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I know this is off-topic but I just saw it and had to bring it up. Tom Gordon would welcome a trade back to the Bronx if it happened. Short of giving up our blue-chippers, I'd welcome Gordon back in a heartbeat. Make him our 8th inning guy, push Farns to the 7th, Proctor to the 6th and all of that with the hope/expectation that Dotel could make one of them expendable.

The odds of us getting Flash back are slim to none but I really think the Yanks miss him. I've lost nearly any faith I had in Farnsworth at this point.

http://www.nypost.com/sports/gordon__id_return_to_bronx_in_a_flash_sports_kevin_kernan.htm

Would I welcome him back this season? Sure.

But, if you read his comments, it sounds like he only wants to leave Philly if they strip the club down. And, I don't think they're going to do a total retooling there.

Like I said, the odds are slim and none. I just wish he'd never left...

It's really amazing to me to see how many Yankee fans want Gordon back. It seems like with sports fans when a guy leaves a team they only remember the good times. And while Gordon got the job done here in the regular season, if there was a big moment he always seemed to fail. And not just in the playoffs. And last year he seemed to really slow down -- the overuse by Torre started to show.

Gordon has some sort of mental block when it comes to facing the Red Sox. Last time I checked, the Yankees play them a lot. Gordon is too old to pay that much money to for the next two years. I know people think Farnsworth is a bust, but he's been turning it around lately, and Dotel is on his way. While I don't have one-hundred-percent confidence in Farnsworth right now, if we had a one-run lead in the eighth inning and Papi and Manny were coming up, I'd take Farns over Flash any day.

FWIW, in his post-season career, Gordon has pitched in 16 games - registering 17.3 IP. In those IP, he's allowed 28 base runners and fashioned an ERA of 7.79.

So, yeah, he's got the choker label to deal with, for sure.

I should have said that those stats were prior to the 2005 post-season.

On Soriano, I just don't think the Yankees want him back. They soured on him when he was awful in the 2003 playoffs. I think they were fed up with his shtick and fed up with his attitude. It was interesting to read in the papers during the Nats/Yanks series that Soriano isn't even in touch with his former Yankee teammates. Compare that response to someone like Clemens who stays in touch with his Yankee friends or Joe Girardi who came back to coach. I would be very surprised if the Yanks even bothered to go after Soriano. They've seen the holes in his game and don't see him fitting in with their plans.

You can do lots of things with stats...Soriano's .837 OPS against righties this year is better than A-Rod's (.822), and better than David Ortiz against lefties (.832) and Justin Morneau against lefties (.818).

And RFK is known as a graveyard for home run hitters. So the fact that Soriano has hit so well there makes his 27 homers even more remarkable. The guy hit homers at the Stadium as a righty and he homers in Texas. This guy would hit 35-40 homers and knock in 100 runs on the moon.

Bailey, it's not that I only remember Gordon's good times or that I've mythologized him, it's just that I don't care for Farnsworth. I don't know what "turning it around lately" means, but I do know that he had an ERA in the neighborhood of 5.50 in May and June. Given Torre's overuse of everyone, I don't see why Farnsworth would get stronger as his innings creep up. Obviously that's not Farns' fault but at the end of the day it's the back of his baseball card, not anyone else's.

"[I]f we had a one-run lead in the eighth inning and Papi and Manny were coming up, I'd take Farns over Flash any day." Those are some strong words. I guess to each his own but I certainly wouldn't.

Finally, if Gordon's post-season numbers are going to be thrown around, Farnsworth's got 10 games, 11 IP, 18 baserunners, and 9 ER (7.36 ERA). That's nothing to be proud of.

Listen, when a guy gives up a home run in the playoffs to Mark Bellhorn, or in his last year with the team gets called on by his manager to be a stopper in the seventh inning and can't get a SINGLE out, it's pretty hard to feel good about Tom Gordon.

Farns vs. Gordon with Papi coming up: this year Farnsworth has faced Papi three times and Papi is oh-for-three with three Ks; this year Gordon was facing him and gave up a two-run, walk-off bomb. If you want Flash in that situation, fine. But based on what they've done this year, I'll take my chances with the guy who K'd him three times.

As for what "turning it around" means -- Farnsworth has been cutting down on his walks (I still say he was walking people because of his bad back) and has been pitching better. He still had some rough games in June, but lately he's just looked much more relaxed and loose.

FWIW, in his post-season career, Gordon has pitched in 16 games - registering 17.3 IP. In those IP, he's allowed 28 base runners and fashioned an ERA of 7.79.

So, yeah, he's got the choker label to deal with, for sure.
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