Thoughts from When the Internet Cuts Out (In Lieu of Recap)

I generally think Girardi does a good job. But yesterday’s handling of the game was one of those times where his managing leaves me scratching my head. I have a bigger problem, though, with the performances of the losers upper management has signed on. As soon as Soriano was brought in to pitch in that situation, I knew exactly what the outcome was going to be. I think Joe’s biggest problem may be that he seems to want to give everybody “their chance”. A team just can’t afford to be trying to please all of its players in the heat of a pennant race.

he plays favorites and plays it safe about everything. Sometimes you need to deviate from the preordained path just a little if you want to keep opponents off guard. But Girardi sticks to match ups, regardless of performance, uses bunts at the worst and most obvious times, maintains double standards for his players and protects players who don’t really deserve to be protected. Yeah he manages his bullpen well (aka doesn’t overwork people) but that’s about it really. I’m really sick of it.

I think Joe is smart and dedicated. He tries to do things scientifically, which in general would seem great… but here’s the thing: if you’re just starting a game and there’s no score (meaning, by definition, the game is tied) then yes, go with your matchups, etc. HOWEVER, when the game is tied in the 8th or 9th inning, or worse, in extra innings, DO WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO TO WIN THE GAME RIGHT THEN AND THERE. If you manage a late inning game to win that final inning, and overuse somebody in the process… but only for an inning, or even for an out… you’ll end up netting a lot more wins than the losses you MIGHT have later from overuse. When you can win a game right then and there, do everything in your power to WIN IT.

…or put another way: why work several innings to get a victory, when you can double-down on an inning here and there to grab some victories? The latter is a lot easier approach, IMHO.

…but Joe seems to prefer to throw in the towel in a late, tie game, and start all over again the next day, working THE WHOLE GAME for a victory. That’s just dumb.

The guy has made the right decisions to help guide the team to first place in September. And this has been with a questionable rotation, no ARod at times, a starting C that forgot how to hit from May – July, and the Jorge situation.

Who the heck knows how much power Girardi has when it comes to the lineup. The Soriano signing was enough for me to always have doubts about who the hell is running things and having final say on stuff. As far as the pen, I think he does as good a job as any other manager would.

I just dont get the comnplaints with Montero and the catching gig either. They are trying to ween the kid in little at a time and so far its working. He has a long career ahead of him, what is the big deal if he doesnt catch till 2012? The Yankees are handling Montero a whole lot better than the Reds are doing with Devin Mesoraco and they are out of the race with nothing to lose.

I’m still wondering if we fire Girardi who does everybody have in mind to replace him.

I’m not saying he should throw Jorge out of the clubhouse by his ear, but if I had to guess, a guy with no position and not much hitting will be on the post season roster because he is Girardi’s friend, not because Joe thinks he is going to be helping win many games. That is a problem, in my opinion.

I have no idea why on Earth Scott Proctor came into a tie game yesterday. He and the mops like him should never sniff high leverage innings, yet Girardi put Proctor out there for two of them. That’s insane. However, if this September is going to be anything like the last, I’m sure this is only one of the many mind boggling decisions we’ll see when Girardi decides to play for the wild card again. How are you supposed to be excited about baseball when the manager begins to mail it in?

I don’t know if a new manager would be any better or follow the binder any less, but I also don’t know how some decisions Girardi makes can be defended.

As for Soriano, I can’t even go there. It just makes my head hurt too much.

I don’t agree with that line of thinking, but it’s a matter of opinion.

Am I seriously saying we should fire Girardi because a trained monkey could do better? No, not seriously. But that doesn’t mean we can’t call the guy out when he shows a pattern of questionable decision-making in certain situations.

YJ makes a point that maybe Joe’s hands are tied in some respects by ownership. We can’t know if that is true or not, really. So if some of the bad decisions are not his to make, that does not change my feelings that we are well within our rights as fans to question those decisions. If they turn out to have been handed down from on high, then fine – transfer the righteous indignation to Cashman, or the Steinbrenners, as necessary. It does not invalidate the criticisms.

The Yankees have the best record in the AL at the moment. They also have a damned good roster. Joe definitely makes some good calls. But he also has some blind spots, and some management philosophies that I don’t like. And so, I will continue to rage against him when I feel he’s cost the team a game, regardless of their actual record at the end of the season.

I know that bashing Joe Girardi has become incredibly popular by so many, but it’s getting to the point where it’s a little much. He’s a good manager with a lot of good qualities and I like the relationship he seems to have with his players.

After 2 years of deftly handling a bullpen of movable parts and evolving roles, he has buckled to the ownership pressure to make Soriano the 8th Inning Guy™. The Yankees’ bullpen and the Yankees odds of winning the division have suffered for it

Soriano is not the eighth inning guy. He pitched the eighth inning yesterday because Robertson was unavailable to pitch, and he’s the third best reliever in the bullpen at this point. It’s a good thing that Girardi put Soriano in the game in that spot, rather than Robertson who has pitched a shitload recently. Despite the numerous complaints about Girardi’s bullpen management and pitch count, his biggest strength is managing a bullpen and making sure guys don’t get overworked. It’s not a coincidence that the Yankees have had the best bullpen in the league every year since Girardi became manager. He’s doing something right. As for the “costing the Yankees games” part, Rafael Soriano has been excellent since coming off the DL. He has a 3.52 ERA and a .214 BAA, which is very good. Take out the one bad pitch to Coco Crisp and the ERA drops to 1.90. He’s been very reliable and a lot closer to the pitcher the Yankees thought they were signing since he’s returned, and I still want him pitching big innings. Ignore the contract (which is the source of the hatred toward him, naturally)- the guy is a good pitcher and he’s been a good pitcher since he’s returned.

But instead, Joe G. kept filling out the same lineup card day after day.

No, he hasn’t. Posada lost his DH job against lefties quite early in the season. You are right that he’s played too many games anyways, but are you pinning that all on Joe Girardi, or the entire Yankees front office? Because I’m sure Cashman and the Steinbrenners had a say in Posada having a longer leash than most. But he’s not starting now and he’s been benched, so it’s done with and hopefully he’s not on the playoff roster.

But he’s here now. Let the kid catch. If you’re willing to punt games by holding starters out of every game for the rest of the season, if you’re willing to use Scott Proctor in extra innings, if you’re willing to use Rafael Soriano in a save situation, then why can’t the kid catch?

As for this, I think the Yankees missed the boat on Montero as a catcher this year. Though many on here regard it as a joke, I think that the pitcher-catcher relationship does have some importance. Not just game calling, but the ability of a pitcher to be able to trust a catcher and be comfortable pitching to him will let him pitch better. I guess I’m not sure what your point is here. Are you saying that Montero should catch this season and into the playoffs, or just a few games to get a taste? If it’s becoming the starting catcher it isn’t happening and shouldn’t happen. Too much to ask for a 21 year old to learn a new staff in 3 weeks. And plus Martin is really hitting well lately and is a superior defender to Jesus. If it’s just wanting him to catch some games, give it time. He will at some point. But I don’t care if he doesn’t catch one inning this year- I want his bat. Not to see what he can do defensively when he won’t touch a glove in October. I want him catching next year.

Why Scott Proctor was used in an extra inning game is beyond me- you are completely 100% right about that. But I think in general, Girardi has been good for this team and makes more good decisions than bad ones. People accuse him of always going to matchups and “the binder”, but every single manager in baseball would do that to some extent. People like to look at everything he and the Yankees are doing wrong, but he’s doing a lot of things right too- the Yankees are going to the playoffs again and are currently in first place. Considering the position that the Yankees are in right now, especially with the expectations in April by many and I think maybe sometimes it’s a little too negative.

Managers can make the wrong move and it might work, or they can make the right move and it might fail. For me, personally, that’s what makes baseball great. It’s a very unpredictable sport. Haha, blaming the manager is just part of baseball, IMO, because as fans we think we can manage the game better than them. It’d be all in good fun if the fluff sports media wouldn’t drag every decision out like it’s the end of the fucking world.

Personally, I find more fault with the FO decisions than I do Girardi. Yeah, Proctor blew it. WHY IS HE EVEN ON THE FUCKING TEAM? Why is Laffey on the team? Why wasn’t Montero up earlier, or even the starting catcher at the beginning of the year so that pitchers “would be use to hIm” by now? Why was Soriano signed to such a ridonkulous contract? Why hasn’t Posada been DFA’d like any other player would have been if their name wasn’t Jorge Posada? Girardi has nothing to do with this, and if he does then something is seriously wrong. Girardi, for the most part, has done okay despite the front office Mitreing a lot of moves this year. He makes bad decisions, like most managers in baseball do. However, if the front office did not want Girardi playing matchups like he loves to do, then they shouldn’t give him the fucking option. Don’t sign a Laffey or Proctor and instead sign better pitchers, or bring up Montero earlier to be the every day starting catcher like pretty much every other team in the majors would’ve done and tell him “make it work” and be done with it.

Good:

The Astros claimed right-hander Lance Pendleton off of waivers from the Yankees

Bad:

The White Sox released Doug Davis, according to Matt Eddy of Baseball America. They had signed the veteran left-hander to a minor league deal in July.