Oh boy.
So, when I went to bed last night at around 2:30 AM (being unemployed is an exciting life), the Yankees were on the verge of trading someone... for some pitcher. Seriously, it was a mystery, though some of the things people were posting on Twitter were kind of hysterical ("Probably not Christy Matthewson." "They're trading Derek Jeter for a washing machine, but it's a washing machine with a really good warranty."). Funnily enough, one of the tweets (ugh I can't believe I just used that word) said something like, "I bet the mystery pitcher is Javier Vazquez or Oliver Perez and they're keeping it a mystery because of what the fanbase's reaction would be to that," and of course I woke up this morning to find out that Melky Cabrera had indeed been traded for Javier Vazquez.
The reaction by most people was:
a. AAAH PANIC OMG 2004 ALCS AAAHHHHH!!!!
b. He can't handle NY!!! He couldn't in 2004!!! AAAH 2004!!!!
b-1. He has terrible numbers against the Red Sox, too!!!!
c. We're getting rid of all the TRUE YANKEES! These guys are winners! They just won a World Series!!!!!
Okay, guys. Calm down. I shall respond to these highly irrational people/points:
a. This is completely unfair to Javier Vazquez, as you're judging him on one truly terrible appearance. Believe me, I hated that shit too, but you gotta move on, and you can't judge based on one performance. There are about a million different rebuttals for this, so I'll just name a few. CC Sabathia had an ERA well over 7 in the postseason before this year and a lot of Red Sox fans laughed at us for signing him because "he's a choker!!!!". I don't even need to mention the many foibles of A-Rod. In Game 6 of the 2001 World Series, Andy Pettitte had a chance to clinch the Series for the Yankees with a win. Instead, he couldn't get out of the third inning, and we all know what happened at the end of Game 7. Do these performances mean that Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera are awful chokers who can't get it done in essential moments during the postseason? Don't be silly. But if you judged them on one game that was probably their individual worst game, that's what you would think.
Also, are we that fucked up by 2004? Didn't we essentially knock the Red Sox out of the playoffs in 2006? After going 0-8 against them to start this year and hearing about how much they were in our heads and we would never ever ever ever ever beat them, didn't we pretty much stomp them for the remaining ten games between them? Aren't the Yankees the reigning World Series champions? Move the hell on. And this from someone who's still all a-weepy about 2001.
b. He had a very good start in 2004, going 10-5 by the All-Star Break with an ERA of 3.53. He fell off a cliff in the second half because he got hurt. Except oh wait, I guess he suddenly realized he was in New York and therefore couldn't handle it or whatever. Pussy. He's also under a lot less pressure this time, not that he was really affected by pressure last time, and he's a more mature (yet still not too old) pitcher.
b-1. His numbers against the Red Sox were 2-7 with an ERA that was around 4.50. 2-7 doesn't sound good, but who knows what that means because pitcher wins are silly and one of the losses was this game. An ERA around 4.50 isn't great, but considering what Boston was like in the years he was facing them, when they had the best offense in baseball, that's not terrible either. They're a very different team now then they were in 2004 or 2007. Again to use the small sample size, Kazmir had great numbers against both the Yankees and Red Sox and he totally sucked against both of them in the playoffs. And seriously, there are other teams besides the Red Sox. You guys all sound like... Red Sox fans, who would rather see the Yankees lose than their own damn team win.
c. Anyone who uses the term "True Yankee" needs to just... stop doing that. No one is more sentimental than I am, but I think it makes people sound unbelievably stupid. You're a Yankee the minute you put the pinstripes on.
The last time the Yankees let a World Series MVP go, it was John Wetteland after 1996. Of course, this proved to be an incredibly stupid move, as the Yankees were never able to find another decent closer again and that role has been in turmoil for years, not to mention it ruined the clubhouse chemistry of proven winners, leading to years of failure for the Yankees. Oh, wait. I am very fond of Hideki Matsui, and I will wish him luck whenever he plays anyone but the Yankees (because he's on the Angels now and they don't need any luck for that grrrr), but if the reason he left the Yankees and went to the Angels was because the Angels were going to let him play the field and the Yankees weren't, this was absolutely the right choice to make. Matsui's knees won't hold up if he plays the field on a consistent basis.
I really like Johnny Damon and would be happy to have him back for, say, two years at $14M, but that's just not going to happen when he's a Scott Boras client. I give him a lot of credit for playing hurt, but it seemed like he was hurt a decent amount of the time, and he's just getting older. If he leaves, I'll always think of him really well for essentially flipping off the Red Sox to sign with us and that dash to third base.
I love Melky Cabrera, I think he's outright hilarious, but he's league average. And if Robinson Cano OMG can't handle it that Melky left, well, that's really pathetic for a major league baseball player. I'm very happy we traded Melky and not Swisher. I actually kind of can't believe the Braves made this trade. They needed a big bat and that's... likely not Melky. Aroydis Vizcaino has a lot of upside, but he is YEARS away from the majors. Mike Dunn is a generic bullpen piece that would be available through the Braves' own farm, I imagine. For those three pieces, they traded away the guy who just came in fourth for the NL Cy Young. Braves fans are livid and fans of other teams who are big stat guys are Tweeting pretty hilarious things about how the Yankees "unlocked God mode." If we didn't have those 2004 memories, we'd be thrilled.
As for Javy himself, well, I am absolutely not expecting, and neither should you, what he gave Atlanta last year. That would be ridiculous (but OMG it would be awesome, I would LOVE if he would do that). He's gonna be probably our #4. He will pitch probably more than 200 innings with an ERA between 3.50 and 4.50. Yeah, I'll take that. We needed to address our starting rotation (and yes, MSM, we would have needed to do that even if the Red Sox hadn't signed Lackey). It's really a testament to how crazy our offense was that we won 100+ games and the World Series with a starting rotation that consisted of:
1. awesome CC Sabathia, 230 IP, 127 ERA+.
2. insanely inconsistent AJ Burnett, 207 IP, 107 ERA+.
3. Andy Pettitte, who everyone wanted to DFA in May/June, 195 IP, 103 ERA+.
4. Joba, who went like 4 innings per start, 157 IP, 90 ERA+.
5. a rotating door of crap. Mitre 52 IP, 63 ERA+. Gaudin 42 IP, 125 ERA+ but the guy can't go through decent lineups more than like twice and he gets mauled by LHP (I still think he's a useful piece). Wang 42 IP, 44 ERA+. I'm not sure what Hughes' ERA+ and IP were as a starter, but I don't think they were that great.
This year, we had two guys who were slightly above league average looking at ERA+, though both of them generally got it done in the playoffs, and one true ace. That actually turned out okay for the Yankee starting pitchers in 2009, because a lot of the time all the pitcher needed to do was not let the game get out of control and then the ridiculous offense could usually do its thing. If we get one more guy that's Burnett or Pettitte-level to replace the Joba part or the terrible #5 spot, that's great. If Javier turns out to be more than that, that's awesome. Plus, he'll make the bullpen stronger by likely putting one of Hughes/Joba - who should be starters, but I understand if they want to give them time to grow - in the pen to work as Mo's setup guy. Of course, Joba and Hughes' numbers out of the bullpen were unreal, better than Mariano's when he was the setup guy (this is because they are starters and even simply average starters make awesome relievers. Mariano was, more than likely, not going to be even an average starter.).
Do I wish we somehow managed to get, instead of Vazquez, Josh Johnson, Matt Cain, or Justin Verlander for Melky Cabrera + change? Of course. But this is a good trade. If not for Damon's grand slam - which I can totally understand why people were upset by, but you're being irrational if you're gonna hold it against the guy forever as THE LONE REASON the Yankees lost the 2004 ALCS, that's as dumb as Red Sox fans who blame Bill Buckner for the entire 1986 World Series - I don't think anyone would be complaining about this.
And how could you hate this face? Dawwww. Welcome back, Javy. Prove them haters wrong.
