WasWatching.com

Not great, but they've done this kind of thing before to a greater extent and made the playoffs. However, you can construct a similar scenario for any team in baseball, and it doesn't look to happy. What if Lester and Buchholz aren't able to hold their own in the majors? Or if Tim Wakefield breaks another rib? Would Sox fans feel okay with Julian Tavarez and David Pauley started 40 games for them next season?

When was the last time you wrote a hopeful article about Yankees players, Steve?

Do you have a link for that?

"What if Lester and Buchholz aren't able to hold their own in the majors? Or if Tim Wakefield breaks another rib?"

Ah, from your lips to the baseball god's ears, I say!

jscape - from Pete Abe today:

Cashman said that Pettitte and Chien-Ming Wang are in the rotation. He also has penciled in Mike Mussina despite the veteran right-hander going 11-10 with a 5.15 ERA last season.

"Last year was a blip. We're counting on Moose to have a bounce-back season," Cashman said. "He'll be one of our starters."

The Yankees have 21-year-old Phil Hughes, 22-year-old Joba Chamberlain and 23-year-old Ian Kennedy for the other two spots. None are guaranteed a spot, Cashman said.

Chamberlain electrified baseball as a reliever last season, allowing one earned run in 24 innings and striking out 34. But he threw only 116 innings all told last season and will likely be limited to approximately 150 innings this year.

"We'll prepare him as a starter, get through spring training and then determine where he starts," Cashman said. "He has an innings limit and won't go start to finish as a starter. That won't be allowed.

"It wouldn't be safe, that's our belief. You have to put the brakes on and make sure he stays healthy."

http://tinyurl.com/2zjavb

"When was the last time you wrote a hopeful article about Yankees players?"

2 days ago: http://www.waswatching.com/archives/2008/02/hello_joe.html

The nuclear scenario you proposed has kind of happened every season since 2005 and yet the Yankees still find a way to make the playoffs. In many ways, it is comforting to know the Yankees do have a pretty significant margin for error.

The nuclear scenario you proposed has kind of happened every season since 2005
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You mean since 2004...

I'd feel comfortable with Rasner & Kartsens starting. Felt that way about them last year, and had they not gotten hurt, I think they would've eaten a good number of innings. My expectations are low with Igawa, but I've seen pitchers with less stuff survive in the MLB, so I wouldn't be surprised if he were able to turn it around.

I said PLAYERS, not former players...;)

You should really change the name of this blog from "Was Watching" to "Is Very Pessimistic"

Josh - We would counter with...while some confuse the lack of optimism with pessimism, more so, it's a matter of trying to look at all angles.

I guess you forgot the next sentence:

"Chamberlain could be skipped, used in the bullpen or be used as part of a six-man rotation for parts of the season."

It's really not all that surprising to read a doomsday scenario in which Hughes gets hurt on this web site, but... if it did happen, my reaction wouldn't be quite as sanguine as the rest of these guys. If any team lost its third and fifth starter (which I believe, respectively, Hughes and Kennedy are) it would be a big blow. Rasner is a nice workman pitcher who can get the job done, but Karstens is not a big-leaguer, so I hope that those two wouldn't get the job (maybe Rasner, but not Karstens). Hopefully Horne would have gotten some time in AAA and they would think he was ready, and I would probably make White the second choice.

The Yankees would survive, but it would hurt, because for the all the pitching depth they have, the upper-level guys like Horne, White, Wright, Marquez and McCutchen aren't anywhere near the pitchers Hughes and Kennedy are.

Or, of course, the obvious solution is to put Joba back in the rotation as the #5 starter. Your scenario pretty much assumes that we are talking about May-June, by which time Joba will have taken enough time away from starting that putting him as the #5 and skipping him when possible will keep his innings down. Then, yeah, Steven White, Horne, Igawa, Karstens, Rasner could all fill in.

We would counter with...while some confuse the lack of optimism with pessimism, more so, it's a matter of trying to look at all angles.
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While it certainly may be that, the fact that nearly every single posting appears to ONLY look at the negative makes it hard to say that you're getting "all" the angles as much as only the negative ones.

Believe me, I understand where it comes from. I do it all the time too. I'll watch Mussina give up a bunch of hard-hit balls in the first inning, see the team down 4-0 early and immediately hit the panic button. It's human nature to have that kind of defense mechanism. But to shield it under the guise of objectivity is a touch disingenuous. Doesn't mean I don't love this blog -- I TOTALLY do -- but you're probably not as honest about this point as you could be. No worries, most of us aren't either.

This post could apply to almost any ML team. What if Phil Hughes gets in a car accident on his way back from taking Sean Henn out to Flemings to thank him for his number change, and what if Moose really pushes Joba on the five-mile run that Joba challenged him to this offseason and Joba has a heart attack, and what if IPK decides he misses his new bride too much and wants to move back to Southern California during her last year of school. OMG, it would be a disaster!

Yes, Steve. It would be a disaster, and Kei Igawa would probably get a regular turn in the rotation.

We should change this site's name to "Was Watching, until the fear of countless potential dooms made watching impossible... Melancholy commentary from a Yankee ledge jumper."

Steve, at this time of the year, most fans are really looking forward to the new season. The challenges, the opportunities, the hope for success. All of this "what if A-Rod leaves Cynthia for that she-male" crap that you have been posting is pretty ridiculous.

Ben

You mean all the Negative Angles right??

I don't think this blog has said anything positive since Game 5 of the 2000 World Series.

If push comes to shove, I think the Yanks would make a trade for a starter. Ben Sheets anyone? It has been reported MLBTRADERUMORS.com that the Yanks have mild interest in Joe Blanton. He would sense because of the innings cap on Hughes and Chamberlain.

Hopefully, Mike Mussina steps up his game this year. That's a big "if" though. I think Horne and Marquez would hold their own if promoted. The Yanks don't need world beaters. League average would be just fine.