring thing really pissed me off.  It’s not like you get a ton of chances to score against Halladay.

Doesn’t that make 4 aces?

[38] I was thinking more in terms of the whole A-Rod out at the plate thing.

Man, Sterling sucks.  He just called a Swisher HR.

Okay, I missed the first half of the game.  9 hits in 3.1 innings and only 2 runs?  Huh?

Total suck.  I’m going to watch Sundays Jets game again. I like being happy.

“I wish those metric people, whatever that means, would sit in the booth with me and watch Jeter go to his left.  Can’t go to the left my fanny.”

-John Sterling

[44] Sterling is actually watching these games? He had me fooled.

44- I believe in kilometers. They exist. I’ve left this country several times.
I’ve seen actual liters.

The Angels are so pathetic.

As bad as this game has been, Jorge could tie it up with one swing.

Also, I tried to warn everyone that the Angels would be so upset about Girardi out small-balling them last night that they would lay down for the Sawx.

Modamnitt.

Really, besides those four homers Mitre’s pitched well.

The fact that Mitre is still pitching tells me the Yankees have little interest in winning this game.

I bought a liter of Sambucca just about an hour ago, thurm.  Didn’t have to leave the country.

It’s a shame that people like Sterling can’t be bothered to pay enough attention to at least know that a lot of the metric people think Jeter’s been going to his left better lately.

Despite that Pearl Harbor thing, The USN was kind of alert for most of 1941.

October has come early for the Angels.

Bucca!! I’ve grown quite fond of the stuff. Only on weekends.

Mitre is a stark example for why modeling a pitcher’s BABIP back to .300 can be such a misleading assumption.

Thurman Munson weeps re plate blocking skill. So does Joel Skinner.

I went back through Mitre’s gamelogs to see if outside of the game against the White Sox he had been effective in any of his other 9 starts, and the answer is no.

He hasn’t gotten past 5 2/3 IP in any start other than the White Sox game.

Can anyone make a case why they should even keep him around as pitching depth next season? He doesn’t even have options available to hide him in AAA in the break-glass-in-case-of-emergency case.

58- Dumpster him.
How great is Doc finding his stride after the 90th pitch?

Edwar…......blows. Fun game. I felt a loss but geeze louise.

[58] He’s shown a lot of talent in the past, he’s not past the normal TJ recovery time (I think), he’s cheap, he’s gotten some bad bounces as a Yankee.  If he can’t be put in AAA next year though it doesn’t much matter.

Eyedrops.

Angels blow.

You may be able to put him in AAA by putting him on waivers and seeing if anyone claims him.  I’d agree with rilkefan that we probably don’t know if he’s done recovering from TJ surgery yet either.

Figure that you’re going to have some combination of IPK, Zach McCallister, Wilkin de La Rosa as your backup starters assuming the rotation goes CC, Burnett, Joba, Hughes, Pettitte or some other fifth starter?  I’m assuming no Wang for 2010.  I guess Mitre as your ninth starter would be acceptable.

So we should plan on a Red Sox/Tigers ALCS, huh?

[63] They do have that option on Mitre (not sure for how much, but his salary this year was $1.25M and I would assume = or > that) and his service time appears to be under 5 years so they could try the waivers deal as a way to hide him in AAA. Worst case someone claims him and they lose him, which is exactly what would happen if they tried declining his option and convincing him to take a minor league contract.

So, I wouldn’t be opposed to him being the 9th starter if he clears waivers, assuming they would be smart about it and send him through waivers before the Rule 5 so he doesn’t cost them valuable spot on the 40 man.

[64] Angels/Red Sox ALCS, as the Sawx will win the East (3 Aces! No way they don’t make up the deficit) and face the Tigers in round one. The Sox have 3 aces and the Tigers only have 1.5, so Sox win that.

Angels face Yankees in the other series, and we know how that script ends.

Hence, Angels/Red Sox, Sawx win that in 2 games, then finish off the NL in one game.

So what is Mitre doing Kei Igawa can’t do?

And do the Yankees have an actual plan re: Igawa? It doesn’t make sense to have a guy pitch in the minors and pay him 4 millions. They might try to eat some money and send him for something they may actually have an use for.

re: Igawa

He has $4M due each of the next two seasons. I guess he has contributed something in that he has helped the AAA team make the playoffs twice. Also, he isn’t filling a spot on the 40 man roster, which is nice.

They had the chance to let him go for nothing and have the Padres take his contract a couple years ago (they claimed him after the deadline) but they opted to keep him. Then last season they sent him through non-revocable waivers and no one claimed him.

Even if they ate all $8M remaining on his contract, would they get anything better than a mediocre prospect?

I wish they would try him out as a LOOGY. I thought someone posted his splits and they were actually good against LHH.

4-5 days off for Jorge no prob at all.

[69] Please explain. Gameday says he was ejected…

Carlson throws behind jopo when he’s up.  Clearly with a purpose. A lot of jawing and pointing but no real action.  When JP scored on the Gardner double, he brushes against Carlson (backing up home plate) with a halfhearted elbow.

Whereupon Carlson starts yeliing at Jorge who’s headed toward the dugout.  Jorge come charging back at Carlson and the melee is on.  Nice welt on Carlson’s bald pate.

Not quite Tino and Armando Benitez (Straw and Graeme Lloyd in supporting roles), but there was more actual fighting than with most bench-clearers.

So a Jorge suspension figures to be in the offing.  Hence [69].

Bafflingly, Karl Ravech has Cliff Lee on the horn and is insisting he comment on the Yanks-Jays fight before discussing the guy’s 3-hit shutout.

Trader.

Nice description B-Man. Thats exactly how I saw it. 71 was well done.
I was in my rack, nodding off.

Hit the next batter…

Johnny Mac, got a left handed sucker shot in on Girardio.
I consider myself a bit of a badass but Joey G appears to be a guy that can shut you right up in a 1 on 1. Of course he’s much younger than meself.

That was a dick move by Posada. He didn’t hit you. He didn’t even come close. He threw at least a foot behind you. Was that really worth starting a bench clearing brawl over with two weeks left in the season? 

That was just stupid.

I don’t think McDonald was trying to hit Girardi. I think he was just trying to pull him away.

Yay Tex.

Johnny Mac, got a left handed sucker shot in on Girardio.

He was trying to pull Teix off and brushed him by accident.  Of course Kay is too stupid to realize that Mac hit him on the right side of the head so it has nothing to do with the welt over his left eye.

As for Posada’s anger, yes it was excessive, but I batters don’t like to have balls thrown behind them. I think they’d rather get hit in the ass.

78-79- Juan Marichal hit Johnny Roseboro with an effen bat.
Emotion and anger. I’m not promoting it but I comprende.

Teix is practicing hitting triples for the playoffs.

0-5, fellas.  And the worst part is that they started their rally after i left, but as soon as i turned the radio on, said rally was killed.

More importantly, the Yankees need to make sure to hit or throw behind someone in the top of the first tomorrow before the Jays get a chance, because you know the first incident will just be a warning, the next is an ejection/suspension.

Kronic? Leave the game early did ya?

I hope A-Rod is not practising striking out.

I did.  I normally don’t, but it’s a weeknight and I was being offered a ride back to Jersey.  Couldn’t pass that up.

Still innit lads. Nissan Versa turned to dust.

89- Can’t blame you.
Good night fellas.  Unless another basebrawl starts.

I am listening to the Giants commentary on the MLB network. The color guy, Joe Magrane, seems quite funny and knowledgeable.

Jim Tracy apparently learnt once that sometimes you have to “take a professional loss”, which apparently amounts to letting the worst relievers pitch when faced with the prospect of an almost certain loss. Magrane: “That is like, putting whipped cream on… never mind.”

Less vitriol than expected after flipping on sportscenter.

Seems all blown out of proportion to me.

[78] I dunno sd.  Yeah I thought Po was a little hotheaded, and as lame as I often find these fights, a little fire when you’re playing out the string in mid-September ain’t such a bad thing.  Though the injury risk gives one pause for sure.

Granted, the pitch was roughly even with JoPo’s ass, but it was SO clearly deliberate.  And having been up there (albeit against 70mph high school fastballs), a pitch behind is perhaps more terrifying because it goes right past your body if you know what I’m saying. 

Besides, contra Gammons’ bellowing on BBTN, it’s preposterous to think that Mitre was throwing at Encarnacion when the game was still competitive and Mitre’s pitching for a job.  Melancon’s HBP of Hill looked a little more menacing, but why, absent provocation, would a kid who’s trying to prove himself go headhunting?

(BTW I’m speculating that whoever was pulling on Barajas by the chest protector strap might get a game or two).

I don’t mind the passion.  I don’t mind him yelling back and jawing.  But to elbow someone while you are going by and then start a bench clearing brawl over a pitch that was just sending a message with zero intent to actually hit you?  Come on.

78-79- Juan Marichal hit Johnny Roseboro with an effen bat.

That’s nuts.  Delmon Young approves.

Ae the Yankees gonna pull a Mets here?

Thankfully they don’t have to play the Angels any more this season. I mean, if they had to go to Anaheim for three games, and got swept, the Bosox would be back in it. But thankfully that isn’t possible….......

Nah, the Mets would blow a playoff spot, not the division.  I don’t think that’s going to happen.

So what is Mitre doing Kei Igawa can’t do?

Speak fluent english?

Next year the AAA rotation (assuming they protect Nova, which I think they will) is Nova, Igawa, McCallister, and IPK.  So who is the 5th?  Could be Towers again, though with his pitching well (IIRC he was MiLB pitcher of the month twice.  Definitely once.) in the minors he may earn himself a major-league job next year.  Wang probably won’t be ready to pitch in games in April, so he’s out.  Could be De La Rosa, but he’s coming off (another) injury and only threw 82.2 innings at AA.  I don’t know if they’re ready for any of the other “kids” to go up to AAA yet.

So…the options for 5th starter - and “veteran presence” - in AAA next year are Mitre, Gaudin, and Towers.  Towers may get a contract elsewhere, and Gaudin I think would have to clear waivers and may get an honest shot at being the last man in the bullpen (and may deserve it).  So yes, I think it is 100% the right thing to try to send Mitre down to AAA (he can stay on the 40 man if there is room) and see what he’s got.  Maybe nothing, or maybe he can work himself up to being a decent #4, which if the Yanks stay healthy in the rotation can be a good trade-chip come July.

Ae the Yankees gonna pull a Mets here?

You mean the 86 Mets, right?