The Bronx View

Tyler Kepner on the future of Hideki Matsui:

Matsui will be a free agent after the World Series, and the Yankees are eager to open up designated hitter as a place to rest veterans like third baseman Alex Rodriguez, catcher Jorge Posada, Jeter and perhaps left fielder Johnny Damon, who is also a free agent. Damon turns 36 on Thursday, and Matsui turns 36 next June.

“I think we both would love to stay,” Damon said Friday. “I think I might understand the free-agency cycle more than he does, and you play it out and come the off-season, I think we’ll know early who’s here and who’s not. If he’s here, there’s a good chance that I’m back still. But regardless of where I am after Nov. 5, I’ll be a happy camper.”

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The Yankees have Rodriguez, Posada and Jeter under contract for next season, with a new deal for Jeter, who also turns 36 next June, looming. The designated hitter spot could be vital to keeping them all healthy and maximizing their effectiveness.

The Yankees will probably try to retain Damon on a short-term contract, though his agent, Scott Boras, could counter by reminding the Yankees that they gave Posada a four-year contract at the same age.

Rob Neyer picked up on this bit and responded:

Well, yes … but there’s something else, too, that Kepner touches on just tangentially: the Yankees are old. Now it seems that their American League pennant was inevitable, but was it really? Three of their best players were 35, and Jorge Posada was 37. All of them were better in 2009 than they’d been in 2008, and Posada was the only one who missed significant time because of injuries.

That’s not typically a recipe for success. Last winter, Brian Cashman’s No. 1 mission was adding strikeout pitchers to his rotation (his No. 2 mission was signing the best-hitting free agent). This winter, I’ll bet you a box of Cracker Jack that his No. 1 million will be getting younger in the lineup, however slightly. The Yankees will not be a young team in 2010. But they won’t be quite as old, either, and that means one of the old-timers has to go.

I’ve been banging this drum for a little while but I’ll get my sticks out again…

The Yankees are old.  I, myself, was calling for Damon to be traded two years ago because it seemed like there was no way he was going to give the Yankees a good return on their investment.

I was wrong.

Damon has been far better offensively than anyone could have expected at this age.  Amazingly, Damon has put up better numbers for the Yankees over four years than he did for the Red Sox, although he did play centerfield (poorly) while in Boston.

Johnny Damon is not a leftfielder much longer, though.  He may have a year left in him at the position.  I wouldn’t be adverse to the Yankees giving Damon one more year, given that the best option on the market this winter is Matt Holliday, who will likely be grossly overpaid.  I don’t think the Yankees want to sign Holliday to a Teixeira-like deal.  If he could be had for five years, that might be more reasonable.

The bigger concern I have is this notion that the DH position should be used as a daily rest spot instead of having an actual hitter there.

Sticking ARod or Posada or Jeter in the DH spot on an almost daily basis means that each day Molina/Cervelli or Jerry Hairston Jr. will be in the lineup.  And if not those guys, a player similar to their offense.  On days when all of the starters are in the field, the Yankees will have a weak hitting DH.

Let’s compare Matsui to those players:

We can probably assume that Matsui won’t hit quite as well in 2010.  His numbers against lefties alone would be tough to duplicate.  Even with a little regression, Matsui can project to have a pretty good year and be versatile against righties and lefties.

Considering that caveat, there is still little reason to think the Yankee offense will benefit from a round-robin designated hitter.  If a player needs a day off, give them the day off.  If you want them to DH, give Matsui the day off as well.  Don’t go into a season intentionally creating a weak spot in your lineup for the sake of resting other players. That doesn’t make any sense.

The Yankees can afford Hideki Matsui.  The question will be the length of the contract.  The same goes for Damon.  Unless Damon has suddenly changed strategies in his older age and wants to retire a Yankee, he will explore the market for a multi-year deal with his agent, Scott Boras.  Matsui may have a different approach and stick close to the Yankees for another year at the right price.

Either way, unless the Yankees can find a young alternative for left field that can be had reasonably, there aren’t many options out there that will be that much of an upgrade over Damon for one year.

Two possible games left in the World Series and Joe Girardi isn’t positive who is starting game 6?  Chad Jennings:

Martinez pitched well in Game 2. He struck out eight while allowing three runs on six hits through six innings. He will be pitching on five day’s rest. The Yankees starter, meanwhile, will likely be pitching on three day’s rest.

As long as he feels strong during Tuesday’s workout, Yankees Game 3 starter Andy Pettitte will start against Martinez in Game 6.

“If Andy physically feels good, he’s going to go on Wednesday,” Girardi said. “This is something that we talked about all throughout. We check with our guys. If he feels good, he’s going.”

I’m sorry…  what?  “If he feels good”?

Reading this, it is possible Andy Pettitte could not pitch on Wednesday and that Girardi was aware of this possibility when he started AJ Burnett on three days rest in game five.

Doesn’t that strike anyone as a little bit risky?

Girardi entered game five with a 3-1 lead in the series.  He was faced with two choices:

1. Pitch three of his starters (one erratic, one old) on short rest for the remainder of the series (Burnett, Pettitte, then Sabathia).
2. Pitch Chad Gaudin on 57 days rest for game five, AJ Burnett on full rest for a possible game six and Sabathia on short rest for a possible game 7 with Pettitte backing him up.

Nobody was thrilled with the idea of Gaudin starting a World Series game, but AJ on short rest wasn’t exactly encouraging either.  The fact that Pettitte on short rest is even a question leading up to this game seems to make the choice for game five much simpler, doesn’t it?

What if Pettitte has to bow out of Wednesday’s start because the tiredness he complained about after game four is real?  That means Chad Gaudin would have to start game six after AJ Burnett started game five on short rest.  That’s the exact opposite of what you want to happen.

Girardi could just be saying this to protect his rear end but there is little reason to be secretive about the game six starter.

Pitching Burnett on three days rest was a gamble.  What little experience Burnett has on short relief wasn’t enough to conclude that Burnett would be effective in game five.  His home/road splits make Burnett a much better pitcher at Yankee Stadium, which should have swayed the decision a little closer to Gaudin starting.

But Pettitte being in doubt for game six?  If there was even a question that Pettitte couldn’t pitch Wednesday, AJ Burnett had no business pitching in Philadelphia.

It was reasonable to expect the Yankees to struggle a bit against Cliff Lee.  His game one performance would have been tough to duplicate and Lee didn’t have his best stuff last night, but he was still effective.  He did have some help from the Yankees, who had to drop an injured Melky Cabrera from the lineup and replace him with light hitting Brett Gardner.  They also gave Burnett his personal catcher, Jose Molina, who was quickly lifted from the game once the Burnett implosion was complete.*

* And for the record, the Jose Molina experiment proved to be as ineffective as we thought it would. If Molina was going to take some of the credit for Burnett’s success in September, then he shares in the blame for Burnett’s busts in the ALCS and World Series.  Likewise for Joe Girardi, a light hitting catcher himself who overvalued his backup catcher without considering the impact it could have on the lineup, especially in a National League park.

In short, the Yankees featured a lineup that did not have Hideki Matsui, had Nick Swisher as the number five hitter, and Brett Gardner, Jose Molina, and AJ Burnett batting 7-8-9.  Is it reasonable to expect that lineup to perform against Lee?

I’m trying not to apply hindsight criticism to this situation.  I truly was on the fence yesterday about who should start the game because I didn’t think the Yankees had any chance of winning if Gaudin started and maybe a 30 percent chance of winning if Burnett started.

Hearing that there was even a possibility that Pettitte could not be available for game six changes everything.  This isn’t hindsight anymore.  This is forehead smacking, how-was-this-even-a-question disbelief.

Girardi has managed to take one of the Yankees biggest strengths, their starting pitching, and actually put it in jeopardy in the World Series, all for the fear of an ineffective fourth starter pitching with a 3-1 Series lead.  It’s this strange combination Girardi has, an old school mentality mixed with progressive, arrogant thinking, that makes him believe he can outsmart the game of baseball.

Instead, MicroJoe paints himself into a corner and relies on the talent and fortitude of his players to bail him out.  It’s been the story of the season, it’s been the story of the postseason.

With any luck, it will hopefully be the story of the Yankees 27th World Series title.

Random thoughts from my Kitchen Command Center while Chase Utley gives me the Fear:

◊  Not exactly a great start for Cliff Lee, but an even worse start for AJ Burnett. Of course, Burnett gave up four runs to start game five of the ALCS and settled down before the Yankees stormed back, only to lose the game.

Not this game.  Burnett never got it together, eventually getting bumped in the third and absorbing all six runs.

This game is ripe for second guessing.  Did AJ stink up the first because of the short rest?  Should Gaudin have pitched so AJ could pitch at Yankee Stadium where he has fared better this season?  Should Old Andy Pettitte even be throwing on short rest?  Should Chase Utley EVER get a pitch to hit for the rest of his life?

◊  Cliff Lee was good but certainly not his dominating self from game one. Three walks, three strike outs and seven hits are not the signs of complete control, but it was enough to win.  Watching the Yankee hitters constantly popping up made it feel as if the Yankees weren’t going to hit Lee even if he was bad.

◊  Chase Utley continues to mash Yankees pitching, hitting a three run home run in the first inning and a solo shot off Phil Coke in the seventh.  If the Yankees win this series, I probably wouldn’t argue much if Utley won the MVP award.  He’s been that good.

Hey, if Andre Dawson could win the seasonal MVP award…

◊  Girardi elected to go with Phil Coke over Damaso Marte, who pitched an inning in game four.  Coke gave up two home runs that eventually made the difference in the ballgame.  Marte probably wasn’t available so there were few options for Girardi.  Coke also hadn’t pitched since game one of the World Series, which was five days ago.  Coke went that long between appearances only four times during the season.

◊  Jeter has been good during the World Series but his double play with runners on first and third in the top of the ninth was a rally killer.  Madson was struggling with his command and looked like he could be had, but Jeter topped a 2-1 pitch and effectively ended the Yankees hopes of mounting an improbable comeback.

◊  Ramiro Pena took Melky Cabrera’s spot on the World Series roster after Cabrera strained his hamstring in game four.  It’s a surprising choice as Pena doesn’t serve much purpose other than as a defensive replacement in the infield.  What it probably signals is that Jerry Hairston, Jr. will be the other outfielder rather than the backup infielder.

◊  FOX is terrible. McCarver and Buck are hard enough to watch, but the favoritism is really aggravating.  Buck has hated the Yankees for awhile and is getting worse and worse at hiding it.  McCarver will never admit when he’s wrong and is the King of spouting the incorrect strategy.

But the FOX Trax gimmick is probably the worst because of FOX’s selective usage of it.  It has made plenty of appearances, charting the Phillie’s pitchers that are getting squeezed by the home plate umpire.

But when AJ Burnett was getting squeezed in the second inning, FOX Trax was nowhere to be found.  Good old FOX.  Fair and balanced, indeed.

◊  As much talk as there has been about umpires making bad calls, the strike zone has been dreadful. Just about every game, the home plate umpire has varied the strike zone from pitch to pitch, sometimes calling a wide strike zone, sometimes calling high strikes.  More frustrating has been seeing Phillies pitchers get some pretty nice calls while the Yankees pitchers get squeezed.

I hate to keep harping on the “umpires stink” argument because it really does get tiring after awhile.  At some point, though, something has to be done.  Instant replay isn’t the answer for balls and strikes and, apparently, merging the old National League and American League umpire associations didn’t solve the problem, either.  Ditto QuesTec.

There simply needs to be accountability and maybe a little better training.  Balls and strikes can have their guidelines but the judgement of them is always going to be subjective.  Why, then, do some umps always stand behind home plate while others stay behind the catcher?  Shouldn’t things like positioning be uniform?

◊  Apparently, the Yankees visitied the mound too much in game four:

All those meetings on the mound called by catcher Jorge Posada and the New York Yankees are giving Major League Baseball pause, too.Posada and pals visited pitcher CC Sabathia eight times — in a single inning — on Sunday night, grinding Game 4 of the World Series to a standstill. Agitated Phillies fans booed each trip.

MLB vice president of umpiring Mike Port said frequent mound meetings by all teams likely would be discussed by baseball officials this offseason.

A Philly fan would boo his own mother.  That’s an indication of nothing.

If MLB really wants to take a long, hard look at why these games are taking so long, they can start with the extra 30 seconds of ad time FOX gets between innings.

Oh, wait.  I’m sorry.  There’s money involved.  Nevermind.

◊  Hensley “Bam Bam” Meulens is back in the majors… as a hitting coach for the San Francisco Giants.  Good for him.

It’s funny.  The guys that wind up becoming coaches aren’t always the most successful practitioners of their crafts.  Dave Eiland also comes to mind.

◊  Phil Hughes pitched well for the first time in awhile, alowing 1 hit over 1.1 innings.

◊  Insert daily chat plug here.

Random thoughts while watching a game that feels very long…

◊  I really wonder about Girardi’s ability to adapt on the fly. Sabathia was decent in game four but certainly not great.  Girardi stated that CC could go 110 or 120 pitches on three days rest.  The plan is to have CC pitch game seven if it’s needed.  CC has struggled with control problems his two starts and would be pitching his second start in a row on three days rest.

If you’re going to use CC on short rest so much and he’s showing control issues, should he really be throwing possibly 110 to 120 pitches?  Maybe a little restraint is in order.

◊  Jerry Hairston, Jr. was the replacement outfielder when Nick Swisher was given a day off.  He is also the backup infielder.

Robinson Cano has been terrible in the World Series.  Have you heard any calls for his day off?

◊  Speaking of second basemen, I am scared of Chase Utley right now. I know Red Sox fans are in love with Pedroia and Yankees fans like to think Cano is great, but Utley is light years beyond either of them.  And not just in the postseason, either.  Utley has put up consistently great numbers at second base that make Cano and Pedroia look average.

Watching him take CC deep three times this series has been humbling, to say the least.

◊  The warning issued to both teams after ARod was hit for the third tme in two games was ridiculous.  Baseball has created all of these inane rules to try and combat the unwritten rules about hitting batters, retribution, etc.

The problem is, when an umpire issues a warning, the implication is that there was some form of intent when the batter was hit.  By the rules, if an umpire feels there is intent, he is allowed to kick that pitcher out of the game.

ARod has been hit three times.  THREE. There must be some intent because that is a heck of a coincidence.  Does the ump kick Blanton out for intent?  No.  Instead, he gives a worthless warning that not only prevents the Yankees from retaliating but also makes the inside part of the plate a dangerous place to tread.

These rules are silly and accomplish absolutely nothing.  Let the players solve it on the field and spend the time trying to keep the headhunting to a minimum.

◊  It appeared to Buck, McCarver, and everyone else that Ryan Howard didn’t touch the plate when he scored in the fourth inning.  It was only obvious after watching it in high def slow motion but could have been noticeable to an umpire five feet away.

This led to a discussion in the chat with an umpire with AA credentials.  His contention was that, even if Howard had not touched the plate, the umpire was supposed to call him safe if the tag was not made.  It is then up to the defense to appeal the play.

This doesn’t make any sense to me.  If the play isn’t completed, I see no reason why the umpire should signal safe or out.  Technically, the play should still be alive.

Sure enough, half an inning later, Melky Cabrera blows a stop sign and scores on Johnny Damon’s single  The throw is wide and Melky misses the plate.  The ump doesn’t call safe until Melky gets up and touches the plate with his foot.

Well, which is it?  What’s the rule?  I don’t think the umpire knew that Howard missed the plate in the fourth, but how can there be such conflicting opinions about how that play is handled?

For a game as old as baseball, there sure seems to be a lot of kinks to work out.

◊  ARod’s hit drove in the run, but Damon’s at-bat and subsequent baserunning changed the whole focus of the inning.  Damon got a tremendous jump off of Lidge to steal second, then stood up and almost immediately took advantage of the over-shift in place for Teixeira and stole third.  It was an incredibly smart and bold play on Damon’s part that changed the tenor of the inning.  Instead of two outs a runner at first, Lidge was a bounced ball away from giving the Yankees a lead.

Instead, he plunks to Teixeira and gives up a hard hit double to ARod into left field to score Damon.  Posada follows with a two run single.

The Yankee late inning magic continues.

◊  So the Yanks are up 3-1. There is an interesting question to be asked:

With “Lights Out” Cliff Lee pitching Monday, should AJ Burnett pitch on three days rest or should Girardi throw Chad Gaudin?

The reasoning is simple.  Lee has been almost unhittable this postseason and likely will win game five.  Is it worth wasting Burnett on basically a lost game when you can hold him back for game six?

Two schools of thought: you can’t assume Lee will be lights out again.  It’s a short series and you can’t afford to give up games.

Or: pitching all of your pitchers on three days rest is too risky.  Let Gaudin pitch and let AJ go on full rest for game six.  Then, if needed, pick between CC on short rest or Andy Pettitte on full rest for game seven.

I’m leaning towards starting Burnett.  I don’t think you can take much for granted in a short series.  At the same time, I am a bit concerned about all the short rest.  Burnett has dne okay with it in the past but it’s only three starts and really doesn’t mean much.

I’m interested to see what Girardi comes up with.

◊  Finally, Alex Rodriguez played the hero again in game four. Critics, you have been silenced.

◊  We play today, we chat today. Dat’s it.  Join us at game time right here.

Some thoughts on Game 3, compiled while watching the Giants clash with the Eagles in the first half of an epic Philadelphia/New York Sunday doubleheader:

- I’m thrilled for Nick Swisher, who, despite struggling horrendously throughout this postseason and taking some abuse in the media, continued to say all the right things and was finally able to contribute in Game 3.  On the face of it, his benching in Game 2 seemed bizarre and maybe even a little panicky.  Sure, Swish had looked awful for some time, but Jerry Hairston should never be mistaken for a corner outfielder, and Girardi was sacrificing not only offense but defense as well in making that switch.  Swisher was back in the lineup last night, and his leadoff double in the 5th inning sparked a 3-run rally that gave the Yankees their first lead of the evening.  Then, his long homer off J.A. Happ the following inning padded the lead even further to 6-3 and was ultimately the game-winning RBI.  After the game, Swish filmed his own postgame press conference and seemed genuinely overjoyed.  Hopefully this game is the start of something for Swish, as the Yankees look to lengthen their lineup without a DH in a National League park.

- The key hit of the game – was it Swisher’s double?  Alex Rodriguez’s camera-smashing 2-run homer in the 4th?  Damon’s 2-run double in the 5th?  In my mind, it’s Andy Pettitte’s bloop single in that same inning that scored Swisher from 2nd base and tied the game.  The situation: the Yankees trailed 3-2 heading to the 5th.  Swisher doubled to lead things off, bringing Melky Cabrera to the plate.  In the right situation in an NL park, a leadoff double is fairly easy to work around, and this was one of those situations, especially after Cabrera struck out.  Up came Pettitte, and it appeared nothing short of a 2-out hit from Jeter would score the tying run.  Instead, Pettitte looped a Hamels curveball into center field, chasing Swisher home and making the possibility of a multi-run inning very real.  Jeter would single, Damon would double home 2 runs, and the Yankees never really looked back.  Who can say how the inning would have shaken out had Pettitte not come through in the most unlikely of ways?

- Speaking of Pettitte, he was far from great, but he was good enough – 6IP, 4ER, 7Ks, 104 pitches.  In a postgame interview, he blamed a good bit of his inconsistency on the 1hr 20min rain delay that preceded the first pitch, saying he was ready and feeling great before being shut down and never seemed to find it again.  Because of Girardi’s (understandable) reluctance to turn to Chad Gaudin to start a World Series game, it seems probable that Pettitte’s next start would be on 3 days rest at home in Game 6 – unless the Yankees run the table in Philly.  I thought before the Series started that the only way Gaudin got a start was if the Yankees won the first 3 games – well, Cliff Lee’s Game 1 masterpiece immediately scrapped that plan, and now we’re looking at every remaining Yankee start occurring on short rest.  If you’re one of those fans looking for something to worry about, well, there it is.

- Damaso Marte pitched a perfect 8th inning, throwing 13 of his 15 pitches for strikes and fanning Ryan Howard and Jayson Werth, who had already homered twice.  It was a really impressive performance from Marte, and it appears to me that he’s leapfrogged Phil Coke as Girardi’s left-handed specialist of choice.  MicroJoe was even wise enough to let Marte face Werth with a 4-run lead.  Based on this performance, I have to say that in a big spot with Utley and Howard due up, I’d rather see Marte than Coke.  He’s always had electric stuff and he has a ton more experience in games like these than the rookie Coke.

Meanwhile, Phil Hughes again struggled in the 9th, retiring Pedro Feliz before allowing the light-hitting Carlos Ruiz to homer, cutting the Yankee lead to 8-5.  This prompted Girardi to call for Mariano Rivera and the game was essentially over at this point.  Mo dispatched the next two hitters with just 5 pitches, ending the game.  There are a lot of people that will disagree with Girardi involving Rivera in a non-save situation in a game that seemed all but over.  I’m not one of those people.  Game 3 was absolutely pivotal – a victory ensured the Yanks the luxury of needing to win just 1 of these 2 remaining games in Philly in order to return to the Bronx with a 3-2 series lead.  Of course the Phillies are more than capable of winning 2 games at Yankee Stadium, but it certainly isn’t likely, particularly with Charlie Manuel’s reluctance to start Cliff Lee on short rest.  At this point, Cole Hamels is penciled in for a Game 7 start (or Blanton on short rest), and given the way he was beaten around last night, I don’t think that’s inspiring much confidence in the Phillies or their fans.  And given Hughes’ prolonged struggles, this move was necessary to put the foot on the collective throats of the NL champs.

- Finally, Hideki Matsui proved that he has very real value to the Yankees in these NL games, even if he isn’t starting.  Girardi was apparently kicking around the idea of starting Matsui in left field – it’s a good thing he didn’t.  Damon had a pivotal hit and Matsui came through with a pinch hit home run off Brett Myers that all but put the game away.  It’s not entirely clear how much worse Matsui could be in left field than Damon is, but what’s perfectly clear is that there’s no need to find that out in a World Series game.  In games Matsui did not start this season, he hit .381/.536/.619 with a home run.  There’s enormous value in having that kind of bat available to hit for a pitcher late in the game.