Official Yanks Hatin' Thread in Wake of A-Rod Deal

[jerseyhoya34]

It is hard to beat this lineup:

Lofton-CF
Jeter-SS
Rodriguez-3B
Giambi-1B
Sheffield-RF
Posada-C
Matsui-LF
Williams-DH
Wilson-2B

In fact, this lineup makes me sick. There are no automatic outs from the 2 to the 8 spot, and pitchers should be wary.

That said, however, I do not believe that the Yankees will win the World Series this season. Some may call me crazy. I said the same thing before last season when the same things were said and asked. How are the Yankees going to lose a game, let alone the World Series? Look at their lineup! Who can beat them in a seven game series?

In the wake of the A-Rod trade, we are hearing the same exact nonsense. I can't argue with their lineup because it is very good, but the question is pitching. They have lost Pettite, Clemens, et. al., who are seasoned veterans who have withstood postseason tests. What is the new Yankees rotation? What experience does it have in the postseason? Their bullpen is weak, and their closer is aging and is a shadow of his former self.

Now, for the question of who can beat them, I say who cares. Who would have said Florida at the beginning of last season? Who would have said the Angels during another season? Who said the Lakers at the beginning of this NBA season?

My message to the Red Sox Nation is to have faith. Your day will come, and it may be coming sooner than you think.

[Z]

i'm a yankees fan, but definitely not convinced that this trade makes us cinch world champs this year. upon the inevitable kevin brown injury, our staff looks very mediocre. rivera is due to reveal himself as a mere mortal one of these years, but please, it hasnt happened yet--and there's no way he's just a "shadow of his former self"

i wouldnt like our chances in a 7 game series against either the cubs or red sox.

[TrueHoyaBlue]

As a Sox fan, I'm still feeling good about the upcoming season -- I feel that we upgraded our pitching tremendously, bringing in Schilling to replace Burkett, and Foulke to replace (insert closer here). On the offensive side, we've only lost Todd Walker from one of the most productive lineups in history. The impact of the Little-Francona shift remains to be seen, but there's a lot to feel good about going into this year.

On the Yankees front, certainly a couple of big improvements on the offensive end, but it remains to be seen what kind of "team" comes out of this season. The chemistry of the last World Series teams seems to be out the window (as do most of the players). And I'm not too sure how the pitching staff will gel either...

All in all, I'm looking forward to the season.

Oh yeah, and I hate the damn yankees!

[Frank Black]

I don't know who would call anyone crazy for not predicting a Yankees World Series win. I would say they have a better shot that anyone else but still no better than a 3:1 chance (against) of getting it done. Everyone is pointing to their pitching but let's face it, Vasquez is an upgrade over Pettitte and if healthy Brown is a major upgrade over Clemens, who was running on fumes. Petitte's postseason ERA was over 4 lifetime, so it's not as if he was unhittable. He was very hittable. I'm tired of the nonsense about Vasquez 'not having any postseason experience.' He is a terrific young pitcher, Schilling minus ten years. How many Red Sox had career years last year? A bunch. I hate the Red Sox, every year it's the same crap and every year they lose. Every year.

[thebin]

What is all this talk about he Sox players having "career" years? This line is getting far too much play in NYY circles. I will give you that Mueller had a career year, but Nixon, and Varitek were
having as good of years until they got hurt the season before. Ortiz has shown steady improvement for three years straight.

And I would also say that Garciaparra, Damon, Millar, and Ramirez all had
off years. With the improved pitching staff anyone whoever says the Yanks are
going to run off with it are idiots.

The NYY are turning into the Sox that I watched growing up. I bunch of
sluggers who can't run and whose defense is nothing special complete with suspect pitching.

[Frank Black]

They had enough pitching and defense to send the Red Sox home four months ago. I cannot imagine rooting for a team like Boston, what an unlikable group of whiny losers. I loathe them.

[hoyarooter]

I despise the Yankees, and while I agree they are not a cinch, I think the following should be noted:

1. Their bullpen is way better than last year, with the addition of Quantrill and Gordon. Eric Gagne singled Quantrill out in his Cy Young acceptance speech. I don't know if there was a better set-up man in baseball last year.

2. Kevin Brown and Javier Vasquez will do just fine as starters, replacing Pettitte and Clemens. They may need one more starter; they'll find him somewhere.

3. Look for one more trade to bring in a second baseman.

The $200 million team. Unbelievable.

[kchoya]

Well, I wouldn't be so bold in saying Brown and Vazquez will be able to fill the shoes of Pettite and Clemens. Hoyarooter, you're from LA. (right?) You should be as familiar as anyone with Brown's track record the last couple of years. Do you think he'll stay healthy all season?

And Vasquez - we'll have to see if he takes to the next level. I think there's a good chance he can be a star for a long time to come, but he has to prove it.

[hoyarooter]

Yep, I am from LA. Your points are valid KC. You never know until you play the games. But my personal view re Grumpy Brown is that, he will likely hold together, since after two injury-filled years, he was relatively healthy last season. I hate to wish injuries on anyone, but....

And as for Vasquez, maybe he'll be Jeff Weaver II, but I think it much more likely that he will win 17-20 games, and be a staple of the rotation for as long as he pitches in NY and stays healthy.

One more note; many are now saying that the famed Yankee chemistry will be disrupted by the new arrivals, particularly Brown and Gary Sheffield. Hmm. If I'm not mistaken, weren't those two guys members of the first Marlin championship team? I guess they really wreaked havoc on the chemistry of that team.

[TrueHoyaBlue]

What I meant primarily by my comments above is that the chemistry of the 98-99-00 Yankees World Series champions, of the O'Neill-Tino-Bernie vintage, seems to have dissolved over the past few years, as the Yanks, largely due to pressure from The Boss, have gone away from their homegrown players, instead aiming for big-ticket free agents and trades. At this point, there are few "career yankees" on the team, and a lot of players who are here largely for the money, and although many of them may have respect for the "Yankee Tradition," few have been a part of it.

It will be interesting to see how long this "All-Star Team" is able to sustain itself. Though there's more than enough talent, I'm not sure if even New York has even limelight to feed all of the egos on this team.

[Frank Black]

You know, I love Paul O'Neill and Tino like anyone else but I don't get the chemistry argument. O'Neill was not particularly well regarded as a clubhouse presence in Cincinatti and Tino was taking over for the ultimate clubhouse man in Donnie Baseball and they both became mainstays. But the difference b/t acquiring O'Neill and Tino and Sheffield, ARod and Brown is...what exactly? The only difference I see is that the latter are better. I think the chemistry argument is bogus. And if we don't shape up, pronto, we'll just be bogus too.