When Is A Plan Not A Plan?

In the car yesterday, I was listening to the radio pregame and heard Joe Girardi tell John Sterling on "The Manager's Show" (since confirmed by others) that Joba Chamberlain will now be starting on his regular 5 days of rest, but as Girardi said "may not always factor into the decision". This obviously means that instead of allowing him fewer starts, they are going to limit his innings per appearance.

Joba only has one start left before September call-ups are made, so hopefully Joe Girardi will utilize the resulting extra arms available to him to cushion the blow on the more valuable members of the bullpen. I have my doubts though, because Girardi, like Joe Torre before him, has real trouble putting any reliever that he doesn't trust into a game that isn't a totally one-sided. Much will depend on the standings, of course.

I wasn't sure why, but listening to Girardi deliver that piece of news, I felt a little miffed. Just like they did with A-Rod and his supposed "one day off per week" plan the Yankees immediately deviated from their stated intentions, which sort of defeats the purpose of, you know, having "a plan". That is their right, but at what point to do we stop listening to what the Yankees claim they are going to do?

Cashman and Girardi use of "plans" as a tool to convey their message to the media with a degree of certainty that stifles the speculation that can sometimes get out of hand in New York. It certainly is an effective tactic, because when they say something, it gets reported in multiple places as fact, only to be redacted and updated at the shortest possible interval in which it could be changed.

So next time we hear the Yankees claim that they have "a plan" for something, let's realize what that is has more to do with PR than it does with baseball.

More Marte Machinations

Prior to Tuesday's game, Joe Girardi said there was a possibility Damaso Marte could be activated for tonight's game. This took me by surprise, since the news came just three days after the Yankees announced Marte, whose rehab assignment had expired, was being excused indefinitely for "personal reasons". I speculated at that point that the timing was somewhat dubious. Because of their rotation shuffling with Sergio Mitre and Chad Gaudin, the Yankees didn't really have a roster spot to open for Marte. This latest possibility of Marte being activated tonight is even more suspect, almost as if the "personal reasons", which haven't been expounded upon by any media, were concocted to buy the Yankees some time to make a move.

This morning on RAB, Joe Pawlikowski wondered if a Marte return would mean the Yankees would carry a 13 man pitching staff until rosters expand on September 1st. In my eyes, such a move would be a big mistake.

As a matter of principle, I'm totally opposed to the 13 man pitching staff. I don't even like a 12 man pitching staff, but I concede that it's pretty much a necessity in today's game. But given the Yankees current roster construction and upcoming schedule, moving to a 13 man staff right now would be a very poor strategical move.

Joe rightly points out that if the Yankees do bring Marte back as part of 13 man staff, the only possible roster move would be to demote Ramiro Pena, which would have his ten day minimum minor league stay expiring conveniently on September 1st. However, demoting Pena would leave Jerry Hairston Jr. as the lone utility player on a three man bench. While Hairston is certainly capable of the job, this would make him the only back-up at 3B, SS, 2B, CF, and potentially even LF. With Brett Gardner still on the DL, Hideki Matsui's knees potentially being day-to-day, and A-Rod still being promised a day of rest weekly, I'm just not comfortable carrying that inflexible of a bench for ten days. This roster alignment nearly burned the Yanks just over two weeks ago.

More than the needs of the bench, the Yankees schedule and rotation make a 13 man pitching staff completely unnecessary right now. With the off days yesterday and Monday, the Yanks rotation is set for the next week, with a fifth starter not needed again until Saturday that 29th. As such, both Mitre and Gaudin are in the pen until the Yankees announce who will get the nod for that game, leaving them with a virtual eight man pen already. Furthermore, the bullpen is well-rested at present. In addition to the off days, a complete game from A.J. Burnett on Monday, eight innings of work from CC Sabathia on Tuesday, and Alfredo Aceves eating up half of the 4.2 innings the Yanks needed out of the pen Wednesday, the Yankee relievers should be ready to go. With Andy Pettitte, Burnett, and Sabathia slated to start this weekend the Yanks could get lucky and not have to tax their bullpen too much anyway.

Further, Girardi's bullpen usage patterns, particularly in big games like these next three will be, makes carrying an extra pitcher completely useless. In Mariano Rivera, Phil Hughes, Phil Coke, and Alfredo Aceves, Girardi has four relievers he trusts implicitly. In the rising David Robertson and the apparently rejuvenated Brian Bruney, he has two more relievers he can confidently deploy. Ditto for Gaudin once he has another day or two of rest. Activating Marte tonight would leave him no better than seventh in the bullpen pecking order. That, combined with his spotty track record this year and underwhelming rehab assignment, means he'd see nothing more than extended mop-up work. And it was exactly that sort of outing that started his downward spiral to begin with.

Lastly, Marte is currently on the 60 day DL, meaning someone would have to go from the 40 man roster in order to activate him. While Anthony Claggett and Juan Miranda, and maybe even Edwar Ramirez could be cut, I don't see any particular advantage in losing any of them just to add Marte. If the Yankees insist upon adding Marte for tonight's game, then Sergio Mitre should be the guy to go. DFA'ing Mitre would open the necessary spots on both the 40 and 25 man rosters, leave the bench the flexibility it needs at present, and not hamper the bullpen in any way.

In the end, we're really discussing a move that would affect the 24th or 25th spot on the roster. Chances are whatever is done won't have a major impact anyway. But I'll be tremendously disappointed and will feel that the Yanks have put themselves at a competitive disadvantage (however slight), if they go to a 13 man pitching staff for the rest of August.

Say Goodbye It's Independence Day

Good morning Fackers. Today is a day for celebration, and not just because the Yanks notched a needed win last night. Our long national nightmare is over. Sixty days after he was added to the roster, and nearly seven weeks after he'd outlived whatever usefulness he offered, Angel Berroa was finally designated for assignment last night when Cody Ransom was activated.

Berroa made it into 21 games in his Yankee career, amassing 24 plate appearances and hitting .136/.174/.182, good for an OPS+ of -6. That's negative six. He is now .228/.270/.318, 52 OPS+ over his last 796 Major League PAs.

In the field he was ostensibly A-Rod's back-up at third, even though A-Rod has started all but five games there since his return. Berroa logged 63 innings at third, or 62 and 2/3 more than his career total entering the season. In his time there, he made 3 errors, good for a fielding percentage of 0.880 and a UZR/150 of -34.5. Once again, that's negative thirty-four point five.

From May 5th until spelling A-Rod this past weekend, he played in just 11 games, had only 5 PAs, and played just 18 innings in the field. Yet the team considered him more valuable than any of the other options at their disposal.

How and why he lasted that long is beyond me. It confounds me to even ponder why. Boggles the mind. Stupifies. Befuddles. Flabbergasts. The best I can come up with is the following list of National Independence Days:

June 12 - Philipines
June 17 - Iceland
June 26 - Madagascar
June 29 - Seychelles
June 30 - Democratic Republic of the Congo
July 1 - Canada, Burundi, Rwanda
July 3 - Belarus
July 4 - USA
July 5 - Algeria, Cape Verde Islands, Venezuela
July 6 - Malawi

There it is. Within two weeks in either direction of Berroa's release fourteen different nations celebrate their independence. Caught up in the spirit, the Yankees wanted to give us fans a holiday of our own in that time. So thank you Yankees. Thank you for thinking of us, and potentially sacrificing victory over the past several weeks so that we can now observe Angel Berroa DFA Day every June 24th, celebrating our independence from Berroa's tyranny of epic suckitude and worthlessness.

Four weeks ago I went on a diatribe about what I felt was the dead weight on the Yankee roster. Of the five players I highlighted in that post, Wang is moving back towards respectability and three are now off the roster. You're next Tomko.

The Yankees have ten days to waive, trade, or release Berroa. If they were able to move Jose Veras for cash considerations, what can they get for Berroa? Loose change?

This Year Most Likely The Swan Song For Matsui

From Joel Sherman's "3 Up, 3 Down" blog post this morning (emphasis mine):

In Sunday's Post, I wrote a column about the death of the traditional DH; the single-dimensional type who need not even have a fielding mitt ordered for him. During the course of reporting on the column, I was told by several Yankee executives that there is almost zero chance that Hideki Matsui will be re-signed after the season, even if he were to finish with a strong season and despite the strong presence he affords them in Japan.

It shouldn't come as much of a shock, but that was the first time I've heard it from people within the organization, in such definite terms. 

Matsui is unable to play the field, stay healthy or really hit at the level that should be expected from a DH. He's hit 7 HRs and has a 116 OPS+, but the facts are he can't even be trusted to play a corner outfield position and is going to be 36 next season. If the Yanks are looking to get younger, like they have said in the past, and more versatile like others have suggested, Matsui just isn't the right fit.