Comments on: What they need: New York Yankees – A Little Patience

By: Nick Kapur

Nick Kapur — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 08:50:50 +0000

Rasner’s a good pitcher. He always had good peripherals in the minors, but he’s never been healthy. Now he’s finally healthy for at least a short spell. He got off to a terrific start this season in the minors, and he’s entering his prime. He’s not a crazy amazing prospect, but he’s definitely a major league starting pitcher.

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By: Paul Moro

Paul Moro — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 21:54:57 +0000

The only things that give me pause about Rasner are his percentage of infield flies (too high – bound to get lower) and his homeruns allowed per flyball (too low – bound to get higher).

But aside from that, he’s been a lot better than I thought, especially if his increased strikeout rate isn’t a fluke. He won’t keep his ERA so low, but he might be a serviceable number 5 starter.

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By: Coley Ward

Coley Ward — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 21:31:26 +0000

I could be wrong, but I think the Rasner express is about to run out of gas. But you’re right that between Mussina, Pettite and Joba they’ve got a good top three.

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By: Nick Kapur

Nick Kapur — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 19:41:32 +0000

Don’t look now, but the Yankees have won seven games in a row and are the hottest team around. They did lose Wang for the year, but Rasner and now Joba are pitching great, and Mussina has been great all year, plus Pettite being decent. So despite losing Wang, the Yanks have better pitching now than they did a month ago. After all, Wang wasn’t pitching all that amazing this year anyway.

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By: Lyndsay

Lyndsay — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 19:02:54 +0000

I see no reason for the Yankees to have anything. I find this to be a rather enjoyable time to watch them. as my mother likes to say, you’ll be hungry and love it!

/smug bostonian

p.s. Sarah, if you are seriously suggesting they keep Pavano around a little while longer and use him as an innings eater (which is how I read it)…well, clever trick there to pull on ol’ steinbrenner. I think all teams should try and trick them into making stupid decisions, just for our own amusement.

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By: Coley Ward

Coley Ward — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 18:54:47 +0000

Of course, for all the reasons you mentioned, I agree that it’s unlikely that Ponson will continue to have success. But the Yankees aren’t paying much to find out.

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By: Coley Ward

Coley Ward — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 18:54:09 +0000

Signing a Carlos Silva wannabe might sound like an iffy proposition, but it’s a lot smarter than actually signing Carlos Silva (ahem, Bill Bavasi). If Ponson’s early season success turns out to have been a fluke, then then Yankees have only wasted a couple hundred thousand dollars. And if Ponson keeps up his low ERA, if only for a couple of starts, then they’ve made a shrewd pickup.

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By: Paul Moro

Paul Moro — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 17:25:50 +0000

Unsurprisingly, I’m calling fluke. The guy was striking out 3.8 guys per nine innings in Texas. That’s Carlos Silva territory. And Silva doesn’t walk as many guys as Ponson does. Plus, only 6 percent of his flyballs were leaving the yard although Texas is a homer-friendly place and for his career, he’s averaging around 13 percent. The man had a 1.56 WHIP for god’s sakes. No way his ERA should be that low. Guys hit .300 against him, and he let .353 percent of guys reach base.

I’m not saying that Ponson isn’t a low-risk. But he ain’t high-reward. Besides, there are plenty of younger arms within that system that could perform just as well/poorly. At least getting big league experience will be beneficial to the younger ones. On Ponson, it’s wasted.

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By: Coley

Coley — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 17:02:49 +0000

Well Paul, in nine starts with Texas he kept his ERA at 3.88. If he could repeat that sucess in New York I think that would qualify as a high reward. And if he sucks, the Yankees will have wasted, what, $350K? Peanuts.

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By: Paul Moro

Paul Moro — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 15:35:01 +0000

Coley, what’s the “high reward” for Sidney Ponson? MAYBE keeping his ERA under 5 for 5 starts?

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