Yankees’ Offense at Heart of Team’s Problems

Links (4)

Swing at the Strikes
Published 9/12/2008 by jscape2000 at Pinstripe Alley
NYTimes: "He’s got big power that never plays, because there’s so much movement," Long said. "He can’t get the barrel of the bat to the baseball with that much movement. So, basically, you’re taking a big tool and not using it." Cano uses an open stance, and Long said he plans to square Cano’s legs from the start. He said intensive, one-on-one sessions could help Cano the way they helped Alex Rodriguez after his disappointing season in 2006. "Could we have done that before this year started? No," ...

A Yankee coach knew an intangible was missing, enthuses about it.
Published 9/12/2008 by susan mullen (suedotsue@aol.com) at XM MLB Chat
On the absence of Posada and his leadership style, hitting coach Kevin Long says: (NY Times): "“We’ve missed him tremendously,” Long said. “First of all, Jorge’s one of those no-nonsense guys who will jump in a player’s face, jump in a coach’s face. He’s got that mentality of, ‘You know what, I don’t really care about this or that, this is how we’re going to do it. If I don’t like what I see, I’m going to tell you.’ We miss that.”"...Fine, we've heard this about Posada in prior years, that he was Jeter's 'enforcer.' Fine, Posada wasn't there and here's the hitting coach of the Yankees whose own performance ...

Looking to '09, still stumbling in '08
Published 9/12/2008 by D&A at NJ.com: Pride of the Yankees
... . We're getting there, but we're not quite ready to leave '08. It's a disappointing season, yes, and Tyler Kepner tries to blame the offense , but the problems run a little deeper than that. You could blame injuries, or inconsistency in both pitching and hitting. It's certainly not one area. But it's not really the offense; the pitching is ninth in the AL in runs allowed. But, a word to the wise: this team isn't as bad as everyone thinks it is. Just because they're not making the playoffs doesn't mean they're bad . They're eight games over .500, they're in the middle of the ...

The Daily Yankeeland - 9/12
Published 9/12/2008 by Mantlemurcer (noreply@blogger.com) at My Pinstripes
What's left of the season? Finger pointing of course, by those who hadn't done it as of yet. Bob Raissman says it only took Michael Kay and company 144 games to rip the Yankees a new one. Neil Best has his take on this new twist on the YES Network. Mike Lupica says it's the "House that Ruth Built", but the Yankees are bringing it down. Joe Girardi says he'll take the blame. Tyler Kepner says you can blame the offense. On the bright side, Bernie Williams has confirmed he will be ...