I’ll post Kennedy’s MLE again:

W: 8
L: 7
ERA: 4.15
G: 26
GS: 25
IP: 141
H: 131
ER: 65
HR: 14
BB: 66
SO: 109

It’s the best move they can make right now.  Kudos to the Yankees for doing it.

There will be enough depth in the pen with the expanded rosters to reduce any concern about his innings cap.

I broke it first. Nobody ever gives me props. I’m just going to sit in my room and cry like a baby!

Just kidding…great news…boy is it good to be a Yankee fan.

10. Posted at 6:11:24 pm on Tuesday, August 28, 2007 by Don
Sigh… Torre said several days ago that Kennedy was not being called up.

Can I make it clearer? I only posted this four times now.

Looks like super know it all Don got this one wrong. Don’t ya hate it when that happens?

It’s the best move they can make right now.  Kudos to the Yankees for doing it.

... and however it works out for us this season, it’ll make our offseason conversations that much more interesting. We’ll know what we’ve got if we’re seriously talking about a rotation of Wang, Pettite, Hughes, Chamerblain and Kennedy.  Wow. This is a few years early, isn’t it?

This is awesome. No matter how this season turns out, it’s been fun, at the least.

It’s been a hell of a year for what’s been a building year.

I broke it first. Nobody ever gives me props. I’m just going to sit in my room and cry like a baby!

take it easy puppy-face

Very inspiring video. Gives me flashbacks. I liked Herm, but he was such a jackass and he left on bad terms.

Hey yup that’s not nice. I dont have a puppy face.

i have no idea if Kennedy was the right call, but starting *someone* instead of Mussina was the right call. 

he is simply getting humiliated right now and they needed to put an end to it.

Jim Fassel is a god.

Hey yup that’s not nice. I dont have a puppy face.

oh, i thought you said you did on another thread.  j/k.

Yea he shouldn’t have gotten fired/resigned, I can’t remember. He’s better than Tom Coughlin.

The best thing about that clip is Mike Ditka is on it.

Yea, he’s good too.

As ABC(?) posted yesterday, Kennedy will make a maximum of three starts given the off days in September.  That means 15-18 innings, which will hardly damage the guy.  If he keeps the walks to a minimum, he’ll have a great chance to win his first big league game.

I’m surprised actually—I figured Moose would get one more chance if only because they’re playing the Deviled Eggs. But kudos to Cashman for taking a chance. It’s ballsy, but the Yankees need ballsy right now, and they can’t afford to indulge Torre’s fixation with chewy veterans.

I also don’t believe that this is ‘all in’ desperation time for Torre and Cashman. Cashman has repeatedly said that he’ll do what’s in the best interest of the organization regardless of what it means for his future in his position - and I believe him.  Perhaps Torre has more leverage than I’m giving him credit for, but I just think this is more of a practical move rather than desperation, as Kennedy will only be getting 15-20 more innings at the most.

It’s only 10 IP, but Moose’s stats v. the ‘rays suck, which must have made the decision to go with Kennedy even easier:

ERA: 7.59  
BAA: .400

BTW, the Angels have come back to tie the M’s at 5 going into the bottom of the seventh.

I can’t believe I’m being forced to ‘root’ for the Angels, but at least they overcame that debacle by Ervin and tie it.  Probably helped that the opposing pitcher was one Jeff Weaver.

My apologies, going to the top of the seventh….

Angels have taken the lead on a Vlad double.

The Mariners not only have Jeff Weaver in their rotation but also Horacio Ramirez.  This is not a team that is going to win a lot of games down the stretch.  I agree with whomever said that the Yanks real worry should be Detroit - who lost by the way to Kansas City.

Vlad the Impaler with the go-ahead double!!!!!

And then Seattle walked Garrett Anderson, to face the marginally worse Izturis. How are we behind these jokers?

Also, if we are going to blame Cashman for FA pitcher signings, he also deserves credit for Pettitte - who has worked out rather well thus far.  He should have far more than 12 wins at this point.

I felt awful when Pettitte left (and we traded Lilly to get Weaver, but that’s another story). The guy has done so much for the team… and no one’s better than him turning around a losing streak.

Weaver has an ERA of 5.62.  That’s like throwing Mussina out there every five days.  Moreover, Weaver is not 39 years old.

Pettitte this month: 6-0 2.36 ERA… I say player of the month.

Pettitte has been what we all hoped Clemens and Hughes would be.

Does anyone think Pettite can get into the 250-270 win range? I mean, he’s 34/35 and maybe if he pitches until possibly 41-42 he might get there.

If he stays on the team… I think it’s the sort of line-up that could get him to that level.

Gary Matthews steals second- should have been called out. scores.

Willie Bloomquist anyone?

anybody who says things don’t even themselves out in baseball….

Huzzah!!

I thought Kennedy ought to be given a shot (yeah, the innings thing is a problem, but I’d rather that problem than the problem of not having Kennedy pitch), so I am quite pleased about this one!

So, who gets cut? Is Kevin Reese still on the 40 man roster?

Looks like were gonna gain another game. Seattle losing 9-6 Top 8 Bases Loaded.

Check that 10-6

Holy crap, I didn’t even know Rick White was still in the majors. What a bust HE was for the Yanks.

Oops, I must have been thinking GABE White, who is NOT still in the majors.

Yea, I think the Yanks got him from the Reds. Remember Chris Hammond? Maybe Moose could be that in the bullpen.

Well, Rick White is still awful. For all the talk about how great Seattle’s bullpen is, apparently they needed him.

Alright guys, the puppy face is out     Good day for the Yanks.

I still can’t believe the Angels went on a 10-1 run. Wow.

The Angels taketh, the Angels giveth.

Come on, Seattle, don’t be doing any crazy comeback here.

YES! Scot Shields strikes out ICHIRO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! looking to end it.

Angels 10, Seattle 6.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are only one game out of the WC.

Woohoo! One game back!

How many times do I have to post this, Torre said the Yankees <strike>aren’t</strike> are calling up Kennedy. Sheesh.

Interesting quote from Pete Abe:

Meanwhile, I’m shocked that in a pennant race in September this team will have a pitching staff that includes [Joba] Chamberlain, Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy, Edwar Ramirez and Chris Britton.

That tells you all you need to know about how much power Brian Cashman has. Regardless of what happens the rest of the way this season, he’s building a player development powerhouse that must scare the socks off the rest of baseball.

That’s why the Tigers are spending big $$$$ on pitching prospects.

I trust this post meets with the approval of j.

he’s building a player development powerhouse that must scare the socks off the rest of baseball.

Yeah, Hughes is scaring everyone.

It’s ballsy, but the Yankees need ballsy right now, and they can’t afford to indulge Torre’s fixation with chewy veterans.

I don’t know, I figure Moose is just missing a start to help end of season arm fatigue whatever.  I would like to see Moose come out of the pen though.  But we’ll see.

Just a few comments on Mussina:

1) Why does his performance seem so dependent on his fastball?  I thought Mussina could age as well as guys like Maddux, Glavine, Moyer, etc, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.

2) Does Mussina have a NTC?  At one year for $11MM, I think you’d find some interested teams this winter, especially in the NL.

Yeah, Hughes is scaring everyone.

I think you missed the word building.

1) Why does his performance seem so dependent on his fastball?  I thought Mussina could age as well as guys like Maddux, Glavine, Moyer, etc, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.

The problem with Mussina’s FB right now is that he can’t control where it’s going, and there isn’t a sufficient differential in speeds between his FB and his off speed pitches.

2) Does Mussina have a NTC?  At one year for $11MM, I think you’d find some interested teams this winter, especially in the NL.

Mussina is a ten and five player, so he has a constructive NTC.

don’t you people sleep?  my god, i wake up and there’s already a dig at Don for the guarantee that Kennedy won’t start, and a good natured ribbing of “puppy face”.  You’ve taken away all my topics for posting!  man, work is going to be slow today.

Unlike Maddux and Glavine, Mussina also pitches in the AL and thus faces far deeper and more difficult line-ups.  After all Mussina did pitch eight solid innings this year against Arizona and their tepid offense.  I know because I saw this performance in a five star hotel in Havana while drinking beer from a can.

This clip just reminded me of how much I hate Tom Coughlin.

I’m still disappointed in what happened to Clippard. I thuoght he could be a useful 5th starter type.

Clippard is only 22.  He’s hardly finished.

How many times do I have to post this, Torre said the Yankees aren’t are calling up Kennedy. Sheesh.

There ya go…

The problem with Mussina’s FB right now is that he can’t control where it’s going, and there isn’t a sufficient differential in speeds between his FB and his off speed pitches.

i think the problem is that he is SCARED to throw it over the plate.  i think he can control it ok, but he has zero confidence in that pitch.

how many times have we seen Mussina ahead 1-2, then he tries 2-3 times to sneak one over the outside corner until he is behind in the count again??

in his last few starts he is actually so defeated that he has stopped grimacing at the umps when he doesn’t get that pitch called b/c he knows he keeps moving it further and further off the plate b/c he is scared of contact.

i think the problem is that he is SCARED to throw it over the plate.  i think he can control it ok, but he has zero confidence in that pitch….

That’s possible. There could be multiple explanations. For example, WasWatching quotes Guidry as saying:

...that Moose’s issue is about not following a game plan that he needs to follow to be successful. He said that Mike broke from the plan against the Angels and the Tigers.

[...]

Basically, Gator said that Mussina needs to realize that he’s a breaking ball pitcher and not a fastball pitcher…and that Moose needs to work from a game plan that plays into that model.

Whatever…He’s not going to pitch on the staff now…Anybody can get a good scouting report on Ian? Puppy face would love to see it.

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/draft/y2006/tracker/search.jsp

Even Better: http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/draft/y2006/tracker/search.jsp?sc=team&sp=nya

Fabian’s pre-season look at Kennedy.

Rich Lederer’s game chart of Kennedy vs. Lincecum when they were in college.

FWIW, when I saw Kennedy pitch in Scranton a few weeks ago, he looked good.  FB started in the 88-90 range, but improved as the game went on, sitting regularly at 92-93 by the 5th or so, and touching 94.  He also always seemed to go strike-one, strike-two on hitters, and then after that start using breaking-pitches to go for a K (which he got several of).  Also only had one ball hit into the OF I think (I single over the head of the second-baseman).

“Whatever…He’s not going to pitch on the staff now”

Don’t think Mussina’s not going to pitch again for the Yankees this year. He will.  Remember Cone coming out of the pen in the postseason in 2000?  (Granted that was brief, but it was also big, the Piazza AB.)  It’s not necessarily bad, and it might work out well, but I can’t believe Torre will let a Proven Veteran just sit in the pen in big games where he’s going through 3-4-5 relievers.

I hope so.  Despite all the crap Moose gets, especially from columnists who hate the fact that he’s smarter than them, he’s been big for us many times.

Really, I mostly like him because I hate knee-jerk anti-intellectualism and because I think people who speak of him in derogatory feminine terms are a-holes (though I like the Nomaas guys otherwise) and people who think it’s somehow his fault that the Yanks haven’t won a series since he joined the team are morons. (Murray Chass, I’m talking to you.)  I’ll root for him to get some big outs for us for those reasons.

First off, I’ll always be fond of Mussina.  Partly for what the Frog is talking about above and partly because of game 7, 2003 ALCS (and others, but that’s “the big one” for me).  That’s the rebuttal to anyone inclined to call Mussina soft.

The problem is he’s got a straight 85 mph fastball and his breaking stuff is good but not unhittable.  Even if he has great command of that stuff, he is likely to struggle against good offensive teams in the AL.  If he is lacking in that command at all, he will get shelled.

He doesn’t have “confidence in his fastball” because there is no reason for confidence in it.  When he throws it over the plate, it gets hammered.

I’m happy Kennedy is coming up, for a number of reasons, but none of those reasons involves dislike for Moose.  I very much hope he works on the side and somehow magically regains several mph on his FB.  Somehow this happened in the ‘05-‘06 offseason, resulting in a great year.  I don’t expect it to happen again, particularly mid-season, but there is always hope.

I’m happy to see management correcting problems rather than letting things drag out like they’ve tended to do in the past. If it’s apparent that a pitcher is a guaranteed loss then do not use him.

Great to see another piece of the future arrive in the Bronx. The Devil Rays have some hitters, so it’ll be a good test for Ian right away. I have tickets to the game but unfortunatley can’t go.

I agree with the decision to promote Kennedy. And I was all on-board for bringing Chamberlain up but couldn’t imagine that he would do as well to date as he has. Point is, when you have a chance to make the post-season, you have to go for it. I think Cashman may realize that saving bullets for next year or the year after is a policy that while it may have some merit, it doesn’t recognize the value of the combination of resources now in hand (ie aging vets) that may not be around down the line to help make another run. I realize many folks believe that veterans are what is dragging the team down, but my belief is you need them and at times you need them badly. Youth is great, but youth also is prone to lose confidence. That is why this season has been such a huge development period for Cano and Cabrera to name two. They have grown immensely overcoming self-doubt and combining with some vets like Abreu to give the team a huge push after the AS break. All of this of course doesn’t guarantee that Ian Kennedy will be lights out. There is some reason to believe that he will acquit himself better than the Moose of late and I think that is all we should ask of him at this point. He could also be so nervous that he doesn’t have his usual command which could render Saturday a very long day. Time will tell.

I wonder . . .  If the team goes on a winning streak now is Sean going to post that coaches-freaking-out montage every day?

One of the last two lines of Fabian’s preview of Kennedy is pretty funny:

“Despite a similar build and somewhat similar pitching motion, he’s not Mike Mussina and never will be.”

Well, let’s hope at least for Saturday that he’s not Aug 2007 Moose.

First off, I’ll always be fond of Mussina.  Partly for what the Frog is talking about above and partly because of game 7, 2003 ALCS (and others, but that’s “the big one” for me).  That’s the rebuttal to anyone inclined to call Mussina soft.

I’d throw Game 3 of the 2001 ALDS in there. Everyone remembers that one for Jeter’s shovel pass, but lost in that particular hugger-mugger is that Moose pitched one hell of a game, giving up no runs, four hits, and one walk, and striking out four over seven innings.

BTW, looking at the box score for the 2001 ALDS, I’m amused. There are four position players from that series who are on the 2007 Yankees, and only two of them were on the Yankees in 2001 (Jeter and Posada); the other two were on the 2001 A’s (Damon and Giambi).

Looking back at that lineup, it’s amazing that any fly balls were ever caught. Bernie hadn’t begun falling off a cliff yet, at least, but the everyday left fielder was Chuck Knoblauch—who as a left fielder made a great second baseman—with the dessicated remains of Paul O’Neill’s knees in right.

“Everyone remembers that one for Jeter’s shovel pass, but lost in that particular hugger-mugger is that Moose pitched one hell of a game, giving up no runs, four hits, and one walk, and striking out four over seven innings.”

This is picking on an easy target, but I remember Kay on the radio a few years ago talking about Game 3.  His point was that Moose isn’t clutch, and when a caller mentioned that game, Kay went apoplectic and started screaming, “Down 0-2 isn’t pressure!”

What’s wrong with that guy?

If an elimination game - on the road - in the post-season isn’t pressure, I don’t know what is.

Didn’t anybody notice that I’m this blog’s big time prospect? I’m the Joba of replacementlevel, bringing youthful exuberance to a veteran group of Yankee fan bloggers. Boy, you gotta love baseball.

Yeah Moose was big for us but Kay has stated on his show that he and Moose don’t have a good relationship, and as a result, Kay has pessimistic feelings about Moose and won’t take him seriously.

There’s a long tradition in giving players crap for not being better than they are. I still don’t get it. I’m sure Mussina is trying, it isn’t his fault his arm gave up on him… on well, we’ll always have “one pitch away from a perfect game against the Red Sox”

I really hate that game.

Only because I really thought he was going to get it.

In a lot of other posts I amreding of a rotation next year consisting of Joba Hughes Kennedy,WAng and Pettite.What are the probabilities Pettite stays next year.I for one with that young rotation believe we need him and that he has been the best starter this year.

Its a mutual option: 16 mill for both the Yanks and Pettite. I hope he stays too.

Unless Pettitte’s arm falls off between now and the end of October, I suspect Pettitte will be in pinstripes next year.

on well, we’ll always have “one pitch away from a perfect game against the Red Sox”

Fuck Jurassic Carl

In a lot of other posts I amreding of a rotation next year consisting of Joba Hughes Kennedy,WAng and Pettite.What are the probabilities Pettite stays next year.I for one with that young rotation believe we need him and that he has been the best starter this year.

Pettitte has a $16m player option for next year.  My guess is he takes it, and I think if he does it will be a good thing for the Yankees.

************HIJACK*************

Ok, so there’s something completely unrelated I want to bring up which I’ve been tossing around in my head for a few days and have vetted with some of my friends for plausibility. No one can find a hole in it, so, here goes.

The Yankees should acquire Troy Glaus. For the rest of the season, he’d just add a great righty bat off the bench. But he’s cleared waivers, and Toronto is just aching to dump him, and his real value comes down the road; in fact, I’ll argue that Glaus is a free acquisition.

Lets review Glaus’s status. Great first half this year, tailed off due to injury in the second half. Chronic injury problems with his feet, the severeness of which is attributed to playing home games on turf. Below-average but tolerable defense at 3B. Big dude, 6’5” 250 or so. When healthy, good for a 130 OPS+, but the key words there are “when healthy”. Unusually massive platoon split for a righty;  a ~1000 OPS hitter against LHP for his career and during the last 2 seasons. Underperformed the last 2 seasons due to injury, but if you take out the semi-injured periods the rate is still there. Signed for 2008+2009 at 12 mil per. 30 years old.

Lets assume that Toronto is ready to salary dump him, so he could be acquired for a couple of “B” prospects (and thats the sense I get from the media). It all comes down to that salary.

So lets say the Yanks trade for Glaus now. They get a lefty-masher, which they desperately need. But more to the point, they get a great backup plan if A-Rod leaves. Sans A-Rod next year, you can platoon Betemit and Glaus at 3rd and you’d get all-star production from the position. But you don’t have to waste Glaus against RHP. Glaus is 6’5” and can handle 3B at age 30-I propose that there is a 99% chance he’d be an above average first baseman defensively. Glaus could ALSO be spotted at first; either in a partial platoon with “Mr. Reverse Split”, Andy Phillips, or you sign a lefty regular 1B. Playing first is much less physically demanding than 3B; I propose that if you got, say, 60 games from Glaus at 3B and 60 at 1B, resting him judiciously and limiting his exposure to righty starters, you could get great performance out of him both defensively and in the field. Because both Glaus and Betemit (and Phillips, if you keep him) could cover multiple IF positions (Betemit can cover all, Glaus covering 3B, 1B, and SS in a pinch), you don’t need backup IFs on the bench, so all the platooning doesn’t really impact roster flexibility. Meanwhile, Glaus’s contract isn’t that big a deal, because A-Rod comes off the books and unless you’re going to make Betemit a full-time player you’re going to be blowing a bunch of money on Mike Lowell anyways in the off-season.

But say A-Rod stays. I argue that because Glaus gives the Yankees such an attractive replacement-strategy if he leaves, that signing A-Rod removes some of Boras’s leverage and will make A-Rod cheaper if he signs an extension, since the Yankees would have no impetus to break the bank if he goes FA. Therefore the money saved keeping A-Rod IF he stays after Glaus is brought in would probably be equal to whatever the difference is b/w Glaus’s 12 mil a year and market salary for that type of player. Meanwhile, Glaus still gets to play, probably in a partial platoon with Betemit where Betemit gets ~80 starts against righties and Glaus gets all the lefties and some righty games too. The expected production from 1B in that scenario would still be above league average, and you have the freedom to use Betemit as IF backup by simply starting Glaus at 1B. Glaus’s durability becomes a non-issue since he’s only expected to play 100 games or so.

Someone explain to me why this isnt a good idea.

dzop, getting Glaus from Toronto wouldn’t be a bad idea if he doesn’t cost much in the way of talent.  However, I don’t think his presence on the roster will have any effect on the A-Rod contract negotiations.

Glaus is fat and he’s going to break down soon.

Unless Pettitte’s arm falls off between now and the end of October, I suspect Pettitte will be in pinstripes next year.

Because of a weak SP free agent class in which Carlos Silva is currently the best available, Gammons said last night on BBTN that Randy Hendricks “will” take Pettitte back onto the market. I personally don’t believe that. I think if it’s not Houston, this is where he wants to be. Of course, that could all depend on if Torre is back or not.

I simply don’t trust Andy to want to stay especially no Clemens and no Torre.I

George, heard that from Gammons as well. It makes sense to see what kind of an offer Pettitte could get, perhaps his final multi-year deal. Might be too tempting to pass up.

+++++++

On another topic…... Interesting that a certain poster falls to sleep and wakes up worrying about what I posted re: Ian Kennedy. My first groupie, j.

groupie?  i’m a stalker.

I don’t get it, but that’s ok. Kennedy for President! :glombi:

on a site related note:  will the 500 server error be fixed in the near future?  i have to assume traffic is only going to increase in the next month.

whoa i don’t usually post here, as i usually just enjoy the analysis and subsequent commentary. unfortunately, i did have to chime in and say that, a.phil, you are really annoying and you need to consider giving it a rest.

When Pettitte signed his contract, I seem to remember it being said that he had a “gentleman’s agreement” with the Yankees to decline the option if he was injured. So he wouldn’t be collecting $16M to hang out with Carl Pavano. If not injured I think he’ll either want to pitch for the Yankees, pitch for Houston, or retire. I also think playing/retiring will be a year to year decision for him from here on out, so I don’t see him trying to get a 3 year deal from anyone. My bet is he’ll exercise the option and be back in NY next year.