Hey Yankees fans...

[nolanfan34]

...Tony Womack and Jaret Wright...

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have fun with that.

[ThaSaltCracka]

perplexing, womack is a step in the wrong direction. Looks like George is calling all the shots again. Wright will get rocked in NY without Mazzone(sp).

[mmbt0ne]

The Braves let Kevin Millwood go (yes, trading down for over 8 mil less is salary is the same as letting go) after a much better season than Wright just had, and look how he turned out. As much as I hate their "Making the playoffs is enough" attitude, I've never questioned them on a pitching move. Well, maybe Mike Hampton, but I think we only pay about $5.86 of his yearly salary (thanks Colorado and Florida).

[kerssens]

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Wright will get rocked in NY without Mazzone(sp).


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Whenever they show that jackass rocking I want to chuck a cinderblock at him.

[lu_hawk]

Won't Womack just be Cairo's backup at second? There's no way Womack would start if Cairo is still on the team. And Wright was 15-8 3.28 last year.

[ThaSaltCracka]

dude, Hampton has been pretty effective while in ATL. Mazzone is an excellent pitching coach.

[ThaSaltCracka]

wright had a good year last year, but the Yankees have a history of getting pitchers from small markets that had good years, that just totally flop. I am not sure if Wright can be as good without Mazzone.

[nolanfan34]

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Won't Womack just be Cairo's backup at second? There's no way Womack would start if Cairo is still on the team. And Wright was 15-8 3.28 last year.

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Womack is apparently going to start at 2nd and bat leadoff.

Wright has had one good season out of his last 6. I was pretty nervous about the Mariners signing him for 3 yrs/$5 mil per, but the Yanks signing him for $22 mil is a bit of a stretch I think. He may be an effective pitcher, but he certainly has the ability to blow up in a game.

After Wright and Kris Benson sign for about $8 per year, guys like Pavano and Pedro must be jumping for joy.

[IndieMatty]

Absolutely annoyed with this. It it so hard being a "good" yankee fan. I hate this team, but I'm forced to root for them.

Their two F'ING bright spots last year was Jon Lieber down the stetch, and they are bringing in Wright instead of locking this guy up, who proved he could pitch.

Miggy Cairo was another one, a throwback to 96, did the little things, worked counts, clutch hits. Tony Womack is Kenny Lofton @ second.

Jaret Wright will be just like Chris Hammond with the Yankees. These mazzone guys do not do well away from ATL.

Horrible, horrible horrible.

I've been a Yankee fan all my life, and I seriously think I may end up as, well lets say a Brewers fan by 2006.

[nolanfan34]

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I've been a Yankee fan all my life, and I seriously think I may end up as, well lets say a Brewers fan by 2006.

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There will be a lot of bandwagon Brewers fans by 2006, because they're going to have a sweet infield of Prince Fielder, Richie Weeks, JJ Hardy and I think probably Corey Hart by then. Young guns. If they can keep Ben Sheets in the fold, they actually should be decent by that point.

If, if, if....

[IndieMatty]

Yeah, I agree, they have a lot of good talent. I really like that kid who played first base this year, his name escapes me. Had like 50 doubles, shipped in the Sexson trade. Overbay..he's got a stroke. I've always liked them because of the Beer Slide.

On a side note, Prince's dad is a complete mess, huh?

[J.R.]

Hampton has been pretty effective while in ATL

yeah, but nowehere near enough to justify having to pay his full salary. I think his point is the braves are doing just fine given the portion of Hampton's salary they actually pay. Hampton was a horrible pitcher when he left Colroado, he had no confidence. For a guy who doesn't have overpowering stuff that relies on locating pitches and letting the other team hit the ball, a lack of confidence is devasating. His success is a testament to mazzone and the Braves organization.

[ThaSaltCracka]

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His success is a testament to mazzone and the Braves organization.

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yeah, it def is, I also think his style of pitching is one which couldn't succeed in Colorado anyways.

[Non_Comformist]

I guess I'm in the minority but both signings seem ok to me. Womack can provide depth or a leadoff hitter. Wright will help fill out the rotation after the Johnson trade. I also liked the earlier trade for the two relief pitchers.

[andyfox]

Wright had the 5th best OPS against (.646) in the NL last year. Still, he walked 70 in just over 180 innings, and averaged less than 6 innings/start. I would think he's less of a gamble, at age 28, than Leiber was last year. Perhaps Torre remembers how well he pitched against the Yankees in the post-season in '97. Stotlemyre is gone, so perhaps the emphasis on not walking people will be less pronounced and Wright will not feel he has to change his pitching style.

Womack is, I guess, an insurance policy for Cairo. I think he's a half a rung down the ladder from Cairo. He doesn't walk and while he steals more, Cairo was an effective base runner, stealing 11 out of 14. Neither one are championship caliber players, but again, maybe Torre remembers Womack beating Rivera in 2001. Maybe they'll use him like the Sox used Roberts last year.

[andyfox]

If Womack starts and bats lead-off, it's a mistake. He's a subpar player. They'll, I assume, bat Jeter second, and make him hit and run which is another mistake given that the man hit .011 for the first month of the season and then hit .330 with 23 home runs the rest of the way. Jeter doesn't take very many pitches, which is a drawback for a #2 hitter.

But their offense should be OK. It's the pitching that's the question mark.

[Toro]

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Absolutely annoyed with this. It it so hard being a "good" yankee fan. I hate this team, but I'm forced to root for them.

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You can only rob Peter to pay Paul for so long before it catches up with you. Fact is, the cupboard is bare down on the farm for the Yankees.

The Yankees late 90's dynasty was from home grown talent for a team that was built when Georgie Porgie was in exile from the team by MLB. Jeter, Posada, Rivera, Petitte, Williams, and whoever else I'm missing here were the bedrock of the teams that won all those pennants and World Series.

Fact is, they haven't won a championship since their payroll went over 100 million.

[nolanfan34]

Andy,

Wright did have some good stats last year. No denying that. But given his reputation as being stubborn about his pitches, and his history of past arm troubles, I would say he's still a bit of a gamble. What doesn't make sense for the Yanks IMO, is that there weren't any reported offers anywhere in the ballpark compared to the $22 mil/3 yrs he signed for. The M's offered $15 mil/3 yrs, but I didn't read about any other offers.

And as for Womack, he could sign and start for a few different MLB teams - he's not signing with NY to ride the bench.

Finally, both of those guys played for teams last season that generally have very savvy GM's and managers. Yet neither team seemed to make any effort to keep either of those guys. What does Leo Mazzone know that the Yanks don't? I bet it's something.

Should be interesting next season. Mostly, I just love talking about baseball in December.

[ThaSaltCracka]

you know whats sad, these are the most interesting signings to date. Oh well, atleast the M's won't be wasting money on either of those two, but I am sure they'll find another aging vet /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

[andyfox]

Yes, and they used other homegrown talent to entice others into giving them good players in exchange: Sterling Hitchcock and Russ Davis for Tino Martinez and Jeff Nelson; Brian Buchanan, Cristian Guzman, Eric Milton and Danny Mota for Chuck Knowlauch; Marty Janzen, David Sinnes, and Tony Medrano for David Cone.

[nolanfan34]

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Marty Janzen, David Sinnes, and Tony Medrano for David Cone.

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Wow. I'm pretty sure you made up those names, I've never heard of those guys! /images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Of course we'll be thinking the same thing in 10 years about the players they'll send to the D-Backs for Randy....Robinson Cano, Dionner Navarro, Eric Duncan...

[Toro]

Andy, are you surprised the Yankees let Jon Lieber go?

[andyfox]

Leiber seemed to be a Yankees style of pitcher: he worked quickly, walked very few hitters, and never complained about anything, win or lose, pitch well or poorly. So, yes, I'm a bit surprised, but apparently he signed for the same amount they're spending on Jaret Wright, so I guess they figurred they were getting a younger player for the money. Perhaps Leiber told them he had a 3-year offer and they didn't want to get involved with him for that long.

So what does the rotation look like now? Mussina, Kevin Brown, Vasquez, Wright and Halsey(?). Less than awe-inspiring, to say the least.

[Toro]

You left Pedro out. Kidding, I don't think he's going there.

[IndieMatty]

I'm very upset about losing Leiber. Stupid move by the Yankees.

Go Brewers!

[nolanfan34]

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You left Pedro out. Kidding, I don't think he's going there.

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Randy Johnson probably is though. He's now said he'll only waive his no-trade clause to go to the Yankees. Bastard.