Results tagged ‘ cc ’
CC Comes Up Clutch
In his first regular season start as Yankee, CC Sabathia made a lot of people nervous as he gave up 6 runs in less than 5 innings. Sportswriters bashed him for his poor performance.
However, those same writers that criticized him last week, will be praising him tonight as CC pitched 7 1/3 innings of shutout ball. He looked dominant, setting the tone early by striking out 3 of the first 4 batters and went on to notch 7 punch-outs on the night.
Sabathia will make his next start April 16th as he will open up the new Yankee Stadium as he starts against the Cleveland Indians at 1:05 PM Eastern Time.
Two (Very) Rich Men, Two (Very) Sub-Par Debuts
When the Yankees signed CC Sabathia ($161mm) and Mark Teixiera ($180mm) to mega-deals this off-season, they marked one date on their calenders: April 6th. Well that day finally came today, but it wasn’t the Opening Day game they were expecting. Sabathia and Teixeira’s lines say it all:
Sabathia: IP: 4.1, H: 8, ER: 6, BB: 5, K: 0
Two very bad lines for two men with very fat wallets. Even though people expected a lot more out of the players than what the above, they had to have seen this coming. I mean think about it: each guy is really (maybe even overly) hyped. They both signed monster deals this off-season. They both have historically gotten off to bad starts. And they both said they would handle the New York media just fine; something that both of them will now have to do. It was a perfect storm.
That being said however, I would like to remind all of you that this is just Opening Day, it’s just one game out of 161 other ones. The only two reasons we care so much about these terrible performances are that Opening Day is way, way to focused upon; it’s just one game. The other reason is just because of how much coverage the two players are receiving and how bad their performances were. But the bottom line is this; one game isn’t going to kill you.
Bits and Pieces:
One of the things that made Teixeira’s performance stand out so much was the fact that Derek Jeter and Johnny Damon went a combined 5-8 in front of him and all he did was get one little walk; that’s a lot of runners being left on base…Nick Swisher pinch-hit in the 8th and lined a lead-off double right down the left field line in his first Yankee at-bat. Gardner (more about him later) bunted him over but then Jeter and, who else, Mark Teixeira failed to drive him in…..The Yankees escaped a huge fifth inning when Gardner turned a double-play when he caught the ball than threw the runner out at home to end the inning…..A-Rod should be back before Spring’s end.
Week Overview: A-Rod Admission and Other Yankee News
Hey Yankee fans. I’m sorry for not posting for a while, I’ve just been really taken back by all this new news springing up. But I gotta cover it so here it goes; a quick summary of the events that have taken place lately and my thoughts on them:
A-Rod’s Admission:
Alex was very emotional during his interview with ESPN‘s Peter Gammons. He admitted to taking steroids in 2003 and perhaps even years before. A-Rod listed being young, stupid, and feeling an enormous pressure after signing a giant deal with the Rangers, as his reasons. I, along with many players including former Yankee, Jason Giambi, am glad to see Rodriguez come clean with this. It would’ve been much worse had he done what Roger Clemens did, and flat out deny it. Instead, he chose the clean, virtues path of admission. It will allow people to forgive him easier, something I hope all of you do.
First Days at Camp:
At the beginning of the off-season, Yankees GM Brian Cashman had one thing, or rather person, on his mind: CC Sabathia. Sabathia helped the Yankees reach their goals of better pitching, getting younger, and adding some life to the clubhouse! His, and A.J. Burnett’s (’cause lets not forget him), signing(s) represent two things: hope, and anxiousness. Immediately after Sabathia’s signing was announced, every Yankee fan had one thing on their mind: I wanna see him pitch! Well that day finally came this week, as Sabathia took his first pitch in a Yankees uniform, in a bullpen session at, newly renamed, George M. Steinbrenner Field. It was a great moment that again made Yankee fans anticipatory for another date: April 6th.
Other Yankees News and Notes:
Alfredo Aceves withdrew his name from consideration for a chance to play for Team Mexico in the World Baseball Classic. He will instead be at Yankee Camp for all of Spring Training.
Chien-Ming Wang, Jorge Posada, and Mariano Rivera are all recovering from their recent surgeries quite nicely; Wang took a bullpen session today and Jorge and Mo will be ready for Opening Day.
The Yankees signed Brett Tomko to a minor-league deal.
Joe Girardi, Jorge Posada and other members of the Yankee team will, literally, stand by A-Rod during his press conference on Tuesday in Tampa.
One Heck of an Off-Season
After not making the post-season for the first time in what seems like a century, the Yankees set their sights on improving their ball club through the free-agent market. Well, that’s exactly what they did. By signing CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, and Mark Teixiera, the Yankees have had, what I consider to be, the best off-season in team history. Never before have they spent so much money, to acquire such great talent. Now I’ve heard many people around baseball say that the Yankees are just going back to what they’ve always done. However, it’s not what they’ve always done. The Yankees used to be the club that signed the over-priced veteran to a contract that’s way to long. These players ranged from Kevin Brown to Randy Johnson, Ruben Sierra to Gary Sheffield, and of course, the infamous Carl Pavano. In fact, the only good signing the Yankees have had since the turn of the century, was when they signed Mike Mussina to an 8-year deal in 2000. But that’s just about it (unless you count Giambi who was probably one of the better 1-sided players around, but that’s not saying much).
So is that really the same as signing three of the best players in all of major league baseball? Are these signings really going to help the Yankees? Please leave your comments below.
Odd Sabathia Contract Note
In my research, I found something very odd in CC Sabathia’s contract. When Sabathia was a free agent, he had a desire to pitch in the National League as he enjoyed hitting. So, when the Yankees gave him a 7-year, $161mm deal, they had to add a little something extra: a listing that Sabathia has to record at least 10 AB during his contract. This not only means that he will be pitching in inter-league play more often, but we may even see him pinch-hit a couple times.
Baseball Needs Yankees
By signing A.j. Burnett, CC Sabathia, and Mark Teixeira, the Yankees have spent $423.5MM in contracts. This has caused many team’s owners and general managers, and some players (Torii Hunter), to hate the Yankees even more. Brewers GM Doug Melvin has said, “At the rate the Yankees are going, I don’t think anyone can compete with them. Frankly, the sport might need a salary cap.” The “salary cap” idea got a lot of discussion. However, with many GMs supporting it, they’re were many against it who were fine with the Yankees’ spending spree. One GM said that this was “the Yankees way of competing,” and that they “paid their price with that luxury tax, so who cares?” That is something that the baseball world has come to realize. The Yankees seem to have an infinite budget, and with the New Stadium (60% bigger than the old one and more expensive) , $88.5MM coming off the books, and after not making the playoffs last year, the Yankees were determined to sign the best players, and they had the budget to do it. However, that is there way of playing the game. Many other teams do it differently such as the Rays who have the second-lowest payroll in baseball, and yet last year beat out the Yankees and the Red Sox (#s 1 and 3 in payroll) for the AL East and won the pennant. Its just the way life works.
However, baseball needs the Yankees. They need that team to hate. They need a Goliath. And now that the Yankees have made half of baseball hate them again, there can be a David.
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