Ponson vs. Perkins

I don't know what it is, but I have this impression that pitchers heading to the Yankees--whether through the minors or in a trade--seem to regress when they put on the pinstripes. Ponson, for instance, had a fairly respectable 4.47 xFIP in Texas this season, but now has a 5.09 xFIP in New York. I'm guessing that the media would tell you that it's all about the pressure involved with playing in New York, but I kind of wonder if the Yankees have a problem at pitching coach.

One thing that doesn't come up very often in the talks of canning Gardy is that Rick Anderson would likely be gone if anything happened to Gardy, and I think that would be a decidedly bad thing for this team. It seems fairly rare that we get a pitcher and he totally screws the pooch, at least as compared to the hitters that we acquire. You can't squeeze lemonade out of an onion, but Rick Anderson even managed to help Ramon Ortiz and Livan Hernandez to outperform expectations for a while, delaying the inevitable. And I think he's had a lot to do with the Twins' ability to just pick up guys off the scrap heap and make them reasonable options out of the bullpen.

Anyway, it's probably not a huge deal--while I think that Rick Anderson is good, he probably gets paid about as much as he's worth to the team--but I thought it might be worth mentioning.

In a completely unrelated topic, Adam Everett's shoulder is still a problem. I really, really wish it wasn't a problem, but the state of his shoulder really puts Gardy in a bind. Harris is truly horrible at shortstop and should be stationed there only if a middle infielder gets pinch-hit for in the middle of the game. (I guess I could also see it if the other team is throwing a left-handed pitcher and we had a fly-ball/strikeout right-handed pitcher on the mound.) From limited observation, even with the bum shoulder, I think that Everett is going to save us more runs than Harris, but we're certainly not looking at the elite-level human vacuum that Everett was in the past.

But really, our shortstop options just suck right now and while Gardy might be able to pull some strings one way or another to make the most out of a bad situation--it's still a bad situation. If we had a second baseman, Punto would be the best guy to put at SS, but since Harris can't handle the footwork at second base and Everett has no experience there, it doesn't make much sense to force Punto into the shortstop position.

[SBG: Hey folks, it's the Last Regular Season Series between the Yankees and the Twins before the Yankees move into their new ballpark, so I thought I'd add my $0.02.

Player A: .287/.334/.390 OPS+ 97
Player B: .283/.346/.398 OPS+ 99

Player A is a player that's provided much angst among Twins fans. He's not hitting for power, he plays in the field like he's wearing roller skates, and we gave up a good young pitcher in Matt Garza to get him. Yep, it's Delmon Young.

Player B has been much criticized for his defense, too, although he's got more than his fair share of apologists. Defensive metrics have consistently rated him as one of the worst at his position for a long time. But, he's been able to justify that $20,000,000 a year salary with his hitting, clutchiness, and captaincy. Yep, Player B is Derek Jeter (yes, I realize that position adjustments are important). 2008 has seen a significant drop off for Jetes -- he's not had an OPS+ below 110 since his second year in the league. There was a lot of talk not that long ago about Jeter maybe getting to 4,000 hits. But, if this is an indication of his new level of play and not an aberration, he's still about three full seasons from 3,000 hits, which means he'll start his 38 year old season right about there. 4,000 hits seems out of the question. Still, though, we are talking about a shortstop getting to 3,000 hits. That's a pretty big deal. And my, he sure is dreamy.

Jeter has another two years and $41 million left on his 10 year deal. I would have to believe that the Yankees will sign him up for another five years after that, which would put him in a Yankee jersey through his 41 year old season. One wonders, though, what will happen if Jeter continues to put a line up like he has this year. Will the Yankees give a generally crappy shortstop with a league average or worse bat $100,000,000 or more to watch him head into his 40s? It will be interesting.]