I’m going to wait for his *next* Cairo before I declare him a bust.

[1] That’s far to reasonable.

Here’s a better response: Burn him at the stake!

Ah, good point.  Now that he’s a Yankee I can change the underlying assumptions and components in a bunch of ways that make Ibanez look better.

Now that he’s a Yankee I can change the underlying assumptions and components in a bunch of ways that make Ibanez look better.

This joke may never get old. That guy was such an asshat. That comment was certainly in the top 5 things on the internet that really got me angry.

Yeah, I was a bit confused by this “study.”  I mean, when I read “I am trying to find ways to make me think Ibanez may still have something left in the tank…” I figured the whole point was going to be to “change the underlying assumptions and components in a bunch of ways that make Ibanez look better.”

The study shows a modest decline from age 39 to age 40.  Thats not toally discouraging.

What I don’t see is the number of players who had 400+ PAs at age 39 who failed to get 400 PAs at age 40.  You would have to remove the players who retired after their age 39 season by only including those with some minimum number of PAs in the age 40 season.

Players who did not get 400 PA in their age 40 season after getting 400 PA in their age 39 season.  Ignore Ibanez and Chipper Jones since 2011 was their age 39 season. 

Bonds was hurt so ignore him too.

Al Kaline
Babe Ruth
Barry Bonds
Bob Boone
Bob Boyd
Bob Johnson
Bones Ely
Carlton Fisk
Chili Davis
Chipper Jones
Cy Williams
Doc Cramer
Dummy Hoy
Eddie Collins
Frank Thomas
Fred Tenney
Gary Gaetti
Gary Sheffield
Hank Aaron
Jimmy Austin
Jimmy Dykes
Joe Kuhel
Jose Cruz
Ken Griffey
Kid Gleason
Luis Aparicio
Luis Gonzalez
Matt Stairs
Otis Nixon
Ozzie Smith
Patsy Donovan
Paul Waner
Raul Ibanez
Rico Carty
Rod Carew
Ted Williams
Tony Gwynn
Tris Speaker
Willie McCovey
Willie Stargell

Rut-roh.

Dummy Hoy.

Replacement value or not, doesn’t Ibanez represent about the best available option for the Yankees?  I understand that Russell Branyan may project very slightly better, and Damon or Matsui may project slightly worse, but they all seem roughly comparable, that is, they all seem to be equally “meh.”

I’m surprised how there don’t seem to have been any significantly better bats available to the Yankees to platoon with Jones to take over Montero’s DH role.  I would have thought it would be relatively easy for Cashman to find a LH DH, even at a bargain basement price, but apparently not.

[8]  He’s 42, so it’s all gravy at this point.  If he has has a great year in 2012 and then hangs up the cleats, I’d almost prefer that to seeing him play UNTIL the wheels fall off.

[11] It’s inevitable, yes. That doesn’t mean it’s something to be particularly excited about. It makes me sad, in advance, to think about Mo-less Yankees teams.

I don’t really get cutting Aceves and Rolando Brackman, but then getting Ibanez when Branyan was already signed.

[13] I was pretty surprised about the Brackman cut, but I guess the Yankees just saw no decent chance of him being a MLB regular, and with the crowded AAA starting rotation, they couldn’t afford to giev him time to figure everything back out.

I kinda wish Po had come back.

Yeah, I think Posada would outhit Ibanez vs. RHP.  Can’t blame him for not wanting to play sporadically though.

I’d almost prefer that to seeing him play UNTIL the wheels fall off.

He’s a machine; just put new wheels on.

[14] Brackman had contract options for 2012 and 2013, and had a clause that said the Yankees had to release him if they didn’t exercise an option.  Besides, have you looked at his AAA stats?

[17] He’s been terrible in AAA. I don’t have a problem with them cutting him, but I was a but surprised. Realistically, despite his upside, the guy had one good year and saw his stuff decline from when he was drafted. That paired with the huge number of younger and viable MLB ready arms in AAA/AA forced him out.

If the Yankees didn’t have such wealth of high level pitchers, we might have seen him stick around for another year or two. But he sucked and the Yankees have a large number of pitchers in the upper minors who don’t.

If the Yankees didn’t have such wealth of high level pitchers, we might have seen him stick around for another year or two.

One more maybe, but the only way he was sticking around for two more years was to become an effective major league pitcher.  He’s out of options after this season, even with MLB granting an extra one.

[19] Ah, I was one year off on the options, but the general point still stands. The Yankees had nowhere to put him and he sucked too much for them to try to make room for him.

This might be the best thing Grantland has put together—Sam Fuld breaking down the Yanks-Rays game that put Tampa in the playoffs while Papelbon choked in Baltimore.

[21] This is the best summation of Betances.

The guy standing on the hill for New York was Dellin Betances, making his first career major league start. Betances reminded me a lot of myself — if only I were a foot taller, threw a lot harder, and looked 20 times more intimidating. He was a monster. He seemed like one of those guys who was either going to throw five no-hit innings (he was a starter in the minors but had only worked out of the bullpen for New York) or walk five guys and not get out of the first inning.
After Desmond Jennings popped up to lead off the inning, Betances issued free passes to B.J. Upton and Longo. Maybe Betances just needed to face a lefty: he followed by striking out Matt Joyce and Damon, throwing curveballs that I swear someone dropped from one of the catwalks. Our one-run deficit suddenly seemed a lot larger.

[22] But the single best summation of anyone has to be:

Johnny Damon, who could fit into a crowd of college kids as well as anyone on the team

[23] That was pretty funny.

On the Mo post from above, I had been figuring he would retire after his current contract, and as sad a day as it will be, they are likely in the best position they have ever been to replace him with the emergence of Robertson.

I can’t wait to see Mo play CF for an inning. Ah screw it, they should let him play CF for an entire game and then do a double-switch to get him on the mound to close that game out.

All that said, I hope Mo never retires.

[25] The best way for that to happen is finishing out the regular season with a 5 game cushion.

Personally, I don’t want to see it. Visions of CMW whirling in front of my eyes…[shudders]

[25] Hear effen here.

We are so going to hate Eating Raoul by Memorial Day. I kind of feel for the dude

A saving grace for Ibanez is that he won’t have that many PAs.  He’ll bat near the bottom of the order and play only when the opposing starter is a rightie AND when ARod or Jeter or Teix or some other regular isn’t the DH.  That should cut Ibanez’s PA’s down to around 60% of a regular’s.  If Montero’s hitting is worth 2.5 WAR on the season, replacing 60% of him with Ibanez at replacement level costs the team 1 1/2 wins.  Hopefully, replacing our 6th starter with Pineda will add more than 1.5 wins to the team.

The other saving grace is that if Ibanez is a bust, the Yanks can replace him before the trade deadline.

[25] “All that said, I hope Mo never retires.”

I’ve got it.  Mo throws the last pitch of the year, capping his most dominant post season ever, and baseball comes to an end - permanently.  Maybe after a while people start playing some other game - call it PostMo - where the Pinstripers play the Painted Sox too many times a year.  Mo never retires, Joba becomes a PostMo starter by Commish Wombat’s ukase, and we get to argue about the robots calling what we used to call balls and strikes.

Mo knows the world is ending after this season. It all fits.

[31] The Mayans were actually just predicting the date Mo retires.

and we get to argue about the robots calling what we used to call balls and strikes

0 based arrays vs. 1 based arrays ?

[31] Yoink.

I’d like to see Mo play CF, but if he does, it probably means the Yankees didn’t make the playoffs. Or they’re up 50 runs in the clinching game of the World Series.

[32] That would be SO awesome if after the season he, “wants to take some time to think about his future”, but then chooses that day in December to announce his retirement!!

[34] If he’s going to retire this year, he’ll be the veteran manager at the end of the season. I’d bet he puts himself in CF for 1 inning.

[0] I think if Ibanez were a full-time DH, he’d probably be around RL.  What the Yankees are banking on is with 400PA against (almost) exclusively RHP, he’s going to be more like .5-1 WAR.  W/o knowing specifics, I’d hazard 400PA will have Ibanez’s deal totalling around $2.5M, which is perfectly acceptable for that output.

For me, I’d guess the reasons why they signed Ibanez to a guaranteed deal while having Branyan on an MiLB deal…

1) Spring Training depth.  If there’s an injury in ST - say Teix - where the player will be out a month, it might be nice to have both Ibanez and Branyan on the team.
2) Scouting.  After reviewing video and scouting notes, they see some reason why Ibanez may improve/thrive in DNYS, where it is less likely that Branyan will.
3) Branyan may accept an assignment to the minors.  Given his lack of suitors, Branyan may go to the minors if Ibanez is the opening day DH.  Now they have a LH, major-league bat to come to the majors, or potentially be traded.

[36] No, J’s right.  There’s no way in hell a playoff bound Yankees team is going to allow Mo to play the field in a meaningless game at the end of the year.  As good of athelete as he is, they’re not going to risk an injury to him in that case.  So yeah, out of playoffs.

I just don’t understand why Mo is pretending he didn’t announce his intentions yesterday.  I could save 90 games and they could pay me anything in the world and it wouldn’t change his mind?  That’s not a hint about his intentions.  That is flat out saying it without flat out saying it.

Came in to make a Mo retiring/Mayan apocalypse joke. See it was already made, and far better.

Leaving satisfied.

Chris Carpenter to the Red Sox…

as compensation for Theo.  I got nervous for a second too.

Girardi plans on having Chavez play some 1B.

It sure would be nice if they had signed him so he could.

Can someone please issue a(n) ukase about omakase?

Isn’t Chris Carpenter quite a haul for a GM?  I was thinking a couple marginal prospects tops.

Its this Chris Carpenter
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/carpech02.shtml
not this one
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/carpech01.shtml
or this one
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/carpecr01.shtml

Is there one who spells his name like Liz Lemon’s boyfriend?

[43] That’s CC the 10-games-in-the-majors reliever.

Been meaning to try omakase at my local sushi place - I like what I know though.

Chris “Not That Chris Carpenter” Carpenter

Is it the Chris Carpenter the Yankees drafter back in 2007 or 2008? Or did he blow his shoulder out?

[45] There’s a Betances-like risk/reward in the unknown though.

Reasonable compensation. Carpenter has upside, but he’s not a stud prospect. That sounds about right for a GM.

[49] Midway between Diego Moreno and Micheal Pineda.  Probably closer to Moreno.

I think that’s a fair comparison.

Been meaning to try omakase at my local sushi place - I like what I know though.

The GF and I have thought of doing that as well.  But same thing; occasionally get a piece of something adventurous, but make sure we surround it with staples.

In my younger days, I had the digestive tract of a crocodile. We became regulars at the sushi counter of our favorite japanese place, and became comfortable enough letting them bring what they wanted us to have. From time to time. I have no idea what I had.

My entrails have ukase’d I narrow my choices, since then.

“Is it the Chris Carpenter the Yankees drafter back in 2007 or 2008? Or did he blow his shoulder out?”

Yankees pitching prospect? Probably the elbow.

[54] Smart money says “both”.

But his career may well have been saved by escaping from the system before the damage was done. Probably blocked by Igawa in AAA so they cut him loose.

The only time I can recall getting sick from food is eating at chain “family restaurants.” I’ll try anything once. So far I’ve only found 2 foods I don’t really like: Eggplant due to it’s lack of taste and slimy texture and raw tomatoes because ... I have no fucking clue.

I hate raw tomatoes too.  The taste is ok, but for me it’s the texture.  It’s like a liquified grape.  No thank you.

The only thing I refuse to eat is organs. There’s a reason it’s called offal.

[58] I will admit to being very wary, but a lot of people eat it, so there’s got to be something to it.

We ate at a Singaporean restaurant recently.  Some people at a table next to us were eating shrimp, heads and all.  I won’t even eat the shells.

Eggplants are a bad thing not to like.

Eggplant due to it’s lack of taste and slimy texture

I was eggplant adverse for many years, but have seen the light.  Eggplant can be cooked in so many ways - including fried in olive-oil so that it’s not slimy - and it is also excellent at absorbing spices and other flavor additives. 

I love raw *fresh* tomatoes.  Can be eaten in so many different ways.