Replacement Level Yankees Weblog

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by Larry Mahnken

Sadly, I haven't seen the last two games the Yankees played against Oakland (yeah, I need TIVO*. But, priorities...). I went to a friend's birthday party Friday night, which I didn't particularly enjoy. Bunch of teenagers getting drunk and smoking pot. Wheee. I just sat in the corner and drank a soda. But it was my friend's birthday, so I stuck around for a couple of hours until we had cake and she opened the presents. And I missed the game.

Today I had to work. Glad to see they won, though, and that Rocket still has a chance to win 300 at Fenway. I wonder if they'll cheer or boo? They'll probably boo him, most Red Sox fans aren't known for their class (what's that saying about people in glass houses?). It appears that Giambi has an eye infection that's been bothering him for a couple of weeks, which might explain his slump. Or not. Hopefully he plays tomorrow, cause I see the A's having the advantage in tomorrow's matchup (Pettitte vs. Mulder).

The Yankees really need Giambi or Matsui to break out of their slumps big time, because Soriano and Bernie have dropped off quite a bit. Fortunately Jeter's back Tuesday, but he'll probably be slow out of the gate. At least we get rid of Almont-E.

Jose Contreras pitched here in Rochester last Friday, and won 7-3, shutting the Red Wings out for five innings. However, the Wings had a plane delay that caused them to arrive at the ballpark only 30 minutes before gametime, so that should be taken with a grain of salt. Local writer Scott Pitoniak wrote a column about Contreras today that wasn't too bad, although Scott tends to write like me, in short paragraphs. At least his might read well if stuck together. But back on topic, the Yanks need Contreras to be a stud in the pen. Not just pretty good--stopper good. They can't rely on their starters and offense to carry them in the big games, they need someone to get the big outs before the ninth inning, and seeing how the Yankees aren't likely to change to the Bill James model anytime soon, they'll need Contreras to step up or Karsay to get healthy and effective quick. God knows Rolando Arrojo ain't gonna be the guy.

El Duque hasn't done anything for the Expos so far this season, literally. He's been injured all season, and will undergo arthroscopic surgery on Monday which might end his season. I thought before the season that Hernandez would be excellent out of the pen against righties, but the Yankees dodged the bullet in trading him, even if Osuna doesn't do anything good for them. Keeping Colon away from the BoSox is just an added bonus, although he hasn't been particularly impressive so far this season (and neither have the ChiSox).

Okay, I have to confess, I don't hate the A's. Um, er, actually, they're my second favorite team. By a whoooooooooole lot, mind you, and I hate their fans, but I guess I'm just a Billy Beane fan, and I like to see Bud Selig look stupid. Along those lines, Moneyball is coming out soon (or is out in some places), and I'm really looking forward to getting it. If you're interested in getting it from Amazon, I'll ask you to click on this link and buy it through Aaron Gleeman's referral, because his blog kicks so much ass.

*Yes, I know I can just tape the game on my VCR. It's just a major pain in the ass.

--posted at 11:26 PM by Larry Mahnken / |

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