All Things Bubba: Betemit Deal Done

Friday, January 18, 2008

Betemit signed a one-year deal worth $1.165 million today. Not bad, considering he was making the MLB minimum last year.

Joe Torre is taking Andy Phillips' name in vain:

"The youth off the bench is always a question mark because you don't know how they handle not playing and playing after not playing," Torre said, citing the example of the problems the Yankees had with Andy Phillips.

Jeez, Joe. Throw Andy under the bus, why don't you?

Chad Jennings of SWB Yankees Blog fame has rundown of Yankees player who won't be returning to Scranton:

Sardinha is not the only player from last season’s opening day roster who won’t be back with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Of the 24 players who broke camp with the local Yankees last season, only seven are still in the Yankees system. And two of those, Phil Hughes and Shelley Duncan, are favorites to win jobs with the major league club.

The other five are Chris Britton, Eric Duncan, Alberto Gonzalez, Steven Jackson and Ross Ohlendorf.

Among the notable 2007 Yankees who have signed elsewhere are: Chris Basak (Twins), T.J. Beam (Pirates), Jim Brower (Reds), Andy Cannizaro (Devil Rays), Angel Chavez (Dodgers), Raul Chavez (Pirates), Matt DeSalvo (Braves), Ben Kozlowski (Japan), Charlie Manning (Nationals), Andy Phillips (Reds), Omir Santos (Orioles) and Kevin Thompson (Pirates).

The Bucs really like Yankees castoffs, don't they?

posted by BubbaFan, 5:59 PM

2 Comments:

what the hell? No one was more patient than Andy. With his video game stats at Triple-A, he could have been screaming bloody murder when they picked up Basak over him, but, he didn't... Andy just kept waiting his turn, and did well when given the chance.

He wasn't talking about temperament. He was talking about how young players lose their timing when they don't get lots of at-bats every day. Bubba kind of has that problem. He hits a lot better when he plays regularly. I think that's a big reason he had that great September in 2005. He was starting almost every day.

Though really, I'm not sure veteran players are much better. For most players, it's hard to hit off the bench, whether they're old or young.