SB Nation User Blog: YankeeTrey

My Yankees 2009 Preview

YankeeTrey — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 04:31:22 -0000

Ok, I have obviously no clew what is going on in the Yankees general manager's office right now, except for what they show me on TV and the internet.

All that aside, these are my thoughts on what the lineup, rotation, bullpen, and bench might look like next season.

We'll start with the lineup.

1). Johnny Damon LF. Damon overcame a horrible start to the season to hit .303 and hit 17 homers out of the lead-off spot last year. No reason to change.

2). Derek Jeter SS. Jeter will be hitting 2-hole, and playing shortstop for the Yanks for as long as he wants to, no doubt about it.

3). Xavier Nady RF. Nady played great for the Yanks in the second half of the season, and seemed to love the New York atmosphere. (He should be used to it, h played for the Mets.) He would be a great replacement to Bobby if we don't re-sign him.

4). Alex Rodriguez 3B. The best player in the game, period. He is on pace for, maybe, 800 home runs before he retires. Fans should be happy that he plays for the Yanks.

5). Jorge Posada C. Jorge didn't play much last season, due to a shoulder injury. He says he will be ready to go for the season, and wants to catch. He has always been a reliable hitter, not to mention, he is a switch-hitter. He fits good in the 5 spot.

6). Robinson Cano 2B. Cano has something to prove this season. He had a great season in 2007, competing for the batting title with Joe Mauer of the Twins, and his teammate, Derek Jeter. However, 2008 wasn't great, not even good. Cano went on a tear after the All-Star break, due to a visit to see his father. You can be sure he and his father spend a lot of time together over the off-season.

7). Hideki Matsui DH. Godzilla is still a good hitter. Injuries have hurt him the last two seasons. However he was hitting over .300 in the games he did play in, and before his writst injury two seasons ago, he was an MVP candidate. Don't give up on Matsui, he will be back.

8). Nick Swisher 1B. Scrappy player who played for the White Sox last season. Players who play for Ozzie Guillien usually play the game the right way. It will be interesting to see him this season.

9). Brett Gardner CF. Gardner is very, very fast, and could score a lot of runs out of the 9 hole in this lineup. He is a walking double, so teams have to pitch to him. He plays great in center, and is nothing but hussle. Girardi loves him, which always helps.

BENCH- OF Melky Cabrera, C Jose Molina, IF Cody Ransom, OF Justin Christiansen

Now let's talk about the rotation. I think we should definately play a huge role in the Free Agent Market when it comes to pitching.

1). CC Sabathia LHP. We will offer him an offer that cannot be refused. He is the best pitcher in baseball right now, and should fit in well in New York.

2). Chin-Ming Wang RHP. Wang had a foot injury last season. He was pitching pretty well before the injury, and it seems like he is going to have a full recovery and have another productive year in 2009.

3). A.J. Burnett RHP. Burnett led the A.L. in strikeouts last season, and is a key free agen on the market right now. If the Yanks could grab him and Sabathia, they could dominate in the Ameican League next season.

4). Joba Chamberlain RHP. Joba would fit perfect in the fourth spot in the rotation. He brings an explosiveness to the game, that not too many teams have in the 4 spot in their roatations.

5). Andy Pettite LHP. Who better to be the veteran leader of the rotaion than Yankee great, Andy Pettite. He also brings a second left-handed arm to the end of the rotation, which could be huge throughout the year.

Bullpen- RHP Brian Bruney, RHP Jose Veras, RHP Edwar Ramirez, RHP Darrell Rasner, LHP Damaso Marte, RHP Mariano Rivera

I think with that rotation, the Yanks won't need to break the 1000 run mark. I'm excited, and I can't wait!

Go Yanks!

Jets Defensive Recap

YankeeTrey — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 03:51:53 -0000

The Jets came into the game ranked 5th in the entire NFL at stopping the run, and although the defense gave up 125 yards on the ground, they did their jobs by forcing Matt Cassel to beat them.

Kris Jenkins played a great game. He had 3 tackles, one of them being a sack. Kris dominated the middle by stuffing the run for about 80% of the game. (He seemed to be tired for a couple of big drives that the Patiriots had.) Jenkins has been such a surprise coming from a 4-3 defense in Jacksonville, to the 3-4 in New York. Nobody figured he would be able to dominate having to deal with such a large adjustment, but he has proven that he might be one of a couple of Pro-Bowl players on the Jets defense.

The situation at cornerback looked great in the first half. Ty Law did a great job on Randy Moss in the 1st half, shutting him down for most of the game thanks to a double team with, safety, Kerry Rhodes.

Darrelle Revis did quite a good job on Wes Welker, who could be one of the best slot revievers to ever play the game. Welker did get 108 yards, but didn't seem to be as dominant as he usually does.

Dwight Lowery didn't play well. Dwight allowed Jabar Gaffney to become Cassel's favorite target in the first half. Gaffney finished the game with over 80 yards and a touchdown, a great game for his stadards.

The second half was a different story. After the Pats gained some momentum, the Jets coaching staff decided to switch Ty Law, who was just signed this week, to cover Gaffney in man to man coverage. This was a mistake. Law could not cover the short routes, hoping not to get beat deep. This allowed Cassel to gain most of his yardage, by opeing up the middle. Moss also had a little easier time getting open with Lowery, just a rookie, covering him. This was a bad coaching move, which allowed the Patriots offense to climb back into the game.

Calvin Pace seemed to have trouble covering Ben Watson. Chris Collinsworh, who was doing the color commentary for NFL Network last night, commented that Watson runs a 4.5. Now, I firmly believe that Collinsworh has some kind of "thing" for Randy Moss and the Patriots, because that's all he seemed to talk about last night. Anyway, that's beside the point. Watson, who I doubt runs a 4.5, is faster than Calvin Pace, and he proved it with an 80 yard, 1 touchdown game. Pace did do well stopping the run with 5 tackles, and 2 assists. He did put some pressure on Cassel in the first half, but that was totally missing in the second half. I think that Pace is a good linebacker, but he did not play well last night.

The Jets defensive coaching was just terrible on the final drive. I don't understand playing prevent defense when there is 1:04 on the clock. The Jets gave up 40 yards in 15 seconds, and all of a sudden, the Patriots were on the verge of breaking a lot of people's hearts. Yes, the twrow that Cassel made was great, but the catch that Randy Moss made was amazing. He makes it look so easy. (Too bad he only gives it his all for about 60% of the game.) What makes me wonder, however, is how we let the best reciever in the game get even half-way open. Everyone in New England and New York knew exactly where "No Check-Down" Cassel wanted to throw it.

Being a Jets fan, I was happier with the 24-6 lead, than watching a great game. However, this was probably the most entertaining game of the year. Luckily, the Jets got an "ace in the hole" with Brett Favre. New York is now 7-3 and has the lead in the AFC East. The next game is November 22, at Tennessee (9-0). This could be a playoff matchup, so it will be interesting to see where we stand in the AFC.

GO JETS

Bradford for Heisman '08

YankeeTrey — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 21:48:21 -0000

This year's offense is being led by quite possibly the greatest OU quarterback ever! Sam Bradford has thrown for 38 touchdowns and just 6 interceptions in ten games. That is crazy for the fact that the Oklahoma offense is not like Texas Tech, it is well balanced. Along with his 38 touchdown passes he has over 3,400 yards and is completing over 68% of his passes.

The Heisman Trophy will obviously go to the quarterback who wins the Big 12 championship, so if Bradford can beat Texas Tech at home, he will take one more step to winning the trophy!

He seems like a great kid, and also seems to want to stay at Oklahoma for his entire career, even though he would be the number one pick if he came out this year! I can't wait to see all of the records fall his senior year!

Good Luck Sam

Jets Offensive Recap

YankeeTrey — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 20:40:06 -0000

Isn't it great to have Brett Favre?!

The Jets looked explosive, and on their toes in the first half last night, but the second half was a different story.

The Jets came out and scored on the opening drive, which to me, was the deciding factor in the game. It was a very balanced drive, with a mix of run plays with Thomas and Leon, and completions to five different recievers. During the drive, Mangenius threw the red flag on a great catch by Laverneus. The play was reversed for a first down, and we rode the momentum to a touchdown.

Leon Washington had a great game to say the least. He scored the first touchdown of the game on a great run after the catch to get across the goal line. We all know what he can do in the return game, and he did it again! His touchdown return was great, and made me say "DEVIN HESTER WHO?"

The catch that Jerricho Cotchery made was amazing. Favre was just beeing Favre as he threw up a long ball, and Jerricho pulled a David Tyree, and pinned it against his helmet to put the Jets in the red-zone, and he later scored the touchdown to cap the drive off.

Dustin Keller had a great game for the second week in a row, and is quickly becoming one of Brett's favorite targets, although he did drop a wide open touchdown pass, that could have been the dagger for the Patriots.

Thomas Jones played terrific in my mind. He was asked to carry the ball 30 times, and most of the carries were called to run straight into the teeth of a VERY hard-hitting Pats defense. However, Thomas grinded it out for 4 1/2 quarters, and broke the 100 yard mark, and also scored a touchdown. This guy could be in MVP talks if the Jets win the division. (YOU HEARD THAT HERE FIRST) .

Yes, the first half was great for the Green Machine, however, it wasn't pretty in the second. I give most of the credit to the Patriots' coaching staff. They made great adjustments for the second half, and the main adjustment was GET TO FAVRE. And they did. The Patriots defense turned it on in the second half, as they were flying all over the place..

Brett and the offense seemed to lack a little explosiveness, as the main plays were deek-and-dunk plays, or short passes to Keller over the middle.

The last two drives, however, were great, and proved that Brett Favre is probably the best quarterback to ever lace up cleats. On what seemed to be the last drive of the game, Brett drove the boys down the field with a little more mid-range passes, and a little less deek-and dunk. The Jets got to within the five yard line, and Favre made two passes that stuck out in my mind. These passes were the two balls he threw away, one into the stands of the corner of the endzone, and the other clanking off the left goal-post. He saw that the plays were not going to develop, and he still FOLLOWED THE TREND OF THE GAME. He didn't change anything he had been doing all night, which was be safe, and don't force it. Thomas capped the drive off with a short touchdown run, and it seemed to be over, but don't ever count out a champion.

The Pats found their way into the endzone with a great throw by Matt Cassel, and, in my mind, an even greater catch by Randy Moss. I strongly dis-like the Pats, but Randy Moss is the best reciever I have ever had the pleasure to watch. (I only got to watch Jerry towards the end of his career, I'm sure I would have a different opionion if I watched his entire career.) Anyways, now we go to overtime.

The NFL needs to go to the same system for overtime as the NCAA. It is unfairly decided by a coin flip, but I loved it as the Jets won the toss last night. (HAHA)

The game winning drive was great, as Brett did what he was brought here to do. He found Dustin Keller once again for a big catch that eventually led to a Jay Feely field goal to take over FIRST PLACE IN THE AFC EAST.

Overall it was such a great game! You couldn't ask for a better game to watch on a Thursday night!