Sunday Roundup 6/17/07 - Jeter and the Subway Series

The big story today is Jeter's performance in yesterday's game. I hate Jeter as much as the next Yankee-hater, but he and Rivera are the only current Yankees who have excellent track records in tough spots. Pettitte has a very mixed record (see game 1 of the '96 WS and game 6 of the 2001 WS), and the newer guys (Giambi, A-Rod, Mussina) have done very little. You can hate Jeter, but you've gotta respect him.

Still, I cringe every time the media has one of its Jeter lovefests, making him out to be the greatest ever to put on the pinstripes. And today is one of those days.

Ian O'Connor has a very good piece bringing us back to Jeter's early years, when it seemed like the Yanks wouldn't stop winning World Series. But over six years after the 200o Subway Series, Jeter is still waiting.

Kernan has the obligatory "Jeter proves he's better than Reyes" piece. Kernan is the most predictable columnist in the city, and a big reason the Post's sports section has jumped the shark.

And here are a couple of Jeter love-rants: one from Newsday, one from the Hartford Courant.

But enough about Jeter. There's other stuff to talk about, too.

In this piece, Tyler Kepner writes about how Luis Vizcaino says Rivera helped him with his mechanics, and Vizcaino has had five good outings in a row (but keep in mind, mostly against lousy offenses). Also, with Clippard going back to AAA, Kei Igawa is most likely to take his spot in the rotation.

Dan Shaugnessy talks about how Dice-K has not gotten ripped by Boston fans despite a disappointing start to the season. And Dice-K was huge yesterday.

Joel Sherman's favorite time of year is coming up - trading season. Thankfully, he doesn't share any of his trading proposals in this piece. If anything, the impression you get from this piece is that there won't be a ton of action, because - a) many teams still have a shot, and aren't giving up their spare parts yet, b) some GMs of lousy teams (like Jim Bowden) won't give up their guys unless they get top names, and c) Boras clients in their walk years (like Mark Teixera) are unattractive to most contenders.

For the millionth time, Torre blames a lousy Rivera outing on rust.

Tony Massarotti makes a great point in this piece:

"Since taking 2-of-3 from the Red Sox at Fenway Park [map] on the first weekend of June, the Yankees had played series against the Chicago White Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates and Arizona Diamondbacks entering this weekend’s affair with the Mets. In order, those three clubs ranked 30th, 23rd and 26th among the 30 major league teams in runs scored this season, which is just what the doctor ordered for a Yankees staff that has employed 12 starting pitchers this season and only one (Pettitte) who had made more than 10 starts."

PICK OF THE WEEK: Great job by Bob Klapisch giving an update on whether A-Rod will stay or go after the season. We all thought he was done after he was on the cover of the Post a few weeks ago, but he and the Yanks have only gotten better since then. I don't care if 1978 happens again - I still think if A-Rod has a lousy October and the Yanks get bounced in the first round, he'll be outta here.

Klapisch also discusses the Yankees other options at third, if A-Rod goes. Miguel Cabrera is a possibility, but will cost a few top prospects. I'd love to see the Yanks get him, because I don't think he can handle New York.

- My big brother, a big Pat Tabler fan back in the day, will be very excited about a note in Klapisch's piece: Jorge Posada is batting .667 (8-12) with the bases loaded this season.

Split So Far

After the Yanks finally lost Friday night, today's Yankee win doesn't hurt too much. Especially with the Sox winning two against the Giants. I know the Giants are awful, but I find Dice-K's excellent outing to be a sign of things to come.

Any Yankee fans still horny about Tyler Clippard? Time to give it up. The guy stunk today, and was bailed out by the even worse Glavine and Mota. Anyway, Clippard now has a 6.33 ERA; whatever the Yanks get from the guy is a bonus.

Mets have 10 steals in the series so far. Good job, Posada.

Hideki Matsui (.421, 9 RBI in past 7 gm) has quietly been on a hot streak. Melky Cabrera (1 for his last 14) has quietly cooled off.

Finally, it's mid-June, and Mariano Rivera has a 4.50 ERA.

Ugly Get Uglier

You knew it didn't look good for the Yankees coming into this series, and it hasn't gotten much better. All Yankee fans can get excited about are the 15 hits tonight and the Braves blowing out the Sox in the nightcap.

Friday night, Endy Chavez once again proved why he's a fan favorite. Andy Pettitte pitched well, but got no run support. Years ago, Pettitte's claim to fame was that he always helped the Yankees win following a loss. No such luck this year, especially with the anemic bats. Melky Cabrera's average dipped to .220. Who's gonna be this year's Matt Lawton (insert steroids joke here)?

Today, it was Robinson Cano's day to shine, with a Sax-esque three errors. The guy is not doing very well. Yankee fans will probably say today's loss wasn't their fault, because of Rasner's injury and all, but still, a $195 million team should have a better pen. When are they gonna bring back $6 million mop-up man Sterling Hitchcock?

- In case you had any doubts about George's health, how could he show up to the Clemens game and Tampa and not say a word about his floundering team? Nothing?

- I remember John Maine's first start against the Yankees. It capped off that disastrous '05 for Baltimore, the one that started with them being in first in May and then totally got destroyed with injuries and the Palmeiro controversy. In Maine's start, Brian Roberts suffered that nasty elbow injury when Bubba Crosby ran into him, and Maine got knocked out in the 2nd inning, after giving up 6 runs.

It's been great to see Maine turn to into a great pitcher with the Mets. He faces Tyler Clippard on Sunday night, as the Mets go for the sweep.

- Speaking of Clippard, I give Ca$hman credit for going with young pitchers during all these injuries, rather than going with washed-up guys for PR. I guess Ca$hman saw just how well Tim Redding, Sidney Ponson, Al Leiter, and Scott Erickson worked out for him.

- And I give Giambi credit for being a lot more open that Bonds about the "stuff."

Subway '07

As we approach the first subway series of '07, it's amazing to see the way things have shaped up. In the New York Post, they had the usual page with the position-by-position matchups and the edges. The results were shocking, though they made a lot of sense: 7 edges went to the Mets, 2 to the Yanks, and the rest even. To be fair, some of the results were debatable (Chavez/Gomez > Matsui) (Green > Abreu), but right now, the Yanks don't look good. My favorite part was how Torre and Randolph were ranked even. The Torre mystique has worn off.

What I find interesting this year is that the Yanks have become a boring team. Maybe it's because George is not well, and not chirping after every loss. After the ugly White Sox series, I thought George (I mean, Rubenstein) would have what to say. But things have been quiet. The Yanks still have A-Rod, Jeter, and Wang, but the rest of the club bores me.

The Mets, on the other hand, get more and more fun to watch. It's been great to see the emergence of Oliver Perez and John Maine. And maybe Jorge Sosa's next.

Pettitte vs. Perez tonight, and Glavine faces Rasner tomorrow. Should be fun. At least watching the Mets, that is.