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December 02, 2007
Pen Manship Concerns
From George King -
Rebuilding the bullpen is a necessity. Joba Chamberlain is going from the 'pen to the rotation, and that leaves a crater in front of Mariano Rivera. Yankees say they want Luis Vizcaino back but he remains a free agent. Kyle "The Mop" Farnsworth is the only reliever in place with experience, and the Yankees will gladly listen to trade offers for him and the $5.75 million he is owed.
There is a feeling in the organization that youngsters Ross Ohlendorf, Steven Jackson, Mark Melancon, J.B. Cox and Humberto Sanchez will eventually be able to help in the bullpen, but only Ohlendorf (six games) has big-league experience. Melancon, Cox and Sanchez are coming off arm problems.
The Yankees have shown interest in free agents La Troy Hawkins, David Riske, Trever Miller and Jeremy Affeldt.
If the next baseball season opened today, this would be the Yankees bullpen:
Mariano Rivera
Kyle Farnsworth
Followed by four or five guys from Brian Bruney, Chris Britton, Ross Ohlendorf, Jose Veras, Edwar Ramirez, Sean Henn, Jeff Karstens and Darrell Rasner.
If I had to bet now, I would say that the winners from that group would be Ross Ohlendorf, Jose Veras, Jeff Karstens and Darrell Rasner. That's not very pretty, at this point.
La Troy Hawkins, David Riske, Trever Miller and Jeremy Affeldt don't exactly thrill me either, for what it's worth. They all scream of "Journeymen looking to be overpaid" to me. Think "Juan Acevedo, Gabe White, Felix Rodriguez, and Dan Naulty," if you must.
At this point, it's almost a must that the Yankees bring back Luis Vizcaino and trade for another quality relief pitcher. Maybe Cashman can work on both of those things next week.
Posted by Steve Lombardi at December 2, 2007 10:31 AM
Comments
The way things are going in New York, Boston will offer LaTroy Hawkins and Jeremy Affeldt a couple of million and the Yanks will trade IPK to the Brewers for Mota and then offer Hawkins/Affeldt $50M each.
I'm so goddamn sick and tired of the Yankees going for scrubby veteran relievers already. Verducci doesn't get much right but that piece about the Padres from a few weeks back makes some sense.
Posted by: MJ ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.waswatching.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at December 2, 2007 11:07 AM
I don't want Viz back. Many of the relievers that have been overused by Torre who don't get "tired" arms show the ill effects the following season. Viz showed those effects late last season. Trouble likely lies ahead.
I'm willing to be patient for the young arms to mature, both in the rotation in the pen.
It's the best way for the team to be in a position to win championships for the next ten years.
Posted by: Rich at December 2, 2007 12:06 PM
I'm so goddamn sick and tired of the Yankees going for scrubby veteran relievers already.
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Hear! Hear!
I may have a foolish hope about Girardi, but I think that the Yankees will be better at cobbling together a bullpen in 2008 than they have in the past.
Take this for what its worth, but I think that Torre was particularly bad at developing relievers. Young relievers would go into the doghouse and not be used after one (or a few) bad outing(s) [at the same time, Torre usually overburdened his current "favorite" (Quantrill, Gordon, Sturtze, Proctor, Vizcaino)]. I think that Torre's usage patterns may have really undermined the confidence of young relievers.
Girardi built up a good starting rotation out of nothing in Florida. The Yankees bullpen is small potatoes compared to that.
Posted by: jonm at December 2, 2007 12:19 PM
~If the next baseball season opened today, this would be the Yankees bullpen~
And they wouldn't have Arod or Mariano (no signed contracts) and many games would be snowed out.
It's December 2 and the season doesn't start today, the Winter meetings haven't begun, etc.
If the pen was well stocked now it'd probably be because they had signed someone as a free agent they shouldn't have or given up farmhands for questionable quality.
I'd be more concerned if it was March 2nd with the same bullpen.
Posted by: RICH at December 2, 2007 12:49 PM
Sorry, but why exactly do relief pitchers need to "prove" themselves elsewhere in order to be eligible for the Yankees' bullpen? There's no doubt in my mind that some of the youngsters you listed are very capable of doing the jobs of these "proven" veteran relievers at a fraction of the price. I think Ohlendorf and Ramirez can make an effective team out of the pen, and I think that pitchers like Sanchez, Cox, and Horne will be given chances at middle relief as well. The sky is not falling with regards to the bullpen- have faith in the young-RHP-rich Yankees' farm system.
Posted by: mehmattski at December 2, 2007 07:28 PM