38 Days til Pitchers and Catchers
With that being said, as a Yankee fan I wonder about what condition Jorge Posada will be in. I have all the faith in the world in Jorge, but not everyone sees it that way. I understand that he can’t catch forever and that is a very physically demanding position to play, but he does not want to play first base, and well with Mark Teixeira here he won’t be playing first base.
I am very eager to see what happens, and I have only seen one semi-recent interview with Jorge on the YES Network with Michael Kay. Jorge said he will be ready to go, and will not play first base. Great, but what happens when or if he can’t catch sooner than later? We locked him up in a long-term (for his age, and position) contract and we signed a first basemen for $180 million. Does he eventually DH? I don’t know, but I know if he can’t catch he is not going to be a happy guy.
I’m probably the only person thinking about this today but, after the press conference it hit me and I have been pondering it.
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You’d think they could come up with a less kinky term than “pitchers and catchers.”
Anyhow, I can’t believe it’s almost that time of year again. While I can proudly boast about my favorite team’s catcher (Joe Mauer), you just never know what you’re going to get with Minnesota’s pitchers. Perhaps this is the year that “Franchise” Liriano finally fills Johan’s shoes.
Yeah, probably not, but it’s nice to dream, right?
BTW, my captcha tonight is “reann.” At first, I thought it said “ream.” Given the topic, my initial thought was “how appropriate.”
Yes, I can see the innuendo in this phrase, but it is what it is.
I happen to really like Joe Mauer, he has a special place in my binder. Good luck with Liriano becoming Johan, highly unlikely. He had a lot of hype and then not much happened. He has the potential to be a great pitcher, but Johan caliber is another story.
I’ve wondered about Posada myself. He’s been a great fit for the Yanks but he’s not exactly a young guy anymore.
One player I feel people forget about is Nick Swisher. With the signing of Teixeira, what is to become of Swisher?
I’ve heard that Matsui will DH and Melky will be playing CF. If that’s the case, you could have Matsui, Swisher and Posada all DH’ing! (wtf?)
As a Yankees fan, I wished a pox upon Brian Cashman for even signing him after his monster season. With history constantly repeating itself in baseball lore, how did he not see J Po getting injured. I see more of this if he continues to catch. That signing was the worst.
I’m guessing we may be seeing Posada’s last season as catcher, with him sliding into the DH spot once Matsui is gone – ’09 is his last contract year, isn’t it? I’m also hoping he has rebounded to full strength after surgery.
What I’m more curious about, probably much like Sooz, is Jeter’s future. Not that I think it will happen, but his contract is also approaching it’s end, and I’m not sure how much longer he’ll have the range to play SS. I heard rumblings that he was going to be moved to 1B, but Tex kinda negates that idea. I can’t really see him in the outfield either.
Either way, I can’t wait for pitchers and catchers to report – the time of year between baseball and football is a real bummer for me. I know it’s only a handful of weeks, and I get March Madness, but basketball and hockey just can’t quite fill the sports void in my heart the way the other two can.
38 days too many! I can’t wait!
I’m pretty sure Jeter will never play the outfield. But as far as his ability to play SS, I am fairly certain that he works out enough to maintain his range. Obviously it won’t be what it used to , but look at Ripken, Jr. Yes, I understand it takes 2 different people, and they are very different positions but he played for a great number of years with conditioning.
As far as Nick Swisher goes, I’d like to see him in a package trade with Matsui. We don’t really need either of them because Posada will eventually be the DH, and until then we can trade for a DH/OF.
Matsui can not play the outfield as far as I’m concerned. I have seen himi turn the wrong way on one too many fly balls for my liking in recent seasons. But he can still hit, the question is how will his production be as a DH if we kept him in that role.