WasWatching.com

Why can't Wright get another shot?

I'd probably put my $$ on Rasner, if he could get his blister issue solved.

Pickle brine anyone? :)

Maybe he needs to start peeing on his hands a la Alou and Posada? Whatever it takes. I don't know what to think of Pavano, but obviously he's one of the worst free agent signings of all time. What a disaster.

"He" is Rasner by the way, not a real good post from me....

Roger Clemens. Steve, I know you're not in favor of this move but I don't see the harm in giving a hired gun a 3-4 month contract. He fills a need, he's a gamer, and he certainly won't give you anything less than 110%. The Yanks need starters and he's certainly that (and more).

As for Pavano, I don't even know what to say. Why on earth Cashman targeted this guy, I'll never understand. Yes, I realize that many teams were hot for him but that doesn't make it any more logical. The man's been injury-prone his entire career. None of us should be surprised at what's going on here. It is SO time to pay him to be gone from NY so that the black cloud can be lifted.

Look, if the Yankees can stay in it and sign Clemens, this is what their rotation will look like post-all star break:

Clemens
Wang
Pettitte
Mussina
Hughes

Don't tell me that doesn't bring a smile to your face.

Of the guys mentioned, Tyler Clippard is the best of the bunch. By far. He's not Phil Hughes good, but he will be solid (especially for a four-five starter). Clippard gets downgraded by a lot of people because he doesn't have a blazing fastball like Phil, but his strikeout numbers have been terrific his entire minor-league career, and his changeup is incredible.

Rasner is definitely the most polished.

I think Rasner is probably the safe bet right now, and I do like him, but does anyone else get a kind of "blah" feel about him? I think it would just be better to take the risk and use T-Clip until Hughes gets back.

And with all due respect to my friend MJ, I'm not really in favor of bringing in Clemens. I just worry about how effective he would be. Would he really be worth the money in the AL? What if he comes back and gets bombed? What if he ends up just being a five-inning pitcher?

It seems like a big risk.

By the way, how accurate is Dom Amore? I went to his blog to read the entire article, and it seems more speculative than anything else about the TJ surgery. No one else made that leap when mentioning that Pavano was going to see Dr. Andrews. I think Amore is simply thinking a visit to Dr. Andrews = TJS.

He also says Matt DeSalvo is a lefty, so maybe we should wait for official news of this...

Oh my, a season without Pavano, how will the Yankees deal with that??

Looks like Clippard is starting to figure AAA out, Check out his last two starts, so he is becoming more of a viable option. My money is still on Rasner, he hasn't been too bad during his time up with the club.

I agree with bailey, in that I'm not a big Clemens fan. At most your gonna get 5-6 innings a game out of him, and come late September, and October he is going to be broken down again.

I think that the Yanks will get healthy, with Mussina, Wang, Pettitte, Igawa, and then Hughes/Rasner/Clippard/DeSalvo/Karstens making up the difference. But as much as some people are getting on Cashman for this stuff, his building of the farm system will give the Yanks a chance to make a trade, and not even give up all the best prospects. I'm not a big fan of his attitude, but Carlos Zambrano, might become available in about a month or two for the right deal. Dontrelle Willis is the other name always floating around, so maybe the Yanks can swing a deal for either of those guys without giving up Hughes, or Tabata.

Hey Steve -

Do you feel a tiny bit bad now after ending your last post with?

"Now, if it was only this easy to get rid of Pavano too..."

The Indians, it is widely reported, have to make decisions reagrding the long term status of Travis Hafner and C.C. Sabathia after '08.
They apparently lean toward signing Hafner first.
Sabbathia would be a better deal than Dontrelle or Clemens. I would move some top minor league talent and then some for him.

Santino, Sabathia smells like a Bartolo Colon situation: Perpetually out of shape with concurrent wear and tear (DL stints) when as he ages.

SL: I'm willing to give Igawa one more "benefit of the doubt" start after last Saturday's excellent effort. No gulping yet.

Pavano needs to GO see Dr. Andrews, GO get surgery and GO away. He's GUTLESS and does not deserve to be on this team. I'm tired of looking at him on the bench and I'm sure his teammates are tired of all of this as well. Banish him to Tampa.

At the rate our pitchers are going down, I think that whole list will get a shot.

I think Clippard may have sniffed that hed get a shot, last night 7 IP 11K. Either DeSalvo or Clippard would probably serve as a solid #4 or #5. We cant have another injury this is really getting rediculous

He's GUTLESS and does not deserve to be on this team.
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No offense, Mike, but as Steve said, you can't fake the need for Tommy John surgery. He pitched this year and then go hurt -- if it's TJS, then it was serious. Everyone questions this guy, but they can't simply understand that his body won't allow him to pitch. Needing TJS doesn't make him gutless -- it makes him injury-prone.

Do you think Mike Hampton is gutless? Was Kevin Brown gutless? Is Ben Sheets gutless? What about Prior and Wood?

These guys aren't gutless -- their bodies just can't take pitching every five days. That's the way it goes.

So Pavano's career may be over, and in other news the sun rose in the east and will be setting in the west today.

Looks like things are getting back to normal in Yankee land. I can't remember the time-line all too well, but when the Yanks finally realized that Pavano wasn't going to pitch last year wasn't that when they started running away with the division? Didn't it work out that way in 2005 too? Again, I can't remember the time-line all too well, but I have this eerie feeling that once Pavano says he won't be back then the Yanks start to win.

Maybe I'm just grasping at straws, but I sure hope that's true and the Yanks start winning at a .630+ clip.

He's GUTLESS and does not deserve to be on this team
==============
Was he gutless when he pitched with cracked ribs?

Pavano has been much better than the Yankees ever had any right to expect. His Yankees career has been a big success, BY HIS OWN STANDARDS, and, if his career was over, it turns into an excellent signing.

Let's say that his 2007 season is over and he's also out for 2008. It would mean that, from 2001-08 almost every one of the best years of his career were with the Yankees--

His 2001-08 career, in order of seasons from best to worst--

1) 2003 Marlins 27 RSAA
T2) 2006 Yankees 0 RSAA
T2) 2008 Yankees 0 RSAA
4) 2007 Yankees -1 RSAA
5) 2005 Yankees -3 RSAA
6) 2001 Expos -8 RSAA
7) 2002 MON/FLO -17 RSAA

He's had more success with the Yankees than we had any right to expect.

Lee, I really wish you would post here more.