A.J. Burnett

Melky Cabrera Juiced! Say It Ain't So!

All season long, Yankee fans have been tearing their hair out watching two former pinstripers, Melky Cabrera and A.J. Burnett, outperforming their Yankee selves by a wide margin. Since the Yankees have a tendency to bring nearly all ex-bombers back for another try (a practice they may have abused in ... More >>

Joe Girardi Must Have Done Something Right

GirardiI'll be honest: I didn't think the Yankees would win the AL East, right up to the day they won it. Yet they did it, and in fact by a wide margin. Before we even consider the problems of the playoffs, we should acknowledge the gutsy job turned in by everyone, particularly manager Joe Girardi, ... More >>

Memo to Yanks: Pitch By the Numbers, Not By the Salaries

After C.C., who?​To sit through the plethora of stories about the Yankees' starting rotation you'd think they had pitching to burn. "Logjam" is the most common word used to describe the starting six, and, incredibly, we're also seeing "embarrassment of riches." It's embarrassing, all right, b ... More >>

Don't Blame the Yankees Bullpen for Last Night. Blame Nick Swisher.

Oops.​Obviously when you have a rotation that consists of one ace and four jokers - and that's what Phil Hughes, A.J. Burnett, Ivan Nova and whoever the Yankees put in the fifth spot are - you've got to win the game in which your ace pitches. Especially when the ace pitches seven shutout innin ... More >>

Rangers Win Pennant, but 'A-Rod Doomed Them' Myth Lives On

​No sooner did the World Series end than Alex Rodriguez became the answer to the question "Why did it take the Rangers so long to win the pennant?" On Monday, Tyler Kepner of the New York Times speculated about the possibility of the Yankees obtaining Cliff Lee: "Lee could enjoy the Yankees, ... More >>

Yankees Post Mortem: Dissecting 2010's Corpse

​No point right now in looking into the Yankees chances of getting Cliff Lee -- though offhand I'd say the odds are about the same as they were for the Knicks in landing LeBron James. There's also not much point wondering what the Yankees need to do to pull themselves together next season. The ... More >>

Yankees and the ALCS: "Real Scary, Real Fast"

​On Friday, we quoted Daily News writer John Harper's dire scenario for the Yankees: "On second thought, what if it's not such a break for the Yankees that Cliff Lee can't pitch until Game 3? Really, it's only natural to presume that delaying Lee's impact on the series helps the defending ch ... More >>

Why Game 1 Means More to the Yankees Than to the Rangers

​Everyone is saying that tonight's game, the first of the American League Championship Series, is critical for both the Yankees and Rangers. It appears more critical, though, for the Yankees for two very simple reasons. One, of course, is Cliff Lee. If Lee doesn't start until Game 3, then if ... More >>

C.C. Sabathia's Start Tonight: None Bigger All Year

​Prudence suggests that Bill Madden's pick in today's Daily News - Minnesota twins in five - is a correct one. Madden's reasoning is sound: the Yankees have been a lackluster 29-30 since July 30 and only 9-17 since September 5. "Combined," Madden writers, "with Girardi's erratic managing and t ... More >>

Yankees Fans, Are You Worried Yet?

​Be afraid, Yankees fans -- be very afraid. Though some are dismissing the Yankees' late-season slide saying, "After all, they're still going to make the playoffs," there's nothing good to be said about their performance over the last 10 games. On September 4, the Yankees were on an eight-g ... More >>

Joe Girardi and the JV Squad Somehow Get Love from the Daily News

​Apparently there were two baseball games between the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays played Sunday afternoon - the one I saw and the one written about by John Harper in the Daily News. In the game I saw, Joe Girardi, with his ace C.C. Sabathia on the hill, had an inexplicable attack of ... More >>

Crazy Yankee Chick: "WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!"

​ CONGRATULATIONS TO THE NEW YORK YANKEES FOR WINNING THEIR 27th WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP!!!! I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. Well, I'm finally just getting out of bed, after celebrating the World Series Championship of the New York Yankees up until about 7am. None of us wanted ... More >>

Jockbeat: Yanks Chances for Finishing Things Tonight

​We want to make this clear before tonight's game: We're not second guessing Joe Girardi's decision to pitch A.J. Burnett on three days rest Monday night. We called it before the game. It was foolish and impulsive, based on a hunch and not logic, and it will have an adverse effect on the Yanke ... More >>

Crazy Yankee Chick: Yankees 27 outs away from their 27th Championship...

​I talked to my mom earlier today, and she had this to say about the World Series: "I lost any respect I had for Charlie Manuel after what he did yesterday. He knew he couldn't beat CC with Joe Blanton, so instead of trying to win by the power of their own offense, they compromised CC's comfo ... More >>

Crazy Yankee Chick: Yankees take Game 2, take Pedro deep

​Ahh, much better. The Yankees beat the Phillies in a much-needed, if technically not "must-win" Game 2, with A.J. Burnett outdueling old friend Pedro Martinez. The Phillies took an early 1-0 lead in the 2nd with an RBI single from Matt Stairs, but the Yanks answered in the 4th with a solo s ... More >>

"Silly-delphia" "Frillies" Take Game One

"VOTE: ARE THE YANKS IN TROUBLE?" The drama queens at the Post react badly to the Game One loss, and 81 percent of their poll respondents at this writing say yes, they're in trouble. Daily News elder statesman Mike Lupica takes the tip-yer-hat approach: "Lee carried his team the way CC Sabathia has ... More >>

Crazy Yankee Chick: My Head Still Hurts

​I love Yankee fans. Depressed and devastated over Game 1's loss and being antagonized by pathetic assholes who have nothing in their life beyond taking joy in someone else's misery, I got my rejuvenation from other Yank fans. Who all agreed we're down, but not out. Not by a long shot. How ... More >>

Crazy Yankee Chick: Hope the stadium organist dug up the "Who's Your Daddy?" sheet music...

​Let's see...in the last 24 hours, I've: Threw a pen at a Red Sox fan because he said, "I'm loving the way this series is going." Told my buddy to go to hell when it came to my attention he bet on the Phillies to win the whole series. Changed the M and N on my coworker's keyboard because ... More >>

Jockbeat: Allen Barra Sizes Up the Yankees and Phillies

​First off, we'd like to thank the New York tabloids for getting the Phillies all worked up. In particular, we'd like to thank the New York Post for putting a photo shop image of Shane Victorino in a cheerleader's skirt on yesterday's front page, bearing the caption "Only in the city of Brothe ... More >>

Crazy Yankee Chick: Wait, so how is this anything like the 2004 ALCS?

​The 2009 ALCS and 2004 ALCS are practically mirror images of each other. Indistinguishable. Talk about carbon copies! I haven't seen this level of uncanny similarity since watching Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes in White Men Can't Jump. Yeah, that's about how alike these two series ar ... More >>

Crazy Yankee Chick: Yanks one win away from their Final Destination

​The more I think about it, the more I'm relieved the Yankees didn't beat the Angels on Monday. Because being up 3-0 would have undoubtedly cued a barrage of clips from The Unspeakable Year. And if they had won 3, then lost 1? Forget about it, the sports world would have had a veritable field ... More >>

Crazy Yankee Chick: Stadium Ghosts Return to Help Yanks Win 13-Inning Debacle

​ "I'm getting too old for this." "My heart can't handle any more of these tight games." "This is just getting ridiculous." "UNBELIEVABLE." Yep, I'd have to say I agree with all of those. I'm still not exactly sure what the hell happened last night at Yankee Stadium. There wasn't a lot ... More >>

Jockbeat: Why The Yankees Should Beat the Angels

​As rivalries go, the Yankees and Angels have been overrated by the media. Since 2002, the first time they met in the playoffs, the teams have played 54 times. The Angels have won 31 of those games, the Yankees 23; the Angels have outscored the Yankees by just 12 runs. Since the Angels have b ... More >>

Crazy Yankee Chick: The Clock Winds Down, Fans Wound Up

​"The anticipation must be killin you." --Text message, 7:32 pm "46 hours, 41 min til 1st pitch. But who's counting?" --Text message, 9:17pm "I'm trying to get people to start calling me Fung Wah." --I'm not going to dignify this with a timestamp, but it bears mentioning since this is the ty ... More >>

Crazy Yankee Chick: Walkoff Bomb, Extra Innings, Clutch Hitting, Dramatic Comeback--Yankees do it the Yankee way

​I cannot believe what the hell just happened. My hands are still shaking. My heart may or may not be fighting the good fight against certain cardiac arrest. The Yankees just beat the Twins in 11 innings, off the bat of Mark Teixeira--his first walkoff in pinstripes, the Yankees' 11th posts ... More >>

Crazy Yankee Chick: Previewing Game 2 of the ALDS, Yanks/Twins @ 6:07

​(Yanks look to go 9-0 against Twins and take 2-0 lead! On 10.09.2009! More number fun! Though I may be playing it a little fast and loose with the word "fun" right now..) It doesn't get any easier from here on out.. Yeah, I don't know who I'm referring to right now--the Yankees' battle wit ... More >>

Jockbeat: How the Yankees Can Win It All

​Several million words have been written in the last few years about why teams win in the playoffs -- or more precisely, why the playoffs are different than the regular season. Most of it can be summed up in a few words: Setting your starting rotation and having a deeper bullpen. Over the la ... More >>

Crazy Yankee Chick: ONE DOWN...Yankees' quest for 27 begins with 2-7 win

​So about 5 hours ago, I lamented that my hands have been shaking all day. And they still are. But for different reasons now. The Yanks are down 2-0 in the bottom of the 3rd, and that was around the time my manic desperation started to manifest itself full throttle. It's a crazy frenzy that ... More >>

Tampa Bay Resumes Role as Pain in My Ass

​So we're back to this again, huh? Tampa Bay just secured a place on my fantasy team of "People to Kill." Or rather, I think this is more in line with what I have in mind. Saturday's game between the Yanks and the Devil Rays (which is what I'm back to calling them for the next day of the sea ... More >>

162 Games Later, The Job(a) Gets Done Right

​From the Daily News: Joba Chamberlain will return to his old role today, heading back to the bullpen for the Yankees' regular-season finale against the Rays. I don't know whether I find this aggravating or amusing. I can't over the image of Girardi and Co. saying to themselves, "Hmm, you k ... More >>

A Nice, Round Number for a Nice, Round Pitcher

​ Last week the games didn't count. The Yankees called upon the "the linebackers," aka the young farm boys with jersey numbers that are more typically seen on defensive linemen than they are on the baseball diamond. Girardi still filtered in his star players, but it was clear and unsurprisin ... More >>

UNDERDOGS? Really? Wow. Not used to seeing that.

​I can never decide whether I love or hate the west coast games, but I think I'm leaning towards the latter. Six hours in a plane, and then playing Minesweeper Baseball. Nothing makes sense out there, and you gotta pay attention to what you're doing or before you know it, you're getting blown ... More >>

Jockbeat: Yankees' MVP? Allen Barra Ranks Jeter Fifth

With all the talk of Derek Jeter as the possible MVP winner for 2009, an important question has been overlooked: who is the Yankees MVP? Bill Madden inadvertently weighed in on the issue last Sunday with a piece headlined "Ring In The Old -- Yanks rediscover formula for success: more Jeter, less A ... More >>

Jockbeat: Yankees Looking at a Tough Joba Ahead

​If Yankee fans thought the team's post All-Star game run -- 27-10, best in the major leagues -- and overall performance -- .624 W-L, best in the majors -- is too good to be true, they might be right.  As every Yankee fan and front office executive knows, none of this matters unless they at least ... More >>

Jockbeat: The Yankees at Midseason

Let's start with the obvious -- or at least what should be obvious:  the new Yankee Stadium is not helping the Yankees. While the Yanks lead MLB in home runs at home with 79 and are on track to be one of the greatest home run hitting teams of all time, they're actually hitting better on the roa ... More >>

Jockbeat: Can the Yanks Get Halladay? Of Course They Can

Can the Yankees get Roy Halladay? Of course they can.  Toronto GM J.P. Ricciardi says, "We're not inclined to move him, but we're going to see what's out there." That means: "Yes, we're willing to trade him." Do the Blue Jays want too much for him? Of course they do. No matter what they wa ... More >>

Jockbeat: What We Did, and Didn't Predict about the Mets/Yankees Matchup

From our Friday Jockbeat on the Yankees-Mets:  "The odds seem pretty good that the Yankees can take at least two of three, most likely the first two. Joba Chamberlain ... has been pitching very well of late, only 3-1 for the season but solid in two no-decision starts ... "Saturday the odds ... More >>

Our Subway Series Prediction: Yankees, Yankees, Mets

It isn't just the economy and the ticket prices that will produce all those empty seats at Yankee Stadium tonight. The Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies have taken much of the wind out of this season's first Subway Series. As we go to press, you can still go to the Yankees web site and g ... More >>

Yankees 7-0 Loss to Sox Painful or Hilarious, Depending

We try not to indulge our blackhearted Mets-fan schadenfreude too much, especially so early in the season. Nonetheless, from the Boston Globe: Another night, another buffeting of the Bombers. It's just no fun beating these New York Yankees anymore. Too easy. The 7-0 fail at Fenway was the Yankees' ... More >>

Jockbeat: A Look at Yankees Pitching for 2009

For all the funk the Yankees engendered by not making the playoffs last year after 13 straight seasons, it's important to note that Chien-Ming Wang missed 15-19 starts because of that June 15 foot injury against Houston, and that if that hadn't happened, the Yankees likely would have been in the pos ... More >>

Jockbeat: Red Sox Cry Uncle After Yanks Spend Half a Billion

For years, the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox have been locked in a bidding war for baseball's highest priced free agents. And now it appears that the Red Sox have finally blinked.According to the Associated Press and Business Week, Red Sox owner John Henry called -- for the second time -- for ... More >>

We're saved! Yankees bail out New York City!

Yanks Get Teixeira, Piss Off Rest of League

Through the Looking Glass

Steve Phillips Undergoes Transaction Analysis