A lot of news regard of Torre's new book

I know I haven't posted for a few days because there are so many news regard of Torre's new book out there. Unfortunately, I don't want to talk about before reading the book.

I heard the interview Torre did on WFAN. I must say this. Torre is really good at talking to media that obviously is quite important for any manager of New York Teams. But, I can tell two things from Torre's interview.

First of all, If he can do it all over again, he won't write this book because a lot of unexpected reactions he got. Secondly, The main thing Torre wants to address in this book is Brian Cashman, not A-Rod and other players.

about Torre's new book

Before reading the book, I don't feel comfortable to comment on. I don't think Torre does this because of money. He wants to express his opinion which is nothing wrong with that. Everyone has freedom to say anything he wants and others can make their own judgment to decide what they think.

Just a gut feeling. I actually think this may help certain Yankees players, such us Joe Girardi and A-Rod because fans may embrace them more.

Welcome Back, Wanger

Wang arrived Taiwan earlier. This is the photo in airport station. Wang just had a press conference 2 hours ago. However, there is huge political news in Taiwan today( I don't want to talk about that. If you guys are interested, go check out news).

I don't think there will be a huge coverage of Wang today. In fact, Taiwan media just like New York media. This is so rare someone like Wang to have any coverage at all. This tells you something. The way he speak(so few words) is really not a news material(boring).

I got few quotes from some news .


*Yankees ask Wang to ride bike, not to run.

*Wang knows there are a lot of great pitchers on the free agent market this off-season. How he feel? He said let go to get champion together. No matter who Yankees get, they are the best ones. He will just do his job which try his best to win every game. However, Wang said Moose and Pettitte really help him a lot. I think we can't underestimate the impact those veterans pitchers will bring to the team, especially for young pitchers.

*Wang really want to play WBC for Taiwan, but he knows he need to rehab first. Wang actually asked Cashman before coming back to Taiwan. Cashman already told him to prepare spring training.

*He said he felt so sad and miserable for not able to help Yankees, especially he sat there and looked at what happened to the team the end of season. When he knew Yankees' chance for playoffs become lower and lower, he wanted to play so badly and apologized to team.

Come back later for more if I have more.

Updated: I am finally able to watch Wang's press conference. Sorry about being late. I was so tired because I haven't slept much for few days.

*Wang said Bowa kept sending him text messages to encourage him and want to know how he feel after he get hurt. I think Yankees really miss Larry Bowa. If they actually have a chance to sign him after 2007 season, they definitely should not miss.

*Remember the difference between Joe Torre and Joe Girardi? Wang said Torre joking around with him a lot. However, Kuo(another Taiwanese pitcher) is the relief pitcher on LA Dodgers said Torre is quiet. He doesn't say much. As for Joe Girardi, Wang said he is more serious than Torre. During practices, Girardi actually run with them. Wang said he runs harder and tried not to lose to him.

I think Torre is really a good players manager based on what I heard from Wang and Kuo. Based on players' different personality, Torre uses different ways to communicate with them. Wang is quiet guy and is very hard on himself. Joking around with him and making him loose is a good way to get most out of him. On the other hand, Kuo is a voluble guy with good sense of humor. Torre use more serious way to deal with him.

*Wang doesn't regret for running hard on bases and getting hurt. He said injury is part of athlete's life. He always does his best no matter what he is doing. However, he thinks he needs to focus more to train his legs because he has a lot of injuries related to legs recent years.

*Wang said doctors told him he is 100% healthy right. This foot injury won't have any impact on his pitching. However, there are always few cracks over there. I am kind of understanding this. Just like our normal persons. Every time we hurt ourselves, there are always some concerns over the places we get hurt and there are always chances to hurt the same place again.

*There is one period of time in 2008 season he didn't pitch well. Wang said he think too much. He wants to get every batter and want to pitch better. I think Wang actually really wants to prove himself after what happened in 2007 playoffs.

*It will be a huge honor for Wang to be able to pitch in opening day in New Yankees stadium, but he doesn't think he will get it.

That's all I get. This week we can't do anything until we get past November 14 which all players become free agents. This is good. I actually can focus more on the stuffs I need to get it done in my real life.

Interesting Joe Girardi interview on WFAN

I heard an interesting Joe Girarid interview on WFAN. It's a good one.

*Based on what I heard, I think Joe Girardi learn a lot from this first year. He will improve next year. He already took the first step: more honest.

*Girardi think the most important thing he learn is keep building up the relationship with players in order to get most of them, but it takes time. I agree with him. The thing people don't realize is Joe Torre basically got his new core players when he got to Yankees in 1996 and they go on to win world series at first year. Of course, it makes everything much easier to deal with after championship. It's much harder for Joe Girardi because he needs to work on the core players who had been with Joe Torre for a long time and He took over after Yankees fail to make out of first round for many years.

*Girardi thinks it also takes time to figure out how to work with coach staff well.

*Girardi likes players are able to do many different things. He also would like to have a team with better defense and pitching. I think this is Yankees' offseason focus.

*Girardi thinks it's important to have two lefty in the bullpen. He wants to have Marte back and Yankees are talking deal with him. It seems to me Yankees have a deal with him on hand, otherwise Girardi won't be able to talk things like that.

*As for Mussina. Girardi think there are two factors for Moose's decision: what family members think and do Moose want to keep playing or not. It's not about HOF and 300 wins for him. He expects Mosse to make up his mind two months after season ends which is November. It's now. I think Yankees already know what Moose's decision by now. I think the reason Moose hasn't made in public is help Yankees. They actually can play some game with other free agent signing. It sounds to me Moose will retire.

*Joba is a starter now. It all depends on what offseason goes in order to make final decision. I think Joba will be in the bullpen if Yankees get enough starting pitching. It's not a final decision yet.

*Yankees are not sure or havn't made up their mind what they want to do in 1B.

Interesting, right? I think so. Girardi actually is honest this time and actually say a lot of things regard of team and himself. We actually can tell part of direction Yankees want to approach this offseason.

If you miss this interview on WFAN, go to their website to download the file later on.

Bowa stays with Dodgers

As I told you guys earlier, I don't think Larry Bowa or Willie Randolph will be our new third base coach. Right now, Bowa had decided to stay with Joe Torre and Dodgers. As you guys know, Willie reportedly rejected Washington's offer to be on the coaching staff. This tells us how much Willie Randolph wants to be a manager again which won't be an ideal option to be on Joe Girardi's coach staff.

I love to have Paul O'nell on Joe Girardi's coach staff. You guys can read the reasons on this post. However, there is another problem for this idea as well. It seems third base coach is reponsible for not only base running but also infielders. As we all know, Paul O'nell is an outfielder when he was a player.

I believe Yankees will get a guy with more experience when all said and done.

Bobby Meacham won't be back

This certainly does not surprise so many people even though Yankees actually do not have so many base runners to allow Meacham to make so many mistakes this season. The reason I think Bobby Meacham should not be bought back because of AL East which is a very tough division. Few wins can make a huge difference on the whole season. If anything can help Yankees to get few more wins, they should do it.

As for Joe Girardi's reaction, I don't think you guys have to think too much. We all have good friends at jobs. Your friends let go from company do not affect the friendship at all. I think Joe Girardi and Bobby Meacham both understand that.

When so many people screamed at owner or front office and said, "See. Yankees should not let Torre go. They make huge mistakes. If Joe Torre were here, he would make the differences. Joe Girardi is not the right person."

I still think Yankees make a right choice to let Torre go and bring in Joe Girardi. Of course, they certainly do not handle the process very well. I won't change my mind because Joe Torre make the playoffs and Yankees don't.

I always feel it's time to go if you don't have more passion on the job you did. This is the only criteria for me to decide to change the job or not. When you don't love the job you do any more, it will be very difficult to do it very well. This is the same situation as Joe Torre.

Of course, Joe Girardi made a lot of mistakes this season. But, when you think about how he manage the bullpen and compare with the majority of big league managers, Yankees will play very well next season if Cashman is able to put together a good team for him. That being said, the ability to manage people is still very important for any manager. I believe Joe Girardi will improve in this department next season.

Let go back to coach staff. I don't think experience is the only criteria Yankees should consider when it comes down to their coach staff. Passion and right attitude will make a huge difference on Yankees next year. I was working at TV station when I was in Taiwan. Experience is so important in that industry. It's so difficult to get a job without experience. However, if you have passion and right attitude, you certainly can pick up things very quickly. I believe Joe Girardi and his coach staff will be much better next season.

So, as a Yankees fan, How about Paul O'Neill? First of all, I know Paul O'Neill probably wants to stay at home. Secondly, I know he doesn't have experience. But, his passion and toughneses certainly can make a big difference. Cano probably the one get most benefits out of it.

Updated: Just for record. I don't think Larry Bowa or Willie Randolph will take Meacham's place. I know they are perfect or popular choices, but I don't see that happening. Larry loves Joe Torre and just outspoken for him. It's not a smart move to put a potential manager next to Joe Girardi which certainly creates some distractions.

Busy

I have been busy for this past two weeks. I actually think there is a good thing for me when Yankees can't get into the playoff this year. Don't kill me and let me finish my sentence. That is I actually can concentrate more on the things I need to finish in my real life.

Right now, life is getting a little bit easier for me these coming 3 or 4 weeks and then I will have another busy two weeks period again.

But, It doesn't mean I haven't pay a lot of attention on what happen to Yankees, such as Cano's trade rumor, Torre in LA, Hank's speech, Cashman' new deal, change of coach stuff?, etc. I will have those posts coming very soon. I actually plan to come up with some kind of plan for my blog regard of posts for this off-season. Stay tuned.

By the way, Even though I can't have so much time and interest on playoff this year, I actually keep my eyes on. This is the year I really hope a national league team will win it all. However, I start enjoy to watch Rays playing. It will be a very nice story for them to get a ring this season. Actually, I don't like Rays and Red Sox. But when you compare any team with Red Sox, any team will become much more friendly as well.

If Red Sox get into World Series, I hope Dodgers can get in. Let Manny beat Red Sox will be a good story for Yankees fans. However, If Rays get into world series, I hope Phillies can get in. Among those four playoff teams, I actually root for Phillies to win it all. I like that greedy and gutty team. and you? Of course, my most interest is to hope playoff ending as soon as possible and then we can get more news about Yankees.

It's over, but don't play blame game.

First of all, I am so happy for Moose for his 19th win. I really hope he can win 20 this season. When I was watching Yankees game yesterday, I can't help myself about keep tracking score of Red Sox-Indians game. I usually don't care much about what happen to Red Sox and only check boxscore. I was hoping Yankees was eliminated because of losing game, not because of Red Sox winning game.

I know there are tons of news about how poor Yankees have been played, how much Yankees should miss Joe Torre, how well Red Sox has played, how many players Red Sox raised from their farm system, how badly Yankees spend their money, how terrible job Brian Cashman does, how dreadful Yankees young players have been played and why Yankees should trade for Santana. Anything else?

But, I am not going to talk about this. As you guys know, this is a blog to talk about positive things. These are all second-guess. No one knows what would happen during any game. No one knows what would happen if Joe Torre was here. No one knows what would happen when you sign any free agent and draft any prospect. No one knows how young players would peform every year. No one knows what Hughes and Kennedy would do the rest of his career. No one knows what would happen if Santana was here. No one knows how Santana would perform the rest of his contract for Mets. No one knows if we really go after Santana, how many potential major league players or superstars we would give up. No one knows if we really go after Santana, he may end up in Boston.

The things I know for sure. We will have a great bullpen next season. Wang, Matsui, Posada, Hughes, Joba and Jeter will be back and healthy for us next season. A-Rod and the rest of position players will not hit worse when runners on base than this season. Joe Giradi will do his job better when he gets his feet wet this year, especially when you consider he well he manages the bullpen. All young players get one more year experience. We will have money to address our problems this off-season. What else?

Let's Go Yankees!

a little titbit regard of the reaction from Wang about Yankees Stadium

I like most of you guys who read a lot of news about our Yankees and pay attention on what happen to them. Of course, I believe you guys probably read a lot of news related to Yankees stadium this past week. I am not going to repeat it.

The one I have for you guys is the reaction from Wang. You guys probably won't be able to read this on other places. As you guys know, I am a Taiwanese and tons of Taiwanese media pay so much attention on Wang.

*Wang was sad he was not able to play this final game

*There are a lot of memory for Wang at Yankees stadium. He misses every game played at Yankees stadium because he is so happy that he is able to play here with so many great players. On top of that, Wang said there are tons of fans coming and rooting for them every night. the thing he remembers the most is the cheers he got from fans at his major league debut at Yankees stadium.

*The place he will miss the most is the right field because he always plays catch over there

*Wang actually showed a little more emotion when was asked about the thing he will miss the most at this Yankees stadium. Wang said he really misses the time he plays for Joe Torre, Ron Guidry and Larry Bowa.

*Of course, Wang got some dirts from mound at Yankees stadium. But, the thing he really wants to take home as a gift is the scale in the training room. When was asked the reason, he laughed and said because he weighted on that scale all the time and that scale was produced at 1950s. The second choice is his locker.

*Comparing to most teammates who was chatted with all kind of visitors before the final game, Wang actually was doing his rehab until the game started and sit at the dugout the rest of game.

This year certainly is a tough year not only for Wang but also for our Yankees as well. When the season ends, Wang not only has to face his rehab but also the decision of playing for Taiwan at WBC or not.

I know there are tons of discussions, questions, reactions raised in Taiwan already. As a Yankee fan, I hope he says no to Taiwanese team. As a Taiwanese, I hope he says yes. But, when I consider his serious foot injury this season and the weird schedule of WBC, I probably hope he will say no. Only hope he won't get "killed" by Taiwanese or Taiwanese media for this. How do you guys think? I will talk about this more during off-season.

That's why I barely question Manager's decision.

This game started at 3am in Sydney and ended up in 8am. As you guys can image, I am so tired that I need to write this post short and quick in order to catch some sleep for my work. I am not the one question Manager's in game decision too much because you never know what will happen and what the real reason behind the scene.

Today game, In 9th inning, After Damon didn't attempt to put a bunt down to move runner up to second and third, Jeter hit a double play to end the inning. I believe this is my first time to have this question in my mind this season,"Why not let Damon bunt to move runners?". I didn't jump on to conclusion and want to wait post-game interview from Joe Girardi. I got my answer.

Girardi said on post-game interview, "I did it yesterday with Damon in the 9th inning, but Damon didn't look comfortable about bunting and he didn't execute the bunt successfully. That's why I never think about letting Damon bunt again today."

You probably can argue Joe Girardi shouldn't throw his players under the bus that Cashman probably did the same thing when he was interviewed by reporters regard of Melky's demotion.

Cashman said," I believe Melky is a better player than he has been showed", but "You probably can change Melky name to a lot of players on the field that make a lot of more money than Melky, too"

You may say Joe Girardi should cover for his players. This is probably what Joe Torre has done for his players. That's why they all love to play for him. This is probably why Joe Torre get so many criticism from fans about his poor in-game decision.

But, we all learn one thing in our life for sure. At some points, Parents have to let their children go, learn from their mistakes and face challenges in order to grow up. If parents always protect their children who may never know how to do some certain things.

This may be the reason why our bombers can't go deep in the playoffs recent years. This also may be the reason why our bombers struggle so much this season. Joe Girardi and verterans on this team need to get to know each other and make adjustment. I believe they will. Eventually, Joe Girardi will get his message cross which is playing fundamental baseball and execute coaches' tactics.

Updated:From Daily News,

"That was something we tried (Friday) night and it didn't work," Girardi said. "Johnny just wasn't comfortable doing it and that's the way it is."

"I'm just not a good bunter," Damon agreed.

Ok!!Unbelievable bad things keep happening to Yankees?????

Obviously,This off-season has been so frustrating to most yankees fans.After watching Red Sox celebrating,Yankees fans have to watch Red Sox signing players and build up for future among other teams.On the other hand,in the Yankees land,things couldn't get any worse than that.After Torre left,A-Rod optioned out and Mo and Posada may test free agents,Andy Pettitte decline his 2008 option as well,so all of these is unbelievable bad things keeping coming.

Are you in this mood,Yankees fans???If you were,you would listen to me because I am not.First of all,I love Joe Torre as a great human being and as a manager as well,but It's time for change.I like Joe Girardi replace Joe Torre.He will be great in 2008 season.

Second,I am glad to hear A-Rod optioning out his contract and Yankees seems to keep his word for letting him go.We don't need a lineup full with all stars who care about their stats more than winning ball games.We need solid,gritty,team-first ball players to move runners up.That's yankees' problem since 2004.We either score tons of runs or very few runs.We keep waiting for that big innings all the time.That's why most of our pitchers seems to get tons of run supporters,but we have problems about winning games.We lose a lot of close games and playoff games because of that.

As far as I think Mo,Posada and Pettitte.This is my opinion.We can find out it turns out to be true or not.Mo,Posada and Pettitte are not A-Rod.They love Yankees and want to be yankees. you can't say that to every players.It just takes some time and efforts to get them back.Mo will be first one to sign a deal I think and Pettitte will be last one.The only reason for Posada tests free agent because he wants to get one more year from yankees.That's all.Pettitte is exhausted at this moment.Once yankees agree to give him one more player option for 2009 and spring traning comes to the corner,he will be back.Mo will take the best deal he can get from yankees before even talking to other teams.

Our Yankee team has been in transition from 2005.I believe 2008 will be the last year of transition.When the new stadium open in 2009,we will have a new dynasty of New York Yankees if we hold on most talented prospects without trading them.There is old saying going,"A crisis is a chance"

Torre to LA??Bad Day for Taiwanese fan????

Joe Torre signed with LA for three-year deal.This is probably bad today for Taiwanese fans,not because of Chien-Ming Wang.There are three Taiwanese players in LA.First one is Chin-Hui Tsao(Middle Relief Pitcher) ,Second one is Hong-Chin Kao(Starter) and the last one is Chin-Lung Hu(short stop/Second baseman-September Callup).Joe Torre always has problem on falling in love with specific middle relief and goes with them too much.If Tsao returns to healthy form in 2008,he probably will become next Proctor(PS.Poor Proctor!!!!).The other problem Joe Torre has problem is trusting young player.This is will be bad news for Kao and Hu.

I am sorry!!!I am back

I was going through one of the toughest time in my life as my New York Yankees team as well,including Red Sox won the world series(The worst one),Joe Torre and A-Rod left(Not bad in my opinion),but I was survived.I am not going to go through reasons about why I miss some much on not blogging.I probably lost a lot of readers already.Hopefully,my New York Yankees team is not in the same situation as mine.

Is it possible to keep positive?

Man,It's too hard to stay positive right now if you are Yankees fan,isn't it?

Yesterday game rained out,and Damm,we got doubleheader.Bad Luck...

Boston won yesterday.Someone keep his perfect record of 2007(6-0).Damm...

Every talk shows bury Yankees,Brian Cashman,Joe Torre yesterday.How bad jobs they did and
How bad luck Yankees hit so far this season.

We are 6 games back to Red Sox and even behind Tampa Bay(They won yesterday)There are only two teams less than 10 wins now in the major.Who are they?Kansas City and Washington.Man...

We lost our future,Phil Hughes for two months.Bad Luck...

We lost Pavano AGAIN...

It seems Clement will sign either Houston(flexible schedule,hometown,watch his son playing and NL is much easier to pitch) or Boston(Where he begin his career,it seems an unstoppable team at first place of AL East).No way he will come to last place(New York Yankees).Even Clement come,he may not as good as he was in the NL last couple of years.

Pavano???Who??

We may lost Pavano for Tommy John surgery.Man.When I saw this "breaking"news earlier on Pete blog,it doesn't surprise me at all.This is just like Wang say he will pitch Saturday and won't miss his turn when Pete post this news on his blog.It doesn't surprise me at all.This is Wang's attitude.He wants to help his team badly.This thing let us know one thing.Next time,every general manager want to sign a guy and he need to know this guy's personality except his number.

Why this guy can't stay health?It's very hard for me to believe he just hit a series of bad luck.He has a lot of "funny"injury,such as butt,car accident,and not in good shape.I am kind of curious about who(which club)will take a chance on him after this contract with Yankees.I think he will never pitch again in the big if he go on to Tommy John surgery.I don't think someone will sign him again.

I will say let him go.This will certainly help club chemistry.This is not the big blow because I actually didn't expect him to contribute.No one count on him actually.

I don't blame Cashman to sign this guy (a lot of clubs want to sign him at that moment) and didn't get rid of this guy.I think Cashman just didn't get rid of this guy guickly enough before he got himself injury again.I think Cashman try to do this before trading deadline,so he can get more from him.That's why he can't say something bad to hurt his value.But,man.This guy even can't keep pitching at least for one month.

Cashman didn't count on him,I think.He count on Pavano as No.5 starter.As far as I know,we can fill anyone from minor as No.5 starter.The bad news for Yankees is they lose No.1(Wang),No3(Mussina),No5(Pavano,of course),No.6 (Jeff)at the same time.That's why we are in trouble.You just can't replace the innings Wang and Mussina will provide.Look at what Wang did at his first two starts.Clearly,Wang is not at his best,but he pitches at least 6 innings each time(4 runs each time).Compare to offense Yankees put on board early April.Wang will easily win 3-4 wins for us and save the bullpen at the same time.

Do you feel I am so negative?No,I am not.At least,we don't have to count on Pavano,right?At least,We won't see Pavano in the club,right?HA!

Hughes hurt..Bad News continuous???

That's why people perfer to read novel instead of watching movie which adapt from novel under most circumstance.

"Imagination"

On today game,Phil Hughes proves another direction.In just his second start in the big,he shows everyone why he is No.1 prospect.Hughes almost get no-no at the age 20.This is something most pitchers can't get it in their whole life.Before today game,he pitched so so in his first game.What we get all the talk about Hughes is just "Imagination". When I was watching toady game,I couldn't stop saying"WOW!WOW!WOW".This is not dream,not imagination.I agree with Pete on his blog,Yankees shouldn't make this panic move to bring Hughes up this earlier.They should take him slowly.Only one good thing about this whole thing,we are definitely sure Hughes is read deal now.Because of this hammy,they have to shut him down for 2 months.(Assuming Hughes can recover from this.This hammy isn't serious)They won't blow Hughes over 180 innings this season.Because of Wang and Mussina's hammy,they won't have to pitch this much.All this consideration,they will keep all of them fresh.I can't wait to see Hughes,Wang,Pettitte,Mussina,Clement(Maybe,for half season) pitching at the same time this season. "WOW!WOW!WOW!"

At this point of season,things can't get worse for Yankees.One pitcher after another keep getting hurt and some hitters struggle at the plate.We are in the last place of AL East.Everyone say we can't catch Red Hot Red Sox.Maybe they are right.Who knows?Even my personality is as positive as possible,I scream at the Television when I see Hughes grabbing his leg and trainer run toward to the mound.

In my opinion,things can't get worse than this when we get hit as hard as everyone even can image.I believe only good thing can happen to this team.

One thing for sure.Yes.Everyone say Yankees isn't good and we can't catch Red Sox this season.But,in my opinion,Red Sox is not as good team as everyone say.I still think we have better bullpen than Red Sox's bullpen.The reason I say this is not about Red Sox losing a game to A's and is not about Papelbon blowing two runs lead in the 9 inning.Mo will blow game as well.They are human beings,not machine.I have three reasons for that.

First,Red Sox offense only can manage 4 runs in this game.

Second,Red Sox don't have good relief pitchers except Okajima and Papelbon.If they can't have healthy Papelbon whole season,they're in trouble.They lost today games after Papelbon leaving after 9 inning.

Third,Everyone get on Torre about how much he use his bullpen.Everyone blames Torre pulling Starters too quickly.I have different opinion,Terry Francona don't have faith with his bullpen.He shows it.He keeps pushing his starters to 7 or 8 inning.Most Red Sox starters get to more than 100 pitches,even more than 110 pitches.That's why he has good bullpen ERA so far this season.They haven't been tested hard.I don't think Red Sox starters can keep doing this.They will have injure problem if Terry keep pushing his starters.On the other hand,Torre know how to protect his starters.It's much difficult to keep starter flash whole season than keeping relief pitchers flash.It's also much easier to get replacement of relief pitchers before trade deadline than getting good starters.Once we get all the starters back,they keep pitching at least 6 innings.We will be right back on track.I believe Wang,Pettitte,Mussina can get to 6 innings on the regular basis.