Sunday, July 30, 2006

Yanks 4, D-Rays 2, and Abreu/Lidle official

What it is about Sunday afternoon games at Yankee stadium . . .

. . . on a day so clear you could see the weave of the fiber on Mike Mussina's cap.

On which subject, one of my favorite quotes is from Baltimore manager Earl Weaver: "You take momentum. I'll take Jim Palmer." Today Moose did what staff aces are paid to do, shut down the opposition and wipe away the memory of a previous-day's thumping.

Damon's two home runs were certainly a sight, but this was Moose's day. 13-3, if you need it.

Oh, and Abreu/Lidle now official. Steve Phillips is on ESPN now, saying Abreu should bat third. Why batting third (the province of Ruth, Williams, Mays and DiMaggio) makes sense with a batter with 14 home runs since last year's All-Star break seems a bizarre idea.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Abreu's last HR was June, 13th. I'm sure he has flashes of power and Hits for decent numbers, but right now I don't see him batting before Giambi or A-rod. Perhaps he could occupy the spot where Posada has been batting.

This would move Posada down in the line-up making him even more dangerous.

I like the move and lidle is the Phil's ace right now with 8 wins. I just wonder what role Abreu will play. Every day RF? Help spell Bernie? Split time with Giambi at DH? What happens to Melky now? Will he become a great pinch hitter a la David Justice in the late 90's for the Yankees?

Interesting to see what Torre and Mattingly have to say.

Great win, but one can't help to think that the big three at home Vs. Tampa should have resulted in a sweep. I know greedy thoughts but it only gets harder down the stretch.....

texasyank said...

I'm thinking he gets a lot of time in right, with Bernie coming in against tough left-handers. One thing I didn't think about: all of a sudden the Sheff finds himself wondering aqbout his option, with Abreu's 2007 money guaranteed.

Abreu comes back. Soriano will be looking for his hundred mill--maybe he won't get it, but he'll come close, and the Yanks may be the only team willing to give it, or give most. Keep two things in mind: first, some bad contracts are going off the rolls; and, second--in the goldenest of golden loopholes--New Yankee Stadium will blot out the luxury tax for years to come, since every dollar a team spends on capital improvements (COUGHnewstadiumCOUGH) counts one dollar against the luxury tax. So the Yankees can pay Soriano with luxury tax dollars they won't have to spend and actually watch their payroll-plus-luxury tax go DOWN.

Anonymous said...

I agree that Abreu should bat farther down than #3, despite what that "Brilliant"(as espoused by ESPN),but fired,baseball General Manager says. Also, Bernie does bat 70 pts. higher vs. lefties, so it might make sense to play him in those situations. The best scenanrio will be if Lidle turns out to be the more important element of this trade