Sunday Roundup 6/24/07 - A Quieter Weekend

The past few weeks, the Yanks have been THE story on Sunday. Whether it was a Yankees-Red Sox game, Clemens' debut, or the Subway Series, there's been a lot to talk about.

But the Yankees-Giants, aside from Barry, is much less compelling. Anyway, here's what's happening:

Surprise, surprise, another piece about the trading deadline by Joel Sherman. Sherman discusses how Cashman and Minaya are much more reluctant to trade young arms for veteran help then they've been in the past.

One thing Sherman gets wrong is as follows:

“And don’t put three Grade-C prospects together and expect anything back just because of quantity,” an AL executive said. “Garbage plus garbage just means you are giving me more garbage.”

So don’t think the Yanks, for example, can take Eric Duncan, Bronson Sardinha and Colter Bean and spin it into Mark Teixeira."

Did Sherman forget about the Bobby Abreu deal? Because that was a trade of four grade C prospects for one of the better outfielders in the game. Granted, it was an unusual situation, but if a team needs to dump salary, the Yanks will be more than happy to give them some faux-prospects to make the deal look legit.

Plus, Sherman leaves out the George factor. If the Yanks keep struggling, there will be a sense of urgency that will make the Yanks give up some very good prospects.

This piece in Newsday says the Yanks are interested in Eric Gagne and Akinori Otsuka.

Tyler Kepner recaps yesterday's game. He mentions that lefties are batting .306 off Mike Myers this year. Well done, Cashman. Plus, Abreu is now in a 3-23 funk.

Yesterday's Yankee loss featured a dramatic Yankee HR, followed by a walk-off loss on a bloop single. Brought to mind one of my favorite Yankee losses of all-time, game 7 of the 2001 WS. Not the same without Rivera, though.

One difference between the '06 and '07 Red Sox? Pitching depth, says Tony Massarotti.

Who should be The Man after Torre? Bob Klapisch thinks it should be Bobby Valentine. Bobby V is definitely a better in-game manager than Torre. I don't think Torre could've taken a team with Benny Agbayani and Timo Perez to the World Series.

I know some people will say Torre is much better with a team's chemistry and confidence, but I think that's a load of bunk. When the Yanks were stinking it up in May, some people ripped Torre for not motivating the team. And dropping A-Rod to 8th last fall didn't do a thing. Bottom line: When Torre wins, he gets praised to the heavens. When he loses, he gets ripped, but not as much as he deserves.

And the same held true for Bobby V. He got much praise in the magical years of '99 and 2000, but when '02 was a disaster, he was blamed.

The days of Yankee games on free TV may be over, writes Bob Raissman. In the same piece, he also has a funny anecdote about Sterling and Waldman.

And check out this quote from Bill Madden's column, on Milton Bradley:"He'd be a natural for the Yankees," said one scout, "except for his temperament. Oakland was really the perfect place for him. Now it looks like he'll never reach his potential."

PICK OF THE WEEK: Excellent human-interest piece about Mets' pitching coach Rick Peterson and his unique, successful approach in the Star-Ledger. As discussed many times on this blog, Peterson may be the man most responsible for the Mets' success the past few years. And Yankee fans, keep in mind that if George and Cashman ran the Mets, Tom Seaver would be their pitching coach.