The match up lived up to the hype as both Beckett and Joba were on point last night. It was a pretty good night in general for the Yankees who not only picked up a game on the Sox but also picked up two players who could be very important pieces for the stretch run.
Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte have been two of the most talked about trade pieces this deadline season. It seemed that most contenders were in on one or both of these guys at some point. The deal in general was a good one for the Yanks. They gave up Ross Ohlendorf who has potential as a starter or reliever but hadn't made an impact this season and they gave one of their better position player prospects in Jose Tabata. But Tabata had been a disappointment so far this season. After missing a good amount of time last year due to wrist surgery he had discipline problems this year and was suspended for leaving a game without permission. At that point Tabata admitted that he considered quitting baseball, but he decided to stay and started to play a little better until he hurt himself recently. The other two pitchers were solid prospects. Phil Coke doesn't have the pedigree of a top prospect but had been playing like one this season and George Kontos has always been consider a good arm.
The Yankees didn't give up a lot in actual talent or potential talent to get either of these guys. Now the have another right-handed bat to balance out the lineup and replace Hideki Matsui and the left-handed arm they lacked out of the pen that they have lacked for years. It remains to be seen who will win out of this deal since the Pirates got mostly prospects who are far away from contributing to the big league club, but right now it appears that Brian Cashman may have fleeced another NL team out of top talent. Now all he has to do is convince the Mariners that they just need to do a salary dump on Jarrod Washburn and his trade deadline season will be considered a success.
Until that happens I guess we will have to be content with watching more crazy games between the Yankees and the Sox. I sure there will be a brawl at some point after the Joba Chamberlain-Kevin Youkilis exchange last night so I'll be watching for that. Unfortunately it probably wont be today, at least not early on as Tim Wakefield is not the retaliatory type. He goes up against Andy Pettitte in what should be a very interesting Part II to this weekend trilogy.
5 comments:
Joe and I watched last night's game at a Red Sox bar in New York, and the fans were baying for blood after Chamberlain nearly hit Youklis in the head.
It will be interesting to see how the Red Sox handle this. The classy thing would be for Wakefield to bounce an 80 mph off the Yankees leadoff hitters thigh. Then he would tip his cap, go to first base, and the whole thing would be done with. Anybody think that will actually happen? Hands raised?
Yeah, somebody is getting drilled, probably A-Rod or Jeter, somewhere around the 4th or 5th inning Sunday night.
Anyone else think that was a bullcrap called strike three on Lowell for the second out in the bottom of the ninth? This isn't the NBA. You shouldn't get a call just because you're a bigger star than the guy you're facing. A least Mike got his money's worth screaming at the ump.
I must admit though, Joba's breaking stuff was nasty last night. It was a classic pitcher's duel for once in this series. The Sox lost because they had that stupid shift on. It's MLB's version of the prevent defense.
Looked like it caught the inside corner to me.
Perhaps that would make a difference if the pitch wasn't so high. It almost hit Lowell in the "Red Sox." I think you're just being contrary to start a fight. You wanna take it to the streets then let's take it to the streets! Sorry Sox/Yanks always make me a little edgy.
What, because he swung his arms up like it nearly hit him? Jeter has been doing that with inside pitches for years and the umps give it to him, but Lowell isn't Jeter (he can field his position, for one thing).
Even when it happened Joe and I were trying to figure out what Lowell was so upset about.
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