Signing Bartolo Colon wasn't exactly a Brian Cashman move I was crazy about this winter, but the pitcher has actually shown some value so far this year. And given that he has had to come to the rescue for every single Phil Hughes start, I think it's time to put him in the rotation, and Hughes in the bullpen to work out his issues.
I don't think Hughes is afraid, or can't handle starting, or anything like that. He's built of pretty strong stuff. But the Yankees can't hope to have great walk-off wins like last night to salvage every Hughes debacle!
Going to Colon in the fifth was the right move last night, as Ed Valentine of Around the Empire noted. He said he was "shaking [his] head in disbelief" when Michael Kay thought the Yanks had too quick a hook with Hughes. You and me both, Ed!
Oh, and how about that play at the plate last night?
Loved that Nick Swisher hit the sac fly to give the Yankees the walkoff win. He seems to enjoy the pie thing more than any other Yankee.
Speaking of Swish, have you seen the commercial he has with Jonathan Papelbon for Norelco? The best part of it is that the ad plays off on Swish being likeable and amiable (even Squawker Jon digs him), but Papbelbon comes off as, um, kind of a jerk!
What do you think? Tell us about it!
Showing posts with label Jonathan Papelbon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jonathan Papelbon. Show all posts
Friday, April 15, 2011
Monday, December 13, 2010
Say it ain't so, Mo! Did Mariano Rivera's agent pursue the Red Sox?
I saw that Rob Bradford of Boston radio station WEEI is reporting that "Mariano Rivera's representatives were the ones to initiate contact with the Red Sox in an attempt to get the team interested in the closer." Yikes! (Hat tip to Sliding Into Home)
The article also claims that contrary to other reports, the Red Sox really weren't going to non-tender Jonathan Papelbon:
So what do you think, readers?
The article also claims that contrary to other reports, the Red Sox really weren't going to non-tender Jonathan Papelbon:
While there was some thought that because of the offer to Rivera the Red Sox were prepared to non-tender closer Jonathan Papelbon, separate sources suggest the Sox were never inclined to let Papelbon become a free agent this offseason. In the short-term, the team valued the reliever's presence in the back-end of its bullpen, while long-term it coveted any draft picks that might come the Sox' way if Papelbon were to sign elsewhere in free agency next year. The Sox' closer is arbitration-eligible for a third time, and is heading into the final season of being controlled by the Sox.I dunno what to think about this article. Could this be damage control from the Red Sox camp, given that Boston still has one more year of Papelbon, and that they could be headed into another arbitration hearing with him? Remember, Papelbon is the closer who thought he, not Mo, should get to close the All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium. Are Boston sources trying to spin this to make Rivera look bad?
So what do you think, readers?
Monday, September 27, 2010
Yankees win exciting game, and so do Jets, while Tennessee gets best of Giants
Busy sports day in this Squawker household. First up, I watched my man Vince Young beat the Giants. Yes, I rooted for the Tennessee Titans over the home team. VY is the greatest Texas Longhorn of them all, and my favorite current NFL player, so I chose rooting for his team over Giants. Sorry, Big Blue fans.
There was one point during the game, when the Titans got their last touchdown to make the score 29-10, when Eli Manning had a really pathetic look on his face. It was the Manning Face, as Bill Simmons would say.
After that game, Squawker Jon and I yakked on the phone while we watched the Mets spoil the Phillies chance of clinching at home. We saw when Jimmy Rollins pinch-hit; the ovation for the crowd was so loud, you would have thought Mike Schmidt or something had come back in to play!
Anyhow, on to the Yankees. I'm glad Joe Girardi had Phil Hughes pitch; it was the right thing to do. Enough with this resting everybody for October, when they haven't clinched anything yet. But the first six innings were frustrating, with the Yankees making Dice-K look like unhittable. Fortunately, A-Rod came through in the seventh, hitting his 29th homer of the year, to put the Yankees ahead, 2-1. I like how happy Alex was; his homer felt like it came in a playoff game.
But I am soooooo sick of every time A-Rod comes up big against the Red Sox, some idiot fan acts as if it's the first time it's ever happened. I saw some fan's tweet listed on the YES Network postgame which said something about A-Rod finally getting a clutch hit off the Red Sox. Child, please, as Chad Ochocinco sez. How many times are we going to hear this nonsense? Six of A-Rod's 29 homers this season have come against Boston. He's hit 29 homers against the Sox since becoming a Yankee. They weren't all meaningless stat-padding dingers, you know.
Back to the game. I had a bad feeling that something might happen with Mariano Rivera's second inning. But I certainly wasn't thinking of 2004, like some in the media were. However, I wasn't that worried, even though Mo blew the save, (with a huge assist from Jorge Posada's throwing miscues), because I knew the Yankees had a secret weapon -- Jonathan Papelbon! Is there any Sox fan who had faith he would hold the lead? I haven't met anybody. We were debating on Facebook with Boston fans about who would get the big hit against Paps to win the game. Would it be A-Rod? Or Teixeira?
I also knew the Yanks would get to Papelbon because I called Squawker Jon to tell him to watch A-Rod's at-bat, and he hung up on me!
As it turns out, Papelbon technically didn't get the loss -- Hideki Okajima did. But it was effectively over as soon as Cinco Dopo came into the game. Juan Miranda's walkoff walk made it "Juan in a Million"!
In the meantime, I was flipping back and forth between the Yankees and the Jets games. (Yes, I rooted for the Jets, even thought the Dolphins have Texas Heisman Trophy winner Ricky Williams on their team. Ricky is no VY, though, not after he quit on his team a few years ago to, um, smoke!)
So I missed seeing if Juan Miranda got a pie in the face. Did it happen?
What do you think? Tell us about it!
There was one point during the game, when the Titans got their last touchdown to make the score 29-10, when Eli Manning had a really pathetic look on his face. It was the Manning Face, as Bill Simmons would say.
After that game, Squawker Jon and I yakked on the phone while we watched the Mets spoil the Phillies chance of clinching at home. We saw when Jimmy Rollins pinch-hit; the ovation for the crowd was so loud, you would have thought Mike Schmidt or something had come back in to play!
Anyhow, on to the Yankees. I'm glad Joe Girardi had Phil Hughes pitch; it was the right thing to do. Enough with this resting everybody for October, when they haven't clinched anything yet. But the first six innings were frustrating, with the Yankees making Dice-K look like unhittable. Fortunately, A-Rod came through in the seventh, hitting his 29th homer of the year, to put the Yankees ahead, 2-1. I like how happy Alex was; his homer felt like it came in a playoff game.
But I am soooooo sick of every time A-Rod comes up big against the Red Sox, some idiot fan acts as if it's the first time it's ever happened. I saw some fan's tweet listed on the YES Network postgame which said something about A-Rod finally getting a clutch hit off the Red Sox. Child, please, as Chad Ochocinco sez. How many times are we going to hear this nonsense? Six of A-Rod's 29 homers this season have come against Boston. He's hit 29 homers against the Sox since becoming a Yankee. They weren't all meaningless stat-padding dingers, you know.
Back to the game. I had a bad feeling that something might happen with Mariano Rivera's second inning. But I certainly wasn't thinking of 2004, like some in the media were. However, I wasn't that worried, even though Mo blew the save, (with a huge assist from Jorge Posada's throwing miscues), because I knew the Yankees had a secret weapon -- Jonathan Papelbon! Is there any Sox fan who had faith he would hold the lead? I haven't met anybody. We were debating on Facebook with Boston fans about who would get the big hit against Paps to win the game. Would it be A-Rod? Or Teixeira?
I also knew the Yanks would get to Papelbon because I called Squawker Jon to tell him to watch A-Rod's at-bat, and he hung up on me!
As it turns out, Papelbon technically didn't get the loss -- Hideki Okajima did. But it was effectively over as soon as Cinco Dopo came into the game. Juan Miranda's walkoff walk made it "Juan in a Million"!
In the meantime, I was flipping back and forth between the Yankees and the Jets games. (Yes, I rooted for the Jets, even thought the Dolphins have Texas Heisman Trophy winner Ricky Williams on their team. Ricky is no VY, though, not after he quit on his team a few years ago to, um, smoke!)
So I missed seeing if Juan Miranda got a pie in the face. Did it happen?
What do you think? Tell us about it!
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Split Decision: Yanks, Red Sox win two each in series
Is it just me, or did this Yankees-Red Sox series seem just not as buzzworthy as previous matchups? I was happy that Dustin Moseley pitched so well Sunday (even if cynics think that, as one reader put it, A.J.Burnett was really suffering from Soxitis and not a bad back!) I was glad to see Derek Jeter pass Babe Ruth on the all-time hits list, and to get to Josh Beckett.
But I was disappointed that Curtis Granderson continues to struggle. And that the Bombers couldn't knock down Jonathan Papelbon in yesterday's game.
There's a lot of talk in the media today about how the Yanks should have re-signed Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui. Damon I agree with, but was Matsui staying a Yankee ever an option? After all, he signed with Anaheim right after becoming a free agent, without even hearing an offer from the Yankees. And I've read several times that he didn't want to come back to New York. So, I don't think that was even on the table.
There's also a bunch of articles criticizing Granderson. New York Post columnist Joel Sherman writes:
What does Sherman want Grandy to do -- start sobbing on a writer's shoulder or something? If Granderson showed anger to the press, he's be called testy. If he acted upset, he'd be called too moody. But when he stays positive, he's called "delusional." Good grief.
Anyhow, I wish the Yankees had won yesterday - three games out of four would have felt a lot better than a series split!
What do you think? Tell us about it!
But I was disappointed that Curtis Granderson continues to struggle. And that the Bombers couldn't knock down Jonathan Papelbon in yesterday's game.
There's a lot of talk in the media today about how the Yanks should have re-signed Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui. Damon I agree with, but was Matsui staying a Yankee ever an option? After all, he signed with Anaheim right after becoming a free agent, without even hearing an offer from the Yankees. And I've read several times that he didn't want to come back to New York. So, I don't think that was even on the table.
There's also a bunch of articles criticizing Granderson. New York Post columnist Joel Sherman writes:
For his part, Granderson has a Nickelodeon persona, never publicly showing anything but a smile and a positive bent. So he is unrelentingly upbeat, delusional or working on an acting career.
What does Sherman want Grandy to do -- start sobbing on a writer's shoulder or something? If Granderson showed anger to the press, he's be called testy. If he acted upset, he'd be called too moody. But when he stays positive, he's called "delusional." Good grief.
Anyhow, I wish the Yankees had won yesterday - three games out of four would have felt a lot better than a series split!
What do you think? Tell us about it!
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