Some Yankee fans think that with Michael Pineda-Jesus Montero trade, there must be a pony in here somewhere

I was in Whole Foods yesterday when Squawker Jon called to tell me that Michael Pineda had a torn labrum, and would be out for the year. Needless to say, my reaction didn't exactly fit the peace-and-love vibe of the store! And I am still positively irate, over 12 hours later.

Best case scenario is that Pineda comes back some time early next summer. Meanwhile, Jesus Montero is starting to heat up, and even getting enough time at catcher to qualify in that position in fantasy baseball. Not bad for somebody who we were told could never catch.

And Hector Noesi is a major league pitcher for the Mariners getting a start tonight. Given that Pineda is out for what could be a year and a half, and given that there is no guarantee he will be able to pitch the way he once did, this trade is a complete and utter disaster for the Yankees so far.

Yet there is a sizable contingent of sportswriters and Yankee fans who still say that it is "too soon" to evaluate the trade. Really? Frankly, they remind me of the naive boy in the story presented with a mound of animal excrement as a Christmas gift. In that anecdote, the little boy keeps on digging through the poop, saying, "There must be a pony in here somewhere."

Newsflash: there ain't no pony. It's not Jose Campos, who is now being touted as being a superstar to justify the trade, even though he is only in Single A. And it certainly isn't Michael Pineda, who may never live up to his promise, and could end up being more like Phil Hughes Part Deux than anything else (and Hughes was terrible again last night.)

There is no bright side for the Yankees to this trade, as much as some try to downplay this as being no big thing. And don't tell me it's simply bad luck. It should have occurred to Brian Cashman that the Mariners might have been selling him a bag of beans here. It's not just that the Mariners have a history of trying to hold up the Yankees -- remember how they demanded more in the Cliff Lee trade? It's that why would they want to trade Pineda in the first place, if he was supposed to be so great?

I was against this trade from the beginning -- it never added up to me, the way it did to the "experts." So I'm not the least bit surprised that this has ended so poorly. (Incidentally, at least trading Montero for Cliff Lee, as costly as it would have been, may have helped the Yankees win No. 28 in 2010. Instead, Cashman gave up the team's best prospect for what is turning out to be a whole heap of nothing.)

And let's review the fact that Pineda's 2011 second-half numbers were so terrible -- he went from 8-6 with a 3.03 ERA and a 1.035 WHIP to a 1-4 record in the second half, with a 5.12 ERA and a 1.224 WHIP, and a significantly diminished velocity. Gee, did it ever occur to Cashman that there could have been a physical reason for that decline?  How can he be so naive?

Then again, we're talking about a GM who actually thought that signing Everyday Pedro Feliciano to a two-year, $8 million deal was a good risk, and who seemed to be the only person in the world to be shocked that Feliciano got injured so quickly into his Yankee tenure!

Then there is what injury expert Will Carroll of Sports Illustrated wrote on February 29 of this year, before Pineda ever even threw a pitch in a spring training game, giving Pineda a "red light" as an injury risk:

The Pineda trade seems like a coup for the Yankees, even giving up a solid hitter in Jesus Montero, but Pineda is in a bad situation. He's young, coming off a season where he saw a massive innings increase and a hit-the-wall moment as bad as any we've seen in several seasons. He's a red flag risk on that alone, which is horrible. (DAN STAT). On top of that, the records of Joe Girardi and Larry Rothschild in dealing with precisely this type of situation is terrible. As much as I like Pineda the pitcher, I can't handle Pineda the risk.

Then Carroll wrote this on April 4 about Pineda:

The parallels between Pineda and Phil Hughes are too perfect. Well, not perfect, since we're talking about young pitchers and injuries. Hughes injured his leg, started overthrowing a bit, and ended up with a sore shoulder. It set back his career more than we realize, even now. Pineda came in out of condition, still showing signs of last year's workload, and finally admitted that his arm was hurting.

An MRI came back with "no structural damage" and the calming diagnosis of tendinitis. Don't be fooled. The biceps tendon is a structure, one that's important to a pitcher. One of the buzzwords in sports medicine is the "biceps-labrum complex." Essentially, the labrum and biceps tendon work in concert, in ways doctors are still figuring out. The classic "buckethandle" labrum tear might have a different mechanism than doctors long thought.

As for Pineda, he might be better served looking to another starter on his staff for a better comp. CC Sabathia had some shoulder issues early in his career. A trip to Glenn Fleisig's lab in Birmingham helped him change some things, and the results speak for themselves. Why Pineda isn't heading down there is beyond me. 

So why didn't the Yanks do what Carroll recommended? And why didn't they take Pineda's condition seriously?

All spring, we heard Cashman downplay Pineda's lack of velocity this spring and make excuses for him. Now he admits that this was a sign that he was hurt. Gee, ya think?

I have to wonder, what is it that Cashman is going to have to do to get some of his defenders to stop justifying his actions? He gave away the franchise's most highly touted prospect, somebody who he himself compared to Miguel Cabrera and Albert Pujols, for a player who may very well have been damaged goods in the first place. Boy, that Cash is sooooo smart, isn't he?

I have said it before and I will say it again. Brian Cashman has exactly one tool in the toolkit -- the ability to spend a lot of money. Yes, he got Nick Swisher for Wilson Betemit -- this is the trade Cashman fans always bring up whenever the subject of  his record comes up. But he got to make that trade for two reasons. One was that Ozzie Guillen despised Swisher and wanted him out. The second was that it was a salary dump -- the White Sox still owed Swisher $20+ million, and the Yanks could afford that type of salary.

Even the Curtis Granderson trade involved the ability of the Yanks to pay for his salary. (And it's not like the Yanks got a steal on getting him in the first place -- they still had to give up Ian Kennedy, Austin Jackson and Phil Coke. Granderson is a superstar now, but he didn't come cheap.)

So tell me, what are the great Brian Cashman deals in recent years that he has made on his baseball savvy? Trading for Javier Vazquez again? Trying to get back Carl Pavano? Signing Kei Igawa?

And sorry, I don't buy Cashman's story that Pineda fully tore his labrum just this weekend. Some of his acolytes think it's cute, the way Cash constantly plays fast and loose with the truth. I don't. Why should I buy anything Cashman says, when it is clear he has a very long track record of saying what he needed to, regardless of whether it was accurate or not, in order to deflect criticism? When you do things like tell reporters about how A.J. Burnett really has great numbers, and that we all need to smoke the objectivity pipe to see it, then you pay the Pirates $20 million on Burnett's salary just to get rid of him, you don't exactly come across as a truthteller.

I think it's time that some folks wake up and drink the reality potion, to use a Cashmanism. And the reality is that Brian Cashman is a pretty crummy general manager. I said at the time of the trade that I had zero faith in his judgment. My faith in his judgment now? It's less than zero!

What do you think? Tell us about it!

On Michael Pineda, A.J. Burnett, Pedro Feliciano, and the media's double standard

I just want to, for once, admit that Squawker Jon was totally right on something. Specifically, he called the Michael Pineda injury issue correctly three weeks ago, comparing it to Phil Hughes' tendinitis, and mocking Joe Girardi for calling the diagnosis at the time "great news:"

When reporters noted that Hughes was also diagnosed with shoulder tendinitis last year, and he missed three months and finished the season with a 5.79 ERA, here was Girardi's response:

"They both got tendinitis, but I wouldn't necessarily say they're similar [injuries]," Girardi said. "There's a lot of parts to that shoulder."

Girardi's rationalizing about Pineda's injury reminds me of how some people said that Johan Santana would make it back faster than Chien-Ming Wang and others who had the same injury because all injuries are different.

Jon also noted in that column about how the Mets and Yanks get treated differently in the media when it comes to such injuries. He also has been saying to me in person that Andy Pettitte would be pitching before Pineda would.

Anyhow, now Pineda has had a setback that looks to be pretty bad -- he isn't expected back for what could be months. You know, just the way that Hughes shoulder tendinitis kept him out until after the All-Star Break.

Marc Carig wrote something rather shocking for the Star-Ledger about Pineda, talking about why the Yanks are so upset on the recent news on the pitcher (emphasis added):

When the Yankees placed Michael Pineda on the 15-day DL, they did so for two reasons.

They wanted to rest his right shoulder, which the Yankees believed to be afflicted by minor tendinitis. And they hoped to give him a chance to mentally regroup after a difficult first spring training with the Yankees. Conveniently, the minor injury afforded the Yankees the benefit of time, which they hoped Pineda would use to catch up on the conditioning he did not do in the winter.

Which is why, privately, the Yankees were stunned Saturday when the 23-year-old Pineda reported lingering pain in the back of his right shoulder.

I was against the Jesus Montero/Michael Pineda trade from Day One, and nothing has changed my mind. And to hear that he was put on the DL in part because of his conditioning is appalling. Didn't the Yankees have enough pitchers -- Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain, to name two -- who have shown up to spring training overweight and out of shape? They had to trade Montero to get another one? Good grief.

Obviously, I knew Pineda showed up fat to spring training, but to hear that he was put on the DL for said lack of conditioning is outrageous. Let me get this straight -- Pineda is in only his second season, and he is already acting like an entitled veteran? Who did the due dilgence on his personality? Yet again, Cashman shows a breathtaking lack of judgment, something he never gets called on by his buddies in the press.

Granted, Montero hasn't exactly set the world on fire as a Mariner just yet, but at least he is in shape and playing, two things Pineda is not. And I have to wonder if, yet again, Cashman got taken to the cleaners by another GM.

Also, when Cashman is not outwitted by other GMs in the game, he does dumb signings, like signing Everyday Pedro Feliciano for two years and $8 million after the Mets completely overworked him. And guess what? Chances are that Feliciano, who is recovering from rotator cuff surgery, will never pitch for the Yankees, something completely unshocking to every Met fan out there.

In other news, A.J. Burnett, the pitcher we Yankee fans are paying over $20 million for to *not* pitch for the Yankees in the next two seasons, pitched seven shutout innings Saturday for the Pittsburgh Pirates, giving up only three hits and striking out seven. And yes, he came back from an orbital bone fracture quicker than Pineda will return!

The trade of Burnett to the Pirates really did not get enough media scrutiny. As maddening as Burnett was as a Yankee, it makes no sense to me to pay him $20+ million of the $33 million owed to him to pitch somewhere else. Some Yankee fans acted like Cash was some magician for getting rid of him. Gimme a break. The Yanks would have been better off keeping him and sticking him in the bullpen than paying him so much money to pitch elsewhere, simply to keep their options open.

Anyhow, the Yanks are stuck with Pineda being injured -- he's going for a dye-contrast MRI this week -- and with Brian Cashman, the most overrated GM in all of baseball. Oh, joy.

What do you think? Tell us about it!

A.J. Burnett, "The Godfather," and Fickle Fandom

It's a miracle! As I had hoped and predicted, A.J. Burnett kept with a contrariness of his career by actually pitching a great game Tuesday, after a shaky first inning.

Two things settled him down, I think. That first was Curtis Granderson's great catch (the first of two terrific Grandy Man catches of the night.) The second was the little discussion pitching coach Larry Rothschild had with Burnett after the first. Supposedly, the two talked mechanics, but I would like to think the talk went a little more like this:



Anyhow, while I wrote the other day that A.J. "could erase the last two years with one gutty, gritty performance," I then remembered the fanbase the Yankees have, where some scapegoated players never get redeemed, no matter what they do. (Not that A.J. hasn't given people a lot of reason to be frustrated with him, but he did save the Yankees' 2009 season with a great performance in Game 2 of the World Series. To me, that's what's the most frustrating about Burnett -- there is a Good A.J. in there!)

But the next time Burnett has a bad start, this game will be forgotten with some of the fan base, even though Derek Jeter said: "Trust me -- I'm pretty sure all New York fans will remember this game as opposed to some of the other games." Not everybody will. Remember that the A-Rod haters have forgotten his two MVPs as a Yankee, and his 6 homers and 18 RBI in the 2009 postseason.

I saw it on Facebook Tuesday night. One person I saw screamed "TradeRod" when he only hit a sacrifice fly to drive in a run. (Good luck with trading that contract!) Another posted on my wall that he read that AROD stood for "Another Regular October Disappointment," and when I responded "Who cares?," he said that "True Yankee fans care." (Um, I thought that True Yankee fans remembered what he did in 2009 to get the team No. 27!) A third said that the only reason Rodriguez got two hits Tuesday is because the game was already in hand. (And if he hadn't gotten a hit, he would still be Chokey McChoker, of course.)

Anyhow, A.J. did built up some goodwill with the fans with his great performance Tuesday. But unlike some Yankee players, who will never get criticized, Burnett's leash with the fans will be about as short as Joe Girardi's leash on him Tuesday night. Expect this game to go down the ol' memory hole with some fans, the way A-Rod's 2009 performance for the ages has been forgotten.

* * *

Squawker Jon had this to say, after Jesus Montero got his first hit in his postseason, after his first at-bat in the postseason. He noted that it only took Montero one at-bat with runners in scoring position to get an RBI, while it took Nick Swisher 30 at-bats to do it. Harsh!

One other thing. I listened to the presser of Ivan Nova. Some members of the media were annoyed that he said he didn't feel any pressure over Game 5, asking him over and over why not? I guess they expected him to appear in the fetal position or something, hoping that he would cry "It's all too much!"

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Javier Vazquez Can Pitch Well in New York After All

On Tuesday night, Javier Vazquez pitched seven shutout innings as the Marlins beat the Mets, 6-0.



In 2010, Vazquez won a total of three games in New York all season.



In his two stints as a Yankee, Vazquez managed as many as six shutout innings while pitching in New York only once - and that was also at Citi Field, on May 21, 2010.



It was the second time this month that Vazquez pitched well in New York. On August 1, Vazquez allowed one run in seven innings at Citi Field, getting a no-decision in a 7-3 Marlins win.



After an awful first half, Vazquez has found his form, with quality starts in 11 of his last 12 appearances.



If the stingy Marlins cut Vazquez loose after the season, would the Mets give him a look if the price were right? Yes, Vazquez was terrible last year in the Bronx, but he does have years of success in the NL East.



***



By the way, Squawker Lisa, here are Vazquez's numbers with the Yankees in 2010, which caused him to be run out of town, compared with A.J. Burnett's numbers this season:



Vazquez: ERA 5.32; WHIP 1.40; W-L 10-10

Burnett: ERA 5.31; WHIP 1.44; W-L 9-11



Those numbers look pretty similar, whether or not you are smoking the objective pipe.

That Boy Ain't Right: A.J. Burnett Throws a Hissy Fit, Shows Up Joe Girardi

Squawker Jon and I went to Asbury Park for a day of fun in the sun at the beach, so I missed most of last night's game. When I got into the car to head home, I heard John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman talk about the 9-1 score, and how Aaron Laffey did a good job after the game was out of reach. They went on and on about Laffey, without ever mentioning who put the Yankees in the hole in the first place -- A.J. Burnett!

Anyhow, when I got home, I looked up what happened, and made a snarky remark on Facebook referencing Brian Cashman's Objective Pipe, I wondered how he would insist that A.J. really had a good game, even though he gave up seven runs in 1 2/3 innings. Then I heard from Facebook friends about A.J.'s hissy fit -- how he cursed at Joe Girardi when taken out of the game, saying "That's B*llsh*t," and stormed into the clubhouse after being removed. Then Girardi followed him into the clubhouse, with the body language of an angry father. A.J. came back into the dugout, then left again, after the runs scored, before the inning was over.

I couldn't quite believe Burnett would be so outrageous, but sure enough, the clips shown in the postgame showed exactly that. To their credit, YES analysts Ken Singleton and Bob Lorenz were very critical of what A.J. did, and called it like they saw it. My thoughts after seeing Burnett in action was to channel a Hank Hill line, about how "That boy ain't right."



But then, in the postgame, Joe Girardi came up with a ridiculous story about how Burnett was really upset with the umpire, not him, and was really cursing at the ump calling that pitch to Joe Mauer Strike Three, and not Ball Four. Girardi was very confrontational with YES' Jack Curry, one of the most respected voices in baseball. Joe blamed the media for making something out of nothing, and trying to make a problem with Burnett and Girardi when there was none. Basically, Girardi said to the press, "Who are you gonna believe? Me or your lying eyes?" (Read the transcript of the conversation, and watch the exchange here.)

Look, there are plenty of times when the media makes something out of nothing -- like Mark Feinsand's absolutely shameful attempt to link Alex Rodriguez to the University of Miami football scandal because A-Rod is on the school's Board of Trustees, even though there isn't a shred of evidence linking A-Rod to it.  But the Burnett issue isn't one of them. For one thing, Burnett was looking at Girardi, not the ump, when he cursed. Second, according to Burnett, Girardi asked him if the comment was directed at him. And finally, Burnett has a history of losing his cool like this -- it wasn't reported much at the time, but Burnett started taking off his uniform in the dugout after being taken out of a White Sox game a few weeks ago. Also, remember how he cut up his hands after slamming them on the clubhouse door last year?

And I find myself agreeing with ESPN New York's Wally Matthews, of all people, in his very critical assessment of Girardi's coddling of Burnett:

Either Joe Girardi is one of the staunchest managerial defenders of any and all players who have ever worn a Yankee uniform or he is a lot more afraid of his own players than he is of looking foolish and untruthful on live television.

There really is no third choice.

You know, for all the grief the media has given A-Rod for being "bush league," I don't remember him ever showing up his manager, even when the manager showed him up by batting him eighth. Yet A.J. gets away with it. Why? As Matthews writes:

"A.J. was angry at himself," Girardi said afterward.

Well, it's about time someone other than A.J. got angry at A.J. Someone like the manager, who turns the other cheek each time he gets his face publicly spat on, or the GM who signed Burnett to the five-year, $82.5 million deal and now admonishes fans to "smoke the objective pipe" and see A.J. through pinstriped glasses.

I completely agree. Enough is enough. Burnett needs to be taken out of the rotation. Now. How can there be any justification for keeping him in, when Phil Hughes is pitching his heart out these days -- and acting a heck of a lot mature, to boot.

As for Burnett, that boy ain't right. And somebody needs to be a grownup in Yankeeland and hold him accountable until he gets right.

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Brian Cashman, Crybaby! GM Can't Take a Little Criticism About A.J. Burnett

I've been saying for months that New York Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman has gone into Joe Torre mode, where he thinks his you-know-what don't stink. And, like what happened with Torre in later years, anybody who says the mildest criticism about his decision-making gets lambasted.

Cashman is now outraged that the media and the Yankee fan base has lost patience with A.J. Burnett, with many of them thinking that Burnett should lose his spot in the current six-man rotation. So Cash launched an epic whine yesterday, complaining about how anybody who thought that way was "stupid." Cashman said he thought Burnett's failures were blown out of proportion, and called it a "bull - - - - emotional response to stuff that doesn't accurately reflect reality."

“The stuff on A.J. is way overblown. A.J.’s been solid for us this year. I just think the way it’s playing doesn’t necessarily reflect how he’s pitched,” Cashman said. “The public outcry recently is all emotion rather than factual.”

Really? Having an 8-9 record, with a 4.60 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP when you're supposed to be this team's No. 2 starter is "solid"? Spare me.

Granted, compared to A.J.'s 2010 10-15, 5.26 ERA, 1.51 WHIP record, one of the all-time worst Yankee pitching seasons ever, it looks like he's made progress. (Burnett's overall Yankee record is 31-33, with a 4.61 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP.) But that's the thing -- for the third year in a row, Burnett got off to a pretty good start, then tanked as the year progressed. Burnett hasn't won a game this year since June 29, and he is yet to have a Yankee win in August. Those are indeed facts, not emotions. The only Yankee Burnett's numbers look good compared to are Phil Hughes, but at least Hughes has shown some progress since returning from the DL.

More from the rant:

"We've got six guys who are capable of pitching in a rotation in a pennant race," Cashman said. "That's a good thing. Someone is going to have to go, and we're going to make that decision. But this stuff about [whether] A.J. Burnett is worthy of being ripped from the rotation is a bunch of crap."

He also said:

"I encourage everybody to just break it down," Cashman said. "Break it down. Compare him to other people. Look at his start-by-start. Look at his run support. If you smoke the objective pipe, I think the coverage on him would be a little smoother, more accurate." 

Again, it's insulting that Cash thinks daring to ponder whether Burnett should be taken out of the rotation is such a terrible "crap" idea.

But Cashman is smoking something, alright, if he thinks looking at the stats and breaking it down actually helps Burnett's case. Run support? He was staked to a 13-1 lead against the White Sox and STILL couldn't make it out of the fifth inning! Besides, as Mike Mazzeo of  ESPN New York noted:

• Of all pitchers who qualify for the ERA title, Burnett ranks 91st (4.60).


• As far as run support is concerned, Burnett ranks 27th in the majors (6.84).


• He hasn't won since June 29 and is 0-3 with a 6.00 ERA during that stretch (seven starts).


• He hasn't won an August start in his two-plus seasons with the Yankees (0-8, 7.18).

So much for the stats proving A.J's really doing great!

Cashman also claimed:

"I have more objectivity than most of us, let's put it that way. I'm just used to the [expletive] emotional response to stuff that doesn't really reflect reality. A.J. Burnett is not pitching anywhere close to as bad as people say."

Oh, please. First of all, I don't really believe anybody is truly objective. The most we can strive for is to be fair. And the idea that Cashman is really objective is nonsense.

At any rate, I find it rich that a professional who can't manage to get through a few sentences in this interview without cursing and calling others "stupid" and "emotional" is complaining about others not being objective. Cashman ain't exactly acting like Mr. Spock here!

He did concede that he could be blamed for Burnett:

“He’s being treated differently publicly because he has money attached,” said Cashman, who spiced his remarks with a profanity. “So forgive him for saying yes to a contract. If you want to blame someone for his contract, blame me. But the man can still pitch.”

Gee, you think money has something to do with it, Cash? If Burnett were making the major league minimum, would he even have been on the team after 2010? The answer is no. Of course it matters.

But that's not the only issue here. I actually like Burnett -- he would be the current Yankee player I would most like to go have a liquid refreshment with -- and I think he was a critical part of the 2009 World Series championship. If he didn't win Game 2, I don't think the Yanks would have won the series.

However, the facts are that 1) Burnett has melted down repeatedly in the second half, and 2) his post-game interview comments have been abysmal, where he has been in denial about his poor pitching, like when he said after his last start he wouldn't do anything differently. And given that Cashman lost faith in Ian Kennedy after the pitcher gave one dopey interview, and ended up trading him, he's showing a bit of a double standard here.

Funny, Cashman's acolytes love to say how honest he is. No, he's not. He's all about avoiding blame, and criticizing others, and making everybody the bad guy but him. When you make fun of your own fan base, the people who buy your team's tickets that help fund your $200+ million payroll, and call them "stupid" and "emotional," you're not being honest, you're just being an ungrateful jerk.

Does A.J. Burnett Look (And Pitch) Like Chord Overstreet From Glee?

Aside from A.J. Burnett *still* keeping his record of never having a Yankee victory in August, he also debuted a new super-blond hairdo last night. When I saw A.J. in the postgame, I thought he looked like Chord Overstreet from "Glee," aka "Trouty Mouth, as Santana on the show calls him. But  a longtime reader pointed out that A.J. looked more like Gomer Pyle in this pic. Shazam!

Anyhow, every time Burnett has a bad outing, which is all too often lately, Twitter and Facebook and Yankees message boards blow up with outraged fans demanding that he be released, traded, or sent to the minors. But guess what? None of that is going to happen. There is still $36+ million left on Burnett's contract. Short of picking up 90 percent of the salary, the Yankees are not going to be able to find anybody to trade Burnett to. And MLB rules prevent him from being sent to the minors.

And forget about releasing him outright. If the Yanks wouldn't release Kevin Brown after he punched a wall, and wouldn't release Carl Pavano after all his issue, what are the chances they are going to release Burnett? Two chances: slim and none.

The other thing fans blew up over last night was Mariano Rivera giving up a two-run homer to Bobby Abreu to give the Angels the victory. People were very upset, and worrying if the end is near. I'm not. At least not just yet. It seems that every time Rivera has a bad game, it's more like multiple bad outings in a row, not just one.  They come in bunches. If the two or three awful games becomes five or six, then I will worry. But not just yet.

One other note -- I laughed over the guy in the very cool "Low-Wage Puppet" t-shirt trying to hand money to Torii Hunter to get his eyeglasses back (his glasses had knocked over into the outfield!) Hunter gave him the glasses back, but didn't take the money. Fun moment!

Another Yankees-Red Sox Game, Another Debacle

What a frustrating game to watch. Unlike Tuesday night, I did make it home in time to watch the top of the first inning of the last night's Yankees-Red Sox game. Unfortunately, it was the same old, same old, with the Sox getting three runs in the first. To top it all of, David Ortiz, instead of getting brushed back, got to camp out at home plate and hit a home run off The Bad A.J., who seems to show up every time against the Red Sox. What a nightmare.

Oh, and Ortiz had some classy things to say after last night:

“I don’t care what Joe Girardi says,” the Boston slugger fired back at a local New York writer. “Take it like a man. I’m done with that.” ....

“I don't want to be on national news tomorrow,” replied Ortiz on not flipping his bat after a two-run blast Wednesday. “I don’t want to have you guys asking me the same questions. I got almost 370 bombs in the big leagues and everybody wants to make a big deal because I bat flip one of them. [Expletive] that [expletive], man. If I have to make that video on my [expletive], let’s see how many bat flips I got on this [expletive]. Good night.”

Speaking of which, we're coming up on the second anniversary of the news that Ortiz failed a PED test. Remember how Sherlock Ortiz wasn't going to rest until he found out what happened? It's amazing he can still have time to play and solve crimes at the same time!

Dwight Gooden, of all people, weighed in on Twitter yesterday about Ortiz's bat flip, writing "In the 80s Ortiz would be laying on his ass right now after the stunt he pulled last night."And Red Sox Nation had a lot to say in our comments section as well yesterday, especially after my column on Ortiz got mentioned on Yahoo Sports' Big League Stew!

My own thoughts? I don't understand why Ortiz *still* has never been plunked by a Yankee, after all these years. The Yankees make him feel so comfortable at the plate, I half-expect them to bring out a pillow and a mint for him!

* * *

In other news, how about that Brett Gardner? He's on the lineup in no small part because of his speed, and he doesn't run home in the sixth when the ball gets away? So much for that. He said he didn't move because he thought the ball hit Jeter, which makes no sense.

And remember the days when Derek Jeter used to get the big hit? Unfortunately, those days are few and far between now, and last night, he hit into a rally-killing double play after Gardner's bumbling.

For all the hype about Captain Clutch's upcoming 3000 hits milestone, and the DJ3K bracelet, the fact is that he is having an even worse year than he did last season, even though many fans and writers thought his troubles were over after he hit two home runs against the Rangers. Last year, he hit .270, with 30 doubles, 10 home runs, and a .710 OPS. This year so far, he's hitting .260, with 7 doubles, 2 home runs and a .655 OPS. Yikes!

Oh, and what was up with Alfredo Aceves? Aside from the fact I was muttering to myself about why Brian Cashman didn't re-sign him, I was a little unnerved by how much he was sweating. It was like there was a showerhead installed right above his head, he was so wet. Or maybe he splashed cold water on himself between innings? What was the deal there?

What are your thoughts on Yankees-Red Sox?

On Philip Humber, Phil Hughes, Breaking Up No-Hitters, and Booing After a Missed Pop-Up

Last night, when Chicago White Sox pitcher Phil Humber was in the seventh inning of a no-hit game against the Yankees, I tried to jinx him on Facebook by talking about it. And within 20 seconds (I am not kidding!), Alex Rodriguez got a hit to break up the no-hitter. It was the highlight of the evening for me! (Oh, and by the way, a friend pointed out that if Humber had succeeded in throwing a no-hitter, he would have been the seventh ex-Met to do so, with the Mets still never having a no-hitter of their own. I loved telling Squawker Jon that!)

Now, the not-so-fun stuff. After a setback Monday, Phil Hughes has a date with an MRI tube today. I don't understand why the Yankees have been so reticent about having Hughes checked out earlier. I wrote on April 9, after his second start, that he should get a medical exam. It's now April 26, and he's finally going to be checked out, weeks after being put on the disabled list. What was the holdup? Did the Yankees had to get a referral from their HMO or something?

I felt terrible for A.J. Burnett -- we had the Great A.J. last night, but the Yankees couldn't get any runs to help him.

There was something very weird that happened in the ninth inning, when Rafael Soriano was on the mound, that I thought would be a pretty big story. But I only saw it mentioned in a Wally Matthews ESPN blog entry, and at the end of a Star-Ledger game article. Alexi Ramirez hit a popup in the ninth inning. Soriano pointed and motioned, as if to say that he couldn't get it. Derek Jeter came charging in, but he wasn't quick enough catch the ball, which dropped to the ground.

And then the crowd booed. Yes, Yankee fans were booing! Now, it was unclear whether the fans were booing Jeter, or Soriano, or both, but Twitter and Facebook were all a-flutter last night over the incident. (Unless I missed it, the YES Network, of course, didn't get into discussing the booing, and didn't show the clip again in the postgame wrapup.) At any rate, I thought this would be a much bigger controversy, but it's downplayed in today's papers. Very strange.

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Thoughts on A.J. Burnett, Pedro Feliciano, and the State of the Yankees

Did you know that A.J. Burnett has more wins than the entire Boston Red Sox team does? Talk about a fun fact!

I missed watching much of last night's game, due to another project I'm working on. But I still have a few things to squawk about::

* I am kind of doubting we will see Pedro Feliciano pitch this year -- the latest news isn't good. Aside from the ridiculousness of Brian Cashman blathering about the Mets' abusing Feliciano, I'm wondering about a few things. Like exactly what kind of physical exam did Feliciano get before becoming a Yankee? And why did it take a month between the two MRIs he had -- one in spring training, one this week?

* I read some chatter online about how Jeter is out of his slump, because he had two hits last night. Whoopee. Is that how low the bar has gone for the captain? It was only two years ago that Jeter had 66 multi-hit games out of the 153 he played in. And in 21 of those games, he had three hits or more. Now, people are flipping out with excitement because he had his second two-hit game of the year?

* I thought it was interesting that the Yankees will give everybody who had tickets for last night's game a pass for another game. That's something the team used to do when attendance was much smaller, and I can't remember the last time the team has done it. (I sat through worse conditions and delays at the new Stadium for an April 2009 Red Sox game, and we didn't get anything for our troubles!)

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Brian Cashman sez Derek Jeter is the center fielder of the future

Brian Cashman participated in WFAN's "Breakfast With a Champion" series this morning. Mike Francesa interviewed him on a slew of topics, and social media maven -- and espnW blogger -- Amanda Rykoff tweeted the event. Because Cashman was pretty candid, some of his words are already causing a whole to-do, like his idea of one day putting Derek Jeter in center field.

Cash said, "I'd be surprised if he plays SS for all 4 years. I see him moving to OF." He later explained, "I like corner outfielders and corner infielders who have power, so for me, if he's ever gonna move, it's probably gonna be a Robin Yount situation. But we don't have to deal with it at this point. We'll deal with it when we have to."


I can't see Jeter ever being a center fielder. Yount moved off shortstop when he was 29; Jeter is already 36. And if he can't hit for average any more, there really isn't a spot for him in the Yankee lineup. Of course, Cashman can't say that, so he brought up center field, which also happens to be a glamour position in Yankeeland. What else is he going to say? After all, even though the captain did say last month he was in the "middle" of his career, he really isn't.

I really don't have a problem with what Cash said about Jeter at the breakfast. What does irk me a little is the way he tried to backtrack from his comments, as Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports:

Cashman said that he answered the fan's question in that fashion because it was not in a formal setting.


"This was not a press conference where we are talking about something that may never happen," Cashman said.

Please. He's speaking in public, at an event where hundreds of fans paid to attend, and where the top radio figure in New York hosted. How could Cashman not think what he said would not get out? And what difference does it make what the setting was? If you're the GM of the biggest team in baseball, you pretty much have to assume that everything you say can and will be used against you in the court of public opinion. Heck, I'm careful with what I say on Facebook and Twitter for that reason, and I'm nobody!

I also thought it was interesting that when Cashman asked who the best Yankee he's ever seen, he said it was Mariano Rivera, and not Jeter. (That's my answer, too, so I don't exactly disagree with that assessment -- I just think it's interesting that he didn't say Jeter.)

There were apparently a few other candid Cashman comments:

* He finally acknowledged that Joba Chamberlain hasn't been the same pitcher since he was injured in Texas in 2008 when he was a starter. (Which begs the question, why was there the whole "competition" between Hughes and Chamberlain last spring training for the starting spot?)

* When asked who was better, right now, Yankees or Red Sox, he said the Red Sox, but that the Yankees had a better bullpen. No thanks to him, though!

* Cashman said this about A.J. Burnett: "He knows he has a problem and he's doing all he can to fix it." That's a very strange way to describe the Burnett situation, unless he's getting at something else!

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Why I'm okay with Francisco Cervelli catching for A.J. Burnett

If there were any doubt that A.J. Burnett and Jorge Posada aren't exactly BFFs, it's that tonight's Yankee lineup contains Francisco Cervelli instead of Posada.

I was actually going to suggest this idea today. Given the importance of this game to both Burnett and the Yankees, they might as well pair him with the catcher he has the greater comfort level with. Not to mention the catcher better able to handle wild pitches and throwing runners out. Cervelli isn't great at it, but I trust him more than I do Jorge at this point. If Posada were to catch tonight, we'd see double steals and home steals and all sorts of mayhem off A.J.

Besides, Burnett's ERA is better with Frankie. According to the New York Post, here's how the numbers break down:

During the season, Burnett pitched 186 2/3 innings, and his best results overall were with Cervelli, who caught 129 1/3 of the innings as Burnett posted a 4.66 ERA. Posada caught 38 1/3 innings with Burnett, during which the righty posted a 7.28 ERA. Burnett's other 19 innings were with Chad Moeller, who worked with him to a 5.21 ERA. Moeller is not on the ALCS roster.

Yes, I know Posada is a better hitter than Cervelli. But Posada, along with the rest of his teammates with the exception of Robinson Cano, hasn't exactly been hitting up a storm as of late -- he has just two hits in the first three games. Could Cervelli be any worse?

I know some readers don't like the idea of personal catchers, especially considering Burnett isn't exactly the second coming of Greg Maddux. Well, tonight's game is a must-win. Increasing A.J.'s comfort level is necessary at this point for the good of the team.

I did see that Burnett showed up late to the interview room yesterday because he was buying stuff at the Halloween Store. As one of my friends put it, let's hope he'll be wearing the costume of a great pitcher tonight.

What do you think? Tell us about it.

Who's having a worse season -- Javier Vazquez or A.J. Burnett?

Sorry I haven't written lately -- I was in the Carl Pavano Memorial MRI Tube the other day, and I'm still trying to get over it! Anyhow, congrats to the Yankees on clinching a postseason spot. It was funny trying to figure out what those celebratory hats said. I joked that the writing said, "No, we don't know how A.J. Burnett got his black eye, either!"

Anyhow, the era of good feeling after the Yankees clinched a spot in the playoffs was pretty much ruined not long after Javier Vazquez took the mound last night. Hopefully, it will be the last start we will ever see of Javy in pinstripes. Come to think of it, he'd better not be on the postseason at all. I usually like being proven correct, but I take no pleasure in being right on thinking Vazquez would fail in the Bronx again. (I also wrote I'd rather have Carol Burnett than A.J. Burnett as a Yankee, a post that made me look foolish in 2009, but not quite so foolish this year! And Squawker Jon and I were right about A-Rod hitting 30 homers this season.)

The New York Post's Joel Sherman wrote today that Javy "just might be the worst pitcher in Yankee history (thought before A.J. Burnett' s contract is over, well, watch out). Vazquez certainly is the worst ever given a second chance by the organization."

Alas, how quickly Carl Pavano is forgotten! $40 million for four years and nine wins has to be the worst. And I would also argue that A.J. Burnett is having an even worse year than Javy is. Vazquez is 10-10, with a 5.32 ERA. Brutal numbers, to be sure, but he was only supposed to be the #4 starter. Granted, he is making $10.5 million this year, but my expectations for him were so low, that I'm surprised he actually has 10 wins!

On the other hand, the Yankees are paying Burnett $16.5 million a year to...lead the league in hit batsmen? And the funny thing is that Joel Sherman argued just the other day that:

Never have the Yankees let anyone pitch this many innings (180 2/3) and be this wretched....

Burnett has failed to reach five innings 10 times now this season, which is three more than anyone in the majors. We are talking about failing to reach in the minimum requirement to earn a win in nearly one-third of his starts – and the Yankees are, of course, 0-10 in those games, including a 7-5 loss in Toronto last night. If you are looking for places in which they might have secured a few more wins to secure the best record in the AL begin with Burnett.

Instead, Burnett has lost 15 games all by his lonesome. That is the most losses by a Yankee since Melido Perez had 16 in 1992. But those Yankees weren’t very good. Perez actually lost 16 games with a 2.87 ERA. The last time a Yankee lost 15 games on a winning team was when Catfish Hunter went 17-15 for the 1976 AL champs. Hunter threw 298 2/3 innings and 21 complete games. He failed to go five innings just twice all year or one fewer time than he pitched 11 or more innings.

 Yikes!

And I'm still wondering about A.J.'s black eye. Is this going to be like Dave Eiland's leave of absence, where we'll probably never hear the story? In Burnett's case, it's even more curious. How could nobody have leaked what happened by now? It's a question for the ages.

Anyhow, I think A.J.'s year is worse than Javy, but your mileage may differ. Tell me what you think.

A-Rod's A-Bomb, and A.J.'s black eye

Friday night was a very frustrating game for eight innings, with the Yankee bats continuing their disappearing act. But I had a very good feeling in the ninth, especially after Jorge Posada's epic at-bat. So when Alex Rodriguez came up with two men on and two outs, I called Squawker Jon and called him to put on the game. He must have had a good -- or in his case, bad! -- feeling about what would happen, as he refused to do so. A little while later, with the possibility of an Orioles' win just one strike away, A-Rod hit his 25th homer of the year, and the Yankees went ahead, 4-3.

I was very excited about the win, watching the A-Rod homer clip several times. Then in the postgame, after a Facebook friend alerted me to A.J. Burnett's eye, I looked at the TV screen and did a double-take when I saw him! Of course, when I called Squawker Jon and told him to switch on the YES Network to see the black eye, he was all too pleased to do so.

It's always something. Finally, A.J. Burnett pitches well, and now his eye is all messed up. My first reaction to what happened to him was that he did it to himself in a fit of anger, instead of slamming his hands against a clubhouse cabinet!

I had a black eye myself once, and no, it wasn't from a fight. I went to see a Circle Jerks punk concert when I was in college. Some slam-dancing guy's whirling foot somehow went askew and hit me in the eye. It hurt, but not terribly, and I didn't know I had gotten a black eye until I woke up the next morning (it takes a while for the bruises to develop.)

I'm watching the Yankee replay now, and doing a little CSI/Forensics Style analysis. You can see some redness by his right eye in early innings, but nothing as awful as he looked in the postgame. So my guess is that something happened to him sometime Friday afternoon.

Burnett said the injury, which he wouldn't explain, was not baseball-related, but does that mean he didn't hurt himself on the field, or that he didn't get  into a fight with a teammate? I do think it's curious that he wouldn't explain how he got it, especially since in his previous start, he had bruises by his ear. It's just another enigmatic moment in the baffling career of A.J. Burnett.

* * *

Squawker Jon did point out to me the very real possibility that A-Rod could still get his usual 30+ homers this year, something that didn't seem  like it would happen just a few months ago. He has 25 homers now, so he's five away from 30 with 15 games to go. I think it's very possible that  he could get his 30 homers yet again.

What do you think? Tell us about it!

A.J. Burnett: $82 million contract, two-cent brain

I'm glad I didn't buy that A.J. Burnett #34 t-shirt I had my eye on last year. Because I'm positively irate with the Yankee pitcher (who is one of my favorite players, by the way), after he lost his temper and banged up his hands yesterday in anger.

With his self-destructive actions, Burnett has earned himself a spot in the Yankee Idiots' Hall of Shame, in the wing next to Kevin Brown's and Doyle Alexander's and banged-up paws. That's right across from the Carl Pavano Memorial MRI Tube exhibit and the Scott Proctor's Burned Equipment diorama.


To add insult to injury, Burnett first lied about it, saying he sustained the lacerations by slipping on the stairs. So much for that excuse.

Here's the story, courtesy of AOL Fanhouse:

After hitting a batter, giving up a two-run home run to Reid Brignac and making an error in the second inning to fall behind 3-0, Burnett went into the clubhouse and slammed his open hands into a pair of swinging doors.

The doors have plastic holders for display of lineups and other team announcements. Burnett apparently cut his hands on the edges of the holders, although he first told trainers he had tripped on some steps and scraped his palms while trying to break his fall.

I can understand players getting angry. What I don't understand is why somebody who literally makes his living with his hands would ever take the chance of injury by using them in anger. And before anybody brings up Paul O'Neill, he's just very lucky that his temper never cost him playing time (maybe it was him using the bat to inflict much of the damage that protected him!)

Yes, I know A.J. eventually apologized, and seemed remorseful; he also apologized to his teammates this morning. And hopefully, he won't miss a start out of this. But I'm still ticked off over him acting so stupid - he's got an $82 million contract, but a two-cent brain.

What do you think? Tell us about it!