Pettitte to retire? Now Cashman's failure is complete

One of the most disastrous off season in recent Yankee history will reach its mindboggling conclusion.

The Yankees, in desperate need for pitching depth and starters who can eat innings, are going to enter spring training with a worse rotation than the one they had last year and a pitcher in Bartolo Colon who can evidently eat everything EXCEPT innings.

Andy Pettitte is going to retire.

And who can blame him? He doesn't have a lot to play for. He has his rings, his fortune, his adoration of New York fans and his integrity for actually saying "Yeah, I used the stuff."

And that admission will probably end whatever slim Hall of Fame hopes he had so why not stay home and retire the way Mike Mussina did? Still a good pitcher and not embarrassing himself.

But Cashman and company can not POSSIBLY spin this into a good winter.

With the Yankees you ASSUME your own stars will come back.

Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter returning doesn't make this a positive winter.

And now one of the key parts and links to the championship years are gone.

Pettitte was the middle square on the bingo card for the rotation. You ASSUMED he was going to be there. Add in Cliff Lee and you have CC Sabathia, Pettitte and Lee... BOOM! The A.L. Pennant is won.

Now, the Yankees will have A. J. Burnett as the #3 starter. Ivan Nova at #4. And the "Hey we were good in 2005" bunch for #5.

Plus a bullpen with Rivera, Rafael Soriano (with 2 elbow surgeries in the last few years) and the artist formerly known as Joba Chamberlain.

How the Yankees with their budget and prestige and near lock on a post season berth whiffed so badly in building up their rotation is nothing short of amazing.

And, as Subway Squawker Lisa Swan pointed out, Hal Steinbrenner has offered Brian Cashman a vote of confidence, which must be as reassuring as Michael's kiss of Fredo.

At this point I am not even sure a World Series victory will save Brian Cashman's job.
They don't have the prospects to trade for a big pitcher.
And there is nobody left on the market.

The music stopped and the Yankees are left without a seat.

Not that I am gloating.

I hate to say "I told you so"... no wait! I LOVE saying "I told you so"

10 days ago I wrote a blog post... basically calling Joe Girardi's pitching rotation for the ALCS insane.

I thought that lining up the rotation so Sabathia would not be available to pitch Game 7, flip flopping Hughes and Pettitte so Andy faced Cliff Lee and throwing A. J. Burnett in Game 4 gave the Rangers a clear and almost unfair advantage in Games 3, 4 and 7.

In other words, Girardi had set up the rotation so the Yankees had no margin for error in Games 1, 2, 5 and 6.

I said that Sabathia needed to throw games 1, 4 and 7. (Spare me the "he's tired" act. He had thrown 6 innings over 2 weeks.)

They needed Pettitte to throw game 2 (because he was their second best option) and start A. J. Burnett against Cliff Lee (consolidating their miserable match ups).

Hughes (available for bullpen work in Games 1 and 2) would be on full rest for Game 5... Pettitte 6 and Sabathia 7th.

Instead they sent out the mismatched 3 and 4 games and lost by a combination of 18-3 in those two games.

The fact that the Yankees were outscored 31-6 in the four losses shows that the pitching kinda sorta favored the Yankees.

It didn't have to be that bad.

I told them so.

You are damn right Giants fans should cheer Barry Bonds

Barry threw out the first pitch yesterday afternoon in San Francisco, and no doubt people will fret over it... wondering what message it will send the kids.

Funny, the other night when Andy Pettitte pitched a wonderful game against Cliff Lee, I don't remember people saying how disgusting it was that he was playing.

He used the stuff.

He followed Clemens from New York to Houston and back again.

He denied it at first, and then after getting caught was hailed as a great man for saying "Yeah I used it... like one time. The fact that I was crossing country back and forth with Clemens was a complete coincidence."

Nobody seems upset that Alex Rodriguez has been playing this post season... another guy who used it and denied it left and right until he was cornered.

Those guys are playing in the PLAYOFFS.

Is anyone upset that Mark McGwire, the man who could have done so much good if he were honest but decided to not talk about the past, is a hitting coach for a contending Cardinals team and giving players tips? Maybe some pointers... like one to inject into your butt.

Bonds got applause from the fans and threw a ceremonial first pitch.

And the fans know, as I wrote earlier, that Bonds saved baseball in San Francisco... BEFORE his body ballooned up.

The fans were sitting in beautiful AT&T Park, instead of miserable Candlestick Park... or Tropicana Field, because of the excitement that Bonds brought to San Francisco starting in 1993... the year after they almost moved to St. Pete.

Let's not get carried away over a first pitch, shall we?

For Christsake, they had someone dressed as Captain Morgan throw out the first pitch at some games! It's not a big deal!

Wins and Losses can be unfair

Well there is no doubting who WON the game tonight. Heck, when the announcers start bringing up Sandy Koufax in their comparisons with Cliff Lee, you know you are in good company.

But Andy Pettitte pitched a GREAT game tonight. He deserved better.
I mean he threw 7 solid innings, let up 2 runs, all in the first inning.

Technically he lost the game... but let's get down to brass tacks. The Yankees BULLPEN lost the game! The Yankees had the top of their order coming up and Ron Washington had to make a tough decision... leave Cliff Lee in with a high pitch count or bring in Feliz?

One 6 run rally later and the only decision left to make in Yankee Stadium was "Should we leave now or walk around and see if anyone left a souvenir cup?"

Seriously... don't hang this loss on Petttitte. Give it to the group effort of Boone Logan and David Robertson.

It's a shame that Javier Vazquez wasn't on the roster. The 8-0 game would have been the ideal time to stick him in there.

Are the Yankees insane?

Let's say you are organizing the entertainment at a casino.
While putting the line up of shows together, you realize that you can have Frank Sinatra perform three nights... but you say "Nah... we only want Frank for two nights. We need to save his voice, so we'll book Steve Lawrence instead for a night."

And when lining up the shows you say "We won't have Sinatra in our biggest show. We're booking Wayne Newton for our biggest show."

Chances are someone would break your legs or at least call you an idiot.

That's basically what the Yankees are doing.

They have that most valuable of commodities... a legit ace in C. C. Sabathia. He's an innings eater (and a Subway sandwich eater) and can take the ball over and over again (remember his tour de force complete game marathon for Milwaukee at the end of the 2008 season?)

And there is no danger of the Yankees running him into the ground like the Brewers did that season. He's thrown 6 innings since September 28th.

He's ready to throw game 1. And the Yankees should line up their rotation to get Sabathia throwing as often as he can against Texas. Have him throw Game 1, Game 4 and OF COURSE Game 7.

I thought that was a no brainer. He is Sinatra in this scenario.

And evidently the Yankees have other plans.

They intend to go with a 4 man rotation... and start A. J. Burnett.
Yes, the same guy who pitched for them in the regular season.
The same guy with a 5.25 ERA.
The same guy who essentially pitched himself out of the playoff picture.

Girardi will start him Game 4.

He is Steve Lawrence in this analogy.

And what about Game 7? The potential do or die game for the pennant... the one where the Rangers will inevitably throw Cliff Lee...

They intend to give the ball to Phil Hughes.

A nice pitcher. A good pitcher. A pitcher who has been up and down recently.

He's Wayne Newton.
Wayne Newton isn't bad... but he's no Sinatra.

And the Yankees are putting themselves into a potentially bad situation with their pitching staff in the ALCS.

They have the clear advantage in game one between Sabathia and C.J.Wilson.
The Yankees also have the edge in game two between Phil Hughes and Colby Lewis, but it isn't a sure thing.

Then their proposed Game 3 has Andy Pettite against Cliff Lee. OVERWHELMING advantage to Texas.

Then A. J. Burnett will throw Game 4.
Does it even matter who Texas is pitching? They have the advantage in Game 4 as well.

In other words the Yankees have set up their pitching staff to give Texas obvious advantages in Games 3, 4 and 7.

All because they don't want to use Sabathia 3 times. If they did use him 3 times, the Yankees would have the clear advantage in Games 1 and 4 and set up an ace versus ace Game 7.

The Yankees should throw Sabathia in those 3 games.
If they MUST throw Burnett, why not use him in Game 3 against Cliff Lee? Consolidate the pitching match ups that favor the Rangers into one game.

Have Pettite go Game 2 with Hughes coming out of the pen.
Have Hughes start game 5 and Pettite start game 6 on regular rest.

This is not a second guess. I am writing this on Wednesday and the series starts on Friday.

I am clearly NOT rooting for the Yankees to win. I would love to see this rotation explode in their face.

It just strikes me odd... they aren't putting their best team on the field.
They aren't booking Sinatra.
Ah well... I guess Girardi is saying "I'll do it my way!"

Pettitte's biggest thrill in his career...

Andy Pettitte knows a thing or two about pressure packed games.
He won Game 5 of the 1996 World Series, dueling future Hall of Famer John Smoltz 1-0 in a must win game.

He won the clinching games of the 1998 and 2009 World Series for the Yankees. He also pitched 7 solid innings in the clinching game of the 2000 World Series.

In the wake of Sept. 11th, he was the MVP of the 2001 ALCS, winning twice against the 116 win Mariners squad.

He won critical game 2's in the Division Series, LCS and World Series of 2003, each time keeping the Yankees out of an 0-2 hole.

As a member of the Astros, he won the first game of the 2005 Division Series, taking home field away from the Braves.

He went 5-0 in the 2009 post season and has made 40 post season starts over 28 series in 12 different Octobers.

The man has experienced pressure and memorable thrills.

But how could ANY of them compare to pitching the AA Eastern League playoffs last night as a member of the Trenton Thunder?

With ice water in his veins in front of 8,072 fans, Pettitte stared down the New Hampshire Fisher Cats for 4 shutout innings in his rehab start.

Forget pitching in the Bronx against the Red Sox or Philadelphia.
The kiln in which champions are finished is in Trenton... and no team is a bigger test for someone's resolve and place in history than the Fisher Cats.

Pettitte has answered his critics and shown that no, the Fisher Cats do NOT have his number.

After this, the Yankees know they finally have a champion who has earned his pinstripes.

Hats off to you Pettitte. Everything after this will be gravy.

44 game season

118 games into the season and the first and 21st biggest payrolls have reached a standstill.

The Yankees and Rays are dead even... and chances are both teams are making the post season. (It will take an effort worthy of the 2007 Rockies for the Red Sox to be a factor again.)

And while any suspense to whether or not they will be playing in October, there is concern this year to actually WIN the Division.

Unlike say 2003* and 2004 or 2008 when the ALCS was a match up of AL East teams that steamrolled through the competition, there is a truly formidable obstacle in the way of the ALCS:

The Texas Rangers and Cliff Lee on the road in Arlington for Games 1 and 5.

You want to face him? Granted, both the Yankees and Rays won games recently started by Lee... but how many times do you think you can pull THAT off?

So the two teams are going to play 44 and whomever has the best record will face the White Sox at home. No push over team, to be sure... but homefield advantage and avoiding Cliff Lee is the key.

And so far, guess what?
EVERYTHING is pointing Tampa's way.
They have a slight edge on head to head match up (6-5 over the Yankees) and if they finished tied, then the team with the best head to head match up will be the Division Champ (thus why the Yankees were the Division Champs in 2005 while tied with the Red Sox.)

They play 7 more times against each other.

The Rays have an edge in pitching edge. While they have experienced injuries, they have been able to stick in minor league stud Jeremy Hellickson into their rotation and Soriano has made the bullpen solid.

The Yankees have Sabathia, but Burnett is inconsistent, Vazquez is mediocre, Hughes is up and down and Pettitte is hurt. And oh yeah, no reliever not named Rivera can be trusted.

And schedule wise, Tampa finishes the season against Seattle, Kansas City and Baltimore while the Yankees finish against Toronto and Red Sox teams who would LOVE to knock the Yankees out of the Division Lead.

I wish it were a 3 team race, but 6 games back in the loss column with 7 weeks to play is a bit much to ask for.


*Yes I know the A's nearly beat the Red Sox in 2003... but they didn't, so there.

Why this Red Sox fan thinks George Steinbrenner was good for baseball

George Steinbrenner, a unintentionally a showman to the end, died on the morning of the All Star Game. Nobody knows how sick he has been over the last few years as his public appearances have been more and more seldom and his sons Hal and Hank have been running the show.

But now the Boss is gone. And so is a baseball era.

I know I am a Red Sox fan and my blogpost title might have some people think I am going to write a snarky sarcastic piece... or that I am going to try and say something polite out of respect for the recently departed.

But I'm not. I am 100% sincere when I say that when George Steinbrenner took over the Yankees in the 1970s, it was a great moment for baseball in terms of popularity, passion and making the game more fun.

Think about it... for Yankee fans, the franchise turned around twice under his leadership. When he took over the team in 1973 from CBS, the Yankees were just another team. They were 9 years removed from their last pennant and they lagged far behind the Orioles, the Tigers and the mighty Oakland A's in the American League... and the great Yankee Stadium was crumbling.

By the time of his death, the Yankees once again were the gold standard of baseball, winning titles in the 70s, 90s and 2000s with superstars both homegrown and acquired.

Yeah, George had his bad qualities as an owner. His insane merry go round of managers in the 1980s, his gobbling up of free agents from Catfish Hunter to CC Sabathia, and his treatment of Billy Martin, Yogi Berra, Dave Winfield and Joe Torre inexcusable.

But wasn't that part of what made the Yankees of the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s fun?

And for the rest of us... it was made the Yankees fun to HATE!

For whatever reason, Yankee fans have never seemed to embrace that they are the bad guys in baseball... the villains. But do you know who DID?

George M. Steinbrenner.

He got it. He understood that role the Yankees play in baseball. As I wrote before, the resentment for the Yankees started long before Steinbrenner took over the team. There's no musical called "Damn Orioles."

But with Steinbrenner the Yankees assumed the role of the monolithic team that everyone wanted to see and beat.

First with the Bronx Zoo, then with the efficient Torre Years and now with the star studded Jeter/Rivera/A-Rod teams, people love to root AGAINST them.

Don't believe me? Check out the Yankees road attendance. Look at places like Oakland or Kansas City or Seattle or Cleveland when the Yankees come to town. There is always a spike in attendance. The teams charge more for tickets because they know that fans want to see their team beat the Yankees.

The Dodgers wouldn't sell single game tickets for the Yankee series... you also had to buy tickets for a less desirable match up.

Like any James Bond film, the better the bad guy, the more exciting it is. And Steinbrenner was always the one to absorb the blows as the Oil Can Harry figure of the team. Whether it was in his crazy press releases, hosting SNL or getting a kick out of being a character on Seinfeld, he understood his role.

It was tough to hate quiet professional stars like Jorge Posada, Andy Pettite, Mariano Rivera and Bernie Williams (although I found ways to)... but George was always a punching bag and he seemed to relish it.

The biggest dips in baseball's popularity were in the late 1960s and the early 1990s... and in both times the Yankees were lousy. Is that a coincidence?

It's tough to get worked up when the bad guy is the Oakland A's or the Baltimore Orioles.

As for the biggest complaint about him... the fact that he spends the most on free agents on payroll, let's not sidestep that.

Yeah, the payroll of the Yankees is obscenely high. Even more obscenely high than my beloved Red Sox who are as gluttonous as John Belushi circa 1981.

Let me ask you something though... do you think Steinbrenner is the richest owner in the game? For years that was Carl Pohlad of the Twins who let his players jump ship left and right and threatened to contract the team.

Who is a bigger disgrace to the game? George Steinbrenner for making every off season somewhat of a circus? Or the Pirates management pocketing revenue sharing and playing in a tax funded stadium while putting an unwatchable product on the field for nearly 2 decades?

And if you think that just playing in New York makes you a winner, then you should have some conversations with some Mets fans... or Knick fans... or Ranger fans... or Jet fans.... (Imagine if you were a Met/Knick/Ranger/Jet fan... Lord help you.)

As with most of the Yankee resentment, there comes a certain amount of jealousy. I know this as a Red Sox fan... I wanted the Yankee titles and all the Yankee stars to come to Boston. And when people started saying the Red Sox were evil like the Yankees I LOVED it.

Let's face it, Sox fans... Steinbrenner and the Yankees raised the interest level for the Red Sox as well.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Sox main rivals were the Toronto Blue Jays. Yeah those pennant races were fun (especially the wild down to the last Brunansky catch season of 1990) but they were a mere sparkler compared to the fireworks of the late 1990s and 2000s clash with the Yankees.

The Red Sox became a national brand and the passion went through the roof. Part of that was the new ownership who sold the team to the public better than the moronic Yawkeys ever could. But they also had the perfect bad guy for Red Sox Nation.

Would 2004 have been as sweet if the Red Sox came back from 0-3 against the Twins?

Now of course I am heaping a lot of praise on how Steinbrenner ran the team over the years when of course he made many mistakes and often times was the benefactor of other people's work that he disagreed with.

Lest we forget if he had his way Ron Guidry would have been traded to the Blue Jays.

Bernie Williams would have been dealt countless times.

Jeter was almost dealt for Bryan Harvey!

As I wrote before the Yankees of the 1980s were a comedy of insanely bad decisions.

And Yankee managers Dick Howser, Billy Martin, Lou Piniella, Buck Showalter and Joe Torre all led other teams to the post season after getting fired by George.

But that was one of the things that made George fun as well... pointing out the mistakes and the BAD signings. The Hideki Irabus and Ed Whitsons... the Randy Johnsons and Carl Pavanos.

It's going to be different now. With the Yankees as a conglomerate and most owners being anonymous, you aren't going to see a lightning rod owner like this for a long time.

Who knows how interested Hank and Hal will be in running the Yankees?

Who knows what kind of passion there will be in the front office in the Bronx?

The Boss is gone.

Whether you loved him or hated him... feared him or mocked him... he made the game more fun.

I know I am going to miss him.

I covered a lot of this when I compared Steinbrenner to the Weinstein Brothers a few years ago... it is still applicable.

I don't know if there is an afterlife or not. There may be... there may not be... but if there is, I hope someone up there is recording the George Steinbrenner-Billy Martin reunion.

It would be a sight to behold.

Rest in peace, Mr. Steinbrenner.