You know Derek Jeter is in trouble when even the uncritical sportswriters of the New York Times start writing about his lack of power. It's a legitimate concern. I can't help wondering when the real Derek Jeter will show up. I hope it's soon because it's becoming painful to watch him flail in situations he used to master: runners on base and the New York Yankees needing some runs. Jeter's confidence remains intact although I'm starting to worry that might not be a good thing if he can't see what the rest of us are seeing.
• Brian Cashman is getting some well deserved kudos for his offseason collection of so-called "has-beens" after being rejected by primary target Cliff Lee. Bartolo Colon and Freddy Garcia have been godsends for the Yankees starting rotation, Eric Chavez has been terrific every time he’s been in the lineup and Andruw Jones has been a nice fourth outfielder. What's not being said as much (and should be) is that Cashman seems to have also been absolutely right about Rafael Soriano. Cashman didn’t want to spend that much money on a set-up guy, particularly one with questions about his attitude and work ethic. He was overruled by the Steinbrenners, who by the early looks of it will come to regret that decision. If the rest of Soriano’s season plays out like the first month, the Yankees will be stuck with him as the opt-out clause of his contract belongs to him alone.
• Rumors of an Andy Pettitte comeback seem to be just that at this point, but it’s a bit annoying that they are surfacing so early into this season. Pettitte made it clear that he will absolutely not pitch in 2011 so I guess we have to take him at his word. We can dream about a possible return in 2012 in the offseason. By the way, the only reason I know about the rumors is that my Andy Pettitte Google alert is still on. Can’t seem to turn it off. Maybe somewhere deep down inside, I really want to see him on a mound again this year.
• Rumors of an Andy Pettitte comeback seem to be just that at this point, but it’s a bit annoying that they are surfacing so early into this season. Pettitte made it clear that he will absolutely not pitch in 2011 so I guess we have to take him at his word. We can dream about a possible return in 2012 in the offseason. By the way, the only reason I know about the rumors is that my Andy Pettitte Google alert is still on. Can’t seem to turn it off. Maybe somewhere deep down inside, I really want to see him on a mound again this year.
• Made me really sad last week to see lawyers fighting about what caused the tragic death of Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle. It must be heart-wrenching for his family to have to relive that nightmare. I wish the Yankees had advanced farther in the 2006 playoffs because he might still be alive if they had been more successful.
Posting this after the Jeter 2HR game. It occurs to me, reading this post after said game, that the NY Times in fact called the top (I.e. the depths of the bottom) of Jeter's performance.
ReplyDeleteIt's a common occurance in print media. The two most often cited examples are appearing on Time Magazine's cover (usually the point at which a person's life begins to decline) or the cover of Barron's (the point at which a company's fortunes begin to reverse).
When the mainest of main stream media get around to focusing on some phenomenon, said phenomenon is usually about to end :)
Nice job on the blog - keep it up!
You're right about that, Tony!
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